Title: Maybe Sometimes

Summary: Sendoh was finally contented with his life... being with Sakuragi for two years had taught him how to laugh really hard. But suddenly someone appeared and said something to him that threw him right back at where he started.

Disclaimers: Nope, not mine. Boy, do I wish...

--

Along a small part of the coast of Kanagawa, a pair of young boys sat along the fishing jetty. One of them, the taller one, held onto a fishing rod, patiently waiting for the next fish to bite, while the other, younger and with flaming red hair, laid lazily beside the other.

"Why do we have to come here to fish every Saturday? There are so many more things to do! And I'm starving…"

"Be patient, Hana-chan."

"But I'm hungry… and bored… and sleepy… and hungry…"

"You said that already."

"Huh?"

"You said hungry twice."

"Baka! I meant that I'm REALLY HUNGRY! Can we go now pleaseee?"

"Give me five more minutes, Hana-chan. The second fish will bite anytime now. And then we'll have these delicious fish cooked just the way you like it for dinner. How's that sound?"

"Fine… but I want it with lots of that red flaky thing…"

"Chilli flakes?"

"That's it. And those little green flakes too…"

"Rosemary?"

"Yeap, that. And the orange powder…"

"Paprika?"

"Uh…?"

"I'll cook it just the way you like it, don't worry. Now please be patient-"

The fishing rod suddenly jerked at him, almost pulling the unguarded boy into the water.

"NYAHAHAHAHA! FINALLY! STUPID FISH WE'LL BE HAVING YOU FOR DINNER!"

Sendoh reeled in the fishing line skilfully and plopped the flapping fish into the ice bucket. He turned to see that Hanamichi was already marching off the jetty, singing loudly about tensai culinary skills, throwing fish into roaring fires and gobbling them down in two big bites.

The older boy chuckled as he packed in his fishing tools and caught up with the boy before him. Having Sakuragi Hanamichi in his life for the past two years had surely been something. Everything became much livelier, much lighter and much happier whenever he was around.

It was like watching coloured television for the first time – he was so entertaining and fresh. The self-proclaimed tensai always had something new to laugh about, or something new to do, or a new restaurant to go to and he just couldn't get enough of him.

And then sometimes, when Sendoh had laughed too hard from the gags and was beginning to tire from the constant laughter, the younger boy would suddenly turn into a knack of seriousness and would sprout a question or comment that would throw him way off. Sakuragi was unpredictable, and it fitted Sendoh's short attention span perfectly.

Having Sakuragi Hanamichi in his life was good, it had made him contented. He was truly happy. Happy… how good it feels to be happy.

"Nyahahahahaha! I'm going to eat you up fishy fishy! I'm going to drop you on the hot frying pan and eat you up!"

Sendoh's smile widened. Perhaps being with the tensai would be enough.

--

"So… we've got the rosemary, chilli flakes and paprika that you wanted. Is there anything else you'd like to buy?"

"Uh…"

The flame-haired boy stood like a block in the middle of the supermarket aisle and went into deep thought. Passers-by would probably mistake him for attempting to solve a world's mystery, but what he really was contemplating was which ice cream flavour he wanted most to have.

The spiky-haired boy knew that look. "Let's have some Ben 'n' Jerry's tonight, eh?"

The younger boy beamed. "Nyahahahaha! Chunky Monkey! I'll get it right away!" and off he sprinted to the freezers.

From the corner of his eye, Sendoh caught a glimpse of a pale figure, tall and raven-haired pass by the aisle. He quickly turned to look, but the figure was gone. He felt spooked for a second, but what struck him immediately afterwards was that the figure looked strikingly familiar. Then he gave it some thought, and realised that it had been three years since… Three years… maybe it's time he got back.

The two tall boys made their way out of the crowded mall to their apartment a short walk away. The former Ryonan ace suddenly had a lot more on his mind, although the cheerful smile was still plastered on his face.

"Oh no, Hana-chan, I'm sorry, I just remembered we've run out of salt at home. Can you wait for a sec while I run back in to grab some salt?"

"I'm hungry… can we skip the salt?"

"Then the fish wouldn't taste at all. Just a sec, ok? I'll be back before you know it."

--

Sendoh strode down the supermarket and then back up again, but there was no sight of that boy. Maybe he left. Then something sparked in his mind. He spun on his heel and dashed to Aisle 9 – Canned Tuna and Other Foods. And there he stood, looking almost the same as he had three years before – tall, pale, hair over his eyes and indifferent to the world around him.

He walked up the aisle towards the boy.

"So you're back from America. Three years, you're right on schedule."

"And you, Sakuragi huh. I thought you could do better."

"I might have, but then I lost him to America."

"Ch." The pale boy resumed loading his trolley with cans of tuna.

"You haven't changed huh, Rukawa-kun. It's unhealthy eating all that canned tuna."

"You haven't changed huh, Sendoh-kun. It's annoying unloading all that lecture crap. Save it for that idiot of yours."

"He's not an idiot."

"Yarre-yarre."

"I'm happy with him, you know. It's a nice change for once… at least with him I can laugh."

"He's a joke, anyone would laugh around him. "

"I'd like to have a joke or two sometimes. There's no need to be miserable all the time."

"Then good for you."

