AN: KiriSaku-ness! ^_^ kyaa!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, it is only Takeshi Konomi Sensei's.

I See You

When she first saw him, it was the Finals of the Kantou Tournament, with black wavy hair and beautiful sea green eyes. He wasn't someone she would remember. Then, he was merely the Ace of Rikkai. Indeed, she had appreciated his skill, but that was it. He was simply another being on the vast globe that is the Earth.

When he first saw her, it was at the Finals match, as well. One moment his eyes were on her, the next, they weren't. And just like that, one moment his mind had registered her face, the next- it had forgotten her very existence.

He wasn't to blame, however. All he remembered after that match with the Seigaku prodigy was that he had been beaten, and beaten hard. He remembered the horrifying feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. The intense shaking and his heart pounding painfully. His reasoning had been clouded, he was Afraid.

That was when it all started, the Fear, the Contempt, the Self-pity and the Anger, they were all directed towards himself. Excitement was an emotion that unfailingly made its way into his body every time he was challenged by a strong opponent. To the Rikkai Ace, excitement and fear went hand in hand. Excitement- the anticipation for what he may evolve into. He desperately waited for a greater power. To truly become invincible, he wanted it, he needed it, in its entirety. Fear- the dread for what he may become. He knew he lost himself as he powered up. He was wrapped up in insanity and was overcome with hunger, the hunger for blood and pain. To himself, that was who he was- the young man named Kirihara Akaya.

The National Tournament was fast approaching. Once again, King Rikkai was determined to snag the Nationals' trophy and Akaya wasn't one to back down from the challenge. *Wham! Wham! Wham!* went one ball after another as Kirihara practised heatedly against a wall. It was when a few street tennis players arrived that he stopped and smirked as they challenged him to a match. Two on One, it seemed.

The opponents had been easy to beat. Akaya hadn't broken a sweat. He turned away from the fallen men and was about to pack up, when a ball whizzed past him and hit the grill. Turning back in a flash, a boy who seemed to be at least a few years older than Akaya stood smirking, taunting the seaweed haired lad. Almost immediately, his expression turned sinister, as his cornea turned a dreadful red. He cackled hysterically as he readied himself for a Knuckle Serve. In his insanity, he vaguely registered two auburn twin braids and big brown doe-like eyes. For a moment, he hesitated, for he felt his insanity temporarily fade and a dim spark of hope flash, but it was gone as soon as it had come. His inner devil returned once again as he readied himself to pummel the boy in front of him.

Kanagawa Prefecture was slightly different from the Tokyo Metropolis, noted Ryuzaki Sakuno. She and her grandmother were to visit an old friend of the Seigaku Coach. As dinner was done and the adults began their usual conversations, Sakuno decided that she was, indeed, bored. Slowly slipping away from the house, she decided she would like to take a walk. So as she strolled along the streets, under the starry skies, the sound of balls hitting the ground reached her ears as she ran to catch the source of the thumping. Panting slightly, her brown orbs widened as they followed his every movement. This boy, she remembered him! Dark, messy hair and bloodshot green eyes—it could only be Kirihara Akaya, the Devil.

She watched him absolutely beat his opponent and to her surprise, the dark haired boy fell to his knees as he looked straight ahead, his eyes weary and his face shone poorly masked grief. He hadn't guffawed sickeningly after the win, as she had expected. He looked so miserable, so alone. And she couldn't understand why, but that look on his face had held her heart for a few moments.

She was here again. She knew not why, but she was indeed, here again. She wouldn't call it attraction, because she was sure she wasn't attracted to him on the romantic level. It was fascination, she decided. Yes, fascination, indeed. Last week's encounter had left her slightly bothered, it wasn't as if he had become a huge part of her musings, he simply made his way there when her mind sat idle. Sensible, as it was, for 'the idle mind is a Devil's workshop', and we all know that Kirihara Akaya is a Devil, the sight before her was proof of that.

