I only wish to own the obvious

Nanjiroh stared at his son's profile. Ryoma was gazing out of the car, his features devoid of any expression. This was not unusual. Ryoma mostly presented himself in a stoic manner. What caught his attention was the way his son would repeatedly fist his left hand. From this subtle action, Nanjiroh knew that Ryoma was sulking, in his own silent way.

Though he would never admit it to anyone, (his wife notwithstanding, she was another entity in itself) Nanjiroh was actually quite worried about his son. Ever since the physician stressed the seriousness of Ryoma's condition, the whole family had felt the impact. Ryoma became more withdrawn, if that was even possible.

When the old hag Sumire suggested Ryoma stay with them awhile, he and the missus had jumped at the chance. America was only reminding Ryoma of his present condition, and it would do Ryoma good to see his old friends. Perhaps he would even remember why it was he played tennis in the first place.

"What are you looking at, baka?" Ryoma said without glancing away from the car window.

Nanjiroh smirked. The brat was getting cocky. Surely a good sign.

"Nothing. Just thinking what great genes I passed down,"

Ryoma did not reply. Nanjiroh felt his smirk slowly slipping away. He hoped Japan would heal Ryoma. Else, he would have the missus to answer to.Ryoma did seem to be really depressed this time...

"Everyone says I look like mum,"

"Tomo-chan, can I stay with you?"

"And I said to Horio, it's not just what you said, it's the way you said it. Of course Horio doesn't understand, after all, he is the lesser speci-"

"Tomo-chan, I need to stay with you tonight and if you don't answer me I'll tell Horio that you talk about him 24 hours a day."

"Sakuno, that's impossible. For one thing, I sleep 16 hours. For another, I'm going out on a date tonight."

"Wha….but, tonight is monopoly and popcorn night!"

"Yes but Sakuno, it's Kiyosumi Sengoku. We can always do monopop another night. You cancelled on me twice before you know."

"I was sick!"

"You were in mourning because Ryoma left."

At this, Sakuno's heart made a tiny spasm inside of her. Typical.

"Anyway, I thought you had a guest visiting today. I heard from Horio that your grandma cancelled practice because someone important was coming by your house. She looked pretty gleeful about it. Oh, is it an omiai?!"

"…………Am I so hopeless that grandmother has to set up an omiai for me at 17?"

"Bite your tongue. And no, you are not hopeless. Sakuno, you deliberately hide your looks. Anyway, will you help me get ready? Have to leave in 3 hours.

"Anou… It's going to take you three hours to prepare for a date?"

"It's not a date. It's the date."

Tomo's phone suddenly rang. At the lull in conversation, Sakuno tuned in to her own thoughts. She was a coward. She was just so freaking scared of T.B.W.B.I.T.P that she was resorting to asking Tomo if she could stay with her. While Tomo was her dearest friend (sometimes) her 3 younger brothers were not. The eldest of them, a 14 year old, frankly gave Sakuno the heebie jeebies. She could have sworn he had glanced a tad too long at her butt a month ago. And Tomo wondered why she missed two nights of monopop.

"Horio, does it matter what im going to wear to meet Kiyo-kun? If I want to wear my blue shirt, I'll wear it. If I want to wear a bikini, I'll wear it. If I want to go topless, I'll do it! It.Is.None.Of.Your.Business."

Silence reigned after that last shot. Even Sakuno raised an eyebrow at Tomo's agitation. She could make out the words 'protection' and 'I don't care what you freakin wear' coming out from Horio's end. Tomo's face was turning redder by the moment.

"That's it Horio! If you can't be nice, then stop calling me!"

End of round 678. Winner this time was Tomo, Sakuno mentally noted.

The house still looked the same, was the first thought that came to Ryoma's mind. He probably came here twice, but it was surprisingly ingrained into his memory. Perhaps he would analyze this later, if he were the type to nitpick over everything. He was not.

Oyaji was ringing the doorbell for the fourth time. The swear words were becoming more audible, Ryoma no longer too young for him to have to mask them. The bag on Ryoma's right shoulder grew heavier by the minute. He was about to switch the strap when he remembered that he wasn't supposed to strain his left shoulder. His mood soured even further.

A sudden yell came from inside the house before the front door was ripped open. A disheveled Sumire stood panting in front of them.

"Sheesh Oba san, if you're busy, we can come later." Sumire duly responded by cuffing the side of her former student's head. Hard.

