Prince of Tennis 1. All I want is

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of it's related characters, themes, content, etc.

* * *

Ryoma never thought that getting a new phone was this difficult. He knew what he wanted but he just couldn't seem to find it.

They seemed to have changed everything since I last got a phone Ryoma thought as he stared at a sign that wasn't at all helpful. And where is Sakuno? This store isn't that big. Why can't I find her? Frustrated Ryoma decided to find Sakuno and see what she had found. The two had recently moved to the U.S. After getting settled and developing a routine they decided to get a local plan and some new phones.

Ryoma continued to look at all the phone features as he searched for Sakuno. His mind began to swirl as he read everything that phones came with: e-mail, GPS, speaker, voice activation, swivel, Bluetooth, wi-fi, global capabilities, music, smart phones, flip, advanced phones, operating systems, media, music, qwerty, 3G, touch screen, memory cards, camera, push to talk, slide.

All these things yet Ryoma couldn't seem to find the one feature he wanted. Maybe they changed the name or something; after all everything else is different from the last time he got a phone. He needed to find Sakuno first though. His name was next on the list of people to be helped, but they couldn't get phones for them if she wasn't there.

"Echizen." An annoyed look crossed Ryoma's face as he made his way over to the sales associate.

"What can I do for you today?"

"I want to get a new plan and new phones for my girlfriend and I."

"That's great. Do you know what you want?"

"I'm not sure yet. She disappeared on me," Ryoma said as he turned around to scan the store again in search of Sakuno only to find her standing right behind him. Another annoyed look crossed Ryoma's face, "Where did you go?" Sakuno just looked at him tilting her head to the side, "I was just looking at phones. Um, I found one over there that I like."

The statement having been directed at him, the sales associate smiled, "Well then let's go take a look."

Sakuno led the two men to where she had been looking at phones. Ryoma looked around, grumbling in his head, not understanding why he didn't see Sakuno in this area, and remembering to ask about the feature he wanted. "That one," Sakuno said pointing to the phone.

"One of our newer ones. That's a good phone."

Before the sales associate could go on Ryoma interrupted, "Does it have navigation?"

* * *

Ryoma and Sakuno left the store with new phones in hand. Ryoma had spared no expense and made sure that Sakuno's phone had navigation, GPS, 3G, and wi-fi. He also made sure that Sakuno knew how to utilize them all before they left the store.

Now hopefully, she would stop getting herself so lost.


	2. Is it really contagious?

Ryoma wasn't sure where he should stand. He was out shopping with Sakuno and no matter where he stood he always seemed to be in the way.

Why doesn't this store have a place to sit down Ryoma thought as he scanned the area again.

He knew it was pointless having already looked around for a place to sit several times. Instead all he saw was a bunch of women attacking the clothing racks like there was no tomorrow. Ryoma would look at their actions every so often but otherwise he would watch Sakuno to see if she needed anything. However, he couldn't help but stare at the two women who just came in the store.

They had been just short of running to the nearest rack like it was going to disappear within the next minute. One of the women immediately shoved the clothes back only to start vigorously pushing them forward one by one as she looked through them. The other women just grabbed the shoulders of two shirts yanking them opposite directions to see the front of one. Both of them were moving so fast Ryoma wasn't sure if they actually saw the design.

I will never understand women Ryoma thought as he watched them move from one rack to the next in no time at all.

Ryoma's eyes went back to Sakuno and he couldn't help but let out a small smile. She calmly stood at a rack, a shirt in hand, carefully looking at it. Deciding she didn't want it she put it back and then used her fingers to peek through the other shirts until she got to the next design. Then she gently moved all the other shirts forward and thoroughly looked over the new shirt. He had been watching her do that since she starting looking for clothes a half hour ago.

One of the reasons I like her Ryoma couldn't help but think. She's thoughtful and discerning; takes her time to decide if she likes it or not. Kind and gentle too, she moves things around carefully, no need to be brash and practically throw things off the rack.

Ryoma's smile became triumphant as he continued to watch Sakuno and thought about the fact that she was his. The smile quickly faded however, when he watched Sakuno pretty much run to a rack she appeared not to have noticed before. Grabbing the edge of the sleeves she quickly yanked the shirts apart, rapidly looking through them, and grabbing a few that Ryoma was sure she didn't know what they looked like.

How does she even know that they will fit Ryoma thought as Sakuno went back to carefully looking through all the racks around her. It didn't even look like she checked the size.

Ryoma just blinked and decided that Sakuno was just having one of her moments. She had those occasionally and he was cool with those too. Ryoma smiled at the thought. Even through all her peculiarities he was glad that she was his and that they were going to be married soon. They understood each other better than anyone else and Ryoma couldn't imagine living his life with anyone else.

"But I don't want to shop here it's too cheap. Can't we go to a more fashionable store?" The loud whining interrupted Ryoma's thoughts and he frowned, looking at the girl.

Spoiled brat he thought looking back over to Sakuno who had made her way to the clearance racks. Another smile.

Ryoma was pretty sure he had found the perfect girl. Even with all the money he made playing tennis Sakuno still lived carefully making sure not to spend too much money. She never asked for anything expensive and even today he had been the one to insist she go get a few new clothes. Still no store was beneath her and she bought what she liked not caring about fashion. Secretly Ryoma thought that their wedding day couldn't come soon enough.

However, Ryoma was drawn from his rare moment of sappiness when Sakuno shoved back a pile of clothes on the rack and then proceeded to go through them by grabbing the hangers and throwing them forward.

Is she even looking at them Ryoma thought as Sakuno went through the clothes at an amazingly fast speed. Soon done, she moved on to the next clearance rack doing the same thing. I think all the other women are rubbing off on Sakuno, Ryoma thought as he watched.

He could only hope that she would be done soon and that they could leave before she became someone who wasn't his fiancée.

I will never understand women Ryoma thought once more, as he again looked for a place to sit down.


	3. Depends on

Ryoma stood in the doorway to the kitchen just simply watching Sakuno. He had just gottten out of the shower, after coming home from tennis practice, and had come down to see if Sakuno wanted any help with making dinner. He wasn't quite sure what exactly had made him stop at the door just short of asking if she wanted help. It could have been that she was frying tempura at that moment and he didn't want to distract her or the serene yet focused look on her face that he didn't want to disturb. Most likely Ryoma figured, was that it's just because he likes to watch Sakuno.

Ryoma thought back to when he first realized he liked to watch Sakuno. It was during the beginning of their second year of high school and had been a rather embarrassing moment, as he didn't even realize he had been watching her in the first place. Momo had pointed it out to him and afterwards he and Eiji wouldn't stop teasing him.  
After that, he tried to stop watching Sakuno not even sure why he had been watching her in the first place, especially since he didn't realize he had been. It had all really made no sense at that point in time. But after several days of consciously trying not to watch Sakuno he found that he couldn't do it. He liked to watch her and wanted to continue doing so even if the only reason he could come up with was that her movements, actions, and, in general, everything she did just fascinated him.

