The New Tenants

Prologue

Ever since Sakuno Ryuzaki graduated from Seishun Gakuen, she was blessed with good luck. Though it may not be as luxurious and outstanding as winning the lottery, Sakuno finally knew what she was going to do for the rest of her life. She was going to become a chef.

Now, it may have come as a surprise to most people since she spent a lot of time with her grandmother trying to improve her tennis skills, but when the end of the year came, Sakuno had realized that her true dream was to cook and concoct such delicious foods that every one of her loved ones would enjoy.

"Cooking for people makes me happy," she said with a wide smile as she told her grandmother of her plans one early morning. "I like seeing them smile after they eat something delicious."

And so, she set out to follow her dream. For Sakuno, it was a difficult road. Even though she had cooked for her grandmother and classmates often, she was too late in the school year to gain any references or study time for the entrance exams. However, with a bit of determination and encouragement from those around her, Sakuno had been placed high enough in the ranks of the exam takers to earn a position for Tokyo University's culinary arts program.

On that day, her friends had celebrated her accomplishment. And on that same day, Sumire had told her she had planned to retire.

It wasn't as big as a shock to her as it was for everyone else. Her grandmother's new set of tennis players became hysteric. But to Sakuno, it was no surprise.

Her grandmother had been struggling lately with her years finally catching up to her. Even with her fit routine, Sumire could not avoid old age. And for Sakuno, she'd rather have her grandmother worry about her health than stress out about things she could no longer control. So, in the next few weeks, Sumire would be in Osaka. And Sakuno would have to find somewhere else to live. But her luck had been on her side for the past few months.

Sakuno found a decent apartment in Tokyo with only a fifteen-minute train ride from the school and had help from Seigaku and Tomoka in moving in. Sure, it was a bit run down. It only had one main room acting as a bedroom and living room with a kitchen on the side. But it was a good enough kitchen for her. And at least the washroom and sink were closed off from the main area. Plus, the rent was cheap mainly due to the fact that it was in such a close proximity to the airport that each tenant could hear a plane go by in the middle of the night. Nonetheless, it was perfect for Sakuno. It was hers.

The area was a fairly safe one with a grocery store, shops and other services in walking distance. When Sakuno finally found the apartment, she wasted no time in finding a job near her home since she surmised that the scholarships she earned and money given by her grandmother were surely not going to be enough to live in the city as well as attend one of the most prestigious schools in the country. After a few days of hunting, Sakuno lucked out on becoming a clerk at a nearby bookstore.

On another note, the complex was composed of new families who couldn't afford much and some elders who opted to retire in a slightly isolated part of Tokyo. Sumire knew that Sakuno wouldn't face as much trouble in that area compared to the other parts of the city.

Sakuno was in a great place in her life. She had a new home that she found herself, a great job that paid generously since she was the only employee to a kind elder boss, and she was attending school for something that she loved to do.

As she walked home one afternoon from buying new ingredients for an assignment, she gave a heavy sigh. About a few minutes before, a guy from her class had bumped into her at the store. They got into a conversation much to her dismay. Although she was no longer a clumsy and bumbling idiot, Sakuno was still shy to people she barely knew. And she became even more embarrassed as he asked her out on a date.

Of course, she said no. Sakuno was barely comfortable with dating. For some reason, no guy appealed to her. Well, one guy did. But they hadn't seen each other for the past two years. Sure, she'd send him letters every now and then, but that was pretty much their whole interaction since he left for bigger opportunities in the state. Ever since the young boy, she was never interested in dating.

So, she became flustered when he asked her for a reason. And Sakuno didn't have any better reason than having no interest in being with someone. Then again, she couldn't tell him that. Who tells someone they'd rather be alone than go out with them? So she opted to tell him half a truth. That she liked someone else.

It was kind of true. She never really liked anyone since the cat eyed prince, but she knew that that fantasy was way out of reach.

When Sakuno reached the second floor, she gave another sigh. This time, it was a sigh of relief. She was really glad that there was really no one in her complex that was single and her age.

Well, that's what she thought. Until she saw the boxes next to her apartment door.

