Relaxed
A Sanada Genichirou One-Shot
How would you describe the ocean? It is a body of water, vast as far as the eye can see- all the way to the horizon. It's colors are infinite as the rays of the moon and sun reach it at all different times. It is clear and murky, pushed and pulled to and from the shore. Rippling, waving, breaking, and crashing around. Soft to the touch, smoothing over the sense of touch. Singing out to all creatures and signs of life- expressing no matter the weather.
Even when holding an umbrella in a violent downpour one can still look out to the ocean and say that it is peaceful... Relaxed.
Suzuki, Ren walked down the street at her own leisurely pace. She was wearing her large coat, even in the warm weather, over her flimsy Josei Shounan uniform. The light blue was the same drab color as the uniforms of their tennis team, but she never liked to talk about the boys thay played with rackets. It was not because she disliked the sport, but because she disliked the coach, Ms. Aoi Hanamaru. Youhei and Kouhei Tanaka had been great friends of hers for some time, but their coach made her feel quite insignificant. Of course, she did not care because she would rather prance down the street happily.
She was even doing that just now. Ren was skipping down the street, headed towards the long boardwalk near Rikkaidai. She never knew what the school was like, only that there was a really nice view from it. She enjoyed Josei- and it was a lot closer to her home- but the walk to the water was nice, enjoyable. She laughed to herself- relaxed, carefree... Sort of reckless to some extent. Her head of mahogany hair ended at her upper back and her brown eyes danced across the planks of wood she was now walking on. She raised one foot over the other as she stuck out her arms as if she was balancing. She closed her eyes and smiled, ignoring the world and the mumbling she heard from not too far away.
"Be careful."
Ren felt her body shake out of its relaxed state at the deep voice. Her brown eyes opened slowly to see a boy that was a good 13 cenimeters taller than her, five inches if your do not go by metric. She saw his eyes, which were a dark brown, looking down at her with some sort of emotion behind them. Her lips slowly widened into a smile- one a bit larger than she may have been going for- as she laughed a small bit,"Hello there."
He nodded, moving his dark hair a bit. Ren kept the smile on her face, balancing on her heels for a moment- eyeing the boy's hat. She let her feet fall flat with a snap a moment later as she looked the male her age in the eyes.
"I'm Suzuki, Ren. I haven't seen you before."
It took a moment before the words must have reached the boy's ears as he was looking in the distance behind her- maybe at someone from the way his eyes quickly shifted. He looked back down at the smaller girl, thinking. It was most likely obvious that they had never met before since he was wearing dark green school pants with his green blazer, blue striped tie, and white collared shirt- the uniform was obviously not that of a Josei male student. He responded with his deep voice only a moment later.
"Sanada, Genichirou."
Ren bit her tongue and turned to face the ocean, smiling widely again. She stepped up onto the wooden railing and held onto the top with her hands- knuckles turning white. The wind blew her hair back, turning it into a wild mess. The air was silent, a bit stale- but it was not awkward, at least not for her. She rarely felt the awkward emotions that many teenagers would. A lot of people told her that it was because of how relaxed she seem.
"The ocean is nice. Do you like it, Sanada-san?"
The wind blew by again, making the girl close her eyes from the sting of the salt water flying up to her. When she opened them a few moments later she got her response.
"It's nice..."
To Ren the sentence was unfinished. Maybe he did not know how to describe his emotions about the water? Maybe he did not like it? Of course, the brown-eyed girl could not imagine someone disliking something so wonderful.
"I guess you must be speechless by its beauty?" Ren inquired, smiling to the boy as she pulled back from the railing a bit and put her eyes on him. The two were now the same height from where she was standing. "Or you do not remember how you feel about it because you see it everyday."
He glanced down at the railing thay creaked for a moment and put his tan hand onto it as if it may break at any moment. Sanada looked back up to her, not saying anything back. He was no longer looking behind her like he was looking for cues and such, but he was now trying to think of something to respond with. The slightly mysterious girl stepped off of the railing and bowed to him,"Well, I must be off. Hopefully you can join me to watch the water another day."
She began to walk backwards towards the sidewalk, smiling and giving a small wave to her new friend,"Goodbye Sanada-san."
