DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I guess destiny had other plans for me. :((

MINNAAAAAAAAAAA! I. AM. B.A.C.K.! WOOOOOO! Haha. I TOTALLY apologze for the long hiatus but I've only just managed to bring my life to a heel. I was dumped to continue my studies in another country and it did NOT sit with me totally well. Wow. Chapter 12 really packed some reviews! Hmm. If I answer them all here t would make my Author's Note totally looong and rambling and personally, I hate it when it does that. So, I'll just send you guys a private message responding to your reviews! Hope you guys review, and favorite more! Thank you for subscribing in HIAB! :D

Now, here is CHAPTER 13! :D

Chapter 13: Chaos at the Sakura Festival

"Nooooooooooooo!"

"Oi, you three, stop that!" Momo clutched his ears shut as he approached the three wailing freshmen.

The three idiots paid him no mind as they continued screeching their hearts out, disrupting tennis practice and making Tezuka look at them with murder in his eyes.

"Is something the matter, you three?" Oishi said worriedly as he went towards them, him being in a game when they started so he really couldn't see what was wrong with them.

"Oishi-sempai, Momo-chan-sempai," whimpered Horio. The three stopped their wails, earning a relieved sigh from everyone.

"There. Now, can you tell us why you're screaming like that? A few more minutes and Tezuka would have had your heads," Oishi said as looked at Horio then Katsuo and Kachiro.

"Hime-sama turned us down for the Sakura Festival!" the three wailed, starting anew, eliciting a groan from the whole tennis club.

Oishi's eyes widened and he immediately looked at Tezuka's general direction. Said captain had a very pronounced tick on his forehead.

"Ano, kimi-tachi, perhaps you shouldn't speak of that here. You're disrupting practice," Oishi said, trying to let them see that Tezuka wasn't very happy with them.

'Especially when they said Echizen-chan turned them down,' he thought, sweatdropping.

Yes, no one knew yet that Tezuka and Echizen were in a relationship. Well, except for those who saw them that day.

Flashback

The screech Kikumaru emitted was enough to break the couple apart and look at them. Both of their eyes widened.

"What are you doing here, sempai-tachi?" Ryoma asked nervously, looking down at the grass.

"Oh, we were trying to see if what Kikumaru had seen was true. Apparently, yes," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses, making the light bounce back, giving him an eerie look, especially with that maniacal grin on his lips.

"My, how right he was," Fuji chuckled lowly, stroking his camera lovingly.

"Tezuka~," Oishi said, his eyes wide with surprise.

Tezuka coughed slightly, willing away his blush.

Then, what Oishi did was one reaction that Tezuka never expected of the motherhen. He jumped with joy.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Oishi," Tezuka said, a question hanging in the air; 'Are you alright?'

"I'm more than alright, Tezuka! Finally! You're showing your emotions! I was right!" Oishi said as he continued to jump up and down like a little kid in a candy store.

"Enough, Oishi. You're scaring them," Fuji said as he got a grip on Oishi's shoulder.

Indeed, Tezuka was looking at Oishi like he was possessed and Ryoma had her jaw dragging on the ground.

"But I'm so happy! I'm so happy, Fuji!" Oishi said as he looked at the Tensai with shining eyes.

"Err, why are you so happy, Oishi-sempai?" Ryoma asked after she got her jaw working again.

The three unstupefied regulars looked at them seriously.

"Because we can watch the rest of your story."

"Eh?" she said, not making heads nor tails of their explanation. Though, Tezuka looked at them with dawning realization.

"You were watching us?" he said, his tone indicating he was not asking a question.

"Of course. Who do you think planned the karaoke outing?" Inui said as he looked at them with a dark smile.

"Ah. I still have to thank Kei-chan for that little tidbit," Fuji chuckled a little as Ryoma's glare was immediately shot to him.

"I knew it!" Ryoma growled lowly, giving Fuji her strongest glare. Unfortunately, Fuji didn't even so much as flinch at the sight.

