Author's Notes (1): This involves mainly the Fuji brothers and Sakuno. It happens after

Episode 36 (Big Brother Syusuke).

Author's Notes (2): Okay, my Japanese sucks. I'm having Sakuno use English. With the

exception of this word: Sazanami def. ripple

Author's Note (3): Whoops, changed the word for big brother from a younger female. Thus

the word, 'oneesan' changed to 'oniisan'. (See, TOLD you I don't know a

lick of Japanese. :# ) (date: 10-5-2005

Title: Real Hero

Sumire Ryuzaki sighed with great satisfaction as she finally took off her sneakers. The smells of a delicious supper wafted through the house. "That smells so good! Sakuno! I'm home!"

Frowning at the fact that her granddaughter did not meet her as soon as she opened the door, the older Ryuzaki frowned. There was something wrong- where was Sakuno? Usually the girl came as fast as she could whenever she heard the car pulled into the driveway. And ended up crashing into the door. Throwing her tennis bag into the corner, she called out, "Sakuno! I'm home!"

"Welcome home! You're home late, Obaachan!" called out Sakuno's voice.

Sumire cocked her head to side as she heard the patter of feet coming from the kitchen. Though she smiled, the older woman called out, "You had better not be running, little one. You know what the family rule is!"

Immediately, the patter of feet dwindled down. "Hai! It's 'Sakuno does not run'!"

"And why is that rule there?" called out Sumire Ryuzaki as she put away her shoes and stepped away from the foyer. She turned to the side closet to place her tennis bag in there.

"Because when Sakuno runs, family and furniture gets tangled," Sakuno answered as she came out from the hallway. "I made something really good tonight, Obaachan! I made gingered beef, omurice, and clam soup supper for you and I even made dessert. And Obaasan said that she would come to get me in the morning before eight if that's all right. My things are already packed. Why were you late?"

"There was a last minute teachers' meeting after practice and I did some paperwork," Sumire said as she took off her team jacket and hung it up. "Supper sounds like you made a feast for the two of us- you didn't use the big knives did you?"

"No, ma'am! I used only the small paring and the steak knife," Sakuno answered cheerfully. "I remembered that I wasn't supposed to use a big one until an adult is with me. No more stitches for me!"

Smiling, Sumire turned around. "Well that sounds good- Sakuno! What happened?"

Wincing at her grandmother's yelp, Sakuno managed to smile brightly and bowed in greeting to her grandmother. "Obaachan! Welcome home! I hope you're hungry because I made a lot of food, Obaachan! And I think I made it really well this time!"

Sumire's eyes narrowed as she looked at her granddaughter. The girl's hair was undone and she had bandages on both knees; her right ankle was wrapped in an elastic bandage; there were scrapes on her right arm and her right eye- just under the coverage of the make-up, she could see the beginnings of a black eye. "I have eyes, Sakuno Marie Ryuzaki, and no changing the subject, young lady. I can clearly see what happened to you! And I want to know: How did you get this way! What happened?"

Blushing brightly, Sakuno tried to smile. "Ano it's really a long story, Obaachan-"

"I can hear a long story," Sumire said as she crossed her arms and frowned at her granddaughter.

"Can I tell you after you eat? Supper is getting cold," Sakuno said brightly as she started to back away from her grandmother. "And you'll get less angry if you have some food."

It was well known that Sumire Ryuzaki had a very quick temper. It was also well known that she also had eyes that could strip the skin off a man and a voice that could blast him into the next year. In short, she was a force to be reckoned with. So it was a constant source of amazement that Sakuno, her only granddaughter- the shyest and quietest of all her nineteen grandchildren, was the only one of all the Ryuzaki family that would not buckle under her demands. "You will tell me after supper what's wrong! Why?"

Sakuno looked down and twiddled her fingers. "Ano I'm not sure of how to tell it without you being so very angry, Obaachan. So can I give you supper first before I tell you?"

Sumire looked at her Sakuno as she looked up with her huge brown eyes, pleading. She sighed as she shook her head. "I will start eating supper as soon as I take a shower."

"And you will tell me while we are eating, Sakuno," Sumire ordered as she headed into the house. "Yes, that should work. Shower first and then we will eat." She knelt down to look at her granddaughter in the eye. "But you will answer this question now: Who was it that helped clean you up?"

Blushing brightly, Sakuno looked down at her bandaged knees. "It was Fuji Yuuta, Obaachan."

Surprised, Sumire leaned back on her haunches. "Did he indeed? It sounds like it's an interesting story, Sakuno."

"Well, not really," Sakuno blushed as she looked at her fingers. "It's really rather boring. You really wouldn't want-"

"Boring or not, I will hear it," Sumire said flatly as she looked at Sakuno. "The full story, Sakuno. Is that clear?"

"Ha-hai," Sakuno answered as she bowed to her grandmother. She smiled as she backed away. "I'll go and prepare the table settings now!"

Sumire shook her head as she saw her granddaughter disappear as quickly as her feet could take her. "Oh, that child." With a last shake of her head, she started towards her rooms. "Well, this supper story should be interesting."

"My, Sakuno, this looks delicious," Sumire said as she sat down looking at the small feast before her. Her granddaughter waited patiently until she looked up. Together they declared, "Thank you for the food!"

Sakuno waited anxiously as her grandmother cautiously tasted the dishes. She bit her lip as her grandmother put her spoon down. Finally, she blurted, "Obaachan! Is it too salty? Not enough? Should I add more spices? Cook it more the next time?"

"The food tastes fine, Sa-chan," Sumire smiled as she used her granddaughter's nickname. She looked at Sakuno's anxious face. "In fact, with the exception of putting a little too much ginger in the beef and that you need to clean the clams a little bit more, it all tastes quite delicious. You didn't cut your fingers with the knives did you?"

"No, Obaachan. I was very careful in cutting everything and I wasn't distracted once!" Sakuno announced proudly as she beamed at her grandmother. She smiled happily as she showed her hands to her grandmother. "See? Not one cut!"

"Ah! That's very good, Sa-chan!" Sumire as she patted Sakuno's cheek. "Now please tell me what happened to you today after you left school. You look like you got into a fight."

"Ano Well, Obaachan, I sort of was in a fight after school today," Sakuno admitted timidly as her index fingers formed a steeple.

"YOU WHAT?" Sumire gaped as she looked at her granddaughter. "What do you mean that you were 'sort of in a fight'? How do you sort of fight and get hurt like this?"

Sakuno scratched her head as she thought about it. "Well, I'm not sure. I mean, I wasn't the one that was actually fighting unless you can say that my punching the guy on the nose and then later smacking him on the head with the groceries count as fighting."

Sumire rubbed her eyes and then stared at her granddaughter. "Am I going to need some sake for this story?"

"I brought some out if you need it?" Sakuno said as she offered the small bottle of cold sake with a timid smile. "Do you want me to tell you all at once before or after the sake?"

"Tell it to me now before I eat and drink," Sumire ordered as she took the sake and placed it on the table. "What happened? Where were you?"

Sakuno fidgeted slightly. "Am I going to get in trouble if I tell you where I was coming home from, Obaachan?"

"Maybe," Sumire said with a frown. "No more stalling- out with it before it's definite."

