Hey guys! What's up? I finally got my butt in gear to type out the next chapter and so here it is! I hope everyone has a great St. Patricks Day too! I'm going to the parade so I know I'll be enjoying myself, but you guys should too so get out there and have some fun! If not then enjoy a good story with a cup of hot chocolate!
:3 Please Review, Follow or Favorite!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I'd like to tho...
Thanks you guys! -Kay
Nanami awoke in bed with a stretch as the light hit her eyes. She rolled over to find her alarm clock on the night stand unplugged.
'Strange…I didn't do that.' She thought as she grabbed her phone that was sitting next to it. When she turned it on and saw the time that appeared her heart just about jumped in her throat.
'7:15! How could I have overslept for so long?' she thought. Getting out of bed she gathered her things and got ready in a hurry, leaving a fiery trail behind her.
"KEENNNTTAAA!"She yelled. Downstairs, said man winced as he realized his wife had woken up.
Yes he knew that when he unplugged her alarm clock she would be upset but she needed her sleep and it seemed more important at the time. Although thinking about it again, his life seemed pretty important too.
'I'm so dead.' He thought as he hid behind his morning paper.
"Kenta I'm going to be late, I have to go." She said as she whizzed past the family room, where he was seated, to the front door.
'Either I'm lucky or I'm going to feel double the pain tonight. Wait…does she even know it was me?' Kenta thought with a furrowed brow, still behind his newspaper, thinking of all the possibilities.
"Tou-san," Kenta who heard his name being called looked up from behind his newspaper to see Syuichiro standing by the doorway.
"Yes?"
"Did oka-san leave already; she forgot to take her coffee this morning."
'!' A light bulb in Kenta's head went off. 'That's why she didn't yell at me this morning! She couldn't even remember what color the sky was let alone who unplugged her alarm clock if she didn't have her coffee yet in the morning.'
Just as he finished this thought Syuusuke was walking by so Kenta called out to him.
"Syuusuke! Would you please take your mother her coffee. She forgot again and you don't want her to come home like last time do you?"
That was another side effect of her not drinking her daily coffee, devil mother mode. Syuusuke couldn't help but panic a little on the inside at the thought of what happened last time. Yes, even the resident sadist Syuusuke knows and fears this.
"I'll go as soon as I change." He said and went straight upstairs to his room. If he was fast he could catch her right before she started her shift.
Grabbing a jacket and moving to the kitchen he found her coffee and left the house in a trail of smoke. The whole time he rushed around the house his brothers had been watching with curiosity until he left.
All Kenta had to do was walk into the kitchen where they were all now seated for breakfast and mutter three words.
"Your mothers coffee." Everyone in the room paled, even if just a little for some, as the image of their mother came to mind and they completely understood why he was in such a hurry.
Making his way down the hall to the nurses' station he spotted his mother with a manila folder in hand. She had turned and saw him also so she waited with a smile as she saw the cup of life come closer.
"Saa…your welcome kaa-san." Syuusuke said.
Taking a deep breath she inhaled the scent and started drinking. The door they were standing next to creaked open as a tall man stepped out.
"Matsuo-san!" Nanami gasped as he turned to face her.
Matsuo stood with slouched shoulders and sleepy eyes that made him look older than he was. This, however, wasn't what she was really surprised about. On the man's forehead was a drawing of a cat in marker.
Syuusuke tried his best to hold his laughter down but it was quite obvious with the wide grin on his face.
Matsuo grabbed Nanami's hand and put it up, giving her a high-five like they were substituting players in a wrestling match.
"You're in." He mumbled tiredly before he walked away.
Nanami was speechless as to what happened but couldn't contain her laughter for a second longer.
"I thought he'd be good with kids." She giggled amusedly.
Only a minute later when she finally calmed herself did she hear the heart monitor through the door go flat line as it blared its warning bells loudly.
'How could that be?!' She thought wildly. Running in through the door to stop the machine she stopped dead in her tracks.
Ryoma was sitting up in his bed with the heart monitors cords in his hands instead of them being attached to his body.
"Ryoma-kun what are you doing? Those have to stay on, okay? You almost gave me a heart attack."
Ryoma looked at Nanami with watery tired eyes as he said, "Matsu-san left and I was alone so I wanted to find him."(1)
"I'm sorry you were alone, but don't worry I'll be here until Matsuo-san comes back."
Ryoma nodded with a small smile as she puts the cords back in place on his chest. Syuusuke had followed Nanami in the room when he heard the machine and had watched the whole time.
"Oh Syuusuke-kun I'm sorry I completely forgot you were there for a second. This is Ryoma-kun my new patient."
She turned back to Ryoma and said, "And Ryoma this is one of my sons, Syuusuke."
"Saa…it's nice to meet you Ryoma-kun." Ryoma looked at the strange teen in front of him and sat up again.
Syuusuke, by now, was standing next to his mother, who was sitting in the chair beside the bed, with a curiously happy face. Ryoma was 'interesting' he thought.
Ryoma scooted closer until he was right next to Syuusuke and began to wave his good arm in front of his face.
"Syu-kun how you see me wif your eyes closed?" he said cutely.
Syuusuke grinning wider, bent down to Ryoma's level and opened his eyes to let him see. His mouth made the shape of an 'O' as he looked into the electric blue eyes.
"Pretty" he whispered, but Syuusuke still heard him.
