Author's Notes (1): Still takes place before the Hyotei arch. (I think they had a month of practice before they met.)

Author's Notes (2): def. bokuto: wooden katana used in kendo.

Author's Notes (3): Japanese foods: Kushiage: breaded pork kabob, Unagi no kabayaki: grilled eel; saba no miso ni: miso braised mackerel

Author's Note (4): Hint of some lime between Rinko and Nanjiroh. Not enough to give a rating, but enough to know that Nanjiroh really lusts after his wife.

Title: Hazards with Grocery Shopping

"Oi! Seishounen, come on," shouted out Nanjiroh Echizen as he waited by the doorway. "Your Kaasan doesn't have all day!"

Ryoma scowled as he exited his room. He simply couldn't understand it- he had homework to do and sleep to catch up on, why was it him that had to go food shopping with his mother? He looked at his father's not-so innocent face and scowled even more. "Why do I have to go with Kaasan? I wanted to go practice today."

Nanjiroh Echizen looked down at his only son, placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned for all he was worth. How he just loved to annoy his much-too-serious dwarf of a son! The boy was obsessed with tennis like his old man was at that age. "Because- you have to and I don't."

Now annoyed to all hell, Ryoma's scowl deepened. "Why do I have to? Just because school was only half-day today, why do I have to go food shopping? I have to finish my homework."

Nanjiroh looked at his son suspiciously. Maybe this wasn't his kid after all. "Homework! Why would you want to do homework now? You have a three-day weekend coming up!"

"Because it's called being responsible." Ryoma looked at his father with some irritation. "So that I won't scramble to do it on Sunday night?"

Nanjiroh shook his head. "You must have gotten that quality from your Kaasan. What about your practice? Can you beat me yet, seishounen?"

"I'll beat you as soon as I finish my homework," Ryoma glowered.

"Homework! Homework! You can do that later! After all, you have a three-day weekend coming up!" Nanjiroh smirked at his son. "After all, it's not like you're going out and practicing tennis and to try to beat me."

He waited a heartbeat- just to give the dwarf some hope in thinking that he could get out of the chore of going shopping then destroyed it with a verbal lob. "But practicing and studying needs sustenance- and you eat a lot. And you do want to eat, don't you, seishounen? So that means you get to go with your mother."

His eyebrow twitching, Ryoma's scowl deepened even more as he looked at his father. "You eat as much as I do! And why do I have to? Did you volunteer me again?"

"Would I do anything like that?" Nanjiroh protested innocently. "Such a look directed to you father! You're not cute at all, you know!"

"I don't want to be cute," Ryoma practically snarled back. "Why don't you go?"

"Because I'm going to be busy this afternoon," Nanjiroh shot back with an angelic smile. 'So you're going to help your Kaasan."

"Busy doing what?" Ryoma demanded with a scowl. "Not looking at your perverted magazines all afternoon, baka oyaji!"

Nanjiroh scowled as that one insult volleyed by him. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going to be busy doing things!"

"But that still doesn't explain why I'm going," Ryoma growled as he glared at his father.

"You're going because I want to bond with my only son," Rinko Echizen said as she popped her head into the doorway and smiled at him. "Or would you rather stay here and mow the lawn, trim the bushes and basically taking care of the temple grounds with your father rather than go with me, your poor kaasan?"

Nanjiroh's jaw dropped as he swung his head to look at his wife. "MOW THE LAWN? TRIM the BUSHES!"

Rinko looked at her lazy husband with a militant eye as she crossed her arms. "Yes, mow the lawn and trim the bushes. Nanako has to go to the library to study for her test and since you offered Ryoma to go shopping with me, you get to stay home and take care of the temple grounds."

"I knew you volunteered me again," Ryoma muttered as he half-heartedly glared at his father. He was feeling much better now that his mother was on his father's lazy self and that he was escaping more strenuous labor.

Filling with the horror of his self doing some real work without his brat to do it for him or for him around to tease, Nanjiroh immediately started to protest. "But Rinko! When did- I- you never gave me a choice!"

"I gave you a choice last night," Rinko said as she looked at her husband. "I asked if you wanted to go shopping with me-"

Nanjiroh glared at his wife. "I don't remember you asking me to go shopping with you!"

