The sound of the tennis balls bouncing relieved him from all the stress that was enveloping him all day. He wished it would stay that way. He would never expect any interruptions during afternoon practice. No one would ever dare to do that, but then again…
"SANADA GENICHIROU!" someone called out his name and caught everyone's attention.
Since Yukimura was still in the hospital, he commanded the club members to continue their practice in an instant. He didn't recognize who the person was, but that person's voice sounded like a girl. He turned around and looked at the person who just called him. "What is it that you want?" he asked coldly same as he normally do.
"I want you out." She said. Her reply made everyone turn their attention to the conversation of the two. Whispers were heard around the courts and he didn't seem to like it.
"I have practice. I don't have time for this nonsense." He answered and fixed his gaze at the courts. A few seconds passed and papers blocked his sight from the green floors. "What are these?" he asked, not moving the papers at all.
"I don't know, papers maybe?" she replied sarcastically.
He felt that a vein just popped on his head. If only, if only, he could just punish her right here, right now. "Concerning what?" he asked once again.
"I got the permission from the school to borrow you for a while. You may excuse yourself from your club activities, Sanada Genichirou." She smiled… but it was somehow untrue.
He read the first page, Borrow? Am I just a worthless piece of junk that can be passed to one person to another? He sighed. "Fine." He loosened up a bit and walked with the girl, who happily walked with him.
-0.0-
"Sorry about that, Sanada-san." She spoke once she was sure that they were out of earshot. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful."
The other teen just nodded in understanding… but there was still something that bothered him, maybe he should ask her.
"Oh, about you accompanying me and all. I was just in the personality club where I asked to find someone who is silent and will listen to me for a while. And they said that YOU are the one that is highly suitable for that… but I think otherwise, though you are silent." She explained. "Sorry."
"And you went to the Guidance office and let them make a letter to borrow me for a while?" he asked. The girl nodded in reply.
"Anyway, you're here to listen to me. Don't worry. I won't command you to do stuffs other than that." She spoke. Understanding what the other teen meant, Sanada nodded.
"I was just thinking about it recently, and I kinda feel that I'm an outcast." She started opening up. "I don't know why, maybe it's because I feel that no one's there to listen to me. The one who always listens is me. Whenever I speak out, I am ignored. Maybe I'm meant to be alone, though I know that I'm only hurting myself." She opened up and took a few seconds to space out.
He only stayed silent, knowing that she wasn't done yet. And so, he waited until she spoke once again. And so, the conversation, or more like monologue, ended.
"Thanks for listening, Sanada-san. I know that my problem isn't that heavy, but I can't thank you enough for listening. You really are a good listener." She said with a sincere smile. "I'm not really this talkative, but at least for once I've tried speaking out. I think you should too."
"Ah." He nodded in agreement.
"Whenever you need someone to talk to, you can call me."
"Ah."
"Have you ever had a female friend before?" she asked in curiosity.
Now that he thought about it, he never had one. However, is it something that he should be ashamed of? "No." he answered honestly.
"Can we be friends then?" she asked him hopefully, but still ready to be rejected. She saw him raised his right brow. "Well, I just thought I can talk to you freely, so I consider you my friend. And to let you know too, I'm not a fangirl of anyone and never will. So don't worry about that, if ever you are."
"Sure." He answered immediately.
"Really?" surprised, she asked to confirm what she just heard.
"Ah. But how can I call someone a friend when I don't even know his or her name?"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. The name's Yuka. Konoe Yuka. Nice to meet you." She held out a hand, smiling.
Sanada, without any second thoughts, took her hand and shook it. "Ah."
-0.0-
The next day, the campus was unexpectedly noisier than ever. "NIOU-SENPAI! MARUI-SENPAI! SENPAIS!" Kirihara exclaimed, while running towards them, except for Sanada and Yukimura.
"What do you want, brat?" the trickster asked him, with a mocking tone.
"Does Sanada-fukubuchou have a girlfriend?" the junior asked, and made everyone in the club look at him. Silence enveloped the courts.
"What kind of question is that?" Marui asked after he popped his gum.
"I heard Sanada-fukubuchou has a girlfriend!" the junior ace announced aloud. A snicker was heard just after the ace shouted. Everyone turned to where the snicker came from, and they saw the trickster.
"Eh? Sanada," he started and looked over his shoulders, a smirk plastered on his face. "You have a girlfriend already?" he snorted before Yagyuu stopped him.
"…" the emperor, who just arrived, stayed silent.
"Don't be shy about it."
"My, my. Sanada, is it true?" they all turned to the speaker who just so happened to be their captain, Yukimura Seiichi. "I didn't know that you like Yuka-san."
"So is it true?" the sea-weed head asked for confirmation.
The emperor sighed. "She's not my girlfriend. And I have no interest towards her. No more, no less." He said and went out of the courts. She's not my girlfriend. Who would even think that way? She's just a friend that is a girl. Just a female friend for crying out loud!
Everyone watched the emperor walking away until he was out of sight. Nobody moved, or even spoke, not until one did. "So, Yukimura, welcome back." Renji greeted his captain plainly.
"Glad to be back." The captain replied and ordered the members to start practicing. Since he was not yet allowed to practice for a week, Yukimura would just watch them train.
Everyone practiced as if nothing happened, ignoring whatever happened to their dear emperor…
Okay! This is just a one-shot that I, for one, did not know why it was made. But then again... I just remembered that a friend of mine asked for a Sanada fic. So, I guess that is that.
"Say what?!"'s chapter 14 is still in the process of proofreading by my f***ed up beta, or so she claimed. I think it will be out in a few days... 1 or 2... or 3. Well , just wait.
Please review! ^-^ though I still think that I'm not really good at one-shots. Sigh. Oh well.