Disclaimer: I don't own The Prince of Tennis.

Friendship's Gift

Chapter 1: Mika Echizen

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When Sakuno was still in middle school, everyone in the male tennis club knew about her crush on the tennis prince. By high school freshman year, almost everyone in the school knew about it. She was practically inseparable from Ryoma Echizen. She always followed him around, with new bento every day, and always trying in vain to start conversations with him. Most times he simply ignored her, but then he actually started to reply, although his answers were too short and not enough to keep the conversation going. Still, it seemed enough for Sakuno. She really thought he was starting to open up to her. Momoshiro and Kikumaru-senpai certainly thought so.

They weren't wrong, but they weren't exactly right either. Ryoma did open up more to Sakuno, but Sakuno realized all too soon that it was as far as their 'friendship' would go. She didn't think it would bother her, though. That as long as he thought of her as a friend, she would be happy.

Then Mika came into the picture. Sakuno met Mika Sasaki in ninth grade, although it wasn't until tenth grade that Mika and Ryoma became acquainted. By the end of that year, Mika Sasaki and Ryoma Echizen were going out.

It was a shock to the whole school (minus the very few who could care less about the tennis prince's love life). Momoshiro and Kikumaru even offered Sakuno to help by teaching that 'Mika girl' a lesson or two. Sakuno had quickly told them that it wasn't necessary. It was obvious they weren't happy about it; every regular of the tennis team was sure Ryuzaki and Echizen would eventually hook up even if they didn't voice their opinion (Tezuka, for example), especially after Ryoma had opened up to her a bit more. And Sakuno couldn't bring herself to hate Mika, not even dislike her one bit.

After all, Mika was her friend.

Whereas Tomoka was Sakuno's self-titled "best friend", the loud and energetic one that always pushed Sakuno forward to meet any and all of life's hardships, Mika was a nice and gentle girl, quiet and very much the opposite of what Tomoka was. Sakuno became friends with Mika very quickly, a surprise in itself, as Sakuno usually had a hard time making any friends. But she loved Mika. It was clear Sakuno was a very important person to Mika as well.

But it became too uncomfortable being with Mika after she started to go out with Ryoma. Sakuno was happy for Mika, but she couldn't stand the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach, how horrible she felt that Ryoma had settled for someone else. It hit Sakuno then and there that she had deceived herself for over three years about her relationship with Ryoma. It really hadn't been going anywhere, had it? Sakuno wallowed up in self-pity at first, but decided to be strong and move on. After all, she also needed to support one of her best friends, right?

It was even harder after high school. Mika began to notice how much Sakuno tried to avoid hanging out with her, even without Echizen around. Sakuno could see the pain in Mika's eyes. She was losing a friend and she knew it, no matter how much Sakuno told her otherwise. But it wasn't something either of them could easily mend. Mika was in love with Ryoma.

Then came the wedding. Nineteen-year-old Sakuno learned about it through her grandmother, who was always in contact with the Echizens, considering her acquaintance with Nanjirou. "Mika wants you to go," Sumire told her.

"I can't," Sakuno mumbled, leaving the kitchen. She even ignored the invitation on the dinner table, signed from Mika to Sakuno. She was asking her best friend to be there for one of the most important days of her life. But Sakuno couldn't do it. No matter how much she told herself that she was over losing Ryoma, she just couldn't go and see him get married to someone else. Not even with Mika.

So she didn't go.

She really thought Mika would hate her then. But she learned the two of them had a hard and complicated friendship, it seemed. The two friends loved each other dearly, and understood how difficult it was for the other. And yet Mika was determined not to lose Sakuno. So she phoned in every now and then, even if their conversations were short-lived.

One day, a year later, Mika announced she was pregnant.

Sakuno was too shocked to say anything; she had nearly forgotten the phone in her hand. "Why are you telling me this?" she cried angrily into the receiver.

"Sakuno…"

"No, don't tell me anything else!" And she hung up.

It was childish and stupid of her. She knew she needed to grow up. Maybe it would have been easier to move on, she thought, if she had kept a safe distance from Mika like she had told herself to years ago. Being around her only kept reminding her of Ryoma.

But now it was too late.

Mika was her friend.

Her very special friend.

She couldn't just leave her now.

And so Sakuno called her back a few minutes later to apologize.

That night the two young friends stayed on the phone with each other for over two long hours. It was as if they were back to the old days, when there were no complications straining their friendship. Sakuno had laughed with her so much that night, she felt like everything would really be all right. They talked about their favorite childhood moments, what high school had been like with their old friends, their apprehensions for the future, and so on. In the end, they were even starting to come up with names for the baby.

"You should pick!" Mika laughed on the other line.

"Um…I don't know, don't you have a favorite?" Sakuno asked.

"I always liked the name Satoshi for a boy…up until I met Horio-kun in school," she said; Sakuno giggled. "And Natsuko for a girl."

"I like Natsuko," said Sakuno, nodding.

"But what if it's a boy?"