Though her cheeks were getting red, Rinko glared back. "It was when we were at the temple last night. Just before you, ah, started ringing the bells… at the temple."

"Just before I started ringing the bells?" Nanjiroh repeated as he thought about it. "Just before I started ringing the bells- Just before I started- oh!" His face started to grow red as he remembered what he was doing with his wife, just before ringing the temple bells. "Rinko! You can't hold that against me! I wasn't in my right mind!"

Smirking at him, Rinko said tartly, "Oh yes I can! Ryoma, say 'bye' to your father and then in the car!"

Adjusting his cap, Ryoma smirked at his father as he walked out the door. "Bye, Oyaji! Work REALLY hard!"

"RYOMA!" Nanjiroh yelped as he tried to grab his son to stop him from leaving. But the boy was fast in his escape and somehow managed to close the door quickly, causing his father to run into it. "Yeow! Ittai!"

"That's what you get for trying to tackle your son," Rinko said as she gathered her handbag and looked at her husband casually. "Now don't forget to- Nanjiroh!"

Nanjiroh grinned as he held his wife pinned against the door. His eyes gleamed with mischief as he looked at her flushed face. "Neh, Rinko, you sure you want to go shopping with the brat?" He nuzzled her just below her ear. "You could send him shopping and we could stay here… and… take care of the temple together. Or… we could skip that and I could ring your bells…"

"Like that would really happen," Rinko gasped as she shivered in her husband's arms. Shaking her head to get rid of her husband's spell around her, she looked at him sternly. "I am going shopping with Ryoma to buy him some new clothes and the groceries. You will take care of the temple grounds."

"Fine, I'll take care of the temple grounds," Nanjiroh sighed in resignation then he looked at his wife then swooped down for a kiss. He smiled wickedly at her dazed state. "So long as you remember that I'll be after you when you come back."

Puzzled, Rinko looked at him. "Why me?"

"Because you told me to take care of the temple," Nanjiroh said as he looked at his wife. His eyes gleamed with naughty mischief. "And since I worship at the temple of my wife-"

"Nanjiroh!" Rinko shouted as she bopped her husband on the head, her face a violent red.

Grinning madly, Nanjiroh grabbed his wife's wrist and stole another kiss before springing away to safety. "Neh, bye-bye Rinko!"

Prince

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Prince

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Biting her lip, Sakuno peeked up at the tall sempai who walked with her towards the shopping district then quickly looked down at her feet.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he suddenly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Are you sure you wish to go with me, buchou?" Sakuno blurted out worriedly as she looked up at the tall tennis captain. "You really don't have to. I know the way to the markets. You could have gone with Obaachan and Oishi-sempai to buy the supplies."

Kunimitsu Tezuka merely looked at the younger girl beside him. "Your grandmother asked me to escort you."

"But you're buchou now, you shouldn't be babysitting me anymore," Sakuno protested as she looked at him. "You have more important things to do with Oishi-sempai."

"That may be true, but making dinner is just as important," Tezuka said mildly as he stopped at the stop sign. He looked at her worried face and gave in to his suspicions about her grandmother's request. "She is still slightly upset about what happened last Saturday."

Stopping with him, Sakuno stared at him then scowled slightly. "She's being overprotective."

"She's being a grandmother," Tezuka corrected mildly as he looked at her with some sympathy. The walked some distance before he tried to give her some words of encouragement. "It's not so bad, Sakuno-chan."

"Tezuka-sempai," Sakuno sighed heavily before she looked at him. "If I'm lucky it only means a few more days waiting for her in the library if no one can take me home, jackets when it's a little breezy, no more hanging out with Tomo-chan and more telephone calls when she can't see me. If I'm not, it means that Obaachan told Daddy and Obaasan about what happened on Saturday and I get to be chained to Obaasan all weekend and Daddy will try and come here and if he can't he'll call my uncles and then that'll be even a bigger mess."

"I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think," Tezuka said diplomatically as he stopped at a red light. "Especially with your Obaasan."

"The weekend after Yuuta-oniisan rescued me from the roller-blader, Obaasan had the entire training dojo looking for me when I went around the corner to go get drinks and she nearly flattened a guy who was asking for directions," Sakuno said flatly as she looked at him in askance. "And let's not even say what my uncles did, sempai."

