Strawberry Milkshakes, Chunk 4

Disclaimer: Familiar characters, settings, events, and concepts all belong to Takeshi Konomi.

Note: This is the last of the big chunks. A little anticlimactic, but as I mentioned before, this wasn't meant to be multi-chaptered originally. I'll tag on an afterward snippet in a couple days.

One other thing - I've seen both "sempai" and "senpai" used as terms of address - which is the correct one?

All the best - thanks for reading! -Ara

Happily, Yukimura slowly but steadily regained his strength and coordination over the next few weeks, and with it an appetite that at least remotely resembled a normal person's. Unhappily, end of year projects and exams began taking precedence over hospital visits towards the end of February. All of a sudden March had arrived and with it Yukimura's birthday. In a fit of frantic last minute planning, Marui once again found himself in charge of ordering ice creams with Jackal and Kirihara.

"It's Yukimura-buchou's birthday, so let's get sundaes this time," Kirihara suggested while they waited together in line. He gave Jackal and Marui what was apparently his super innocent convincing smile, but Marui honestly thought it was kind of creepy whenever the cutesy Akaya grin was directed at him. Borderline creepy and downright annoying. Kirihara never smiled just to look cute.

"You just don't want anything to drip on you," Marui responded. Kirihara would definitely be delegated the position of soggy cardboard holder carrier, just because Marui said so.

"No!" Kirihara argued back. "I actually want a sundae, Marui-senpai! A chocolate one. Not another stupid cone."

"They cost the same," Jackal pointed out in a bored tone, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Kirihara turned the happy-smiley look back on and aimed all of its fluorescent brightness at Jackal. "That means we can get them, right Jackal-senpai? And that you won't mind paying for mine because it costs the same as a dumb cone?"

"You owe me big time, Akaya," Jackal offered as his answer. He glanced up at the menu list, humming some unidentifiable tune under his breath. Probably the theme to some murder investigation show, because he probably wanted to kill Kirihara, Marui assumed.

"Having to spend your birthday in the hospital would totally suck," Marui mused out loud, glancing from the menu to Jackal. On your birthday you were supposed to be able to do pretty much whatever you wanted and eat junk food and skip out on all your chores. Yukimura had probably been stuck spending his watching daytime TV and being told to take naps. "It's too bad Yukimura couldn't go home in time."

Jackal stopped humming and folded his arms over his chest. "Yanagi said he can't go home until he can walk, and I guess he can't yet. I don't know; I haven't seen him for awhile."

"Me neither," Marui put in, stepping up to the counter. "What are we ordering?" They weren't sure what kinds of sundaes everyone would want, so they got a variety and made Kirihara carry all eight of them. They still dripped on him too, dribbles of vanilla soft serve leaking out of the plastic containers. Marui felt secretly triumphant and judging by the grin Jackal gave him when Kirihara started whining, his doubles partner felt the same way. He would have said something fabulously smart, but the risk of Kirihara throwing the sundaes down was just too great. No use wasting food.

Marui hadn't actually been able to visit Yukimura for a whole two weeks and either having a birthday was extremely good for him or he'd improved enough to warrant birthday-like celebrations. Yukimura was actually sitting in a chair. Wearing a sweatshirt and pajama bottoms. Reading a tennis magazine. Just exactly how long had it been since he'd looked that…well…normal? He'd been lying in bed wearing stupid flimsy hospital gowns for over two months. Marui was, in all honestly, suprised. Thank all the powers above, Yukimura was finally really getting better – and with only a month to spare before tennis season started.

"Yukimura-buchou, you're wearing real clothes," Kirihara announced dumbly, glancing between Yukimura and the rest of the regulars who had already arrived. "And you're not in bed."

Yukimura just smiled and nodded while he dropped his magazine onto the tray table next to him. "There's more room for everyone else to sit if I'm not in bed." He pushed himself up and sat a little straighter. "And, anyway, I can't really lie around if I want to go home in a week or two." Marui caught the way Yukimura's eyes flashed a little when he said that, gauging their reactions. He caught the slight smirk too. Their captain just smiled at their exclamations and excitement. "For real," Yukimura broke into their chatter, nodding. "I have a few things to work on before I can go, but it looks good." He then changed the subject abruptly, saying, "There's still cake left from my family, if anyone wants any."

Yagyuu was kind enough to slice pieces of cake for everyone while Marui and Jackal handed the sundaes out. That proved to be a problem, because no one really wanted the two caramel ones they'd purchased. Yanagi took one, but only after making sure to mention that he would have preferred a plain cone. Then Sanada and Jackal had to go and claim two of the three chocolate ones, leaving Niou and Kirihara to argue over the last one. Maybe they should have just gotten boring old cones.