Oh no, he had done it again. He looked down at the bloodied, bruised men. It was all his doing, only his. He had gotten fired up again, and this was the result. Looking distraught at the product of his abilities, Kirihara turned to pack his racket. He found it rather difficult to control all the contemptuous feelings that flooded his system, when he was alone. He slowly looked towards the fence. She was there again, but he couldn't bother himself with such trivialities. He didn't know why she was there and he didn't care. He had been engulfed with the fear of himself, nothing else mattered and nothing could be of help.

She found herself at Kanagawa in the following weeks. Sakuno couldn't seem to stay away from the beast before her. She would see him, week after week, destroy his challengers and then watch his façade crumble slightly.

It had happened, slowly, both boy and girl had registered each other's faces and names. It was what one would call a Weekly Rendezvous. They were now accustomed to one another's presence. He knew she saw the pain, but didn't mind. She hadn't said so much as a word to him in all her visits and for that, he was grateful. But one day, she had left something next to his bag. He spotted a disposable container and went on to open it and inspect its contents. Sea Green eyes went wide as he registered that it was a Bento. Next to the box was a slip of paper that said, "For all that hard work. Eat and stay healthy! Happy Training to you!"

He had been touched at the gesture and went about emptying the contents of the box. He had calmed down. He noticed her presence did that to him. The bento had been wonderful, delicious, to say the least. There had to be something in this…arrangement that they found themselves in, right? Both were willing to see where it would take them.

The National Tournament had finally arrived. Kirihara was fired up! "Oi brat, don't go around murdering people!" joked Marui as Niou affectionately ruffled the Ace's hair, "Puri". Akaya pouted childishly, "senpai! Who murders who?! And I wouldn't go that far!" At least, he hoped he wouldn't.

During the course of the tournament, he discovered the true potential of the Devil Mode. Sakuno had to admit, he looked frightening. She knew, however, that he actually wasn't. She watched in horror as the white haired Akaya constantly hurt Inui-senpai, over and over, relentlessly. The match had been decided, Inui-snepai had fallen. The sight of a bloodied Inui had her shaking in fear. Her dread intensified as she the sickening laughter that was coming from the seaweed haired boy reached her ears. It finally mellowed down as Yanagi jabbed him in the knees and Sanada threatened to "Tarundarou!" his ass.

The final match ended with Seigaku crowned as the nation's Champions. Sakuno's love interest, Ryoma, had been sitting next to her at Kawamura's Sushi Bar. Inspite of this, her thoughts couldn't help but to go back to Kirihara Akaya. Akaya here, Akaya there, Akaya everywhere. She wondered if it was obsession. Maybe it was, she decided.

The party had ended and Sakuno was on her way home, when the skies started to rumble and the dark grey blanket split and let out cold, angry droplets of rain. "Mou… why at a time like this?!" she complained to herself as she ran across the fields to find shelter. She sighed in relief as she spotted a shed and quickly made towards it, school bag and all. As she neared the shelter, her heart nearly stopped and the wetness that engulfed her was forgotten. Kirihara Akaya sat in front of her, his face buried in his hands, as his fingers painfully pulled at the roots of his hair. He was shaking uncontrollably, and Sakuno was certain it wasn't because of the chilly weather. She slowly made to approach him, when she suddenly halted and cringed, as he let out an ear-splitting scream. He continued screaming.

She calmed herself as she reached out to gently touch his damp hair. His hand slapped hers away as he looked at her with wide, frantic eyes. He had been crying, she could tell. She once again reached out when he painfully clutched her wrist and glared at her, "go the fuck away! If you don't want to be hurt, go away! I'm not my normal self now". She simply shook her head as she sat closer to him, gently touching his cheek with her free hand, "Akaya-kun… it's quite alright, I know you mean me no harm" she knew he needed the comfort. "Leave!" he yelled, "I'm sure you saw what I did to Renji-senpai's friend! Don't stay close to me, I'm a demon!" he protested frantically.

