Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I only own my crack muse.

Warning: Shonen-ai fic. Crack. Slightly AU.

Pairing: SanaYuki

A/N: My apologies for going MIA for such a long time, both for this account and the other one. For readers of Trials of Life, please note that that fic will be updated within the week. I am insisting on finishing that monster of a chapter no matter what. :p

To the story then…

Sana Puppy

By: Gwynhafra86

Chapter 1

It was a fine evening, a perfect one for a Rikkai regular to have some last minute practices before calling it a day and heading back home. However, a certain blue-haired Rikkai captain wasn't practicing, and was instead indulging in dainty dinners served in delicate chinaware. He set his teacup down gently onto its saucer, brushing his bangs out of his forehead before straightening up, looking at the others present at the table too.

Atobe had thrown a dinner party in his mansion, inviting captains from several schools which he thought were worthy of attending. Currently those present were the ones who had at least passed the District preliminaries, and even then, he was rather picky on the schools. As Atobe put it, they were here to "form ties between schools and to make friends". Indeed. Atobe was always making up excuses to throw parties anyway.

The only captains who had the guts to attend the party were from Seigaku, Rikkai, St Rudolph (poor Akazawa was forced to be there by his manager Mizuki, for data's sake) and strangely, Rokakku too. The other schools had given reasons ranging from night practice to food poisoning just to avoid the dinner.

Yukimura smiled politely at the other four. Hyotei's Atobe sat at the head of the table, displaying perfect fine dining manners and raising the tension in the room, making everyone struggle to follow his example least they humiliated themselves with their "commoner's" style of eating.

St Rudolph's Akazawa stayed very still in his seat, occasionally casting uneasy glances at the others around him. He felt so out of place here. In fact, he hardly touched his food, confused by the number of forks and spoons next to his plate. Which spoon was the one for soup? The first, the second or the third? And how was he supposed to hold his glass? And why were there so many glasses there for that matter? Why did everyone have their napkins folded on their laps? Would it look odd if he picked it off his lap to wipe his lips?

Unlike Akazawa, Seigaku's Tezuka remained devoid of expression, eating his food mechanically, not speaking, and barely even making the clink of silverware as he picked his food and raised to it his lips.

The only one unaffected by the mood was Rokakku's Kentarou, who remained his usual self, shoveling food into his mouth and remaining oblivious to the stares the servants were giving him. He was also, of course, the only one to give loud praises to the food, even though the words he could come up with were mere understatements to the taste.

Yukimura remained demure, smiling and nodding politely every time Kentarou asked a question regarding his school. The expression in his eyes, however, was similar to one watching the world with detached interest, giving his nickname as 'The Son of Kami' credit as he gave them all a stare which said plainly 'I don't mind being your friends and forging ties with you, but we Rikkai kings are merciless. We crush friends and foes alike and we thoroughly enjoy it.'

While the four of them hardly spoke, it was Kentarou who brought up the next topic. "Ah…I wish Saeki were here too." He wished he had fellow teammate with him, not because he was finally intimidated by the others, but because he was bored. It was very taxing to be the only one talking and showing any kind of human expression at the table.

Atobe raised an elegant eyebrow, obviously not amused to have someone suggest who should be on his invitation list. "Oh? And why is that?" He asked.

Kentarou looked up with a slight pout. "Whenever my vice captain is around, it's more fun. Don't you all think so too with your vice captains?"

Tezuka looked up. "Vice captains are not supposed to be 'fun'. They're supposed to take over and manage the club if you're not around."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow, amused that Tezuka would actually talk so much at one go. He turned next to Akazawa, who fidgeted.

"Vice-captains are…supposed to follow the orders of the captain." He put in his bit before keeping quiet again.

Atobe gave a flick of his hair. "Why would you need vice captains if you have someone like Kabaji? He does everything better than a vice captain anyway."

All eyes now turned to Yukimura, who dabbed at his lips daintily. "Vice captains…" He thought about it for a moment, trying to think back on that. What kind of a vice captain did he have at Rikkai? "Hold your belongings for you, wait for you once class and practice ends to walk you home, and also would follow you around to protect you. Vice captains…would keep you happy. Would know when you're feeling down, and would do everything in their power to cheer you up. Vice captains are very loyal to their captains." He looked up to see all of them giving him an odd look. "What?"

Kentarou scratched his head. "Well…that…"

"You need a puppy for that. Not a vice captain." Atobe stated bluntly.

Yukimura merely chuckled at their reactions. "Saa…"

XXX

Yukimura looked up when his mother called his name that night, mentioning he had a friend at the door. He walked noiselessly downstairs, heading taking his mother's place at the door and greeting his guest.

"Renji. What a surprise to see you. What are you doing here at this time of the night?" He lowered his gaze, finally noticing that Yanagi held a little black puppy in his hands. He squinted, wondering what breed was this. It was pure black, and looked strangely like a little wolf. It was also, Yukimura noted with amusement, wearing a mini cap which looked strangely familiar.

"How cute. You've decided to rear a pet? Wait…I thought the dorms don't allow pets?" He asked, reaching out to pat the puppy on the head.

"The dorms don't, which is why I brought him to you. This is Genichirou." Yanagi seemed more restless then usual, and Yukimura wondered if he was caught sneaking a pet into the dorms.

"That's a cute name. So you want me to help you take care of your pet?" Yukimura asked, smiling. The puppy was cute, so he wouldn't mind it, actually.

Yanagi fidgeted. In his arms, the puppy struggled to be let down, trying to bite his hand as it did so, though Yanagi had wisely calculated the angle it could reach and kept his arm away from the pup's jaws. "No…how shall I put this. I've accidentally misplaced a drink from Sadaharu, and Genichirou happened to mistake it as his bottle of water, and long and short of it…" He held the puppy up higher.

"This is Genichirou."

To be continued…

Please Read and Review. No Flames Please

-Gwyn86