Hye! I am back with one-shot fic. This is actually a request from Fh Shasha (Sorry, it took for almost five months to do this)… I'll be pairing Sakuno with another regular and that is the Captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka. I don't really ship this pair but I want to give it a try. I hope this will turn out fine.

Note: Please read until the end. I have something to say.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Prince of Tennis and never ever will.

I Let my Guard Down

Summary: Never in her life that she would look up to the captain of the boys tennis club. Her only wish was if he would look down at her… even just for once.

Running on her way to the court, she could hear the boys shouting, yelling, complaining or anything of the sort. As she turned to the corner, she saw the nine regulars running lapses around the court. They were already sweaty and who knew how many lapses had it been since they started running. Her hazel eyes looked at one particular figure. When she spotted the person, she couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast.

Her eyes found their Captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka.

Sakuno had been admiring the Captain since she started attending Seishun Gakuen. Tezuka was running laps together with his teammates. He was reliable and dependable. He knew how to manage his team. With the help of her grandmother and the vice-captain, Suichiro Oishi, he could handle the line ups well.

He was everything she admired.

She couldn't help but smile at him as they continued running laps. She was still in the middle of admiring the captain when a booming voice behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"Sakuno!" Tomoka shouted slapping her back in the process, "You sly girl, you didn't wait for me."

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno pouted as she tried to get away from her. Her back was aching due to the slap she gave her, "You were busy talking to sensei and I did tell you that I'll go on ahead."

"Yeah, right," Tomoka said sounded unconvinced. Her best friend looked around at the running regulars and spotted her idol, "Oh look, there's Ryoma-sama. RYOMA-SAMA! Gambatte kudasai!"

She sweat dropped when her best friend yelled like that. The rest of the team looked at their direction and the teasing started.

"Oi, Echizen, your girlfriend's here." Momoshiro teased his kouhai.

Ryoma looked at their direction. Sakuno blushed when he stared at her and then the boy looked at her best friend, "That's Horio's girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Horio inserted between them, "I never dreamed of her as my girlfriend at all."

"What did you say!?" Tomoka who had a strong sense of hearing when it came to Horio retorted, making the later flinch, "No one will accept you as her boyfriend either!"

"Hah! You wish!" Horio retorted back. The two fought back resulting the boy to lag behind. He hadn't realized it yet but the rest didn't care about that. They wanted to finish the lapses or else they would taste Inui's concoction if that happened.

"I am not talking about Osakada-san," Momo answered as they continued to run, "I am talking about Ryuzaki-san."

Ryoma didn't say anything but he narrowed his eyes at him. Sakuno saw that reaction of his. She blushed at Momoshiro's words. Everyone believed that she had a crush on the youngest tennis regular member and she didn't have the guts to correct them. Ryoma was cool and yeah, she admitted it. She took a liking to the boy but he was a snob for some reason. He could only pay attention to her at a small amount of time just like that stare he gave her a while ago.

But that was there was all to it.

The person that she really liked was Tezuka. He might not been the same as Ryoma, he was able to acknowledge her by simply nodding at her way. Tezuka was never the type to smile but it was alright for her. He seemed to be an awkward companion at first but as she grew to know him better. She knew that he was more than meets the eye.

He might be stoic, strict and expressionless Captain, for her, he was the person who was the exact opposite of his own description.

Maybe, that was the reason why people believed that opposite of the people they liked, even though they didn't really exist. Sakuno thought, she was just in love with the stoic captain and that was enough for her.

The Next Day:

She walked on her way to the court that morning, planning to practice in the courts. The girl's court was not actually far from the boy's court. Everytime she practiced in her court, she could hear the boys shouting something. She couldn't help but smile at that.

But that way was awfully quiet. She couldn't hear the boys practicing or hitting some tennis balls from their court. Shrugging, she walked towards a court and started rallying on the wall. She didn't know how long she started rallying but there were times she missed to hit the ball.

"Knees are too bend."

Hearing the voice, she accidentally missed her next hit. She couldn't have mistaken that voice but the comment was totally overly familiar to her. Looking around, she confirmed her instinct as she stared at the person who was standing not far from her.

