Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis.

Author's Words: Finally Part Three is beginning. The first term of high school in Japan begins at the beginning of April and the first holidays they have is the summer holidays. The second holidays will be the winter holidays or as we call it, the Christmas holidays. The last one is the spring holidays. Also, when students are in their third year of high school, they usually 'retire' from club activities to prepare for their university entrance exams. These information may be useful when you read this chapter. By the way, please do not expect the next chapter to be up in the next few days because I will not have time to do it, sorry for making you wait!

Part Three

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Summer Holidays

Miyu lay on the couch of the living room, staring listlessly up at the ceiling. She was dying… of boredom.

888888

The first term had ended last week and this was the beginning of the second week of the summer holidays during which she had nothing to do.

There was no tennis practice that day; her brother was at school training with his precious regulars; Sakuno was in Tokyo visiting her grandmother. Even her parents and grandmother were away.

Her father was dispatched on a business trip and her mother had gone off with him. Her grandmother had joined a tour with some of her friends and they had gone to Europe.

Her brother and she were forced to go on a diet of instant food and takeaways again.

She reckoned that she could go out with some of her other friends but she was not in the mood for shopping or gossiping which was what her other friends mostly did.

888888

She thought about that day so many weeks ago.

It seemed only like yesterday that Sakuno had officially broken up with Echizen and Seigaku.

After that, she had originally wanted to arrange blind-dates and gatherings for Sakuno but seeing that her friend needed some time to get over it all, she had refrained. Then, when Sakuno seemed to be less sad and Miyu had been clapping her hands with glee, it was the regulars' turn to be busy.

Most of them were in their final year in high school and they were not retiring from club activities yet, so they had a double load of schoolwork and tennis practices to deal with.

Even her brother seemed stressed out with both leading the club and preparing for his next year in university.

In that kind of tension, even if she could arrange anything, there would be little chance of it going well because all the regulars were so tired when they were not either practicing or discussing schoolwork.

Even Akaya was caught up in the stress because he wanted to win against Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi before they leave.

Although this was only the first term of the year, the regulars did not dare to slack off because for most of them, this would also be their last year to participate in the High School Nationals and they were determined to win again. Even when the summer holidays started, the boys' tennis club did not rest.

In fact, they practiced more than usual each day and that left her pretty bored, apart from the days when she had her own practice. The boredom would not have been so bad if Sakuno was here but she had gone to stay with her grandmother in Tokyo.

888888

Miyu was prepared for another day of utter boredom when suddenly the phone rang and she leapt up to answer it.

It was Sakuno and she was to brighten Miyu's day up with wonderful news.

After they had said their greetings, Miyu got straight to the point and asked, "What's up? You usually call later in the evening, Sakuno?"

Sakuno laughed, "You are so perceptive, Miyu-chan! I'm afraid that I have to ask you a favor. My grandmother had just received an urgent phone call and she said that she has to leave tomorrow and will be away for the rest of the holidays. My relatives in Kanagawa are also away on holiday. I-I want to ask if I can stay with you for the rest of the holidays!"

There was a pause while Miyu assimilated that piece of too-good-to-be-true news.

Sakuno thought that Miyu was shocked at her boldness and immediately started apologizing, "G-gomen! Miyu-chan, I'm so sorry for asking something that will trouble you. I'm so sorry! Don't worry. I'll stay with someone else…"

She was about to hang-up sadly when Miyu stopped her, afraid that she really would find someone else to stay with, "Wait! Sakuno, you're mistaken! I would love to have you stay with us. My folks are all away and there's only me and my brother here. He's always training with the regulars and I'm always at home with nothing to do. It would be wonderful if you are here because we can go out and have fun together, ne!"

Sakuno was relieved and excited, "Really, Miyu-chan? Can I really stay? Do you have to ask Yukimura-senpai? I thought that if your parents aren't here, he would be the one in charge."

Miyu groaned, "Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about that. Don't worry, I'd go and ask him now. Wait for my call!"

With that, the overly-excited Miyu banged the phone down, put on some running shoes and ran to Rikkai where she knew her brother would be.

Before she actually went out, she did not forget to lock all the windows and the doors because it was a safety precaution that was drummed into her since she was old enough to help lock up at night.

888888

She ran nonstop to the tennis courts where she knew they would be. Sure enough, she saw the regulars in the courts.

Akaya and Jackal were playing against each other with Bunta keeping score.

Yanagi was talking with Yagyuu and Niou.

Yukimura and Sanada were playing a practice match with two tennis balls, strengthening their speed and reflexes.

She did not stop to watch as she sometimes did but yelled as she was running towards the entrance of the courts.

Usually, if someone dared to disturb practice like that, that person would be in deep trouble with an angry Sanada and a not-pleased Yukimura. Miyu was an exception and of course teachers were always safe.

Miyu thought that Sakuno would be an exception also but Sakuno would never dare to disturb practices except for the time when she hurt her ankle but as it was not her fault, despite what she said, it did not count. She thought that she would get Sakuno to try it someday.

All the regulars stopped what they were doing to look at her when she yelled for Yukimura. Then they ignored her as they figured that Yukimura would take care of it.

Bunta, not doing anything yet, stopped keeping scores and strolled over to let Miyu into the courts. She thanked him, not bothering to tease him today because she was anxious to talk to Yukimura.

She went over to her brother, who always had time for her. Sanada would have yelled back at her if practice had not been so productive that day.

Not having a sister himself, he was very tolerant of Miyu and her ways most of the time.

Miyu stopped in front of Yukimura who was very pleased to see Miyu. He had been so busy since the beginning of the holidays that he had not seen much of his sister except for at night when they would have dinner together and chat.