Her eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. All this time, he had been afraid of himself. Oh no, no, no, no… that wasn't right! She shushed him soothingly as his grip on her wrist loosened. She wrapped both her arms around the boy's neck as he continued to cry. He gave up trying to push her away, as he took her onto his lap, clutching the back of her shirt and broke down completely on her shoulder. And so they sat, under the furious skies, healing and being healed, as they held on to each other for as long as required.

He could still remember the look in her brown eyes. They were beautiful, he couldn't deny it. So assuring she had been that he had almost believed that he wasn't so horrible. She had held him, and he had held her. His musings were cut short as he bumped into some one, this someone squeaked out an apology as she bowed lower and lower until her long hair touched the ground. "Ryuzaki Sakuno?" asked a surprised Akaya, to which she instantly straightened up to look at the person she had come to see in the first place. "Akaya-kun! Osashiburi desu!", Akaya nodded and continued on the side walk, as she fell in step with him.

They walked calmly until they reached the street tennis courts, they had both been visiting it regularly, assuming the same positions, only during the past few encounters had they communicated. On entering the courts, Sakuno took the liberty of sitting at a bench quite close to Akaya's side of the court. The boys never learnt, why did they even dream of beating the Rikkai Ace anyway? It simply wasn't possible. He had to admit, however, that these annoying men were getting stronger, and he simply had to play in his semi-devil mode.

Sweating lightly, he watched stricken, as he had just delivered the knuckle serve, and had hit one of the boys right in the face, he flew backwards and was now helplessly plopped on the ground. There it was again, that sickening feeling. His face paled considerably, and Sakuno was quick to react. She instantly jumped from her seat and touched his forehead with a damp napkin. "Akaya-kun, that was a good serve, don't worry about it, it's alright!" she assured him. He felt slightly better, as he once again focused on the matches.

He tiredly plopped down next to her, sipping on his cool drink. It had been a good match, and this time, he hadn't collapsed and wallowed in self-pity, which was a great improvement where he was concerned. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, she was busy readying the napkin and bento and chopsticks. He had the sudden urge to laugh as he saw her flushed cheeks, while she fussed around the bench. Chuckling lightly, he reached out for her arms and pulled her down. "It's alright, you know. You can relax too. I'm not planning on reverting back to my pitiful self and letting my inner demons takeover" She blinked a few times before flushing once again, "Sou…ka?", Akaya gave her a rueful smile as he started to dig into the bento.

*Munch munch munch* "S-sugoi na Ryuzaki Sakuno! This Onigiri is delicious!" gushed Akaya. Sakuno blushed and flashed him her sweetest smile. Akaya blinked a few times and felt a slight heat creep up his cheeks as he looked at her. Confused by his stare, she cutely cocked her head to the side. Shaking off his stupor, Akaya chuckled lightly, "heh. You looked really pretty just now, Ryuzaki Sakuno" Sakuno blushed all the more and shyly thanked him. A few minutes of awkward silence prevailed before both parties started laughing lightly.