The nod she recieved back was satisfaction enough so she turned back around and placed her hands behind her back, leisurely walking back into the more populated areas of Kanagawa.
Ren layed her head down on the wooden pole as she sat on the boardwalk. Her legs swung back and forth, her eyes closed, and her ears open to the sounds of the waves slowly landing upon the sand before slinking back. It was a nice sound- lovely. She had been there since her school had let out, and after her trek to the ocean, so it had roughly been two and a half hours. Her pale ears twitched at the sound of footsteps and she layed back, opening her eyes when the steps stopped. Her face graced a smile at the sight of Sanada, Genichirou.
He stood above her, but this time he was not in his school uniform. She saw the bright yellow of the tennis sweatsuit and figured that he did not want to hassle himself back into the school uniform. Either way he still looked fine. She turned her head a bit,"Come to watch the water?"
Her response was silence, something she was used to. She sat herself up and pulled her right arm back through the railing. She patted the spot next to her,"If you want you can sit."
Her request, if you could even call it that, was not met, but she shrugged. No difference. Her head rested back on the railing as the wind lightly blew back her hair. She got a small chill from it and was glad she wore the manilla coat she fonded.
Sanada looked down at the girl sitting on the boardwalk, wondering why he was joining her by the water. His mind could have guessed that it was because he was pushed to talk to the girl by his best friend and captain Yukimura, Seiichi. Though, he did not exactly know his exact reasoning. He was never one for leisure talking if it was not getting something done- a part of his personality that many knew about.
"How was your day?"
His mind searched for the appropriate answer, throwing away things he would not say and things that did not describe his answer.
"It was fine."
Ren giggled a bit at the response, leaning back again to get a good look at the boy,"Sounds like it was an exciting day."
"...How was your day?"
Her mind bounced from each event of her day, summing it all up. The boy's slight awkwardness- though it was seemingly unnoticeable- seemed to stop her from responding quickly.
"It was normal. A nice, foggy morning with a cool afternoon by the ocean."
He nodded, the silence returning. Ren thought of how people may find it unsettling to be with a very quiet person that was still a stranger in many aspects. She laughed at the idea and began to stand up next to her unknown. He had something strapped to his shoulder- something quite bulky. The shorter girl walked behind him to get a good look at it, getting him to even glance over his shoulder to see what she was doing. She noticed the words of his school written across it, getting the vibe that it must be a tennis bag. She smiled again- something that was becoming much more normal to her.
"You play tennis?" She asked, walking back around to Sanada's front.
He nodded,"Yes."
"Hm... Is it fun?"
He nodded again,"I find it to be."
This time Ren nodded before bowing as she had the day before,"Well, I must be back off to my home. I'll see you another time, Sanada-san."
He returned her wave with a nod,"Goodbye Suzuki-san."
The next day Ren stood by the railing with her friend beside her. They had both showed up at the boardwalk at about the same time. They greeted eachother and just stood there. The girl closed her eyes, breathing softly as the wind from the sea blew her hair back from her face.
Sanada had most of his attention focused on the girl next to him. Her face looked very relaxed- not caring about what people would think of her. He had to guess that they were in the same grade from the looks of her. What perplexed him was why the Josei student would take a long walk all the way to see the water. He looked from her and to the object she seemed to find so enticing. It rolled onto the sand every few moments, crashing into rocks and moving birds from certain areas. The smell was very salty at times- even irritating his own nose a bit. He could only imagine how the Suzuki girl related it to herself.
"Ne, Sanada-san."
"Hm?" He responded, glancing over to her. He noticed that her eyes were still closed even as she talked to him.
"Do you like the ocean?"
The question was the same one that she had asked him two days before. He contemplated his answer a bit more this time before responding.
"It's pleasant."
Ren smiled at the male's response. It was different from the one he had given her two days previous, but it was still a favorable opinion of a peaceful setting. She opened her eyes slowly, spotting the sunlight slowly fading from the sky. Her brown eyes looked over to her friend as she stepped back.
"Sanada-san, may I walk you home?"
