Painting Your Colors

Pairing: Tezuka X Sakuno

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Prince of Tennis

Author's Note: I give my utmost gratitude to those who reviewed. I am so glad that you guys are enjoying it….I have to say, that I might not be that fast at updating because I'm one of those people who are over-thinkers!!!! Especially this week I don't think I can update because of finals and everything. Anyways, here is the second chapter.

"…" speaking/conversation

'…' thoughts

Chapter Two

It's and indeed a mysterious phenomenon of what human senses can indicate. Despite the fact that Sakuno's complete concentration was riveted on her painting, a small signal at the back of her head sent an innuendo to turn back. She was hoping she could ignore this pesky subconscious, but when it became too much of a hindrance to her attentiveness, she finally yielded and looked back to only find herself for a surprise. A man was behind her, standing there, his arms folded, and seemingly glaring at her direction; but he was no ordinary man, but the Tezuka Kunimitsu.

'How long was he standing there? Why is he here? I don't remember him taking any art classes' Sakuno briefly thought as she started to get a slight panic attack.

It wasn't everyday she met the captain that everyone admired from afar face to face. Actually, she hadn't talked to him since he graduated middle school. And though only vaguely, she recalls their last conversation as being something on the line of congratulating his graduation attached with a short grunt as a reply. And when Sakuno had finally entered high school, to forget Ryoma, she had discontinued coming close to anything that was relevant to tennis added to the fact that her best friend had stopped attending all the games of Seigaku as well. Thus for the last three years, though she had noticed him once in awhile, it was as if the two were never in the same vicinity; each strolling their own separate path that never seemed to converge. So it was no surprise that the still timorous Sakuno was astonished to meet Tezuka in such a situation.

She was waiting for him to initiate something since she had now acknowledged his presence, but when nothing was said, she attempted to compose herself and barely audibly, she called out his name.

"anou (1)…Tezuka..Senpai?"

"..." there was no reply.

"..Tezuka Senpai?" She said again.

"…" again, an awkward silence embraced her

Sakuno became extremely uncomfortable at this point. It was either he couldn't hear her or he was- to anybody's surprise - in a daze. She completely doubted the latter, so she took very timid steps toward the stoic man.

She would have gladly spoken a little louder rather than taking a step closer to get his attention and finally assuage they umbrage of this heavy atmosphere, but she couldn't. It was as if an outside force was blocking her mouth. Everything about this moment seemed sacred, almost transcendent; and if she broke this fragile ambiance that lingered in this room, she felt as if a grave consequence would be bestowed upon her.

So she hesitantly took one step closer and desperately tried to elicit a response from her senpai. And she continued this pattern until she was literally two feet away from him. At this point, she was franticly hoping for a hiatus on this awkward action she was taking because she didn't want to get any closer. If she took one more step, not only would she be close enough to observe every infinitesimal detail of this beautiful man's face, but she would probably feel the wrath of Tezuka for invading his personal space. As a last resort, she called out his name once again, but only this time, it was almost close to a scream.

"Tezuka Senpai!!"

And in that second, the balance that Tezuka always carried with him broke.

"…Ryuzaki?"

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"...Ryuzaki?"

Tezuka was bemused when he finally awoke from his daze. Not only was a girl, who was definitely more than five meters away a second ago, now standing too close for his liking, but that girl was Ryuzaki Sakuno, his middle school coach's granddaughter. And though his motto was always "never let your guards down", for the first time in a while, somebody actually had managed to catch him off guard.

"hehe"

Now, Tezuka was fully awake when he heard the girl chuckle. His eyebrows slightly twitched, but he didn't speak a word. He just intently stared at her until she impeded her ridiculous giggling.

"..anou…gomen nasai (2)"

"Ah." was his curt reply

The soft cheeks of the girl tinted crimson when she finally realized her action. Well, it was only almost natural for her to giggle, since she was the one to find the Tezuka in a dumbfounded state. But, when she felt his stare boar through her skin, she winced and bemoaned at what she just did. Silence, once again, swept over the room, and this time nobody seemed to want to say anything. Tezuka completely regretted stopping by in this art room instead of going straight home. He detested unnecessary situations, much like this one.

"umm, senpai? Anou..What are you doing here?" the girl spoke, finally breaking this inconvenient stillness.

"It is 7:00, Ryuzaki" he again tersely and patiently responded.