"Hmm?" he asked, smiling sweetly at the angry girl.

"I knew it was you Keigo was calling the other night! That evil pompous bastard lied to me! Why I ought to-!" Her tirade was cut short when a calming hand settled on her shoulder. She looked at Tezuka, who looked at her sternly.

"Hai, hai," she said sullenly, obeying the silent order.

"Ochibi with Tezuka?" a quiet voice timidly floated to them as they looked at their normally bouncy redhead acrobat, who was looking at the couple like they were aliens.

"Ano, Eiji?" Oishi immediately sobered up at seeing his partner's reaction.

"Are you against this, Kikumaru?" Inui asked bluntly, eyeing the redhead with a calculating gaze.

Kikumaru snapped out of his daze when Inui asked his question.

"Of course not! I'm just surprised. I just didn't see it coming," Kikumaru said sheepishly, looking at the couple with surprise written all over his face.

"Then it's ok with you, Eiji?" Fuji asked, his face set into a mild frown.

"It might take some time. I mean, it's Ochibi-chan! She's like my little sister!" Kikumaru declared as he moved to glomp the rookie but Fuji's sudden hand on his shoulder stayed him put.

"Then, all of you know the importance of keeping this a secret as of now?" Tezuka asked as he peered at his friends.

"My, Tezuka, do you have to ask?" Fuji said, his smile widening a fraction.

"Somehow, I'm not comforted, Buchou," Ryoma said, frowning at the growing smirks of Fuji and Inui.

"Aa," Tezuka agreed.

End flashback

"Eh, why not, Oishi-sempai? We weren't even the first ones to ask Hime-sama," Kachiro said as he ceased his own wailing to inform their two sempais, wherein one was chuckling nervously.

"Whatever the fact may be, you three are still disrupting practice. Hora, my new juice, Kiiro," Inui said as he instantly appeared at Oishi's side, brandishing a jug full of bright yellow liquid.

As the screams of the three died, Oishi looked at Inui jotting down the trio's reactions to his juice.

"Did you really have to do that?" he asked the Data Master carefully, not bothering to hide his fear in his smile.

"Of course, Oishi. Unless you could think of any other way to pacify Tezuka?" he asked the motherhen, his eyebrow lifting ever so slightly.

Oishi stopped regarding Inui like he was the Grim Reaper himself and looked towards where his best friend usually oversaw practice. His posture was a little more relaxed than when the trio proclaimed that they had asked Ryoma out. He had to admit, Inui had a point. Once angered, Tezuka would be level-headed, yes, but much more brutal with his punishments. They really didn't need the club to run goodness-knows how much laps. They had Inui for punishments, thank you very much!

"Very well," sighed Oishi, seeing no other option.

'At least Fuji is staying out of trouble,' he thought, mainly to pacify himself.

As if on cue, Fuji walked up to them and smiled creepily.

"Inui, that drink looks under seasoned. Here," he said as he dumped a whole tube of wasabi in the drink, causing the drink to sputter and fizz, until it turned into an unhealthy and unappetizing shade of green and brown.

"I give up," Oishi said, exasperated at the two evil beings.

Meanwhile, Momo had run away nearly 15 minutes ago.

"Ano, Echizen-kun, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Ryoma growled lowly in her throat. This was what? The 15th time she was stopped in the hallway? She stopped stomping towards the tennis clubhouse in favor of giving the one who stopped her her best death glare. She did not need another invitation, damn it!

"What?" she asked, her tone suggesting that if the boy had any self-preservation left, he would let the pissed female go without saying anything.

BUT NOOO. The stupid boy didn't notice anything wrong.

"Ano, Echizen-kun, I'm Isamu from 1-4. I was wondering if you would go to the festival with me?" the boy hedged, looking really insecure.

Ryoma took a long deep breath through her nose and exhaled slowly, reigning her temper in.