"I was coming home from the downtown fresh fruit market," Sakuno said quickly. "I bought some really fresh strawberries, blueberries, bananas, cantaloupes, kiwis and pineapples. I also got some really fresh tomatoes, bean sprouts, spinach, kabocha and some eggs. And a really fresh mackerel and nicely cut yellowtail for you to eat for supper tomorrow." She glanced up at her grandmother. So far so good- her eyebrow wasn't twitching. "And I was coming home- I didn't know the bags were going to be so heavy so I walked home slowly. And just when I was a few blocks from home, a rollerblading guy kinda- ano he ano"

Sumire closed her eyes. She could see it happening. "The guy rollerbladed right into you- and you and all the groceries went flying. And that's how you got you black eye-"

"No, that wasn't it. I got that from something else, but yes, I went flying," Sakuno nodded miserably as she looked at her hands. "I lost some of the groceries- like the eggs and tomatoes and blueberries and strawberries. Well, I think I really lost all the eggs because I swung them around. And I'm still wondering where one of the cantaloupes went-"

"How did you get your black eye then?" Sumire demanded.

"I think one of the passerby's took it or maybe it just rolled down the hill," Sakuno continued as she placed a finger on her chin and thought about the other fruit she lost. "I lost a few kiwis that way and but at least the bean sprouts didn't really go flying all over the place because that would have made a bigger mess on the streets-"

Sumire closed her eyes. "Sakuno-"

"And the kabocha was cracked so you have to cook it right away," Sakuno said aloud as she thought about her lost groceries. "And the mackerel was safe but the yellowtail was ruined because a truck ran over it-"

Sumire could feel her eyebrow start to twitch. "Sakuno! Never mind about the groceries!"

Putting her head down, Sakuno quieted immediately. "Hai, Obaachan."

"What happened to your eye and how does Fuji Yuuta fit into all of this?" Sumire demanded as she glared at her granddaughter. "Was he the rollerblading guy?"

Shocked to the core, Sakuno lifted her head up. "Of course not, Obaachan! He's the one who saved me! He's a real hero, Obaachan!"

Sumire's eye twitched at that. "He saved you?" At her silence, she felt her eyebrow start to twitch even more. "Care to tell me what happened to you? Why did you need to be saved? What happened to you and how is Fuji Yuuta involved? Who did you need saving from, Sakuno? And no more stalling!"

"Well, ano the rollerblading guy wasn't too happy that he ran into me- so he grabbed me by my hair and was about to hurt me even more when Yuuta-oniisan tackled him and fought with him," Sakuno said quickly. "The guy was on the ground and then he threw dirt into Yuuta-oniisan's eyes. He cheated and was about to get in a sucker punch when Yuuta-oniisan was down and that's when I grabbed the bag with the berries and eggs and smacked it over the guy's head. He wasn't too happy so he started after me again."

"I see," Sumire said faintly. "And then what happened? Is that how you got the black eye?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sakuno nodded slowly. "He threw a fist at me- and I tried to do the basic of what Daddy taught me, you know, move real quickly and flip your opponent over your shoulder? It sort of worked, except he was too heavy and there wasn't enough momentum and he ano well, he fell on top of me. He was winded and about to hurt me some more- that's when I managed to get him on the nose but I don't I should do that anymore because it just made him angrier and he was just about to punch me back that was when Yuuta-oniisan came from behind him and really knocked him out with the kabocha- that's why it's cracked. You could say that the guy was pumpkin-ed."

"I see," Sumire said faintly as she looked at her granddaughter. "And then what happened?"

"The usual- the police was called and the people on the streets who saw everything said that he was the one that was terrorizing everyone in the neighborhood and making trouble like stealing whatever he wanted. That's why he ran into me- he stole some things while he was rollerblading by and the police came to give chase," Sakuno shrugged. "Then everyone helped me to pick up the groceries and Yuuta-oniisan gave me a piggyback home. I twisted my ankle- but I don't know how."

"It happens," Sumire said as she looked at her granddaughter. She opened her arms and immediately the little girl came into her grandmother's lap. "And then he cleaned and fixed you up? When did he leave?"

"He left about an hour ago. He said that he had to go home," Sakuno said as she leaned against her grandmother's ample chest and felt her Obaachan's arms come around her. "He's really nice, Obaachan. He's a real hero."

"Yes, he is, Sa-chan," Sumire said softly as she stroked her granddaughter's head. She closed her eyes and briefly imagined of all things that could have happened if Fuji Yuuta hadn't been there. She pulled her granddaughter closer and shivered. There was no way that she would let anything happen to her- she was much too precious to everyone. Much too precious. "I'm thankful to him that you're safe. We should thank him."

"Obaachan? Can I go to St. Rudolph's with you on Tuesday?" Sakuno asked timidly as she pulled slightly away from her grandmother. "I would like to see him on Tuesday, Obaachan. And I would like to bring some food for him, too."

Sumire blinked. "Why Tuesday?"

"Because he hates Tuesdays and this Tuesday is really bad because he has a huge math and Japanese history test and an extra long practice all week because of the consolation tournament and they're serving really bad Italian food in the cafeteria that day," Sakuno said as she looked up at her grandmother hopefully. "Ano I know that he likes to eat pumpkin curry and strawberries and cake and some spicy foods. And I would really like to make him something for him to make him smile this Tuesday, Obaachan. Please?"

"I think I have a meeting on Tuesday, but maybe I can arrange something," Sumire promised with a smile. Then she frowned and grabbed the girl by the shoulders as she thought of something. "But no more going someplace without letting me know where exactly you're going, young lady! Why did you go all the way downtown for the fruits? Couldn't you have gone to the local markets?"

Sakuno put her head down as her cheeks felt hot. "Ano I wanted to make something special for you- I was going to make a fruit tart for Obaachan and a pineapple cake for Obaasan. And I really needed the best fruit and things and the market downtown is where Obaachan's chef and Sanada Jiji-san and Ba-san said the best fruit are."

"And why do you feel that you had to make something special for me?" Sumire asked as she tilted her head to the side. "Is there a special occasion that I'm not aware of?"

"No, Obaachan," Sakuno said as she shook her head. "It's just that I know that I'm not going to be back here from Obaasan's until Monday afternoon and I wanted to make you something that you liked. And there was a really good sale on pineapples and Obaasan likes pineapples." She started sniffing. "But the berries were all crushed and the eggs were all destroyed after I smacked the rollerblading guy. And I have no idea what happened to the other two pineapples- I think that they were crushed under the traffic. So I could only make a kiwi and berry fruit crepe with ice cream for dessert. The way that Uncle Haru makes it."

"There, there, Sa-chan. Don't you cry. It's all right," Sumire said as she wiped the tears from her granddaughter's eyes. "I like fruit crepes with ice cream. You really did have a hard day, didn't you, little one?"

Rubbing her eyes dry then wincing as she touched her black eye, Sakuno nodded her head in agreement. "A very hard day, Obaachan. I really feel bad for Yuuta-oniisan. He had me crying into his shirt for at least twenty minutes."

"I'm sure you did cry for at least twenty minutes. And I bet that his shirt was thoroughly soaked, too," Sumire smiled as she pulled the hair away from the girl's face. "But I'm sure that he understood why." She looked so much like her deceased mother when she was a little girl. "Come let us finish eating and we will discuss what you wish to make Yuuta."

