Prince of Tennis
Sanada Gen'ichirou/Ibu Shinji
Shinji's chin fell down against his chest for the ninth time that half-hour (or was it only fifteen minutes?) and quickly looked up as he jerked awake. He stared at the board in front of him and the people on either side of it. He didn't understand shogi, why did Sanada have to play it while he was there? Sanada was the one who invited him there, but at the moment, he seemed to be completely uninterested in Shinji. And that was annoying. Very annoying. And the pieces hadn't moved the least, it seemed. "Are you finished yet?" he asked, and received a glare from Sanada that said 'shut up' and Shinji sighed. He stood up and left to go to Sanada's room. At least he wouldn't have to be sitting and falling asleep all the time there. When he opened the door, he glared at the clock that stood beside the futon. It showed that it was early afternoon.
He sat down on the tatami-clad floor and lay down with his back on the futon with a sigh. "When he was the one who invited me, does he have to be so annoying? It's not nice to ignore guests like that." he muttered to himself, rolling around onto his stomach. He pulled the cover closer to him, and it was bunched up in his arms. He knew that Sanada didn't like when he did that, but was he irritated with his boyfriend, so then he would be. He rolled around again, wrapped in the covers. He closed his eyes and pulled up the covers around him.
Sanada looked up when he noticed Shinji leaving, and his grandfather looked at him. "Something wrong, Gen'ichirou?" Sanada's gaze flickered from between the shogi-board, the door and his grandfather. "Well.." There was no way that his grandfather hadn't noticed Shinji leaving. But Sanada was sure that since his grandfather didn't know about the relationship between the two tennis players, and probably wouldn't have agreed with it either, that was probably why his grandfather considered their game more important than Gen'ichirou's guest. "I'm sorry, grandfather, but could we continue later?"
His grandfather looked at him for a moment and sighed. Sanada bowed his head in thanks and hurried out the door. Now where did Shinji go..? He quickly walked through the house, and when he saw the door to his room slightly open, he knew he had found him.
"Ibu?" he opened the door and looked inside. Shinji lay partly on the tatami-mats and partly in Sanada's futon, and Sanada's eyebrow twitched slightly when he saw the mess Shinji had made of the bed. Then he looked at Shinji's face, and saw that the other man looked displeased and that he was pouting. Sanada stepped into the room and slid the door shut. He sat down beside Shinji who turned his head to look at him. Sanada reached out and took Shinji's lower lip between his fingers and tugged very lightly, before letting go and leaning back against the bedsheets. "Shinji, you're sulking again." he stated, and Shinji sat up and brushed away some hair from his face. "Yes, I am. You invited me here for some reason that I don't know, then you ignore me. What am I supposed to act like, just take it? I could be doing so much other things, like playing tennis or look for a new job, because as you know, I was fired because of that stuck-up boss and I need a job, because I'm always hungry and you know that and I don't get why. Maybe I should go see a doctor. Ah, right, to see if there's any reason for—what are you doing?"
Sanada looked over his shoulder at Shinji as he opened the bottom-drawer of his desk and pulled out something from it. "I did invite you for a reason, Shinji." he said and returned to Shinji and sat down beside him. He handed him what he had gotten. "Here."
Shinji stared at the box in his hands for a couple of moments, then looked at Sanada with his eyebrows raised. "A cardboard-box?"
Sanada sighed. "Please just open it, stupid."
Shinji stared at him a little longer, then opened the box and looked looked at the contents. "A folder and a box?"
Sanada sighed again and picked up the small box. "It's not very fancy or anything, but.." he opened it and pushed it over to Shinji again. "I wanted to ask for your hand."
Shinji blinked. "Huh?"
"...Shinji, that shouldn't be very difficult for you to understand. What I'm asking is, well, if you want to marry me?" Sanada's voice turned slightly cautious and unsure towards the end, and the statement he was supposed to say was turned into a question.
Shinji finally looked down, and saw that in the small bow, two thin rings made of something silvery rested. "Is that real silver?" was the only thing he managed to get out in his confusion. Then he looked up quickly, as Sanada's words finally got through. "Wait, what? You're asking yo marry me? Me? Marry? As in, get married? With you? Me?"
"Is it that difficult to get through to you? You're not an idiot, Shinji." Sanada muttered and leaned forward to press a kiss to Shinji's lips. "Yes, I am asking you to marry me. Will you?"
"Ah, right." Shinji leaned into Sanada's hands, that were placed at his upper arms. "Yes." He rested his forehead against Sanada's. "If you kiss me again."
Sanada smiled, and Shinji felt his heart flutter. How many years now? Five? During all the years they had dated, he had never lost that feeling of recently having fallen in love. People told him that it would disappear after a while, when he got to know Sanada enough to not be surprised by anything. But just because he knew Sanada so well by now, he was surprised every display of affection that Sanada showed. Because Sanada, while passionated in everything he did, never was the type of person that didn't manage to surprise Shinji. Sanada could do completely random things from time to time, and make Shinji feel wonderful. But it was moments like these, when Sanada looked so happy and was smiling with all his heart, that Shinji fell in love all over again. It was Sanada's smile he had fallen in love with that first time, and seeing Sanada smile just made him so happy. Being with Sanada made Shinji feel whole.
