Disclaimer: yuku doesn't own the Tenipuri characters, unfortunately. ^^;;

Characters Featured: Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji of Fudoumine

Pairing: slight Ibu + Kamio

            Silver Snowflakes

– First Snow –

            By: yukuro

            Snow is pure white, descending gently from the clouds of heaven. Snow falls from the sky to envelop the earth in its pure white, silently piling up while covering all beneath. It was said that every snowflake had a different pattern and that not one was the same. Snow was like people in a way. Both descending from some unknown place to the earth, covering the surroundings quickly, with each snowflake and person different from the rest. The only difference was that people would never be the pure color of white.

            The skies were gray this winter. The air was chilly and cold, the winter winds showing their effects even though Christmas had already past. People wore thick coats, scarves, and gloves to keep themselves warm. They bundled together as they walked down the street, talking merrily even as the atmosphere became slightly colder each day. Even though the temperature on the various faithful scales plummeted that one cold winter, not a single sign of snow appeared.

            Kamio Akira squinted up at the cloudy sky, a hand on his forehead as an unneeded shade. Sighing, he removed his headphones from his ears and carried them in his hand along with his CD player. Tachibana had asked them to skip practice that day, knowing that the cold weather could be hazardous to the young boys' health if they sweated too much.

            Putting his CD player away and sticking his hands in his pockets, Kamio walked quickly down the side of the street, moving his feet in little quick paces to keep himself warm. It was just another day today for him.

Just another day where his school hated him and his only friends were his fellow tennis team members. Everyone else who had heard of the incident before instantly disliked Kamio and the rest of the team, just for one thing that had been something they all believed in. Apparently no one else had thought so. Kamio didn't mind though. It was just another day after all.

            Somehow he had gotten used to being hated for the past, only appreciated by shallow girls for his looks. Kamio wasn't stupid though. He knew the true source of his strength was his best friend Shinji, Tachibana-san, and the rest of the Fudoumine team. Without them, Kamio knew he could not stand as tall as he was able to that day.

            Just as a cold slap of wind blew into his face, Kamio shivered, hopping from one foot to the other. He suddenly wished he had worn another jacket. It was much too cold for him to be wearing a single jacket in the kind of weather he was facing. He rubbed his hands together, desperate for warmth.

            Leaning over to breathe warm air onto his hands, Kamio blinked when he felt someone drop a scarf around his neck. Looking up in curiosity, the redhead opened his mouth to say something to the person who dropped the scarf. "Excuse me, I think you—… Shinji?"

            "What?" Ibu Shinji asked carelessly, only glancing at his friend. "You don't have to sound so surprised. It's not like I can't pass you on the street. Stop staring at me like that. Did I do something wrong?"

            Kamio blinked once again before laughing slightly. Standing up straight, the redhead slowly and reluctantly removed the warm scarf from his neck. The skin on his neck tingled slightly from the loss of warmth, but he shrugged it off and held the scarf out towards his friend. "Did you drop this?"

            "No," Shinji responded, shuffling forward. Quietly, he stuck his hands into his pockets. "I didn't drop it," the long haired boy said, looking straight ahead, "I gave it to you because you looked cold. Aren't you?"

            "I…guess I am," Kamio said slowly, his fist closing around the scarf. He grinned gratefully at Shinji's back. He was actually extremely grateful. Kamio just didn't exactly feel like saying he was freezing to the point where he couldn't think straight. Even jumping around didn't do much, and he couldn't exactly run through such a busy crowd to keep warm. "Thanks, Shinji."

            "You're really useless, Kamio," Shinji muttered, turning around to take the scarf out of his friend's hand. Face as calm as ever, the long haired boy gently wrapped it around Kamio's neck. "Instead of trying to thank me, why don't you show me you appreciate it by putting it on? Baka."

            Face tinting slightly red when Shinji's smooth hands brushed against his cheeks, Kamio shifted his eyes away. "Oh…I guess you're right. Thanks again, Shinji… You're always looking out for me, aren't you?"

            "I have to," Shinji replied, letting his hands dropped to his sides as he studied Kamio's expression. "If I don't look out for you, who else will? You don't look out for yourself enough. Besides…I guess that's just what friends are for. I know you'd do the same for me."

            Quickly returning his gaze to his serious friend's face, Kamio grinned sheepishly, bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Yeah… You're right. It's the same with everyone else too. After all we've been through together…"

            Kamio sighed, his grin quickly disappearing as he walked ahead with Shinji beside him. "You know, there's something that's been on my mind lately," Kamio began, his voice soft. He remembered that before he would always come to Shinji with his problems, and he knew Shinji always let him talk about whatever he wanted. Although he wasn't sure if Shinji was listening most of the time, it was still a comfort having someone to talk to. Lately, they didn't seem to talk as much anymore… "In just a few months Tachibana-san is going to graduate. Where will that leave us? I mean, as a team?"