"Um…well…I like…Shuichiro," Sakuno said, feeling herself blush. It had been the name for a boy she liked in kindergarten.

"Shuichiro, huh? It's a really nice name!" said Mika.

"Really?" Sakuno beamed. "You won't believe where I got it from!"

Then Sakuno's grandmother needed to use the phone for a call, and Sakuno was forced to say good night to Mika and hang up. But the long talk had left Sakuno feeling happier than she had felt for a while. She suddenly felt that she could be over Ryoma, knew that she could look at him as just the husband of her best friend and nothing more. No more flattened hopes, no more stupid high school crush…within weeks, Sakuno's newfound determination had finally allowed her to truly move on about Ryoma and accept things as they were. And she felt truly happy for her friend.

But Mika's optimism about the pregnancy was slowly diminishing.

"They think I might have complications with the baby," Mika said sadly on the phone one night, just weeks away from the set date.

Sakuno gasped, feeling the breath knocked out of her. "Mika-san…" she said after a moment. "That won't happen. You'll be all right. Please don't give up…"

She could tell Mika was crying and felt helpless, wanting to comfort her friend but not knowing how. "They also don't know if…if I do have complications, if the baby will also make it…"

Sakuno could feel her own tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "Mika-san…that won't happen! You and the baby will live. You still have a whole life ahead of you! And I'll be there with you, I promise. Everything's going to be fine…" Sakuno's voice cracked near the end. She wasn't sure if she could believe her own words.

"Thank you…" she heard Mika say quietly.

"How…how is Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked.

"He's not giving in," said Mika, and Sakuno could just hear the smile on Mika's voice. It brought a small smile to Sakuno's lips.

"Sakuno…?" Mika spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Remember on the phone, when we planned to do so many things together once the baby was born?" Mika asked quietly. "Do simple activities, like teaching the baby new things and taking him to picnics together?" There was a short pause. "I still want to do those things…"

Sakuno almost cried then and there. But she held on. "We will," she said to her.

Shuichiro.

They say it was the last thing she said on her deathbed. Sakuno wouldn't know. She cried and fought with the doctors and told them to do something to help her. But she was dying. And Sakuno couldn't bear to see her dying. It was inevitable. Mika couldn't make it.

But the baby did.

Sakuno was alone in Mika's private room, although everything had been changed and cleaned and looked as if she hadn't been there at all before. It was ready for a next patient. But Sakuno sat on a chair near the bed, and her eyes bore into the clean, white sheets, images of Mika's dying moments flashing in her mind.

She was surprised when the door opened and was even shocked to see Ryoma there. She had been very close to Mika, but she hardly talked with Ryoma. Something small wrapped in a bundle of blankets was in his arms. It took a moment for Sakuno to realize that it was the baby.

Ryoma made his way into the room silently, and sat on a chair across Sakuno. His eyes were pink and his cheeks were still damp, signs that he had been crying before. There was a long silence between them as they stared at each other, and then Sakuno's gaze fell on the baby in his arms.

"Do you want to hold him?" Ryoma said suddenly.

Sakuno's gaze snapped up, looking into his eyes again. She wasn't sure what to do or say, how she would even feel if she held Mika's child…but Ryoma leaned forward and gently placed the baby in her arms.

"His name is Shuichiro," he said. Sakuno marveled at the baby boy she was holding and the small tufts of silver-gray hair on his small head—just like Mika's hair.

Sakuno didn't know how long she sat there holding Shuichiro. Suddenly she could remember every happy moment she had with Mika, every carefree conversation she had with her over the phone. Everything they both planned to do together with Shuichiro. She could feel Ryoma's eyes observing her as she cradled the baby in her arms.

"Mika said…" he spoke again, softly, "…that you were a very dear friend to her. That's why she chose to name him Shuichiro."

Sakuno nodded, emotions beginning to overwhelm her. But she didn't want to start crying again and thought about saying something that would help lighten up the mood more. It was also the first time that Ryoma was doing the talking and Sakuno was being quiet. The irony tugged at Sakuno's lips, almost making her smile.

"Did you know…" she spoke up, glad that her voice sounded even and light-hearted, "…that he was almost named after 'two years of tennis experience' Satoshi Horio-kun?"

Ryoma blinked. Sakuno knew he was taking a moment to try and remember who 'Satoshi Horio-kun' was. She knew it wouldn't take long, not with her reference to the 'two years of tennis experience', and soon enough it finally seemed to dawn on him when his face pulled up into a grimace and his body fought very visible shivers. She giggled.

They smiled and stayed in the room for a very long time, just observing the sleeping baby and the occasional faces it made.

It was the longest, most private, moment the two had ever shared thus far.

Author's Note: An idea that had been tugging at the back of my head, begging to be written. This story is not over yet. But I can't guarantee that Sakuno and Ryoma will get together by the end of it. I'm still not sure about how it will all turn out, though ideas are running around like crazy in my head. I'll do my best to keep this story updated; same goes for 'The Fabricated Wedding.'

Ja ne, minna-san!