Requested by: ctdiaz

This had took a different direction than I initially anticipated, lol. Hope you still like the final result.

Sparkly green eyes watched the small neon ball bounced from one side of the court to the next; and as the tennis ball flew in the air, Ryoma followed its track, observing the moment when the ball hit the racket and bounced to the other side.

It was simply fascinating.

Even the sound of the ball smacking the racket was music to his ears.

As Sanada and Fuji were engaging in yet another tennis match, Ryoma sat by the sidelines and observed the game, absorbing what he saw like a sponge sucking in water. When the game had finally ended, the four year old toddler grabbed the towels by the bench and handed to his parents.

Fuji smiled and ruffled Ryoma's hair gratefully, while Sanada merely muttered his gratitude. Needless to say, both of them were quite proud to raise Ryoma as a polite (sometimes) and helpful child.

When they walked over to the bench and grabbed their respective water bottles to quench their thirst, Ryoma eyed the fallen tennis ball on the ground. He looked back at his parents; they wouldn't notice one missing tennis ball, right?

After coming to a conclusion, he nodded his head and pocketed the ball. He tugged his shirt down as much as he can, trying to make it less conspicuous as possible before walking back into the mansion with his parents.

Ryoma and Atobe was sitting on the couch, both were watching the cartoon rolling on the TV with Ryoma's head leaning against Atobe's chest whilst he was swinging his feet up and down. Atobe, on the other hand, hardly minded as he contentedly hugged his little boy, his arm secured around Ryoma's waist to ensure that the toddler wouldn't tumble off the couch.

And within Atobe's right hand was a bowl of grapes to which he fed it one by one to Ryoma, and one could say that Atobe was treating Ryoma like royalty; and in fact, Atobe would definitely agree with this statement as in his eyes, Ryoma was his little prince. There was nothing wrong for a king to spoil his successor (despite what his lovers may argue otherwise).

Yukimura then walked in, carrying his tennis bag, and Atobe turned to him, eyeing the bag. "Going out to play tennis again, ahn?"

Ryoma's ears perked up and glanced at Yukimura, mouth still nibbling on the grape.

Yukimura, with his trademark smile, nodded. "Just for some light rallies; it wouldn't do to sit at home all day and slack off."

"So you're calling ore-sama tachi slackers," Atobe raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips.

"Well, Keigo, you might be a slacker, but not our Ryo-chan, right?~" Yukimura pinched Ryoma's cheeks and the toddler tried to escape, but to no avail. "Want to play some tennis?"

"Un," Ryoma eagerly nodded, grabbing Yukimura's hand and jumped off the couch. Atobe, not one to be left behind, closed the TV with the remote and trailed behind the two. And the family once again entered the private tennis court. This time however, Ryoma was handed his own specialized racket and was allowed to play.

Eagerly clutching the handle of the racket, he stand in position, body waving slightly from side to side in excitement. Yukimura then lightly smacked the tennis ball and Ryoma sprinted forward, managing to smack the ball back.

And just like this, the duo repeated the pattern several times and every time, Yukimura would make sure to not exert a lot of force just so that Ryoma wouldn't get hurt.

After, perhaps, the fifteenth rally, Ryoma was struggling to hit the ball back, and his parents' keen eyes definitely took note of this.

"Ryo, you may stop now," Atobe called out whilst sitting under the beach umbrella. "As a reward for your good sportsmanship today, ore-sama will treat you to a triple deluxe ice cream coated with your favorite rainbow sparkles."

"No." Though he say that, Ryoma's eyes were most definitely trailing towards the ice cream the butler was holding.

"Ryoma, I know you want to get stronger, but it is also important to rest," Yukimura commented, taking Ryoma's racket out of his small hands while ignoring his son's protests.

"Papa," Ryoma whined, but eventually, he heed their instructions and followed their lead toward where the delicious treat was.

And while the family was happily eating the cold ice cream, no one noticed the small bulge in Ryoma's pocket - no one except Ryoma himself that is.

This pattern of Ryoma snatching tennis balls had became more or less obvious in which the fivesome definitely noticed that something was amiss: sure, a couple tennis balls missing was nothing to fret about but having a whole bunch of them missing was very suspicious indeed.

To add the cherry on the cake, every time one of the lovers asked Ryoma if he knew where the balls went, Ryoma would always avert his eyes and reply with a negative answer.

Ryoma was never good at lying - that much was for sure - and so to see Ryoma using the same lie over and over again was highly suspicious. And so today, the lovers decided to confront their son regarding this matter and hopefully, they will find an answer to this mystery.

Marching to Ryoma's room, Tezuka was the one that opened the door for the rest of the fivesome, all the while donning a stern countenance, no doubt already prepared a long lecture to chide Ryoma with.

Ryoma, startled, turn to his parents and took a step back.

His parents didn't payed much attention to his defense mechanism as they were more focused on what was behind him: within the open drawer, it was filled with the missing tennis balls. There were probably at least twenty, perhaps even thirty, of them.

And from the other side, Fuji was the first one to make a move and as he get closer, Ryoma tensed. "Ara, what do we have here?" Fuji inquired casually, not appearing to be mad, and instead, he seemed... amused?

Fuji turned to the toddler, awaiting for an answer when Ryoma failed to supply one.

"...phies..." Ryoma muttered.

"Hmm?"

"They're my trophies!" He declared.

"Wait, what trophies? All I see are tennis balls," Sanada blinked, utterly confused.

"Gen," Yukimura said and Sanada kept his silence.

"Can you clarify for us, Ryo-baby?" Fuji added.

"These balls prove that I'm a tennis player... like daddies." Ryoma, like any child, admire his parents and strive to become just as talented and powerful as his daddies.

Fuji and Yukimura was quick to grab their child and gave him a group hug. "Aww..." they cooed, kissing Ryoma's cheeks. The two sadists were soon joined by the rest, and everyone most definitely felt happy over Ryoma's words.

Perhaps this was what a father felt like - that they're becoming a role model for their little chibi.

Got any requests? Feel free to share them with me!