Chapter 8 – Grandma's Visit
Sakuno walked into the kitchen where Sumire had taken a seat at the table. Nanjiroh was sitting across from her, glaring. Sumire looked up when she heard someone entering the room and upon seeing Sakuno, smiled broardly.
"Sakuno, are you okay?" Sumire asked, eyeing Nanjiroh across the table.
"Of course she's okay you old hag!" Nanjiroh yelled at her. Ryoma, having just walked in, smirked at the adults.
"I-I'm okay obaa-chan, everyone's been really nice to me." Sakuno said to calm the two adults. Sumire looked at Sakuno before saying,
"Don't trust Nanjiroh Sakuno, be very wary of him." Sakuno just looked at her grandma in confusion. Rinko chuckled, as she had just returned from making some tea.
"Don't worry Sumire, I'll keep an eye on him, and I'm sure Ryoma won't let him do anything either."
"Hmph" was Ryoma's only reply to his mothers comment. Sumire looked at Rinko and smiled.
"I'm sure you two will be able look after Sakuno and protect her from him" Sumire gestured towards Nanjiroh.
"Hey old hag, I'm protecting your granddaughter from this stupid wannabe gang so watch it." Sumire looked towards Nanjiroh before turning to face him fully.
"I guess I do have to thank you both for looking after and protecting Sakuno"
"Oh , it's a pleasure Sumire. It's nice to have another girl around with Nanako having to study so much for her exams, and having her and Ryoma in the same place just makes it easier to protect them both." Ryoma scowled at having to be protected, however Rinko smiled towards Sumire, who returned her smile.
"Well Sakuno, how do you like staying with the Echizen's so far?" Sumire asked her granddaughter, surprising everyone.
"A-anou..." Sakuno hesitated at being asked such a sudden question, as soon as she looked at Rinko, Nanjiroh and Ryoma however a smile came to her face. "They have really made me feel welcome Obaa-chan". Rinko approached Sakuno, smiling widely, and wrapped her in a hug. Sakuno's eyes widened at the contact, she had never been hugged by someone she only met the day before and had never expected to be hugged by Ryoma's mother. However, she was very happy and was soon smiling.
"You're so cute Sakuno-chan!" Rinko squealed in delight. The next half hour was filled with interesting conversations and laughter. Nanjiroh seemed to be constantly yelling, usually at Sumire who was also yelling at Nanjiroh; Rinko was laughing along at the pairs antics and occasionally placating the conversation while Sakuno and Ryoma sat by not contributing much, Sakuno just happy to listen and Ryoma simply not caring. After the moon was well and truly out Sumire decided she best go home.
"Here Sakuno," She called brandishing two large duffel bags at her granddaughter. "There are some spare uniforms, some casual clothes and toiletries. If you need anything else just let me know okay?" Sumire looked down at Sakuno who smiled brightly at her grandmother.
"Hai Obaa-chan, arigatou" Sakuno took the duffel bags from her grandmother and placed them on the floor before giving her a hug, which Sumire gladly returned.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow Sakuno." Were her parting words as she went through the door. Once her grandmother was gone Sakuno turned towards her duffel bags.
"Ryoma, why don't you help Sakuno take her things upstairs?" Rinko looked at Ryoma, a sweet yet stern smile on her face. Ryoma took one look at his mother and sighed.
"Hai" he said, before grabbing the heavier of Sakuno's bags and making his way towards the stairs. Sakuno started to panic.
"A-anou, I-it's fine Ryoma-kun. Y-you're still injured." Ryoma turned his head toward the brunette girl and looked at her blankly before motioning towards her ankle saying,
"So are you." Ryoma instantly turned back around and started up the stairs. Slightly shocked that she could completely forget she had a sprained ankle, Sakuno stood still for a moment before following him up the stairs.
Rinko smiled at her husband who was looking at the two teenagers retreating up the stairs with a satisfied look. "That brat's finally starting to grow up, even if it is just a little. You're still mada mada dane Ryoma" Rinko smirked at her husbands use of his catch phrase that their son had also picked up.
Sakuno entered the room just as Ryoma sat the bag down on the bed and turned towards the brunette girl. "You can put your shampoo and stuff in the bathroom, and if you need to hang any of your clothes up you can hang them in the closet." Ryoma said, point towards the bathroom and closet in turn.
"H-hai, arigatou Ryoma-kun" Sakuno smiled at the boy in front of her. Ryoma looked at Sakuno for a moment before turning towards the closet. He pulled out some sleep clothes and made his way out of the room, obviously going towards the bathroom. Sakuno watched him leave before turning towards her bags.
"Looks like I should start unpacking" She thought, placing the bag in her hands on the bed beside the one Ryoma had carried for her. Inside was an assortment of casual clothes, her favourite pink dress included. "I don't think any of these should be hung up... Maybe just the dresses, the other's should be fine" Once she had inspected the first bag Sakuno moved onto the second. In this bag there were uniforms, toiletries, and a few comfort items Sumire knew would make her granddaughter feel at home. A smile lit up the young girls face as she saw her favourite pillow, the book she was in the middle of reading and her notebook where she kept certain important pictures (one of her and Ryoma and one of her parents). The young girl then got to work hanging up her uniforms and dresses in the closet.
Ryoma sighed and sunk lower into the warm water. It had been a long day. "Who would have thought that Ryuzaki would be staying here for..." To be honest no one knew how long it would take to sort this whole situation out, however until it was Ryuzaki would be staying there. "At least it's Ryuzaki and not one of the annoying ones" Ryoma shuddered as he thought of Tomoka or Horio staying with him. After soaking for a considerable amount of time Ryoma left the bath, got dressed and returned to his room with a towel draped over his shoulder's so he could dry his hair in his room. When he entered the room, Sakuno was standing in front of the closet, still putting her clothes away. Upon hearing the door open and close she looked towards Ryoma and smiled brightly, before blushing and turning back towards the closet. Ryoma made his way over to sit on the bed wondering what she was embarrassed about.