After only a week of resuming his watching, Momo and Eiji started to tease him again. He had just glared at them, telling them that he liked to watch her, and to mind their own business. He wouldn't have said anything had he known that their teasing was just going to get worse, now with claims of him being in love. After greatly denying it and throwing in a few high school aged temper tantrums Ryoma began to think about what they said.  
At first he believed that there was no way that he was in love. A person could enjoy watching someone without being in love with him or her. He really just liked to watch her; there was no other reason.

Convinced of that he continued on with life watching Sakuno like he usually did, but by the end of the day doubt had crept into his mind. Now more aware of the fact that he was watching Sakuno and because of what Momo and Eiji had said, he was beginning to find the reasons he like to do so.  
Her smile was what he would call pretty and her face when she was concentrating was cute. He found himself getting lost in her eyes and her hands always looked graceful when writing. He noticed how her hips would sway and how her chest would bounce when she walked.

After realizing what he had just thought Ryoma shook his head violently and took off running in the opposite direction ignoring Sakuno calling after him. That wasn't love; it was just his hormones kicking in. All the guys his age noticed things like that. Better yet it was his father rubbing off on him. He would gladly blame all that, and much more, on his father. So when he saw her after tennis practice he just tried to ignore how she had grown and concentrate on her eyes.  
Sakuno asked him if he had been all right earlier and he nodded saying that he had forgotten something. He couldn't help but let out the tiniest of smiles at her concern. He liked watching that too.  
All the times that she stopped to help someone carry things, or pick something up that someone dropped, or lend or give something of hers away, or how she always greeted everyone with a smile, he just liked everything she did and who she was as a person. When he realized how much of a confession that was in his mind he then called her wobbly hips and clumsy and ran away ignoring her cries of protest.

That night Ryoma couldn't sleep. He just laid there, his mind swirling with Momo and Eiji's declarations of him being in love and how he agreed with them. He knew it was true and he couldn't deny it anymore, he was in love with Sakuno. But he really wanted to know when it happened.  
He had never thought very highly of love. Girls seemed to go crazy, squealing and happy one moment and crying and heartbroken the next. It all seemed like so much effort to make sure that the other person was happy and that you weren't doing anything wrong. A relationship and, in general, dealing with someone all the time just seemed like a burden. He never thought he was cynical about love but with his father the way he was he had to wonder why every so often. At times he didn't get why his mother put up with his father.

Putting all that aside he found girls attaching themselves to him annoying. They would act so strange when he first met them, always like he was some sort of prey. Love seemed troublesome and painful so he decided just to not deal with it and focus on tennis.  
So he didn't get when he fell in love with Sakuno. There hadn't been any sort of pain or annoyance. There was no burden or worry and in fact he felt rather happy. He really didn't get love at all. As much as he had dreaded the whole idea of falling in love she had made it easy, so easy he didn't even realize he had fallen in love. But lying there in bed thinking about what to say to Sakuno the next day he liked that falling in love had been easy.

"Ryoma, how long have you been standing there?"

Ryoma was brought back to the present by the object of his thoughts. He looked at Sakuno answering, "Not long. Do you need any help?"

Sakuno shook her head, "It's all done. Will you help me carry it to the table?"

Ryoma just nodded his head and grabbed what Sakuno pointed out for him to carry. He inhaled deeply. Everything smelled delicious and he was reminded of how hungry he was.

"How was tennis practice," Sakuno asked as she sat down across from him at their small table, the food all out.

"Fine. How was your day," Ryoma replied as he began stuff his face with food. Sakuno just smiled and began telling him about her day. Ryoma listened, smiling between bites of food, and was glad that it was Sakuno who had made falling in love so easy.


	4. who you are

Sakuno inwardly sighed as she watched Ryoma take bite after bite of dinner. She knew he was hungry after practice but times like these still made her wonder why she had fallen in love with the boy. After all, he had never made it easy. Of course she had never heard anyone say that love was easy. She just sometimes wished Ryoma would talk more. She hated how she felt like she talked all the time and she liked to hear about his days and his thoughts. Communication was key in relationships and they sometimes had issues with their lack of it. People in love should just naturally want to communicate and talk with each other Sakuno thought. But then that would probably make love easy and Sakuno knew that love was far from easy.

Throughout middle and high school Sakuno always thought that Ryoma should have come with some sort of warning label. Anything to let you know that he didn't like talking, had an attitude, was obsessed with tennis, and didn't know how to deal with girls. She liked to think that it would have made dealing with Ryoma easier. Weather or not a warning label would have worked, she fell in love with the boy anyways so she probably was the strange one.

It was during their first year of high school that she really started to like him. Sure she had a crush on him their first year of middle school but that had passed quickly and she went on to have several more crushes on other guys. In high school though, they were placed in the same class after not having shared a class since the beginning of middle school and therefore they starting hanging out again. Sakuno couldn't deny how Ryoma had grown and all the reasons for her crush came flooding back to her.

Consequently she decided to try to get him to notice her more. Of course she then discovered that physically was about the only way Ryoma had grown. He still didn't like to talk, had an attitude, was obsessed with tennis and didn't know how to deal with girls. She was grateful that everyone began to hang out together again like before. She knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with him by herself. Ultimately, it took a lot of her courage to try to talk to him. So while saving all her courage for dealing with Ryoma, Sakuno thought up ways to get him to notice her.

First she decided to try cooking for him, as everyone says that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So a couple times a week she made a little extra food offering it to him saying she had made too much. She tried to keep inconspicuous about it all, not cooking for him too often. After a few weeks of that and no signs of anything she began to cook for him nearly everyday. When she didn't make him lunch she baked sweets and brought them instead, creating some excuse for making them and having leftovers. She did that for several weeks but Ryoma never seemed to respond to anything.  
While in some ways it seemed that he noticed her more, she was pretty sure the looks he gave her was just him questioning her sanity or something. She did constantly made extra food only to say she was full or wasn't hungry and give it away. She was sure Ryoma thought she had some sort of eating problem and by this point had quickly grown frustrated. After all, all she got were strange looks and never a 'thank you' or 'this is good.'

She quickly convinced herself that Ryoma would never like her and soon stopped cooking for him. She tried after that to stop liking him and just when she felt like she was starting to really get over him, she actually had to bake something for an event and brought in the leftovers for everyone else to eat. Ryoma of course chose that day to eat one, tell her how good it was, and then practically act like a little kid as he tried to take the rest from everyone else. Sakuno spent the rest of her day is disbelief but when she got home the first thing she did was mark that recipe as one of Ryoma's favorites. The next thing she did was decide to put another plan into action.

