Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Chapter 1

It was Monday. The second day of the week, yet the first for the Seishun Gakuen students. The day that was supposed to tell the students 'Stand up and work! A whole new week is ahead of you!' It was supposed to be a start of a whole new week of devil's training, and a new batch of Inui sempai's special 'concoctions'. Mondays are supposed to be like that .

Until a typhoon came Sunday night and destroyed the supposed to be 'it's a new week, here it goes' plan of Echizen Ryoma.

He could still remember the scenario very well. His oyaji, armed with a wok and a ladle, entered Ryoma's room, banging the two things together, as if what he is holding is a pair of cymbals.

Flashback

"Up,up seishounen!", his idiot of a father said, continuously banging the wok and the ladle.

Ryoma stirred a little, the continuous banging that his father is doing is starting to irritate his eardrums, and is also giving him a weird sensation on his teeth. He covered his face with his pillow, hoping that if he will not react, his father will stop banging those stupid kitchen tools then leave.

But he is wrong.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, wake huuuuu-uuuup! Your mother made you a Japanese breakfast, she knows that you will be in a foul mood one you see what the weather is like today and I know that--"

"Why? What's with the weather?" Ryoma jumped out of his bed, remnants of sleep was now totally gone. He hurriedly opened his window, and was greeted with a sight that would ruin his day, his week even.

It was really dark, as if its only 5 in the morning, Ryoma glanced at his wall clock, hoping that the hands of the clock were somewhere around 5 or 4. Early mornings have skies like this right? So the skies would still change, a few minutes from now the skies will lighten and the whole of Tokyo will be greeted with sunlight.

But to his disappointment, it is already 7 in the morning. Ryoma closed his eyes and sighed, one of the things that really irritates him and gets him out of the mood (aside from his father's unnecessary rants and crazy fangirl) is a foul weather. Sure, the world needs rain once in a while, he can tolerate that, but basing from the thickness and darkness of the clouds, he will be getting too much of it.

"Is there a…"

"Yes there is", Nanjiroh said. As an athlete, Nanjiroh could feel Ryoma's disappointment about the weather. The fuel that you have inside for training and practice dissipates. Oh well, his son is still lucky there are indoor tennis courts nowadays.

"Seishounen, a storm is here in the country, so expect more rains, now while it is not yet pouring, go down and get ready. But if you wan to be a drenched young man, then remain sulking here."

With that, Nanjiroh banged the wok and ladle for the last time then winked at Ryoma.

"Baka Oyaji" Ryoma muttered under his breath.

"Hey! I maybe getting old but I hear what you said, one more 'baka oyaji' and I am going to cut your allowance", Nanjroh reprimanded his son playfully, while pointing the ladle towards the lad.

Ryoma shrugged his shoulders and went back to his bed and fix the sheets and pillows.

"Stubborn child", Nanjiroh said and left Ryoma's room. While descending downstairs, the cat eyed boy could hear his oyagi whistle 'Careless Whisper'.

It is not raining, but the sky is really dark and thick. A sign saying that anytime now, it will rain really really hard. The young tennis prodigy ate his breakfast as fast as he could that he cannot savor the taste of his beloved Japanese food anymore. After drinking his milk, he slung his backpack on his shoulder and started to put his shoes on.

He started his walk towards the school, and while he is at it, Ryoma would look up in the sky once in a while, taking caution on how the skies would make his life and his mood as cloudy as it is up there.

The street lamps are still on, and there are few people on the street. Most of them are walking as fast as they could (almost jogging) for them not to be caught under the upcoming rain that is sure to be a strong one. Every now and then a strong gush of wind would blow, and women wearing skirts would make an effort for their underwear not to be seen. Shrieks are heard and some of them who are too slow and were not able to control the 'puffing' of their skirts had the attention of most of the people around them. Some who have cycling shorts underneath could walk as confident as they can, not caring about how much the wind blows since even if their skirts will be 'puffed' by the wind, there will be no indecency.

Ryoma made it to the school grounds, dry and free from any possibilities of getting a cold. He was about to go to the tennis courts for their morning practice when a sudden pour of rain with big droplets conquered the whole vicinity. He didn't know what to do first. Curse under his breath or thank kami-sama for keeping him dry.

He choose the second option first. He looked up in the sky and muttered a silent 'arigatou'. Then he gazed back down.

"…"

"…"

"Oh shit!" he muttered.

A vibration from his pocket caught his attention; he dug his pocket for his phone and flipped it open. A text message from Inui sempai.

Attention all club members! There will be no practice for this morning; we cannot use the gym because the basketball club reserved the place. If the rain will not stop until the afternoon, we might have the practice at the gym if the basketball club is done using it. Wait for further announcements.

End of Flashback

"Just as I predicted",Ryoma thought. He was on his way to their classroom when he heard a wail. A very different kind of wail. The kind that would impair your eardrums permanently if it will not stop soon. Not the wail that he usually hears when his fangirls would express their undying love and admiration for him, or the one that he hears whenever he would pass the girls bathroom, while catching the words like 'broke up' or 'called it quits'.

Actually it resembles that of a little boy's.

As the realization hit him, his curiosity aroused, a wail of a little boy? The youngest people in the school are 12 years of age, and they can't wail like this. He followed the sound and saw a kindergarten student in his blue uniform crying as loud as he can. The kid is with a girl with long auburn hair that was let loose, there is a pink headband on his hair to keep baby bangs away from her sight.

"Hello little boy, are you lost?" the girl kneeled so that she could talk to the boy better. She spoke to the kid with her soft voice, as if she is dealing with kids his age everyday. She smiled. The boy shook his head. He rubbed his eyes and continuously wailed, the words that he spoke afterwards were hard to catch because of the hiccups that get on the way almost every second.

"N-no I am afraid and c-cold and…" the boy afterwards put his arms around Sakuno, snuggling at her for warmth. Sakuno caressed the boy's back to calm his hiccupping, she knew what is feels like to cry as loud.

She smiled. In more ways than one, the boy reminds her of the days when she was in kindergarten as well. She cries every time her grandmother would leave her at school, thinking that she would never ever come back again. She would cry as much and hiccup as much, hoping that with every teardrop and hiccup, her grandmother would choose to stay.

And as Sakuno looked at the boy's swollen brown eyes, she is reminded of her little self and her grandmother's soothing and comforting words.

She reached out and caressed the boy's cheek, wiping his tears and comforting him at the same time. Her soft gaze and warm smile ceased the boy's wailing and only hiccups could be heard.

"What's your name?" Sakuno asked still caressing the boy's cheek.

"Shrota…"

"Ah, Shrota-chan. What's wrong with Shrota-chan today?" She asked. She pulled the little boy closer and held its right hand, as if telling the boy not o be shy and tell it to her, she would help Shrota-chan no matter what!

"Onee-chan…"

"Hmm?"

"I peed in my pants"

To be continued