*I do not own Prince of Tennis*

Recap: Chiaki-san does not have much time left to live. Kurobe Yukio, her older brother, has appeared. He will be taking care of Aika and Haruka. As for our heroine, she is in a sticky situation. Fuji had discovered Haruka's existence. The two have reached an "understanding" or not...Let's see what Chapter 10 holds...

This is awkward, Aika thought to herself as she fiddled with her hands on her lap.

Beside Aika, Fuji smiled pleasantly at her.

"Saaa...relax, Aika-chan."

Aika smiled nervously. Seriously, what was with Fuji? Ever since he confronted her on the rooftop last week, he started to call her using her first name...and he used the suffix chan, as well. When he called her Aika-chan in public, she fought the urge to cover his mouth with her hand...but he threatened to lick her hand once...so she did not want to go there again.

Even so...why was he here with her again...to see her mother?

"Fuji-kun..."

"Hai?" Fuji asked in a sing-song voice. He knew he was getting on her nerves. He knew she was stressed, but he couldn't stop himself from teasing her.

"Why are you here?" Aika whispered quietly.

Fuji smiled.

"Maaa...I couldn't leave you all alone," Fuji answered as he pretended to look like he was contemplating something extremely important.

"Aika -"

Chiaki-san stopped when she noticed the boy sitting next to her daughter.

"Oh, hello!"

Fuji stood up and bowed.

"Hello, Sakurai-san...my name is Fuji Syuusuke," Fuji said as he smiled charmingly at Chiaki-san.

"Nice to meet you, Fuji-kun," Chiaki-san said as she smiled back at him.

"Ah, the pleasure is all mine."

The two smiled at each other.

On the side, Aika thought to herself why did their meeting have to be so radiant? She swore she could see all the sparkles in the air.

"He's a nice boy," Chiaki-san said as she picked at her hospital food.

Aika stared out the window.

"He is," She agreed.

"I would have liked it if you were with a boy like him..."

Aika snapped to her mother.

"Mum!"

Chiaki-san chuckled.

"I'm just kidding!"

Aika huffed.

"Thank goodness...Fuji-kun and I are just friends."

Chiaki-san smiled.

"I'm glad you finally made a friend your age."

Aika frowned.

"You think I can't get friends?"

"Ha ha! I'm teasing you!"

Chiaki-san smiled at her daughter.

"I want you to be happy."

Aika smiled at her mother.

"I love you, Mum..."

BEEP. BEEP.

Chiaki-san began to shake violently.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Aika shouted as she left the room to get help.

"Aika-chan!" Miwa called her best friend who sat in the waiting room with a blank look on her face.

"Are you okay?" Miwa gently shook Aika's shoulders to get her attention, but she remained quiet.

"Say something, Aika-chan!"

Miwa froze as she felt something wet.

"...Mum...she was coughing...a lot of blood..." Aika murmured as she looked at Miwa.

"I-I..."

Miwa hugged Aika.

"It's going to be okay, Aika-chan...I'm here for you, so be strong...Haruka-chan is depending on you, too."

Aika bit her bottom lip and fought back her tears.

The two girls pulled away from each other when a doctor entered the room.

The man in the white lab coat adjusted his glasses before clearing his throat.

"Sakurai Aika-san?"

"Here," Aika said, standing up.

"I'm sorry, but your mother..."

Aika's legs trembled before she fell to the ground crying.

"Neh, Fujiko, have you seen Aika-chan recently?" Eiji asked Fuji as they were in the changing room.

"Mmh...no, why?" Fuji inquired as he placed his sports bag down.

Eiji frowned.

"She hasn't been to school for two weeks now..."

Fuji's eyes opened.

"What?"

Although the three were originally in the same homeroom, Aika had been moved to class 3-1. She still had English with Eiji though.

Eiji nodded to himself.

"She was here about two weeks ago...I saw her talking with her homeroom teacher...She hasn't been back since," Eiji told Fuji whose eyes widened.

Haruka tugged Yukio's sleeves.

"Where's Mommy?" Haruka asked the tall man who her mother called Uncle.

Yukio looked at the toddler before patting her on the head.

"Your mother is busy," He simply said.

Haruka frowned.

"I wanna see Mommy and Gramma!" Haruka wailed loudly.

Yukio's wife Sara took the little girl and began to pat her back to soothe her.

Since Chiaki-san's passing, Yukio and his wife came to stay with Aika and Haruka while their own two children were left with Sara's parents.

"Aika-chan, you have to pull yourself together!" Miwa urged her best friend.

Aika continued to remain unresponsive.

"You're sad, I get it...but you have to move on!"

Aika's eyes began to tear up.

"Mum..."

"Aika-chan, listen to me!" Miwa gripped her shoulders and shook her.

"Honey, I'm going to take Haruka-chan to the park, okay?" Sara asked her husband who merely nodded.

"Is my mama okay?" Haruka asked Sara cutely.

Sara smiled sadly.

"Yes," She lied.

At the park, Sara sat down on a bench and watched Haruka play on the kid's playground.

When other women came to the park, they began to gossip and chat, momentarily forgetting their children.

Haruka wandered off toward a different area curiously.

"Eh...Syuu-chan!" Haruka called out as she noticed him with a younger boy with short brown hair.

"Haruka-chan?"

Fuji bent down and picked her up.

"Hi!" Haruka greeted him again before pecking his cheek.

She grinned cheekily.

Fuji chuckled.

"Where's your mommy?" He asked her, thinking about how Eiji said Aika was not at school for a while.

Haruka frowned.

"Gramma went away...so mommy busy...she's sad, I can tell..." Haruka replied as she thought about the sad look on her mommy's face.

"Eh...Chiaki-san went away?"

Haruka nodded.

"Mommy and Uncle put Gramma away two weeks ago," Haruka said as she looked at Fuji.

"I see...so where's your mommy right now?" He asked again.

"Home."