A good way to make him noticed her, she decided, was to be more present in his life. She was never really present, just there on the edges of everything, in class, during lunch. She didn't even go to tennis practice anymore since her Grandma was no longer their coach. And so Sakuno decided that when she could manage it, she was going to be as close to Ryoma as possible. She started by sitting next to him at lunch everyday and than began to walk right next to him whenever they were going to and from class. It wasn't easy and she didn't always manage it.  
While Tomoka understood what was going on none of the guys did and some days she just didn't fell like trying to push past them. After all, they had grown as well. But she did was she could and also tried to go watch tennis practice more often in addition to the games. She started cooking for him again, though much more sporadically, and brought him cans of Ponta whenever she remembered.

And again after weeks of trying to get him to notice her, all she got was nothing. Ryoma didn't seem to notice her any more than before and what made it worse was that she was right next to him. Was it because he got so much taller? Should she step away to be in field of vision better? Sakuno couldn't help but laugh at herself for thinking up that one. What a silly excuse. But it made it that much more painful that she could be right next to him and he still didn't notice her.

She had gone home and cried that night at the realization and the next day stayed as far away from Ryoma as she could. After that she tried to keep her distance so that she could get over her crush on Ryoma. She told herself everyday that it was never going to amount to anything and she would save herself so much trouble by getting over him. Ryoma of course seemed to have it in for her when a week later he got her attention at lunch by leaning over the table and shouting her name. He then proceeded to make sure that she came to their tennis match the next day. Her hope renewed she spent the match thinking up more ways to get him to notice her more often than just when he felt like it.

The cycle continued with Sakuno doing whatever she could to get Ryoma's attention. She continued cooking for him more and bought him Ponta; if he ever needed something, pen, paper, eraser, tennis ball, whatever, she made sure to be the first one to give it to him. She asked him for advice on tennis, which she still liked to play, and when that didn't seem to be enough she asked for help with school work. She did whatever she could to make sure that in some way she was on the boy's mind. It was the most frustrating time ever. She wondered if maybe she was really out to get herself. She kept trying all these things over and over again. But Ryoma was Ryoma and he never seemed to get it. Even worse were the times he seemed almost cold towards her.

She had wanted to give up so many times but Ryoma never failed to have a moment where he gave her hope. She felt like she was just getting strung along and secretly wondered if Ryoma was doing it on purpose. She could never believe it though considering how clueless he was about everything, but she just didn't understood why she couldn't give up. Why couldn't she just make her feelings towards Ryoma go away? Why did she have to love him so much? Why was she capable of seeing all his great qualities past his dislike of talking, his attitude, his obsession over tennis, and his social ineptness, especially with girls?

Sakuno remembered the day she realized why she loved him. She had been crying and secretly cursing Ryoma's bad qualities. Her frustrations at his lack of noticing her or anything that she did had built up again and she couldn't help but burst into tears after school. She had thought that no one had been around but suddenly he stopped in front of her and handed her a Ponta. He didn't say a word but just looked at her for a second with slight panic and confusion readable on his face. She took the Ponta with a thank you and he just walked away after that.  
She just stared after him and just after he was out of sight she burst into laughter. She couldn't help but find that face he made funny and adorable. After her laughter subsided she let out a big sigh. Her hope had been renewed again but it didn't seem so tiring that time. She realized why she loved him. Ryoma would have been the last person on earth to know how to console her but he still tried. He had so many good qualities compared to his bad ones. They paled really in comparison to what a great guy he really was. Even though he made love so hard she still loved him and she wasn't going to give up.

Sakuno gave a small sigh and smiled. That was right Ryoma had his moments. Whether he was trying or not it, was his good qualities and those moments that made it all the frustration go away.

"Hey are you going to finish eating? Your favorite show is about to come on."

Ryoma wrapped his arms around Sakuno as he spoke placing his head on her shoulder and drawing Sakuno from her thoughts. She looked at her food to see she had only eaten about half of it and then at the table to see it had been mostly cleared.

"You didn't look like you were going to eat more so I put some stuff away but it's delicious so you should finish eating."

Sakuno just smiled and finished her food while Ryoma finished putting everything away. Once done cleaning up Ryoma grabbed some ice cream and two spoons and followed Sakuno to the couch where they sat back to watch some T.V.

"I came up with a new move today," Ryoma said as he handed Sakuno a spoon and took the lid off the ice cream container. "Do I get to see it later?" "Of course," Ryoma replied turning to smile at Sakuno.

She smiled back at him and leaned up giving him a kiss. He kissed her back and in Sakuno's eyes he was grinning a bit dumbly when they pulled apart. "I love you," Ryoma said. "I love you too," Sakuno replied. She settled into his side taking a bite of ice cream. Even though he had made falling in love so hard, he was well worth it.


	5. It's not just girls

Sakuno couldn't believe what she was hearing, or to think of it another way, she couldn't believe what she wasn't hearing. She was presently with Ryoma and Momo. The three of them were having a sushi dinner at Taka's place, taking one of Ryoma's rare breaks to hang out and catch up. The conversation was mostly fueled by Momo's questions and his talking, with both Ryoma and Sakuno answering and adding things in.  
Their food coming had silenced the three for a bit but Momo and Ryoma had quickly eaten and began to talk again while waiting for their next order. Sakuno just sat and listened as she continued eating. However, even if she wanted to say something Sakuno had no idea what she would say, as she wasn't sure what the two boys had been talking about for a while now.

"So have you," Momo began.

"No senpai," Ryoma replied.

"I don't see why not after all every girl."

"Not every girl senpai."

"Oh come on Echizen."

"I don't see what makes you."

"Experience, which you."

"I do not. I just happen to have an."

"That's what you think. She's really just."

"No she isn't. How would you?"

"She's my friend too."

"But you don't know her."

"That's what you think."

Ryoma just glared at Momo.

"Hey don't take it like that," Momo said going on the defensive, "You know I didn't."

"I know but I still don't have to like it."

Their conversation had been going like that since nearly the beginning, with Ryoma and Momo answering each other before they finished their sentence. Sakuno could only stare at them as they kept talking in sentence fragments but still clearly kept carrying on a conversation, one that apparently they seemed to understand.  
Sakuno wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh. Earlier that day while hanging out with Tomo and the old freshmen trio Ryoma started giving her a hard time about talking with Tomo like that. All the boys eventually joined in, teasing Sakuno and Tomo and complaining about how girls often talked with only partial sentences because they just seem to know each others thoughts all the time.

Sakuno ended up smiling. "Who said it's only girls who speak like that?"

Both Momo and Ryoma turned to look at her. "What," Ryoma questioned.

"Who said that it's only girls who speak like that?"

Ryoma just gave Sakuno a confused look. "What are you talking about? Speak like what?"

"With partial sentences, like you know each other's thoughts."