'Forgive him, he is a mindless idiot. Forgive him, he is a mindless idiot,' she chanted mentally, complaining to the gods on why they made the boys her age have the capacity of carrying less than an iota of brain cells.

"I'm not going with anyone within my year," she told him bluntly, ignoring the crestfallen look he was giving her. She turned sharply and quickly made her way towards the clubhouse. Well, as quickly as one could muster when you're being stopped by boys every freaking corner.

'That's it. The kid gloves come off here. I need to talk to Fuji-sempai,' he thought darkly, planning for revenge, as she turned down her 20th offer for the day. She made her way to the tennis courts, leaving a trail of heartbroken boys behind her.

Thus, when she got to the clubhouse, all the members wisely kept their distance because she was spouting such a dark aura Tezuka would have been proud of. When she emerged on the courts, she scanned the vicinity and immediately made a beeline for Fuji, Inui and Oishi.

Seeing Ryoma approach, Fuji donned on his best smile and faced the irate female.

"What can I do for you, Ryoma-chan?" he asked sweetly, already having a vague indication of what she wants.

"Fuji-sempai, I want you and Inui-sempai to make a statement with the next person to ask me to the festival," she said bluntly, completely ignoring the startled look Oishi gave to her and the maniacal grin that was spreading on Inui's face.

"You're giving us permission to do anything?" Inui cut in, his glasses glinting eerily.

"Anything to keep them hounding me and giving my boyfriend a stroke," she said as she turned and walked towards Momoshiro, probably to coerce him into a game with her.

"Ah, how they grow, ne Inui?" Fuji's smile was simply diabolical.

"Of course. I'm calculating a 100% chance the next boy who would ask Echizen would not attend school for a month," Inui said, cackling quietly.

"O-Oi! You guys can get expelled for that!" Oishi said, his pallor a pasty white at hearing Inui's remark.

"Hmm. Do you think so, Oishi?" Fuji asked the motherhen, his eyes opening a sliver.

"Ok. I take it back. You guys can do that. Just, no killing, please?" Oishi said, his hand already resting on his chest, where his heart should be.

"Of course not, Oishi. We could get jailed for that," Fuji said, his smile widening creepily.

"No. We'll just stop until they're within 5 feet of Death's Door," Inui said, already scribbling on his notebook.

'Kami help the male population,' Oishi mentally said, watching helplessly as Inui put something that looked suspiciously like a cock's comb into the pitcher, turning it into a lavender color with something floating in it.

"I'll call an ambulance now," he said weakly, as he quickly put distance between himself and the two sadists.

"Echizen-chan," a cocky, pompous voice said somewhere behind Ryoma. She was just getting her towel from her bag to wipe the sweat that accumulated on her brow when she played Momo when the voice interrupted her afternoon bliss. She turned around and glared at the offending person.

The guy was too tall to be a freshman. Plus, he was wearing a tennis club member jersey. He had brown hair, a nicely sculpted face. He looked like a male model for tennis jerseys. Still, he looked confident. Too confident.

"I'm Hiroko, 2-2. Wanna go see the fireworks with me, babe? Every soph wants to come with me," he said, punctuating the end of his sentence with a saucy wink.

"Yadda. Your head's too big," Ryoma said bluntly, immediately spotting her two accomplices and nodding to them. Fuji smiled evilly as he pointed at Hiroko, gesturing something to Inui.

"What? Didn't you just hear what I said? Every sophomore girl wants to come with me to the festival! You're supposed to be groveling in the dirt, thanking me for choosing you!" Hiroko said, appalled that Ryoma rejected him like she rejected the freshmen.

"Well, Ichikawa Hiroko, you can't just choose Echizen here. You have to pass the test her cousin set up for whoever wants to go out with her. Will you take the challenge?" Inui appeared at his back as if he teleported there, making Hiroko jump 5 feet off the ground. He turned around warily, as if expecting Inui to suddenly strangle him.