"I see," Tezuka said with a cough. "Ah- Just keep her bokuto away from her."

When Sakuno looked at him as if he had two heads, Tezuka merely lifted an eyebrow as he looked at her. "At least it's not like it was when you were in elementary school last year. Your cousins aren't here to traumatize everyone. Or would you rather have them back?"

"No thank you. I think I'm still traumatized from finding out what Masa-chan, Nao-chan and Sai-chan did to that bully, sempai," Sakuno muttered as her face blanched as she remembered her last year of elementary school and her family's protectiveness, particularly those antics of the cousins who were of the same age. "I still can't believe that they threatened and blackmailed Yamazaki like that behind my back. Not that he didn't deserve it, but still, I'm so glad that's not going to happen again."

"I'm sure it won't since your cousins have moved away," Tezuka said nonchalantly.

"And I know that Yuuta-oniisan and Syusuke-oniisan won't do anything like my cousins did- they're too nice and not overprotective at all," Sakuno smiled brightly. "They're not they type to go hunting down a couple of strangers, right, buchou?"

Tezuka didn't even blink an eye when he said, "Right. So which store do you have to go to first, Sakuno-chan?"

"Ano- I think the fish store has to be last, so everything can stay fresh," Sakuno said as she looked at her list of items she needed. "Ano- I think that the grocery store first and then the hardware store."

"Hardware store?" Tezuka asked politely.

"Hardware store," Sakuno affirmed with a small blush. "I need to buy new gardening gloves, hand trowel and a pair of gardening shears."

"You're going to try growing a garden again?" Tezuka asked as he looked at her in amusement.

"I AM growing a garden," Sakuno said proudly. "It's just not going to be as big as it was the last time and just to let you know; it's coming along quite nicely, Tezuka-sempai, I mean, buchou. The aojiso and akojiso are sprouting really nicely and I'm starting to get some lettuce leaves, some pickles and tomatoes."

"That's always a good sign," Tezuka said with a straight face.

Sakuno looked at Tezuka suspiciously. "Are you laughing at me?"

His tongue in his cheek, Tezuka looked at her solemnly. "No, I'm not." When she continued to look at him suspiciously, he added, "My grandfather taught me to never ever argue or laugh at the chef."

Sakuno blinked at him. "Why not?"

"Because they're in charge of the meal and you never know what they might make." Tezuka answered, then mentally added, 'Or what else they might put in the meal other than food.'

"That sounds like a good idea," Sakuno said as she thought about it. "Though, I wonder what happened to Inui-sempai to have him make so many juices that cause the tennis club to faint after drinking it."

Tezuka stared at the girl. "That is a very good question to ponder over. It seems we may have let our guard down."

Prince

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Prince

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Sakuno frowned as she looked up at the aisle of shelves. Just at the top of that shelf, there was a hook filled with the bamboo skewers that she needed. This was not good at all. "Sakuno, you are such a baka. You just had to send Tezuka-sempai to the fish market first."

She looked around her to see if she could find a store clerk to help her. So far she could only see a really tall boy holding the basket for his sister. Sakuno bit her lip as she wondered if she could ask for some help in getting those skewers.

Mustering up her courage, Sakuno came in front of the girl and bowed her head down. "I'm really very sorry to bother you, but could you please help me get those skewers up there? I can't reach them because I'm so short."

"Of course we can help you," answered the girl as she patted Sakuno's shoulder. "Choutarou-kun, please get those for this little girl."

"Hai-hai, Neechan," Choutarou answered as he headed towards the shelves. "So which ones do you need? There a re several types up here- the metal or the bamboo ones?"

"Thank you very much," Sakuno bowed deeply before following him. "I would like the ones that are semi-thick, smooth bamboo used for grilling beef and fish? And can you bring down a metal skewer so I can look at it?"

"Hai, I think I see what you want up here, but there seems to be a lot of kinds of metal skewers up here," Choutarou said as he brought down a couple of bags.

"Since you're busy here, Choutarou, I'm going to leave the basket here and go to the meat counter," his sister called out. "You can get me some Napa cabbage, lettuce, mushrooms and broccoli for the shabu shabu when you're done."

Choutarou blanched. "But I can't pick out vegetables, Neechan!"

Lifting her eyes from the bags, Sakuno blinked as she looked at the boy who was so kind to her. "Ano- I think I can help you pick out vegetables for shabu shabu!"