Without words the boy began to walk with Ren beside him. They both continued down the boardwalk before getting off at one of the "exits". The two walked down the sidewalk of what looked like a small residential area. Ren liked the feel of it, homelike and welcoming. The atmosphere was nice, but it seemed tight and locked away all the same. She glanced up to her capped friend, spotting his dark eyes looking ahead intently.
When the two stopped they were in front of a slightly traditional looking home. There was what looked like a Kendo building semi-attatched to the home and nice scenery in the front. Ren thought that it was very pleasant, seeing the wraparound wooden porch and the flimsy paper doors her grandmother used to have. She smiled and turned to the boy that had stopped. It was still a light dusk, not yet completely dark, so the walk home would not be frightening. She bowed to Sanada and smiled again before beginning to walk past him, backwards as he followed her with his eyes.
"Good night, Sanada-san."
"Good night, Suzuki-san."
Sanada Genichirou made sure his team had left the courts as perfect as when they had begun- meaning spotless. They all lined up in front of him and their captain. Yukimura made his last few words before dismissing the boys and looking to his friend. He smiled the all-knowing smile he always seemed to wear as he picked up his own bag,"What have you been up to the last few days, Sanada?"
The boy with the ball cap shook his head a bit as his friend,"The same thing I always do."
Yukimura nodded lightly as the two began to leave the school grounds, headed towards the boardwalk. The blue-haired godchild did not see the girl he had three days before and glanced back to his friend, wondering if Sanada and the Josei girl had even spoken again. Sanada would not admit it to his friend, but he was slightly wondering where the Suzuki female was at the moment. She was not at her usual place by the railing as she was every other day. He stopped about where he usually would and nodded a goodbye to his friend. Yukimura laughed to himself and waved back.
"See you tomorrow, Sanada."
A laugh reached Sanada's ears not too long after he had stopped. He recognized it as the Josei girl's voice and glanced around, not seeing her in his immeadiate vision. Though, as he looked closer, he was a figure standing in the water, walking around every now and then. He leaned onto the railing a bit, noticing that the mahogany haired girl was not wearing her coat at the moment and was laughing wildly at herself as she hopped around in the water. When she stopped he took a moment to compose himself.
Ren smiled widely and waved to the boy on the boardwalk,"Ah, Sanada-san!"
She looked to the water one last time before turning and running over to her shoes, socks, and jacket, picking them all up and continuing over to the boy. She stopped a few feet in front of him and raised up the disposable camera she had been carrying, snapping a shot of the tennis player as he stood there with a cool look on his face. She turned her head a bit and turned the ticker to nine before smiling back to her friend.
"My father bought me one of these disposable cameras two days ago. I finally remembered to bring it with me to the water."
Sanada nodded and watched the girl find her way back on the boardwalk. He noticed that she was barefoot, socks stuffed inside of her shoes and her jacket folded over her forearm. She smiled widely, salt noticeable in her hair.
"When I get the film developed I'll show you."
He nodded again, not having anything to exactly say to the girl. He only watched her put her arms into the sleeves of her large manilla coat, not bothering to button it up. She looked up with her brown eyes, filled with a new agenda. She held out her hand and tugged on the end of Sanada's blazer sleeve to get his attention. It worked.
"Na, Sanada-san, do you want to go for a walk?"
Responding to the request was something new for Sanada since he was not familiar with these kinds of situations. After a moment of thinking on the question the male nodded slowly- seemingly not able to find the three letter word he was looking for. Ren nodded herself and turned, walking with the Rikkaidai student next to her. Quite a sight it was, a slightly uncombed Josei female with no shoes walking alongside a kempt stone wall.
"Sanada-san."
Click.
Ren smiled, but this time it was smaller- even shy like- as she looked down at her camera as she winded it to the eight. She wanted another picture of her friend with a normal look on his face- nothing posed. She briefly looked back up to him for only a second.
"What would you describe me as?"
Sanada took a moment to ponder the question. The girl was different from the ones he had met in Rikkadai. He knew loud girls, shy girls, anxious girls, optimistic ones, tomboys, scholars, smartalecs, sensitive girls, even tempermental ones, but he had never met one that was exactly like Ren. So, he- in truth- had no idea how to describe the girl. He readjusted his tennis bag before responding.
