Hye! I am back with a new chapter. Guys, thank you for answering my question from my last chapter... I am happy to know that most of you still want them to be together. Well, we will know in the future... I still ship to RyoSaku pair and I will always be... :) I hope you like this. Domo…

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

Guest chapter 5 . Nov. 15 - thank you for answering my question. This is the next chapter... ^^

Chapter 5: Blurred Thoughts

Chapter Summary: He never regretted anything and he knew that it would never start now… or so he thought.

Saturday:

Fuji took her to different places where they could view beautiful landscapes. She couldn't help but feel amaze of the panoramic view of the place. They had seen different point of view of the sky, trees, sunset from the horizon, mountains and bushes and even aerial animals.

She didn't know what to choose anymore.

Fuji took pictures of those places that they had seen. They were on the last view for the day. The hill was really nice even at sunset. The crepuscular ray of light was showing a miraculously view and how Fuji took that view was also a miracle for her.

She hadn't seen the developed pictures yet but knowing the tensai, she knew that it would be awesome, "Arigatou senpai for bringing me to wonderful places." She smiled before she bowed to him in the process.

"No need Ryuzaki-chan," He said waving his hand in front of her, "I am glad to be of help."

"And you did much for me today," She stared at him before she looked at the view, "Now I don't know which landscape that I should use now." She giggled after she said her own words.

"Oh my. I guess I made you confuse at that," Fuji smiled as he mimicked what she was doing, "But I think you'll choose the best one."

"Hai, thank you once again."

Fuji took one last glace at the view before he looked back at her, "So… dinner?"

At a restaurant:

Their tour of different views and places was really tiring that even Sakuno who was not a big fan of eating a lot was doing that opposite thing. She was supposed to feel embarrassed in front of the tensai but he paid her no attention at her eating habit.

He even said that she should eat as much as she could.

"It was tiring, wasn't it?" Fuji said as he couldn't help but to stare at the girl who was visibly hungry.

"H-hai…" She answered as she chewed her octopi. She bit her lower lip as she sheepishly looked at him, "But I had fun today, arigatou senpai"

"You thanked me enough today." He said smiling in the process.

"R-right…"

They remained silent after that. Fuji was the gentle type, although he was always smiling with no apparent reason. He was a mystery himself not that she minded him that way. She just couldn't read him at times.

"What are you thinking?"

"Eh?" She blinked twice and blushed at the same time. She never realized that she had been staring at him for a couple of seconds. It was embarrassing and rude for her part.

"Are you okay?" Fuji asked her.

She looked down as she replied, "H-hai… g-gomenasai…"

"That's not what I meant."

"Eh?" She looked up once again and stared at him. Fuji's eyes were opened this time. He was telling her that he was serious about the conversation that they were about to discuss.

"Are you okay?"

And she was not mistaken about it. The way he asked the question was different from the first time he had asked her. She knew what he was talking about.

"I am fine, Fuji-senpai. Thank you for worrying." She answered without regret. What she said was true. She was fine and just like what she had said to him a few days ago, it was already been two months.

"I am glad then," The tensai spoke after a few seconds of silence. He reached for her hand that was on the table making her blush a little, "You are such a strong girl."

Despite the blush, she was able to pout, "Mou, senpai, I am not a girl anymore."

Fuji closed his eyes this time, "Yes, you are right."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"I believe you," He continued and opened his eyes once again, "Remember that I am always here. If you need someone to talk to, just find me and I always come for you."

The way he said it was somewhat different, like it had a different meaning. Blush was present to her face still but she ignored the fluffy feeling inside her. She somehow appreciated his offer of comforting her.

"Arigatou senpai," She said as she smiled genuinely, "Honto ni arigatou."

They went home after that. Fuji took her to her home and bid goodbye after that. The tensai told her that he would develop the pictures and give it to her on Monday. She thanked him enough for the day. Fuji ended up sweat dropping at the gratitude she was giving him.

She thought that she must've misheard him about something but before she could ask him, he turned away and bid goodbye this time.

Monday:

As usual, she ran on her way to the school. It was her nature to be late and she was late once again. She would be staying after school and she knew it. The cleaning duty would hers later much to her disappointment.

Not that she didn't want it, but she had a painting to finish these days.

She would stay in the afternoon and clean all the mess in the girl's tennis court after the practice. That was her punishment her teacher told her for being late today. Sighing, she didn't have a choice but to follow. She went to her class after that. Tomoka was already there and so were Ryoma and Honoka. She gave her best smile like before to her classmates, including the couple.