"How many tests are there?" he asked, warily regarding the Data Master.

"Only three. Would you like to try the first one?" Inui asked, his glasses glinting dangerously.

"Of course. I'm sure I'll pass it with flying colors. After all, many call me the 'Tezuka' of the sophomores," he said, applying his blinding smile on the way. Obviously, his confidence levels were superhuman, too.

"Then you will have no problem with test number one. Hora. My specially made juice at Atobe's request. I have no procured name for it. Would it be alright if I named it 'Echizen's Glare'?" he aimed the question at Ryoma, who was at that point sitting down at the bench and looking at Hiroko with murder in her golden eyes.

"Go ahead, Inui-sempai. Just make good use of it," she said coolly, her glare sharpening when Hiroko unmistakably winked at her.

"Of course, Echizen. Ichikawa, dozo," Inui said, his glasses glinting in the sunlight.

Whether he truly believed that he was Tezuka's equal or not, Hiroko accepted the glass from Inui and drank it straight, which caused him to fall gracelessly on the ground at Ryoma's feet, his mouth foaming.

"Impressive, Inui-sempai, that's a new record," Ryoma said, nudging the sophomore's body with her right foot.

"Fuji helped with that particular concoction. Ah. The screaming of your proclaimed fan club members are starting. You'll have no one to bother you now, Echizen. If someone does, we have a final plan," Inui said, laughing quite scarily.

"Arigatou, Inui-sempai," Ryoma nodded her thanks as she rose from the bench and made her way towards the fight that Momoshiro and Kaido have going on.

"No, I'm the one who must thank you, Echizen. Now I can have as many guinea pigs as I want. Ufufufu," Inui muttered maniacally as he faced the wide eye crowd outside the courts.

"Anou, Inui-sempai?"

"Hmm?" Inui his back on the 30th guy who had the guts to take on his first challenge and to look at the source of the questioning voice. Seeing Kachiro and the obvious sweatdrop, Inui decided to humor him.

"Isn't the test Atobe-san set up impossible to pass? I mean, it's only the first step, and almost all of the sophomores in our club died," he mumbled quietly, afraid that Inui might force him to drink the foul liquid if he made the Data Master angry.

"Oh, it's possible to pass the tests. Shall I show you someone who could?" Inui said loudly, gaining the attention of those that were watching with morbid horror.

"No way, Inui-sempai. No one's that strong," one voice shouted clearly from the crowd, resulting in murmurs of agreement.

"Oh? We'll see," he said quietly, chuckling evilly as he made his way to the block of a captain standing at the opposite side of the court, watching the first years practice their swings.

"Tezuka," he called the captain, making him turn to look at him, a question in his eyes.

"You might want to drink this. Apparently, Atobe wanted to make sure no one would harass Echizen," he said in a whisper, his evil smile widening as Tezuka's eyes glinted with something. Sadism, perhaps? He took the pitcher from Inui, downed it in one long draught, then resumed overseeing practice like nothing happened.

Inui turned around to find that the ones that followed him were looking at Tezuka with a mixture of awe and jealousy.

"That proves someone can pass the first test to go to the second and final tests," Inui said loudly, addressing the whole crowd.

"What are the other tests, Inui-sempai?" Horio shouted, eliciting a lot of "Yeah!" in the crowd.

"This is the second one. Fuji," Inui called, and immediately, Fuji materialized beside him.

"Has someone progressed to Step 2?" he asked sweetly, his eyes opened to their sharpest.

"Ah, Fuji. No, I was merely saying that Atobe's Test is not impossible. Shall we tell them what Atobe expects of the person who would be lucky enough to bring Echizen to the Sakura Festival?" Inui said darkly, eliciting shivers from the spectators.

"Of course, Inui. This is Step 2," Fuji said as he turned to Tezuka and said in a voice that could be heard by everybody paying them attention, "My, Tezuka, I'm surprised you're not part of Ryoma-chan's little fanclub. After all, you were the first one she trusted. Maybe you've reciprocated that? Hmm? Am I right?"

