Disclaimer: I don't own prince of tennis or any of its characters

A/N:

For everyone, thank you all for keeping up with this fiction!

Sakuno pressed her pale hand against the cold glass window. She couldn't feel her backside anymore, considering she had been sitting on the white window seat for the past half an hour.

They had arrived in Oita two hours ago. Her husband had received a call an hour after they had stepped inside. He settled her in properly before leaving to see whoever it was on the phone.

She let her forehead join her hand on leaning against the glass. Sakuno was on her own in the mansion for the past hour, so she had explored her new habitat. Surprisingly, all the items used to decorate were local. No foreign furniture, like she had at Kyoto.

They weren't always rich, she knew, but his father had worked extra hard to get him where her husband stood today. The one thing which peaked her interest was his personality. He hadn't changed in the last thirteen years.

His feelings were still kept to himself but he let an emotion or two slip out occasionally. He still had that elegant and graceful air about him she admired when she was younger.

Sakuno let out a sigh. She was really twitchy. Usually, taking a look at some sort of scenery would calm the girl whenever she was nervous. But seeing as how it was nearing twelve, it had become dark to see outside. Faking a happy face and smile was too tiresome, especially throughout the reception.

She sighed, forgetting her father disapproved of it, and all of a sudden, everything felt right again. The feeling changed when a larger hand covered hers.

Gasping quietly, Sakuno turned her head so the side of her head touched the glass. She came face to face with a bare and muscled chest. Since Sakuno was accustomed to see him with shirt on, she blushed madly.

"Sakuno."

She looked at the tall male from the corner of her eyes.

"I haven't said that name since the last time we met." His gaze was fixed on the dark night outside. She felt her face cool and then shifted her weight against the window. Sakuno wasn't expecting his fingers to intertwine with hers. Now she didn't know what to do.

She didn't know if she should make room for him on the seat or let him stand. "Umm…w-would you like to sit…?"

His gaze lowered down to meet her tinted face. He shook his head and looked back outside. "I'm…glad you agreed to this marriage without any trouble…when your father came up with the idea…I don't know how to explain it…" Ignoring what he said, she stared at him, immersed in her own thoughts.

Should she tell him about Ryoma? Should he know about Ryoma?

"Uhh…T-Tezuka…I mean…Kunimitsu…" she trailed off, lowering her eyes as she did. Calling him Tezuka would be too weird. She was now Tezuka Sakuno.

Sakuno felt the heat radiating from his body, making her extremely uncomfortable. His fingers had started to entwine with her other set of fingers very, very slowly. It tempted for her to ask him to hurry up although, saying so would've led to unwanted situations.

It was so warm compared to before; Sakuno wanted to close her eyes…so she did. But as soon as she did, they jerked open again when she felt a hand at her waist. Her face started to redden until it was as red as a stop sign. He was saying things…but her attention was not on his words.

All of a sudden, his voice stopped. That really didn't surprise her much because he never really was much of a talker. She felt slight pressure on her back and Sakuno realized that he was pushing her towards the window. Taking a glance at her right, she saw that he propped up a knee on the window seat.

"Sakuno…what's your answer?"

Russet eyes widened when her ears felt lips grazing upon it. They closed,

'Too close! He's too close!'

Before he could invade her personal space anymore, Sakuno slid downwards and out of his grasp. She landed with her legs folded underneath her and arms on the seat.

"U-umm…I-I'm re-ally t-tired…so…umm…i-if you d-don't mind…" She said the last word very quietly and trailed off.

Taking a quick glance upwards, Sakuno observed the tiny cringle in his forehead and his hand pressed against the window. He returned his gaze to the window and nodded. After righting his stance, Tezuka backed up a few steps. He offered her his hand, signaling she should take it, and she thought that no harm would come..

As soon as she took it, Tezuka pulled her against his chest. Sakuno's hands were on his firm muscles and again her face changed colours again. His hands slid down underneath her knees and back before lifting her. The end of her white nightgown fell downwards. In another smooth movement, Sakuno was being carried to 'their' bed.

The sheets felt soft under her skin as he set her down. He lay down on his back and took off his glasses. He rolled over and shyly encircled her waist with his arm and pulled her closer.

Sakuno, again, was far from comfortable. Her wrists were positioned at the sides of her face as though someone had pinned her down. She pulled away from his grasp and didn't dare to look at him. Turning over, she hoped the night would end soon.

Sakuno awoke later than her usual time at seven.

She looked to her side and found her husband missing. Events from the previous night came into the light in her head. Hugging her knees, she comforted herself by thinking he probably didn't notice her pulling away from him.

