Girlfriend
It didn't take more than five minutes for a person to tell that Sanada Genichirou was not good with having anything to do with girls. His stoic facial expression said it all for him. However, he did have admirers; he just didn't know what to say to them or do with them. So, he did what he could: he ignored them, for most of the time. Just because Sanada ignores people does not mean that Sanada is not polite. He speaks to them when he needs to, but otherwise ignores them.
"Sanada-san?"
Sanada turned his head, his eyes traveling over the short figure standing at his desk. He really didn't like being bothered when he was reading during lunch. Of course, he already had his bento at the side, ready to be put away.
He cleared his throat with a small noise. "Yes?"
"Please accept this!" she said, like any other girl would if they wanted another boy to accept a love letter. Her head was bowed, and her hair flew forward, almost whacking Sanada's head, and her fingers were trembling slightly, the letter held out towards him.
Sanada felt no need to pity her, and so he put his book down, pushed his chair back, stood up, and looked down at her. Sighing inwardly, he reached up to take his cap, only then realizing it wasn't there, and then bowed a tiny bit, and asked the girl to raise her head. When she did, he presented her with a small "I'm sorry", and bowed back. She had told him honestly, so he felt the need to return the same honesty. He raised his head.
The girl was standing upright now, and she smiled shakily, thanked him for being truthful, and then shuffled back to her own seat.
Sanada didn't feel guilty. Though somewhere inside him, he wished he had.
"Sanada-fukubuchou, do you have a girlfriend?"
The other members of the tennis club looked at Kirihara in shock. Sanada just rolled his eyes and ignored him, grabbing his towel on the bench and slinging it over his neck. Yanagi stood from not far away, observing Sanada's movements. Niou was smirking, his arm slung around Yagyuu's shoulder casually and his eyes following Sanada, who had taken his cap off and was running the towel across the side of his face.
They all knew that Sanada didn't like being bothered about personal situations.
Kirihara didn't give up. "Sanada-fukubuchou?"
Marui flapped his arms up and down, squawking at Kirihara in horror ("What if he gives us more laps, you dumbass? Are you trying to kill the rest of us with your stupid questions?") and grabbing Jackal's arm while Jackal yelled back, saying something about cutting his circulation off while shaking the arm that Marui was glued to at the moment.
Sanada turned around to glare at Marui for making so much noise and then stared at Kirihara, who smiled back at him almost innocently. Letting out a small grunt, he just blatantly ignored the younger boy once again, trying to keep his patience at bay before he was forced to maul them all.
"Sanada-fukubuchou? Can you hear me?" Kirihara pressed, trailing Sanada unnecessarily. Sanada twitched. It wasn't very visible, but he twitched nonetheless.
Yanagi sighed and rolled his eyes inside their sockets. Yagyuu, despite himself, let out a small puff of air and placed his towel aside. Marui was taking more drastic actions by shrieking directly into Jackal's ears and babbling about how people were going to miss him when he died. Jackal mustered every ounce of energy to not to whack Marui across the head. Niou wanted to yell at the idiot to shut up, but then decided against it.
Kirihara, however, just tilted his head to the side innocently. "Hm?"
"Regulars. Fifty laps around the courts. Now."
Hah. Kirihara flounced off to do his laps. It was completely worth it to see Marui-senpai suffer, after he'd called him a dumbass. And, Kirihara reminded himself, this had absolutely nothing to do with the 1000 yen Marui had cheated off of him the week before.
Sanada didn't know what he thought about Atobe after the Junior Senbatsu Team against the Americans. He certainly did remember what he thought of the pompous diva when they had their first encounter though. Atobe had reminded Sanada of a Siamese cat; he held his head up high with pride and his eyelids were dropped in that way where he looked smug and powerful.
His impression of Atobe did change, however, after that game in which they'd played doubles together. And then his mind drifted back to that one time where they had coincidently met at the theatre. But then he stopped himself and wondered why his mind would be drifting back to whatever time that included Atobe.
And he wasn't surprised at all when he saw Atobe walking – without Kabaji, for once – towards Rikkaidai Fuzoku. Atobe noticed him, shot him that annoying smug grin, and raised a hand in the air majestically to greet him. Sanada did not return the action, but walked up to him with his normally straight face.
"What," he said, blinking once, "are you doing here?"
Atobe flipped his hair and raised an eyebrow, all the while smiling. "I'm not allowed to go wherever I want?"
Sanada decided to rephrase his question: "What business do you have here?"
"I can't take a walk the school that you attend?"
Sanada almost rolled his eyes. Almost. "I didn't say that. But I find it hard to believe that you, of all people, would find time to take the subway here."
Atobe harrumphed and turned his head to the side. "Oshitari told me to."
"And of course, you do everything that Oshitari tells you to."
"I command you to shut up."
Sanada wondered briefly if all interactions with Atobe were like this.
Atobe kept coming like that, once or twice a week, and Sanada got tired of trying to ask him why he was here. So they talked for about a few minutes each time, and then Sanada would bring up homework.
"I heard you don't have a girlfriend," Atobe said, an eyebrow raised in what Sanada thought to be either smugness or curiosity.
"I don't," Sanada said shortly. He felt less than comfortable at the moment.
"Why not?"
"Do you?" Sanada said, once again, ignoring Atobe's question. He liked doing it; it made Atobe shut up for a moment and stop to think for words. The shutting up part was his favourite.
Atobe sniffed indignantly. "I have many admirers," he said rather stiffly.
"All you have to do is pick one." Sanada pointed that out, and Atobe almost flinched at Sanada's bluntness. "Do you even have someone you like?"
"Why, do you have someone that you like?"
Sanada paused, and Atobe made a note to pat himself on the back later for making Sanada falter. And as Atobe watched Sanada's blank expression, he realized that Sanada did have his somewhat slight aloof moments, which to Atobe, was quite amusing.
"I have lots of homework today," Sanada finally said, and he walked off.
Atobe smirked, flipped his hair, and walked in the opposite direction. Sanada Genichirou did not have a girlfriend.
But he had someone he was interested in.
"What is it this time?" Sanada asked, a vein twitching.
"You are interested in someone?" Atobe asked flippantly.
"How did you get to that conclusion?"
"Are you saying that I'm wrong?"
Sanada considered this, but could do nothing but answer honestly. "No, I am not," he said slowly. His hand on his tennis bag tightened and his mouth opened to say that he was leaving, to say that he was going home to do homework.
But naturally, Atobe interrupted him. "You're not going to ask if I have anyone I like too?"
"I asked that yesterday."
"You're not going to ask again?"
"I'm not you."
Atobe laughed, and walked right up to Sanada. Smirking, he kissed him. And then when he pulled back, he was satisfied to see Sanada's surprised expression. Or as surprised as Sanada's face would allow him to look.
"You're lucky," Atobe claimed, "because not everyone is blessed with Ore-sama's humbleness."
Sanada gave a little sigh. "How did you know?"
"When you're a stunningly handsome rich person like me, you tend to know everything." And Atobe smirked when Sanada leaned back in for another. And then another.
Sanada did not have a girlfriend.
He still doesn't.
Owari
2009.10.04