Disclaimer: I don't own PoT. If I did, I wouldn't be waiting so anxiously for the next chapter of New Prince of Tennis to come out. I'd be wishing that the deadline wasn't so damn near!

Ch. 3

Ryoma shut his eyes tight. He didn't want to see Sakuno's body lying limply on the ground, soaking in a pool of her own blood. He didn't want to see the leader glance behind him, realize the dead weight was gone, and turn back with an evil grin on his face. He didn't want to see the leader bring the pipe down with all his might, dealing Ryoma a terrible blow.

Damn his overactive imagination- even if he hadn't wanted to see it, he'd seen it all in his mind's eye. Still, he kept his eyes shut. Imagining the worst wasn't the same as seeing it.

There were some strange sounds, as though people were getting hit. Had somebody betrayed the leader? Unlikely, Ryoma thought to himself. These were the Shirayukis. Every member of the gang was loyal enough to change their last name to Shirayuki- hence the name of the gang. There was no way someone would betray the group.

Breaking through his thoughts was the sound of a voice calling his name frantically. His lips curved into a cynical smile. He'd gone mad. One month spent in her company, and here he was imagining her voice after her death. He supposed it wasn't normal, but considering his childhood… she had been the first friend he'd ever had. It wasn't a far stretch to realize that he would miss her like this. Even her squeaky, annoying voice sounded like the sweetest of music… now that was just plain ridiculous.

"Is he hurt? Is that why he isn't opening his eyes?" Sakuno was terrified, frightened that she hadn't been able to prevent an injury. Tezuka eyed her critically. After her display, there was no doubt that she wasn't against Ryoma, but he was still a bit cautious about her. But her eyes showed nothing but concern, wanting to know her friend's condition. Sighing, Tezuka gave in. He couldn't resist a damsel in distress. "I think he's fine. I didn't see anyone coming this way during the scuffle. He might be in shock though."

Ryoma could even hear Tezuka's voice. This was a pretty good fantasy, as fantasies went. He could hear all the people that he really wanted to be there. Sakuno was there because he wished that she were still alive. Tezuka was there because he wanted to be rescued. Imagine that, the great Echizen Ryoma wanting to be rescued.

"Echizen-sama, can you open your eyes please?" Ryoma sighed. Fine, fine, even his fantasies were telling him to wake up. He pried his eyelids open, praying the scene before him wouldn't be too bloody. If he avoided looking right in front of him, he'd be able to avoid seeing Sakuno's body.

But when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a face, slowly swimming into focus. "T- Tezuka?" he yelled, jerking backwards in surprise. This tilted the chair, and he cried out again as his chair tipped over backwards.

Someone halted his fall, and Ryoma twisted his neck, surprised to see Oishi there as well. As he slowly got past his shock, he realized that everyone was there- all eight of his bodyguards. And standing, just behind Tezuka, with a concerned look on her pale face, was…

"Sakuno!" he yelled, relief evident in every part of his face. While he wasn't watching, Oishi had untied him, and he stood without any restraints, running directly towards Sakuno. He caught her up in a hug, reassuring himself that she truly was still alive. She squealed as he lifted her slightly off the ground in his joy that she was still here, but she just hugged him back, thankful everyone was ok.

God, it was nothing short of a miracle that everyone was ok. When she'd heard that gunshot, she'd jumped, too terrified to scream. She'd turned around, trying to see where the gunshot had been from.

Tezuka stood there with his gun pointed in the air. He had been the one to make the shot, shooting upwards so that he wouldn't hit anyone. He would never kill another person. Besides, all the people were drunk- he doubted they could even point a gun at a target 2 feet in front of them. The crowd of men stared in consternation at this new intruder, looking rather confused. Sakuno took the chance to slip out of the middle of the crowd, crouching just behind Ryoma's chair.

In a swift movement, Tezuka ducked into the crowd, disarming 3 people before they realized he was there, and taking several more guns before they could think to stop him. Someone finally swung drunkenly at him, and Tezuka easily sidestepped it before coming in and smashing his fist into the side of the guy's head. Someone lashed out at his back, and he bent forwards while kicking out backwards, kicking the would-be assailant in the gut. He straightened and immediately executed a roundhouse kick, felling yet another attacker.

At this point, the other 7 bodyguards had arrived. Sakuno watched, eyes wide, as they quickly joined their leader in the midst of the gang. Kikumaru flipped over the head of a gang member, and tackled the guy from behind, taking him down. Kaidoh's long reach allowed him to avoid other attacks while swinging easily at them. Oishi hit about him with an incredible accuracy, felling each person with one hit at most. Inui, mumbling statistics under his breath, was able to twist and avoid all attacks while fighting back skillfully. Fuji smoothly used his opponents' power against them- he'd duck under a punch and use the attacker's momentum to flip him on his back. Kawamura just barged through the crowd, and anyone who got in his way would immediately get knocked out. Momo used a mix of intuition and power, able to avoid or block attacks that by all rights should have been unavoidable, and then hitting back hard.

Within several minutes, the entire gang of 20 people was lying on the ground, either wheezing for breath, groaning in pain, or completely unconscious. Between the 8 of Ryoma's bodyguards, they'd already taken all the guns, unloading them quickly and chucking them into a corner. Then, they'd gone to Ryoma, hoping their master was still awake.

And that was when Ryoma had opened his eyes, and hugged Sakuno.

Softly, she whispered, "Are you really Echizen Ryoma?" At that, Ryoma stiffened. "How much did you hear?" he whispered, voice suddenly void of emotion. Swallowing, Sakuno replied, "Uh, I was here when they said they called you Echizen Ryoma, and said they needed the money from your ransom…" He blew out a breath. He'd known his anonymity wouldn't last long. Tiredly, he looked up at Tezuka. "She knows."

Those two words sent the group into chaos. "WHA?" cried Kikumaru, horrified that their cover had been blown so quickly. Kaidoh hissed, looking stunned. The others just looked to Tezuka, who looked as though he was carved out of stone- oh, wait, he always looked like that. He gazed at her coolly, and Sakuno shivered. What was going to happen now?

"Well, considering her actions during this incident, there is very little chance that she will tell anyone about Echizen-sama's true name." Inui said quietly. This girl was incredibly brave- and stupid, some would say- to have put herself in danger like that for her friend. With that kind of loyalty, she would never betray Ryoma.

Tezuka nodded curtly. "But that doesn't mean that others won't target her." He responded. "We'll have to implement security measures…"

A/N: Ok, one last chapter to go!