"There you go, Choutarou," called out his sister. "Now be helpful to the little one."

"Hai," Choutarou called out to his sister's back. "So are these the ones that you need?"

Sakuno nodded. "I need one more bag of these bamboo skewers and is there a thinner metal skewer up there?"

Choutarou looked and picked a bag. "How's this?"

"Oh, this is perfect!" Sakuno cried as she took the bag. She smiled brightly. "Can I have two more of these?"

"Sure," Choutarou said as he brought a couple more down. "So you're grilling something?"

Sakuno nodded as she placed the skewers into her basket. "I'm going to be making dinner for my sempai-tachi while they meet with my Obaachan. They like homemade Unagi kabayaki and Kushiage so I'll make it for them."

"That sounds really delicious," Choutarou said as he picked up his own basket and looked at her with a smile. "We're shopping for shabu shabu since we're having may be having my aunt, uncle and baby cousin over."

Sakuno smiled cutely at him. "So how many people are there going to be with your family? About seven?"

Choutarou thought about it as he counted on his fingers. "Seven sounds about right- I'll eat Taki-chan's portion since he's only one. But then, Uncle and Father eat as much as I do…"

"So then how about I show you which are the freshest vegetables and we figure it out from there?" Sakuno asked amusedly. "And you can show them to your Neechan."

"Sounds like a good idea," Choutarou said as they reached the fruits and vegetable section of the market. He saw the display of broccoli. "Yosh! Let's get some broccoli for the evil Broccoli wizard of Hyotei! How about this? Is this a good one?"

Sakuno stared at him. Just why did that title sound vaguely familiar? She took the broccoli head and inspected it as she asked, "Ano- what did you just call yourself? This is not good- too many dry spots- see how it has all those yellow? No good for shabu shabu."

"Okay, I called myself an evil Broccoli wizard of Hyotei," Choutarou answered as he looked at another head with less yellow spots. "It's something I overheard in the park the other day. A little girl was baby sitting her friend's brothers and she scared the kids by calling Hyotei a bunch of broccoli eating magicians that stole candy."

"She did," Sakuno said faintly as her face grew red.

Not paying attention, Choutarou picked another head of broccoli and scrutinized it. "Yes- I was insulted at first but then I figured that she went to a rival school somewhere because Oshitari-sempai mentioned that Ginka was mentioned as well. So she had to be from a rival school. Is this broccoli good?"

"I see," Sakuno said faintly. 'Don't panic, don't panic' Shaking herself, she took the broccoli and examined it. "This looks good- nice color and firm. You should get another one like it. So did you get a look at her?"

"Nope, too far," Choutarou answered as he looked for another head of broccoli. "She wasn't wearing her school uniform either. There! I found another one- shall we go for the other stuff that we need?"

Feeling relieved, Sakuno smiled at him. "The Napa cabbage is over there-"

"Okay, let's see," Choutarou said as he headed towards the Napa cabbages.

"Ryuzaki! What are you doing here?" called out a voice. Sakuno looked to see Horio standing behind her.

"Horio-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed as she looked at him. "I'm shopping! And you?"

"I'm doing the same with my mother," Horio said as he looked at her and tried to peer into her basket. "So what are you cooking?"

"Is this good?" Choutarou called out as he brought over a large Napa cabbage without any spots.

Sakuno took it and weighed it in her hands. "For its size, it's not heavy enough. There's a good chance it's not juicy. And see the bottom- they took out some leaves to make it look fresh. I'll show you what to look for. Horio-kun, please excuse me."

"Sure," Horio said as he looked at the tall guy who took Ryuzaki away with him to look over vegetables. They really looked friendly with each other. "I wonder who he is?"

Prince

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Prince

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"And here's the last stop," Rinko said as she parked the car. She looked over at her bored son. "We just need to get some fish from the fish market and some fresh vegetables. You can get the fish while I get the vegetables, Ryoma. Make sure that it's fresh."

Alarmed, Ryoma looked at his mother. "But I don't know how to pick a fresh fish!"

Rinko patted his head. "Just look it in the eye and smell it. If it's off, then chances are that it's not a fresh fish. Is that clear?"

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma said as he got out of the car. "But I'll try it."

