Prince of Tennis © Konomi
I've been brain dead since September… maybe this will clear some things out. Yes, more eccentricities will certainly help me sort my mental shelves. (It might actually make sense if it were thermodynamics.)
Applesauce
On New Years Eve, Yagyuu liked to eat applesauce. While everyone else in his family enjoyed gooey, chewy rice cakes, Yagyuu would sit at the table with a cup of slushy fruit with a plastic spoon when the clocked tolled midnight and the old calendars were tossed out. His mother had questioned him on this odd habit, and on many occasions, so has the boy himself. He never found an answer. He just liked like applesauce on New Years Eve, and that was that.
So he was very unhappy when he found himself without it on the last day of December, thirty minutes before midnight.
Though always one for strict principles, even Yagyuu couldn't really do much when Niou appeared at his window demanding him to come out. He went through all the trouble of scaling his two-story house, so Yagyuu decided to humor him, just this one day. After all, it was the last of the year, and he didn't really have much choice, as Niou was rather quite forceful when it came to pulling. Now, about seven hours later, he was dearly regretting it.
While his family excused him for dinner and all the other formalities, Yagyuu was getting rather agitated, especially since he spent the last three hours just following his friend around from random place to place, and often going around in circles.
And then Niou decided on a destination.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see," Niou said simply.
Yagyuu would've objected a long time ago like a responsible person would, but they had already been sauntering down the highway for the past fifteen minutes and his brain really wasn't the sharpest at this time of the night. All he really had the mind to think of was applesauce.
"You're not serious," Yagyuu sighed. Niou answered that by simply turning around and staring at him. Under the flickering lamps, and through his glass lenses, Yagyuu, even in the dreariest of moods, could easily tell that Niou wasn't joking.
"I said you'll see," Niou said before turning around and continued the long saunter.
Usually, at this point, Yagyuu would go over his notes on the boy and possibly make more mental notes of his odd behavior, but at the moment, all he really had the strength to do was not to drop dead in the middle of the road and fall asleep. He was sure Niou would so something about that, but he would rather wake up in the morning in his war futon than a rickety bench with his jacket laid over him and Niou happily at home playing violent video games.
He was half grateful, half unnerved, and all around just annoyed that Niou remained silent. Yagyuu knew he usually didn't talk much anyways, but he really couldn't stand just looking at the silhouette of his back and listening to the sound of their shoes against the gravel. It was repetitive, and that only aided in that last thing that he wanted to do. (See above paragraph.)
Yagyuu was just about to call it quits and turn around and leave Niou to whatever it was he wanted to do when sudden he felt a tug on his wool scarf. He lifted his head up from his shivering hands to see Niou pointing towards the horizon.
"Look, the ocean."
On any other occasion that spelled out 'romance' or 'love', this would have been a very touching and emotional scene, followed by a long confession of undying love and a vow to spend eternity together but unfortunately, Yagyuu wasn't really in the mood. Actually, he was just outright exasperated. (Besides, it would take no less that nineteen and three eighths pages to perfect such a scene.)
"Yes, I see the ocean," Yagyuu sighed, weary with sleep and ultimately cranky about it. "Can we go back now, please?"
"Just give me a three seconds here," Niou said as he dug into his coat pocket. "Oh, and Happy New Years."
Yagyuu looked at his watch: 00:00:00 exact.
Despite all their time together, he never did completely get the mischievous trickster, whether it be his brilliant yet quirky antics on the court or his odd ways of doing things regardless of the situation. He always knew he was abnormally bright and perceptive but psychic?
"You too." At least Niou knew what brand of applesauce he liked.
Actually, I think I've just dumped more grit on my gears. Must be a lack of sleep. …Someone give me muffins. (As you can see, I'm clearly not well as of now.)
Oh, and Happy New Years! May it bring many tidings be it good or bad, but ultimately may you learn from all the fortune and mishaps you may encounter. (Actually, that probably applies more to my stubborn self.)