"Na Jackal, come with me to the street *pop* tennis courts, I feel like playing some." Jackal Kuwahara simply sighed at his pink-haired friend as they lazily made their way to the courts. Suddenly, Marui halts and tells Jackal to shut his trap. "Eh. I wasn't the one yapping in the first place!" "hush Baldy! Our baby's here. Look" he pointed to the Junior Ace, who had his back turned to them. Instead of protesting as to the insult, Jackal's curiosity got the best of him as he too joined the spying. Their baby was talking animatedly to a—wait! Was that a girl?! Both tennis players watched wide eyed as their little seaweed head chatted off with a girl with long, brown flowing hair. Her side profile seemed familiar though. Was she from Rikkai? No, that's not possible. The sweet lover knew almost every girl there, considering they practically pounced on him and showered him with sweets. In his reverie, he failed to notice that the two had exited the courts and were standing right in front of the two seniors. "Eh? Marui-senpai? Jackal-senpai? What are you guys doing?" Marui ignored him and bent down to the girl's face level. "Are you who I think you are?" Sakuno blushed and bowed down, "Ohayo gosaimasu, I am Ryuzaki Sakuno. Nice to meet you Bunta-san, Kuwahara-san" she greeted politely. Marui smirked, "heh. Akaya, when did you start dating Seigaku's Coach's grand-daughter, hmmm?" To this, both blushed, Sakuno was a bright red and Akaya's cheeks were tinged a light pink, as he turned away and nervously scratched the back of his neck, "uh, who's dating who?!" "A-ano… A-Akaya-kun and I aren't l-like… a-ano.. s-sumimasen!" the auburn head bowed, embarrassed. "Ho… well, Akaya-KUN, you should teach your little girlfriend to stop apologizing so much, nah?" The Devil's face reddened some more as he shook his head "Oi oi! I told you guys she isn't my girlfriend… she just, uh… comes here a lot…" Sakuno nodded in agreement, but both juniors couldn't help but think as to what they actually were to each other. "Ne ne Sakuno-chan, welcome to the Rikkai family!" grinned a mischievous Marui as Jackal chuckled, highly amused at the different shades of red the little girl had turned in the past few minutes. "a-ano..! w-well!" "Tch, stop making her uncomfortable senpai!" yelled Akaya as he gently took her hand and dragged her away. As they made their way away from the two tennis players, *cough* "uh, sorry about that Ryuzaki Sakuno, it was a little uncomfortable, wasn't it?" Sakuno giggled softly as she beamed at him, "yes! Very uncomfortable, but at least they care about you, Akaya-kun!" Akaya laughed lightly and nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, they do. I'm the baby of the club, you know! If you don't take good care of me, they won't be pleased. Fukubuchou might even come chasing you, yelling out 'Tarundarou!'" he imitated the Emperor animatedly. Sakuno burst out laughing as she replied, "I can actually imagine Sanada-san doing that! And don't worry Akaya-kun! I have no intentions of leaving you." She finished, smiling serenely.

It took a moment for the two to register what she had said, and when it did, Akaya looked at her, slightly flustered, "uhm… what does that make us, Ryuzaki Sakuno?" Sakuno gasped and covered her mouth, what had she just blurted out?! "a-ah, w-well… u-uhm… I wouldn't… I wouldn't know, Akaya-kun…" she answered honestly. They stared at one another for some time when—"Oi, Ryuzaki, what are you doing there?" came a very familiar voice. Instantly, the two broke eye contact as they turned to look at the third party. Echizen Ryoma stood there, looking at the two, a surprised look on his face. "Ryoma-kun!" "heh. Echizen, what are you doing in Kanagawa?" Ryoma smirked as he looked at the two, something was up, he could sense it. "hmmmm, just walking around, well, Ryuzaki, you coming along? It's already pretty late." Sakuno flushed slightly at the thought of forgetting to check the time as she turned to the Rikkai Ace, "alright then, A-Akaya-kun, I'll… see you around?" Akaya nodded slightly, "Yeah, see you around Ryuzaki Sakuno. See you Echizen." He waved and turned to leave. He was however, stopped upon hearing Echizen's words—"you know, you must address those close to you with more familiarity, Ja." He turned around and lead Sakuno away.

Being the dense girl that she is, Sakuno simply thought Ryoma told Akaya to greet him more informally, because they were close and everything. Akaya, however, knew exactly what he meant, "More… familiarly, huh." He smiled lightly and walked to his home.

