"Thank you for doing this, Sanada. I'm sorry for being a burden."

Sanada didn't respond as he pushed the wheelchair around the dirt path, taking care to try and do so carefully so as not to jostle the person in it.

"I just wanted to see the sea one last time, before..."

He trailed off, but the end of the sentence was implied. Sanada hated this. Why did Yukimura have to act like he was going to die? He wouldn't. He couldn't, because Sanada had no idea how to look after any of these stupid kids without him.

Instead of replying to Yukimura, Sanada looked down the path, where Kirihara was running ahead of them.

"Akaya," he shouted, his tone urgent, "Don't run, you'll-"

Too late. Kirihara tripped on a rock and fell to his knees. When he let out a wail, Sanada sighed and said, "I tried to warn you."

Kirihara rocked where he sat, a single tear trickling down his cheek. Then that single tear became many tears and he finally stood, hobbling towards Sanada and Yukimura with a look of extreme self-pity on his face. "Yukimura, I... I hurt my leg-"

"Really?" Yukimura said softly, "Let me see then."

Kirihara walked over and swung his leg up so his foot landed across Yukimura's knees. Sanada might have objected, but Yukimura didn't mind. Their captain wiped away the small trickle of blood that oozed from the scrape with the blanket that lay over his lap then said, "There, there. Will I kiss it better? Or are you going to be brave?"

Kirihara steeled himself. He would be brave and strong and try not to let the gaping wound on his knee bother him. Besides, the pain was instantly forgotten when Marui and Jackal tore past, yelling about how he was acting like a baby again.

"I'm not, you bastards!" He screeched, taking off after them, and they disappeared down the path to the beach as Yukimura allowed himself a small smile.

"They'll never learn," Sanada sighed.

"No, they will," Yukimura corrected him. "They'll grow up someday."

"The day can't come soon enough," Sanada grumbled, and Yukimura laughed softly, knowing he didn't mean it.

The wheelchair wouldn't move in the sand so, when they got to the beach, Sanada helped Yukimura up and supported him as they walked down the dune. There he spread out the blanket on the sand and helped Yukimura settle, then sat down next to him.

"They seem to be having fun," Yukimura said, looking to where the other three had ran off to. Jackal and Marui were alternating between holding Kirihara's head under the water and kicking sand in his face.

"They're going to make Akaya mad," Sanada said. "It's all fun and games until someone gets an arm ripped off."

"Well, they'll regenerate soon enough. They're young, let them have fun." Yukimura leant against Sanada, shrugging the jersey he wore off of his shoulders to expose his skin to the warm sun. "You worry too much about them. We used to play just as rough."

But then you got sick, Sanada thought. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, though, so instead he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. The sun is making my eyes hurt a little, though."

Without a moments hesitation Sanada tore his cap off his head, shoving it on top of Yukimura's own and tugging the brim down so a shadow fell over his closed eyes. He could still see the smile that curved Yukimura's lips, though, and his captain murmured, "Thank you."

They didn't talk for a long time. Yukimura was no doubt tired from the long journey – they'd had to travel on foot, given the fact that few other forms of transport even existed now – and though he'd been in a wheelchair for the majority of the trip, he'd still been exhausted by it. Still, it had been totally worth it to see his face light up when they spotted the ocean, and sitting here with him like this, just side by side, was nice too.

"We should have brought something to eat," he said, "I could go and forage-"

"Sanada," Yukimura said, "Be quiet."

Sanada obliged and fell silent. The sounds that filled the beach were somewhat lulling, except for the screams of Kirihara that had commenced now that he'd entered devil mode. Sanada thought about intervening but Yukimura, as though sensing what he was thinking, said, "Leave it. He'll tire himself out."

That was the thing about Yukimura: at times it seemed like he had been gifted with some mutant ability, like mind reading or something, but in actuality he was completely human. Maybe it was just because they'd known each other for so long, but the way he always knew what Sanada was thinking was partly touching, partly unnerving.

When they'd first met years ago, nobody could have had any ideas things would turn out like this. Sanada was one of the first members of their tennis club to come down with a mutation, and at that time, Yukimura had been the only one who still played with them. So they stuck together, and when the human race began to die out, Sanada repaid Yukimura's kindness by making sure no one, mutant or human, would ever harm him.

Yukimura didn't mutate, but nor did he fall ill as many other non-mutants normally did. In fact, he was in peak health up until the previous year, when it took a turn for the worse. He'd always been able to keep up with the rest of the team when it came to tennis, providing they didn't use their powers; however, after that day, his movements were sluggish, his responses slow, and he could barely keep hold of the racket.

Thanks to Renji's vast knowledge and healing abilities, they'd managed to keep him alive – but now the illness was beginning to be too much to cope with, even with Renji's skills, and Sanada... he... he wished he had his hat on so he could pull it over his eyes and hide the dark look in them.

"Something's not right," Yukimura said suddenly, and Sanada realised that he was correct: the entire beach had fell silent. Even Kirihara, who'd previously been trying to beat Marui over the head with his own arm, had halted and looked up. Yukimura shivered and clutched the jacket around his shoulder closer to him.

"It's cold," Sanada said, his breath appearing before him as a fine mist. "Could it be...?"