"I was cleaning, you pervert. Now come in, both of you. I've made tea, and it's not going to stay hot forever." She glanced at Ryoma, smiled warmly and proceeded to walk further into the house. All without sparing a glance at his left hand.

It was as if Ryoma had never left. He grudgingly felt comforted that Sumire was not clutching and babying him, a nightmare envisioned by him the night before. Perhaps it would somehow be all right….

Ryoma quietly took in the surroundings of the house. He had never actually been inside; the only player privileged enough to have stepped into the old coach's house was Tezuka-buchou. The rest were likely too frightened to invite themselves into the lion's den.

While Oyaji and the old coach disappeared into the kitchen, Ryoma ascended the staircase by the wall. He was tired, his bags were heavy. He was planning on availing himself on the nearest bed and chanced upon a room containing such a prized item. Ryoma guessed it was his due to his pre-mailed boxes placed neatly by the bed. Promptly, he kicked the door close without a backward glance.

"So, how is Ryoma?" Sumire asked softly.

"He's hating himself," Nanjiroh put across bluntly.

"Saa, as expected of Ryoma." Both parties mused silently at that statement, lost in their own thoughts.

"Well, it's not impossible. Ryoma is still young, and that specialist… what's his name? Sano...Sanosuke?"

"Ah, Reiji Sanosuke."

"Right. I asked my doctor friend about him the other day, says that Reiji is highly sought after. So that takes care of the physical aspect-"

"Correct. The thing is, my brat isn't keen on him."

" Eh?! It must be the idiotic genes that you passed down." Nanjiroh spewed his tea all over himself at this, an incredulous expression on his face. He was about to defend himself when Sumire suddenly broke in,

"This injury thing. It's really pulling him down eh... Tell me honestly Nanjiroh; does he even have the will to play anymore?"

"Heh.With him, who knows?"

Sakuno dragged her feet along the pavement. Every step inevitably brought her closer to Ryoma. That brought about a riotous mix of emotions that she did not have the energy to sort out. Grandmother had texted her 5 hours ago, shortly after Ryoma's arrival. Sakuno merely said that she would be returning late, an emergency (more like a fashion emergency on Tomo's part) had come up and she was helping to solve it.

Behind her glasses, her eyes slowly welled up. She took her glasses off, and gently rubbed her eyes. Crying was a norm when it came to Ryoma, though she was slowly weaning herself off it. When her eyes had dried, she patted her cheeks and put on her glasses again.

She realized that Ryoma very likely had forgotten about her. Except for the mysterious letter from him years before, they had no contact with each other. Sakuno had desperately wanted to write or call him, but she was so panic stricken at the thought of him cruelly dismissing her that she hadn't.

The steps leading her front door soon came into view. I really am not prepared for this, Sakuno thought. She twiddled her thumbs for a minute in front of the door. Adjusted her glasses. Retied her plaits. Then, with her beating so loudly that she was sure the neighbours would yell at her to shut up, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The house was silent. Hardly an anomaly considering the late hour. A sudden, dry rasping sound had her jumping in fright then. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen.Sakuno was by no means a daring, brave girl but she felt compelled to investigate the noise for the safety of the house's current occupants.

Trembling, she pushed open the kitchen door. The sight left her both relieved and amused. Her grandmother and Ryoma's father were sprawled asleep in their respective chairs. One only had to look at the bottles of sake strewn around the table to guess their activities. The sound that had caused her palpitations earlier was in fact the sound of Ryoma's father snoring. Giggling louder this time, she slowly backed out of the kitchen.

Shuffling to her bedroom, she stretched out the kinks in her neck, wincing slightly at the soreness. While Tomo was picking out an outfit for her date earlier, Sakuno had been on her friend's computer, mindlessly surfing. The funny angle at which the monitor was faced had definitely damaged something in her nerve. Why, she could swear that she was even looking at things lopsidedly, perhaps even now, her neck was slowly but surely lopping off her head and sliding-

Ryoma was sleeping on her bed.

Monopop – abbreviation from monopoly and popcorn

Omiai - old Japanese custom whereby unattached individuals are introduced to each other

T.B.W.B.I.T.P – The Boy Who Belonged In The Past, aka Ochibi

Well, that's done. I think if I don't get at least 5 reviews, I'll retire from my short stint at fanfiction. That's a hint folks,