            "We all know our team isn't going to last forever," Shinji said softly as they paused at the side of a street, waiting for the walk sign. "It's not like we can cling to Tachibana-san for support forever. We all have to grow and learn to stand on our own. Support isn't always there when it's needed; we were just lucky to get the support we needed at that time. Time after time, we will stumble for sure, but it's not like we can't back up and try harder again. That is just the way to grow stronger. Kamio, you're going to be the captain next year, and I know you will do fine in leading us. As a team. Besides, it's not like we can change what happened in the past. We can only move on, right?"

            "I almost forgot how much I missed talking to you," Kamio admitted with a gentle laugh as they crossed the street together. "I guess I just thought you weren't always listening."

            "There are a lot of things you ramble on about endlessly, you know," Shinji replied a bit dryly, looking up at the sky. "Sometimes I wonder what you're talking about and you're always yelling about it. You're really loud, you know. It's hard to pay attention to you when you're yelling in my ear. But…" the long haired boy slowed his mumbling down and glanced at his friend, "I will pay attention if it's really important to you."

            "Why is that?" Kamio asked out of curiosity, looking at his friend through his red bangs. Laughing, the redhead suddenly burst out, "You sound so serious, Shinji! I'm really glad you care though. I mean, if I find out my best friend doesn't even listen to me, I don't know if the team will."

            "I only do it because I prefer to see your smiling face," Shinji mumbled under his breath. "Your smile always makes me feel better."

            "Sorry, I didn't hear you. What was that?" Kamio asked, leaning closer to hear Shinji's mumbling better. Cupping his ear with his hand, the redhead still hopped from foot to foot to keep warm.

            "Nothing," Shinji said, his face never changing. Walking straight ahead, he said off-handedly, "I just said that I did it to keep you quiet."

            "Funny that you're the one saying that," Kamio said, raising an eyebrow, quickly stuffing his hands back into his pockets. He grinned again when Shinji simply grunted in response before muttering something quietly. Kamio sighed and glanced at the gray sky. Smile still hanging on his lips, he commented softly, "It's really starting to get cold these days, ne, Shinji?"

            "That's what happens in the winter," Shinji replied dully, stopping in his tracks when Kamio suddenly halted. Turning to face his friend, Shinji studied the redhead for a moment. It was odd, he thought, that the longer he looked at Kamio's face, the faster his heart seem to beat and the warmer his cheeks felt. It was stupid though. Kamio could be used during the winter to heat his face up, Shinji thought randomly to himself.

            "I…don't want to go home yet," Kamio said suddenly, eyes locking with his friend's. "I don't want to go back to my responsibilities for a little while. I need to be free for just a little longer…and I want to talk to you longer, even if it's only for a little while. Let's go somewhere, Shinji. Anywhere."

            "What do you mean when you say 'anywhere,' huh?" Shinji started, "'Anywhere' could be a lot of places. I mean, it could be Antarctica which is even colder than here. If you're cold here you can't say 'anywhere' because 'anywhere' could also mean somewhere colder and you're already cold. Otherwise you wouldn't be jumping around right now. You're kind of like a rabbit. It's funny to see you jumping up and down and you're fast so you're really like a rabbit, except without the ears and how loud you are since rabbits don't make noise…"

            Shaking his head, Kamio grabbed Shinji's arm and pulled him along. He had only caught about half of whatever Shinji was mumbling about. Spotting a park across the street, Kamio dragged his friend across, sitting down in a bench facing the bare trees in the park.

            "What was the point of this again?" Shinji asked quietly, still standing. He slowly tilted his head to the side to look at Kamio's relaxed face. It made him relax seeing Kamio like that. Shinji turned his head the other way and let a few long bangs fall into his eyes.

            "Nothing really, I guess," Kamio said slowly, stealing glances at his friend. "Come here, Shinji. Sit down next to me."

            Slowly, Shinji took a seat next to the redhead, hair still hanging in his eyes. He sat up straight, keeping silent as he listened to Kamio's slightly stressed breathing. "Is something bothering you? You wanted to talk, right?"

            Turning to face his long haired friend, Kamio smiled slightly. "Yes," he began, reaching out to tuck Shinji's bangs behind his ears. "I guess I've just got a lot to worry about lately. There's so much that I'm concerned about, but I don't want you all to worry. I mean, I know you all have problems of your own and mine on top would just be a burden."

