Cherry

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Oshitari Yuushi had always thought that his partner's hair resembled the color of his favorite lollipop much, not that he fancied lollipops that much. In fact, the last time he had had lollipops was years ago, when he was still in his elementary school years. And then on his second summer as a junior high school student, after their regular tennis practice, the coach summoned him to introduce him to the other member of his newly formed doubles partnership. That boy was small in size, and with pouty face and a smug voice he introduced himself.

Mukahi Gakuto.

And his hair colour reminded Oshitari of his favourite cherry flavored lollipops.

--

It was one of those lazy summer afternoons when he suddenly felt like having a cherry flavoured lollipop. The atmosphere was humid, preventing him from stepping out of his comfortably air-conditioned room. There was no practice that day. Hell, maybe Atobe himself was feeling too damn lazy to move out of his posh cottage somewhere, he mused. And then his craving for the lollipop somehow managed to create the image of a certain redhead in his mind. It had been two years, he recalled. Two colourful years playing tennis with him, two interesting years taking care of him. Two years being with him. That was how that slow smile crept up Oshitari's handsome face.

Suddenly he's not all that lazy anymore.

And so he took his wallet and turned off the air-conditioner, locked his room and proceeded to the candy shop he had known from Rikkai's Marui. Once, he had been dragged there by the sweet tooth, together with Akutagawa and Mukahi. There was Jackal and Kirihara too, but he had reminded himself that Jackal was the one to take care of the Rikkai gluttons, as he was to take care of his two team mates. Oshitari had to admit, though, that they sell good quality candies and chocolates. He was not very fond of sweets himself, but that day he just felt the need to satisfy his constant craving he had been having for quite a while. But he had never expected to see his partner there.

"Yuushi?" Mukahi Gakuto. Wide eyed. In cute white hot pants and striped sleeveless hoodie.

"Gakuto?" He had a hard time figuring out whether he was surprised that the redhead was there before him or that this partner of his looked oh so cute in that outfit.

But Oshitari Yuushi does not blush.

And so he didn't. He noticed that the redhead had in his hand a red coloured lollipop. His eyes then shifted to the lollipop counter, and to his disappointment, there were no more of his favourite lollipop left. Except, of course, the one in Mukahi's hand.

And the shorter boy almost grinned.

He just knew, somehow, that he was not getting any relieve to his craving. But then again, it didn't matter anymore. He had just developed another sort of craving, a persistent one, yet he was perfectly aware that he would succeed in getting a relieve to this one. The object of his craving was then waving a piece of innocent red tinted candy as he strode calmly, menacingly towards the younger boy, eyes fixed on that of the other and a smile, smirk, formed on his delicate features. Just then Oshitari thought summer in Japan couldn't get any hotter than that.

"Sankyuu, na, Yuushi..." the redhead whispered to his ear as he tiptoed. His breath caressing the small just before his nape and he felt blood gushing up his face. It must be the heat, he told himself.

Fortunately, being adept in this game himself, Oshitari managed to grab the smaller boy's wrist just before he touched the handle of the door to the candy shop. He spun around swiftly and narrowed his eyes.

"Who said I'm letting you have it all to yourself?" He whispered back to him, voice low and breathy. How it resulted in a splash of red, rivaling the said lollipop in Mukahi's hand, totally amused him. Oshitari knew his voice does wonders, especially to a certain energetic boy with red hair and pouty lips. With that, he seized the chance to take the said lollipop away from Mukahi and walked out of the store, knowing that the other boy would follow.

"Yuushi, not fair!" His partner whined, tailing him out of the store with the blush still on his face. The bespectacled had unwrapped the candy and was on the verge of putting it into his mouth when Mukahi tripped behind him. As much as he takes pride in his swift reflexes, Oshitari Yuushi almost hit himself in the head when he turned around and opened his arms to prevent his bundle of red fur from falling and let his newly unwrapped lollipop fall to the ground. He should have known that Mukahi Gakuto doesn't fall.

Yet, Mukahi let himself land on his double partner's chest. Yuushi always feels nice, he mused silently. Of course he wouldn't actually say it out loud in front of the other boy, his pride would never forgive him for that. He squeaked when he saw the sweet he bought just minutes ago lying helplessly on the ground next to them.

"Yu-Yuushi! The lollipop!" He pointed at the inanimate red object almost frantically.

The taller boy sighed and helped his partner stand up properly while keeping him in his loose embrace still. "I'm sorry I dropped it. Do you want anything to replace it?"

"But you were the one who looked desperately in need of it just now. I wasn't really planning to buy anything, it's just that the look you did back then kinda inspired me to, you know, not let you have it?" He snickered half apologetically.

"Right, I was craving for that moments ago," he admitted," but now I think I've developed another craving. And I guess you can have my forgiveness if you are willing to help me sate my craving, Gakuto."

"Er... sure?" Mukahi had a feeling that the genius was scheming, but he was half responsible for the loss of the object that was supposed to sate his friend's craving. He had no choice but to cooperate.

"Great," he smiled. Before Mukahi could even guess what Oshitari was up to, a pair of moist lips were planted on his, making his eyes widened before fluttering close. The kiss ended a little too soon for the redhead's liking, only to land again on his forehead.

"Gochizousama deshita." Oshitari finally whispered softly on his ear.

It was one humid summer day and Oshitari finally got to satisfy his craving. But then again, this particular craving of his might never be satisfied after all since he would keep ending up wanting more of it, more of a particular redhead who finally snapped out of his daze and was running after him with a smack of red on his face and a cute pout on his lips.

--

aQx

[22062008 - 0745]

It's been a long while since I posted anything here, so long even my style have changed somewhere in the past. Anyway, the numbers in the bracket indicates the date this one-shot was written. Pretty old, eh? I hope you enjoy this anyway. Reviews are very much appreciated. :D