Disclaimer: Konomi-sensei owns the characters. I own Sanada's girl friend, except that sounds creepy so...
Warnings: shounen-ai (light YukiKiri) and... het and OC. (SanaOC)
Notes: Set two and a half years after canon, technically. Meeting when four and the moving beans thing is canon, as stated by Pair Puri.
A/N: I tried and tried and TRIED to write a Valentine's fic. I really, really did. I've got at least four documents open, and there have been at least five false starts. It didn't happen, but this did. Because I was reading PairPuri. It's more suited to be a chapter of A Day in the Life Of, but I want to post it separately. So, I am. En...joy?
Yukimura Seiichi looked up from his pillow and glared at the clock. The little red numbers blared at his retinas, showing him it was barely seven in the morning. School days this would have been a problem, but seeing as it was Sunday, Yukimura shouldn't have been awake for any reason at this time.
Yet, he was. He had no idea why, absolutely no clue what had woken him, but his eyes had opened and-
"Seiichi," Akaya grumbled from next to him, "someone's knockin' at your door."
…Oh, so that was it. And, indeed, Yukimura could hear the distinct noise of someone pounding on his front door. With a groan, he hauled himself out of bed, threw on a pair of sweatpants while ignoring his lack of boxers, and trudged away from the warmth of his bed to answer the front door.
"Yes?" he grumbled, the aura radiating from him one of absolute wrath. He looked up, hoping it was Marui or Niou or someone else whom he could bitch out without feeling guilty, but as it turns out it wasn't. It was, in fact...
…a girl.
She backed away a step or two, looking just as afraid as she should have been.
"Ah, I'm so sorry." She bowed deeply in apology, long hair flowing past her face. "I know this is probably an untimely hour. Did I wake you…?"
"No, it's no trouble at all," Yukimura answered sweetly. Had it been anyone else at the door, even another girl, Yukimura probably would have gone into a long, ranting lecture about how rude it was to appear at one's house this early on a Sunday, but he had now come to recognize this girl as Sanada's girlfriend, someone he had vowed he would be kind to. "What can I help you with?"
Teshima-chan fidgeted slightly, and averted her gaze when she responded but she did not cower as much as she could have and Yukimura was thankful for this. "Sanada-kun and I were supposed to meet this morning, about half an hour ago, but he never showed up." The tone of her voice held both worry and doubt, and Yukimura immediately felt bad fr his previous tone. "I… I've called his mobile but he hasn't responded and no one answered his home phone. I wasn't sure what to do, but I was nearby and I just… I thought…"
"I'll try his mobile as well, if you'd like, and if not I'll throw on something more appropriate-" It was only now he even considered how inappropriately dressed he was "-and we can see if something's up." She nodded in relieved thanks as Yukimura held open the door, before leaving her sitting in his living room as he went to change.
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"Who 's a' th' door?" Akaya mumbled from under the covers, one eye barely open beneath drooping lids.
"Teshima-chan," Yukimura answered with more of a groan than was appropriate under the circumstances. He flopped back down on the bed, snatching his mobile from the bedside table as he did so, and dialing Sanada's number before pressing the device to his ear. Akaya tried to reach over and pry the phone away, but Yukimura shot him a look, and the younger boy settled for planting kisses along Yukimura's jaw and still-bare shoulders.
Unfortunately, Akaya got no further than that as Sanada did not answer his phone the first time Yukimura rang, or the second. With a dejected sigh the captain rose, kicking off his sweat pants as he did so and finding some more suitable clothes. Akaya gave a whine of protest, all the coherent words he was capable of at this early hour of the morning, but Yukimura only replied with a chaste peck on the lips before running a comb through his hair and stepping back out into the hall to find the girl.
She was exactly where Yukimura left her, at least room-wise. When he walked in she bolted from where she had clearly been looking at photos on the mantle. Yukimura chuckled and raised an eyebrow that caused her to go a deep shade of pink.
