Sanada pulled his cap lower as he entered the drugstore. With a weary sigh he began to search the rows of shelves. Yukimura was rummaging through the first aid kit earlier that day and found that they were out of bandages. As this was clearly Sanada's fault – always slapping everyone in the name of discipline – the buchou of Rikkai left the restocking job to him. Thus, Sanada dutifully searched the shelves for bandages.
In the seventh row he found a familiar boy clad in black tennis clothes, standing before a section of small, colored boxes and mumbling continuously. As Sanada was a polite individual, he wanted to greet the other, but he did not want to interrupt the other's flow of thought, so for the time being he decided to stay put and listen.
"… but Tachibana-san even let me go earlier to do this. Even though it was Kamio's request, but Tachibana-san is really nice to let me go earlier. Of course, it should have been Kamio instead of me. But he insisted that I should do the shopping, because I look more like a girl. It is very rude to say that I look like a girl. The others surely laughed behind my back. Just because I have longer hair does not mean I am like a girl. Kamio is such a rude guy sometimes…" mumbled the Fudomine player. Sanada thought that he heard enough of this, so he stepped closer and finally greeted the other.
"Hello, Ibu-kun." hearing his name, Ibu Shinji fell silent and looked in Sanada's direction for a second, then he directed his gaze back to the colorful boxes in front of him and started to mumble again.
"Oh, Rikkai's Sanada-san. It's rare to see someone from Rikkai around here. I wonder if Echizen-kun would show up later. Maybe then I could see that grip tape again that he won from me last time. How sad that one can't buy grip tape in a drugstore… but I have to buy that for Kamio…" Shinji continued to look directly at the boxes and totally ignored Sanada. Sanada's eyes twitched for a moment, as he thought it was rather rude not to greet back and ignore him. But then he finally found the bandages. He was more than happy to be done with the shopping and leave, but he was also curious. So he just stood there, still some meters away from Shinji and listened to every word.
"He didn't even tell me what flavor he wants. How should I know, what are his preferences in this kind of thing? But I left my mobile at home and I can't go back to ask him what kind of flavor he wants. And Tachibana-san was so nice to let me go earlier. And he was the one who said for us to use all kind of protection and be extra careful. But why should I shop instead of Kamio if he is the one who needs this? I do it properly everyday. The doctor also praised me, how well I do it. Sanada-san, what do you think, what flavor should I choose?" Sanada's eyes widened a bit at this part and stepped a little closer. When finally getting a clear view on the boxes, he realized what their content was; he mumbled a hasty apology, run to the cashier, paid for the bandages and quickly left the drugstore with a flushed face.
"I wonder if he was feeling sick. He looked a bit red, maybe he has a fever. Hm, red…" Shinji fell silent for a moment, thinking hard. "Kamio ate strawberry ice-cream yesterday, so maybe I should choose a strawberry flavored one…" Shinji picked up from the shelves a little box of gum from beside the same sized, also brightly colored boxes of condoms, and headed for the cashier, mumbling along the way.
As for Sanada, after he restocked the first aid kit, still blushing furiously, he took a cold shower in the locker-room, wondering about what kind of team the Fudomine tennis club really was.