"Okay," Sakuno said happily as she gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek before she hopped down from her lap. "I think the food might have gotten cold but I can warm it up of you like."

"It's okay, I don't mind it cold," Sumire said as she picked up her chopsticks again. "Let's eat."

The two ate in silence before Sumire commented, "You know that we're going to have to tell Kiyoshi what happened, Sakuno."

Her eyes wide, Sakuno stared at her grandmother. "Do we have to tell Daddy? I don't want to worry him."

"It's his duty to worry, he's your father," Sumire said mildly. "And I think that we will also discuss if you should take some self-defense courses-" She lifted up her hand to stop Sakuno's protests. "With someone other than your Obaasan. Like I said, I will call your father in Brazil and see if he knows someone that he approves of- and he will discuss it with all your uncles."

"All of them?" Sakuno asked faintly as she stared at her grandmother worriedly. "You don't think Daddy's going to brawl with all the uncles like he usually does, will he?"

"He's in Brazil and busy, I doubt that he'll have a chance to come and fight with all of them even if he did want to for old times sake," Sumire said mildly as she thought of her five sons and their love of the martial arts which came from her beloved dead husband. Then again … "Just in case, I'll have him stay put until he cools down. Else he just might fly over and beat the life out of that guy. And the family might have to help bury the body."

Sakuno's eyes went wide. "Ano Daddy wouldn't really want to kill the guy, would he?"

Sumire looked at her granddaughter's wide eyes and sighed. Cupping her little one's face in her hands, she let the anger she was trying so hard to hide show. "Sakuno… I'm your grandmother and quite frankly, I want to kill the guy for hurting you."

Sakuno's eyes went wider at her grandmother's quiet confession. "But Obaachan- It's really not that important. You shouldn't get violent- I know that Obaasan would say the same thing- violence is wrong. She teaches that in Sunday school."

"Azami also teaches that it's all right to be human and to have human emotions, little one. Violence in itself is wrong and it is evoked by strong emotions, but it still doesn't stop the feeling of wanting to protect those that you love, Sa-chan," Sumire said as she kissed her granddaughter's forehead. She lifted a finger to stop her granddaughter's protests.

"No matter who you are, you will always be precious," Sumire said with conviction. "You are Sakuno Marie Ryuzaki. You are the only living child of my youngest son, Kiyoshi and Ayame. And it's not just me you're precious to- You are also the precious granddaughter of my oldest friend, Azami Date. Your mother was her only daughter of three children- you know your Obaasan. What do you think that she do to the one that hurt you?"

Sakuno winced. "I think we'd better hide her katana away from her until she calms down. And I think that she would like to be introduced to Yuuta-oniisan."

"That's a very good idea, Sa-chan," Sumire said with a smile. "I think Azami would like to be introduced to your new hero, Yuuta-oniisan." At her granddaughter's happy smile, she couldn't help teasing, "Think we should introduce her to Ryoma as well? After all he saved you from being hit when Sasabe was swinging his racket around."

Blushing furiously, Sakuno scolded her grandmother. "Obaachan!"

It was about four on Tuesday afternoon as Sakuno waited patiently in her home getting some last minute things ready. Everything was ready for her to finish cooking by the time she and Obaachan came home. Her grandmother was unable to take her to St. Rudolph Junior High School, but she did arrange for her to be escorted there by Fuji-sempai. She was nervous about being with him, but she figured he had to be nice because of two reasons: he was always smiling and he was Yuuta-oniisan's aniki. So he couldn't be bad, right?

Sakuno counted on her fingers with what she had to surprise Yuuta-oniisan. There was a loaf of homemade white bread with a small jar of homemade raspberry jam, a large container of pumpkin curry with a separate one for rice; a bento full of spicy Buffalo wings and honey-spiced wings; another bento that was filled with tonkatsu and gingered pork with tri-flavored rice (just in case he didn't like the way she made the pumpkin curry); a large thermos of miso soup; a small fruit tart and six miniature strawberry shortcakes. Biting her lip, she wondered, 'Did I make too much? It's enough to last the week instead of a day! Maybe he wouldn't like how it tastes- like Ryoma-kun didn't!'

Just as she was about to take out some dishes, the doorbell rang. Sakuno froze at the sound then it rang again and she raced towards the door to open it.

Fuji waited patiently outside Ryuzaki-sensei's door as he wondered why he was going to escort her granddaughter to St. Rudolph Junior High. There was no reason that he could think of unless Ryuzaki-chan was going to give a message or something to their tennis coach. Either way, it wouldn't matter. He wouldn't turn down the request because it simply meant that he would get to see Yuuta and how he was treated in his dorm. And if he saw that Yuuta was not treated well… his hand gripped his tennis bag.

"Ai-ee! Ow!"

Startled by the loud scream then a crash coming from the other side of the door, Fuji frantically knocked on the door. "Ryuzaki! Are you all right there? Ryuzaki?"

He held his breath as the lock clicked and the door opened to reveal a mussed but smiling Ryuzaki. "What happened?"

"Nothing really. I just ran into the door," Sakuno said with a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head then winced. "Ittai! Sazanami strikes again."

"Pardon?" Concerned, Fuji looked at her as she hissed in pain. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, Fuji-sempai! I'm not seeing double, so we can go," Sakuno said cheerfully.

Fuji looked at her doubtfully- there was something wrong with her. But what was it? "Are you sure? Sensei said something about your being hurt this weekend and that if you weren't up to it-"

"I'm fine, Fuji-sempai. Obaachan worries too much," Sakuno said as she waved it off. "I just need to get my things from the kitchen- would you like something to drink before we go? Some water, tea or juice?"

"Juice would be fine, thank you," Fuji said as he followed her to the kitchen, his sharp eyes taking in the décor of Ryuzaki-sensei's home and kitchen. The warmth, neatness and utter femininity of the rooms, despite the various sports trophies and memorabilia, all indicated that the Ryuzaki household was an all-female household. Absently he noted a backpack that was used to hold bentos and a couple of cake boxes on the counter. "I was very surprised that sensei asked me to take you to St. Rudolph."

Alarmed, Sakuno looked at him with wide eyes, her hands gripping the small juice carton she had taken out. "You mean that you don't know how to get there, sempai?"

"I know how to get there," Fuji said soothingly as he smiled at her. Ryuzaki's reaction was most curious. "I just don't know why I'm taking you there?"

Sakuno blinked as she looked at Fuji-sempai. "You mean Obaachan didn't tell you? It's because I want to see Yuuta-oniisan and give him something to eat."

He couldn't help it. It was rare when someone totally got the drop on him. He could even count the instances on his fingers; that was how rare it was. It was even rarer that it would happen because of a girl. Fuji opened his eyes and stared at the girl. "You- you want to see Yuuta-oniisan? To give him something to eat? Yuuta?"

"Hai," Sakuno said brightly with a nod. She gave the juice to him. "And we have to hurry before his practice is over by five thirty, Fuji-sempai."

"Oh, right. I'll hurry," Fuji said stupidly as he took the juice and started drinking it. 'My, my, this is getting interesting. And she calls Yuuta 'oniisan', I wonder…' When he finished drinking, he saw Ryuzaki adjusting the straps of the backpack to fit her. "What are you doing? Let me carry that."

