Author's Note: Another fic for the Valentine's Day challenge at the Tsukimine Shrine community on LiveJournal. I'm a hopeless romantic, I couldn't resist.
Warnings for m/m kissing and wishful thinking. High WAFF content. Pure sugar, I swear. Don't say I didn't warn you....
Yuki stared at the piece of paper again, resisting the urge to crumple it. He sighed deeply and scratched out everything he'd just put on the paper. "Another draw."
Touya nodded. "I know. It gets boring after a while, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. As soon as both players know what they're doing, it's impossible to win." He started making the grid again anyway. Four lines, nine spaces, in a grid. He placed an X in the center.
Touya put an O in the upper right corner with a shrug. "I can't think of anything better to do while we wait for her. Are you sure she wanted to see both of us after her practice?"
Yuki took the paper back, almost absently putting the next X in the right center space. "It's Valentine's Day. She probably wants to make sure I don't get the wrong idea this year." He handed the paper back with a sigh.
"You're probably right," Touya mused as he looked at the sheet of paper. "I hope she hurries though. I have a job to get to in half an hour, and you know how I like to get there early." He finally put his O in the left center box, blocking Yuki from winning.
"The thing about tic-tac-toe," a voice interjected from over Yuki's shoulder, "is that it was created long ago, by the Egyptians."
Both players looked up from the page to see a boy from Sakura's class grinning wide enough that his eyes were completely shut. He had his index finger pointed upward in a lecturing stance.
"Is that so?" Touya asked dryly.
"Of course, they didn't have Xs and Os back then, so they used a crane and sparrow, but that meant that people who couldn't draw well were always left out, or they lost by default. It wasn't until much later that Xs and Os were used, as a secret code between two secret lovers. You see, they didn't want anyone else to know, so they pretended it was a game while they passed stone tablets back and forth, putting the two marks as a secret code for hugs and kisses, but pretending it was a game--"
"Hai, hai, I see you're at it again, Yamazaki-kun." A girl walked over and grabbed the boy by the ear.
"Chiharu-chan! I'm wounded! I got this one from a reliable source--"
"If you got it from Hiiragizawa-kun, that's not a reliable source. I'm onto the both of you now, so you can stop it. Telling your lies to two college boys--just for that I shouldn't give you my home-made chocolates!"
"Ah, then I must ask. Will the two of you be here next year?"
This was followed by a barrage of angry words and various violent acts that had Yamazaki running for his life, dodging nimbly and laughing as they raced across the lawn.
Touya rolled his eyes, but Yuki was eyeing the slip of paper contemplatively. "I wonder which ones are the hugs, and which ones are the kisses."
"Don't tell me you believed that!"
He shook his head. "Of course not. I've just heard that X's and O's are used for hugs and kisses sometimes, and I never could figure out why."
"That's easy," Touya said. "The X is for hugs, see?" He placed his arms across his chest in a universal hugging motion, and sure enough, his arms formed an X across his chest.
"Oh. I thought the O would be the hug, because your arms make a circle when you hug someone."
"No, it's--" His explanation was interrupted by a piercing girlish call from across the grounds.
"Onii-chan! Yukito-san!" Sakura was racing toward them excitedly. "Thank you for waiting for me!" In a split second she was standing before them, panting for breath.
"Only a monster like you would cause a scene by yelling across the whole school yard like that," Touya teased.
"What? I am not a monster!" She tried to stomp on his foot; no longer caring that Yukito was there. Over the last year, since he had turned her down and her love interest had fallen elsewhere, she had begun to treat him more and more like part of the family. This included showing her temper when provoked by her brother. Touya dodged that attack easily, but that's when Sakura got him with her backpack across the chest.