"Well, care to tell me what's up between the two of you?" Sakuno was slightly surprised, because Ryoma wasn't the kind of person who'd mind others' business. "A-ah well, I don't know myself, Ryoma-kun…" Ryoma chuckled lightly and ruffled her hair. "You let your hair down, didn't you?" not understanding the insinuation, she looked at him questioningly, "Why'd you do that Ryuzaki? You're very strict about your pig-tails, so why the sudden change?" he asked, hoping she'd get the hint. His only female friend was, after all, the densest human being on the planet. "well, because I wanted to… I wanted to look pretty…" she finished, bowing her head. "You're pretty even with your pig-tails", Sakuno blushed lightly as she looked up at him. He was smiling, he gently flicked her forehead with his index finger as he chuckled some more, "you did it for him, didn't you?" Brown orbs widened as she realized what he meant. She was in love with Kirihara Akaya, and boy was she damned, her first crush was the one making her realize it! Oh, the irony! "S-so… Ryoma-kun… what am I supposed to do?" Ryoma looked at her blankly, "what are you talking about Ryuzaki?" it was as if they hadn't had that conversation at all. But Sakuno knew that this was how Ryoma was. He never directly admitted to helping people. "Hmm, here's your house Ryuzaki, see you tomorrow. And, remember to let him know, you silly girl." Sakuno smiled brightly, "hai!"

"Akaya-kun!" called out Sakuno as she approached the Seaweed head. He fought down his blush as he noticed she had left her hair untied once again. He really thought she looked so beautiful, not that he'd ever tell her that. "Ah, Ryuzaki… uh, Sakuno-chan, hello!" he finished awkwardly. Sakuno visibly blushed as she gave him a shy smile.

They were heading to the Rikkaidai courts today. He had informed her that he wanted her to be at his practice matches. That was sort of a date, right? Before either of them had noticed, the two had become close. It was a wonder how they were complete strangers at the beginning. He had also noticed how he was left, well, not so broken. He looked at her fondly, how he had grown to consider her a constant in his life, he didn't know. But what he did know was that he was really glad.

They headed towards the courts and were surprisingly greeted by a polite Sanada who bowed slightly, "Good morning, Ryuzaki Sakuno-san", he left to the courts shortly after. Akaya turned to her and smiled, "sit here and watch, alright?" Sakuno nodded and settled herself at the bleachers. 'Sakuno…ga?" She blushed as she remembered Akaya addressing her by her first name. it made her warm.

She watched as all the Rikkai regulars sweated is out on the courts. "Hello there, Sakuno-chan" came Yukimura's voice. Startled, she jumped slightly. Regaining control, she meekly greeted back, "Hello, Yukimura-san", he chuckled, "ne, Seiichi-kun is fine, just for you Sakuno-chan" Sakuno looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Yare yare, how is it that you call Akaya 'Akaya-kun' and are so horrified by the thought of calling me 'Seiichi-kun'? I'm hurt, Sakuno-chan" he said, smiling genially. She realised he had Fuji-like tendencies. "U-umm, i-it's not that! J-just that—" "Mura-buchou, what are you doing to Sakuno-chan?!" Akaya came running towards the benches. Yukimura chuckled lightly as he got up to leave. Patting Akaya's head, "just teasing your little girlfriend" "W-whose girlfriend?!" retorted a red Kirihara. Sighing, he sat next to Sakuno and gave her a small smile. "Was I good today, Sakuno-chan?" Sakuno prettily blushed and smiled, "hai! I enjoy watching you play!" Akaya chuckled and as he faced her to say something, both girl and boy were pushed towards one another as Marui and Niou tumbled into them. "Heh. Akaya, Sakuno-chan! What are talking abou—EH?!" Marui's startled scream caught everyone's attention and as they turned towards the ruckus, their jaw dropped to the ground. Between a smirking Niou and an amused Marui, were Akaya and Sakuno, frozen and red and WAIT! They were… KISSING?! "TARUNDAROU!" came Sanada's booming voice, "Akaya! 100 laps around the courts, now! I suggest you and Ruzaki-san get a room!" with this, both subjects snapped out of their shock and blushed scarlet. 'K-kissed… Akaya-kun… Oh n-no!' were the thoughts running through the young girl's mind as she stole a glance at the boy next to her. Kirihara Akaya sat frozen in place. Green eyes wide and his jaw, slack. What had they done just now? He had kissed Ryuzaki Sakuno, full on the mouth! "U-uh… I need to… run laps… yes…" he let out thickly, as he bolted towards the courts.

