A/N: Time is getting the better of me. My apologises.

Disclaimer: I was playing a game of tennis with Takeshi Konomi when he did the twisted serve, Tezuka zone and rodeo to destruction out of nowhere… kinda like Prince of Tennis… (I lost/randomness.)


Chapter 39

Fuji and Arai were back in Ryuzaki sensei's office. Before this they were lined up for morning practise where Ryuzaki-sensei gave them an ear bashing for a good ten minutes. As their sensei stormed off she ordered the captain and vice-captain to follow her to her office. The remaining team wondered if Ryuzaki-sensei was trying to encourage them or demoralise them. They wanted to pick the former, but sensei's vexation seemed to do the opposite.

Once she had the two in her office she announced that she wanted them to sort out another inter-school rankings tournament. Arai turned to Fuji, sicken and annoyed by the news, but Fuji didn't seemed hassled by it.

"Make sure you pick wisely. The lot that go through are going to be in the Kantou tournament. If I have to mix it up I will, and also… I don't want Shikawara-san to be a regular after what happened."

Fuji came back to life once she heard Shikawara's name, which reminded her of the conversation they had yesterday afternoon. Fuji held her hand up and smiled whimsically. "Sorry sensei, but Shikawara-chan said she doesn't want to be taken off the team."

Ryuzaki-sensei crossed her arms, not happy with what was said. "Excuse me? Did you not see her at the match?"

Fuji crossed her arms playfully behind her back. "After the match yesterday, we all went to her house. She told me your thinking might end up with this result. She said to tell you there is no need for to remove her from something she loves doing."

Ryuzaki-sensei thought about it for a moment, she wiped her forehead then sighed. "And she's a damn good player too… if I see any signs, hesitations or anything from her, either at school or in the park, I'm taking her off, no questions asked. I've left my notes on the table, I'll be going now."

Ryuzaki collected her things and left the girls in charge while she took herself down to the park where she would have to go through the ordeal again with the boys.

Fuji collected the rankings papers and a pencil from the desk and sat down with Arai. She was ready to jot some names down when the thoughts of last night returned to her. They never left her… So close… so very close. She could still sense his willing touch on her body, like her skin wanted to savour every little thing he did in case she wouldn't feel it again for a while. She felt the motion of his hand on her forehead and the side of her face. She felt each of his fingers when he held her hands and she felt the weight of his arm around her shoulder blades… then the light touch of his lips...

She forgot where she was and slowly rose her hand to touch her lips and to whisper his name again. She stopped. Arai was in front of her. She broke the spell for a moment and pushed the paper over to her vice captain and tapped the pencil down.

"You do it." Fuji breathed.

Arai flicked an intent look to Fuji. She wasn't going to miss a thing, not a flinch, gesture or sound. She peered back down at the paper and pushed it away.

"We had this conversation already… I'm not doing it."

Fuji tried to think back… she couldn't find the conversation so took the pencil up anyway. The pencil hung in her hand loosely and she pondered around, unconsciously writing a name down every thirty seconds or so. Arai watched with attentive eyes.

"…So… how's the shoulder?" Arai asked wondering how Fuji would reply.

"Fine."

The response was so quick that Arai had to sit up. She wasn't expecting that. Thinking back to the state she was in when that little magenta-haired girl wandered off to when she carried herself home, her response didn't add up. Why wasn't she feeling sorry for herself? In fact, it was very much the opposite. What the heck happened between being leaving Shikawara's house and going home? "…It doesn't hurt?"

"No."

"…It's not bothering you?"

"No."

"…What was it?"

"Nothing."

Arai tapped her fingers across the table, still staring, still prying. "…It just stopped hurting?"

"Yeah."

"…Did it bleed?"

"No."

"…Did it make you hot?"

"Yes."

"…Were you sick?"

"No."

"…Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"…Really?

"Really."

Fuji never looked up, which only puzzled Arai more. The picture flashed in Arai's mind. Fuji didn't seem regretful at all. It looked as if she enjoyed the moment and what it entailed. A new thought crossed Arai's mind… she knew the answer to it but wanted to hear it in her mind regardless… Does Tezuka know? And if he did why hasn't he done anything… or said anything to make her see sense?

"You get any sleep?" Arai continued.

