Hi everyone! Here's chapter 4 of Just Be Friends! This chapter is Tezuka-centric and has lots of flashbacks. The flashbacks are in italics just so you could tell them apart from what's currently happening. Just in case though, I put breaks between the flashbacks and what's currently is the lobnest chapter I've written so far, so hopefuly I don't bore you to death with it. I really hope you guys like the chapter.

Chapter 4: Encounters

It was just another day at school as both Ryoma and Yuu sat in class, not paying much attention to the lecture. It had already been three weeks since they first started going to Seigaku and they were still either sleeping in class or daydreaming the whole time. However, unlike all the other times before, Yuu wasn't daydreaming about cake. Instead she found her thoughts drifting towards the stoic Seigaku tennis club captain and the multiple encounters she has had with him so far.

Yuu was walking around in the school determined not to get lost this time, however like always, she ended up confused and lost even though she had been exploring the school twice a day for three days now. Luckily for her, while wandering through one of the many long halls, she found two girls talking happily amongst themselves.

"Umm…excuse me, but do you know how to get back to the school entrance from here? I'm new and I got lost." Yuu said timidly, looking at the two older girls. The two girls turned from their conversation to Yuu and gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm sorry, but can't you see we were talking? Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners? You're such a rude little girl" asked a blonde girl, twirling her long hair between her fingers

"Is she even a girl? Look at her, she's wearing the boy's uniform. That must mean she's gender confused or something." Said the brunette next to the blond

"You're right, she doesn't even look like a girl. Her hair is too short and ugly. What's with the covered eye? Trying to look cool? Those cheap ugly-looking bells aren't helping either" said the blonde, laughing at her comment. Yuu dropped her head, looking at the floor beneath her.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with her wearing the boy's uniform. There aren't any rules against it. Or am I wrong?" came a stern voice from behind the girls. Yuu looked up to see the familiar glasses-wearing, stoic face of the Seigaku tennis club captain. He was currently looking at the two girls with an emotionless face. The girls felt embarrassed and walked off without another word. Yuu was too confused at the scene before her and didn't notice Tezuka turn around and begin to walk off.

"Tsukiyomi!" yelled the homeroom teacher, finally getting Yuu's attention

"Cupcake!" yelled Yuu standing up from her seat, startled at the sound of her teacher yelling her name, finally getting out of her daze. The room was soon filled with her classmate's laughter, who thought her random answer was funny.

"Sit down Tsukiyomi, and please try to pay attention" said the teacher in an exasperated voice, sighing at his student. Yuu sat down blushing, embarrassed at the incident, hearing a small "mada mada dane" from her friend

It was after school and Yuu was running around the gym, tripping every now and then, but getting back up as soon as she had fallen. Ryoma was currently at the tennis courts having matches to see if he will be able to enter the tennis club. She took this opportunity to do some of her own training for the upcoming fitness exam in P.E.

"Big fat meanie Ryo-chan saying I won't be able to run the 12 laps in under 10 minutes. Then again, it has been a while since I've done any kind of exercise or training, especially after the whole ice skating incident…but I'll show him that I can do something other than be a bother. Even clumsy people can run if they try their best...I think." thought Yuu as she continued her run around the gym. She was starting to trip and fall less, however after a while her left leg started hurting and she fell face down on the gym floor. She was unable to move and get up from the spot, too tired to do anything else. She heard something being placed near her head and footsteps walking away from her. Wondering what it was, she looked up and saw a water bottle near her and Tezuka's back as he walked towards the gym entrance.

"Don't get careless" were what she thought she heard him say as he disappeared from sight. She stared at the water bottle for a while before smiling and getting back up, continuing to run.

"Tsuki-hime, are you even going to eat?" asked Ryoma looking over to his friend who was just sitting there, her lunch left unopened.

"I don't feel hungry today. Do you want it?" Yuu asked, coming out of her daze a second time. She was currently sitting on the school roof along with Ryoma. They always went there during lunch whenever they didn't have any other activities.

"You've been acting strange all day…stranger than you usually are" he stated, opening his friend's lunch box

"Sorry about that. It's nothing, really" said Yuu, smiling lightly at her friend.

"Mada mada dane" he replied, eating her food

It was another fine day after school and Yuu was re-shelving books since she had just become part of the library committee along with Ryoma. She was having a bit of trouble getting the books up on the higher shelves since she was so short. She looked around and saw that nobody was near her, so she got up on one of the lower shelves and pulled herself up closer to the shelf she was trying to rearrange. Before she was even able to put it up, she slipped from the shelf and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she found herself close to Tezuka who had a frown on his face. It was the first time she had ever seen him with an expression other than his usual.

"You really shouldn't be doing that. It's not safe." Said the boy as he picked up the book that was dropped.