"Relaxed. You're very relaxed."
Ren looked up at him at the description. She smiled widely a moment later, liking the word he used. She had to agree that she was.
"Ne, are you alright if we sit down, Sanada-san?"
Genichirou shook his head, allowing the girl to sit down at the nearest table she saw to rest her feet. He sat in the seat across from her, watching as she brushed the sand off of her feet to put her socks and shoes back on. His dark browns eyed the disposable camera on the table, thinking.
"Suzuki-san."
"Hm?"
Click.
Ren was a bit speechless at what had happened as she took a moment to give him and the camera a blank stare. The boy winded up the film to 7 and set the camera down, not giving so much as a smile to give away his emotions. On the other hand his companion put a hand over her mouth, laughing at the boy. She wanted to tell him how she had been slightly surprised at the "relaxed" and "carefree" action he had just performed, but she did not know how to word the sentence. She finished getting the grainy bits off of her foot and slid on her socks and slid her feet into her shoes, standing to get the feeling of her shoes again. She shook her hair a bit, running her fingers through the knotty mess.
"Shall I accompany you home, Sanada-san?"
They began the walk to the male's home once more, basking in the sweet silence between them. Even on the blank slate, the unspoken words that their actions stated was enough to give the two of them the ability to form a developing relationship. When they reached the traditional home of Sanada he was the one to break the silence, much to Ren's surprise.
"Do you want to come in?"
For a moment the girl who acted so relaxed actuallt felt a feeling of anxiety creep up her spine and plant itself inside of her head. She took a moment to blink before nodding. The taller boy let her go through the gates of the household first before walking in himself. Ren looked around, waiting for the boy to walk ahead of her. When he did, after giving her a brief glance, she followed him up the steps and into the home. She followed him with taking off her shoes and he motioned to a set of house shoes she could borrow. She slipped them on and slowly followed him, not knowing what she should do.
The only other times she had been in such situations was when she visited the Tanaka twins' house, but that was even different since their home was styled differently from the Sanada's.
"Eh? Who's this 'Ol Uncle Genichirou?"
Ren looked to the left to see a young boy with straight black hair. He looked young and was positively cute. She smiled and waved a bit.
"Her name is Suzuki, Ren."
"Isn't that a boy's name?"
The girl in question laughed a bit to herself, finding the boy positively amazing. Though, from the looks of it, 'Ol Uncle Genichirou was not finding the little boy funny at all. He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the little boy.
"Introduce yourself, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke stuck his tongue out at his uncle with his response,"You just did, Old Man."
"Kak kak kak. Even you lose your cool against your nephew."
Sasuke looked to the young middle school girl and smiled widely,"You should see him in the morning when he yells at himself for not moving enough soybeans."
Ren giggled to herself, trying her best to imagine Sanada scolding himself at the table every morning. The boy gave her the last bits of exasperation he was expressing to his nephew- which only caused her to laugh more.
"Oh, you must be Genichirou's girlfriend or something."
The girl stopped laughing for a moment, trying to respond, but it was hard to and she began laughing again. Genichirou looked to his uncle with one of those family looks that he was always giving him.
"No."
"Kak kak kak, just a joke grandson. My name is Sanada Gen'emon, are you a friend of Genichirou's from school?"
Ren shook her mahogany hair lightly, finally becoming able to compose herself,"Iie, I go to Josei Shounan- Sanada-san and I met on the boardwalk."
The grandfather laughed again and motioned for her to sit down,"I'll get some tea for everyone."
The Josei girl had no idea how to decline an offer from such a nice man and complied, sitting herself down. Not even a moment later there was a six year old boy seated next to her- taking a large interest in her. Sanada sat down across from her and his nephew- watching as his relative gazed at Ren closely. The girl had no idea what to say, but she clicked her camera at the boy, getting a picture of Sasuke with his mouth wide open. She laughed to herself and turned back to Sanada, nodding to him.
