Author's Note: Check my profile for more notes on this story, if you like. Thanks for all the feedback!

Disclaimer: Don't own The Prince of Tennis.

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Friendship's Gift

Chapter 2: The Echizens

(Seven Years Later)

--

"Aw, come on, just open up the presents already!"

"I'll open them up later. Right now I'm too tired."

"Ah, Obaa-san, you're too mean!"

Sumire Ryuzaki glared at Tomoka Osakada across the dinner table, the wrinkles around her eyes making her look that much worse. "Osakada, you call me Obaa-san again and you'll see what's going to happen to you."

Sakuno stared at her grandmother in wonder. It was amazing she could still keep up with her fiery personality after so many years. But she also tried to imagine her doing some old grandmotherly karate to someone else and the image only made her chuckle. Apparently Tomoka was thinking the same thing and was laughing. Sumire looked offended.

"You girls hurt my dignity," she sighed, taking a sip of tea. "I'm not that old."

"Only a year older," Tomoka piped in, grinning. Sumire glared at her again, but Tomoka ignored it. "Ne, part of the fun is the part where you open up the presents! So, come on! Let's open them!"

Sumire sighed.

Tomoka pouted. "Fine," she said. She got up, picking up the empty plates from the table and taking them to the sink. "I'll go home now. Tako and I are taking the kids to the amusement park tomorrow. I have to wake up early in the morning."

"Sure," Sakuno nodded, smiling. "Thanks for coming over."

"My pleasure," said Tomoka. She picked up her jacket and put it on. "Ja, minna," she said and hurried out the door.

"Obaa-chan, you were mean," Sakuno sweatdropped, turning to face her grandmother now that Tomoka was gone.

"Since when am I not mean? Besides, I'm just having fun with Osakada. I'm allowed that much on my birthday, right?" said Sumire nonchalantly as she took another sip of tea.

"Um…" Sakuno wasn't sure if it was either that, or just mere bitterness her grandmother was feeling due to turning a year older.

"By the way, Sakuno," said Sumire, her voice no longer containing humor in it. She looked serious again. "I spoke with the Echizens this morning—Nanjirou and his wife, Rinko."

"Eh?" Sakuno's head tilted slightly to the side, curious. She knew her grandmother was in contact with the Echizens often—Nanjirou coached his son, Ryoma, throughout his tennis career, but most of Nanjirou's advice came from Sumire Ryuzaki, who had been his coach when he was a young boy. Sakuno often overheard her grandmother speaking into the phone for hours at a time, just discussing with Nanjirou new tennis strategies and techniques. It was always just about tennis. She wondered why this call was any different and why it would involve her.

Then again, if Rinko was part of the conversation, then it couldn't have been about tennis, but something else. Sumire took another long sip of her tea, Sakuno's patience wearing thin; she was too curious as to what the Echizens wanted with her.

"I'll go straight to the point and forget the rest of the minor details," said Sumire, and there was something in her eyes that told Sakuno she was hiding something. "Rinko and Nanjirou are getting old…and their grandson, Shuichiro, is only getting more troublesome and harder for them to look after. As you know, Ryoma is out most of the time due to his tennis, so they stay at home with Shuichiro to take care of him. Or more like Rinko does, anyway. That Nanjirou was always one lazy bastard…

"However, like I said, they're getting older and it's getting harder for them to keep up with Shuichiro's troublesome nature. They would like to have some help. They called me this morning to ask if you could help," Sumire finished.

Sakuno's face turned dubious. "Help as in babysit? But I've never taken care of kids…and I have a job, I wouldn't have the time…"

Sumire smirked. Sakuno knew that look coming from her grandmother—she was somehow in on something with the Echizens. And she obviously wanted Sakuno to say 'yes' to the offer. It confused Sakuno very much. "You can quit your job," she said.

Sakuno threw her a revolting look, but before she could protest, Sumire continued, "Let me explain first! They've offered to pay you for your help. A good, nice salary, better than what you earn sitting in a dreary cubicle all day."

Sakuno cringed. She hated her boring office job but her grandmother didn't have to make her job sound worse than it already was. Still, just thinking about being able to quit that job for something else…it sparked her interest a bit. But then the idea just sounded awkward…the idea of being paid by Ryoma's parents. It was weird.

"They don't mind. Rinko remembers you very well and she's fond of you," said Sumire, almost as if she really could read everything that was going on in Sakuno's mind.

