Of Drawings and Crayons

By Chiyosa Midoki

A/N: Takes place in Pre-school.

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis isn't mine.

"Okay, class, bring out your coloring materials so we could start with our activity today." The teacher announced before watching her students take out the said supplies.

Once settled, Fushigawa Nanami spread down the sheets of paper on the low tables of the children.

"You and your seatmate would work on this together, and the designs you must choose should be related to your partner's."

"You have the whole morning to finish this, so take your time." With that, each student began on their given drawings.

All, except a kid with catlike eyes. He was apparently looking at something. Nanami-sensei followed his line of vision, which fell on the paper of the young girl wearing long pigtails.

The teacher made her way to Ryoma and Satoshi's table. Satoshi stared at Nanami with confusion. "Did we do something wrong, teacher?"

Nanami smiled at him and patted his head before looking at the stoic faced child on the left.

"Is there something wrong, Echizen-kun?"

Ryoma snapped out of his confusion, and shook his head. But he was still staring at Sakuno's paper.

"Echizen-kun?"

By then, every kid inside the nifty classroom stared at Ryoma curiously. Still, nothing could tear his attention away from the drawing of a familiar ball that was currently on the table of one Ryuzaki Sakuno and Osakada Tomoka.

After what seemed like an eternity, the mini-prodigy looked up his teacher. "Can long braids be my partner instead?"

Satoshi fell off his chair and began wailing. "Why? I have tons more experience with drawing than Ryuzaki-chan!"

With her name mentioned, Sakuno turned her head away from her drawing and faced him. Concern consumed her doe-like eyes when she saw the little boy crying. "Horio-kun, what's wrong?"

"Echizen-kun doesn't want to be my partner anymore!"

At this, Tomoka grinned and stood up from their table, not before grabbing her own drawing, as well as her large pack of colored pencils. "Then be mine instead! Here, I have tons and tons of pretty pencils!"

The Echizen kid didn't even glanced at them. He made his way towards Tomoka's seat and sat there instead. "Go away."

Nanami-sensei smiled at her students. "Well, I guess it's settled then. Echizen-kun and Ryuzaki-chan would be partners from now on."

As if nothing had happened, Sakuno continued with her drawing. However, from the curious stares she was getting from her other classmates, she stared at her new partner instead.

"Is there something on my face?" Ryoma asked her. Sakuno blushed in embarrassment for she had been caught staring. And her grandmother always told her that staring was impolite.

Her blush intensified when the boy faced her fully. "N-nothing…"

Ryoma shrugged before he continued with his drawing.

After a few minutes, she was done with her artwork, so she got out her crayons from her backpack. Never failing to remember her manners, she offered Ryoma her crayons. "W-would you like to borrow t-them, Echizen-kun?"

Ryoma stared at the assorted pencils she was offering him before he grabbed one of them. "It's Ryoma."

Sakuno blushed. "G-gomen, R-ryoma-kun."

They continued with their drawings before Nanami-sensei told them that it was already time to pack up. "Okay kids. Whatever you have done with your partner, you must submit them today. Otherwise, you'll get a low grade."

The thought of combining their artworks completely slipped off their minds. Sakuno handed their papers to their teacher before keeping her things. Once she got back on their shared desk, she saw Ryoma standing up, ready to leave.

On the table, her red crayon lay consumed, its form half of what it was originally. She smiled sadly, before placing it back on her box.

Ryoma never missed the sad look on her face when she saw her crayon. Somehow, he felt guilty about it.

It was a pleasant Saturday and Ryoma woke up early. Today, though, his mind was not about playing tennis with his Oyaji.

He grabbed his shoes from the rack before calling out to his mother. "Okaa-san, I'm ready."

Rinko appeared and placed her sandals on. She smiled at her son before holding his hand on her own. "Let's go, Ryoma."

Monday came, which means that it was time for school once again. After dropping her off to school, Ryuzaki Sumire stayed behind for a while to watch her granddaughter through the windows.

Sakuno was sitting on her place, all quiet when suddenly, a black-haired kid sat down beside her. The two kids greeted each other, before the boy took out something from his backpack. Sumire got suspicious, so she took a closer look.

After rummaging on his bag, he got out a box of what seemed like harmless crayons before giving them to Sakuno. The little girl blushed before she began waving her dainty hands in front of her, in some sort of defense. The boy however, got her hand and placed the box of red crayons on her palm. She smiled at him before saying her thanks through a peck on his cheek. The boy blushed.

Sumire smiled when she also saw Sakuno blush in manner she has not seen yet.

"Look, Rinko! He has a girlfriend already!"

"Don't joke around, Nanjiroh. He said he only wanted to replace her crayon that he had used. Apparently, only little of it was left after he was done with it."

Sumire turned to the people beside her before grinning.

"If it isn't Nanjiroh and Rinko."

The couple faced the old lady before smiling in disbelief. "Ryuzaki-san?"

"Nice to see you again, Rinko. That's your son over there?" Sumire pointed to the cat-eyed lad.

"Why yes he's my son, old hag! And look, he already has a girlfriend for his age!" Nanjiroh bragged.

Sumire's eyes flared. "Careful. That's my granddaughter you're talking about."

"Then we'll be all related one day, then." Rinko announced.

Nanjiroh and Sumire fell. "No!"

Inside, the two kids who got shy around one another looked back on the big window.

"Obaa-chan?"

"Oyaji?"

Nanami-sensei stared at the adults and kids within her vicinity. Reviewing the drawings that the kids had draw, she saw one familiar pair of drawing. Smiling at the kids who drew them, she placed the artworks on her drawer, remembering the significant roles of their drawings that had been left to discover in several years to come.

The ball and the red racquet.