"Good boy," Rinko giggled as she looked at her departing son.

Prince

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Ryoma entered the fish market and wrinkled his nose at the smell. "Everything here smells like fish. Buchou!"

Tezuka turned from the live eels he was looking at to greet his kohai. "Echizen."

"Can I help you, Tezuka-kun?" asked a man in an apron.

"Uchiya-san, I would like this eel here and that long one there, please," Tezuka ordered as he pointed out to which eels he wanted.

"Ah, very good choices," the man said as he took out a net from the side of the fish tanks.

Ryoma watched the man in fascination as he tried to net the eels that his buchou picked. "Buchou, you like live eels?"

"There is nothing like the taste of fresh grilled eel on a summer day," Tezuka simply stated as he watched the man as well. "Are you here to pick fish?"

Ryoma nodded. "My mother sent me. I have to look it in the eye and smell it. Though I'm not sure of what that means."

"Oh, Tezuka-san! What are you doing here?" called out a sing-song voice. The two tennis Regulars turned to see a girl with black hair walk towards them.

"Amano-san," Tezuka greeted as he looked at his classmate. "I'm picking up some fresh eel."

Amano smiled sweetly at him as she moved closer to him. "Do you need some help? I'm very good at picking out fresh fish."

"Mada mada dane. Buchou already picked some up," Ryoma said as he pointed at the man who was now in the process of getting the second eel.

"I see," said Amano as she turned her attention to the little boy who interrupted her. "And who are you?"

"Sempai- sempai, I'm done with the shopping!" Sakuno called out as she entered the fish market. She stopped suddenly when she saw a familiar face. "Ryoma-kun!"

"Ryuzaki," Ryoma greeted as he looked at her. He looked down at her bags. "You just finished food shopping?"

"Oh- ah, hai!" Sakuno stammered as she blushed. "Ano- and you?"

"I have to pick up some fish for my mother," Ryoma said as he looked at her. A familiar annoyed feeling went though his gut. "So you came to pick up some fish with buchou?"

"Ah, hai!" Sakuno stammered as she looked at Ryoma then at Tezuka. "Ano- he's-ah-"

"Here's your eels, Tezuka-kun," Uchiya-san said as he lifted the bowl he put the eels in. "Oh, hello there, Ryuzaki-chan!"

"Hello, Uchiya-san," Sakuno greeted then she blanched as she realized what was in the bowl. She looked at Tezuka in askance. "Tezuka-sempai, if you got the live ones then you will have to fillet them for me."

"Understood," Tezuka said with a nod. He took the couple of bags she had in her hands. "Do you need anything else here?"

Sakuno looked at Uchiya-san. "Can I see your whole Spanish mackerel sea bass, red snapper and yellow tail fillets?"

"Hai-hai, they're all over there and they all just came in this morning," Uchiya-san said cheerfully. "Anything else for Tezuka-kun's little wife?"

Missing the narrow-eyed look that Ryoma shot at the fish monger, Sakuno blanched as she shook her head violently. "Uchiya-san! I'm not! I'm not!"

"I didn't know that you had a little wife already, Tezuka-san," Amano smiled sweetly as she aimed a killing look at the younger girl. "How sweet."

"I don't, Amano-san," Tezuka sighed as he looked at Uchiya-san. "Uchiya-san, you tease Sakuno-chan too much."

"I can't help it," Uchiya-san laughed as he looked at Tezuka. He grinned as he started towards the counter. "I've know the two of you since you both were no higher than your grandfather's knee. Who knew that you two would end up at the same school and that you would be her babysitter? Maybe you two will get married? Yow! Look out!"

"Oh my! Look out! Tezuka!" Amano cried out as the bowl of eels went flying out of the fish monger's hands and straight towards the little girl who was still shaking her head in denial. She threw herself towards the tennis captain… and instead made contact with the glass fish tanks.

"Sakuno-chan!" Tezuka cried out as he lurched towards his coach's granddaughter- but Echizen was quicker as he jerked her to the side and into his buchou.

"Eep!" Sakuno cried out as she felt herself being pushed to the side and fell against a hard chest. Dazed, she looked up to see Tezuka looking down on her. "Sempai!"

"Are you all right?' Tezuka asked as he straightened her and looked her over. When she nodded, he looked at Echizen who had an annoyed look on his face. "Fast reflexes, Echizen."

