Family Moments by Tsubameminoru
Word Count: 2,142

A few starter notes:

I used their genders as the Tenipuri Family here. So don't blame me for any genderbending. Except for Yukimura's case. That I am responsible.

"Ponta" - Normal Speech
'Ponta' - thought

Disclaimer: (I bet you're tired of reading these, but I have to) Tennis no Oujisama is, was, and never will be mine even if I wished. It belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

First Moment: The Age-old Kikumaru

It was just one of those typical days Ryoma had found very boring. Like now, all he can do was just flop down the couch in the living room, while drinking a can of grape Ponta. He made a mutter of 'mada mada dane' once every five minutes. Oh how little Ryoma was bored. He glanced to his left, then to his right. There was no sight of Momoko anywhere. He was downright bored, so out of sheer boredom, Ryoma rose from the couch, stood up and roamed the house in search of his sister, or in other words, his only playmate in the house.

Ryoma passed through the many rooms of the house. His mother was lulling little Kaoru-chan in the mat. Sadaharu was locked in a very secluded place (a.k.a. broom closet) formulating ideas for his new juices. Ojii-san was in the garden as usual, nothing much there, except for a few utterances of 'aishiteru Marilyn…hateshinai.', 'Saaa', and sounds of breaking pottery and moving clotheslines; a choke, a feel of evil aura coming nearby, followed by 'Tezukaaaa Zooonnneeee', golden light, and finally, 'fifty laps around town for choking me and breaking dear Marilyn's vase!'. 'Must be Obaa-san', Ryoma thought. Out of all these, there was no sign of Momoko. So he continued his trek to his grandparents' room.

Inside, it was quite warm and traditional, just as how ojii-san wanted it. To the right there are several shelves containing old books, journals, photo albums, a small pot of cactus, and a picture of his grandparents taken during their early ages, namely thirty years ago. The picture was worn out and color faded. But what's most disturbing about the picture is that what obaa-san was cradling in her arms is a cat. Not just any other stray cat, it was their family pet, Kikumaru, brandishing the same body size as it was at present.

"K-Kikumaru-neko?!…." Just as Ryoma was going to finish, his sister's voice rang throughout the entire household.

"Tadaima!!"

"Okaerinasai, Momoko. Come now, we are just about to go to Kawamura Sushi", he can hear his mother call everyone. "Ryoma! Come down now!". Ryoma was very intrigued about Kikumaru's age that he didn't pay any attention about their family night out. It was a tradition. And he's intent on breaking it. He was so absorbed in finding out this mystery that he even made an excuse not to tag along.

"I can't come. I…I…..My stomach hurts!"

"Then have some of my latest health-enhancing juice Ryoma, you'll be better in no time." Great, that's one of the reasons how Ryoma made up the excuse.

"I'll be fine. 'I can take care of myself, I'm eight.'"(a)

"Ii data…"

"Are you sure Ryoma?! I can stay…but then who'll take care of Momoko and Kaoru-chan? Then there's the case of Okaa-san and Otou-san. What if havoc ensues? My oh my…Then there's also the restaurant bill, who'll pay if I stay? But turning back to Ryoma…" Shuuko was already in a stage of overpanicking when Obaa-san saved poor Shuuko. "It's okay Ryoma, we'll head on out. We can bring take-outs. Be a good little boy, okay.?" 'The voice came from our room. I think it's about Kikumaru. Saa…we'll leave him be. I want to torture his little mind after all.' Then Ryoma can feel his grandmother smiling. Shivers ran all over him as he said, "Yes, yes I will."

"Take care, okay?"

"Yeah okaa-san."

"Yudan sezu ni ikuo." And then, the door closed, signaling the family sans Ryoma leaving.

…At least there were take-outs. He won't have to wage war with his sister on sushi. Content, he went over to the shelf closer and tried to reach the picture. To the right of the picture, there was an journal entitled, 'Kikumaru Eiji no Hibi'(b). Ryoma grabbed both the picture and journal then sat down on the floor. He placed the picture in front of him and stared. One thing came into mind: How old really is their family cat?

There's only one way to find out. Even though it's called 'Invasion of Privacy', this way is better not to mention safer, given that fate dropped an evil sadist as his obaa-san, than asking his grandparents himself. Besides, he has all the time in the world, it is 'Friday Family Food Fest (F4)', Ryoma will have no trouble staying late at all. So he flipped open the journal and turned the blank page over to reveal a picture the same as the one in the frame. Below is the title and on the bottom right corner, 'written by Syuu'. Golden eyes widened and his cap fell at the first few passages his grandmother wrote on the first page:

February 29, yearXXXX

Today is my fifth birthday. It's quite rare though. Happens once every four years, so in normal year, I'm twenty. I received a LOT of presents today. Yumiko-nee gave me a set of predictions, mostly about stuff one might not want to know..heehee.. Yuuta gave me a scrapbooking set, with a note too: 'Aniki, please use this to keep your memories and pictures, and please don't kill Mitsuri-senpai!(c)' Honestly, who is this Mitsuri? You better not have any affairs Yuuta. Saeki gave me some of the wasabi his mom makes back at Chiba. Boy do I love that stuff! Yukimura can't come since she's in the hospital. But she gave her greetings plus a really cute round cactus and I appreciated that. Taka-san treated me and Mitsu out on a sushi date…with no one else around.