Every single one of the spectators had their jaws dropping on the ground. Fuji did not just antagonize Tezuka. And of ECHIZEN of all things!

Tezuka took one look at Fuji before looking back to practice, his expression never wavering.

"Oh? Playing with the silent treatment, Tezuka? You do know that silence means yes, now, don't you?"

The trend of Fuji antagonizing Tezuka did not stop until Inui held up a hand to stop Fuji from making any more smart alecks. By this time, almost everyone of the club members were edging away from the said duo, afraid of the backlash they might receive when Tezuka decides to blow up. Inui and Fuji had no such compulsions.

"Oro? The twenty minutes are up?" Fuji said as he walked amicably towards Inui, ignoring the horrified looks that Echizen's fanclub was giving him and Inui. Tezuka just ignored them and looked intently at the frantic first years who were up to their 600th swing and looking as if they could still make it to 1000 in their fear of Tezuka's wrath. Heck, they were even counting in their minds, afraid that their counting would make something explode.

"Of course, and Tezuka passed it with flying colors," Inui said as he pushed his glasses up to his nose and opened his notebook to adjust some of his data on Tezuka, leaving Fuji to address the crowd.

"That was Step 2, restraint in the most unfavorable conditions one can land on. I assume that Inui told you that Step 1 was a test of endurance," Fuji said as he surveyed the dismayed crowd with a serene smile. He chuckled mentally when he saw more than one dark look was being thrown at Tezuka.

'Oh, the last one will knock them off for good,' he thought, cackling madly in his head.

"And I'm sure you're wondering what the last Step is, ne? This last one was added by Atobe so he could ensure his baby cousin had a good time. Inui, Step 3," Fuji said as he jostled Inui out of his calculative trance.

"Ah. Of course, Fuji. Echizen!" Inui called the golden-eyed prodigy from the other side of the court. Well, it was easy considering that the courts were as silent as a cemetery with all of the members at shock on what was going on. Ryoma looked up from her place at a bench and raised one eyebrow delicately, her question hanging in the air.

"Can you come here for a second?" Inui said, mentally grinning as Ryoma shook her head slightly, got up and began walking towards them.

"What do you want, Inui-sempai?" she said bluntly, crossing her arms and looking at the assembled crowd outside the courts with her darkest glare yet.

"Echizen, we need you for a little experiment. Would you stand beside Tezuka for approximately 15 minutes?" Inui said, his glasses glinting harshly.

"Whatever it takes to get rid of them," she muttered so that only Fuji and Inui could hear as she went and stood next to Tezuka, who looked at her, nodded and resumed looking at practice.

Fifteen antagonizing minutes of deathly silence later, Ryoma unstuck herself from the metal fence she was leaning on and looked at Tezuka.

"Arigatou for not annoying me, Buchou," she said, her pose indifferent, but her eyes spoke of something warm.

Tezuka looked at her and nodded, conveying that she was welcome. Although, only Fuji, Inui, and Ryoma saw the slight upward curve of his lips.

"Is that enough, Inui-sempai? Can I go back to my practice?" Ryoma said flatly although her eyes shone with mirth. She figured out what Inui and Fuji were trying to do and was trying very hard not to lose it and ruin the Sadistic Duo's plans.

"Of course, Ryoma-chan. Sorry for disturbing you," Fuji said amicably as he smiled at her, a genuine smile.

Ryoma just nodded and went back to where she came from as Fuji and Inui faced the confused crowd.

"And Step 3 was to test whether Echizen was comfortable enough with her partner that in fifteen minutes, she wouldn't even glare at her partner's direction," Inui said as he grinned, which most of the crowd found to be very reminiscent of that of a shark's.

