Chibi-Kari: I never expected to get near the reviews that I have gotten! Thank you all so much. Now question time, do we ever find out where Sakuno's parents are? The general consensus on is that they're dead. Does that ever come up in the show? And some news. I'll be fly back to London on Wednesday, so I won't be back in my dorm until Thursday, hoping all goes well. I'm in Florida right now and there is a tropical storm making it's way here for Wednesday morning, thus my flight to Huston might be delayed or my flight to London…or even worse one of the flights could be canceled! So let's hope not, the faster I can get to my dorm, the faster I can update! Just warning I might not be able to update before my trip. I don't own and thank you everyone for reading! P.S. All food information came from my friend who is teaching English in Japan for the year.
Halfway Down the Block
Sushi Sushi All Around
Momo could tell Ryoma wasn't fairing well with Sakuno's pregnancy. Ann had assured him that Ryoma was just getting out frustration when Momo was checked into the emergency room after a particularly rough game of tennis, in which Momo got hit by seven tennis balls and Ryoma's racquet…twice. But now, Ryoma was at least able to be in Sakuno's presence without her running to the bathroom. He seemed in better temperament after that. Maybe that was the problem, he couldn't be in the vicinity of his wife…and that meant…
"Hey, Fuji. Remember when Sakuno was sick because of Ryoma?" Momo whispered to the taller man next to him.
"Yeah," replied Fuji with his trademark smile adorning his features.
"If he couldn't be around her, that would mean he wasn't getting any." Momo whispered back with a grin.
"That assumption would go along with my data." A voice next to him entered the conversation. "But there is a 100 possibility that he was annoyed that he couldn't even be around her. Since junior high they have always been in the same vicinity. Well, besides when Echizen went to America, but as my data states he saw her first when he came back." Inui flipped a page in his notebook and glanced over at the couple sitting at the far side of the picnic blanket.
Since junior high, the regulars, Sakuno, and for some reason Ann had a picnic once a month. It was a way for them all to keep in touch, although they didn't seem to need it because almost every night the guys were playing tennis with each other.
Inui started writing again as Ann and Sakuno struck up a conversation, "Have you been eating anything strange lately, Sakuno?"
Sakuno smiled lightly as she looked on to her friend. Normally Ann would be sitting next to Momo, but seeing as her husband gave Ann's fiancé a concussion, he was sitting as far away from Ryoma as he could get. "No. Not really."
"Last night she ate ebi-mayo pizza." Ryoma said as he turned from his wife to Ann.
"Eww!" Came a squeal from across the blanket. Eiji covered his face dramatically as he spoke, "mayonnaise and popcorn shrimp on pizza!"
Sakuno turned her attention to him, "It's good. And it isn't weird. It's on the menu."
"That doesn't excuse it." Eiji mumbled causing Oishi to grin at him. "I'm hungry though, where is Kawamura?"
"I'm hungry too!" Sakuno smiled happily.
"Hi everyone! I brought a lot of sushi. I hope you are all hungry!" Kawamura called as he walked slowly over to the rest of the group. "I'm sorry I was late, one of the cooks decided to take an extra fifteen minutes on his break. But he came back after awhile."
"You're too nice, you should have reprimanded him." Tezuka said as he shifted in the ground next to Ryoma.
"Well it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm here no anyway. Dig in everyone!" Kawamura said as he opened the containers of sushi and placed them on the picnic blanket.
Sakuno looked on as he opened each container and the smell entered the surrounding air. Within seconds she was up and running for the bathroom.
"What happened? Does my sushi smell bad. I thought roast beef sushi was Sakuno's favorite?" Kawamura looked down at his hands shyly.
"It's not your fault. She's just sensitive to certain foods. It comes with being pregnant." Ann said as she picked up her chopsticks and glanced at her food. "Maybe someone should switch with her. She might be able to eat something else."
Sakuno came back and turned her attention to Kawamura, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry you went to all the trouble, but I don't think I can eat that." She pointed at the offending sushi as she stood on the other side of the blanket behind Fuji.
Fuji looked up at the woman behind him smiling slight. In a swift move his picked up his chopstick and a piece of sushi and shoved it in her mouth, "You can have some of mine. We wouldn't want your baby starving."
Everyone looked on in shock and horror. Ryoma stood up, his calm demeanor shattered, "You can't give her wasabi sushi!"
Sakuno chewed with a thoughtful look on her face. Kawamura looked like he was going to faint and Inui had stopped writing. She smiled lightly, "That's wonderful, but I need something to drink. Are you sure I can share with you?"
"Sure you can share." Fuji smiled at her as he moved to give her some room.
Sakuno smiled at the man beside her as she caught Ryoma glaring from the corner of her eye. She reached forward and grabbed Fuji's drink.
"Wait-"
"Don't-"
Echoes of those words came from across the blanket. Her husband had reached forward as if to smack the drink away from her only to fall across Kaidoh's sushi, Kaidoh himself didn't care as he looked on in disbelief as Sakuno took a gulp of the drink.
She smiled, "That's wonderful, what is it?"
"My newest creation. I have yet to name it. Fuji was trying it for me." Inui smiled as the rest of the group looked on.
Sakuno turned to Fuji, "May I have the rest of this?"
Fuji's eyes were open as he looked on at the woman next to him, "Sure, but even I didn't like it."
TBC
Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reading I hope you all enjoyed this. Kaidoh is the next victim of Sakuno's pregnancy! All ideas are welcome…I'm known to write using other's ideas if I like them!