"I can carry it, you can carry the cakes," Sakuno said as she looked up at him. "You're doing so much already- you shouldn't have to carry this, too."

"But what kind of sempai would I be if I let you carry the heavy things?" Fuji countered as he pulled the backpack from her. "And what would sensei say?"

Sakuno blinked as she looked at him doubtfully while still keeping a hand on the strap. "She would say that we shouldn't let guests do the work, sempai."

"But she would also say that a sempai should help his kohai," Fuji said gently. He smiled as a thought occurred to him. "I need the extra training since I was excused from club training today. If I don't carry this- I might loose my edge."

Sakuno quickly let go of the strap and bowed to him. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Fuji-sempai. I didn't mean to take you from club activities today. I'm so sorry for taking your time!"

"It's all right, I was only joking," Fuji said as he easily slipped on the backpack and started towards the door, just in case she could think up of a better excuse to carry the backpack. "Can you take the cake? And my tennis bag?"

"Ha-hai, sempai," Sakuno said as she grabbed the cakes and tennis bag then followed him.

As the two walked out the door, Sakuno bit her lip wondering if she should make nice conversation with him. She gripped the box tightly. She hated making small conversation, she always felt so uncomfortable talking to people she really didn't know. But then… It would be rude not to, right? But then he was a quiet sempai, maybe he preferred to walk in peace? Maybe Fuji-sempai preferred to-

"Ryuzaki?"

Startled out of her thoughts, Sakuno looked up to see Fuji-sempai looking at her curiously. Flushing red, she stammered, "Ha-hai sempai?"

Fuji hid a smile at her deer-caught-in-headlights look. "I just wanted to know what you have in this backpack."

"Oh! It's food I made for Yuuta-oniisan," Sakuno said with a happy smile. "I made pumpkin curry with rice, for Yuuta-oniisan."

Puzzled by the weight of the backpack, Fuji simply blinked then smiled at her. "Then you made a lot of pumpkin curry with rice."

Sakuno giggled embarrassed. "It's not just that, I also made Buffalo wings and spicy-honey wings, tonkatsu and gingered pork with tri-flavored rice, just in case he doesn't like the way that I made the curry. And of course miso soup because Obaasan and Uncle Haru says that you can't have a proper meal without soup."

"Of course," Fuji managed to say as he looked at her. "And you can't call it a meal without dessert, right?"

Sakuno nodded happily. "I made a fruit tart and six small strawberry shortcakes."

"Is that all?"

"And some white bread with raspberry jam," Sakuno said as she looked up at Fuji-sempai. He was looking at her strangely. "Just in case he's still hungry."

"Just in case he's still hungry," Fuji repeated as he stared at the small girl as she stood there smiling at her accomplishments. "And all this food is just for Yuuta?"

Sakuno bit her lip. "Ano Do you think it might be too much? He said that he really doesn't like Tuesday Italian night because it tastes horrible and he won't have time to really eat on Wednesday morning because he has practice and a chemistry test so I thought that I would make him something that he might like and maybe like to quickly heat up and eat in the morning."

"I see. After this street, we'll take the train and then a short bus ride to St. Rudolph," Fuji said as he stopped at the light. 'She knows more about Yuuta than I do. How is that possible?' He smiled as he looked at Ryuzaki. "The ride in total should take about thirty minutes."

"Okay," Sakuno said brightly as she watched the cars go by, not noticing the side looks Fuji was giving her. She hummed, pleased that she had actually made a conversation with a sempai without stuttering more than ten times. Now if she could talk to Ryoma-kun with stuttering…

Walking at the light change, Fuji pondered the question that was ringing through his mind: How was it possible that Ryuzaki knew more about his brother than he did? The only reason he could think of was that Yuuta was somehow dating Ryuzaki and had not told him.

Fuji stared at the distance, unsure of how he felt about that. Was his brother that far from him? That he would even not tell him about the important things in his life? Sure he understood that he wouldn't speak about the fight he was in, figuring that Yuuta was on the loosing end of it the way he didn't want to talk about it. But still… "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you, Ryuzaki."

"I just wanted to thank you for taking me to St. Rudolph's, Fuji-sempai," Sakuno said shyly. "I'm sorry that it had to be today and not some other day."

"I'm all too happy to take you there, Ryuzaki," Fuji smiled as he looked at her. "It'll give me a chance to see Yuuta- though I'm not sure he would want to see me, with him being so busy."

"I'm sure Yuuta-oniisan would be glad to see you," Sakuno said as she looked at him. "I'm just not sure that he would be too happy to see me."

Puzzled, Fuji looked at Ryuzaki. "And why would that be the case?"

"Fuji-sempai," Sakuno hesitated then blurted out. "Was Yuuta-oniisan too hurt on Friday? That guy didn't hurt him very badly did he? He can still play in the consolation games, can't he? I wouldn't want to deny him his chance to play- if he can't then it would be my fault!"

"No, no, Yuuta was fine after resting on Saturday. In fact, he challenged me to a game on Sunday morning and we had fun," Fuji said soothingly. He looked at the relieved look on Ryuzaki's face and his eyes zeroed in on what was bothering him about her eyes- her right eye was expertly covered by make-up. "What do you mean if his being hurt is all your fault? What happened Friday? Does this have anything to do with your black eye?"

Sakuno stared at him. "How did you know I have a black eye?"

"I have very good eye sight," Fuji said as he smiled at her. "And I like to think of myself as a photographer, Ryuzaki. So could you please tell me what happened to Yuuta on Friday?"

"You mean that Yuuta-oniisan didn't tell you?" Sakuno asked surprised. At the shake of his head, Sakuno bit her lip then slowly shook her head. "Then I'm sorry, sempai, I don't think I should tell you either."

Surprised at her defiance, Fuji opened his eyes. "And why is that?"

"Because Yuuta-oniisan probably doesn't want you to know for your own good," Sakuno said simply as her face flushed a deep red. "I'm sorry, Fuji-sempai."

"For my own good?" Fuji echoed as he stared at the usually timid girl. "You think that's why he didn't tell me who he was fighting?"

"How could he tell you who he was fighting when we didn't know who he was?" Sakuno said as she looked at Fuji-sempai. "That doesn't make sense."

A gleam of craftiness flashed through Fuji's eyes. "So then what does make sense? Why do you think that he hasn't told me why he was fighting?"

Sakuno looked at Fuji-sempai, considering. "He's probably not telling you because you'd probably do the same that Daddy would do. You'd try to rip that guy's head off. Is that the train we have to take?"

Startled out of the conversation, Fuji stared at Ryuzaki then at the station signs. "No, it's that one over there. We'd better hurry, I can hear it coming."

As soon as they caught the train, Fuji sat Ryuzaki down then took the seat next to her, making sure that she was on the inner part of the seat while he sat protectively on the outer seat. He immediately got up at her squeak of pain and smiled sheepishly as she moved a braid from his seat. "Sorry about that. So what makes you think that I would rip the guy's head off?"

"Because that's what family does when someone they love about gets hurt," Sakuno said with mild exasperation. "They want to rip the heads off of the people who hurt the ones they love. And it's okay to feel that- just don't do it, Obaachan explained that to me."