"So, that means, Tezuka passed the Test. And for anyone who wants to pass the Test, ask yourselves this. Are you good enough to be just like Tezuka?" Fuji said, his eyes opening as his grin reached new heights.

"Coming!" Nanako called as she hurried to answer the door. She was hurriedly tying her hair up because she had to help Ryoma get in her yukata.

'Honestly, it's really cute that Ryoma-kun's going to a festival this year. I really hope she really did find a date she likes,' she thought as she finished tying up her hair and hurried to the front door. When she opened it, her eyes met the most serious hazel eyes she'd ever seen. She took in his windswept brown hair, thin spectacles and polite aura as she went to the gate and unlatched it.

"Ano, may I ask who are you?" Nanako asked, not quite certain that this was Ryoma's date.

"My name's Tezuka Kunimitsu and I'm Echizen's date for the Sakura Festival. It's a pleasure to meet you," Tezuka said as he bowed slightly.

Nanako blinked at the formality, but then smiled at him as she welcomed him inside.

"Please wait here for Ryoma-kun. She'll be here in a short while," she smiled at him and went to her room. When she got there, she absently looked at her phone to see if her two friends were still at their respective houses. As she texted them that she was going ahead, her thoughts went back to the young man that was sitting in their living room.

"Well, Ryoma-kun, I think I'm hearing wedding bells already," she giggled quietly to herself as she grabbed her purse and went out of her room.

Tezuka was a right mess. Well, okay, he still had the perfect calm aura about him, and his face was absolutely rigid, but inside he was a jumbled mess of nerves. He was really nervous in going out with Ryoma, never mind that she's his girlfriend. Plus the look that the girl who let him was wearing was taxing on his not-panicking-sense.

"Buchou?"

He stood up as his brain short-circuited at seeing the pixie coming down the stairs. She looked beautiful with her white and gold koi-patterned yukata. She even had a silver star hair clip on her shoulder length hair. He was really gobsmacked in seeing this side of his girlfriend.

"Buchou? Are you there?"

Tezuka snapped out of his shocked state to see Ryoma looking at him with concern.

"Aa. You look wonderful, Ryoma," he said softly, smiling gently at her, making the girl flush a pretty shade of pink.

"Arigatou, Buchou. Shall we go now?" Ryoma said, smiling at him, eyes glittering with happiness.

"Aa."

"We shouldn't do this, minna. Tezuka might catch us!" Oishi urgently whispered at Fuji's retreating back.

"We should, nya! I want to see what Tezuka looks like with a date!" Kikumaru said fervently as he followed Fuji's lead and ducked behind a Takoyaki stall. The stall owner looked at the teens with curiosity and perhaps a bit of incredulousness as Inui muttered something and Fuji cackled quite evilly.

"Besides, Oishi, how can I get blackmail material if we don't follow them?" Fuji said as he stroked his camera with reverence.

"I really have a bad feeling about this, minna," Oishi muttered worriedly, looking at Tezuka and Ryoma's retreating forms.

"Nonsense, Oishi. Besides, it's not only us who are enjoying the show," Inui said as he nodded at the stall opposite them. Oishi looked and just about had a heart attack as he spied all of the Hyoutei regulars hiding behind the said stall. The poor owner looked like he was facing a yakuza or something with his petrified face.

'Tezuka, please forgive me!' Oishi mentally begged as he followed his (soon-to-be) partner and his two cohorts in tailing the couple.

"Mitsu, can we try this stall?" Ryoma said, tugging slightly on Tezuka's sleeve as she spied a large brown teddy bear as the grand prize.

Tezuka stopped walking immediately and looked at the direction Ryoma was pointing at, only to smile a little seeing as it was a throwing game.

"Aa, let's go," he said as Ryoma gave him a brilliant smile and bounded for the stall.

"And do you want to try your skill at my game, miss?" the stall owner said to Ryoma as she neared, a kind smile on his face.

"Iie, I'll do it," Tezuka said, as Ryoma looked like she was about to say yes.

