Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Tennis.

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Friendship's Gift

Chapter 3: Full House

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It was evening now and Sakuno was unpacking her things in her temporary room at the Echizen household. Her grandmother was on the room next door, aided by Rinko with her own things. Sakuno had a seat on her bed, and when she was surprised at how incredibly soft and comfortable it was, she lay down fully on her back and sighed in content. "This is too good…" she said, closing her eyes.

"Sakuno-san." Rinko knocked on her door once.

"Come in," said Sakuno, sitting back up on the bed.

Rinko came in. "I see you're done unpacking already," she said. "I hope you feel at home here?"

"I-I do," replied Sakuno, smiling sheepishly. Perhaps too at home was the correct phrasing.

"Dinner's ready. I'll be downstairs," said Rinko.

"Thank you," Sakuno mumbled, but Rinko was already out. She got up from the bed and put on her slippers.

"Obaa-chan, I'm going to be downstairs…" she said, opening the door to her grandmother's room. But the room was empty. She must have headed downstairs already.

Sakuno shrugged and headed downstairs to the dining room. Nanjirou was already sitting at the head of the dining table, Sumire sitting on his left. The two were already in conversation, about tennis most likely. Shuichiro sat on his grandfather's right, poking at the food on his plate with his fork. He was resting his head on his other free hand, staring at his food bleakly. Rinko was sitting next to him, the only one at the table eating their food.

Sakuno sat down next to her grandmother. She spared a glance in Shuichiro's direction, expecting him to be glaring at her from his seat. But he wasn't even looking at her. He was dead set determined to not look anywhere else other than his plate. "Shuichiro…eat your food," she heard Rinko tell him.

"M-hmm…" Shuichiro nodded.

"Well, this is just great," Nanjirou cried in a mocking cheerful tone. He practically bounced in his seat, however, looking at Sumire. "We're going to have lots of fun, old hag. It's time I got back at you for all that torturous training you made me take when I was your pupil. And I get to do it personally, too. Ha, ha!"

Sumire frowned at him, regretting to sit next to him. He was spitting food out as he spoke but he didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he really was trying to do it on purpose…

"Ah, sweet revenge!" Nanjirou sang.

"Anata," Rinko said sternly.

"Ah, fine, whatever," said Nanjirou in annoyance. "I'm only behaving in front of you right now so you won't take away my girly magazines."

Sumire shook her head. "Figures, you still read that trash. And talking about it in front of your grandson!"

"Eh, my own son had to deal with it since he was born, why should it be any different for my grandson?"

"You're supposed to set a better example to your grandchildren, that's why!"

"Yeah, right. If I have any luck, I can get this one hanging out with chicks sooner!"

"He's only seven, for goodness sake, Nanjirou!"

"Grandma, please, I dated young ladies before then."

Sumire's face turned a shade of plum. Sakuno edged her seat away from her grandmother, continuing to eat her food as if nothing was amiss. Rinko seemed to be doing the same thing. "What did you call me, Nanjirou?" Sumire growled through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me."

Sakuno looked up and saw Shuichiro getting up from his seat. Nanjirou and Sumire were too busy to notice him speak; Sumire had a death-grip on Nanjirou's neck. "What is it?" Rinko asked him.

"I'm just not hungry anymore," he replied. Sakuno saw his plate was practically untouched, minus the few stab marks he left on the food. "I'm going to my room." As soon as he left, Sakuno gave Rinko questioning look. The boy's personality during dinner had differed very much from what she had seen before.

"You don't have to worry about him tonight. I'll tug him in," said Rinko, looking at Sakuno with a faint smile.

"Is something wrong?" asked Sakuno. The boy may have been a pest to her before, but she still felt worried.

"No," Rinko shook her head. "He's just upset. Ryoma hasn't been home for more than a month now."

"Oh…" said Sakuno, her eyes looking down.

"It's not the first time," Rinko continued. "Sometimes he's out for a much longer period of time. It's always been like this. But I guess Shuichiro is still not used to it."

"Rinko-san…" Sakuno spoke up. "I'll tug him in tonight, if you don't mind."

"Oh?" Rinko seemed slightly surprised, but she smiled. "That's fine."

Sakuno smiled. "Thank you."

Rinko took a sip of her water, her eyes looking playful to Sakuno. "You're the babysitter, after all."

--

Shuichiro had been juggling a soccer ball when she came in. His back was to her. Sakuno figured he hadn't noticed her come in.