"No."

"…So, it bothered you all night?"

"No."

"…Something on your mind?"

Fuji's smile widened and she even felt her cheeks redden. "Yeah."

Arai saw it. "…What?"

Fuji now cut a suggestive and secretive smirk straight into Arai's suspicious eyes. "…Not telling."

Arai's eyebrows rose. Of all the things to say, Fuji hinted at something that should remain hidden… not hidden enough, Arai thought and continued to watch as she played with the thought in own her mind. They bothered her that much.

As before, Fuji jotted down names. She used a formula that she thought over during the summer break and now she had the opportunity to test out. The formula looked at, not strength with strength, but an individual's energy with another's. Yokoishi is by far the most spiritually strong, her match with Miura Academy's Seira Aihara provided that. Next would be Fuji, who at the best of time could hide her potential so not even Yokoishi could detect it, though not all the time and Umeko had great potential too. Jinhana was boarder line, but like the others she relied more on technique. It would be stupid if Fuji considered the factor of strength as a bad thing, but that alone wouldn't ensure a win when they faced stronger schools, who mastered both elements in their game.

So group A had Umeko, Suzu and Shikawara. Group B had Arai and Jinhana. Group C had herself and Nariko and group D had Yokoishi and Kikumaru

She wrote down the last few names and once she finished she looked up at Arai and asked her to look over it. Arai checked the names then quickly flicked a look up to Fuji, studying the expression.

"Why do have that look on your face?" Arai asked.

"What look?"

"…You seem pleased about something."

There was her suspicious attitude again. Fuji licked her top lip and redirected the conversation. "Are you not happy with the line up, again, Arai-chan?"

She looked over it quickly. "Not bothered, really not. Why do you look so happy, especially after what happened yesterday?"

Fuji didn't like to entertain Arai when she got overly focused, it was one of her good points but also one of her worse points. Fuji rose up and gathered the four sheets of papers with her. Arai wanted to grab Fuji and demand an answer but she promised herself that she would just watch. And she saw that Fuji didn't walk but floated in her step.

"Something good happened yesterday." Fuji now replied.

Arai took to her feet and stood by the door. Fuji placed the line up on the table and momentarily ran her fingertips over the sheet.

Arai watched the slow movements… please don't tell me that pompous swine did that to you!

"Nothing good happened yesterday Fuji-chan. Shikawara-san was hurt and we lost an easy match and you were acting all weird after that sw-bug bite." She nearly slipped up.

"I'm fine." Fuji said.

Before she walked away from the table she saw a note with her name on it. She picked it up to read. 'No games today. Only running and endurance exercises for both morning and evening. I will be testing you when I get back tomorrow.' She placed it back down and headed towards the door'

"Are you sure about that?" Arai asked next.

Fuji slid a patient look to Arai before walking right up to Arai. Fuji leant in close so their vision became blurry.

"Very." She said for her finally word on the matter and walked out the room, leaving Arai punching the air in frustration. She hadn't finished probing yet.

Fuji couldn't help thinking about Tezuka's actions yesterday. She tensed her hands when she went over the whole sense in her mind. Second by second, moment by moment. His silence was so powerful, his intentions were that strong that even after washing it all away in the shower she still felt everything. She wanted it to last forever but even she knew there were more exciting things to come… maybe a full kiss? She rose her hand up to touch her lip but ended up biting her thumb nail when Arai rejoined her.

They made their way outside where they found the team resting after finishing running around the courts. They organised the first and second years to do their swings and practices matches. As for the others…

"Sorry guys, Ryuzaki-sensei is not happy at all and left me a nice note saying she want us to work on our endurance."

"You're kidding," Jinhana called back. "She wants us to run around for an hour?"

"Two hours, really, and she's going to test us on it tomorrow so let's get started with some stretching."

They groaned with good reason and went to do as told. The picked their spots and got on with it. Fuji was going to team up with Shikawara but Kikumaru got Fuji before she could apporach her.

"You didn't answer your phone yesterday."

Oh, that's right, she completely forgot to talk to Kikumaru, even though she had the phone in her hand, watching the caller ID flash up three times. "Sorry."

Kikumaru bent forward but kept her head up and watching her friend. She knew more then most on the team, and she knew the reason why Fuji left early "Are you okay now?"

