My Worst Enemy

Chapter 10

could not believe where she was standing, with her heart thumping hard in extreme nervousness she placed her hand against her chest in hope to sooth the hard thumps that she could even hear pounding in her ears.

“What’s the matter?” The man that stood in the room turned around and asked. Not sure if he was even half as panicky as she was, Tezuka’s face remained the same while his beautiful brown eyes looked straight into ’s.

Quickly shaking her head to regain her composure secretly took a deep breath as she finally took the step and entered the room, a personal space that Tezuka had never shared with anyone else. Yes, two days ago Kabaji was in Atobe Keigo’s room and now, she had found herself standing in Tezuka Kunimitsu’s bedroom.

***

Luckily for the Hyotei girls’ team, their first game of the Kantou Regional went smooth and won them 3-0 against Ginka girl’s team. Although was still recovering from her sickness, her team of girls managed to bring in the victory without her further labour.

“Well done girls,” complemented with a trusting smile. “Although it was a smooth game but we must never let our guard down and work harder until we have won first place in the Nationals!”

“Yes, buchou!” in unison the girls called.

Immediately after the team meeting was over, Horie Aya placed her arms around her best friend and nagged like a child, “ -chan, are you going to award my hard work today? I played singles three and helped secure the victory.”

Chuckling flicked her fingers against Aya’s forehead, “It wasn’t just you, our doubles one and two also won the victory for us so shouldn’t you be rewarding them instead?”

Aya pulled a face while rubbing her forehead in complaint. “Rewarding her team is the duty of buchou, so I want my reward Kabaji-buchou!”

Shaking her head gave a sigh but continued to smile at her friend, “You are nagging at the wrong person. What about Shishido-san? I am sure you would prefer it more if the reward came from him.”

Upon ’s question Aya placed her hands against her waist in protest, “Well, if it wasn’t for your lovely Atobe-san, Ryo-chan would be here watching me play already. But now he had to join the intensive training planned for the boys’ team.”

“Well, you can’t blame them, they do have a game against Seigaku tomorrow,” replied but quickly justifying she added, “By the way Atobe-san is NOT my Atobe-san!”

Ignoring ’s justification, Aya wrapped her arms around ’s arm and asked on purpose, “He’s not your Atobe-san? How do you explain the fact that he lifted you up like a princess before all our eyes and brought you to the infirmary personally?”

Immediately sensed all the blood rushed to her face when she was reminded of the incident and everything that happened after that, or even the fact Atobe had willed to make her his after the game tomorrow. Why had he declared it like that? Was it purely a way Atobe wanted to exercise his dominion and to prove his strength by treating her as a trophy? It was no wonder had doubts because although she somehow sensed the care that came from Atobe, he had never made it clear why he had cared and what were the reasons behind his actions?

It was the same with Tezuka; felt her heart skipped a beat the moment Tezuka’s beautiful handsome face appeared in her mind. Opposite to Atobe, Tezuka had confessed his feeling but he did not ask anything from her. He did not ask if she felt the same way for him, nor did he ask her to be his girlfriend. Ever since that day had not heard from Tezuka, he had not contacted her and felt her heart so lost not understanding what was going through Tezuka’s mind.

An unnoticed sigh escaped ’s mouth as if it was a sort of relief to the pressure she sensed pressing against her chest. Of course Tezuka would not have asked anything from her, nor would he have made an attempt to contact her. Right now there were more important things on his mind, like the game against Hyotei tomorrow. If Seigaku lose to Hyotei tomorrow, the chance of entering the Nationals would diminish, and vice versa for Hyotei.

“ -chan, look who’s here!” it was not until she sensed Aya pulling her sleeve had finally pulled her wondering mind back to reality. Looking to where Aya was pointing saw on came a group of Seigaku boys and walking in the midst of them all, the face of the very person her mind was hoovering over just a few seconds ago.

“Hi, Kabaji-san!” Fuji smiled and waved in greeting, “Congratulations on Hyotei girl’s first Kantou Regional victory.”

“Thank you, Fuji-san,” quickly replied with a bow. “How come Seigaku boys are here? There is no game scheduled today right?”