About thirty minutes later, Ren had gotten three more pictures and was laughing with the three- well, almost. Genichirou had input to the conversation in bits, but had not laughed as freely as the other three. The Sanada family's mother and father had wandered through once or twice and Ren had learned about the fact that there was an older brother in the family that was currently not at home. The young girl heard her phone go off in her pocket and quickly pulled it out, standing.
"Moshi Moshi."
The woman on the other end sounded tired. Ren nodded, knowing that she was not going to be scolded for not being home. Her home life was very bland, but it was filled with anxiety and something different everyday. The woman that was speaking was not the girl's mother, but she was one of the nice women to work with her father on different projects. The smile had left Ren's usually bright face, leaving a taste of bland cereal on her face. When the phone call ended she returned the mobile device to her pocket and bowed to the three.
"I need to be heading home now. Thank you for the tea, Gen'emon."
"You're welcome Suzuki-chan."
She smiled once more and lightly ruffled Sasuke's hair,"Goodbye Sasuke."
"Bye, Ren!"
The Josei girl turned to say goodbye to the one who had been her companion the past few days, but he was already standing next to her. They both walked over to the door and she changed back into her normal shoes, fitting them on securely. Ren looked up to her friend after she opened the door and smiled widely, standing next to him on her tippytoes and taking a picture with one of the last takes her camera had. When she finished she nodded to Sanada.
"Goodnight, 'Ol Sanada-kun." She took a jab at his apparent "old age" and added on a different honorific to the male's name.
He nodded back to her,"Goodnight, Suzuki-san."
Ren sighed to herself as she felt a light sleepy daze overcome her as she layed back on the wooden boardwalk. Her ear twitched at the sound of footsteps, but they seemed to be much lighter than the ones she had come to recognize. When they stopped next to her she opened her eyes to see a boy with blue hair and a "sweet" smile standing above her. She lightly smiled to him, but was perplexed as to where Sanada was. She was about to stand up, but the boy stopped her with his soft voice.
"Oh, don't worry about getting up."
So, Ren did not, but sat up. The boy with blue hair set his tennis bag down and sat next to her, putting his legs through the wooden bars. The two sat in silence before the Josei girl broke it.
"I'm Suzuki, Ren."
The boy smiled to her and nodded,"Yukimura, Seiichi."
It was silent again, this time it seemed that Ren was in the position of speechless. She was still stuck on why her friend was not there. She internally jumped when the boy spoke again.
"Sanada-kun left school early today."
Ren nodded, understanding, but still feeling sort of dejected at not seeing her friend. She had gotten used to seeing his face everyday and now that she did not it felt odd. She twisted her mouth, jumping off of her relaxed state and into one that she was unfamiliar with.
"Have you and Sanada seen eachother the past few days?"
Ren nodded again, a smile escaping onto her lips,"Yes, we have." She laughed to herself for a moment,"I met some of his family yesterday- they're nice."
The blue eyes of the boy next to her met her own,"You met Sasuke?"
I nodded,"Yes. He 'opened my eyes' on Sanada-kun's age."
The two laughed for a moment. Ren now felt much more comfortable with the boy and looked over to him,"Uhm, Yukimura-san?"
"Yes, Suzuki-san?"
"Can I take your picture? I only have one more left on my camera before I can get any of the pictures developed and I am out of ideas."
The friend of Sanada's nodded after thinking for a moment. The moment he did a click sounded, capturing the natural look of a person. Ren smiled and looked back out to the ocean. The silence enveloped the two for a few minutes, allowing them both to watch the water.
"He likes calligraphy and Nameko Mushroom-Miso-Soup."
Ren could not help but stick out her tongue childishly,"Mushroom?"
The two laughed again, lightening the mood. Not long after, Yukimura stood up and put a hand out for the young girl. She gladly took it and bowed to him,"It was nice to meet you, Yukimura-san. I hope we'll see eachother again."
"The same goes to you, Suzuki-san."
"Mou, would I just continue down this way?"
Sanada Genichirou had his arms crossed as he looked around the courts next to his captain, watching the practice match in front of them finish up. Akaya, the junior ace of Rikkai, had improved greatly, but he needed to watch out with his actions. Yukimura glanced to his friend, seeing the stone expression on his face and laughed to himself about how serious he could be.