This would have been Yuki's cue to stop them, but he was unusually preoccupied. He stared at the paper filled with scribbled out games of tic-tac-toe, Yamazaki's story running through his head. He didn't believe it for a moment, but the idea of two ancient lovers exchanging hugs and kisses in code through a game like this wouldn't leave his mind. For the millionth time, he wondered what Touya would think of the thoughts he entertained. Sakura assured him, repeatedly, that her brother shared those feelings, but he didn't know for sure. He just couldn't risk the friendship he had now. Every once in a while he told himself that today was the day, and he'd just do it--but for two years now, since he'd admitted his feelings to himself, he could never find the courage to do it.
Maybe today. Maybe not. He looked over the unfinished game and added an X to the upper left square. When he looked up he saw two pairs of eyes looking at him strangely--one bright green, the other a deep rich brown color. It was that second set of eyes that made him blush and quickly fold the paper and tuck it into his pants pocket. "Sorry, just thinking about something."
Sakura shrugged it off. "I'm sorry that this is the only time we could do this. Your schedule this year is too hectic, Onii-chan." She pouted a little, but brightened again right away. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you both, happy Valentine's Day!" She quickly fished two perfectly wrapped little packages from her backpack and beamed, holding them out.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan." Yuki smiled kindly in return, bowing slightly to accept the gift on her level. He was a little sad to note that each year he had to bend over less and less...she was growing up so fast. The passing of time seemed to just go faster and faster....
"You made them yourself, didn't you?" Touya looked at the chocolate skeptically.
"They're edible!" she growled, crossing her arms. Then she smiled smugly. "I have it on good authority that they're delicious!"
"If you mean Otou-san, he's biased. He'd eat dirt if you called it chocolate just because you're his little girl. If you mean that stuffed toy you're still hiding in your room, I don't trust his opinion. He'll eat anything."
She huffed up, looking ready to explode, but suddenly deflated with a grin. "Actually, neither of them," she announced proudly. Before he could react she zipped up her backpack and started walking away. "Well, I have to make supper tonight, and you have to hurry to get to your job. See you both later!"
"Well then, who did she mean if--?" Touya paused, then stared at Sakura's quickly retreating form. She was half way down the street already. "Oh no, she did NOT--!"
"Relax, To-ya. Li-kun is a good--"
"Don't. I've heard it all before, and I still don't like him." Touya sighed, picking up his own backpack and throwing it over his shoulder. "Until the day he, God forbid, marries my sister...just, don't defend him anymore. I need somebody in my corner."
Yuki shook his head with a grin. "Don't employ me as an agent of your sister-complex. I'd rather play another fifty games of tic-tac-toe than help you feel better about hating Li-kun some more."
"Shut up," Touya muttered, as they began walking.
Yuki laughed, but it felt hollow. This turn of conversation had deflated all his ideas of admitting his feelings. Sakura would always come first with him. Teasing her, protecting her, and paying attention to every detail of her life until he had no room for anyone else really. I'm lucky to have him as much as I do already, he chided himself.
"We never finished that last game of tic-tac-toe, Yuki."
"It would just be another draw," he said with a shrug. "There's no sense in playing it out."
They walked in silence after that, and Yuki fell deeper and deeper into his thoughts, convincing himself all over again why Touya would never return his feelings. By the time they stood outside the flower shop he was about to just wave goodbye and have done with the whole mess until the next time. If there was a next time.
"I almost forgot," Touya said. "I was going to tell you why the hugs couldn't be O's."
"Oh?"
They were at the side of the building at the employee entrance, hidden from sight. Only the most curious of passer-by would stand a chance of spying them and what happened next. Touya leaned closer and shocked his best friend with a kiss. It was hesitant, a bit shy, and slightly clumsy since it had been so unexpected, but that was mostly Yuki's fault. As far as he could remember he'd never been kissed. Ever. He'd never even had a mother to tuck him in at night and give innocent kisses to, so this was his absolutely first kiss, ever.
When Touya leaned back, a triumphant gleam in his eye, Yuki's mouth popped open in a perfect circle shape of surprise.
"And that is why," Touya said, "kisses are the O's."
Yuki blinked a few times before he had the presence of mind to shut his mouth.