"Here we are so what you gonna do,

do I gotta spell it out for you,

I can see that you got other plans for tonight."

-- Forever, The Veronicas

Sakuno sat on the ground, terrified at what the man was going to do with her. He had that creepy grin that made her shiver down to her toes. Tears welling up in her eyes, she was about to scream again when the mans hand was going to reach for her, but to her rescue the dark blue haired woman stepped in between the man's reaching hand and her.

"Uncle!" yelled out Nanako, hands on her hips. "What are you doing!?"

"She's da one who yelled out and fell! I'm just tryin' ta be nice and give her a helping hand!" Echizen Nanjiro protested lifting his hands up to his chest in defense.

"U-Uncle…?" whispered Sakuno still on the floor. Tears were still forming.

"Oh Sakuno-chan!" cried out Nanako. She lifted the fifteen year old up to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Nodding mutely, Sakuno wiped off her tears with her backhand. Sniffling slightly, she looked up to the unfamiliar man. Hiding behind Nanako, Echizen Nanjiro raised an eyebrow staring at the young girls actions.

"So she's okay now?" he asked his niece who nodded and was patting the dark haired brunette.

"Really now! Scaring a poor innocent child, I should have your dirty magazines burn outside!" cried out a new brunette walking towards Sakuno, and hugging her motherly. Stiffening by the random hug, Sakuno questioned the relationship between the new brunette woman and the monk man.

"NO! I didn't try ta scare her! Dammit…! Not my magazines!" the older man cried out.

"Oh?" the woman stopped hugging the terrified girl and turned towards her husband arms crossed. "And what would a proper punishment should I give you then?"

"Woman…!"

"It's 'Hunny' to you!"

Sakuno stared at the married couple for awhile, "N-Nanako-san…?"

The blue haired college students looked down at Sakuno. "Oh right! Uncle, Aunty!"

Getting the attention from her relatives, Nanako put a supporting hand on Sakuno's shoulder. "Sakuno these two are my relatives. The man over there is my uncle, Echizen Nanjiro, and his wife, Echizen Rinko. They'll be living with us for a while."

"A-Ah, I see…"mumbled Sakuno staring at Nanako's relatives.

"Aunty, Uncle, this is the girl whose living with us for now, Ryuzaki Sakuno. She just entered high school today too!" said a cheery Nanako.

"Ryuzaki…?" mumbled Nanjiro to himself, rubbing his chin suspiciously.

"Oh aunty! Where's Ryoma-kun? I want to introduce Sakuno to him!"

Opening her chocolate brown eyes, she stared at the ceiling for awhile. Sighing, she pushed herself off her bed. Walking to her closet, she pulled out her high school uniform. Sakuno took a glance at her clock, and decided to take a quick fifteen minute shower before heading to the kitchen and preparing her lunch. Taking her uniform and a towel, she headed to the bathroom.

Once fifteen minutes passed, she was out the bathroom door, and headed towards the kitchen. She noticed Rinko sitting on a chair, peeling off potato skin while humming a soft song. Sakuno bowed at the older woman, and smiled.

"G-Good Morning Echizen-san…" she said a little hesitant.

Rinko smiled at the girl, and giggled. "Rinko is fine dear, or perhaps mother?"

Sakuno gave a hesitant smile. "O-Okay…Ri-Rinko-san…"

"Are you preparing lunch for school?"

"Y-Yes."

"Want me to help you?"

"I-It's okay…I wouldn't want to t-trouble you…"

"Oh it wouldn't be trouble at all!" Rinko stood up, placing the potato on the kitchen table. "Besides, I'm still lacking Japanese cooking skills!"

"Well…I was just going to make rice with some egg…" mumbled Sakuno, staring at her feet finding them the most interesting things that surrounded her.

"Too plain!" cried out Rinko, rolling up her lilac sleeves. "We'll make different kinds of sushi! How about okonomiyaki? Let's not forget about udon! It'll be a great lunch for you to eat today!"

Sakuno stared at the woman in front of her, eyes wide in amusement. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the area where the dishes were washed yesterday night. There sat a clean pink empty bento. It wasn't the fancy box kind that restaurants would use, it was those plastic small ones that could be bought in convenient stores. Blinking, she wondered how her small sized bento could fit sushi, okonomiyaki, and udon inside.

Taking a look at the clock that hung on the wall, she tilted her head. "B-But I only have thirty minutes to cook…"

An awkward silence. Rinko glanced at the peeled potatoes on the kitchen table.

"Nikujaga it is!"

Sakuno sighed with a smile on her face. Nikujaga would be fine, after all it was a typical 'mother's taste' meal. It could also fit on her bento too.

"Wow!"

"I thought you weren't living with your grandmother anymore."