Inui took out his notebook and replied for Fuji, “Yes, although our game is not until tomorrow, but we could not possibly miss out today’s opportunity to collect data.” Pausing Inui pushed his glasses up and added. “It is a pity that you did not play today, Kabaji-san.”

With her arm around her best friend’s shoulder, Aya replied Inui’s query, “Well, -chan was still recovering from a fever she had a few days ago, but don’t worry, without sending our buchou to the battle, we Hyotei girls can still easily defeat Ginka.”

“A fever, how are you feeling now?” Fuji asked noticing the change of expression in Tezuka’s eyes, with a gentle laughter Fuji added, “Or, maybe I shouldn’t be the one asking the question.”

Everyone present understood immediately what Fuji was referring to, after all no one could possibly forget Tezuka’s abrupt kiss scene with . Let’s face it; it is Tezuka buchou, the last man on earth that could possibly show his affections in public! Even if they knew it was the disaster caused by Fuji’s vodka, but still no one believed Tezuka would be as calm as he looked outside. If it were not because all feared the threat of running extra laps, they would have all joined Fuji in the tease. However kindly everyone tried really hard not to smile as all eyes looked away.

Knowing also what were going through everyone’s minds stuttered in embarrassment, “Any…anyway, it was nice…meeting you all again…I was just about to leave with Aya…”

“Actually,” Unfortunately not helping Aya laughed dryly as she pushed forward towards Tezuka, “I just remembered that Ryo-chan was going to meet up with me and I am running kind of late now, so I have to go.”

“Eh? You said Shishido-san was…”

Before could finish her sentence Aya interrupted, “Sorry, -chan, I will talk to you later, bye!” Not allowing to have a chance to protest, Aya waved goodbye to everyone and ran off in the opposite direction.

“Oh yes, we all suddenly have other plans too.” To make it worse Fuji apologised innocently, “I guess we all have to go right?”

“Yes, we do!” Kikumaru grinned doing a ‘V’ sign and soon everyone else except Tezuka joined in and all waved goodbye, in a flash of time there were no one left except Tezuka and alone. With the unexpected outcome, poor did not know what to say while she stood there stiff still and an awkward silence between her and Tezuka soon followed.

She must be tomato red, thought to herself feeling her cheeks and ears burning hot. It had been a while since she last saw Tezuka and never had she expected to meet him again in this situation, most of all, had never expected to be so uneasy and nervous around Tezuka. Praying secretly inside her hoped Tezuka would say something or anybody would say something. Anything would be better than this silence between them!

As if her prayers were answered, noticed Tezuka let out a sigh, “I did not know you were sick.”

“No, I am fine now really,” lifted her head in haste and replied. “It was only a small flu, nothing big.”

“Was it from the hiking?” With a frown Tezuka asked, knew immediately once again Tezuka had felt responsible for the disaster that day.

“No, it was just a small virus from some other students in my class,” denied immediately, hoping to take the emphasis off she asked instead changing the topic. “Was Tezuka-san planning to go somewhere today?”

“I had originally planned to go to the bookstore.” Tezuka replied looking to his watch.

“The bookstore?”

“Yes, there are a few English novels I wanted to buy.”

“Wow, you read English novels?” smiled glad she and Tezuka had finally returned to a normal conversation and that strange atmosphere between them had disappeared. “You mind if I tag along with you to the bookstore?”

***

Wow, English books right before her eyes, had never stood before the English novel section in the bookstore before. Not that she did badly in English at school, but if she was to read a book, reading it in foreign language would be such a chore. Unlike her however Tezuka calmly took a book off the shelf and saw written on the title, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird.’

“It is a very thick book.” could not help but comment when she felt her head spinning already seeing the thickness of the book in Tezuka’s hand. There must be at least a thousand pages. “Will that take you a long time to read, especially it is in English.”

“I have already read the translated version of this novel,” Tezuka calmly explained, “although it might take a while but I believe reading this book in its original language would be much better.”

“You must really like this book, what is it about?” asked a little curious what kind of book would interest Tezuka, she doubted it very much to be a sappy love romance. As expected Tezuka turned the book to the back cover and translated the review, “To Kill a Mockingbird is a much-loved, critically-acclaimed, classic trial work. It exhibits a portrayal of childhood innocence, and a progressive, enlightened sixties message about racial prejudice, violence, moral tolerance and dignified courage.”

