Title: Put A Ring On It.
Summary: Tajima proposes to Hanai in the most Tajima way possible. (Note: Tajima and Hanai are fourth years in this, just an fyi.)
Character(s): Tajima Yūichirō, Hanai Azusa.
Pairing(s): Tajinai.
It was a cool spring evening in Japan, a mild breeze blowing through the streets, rustling the tops of trees and sending loose leaves fluttering across the road. The sun was setting, and the Nishiura boys were heading home from practice. The pack was lead by Sakaeguchi, Oki, Mizutani, and Izumi, with Suyama and Nishihiro next to them. Behind them were Abe and Mihashi, who were walking close together, having a whispered conversation (with Abe doing most of the talking, of course). And at the very back of the pack of boys were Tajima and Hanai.
Tajima was telling jokes while Hanai listened (with rising annoyance), trying not to hit the cleanup over the head. But if Abe could be patient with Mihashi, then Hanai could be patient with Tajima. After all, they'd been going out for about four years now. He figured it was probably at least a little important to build up his immunity to Tajima's childish antics.
And, lucky for him, the boy got distracted very easily. "Ooh, Azusa, look!" The cleanup ran ahead of him, pointing at a small candy store. Hanai rolled his eyes, coming to a stop beside the boy and waving the rest of the team on ahead when they glanced back with questioning looks. "Yūichirō, you're eighteen years old. We are not going into a candy store."
"But Azusa," Tajima whined, turning around with wide puppy-dog eyes (Hanai inwardly cringed. He could never say no to that look.), "I really want to!"
The captain let out an annoyed tch. "Okay, fine. But you can only get one thing." He let out an annoyed sound seeing the cleanup's eyes firmly trained on the candy store, wearing a goofy smile on his face as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet in excitement. "Yūichirō, did you hear me? One thing. One. "
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure," Tajima replied, running ahead. "Let's goooo!"
Hanai sighed, knowing he hadn't heard a thing, and followed after dejectedly.
"I said one thing," Hanai mumbled, letting out an exhausted sigh. He and Tajima were walking towards home once more, but Tajima had (as Hanai suspected) completely ignored him, and was toting an armful of bags packed to the brim with colorful candies of every size, shape, and flavor. Currently, his attention was focused on a half-gone bag of gummy bears, which he was stuffing into his mouth with great delight.
"C'mon Afusa," he mumbled, words muffled by the gummy bears. "Lif a wittle."
Hanai face-palmed, letting out a noise of exasperation. Tajma, seemingly unperturbed by his boyfriend's obvious vexation, finished the gummy bears and tossed the empty package in a garbage can before digging through the bags for more candy. He stopped by a bench, placing the bags down and digging both hands in. "Hey, wait a sec."
Letting out a long sigh, (uselessly) trying to convey his irritation to the cleanup, Hanai obeyed, sitting down heavily on the bench. He rested his head on the back of it and looked up at the sky, which was clear and covered in thousands of bright white stars. "Make it quick. The sun's set already."
Tajima let out a noise of consent as he continued digging through the bags, brows furrowed. Hanai let out another sigh and turned to stare back up at the sky, closing his eyes. He was almost falling asleep when he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Hey, Azusa."
"Hmmm?" Hanai opened one eye lazily, but the other quickly followed, squinting questioningly at the cleanup, who was standing in front of him with a grin that frankly made him a bit nervous, one hand held behind his back. "What is it Yūichirō?" he asked nervously, straightening his back in order to be eye-level with the boy.
With a mischevious grin, Tajima got down on one knee, revealing his hidden hand with a flourish. Held between his thumb and forefinger was a strawberry ring pop, already out of the wrapper (which was weird, considering Hanai didn't remember him buying ring pops). "Will you marry me, Azusa?" Tajima asked dramatically, placing one hand on his heart as he held the 'ring' out to a startled Hanai.
The captain felt himself blushing. "Um, w-w-wait a second... Yūichirō, you're joking, right?"
The boy grinned widely. "Nope. So, what do you say?" He raised an eyebrow. "Marry me?"
"You're—" Hanai struggled to speak. "You're seriously proposing to me with a ring pop?"
Tajima smiled, one of his genuine, rare smiles, which still made Hanai's heart flutter, even after years of seeing it. "Yes, but it's a special ring pop." He met Hanai's eyes and pressed the candy gently into his hand. "See for yourself."
Brows furrowing in confusion, Hanai held up the ring pop and looked at it. His eyes widened, and he quickly peered at it even closer, just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Inside the ring pop was a real ring; an elegant, simple gold band. Hanai could see it through the semi-clear red surface of the candy.
"How did you—" He took a deep breath, trying (unsuccessfully) to breathe normally. This was happening. This was really, actually happening. He covered his mouth, feeling tears threatening to fall. "Are you serious? You— You aren't joking, are you?"
Tajima laughed, standing. "No, I'm not joking." He carefully took back the ring pop and once again knelt in front of him. "So, Azusa Hanai, will you marry me?"
Hanai did actually start to cry now, but ignored it, wiping at his eyes furiously. "Of course you idiot. Of course I will."
"Good." Tajima grinned and carefully slid the ring pop onto Hanai's finger. "Because I can't imagine life without you."
