Disclaimer: Pot doesn't belong to me. Too sad, isn't it?

Rating: T

A/N: English is not my first language; feel free to point out the mistakes I made.

Feel free to review…

DAY 13

It was early. Sanada was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He seemed to be really depressed and if you looked closely you could see that he had cried. He was staring at his cup of coffee unaware that Saruwatari-san was looking at him. She was worried. As far as she could remember she had never seen Sanada Genichirou cry even when his grandfather broke a wooden sword on his backside because he made a mess in the dojo and refused to clean. She had never seen him being depressed either. He had always been the perfect little boy. The son everybody dreamt to have.

She entered the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to him. He had decided to take care of her so she could see if she could do something for him.

"Good morning Sanada-san! You seem really depressed. Did something go wrong? Is it linked to the phone call you get just after Niou-san left?"

Sanada looked at his neighbor and tried to smile.

"Good morning Saruwatari-san. Oh it is nothing. It will be forgotten. Moreover there is nothing I can do to change it."

"Maybe I can help you."

"I do not think so. My parents phoned to tell me they are staying in China a bit longer because my brother decided to live there with his wife and the children. It seems that he already took care of everything regarding his work. They are looking for a house and a school. I am stuck with them. Had I known they would not come home I would not have agreed to meet Yukimura-san and his sister on Sunday. We were supposed to spend the day in the amusement park in which his sister works."

"I understand but you can take the children with you. After all you won't see them often once they'll be in China."

Sanada nodded but he explained that as much as he loved his nephews he would be happy once he will no longer have to look after them. He told everything they did and she nodded from time to time. She understood as her daughter had been a bit like the brats.

"I could stay with them while you are with your friends. I don't intend to spend all my time in the house. I know the doctors said I should rest but I just can't stay inside and do nothing."

Sanada sighed, looked at the watch and excused himself. He had to wake the little devils if they didn't want to be late for school. He drove them and when he came back his saw his neighbor still in the kitchen reading the news paper. She raised her head when she heard him enter the room.

"The phone rang while you were away. I picked up. Yukimura-san asked me to tell you that Marui-san wanted to organize a huge party to celebrate Jackal-san's engagement with Yamakichi-san. It would be nice if you could phone Marui-san to tell him that his idea isn't that good because your friend tried and didn't get the results he hoped to get."

"Thank you Saruwatari-san. I hope it did not bother you."

"Oh not at all. But there is just a little thing that bothers me. You know me since you were a child and you still call me Saruwatari-san. Call Kagome-chan or Kagome-san."

Sanada nodded. He did the washing up and then went to his room to phone his former team mate. The remaining of the morning was eventless. He taught kendo to some retired people, opened his mails, studied a bit and helped Saruwatari-san who insisted on cooking them something to eat. In the afternoon he went to his law school before going to RikkaiDai to supervise his kendo team. He went there early to spend some time with his lover. He needed to talk to him about his parents and about their outing.

Of course Yukimura understood. But he still wanted to go. It didn't please Sanada but he said nothing. He just kept thinking about the way the children were going to behave. He knew he couldn't ask his neighbor to look after them. After all it was their fault if she had had a heart attack. Then it hit him. Niou could come with his girlfriend and their daughter. He would even pay their tickets. He phoned him while his team was doing some katas which surprised the whole team.

It was 5.00pm when he reached the kindergarten section. The children were waiting for him with their teacher who seemed rather exhausted. But she didn't complain. The kids were bouncing, really happy of their day.

"See Uncle Gen-chan we didn't do anything bad today. Kaede-chan didn't say anything to you and we weren't brought to the head master. Can we have a slice of cake for dessert tonight?"

Sanada sighed.

"That is good to hear. As far as the cake is concerned I am afraid we do not have any at home."

Kagami began to pout.

"Well we can go to Marui-san pastry shop. I am sure you will find something you like."

Clever move. That way he could make sure the red head really understood what he told when he phoned in the morning. The meeting went well. He came out of the shop with four slices of strawberry shortcake and four chocolate fondant cakes.

They spent a nice evening. They watched some cartoons and then the kids went to bed with their dear Kagome-chan. When she came back to the living room, Sanada told her he was going out. He wanted to practice his tennis with Yukimura in the new sports complex which was opened all night long.

Saruwatari-san winked and wished him a good evening…

A/N : Yes I did it. More chapters to come... The amusement park episode will be fun.