“Sounds deep…” That was all could say, but yes, it sounded like something that Tezuka would read

Tezuka flipped the pages of the book through his hand and could not help but admire how lovingly and gentle he was doing it. It was like he was cherishing every page in the book and making sure not to harm the pages it represented. “It is.” It was a short answer from Tezuka but his eyes showed something deeper.

Seeing such depth smiled from within, if it was a book that Tezuka found capturing she knew it would be worth reading. “You make me want to read the book now, can I borrow it after you finish?”

Tezuka’s eyes finally moved away from the book onto , the tenderness that he never showed in front of people appeared once again, “In that case I would recommend you read the translated version first, or you could watch the movie too.”

“They made a movie out of it?” asked quickly, “Have you watched it already? Is it as good as the book?”

“I personally prefer the book itself, but the movie was rather well made. I do have a copy of the movie at home too if you also want to,” Tezuka stopped suddenly when he realised what he was about to ask. Knowing his house was actually not far from here, he could have invited over and hand her the book and movie so she would not have to wait. However Tezuka did not continue the sentence knowing what it could also imply.

Being a traditional and regulated person, Tezuka had never thought of inviting a female friend over to his house. It was not that Tezuka did not enjoy the visitation of his friends. Fuji, Oishi, and Inui have visited his house a few times already. Although it was something simple, Tezuka could not help but feel uncomfortable with the thought of inviting to his house. Maybe it was not just him, what would have thought of him if he had asked?

Probably he analysed the situation too much, in reality it was just a simple question to ask. wanted to borrow the book and the movie from him, since he lives close so he could pass the book to her if he asked her to follow him home. Unfortunately Tezuka realised sometimes a simple question may not be so simple. Instead he had found his heart pounding with the thought and it took a lot of self-control and willpower to make sure it did not show on his face.

“Want to?” Not knowing what was going through Tezuka’s mind of course asked smiling to Tezuka in innocence.

“No…” Tezuka turned away and replied. “Nothing, I will lend you the book and movie next time.” Pretending to act calm, Tezuka headed off towards the cashier.

“Ya, Tezuka and Kabaji-san,” Coming out of no where before them stood a man with his usual friendly innocent smile. “Didn’t mean to intrude but I am surprised the both of you came to the bookstore too.”

“Fuji,” Tezuka could not help but suspect Fuji had actually secretly followed them. His doubts were soon confirmed when he heard Fuji continued still smiling but Tezuka could sense Fuji’s dark aura pricking at him. “Tezuka, I was just going to buy an English dictionary, but then I realised I could have just borrowed it from you since you live so close from here.”

Obviously it wasn’t Fuji’s true intention because before Tezuka replied Fuji turned to and asked, “Kabaji-san, you also wanted to borrow some books from Tezuka right? We can both go and pick it up at Tezuka’s place since his house is only a few blocks from here.”

“Really?” smiled not realising the trap Fuji had set, turning to Tezuka she asked cautiously, “Is that alright?”

Since had asked already there was not reason for Tezuka to decline, however Tezuka frowned when he noticed the grin on Fuji’s face. Knowing Fuji all these years, Tezuka knew he was onto something.

Exactly as Fuji described found that Tezuka’s house was only a few blocks down from the bookstore, if it was only a short distance why did Tezuka not just ask her to come over and pick up the books? Wait, remembering back to Tezuka’s reaction, realised he was going to ask something but Tezuka eventually did not ask. Looking over to Tezuka all of a sudden discovered why. It was not until Tezuka opened the front door of the house suddenly grasped the fact that she had stepped into Tezuka’s personal life.

“Actually,” Fuji chuckled as he took a book out of his bag. “I suddenly remembered I actually already have an English dictionary in my bag.”

“Fuji…” Tezuka turned around and the expression on his face didn’t look too good.

“Make me run 100 laps tomorrow if you want,” Unmoved with the scary look on Tezuka’s face Fuji continued to grin. “I will see you tomorrow.” Waving goodbye to both Tezuka and Fuji walked off whistling happily knowing Tezuka would eventually thank him for what he had done.