Ryoma and Momo looked at each other both very confused. "Sakuno what are you talking about," Ryoma asked.

Sakuno just stared at Ryoma's clearly confused face and eventually sighed. "Never mind."

Ryoma and Momo watched as Sakuno went back to her food and then looked at each other.

"What was," Momo started.

Ryoma just shrugged, "I don't always."

"Yeah," Momo agreed, nodding his head.

Sakuno just sighed again.


	6. I'm always thinking of you

First

Disclaimer~ I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its related characters

I realized that I forgot to do that a couple chapters back and I kept forgetting. I shall try to remember to do that every chapter since I forgot in the beginning

Second

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  
I love seeing that someone came to look at my stories. Whether you loved it, hated it, read all of them, one of them, or barely glanced at it, thanks for clicking the link and trying anyways! To all my silent readers, thank you as well. I hope you stick around. To all those who have added this story to their favorites or alert list, another big thank you! Those emails always make my day no matter what and I hope you stick around as well. And to those who have reviewed, Tommyboy1331, thegrandprincessofdarkness, teshichan, Maerchen Freunde, and .Lawilet, thank you as well. Reviews also make my day no matter what. As you can see, I am thankful!  
.Lawilet~ Wow I just wanted to say that I felt some pressure after reading your review but thank you it was very insightful and it gave me some things to focus on.  
Maerchen Freunde~ I'm so glad you've seen guys talk like that because while writing it I kept thinking about how I've never really seen guys do that and I kept thinking it was a bit farfetched, so that made me happy.

Third  
Last I wanted to say, I'm sorry this next story took me so long. It did not turn out at all how I planned. I started writing it but had some writers block for this story and a huge amount of inspiration for another story I started a couple years ago, so I was working on that mostly. But I forced myself to write cause I did want to do it but a single story turned out to become two stories. I wasn't initially planning to have a single situation or topic presented from both Ryoma and Sakuno's side but since you all seem to like that a lot I will try to come up with more. Hopefully I can do it. がんばります。Anyways what was a single story turned out to be two and I've spent several weeks writing, analyzing, and fixing cause I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first. I've either fixed it to the point that I finally feel like I got the point across that I wanted, it's grown on me over the past few weeks, or I just want to post and don't really care. Haha I feel like it's a slight mixture of all those things. This past week or so, I've just been like man I really, really want to post something. So hopefully this doesn't suck in my desire and rush to post. I do feel more confident in this one though than the next one, so it will be a little while before I post the next story but hopefully not too long as I feel these two stories are tied more closely. Being able to read both of them I think makes them better. So look forward to it and enjoy this story. Well enough babbling from me but don't worry I don't do this often. Enjoy and again, thank you all very much!

* * *

Sakuno was greatly intrigued when Ryoma said he had a surprise for her the next day. She wasn't sure what had brought it on, as some sort of event usually coincided with the surprise, but Sakuno knew that nothing of importance was coming up nor had anything just passed. At least she didn't think so. Sakuno checked to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, scouring all the calendars, planners, and date sites that she had. Sure enough there was nothing and so Sakuno went to bed incredibly curious as to what the next day would bring.

Ryoma made sure that he was up with Sakuno the next day. He really wanted to be up before her to cook breakfast but since he rather lacked cooking skills, he just made sure he was right there with her to help with anything she needed. Of course Sakuno began asking questions the moment they were up and heading down the stairs.

"Don't you have practice today?"

"No."

"Oh, is that the surprise?"

"No."

"What is the surprise?"

"You'll find out."

"Oh, so what are we doing today then?"

"You'll find out."

"So that's the surprise?"

"In a way I guess."

"You're being very secretive about this Ryoma."

"You should wear one of your yukatas today."

"Eh?"

"I'll be wearing one of mine."

"Oh, ok."

Realizing that he wasn't going to give anything away, Sakuno stopped asking Ryoma questions and he couldn't help but let out a smirk. Ryoma knew Sakuno was going to love the surprise and he actually really wanted to tell her everything. She'll be more surprised if I wait till we get there he thought. That's most of the fun anyways.  
Ryoma soon found himself scurrying about the kitchen following Sakuno's orders. She had him fetching everything she would need; bowls, spoons, chopsticks, ingredients, pots, pans, plates, all one at a time. He knew she was a little put off that he wouldn't even give her a hint as to what he had planned, but he saw the impish grin on her face and the amused look in her eyes every time he handed her something and she made him go get something else. She was enjoying herself so he decided to play along.  
"Milady here is the rice you requested," Ryoma said taking her hand and kissing the back of it before securely placing the small bag of rice in her fingers. Sakuno giggled at his actions then spoke, "Why thank you kind sir. Now, if you please, the last and most important thing, the rice cooker."  
Sakuno finally turned around to the counter to get started while Ryoma retrieved the rice cooker. She had him start the rice while she prepared various things for him to mix. Once he was started on all that she began to prepare the harder part of the meal. They worked quietly only talking here and there. Sakuno had settled herself to asking how tennis had been going since she knew he wasn't going to give anything about the surprise away.  
Once the food was prepared they ate quickly, Ryoma saying that they wanted to get there on time. Of course, when Sakuno asked where, Ryoma just took another bite and smiled saying the food was good. After a brief cleanup, the two got dressed and were soon driving to their destination.

They talked more in the car, commenting on what they saw around them. When the streets began to get more crowded Sakuno again began asking about the surprise. Ryoma knew she could tell that, whatever it was, it was close, but he would just keep smiling saying she would find out soon.  
After finding a place to park, Ryoma led Sakuno along the sidewalk. As tempted as Sakuno was to ask what was going on, she didn't, being able to tell that Ryoma was searching for something. He seemed to find it a few minutes later and sat down on a stonewall inviting Sakuno to join him. She sat, looking straight at Ryoma.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know," Ryoma said drawing out the last word, "You'll see it soon enough. Actually you can hear it coming right now."

"Eh?" Sakuno turned to look in the direction that Ryoma was looking and saw a school band and several floats coming down the street. "A parade," Sakuno questioned turning back to Ryoma with an excited smile on her face. Ryoma smiled back, "It's just the first part but we'll get to everything else later so let's enjoy this now." "Un." Sakuno nodded and turned again to look at everything that was coming, settling into Ryoma's side.

The two relaxed and watched as the parade went by. They talked about everything that passed, voicing their thoughts, clapping for the bands and other various performers, and even catching a couple pieces of candy that were thrown out. As the parade came to an end, Sakuno turned her head to Ryoma. "I'm even more curious now. What's next?"  
Ryoma smiled, giving Sakuno a quick kiss on the forehead before standing up and offering his hand, "Milady." Sakuno giggled and took his hand. Standing up she stretched out her legs a bit, Ryoma doing so as well before he led them to their next destination.