            "That doesn't mean you should keep everything to yourself though," Shinji muttered quietly, leaning back against the bench slightly. "When you don't say anything to us, we get worried. The other day when Tachibana-san took you to see the nurse, Ishida and Sakurai were saying that they were worried you had too much stress. Mori yelled out some kind of agreement, but he was so loud everyone within a five mile vicinity heard him, I think. Even Uchimura somewhat…nodded…"

            Kamio laughed to hear his teammates' behavior. His smile lingered on his lips. It felt good to smile, especially when he was with a friend like Shinji. They had always been good friends, before and after the incident of the tennis team. But it was that incident that strengthened their relationship, yet slowly drew them apart as well. "What about you then?" Kamio asked teasingly. "Do you worry about me too?"

            "I'm always worried about you," Shinji mumbled, dropping his voice. "I can never stop thinking about you. Why do you do that to me? Why can't I ever get you out of my head?"

            "Shinji?" Kamio removed a hand from his pocket to place on the boy's shoulder. His brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, I can't hear a word you're saying. Could you maybe…speak a little louder? I do want to understand you, you know."

            "It's nothing," Shinji replied, raising his voice slightly so Kamio could hear him. He twisted his icy fingers together in his lap. Was this what Kamio felt like when he said he didn't want to heap his own problems on to someone else? Shinji didn't know if it was because he couldn't keep his feelings together or if it was that Kamio was simply deaf. "I'll get rid of these problems someday," Shinji muttered to himself, extremely quietly. "Maybe I can even tell him about these feelings…"

            "Hey, Shinji," Kamio started again, tapping his feet. "I want you to know that I'm looking out for you too. I don't want you to think that you have to baby sit me all the time. I'll do my best to take care myself better, if you do the same. Promise me something though. Since I'm always telling you all my problems, tell me yours too. If you won't tell me as a teammate or vice captain…then as a friend. I do consider you to be one of the people that I care about most."

            "I don't have any problems," Shinji blurted out. Squeezing his eyes shut for a minute, mentally scolding himself for almost letting his feelings slip. He slowly opened them, his emotions well masked again. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself first."

            "I really doubt you have no problems in life," Kamio said with a light laugh. "How can you ask me to do something if you don't do so yourself? Do you really think I don't care about you at all, Shinji?"

            "Maybe you just don't understand how much I care about you."

            Kamio blinked for a moment as a gust of cool wind blew Shinji's hair back into his face. The redhead looked into his friend's deep eyes and realized that he was serious. How serious, Kamio was unsure. It didn't matter though, because he smiled anyway.

Some strange feelings stirred within him, but he ignored them for now. If they were about Shinji, Kamio knew that his friend would always be there. Shinji was always reliable in the past and promised to be in the future. Kamio trusted him. If these confusing, fluttering feelings were about Shinji, Kamio knew Shinji would wait for him.

            "Wait for me for a while, Shinji," Kamio said with a soft smile. "Not long; just for a little while. I care for you a lot. As a friend, maybe even like a brother… Trust me when I say you're one of the ones most important to me."

            "Fine," Shinji muttered still, staring straight back into Kamio's eyes with a serious expression. "I don't exactly understand it myself, but that's ok. I can wait until I've become the most important person to you. You might have filled that spot for me already anyway."

            "There's still time for us," Kamio said quietly, breaking away from the long haired boy's gaze to stare at his hands. "There's still time…"

            "But how much?" the other boy asked as another cool gust of air blew between them. "How much time is left before we eventually have to part? We both don't know when it could happen. Time will eventually split us apart to different places, no matter how strong our friendship is. Nothing really lasts forever."

            "Our friendship will," the redhead said confidently, clenching his fist. "I'll make sure it will. "In this past year, you and the team have become so important to me, that I'm afraid of losing you all every day. I don't really want to have that fear…but I understand about time. Distance doesn't matter when it comes to friendship. Only the bonds and layers of that friendship matter, and if those ties are strong, not even time can break them."

            "You have to be extremely confident in the human spirit to say that," Shinji said quietly, looking down at Kamio's balled fist. "I want to feel the same way as you…but I can't really believe people can defeat time. It's because, as humans, we're all tainted creatures. There's nothing that can change that."

            "That's why I like the snow," the redhead sighed softly. Scanning the darkened sky. "It's really pure and spotless when it comes from the sky. When it falls, it covers everything. From the ground to rooftops, everything becomes the color of snow. I think that if we have enough patience and wait for the snow, then it will fall from the sky and cover everything up again. Somewhat like a new beginning, I guess… But look," Kamio smiled as his eyes followed the first snowflake falling from the sky until it landed gently on Shinji's shoulder, "the first snow is beginning to fall. It's surely a sign that there will be a new beginning, starting it out pure and white."

