A/N: Wow. I started this story way back in 2007... When I first entered high school. It's so crazy that I'm already graduating this year, really, it has been quite a journey.

This was just a little wrap up to everything, short and sweet- nothing too dramatic although I can't deny the bits of cheese I added here and there.

Thanks for everything, everyone.

Disclaimer: My story, not my characters.

And Yet

Special Circumstances

"Sakuno? Ne, Sakuno?"

"Mmmm?" Sakuno lifted her heavy eye lids and squinted at the burst of light. She noticed the room was completely white, bathed in a rush of sunlight emitting from a window in one of the walls. A crib with glass sides and metal legs stood opposite the window, near the door.

Inside the crib, a small bundle wrapped in a light blue blanket gently moved up and down…Breathing.

"Good morning, Sakuno."

"Ryoma…" Sakuno smiled softly at Ryoma and shifted her glance towards the crib.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ryoma sat on the edge of Sakuno's bed and looked intently at her. He liked having control over things, but when Sakuno had suddenly gone into labor at the wedding reception/baby shower, Ryoma could do nothing but watch the paramedics tend to his wife.

Even worse, Sakuno had fainted right after she gave birth.

"Only a little tired, but don't worry. I'm just happy the baby seems to be healthy." Sakuno sat up slightly on her bed.

The baby was early. Way too early. Before Sakuno woke up, the doctors had performed several treatments on the baby to help sustain his life. They also ran numerous checks to make sure the baby didn't carry any defects or diseases that may be detrimental to his health. As Ryoma walked over to the crib, he realized that it may have actually been beneficial to Sakuno's health that she was unconscious while the baby was still in critical condition. The anxious waiting behind closed surgical doors would have been too stressful for a woman who had just given birth.

Ryoma leaned over the crib and scooped a small, light blue bundle into his arms. "Do you want to carry him?"

Sakuno eagerly nodded. Ryoma walked back to Sakuno's bed, holding their son in his arms. Gently, he transferred the bundle into Sakuno's warm embrace.

"Oh, I think he's waking up." Sakuno caressed the baby's cheek. "I can tell that he's going to look so much like you."

"Really?" Ryoma peered into Sakuno's arms. The baby had a thin mass of dark green hair and, although they were barely open, Ryoma could see the baby's bright, auburn eyes. His small fingers were curled at his mouth as he glanced shyly at his parents.

"Ryoma," Sakuno glanced worriedly at her husband. "What did the doctors say about him?"

Ryoma sat next to Sakuno's pillow and softly stroked her hair. "He's early, but they said if he's given the proper treatments, he'll turn out like a normal boy."

Sakuno let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm sorry everything turned out like this."

"Sakuno, right now," Ryoma walked over to the water dispenser and filled up a cup of warm water. "I just need you to be healthy. Don't worry about anything else." He looked at her from the other side of the room with as gentle a gaze as his fierce cat eyes would allow.

"Ryoma…"

Ryoma walked back over to Sakuno's bed with the cup of water in his hand. "Here, I'll take him for now. You should drink this."

Sakuno slowly slid the baby into Ryoma's arms and took a sip of the water. Even though the water was warm, she felt a cool, refreshing sensation in the back of her throat. She looked up at Ryoma and smiled. "Thanks."

Ryoma, who had been staring at his child while Sakuno was drinking, looked back at Sakuno and held her gaze in a warm, but momentary silence.

"Hello?" There was a knock at the door. "Can we come in? It's time for the baby to receive the next treatment."

"Oh." Ryoma opened the door and a group of nurses walked in, followed by a doctor.

"Hello, Mrs. Echizen." The doctor greeted Sakuno. "It's great to see that you are awake."

Sakuno bowed in her laying position. "Thank you for taking care of my son and me, Doctor."

"Ah, no problem," the doctor shifted his gaze towards the child in Ryoma's arms, "speaking of your son, did your husband explain the situation yet?"

Sakuno nodded. "Yes. I am so sorry for the inconvenience I have caused."

Ryoma glared at Sakuno. That was just the one thing that bothered him. Sakuno was always too apologetic, always taking the blame on herself when it clearly wasn't her fault.

"No, not at all. We will try our best to make your son healthy." The doctor nodded at the nurses. Recognizing their cue, the nurses walked towards Ryoma and took the baby from his arms. They placed the baby into a crib they had rolled in from outside the door.