They walked along with the crowd for a ways and pretty soon Sakuno saw a mass of tent tops with stands of goods set up underneath them. The smell of food indicated that there were plenty of food vendors elsewhere in the park. "A festival," Sakuno exclaimed face lighting up, almost running forward if not for Ryoma holding her hand. She turned to Ryoma, clearly very excited, "A parade and now a festival, what's going on?"  
"It's the Fourth of July," Ryoma replied. Sakuno's excitement paused in her confusion, "What does that have to do with it?" Ryoma chuckled, "America's Independence Day, silly girl."  
"Huh? Oh right," Sakuno exclaimed everything clicking together, her excitement returning. Ryoma chuckled again squeezing her hand, "Calm down. We're almost there and we have the rest of the day to look at everything. My wallet is full and ready to be emptied." "Oh hush you," Sakuno said with a smile, giving his arm a shake as they stepped in to the park grounds.

Sakuno immediately went to the closest tent to see what they sold, dragging Ryoma along behind her. He smiled and decided he would have to tease her today as much as possible since, she was clearly too thrilled about the festival to really notice much or care. They slowly moved from tent to tent, Skauno looking through everything carefully. After going down a row of tents, a total of about thirty, they headed towards the food vendors to get something to eat.

Back and forth they went throughout the day between the merchants and the food, also stopping at the small shows that were scattered around. Ryoma's hands slowly began to fill with bags of goods as Sakuno bought things she liked. He couldn't help but smirk every time she bought something. Sakuno was always careful with money but there was something about a fair, where she bought just about everything in sight. Of course there were things here and there that he would look at and get for himself as well.

At the end of the day, after having gone through an entire park full of tents, the couple got something to eat for dinner and then headed towards the game booths. They played each game, sticking around longer at the ones Ryoma didn't win at right away. As the evening went on Sakuno noticed Ryoma checking his watch and finally asked, "Is there something going on?" Ryoma turned to her and smiled, "Just the last part of the surprise. Lets get dessert and go find a place to sit."

Leading the way Ryoma and Sakuno found some ice cream and funnel cake for dessert. Heading towards where people were starting to gather, Ryoma picked a spot and the two sat down in the grass. They ate their food, talking about their day as more and more people showed up. When a good size crowed had come together Sakuno looked at Ryoma intently, "What's going on?" Ryoma smirked, "It will start soon. You'll just have to wait and see."  
"Why can't you tell me," Sakuno asked with a pretend pout. "It just ruins all the fun," Ryoma answered, still with a smirk.

Only a few minutes passed before the sound of a screech and a loud boom were heard. Red, white, and blue lights filled the sky with many more colors coming after that. "Fireworks," Sakuno squealed with delight giving Ryoma a hug before leaning back, her eyes fixed on the sky. Ryoma smiled as she oohed, ahhed, and giggled with joy. He only saw a few of the actual fireworks, being much more captivated by how the light played across her smiling face.

Ryoma knew Sakuno loved fireworks and festivals. In Japan, during high school, she would drag as many of her friends as she could to as many festivals as she could. It was the only time she was ever really persistent and demanding. Ryoma was never sure why Sakuno loved festivals so much but he would always go, along with everyone else, and they always had a pretty good time.  
Since coming to the United States they hadn't had many chances to go out. He was always busy with tennis practice and tournaments but he would try as hard as he could to go out on dates every so often. He had noticed though how she had seemed to be more homesick lately and noted a comment she made about how there weren't many festivals or reasons for fireworks. He was glad that it had been close to the Fourth of July and he then went through several sites to see what was planned so he could make sure to take her out. When he found out about the festival, he immediately almost gave it away by shouting out in his triumph. He spent the next five minutes trying to keep Sakuno away from the computer so he could plan it all out.

All too soon the fireworks show ended and everyone began to leave. Ryoma and Sakuno sat for a while waiting for everyone to clear out a bit before they stood up. After stretching out, Sakuno grabbed Ryoma's hand. "Thank you Ryoma, that was really fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Planning to say more, Ryoma was cut off by Sakuno giving him a kiss. After a few moments they broke apart and Ryoma just smiled giving Sakuno's hand a squeeze. They began to walk back to the car, Ryoma planning to find more events for them to go to as soon as they got home.


	7. I love sharing moments with you

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of it's related content, characters, etc.

I wasn't really sure how I felt about this last night, in fact I didn't really like it. However, this morning I loved it, so I'm posting it with that thought and feeling in mind.

* * *

Sakuno was never sure what to expect when Ryoma said he had a surprise for her. She loved him dearly but his romantic surprises always turned out to be a bit lackluster. He would try so hard but Ryoma never really understood anything that had to do with romance. At each incidence, Sakuno would always laugh and then give Ryoma a kiss. Even if the surprise itself wasn't all that great she found his effort to be rather romantic.  
Of course Ryoma had his good surprises as well. He always claimed those to be coincidental but he unfailingly pulled them off when Sakuno needed them the most. She sometimes thought that his lack of romance skills was just an act but either way she often found him very romantic.  
Then there was the day that Ryoma brought home a kitten. That was nothing but plain surprising. He had called in advance saying he had a surprise and when he walked in the door Sakuno just felt her jaw drop. It was the only time that she had simply been just surprised. Again, she never knew what to expect when Ryoma said he had a surprise for her.

However, the next day, for the second time, Sakuno found herself simply just surprised. She wasn't really sure if Ryoma had planned his surprise to start at breakfast but to her it seemed like it. It wasn't often that Ryoma was with her making breakfast from step one, but she was glad that he had been. She couldn't help but to start teasing him after he wouldn't tell her anything, even so, it had been a lot of fun. She was glad that he had played along making the moment even more enjoyable and interesting. Sakuno really loved the time that she got to spend together with Ryoma during breakfast. He was always busy with tennis so it was one of the few times of the day that they got to spend together.

After they got dressed Sakuno made sure that they got a picture of them in their yukatas. At first she had asked him if it was really ok to wear them. Not knowing where they were going she didn't want to look too strange or have it be an inconvenience. She giggled at his reply, which clearly showed that it wasn't a big deal and he didn't really care, and she knew if there was a problem he would take care of it. "Good," she had said afterwards and then laughed even harder at his whining when she forced him to stand for a picture. She wasn't about to miss the moment though.  
Sakuno always enjoyed dressing up in traditional Japanese clothes and every chance she got she would. It was one reason she loved festivals so much. After so long, she was glad to have a chance to wear a yukata again and she realized she didn't care either if wearing one was fine or not. Plus it had always been hard to get Ryoma to wear one during high school and she truly loved that he had voluntarily chosen to wear one without a fuss. She really had to have a picture to commemorate the moment. Sakuno tucked the camera in her bag, hoping to take more pictures throughout the rest of the day and the two left.