Fuji blow her hair from her eyes and rolled her wrists. "You guys care too much about me."

"Why, who else has been asking?"

"Arai-chan, even Shikawara-chan yesterday."

"Really?" Fuji nodded. "Well, you seem different? Does what happened make sense now?"

"…what?" Fuji turned to her after jumping on the spot.

Kikumaru shoulders slumped. "You haven't given it much thought have you?"

"What are you talking about Kikumaru-chan."

Kikumaru blinked with confusion. "Are you sure you're okay? Has it affected you that much?"

Fuji gave in. "No, you're right, I'm not okay… my mind is filled with him and I can't think of anything else but him."

Kikumaru's face twisted with disgusted. She had a little faith in her friend but why wasn't it going up? She found it hard to bring up his name but she had to.

"You mean, Atobe-san is all you can think about?"

Fuji slide a glance to her friend. "What are you talking about?" She stretched her arms in the air. "My mind is filled with… Tezuka-kun."

"Okay, now I'm confused. How does Tezuka-san fit into all this?"

Fuji was elated that her friend asked her this. She had another chance to relive the moment, with great detail. She told Kikumaru everything right down to how scared and nervous she felt to knock on the door to the excitement an anticipation of being with the one she loved. Kikumaru stood wide eyed and shocked.

"Are you serious?"

Fuji nodded casually and Kikumaru screamed with excitement. "Finally, finally! I'm so happy for you! And he has forgiven you, hasn't he?"

Now the dream had to end. "…about that…" Fuji said, turning away and not wanting to get into that side of the moment.

Kikumaru stood up and crossed her arms. "Fuji-chan, don't tell me you haven't told him yet?"

Fuji didn't say anything. She wanted to avoid having to explain herself.

Kikumaru sighed. "You're doing it again. You're creating that wall. I don't know why. If you find it so hard to tell him, I'll do it for you."

Fuji lowered her arms and thought about telling him, she had thought about it so much that it was starting to sicken her, and make her weak and exposed. Kikumaru saw this change in her friend but couldn't understand why it became such a problem. If it were her, telling Oishi would be the first thing she would do. So Kikumaru decided that something must have happened between the two in the past why she found it hard to bring it up to him.

Fuji shook her head and got back into stretching. "I want to tell him. And I know he'll understand and all… it just didn't seem right yesterday."

"Then why did you go to his house?"

"Because of what happened at the park… I wanted to see him, that's why I left early… and then I realised what I was doing and I guess I lose my composure. If I was in my right mind I think I would have told him."

Kikumaru shook her head and signed out. "I don't think I understand you anymore… Just make sure you tell him."

Fuji didn't answer and Kikumaru didn't push her further, but she did want to see the mark and asked if she could.

"Sure." Fuji said, and stood up to let her see.

Kikumaru was unsure about her frankness. Should Fuji really be so carefree about it? Kikumaru got up and stood close. She pulled back the strap and found the mark.

"Fuji-chan…" She ran her hand over the deep red mark. It looked like she had been hit, it was that red. "How hard did he bite you? No wonder you looked so hurt."

Fuji didn't say anything. She didn't want to acknowledge it. For her, the poison was sucked out, and all that remains were puncture wounds.

"Fuji-chan why would he do that?"

She wasn't given a chance to answer when Suzu glanced up and saw Kikumaru observing the sore shoulder. Suzu called out and asked if the bug bite still hurt, which got the whole team curious again. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong expect Arai, who never took her eyes off the two. So when she saw Kikumaru staring at the mark and the reaction from the two of them, she made up her mind.

"Oi!" She yelled, disturbing not only the regulars, but the non-regulars as well. "Do you want to feel Ryuzaki-sensei wrath tomorrow when you can't run around the damn courts? Get back to it."

It didn't help that Arai only heard bits of their conversation. She leant down heavily on Suzu's back, not realising her own force and was able to ignore Suzu's weeps of pain. What she did hear was enough. She would get Sai's input before going to Tezuka with her evidence.


tbc…

A/N: What's going on, everyone is assuming different things! That was short but cool. NEXT:

Chpater 40 (woot): Sai cares but doesn't care…!