"I see," Fuji said, at a loss for something else to say. He closed his eyes to think about what had happened over the weekend. Yuuta came home bloody on Friday and was in an absolutely horrible mood and refused to say anything. On Monday, when Ryuzaki had come into school with her numerous injuries, it was assumed that the girl had somehow hurt herself over the weekend once again. However, at lunch time a rumor had emerged that she was seen in the arms of a boy from another school on Friday afternoon. By the time club practice had rolled around, the young Ryuzaki was not to be seen anywhere and Horio was being constantly scolded by his fellow classmates along with Momo, Oishi and Kawamura for speculating on the supposed boyfriend and what Ryuzaki was doing instead of cheering Echizen on. It had been a most amusing afternoon because Echizen had taken to somehow aiming his balls and his opponent's balls at Horio whenever the loud freshman started speculating.

Now he was presented with the fact that Ryuzaki knows Yuuta's schedule and she was protective of Yuuta. Add in the fact that now she's visiting him at he had just seen up close that she had a black eye. With all the information that he had, he could come to only the conclusion that Yuuta was protecting Ryuzaki from some unknown bully or bullies. That was something that Yuuta would probably do because his brother wasn't the type of boy that would allow a helpless girl to be picked on. He taught his brother to never allow that to happen. So what was Yuuta doing so far away from home? The train and bus was very close to their house and Ryuzaki lived quite a few stops away from them. So what could be going on between them?

'A romance' whispered the taunting voice in his head. 'Yuuta was dating Ryuzaki and that on their way home, they were attacked.'

'Am I that removed from my brother's life that he refuses to tell me that he's dating Ryuzaki?' Fuji sighed as he closed his eyes again. 'Are you angry with me that much, Yuuta? What can I do to make it right between us?'

Sakuno felt bad for Fuji-sempai. He looked so lost in thought and so sad that his brother didn't tell him about the fight he got into because of her. Mustering all the courage she could, she placed a hand on his arm and prayed that he didn't think that she was too forward. "Fuji-sempai- for what it's worth, I think that Yuuta-oniisan is a real hero and an amazing guy."

Fuji guessed that settled it. Ryuzaki was his brother's girlfriend. He slid a look at her- he supposed that he should get used to the fact that she was dating his younger brother. Though he personally thought he could find a girl with a little more spirit, she wasn't so bad. "So, Ryuzaki-chan, did you tell your father? About you and Yuuta? And what happened?"

"Obaachan did," Sakuno grimaced as she crossed her arms. "And she barely managed to stop Obaasan and Daddy getting violent. I did get grounded by everybody though."

Surprised, Fuji opened his eyes and stared at her. "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"I think so- after all it wasn't my fault it happened. It just sort of did," Sakuno sniffed as she remembered what happened that night and at the weekend with her maternal grandmother. She let out a moue. "I don't know why I have such a 'Pick on Me- I'm an Easy Target' face."

Feeling bad for the girl, Fuji smiled as he lifted her chin to look at him. He ignored the red on her cheeks as studied her face then let her chin go. "No, I'm sorry- I don't see that message on your face at all. But I do see a 'Please Don't Sit On My Braids' sign on your face."

Giggling at his silliness, Sakuno smiled at him. "You're so silly, sempai." She gave a little sigh. "I just wish I was a tsunami already."

Fuji blinked at that. "Pardon? You want to be a tsunami?"

"Sorry, sempai- it's just that Daddy calls me 'Sazanami' at certain times," Sakuno explained with a red face. "Because I'm still young… and small like Mama was when she was my age. And I really don't make trouble- it just comes to me."

"I see," Fuji smiled as he sat back. "I suppose that could be tiring."

"Fuji-sempai, you don't know how tiring it is." Sakuno sighed as she looked at him. "Just wait, one day I'm going to shout 'Enough trouble, just go away! Shoo!' And then, with my face, the nice men with the white coats will come and take me to the nicely padded room and throw away the keys."

"I doubt that would happen," Fuji laughed as he looked at her miserable mien. Perhaps she wasn't so bad for Yuuta after all. "Oh, there's our stop. Let's go see Yuuta."

"Okay! Practice is over!" called out Mizuki as he walked over to the courts. "Time to wash up and get something to eat!"

"Great, da-ne! Italian food here I come, da-ne!" sang out Yanagisawa as he wiped his forehead. He looked at his doubles partner. "Come on Atsushi, let's see who can eat the slowest and leave the most, da-ne!"

"I hope we have spaghetti and meat sauce," Kaneda said as he walked over to Yuuta. At his teammate's puzzled look, he shrugged. "Last time I was able to make a mini-fort on my plate with a moat."

As the team made it into the clubroom and washed up, Yuuta looked at his friend and shook his head. "Why are we having inedible Italian food? If a person can't cook it, can't they just make different food?"

"And let us be denied of the fun of making things with our food? Bite your tongue, Yuuta!" Nomura said in mock horror as he looked at his friend. "What is dorm experience but to have at least one night of bad food?"

"Stop complaining," Akazawa said as he walked into the clubroom with Mizuki. "At least you're being fed with nutritious food."

"But can't they give us something that tastes good as well?" Yuuta groused as put away his racket. "Is that so much to ask?"

"No use in complaining about the food since there's isn't anything better," Mizuki said as he looked at Yuuta.

Yuuta was about to say something when he heard his name being called on the PA system, instructing him to go to the visitor's lounge. Surprised at the call, he looked at his teammates. "I'd better go. Meet you all later, sempai-tachi."

"I'll save some spaghetti and meat sauce for you," Kaneda called out.

Yuuta merely gave him a peace sign as he walked out.

Mizuki looked at Yuuta's disappearing form speculatively. "I wonder who's come to see our little Yuuta?" He looked around at his teammates. "Shall we check?"

"Wouldn't it be better to just let him see his visitors in peace?" Akazawa suggested as he looked at the club manager.

"Why?" Mizuki asked genuinely perplexed. "Maybe they're checking up on him to see how he's doing. And if they are, then maybe we can find out what happened to Yuuta this weekend?"

Yanagisawa smiled eagerly as he looked at Mizuki. "He was much closed mouth about it, wasn't he, da-ne? Let's follow him, da-ne!"

Yuuta yawned as he walked into the lounge then stopped in surprise when he saw the person sitting at the visitor's couch. "Aniki! What are you doing here?"

"Yuuta! Did we catch you at a bad time?" Fuji said brightly as gave a huge, unguarded smile for his brother. "Is practice over?"

"Practice just finished ten minutes ago, aniki," Yuuta said as he looked at his older brother suspiciously whose grin just got bigger. "Is there anything wrong, Aniki? And why do you have a backpack? Are you running away from home?"

"If I were, would you house me?" Fuji asked with a huge smile.

Yuuta scowled at his brother. "You're not running away from home, Aniki. And if you're just here to tease me, can you please do it on another day? It's really been lousy and I still haven't gotten a chance to eat supper yet."

Fuji's smile grew even larger at that. "Then we came in just in time."

Before Yuuta could retort, he heard his name being called out. "Yuuta-oniisan! Yuuta-oniisan!"