"We'll be done in an hour or so, but the baby will have to remain the rest of the day in our nurse's care in case anything should go wrong." The Doctor explained with a stern voice, but paused when he saw Sakuno's despondent expression. "Everything will be alright, Mrs. Echizen. Your baby will be safe in our care and if all goes well, you will be able to take him home in two weeks."

"T-thank you so much for your care." Sakuno smiled through teary eyes.

The Doctor bowed and motioned for the nurses to roll the crib out of the room.

Sakuno let out a loud sigh, laid her head back down on the pillow and turned her head towards Ryoma. "Ryoma…I'm so sorry. If anything happens-"

"Sakuno," Ryoma interrupted. "It's not your fault, okay?"

Sakuno frowned. "Still…"

"The doctors here are reliable." Ryoma leaned in towards Sakuno. "Have a little faith."

Sakuno stared deeply into the pools of Ryoma's eyes. A surge of emotions sped throughout her body and the anxiety of possibly losing her baby left her conscience. Despite the cold intimidation that Ryoma's stares were so infamous for, Sakuno actually felt comforted and warm as she looked closer into Ryoma's eyes.

Sakuno was so immersed that she didn't even realize how close to his face she had moved. Ryoma twitched an eyebrow as Sakuno continued to inch nearer to his face. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes and gave Sakuno a gentle peck on the lips. "You should really get some more rest now."

The moment Ryoma finished his sentence, a loud, grumbling sound came from under Sakuno's blanket. Sakuno's cheeks, still flushed from the kiss, turned several hues darker as she giggled at her own incompetence. "Not yet, I'm a little hungry."

Ryoma smirked. "Do you think you're able to walk? There's a café downstairs."

"Ano…" Sakuno sat up and turned her body sideways so that her legs were dangling form the side of the bed. "Yup, let's go." She slipped her feet into the cotton white slippers on the side of her bed and linked onto Ryoma's arm.

Ryoma took his jacket off and wrapped it around Sakuno's shoulders. Then he wrapped his arms around her to bring her even closer to him. "Alright, but we're going to go slowly."

Sakuno giggled quietly at Ryoma and allowed him to lead her towards the café. They passed by doctors, nurses, and other patients in the hallway, who all turned their heads to admire the couple walking so closely together.

As Sakuno and Ryoma entered the cafe area, they spotted a large group of their friends sitting in the lounge next to the cafe. They seemed to be talking very animately and none of them noticed Sakuno and Ryoma enter the cafe.

"Oi aren't you two both medical students?" Momoshiro gestured towards Fuji and Tezuka. "How do you think she is?"

Fuji sighed and looked at Tezuka. Tezuka, crossed his arms and remained silent.

"Well, Sakuno-chan should be okay, but the baby…"

"Nyahhh…." Kikumaru lowered his chin to the table. "I wanna see the baby!"

"Eiji," Oishi shook his head. "What's more important is, how is Sak-"

"SAKUNO-CHAAAAANNNNN!" Kikumaru leapt out of his seat and bounced towards Sakuno.

"Sakuno-chan!" An, Tomoka, and Horio followed suit as they bounded towards the entrance of the café.

Ryoma still had his arms around Sakuno's shoulders, but was pushed pretty far off of her by the time Kikumaru had managed to get his hands on her. "Oi monkey boy…" Ryoma glared.

"Sakuno-chan! Sakuno-chan!" Kikumaru hugged Sakuno tightly. "Are you okay? How's the baby? Is he cute? Ah, he's probably cute since you and O'Chibi are so cute."

Sakuno just smiled and giggled in Kikumaru's arms. "Haiiii sempai."

"Sakuno!" Tomoka ripped Kikumaru off and took Sakuno into her own arms.

"Hey!" Kikumaru pouted feeling slightly offended but the aggressive girl.

"Tomo-chan," Sakuno hugged her friend tightly. "I'm alright, so please don't stress over me."

"Oh Saku-chan." Tomoka cried into Sakuno's shoulder and held her even tighter.

Ryoma who had been watching his wife get raped by two people already had just about had enough. He made his presence known as he walked over to Sakuno and swiftlly slipped her out from Tomoka's grasp. "Hey! I was still hugging her!" Tomoka whined.

"Oh Tomoka, you gotta give the girl some space." An smiled at Ryoma and Sakuno. "Hey, I'm glad you're okay, Sakuno."

