SANADA FAMILY'S DOJO

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Marui's legs were still a little shaky when he sat on the hard floor in Sanada's dojo, listening to the sound of the rain.

"I apologize in behalf of my brother" Sanada said, again, as he unsheathed his katana.

"He thought I was a girl!" Marui exclaimed. "…Fukubuchou, what're you doing?"

"Get up. This is the best way to relief stress" Sanada said, looking stern again. Had fukubuchou's kindness just been an act? Marui thought, glaring at Sanada.

"Good for you. I'm not stressed" Marui informed him, but he still stood up and walked over to Sanada who stood in the middle of the dojo.

"You're still shaking" Sanada said as he held the sword away from Marui. "I'm not letting you touch it until you've stopped that."

"Well touch this" Marui muttered, giving Sanada the finger. Silence filled the dojo.

"…That was totally uncalled for you know."

"Yeah I know… sorry…" Marui said, apologizing and hanging with his head. "But at least I stopped shaking" he added a little hopefully. The slightest hint of a smile was seen in the corners of Sanada's lips.

So he handed the katana over without another word. But before Marui had time to do anything, he felt the other boy place himself behind him.

"Hold the sword by the handle like this" Sanada grunted, professionally correcting Marui's grip. He was standing very close now, and Marui could even feel the warm breath at the back of his neck as Sanada spoke.

Then he placed his hands over Marui's. "Move your arms like this when swinging the sword" he said, and together they exercised the movement in silence two, three swings.

Suddenly, Sanada let go as if Marui's hands had burned him. And he took a step back.

"Sorry" he muttered, refusing to look at the other boy when Marui turned towards him. Then, Marui also remembered.

"Oh. Yeah, that's right" he said, nodding. "But aren't I the one who's supposed to worry…? I mean" he added, "You're the one who jumped me."

"I…" Sanada started, looking confused. "Well, I apologize for that, of course. But I think you also should apologize, for hitting my head with the doors twice."

"Hey! I had reason to do it y'know!" Marui fretted, stomping his foot. "I was upset! Some perv had just stolen my first kiss while I was unconscious!"

"What, do you think I'm proud of what I did?!" Sanada bellowed. "You think I'm proud I lost my first kiss to someone who didn't want to kiss me?! That was my first kiss as well!"

Marui looked as if Sanada had slapped him in the face. "You met my brother!" Sanada continued. "Do you honestly think I'd do something, like what he did to you?!" Marui slowly shook his head, wide-eyed. It couldn't have been the first time Sanada… fukubuchou had to intervene…

"It's true that I kissed you… but I suffered from amnesia the following week" the taller boy admitted. "I was also stupid enough to drink something at the party and that's why I… I fainted."

"So… you didn't kiss me because you wanted to…" Marui said in a small voice when Sanada had fallen silent.

"It was as if my body acted on its own" Sanada concluded, frowning a little. "I would never have done it if I had been in my right mind."

"… so you thought it was bad?!" Marui exclaimed. "That's so ungrateful! My god, my genius moves were apparently totally wasted on you!"

"Isn't it supposed to be 'genial moves'?" Sanada interrupted the other boy, who stared at him with open mouth. "No, sorry – do continue with your ranting."

"I-I- I don't think it was good either!" Marui shouted at Sanada, who looked hurt. Or, he frowned but the feeling was still the same.

"I'm sorry it wasn't satisfying" he said, blushing. "But I never said I thought it was bad! In truth, it was the best kiss I've ever had!"

"That was our first kiss, idiot" Marui said, but he was now smiling. "You stupid fukubuchou…!"

He gasped as Sanada closed the gap between them, and the sword glided out of his hand and fell to the floor with a clatter. At first, Marui was afraid Sanada would try to kiss him again but instead he was caught in a strong embrace. They stood like that for a while, Marui soon moving his arms to encircle Sanada's broad back.

He's still smelling pretty nice…the self-proclaimed tensai thought. Then his eye caught a series of small moves made by Sanada.

"… fukubuchou are you laughing?!" Marui exclaimed when he realized that Sanada's shoulders were shaking of silent laughter Then, Marui started to laugh, too.

"I didn't know it was your first kiss too" he said after a while, when they had returned to just standing and hugging. "You must think I'm really selfish…" he sighed.

"Well not really… but I'll forgive you if you promise not to tell anyone. Especially not Yukimura." Dead serious.

"As if I would tell" Marui snorted. "And it was just kissing, after all…"

Maybe it was the kindness in the other boy's voice. Or maybe the scent of fukubuchou was getting to his head, because Marui was starting to feel dizzy. But he didn't protest when Sanada slowly, almost hesitantly tilted his head upwards, or when his lips were covered by Sanada's mouth once again.

They kissed to the sound of the rain falling outside the dojo.

It wasn't that bad actually, better than he remembered at least. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this… them both being boys wasn't something he'd reflected over – but it wasn't as if they were serious about this, either.

This is just kissing after all… not as if we're serious or anything.