"Y-you sounded like Ryoma-kun," she started blushing in the process, "T-Tezuka-buchou."

The Captain frowned at her words making her blush ever more. Sensing her uneasiness, Tezuka pushed his glasses to his nose as he walked closer to her, "You have to keep your knees apart. Doing that, you have a good stance."

She was just staring at him until he tapped the back of her knee with his racket did she only flinch, "H-hai." It took seconds before she realized what Tezuka was telling her.

He was teaching her the basic steps to play tennis.

She kept rallying on the wall while the Captain was giving her some hints to avoid misbalancing it. They almost forgot the time if it wasn't for Eiji who was calling their Captain and saw them in that court.

"Ah! Buchou's here!" The acrobatic player called everyone's attention.

Sakuno secretly panicked when she saw the rest entering the girl's court. She took a glance to the tennis Captain who pushed his glasses once again.

"What's this, Tezuka?" Fuji said as he approached them, "Do I sense rivalry?"

Tezuka frowned at his friend, "What do you mean?"

The tensai looked at him and Sakuno alternatively before he looked at Ryoma who was being towed by Momoshiro at the back, "I feel sad for the one of you in the future."

"E? Buchou is courting Ryuzaki-chan?" Momoshiro who seemed to misinterpret the scene reacted, "What about Ochibi here?"

"Cut it out, senpai," Ryoma retorted trying to get away from the dunk smasher, "And what do you mean by that?"

"Y-you got it all wrong?" Sakuno tried to defend the Captain but no one seemed to hear her. They kept teasing the captain who seemed to understand the real situation.

"I am just teaching her." Tezuka defended himself.

"Guys, Tezuka is telling the truth," Oishi said calming everyone in the group, "Ryuzaki-chan was just practicing."

"Ochibi must have been teaching her instead," Eiji said pushing the youngest tennis regular member, "Don't give troubles to our Captain will you."

"What are you—" Ryoma tried to protest but he was being pushed near the girl's location.

Sakuno blushed once again. They were in the girl's court and Ryoma's fangirls would be squirming if they had seen them together in that particular court. She was thankful that it was way too early for the Ryoma's fangirls to arrive so she didn't have to worry about them.

The rest started to tease them once again. She was being teased to Ryoma once again. She didn't have the guts to stop them and she feared that one day, Ryoma would misunderstand her and everyone else. Tezuka might misunderstand her. She couldn't help but feel worry about that.

"Everyone 50 laps around the court, now!" Tezuka said authoritatively. The rest became stiffed before they started going out of the court. Ryoma was about to leave with them but he stopped him, "You, continue what I am teaching her." With that, he walked out of the court as well and joined the rest.

Ryoma frowned at his captain while Sakuno looked upset. It was always like that. Whenever, the situation was getting out of control, they always ended up together alone. No wonder that the two of them had a mutual understanding. She bit her lower lip. She knew that Teuzuka had already got the wrong impression about them.

"Anou… gomen ne, Ryoma-kun, for dragging you into this." She apologized as she watched him turn around to face her.

"Betsuni," He said as he walked towards her, "Let's continue what you started then."

Despite everything, she was delighted that Ryoma was eager to teach her in the end. She smiled at him who was already walking towards the wall, "Hai."

Several days later:

The same routine was happening everyday. She would go to the court, practice alone or sometimes with her senpais and friends. It was rare for Tezuka to teach her sometimes, being ended up teasing for Ryoma and so on and so forth.

It wasn't like she had the guts to tell everyone who she really liked. She was shy enough to tell it to the guy himself. Kunimitsu Tezuka was really high to reach. He was popular, good looking and a role model to the other students. The students did look up to him. Almost everyone admired him.

She was not different from them.

"Sakuno!"

She almost jumped when Tomoka shouted from her ear, "Mou! Tomo-chan, you don't have to shout at my ear!"

"Well duh, I've been calling you for several times but you were not hearing me," She said as she placed her hands to her waist, "Where on earth were you dreaming at?"

"I am not dreaming" She defended.

"Really? Then what did I say to you minutes ago?" Tomoka narrowed her eyes at her.