He knew that she had been bored out of her mind and he wanted to make her happy, except that they always had had extra practices for the whole tennis club during holidays. Therefore he was not able to spend much time with her.

He also knew that she missed Sakuno and though he never said anything, he missed her too. He wondered what it was that made her so happy today.

888888

Miyu was panting a bit from the nonstop dash to school and Yukimura handed her his water-bottle. She took it and drank some of it and then gave it back to her brother.

She said, "Onii-san, can Sakuno stay with us this holiday?" Yukimura looked surprised, "I thought that she is in Tokyo with Ryuzaki-sensei. Are you feeling alright, Miyu?"

He was worried that the boredom had finally gone up to her brain and she was imagining things. It was lucky that Miyu did not know what he was thinking or brother or not, she would have kicked his butt for thinking such a thing.

She knew that she needed to explain so she forced herself to be patient, "Onii-san, Sakuno called me earlier and said that her grandmother will be going away on a sudden business trip and her relatives in Kanagawa are also away. She needs somewhere to stay until her relatives come back. That will be at the end of the holidays. Therefore she has asked if she could stay with us."

Yukimura was glad that Miyu was not hearing things and even more glad to hear that Sakuno was coming back and would be staying with them. He said, "Of course she can stay with us, Miyu. When are you going to call her back?"

Miyu said, "Now. Bun-chan, lend me your phone."

Bunta looked annoyed at her calling him that but he obediently handed his phone over.

Popping his gum, he was thinking that if Sakuno was coming back and staying with these two siblings who could not boil an egg between the two of them, it would mean that Sakuno would be doing the cooking.

He thought about Sakuno's cooking and started to drool. He started to try and think of ways to get into the Yukimura household at some point so he could also share Sakuno's cooking. At this point, his eyes were sparkling with excitement at the thought of food, delicious food and more food.

Sanada was also happy to hear about Sakuno's return. After the night they had met the Seigaku regulars, when Sakuno had cried herself to sleep in his arms, the two of them had gotten closer.

If Sakuno saw him, she would run up to him and start chatting happily about her day. He felt that she was like the little sister that he had always wanted secretly.

888888

By the time Miyu got through to Sakuno, Yagyuu and Niou had started practicing some formation or the other with Yanagi directing them. They were near enough that she could not hear Sakuno properly over the sounds of tennis balls.

She got annoyed and told Sakuno to hold on and then she yelled at Niou and Yagyuu, "STOP HITTING THE STUPID BALLS! I'M TRYING TO TALK TO SAKUNO!"

With that, not only Yagyuu and Niou, but also Jackal and Akaya stopped. They looked over to Miyu and saw her talking on the phone, gesturing with her free hand. They went over to ask if she was really talking to Sakuno.

Miyu said to Sakuno on the phone, "Yes, onii-san said that it would be alright and you can come… Our parents? No, they are away… Yes, don't worry about it. Oh, okay, wait a sec. Onii-san, Sakuno wants to speak with you."

She handed the phone to her brother. Yukimura said, "Sakuno? No, honestly, you are welcome to stay. There are only the two of us in the house so it is a bit lonely, so it will be wonderful to have you with us… Ryuzaki-sensei wants to speak with me? Sure, okay."

He was quiet for a bit and Akaya whispered to Miyu, "Yo, Miyu, was that really Saku-no-bunny? You're not pulling our legs?"

Miyu rolled her eyes at him, "Don't be silly, Akaya-senpai, as if I would run all the way to school in this heat, just to pull your leg. No, it really was Sakuno on the phone."

Jackal cut in, also whispering, "Then she is going to stay with you and Yukimura?"

Miyu nodded excitedly, "Yes, isn't that exciting! We can do all sorts of things together!"

Bunta asked, "What sort of things? Homework? Have you finished your homework, Miyu?"

Miyu elbowed him in the ribs for reminding her of a much dreaded subject. Of course she had not finished her homework for the holidays. She had not even touched it.

While Bunta was bending over, muttering something about her and the possibilities of finding a boyfriend, she was struck by another idea. She grinned wickedly, "Say, Bun-chan, don't you like Sakuno's cooking?"

Bunta looked up at the mention of food but took on a wary expression at seeing the gleam on Miyu's face. He said with narrowed eyes, "I do like her cooking. Everyone does, don't they?"

Miyu smiled wolfishly, "Do they? Well, well, well…" She did not say anything more and Bunta wanted to ask but since he was afraid of her answer, he contained himself and hid behind Jackal, still nursing his ribs.

Meanwhile, Yukimura had already finished talking on the phone. He turned to everyone since everyone had now gathered round out of curiosity.

He announced, "Miyu and I will be picking Sakuno up at the station tomorrow at around four thirty in the afternoon. You are free to join us but once we pick her up, we will leave directly so if you are going to be late, don't bother to turn up because you will probably miss us."

888888

Everyone looked interested.

Yanagi decided to turn up just to see how many people will be there.

Yagyuu thought about the new novel that he had finished reading recently and decided that he would bring it along to show Sakuno.

Jackal simply thought that it would be nice to see Sakuno again.

Bunta was wondering if there would be food there.

Akaya was not going to miss seeing his bunny for sure.

Niou was thinking what nasty little tricks he could play at the station while waiting for Sakuno because he had been pretty good lately, what with all the tennis practice going on.

Sanada looked around the group and made up his mind to be there if only to keep Sakuno from being overwhelmed by this motley lot.

Yukimura did not mind asking them to come along; he was feeling generous because after all, Sakuno would be staying at his house for the next few weeks. They would not have that so he could afford to be generous.

Miyu was not only thinking of having Sakuno back and staying with her; she was also thinking of summer, the fun they could all have and mostly, the fun that she could have with them all…