"What do you want, Nee-san?"

Okay, maybe he did.

"Um…" Sakuno had rehearsed many times what to say to him before coming in, but now she was blank. So she remained quiet, watching him juggle the ball in the air.

He juggled for a good long ten minutes before he let the ball drop on the floor. He turned to face Sakuno. His eyes were scrutinizing her angrily, probably trying to figure out what she was still doing in his room.

"Um, you juggle the ball really well," Sakuno blurted out. It sounded like something stupid to say to him, considering how angry he looked with having her there. But she might as well keep going, now that she got started. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"By myself," he said firmly.

Sakuno inwardly flinched; she didn't miss the accusation he had unintentionally thrown at his father.

"So, you like soccer?" she said, wanting to take the conversation out of dangerous waters. She didn't want to be the one at fault if Ryoma came home to an overly-rebellious son. If he wasn't already.

Shuichiro eyed her suspiciously. "A little…" he said slowly.

"Really? You look good too. I'm not very good at sports," said Sakuno. She mentally patted herself on the back. Not bad, Sakuno…

Shuichiro sighed exasperatedly. "Nee-san, why don't you just leave and say you did your job? You're not very good at all."

Crap. "Hey, I'm trying!" cried Sakuno, her cheeks already red with embarrassment.

"Why are you even doing this?" Shuichiro raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "You're so bad."

"This is a favor," said Sakuno, a vein popping in her head. "Something an ingrate like you wouldn't understand." She wasn't normally so mean. In fact, Sakuno was quite the opposite of mean. But this boy went past her limits. She couldn't believe she actually felt sorry for him earlier.

Shuichiro sighed, arms falling to his side. "Oh, well. 'Tousan will be home soon." He smirked. "Then you can leave."

"You miss him a lot, don't you?" Sakuno was now sitting on the edge of his bed. Her eyes softened.

She knew she caught him off-guard. His arms uncrossed and his cheeks reddened. "You're very nosy," he said quietly.

"But it's true, isn't it?"

Shuichiro was quiet for about a minute. Then he looked at Sakuno, his eyes hard again. "You're not going to befriend me like that. I'm not falling for it."

"I wasn't saying that just to befriend you," Sakuno replied. "I really was interested."

"Ha," said Shuichiro, snorting. "Right. Ne, Nee-san, shouldn't you be tucking me in by now?"

"Oh right! It's past eight already!" Sakuno jumped off his bed. "Quick…bed!"

Shuichiro looked at her. "I didn't say I was going to be easy."

Sakuno growled, grabbed him around the waist, and lifted him in the air. She ignored his protests and dropped him on the bed, then proceeded to take his shoes off. She was surprised when she actually heard him laughing.

"You…you forgot about my pajamas! I can't sleep in my clothes!" he said.

"Oh yes you can!"

After yet another short scuffle (with Shuichiro somehow ending up in his pajamas), Sakuno switched off the lights and opened the door to leave. "Good night, then," she said to him.

"Ne, Nee-san…"

Sakuno paused. "Yes?"

"I'm going to teach you some soccer tomorrow," he said.

Sakuno grinned. "All right," she said.

"Don't get too happy," he added. "It's only so I can kick your butt."

Another vein popped. "All right," she repeated. Then she closed the door.

--

"Serve him orange juice. He hates apple juice," said Rinko as she made some scrambled eggs.

"Hai," replied Sakuno, going to the fridge. She was helping Rinko with breakfast. Nanjirou was reading the newspaper at the table. Sumire was seated next to him again, and the look she was giving him suggested that he wasn't reading the 'newspaper' at all. Sakuno chuckled, watching the two. On the outside it seemed like the two couldn't stand each other. But Sakuno knew her grandmother just didn't have the guts to admit that she actually enjoyed being in her old student's company again. They were inseparable.

"Old hag."

"Horny geezer."

"Take that back!"

Sakuno was carrying a plate full of pancakes to the table when she heard Shuichiro running down the stairs. "Shuichiro-kun!" she called out, leaving the kitchen to meet him at the stairs. "Shuichiro-kun, please don't run—"

"'Tousan!"

Sakuno stopped at the entry way. That's when it hit her why Shuichiro was so eager to run down the stairs. He ran to the front door and straight into the arms of his father.

She didn't notice him come in. But there he was, wearing a black turtleneck sweater and white pants, and yes…the white Fila cap. He hadn't changed much at all in appearance. Sakuno found herself grinning. "Ryoma-kun!"