Blinking, Yuuta turned his head to see Sakuno Ryuzaki coming towards him, her arms filled with cans of soda and a couple of cake boxes. "Sakuno-chan! What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I came with Fuji-sempai!" Sakuno said happily as she beamed up at him. She lifted up the cake boxes and offered them to him. "And I came to give you this- I made some strawberry shortcakes and a small fruit tart for you-"

"Strawberry shortcakes! That sounds really good da-ne!" shouted Yanagisawa as he popped out from his hiding place.

"Just what part of keeping quiet while spying don't you understand?" Mizuki shouted as he glared at his teammate.

Really scared at the loud voices that came out of nowhere, Sakuno jumped a foot into the air as she screamed. She threw up her hands, sodas and the cake boxes into the air. A spilt second later, she screamed again, "The cakes!"

In slow motion, everyone watched as the boxes and sodas tumbled in the air. The cakes were caught by Atsushi just before they hit the ground. He grimaced then tried to smile encouragingly as he offered them up to the girl. "I think they're okay."

With trembling hands, Sakuno took the boxes and sniffed as she looked at them. She could feel her lower lip wobbling. "Thank you, but… The boxes are upside down. They're ruined."

"Oh dear," Fuji said as he looked at the upside down cake boxes.

"Oh, well," Atsushi said as he looked his partner who was looking highly embarrassed. "Um."

"I'm sure that they're fine, Sakuno-chan," Yuuta babbled brightly as he took the boxes from her and patted her shoulder. "And even if they aren't, you can't ruin the taste of a cake even if they're a bit tumbled up."

Sakuno looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. "But- but I really made them look so nice for you, Oniisan."

"Hey, hey, Sakuno-chan! What's with the tears?" Yuuta scolded desperately. He was so not up to another thirty minutes of crying. "It's not like they were destroyed over by that rollerblading punk on Friday! They're still edible!"

"But- but I worked so hard and they looked so nice!" Sakuno sniffed as she looked up at him with sorrowful eyes. Tears started rolling down her face. "I didn't have to make them into fruit crepes! And they tasted really good!"

With that last wail, she threw herself at Yuuta's chest and started sobbing into his shirt. Sighing, Yuuta winced at her last wail then said sternly, "Sakuno-chan! No crying over this!" He pulled her away and shook her shoulder a bit. "Listen to your oniisan! You can cry because that punk ran into you! You can cry because he grabbed your hair and hurt you! You can cry about anything you want! But you cannot cry because your cakes took a tumble! It's not that bad!"

"But- but they looked really nice," Sakuno sniffed as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "And- and I wanted to make you happy today because you said that you hated Tuesdays and this was a really bad Tuesday."

"Is that why you're here?" Yuuta asked bemusedly as he looked from Sakuno to his brother then back. "You wanted to make me happy with a fruit tart and strawberry shortcakes?"

"And she made you several very nice bentos," Fuji said as he pointed to his backpack. He smiled brightly at Sakuno. "Remember these? They're safe and quite right side up."

"You made me bentos?" Yuuta gaped as he looked from Sakuno to his brother then back.

"You made him bentos, da-ne?" Yanagisawa demanded as he looked at the girl.

Sakuno squeaked and hid behind Yuuta's back, clutching on to his shirt. Sighing, Yuuta looked from Sakuno's huddled form to his sempai. "Sempai, maybe you'd better-"

"I think you're scaring her, Shinya," Atsushi sighed as he looked at his partner.

"What's so scary about me, da-ne?" Yanagisawa demanded as he looked at his partner and Yuuta. He looked at the girl as she peeked around his kohai. "Aren't I a handsome guy, da-ne?"

Sakuno squeaked and hid behind Yuuta's back again. At her trembling, Yuuta gave his sempai a militant look. "I really think that you should step back, sempai."

"Step far and away from her, Yanagisawa," Fuji said with a gleam in his eye. He stood next to his brother. "You've caused enough trouble tonight, I think."

"Uh, right, da-ne," Yanagisawa said nervously as he stepped away from Yuuta and his little girlfriend. His mood perked up as soon as he thought about that. Yuuta had a girlfriend! "So, Yuuta- is this your-"

"Come, Ryuzaki-chan, let's put these out for Yuuta," Fuji interrupted as he placed a hand on Ryuzaki's shoulder and pulled Yuuta towards a table. "I think that Yuuta should be hungry now since it's supper time."

"Ha-hai," Sakuno said as she nervously followed Fuji-sempai and Yuuta to the table. "I made a lot so I hope you like it, oniisan."

The thought of food had Yuuta's mouth drooling as followed his brother. "So shall we eat?"

Mizuki's eyes gleamed at the thought of the girl's bentos for Yuuta. Maybe he could get some information out of her. And if he could work it to his advantage, he might even be able to sit next to Fuji and get a game from him. "Yes, let's have some bentos-"

"Is that table over there is cleaner?" Fuji asked aloud as he craned his neck and looked at a table that was farther away from his brother's teammates. He gathered up the bag again and looked at his brother as he quickly walked to it. "Yuuta, bring the cakes. Ryuzaki-chan, why don't you-"

Mizuki could only blink as he saw the Fuji brothers at the far table. He walked up towards them with determination. "Do you need any help-?"

"Why don't you go get some dishes and bowls?" Fuji suggested as he pulled out a large bento without looking at him. "And don't forget napkins." He looked at Yanagisawa. "And why don't you go get some drinks for everyone here? Since we can't drink the ones Ryuzaki-chan bought. They're probably much too shaken for us to drink neatly."

"Uh, right, da-ne," Yanagisawa said as he jetted off to do as Fuji said, pulling Atsushi with him. "Come and help me get some drinks."

"Fine," Mizuki growled as he stalked off towards the cafeteria.

"So what did you make, Sakuno-chan?" Yuuta asked as she opened a bento. He took a deep sniff and his mouth watered at the scent, "Is that Buffalo wings?"

"And spiced honey wings," Sakuno said happily as she started opening the other bentos. "Just in case you don't like Buffalo wings and I made you pumpkin curry with rice- the rice is in another bento there. This has tonkatsu and gingered pork with tri-flavored rice, just in case you don't like the way I made the pumpkin curry and this is a thermos of miso soup."

Yuuta stared as she pulled out a loaf of bread. "And here's a loaf of homemade white bread with a small jar of homemade raspberry jam."

"Is that all?" Yuuta demanded as he looked at her.

"Did I make too much?" Sakuno asked worriedly. "I thought I did- but then I was thinking that maybe you can eat some for breakfast because you said that you wouldn't have time to eat tomorrow morning. But now that oniisan's friends are here, you won't have anything to eat."

"So then how about we save this bread and hide some food for him to eat tomorrow?" Fuji suggested as he looked at Sakuno.

"Won't that be too deceiving?" Sakuno asked, shocked at the thought of not sharing everything.

"In a dorm full of boys, it's a dog eat dog world," Akazawa said as he walked in. "Deception about food is a given and allowed. Of course there's a fee for my silence."

"You want some food, don't you, sempai?" Yuuta sighed.

"Just some curry," Akazawa conceded as he looked at the nice spread of food. "And maybe some of the other things as well."

"Isn't that blackmail?" Fuji asked delicately as his eyes gleamed at the thought.

"When it comes to Tuesday night, everyone blackmails," Akazawa replied bluntly. "And you'd better think fast, they're coming back real soon because I think they have the rest of the team with them. You can thank Yanagisawa's loud mouth."