"Ne, Sakuno look what I have found." Tomoka whispered to her as she sat down. She looked at her best friend's hands. There were pictures of landscapes with different hills and valleys.

"I found this on website. Maybe this could help you."

"Arigatou Tomo-chan." She said as she accepted the pictures. They were pretty indeed although she didn't have any ideas where they were. She wanted to tell Tomoka that she wanted to see those landscapes herself but she didn't voice it out to her. Tomoka helped her and that was what important for her.

Soon after their professor arrived and made the class quiet. The professor got their attention.

"I have an attention to make!"

The rest became attentive and looked in front.

"What is it sensei?" Horio asked as he raised his hand.

"We are going to have a stage play at the end of this month for celebrating this school's establishments."

"A stage play?"

"boring?"

"Cool."

"I don't want to."

The rest of the class continued murmuring until their professor called their attention once again, "Quiet! School's will be out for a week so we'll think of what will we do by then."

The announcement of school's free from studies rejoiced them. Their professor sweat dropped after that, "Kanzaki-san, you are in charge which play should we do. Make sure that it's a unique and like a real life play. I'll be expecting that you will give me a name after three days."

Honoka stood up and nodded, "Hai."

Sakuno was still in a daze when she heard about the play. Their class would be busy for the following weeks. It would double her work as well. No matter what role she would get this year, she would do her best along with her work in her art.

xxx

"Ryuzaki-chan!"

Sakuno looked when someone called. She gave a smile when she recognized the voice who called her, "Konnichiwa, Fuji-senpai."

Fuji smiled at her as he walked towards her, "Are you going to the art club?"

She shook her head, "I have a tennis practice today," She said as she looked at the court, "Actually, sensei gave me a permission to use the court after the team practices for the day." It was true. She informed the coach that she would be cleaning the court due to her punishment. Since it came to that, she mustered enough courage to ask the coach a permission to practice which the later agreed.

She wasn't a stranger to the court anyway. Sakuno just couldn't practice with them for she had to prepare for her project first.

"Souka," Fuji looked at her bag that was clinging to her shoulder, "It's good to know that you are back."

Gripping the sling of her back, she smiled at him, "I guess I can't just let go to it." She knew that the tensai was smiling… not the smile that he often showed to his team but the smile that he seldom showed to anyone. No one said a word until Fuji broke it.

"By the way, I have developed those pictures that we took," He said as he showed her the pictures, "I hope you can find one with these."

Sakuno accepted those pictures and smiled at him, "Arigatou senpai. I think I will."

"Saa, what did I tell you about thanking me?"

"But still…"

"It's nothing."

Sighing, she didn't argue with him. She thanked him enough but she couldn't help herself but to thank him more. She slid the photos to her bag and bowed once again, "I'll take my leave now, senpai. I don't want to receive any more punishments."

"Good luck." He said as he nodded.

"Hai!" She said as she walked away from him. A smile was brought to her face as she thought of going to the court. She was excited for the outcome and she couldn't wait to check all the photos that Fuji developed for her.

Meanwhile:

He was walking on his way to the court. He decided to play extra that day. Honoka was going out shopping with her friends so he was out of the league. He didn't want to go with her for who knew how long she would go just to window shop.

He didn't want to experience the same thing again.

Seeing that they would not go home together that day, he decided to stay late and practice some hitting for a while. He walked towards the girl's court and at that exact turn, he noticed the braided-pigtailed girl lifting a basket full of tennis balls. He also noticed that tennis balls were still scattered around the court. It seemed that it would take forever to finish it. He blinked at the scene as he stared at her.

She was cleaning the court all by herself? It would really take forever to finish that chore.

Sighing, he walked inside the court with his hands inside his pocket and went to the other side of the court. He stared at the tennis ball that was just lying on the ground for a few seconds before he picked it up with his hand.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" He could sense the shock tone from her voice when she saw him there, "W-what are you doing?"

Still staring at the ball, he replied to her question, "It would take long before you finish collecting them."

"E?" She reacted, "That's fine. It's my punishment for being late anyway."

"Punishment?" He looked at her with curiosity filled in his eyes.

The girl nodded as she dropped the basket near her, "Cleaning the court is my punishment for being late today.

"Sou ka." He answered before he threw the tennis ball to the basket using his hand. He grabbed his racket from his bag and started hitting tennis balls and threw it to the basket's direction.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno walked towards his direction, "W-what are you doing?"

He knew that she had asked him the same question twice today. He picked the ball using his racket from the ground and using the same racket, he hit a ball lightly to the basket before he answered her, "Putting these tennis balls to the basket."