Ryoma looked up from Shuichiro's hug. "Ryuzaki…? What are you doing here?"

Sakuno was just about to answer when she heard a familiar voice coming from outside. "Oi, Echizen! Help me out with the rest of the luggage!" Momoshiro came in then, carrying a sports bag over his shoulder. He let it down on the floor. "Ah, Shuichi-kun!" he cried. He still sounded like a boy when he cried in glee. "So good to see you, so good to see you! Rinko-san…" he said, turning to Sakuno. He stopped when he realized it wasn't Rinko, and a huge grin came over his face.

"SAKUNO-CHAAAAN!"

"Oi, Momo…"

"It's Sakuno-chaaaan!"

"Oi…"

Rinko came into the entry way then. "Why in the world is there so much noise…?"

"Momo," Ryoma sighed. "Apparently Ryuzaki is a sight to behold…"

"Oh," said Rinko, looking over to Momoshiro. She giggled.

Sakuno was speechless. She was happy to see Ryoma again, but seeing Momoshiro too was an even bigger surprise. And she was flattered with how happy he was to see her too. She didn't think he would remember her so much after so long. "Um…hello, Momoshi—"

"MOMO-CHAN!" he interrupted.

"Momo-chan…"

"Echizen!" Momo turned to Ryoma, hugging Sakuno to his side. "You didn't tell me you had Sakuno-chan over."

"I didn't know," Ryoma replied simply. He looked at his mother.

Rinko smiled. "Sakuno-san is now Shuichiro-san's babysitter. I hired her."

"Huh…" Ryoma looked at Sakuno. Sakuno straightened up, giving him a friendly smile. He smirked. "Aren't you a little too old to be playing the babysitter?"

Sakuno stiffened. "You too?" she said in disbelief. She looked at Shuichiro, still by his father's side. He was chuckling to himself. She pouted. "You could have just said 'hi'…"

"Hi, then," he said. He was still smirking. "Come on, Momo."

"Echizen, what about the rest of the luggage?"

"We'll get it later," said Ryoma, already on his way to the kitchen.

Momo turned to Sakuno, grinning. "I can't believe you're here," he said. "Sugoi! Sugoi!"

"You haven't changed one bit, Momo-chan…" Sakuno smiled sheepishly.

"Nope!" said Momo.

"Let's all go have some breakfast now," said Rinko. "We can all talk with each other then."

Momo flipped out yet again when he saw Sumire Ryuzaki sitting at the kitchen table. He wouldn't stop hugging her and saying how happy he was to see her again until she threatened to stab him in the eye with her fork if he didn't let go. "Sheesh, just as mean…" he sighed, having a seat next to Sakuno.

Shuichiro was quick and eager to have the seat next to Ryoma. He didn't hesitate to bombard his father with questions about where he was and if he won any tennis matches. His personality had completely turned over since Ryoma's arrival. Sakuno was glad he was happier now, but the thought also saddened her a bit. What about the next time Ryoma left?

"So did you lose your job and that's why you're now a babysitter?"

Sakuno saw Ryoma smirking at her again. She flushed. "I didn't lose my job," she said firmly. "I quit. And stop making fun of me because I'm a babysitter!"

"Che, I was just asking…" he rolled his eyes.

"I actually asked her over," Rinko said. "I needed the help. I didn't want to have to ask a stranger, and Sakuno-san's a very sweet girl, so I asked for her help."

"She needs better practice, though," Shuichiro cut in. "She's really not very—Oomph!" Sakuno kicked him under the table.

"Can we all just stop talking now? There's too much talking here and I'm having a hard time enjoying the newspaper," Nanjirou interrupted.

"You're not even reading the newspaper!" Sumire cried.

"Shut up, old hag."

"Anata!"

"Hmm! Oishii! These eggs are really good!" said Momo. He was in the middle of stuffing his mouth full with scrambled eggs.

Sakuno sweatdropped. The whole room had filled with everyone's voices, each cutting the other off.

"Mada mada dane…" she heard Ryoma mutter to himself, pulling his hat down.

Sakuno smiled. Mada mada dane, indeed…

Author's Note: It's an abrupt end. I'm not even too happy with it, but my mother is being annoying and is cutting down my time on the computer. Since I don't know how much longer I'll have to wait until I get to write a long chapter again, I decided to post this much up at least for you eager readers. Until I get started on chapter four, then! Ja, minna!