Fidgeting with her fingers, she inwardly looked at her and grinned, "L-lunch time?"

"Unbelievable," Her best friend shook her head as she grabbed her hand and pulled her out, "Just come with me."

"W-where are we going?" She was able to ask despite the pull.

Tomoka never answered her question. They reached their location which was the boy's tennis court. Her best friend continued walking inside the court and into the club room.

She almost gasped audibly when she spotted her grandmother and the Captain inside the room conversing something about an upcoming tournament.

"I brought Sakuno!" Tomoka proudly said in front of them while she sweat dropped at her best friend's behavior.

"I am glad that you are here," Sumire said as she stood up from her chair and walked closer to her. Tezuka remained standing beside the table and nodded at her, "I want you to help me with something."

"What is it, Obaa-chan?" Sakuno asked as her heart was pounding so fast. She didn't know but her heart was beating oddly at that moment.

"I want you to go with Tezuka to explore the venue of the next tournament and take notes for him instead of me." Sumire ordered her.

"E?" That was all she could say. She wasn't sure if she heard her grandmother right. When she looked at Tezuka, she only realized that she wasn't hearing it falsely. The both of them were waiting for her confirmation and she didn't know why she asked the first thing in her mind, "W-what about you? Or Oishi-senpai?"

"I have a faculty meeting today and Oishi is a part of the student council members," Sumire explained as she looked at her captain, "Tezuka is also a member but Oishi can take care of it. He has to know how the tournament would be so he would be meeting with the other sponsors there instead of me."

"Come on, Sakuno!" Tomoka convinced as if she was the one excited for her, "It will be fun."

"The venue is new to the players since they will be playing there for the first time," Sumire said, "You will just take simple notes and the location of the place will be enough for us."

"H-hai"

Later on:

They quietly walked on their way to the court. She never expected that she would walk together with Tezuka. The walk was awkward. Tezuka never talked on the way of their walk. Ryoma was a better companion than him to be honest. The younger tennis prodigy was able to return a word or two whenever she initiated a conversation. She just didn't understand herself why she couldn't start a conversation with him.

It was their first walk after all.

xxx

They reached the court afterwards. Sakuno just followed him observing the place. They met the person who was responsible for the place and told him anything that he needed to know. She took all the notes that they needed, the notes that were never really out of the rules.

Seigaku wanted to play fair and square.

After several minutes of conversation and navigation, Tezuka called it off and ended the task for that day. Sighing, she followed him on the way out.

She knew that their task was over that day so there was nothing to do but to go home.

"Want to grab some snack?"

"E?" Looking up, she found the Captain looking back at her. She wanted to be sure that she heard him talk.

"I'll treat you." The Captain said looking ahead afterwards and walked towards the exit.

She was stunned at first. It took seconds before the words processed to her brain and finally understood him. A smile was brought to her lips as she followed him.

The Next Day:

She couldn't get over of what happened to her yesterday. After the mission, Tezuka invited her to eat snack with him. It never happened before. Tezuka ordered strawberry parfait for her and banana split for him. He never asked her what she liked but somehow, she was surprised that Tezuka had an idea what she wanted to eat.

He even asked some questions about her tennis, much to her surprise. She received advice and suggestions from him. The most memorable thing that happened to her was Tezuka gave her a smile before he walked her to her home that night.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Those were the words that he said while patting her head before he walked away from her that night. Her own smile couldn't leave her lips after that incident.

She realized that she could have a nice time with the stoic Captain after all.

xxx

If she didn't remember school, she would have continued dreaming about the Captain she admired all day long. She would feel embarrassed if she voiced out her feelings to anyone like that… that she was dreaming about the Captain.

She'd better keep that to herself.

She ran all the way to the court and saw the Captain ordering the others to run laps. Taking a deep breath, she stared ahead before she walked towards them.

"Ryuzaki-chan!" Eiji called out to her when he saw her walking towards the court, "You're early!"

"H-hai," She answered stopping beside the Captain's side, "Ohayou gozaimasu, senpai-tachi."

"10 more laps, Eiji!" Tezuka ordered when he noticed him stopping from running.