"Thank you An-chan," Sakuno bowed. "At the wedding and also for being here, thank you."

"My," Horio stepped out with a confident look on his face. "My years of experience as a hospital volunteer tell me that –mph."

Tomoka slapped a hand over Horio's mouth and dragged him towards the exit of the hospital. "Sorry Sakuno-chan! I couldn't take off from work, so I have to go now…I'll come see you again tomorrow, okay?" Tomoka shouted back at Sakuno whilst trying to keep Horio from speaking.

"Hai, thank you! Tomo-chan!" Sakuno smiled.

"She wanted to wait until you were conscious." An walked up to Sakuno and gave her a quick hug. "I have to go too, but I'll definitely come back to visit, so take care of yourself alright?"

Sakuno nodded. "Thank you again."

"Is it my turn again?" Kikumaru jumped up and down. "More hugs! More hugs!"

Ryoma shot a piercing glare at Kikumaru and put his arms around Sakuno.

"Hey O'chibi, that's not fair!"

"From my calculations, Echizen's possessive nature has increased by one-hundred twenty percent." Inui poked his head from behind Kaidoh. Kaidoh twitched for a moment when he suddenly saw the data man appear in the periphery of his vision.

"Echizen! You better be taking good care of you wife, you little bastard." Momoshiro squeezed Ryoma's neck in his arm and knuckle-sandwiched his head.

Ryoma felt Sakuno escape from under his arms again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fuji give him a sadistic smile as he hugged Sakuno tightly.

"Sakuno-chan, you should've seen Echizen after you fainted from labor." Fuji winked at Ryoma.

"Ne?" Sakuno glanced over at Ryoma who was still caught in Momoshiro's grasps.

"He was a mess, you know." Fuji smiled.

"Momo…Get off of me." Ryoma gave Fuji a menacing glare.

"Come on, Echizen! I was just worried about you, man." Momoshiro said with an offended undertone as Ryoma completely ignored him and headed in Fuji's direction.

Before Ryoma could save Sakuno from Fuji's sadistic remarks, however, a tall shadow loomed into his field of view.

"Echizen." Tezuka stared with arms crossed over his chest. "Go forth with—.."

"Sorry Tezuka." Ryoma interrupted. "I don't have time for this right now." He nudged past an extremely shocked Tezuka and made his way to Sakuno.

"Ah, better run now." Fuji smiled and stepped towards the exit. "Congratulations on your new family! I'll be back to visit soon.."

"Fuji-san!" Sakuno called after him but the door had already closed. "Thank you for coming," she softly muttered.

"Hn." Ryoma brushed up against Sakuno's arm. "What did he say to you?"

Sakuno shook her head. "Nothing really."

"What's in the bag?" Ryoma motioned towards the plastic bag he had seen Fuji hand to Sakuno before leaving.

"Oh this!" Sakuno smiled. "It's from Kawamura-san since he had to work and couldn't make it today. I think it's sushi."

"Ah. I'll hold on to it. Ryoma took the bag from Sakuno's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, but still hungry." Sakuno blushed.

Ryoma smirked. He placed the plastic bag down at a nearby table and pulled out a chair. "We'll sit here."

"Thanks, Ryoma." Sakuno sat down as Ryoma pushed her chair in.

Ryoma walked around to the other side of the table and took out a Styrofoam box from inside the plastic bag.

"Wahhh~" Sakuno's mouth watered as Ryoma opened the box. "This sushi is so beautifully made."

Ryoma nodded in agreement. He picked up a piece of sushi with his chopsticks and held it up in front of Sakuno. "Here."

Sakuno ate the sushi in one bite and smiled brightly as she chewed. "It's delicious."

Ryoma smiled.

Meanwhile, Kikumaru was on the floor laughing and crying, while pointing an unsteady finger at Tezuka's expression. "Shot downnnnnnn~~~~~"

"Eiji!" Oishi urged Kikumaru to stop. "Don't be so disrespectful."

Momoshiro, who also witnessed Tezuka's first rejection, slapped Tezuka on the back and smirked. "Sorry Cap'n. Echizen's not the same boy from Seigaku anymore. He has other concerns he has to put above himself and other people."