But what I like the most was Mitsu's present. He said that I need something else other than cacti to keep me company when he'll be away. So he gave me a pink bundle of energy by the name of Kikumaru Eiji the cat. Eiji's just soo adorable. Mitsu has good taste, and quite romantic. The PINK fur says it all. And Eiji (I'll call him that from now on here) surely is a good and obedient cat. I like his spunkiness very much. It was like love at first sight, but I still love Mitsu the most! I think me and Eiji are gonna be the best of friends a human and a cat can ever be! And as a reward for Mitsu…that's another story for another journal.

-Syuu

Ryoma can feel his little eyes twitch. "O-ojii-san…Romantic?. Che, mada mada dane". He flipped to a random page now.

July13, yearXXXX

It's Friday the thirteenth. Oh my. People say a lot of superstitions about this day, specially the black cat one. Good thing Eiji's a pink cat. Well, the only bad luck I believe is about that Mitsuri being anywhere near Yuuta. Speaking of Eiji, when I woke up today, I noticed he wasn't around the house. I asked everyone, even Mitsu and Yuuta. Taka-san said that he saw my cat somewhere on a vacant lot fighting another cat. I rushed to the place and made it on time to see poor Eiji covered in scratches and further away, there was another cat, maroon-colored. Maroon-like, it's Gakuto. There was only one family that can own that kind of cat. Atobe. Said cat ran away back to the direction of his master's house. I rushed to pick Eiji up and carried him all the way back to the house where Mitsu was expecting me. There I treated all of Eiji's wounds by myself, got him cleaned up and fed him dinner. Of course I have to be a responsible mother to those I care for. And I have a new enemy. Mukahi Gakuto.

-Syuu

"So that's why Monkey King always demands about his missing cat on our doorstep". Another random page.

April30, yearXXXX

After a few years, we have a daughter! Though she will look older than me in the future, or so as Yumiko-nee says. Her predictions are as flawless as ever. Her prediction that Yukimura will ask me for advice on marrying Sanada was correct! She even included that on that same day, Mitsu will propose to me! See? Even time and old age cannot tarnish her special ability. We named our daughter Shuuko…for fun. I think Eiji likes it as well. He snuck inside the hospital when no one's looking and appeared before me after the delivery. I have to admit that his acrobatic abilities as a cat are starting to impress me more. Mitsu even has benefits from Eiji. Now as I coo my dear Shuuko good night, Eiji bounced his way into my lap and curled himself in there. Now I have more the people to take care of.

And I'm writing in the hospital.

-Syuu

And all the other entries were like that, page per page. On their trip to the beach, the Sakura tree where they spend their anniversaries, Eiji's first feline friend, the temple cat, Karupin, Obaa-san's year-long wait for Ojii-san to return from Germany, thus, having Kikumaru and Shuuko around as her only company,Kikumaru's trips to the Atobe residence to cause mischief, and times with Kaoru-chan. So the last entry was:

January31, currentyear

Ah, It's time to take another yearly family picture, with Niou-san as the photographer, since I can't take them myself. Such a heartbreaker. Everyone was preparing themselves. What? I did not say that everyone wasn't vain. Okay maybe If I did but not THIS vain. Maa…Sadaharu's taking too long to tilt his glasses to create a 'best look'. I thought that I should shove him into the garden. Scratch that, he already left the bathroom. I stepped inside a little to find out that there was a big 'mada mada dane Momoko, Kaoru-chan' scribbled on the tiles, with crayons. I was surprised a little when I hear Shuuko come in. I stepped out, giving way. Maa…oh how my dear daughter will explode at this sight. And of course, she did, sending bottles of shampoo and soap past me towards Sadaharu, thus knocking him out. Now I had doubled the fun today. I was the one who wrote it…I hope no one finds out, unless someone's reading this, that means you, Mitsu and whoever else out there. Anyway, after a good prank refresher, everyone was all set. The family was wearing their kimonos and hakamas, gender respectively. Eiji hada blue ribbon tied to its neck. When everybody was all set, the camera flashed and another picture was taken. And I can't help but think that out of all the pictures, Eiji's already more than thirty years old. Maa, can't imagine that he can live that long. And the film I spent. He grew up with me,. With Mitsu, with the family, and everyone else. But then, all of his moments shared by everyone in the family will never be wasted. Ever.

-Syuu

'So much for a trip down memory lane, Obaa-san was the culprit for that crayon incident! Okaa-san made me clean that up and Ojii-san made me run a dozen laps around the house for messing the bathroom and delaying his bath time in the process, which earned me another dozen laps. Obaa-san will pay for this, one way or another.' Ryoma pounded the thought into his head. He glanced up at the clock noting that it is already eight-thirty-six in the evening. He'd better put away the stuff and pretend he had been a good boy and get to eat take-out sushi. So he flopped down back to the sofa and waited for his family members while saying 'mada mada dane, minna' once every three minutes without fail. Now his thoughts are swarming with take-out sushi and no Momoko to steal it. And the excuse.

Wait.

The excuse.

He said that his stomach hurt! Then there was no sense in buying take-out if it will only worsen his 'condition'.

Damn. Ryoma cursed in his head, even if he was young. He had let his guard down! He could only tilt his cap lower than his normal level in shame.

The next time he gets interested about something, he has to think of a better excuse not to come with the family on such nights. Learning from this, he settled himself on the bed and prepared a sign that says, 'Monkey King, your cat's in the trash bin' in case that Atobe would come charging to the house looking for Gakuto again.

A/N: (a) I think that their ages were said in "The Zany Tenipuri Family", I think this is his age, with Momoko being six.
(b) It means "The Days of Kikumaru Eiji"
 (c) Since that Fuji's the one writing, he's messing up Mizuki's name even when writing.

How did I fare on my first fic? I will gladly accept your comments! Even flames if you think the characters are OOC.