Sakuno flushed, thinking about the comment. "I'll think about it," she muttered, smiling shyly.

"Do think about it, then," said Sumire, smiling triumphantly. "In any case, you should go over to the Echizen residence tomorrow in the morning. You can talk with Rinko and ask any questions to her then. You can make your decision after that."

Sakuno nodded. The idea of getting paid by Ryoma's parents to look after his son still sounded weird to her.

But.

She hadn't seen any of the Echizens in seven years. Well, except Rinko, and it was only because she ran into her the other day at the supermarket. It had been nice to see her after so long…

"I'll go talk to Rinko-san in the morning," said Sakuno.

"You do that," Sumire nodded.

--

It had been so long since Sakuno last looked through her high school yearbook. She flipped through the pages quickly, until she saw a picture with the familiar face she was looking for.

Mika-san.

It wasn't just Mika in the picture. Tomoka was part of the yearbook staff that year and she insisted on having a group picture of all their friends for that year's book. She had another student take the picture. Sakuno was in the center, Mika and Tomoka on either side of her. The trio—Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo—stood behind them, all three of the boys tall enough to be seen behind the girls. Ryoma was far off to the side, looking away and bored. He had only been in the picture at all because Mika had insisted he show up in it.

Sakuno sighed, sitting down on the floor, the yearbook in her lap.

We'll take him to picnics together. It'll be fun!

She didn't even know Shuichiro.

She accepted that things wouldn't be the way she and Mika had planned them out to be, when she held Shuichiro as a baby one last time before Ryoma and his parents departed with him. They had moved to America soon after, then returned only a year ago. Sakuno had no contact with them throughout those years, even if her grandmother constantly spoke on the phone with Nanjirou to help with Ryoma's training. She had no reason to visit them when they came back.

But taking this babysitting job…it gave her a reason to see them. She didn't know why, but it brightened up her mood. Maybe it was because they were the only ties she had with Mika—especially Shuichiro.

All right…I'll take the job. I'll do all those things we were going to do, Mika-san. I'll help look after your son for you.

--

Sakuno woke up very early the next morning, the anticipation of getting to see any of the Echizens eating at her. It also made her nervous…what if Ryoma was actually there, and not out on some tennis thing as usual? There was no reason to fear him, but she hadn't seen him in so long. How would it be like, seeing him again? She only hoped it wouldn't be too awkward at the least. Breakfast seemed bland that morning and she hurried through it.

Her grandmother had given her directions to the Echizen household. They lived outside of the city. The scenery reminded Sakuno of her Seishun Gakuen days, when the tennis regulars were required to run up some tiresome slopes and mountains, complete with beautiful streams and forests, as part of their training. It took her approximately two hours for her to find the grand house (and it would have taken an hour and a half instead if it wasn't for Sakuno's bad sense of direction). The house was in the middle of an enormous clearing, two stories high. The house was simply white, and even though it wasn't meant to look too flattering like the rich homes Sakuno saw on television, it was still immense and beautiful.

Sakuno wondered how peaceful it must be like to live here, surrounded by nature and having no grumpy neighbors to bother you about anything. The road ahead in front of the house converged into a circle, with a fountain in the center. She made to park there, not sure where else to park her car (though there was a huge garage far off to the side of the house, Sakuno was sure at least three or four cars could fit in there), but she was suddenly startled when a small figure ran in front of her car. She stomped her foot on the brake, but the child disappeared from view and Sakuno screamed.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no…" she kept saying to herself, hurrying out of her seat. She rushed to the front of the car, finding a small boy lying down on his butt, his eyes shut. "Are you okay?" she asked him, a bit of hysteria in her voice. She could've killed him! It was a good thing he didn't appear to be seriously hurt and that she was had been driving very slowly.

"What were you thinking, you should've looked first before running in front of me!" cried Sakuno. She kneeled down next to the boy. He was small, looking around six or seven, and his hair was silver-gray. She gasped, recognizing Shuichiro immediately. "I'm so, so sorry!" she cried out, wrapping him in a hug.

"Ne, Nee-san, I'm fine," the boy complained. "Just let go of me already. I'm not hurt. I did that on purpose."

Sakuno paused. She let go of him and looked at him like he was crazy. "You ran in front of me on purpose?" she demanded.