Sanada put a hand at the back of Shinji's head and kissed him, a soft kiss that made Shinji press closer for more, but Sanada pulled away after a little while. Shinji pouted, and Sanada reached to tug at his lower lip again. "Before we get carried away, there is something more I want to show you."
Shinji tilted his head to the side and Sanada picked up the folder and pulled away the rubber-band that kept it closed. "This," he opened the folder and pulled out a heap of papers. "are the plans for an apartment that's located in Iyo."
"Iyo?" Shinji took the papers and looked at the floor plan. "Where's that?"
"Shikoku." Sanada replied. "And when I say Iyo, it's really in the old Futami-cho, the town, together with Nakayama, merged with Iyo a couple of years ago, so it's technically Iyo, while it's also in Futami."
Shinji glanced up at him before looking down at the papers again. "That doesn't make any sense. But I suppose that if you think you know about it, I won't say anything about it."
"Shinji. You just did." Sanada sighed. "I hope you know where Shikoku is, though."
"Of course I do. In what prefecture is Iyo-that-was-previously-Futami-or-maybe-not-really located?"
Sanada blinked as he tried to catch up with what Shinji just had said, and frowned once he did. "Ehime." he replied after a little while. Shinji nodded. "Okay. But why Shikoku?"
"With the bastards always firing you because of your mumbling, maybe you need to relocate. There's some really nice places that won't mind if you're mumbling in Iyo, and it's a nice place." Sanada explained. Shinji put down the papers and looked up at Sanada. "Are you sending me away?"
"What? No! I was planning to go with you." Sanada half-shouted. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to go, or if you'd want me with you."
Shinji smiled slightly and let out an amused huff. "Well, you've already put this much effort in it, after all. But I'd like to see the place, first of all. And know what jobs those are."
"Right." Sanada nodded. "There are details on the jobs in the folder, and we can go up anytime."
Shinji thought for a while, then nodded. "Now?"
Sanada chuckled and reached to give Shinji another kiss. "Sure." Then he looked at the box with the rings. "Will you wear it, then?"
"Only if you wear it all the time, too." Shinji said. "I know you don't think your family will appreciate our relationship, but you know I don't really care, because mine won't either and I'm used to being looked down upon by them and everyone." he continued, picking up one of the rings and holding it out for Sanada to take. It rested lightly in his palm for a moment, before Sanada took it and looked at it for a moment, before putting it on. "Shinji, you didn't have to live with your family for all these years, you know."
Shinji shook his head. "I know. But I couldn't just leave. It's not like I could move in here, right? I mean, with your family being suspicious as it is. And I wouldn't be able to keep away, anyway, so it's for the better that I stayed."
"If we live together, somewhere that's not here or Tokyo, they don't have any right to say anything. And we won't have to hide this relationship like this."
"Hiding in closets and checking into love hotels each and every day is not that convenient." Shinji admitted. "Should we go?"
Sanada nodded. "Let's."
The apartment was bigger than it had looked on the drawings, and Shinji was awed. It was nice, really. Could need a bit of airing, and it was a little dusty in the corners, but they could fix that. And he knew just where he wanted to have a bed. A bed for two. He didn't mind futons, but there was just something about a real bed that made him happier than futons. Except if the futon smelled like Sanada, then those worked fine too.
"Can we get a double-bed and put here?" he asked, turning to Sanada who stood by the wide window that overlooked the sea. The air caught in his throat and he had to force himself to breathe. Sanada looked a bit absentminded as he looked into the room, and that faraway expression, the way the rays of the setting sun fell over Sanada's already handsome features and the ocean in the background was just stunning and made his heart race in his chest. He silently observed the picture in front of him, taking it in in full and engraving it into his memory.
Then Sanada noticed that he was staring and tilted his head to the side. "Hm?" A slight rising of the corner of his lips caused Shinji to smile, and he walked up to his boyfriend, now fiancee, and kissed him. "Gen'ichirou, I love you." he said in a hushed voice, and Sanada smiled at him. "Me too, Shinji, I love you." He kissed him. "What did you say before?"
"Bed. We need to get a double-bed." Shinji said and wrapped his arms around Sanada's neck. "I want to live with you."
Sanada chuckled and bent down to brush his lips along Shinji's neck. He felt Shinji shiver as he nibbled at the soft skin. "Shinji." he mumbled, kissing said man's throat, and Shinji let out a low moan. "Now?"
"It's already ours." Sanada said, moving so that Shinji's back was pressed against the wall by the window and their lips touched again. "You won't be mad if I say I'd already signed the contract, right?"
"Just a little put off, maybe." Shinji replied. "But I suppose it's alright. Just let me sign that contract later, too. It's good to have both names under it, right?"
"Maybe so." Sanada replied. He slid a hand up under Shinji's t-shirt and kissed him, this time with more force than the previous ones that day. "Talk about it later?" Shinji nodded, letting himself being pulled into Sanada's embrace and strong hold. He really did love him, so incredibly much. And now that he had been given the chance to live with him, he would take it. Hell if he cared what anyone thought about it, but he knew he wanted this.