"Deal, sempai," Yuuta sighed as he grabbed as much food as he could and hid the loaf of bread into his brother's tennis bag.

"Great," Akazawa said as he sat down right next to Fuji. "So how is Seigaku these days? Are you guys ready for the semi-finals?"

Sakuno looked at Yuuta timidly. She was unsure of what was going on. No one had said anything about how the food was or if they liked it. They should have liked it, the way they had wolfed it down. But she then again, maybe the food on Tuesday night was so fearsome anything was better tasting than that. She bit her lip and prayed that it was decent and that she didn't ruin their taste buds like she did with Ryoma's. "Ano um, How- how was the food, oniisan?"

"It's quite tasty," Mizuki said quickly as he looked at the girl. She gave a small smile to him but still looked worried as she looked at Yuuta-oniisan for an answer.

"I didn't know that Ryuzaki-chan called you oniisan?" Fuji said mildly as he looked at Mizuki. "But then, what does one call you?"

"Sakuno-chan, I think this is the best meal that I've eaten," Yuuta said quickly to stop the barb of words between his aniki and Mizuki. He smiled as she stared uncertainly at him. "Really. It's really delicious."

Sakuno smiled in relief. "Really? You really liked it? Oh! That's great! I'm so glad that you liked it, oniisan! Are you sure that you liked it?"

"It really is delicious, Ryuzaki-chan," Fuji smiled as he looked at her. "Your wings are quite tasty. And your pumpkin curry is quite good, too."

Blushing furiously, Sakuno bowed. "Oh thank you, sempai!"

"The miso is almost as tasty as my mother's and the tonkatsu is really good," Atsushi offered. He shrugged at the glares he got from his friends. "Hey, my mother's a really great cook."

"Oh, thank you Kisarazu-san," Sakuno bowed as she heard the compliment.

"It's a really good food, da-ne!" said Yanagisawa in a really loud voice. "The wings were a bit spicy for my tastes-"

Yuuta could have kicked the older classman for putting a disappointed look on Sakuno-chan's face. "Sempai-"

"But the food wasn't made for your tastes, was it?" Fuji said mildly as he looked at Yanagisawa and smiled congenially at him. "Yuuta likes spicy foods and so do I. And we found it quite delicious, wouldn't you agree?"

"Um, yeah, da-ne, it was really good!" Yanagisawa said docilely as he felt sweat start to gather on his back. "And really perfect for your tastes Yuuta, da-ne!"

"So she made everything very well, did she?" called out a voice. Sakuno spun to see her grandmother coming towards them. "Good job, Sa-chan."

"Obaachan! Your meeting was done early!" Sakuno smiled happily. "They just finished eating just now!"

"And I hope that everything was done to your satisfaction, Yuuta," Sumire Ryuzaki said as she looked at the young boy with a smile. "Sakuno did her best to make your favorites- she put in as much effort into it as she does when she cooks for family."

"Did she?" Yuuta said respectfully. "I'm honored."

"No, we are," Sumire said as she shook her head. "If you hadn't saved her like you did- I don't want to know what would have happened. As her grandmother, I thank you for saving her, taking home and bandaging her up. If you need anything, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

Embarrassed, Yuuta bowed his head. "It was nothing, really. Sakuno-chan managed to bloody his nose."

"No, what you did- it was something," Sumire said as she smiled at him. "Not many people your age would stop a boy twice his size from hurting a girl he didn't even know."

Blushing furiously, Yuuta mumbled, "It was the way I was raised."

"You took on a boy that was twice your size?" Fuji asked mildly as he looked at his younger brother, his eyes opened and flashing. "It's a wonder that you were any more mangled than you were, Yuuta."

Sakuno looked up at her grandmother suspiciously. "How did you know that the guy was twice as big as Yuuta-oniisan?"

"I asked your uncles Akiyama, Daichi and Yasuo to look up on the boy that hurt you and Yuuta, little one," Ryuzaki-sensei said as she looked at her granddaughter. She gave a thin smile. "Where he's going, that young man won't be rollerblading for quite a while."

Her eyes wide, Sakuno stared at her grandmother. "They didn't do anything that would make them regret it would they?"

Yuuta looked at Sakuno and scowled at her. "Sakuno-chan, you know we're talking about a punk who fights dirty. Need I remind you that the punk gave you a black eye and nearly smashed your face in with his fist again before I nailed him with the kabocha?"

"I know that, oniisan, but I just don't want my uncles get into trouble," Sakuno fretted as she looked at her grandmother. "He's not dead is he? The uncles didn't kill him, did they?"

"There won't be any regrets if he is, sensei," Fuji said with a smile. His eyes met with his teacher's in perfect understanding. "I take it Ryuzaki-chan's uncles thought the same thing? That it would be a pity if he went away unscathed?"

With a feral smile, Ryuzaki looked at Fuji then at Yuuta. "Let's just say that he's thought long and hard about his mistakes after the discussion Daichi. And he won't be making anymore."

"Oh dear," Sakuno said as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Not Uncle Daichi. Obaasan really didn't send him, did she?"

"Yes, she did send your Uncle Daichi," Ryuzaki said calmly. "And that just shows you how upset your Obaasan was."

"Maybe I shouldn't have hidden Obaasan's katana," Sakuno sighed as she shook her head.

Mizuki smiled weakly as he looked from grandmother to granddaughter. "Her katana?"

"Your grandmother has a katana?" Yuuta asked, bemused.

"She does," Ryuzaki nodded curtly. "But you don't have to worry about that. Now, Sakuno's other grandmother wanted to thank you so she got something. It should arrive in a day or so. She's really sorry that she could not meet and give it to you in person."

"What did Obaasan get?" Sakuno asked as she looked at her grandmother curiously.

"With your Obaasan, who knows?" Sumire shrugged. "Are you ready to go now? Fuji?"

"I'll be ready as soon as I help clean up," Fuji said as stood. "Ryuzaki, why don't you get cleaned up and we'll take care of this mess here."

Sakuno looked at her sempai doubtfully but was halted from any protest when her grandmother agreed. "Now that sounds good. Sakuno, shoo!"

"Ah- hai!" Sakuno said as she headed towards the bathroom. "I'll be back soon."

As soon as she was out of sight, Sumire looked at Yuuta and gave him a grateful smile. "Again, my family and I thank you for taking care of Sakuno. She is very precious to us."

"It's- it was not a problem," Yuuta stammered. He glanced at his brother then away. "I helped because it was just something my family taught me to do. To not let a bully hurt a girl."

"Either way, you made a very favorable impression on my girl. She called you a real hero and has decided to adopt you as her brother," Ryuzaki said as she smiled at Yuuta's blushing face. "Just be prepared to have a little sister, whether you like it or not. If she bothers you too much, let me know. I might be able to stop her."

"Uh- yes ma'am," Yuuta stammered, his face red.

"I think it'd be very nice to have a little sister," Fuji smiled as he looked at Yuuta. He grinned. "You always wanted to be an older brother and not be the youngest. So here you are, a ready made sister, Yuuta! And she thinks you're a real hero to boot!"

"Aniki!" Yuuta scowled as his face got redder.