She was lucky that she didn't fall in her haste as she climbed off the bed and out of the room. Sakuno ran down the stairs and straight ahead to the kitchen, pushing the double glass doors open.

Tezuka was sitting at the empty table with a newspaper flat on the table. When he realized that someone else was in the room, he turned away from his paper.

"Good morning."

"G-good morning…"

Finding a lack of food on the table, Sakuno was glad she could do something.

"U-ummm…would you like me to make eggs?"

She made little circles with her foot while having her hands clasped together. Her eyes were transfixed on the tile below.

Before she had spoken, twenty-eight year old Tezuka Kunimitsu was in the middle of turning a page. She became nervous when she didn't hear any rustling so she looked up. Sakuno found that his mouth was parted with a small look of surprise to accompany it.

"Ano...my mother had me take cooking lessons from the maids when I was younger. She said it may come to use one day." Sakuno explained, hoping he would return to his normal, expressionless self. Tezuka then closed his eyes and pushed up his glasses.

"That… would be nice."

She turned to her right and walked around the island and to the stove. Opening cupboards, she found a frying pan and decided to use that. The room was filled with unwanted silence.

"Ah…when do you leave for work?"

A sense of being watched washed over the woman.

"I should be leaving…shortly." Sakuno nodded and opened the nearest drawer to find something to mix the eggs with. She found place mats in them. Closing it, she opened another one and found knives. This continued until Tezuka interrupted.

"What are you looking for?"

She jumped and turned when she landed on her feet. "K-Kunimitsu, you startled me." He raised an eyebrow.

"I can see that." When he kept staring at her, Sakuno remembered to answer.

"Uhh…something to stir the eggs with." She blushed and looked over to the side. What would he think of her now? Bad enough she was stuttering in front of him…

Tezuka had been leaning against the island counter with his arms folded. His legs crossed at the knee and he wore black pants and a red dress shirt. He looked like a model from a magazine, not that she would ever tell him that.

He nodded and turned around to look through the island drawers. She found that even Tezuka had little patience. Suddenly he was jerking the drawers out and slamming them back in. Sakuno giggled when he ducked down and came back up with a wooden spoon in his hand along with a smug smirk in place.

"Found it." He said as he walked over to her.

"Thank you." Her fingers brushed his as she took the item from him. She turned her attention back to the oven. While stirring the eggs around, a splatter of oil splattered onto Tezuka's shirt. Sakuno let out a gasp.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry; I'll clean that off for you!"

Sakuno scurried around the kitchen looking for paper towels while Tezuka watched with keen interest. When she finally found a roll on a rack, she pulled a piece out and rushed over to where Tezuka stood with a hint of a small grin in place.

As Sakuno rubbed the spot, Tezuka finally decided to stop her. She looked up at him with a questioningly.

"Don't worry. I'm going to be wearing my jacket anyway." Sakuno looked down.

"I'm…sorry."

She felt his hand cup her cheek and pushing it upwards.

"Don't be."

Time passed as the two starred at each other.

Suddenly, the male leaned in towards her slowly, making her lean against the counter, beginnings of sweaty palms flat on it. He was really tall and she thought that she was going to be crushed as he towered over her.

Sakuno's eyes widened when he placed his hands on both her shoulders. With his lips inches away and heart beating fast and loud, Sakuno closed her eyes and snapped her head to the left. His lips kissed her cheek and she let out a silent sigh.

When she glanced back, Sakuno found that his eyes held confusion. She winced before turning her eyes straight ahead, away from him.

Although she was married to Tezuka, her heart didn't belong to him. She had already given it to a certain golden eyed boy…

She wrapped her arms loosely around herself.

"I'll be going now."

She didn't bother to look at him or say,

"Come back safely." The door shut and Sakuno knew that he had left.

Her knees felt weak and she sank down to the floor. Why did this have to happen to her?

Sakuno had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the phone ringing until the fourth ring. Looking around, she saw and heard it across the kitchen. Picking herself up, Sakuno walked over there to answer it.

"H-Hello?"

"Hello? Who is this? Izumi?" A female voice came in through her ear.

"Tezkua Sakuno…may I ask who this is?"

"Oh! How are you dear?" The stern voice sudden changed into one full of energy and happiness.

"Very well, thank you." Before she could repeat her question, the woman answered.

"This is Yoshida Shizuka. I am Tezuka's mother."

"Oh!"

The two women chatted for a while until Mari told her the main reason for her call.

"I just wanted to let you know that my children and I well be flying in today in the late evening."

A/N: Next chapter,

Enter Mizuki :)