"I'm sorry" replied Yuu, feeling bad for causing him trouble. Tezuka placed the book in its rightful place and started to do the same for all the other books on the cart that were supposed to go on the higher shelves. Yuu smiled and started placing the books on the lower shelves.

Everyone was busy working on mixing some chemicals for a lab experiment when all of a sudden, a loud bang was heard and everyone turned their attention to the source of the sound. Yuu had just blown up a beaker and was collecting the broken glass shards.

"I'm really sorry!" Yuu yelled, panicking at what she had done.

"Mada mada dane. Pay attention to what you're doing" said Ryoma who was at the table next to hers

"Umm…Ryoma…the beaker's full…you're spilling the solution" said the boy next to Ryoma, worrying about the mess. Ryoma finally realized what he was doing and stopped pouring the solution into the overflowing beaker.

"Mada mada dane. Pay attention to what you're doing" said Yuu smiling at her friend who only frowned in response

It was a busy week for Yuu since people were needed at the library to help out and she had happily volunteered to go every day during her lunch period. She was once again shelving books until she caught sight of Tezuka sitting at a table surrounded by books.

"Ah, it's Tezuka again. Now that I think about it, he's been here all week during lunch break. Since he's here during lunch, that must mean he's not eating, which means he's probably overworking himself." Thought Yuu looking at the boy. She quietly went over to his table unnoticed and placed a couple of granola bars next to where his book stack was. At the sound of something being placed near him, Tezuka looked up from his books to see the smiling face of Yuu.

"Don't overwork yourself" was all she said before bowing and going back to re-shelving books.

"WATCH OUT!" yelled a boy in an attempt to warn Yuu about the out of control basketball, but it was already too late. Yuu was now sitting on the gym floor rubbing her head from the impact.

"If you're just going to space out, you shouldn't even be here. You're just getting in the way." Said Ryoma as he came over to Yuu and helped her get up.

"I'm sorry. I guess I really am as spacey as you say" replied Yuu laughing at herself

"How hard did that ball hit you? I think it might've made you even more strange than you usually are…which I really thought couldn't be possible" he said with a slight frown

"I'm fine, really" she replied smiling, not letting his comments get to her. She knew he meant well.

"You really shouldn't even be here. You'll just end up getting injured again" said Ryoma walking off back to the basketball game

"Ummm…Tezuka-sempai…is there anything bothering you?" asked Yuu shyly

"Why do you ask?" replied Tezuka, putting down his book and focusing all his attention to the girl in front of him. It was lunch time and they were currently in the library. He had taken a custom to go in during lunch and study or read books that he thought were interesting.

"Well…it's just that whenever I see you here, you always have this kind of look in your eyes…like If you're thinking of something or like if something is bothering you." Replied the small girl, her right hand playing with the bells and ribbon tied to her hair. It had become a bad habit of hers ever since Ryoga gave her the first bell when they were children, and it was still present now that Ryoma had given her smaller bells. She would mess around with the bell whenever she was nervous or anxious. Her question was met with silence and a raised eyebrow from the brunette.

"Ah but I guess I really shouldn't have said that right? I mean it really is none of my business. I don't want to force you into saying stuff you probably don't even want to talk about. It's just, when I saw your face like that, I got worried and thought I might be able to help somehow. Ryoma says I'm horrible like that, but really I just want to help. Even if I can't help, I can at least listen. So whenever you feel like talking, just know I'm always here." Yuu said quickly, messing with the bells on her hair even more. Even after her long ramble, Tezuka still had the same expression on his face and wasn't saying anything.

"I'm really sorry for bothering you. Just forget everything I said. Really, I'm just a spacy person who doesn't even know what she's talking about or saying most of the time. I'll just leave you to your studies. I'm really really really really sorry for bothering you like this" said Yuu quickly, still messing with the bell and dashing away from the boy as soon as she had finished. Tezuka looked at the small girl as she ran off in a very ungraceful manner since she was tripping over nothing and almost running into people.

"Thank you for your concern Tsukiyomi-kun" he said before picking up the book he had been reading before the interruption.

Yuu came out from her daze and found herself alone in the classroom. She looked out the window and saw Ryoma out on the tennis courts practicing with the other regulars.

"Guess I'd better leave before Ryo-chan gets angry again" she said as she continued watching the regulars. She glanced down and saw a drawing of Tezuka on her desk. It was a very detailed drawing but what made her happy was seeing that the Tezuka in the drawing had a slight smile gracing his features. She smiled slightly, knowing she had subconsciously drawn him.

"I really do want to see him smile" she said, carefully placing the drawing into a folder and getting her stuff into her backpack. She took one last glance at the tennis courts before heading out the door and joining her friends outside

Well that's the end of this chapter! I hope you liked it! I'm really sorry for all those flashbacks and stuff. I hope I haven't bored anyone with this story. Sorry if it seems slow and if this chapter is too long. Also, sorry if I bored you with this story.