"I'm all cleaned up, Obaachan!" Sakuno called out as she came up to her grandmother. "And I have some wet paper towels to clean up the tables. We can go as soon as I clean up-"

"All right, but we have to hurry, it's getting late and I still have to drive Fuji home," Ryuzaki said as she looked at her watch.

"I think the team can do that," Akazawa said as he took the wet paper towels from her. "Nomura, Mizuki, Atsushi- go wash these bentos. Yanagisawa and Kaneda- clean up these tables. I'll go throw out the trash. Yuuta, why don't you walk them out?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Fuji said as he got his tennis bag. "By the way, I've always wanted to see your room, can I?"

"Ah, sure Aniki," Yuuta said as he looked at his brother then at Sakuno and her grandmother. "Would you like to see-"

Sakuno was about to agree then stopped when she felt her grandmother's hand on her shoulders. Ryuzaki-sensei shook her head. "I'll just you two have some family time together. We'll just stay here and wait."

"I won't be long, sensei," Fuji said with a smile.

"And here's the last of it, Yuuta," Fuji said as he passed over the bread and raspberry jam.

"Thanks, Aniki," Yuuta said as he shut the trunk at the base of his bed. He looked at his brother, unsure of what to say. "Are you mad that I didn't tell you about the fight?"

Fuji shook his head. "Not at all- I knew you had a good reason to fight. I just wanted to know what it was and who it was with."

"I can take care of myself, Aniki," Yuuta scowled. "I'm not a little boy anymore."

"But you're always going to be my little brother, like it or not," Fuji said gently as he moved some tennis magazines and sat down on the bed. Yuuta's half of the dorm room was so typically Yuuta. It was filled with tennis posters and equipment, school books and manga. "And to quote a little girl, 'It's what family does when someone they love about gets hurt, they want to rip the heads off of the people who hurt the ones they love. And it's okay to feel that- just don't do it.'"

Yuuta smiled at that. "Sakuno-chan said that?"

"She did," Fuji smiled. He looked at the ceiling as he absently noted the books on Yuuta's desk. "You know, I thought that she was your girlfriend when we were coming here."

Yuuta stared at his brother. "Her? She's a child!"

Amused, Fuji looked at Yuuta's stunned face. "She's a year younger than you."

"But she acts so much younger," Yuuta protested. He shook his head in confusion as he sat beside his brother. "And she likes to cry. She cried for at least thirty minutes on Friday. And it was all about her lost fruit- not how hurt or scared she was. It was all about the fruit. She's nothing like Neesan, Aniki."

"No girl is like, Neesan, Yuuta," Fuji laughed. "The world couldn't handle the two of them."

"That's true," Yuuta admitted as he let out a chuckle. Amiable silence reigned between the two for a moment. "Aniki- can you watch over her while at Seigaku? From what she said and what I've seen, she's quite, well- um-"

"Clumsy? Accident-prone?" Fuji smiled as he looked at him. "Her lack of co-ordination is quite renown in the school. I think the nurse's office has a bed named just for her."

Yuuta winced. "She's that bad?"

"Sometimes she's worse," Fuji nodded with a smile. "I think she once fell down a small flight of stairs because a second-year didn't see her. It nearly gave Ryuzaki-sensei a heart attack. Oishi then decided that we should watch out for her if we're anywhere near her- especially the regulars to watch over her- which mainly leaves the task up to Echizen, since he's in the same grade."

"I see," Yuuta said smiling. "I guess that's a good thing that she's watched over. She needs it."

"It seems so," Fuji said with a big smile. Amiable silence again came to the room, once again leaving the two to their thoughts.

"I guess you'd better be going now," Yuuta said hesitantly.

"Yes, we have an early morning practice tomorrow," Fuji nodded as he stood. He watched as his brother made towards the door and smiled as he remembered a time when his brother could barely reach the door knob. When did he grow so big? "You know, Yuuta, I will always think of you as my little brother-"

Yuuta scowled as he glared at his brother. "Aniki-"

Fuji stopped to clasp his brother on the shoulder. "But I will never wonder about the time you became a man. I'm very proud of you, Yuuta."

Yuuta's eyes grew big as he looked at his brother. The brother he always looked up to. He just didn't know what to say. "Aniki-"

Fuji nodded as he smiled at Yuuta then wrapped an arm around Yuuta's shoulders. "Come, walk me to the car, my little brother- Yuuta the real hero."

Yuuta groaned. "Is there anything that I can do to make you forget that?"

"Nope, not a thing," Fuji answered cheerfully. "Besides, I think it has a nice ring to it."

"You're going to tease me about it, aren't you?"

"Oh, positively."

"Will you tell Neesan?"

"Absolutely."

"You're all heart, Aniki."

"What are brothers for?"

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know."

Yuuta yawned as the car lights disappeared from view. He started walking into the lobby of the dorm. "Now that was a good meal."

"I'm surprised she can cook so well," Mizuki said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "My second oldest sister can only burn water for instant ramen."

"Don't you mean that she can only heat up water for instant ramen, da-ne?" Yanagisawa said as he looked at Mizuki.

"No, she burns water," Mizuki said slowly as he looked at Yanagisawa. "Literally."

"Hey Yuuta! Since she's cooked you several bentos, does this mean that she's your girlfriend, Yuuta?" Nomura asked curiously as he opened his can of soda. "Girls always cook for their heroes and then later become their girlfriends."

"Huh?" Yuuta goggled as he stared at the third-year with glasses. "Huh?"

Nomura was oblivious as he continued speaking, "That would good if she's your girlfriend, especially since you've promised to give her tennis lessons whenever you can find some free time. Because when she is, this means that you'll be eating-Ow! Ow!"

"What are you talking about, sempai?" Yuuta demanded as he ground his knuckles into his sempai's head. "Don't you start thinking that! She's like a sister to me!"

"Did you have a nice time, Sakuno?" Sumire Ryuzaki asked her granddaughter.

"I had a very nice time, Obaachan," Sakuno said happily. "I'm so glad that Yuuta-oniisan liked the food. Do you think it would be too much if I cooked some more for him when he gives me my lessons?"

"It was very good food," Fuji said as he looked at Ryuzaki. She wasn't as spiritless as he thought she was. She was just very shy, needed looking after and was hip deep in her hero-worship of Yuuta. In short, she was something that Yuuta needed- a person who didn't care who his older brother was. Thinking about that, Fuji made a decision and smiled. "And I think Yuuta would like it very much if you would cook for him, Sakuno-chan. I can call you that, can't I?"

Sakuno blinked as she turned from her seat and looked at Fuji-sempai. "Of- of course, sempai."

"No, no- you must call me 'oniisan', just like you call Yuuta 'oniisan', Sakuno-chan," Fuji said with a smile. "Syusuke-oniisan."

"Ha-hai, Fuji-sem- I mean, Syusuke-oniisan," Sakuno stammered then frowned. "I think it might take getting used to."

"It's all right, Sakuno-chan," Fuji smiled at her. "Take your time- I've only just adopted you, Sakuno-chan." His eyes grew soft and unnoticed in the dark of the car. 'And I'll take care of you for Yuuta.' "So what else can you cook, Sakuno-chan?"

End

Author's note: Sorry! It just came out long! I wanted to give Sakuno a little history on why we never get to see her parents.