AN: I apologize for any inaccuracies. I haven't watched this in months. Ha. Their friendship is so twisted.
"Don't get hot, cause man you got, some high times ahead."~ from West Side Story's "Cool"
Yukimura stopped and looked out at the darkened tennis courts out of habit. The rain was coming down hard now and it made it that more difficult to determine the identity of the shadow slamming tennis balls into the opposite court.
Violet eyes quickly caught broad shoulders and a familiar baseball cap. He sighed softly to himself before walking towards the gate, unhurried by the cool precipitation.
He settled himself on a bench as the downpour continued. Sanada hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet.
"Yukimura."
And maybe he had. A frown tugged at the captain's mouth. He felt like Sanada was slowly catching up to him. He couldn't have that…
"What are you doing out here in this, Genichiro?" Yukimura asked casually in his light voice and even lighter tone.
"Following me?" He asked, back still to his friend, voice strangely annoyed and impatient.
Were his shoulders shaking?
"Are you cold?" Yukimura inquired, ignoring Sanada's previous question while simultaneously wincing at his own.
"You don't get it," he growled and Yukimura blinked. "I'll never be able to measure up to…" Sanada's voice drifted off into the slapping of the rain against the pavement, which was just as well. The tennis captain wasn't sure he wanted to hear the name anyways.
Yukimura raised his eyebrows. Oi, face me, he willed. I'm not going to walk over there, so you have to turn around.
Sanada shifted slightly and under the dripping shadow of his cap, Yukimura saw hot, angry tears in his narrow eyes. His teeth were clenched, fists tightened at his sides.
After the shock trailed off, Yukimura found himself vaguely surprised at the emotion that accompanied it. He wasn't uncomfortable or pleased or irritated. He was relieved. "Thank goodness," he breathed, unaware he'd said it aloud until Sanada turned around to fully look at him. He let out a violent sneeze and Yukimura couldn't help but laugh.
Sanada wiped his eyes, looking embarrassed and pissed off and basically just miserable in general. "What did you say?" the drowned rat barked, and then looked disgusted with himself. It usually wasn't the way he spoke to Yukimura Seiichi.
"I said 'thank goodness'", Yukimura replied automatically. "I'm glad there's a human being underneath that mess." He made his tone wry and hoped it came across that way.
Sanada's perpetual frown deepened. He took his hat off, hair plastered to his forehead, shook it out and put it back on. Then he sniffled.
Yukimura stirred and stretched like a cat in the run rather than a teenager stuck in a heavy rainstorm with his pathetically unhappy best friend. He took of his jacket and threw it over Sanada, surprised for the second time that afternoon when the other didn't object.
Sanada sneezed again and Yukimura repeated his earlier resigned sigh. "Let's go. You're going to catch a cold."
He heard a murmur that sounded like "thank you" but could've also been "fuck you" for all Yukimura knew.
Either way, it was emotion and he's just Sanada, he was a human. A human with a cold, a bad temper and a losing streak—but a human.
Yukimura frowned, still feeling shame radiating off of Sanada from behind him as they walked home, umbrella-less. Maybe I didn't want him to end up like me.