"But, Mitsu, I wanted to try it," Ryoma said, pouting at Tezuka. Tezuka just chuckled slightly, giving the stall owner the game's required fee. Ryoma just huffed, a slight pink visible on her cheeks.

"Am I required to throw it? Or will I win if I just knock down the pins?" Tezuka said, eyes calculating the strength he would need to knock down the pins.

"Just knock down the pins, young man. No other rules, except you have to use this. Oh, and if you want to win the grand prize, you should knock down the pins with only one ball. Goodluck," the man said as he gave Tezuka three tennis balls.

Tezuka nodded as he palmed a tennis ball. He was looking for the center of gravity the tin cans had so that he may strike them at full force with simplicity. Well, that was running through his mind when he was suddenly faced with a tennis racquet from goodness knows where. When he turned around, he found a smiling Sakuno, arm in arm with a sheepish Kawamura.

"Here you go, Tezuka-sempai!" Sakuno chirped, her expression eerily similar to a cat that ate the canary.

Tezuka looked at her then looked at her and a sheepish, but smiling Kawamura, who was looking apologetically at Ryoma's haughtily enquiring face. He then but all sighed as he plucked the racquet from Sakuno's fingers, gave her a thankful nod, then all but demolished the tower of tin cans, much to the amazement of the stall owner.

After Ryoma gleefully claimed her big brown stuffed bear that was almost as big as her, she looked at Sakuno and Kawamura piercingly, making Sakuno giggle nervously and Kawamura to shift from foot to foot.

"So, anything to say?" she said bluntly, hugging the brown bear slightly. Honestly, she just wanted to get it over with. And besides, Kawamura was the most normal of all the regulars. Well, provided there isn't a racquet 5 meters in lieu of him, that is.

"Well, Echizen-chan, I don't mind. If I can go out with Ryuzaki-chan, who am I to stop you?" Kawamura said as he smiled at Ryoma.

"Arigatou, Kawamura-sempai," Ryoma smiled a little, relieved that the only hurdles would be Kaidoh and Momoshiro. Kaidoh, she wasn't too worried about. It was Momo's reaction that would certainly be explosive. Well, no need to worry about that right now.

Tezuka watched as Sakuno waved goodbye at Ryoma. Kawamura nodded to her and gave him a smile that was disturbingly almost like Fuji's before holding out his hand for Sakuno to take as they proceeded with their own date.

"Ne, Mitsu, let's go?" Ryoma's voice jolted him out of his reverie. Tezuka looked at Ryoma and nodded.

"You look cute," Tezuka said as they were walking away, smiling slightly at Ryoma's peeved look as she hefted the big bear up so she can walk without tripping.

"It's not my fault this is a big teddy bear, now is it? But it's still lacking something," Ryoma said as she scanned the stalls for something. When she spotted it, she gave a small whoop and dashed towards the stall. Tezuka just shook his head at his girlfriend's antics and left to follow her. When he got near, Ryoma turned to face him and presented him with the bear.

"There! It's finished!" Ryoma said with a flourish. Tezuka just shook his head in slight exasperation. Resting on the brown bear's nose was a pair of thin plastic spectacles just like his.

"I'm not that fat, am I?" Tezuka asked, stifling his chuckles.

"Nope! You're just as cuddly on the inside! On the outside you're a wooden block!" Ryoma said impishly, grinning at his trying-not-to-smile boyfriend.

"You're a brat," Tezuka said fondly as he held out his hand for the bear, which Ryoma handed over eagerly.

"Meh. You still love me," Ryoma said as she gave the bear to him, giggling softly.

"Indeed."

"Momoshiro! How many times do I have to tell you! It's Ann! Not 'Tachibana's little sister'!"

"Eh? But, I like calling you that," Momoshiro said mischievously, grinning at Ann's irritated look.

"And why the heck do you like it?" Ann harrumphed as she glared at Momoshiro in exasperation. Honestly, why did she like this guy again?