Sakuno was dying with curiosity by the time they got to their destination. She could tell that Ryoma was looking forward to her surprise and she couldn't stop wondering what it was that would have her so surprised. Of course she would find that she was to be constantly surprised throughout the rest of the day.  
The parade had been a good start. Sakuno had loved all the bright colors and the cute little acts that had gone by and, even more, she loved having the time to leisurely talk with Ryoma as everything slowly passed. While they ate their meals together, all the eating meant there wasn't much talking. Sakuno found that it was hard to find time to just talk with Ryoma. When he was relaxed, she realized that it was easier to get him to talk more and today's parade had been a good moment for that. Their lulls in talking were broken by an abundance of it and they had both been extremely chatty. Sakuno was glad for it though. She liked hearing what he was thinking and being able to tell him what she was thinking. She always found their long conversations fun and insightful and she was glad to be able to have each one of them.

After the parade Sakuno wondered what the rest of the day would bring. She was already beyond happy that she was able to spend so much time with Ryoma and knowing that there was more just made her even more curious. When they got to the festival grounds she was ecstatic. She had been sad that she was missing all the festivals in Japan and to get to go to something so similar made her exceedingly happy. She couldn't stop thanking Ryoma during the rest of the day. Every time he bought her something, or indulged her and stopped to watch a show, or every time she would just look around and smile at the fact that she was there, she always thanked him in some way. She saw him blush a little each time telling her to stop but she just grinned and said she wouldn't. Ryoma sometimes made himself so easy to tease.  
One of the best moments for her was when they went to play the games. She couldn't believe how long Ryoma spent at some of the game booths. Sakuno had to laugh at his stubborn streak every time he scowled and said one more time. She found it cute at that moment, the way he glared at the game like it was a tennis opponent. Sakuno had to add to it, mocking Ryoma with a voice like she was the game itself. He would always turn and stick his tongue out at her and she would just shrug, wide-eyed with innocence, and claim she was just trying to make it more like a tennis match.

Sakuno was glad that at the end of the day there was still more to see. She was worried at first when Ryoma kept glancing at his watch; she was afraid it was time to go. So she had been delighted when he said there was one more thing and that they had been able to get dessert and sit for a bit.  
The fireworks had been more welcomed than the festival. Sakuno always felt a bit bad afterwards, spending so much money when she went to a festival, but she could never feel bad about fireworks. She loved the noise, the colors, the lights and the way they sparkled, how big they were, and the way that fireworks always seemed so awe inspiring. What she loved most was being able to watch them with someone and tell them why she loved fireworks so much.  
Sakuno always wondered if her friends shared the same feelings and thoughts as they witnessed the same thing; if they felt as happy as she did or thought the same things as her. She was shy, but she did like telling people her thoughts and having them listen and she liked to hear other's thoughts. It was why she always liked going to festivals. There were so many moments where fun things happened or someone learned something new or a funny event took place or you learned something about yourself or someone else; all these could be shared with someone else. She wanted to share the moments that made her happy and make other people happy as well. Sakuno loved having someone there to share those experiences, thoughts, and feelings with her and then later on, the memory.

The whole day had been like that for her. She wasn't sure if she would ever forget this day with Ryoma. It had been so much fun and, Sakuno thought, a little romantic. There had been many great moments scattered throughout the day: making breakfast, the yukatas, the parade, looking through all the tents, watching the shows, playing games, constantly teasing each other, and a fireworks show in the end. All of that plus all the talking Ryoma and her did all day. In addition to all the fun, Sakuno felt their connection deepen and she knew the whole day had been more than just a simple outing: they had been able to spend it together with just the two of them, Sakuno ended up learning several new things about what Ryoma liked, and she was feeling a little less homesick now. Ryoma always did manage to pull off surprises when she needed it most. Giving Ryoma a kiss, Sakuno realized that one of the things she loved most was sharing moments and memories with him.  
The couple talked about their day as they walked back to the car. Getting back, while placing her bag with the rest of the stuff they bought, Sakuno noticed that she never did use her camera. She didn't mind though, she knew she wouldn't need pictures to remember this day.


	8. Secrets

The world couldn't quite believe what was happening.

Echizen Ryoma was losing.

Now he had lost before, it wasn't as if it had never happened, but those had been against players who were much better than him. No one could understand why he was losing against his current opponent. Even his opponent didn't understand why he himself was winning, constantly looking at Ryoma, expecting some sort of new trick and a quick comeback.

Sakuno heard the whispers throughout the crowd. Ryoma's game looked perfect: form, timing, speed, steps, moves, all were done flawlessly and yet he was losing. Sakuno understood what was going on though. Ryoma was distracted. She wasn't sure why, but she could see it as clear as day, something was disturbing his focus.

She couldn't figure out what it was though. Was there something going on that he wasn't telling her about? A thousand things ran through Sakuno's mind but she couldn't narrow any of it down. Ryoma told her almost everything but she knew that if he wanted to keep something a secret from her, he could. He had done it before, not letting her know about something until he wanted her to know. She figured there were other things that he would never tell her, which was fine because there were several things she would never tell him.

None of that, however, helped her in figuring out what was wrong now. His secrets, or anything else, had never bothered him before; he was always focused when he played a match. So what could possibly be bothering him now? Sakuno thought about everything that had happened recently but she could think of nothing that would cause him to act like this, and so suddenly too. He had been just fine until he started playing.

Sakuno finally asked his coach but he only had the same question for her. Neither could think of any reason for Ryoma to behave like this. Sakuno was completely baffled. It had been a long time since Ryoma's behavior left her so puzzled and so when he sat down for his break she asked him, "Ryoma, what's going on?"

"Why don't you tell me."

Not even sparing her a glance along with his comment, Ryoma immediately got back up and walked to his spot on the court. Sakuno frowned at his retreating back. He was sulking, but about what? She could tell from the way he said his comment, his lack of focus was because of something she was supposed to have done. Quickly thinking about it, Sakuno huffed. She had no idea what that was!  
She tried to think of something that she did or didn't do but she couldn't, distracted herself by her annoyance at his attitude and her own distress that him losing right now was her fault. She glared at him, silently accusing him of causing her own rush of unpleasant feelings. He glanced at her and then returned the glare before serving. Sakuno only glared harder and then went back to thinking.

She hadn't missed any of their usual pre-game good luck traditions. She didn't really think he was that superstitious but maybe that was another secret. Looking over she saw Ryoma glance at her. Why did he look so expectant? He had been looking at her often throughout the game. He never did that, maybe just a smile if he caught her looking at him. So why was he seeking her out so often. Was she imagining it or did it seem like he wanted her to tell him something, like he was really expecting her to.