"'S all right," he assured, stepping over to look at the images himself; this seemed to make her less intimidated, as she walked back over and stood next to him. There were more pictures than fit along the piece of wood, from his and Shizuka's youngest days to the most recent tournaments and achievements. Four years back Akaya started joining them, in the background at first and gaining as time went on; one of the closest to the end of the visual timeline was of Yukimura and the younger boy, lips locked in congratulations to winning Nationals that summer. Teshima-chan seemed a bit wary of that one, and Yukimura didn't blame her; they were an item, had been for some time, and everyone knew it, but that didn't mean it didn't throw people – especially your ex's girlfriend – off.
"He didn't answer his mobile," Yukimura commented, glancing over at her; she tore her eyes away from the photograph and gave a small, sad nod. "I figured the best bet would be to try his house." Teshima-chan looked wary, and Yukimura could tell she thought she would be invading inappropriately if she went, but before she could voice her concerns Yukimura continued. "I have a spare key from a few years ago, and knowing the Sanadas they haven't changed their locks yet. I'm sure he'd be fine if we popped in." Teshima-chan still looked wary, but Yukimura gave her a last reassuring smile as he herded her out the door.
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It was a short walk, barely ten minutes, filled with mostly silence and the chirping of far-too-awake birds. In all honesty, Yukimura wasn't sure he would be able to form any more coherent sentences this morning, and the only real thought that flittered through his mind during their walk was that he was glad Sanada had picked a girl so like Sanada himself – quiet and of few words except in worry.
When they arrived Yukimura found the front door open, his spare key not even needing to be used; the lack of shoes by the door indicated that no one was home, bar Sanada whose shoes remained neatly in their pair against the wall. Yukimura's brow furrowed, as did Teshima-chan's, in identical confusion at this fact, but both teens quietly removed their own shoes so as not to soil the floor before making their way further into the Sanada residence.
It took a few minutes of wandering corridors, but Yukimura was well acquainted with the layout of the Sanada household, and before long they came across a back room. It was traditional in style, the mats and walls emanating all that was the Sanada family pride. Two small tables sat in the middle of the room, a plate on each; both plates contained soy beans, though the plate closest to the pair at the door contained more than the one further. In between both tables, from one side of them, Sanada sat. Or, rather, lay, as his head had fallen to rest on them. A pair of chopsticks lay to the side, one resting perfectly on the further plate and the other having fallen off and clattered to the floor long ago.
Yukimura nearly fell over in internal laughter, but managed to keep it together; Teshima-chan looked bewildered.
"He… he does this as part of his mental training," Yukimura tried to explain to the baffled girl. "He moves them – I think he's up to, like, five hundred – from one plate to another in order to increase mental tenacity." He paused, then added, "not that he needs to, but Genichiroh will be Genichiroh and he always has had his habits."
Teshima-chan nodded quietly to herself, eye roaming over Sanada with a kind of sadness and respect that Yukimura knew belonged solely to females. Then, as suddenly as the pensive mood had come over her, she spoke.
"You know him well, don't you?" Teshima-chan's voice was soft, a kind of knowing whisper that made Yukimura wish he had made more of an effort to get to know her in the month or so she and one of his best friend's had been together.
"We've known each other since we were four," Yukimura commented, a knowing smile crossing his features, eyes still focused on the exhausted boy sleeping in front of him.
"That's a long time," she commented, a wistful quality in her voice that differentiated her personality greatly – one of the only things, Yukimura currently had to find – from the person she was dating. "He's such a kind hearted person. Always working for the benefit of everyone."
As Yukimura nodded and the two let themselves out of Sanada's house, he couldn't help but think that maybe – just maybe – he could properly give them his blessing. It was a small thing, really, for someone who did so much for him.
A/N: And so, my fail is documented. Look for more Pair Puri based weirdness coming soon, though, because I adore extras and have tons of half-started things. (The fact that Shiraishi lectured Niou for not eating enough calories a day made me laugh; the fact that YAGYUU lectured Tezuka and Shiraishi about not being considerate towards females made me fall over. The fact that Saeki is the Uselessly Handsome Guy as dubbed by canon made me cackle; the fact that Oshitari Kenya's younger brother is officially named 'Shouta' made me cry.)