A/N: Aww, poor Tezu-chan…

Disclaimer: I showed Takeshi Konomi this chapter and it was for this very reason that he did not add any love elements in Prince of Tennis! (Randomness but, seriously, PoT needs more love!)

Edited because there were mistakes (10.6.2010)


Chapter Forty Eight

Tezuka sat on the corner of his bed and took out several brochures from his bag that Ryuzaki-sensei handed him. He had already declined the offer to attend a school over seas but it didn't hurt to see what they were about. The first one he took out was from a school in California, America. He kicked his legs onto his bed and leant back against the headrest.

Although his eyes were looking at the pictures of the school grounds, facilities and academic schedules, Tezuka's mind was very far from it. Want was he thinking about? A lot of things. It had been two weeks since Leiko Arai gave him that white envelope; he glanced up from the brochure and glimpsed it on his desk. He ran his hand through his hair and turned the next page.

How long are you going to wait for her to tell you? That voice in his head played with his self-control. So far he was able to push it away or ignore it, but as the days turned to weeks with no results, he didn't know how much longer he could wait for Fuji.

He had heard things – God! He had seen it with his own eyes! That day when he and his team went to watch the girl's City Tournament, he saw them together – no, that's not an accurate account. Fuji was sitting down and Atobe was standing over her. Tezuka remembered seeing the look in Atobe's eyes and it was a look he knew well. Subtle but domineering. Tezuka had those eyes. He knew them very well. He admitted to losing his cool by taking off his jacket and dropped it over her shoulders. He knew Fuji didn't know what it meant – his real reasons. There was nothing romantic about it. He was blatantly telling Atobe to back off and Atobe understood. It was almost animalistic. He wiped his cheek when he understood his actions a bit more. He added his scent on Fuji. Subtly claiming her without words and showing Atobe just how much power he had.

He closed the brochure. He didn't want to think about the situation… but he had to. It was bothering him too much. His internal voice taunted him. For the very same reason that he covered his coat over Fuji's shoulders was why he wanted to kiss her that night. There was nothing romantic about it. Sure he loved her, of course he did, otherwise he would not tolerate her past teasing. But when he lost his cool, his self-control, romance took a backseat. But, the beast in him had to take a back seat because something was now wrong. Something was wrong with Fuji, and he didn't know what it could be. He had ideas, thoughts and doubts but they wouldn't bring him any closer to knowing what had happened to Fuji.

There was a knock at his door and his heart jumped. Could it be Fuji again? Maybe to have another go to tell him the truth.

"Kunimitsu? Don't you have your tournament tomorrow? Shouldn't you be going to bed now, honey?"

Of course it wasn't Fuji! He ruffled his hands through his hair and once again sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. He answered his mother and listened to her light steps go back downstairs.

Read it. Can't be that bad.

Those thoughts were stronger now that his heart was beating against his chest.

It's probably something silly. You know how schoolgirls are.

Maybe he could figure it out without looking at it. He didn't want to think anything bad of Fuji… but… It was that 'but' that made him take to his feet and walk over to his desk. He stared down at the white envelope. Just open it! The voice raged inside him. He turned to the door hoping that Fuji would be there, but while he turned to stare at his door, his right hand picked it up. He breathed. Yeah, resort to those dirty tricks. He flicked the flap open. Remember, be mature about it.

He was surprised to see it was a photo. He had wondered why it was so thick. He held the glossy paper and pulled it out slowly. He flipped it over and stared at the sharp image in silence.

Be mature about it.

If not mature how else should he react to it? His fingers gripped the corners of the picture. He couldn't take his eyes off it. He knew the shape of her frame. He knew the shape of Atobe's frame. He slammed the picture down on his desk and covered his mouth as he looked away. How could he be mature about that? His eyes darted left and right as thoughts ran through his mind. Arai told him this happened on that day. Then it was the same day Fuji came to his house. What the hell was she thinking? He looked at it again.

It was the same shoulder that she wouldn't let him touch. Be mature about it.

He snatched the picture up and walked over to his bin. It explained why she couldn't come out and say it. It was because of this that she didn't want him to touch her shoulder. A passing thought told him that it no longer belonged to him. He took off his glasses and threw them on his bed. He dropped the picture in the bin but thought otherwise… this wasn't like him at all. Was he one to be this jealous, this angry? But she allowed Atobe to touch her! She allowed Atobe to touch her long enough for someone to take a damn picture - for her own teammate to take a damn picture!

Be mature about it.

He wiped the stress from his eyes. He had to calm down. Calm down. He reached back into the bin knowing he could not take it for what it was. It was tasteless and against everything he believed in. There had to be a good reason behind the incident and he wanted to hear it. He could no longer wait on Fuji to tell him anything. To go as far to say he didn't have a right to know… what did that mean! He folded it up. It didn't want to touch it. His internal voice told him to be mature about it over and over again. There and then he knew he couldn't be himself anymore. He had to say something. He put the picture in his bag and sat on the edge of his bed, motionless with his hands over his mouth.

He should have said something long ago. Why did he leave things so long? He should have told Fuji long ago that he loved her but now… now he didn't know if he could look her in the eyes.


tbc…

A/N2: Oh, ain't I evil. I'm sure I could have been more dramatic with this but… meh. It took me about 15mins... I'll make it up to you Tezuka... some day...

Chapter 49: Hmm, might be a long one if I don't cut it in two, but Tezuka is not a happy boy! Not a quick update.

Thanks for sticking wit' it!