Now Sakuno was confused again. Did she forget to say something? What had she done that Ryoma would expect to be told about? Sakuno looked around trying to find something that would give her a hint or jar her memory. Her eyes rested on her bag and she gave a small little gasp. He didn't find out did he Sakuno thought. He was holding my bag for a little bit earlier, it is possible and that would explain the timing. Sakuno looked over at Ryoma, again finding his expectant look. They locked eyes for several seconds before he turned to serve. That has to be it Sakuno thought. I know it, he found out.

Standing up, Sakuno walked over in the stands to where she was directly to the side of Ryoma. She didn't think the judge would care for her talking during the match like this but it seemed that Ryoma wasn't going to let it wait till later. At least he's is serving Sakuno thought as she took a breath. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. This wasn't how she wanted to do this but apparently she had no choice. Ryoma looked over, catching her eye and Sakuno called out, "Ryoma, you're being silly."

He served. His opponent couldn't touch his twist.

Ryoma looked at Sakuno again, pulling out another ball. "I was trying to think of a way to tell you." He bounced the ball a bit and then looked back over. "I only just found out yesterday."

Another service ace.

Ryoma looked over once more, a smirk on his face and she knew everything he was thinking. I'm sorry, I understand. But I know, so just say it. This is special enough.

Taking a deep breath and turning bright red from embarrassment, Sakuno shouted, "Ryoma, I'm pregnant!"

One of the biggest smiles Sakuno had ever seen broke out on Ryoma's face and she heard the crowd behind her gasp at the news. She rushed back to her seat and was amazed afterwards how quickly Ryoma finished the game, dominating over his opponent. Once done, he walked over and enveloped Sakuno in a hug. Sakuno gladly hugged him back, hiding her face in his chest in embarrassment. She still couldn't believe everything that just happened.

Ryoma finally let go as his coach slowly got the couple moving towards the locker room. "You're so silly," Sakuno said as they walked, "Reacting like that." Ryoma just shrugged and Sakuno knew she would have to get the whole story later. "I'll let you tell me how you want next time," Ryoma remarked. "Next time," Sakuno exclaimed, "Ryoma we haven't even had the first one yet." Ryoma looked at her and smirked. Sakuno just rolled her eyes as she leaned up and kissed him.


	9. Breaking Point

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis and any of its related characters, themes, etc.

Sakuno slammed the door behind her, turned around, opened it up and slammed it shut again. She threw her bag carelessly to the side as she walked forward and flopped onto the bed, tears spilling down her cheeks. She let out a scream of frustration into a pillow and sat up just as Ryoma opened the door and walked in, an intense scowl on his face.

"Had you broken the door, you would have had to pay," he said, anger resonating in his voice. "Of course I would pay for it," Sakuno snapped back, "I wouldn't even dream of you offering. What kind of person do you think I am anyways?" "I could ask you the same thing," Ryoma retorted, "I pay for everything around here." "Well then I don't see why you couldn't pay for the door," Sakuno interrupted. Ryoma let out a noise of irritation before finally shouting, "Well the door's not even broken anyways!" "You're the one who brought the whole thing up," Sakuno shouted back exasperated.

Ryoma could do nothing more than glare before finally bursting out with, "Well I do pay for everything around here." Sakuno plastered a fake smile on her face and using a falsely sweet voice said, "Ryoma I don't know how you expect me to pay for anything." Dropping the smile and the voice, she continued on, "We both know that I have no way to pay for anything as I don't have a job, but let's not forget that you were the one who said that I shouldn't get one, that you would pay for everything and take care of me completely, so that I could adjust to living in America."

"Well you've certainly done that well enough," Ryoma put in before Sakuno could say more. Sakuno frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You go out often enough, so you seem to have adjusted pretty well."

"Well what do you expect me to do, stay home all the time," Skauno asked, her voice rising a bit. "No," Ryoma replied, the strain in his voice audible as he tried to keep from yelling, "I'm just saying that I don't feel like I see you at all anymore." "So you're saying it's all my fault then," Sakuno said angrily. Ryoma blinked his surprised and then frowned again. "No and what does that even mean?"

"You act like it's all my fault that we never get to see each other but who's the person who plays tennis all day long?"

"Well if you want all that money to spend what else do you expect me to do?"

"Quit bringing that stupid subject up," Sakuno yelled standing up to face Ryoma, "You can't really need to practice tennis all day like you do. You never invite me anymore, not even just to stop by for lunch and it's like all you do when you come home is eat and sleep anyways." "Well you're always going out so I figured you wouldn't have the time to spare even if I asked," Ryoma yelled back sarcastically, "Plus if you meet anymore people from where I practice, I bet you won't come even come back here at all. And yes I do need to practice that much. Professional tennis is completely different from anything that I did in middle and high school, Sakuno."

"I know that," Sakuno screamed, "But seriously Ryoma, you can't expect me to not meet new people and hang out with them. Can't I make new friends too? All I can do is just sit there and watch you practice, it's not like you need me there and you never spoke to me anyways." "You were the one you begged me to let you come," Ryoma bellowed, "You should have known what you were getting yourself into."

"It's not like you didn't want me to go with you and how was I supposed to know that you wouldn't talk to me ever, just play tennis, eat the food I make you, and sleep."

"You don't make me food anymore!"

"That's because you just eat it and go to bed. You don't want to spend any time with me. I'd rather go out because at least then I can have a conversation."

"I would talk to you if you ever could be bothered to come along with me once in a while, but eventually all you ever said was that it was boring."

Sakuno let out a long scream of frustration then turned her glaring eyes back on Ryoma. "It was boring because I could do nothing more than sit there," Sakuno screeched, "And you didn't talk to me either, so I doubt you would suddenly start talking to me in the future because it's only ever about tennis for you." "Well it's a good thing I like tennis so much because all you can do is just constantly make new friends and go hang out with them. You don't seem to want to spend any time with me either and if you want a conversation so bad, why can't you just talk to all your old friends?"

"It's not exactly the more convenient thing in the world Ryoma. I like to be able to hold conversations daily. I'd have to go back to Japan to be able to speak with any of them that much," Skauno replied in that falsely sweet voice again. "Why do you keep talking like that," Ryoma shouted, "And since you seem to hate it here, why don't you just go back to Japan, though I'd love to know how you would pay for it."

"My parents and grandma would gladly pay for me to come back and I keep talking like this because you keep acting like an idiot."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Well you keep saying and asking stupid things. Clearly you're not even listening to me."

"Well you're not listening to me either. Why don't you just go hang out with your new friends then, I'm sure they'd listen to you."

"I'd rather go back to Japan."

"Fine then go! Make new friends there since you're not even going to watch me play tennis."

"I don't want to watch you play tennis all the time, it's boring and I will go back!"

"Fine go!"

"Fine I will!"

Both Ryoma and Sakuno just stood there for a few moments glaring daggers at each other and breathing heavily from all their shouting. With a final noise of vexation, Ryoma turned and left the room. Stopping just a few steps into the hall, he spun around to say one last thing, only to see Sakuno, with tears streaming down her cheeks, slam the door in his face.