Shuichiro smirked. "So I fell on my butt, big deal. I knew I wouldn't get hurt. I just wanted to pretend that…" he froze, his eyes widening. Then he looked at Sakuno very rudely. "Stop asking questions! You're making me spill the beans!" he cried.

Cat-eyes like Ryoma. Just that same look looked quite intimidating, even on his younger face.

"Spill the beans…?" Sakuno shook her head. "Never mind that… Who do you think you are, doing that? I could have seriously hurt you!"

Shuichiro stood up on his own, shoving his hands in the pockets of his beige shorts. "Whatever," he said. He stuck his tongue out at Sakuno and then hurried up the steps leading into the big house. "Go away!" he cried before going inside and leaving her there. Sakuno stared at the spot he had been standing on, her eyes wide and blinking in confusion. What the heck had just happened?

She stood up shakily and then walked up the same steps Shuichiro took. She rang the doorbell, still thinking about what had just happened. "Why would he want to do that…" she murmured to herself. Her thoughts were cut short when the front door opened and Rinko stood at the entrance.

In her late fifties (A/N: Well, I'm not really sure how old she should be, but…), Rinko looked the same as she did several years ago, just more wrinkles added to her delicate features and more white apparent in her hair. She still looked like she could manage on her own, however. Far better off than Sakuno's grandmother, who was much, much older and needed Sakuno's help every now and then.

Rinko smiled, clapping her hands together when she saw Sakuno. "Ryuzaki-san! How good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Echizen-san," replied Sakuno, bowing.

"Oh, just call me Rinko, Sweetie," said Rinko.

"Rinko-san," Sakuno corrected herself, straightening up from her bow. She smiled, though still feeling quite shaken from what had happened with Shuichiro. "You may also call me 'Sakuno', ma'am…"

"Please, come in," said Rinko, gesturing her to come inside. "I have some refreshments in the living room for us to talk."

"Thank you," said Sakuno shyly, coming inside. She took her own shoes off and followed Rinko into the living room with guest slippers.

There were two sofas in the living room, a long low table in between. A silver tray was on top of the table, with sweets and drinks on it. Sakuno settled down on one of the sofas. The room felt pleasantly warm—there was a fireplace as well.

"Ano, Rinko-san…" Sakuno started as Rinko settled on the sofa across her. "About the job…"

"I'm assuming Ryuzaki-sensei already talked to you about it. It's all right if you don't want to take it," said Rinko, smiling.

"No, I want to!" said Sakuno, shaking her head. "Mika-san was my best friend! Of course I don't mind taking care of Shuichiro, if it helps."

Rinko smiled again, taking her tea from the table and holding it over her lap. "I'm glad you've decided to help, then," she said. She took a sip of her tea and then continued, "Shuichiro's a very troublesome boy, however. I do hope he doesn't cause you any more trouble than he already does to me and Nanjirou. We're getting very old to be chasing him around the house…"

Sakuno smiled.

"…and although Anata (Nanjirou) was very athletic in his youth, he is beginning to feel the strain of old age. And he doesn't have the patience for this, anyway," Rinko chuckled.

"Ano…" Sakuno spoke up. "I've never worked with kids before… I hope I can help."

"You will," said Rinko. There was silence. Sakuno was beginning to get the feeling that other things were going on inside Rinko's head but she wouldn't voice them. Just like with her grandmother.

"Sakuno-san, if you don't mind," Rinko spoke again, breaking the silence. "I've arranged a guest room for you. That is, if you don't mind staying with us while babysitting Shuichiro."

"A…A room? For me…?" Sakuno stammered. She couldn't imagine herself temporarily living in a house this big.

"Of course," said Rinko, "I wouldn't want this job to become a hassle for you. Having to drive here back and forth every day will be so exhausting…"

"True…" Sakuno nodded, looking down at her lap as her cheeks reddened from embarrassment. She would actually be living with the Echizens! With a room of her own, no less! But then she remembered her grandmother, Sumire. "Demo…I would have to talk with my grandmother first… I take care of her, you see…"

Rinko smiled yet again, and Sakuno knew something was up. She prepared herself to hear another too-good-to-be-true statement from Rinko. "When I spoke with your grandmother, we also talked about this. We decided that, should you decide to babysit here, that she could also stay here with us in the meantime."

"Souka (sp?)…" Sakuno nodded. It was too good, too well planned out. Sakuno wasn't very good when it came to figuring some things out (being quite dense herself in that respect), but she definitely knew that there was something going on between her grandmother and the Echizens.

