Prologue
In the winter of their last day of middle school, Kirihara Akaya couldn't stop but cry so visibly that even Niou didn't tease him upon seeing the sight. He wanted to, but how could he? His lovable junior was crying so earnestly for their graduation. They were leaving, and Kirihara couldn't accept that fact. He would even endure Sanada's harsh training, he said – anything to stop them from leaving him all alone.
Sanada wanted to shout his trademark 'Tarundoru!' to Kirihara, but even Sanada was left clueless of what to do. He had shown no hint of sadness or any of the sorts, and yet there he was, crying like a baby – like what he used to be when he challenged the three of them for the first time.
Marui had tried to soothe him with sweets, which only turned out to be a waste of energy – the thing that Marui conserved most. He would eat the sweets if it meant they would not leave, Kirihara said. But Marui could promise nothing, and he ate the sweets instead, much to Kirihara's dismay – he would absolutely welcome sweets with a bright smile if the circumstance were a little different.
The others, they could only watch in sympathy, because they understood. They understood how their junior was feeling, even if it was only the tiniest bit of what he actually felt. After all, he was left behind all alone. They were supposed to be a team, and leaving was just unforgivable. But they knew staying behind was impossible – at least, they still wanted to graduate to high school.
"We'll wait for you there, Akaya." He said tenderly. Kirihara only needed those words. He needed to know that he wasn't going to be left behind. He needed to know that they would remember him given any situation.
But he needed more than that. He needed to be convinced. He needed an assurance.
"How would I know that you will really wait for me, Buchou?" he said in between breaths, meeting the eyes of his ever-kind captain.
Yukimura smiled, ruffling the hair of the younger boy with continuous chugging from the latter. Somehow, the tears wouldn't stop flowing no matter how hard he tried. But Yukimura once again understood, and he ruffled his hair some more.
"Because Akaya," he shifted his gaze to two green eyes so profoundly that it made the tears stop for a second, and Kirihara couldn't help but be entranced by those mesmerizing ones his captain had,
"You know we will."
And a whole set of tears ran down his cheeks once again. But it was evident – and the others couldn't help but flicker a tinge of smile – that it was tears of happiness.
He was happy, he thought. He was grateful to have such friends. Kirihara Akaya was indeed a young and fortunate boy. He had learnt what true friendship meant that his captain's words made so much sense to his ears.
He must thank a certain captain in Osaka later, for teaching him things that worth a lot more than tennis.
Thank you.
A/N: I'm thinking of writing some kind of bromance here, so I'm not sure if it will be a shounen-ai or not. Well, everybody needs some good friendship between boys. Do you? Because I DOOOOOOOO. It's just adorable. Oh, and it's not a one-shot. It somehow seems like a one-shot. There's so much more Shiraishi to look forward to because I love Shiraishi, don't you all? Anyway, it's some sort of experiment of mine. If it doesn't turn out well, I might discontinue it. I mean, I still have lots more to work on on understanding the essence of BROMANCE. ALL HAIL BROMANCE!
In truth, I still don't see the relevance between this crappy prologue and the plot I have in mine lol. Anyway, it sets after the U-17, but I'm not going to talk about that. I just want to let you know that since it's after the U-17, that's why Kirihara was pretty close with Shiraishi. Get the point?