"No fair." Eiji murmured but continued running afterwards.

Sakuno chuckled as she looked at them and to their Captain, "Strict as ever, buchou."

Tezuka just observed the others as he pushed his glasses to his nose. They stayed silent for a while and sort of watching them together. She didn't mind doing that with him. The comfortable silence was enough for her now that she knew he could be a comfortable companion after all.

"Ryuzaki."

She looked at him only to see him staring at her. Her heart was secretly panicking but she was able to hide it, instead she gave him a tiny smile, waiting for him to continue.

"Do you—"

"Sakuno!"

Both of them looked at the person who called her. Tomoka was running towards her, panting in the process.

"Tomo-chan, why are you—"

"Are you nuts!" Tomoka stopped her from speaking and grabbed her from her hand, "Your practice is about to start. What the hell are you doing here?"

"E?"

"The girl's tennis court, you dummy," Tomoka said as she started to pull her away from Tezuka, "Gomen, buchou. We'll go ahead."

Sakuno was somehow embarrassed at Tomoka's appearance. She was stupid to forget her practice that morning and she was wondering about the words Tezuka would say to her before Tomoka appeared. Was it the fact that he knew she was about to be late for her own practice? Or was it something else? She was a little upset of not knowing what it was. No matter what he was saying, she didn't care. It was the first time Tezuka initiated a conversation to her and she was supposed to be happy about it.

Few days later:

It had been the same since the mission they did together. Tezuka remained stoic all the time and he never initiated another conversation with her. He could be gentle and kind whenever they had a conversation through moves and actions. It only changed when she was being teased to Ryoma. She didn't know the reason why.

She only realized that she couldn't keep up the treatment anymore. The others thought that she liked the young tennis prodigy. They might have misunderstood. Ryoma might have misunderstood. He might have misunderstood.

If she was given a chance, she would clear the misunderstanding to everyone.

xxx

"Come on, do it!"

She could hear the boys saying something that she couldn't understand. Sakuno was out practicing alone in the training area after being scolded by her coach for being late in that morning. She was late today so she was being punished.

"It's your fault why she's late!"

"Why is it my fault that she's late?"

"It's because you made her wait for thirty minutes to come out. Now she's late."

"I didn't know she was waiting for me."

The conversation was clear to her now. She looked behind her to see Momo and Eiji shoving Ryoma towards her direction. The latter was struggling while the other two kept on pushing him towards her.

"S-senpai-tachi, Ryoma-kun," She faced them and bowed when they approached her, "Ohayou gozaimasu."

"Ohayou Ryuzaki-chan," Momo said holding his kouhai to his collar, "I am sorry about this. You're being punished because of this midget's tardiness."

"Who are you calling a midget?" Ryoma retorted trying to free himself from his senpai's grip.

"I-Ie, senpai that's alright."

"No, it's not," Eiji said pushing the younger one to her, "Ochibi here will accompany you until our practice time starts."

"T-that's not necessary—"

"Now Ochibi. Make sure she'll learn something from you."

Sakuno tried to reason out but they wouldn't hear her. The three kept depending themselves, two against one until someone broke their argument.

"What's going on here?"

They looked up to see the boys' Captain and the Vice Captain standing at the entrance of the training area. Sakuno's heart began to pound the moment she saw him there. The others began to reason out that she couldn't hear much.

The fact that Tezuka was there could make everything close around her.

"The two of you go back to the court," Tezuka said before looking at Ryoma, "Echizen go back after thirty minutes."

Momo and Eiji high-fived as Oishi shook his head first before following the Captain, who was leaving the area. Ryoma pinned his hat down as he was muttering something that she couldn't understand.

They were being misunderstood again and she feared that he might as well. She tried to venture for several times but she couldn't bring herself to correct them, let alone to tell them the truth. Realizing that she could confess to them in the process was also embarrassing for her.

It would clear all misunderstandings after that so why wouldn't she take the risk. She didn't want Ryoma to misunderstand her either.

She didn't want anyone to be upset because of that.

"Ryuzaki!"