The great tennis prince of Japan has had enough. Ryoma wasn't known for his patience, but he knew that this was more than anyone could handle. It wasn't his mother or his cousin or even his perverted father. Well, maybe a little bit of him. But the main issue was privacy.

He was eighteen for God's sake. Ryoma was more than capable of taking care of himself. In fact, his earnings from all of his past competitions have earned him more than enough for a nice mansion by himself. And yet, he was still living with his perverted oyaji.

He couldn't go out to practice in the middle of the night without his mother constantly worried about his safety. His cousin was always bringing girlfriends over, and he became the target of their affections. And his father… Well, it was his father.

Ryoma came home one day to find boxes of magazines in his room with his father secretly bribing him with Ponta for a whole year to keep it quiet. His room, was after all, the only room in the house where Rinko couldn't barge in anymore. Of course, it was tempting since Ponta wasn't available in the states, but he wasn't going to take crap from his father. And that day, Nanjiro ended up sleeping outside with bruises all over.

And on that same day, Ryoma proposed that he should get his own place. Rinko wasn't surprised and was even glad for the boy. But she still showed concern. And she especially showed concern when she found out he wanted to move back to Japan.

"A lot of my competitions this year are going to be in Asia or Europe," he explained as he heard his father knock loudly to let him in. "Plus, I miss Japan."

And so Rinko agreed with Nanjiro commenting that it'd be good for him to find a girlfriend. But that's not something the great Ryoma Echizen needed to worry about. Tennis was his priority at the moment.

After a few months, Ryoma struggled to find an apartment that was close enough to the airport that he could run to it if traffic was too slow and had a good shopping district nearby. He also needed an isolated place that attracted no tourists.

Ryoma was getting more and more popular each time he won a tournament or championship. And he really didn't want the burden of being a celebrity. So, he needed a place that kept outsiders out. He had a lot of requirements. And not enough candidates.

When he finally broke with his father telling him how to treat a girl, Ryoma became desperate and asked for help from his friends: his former senpai-tachi.

It came as a surprise when he enlisted their help in a favor but soon became excitedly involved. Ryoma wasn't one to ask for help, but he really needed it.

So after explaining to them of his situation, they took no time in informing him of an apartment that was vacant.

"How did you already know of one?" Ryoma asked suspiciously. Even if they knew of the area better than he did, it was too quick a reply. Eiji was berated for the outburst from what Ryoma could tell and became even more suspicious but shrugged it off when his father ran into his room claiming that he needed to help him hide some special documents in his room.

Ryoma contacted the landlord of the apartment complex and asked for some pictures. He was soon met with a very moderate looking place with really only one room meant for living. He asked if there were any rooms nicer than that one but was quickly rejected. Ryoma was used to living in mansions and nothing less than luxurious. But he settled for it anyway.

Besides, no one would expect him to live there. And the area had a fairly good shopping district around the corner. And it was only fifteen minutes walking distance from the airport. The room itself wasn't his preference but everything else was.

And the day came when Ryoma arrived in Japan with his former teammates picking him up at the airport. They had excitedly asked him to join them for a night out after he got settled in and offered to help him move in. Ryoma became suspicious once again.

As they reached the complex of his new home, a place that was isolated yet comfortingly quiet, they proceeded to the second floor. Ryoma didn't fail to notice the curious glances at the door right next to his.

"What aren't you telling me?"

All of them froze. But then Fuji spoke up, "A friend of ours lives here. That's how we knew about the place."

Ryoma should have pried more, but his twelve-hour flight had him growing increasingly tired. He should have concluded that it was someone he knew but didn't say anything, thinking it was a guy who he'd never met before.

It wasn't until they all sat at the kotatsu and heard boxes fall over from the outside did he realize why his senpai-tachi suggested the place.

"R-Ryoma-kun?"

A/N: Okay, so this is going to basically be a series of short stories that are basically based on OTP prompts and each chapter will have a new sort of theme to it. It's basically a drabble series, but there is an actual arc to this fanfic. Anyway, I am so excited to write this because it's basically just random crap that I've put together. I've actually already planned out the entirety of this story and planned each chapter accordingly. I've written at least five chapters of this story or at least, the drafts for the chapters. Hopefully you guys like this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!