Ryoma nodded curtly as he adjusted his cap. "It was nothing."

Tezuka nodded curtly then looked at the fish monger who was trying to catch the wildly squirming eels. "Uchiya-san-allow me to help you-"

"I caught one! No!" Tezuka called out as he grabbed a squirming eel but somehow it managed to escape his grasp and went flying towards Amano.

"Eeeekk!" Amano screamed as the eel went flying at her. Wildly screaming and shaking, Amano kept screaming as the eel wildly lashed at her. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"I'll get it! Oh, yuck!" Ryoma called out as he tried to pick up the other eel- but that somehow squirmed out of his hands and went towards the other girl, but missed her. "Let me try again-"

"Oh no!" Sakuno gasped as she stood away from the girl who had eels at her feet. She grabbed Ryoma's sleeve and pulled him away from the fracas. "Ryoma-kun! Don't! Let Tezuka-sempai or Uchiya-san do it!"

"Che," Ryoma huffed but he stayed near Ryuzaki since she was still holding on to his sleeve.

"Mio- get the bowls! Tezuka-kun, stay back- I got them!" Uchiya-san called out as he held the squirming eels tightly. After putting them into a bowl, he looked at the wildly crying girl. "Mio- get the girl some strong tea and calm her down. She's had a fright because of these lively eels Tezuka-kun picked."

As his worker led the girl away, Uchiya smiled at the remaining three. "Sorry about that bit of excitement there. Are you okay, Ryuzaki-chan?"

"I'm okay," Sakuno said as she straightened. She blushed deeply when she realized that she was holding on to Ryoma's sleeve. "Ano- I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun. I just- it's just that eels are just too much like worms for me!"

"Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki," Ryoma said as he adjusted his cap to hide the growing hot feeling in his cheeks.

"But they taste great when you cook them," Uchiya-san said cheerfully. "And you must make them very well for Tezuka-kun to want you to make them for him!" He looked at Tezuka. "And I'm surprised that with all your experience in fish, you were unable to hold on to one."

"It happens when you don't have a firm grip, Uchiya-san," Tezuka shrugged as he straightened his clothing out. "We will enjoy eating that one. Sakuno-chan, do you want to stay and look at those fish? It's almost time to meet sensei."

"Oh! Let me just look at the sea bass and Spanish mackerel? Yuuta-oniisan asked if I could make him some saba-no-miso ni," Sakuno said as she looked at Uchiya-san. "And some sardines so that I can roast them for breakfast?"

"Come this way," Uchiya-san said as he pointed the way. "And you little man, what would you like today?"

"Some fish that doesn't smell and can look me in the eye," Ryoma said. When the fish monger and Sakuno looked at him, puzzled, he simply shrugged. "That's what my mother told me to look for."

"Ano- did she say what kind of fish?" Sakuno asked. Ryoma shook his head. Sighing, she looked at him. "Would you like me to pick out a fresh fish for you?"

"If you like," Ryoma said as he lowered his cap. He looked up at his buchou speculatively. "That was a very loose grip on that eel, buchou. You were careless."

Tezuka said nothing as he watched Ryuzaki pick out the fish she was looking for. Ryoma tried again. "So who was that girl? A fan girl?"

"She's merely a classmate of mine," Tezuka said simply.

Ryoma snorted. "A mere classmate doesn't trip innocent fish mongers in an effort to hurt clueless girls." He gave Tezuka an arched look. "She's a fan girl. And you loosened your grip on that eel, buchou."

"Perhaps she is," Tezuka conceded after a moment. "But you were careless, my aim was better than yours, Echizen. Ryuzaki, are you done?"

Grabbing the bags from Uchiya-san, Sakuno turned to look and smile at him. "Hai, sempai. Ryoma-kun? I got you a very nice medium-sized sea bass that was very fresh!"

Blushing, Ryoma tipped his cap to her as he took the wrapped fish from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said happily. She looked up at Tezuka. "Ready now but you still have to fillet them."

"As you will," Tezuka said then nodded at Ryoma. "Echizen- I'll see you on Monday."

"Bye-bye, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno said before she walked out the door with a woman walking in.

"Oh, you know, Ryoma?" the woman asked as she looked at the young girl and young man.

