Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own prince of tennis

Chapter 8: Do I make a good wife?

Today I changed faster than all other girls since I was dismissed earlier. I really miss girls practice.

I caught sight of Minamoto buchou and ran up to her.

"Buchou I miss you so much!" I cried.

"How was practice?" she questioned hoping for a response such as "It's so difficult" but the response I gave her was the opposite.

"It's boring!" I exclaimed automatically.

I ended up explaining the whole practice to her and to my disappointment; she seemed impressed with guys' practice.

"Aizawa chan, you do know that girls don't have the potential to run 20 laps or any two digit number. I sent you to boys' practice knowing that your potential was beyond ordinary girls. Besides, Yamato buchou is a mysterious but superb buchou. You'll see the reason why Ryuzaki sensei and I wanted to send you to him soon."

I felt neglected and I wanted to go back to girls practice but like buchou said, that seems too easy. After I changed, I walked to the boy's locker room to wait for Tezuka.

These days it seems pretty natural for us to wait for each other. Thank goodness he came out fast because I don't like getting mobbed by Tezuka's fans while I'm waiting for him.

When we started walking, it was me who brought up what happened last night.

"Tezuka Kun thank you so much for yesterday. I owe you a lot."

"Don't worry about it. Aizawa san you don't owe me anything." I was truly greatful for those words. Lot of people would say that but from Tezuka seems like it truly came from the heart.

"Oh Tezuka Kun do you want to come today to work on homework?"

"Sure…"

"Then can you come with me to go grocery shopping? It's Monday so I have to restock the fridge."

After he nodded, we were silent because I was busy thinking about what to cook. Something that Tezuka will enjoy but you know stoic people like him are picky but they never comment. How useless…but it was worth a try,

"Tezuka Kun what do you want to eat tonight?"

"It's fine thank you I'll go home to eat."

"So are you saying my cooking is not good enough?" Hehe stoic people are hard to understand but I can see his soft hearted (Grins)

"No it's just I don't want to trouble you."

"Is that a way to avoid my cooking?"

"No…you just recovered from a fever you should rest more."

"I know my health the best and you're raising my blood pressure." I smiled as I walked a step behind him. This was my win.

"So you're staying over for dinner. What do you like to eat?" I repeated. It seems like he gave up on arguing with me.

"Anything is fine…" See? I knew this was going to be his answer.

Sighing at the same time, I decided to cook Italian food. I threw into the basket: Spaghetti, clams, mushroom, onion, grounded meat, spaghetti sauce, basil.

I have everything I need at home for appetizer and desert.

The line was short since no one got off work yet and we arrived home in a flash because I power walked.

"No one is home at this time?" Tezuka asked curiously while he watched me take out my keys.

"Nope. Mom will be home around 8 and dad will be home around 10. Why? Are you going to take advantage of me?" Teasing him is also fun since he's always serious.

"No" His icy mask never failed to stay on but his skin betrayed him since he blushed in embarrassment.

"Just kidding I trust you."

"So you've always been alone until 8?"

"Yes. It's not that dangerous." He sounds like my grandpa.

"Then I'll accompany you from now on until you mom comes home."

"Heh are you sure? But…are you sure?" I babbled confusingly.

"Yes" he stated firmly. So she's always been alone. That's why she's strong enough to cope with her problems by herself…

I was lost and astonished. I was used to being by myself, I like to give myself enough personal space but I was also happy at the same time because being home by yourself is not fun everyday.

"So let's work on our homework until 6:30 then you take a break while I'll make dinner." I said while we both dumped our backpacks on the couch.

We both busily took out books from our backpacks and pretty son we were scribbling nonstop.

After awhile…

"Are you done Aizawa san?" Tezuka mused at 6.

"Almost….ok I'm done." We checked answers with each other and were finally done.

"Tezuka Kun you can listen to music or watch TV or something. I'll take about 30 minutes to cook dinner."

"Do you need help or anything?"

"No, you'll be in my way." I stuck out my tongue innocently as Tezuka glared for just a moment.

"I'm just kidding. You're a guest so go rest!"

Aizawa san seems pretty much recovered from yesterday. But somehow in school, I see moments when she's daydreaming with a sad face while she's alone. I'm a stoic but a softy, how shameful…he thought as he reluctantly walked over to Mina's room.

Since he was done with homework for the day, he started to pack his belongings into his backpack.

Framed pictures caught his eyes as he picked up his pencil.

A Picture of 4 girls that posed in a diamond shape caught his eyes. On the right side was Mina, smiling contently. They must have been best friends. They are all hugging each other. The girl on the left had black hair, shoulder length with white skin, sprinkled with some acne. The girl in the back had a nice smile, and soft looking brown hair while the girl in the front had some blonde streaks smiled innocently, holding on to Mina's arms, that were around her shoulders.

I don't know anything about her and I usually don't care. But seeing how she likes to hide everything makes me want to learn more about her.

He took in the scenery of her room. Clean, pure and not overpowering, just like Mina is.