“Kunimitsu?” a middle-aged lady with a pair of beautiful brown eyes that resembles Tezuka’s came to the hallway when she heard the door opened. The moment her eyes landed on the girl standing behind Tezuka she greeted with a smile. “Ara, Kunimitsu, who is this friend of yours?”

“Nice…nice to meet you, my name is Kabaji !” Quickly with a bow greeted knowing this lady before her must be Tezuka’s mother! Uncontrollably felt her body stiffen up with nervousness and it got worse when she noticed the middle-aged lady’s eyes examining her. Although it was only a period of two or three seconds, felt as if she had just experienced a 2000 watt spot light on her.

Luckily Tezuka’s mother did not make ’s position any more awkward when she suddenly held onto ’s hands and greeted in excitement. “You are so cute! I am Ayana, Kunimitsu’s mother. Kunimitsu is such a bad boy and never told me anything about you!” Turning back to Tezuka she grinned, “Kunimitsu, how long have you kept this secret from me already?”

“Mother,” Tezuka gave a sigh to his mother’s interrogation. “Kabaji-san is only here to borrow a few books.”

must admit she did not expect this reaction from Tezuka’s mother. It seemed that she had the exact opposite personality to the quiet wordless regulated son she has. Beaming in enthusiasm Mrs Tezuka ignored what her son had said and invited instead, “Would you like to stay for dinner? We were planning to have nabe tonight and I would love it if you could join us!”

“Well, I…”

“I will not take ‘no’ for an answer.” Tezuka Ayana insisted and pulled into the house towards her son. “Kunimitsu, meanwhile you show her to your room and remember to be hospitable okay?”

Everything that happened in the past half an hour was just too sudden and unexpected for both Tezuka and . Although Tezuka managed to maintain his poker-face to it all, however he must be lying if he did not sense an emotional uproar inside him when he had found himself alone now with in his room. Taking a peek at Tezuka had found her to be more nervous than he was. It probably appeared that way because unlike how he would never let his feelings show had shown it all as she sat politely and awkwardly on the floor with her hands placed against her laps and her eyes looking away avoiding Tezuka’s.

“I am sorry,” Tezuka apologised accompanied with a sigh. “You don’t have to stay for dinner.”

“No, it’s okay.” replied quickly and squeezed out a smile. “I should be the one to apologise since I am the one bringing you so much trouble and misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

With Tezuka’s question blushed immediately and justified in panic, “No…nothing. So you have the translated version of the book?”

“Ah…” Tezuka nodded and walked up to his bookshelf. Finally when Tezuka’s back had turned toward her, took courage and lifted her eyes to observe Tezuka’s bedroom. The furnishings and design of the room actually portrayed Tezuka’s personality very well. Unlike Atobe’s room that looked like a palace, Tezuka’s room was rather simple. There was nothing in the room that was unnecessary and pointless. With a single bed the sheets and blanket neatly folded, a desktop computer and nothing extra placed on the desk. On the other side of the desk were a television and DVD player and a small stereo system. Beside it was a smaller shelf with DVDs also neatly stacked away, it did not surprise to find majority of the DVDs to contain tennis related programs.

Tezuka’s bookshelf also contained numerous books and they were all very neatly categorised and put away. With it so precisely sorted it did not take long for Tezuka to find the book he was looking for. Turning around Tezuka found ’s eyes landed on the DVD collection he had next to the stereo system, walking up to it he picked out a DVD and turned to , “This is the movie for the book, do you want to watch it since there are still time till dinner?”

“Sure!” nodded with Tezuka’s suggestion. Watching the movie is a good idea so she wouldn’t feel so nervous being in the room alone with Tezuka. Although in the beginning only wanted to watch the movie as a way to ease the atmosphere between her and Tezuka but to her surprise the movie was actually really well made. found her emotion rocking up and down with the movie and she understood the reason why Tezuka loved the book immediately.

Half way through the movie felt extreme anger aroused in her when she watched how unfairly treated the black prisoner was in the movie, most of all when the scene showed how the black man was tortured unlawfully felt the sense of justice took over in her and unintentionally she grabbed onto Tezuka’s upper arm in frustration and fury.

