The Guest

Written by: me

Tenis no Oujisama: the one and only Konomi-sensei

AN: When writing this, I was taking a break from my other stories that I had started and am trying to finish. I toyed with the idea of what would happen if Sakuno was forced to stay at Ryoma's house and get the full effect of the Echizen family. More may come along. I just hope you enjoy this for now. BTW—I use Japanese in my stories and have loose translations at the bottom. Read and enjoy!! Doozo!!

Sakuno grabbed her bags out of Coach Ryuzaki's car and dragged her feet to stand by her grandmother. She could hear the doorbell ring and someone's footsteps from inside, causing her heart to skip a beat. She really didn't want to be standing there, in front of some stranger's door, waiting for them to invite her into stay. Just two days, she thought, it'll only be for two days. She kept her eyes focused on her feet; but as soon as the door opened, she lifted her gaze. Her anxiety began to fade as Sakuno looked at the calm, smiling face of the young lady standing there.

"Ryuzaki-san deshou ka?"

Coach Ryuzaki nodded. "This is my granddaughter, Sakuno, who will be staying with you for a few days."

"Irrasshai. I'm Nanako, please come in." Nanako smiled and bowed. She opened the door wider and motioned for them to come and step into the foyer. "Excuse me, I'll just go and get my uncle." She smiled at Sakuno, and then disappeared through a side doorway.

After Nanako left, Sakuno began to fidget again and that anxious feeling was starting to come back. She didn't really know why she felt like this, as if something was going to happen and she didn't know if it was a good premonition or a bad one.

"You'll be fine Sakuno." Coach Ryuzaki said reassuringly, "I wouldn't just leave you with anyone."

Sakuno nodded and barely squeaked out a reply. No sooner did she answer, a tall figure dressed in a black robe stepped out of the same doorway that Nanako disappeared through. He was a bit scruffy looking and wasn't wearing any socks or indoor slippers. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Either way, it didn't matter. The look on his face told Sakuno that he was not very happy.

"This is my granddaughter, Sakuno. Thank you for taking her in and letting her stay with your family for two days." Coach Ryuzaki introduced Sakuno to Nanjiro while trying to hide her smile. She could tell from his countenance that her mere presence was annoying him to no end. Sumire began to relish in the fact that she could still get under her former student's skin.

As soon as she heard her name, Sakuno gave an awkward bow and nervously looked away from the scowling monk standing before her. All she wanted to do now was run out the door and lock herself in her grandmother's car. She could feel the monk's stare and it was making her squirm. She knew that tugging on her skirt hem wasn't going to help her out of the situation, but she continued to tug as if it was going to save her life.

"Chk…" Nanjiro sniffed as his gaze settled on the fidgeting girl who seemed to be completely fascinated with her skirt. "With her, your family actually has hope, obaba." He let his eyes linger a little longer on Sakuno before turning his focus back to Coach Ryuzaki. He was not in the mood to deal with this old woman, but once he saw her granddaughter, he thought that this wouldn't be too bad. "She is welcome here."

"Good. I'm glad I saw young Nanako here and I know your wife will be thrilled to have another level-headed female in the house." Sumire smirked.

"NANIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!" Nanjiro yelled.

That creeping, anxious, slightly nauseating feeling washed over Sakuno. Whatever her grandmother and this deranged, angry, and slightly creepy man were talking about was of no concern to her. It didn't matter anyway because she couldn't hear them. Her head was spinning. Maybe if she fainted, her grandmother would change her mind about going out of town for the next two days and take her home. She could hear the crazy man's voice get louder and louder as he continued to talk to her grandmother. She couldn't even tell what he was yelling about and her grandmother seemed so calm and just stood there with a smug grin on her face. Was her grandmother really going to leave her here with this man? How cruel could her grandmother be?

In the midst of the chaos down in the foyer, a door upstairs opened up and a voice called out: "You're too loud, Oyaji."

Sakuno froze. All fidgeting, all squirming, all movement of her person came to a sudden and frightful halt. The anxious, creeping, nauseating feeling went away; only to be replaced by a foreboding sense of doom. That voice wasn't really…it couldn't be…it wasn't really…

Nanjiro watched as in a split second he heard his son's voice, the blood drained from the girl's face. A light bulb seemed to go off in his head as he suddenly remembered that he had seen her before. A malicious grin spread across his face. These two days are going to be fun!!

"Nee, Shonen! Stop being rude and come downstairs to greet our guest!!"

Grumbling could be heard from the open door upstairs, then footsteps. Soon, Ryoma was halfway down the stairs. Sakuno let out a loud gasp and exclaimed, "Ryoma-kun!"

Ryoma halted in his tracks and stared at Sakuno. His eyes were as big as saucers. "You're the one staying HERE??"

"Now, now, Shonen. Is that anyway to welcome the person who will be staying with us for a few days?"

AN: Here are a few translations of the Japanese used in my story:

"Ryuzaki-san deshou ka?" roughly "Ryuzaki-san, right?"
"Irrasshai" welcome
"obaba" old biddy (my translation)
"NANIIIII!!!" "WHAAAAAT!!!"

Hope you liked it. This was kinda intended to be a oneshot, but it does have some potential into becoming a bit longer. I'm not sure though, because I still have some more stories that I would like to upload and also finish. Thank you so much for reading my story. niku niku