Both he and his mother were surprised to say the least because usually everyone was scared to death and said it gave them the chills.
"Is Syuu-kun gonna stay wif Nanami-chan?" Ryoma asked with big eyes.
"Saa…If kaa-san let's me." He replied.
Nanami sighed but smiled and said "Okay". For the next hour Syuusuke spent his time talking and playing with Ryoma. His mother watching and talking every once in a while.
The group eventually got on the topic of Tennis and the two family members both learned that Ryoma liked tennis very much, no not just liked but loved.
When the conversation started his eyes lit up and grew to be the size of dinner plates as he talked about how amazing he thought it was.
When Ryoma winced in pain Nanami asked, "Ryoma-kun are you feeling okay?"
He looked at Nanami and almost shouted 'NO' in a panic. He didn't want her to give him more medicine because then she would notice the needle that was supposed to be in his arm wasn't.
He had kept his hand hidden under the blanket that was on his lap, afraid she would be mad at him again for undoing something.
Ryoma began to shiver in pain as the drugs that had kept him comfortable began to ware off. Nanami stood up and went to the machine, checking that it was still working right but with her back turned she didn't see him start to get dizzy.
"Ryoma-kun!" Syuusuke said as Ryoma's body swayed like a tree before he fell into his arms.
Nanami turned around and grabbed his hand where the needle should have been feeding him his pain medication and it wasn't there.
Finding the needle laying innocently under the blankets where his hand was laying before, she took his hand to find a vein. Putting the needle back into place and placing a piece of medical tape over it to make sure it stayed there.
Taking him out of Syuusuke's arms and carefully tucking him back under the blankets she sighed heavily.
'Why didn't I see that?! I should have noticed he wasn't getting any of his meds.'
Syuusuke stood and put a hand on her shoulder before saying, "It wasn't your fault. You did everything correctly…" Like he was reading her mind. "I'm going to head back home."
"Syuusuke, be careful on your way home and …thank you." He nodded and left, slowly making his way home by foot instead of taking the bus like usual.
Now that the sun was warming the morning air Syuusuke was beginning to regret the fact he didn't take his tennis rackets with him. He would've gone to the tennis courts for a little practice before going home for lunch.
Oh well, he would find someone to play a game against at home so he wouldn't spoil this perfect day to be outside. For the next five or so minutes Syuusuke found himself walking mindlessly as he enjoyed the peace and quiet you could never get at home.
'On second thought, I wish I had brought my camera with me too.' He thought as he looked at the morning sky. It was like it came straight out of a painting and it was just calling to him to take its picture.
Everything was perfect as the birds seemed to fly across the sky in slow motion, not in a hurry to get anywhere. The feeling was bliss for the usual sadist until the peace was broken like a shattered window out of nowhere.
Once broken out of his peace he noticed he was just outside the local country clubs tennis courts. Shouting could be heard from one court in particular and from what he could see it was an older man, maybe in his forties yelling at one of the coaches.
Syuusuke couldn't help but let the anger rise up in him and the now the sadism wheels were turning as he walked towards the court.
'He will regret ruining my peace.'
"Why do we have to do warm ups, huh? Get straight to teaching us those new moves already, this stuff is just for kids! I'm the Golden Retriever!" said a man with a cocky voice as he looked down on the coach.
"I'm so sorry Sasabe-san but these are fundamental to teaching tennis and…ah, everyone has to warm up before they start." The timid coach spoke.
"Saa…since you're so good at tennis, you wouldn't mind teaching me a few tricks would you?" Syuusuke said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
The men turned to see who had said this and a couple paled at the boy while Sasabe, who was too caught up in his bragging, decided to "help" him.
Meanwhile the brothers at home had finished their morning breakfast and were outside enjoying the weather. The distinct battle cry of "BURNING" could be heard from Taka as he played a game of tennis against Kikumaru who happily yelled "Hoi Hoi!" as he hit the ball back.
The others chatted with each other as they watched the two play but it was clear something was bothering their mother hen.
"Hey Syuichiro what are you worrying about? Everything's fine." Takeshi said when he noticed the furrowed brow on their brother.
"Ah, well it's been a while since Syuusuke-nii-san left and he still hasn't come back." He said.
"Him? Aniki, he probably just found his next prey, you shouldn't worry too much about him, you really shouldn't."
Takeshi said with a playful smile. Syuichiro smiled back at him but he still couldn't help the feeling that someone was going to be in danger soon.
Well? How was it? What did you think? Thoughts. Wondering. Feeling.
(1) Ryoma is actually saying Matsu-san instead of Matsuo-san, this is not a typo! He is only 4 years old so Ryoma is using a slight baby talk and this is the name that comes out when he tries to say Matuo's name.
I wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, it's great that you like everything and I hope you continue to read. Thanks goes out to:
Ftrmd- :) I'll try to update more! Thanks for the review! Much appreciated :)
romanadiana. castillo - I'm so glad you like it! I'm really trying to make this happen and it's good to hear what my readers think so thank you! Please continue to read more!
and special thanks to:
windy day 1117- I am SO GLAD to hear you like the story! Although I would recommend you not jump off a building, bridge and/or skyscraper and die, I really don't want that. haha I do understand that you were just expressing your love for the story and thank you again, you really made me laugh! Karupin isn't gone completely but the little fur ball of fun must wait until a later chapter, don't worry it's all in the master plan. haha Thanks bunches!