A/N: Happy Birthday, Yanagi Renji! And belated happy birthday, Kane-chan!
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. Konomi-sensei does.
Warnings: OOC-ness (especially from Yukimura), not beta-read, pointless.
[7/14/11] Edited.
Practical Jokes and Disappearing Acts
Yanagi Renji is a perceptive, intelligent boy. He aces all his subjects, never getting a grade below 100. All his teachers praised him, yet at the same time, feared him. Whenever Yanagi raises his hand, it is only either for answering a question, or correcting a teacher's mistake. He never hesitates to point out any mistakes and flaws in his professors' lectures, blunt that he is. Getting corrected by the data master in front of the class is humiliating, especially when the amendment is accurate, and since Yanagi is always correct, the teacher's embarrassment is most certain.
This observative trait of his is what led him to notice his best friend's peculiar actions whenever he's around. Sanada Genichirou, his best friend and vice-captain, was behaving unusually around him. Sanada, as he noticed, stiffens slightly whenever he's within a five-meter radius around the teen, leans to the opposite side whenever he stands right beside him, and even visibly freezes whenever he do as much as talk to him.
Yanagi could not grasp the reason of Sanada's strange reactions, and he was determined to identify what it is. He had a tiny speculation of what or who may be the cause of it, and it involved the resident Trickster and his captain. The most logical reason Yanagi came up with is that Sanada is being the victim of a practical joke by none other than Niou Masaharu, and the prank must have involved him, considering the weird behaviours. Judging from the smile which was a fraction wider than usual, Yukimura Seiichi must have had a part in it, too, or at least knows about it.
Aware of the fact that it would not be wise to ask the trickster himself, and asking Yukimura would be very much useless, he came straight to the victim, and he was not going to let Sanada escape from him.
Yanagi was able to trap the capped teen inside the comfort room, when Sanada was the sole occupant of the place. He shut the door quickly and locked it, blocking the only exit in the place, not allowing Sanada to evade him. Leaning his back against the door with crossed arms, he craned his neck towards the tall boy.
"Genichirou."
Said person switched his attention to Yanagi, immediately putting his guard up when he saw the Data Master by the door.
"Renji." Sanada acknowledged his presence, albeit stiffly. There was a tense silence within the room. He analyzed the fukubuchou sharply, his orbs of muddy brown unsheathed. Noticing that the teen was avoiding his gaze, he took a step forward, shortening the distance between him and his best friend. Before Yanagi managed to utter a word, Sanada began to speak.
"I cannot return your feelings," the raven-haired teen stated firmly, holding out a piece of paper with his (Yanagi's) handwriting on it. And there was a small heart, Yanagi's keen eyes saw, which widened not a moment later. Somewhere, a pipe made a "pfft"-sound. "Renji, you know who I–"
Everybody knows that, except probably for the person himself, Yanagi mused."Stop, Genichirou. Please be quiet," he added the last part as Sanada opened his mouth. Yanagi sauntered over to a random cubicle and pushed it open, revealing a smirking Niou Masaharu.
"Puri~" Niou mock saluted, bringing up two fingers near his forehead and quickly brought them forward. Yanagi stared at him blankly.
"Genichirou, open the cubicle next to this one, please," he requested.
Sanada strode to the slightly opened cubicle next to Niou's. He raised his hand and...
"Hello~!" A familiar voice chimed.
Surprised, he froze in his place, and the other three boys chuckled. Yukimura's head had suddenly popped out, and now it was resting on his arms which are folded on top of the cubicle door.
A minute passed, and Sanada recovered. He looked confusedly at three of them multiple times, and finally said, "Huh?"
"Masaharu played a trick on you by giving you a love letter with my handwriting," Yanagi started to explain, having placed the puzzle pieces together and figured everything out. Niou gave a "piyo," to confirm what he said, his smirk growing wider. "While Seiichi... watched."
Yukimura "nuh-uh"-ed, shaking his head in disapproval.
"And drew the heart," Yanagi quickly amended. The effeminate teen nodded in satisfaction.
A large "why?" practically floated on top of Sanada's head.
"Because I wanted to," Yukimura answered cheekily. A sweat drop appeared on Yanagi's face.
"He was not referring to the heart," whispered Yanagi. Yukimura "oh"-ed softly.
Niou took his turn to speak. "Because I wanted to," he said with his signature smirk in place.
"Ah." Sanada spoke. A long silence followed. After a few minutes, Yukimura walked up to Sanada.
"So... what were you going to tell Yanagi a while ago?" The azure-haired boy asked curiously. Niou's smirk turned into a cheshire grin, Yanagi wore a knowing smile, and Sanada went back to his frozen state. He stared at Yanagi helplessly as Yukimura continuously poked him in his chest.
The chocolate-haired teen made a decision to aid his best friend in his dilemma. He called out to Yukimura, "There's a hundred percent that you're famished, Seiichi. Let's go eat."
"But there's a hundred and one percent that I want to know what he was about to say," Yukimura said stubbornly, refusing to leave without an answer.
Yanagi paused, contemplating about using his last resort if it's worth it. He then looked fixedly at Sanada with a you-owe-me look. "... My treat."
Yukimura perked up instantly. "Okay!" He scrambled out of the comfort room with unbelievable agility, unlocking the door in less than a second. Yanagi was briefly worried about his wallet. All of his money would perform a disappearing act, his data told him. That lithe captain could eat a lot of food that would equal into a whole horse in one seating, and yet miraculously retain his atheletic figure.
A hand appeared on Yanagi's shoulder. Looks like Sanada recovered... again. The teen gave him a few pats. "Thanks," Sanada showed his appreciation, then retreated.
Yanagi left the room to search for Yukimura, leaving Niou to plot for a new prank on his own.
A/N: This one-shot is both for Kane-chan (June 2) and Yanagi (June 4), which is why Sanada's the victim, and Yanagi's the main character.
P.S. If you don't know Kane-chan, he's Kanesaki Kentarou, the man who played Sanada in TeniMyu. He's the best Sanada EVER.
P.P.S. Never mind what I said about who's youngest. I just found out that Yukimura really is the youngest in his year (his age being much closer to Kirihara's than Sanada's).