Unlike though Tezuka turned his eyes slowly to the little soft hand wrapped around his arm. The sudden action surprised Tezuka. In his many years on the court, no action had surprised him such as this. Knowing fully well that he was the calm logical buchou of Seigaku, he was always alert of the environment surrounding him and nothing ever took him by surprise. Yet the only thing he was aware of in the entire room was the tiny hands.

Most of all Tezuka had discovered for the first time that he did not know how to respond. Should he silently pull away or should he remind her of the ‘inappropriate’ action? Although trying to analyse and evaluate the unexpected move from , Tezuka had found that he could not pull away but allowed to continue holding onto his arm.

***

“I am so sorry,” apologised placing her hands on her flaming cheeks wishing there was a hole she could hide in. To Kill a Mocking Bird is a great story and she totally understood why Tezuka would recommend it. However she had never expected to be carried away so emotionally that she did not realised she had her arm around Tezuka’s arm the entire time.

What had made it worse was it was not until Tezuka’s mother came to the room to call them down for dinner that she realised where her arm was. Although quickly pulled away but from the way Tezuka’s mother purposely pretended she did not see anything and excused herself from the room knew what must have gone through her mind actually.

The nerve wrecking moments did not end there as throughout dinner, Tezuka Ayana introduced her to the rest of the family member as Kunimitsu’s beautiful cute girlfriend and how they were all so happy that Kunimitsu had grown, how he should bring home more often, treat her more with care and stop acting so cool and boring all the time, etc…

did not know how to respond and what puzzled her most was Tezuka did not make an attempt to deny or respond to all the tease. Even now while standing next to her in the kitchen and helping her with the dishes Tezuka replied calmly to ’s apology, “No, it’s okay.”

squeezed out a smile to Tezuka’s response, quickly turning away and made sure her eyes remained on the dishes in her hands attempted once more, “It is a pity we didn’t get to finish the movie; so what was the ending like?”

“It is best you watch it for yourself,” Tezuka replied while putting the dishes away. “I don’t want to spoil it for you.”

“True,” nodded however her mind was not focused on the topic but on what was actually going through Tezuka’s mind. She is confused now, Tezuka once told her that he had thought her to be special but yet she had found she could not read through Tezuka’s mind. He managed to hide what he was thinking and how he felt behind that forever unemotional face of his. Unlike her who was feeling shy and nervous to all the tease, it was as if none of these mattered to Tezuka and she was only overreacting.

“ -chan,” Ayana entered the kitchen and gave a warm smile. From the way she addressed her son’s friend showed her immediate liking of . “You really should not be doing the dishes; you are after all our guest.”

“No, it’s alright, Mrs Tezuka. Thank you for such a wonderful and delicious meal.” replied quickly in politeness.

“Don’t mention it; you are welcomed to come anytime.” Ayana placed her arm around ’s shoulder and smiled. Turning to her son she reminded, “Kunimitsu, remember to be a gentleman and walk -chan home.”

Upon what Ayana said blushed with embarrassment, “It’s okay Mrs Tezuka. I can go home by myself.”

“Let Kunimitsu take you,” She insisted too and looked to her son again, “It is late right?”

To ’s surprise Tezuka replied, “Ah, I will take her home after this.”

Now was even more confused. If she was the only one overreacting to it all, why didn’t Tezuka just brush her off? Why is he now walking next to her while they headed towards the train station? Not only so Tezuka bought a train ticket too and accompanied her onto the train. Why didn’t he just leave her at the train station? Was Tezuka really going to walk her all the way home? Why would he do all these?

“Shinjuku station, Shinjuku station…”

When the announcement through the speaker notified the passengers of the major station the train had stopped at, immediately a rush of crowd entered the train and a moan escaped ’s lips when she felt her body push off balance by the crowd. When at this time she felt Tezuka’s hand on her shoulder, “Here,” following what he said Tezuka moved ’s tiny body towards a free space and with his tall body covering and shielding her from the rest of the passengers.

felt her heartbeat racing like crazy and her entire being moved with compassion from such a little action from Tezuka. It did not help when she could feel how protective Tezuka was and how gentle he actually was and their bodies so close to each other in the packed carriage. Most of all when she saw the look in Tezuka’s eyes she understood immediately that Tezuka was never a man with words but a man of actions. Gently closing her eyes felt her heart so warm and at peace while she listened to Tezuka’s steady heartbeat. What is this blissful feeling she is sensing?