All the regulars smirked in spite of themselves, their baby had gotten himself such a nice girl. As the sun sank lower into the horizon, Sakuno watched Akaya finish his laps in a daze. She failed to notice that he had quietly made his way to her and was now plopped beside her. What could they say to each other, anyway? As Akaya rummaged through his bag for a towel, their hands lightly brushed against one another and both teenagers quickly apologized, flustered.

He had tried to forget about the kiss, but it insisted on nagging him. Sure, it hadn't been intentional, but they had shared it, nonetheless. She had soft, sweet lips, he decided. Suddenly, he felt the urge to really kiss her. Coincidentally, Sakuno turned towards him, "Akaya-ku—" her eyes widened as he gently placed his lips on hers, cupping the side of her face. 'A-again?!' thought Sakuno, as she quickly pulled away. "S-sorry, I'm so sorry Akaya-ku—" "Sshh Sakuno…" he gently hushed as he pulled her closer and kissed her once again. She realized that he actually did want to kiss her. She simply couldn't resist the warm sensations that coursed through her body. Shutting her eyes, she kissed him back, her palms pressed against his firm chest. This was wonderful. Akaya had never in his life, felt such warmth before. How ironic it was, that Sakuno felt the safest in the arms of the Devil, himself.

Three months, it had been three months since Kirihara Akaya and Ryuzaki Sakuno had contacted each other. But, the wait was over, he and the rest of the 50 middle-schoolers would be returning from the U-17 camp today, and she couldn't wait to meet all her senpais and friends. Her heart warmed at the thought of getting to see Akaya once again. And so, she waited at the bus station, where they were all to be dropped off.

Man, he missed her. He missed her so much! There wasn't a day in the past three months when he hadn't thought of her. He had so much to tell her, to let her know that he had overcome all the fear, the contempt, and everything derogatory that he felt towards himself. As they neared the bus station, his heart raced at the thought of finally being able to see her. As long brown hair and a petite frame could be sited from afar, his expression grew bright. She was there! Waiting for him, she was there. As they alighted from the bus, greetings and cheers ensued, as he watched his Sakuno greet all her senpais and friends. His face took on a gentle expression as he watched her smile. A slight push startled him, as he turned back to look at a smiling Shiraishi. "Go on, Akaya, don't you want to show her how contrasting your abilities are now?" Akaya smiled gratefully, "Kuranosuke-senpai… Arigatou" he beamed as he made his way to the young girl. "Uh, Hello Sakuno-chan…" he smiled at her. Sakuno looked at him with a pretty blush on her cheeks as she greeted back shyly, "Akaya-kun…" the others, being tactful, decided to give the two some privacy as they departed from the bus stop. "Was your camp nice, Akaya-kun?" asked she. Akaya practically beamed at her, "yes! Well, I want to tell you, I've gotten stronger you know… here." He had suddenly started radiating a hell lot of energy, as his hair turned white, but his eyes and skin turned paler, more beautiful. Sakuno's eyes widened as she gasped, "A-akaya-kun… w-what is.." "Angel Mode, it's my new technique, and it doesn't involve hurting anybody Sakuno-chan! Shiraishi-senpai helped me. He has been extremely kind to me". He reverted back to his normal state as he looked at her expectantly; she was still in a daze. "A-Akaya-kun… that was beautiful!" she exclaimed, her face glowing with happiness. "You aren't just the Devil anymore, you're my Angel as well, Akaya-kun…" she smiled sweetly. Akaya blushed as he quickly wrapped his arms around her tightly, "I love you, Sakuno…" he whispered into her hair. Sakuno couldn't hold back the tears as they streamed down her face as she shakily replied, "I love you too, Akaya-kun… So much…"

They hadn't counted on this happening. No, they had assumed they'd be strangers for life, but fate had brought them together. Now, they were inseparable. Now, they saw each other for who they really were. Now, they loved each other with all their hearts, forever.

KiriSaku is one of my favourite couples, and everytime i read about them, it always puts a smile on my face.

To all KiriSaku lovers! ^_^ I hope you liked it =)

Please R&R! =)

Love

Hana-chan