Sakuno and Tezuka stopped to look at her. He bowed slightly and greeted, "Yes, I am Tezuka Kunimitsu, his tennis club captain."

Sakuno bowed to her as well. "I'm Ryuzaki Sakuno- I'm in the same grade as him at Seigaku."

"How do you do, I'm Ryoma's mother," Rinko greeted as she looked at them. "I'm so pleased to meet you- thank you for taking care of my precocious son."

"Kaasan," Ryoma groused as he looked at his mother. When she smiled at him, he gave her the wrapped fish. "Here's the fish, Kaasan."

"What did you get?" Rinko asked as she looked at him.

"Medium sized sea bass and very fresh," Ryoma said as he looked at Sakuno. "Right?"

"Hai," Sakuno said as she smiled. She looked at Ryoma's pretty mother a bit anxiously. "I hope you don't mind sea bass- Ryoma-kun didn't say what kind you wanted."

"I'm sure that it's good- we eat any fish," Rinko said as she smiled at the girl. "Thank you for helping Ryoma out."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Sakuno said as she shook her head. She blushed deeply. "He often helps me out so it was no trouble at all."

"How nice of Ryoma," Rinko muttered as she looked at the girl with long braids closely. "You said Ryuzaki? As in the tennis team coach?"

"Hai, she's my obaachan," Sakuno nodded happily. Suddenly there was a sharp ring from her pocket, giving Ryoma's mother an apologetic look, she answered it. "I'm sorry but we must go now- Obaachan is waiting."

Rinko waved it off. "It's all right, it's all right. But you must all come to dinner one day, please."

Horrified at the invitation, Ryoma stared at his other. "Kaasan!"

Smiling in amusement, Rinko looked at her son innocently. "What? Your father will behave if his old coach is around."

"One hopes," Ryoma muttered as he shoved his cap down. "Can we go now?"

"Please make an appointment with Ryoma and come," Rinko said as she looked at her son with a steely eye.

"I will be sure to pass the message," Tezuka said with a bow. "But since the match with Hyotei is coming up soon, it might have to wait."

"It's all right- most times are good," Rinko said with a smile. "Now go before Ryuzaki-chan's obaachan starts to worry."

"Hai, and it was nice to meet you," Tezuka said then nodded at Ryoma. "Echizen."

"Thank you- it was very nice to meet you," Sakuno bowed. She waved at Ryoma. "See you on Monday, Ryoma-kun."

"Usui," Ryoma said with a nod. He watched the two walk out together and was unsure of what he felt about that. So he ignored it and looked up at his mother as she looked at him with some amusement. "Kaasan-"

"They sure are a cute couple," Rinko said as she watched Tezuka-kun and Ryuzaki-chan leave together. "I wonder if they'll get married."

Gritting his teeth, Ryoma asked loudly, "How could you ask them to come over?"

"I would like to meet your friends, Ryoma," Rinko said as she looked at her son as she walked over towards the counter. "Is there anything wrong with me meeting them?"

"Meeting you isn't the problem," Ryoma groused.

"I see," Rinko nearly giggled. She cleared her throat as she asked, "So are Tezuka-san and Ryuzaki-chan dating?"

Startled, Uchiya-san looked at the woman with the boy with golden brown eyes. He smiled at the way the boy was gripping the sea bass. "You think they look cute, too?"

"Oh, very," Rinko agreed. "Don't you think they look cute, Ryoma?"

Gritting his teeth again, Ryoma asked loudly, "Mada mada dane. What else are we getting, Kaasan? And are we done yet?"

Rinko waved her hand. "Just a couple of more fillets please- the salmon and yellowtail please. So you think that they make a cute couple?"

Uchiya-san chuckled. "If she can get over killing live eels, Tezuka-kun would be sitting pretty having a cute girl like her to cook for him."

"Can we go home now?" Ryoma asked through gritted teeth.

Prince

Of

Tennis

"So what's up with that seishounen?" Nanjiroh asked as he picked at his fish. "He hardly said any word during dinner!"

"Nothing's wrong with him," Rinko said as she sipped her soup. "He's just upset that there might be more than one fish after the same bait. By the way- I gave an open invite for Coach Ryuzaki and Ryoma's teammates to have dinner with us."

"What? Why? Rinko!"