It was the same feeling she had when she was trapped in the mountains with Tezuka. Although she was cold and wasted she was never frightened. Tezuka’s presence always managed to bring her such tranquillity and serenity. Unlike with Atobe who seemed to give her the opposite effect, the nerve wrecking, chaotic struggling, rollercoaster ride in her heart, Tezuka was like a calm and rest to her.

***

“Thank you for today,” bowed when Tezuka had really walked her all the way home. With the book and DVD in her hand added, “also for these.”

“It’s alright,” Tezuka replied and then with a nod Tezuka turned to leave, “good night.”

“Ano, Tezuka-san!” stopped Tezuka quickly before he left.

“?”

“Tomorrow’s game…” paused and did not know how to continue. Tomorrow will finally be the game between Seigaku and Hyotei, knowing both Tezuka and Atobe none of them will be willing to lose the game. What hurt her most was she did not know which one she had hoped to win the game tomorrow. She could not help but be reminded of what Atobe said to Tezuka. He wanted to destroy him and not sure if Atobe knew about Tezuka’s prior injury would never forgive herself if Atobe had really taken tennis away from Tezuka.

However as if Tezuka understood and did not need to finish her sentence Tezuka replied calmly but with determination, “I do not plan on giving up my dream and even if I lost, I know Seigaku will still win and enter the Nationals.” Pausing Tezuka reassured his belief, “Seigaku is strong, even without me.”

“Tezuka-san,” lifted her head with Tezuka’s declaration. “In that case promise me that you would not force yourself. You have only just recovered from an old injury…”

Before could say anymore her phone suddenly started ringing. Quickly excusing herself took her phone out from her bag and when the caller ID was displayed on the screen felt her heart skipped a beat and her body froze not knowing if she should answer the call.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Tezuka asked surprised why stared at her phone and allowed it to continue ringing.

“Yes, yes of course!” replied and as a reflex turned her back toward Tezuka and answered the call. “Hello?”

“Arn~?” The deep sexy egotistic voice came through the other end. “What took you so long to answer the call?”

Blushing and feeling her heart pumping fast replied lowering her voice afraid that Tezuka would recognise the voice on the other end, “I couldn’t find my phone earlier. So what is it?”

Atobe chuckled and replied, “We had only just finished our training. So I thought I should give you a call to congratulate you of your first victory in the Kantou Regional.”

“It’s no big deal, I didn’t even play.”

“Being humble is not like you,” Atobe laughed, “So where are you now?”

“I…” paused and taking a peek at Tezuka, “I am at home.”

“Good, I will come see you now.”

“What?!” called in horror, “Why?”

“Arn~? What is with the reaction?” Atobe’s voice showed displease with ’s exaggerated reaction.

“Well I…” quickly thought up a lie. “I am about to go to bed now.”

“At 7 pm?”

felt like slapping herself with her own lame excuse. “Well, yeah you know, just recovered from the flu so I still feel kind of tired.”

“Too bad,” Atobe obviously did not believe and most of all with his insight ability he sensed that was hiding something. “I am already on my way there.”

“You are? How close?!”

“Not far, I am actually just outside your…” Atobe stopped all of a sudden, and finally with a cold laughter he concluded, “I finally see the reason why you were acting strange.”

turned around in alarm when she noticed Atobe’s voice not only came through her phone but also from behind her. As if all the blood rushed to her feet found Atobe standing there and his eyes fixed coldly on the other man standing next to her.

“Tezuka,” Atobe snorted as he approached them. “Obviously Seigaku has plenty of time in their hands and overly confident about the game tomorrow against us, arn~?”

Tezuka remained silent to Atobe’s mocking, instead he nodded to and greeted once again before he left, “Good night.”

After Tezuka had left, felt her heart thumping hard when she found the unpleasant look on Atobe’s face while his deep bluish eyes continued to look to the direction Tezuka left with his arms crossed.

“Keigo…” attempted a little annoyed why she should even feel guilty at all. It’s not like she was Atobe’s girlfriend or anything. Most of all, she only bumped into Tezuka today by accident. However with the obnoxious aura from Atobe; could not continue.