She was beginning to think this whole thing had been planned out from the beginning.

Not that she minded. But she did wonder about the motive.

"Good, then," said Rinko, getting up. Sakuno got up as well. "I'll introduce you to Shuichiro, then, before you go. I'd show you to Anata and Ryoma, but Anata's asleep and my son's not at home at the moment. You'll find that he isn't home very often, due to his tennis career." Sakuno nodded. She was sure that would have been the case, anyway. However, she wondered how long it would be until she did see him again. It had been too long since she saw him last. It would be nice to see Ryoma again, she thought.

"Shuichiro-san," Rinko called out when they returned to the entry way. Sakuno took that time to marvel at the magnificent staircase while they waited for Shuichiro to appear.

"There you are," said Rinko. Sakuno looked away from the stairs and saw Shuichiro again, now standing before her and Rinko. He didn't look very pleased to see Sakuno again.

"Shuichiro-san, this will be your babysitter, starting tomorrow," said Rinko. "Sakuno Ryuzaki. Sakuno-san, this is Shuichiro-san. He just turned seven last week."

"Nice to meet you, Shuichiro-kun," said Sakuno, bowing a little. She offered him a smile but it didn't stop him from glaring at her from his spot.

"I knew it," Shuichiro groaned quietly to himself. Sakuno looked at him, wondering what his problem was. He was so different from the sweet and angelic boy she thought he would be. "I don't need a babysitter," he said, glaring in Sakuno's direction. Then his gaze turned to Rinko. "'Baa-chan, I told you I didn't need a babysitter!"

"Now you behave in front of our guest, Shuichiro," said Rinko seriously. Omitting the 'san' at the end of Shuichiro's name only made her sound even more serious. She didn't look like one to be messed with at the moment. It wasn't a wonder that Shuichiro's face softened and his gaze fell to the floor. "Now you apologize to Sakuno-san."

Although he was about to apologize to Sakuno, Shuichiro didn't look sorry at all. "Sorry," he said quietly. Then he smirked. "Although, 'Baa-chan… Nee-san here almost ran into me outside…with her car."

Sakuno paled, her body paralyzed. She stood firm, afraid of what Rinko would think. What was up with the kid, anyway? Well, it was obvious he didn't want her there…

Rinko paused and then shook her head. "Shuichiro-san, you and your silly stories… You really need to stop your lying, young man, it's going to get you in trouble some day."

Shuichiro's mouth hung open. "I'm not lying! She really tried to kill me!"

"No, I did not!" Sakuno blurted out before she knew it. But she couldn't let this kid lie about her, either! Sure, she did almost run him over, but she didn't intend to kill him.

"Shuichiro-san!" Rinko cried out, and Shuichiro quieted down immediately. She faced Sakuno, looking apologetic. "I'm so sorry. You'll find that he's a bit of a liar sometimes…I hope that doesn't deter you from the job?"

No kidding, thought Sakuno about the 'liar' part. "No, of course not!" Sakuno said, smiling at Rinko. Rinko smiled in relief.

After they bade farewell with hopes of seeing each other again the next morning (with the exception of Shuichiro), Sakuno drove away from the house and back to the city.

Well, apparently Ryoma-kun hadn't done a very good job of disciplining his son, Sakuno thought, feeling a bit annoyed with the little boy already. Although, Rinko made it sound like she and her husband were in charge of most of the disciplining, with Ryoma gone so often. If that was the case, then the boy certainly inherited much of his father's qualities. In fact, he was worse than Ryoma. And that was just on a good day. She wondered how much worse the boy could get on a really bad day.

It doesn't matter, Sakuno thought. It would be fine. She would just have to teach him some discipline, that's all. Although she had no idea how to even begin. Sakuno sighed.

She was doing this for Mika. And for Ryoma-kun as well, now that she thought about it. She would take care of her friend's son, no matter how rude the boy was. She just thought that the job would have been easier…

--

Author's Note: I'm horrible when it comes to description, so I'll leave the rest of what the home looks like up to your own imaginations. :) (Plus, I just don't have the patience for detailed descriptions…sigh…) Ryoma's back the next chapter, though!

Oh yeah…I'm having Rinko call Nanjirou 'Anata'. On the anime, I heard her call him that once. I think it's a way Japanese wives call their husbands or something… Correct me if I'm wrong.