"You don't have to do that," Sakuno said trying to pry him away, "This is my own punishment. Don't you have a practice to do?"

"I am practicing." He continued hitting the ball using his racket to toss and hit the tennis balls towards the basket.

"Mou!"

He smirked as he looked at her. Somehow, he missed that frustration Sakuno would have just like what she behaved a while ago.

"Don't mind me."

"But—"

"Two is better than one."

He could hear Sakuno sigh after that. Later on, he could see her walking towards the other side of the court and starting picking up the tennis balls. She could still remember not to argue with a prodigy for she knew that she would never win.

He smirked at that thought, and realized how much he hated to admit that he missed it.

xxx

She was a little shocked when she spotted the two at the girl's court. Her boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend were together and it seemed like they were helping each other to do simple things. She didn't ask Ryoma to go with her because she knew that he would be bored if he came along with her.

She wanted to surprise him by going back to school after shopping for she knew that he would still be there. But she was not expecting he would be the one to surprise her. She didn't have the problem of the scene… she didn't suppose to have the problem but the way she viewed them seemed rather… happy. Looking away, she felt something unusual inside her. Before she could make a commotion, she quietly left the place, not trusting herself to look back for she would do one. She had to admit it; she didn't like what she was seeing… despite that there was nothing going with them. She knew it but she didn't want to believe that there wasn't.

Later on:

"Arigatou for helping me today," Sakuno bowed in front of him after a few minutes of collecting tennis balls. They stayed late because of that and she couldn't help but feel awkward about it. She didn't want to trouble the tennis prodigy. She knew that he had some practicing to do and she couldn't understand why he spent that time collecting tennis balls with her. Not pushing the thought further, she walked backwards thinking that he had spent time enough helping, "I need to go now. Thank you again."

"I'll take you home."

She was a little shocked when he said that but she didn't show it, "I-ie, don't worry," Waving her hand, she smile at him before he could say anything, "It's not that I'll lose my way home or anything. Ja." Turning around, she gathered her bag from the bench and left the court. Sad to say, her practicing in the court would not be implemented. Staying inside the court with him was such not a good idea. Sakuno didn't want to be the source of gossips in the school for she had enough of that for the past months. She didn't dare to look around for she had been with him for long since their break up. She only wished that she was able to keep that face that she had been holding on the moment he appeared in the court.

It took a few minutes before she reached the court… where she privately practiced her skills, where she had a friend who couldn't speak, a friend that he only had by her. A smile was crept to her face when she spotted him cleaning the court.

"Kanata-kun!" she called as she entered the court.

Kanata looked at her and smiled back when he saw her. He gestured her to come closer to him.

"What are you doing?" Sakuno asked when she approached him.

The mute boy wrote something on his pad and showed it to her, 'Cleaning the court for you.'

"But why? It always looks like that." Looking around, there weren't much enough dirt in the court except for the falling leaves from the trees. She didn't notice him writing another to his pad until he showed it to her.

'You might have the idea to paint this if I clean this court up.'

A smile was brought to her face once again when she read that from his pad. Kanata was also helping her look for a perfect view to paint. She walked closer to her and tapped his shoulder, "Arigatou, Kanata-kun. I really appreciate your help but I guess this isn't what I am looking for."

Kanata's expression changed when she said that. It seemed that he was a little upset especially when he looked down.

"Don't be sad. I really appreciate it," She said trying to cheer him up. She didn't want him to be upset and she was true to her words. There was no way to ignore something like this, "I know! Why don't you help me which photos that I should paint?"

He looked at her with those curious eyes. She grabbed her bag and yanked the photos that Fuji gave her. She showed it to Kanata, "You see, I haven't chosen what I should paint. I hope you could help me."

Kanata scanned the photos and seemed to be interested of the task that she had given him. She was glad that he was so eager to help her at this. He was kind indeed and she was sure that she would introduce him to Tomoka soon. They would be great friends and she knew it. She blinked when he lifted a photo in front of her. She grabbed it and stared at the view.

It was a hill where the sun set. They went to that place during sunset and Fuji had taken the perfect view of the place… especially the sunset. She had been staring at it for she didn't know how long. Fragments of memories came upon her when she stared at the sunset in the picture.

It was some memories she had with her first boyfriend. Remembering the place, she couldn't help but bring back the time where they were together. Smiling in the process, she remembered their conversation in that one sunset.

Flashback:

Sitting on the top of the hill, she sighed for the job well done. Sakuno finished painting something that day and seeing the hill would give her enough inspiration for the day. The painting would be passed the next day so no wonder that she was really exhausted.