            "You're such an optimist, Kamio," Shinji replied hazily, the corner of his mouth very slightly turning up in a kind of half smile. "I like the things you say though. You're always using pretty words…when you're not yelling and ranting about pointless things that is."

           "And you give good advice when you're not mumbling to yourself all the time," Kamio shot back, a smile playing at his lips as well. He glanced at Shinji's hands, frowning when he noticed how red they were. Slowly, he reached out and touched them gingerly. "Ah! Shinji, you're hands are like ice!"

            "I guess we've been sitting out here for too long," Shinji commented in a monotone, twisting his fingers together. "People aren't supposed to sit outside in the winter for too long. It's bad for their health. Now we're going to get sick and when we won't be able to school, everyone will get worried and our problems are going to get worse. I guess it's my fault for letting you come out here though. I should have made you go home and—…"

            Kamio cut Shinji off when he took the boy's hand in his and twined their fingers together. Leaning over, the redhead slowly blew warm air on their cold hands and rubbed them together. Sighing, Kamio moved closer to his friend until their arms were on top of each other. Unwrapping the scarf partially from his neck, Kamio wrapped the other half around Shinji's neck, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder. "Hn, and you call me an idiot."

            "What are you going to say to people if they see us like this?" Shinji asked in a low voice, shifting his eyes as he felt his cheeks warm up. Kamio's hands were so warm… "Won't people think it's weird? I don't care, but you…"

            "Shinji, does it really matter what other people think?" Kamio asked dryly, "Now to make up for all the times I've been ranting and you've been mumbling can we just sit here quietly for a minute? I like spending time with you more than I care about what people think."

            Shinji blinked a few times, but let his body relax. Funny the way Kamio's hands fit so perfectly together with his and how their fingers twined so easily. Shinji remembered what he had thought about earlier. Kamio really could be used to warm him up during the winter. "It's still cold."

            "I know that," Kamio said almost irritably. "If you don't think about it, you wouldn't notice it as much."

            "How can you not notice it?" Shinji mumbled, "It's almost as bad as Mori's yelling. He's even louder than you. Except he doesn't rant, and he's really just loud…"

            "The sky's really gray," Kamio said loudly, finding a smile twitching at his lips again.

            "Gray is my favorite color," Shinji went on, switching topics as Kamio brought them up. "The sky is gray because of the clouds, and the clouds are gray because it's snowing. So is it ok to say that the sky is gray because it's snowing? That's probably why it's so cold outside."

            "Shinji, does it really bother you that much?" Kamio asked finally, removing his head from the other boy's shoulder to look at him pointedly. "If the weather really bothers you that much we can go home."

            "…That's alright," Shinji said slowly. Relieving himself from the stress he had on his face, Shinji leaned forward to rest his forehead on Kamio's shoulder.  He smiled slightly into the crook of his friend's neck. "It's better being here with you… Besides, I said I'd wait for you for a long time. As long as you need…"

            "I'll still need a little time though… Shinji…" Kamio trailed off, feeling his cheeks flush slightly.

            "That's fine," Shinji said quietly in response. "The first snow is the sign of a new beginning, right? From where I am, I can see the snow falling. Slowly, but it won't be long before it covers everything. If it's you, I can wait."

            "I knew you would," Kamio said, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he closed his eyes to rest his head on top of Shinji's. "I wouldn't have asked for time if I didn't think you'd wait for me."

            "I will…as long as it takes. It's only the first snow of the winter after all."

            Owari.

---

A/N: That was probably the shortest, most really pointless fic I've written. *_* oh, but I had so much fun writing it! I just love writing stories where people have long, pointless conversations with ridiculously pretty words xD plus, I love Kamio and Shinji to pieces x)

These two were too fun to write about ^_______^; I'll definitely write more about them sometime.

Ah…I wonder which character I should write about next ^^;; Shinji and Kamio do get some attention (not enough in my opinion), and same with other characters like Sengoku and Jirou. *shrug* I just wanted to try writing a few fics that don't involve the Seigaku boys. U_u; as much as I do love them *lol*

Ah, I'm working on the next chapter/fic for this. About another random character o_o; as the way things are turning out, looks like it may be Kisarazu-kun from St. Rudolf (for those of you who don't know: he's the guy with the red headband who plays doubles with Yanagisawa the "da ne" duck o_o)

Thanks for reading! Character/Pairing requests and suggestions would be much appreciated! ^^;; Leave a review if possible. Thanks again!