Sakuno gasped and quickly turned her face to the closed window. Her hazel orbs reflected complete surprise when she was in face with a dark sky.

"Oh my gosh! Obaa-san will be so mad!...anou Tezuka Senpai! Arigato (3) demo I need to go. Gomen nasai! Arigato!"

The frantic girl, distorting her face, bowed almost 90 degrees, collected her belongings and sprinted toward the door, letting her two long braids fly behind her. Before anything, she was out of this room, leaving the wet canvas as the only evidence that she was actually here.

Again, Tezuka's eyebrows twitched just hardly, but didn't speak a word. He, too, began to walk, but, rather than taking the same footsteps as the girl and leave the art room, he instead approached the painting she had been working on.

Actually, he was quite curious of what she was drawing. When he first opened the door to the art room, though he would never admit it, he was fascinated and enchanted at the scene that was before his eyes: It was a girl, standing before her canvas, painting. Though it wasn't anything bizarre, something about it, actually everything about it was…beautiful. He rarely used this word, but he didn't know any other way to describe it. It wasn't the girl's beauty that was mesmerizing but everything else that was coalescing with it. The swift and graceful movements of her brush were as if she was dancing across the water. Her contemplation and strive to create her own artwork illuminated, becoming the light source that starkly contrasted with the aphotic sky. And beyond everything, her passion that was conveyed was so refreshing; he hadn't felt such zeal from anybody for a long time. All this was coalescing into a compromising piece, and somewhat ironically, it was as if he was seeing a painting. And when she called out his name, it wasn't that he didn't hear it. But the voice that was rolling out of her mouth was so soothing, almost as captivating, and thus, making him fall more into a daze until her abrupt loud calling finally awakened him.

When he came in face with the actual painting on the gessoed canvas, he wasn't disappointed at what he found. Though he wasn't much knowledgeable in the art field, the image that she depicted seemed to epitomize what he observed few minutes before; the devotion, the fervor, the harmony, topped off with proficiency. He unknowingly engraved the unfinished picture into his memory. He then walked away, shut off the light of the room and went out the door, closing it behind him.

When Tezuka reached the exit of the school, for the third time, he raised his eyebrows. The girl, Ryuzaki, didn't leave, but instead was standing right outside the door, below the jutted roof. He opened the glass gate and a gust of icy wind hit his face.

"Ryuzaki." Tezuka acknowledged her, demanding a response of why she was still here.

"Oh! Tezuka Senpai!" the girl squealed. This time, she was the one caught by surprise.

"…"

"anou…it's raining, and I don't have an umbrella. Umm, I think I'm going to wait until it calms down a bit," she answered. She knew,already that Tezuka's silence was accounted for one of his most frequently used responses to any question.

Tezuka tore his stare from the girl and realized it was still raining, much harder than before. It was almost a downpour. He turned his stare at the girl again. She was shivering; her lips tinted a hue of blue, looking more fragile than she already was. He checked his wristwatch; 7.26 p.m. It was getting late. He let a sigh escape under his breath and spoke.

"Come Ryuzaki. I'll take you home."

The hazel eyes widened significantly, and after, she vehemently shook her head.

"ie (4) Senpai! I can't afford such trouble."

"It's getting late. I'll take you home."

"demo (5)…. I…"

"Ryuzaki." He cut her off. He quickly opened his grey umbrella and lightly seized Sakuno's wrist, pulling her under the umbrella.

The girl yelped.

"Let's go" and Tezuka began to take strides toward the front entrance once again, but making sure that Sakuno was following. He found himself relieved when she was strutting alongside him, her face fastened onto the cement floor.

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Sakuno couldn't lift up her head. Her face was dyed red when she felt her senpai holding her wrist. Though his hands hastily disappeared, the warmth still lingered on her skin, permeating slowly past the epidermis, flowing in the bloodstream that would soon reach her heart.

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anou: umm

gomen nasai: I'm sorry

Arigato: Thank You

Ie: no/It's okay

Demo: but

Author's Note: Well that's it for the second chapter!! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry if this isn't that good. I am hoping you guys still remember that this is my first fanfic ever!!!! Anyways, I will try to update soon, and if you have any suggestion, please leave a message. I'm glad to listen and improvise on my writing skills. Also, the story might be going a little slow for the first few chapters because I'm setting it up. Probably there will be more of a plot after the third. Please be patient until then. Thank You