Yuka was not a bit surprised when she felt Tezuka's strong hands gripped her shoulders and pushed her inches away to break the kiss. He had been so unnecessarily talkative, and doing 'that' was the best way she knew to shut him up. And it worked.

The stoic buchou eventually left the scene, sending dagger looks to whoever dared to look at his direction. He didn't need words to convey the disgust and disapproval he felt at that time. Who could blame him? What Yuka did in front of everyone was outrageous. If she was thinking of proving her prowess, which everyone already recognized, then her bold action earlier was unjustifiable slash unacceptable.

"Tezuka.." Inui started just as their captain passed by his direction.

"I'll get the schedules from –"

"Urusai!" came a voice from the other court which cut off Tezuka's statement.

"Tensai ne?" continued the voice with a smug laugh. " You expect me to believe that? Baka!" 'she' mocked followed by a fast blow of her own version of the 'disappearing' serve.

Fuji made a quick dash to the right, anticipating the point of the ball's appearance just like his own serve.

'Got you.' he thought as he swung his racquet to hit the ball, which turned out to be a fake. He instead staggered backwards when he felt a strong and painful impact hit his body's left side.

The blue-eyed boy fell on his knees, right hand pressed on his aching ribcage. He silently gritted his teeth, realizing that the pain was just too deep to simply leave him a bruise later. He must've broken a rib from that impact. Fuji heaved a sigh and stood up. Zakuro Amane is surely a force to be reckoned with.

"Yamette, Zakuro!" Aya shouted from outside the court. " You can't do it!"

The black-haired gal ignored her friend's warning and prepared for another serve.

'Watch me.' Zakuro thought, as she threw the ball up on the air.

"Yamero!" came Ryuuzaki-sensei's loud voice from somewhere.

All heads automatically turned their coache's direction, who didn't look like a but pleased with what's going on.

"Tezuka, Fumito, I need to talk to you both." Ryuuzaki said before directing her gaze to the adjacent court.

"Fuji, Amane! 30 laps around the court! NOW!" she commanded before leaving along with the two captains.

Oishi took the hint, and started to facilitate the practice routines.

"Seems like we have to reschedule our match." Fuji gently said as he offered his right hand for a handshake.

Zakuro ignored him and walked away to start running laps.

The truth is, she didn't really heard anything. Her thoughts were fixed on how Tezuka looked at her earlier with a subtle hint of disapproval marking his stoic face. Zakuro knew why. She had all the reason why he looked at her that way.

Tezuka was disappointed. Not just because of the unauthorized match they had, but more because of the fact that she aimed her shot directly at Fuji's body. Zakuro never thought of making it intentional. But the thought of how the tensai blackmailed her, plus Yuka's apparent threat, and now the nerve breaking scene she saw on the opposite court made her lose control of her grip. And before she even realized it, she had already shot an all too strong and fast serve, which she knew would hit Fuji if he attempts to hit it back with his own calculation. And he did.

Technically therefore, Zakuro intentionally hit him; a fact that Tezuka clearly saw.

Zakuro hasten up her speed to temporarily calm her nerves. She did nothing wrong. Everything's just fine. It was all an accident. She was already on her 3rd lap when she felt a strong hand gripped her arm and pulled her away from her course, pinning her against the wall away from the view of the public.

"What the-"

Fuji's soft lips pressed against her own silenced her rebellious nature completely.

"You looked scary back there, Zakuro-chan." Fuji commented after he made sure she wouldn't do any sort of retaliation. Action/Verbal.

Zakuro just stared at him with wide eyes, completely aware yet confused at the same time of the untimely assault.

"You kissed me." she managed to breath out.

Fuji answered her with a gentle smile.

"Baka…"

Zakuro smiled bitterly as she allowed herself to lean closer to the guy in front of him.

"Does it hurt?" she asked , referring to the area of Fuji's body which was hit by the ball earlier.

"A bit….I think I broke a rib."

Zakuro immediately leaned away and looked at him with worry and slight annoyance.

"Y-you broke…..a rib?" she said, not wanting to recognize the tensai's statement.

Fuji nodded.

The black-haired gal exhaled sharply.

"We gotta go and have that checked. C'mon."

"I'll do that later." Fuji replied.

Zakuro looked at him in dazed annoyance.

"Just in case you still don't know, I actually felt guilty with what I did. Now if you don't mind giving out some pity on my conscience.." she trailed off upon noticing Fuji's unfaltering smile.

"Fine. Do what you want." she concluded.

Fuji then grabbed her hand and pulled her back on course.

"27 laps more to go." he said, pulling her into a run.

Zakuro remained silent even as they started their way, hand in hand. Even if she wanted to cry and mock herself, she just seemed to be so tired to do more things other than running. Perhaps completely giving up tennis is one way to stabilize her emotions again. She practically feels tired of 'staring' at his back, hoping that he'll one day turn around and see her as who she is, which eventually always bring her disappointment.

Kate was right.

Tezuka's never gonna see the real her.

Author's Note:

Now this really makes me wonder why I let 'that' happen.

Fuji and Zakuro kissing?Oh yeah, my brain's got a lot of explanation to do for the next time.

Thanks!