"Sanada-kun?"
The match on the court finished up just as a girl with a large manilla coat wandered up at the top of the bleachers. She looked around again, making sure she was in the right area. She noticed all of the people around the court- cursing herself for interrupting.
"It's fine, we were just finishing up, Suzuki-san."
Ren recognized the blue-haired boy she had met the day before and smiled, hurrying down the stairs and over to them. Sanada looked over to her and his friend, slightly confused as to how the two knew eachother.
"Sanada-kun, I figured you would want these pictures. I got them developed yesterday."
Sanada took the three pictures she gave him. One was of himself, one was of him and his nephew, and another was of the waves. He reached out and took the other stack in her hand and glanced through them. There were many pictures of people he recognized to be from the Josei tennis team, but there were many more of the scenery around the ocean. He spotted the one he was looking for and took itout before handing the rest of stack back to her.
"I'll keep this one, too."
Ren quickly flipped through the stack, figuring out that he had taken the one picture he had gotten of her. She giggled and nodded,"Sorry for coming onto the campus. I have some things to do at home so I won't be able to watch the ocean today. I wanted to give you the pictures as soon as possible though."
He nodded, ignoring the stares he was getting from a lot of the other males on the court. He was talking casual with a female for one, which was odd, but what made it even more odd was that she was not from the same school as them all. She bowed again and waved her hand, smiling her usual relaxed smile.
"Goodbye Yukimura-san, Sanada-kun."
Though, before Sanada could respond the girl quickly wrapped her arms around him, giving him the first hug they would share. She than separated and smiled again, waving goodbye and walking away from the Rikkai courts.
"Ehh, who was that?" The Junior Ace asked the Trickster, Niou Masaharu, from across the court. The silver haired boy shrugged, smirking.
"Probably Sanada's girlfriend or something, puri~."
The green-haired boy rose an eyebrow as the pink haired gum chewer, Marui Bunta, spoke what the second year was thinking,"Sanada- Girlfriend?"
Suzuki, Ren walked down the sidewalk at her normal leisurely pace. She was wearing her manilla coat even in the warm weather over her thin female Josei Shounan uniform. She was not a player of sports, but a relaxed soul. She was not into any particular sports and walked a lengthy ways to reach to ocean. It was one of the things she longed to see everyday and did her best to when she could. Though, now she felt that there was another reason to reach the rolling waves of blue.
"Ah, Sanada-kun!"
The boy with the blue cap leaned off of the wooden railing of the boardwalk and turned to her, clad in his male Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku uniform. Sanada Genichirou held onto his tennis bag's strap and nodded to the girl walking up to him.
"Suzuki-chan."
The sweet brown eyes of Ren looked up into the dark brown eyes of Sanada as she handed him a rolled up piece of paper. He took it from her and slowly opened it up, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips because of the girl in front of him.
"愛"
The smell is something like no other smell. It tickles the nose and sets into the skin and hair with the particles it carries. The sight is spectacular- especially when close up. Between the toes it touches all of the nerves that run up the spine. Running, skipping, cartwheeling, flipping, and laughing. It reflects all emotions and magnifies relationships between those who share the sight of its beauty.
Standing here on this sunny day and looking onto the horizon at the smooth surface... It is as if it is smiling in content upon everything it has created.
This was not on my schedule, but I remembered that it is alluded that Sanada likes girls who are relaxed. I was originally going to have it be a much more energetic girl that Sanada finds out has a softer side with Calligraphy since he likes that, but that did not happen. It is hard to not have Sanada turn a bit OOC in these kinds of things, but I did hold back him blowing up and chasing his nephew like he does in the Jitaku 2 chapter things :33. It's not very long, but the first one had Atobe jumping from a plane, so it's awesome in my book.
The beginning and ending in italics were sort of last minute ish decisions. The Yukimura part is not as developed as I would have like, but mm. I got my calligraphy thing in at the end- it is 'Ai' on the parchment with ink so :D. I hope it is decent.
I love all kinds of feedback, so thank you, puri~ heart.
Suzuki, Ren:
http:/tinypic[dot]com/r/2l57d2/7
~Tai.