"Why are you so tiring yourself like that?"

Turning around, her boyfriend sat up from lying down. She smiled at him when he was sitting beside her now, "You know I need to finish this today."

"And you are wasting our time."

"Ryoma-kun…" She looked at him and grabbed his arm, "I told you. You don't have to come with me. You can practice playing tennis if you are bored."

"I am not bored. I just hate waiting."

Staring at him, she had the time to observe his features. He was yawning but his coolness didn't lessen. His skin looked so soft to touch like she hadn't touched it before. His locks were swaying from the wind's direction. He looked cool when he didn't have his hat on and he was also different when he was wearing it on top of his head.

"What—what if I… suddenly go." She said all of the sudden.

"What?" He turned to her lazily.

"What if I go and leave this country, what will you do?" She asked looking straight to his eyes. They never talked about it again when she mentioned about her dreams of going to London if it was possible.

Ryoma didn't answer right away. He was just looking at her that made her feel so awkward. She was about to tell him to forget about her question when he lied down once again and started to speak;

"I would block a plane and stop you."

"E?" Her eyes followed him on the ground. Her boyfriend placed his arms under his head and closed his eyes in the process, "What do you mean by that?"

"You asked me what to do so that's what I'll do." He answered not opening his eyes.

She didn't really understand what he said. Somehow, she wished that he knew why she had asked that. She was hoping that he would support her on whatever decision she would make. Just like what she was doing to him before. Her thoughts were cut when he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Half of her body was on top of him. He opened his eyes this time and continued speaking.

"You will be with me, I swear," He said looking at her eyes, "No matter what."

Well, that wasn't bad at all. Her face was red because of their closeness. He was saying something more but she couldn't understand him anymore. Sakuno knew that he couldn't wait even if it was her but she knew that maybe someday, she could change him.

Her thoughts were distracted when she felt something touch her cheek. She almost forgot that Kanata was still there if he had not poked her to her cheek. Blush appeared to her face and felt a little abashed of forgetting him for a while. She looked back at the photo and smiled, "This is… perfect. Arigatou, Kanata-kun."

Kanata smile back before he collected all the photos and gave them back to her. Sakuno accepted them and put them back to her back, along with the chosen photo. She looked back to him and smiled;

"So… w-want to play me?"

The next day, lunch time:

She had forgotten the incident yesterday for he was with her all day today. Ryoma spent time with her and he even invited her to watch tennis before the first period started. She didn't like tennis that much but she was still curious about what Ryoma could do.

What he could do more.

That was the reason why she had fallen in love with him. She might play hard to get at first but it was worth it.

Ryoma was in love with her too.

They had the world for themselves especially in the rooftop and now she had the time think to about anything. She also had an idea of what play they should do and she knew that it would be interesting. She couldn't stop grinning about the thought.

It would fit for them… and for her.

Her reverie was cut when she noticed the figure move from her lap. Ryoma was sleeping on her lap. They just eaten their lunch and he was taking a short nap for a while. She giggled when she heard him murmuring some incoherent words.

"You remain cool even in your sleep, Ryoma-kun." She muttered, a happy expression on her face. Brushing his unruly hair, her eyes softened as she stared at his peaceful face. She gently placed a hand to his cheek earning a frown from him. Giggling from his expression, she couldn't help but stare at his face.

Blush appeared to her face as she started to lean down to his face. Her heart was pounding really fast. She tucked her hair to her ear as she neared her lips to his slightly opened ones. She closed her eyes as she kissed him.

"Ryuzaki…"

Only to be stopped inches apart.

She didn't hear that, did she? If she didn't, why were her eyes suddenly became wide? Stun feeling invaded her system. Why would he be calling another girl's name? Of all the girls in the school, why would it be her?

The wind past by the rooftop as they remained still. Ryoma was still on her lap while she was just staring shockingly down at him.

She needed to admit, there was no way that something wasn't wrong in the picture… for she knew that there was.

Done! How was this chapter? This was a short one. I hope this will turn out fine. Tell me your thoughts, guys. Motivate me to continue… please… domo.

Thank you once again. If you still have time, I hope you can read my two one-shot fics 'She's Spice... not!' and 'Ryoma 101: Ways to Proposal'. I hope you like them too. Domo...

for those who haven't visited my page yet on facebook please feel free to do so. I would update there too in case I can't tell you here... I'll tell you my updates on my fb page... domo... (Mitsukijunko)

Next Chapter: The Miserable Ones