He sighed. Why did he even try. There was no point in having such conversations with him – it would either end with a snide snub or silence. This one obviously was leading to one of those conclusions, but as much as he expected that, he continued trying like he did every time in the past, hoping that his feelings would finally be acknowledged and reciprocated. Maybe just this once…

"Kaede." He missed that name.

The younger ace continued with his tasks, ignoring to the call of his name.

"Kaede, look at me please."

He stopped, and then turned his head a fraction of an inch.

"Go."

"Can I just have a look at you, please…"

"Go, he's waiting." Rukawa honestly wanted to turn around and face the other boy. He wanted to see the face of that one person, the only one he had thought about every single day while he was away in the foreign land.

All the time he only thought of Sendoh, and gosh he thought so much of him, of his deep blue eyes and how he could be lost in them, of the amazing times they had together playing heated one-on-ones in the morning, fishing lazily in the afternoon and then cooking a scrumptious meal at dinner, of the immense amount of love and patient care Sendoh had provided for him whether he was ill, bored, or busy or just being a brat. And despite all that he selfishly decided that he wanted his dream more than the boy he already had.

And now that he has finally realised how much Sendoh Akira meant to him, he has been replaced. Now someone else could bask in the unconditional affections of Sendoh Akira, and he knew that someone else wouldn't be as foolish as to take it for granted, unlike himself.

He wanted to turn so terribly. But he really couldn't. He had tears threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes. He couldn't risk it, not the slightest chance. But it was him… Akira…

"Akira…"

The world grew silent, at least to Sendoh it did, when he heard his name. The younger boy turned his head so slightly towards him. His fringe covered his glistening cobalt eyes. Kaede…

"I really hope you're happy, both of you…"

--

Ten minutes passed. Sakuragi grew increasingly aware of how much noise his growling stomach was making. It rumbled once again, this time audible enough for the little girl standing next to him. He blushed a little as the girl looked at him questioningly, then covered her nose just in case the noise carried a smell. The boy blushed a deeper shade.

"That baka smiley... I'm so hungry I think I'll whither into pulp…"

"Oi, Hanamichi!"

His ears tuned to the direction of the voice. His eyes scanned the surroundings in front of him. Seeing nothing, he turned to the right, where a huge face suddenly appeared.

"Yohei! Why did you do that for!"

"Hanamichi-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Don't remind me… I'm supposed to be having dinner, but there's the salt, and the fish doesn't taste good without the salt, so he's off to get the salt…" the redhead blabbered on in incoherent sentences. A cloud of question marks appeared above Yohei's head.

Eventually Sakuragi managed to straighten out his sentences, explaining the whole situation with the fishing, which led to buying groceries, which led to the missing salt, which led to him waiting for Sendoh to get the salt from the supermarket.

"Ne, Hanamichi. Guess who I saw today?"

"Eh? Who?"

"Someone you hated with all your guts."

"Eh? Who?"

"Tall, pale, looks like a kitsune…"

"Eh… kitsune…… !! RUKAWA!"

"Yeap."

"WHAT? WHAAAT? WHEN? WHERE DID YOU SEE HIM? SINCE WHEN DID HE RETURN FROM AMERICA?" By now Sakuragi had forgotten all about his hunger and turning into a puddle of spunk. He was jumping about like he was barefooted on scorching sand.

"I saw him earlier today in the mall. He looked pretty much the same, ignoring people, got the fox-eyes going on and stuff… I wonder why he's back though."

"Nyahahaha what other explanation is there? He must be too weak for America! But that's obvious because he doesn't have tensai skills like mine! Nyahahahaha!!"

"Hana-chan, I'm back! Sorry I took so long, the queue was crazy… what are you laughing about? Oh, Yohei-kun! Nice bumping into you!"

"Hey Sendoh. I was just telling Hanamichi… have you heard anything about Rukawa returning to Japan?"

"Oh has he? Where did you hear that from?"

"I actually saw him earlier today in the mall. I wonder why he's back."

"Nyahahahaha… it's all in the skills… a kitsune will always be a kitsune. And as for me, a tensai will always be a tensai! Nyahahahaha!"

"Well, perhaps he really didn't make it in the States. It'll be interesting to see him around again. Ja, Yohei-kun, we've got to go. I don't want to starve poor Hanamichi-kun over here. See you around!"

"Oh right, he'll make a kill if he's not fed soon. Nice seeing you guys! Bye, Sakuragi!"

"Oh- bye Yohei-kun! Baka smiley, you made me wait for ages!!"

"Sorry Hanamichi, it was so busy in the supermarket, and it was so hard to find the salt… but it's ok, we'll have something delicious to eat very soon!"

The two boys made their way through the youth-packed mall back to their apartment. The redheaded boy skipped along the path, humming yet another cheery tune while the spiky-haired trailed slightly behind. In his mind, the short encounter he just had replayed in his mind. In particular, a certain sentence reverberated in his mind, playing constantly and steadily, as if trying to carve itself onto his skull.

"Akira…"

"I really hope you're happy, both of you… and maybe sometimes you'll miss me too." ()

Maybe sometimes you'll miss me too…

Kaede… maybe sometimes I'll miss you too.

END.

--

Note: That sentence is a verse from Rainbows And Pots Of Gold by Stereophonics in their album You Gotta Go There To Come Back.

Please leave me some feedback! I'm happy to receive any kind of feedback :) Thanks!