Sakuno bashfully tried to hid her bento box from her two friends. Ann and Tomoka were staring at her meat, potato, and side rice dish. Pink on the cheeks, Sakuno took a bite of the meat, looking away from her friends gaze. It was embarrassing for Sakuno to make a motherly meal for herself and bring it to school. Some of her classmates were looking at her, she bashfully hid her face with her hands.

"P-Please stop!" she whispered to her friends who were commenting on her lunch.

Ann and Tomoka sighed as they smiled at each other. "Okay," they agreed.

"So anyway," said Tomoka already moving on from another topic. "What are you guys going to choose as an elective?"

Ann's chopsticks were resting on her bottom lip. "Well … I was thinking of joining the cooking class. What was it called? Home-ed?"

Tomoka's lips formed a grin. "Ooh? Cooking eh? Why choose that when you can choose the easy A in art class?"

"Because I need a challenge," retorted Ann, giving a suspicious eye at the pigtailed girl.

The grin widened. "You know I heard a certain man in this school loves Shrimp Cutlet Burgers~!"

A glare was given. "It's not like I'm joining the class for one person, I'm doing this for my brother!"

"U-Um…" Sakuno glanced at the two girls nervously, one was glaring while the other was grinning madly. There was no way she wanted for them to be in a fight for something so stupid! "I-I'm joining the music class!"

A total lie, but if it would stop the fight then let it be the truth for now.

"What?" they both asked, their eyes now focused on the shy Ryuzaki, who was tomato red because of the outburst.

"I was thinking … of joining the music class…" she muttered, already embarrassed because of her small white lie.

"Aw man!" huffed out Tomoka, crossing her arms. "No fair! I thought you were seriously going to join cooking class!"

Indeed she did, "U-Um…well…"

"Wait you wanted to join the cooking class?" questioned Ann staring at Tomoka. "Why do you even want to enroll in that class anyway?"

Putting a proud smile on her face, Tomoka stood from the chair she was sitting in, causing for some students to look at her weirdly. "Because I'm going to support our tennis team with lovely lunches everyday after school!"

"Riight," mumbled Ann looking away from the brunette. "Guess I'll have to make those blasted burgers better…"

Sakuno giggled as she saw her two enthusiastic friends give out a friendly argument towards each other. Eating another potato, she mentally noted herself to thank Rinko for the lunch.

"Hey I have an idea!" cried out Tomoka out of nowhere.

"What?" asked her friends still eating their bento lunches.

"Let's go after school and cheer them on during their practice!"

"But I thought club activities start in two weeks," questioned Ann, while Sakuno nodded in agreement with her.

Crossing her arms Tomoka nodded. "Yes it's true that club activities start in the next two weeks, however! Our senpai-taichi will always practice tennis everyday after school!"

"Are you sure about that Tomoka?"

"I don't think they practice everyday Tomo-chan."

"Oh, let's just go!"

"Kyaaa~! Fuji-senpai!"

"They're so cool! Go Taka-kun!"

"I knew him since middle school~! Momo!!"

"I am so joining girls tennis this year! Go Kaidoh!"

"Go Tezuka-kuuun!"

"Eiji-kuuun, be careful!"

"Oishi-senpai do your best!"

"Inui-kuuun!"

The three girls sweat dropped at the scene. There was no way they could get to see their friends in such a crowded place filled with girls. Frowning Tomoka crossed her arms, while Ann's lips twitched. The girls in this school were so annoying!

"Geez, both Sakuno and I were the first cheerleaders for Seigaku and they think they have the right to do this?!" grumbled Tomoka not liking the fact that she couldn't get near the tennis courts because of the damn crowd. "It was so silent when we saw them practice this summer."

"Guess we'll just have to go home, there's no way I'm going to push and shove nasty girls out of my way today," muttered Ann, hands on her hips. "Hey Sakuno, let's go okay?"

"O-Okay," she said, still amazed by the sudden crowd. How could her senpai get home with such crowd being in the way?

Turning a different direction that would lead them to the school exit, they stopped as they noticed a boy with a white cap, white shorts, and a black t-shirt. He had a bag, that perhaps had some sort of sport equipment inside. Ann blinked, arms crossed, and head tilted to the side, she was trying to remember how familiar the boy in front looked like. Tomoka just stared at the boy, ready to make a sudden noise any moment.

"A-Ah…" Sakuno quickly looked away to another direction, a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Mada mada dane."

Ew, ew, ew.

My back hurts, like really bad. That's why this chapter kinda sucks. On other news, have you guys seen the making of PoT? Shirota singing that Kyu Kyu Kyu song, it's so damn adorable it's not even funny. Just search for 'squirrels cinepuri' and you will so squeal at the moment. If you guys know the song, do tell me!

I also apologize for not replying back on the reviews this time. Sorry, but thank you guys so much! It's so fun to read the reviews, and reading that you guys like this story. X3 So heart warming you know?

Do review. x)