Tezkua let out a shallow sigh. Ryoma always accepted his strong words of encouragement obediently and he never knew the day would come when Ryoma would actually reject him. He glanced over at Ryoma happily placing a piece of sushi in Sakuno's mouth. Sure enough, Ryoma definitely wasn't the same kid from Seigaku anymore. "Let's go. We are disturbing the peace here."

"Wah already?" Kikumaru pouted. "Look at O'chibi feeding Sakuno-chan… he never fed me even when I begged."

"Come on, Eiji." Oishi pulled Kikumaru's arm. "You guys too, Momoshiro, Inui, Kaidoh."

Ryoma glanced over as he saw his former teammates quietly making their way to the exit. He let out a loud sigh and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Thanks for coming."

Sakuno quickly turned around and said goodbye as well.

The seven men all looked back and waved as they closed the doors behind them.

"I'm so glad they came." Sakuno smiled.

Ryoma picked up another piece of sushi and held it in front of Sakuno's mouth. "Here."

Sakuno happily opened her mouth for the sushi and quickly chewed it down. "Oh by the way," Sakuno said curiously, "did my grandma drop by?"

"Yeah she did, but you were still unconscious." Ryoma explained. "My parents and a lot of other people were here too, but the hospital staff only let one person stay with you overnight. I insisted on being the one to stay in your room, so most of them left last night."

"Oh okay."

"They're probably going to come sometime today, so you'll see her soon." Ryoma assured Sakuno.

"That's fine, I was just curious." Sakuno shrugged. "Also, Ryoma?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been wondering about this for a while and I know we should probably wait until he's healthier, but what should we name our baby?"

"Oh… that," Ryoma smirked. "Definitely something strong."

"Yeah but I also want it to have an all around good meaning. So he becomes a strong, but good-natured person."

"Haru…"

"ki?"

"Haruki. Echizen Haruki."

"I like it. It means 'shining sun', which is both strong and warm."

"Strong," Ryoma smirked, "…and warm. Very fitting."

"Then it's settled!" Sakuno clapped her hands together. "Haruki. Our own son, Haruki."

A moment passed as Sakuno and Ryoma both carefully examined the pools of each other's eyes.

Sakuno sighed. "I feel kind of nervous."

Ryoma looked at Sakuno worriedly. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no it's not that." Sakuno shook her head. "I'm talking about being parents…I'm nervous. I don't know if I can be a good mom yet, and my mom passed away when I was young so I'm just scared I'll do things the wrong way and—"

Ryoma placed his hand on top of Sakuno's hand. "It's okay, Sakuno. It's okay."

"Ryoma, you know, looking around here, we're probably the youngest parents…" Sakuno scanned the café and lobby area, watching as pregnant woman who were at least in their twenties and thirties stroll around with their husbands.

"So?" Ryoma stood up and pulled his chair around next to Sakuno. He sat down close to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Worrying like this isn't good for your health."

Sakuno leaned her head into Ryoma's chest. "I know, sorry. I really don't understand how you can be so calm though."

"Mada mada dane."

"Hey," Sakuno pushed herself away from Ryoma and crossed her arms. "Well tell me your secret then. We're not even twenty yet and I'm still in college. It's the prime of your tennis career and now we have newborn baby to take care of. Ryoma, I'm just scared that we'll make horrible mistakes as parents."

"We won't." Ryoma stared fiercely at Sakuno. "Be confident."

"It's just… I don't know. I don't want to disappoint Haruki or you," Sakuno whispered, "because I love the both of you so much.

"That's enough then." Ryoma pulled Sakuno back into his chest and stroked her shoulder. "Just remember that and you'll be fine."

Sakuno nodded into Ryoma's chest and closed her eyes.

Of course Ryoma was nervous. He was going to have to start supporting his own family and taking on the role of a father. Sighing, Ryoma leaned into the back of the chair, propped his head on top of Sakuno's head, and closed his eyes.

And yet, despite their worries, Ryoma and Sakuno both so desperately wanted to love and cherish their new family. Their future hardships were inevitable, but having trusted each other all this way, neither of the two wanted to disappoint Haruki; After all, they were real parents now.

A/N: That's all folks! Thanks to the readers who followed me all this way, it's been a pleasure.

I'm finally letting Ryoma and Sakuno conquer the world on their own now. I can kind of relate, since I'm going to college this year.

We're all entering a new life chapter, a bit nervous and unsure, but excited nonetheless.

Once again, thank you all my readers and reviewers!

~Special Circumstances