“Che,” Finally Atobe responded first as he brushed his hand through his hair. “Here, take this.”

Following Atobe’s sentence saw something thrown at her, as a reflex caught it and found a brooch. “The official Wimbledon brooch?!” called in astonishment looking up at Atobe. “Wow, it is like impossible to find one of these, how did you get it?”

Knowing was pleasantly surprised the proud confident smile returned to Atobe’s face, “Nothing is impossible for me, besides it is only a little brooch.”

“Did you get this for me?” asked softly feeling her heart touched. “Why?”

Turning to Atobe smiled and his hand shuffled ’s hair in tease, “Like I said, it’s to congratulate you on your first Kantou Regional victory.”

blushed with Atobe’s action and felt her heart so warm, “You really didn’t need to…”

“Well,” Atobe continued to smile as a most tender expression came onto his confident outstanding appearance, “This is only the beginning. One day when I arrive at the Wimbledon finals, I want you to be there with me.”

Upon such statement felt her heart gave a huge thump. Did…did Atobe just indicated that he would take her to the top with him? Was it a coincident or was it an implication that Atobe actually remembered his promise to her and he had intended on keeping it? Was she truly someone special to him from the beginning or, felt her heart twisted in pain even to be reminded that Atobe had only did it because she was a trophy to him. Knowing Tezuka’s feeling to her, Atobe had only wanted to prove his domination by taking her away from him.

“Why,” heard herself asked, “Why me?” She needed to know she was someone special to Atobe and not just a prize to be won.

“You still don’t know?” Gently placing his hand on ’s cheek Atobe asked instead, “You are so slow…baka.”

“What do you mean?” blushed and pulled a face. “Of course I don’t know since you never said anything!”

“I will let you know the answer,” Atobe leaned down and whispered by ’s ear. “After my victory tomorrow, of course by then,” Atobe paused and moving his lips onto ’s soft cheek instead Atobe added. “I do not want you to see Tezuka anymore, is that understood?”

***

“Commencing now on centre court, Singles One match Hyotei Gakuen against Seishun Gakuen.”

Oshitari smirked when he heard the announcement. “So the battle between the kings has finally come,” Moving his eyes onto their buchou who calmly stood up from where he was sitting and received the racquet handed to him by Kabaji.

“Wow, everyone’s here, including Rikkai.” Shishido remarked when he saw the boys with yellow uniforms standing on the other side watching and observing over the match of the century. “Of course, it is the battle between the two strongest buchou, Atobe and Tezuka.”

“Yes, everyone’s here except,” Oshitari gave a sigh as his eyes looked around them. “Where is the princess?”

Katsu no ha Hyotei, Makeru no ha Seigaku! Katsu no ha Hyotei, Makeru no ha Seigaku! Katsu no ha Hyotei, Makeru no ha Seigaku!

Shousha ha Atobe, haisha ha Tezuka! Shousha ha Atobe, haisha ha Tezuka! Shousha ha Atobe, haisha ha Tezuka!

Surrounded by the cheering crowd of Hyotei Atobe entered the court like a true king and in full charisma and pride his eyes looked to Tezuka in challenge. However unmoved by the ear blustering cheering from Hyotei Tezuka’s eyes also looked straight at Atobe not at all intimidated.

“It seems to be the first time we play against each other,” Tezuka stated.

“Arn~?” Atobe’s eyebrow lifted in challenge, “It was because you have been avoiding me right?”

“Which?” The umpire asked standing between the two kings.

“Smooth,” Atobe replied.

When the result showed smooth, Atobe smiled with success when the ball boy passed the tennis balls to him. “By the way Tezuka,” Before Tezuka turned to return to the receiver line, Atobe confronted with a smile, “Once I defeated you, will be mine.”

“She is not an object,” Tezuka replied calmly.

“Of course she is not,” Atobe smirked, “But I do not think the loser deserves to have her.”

Tezuka did not say anymore as his eyes moved through the crowd for the face of the person they have just been discussing over. He had actually been searching already since the start of the game, however no different to what it was from his last look, Kabaji had not showed.

“One set match, Atobe to serve.”

Upon the umpire’s announcement, Atobe tossed the ball high above him, “Ikuze, Tezuka!”

***

Kaho