"You're cute when you pout like that," Momoshiro said offhandedly, though his cheeks were lightly dusted with pink.

Oh, yeah. He's a total sweetheart.

"You're impossible, Momoshiro," Ann said as she turned the other way to hide her blush. In doing so, she spotted an emerald green head she wouldn't mistake for anyone else.

"Ryoma!" she shouted, trying to get her attention, only to falter seeing as she was on a date with a guy that suspiciously looked like Tezuka-san.

"Eh? Echizen's here? Where?" he looked at the direction Ann was waving, crowing in delight as he spotted someone with her. "Heh. She's on a date! Come on, Tachibana's little sister! Let's go see who it is!"

"Eh? That's rude! Oi, Momoshiro! Let go! Stop running so fast! You're dragging me!"

"Oishi, Ore-sama never expected that you were a voyeur."

Oishi sighed as he turned to find Atobe and the rest of the Hyoutei regulars crouched down where they were. A while ago, they encountered Sakuno and Kawamura who were on a date themselves. They confessed to have interacted with the couple so Fuji invited them over to spy with them, which Sakuno happily applied herself onto and Kawamura just shook his head good naturedly. Then a short time later, they encountered Momoshiro and Ann tailing the couple themselves, so, being the good (cough*sadistic*cough) sempai that he was, Fuji had taken the liberty of informing Momoshiro of Tezuka and Ryoma's relationship. Well, the first thirty minutes he had to be hauled all over the place seeing as his mind had probably short circuited with the information, but after that, he was just as enthusiastic about it as Kikumaru. Ann, well, she just nodded sagely at the information.

And so, the lot of them were crouched behind some bushes, peering across to the bank of the lake the couple managed to find.

"Shhh! I can't hear what they're saying!" Kikumaru shushed them all quickly.

"Mitsu, It's beautiful here," Ryoma said as she scanned the surroundings happily.

"Aa. Every new year I would come here and watch fireworks with my family. Ever since my grandfather died when I was starting at Seigaku, my mother often asked me if I'd bring someone else with me. I'd always say no. This year, maybe I could bring you," Tezuka said, smiling softly at the astonished look Ryoma was giving him.

"You're going to introduce me? Really?" Ryoma said, her face lighting up at the prospect of meeting Tezuka's family. And to be the first girl to boot!

"Why? Don't you want to?" Tezuka asked, chuckling slightly at her suddenly panicked look. She was just perfect.

"Of course I do!" Ryoma hmphed, clutching the Tezuka-bear tighter. Tezuka chuckled again seeing her do that.

"You know, if Fuji saw you now, he'd probably harass you to wear pajamas just so he could take your picture," Tezuka said, amused at the indignant sqwack she uttered.

"I'd burn his blasted camera," she said, a steely glint appearing in her eyes.

"Brat," Tezuka said fondly, resting his right hand against her cheek. Ryoma sighed and leaned in on his hand.

"Of course. But I'm your brat, ne?" she said as she straightened out and swooped in for a kiss on the cheek.

"No one else's," Tezuka said, smiling as he closed the distance between their lips.

A sudden yelp separated them and immediately they zoned in on the source of the noise. With purposeful strides, Tezuka was there in a matter of seconds and hauled away some underbrush to reveal Sakuno, Ann, the entire Seigaku regulars except Kaidoh, and the entire Hyoutei regulars.

"Minna, a pleasure," Tezuka said, a tick forming on his forehead.

Everyone, even the Hyoutei regulars laughed nervously at the dark aura Tezuka was emitting. And then they felt another dark aura coming towards them. When they looked, Ryoma was looking at them murderously.

"Minna, you were PEEPING?"

Ah, the joys of being friends with Ryoma Echizen.

Hihi! DONE! READ AND REVIEW! :D

Up next! Wakato and his screaming fangirls! Stay tuned for the chaos! :D