"Yukimura-buchou, tell Niou-senpai this one is mine!" Kirihara tried to guard the sundae he was holding.

Niou smirked and waited. "I'm the senpai, Akaya, which means I get it."

"As the senpai, you should look out for me!" Kirihara argued back, deciding to try the cute look on Niou.

"Yeah, and looking out for you means teaching you to respect your seniors. Anyway, you should really let Yukimura pick; it's his birthday and that is the last chocolate one," Marui pointed out after swallowing a bite of ice cream. He turned to Yukimura. "We didn't know if you'd want ice cream or a shake, so we got both."

"I'll take the shake." Yukimura shifted in his chair and reached out for it. "Thank you."

"I get Yukimura-buchou's sundae!" Kirihara announced immediately. He smiled and shoved a spoon into the sundae. "Which is this chocolate one."

"That's not fair, Akaya! You didn't even pay!" Marui didn't even bother to swallow the bite of ice cream in his mouth that time.

"Actually, Akaya, I would have taken a strawberry one," Yukimura stated with a small smile while stiffly stirring his shake with the straw. "And I should get to decide who gets my sundae, don't you think?"

Kirihara frowned and huffed noisily. He angrily held the melting chocolate sundae out to Niou. "Here. Take it."

"I decided I want this one instead." Niou picked up a spoon and the leftover caramel sundae. "I don't want your drippy sundae, Akaya."

If Kirihara was irritated with Niou, it didn't last long in the midst of the birthday party – and they were definitely having one, even if it was unconventional. When Yukimura's nurse came in to check on him she actually laughed. Maybe it was the site of Yanagi, Kirihara, and Marui all crammed onto Yukimura's mussed up hospital bed, or Niou trying to get Yagyuu and Jackal to sing along with the radio, or Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi in a debate over something in Yukimura's magazine. Maybe it was the cake crumbs and abandoned trivia game and toned-down ruckus in general. Whatever it was, the nurse just stood with her hand on the door for a moment. "I'll come back later, Yukimura-kun," she said, grinning, "You boys look like you're having a good time."

Maybe because – hello? – they actually were having a good time. They had cake and ice cream, they were celebrating a birthday, and Yukimura's discharge from the hospital was actually in sight. According to Marui, everything was just about right in the world for the moment. That would probably change within an hour or two, but for now – yeah, it was all good.

"Who gets your sundae, Yukimura?" Marui tossed his empty plastic dish into the waste paper basket, ready to retrieve and consume the half-melted strawberry sundae still sitting next to what was left of the birthday cake.

Yukimura looked over from his conversation with Sanada and Yanagi. "You know what? I'll eat it myself."

Man, it was good to have him back – even if it did mean less free food.

On a sunny day in late April, Marui and Kirihara hunted out Yukimura and Sanada after practice in order to ask about match details. They found them both discussing something in the clubroom, Yukimura sitting on top of the desk and Sanada in a chair with a thick binder. It was a refreshingly familiar sight and Marui half expected Yanagi to come in any minute with a stack of disturbing file folders or some imposing chart or another. Yukimura hadn't recovered completely yet – they never actually saw him do much besides walk around and critique people – but he sure as hell was back to his insanely dedicated tennis self.

"Hi, Marui; Akaya." Yukimura glanced up from the papers he was looking at with a smile. He reached for a can on the desk next to him, taking a long sip. "What do you need?"

"What is that?" Marui stared at the can in Yukimura's hand. It wasn't shaped right to be soda, and the sides were white and bright pink. It wasn't, was it? It had to be. Strawberry Ensure. Extra calories for decrepit old people. "How can you drink that stuff? You don't even need that, Yukimura!"

"What is it?" Kirihara stepped closer to the desk to look and made a face while Yukimura calmly took another sip. "Yukimura-buchou, that stuff is gross! It's crap! Niou got us some to try. Just watching you drink it makes me want to puke all over this floor."

"If you do, you're cleaning it up," Sanada put in from his chair, not looking disturbed by Yukimura's choice of beverages in the least. Cripes, was Sanada a secret Ensure drinker too?

"I still have some weight to gain back." Yukimura shrugged nonchalantly, then proceeded to finish off the can.

Marui fought the urge to pull at his hair. "Yeah, and you could gain it back eating stuff that actually tastes good! That stuff isn't even mixed into a milkshake! Yanagi even joked about you liking it – I think. That was supposed to be a joke way back then, wasn't it, Sanada?"

"Yukimura-buchou, you make me sick," Kirihara stated while watching as Yukimura neatly licked his lips.

"It's not that bad plain." Yukimura shrugged again. He cleanly tossed the can into the waste paper basket across the room and smiled. "I drank it in the hospital all the time. I kind of like it."