	10. Impending Parenthood

So first off, a big thank you for all the new reviews, alerts, and favorites! I was surprised after posting chapter 8 to get several reviews for chapter 1. I'm glad its still enjoyable. It's just nice to see that people still enjoy the first things you do. And another big thank you to all my silent readers. I hope you guys stick with me.

Major second, I'm sorry this took me so long to post. The last chapter I posted was the last thing I had written and right before I started writing it I had only a few vague ideas. While I was writing the last chapter I somehow ended up with lots more ideas to write about but again, they're all still vague. I'm a bit lacking in inspiration right now and school starts next week and I have an intensive course that starts the second week, so updates from me are going to be really slow and possible nonexistent for a while. Sorry about that. Given the way I work, I'm hoping that I might be able to post things more consistently and frequently starting around October or November. Well here's to hoping for inspiration and now for another apology.

As you will see (or perhaps already know, if you jumped to the story first) this is not the continuation to the last chapter. I originally had not planned on continuing that story but I had figured that some people might want to see it, so it was a thought and if someone said something, I would write more. (It was also because I was running out of ideas at the time and it would give me more to write while coming up with something else. The same with Ryoma's side of finding out that Sakuno is pregnant, I had thought of something. So if anyone wants to see that or maybe if I just run out of more ideas.) Anyways, it seems that people would like to see how they make up and so I will eventually write something about it, but as I hadn't planned on writing it and I have a few other slightly more solidified ideas, it will be a while. (Also the fact that it all comes under bad timing.) So sorry to those who really wanted to know what happened right away, you're just going to have to stick around for a while. :)

And the last thing on a related side note. I didn't explain exactly how I was doing this and how this story works and I feel like I should do it now. This story started when I was writing my one-shot The Best Way to Propose. I had a couple thoughts when writing it that turned into the first two stories in this series. They weren't quite drabbles and they weren't really actual stories either and I didn't want to post them as their own stories, but I thought that they would just be cute, funny, little, moments to share. And that's when came up with the idea of relatively short one-shots of snapshots or scenes of moments in their life. (Hence my title Shots of Life.) I have delved a bit deeper into their relationship than I had planned but I still like the ones that kind of analyze their characters and relationship a bit. But the main idea is still that these are supposed to be general stories just showing random moments of their life together. Another main point is that they aren't in a particular order. I just write them as inspiration comes. Some of them I state the exact nature of their relationship because for varying reasons, for me it matters, some of them I have a specific time or age when it occurs but I don't say it because it's not important, and most don't really matter exactly where in their relationship it takes place. Again, these stories are just supposed to be little moments, so while I have a timeline of everything in my head, their age or the exact nature of their relationship is just not what I want to emphasize. Ok so, lots of and enough talking, though this will be it for a while. Enjoy the story!

* * *

Sakuno winced as the baby let out another shriek. She was trying not to stare, but she just couldn't help but look at the screaming baby and the frazzled mother who was trying to calm her child. Of course Sakuno wasn't alone as pretty much everybody in the room was sending some sort of look the mother's way, most of them being glares.

Sakuno and Ryoma were presently at the DMV and they seemed to pick the busiest day possible to run their errands. They had already been there for an hour and they weren't even close to being helped. The baby had started crying a half hour ago.

At six months pregnant, Sakuno knew it was something that she would have to deal with someday, but as she looked around the room at all the annoyed people, listened to the baby's screams, and saw the tired, upset mother trying to deal with it all, she could honestly say that she wasn't looking forward to that part so much.

Turning to Ryoma, to see what he thought about everything, Sakuno was surprised to see the look on his face. She had really expected him to be one of the annoyed people but instead she found him staring intensely at the baby, his eyes wide, a mixture of shock and thoughtfulness across his face. Sakuno giggled and wondered if the baby's tantrum was freaking Ryoma out a bit. Before she could question him though, Ryoma turned to her and with a completely serious face said, "It's crying because its brain isn't being stimulated."

Sakuno felt her jaw drop and she gave Ryoma a perplexed look. After several moments of Ryoma just returning her look with the same serious face, Sakuno finally asked, "What?" "Its brain isn't being stimulated," Ryoma repeated, "I mean look at this room. Everything is white: white walls, white counters, everything. The only color is the dingy blue carpet and plain brown chairs but they are just as dull. No wonder it's crying."

Sakuno could only just continue to look at Ryoma in astonishment. After several more moments of Ryoma still looking at her with a serious face, the corners of Sakuno's mouth turned up and she let out several loud laughs. Ryoma's expression quickly changed and Sakuno managed to contain what was about to become a bout of uncontrollable laughter.

"What," Ryoma asked defensively. "Ryoma, dear, it's just, out of all the possible reasons for that baby to be crying, I don't really think that's the one. If anything, it's crying because the mother has something really important to do that can only be done now and she can't leave," Sakuno replied with mirth."Babies do that," Ryoma questioned, bewilderment written all over his face, "They know when to do something like that?" "No, no," Sakuno replied quickly, her hands going to Ryoma's arm like she was going to drag him back to reality, "That was just a joke." Sakuno continued on, an amused expression still on her face, "Babies don't understand anything like that. Back to what you originally said; where did that come from anyways?"

"I was reading an article online about the importance of stimulating a baby's brain," Ryoma responded with, what Sakuno deemed as, a bit of enthusiasm. "I see," Sakuno said, her smile growing wider. She was finding his seriousness, along with undertones of confusion, surprise, and excitement, all to be quite entertaining. "What about those books I bought you," Sakuno asked. "I haven't read them yet," Ryoma answered, his eyes going back to the still crying baby.

Sakuno watched and had to keep from laughing out loud again. She could see the slight pity in Ryoma's eyes and knew that all he could think about right now was this poor baby whose brain wasn't being stimulated. She never believed that impending fatherhood would throw Ryoma into this strange frenzy that he had been going through for several months now. Sakuno wondered when he found the time to research all the random bits of information that he kept coming up with. She could tell that he was just confusing himself more and more as time went on and they still had three months to go. Really, if only he would just read the books she got. They explained absolutely everything, even things like this. Thinking about her husband's behavior, Sakuno let out a little giggle and eventually a resigned sigh. Oh well, at least she was finding it all to be entertaining and it was keeping her moods to a minimum.

Tightening her grip on his arm, Sakuno brought Ryoma's attention back to her and she was glad to see that he looked calmer and more capable of thinking straight. "While it is important to stimulate a child's mind," Sakuno started off gently, "That's something that doesn't quite apply in this case. When we get home, you should start reading those books and for the next several months, why don't you stay off the online forums." Ryoma took one look at the serious and determined expression on his wife's face and simply said, "Ok."


End file.