Her train of thought was cut when Ryoma called out to her. His expression was showing to her. She realized that they were in the middle of practice and Ryoma was watching her rallying on the wall. She didn't know how long she had stopped hitting the ball.

"Your mind is elsewhere."

"G-gomen Ryoma-kun," She turned to face him and bowed for several times, "I'll focus this time. I am sorry."

The boy sighed and stood up from the bench where he was sitting, "My time here is almost up. I should go back."

Sakuno looked up and saw him leaving the area, "H-hai… honto ni gomenasai, Ryoma-kun." She knew that she was blushing because of embarrassment.

Ryoma stopped from walking and looked at his shoulder, "I get it. You don't have to feel upset."

"E?"

"Come to the gate when the school ends today." Ryoma said before he continued walking away.

She was left leaving with another train of thoughts. Just what was he talking about?

At the Entrance Gate:

As Ryoma instructed her, she did go to the gate and waited for him. Ryoma wanted her to come to the school gate after class but she didn't know why. Leaning on the wall, she waited for the tennis prodigy to meet her there. Students passed her by as they went home. She didn't wait long when she spotted someone approaching her but her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was.

Tezuka Kunimitsu.

The tennis Captain approached her as if she was really the reason why he was there. Blush appeared to her face as she greeted him, "K-konnichiwa, Tezuka-buchou."

Tezuka nodded at her, "I came as Echizen told. What do you want to talk about?"

"E-e?" She was rather surprised at his question. She wanted to talk to him. About what? When did she ask him that? Tezuka seemed to understand her confusion and pushed his glasses.

"Did Echizen do this?"He murmured enough for her to hear, "That guy." She looked up to him and saw him turning around, "Do you want to meet him here instead? I'll call out to him."

Panic came to her system when he started to walk away. Tezuka was beginning to misunderstand her too. She didn't want him to think that she liked Ryoma in that way. Ryoma was the one to tell her to come there. Then she finally understood why Ryoma told her to go there.

Of all the people she expected to believe her, she didn't think that Ryoma would be the first one. Ryoma understood her the most. She called out to the captain before she could even think.

"Tezuka-san, matte!"

Tezuka stopped walking and looked up to her.

"I… I… people would misunderstand. I mean, Ryoma-kun and I," her blush intensified after she said that. She clasped her hands near her heart which was beating really fast, "but… but I don't want you to… misunderstand me."

"…"

"I… I like Ryoma-kun—but," She bit her lower lip and looked away, "it's not the way people think. I like him as—as a friend."

"…"

"Please… D-don't misunderstand." She closed her eyes after that. It's you whom I like. She wanted to voice that out but she couldn't for some reason. Sakuno didn't see Tezuka's reaction at that time. She only opened her eyes when she felt hands holding her to her shoulder and saw Tezuka looking at her.

…With fondness showing to his eyes.

Her own eyes widened when he leaned down and kissed her on her cheek for a long time. Her world seemed to stop at that time and her heart was still pounding really fast. Her blush was still intense as the Captain moved away and smiled a little at her;

"I guess," He started placing a hand to her cheek that he kissed, "I let my guard down."

Sakuno became speechless after that. He thought of it too and she made it clear to him. He knew. He finally knew now and he… returned it. Tezuka's smile was still there as his hand that was on her cheek went to her hand and clasped his. He started to pull her away from the gate and walked ahead;

"I won't let my guard down this time." The Captain said looking ahead.

Sakuno was still shocked at the turn of events. Tezuka was holding her hand. They were walking together. He wouldn't mind that at all. He knew even though she didn't need to spell it out to him, because she made it clear. She had to thank Ryoma for this. They were going home together and she was happy about that. She couldn't contain her happiness when she remembered something.

"T-Tezuka-san, who would train your team now?"

Done? How was this? Waah, I don't know if this is good. I don't really ship this pair but I want to do this because a reader requested this to me. I want to do something different like this once in a while. I hope she like this. Domo

Guys! I am back, Although, I don't think I can update weekly but I am back in the writing world. I know that this is odd because I came back with a different pair but next week, I am going to update It All Started with a Bet. Yep, you heard me, and it's a promise. I'll see you next week then.

~ MitsukiJunko