Chapter 1
Shiraishi had built a certain bond during his stay in the U-17 camp with two of the eight tennis regulars of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. His relationship with the captain was only established on account of their shared interest, whilst on the other hand, his friendship with its youngest member was created due to the trust he had been granted from one of the Three Demons.
Once, Kirihara had invited him to come to Tokyo during the Golden Week. To him, it was a very compelling idea. Not to mention, Kirahara had been quite jumpy about wanting a match against him, so he really did not find any reason to refuse.
He had brought Kenya along, and Kirihara didn't seem to mind the company. In fact, he seemed quite entertained by Kenya's presence, though they did only bicker with one another. Kirihara himself had also brought a person that was very familiar to his senses. Kirihara claimed that his captain wanted to tag along, and never in his right mind would he object his captain's request.
For a quite a while, both captains exchanged flickers of acknowledgement and smiled only to be drown in a sea of pleasant silence. Their companions did not bother to question the – what they thought – strange silence that occurred between the two of them. One lesson both Kirihara and Kenya had learnt during the time they spent in the camp was a silence that elapsed between them and Fuji Shuusuke wasn't a matter to be issued.
But Yukimura and Shiraishi knew that their reunion wasn't one to be passed with only wordlessness, no matter how agreeable it seemed. And Shiraishi broke the silence at last, "How do you do, Yukimura?"
"I'm doing great, and you?"
Shiraishi shifted his hands back into the warm pockets of his jacket in respond to the blowing wind that chilled him down to the spine, "A bit cold." He said in between the shivering in his voice.
"It's only autumn, Shiraishi," Yukimura chuckled heartily, "you have yet experienced the winter in Kanagawa."
"I would love to feel it then. Care to invite me back next winter?" he asked jokingly. Why jokingly? Because he knew Yukimura wasn't one to make promises. Yukimura was in fact quite distant, yet it didn't make him one less intrigued with anything related to Yukimura Seiichi.
And Yukimura only smiled slightly in return, turning his gaze toward the bickering duo once again. Shiraishi followed suit, shivering ever-slightly under the passing wind. It certainly amazed him how Yukimura didn't even flinch with the present of the frigid wind – like how he was amazed by how well he played tennis, if he could somehow relate those two things.
"Are you going to Rikkai again for high school?" Shiraishi asked under his breath, glancing slightly toward his blue haired companion.
"Of course." Answered Yukimura.
"Looking forward on playing you next year then." Said Shiraishi, certain that Yukimura knew what he were referring to. And so, he was quite taken aback by Yukimura's questioning look – what else could he be referring to? It made Shiraishi frown.
"Tennis," he said again in between the confusion. If Shiraishi was perceptive, then he noticed that very little second of apprehension Yukimura made. Then it changed into a knowing gaze – and Shiraishi didn't understand what it meant – for the briefest time Shiraishi could notice.
Once again, like those emotions never came into view, Yukimura smiled with much less brilliance that Shiraishi had always looked up to, "Sure."
Yukimura wasn't as fragile as everyone thought he was. It was just unfortunate of him to have a disease such as Guillain-Barre syndrome. And yet, he was able to stand up to it like what most people couldn't. Sanada could never think a person as strong as that could be called fragile.
But, Yukimura was never left with his feminine features. It was what make most people thought he was fragile, even if he in fact weren't. The way Yukimura coughed would always worry Sanada. He cared for his captain, no matter how much he convinced himself that he wasn't fragile – he was just unfortunate.
Sanada had observed how Yukimura had been coughing frequently as of late. But Yukimura always avoided the subject. He would smile reassuringly and silence Sanada from all of his anxiety. As much as Sanada hated to admit it, he had to worry less about his captain. After all, Yukimura had undergone that surgery offered by a guy from the U-17 camp. If Yukimura's coughing actually meant anything, it would never be related to his previous disease. Even Yanagi didn't look perturb as much. Yanagi was smart. If he noticed something unusual, he would do the right thing without a flinch.
That was how Sanada convinced himself. He didn't have to be worried. He couldn't be worried. His worry would only be some baseless feeling that hindered his team's victory.
And so, Sanada wasn't worried at the very least.
A/N: the timeline would be kinda messed up from here on. Maybe. And it was deliberately done. I like to jump the time settings into here and there, so don't get confused c: Still not sure if I should make it into a shounen-ai :c