I don't own Prince of Tennis.


For good or for ill, Sanada has had to grow up with his closest friends since a young age. When he and Yukimura eventually meet Yanagi Renji, their trio seems to round up perfectly.

It's because of their long association The Emperor is so forgiving towards them. They can make fun of him and, as long as it stays in good will, he will brave it like a man should. He owes them that much for all the years they've spent together. Sanada Genichirou respects his closest friends on the same level as he does his family.

Sadly, he can't take control over how they behave around each other.

"Yuki-chi." Sanada is willing to strangle her already. That is not how one should adress the Child of God! "There's a girl in my class that wants you to have this."

Yukimura takes the small, wrapped box from Minamoto's outstretched hand. "Tell her thanks from me, would you, Masa-chan?"

Minamoto nods and manages to make the gesture look as bored as she is of the classes she constantly sleeps in.

Sanada has also never quite liked the way Yukimura picks up on the naming convention and calls her Masa-chan out of all things. It implies a familiarity those two should never have, even if they, technically, grew up together, too. Minamoto is too lazy to deserve that.

Long bangs fall into her eyes. She grabs the black hair between her fingers and inspects it. "How about it, Yana-jiji*? You always cut my hair best. As in free of charge."

Yanagi inclines his head. "We can cut it right after tennis training today." She smiles but Sanada is not about to let her off this easily.

"You realize he's the same age as you, Minamoto," Sanada says. "You can't call him 'old man' like that."

"Well," she drawls out, mustering the Data master from head to toe, "but he's always been so tall and stern. Like your old man."

"Are you insulting my grandfather now?"

"Of course not. I'm still patiently waiting for my time to strike him down."

All the discipline in the world hasn't managed to tame this girl. It seems that the task has been passed down onto him now. That old man should have warned him—

Now he's calling him old man himself.

"Isn't Genichirou the same, though? Very stern and stoic," Seiichi offers, wholly ignoring Sanada's glare.

"He forbade me to wrangle his name." She pouts. It doesn't reach her eyes.

Yukimura's eyes flicker with mischief. "That wouldn't hinder you, Masa-chan."

"Seiichi..."

"Of course not." There's a pause. "Gen-chan-rôshi*. Because he always says how much more mature he is."

Yanagi coughs to hide his amusement. Yukimura turns away from the group, trembling with laughter while Sanada wishes he's never met the indigo-haired boy. Or the girl for that matter.

Mostly the girl.


A/N:

*jiji is the rude way of calling an elderly male person, well, 'old'. It should only be used between family members or someone you're close to because otherwise it's offending. You've heard it in anime every once in a while, when someone calls their father 'old man'.

*rôshi is a honorific title used for a highly venerated senior teacher in Zen Buddhism. And since Sanada has his daily round of Zen meditation... -chan is of course a cute suffix. It kind of breaks the whole honorable name.