Meanwhile Sakuno was thinking about the image of Ryoma with his ebony, black, wet hair hanging in front of his eyes. The pigtailed brunette, having just finished putting away the last of her clothes, looked back towards the young tennis player and saw his eyes focused on the items sitting beside him on the bed, halfway through towel dying his hair. Sakuno made her way across the room and sat beside Ryoma on the bed, causing him to quickly turn his head towards her, the towel falling off his head in the process. As soon as the towel landed on the floor giggles started to make their way out of Sakuno's mouth. Ryoma's dark hair was a mess, it stuck out at odd angles like blades of grass sticking out from the ground. The girls giggles caused Ryoma to look at her in confusion, which just made the scene all the more funny. Sakuno was now holing her sides as giggles racked her body. After another minute or so Ryoma realised what the braided brunette found so funny and scowled, straightening down his unruly hair. Sakuno's giggles subsided and she looked at Ryoma apologetically.
"Gomen Ryoma-kun, you just looked so..." She struggled to find the right word that wouldn't offend the cocky tennis player, "interesting?" Sakuno more asked than explained. Seeming to realise this she decided to elaborate. "I've just never seen you like that before and it was amusing" Becoming very shy as she said the last statement, Sakuno lowered her head and looked at her fidgeting hands. Ryoma, however was looking towards the girl in front of him, finding her discomfort slightly amusing. His signature smirk found it's way onto his face as he said
"Mada mada dane Ryuzaki" said girl looked up a blush coating her cheeks. Ryoma reached across the bed and picked up her toiletries. "You should go put these away Ryuzaki" He placed the items in Sakuno's hands. Sakuno, blush still on her face, decided to do what Ryoma said and took the items towards the bathroom, along with some clothes to change into.
Now that he was left alone, Ryoma didn't quite know what to do. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something that caught his interest. Finally his eyes landed on the same items that had caught his eye when he first entered the room. The pillow was the first of those items that made it's way into the boys hands. It was a relatively normal pillow, nothing about it seemed any different to Ryoma's pillows, except the pillow case which was covered in colourful stripes with a light pink, fluffy boarder. Ryoma quickly lost interest in the pillow, it was just a normal pillow after all, and instead turned his attention towards the book. Cat-like eyes widened as they met the cover. He knew this book well as it was one of his favourite non-tennis related books. Honestly, he couldn't believe Ryuzaki liked the book too. It was a very uncommon book that not many people knew about. Most people would just skim past it in a book shop, that's if the book shop had it in stock. This book was so unpopular that they aren't even in print anymore, you can usually only find them in a used book shop or an unsold copy from a regular book shop. It was a shame that the book wasn't more popular, the writing style is just beautiful and the story line has you double guessing right until the very end.
"Huh, I never knew Ryuzaki likes this book. I was sure I was the only one as school who even knew about it." Ryoma opened the book to where her bookmark was and read over the page. She was up to a very interesting battle scene, one that Ryoma had quite enjoyed reading. Still mulling over his new discovery about the girl who was currently in his bathroom, Ryoma leaned back on the bed and continued to read.
About ten minutes later Sakuno returned to Ryoma's bedroom. Ryoma was laying on his side facing towards the door, engrossed in the book in his hands. He looked so calm, peaceful and natural that the sight just took Sakuno's breath away. Never before had she seen Ryoma like this while awake, and she doubted if even the senpai's had. After a few moments of staring the book caught Sakuno's eye. It was her book."Why would Ryoma be reading my book? Not many people like it, or even know about it"
"A-anou, Ryoma-kun?" Ryoma quickly looked up from the book and towards the girl and his eyes widened. Sakuno's long, brunette hair wasn't tied up in it's usual braids, it wasn't tied up at all. Long wavy brown hair cascaded down Sakuno's back and ended at her waist. Ryoma, who was used to seeing the girls hair always tied up in braids was a bit stunned at how beautiful it looked let down. "At least I can understand why she wont cut it now" Ryoma was brought out of his thoughts by Sakuno asking, "I-I was just wondering if you like that book?" She lowered her head to cover her up her light blush. Ryoma looked back down at the book in his hands.
"Yeah, it's one of my favourites." Sakuno's eyes widened,and her mouth made the shape of an 'o', before she smiled at the boy in front of her.
"It's one of my favourite too. I just love the writing style, and the plot is just so exciting. This is my second time reading it." Sakuno's eyes lit up as she spoke about the book. Ryoma could see that she loved the book just as much, if not more, than he did.
"I've read it twice as well" Ryoma responded, not minding having a conversation for a change.
"Ryoma! Sakuno! Dinner's ready!" The two decided to stop their conversation for now and descended the stairs, eager for something to eat.
A.N. SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I know it's been ages since I last updated and I'm sorry, but you might have to wait a while for the next one too. I have exams coming up and wont have much time to write. Oh by the way I do have an excuse for not updating. My excuse it writers block. It's annoying, but don't think I haven't been thinking about this story every day, because I have. Anyway I'm hoping to start adding reader's suggestions in the next chapter so if you have anything you want me to include do share. I hope you liked the chapter, I'm not too sure about it myself. I think it might have been boring. Please share your opinions of this chapter with me. (Subtle hint for reviews. Speaking of reviews...). Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really enjoy getting reviews, they make me so happy :)
Please Review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading. Until the next chapter (which hopefully wont take as long as this one did.
Cya