Her white sheets were outlined with white lace, a painting of a flower bed hung on the wall. Her room smelled like vanilla, sweet but not strong. All of her characteristics were imprisoned in this room: sweet, innocent and friendly.

"Tezuka Kun Dinner's ready!" I said as I popped my head in.

"Aizawa san, are these your friends from Yokohama?" He asked giving the picture a piercing look.

"Yes, they're my best friends. We used to call ourselves the Zodiax." I said as I picked up the picture and looked nostalgically at it.

"How did you feel when you transferred here?"

"I was devastated but then I felt parting with people doesn't mean eternally parting with them. I think it's a good opportunity to meet new people."

She is stron, usually girls would be depressed about these type of things. If I was in the same situation as her, I wouldn't be depressed also since I don't really have close friends. Am I wrong for being so closed towards others?

Tezuka thought as he followed Mina downstairs.

Just as he came out the door, he smelled the rich tomato sauce, mixed with freshly boiled pasta and when he reached the table, he saw a bowl of clam chowder next to each plate of spaghetti.

"Aizawa san you set dinner for your parents also?" he mentioned since there were four plates of spaghetti.

"Yes, because I'm usually working on homework when they come home. That's why I try to work ahead on the homework so I can spend time with my parents on weekends. So enough about me today. Please comment on my cooking." I gave Tezuka my puppy eyes. I hope he likes my cooking.

"A+" he said shortly after he took in couple of bites.

"Really?" I was astonished. Tezuka wasn't the type to straightly say his emotions.

He nodded like a husband approving of a wife's cooking.

"Be sure you can fit dessert too" I commented while I twirled the spaghetti onto my fork.

For dessert, I made fruit parfait. It was strawberry jello on the bottom while, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry mixed with vanilla ice cream on top of the jello, topped with whip cream and cherry.

We didn't talk during the meal at all since I was busy eating instead of thinking about what to say, but this was fine since Tezuka seemed to have enjoyed my cooking. He even offered to wash dishes.

"No Tezuka Kun I'll do it. You're the guest."

"But I can't let you do all the work and I need to thank you for your cooking." And knowing the stern Tezuka, there was no stopping him.

"Do you really know how to wash dishes?" I questioned as I stood behind him. I didn't want to be in his way while he was busy.

"Yes" he answered stiffly. Knowing his usual character, I knew he will finish the work perfectly but I couldn't help teasing him. Tezuka Kunimitsu washing dishes? Priceless!

"Oh Tezuka Kun you missed a spot" I would comment occasionally or "You forgot to rinse that plate" even though I knew he already did.

Unexpectedly, Tezuka seemed to have had enough and placed a finger on the faucet to spray the water towards me. Instantly I clasped my arms around his waist and my head on his back to avoid the shower. What happened after that was below our reputations.

Both of us laughing hard, he continued spraying me with water while I sprayed some whip cream on my hands and slapped it on his cheeks. And our fight continued for about ten minutes.

"Hmm I should take a picture" I said when I was trying to calm down.

"Please don't. I don't think you would like your reputation to be degraded either." He said while washing his face.

After that we sat on the living room couch and watched a game show on TV.

"What year did the prime minister sign the peace treaty with America?" the host asked.

"1987" Tezuka replied automatically.

"What a robot" I commented, getting a glare from him.

"What is the derivative of 3x cubed plus 2x squared minus 7x plus 9?" was the next question.

"6x squared plus 4x minus 7." It was my turn to answer.

"Brainiac.." Tezuka hissed quietly.

"Don't be jealous." I gave back a grin.

Then the doorbell rang.

"Okaeri Mom." I greeted happily as I took her bag.

"Hi Mina." Mom replied tiredly. "Ph! Hi Tezuka Kun." She was astonishe to see Tezuka.

"Ojamashitemasu (Literally he's saying I'm bothering you but it's similar to hello I'm here.) And he added, "Since your mom is home now I should go back."

"Thank You Tezuka Kun for accompanying me." I said as I walked him towards the door.

"Yes, Thank you Kunimitsu Kun." Mom added.

After I watched Tezuka disappear into his house, I headed over to mom who was already starting to eat the plate of spaghetti.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu Kun… are you falling for him Mina?" mom questioned with twinkling eyes, "He's actually a good choice if he wasn't so cold and serious.

"No, he acts like a brother to me. There's a lot more girls that deserves him more than I do." I added, "Occasionally, he would loosen his guard and laugh. Being able to loosen his guard means he's comfortable with me just like he would be with a family member."

Seeing how this was going no where, mom brought up what I didn't want to hear.

"Mina, are you feeling better?" She ran her fingers through my hair.

"Mom I'm fine you know me. I recover fast." I forced a smile.

"Doctors will be looking for the right bone marrow donor, so don't worry." She pronounced sensing my fake smile.

"Just in case mom, you owe me a lot of ice cream!" I said hoping to light up the mood.

Then I headed off to shower to avoid going back to that subject.