"Genichirou! Good morning!"
Sanada and Yanagi, who happened to be murmuring quietly over a small piece of paper in their hands, looked up in recognition.
Seeing the owner of the voice, Sanada chuckled, but hid his fond smile when he felt Yanagi's eyes on him. Friends were friends…however, if he got too lax about his image, the tennis regulars would never let him live this down. He shuddered inwardly at the thought.
Kimiko leapt from about 10 feet away and landed gracefully in front of the duo.
Yanagi nodded to her, slightly impressed. "Good morning Moriyama-san."
She beamed back at him. "Morning to you too, Yanagi-san."
Turning to Sanada, she began chattering excitedly. "Hey, are you free today? Because I know this really great restaurant that just opened in the downtown area—I heard its parfaits are super tasty! Oh and Genichirou's favorite miso soup of course…" she continued to rattle on.
Yanagi smiled at her enthusiasm and made to leave, patting Sanada on the back as he moved past him. "Just remember to use that if you're stuck, Genichirou."
Kimiko stopped in her babbling immediately. "Stuck? Is something wrong with your studies, Genichirou?"
Sanada paled for a split second before retaining his calm composure. "No, nothing. We were just talking about tennis practice. It's nothing."
She looked at him intently for a while, not saying anything. Ironically considering his size, he felt like an ant being scrutinized under a huge magnifying glass.
Eventually, Kimiko shrugged and dismissed it. "So, are you free?" she said, returning to her hyper state.
Sanada breathed a quiet sigh of relief before replying. "Yeah, we just have a quick meeting for the regulars and then my afternoon's open."
"Can I come listen?"
He looked at her, surprised. "Do you want to? Today's not really exciting stuff."
She simply smiled, nodding. "I just want to be with you. I'm going to be stuck to you like peanut butter and jelly from now on, so be prepared," she added playfully, looking up at her (oh dare she say it?) boyfriend.
Sanada stiffened, abruptly turned away, and began to walk towards their first class. "Come on, we're going to be late."
Kimiko laughed, thinking how adorable he was, before chasing after him to catch up.
"Oii~, Genichirou! Wait up!"
"So, in 331 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered…" the history teacher droned on, oblivious to the fact that all of his students' attention was directed somewhere…that was not the board he was writing on.
"Oh yeah, and did you hear me mention? They have Genichirou's favorite miso soup there, too. I looked it up and it got 4.5 star reviews, you know?"
"Hmm."
"Yup."
"…Might be worth a try."
"What do you mean might? I know you want to go."
"Brat."
"Hey!" A playful punch followed.
All 19 pairs of eyes in the room concentrated on a certain couple sitting in the front, their stares penetrating through Kimiko's and Sanada's backs, and Kimiko visibly stiffened like a rock, disconcerted by all the eyes she felt on them.
"Did you hear that? Did you see that?"
"Yeah I did!"
"Are they going out?"
"WHAT? I didn't hear about this?"
"I think they look good together."
"Yeah I agree."
"Huh! As if our Sanada-sama would ever like that type of girl!"
The whispers began to collect like bees buzzing on a hot summer's day, with the same degree of annoyance. Kimiko was becoming uncomfortable, her body beginning to curl up a bit and her vision flitting from side to side like that of a cornered animal. Class president responsibilities got her some attention she wanted from the students, but being the fruit of the gossip vine did not.
What should I do? I don't want to be part of these rumors. Just go away! Go somewh—
She looked down at her hand in surprise, and back up at Sanada, who was staring dutifully at the board.
"1. When she's scared, protect her."
He squeezed her hand tighter with his bigger one, reassuring her of his presence. There's nothing to fear. I'm here for you.
That was right. As long as he was with her she had nothing to be afraid of. She was strong with him by her side.
Kimiko nodded and grasped Sanada's elbow, leaning on him momentarily as a silent means of thanks. He ruffled her hair and then motioned to the board with his chin. Time to pay attention again.
"Oh yeah," Kimiko said sheepishly, redirecting her attention to the teacher, who still hadn't noticed that no one was really paying him any mind.
The two walked along the crowded sidewalk, sometimes separating to avoid the occasional rushing OL or reckless child.
"Oof!" Kimiko hit the ground on her back as a small boy crashed into her. She sat up groaning, rubbing her bottom as the child apologized quickly and dashed off.
Sanada held out his hand to her immediately, a worried crease on his brow. "Are you all right?"
Kimiko took his hand, pushing on it to get herself back upright, while hearing a lot of whispers as she stood up straight.
"Oh, what a cute couple!"
"That girl seems too young for him."
"They look so sweet!"
"Oh he's soo my type!"
Kimiko flung off Sanada's hand and stormed away, tearing through the crowd that had formed in a circle around the small accident.
"2. When she walks away from you mad, follow her."
He stood in shock for a couple seconds before dashing off in the same direction. "Excuse me," he grunted as he pushed through the mob, "Please let me through!"
Finally breaking through the human knot, he sighted Kimiko speedwalking away and ran after her.
"Oi! Kimiko!" he yelled. She did not stop, nor did she even turn to look at him.
"3. When she pushes you or hits you, grab her and don't let go."
"Oi!" he said again as he caught up, grabbing her hand and yanking her to him. He pulled her face up with both hands to force her to look at him. "What's wrong?"
She tried to pull her face away, to no avail. Sanada's eyes widened at the sight of fresh tears running down his girlfriend's face. "Hey, what happened? Are you hurt anywhere? Did that boy do something I didn't see?"
She shook her head furiously.
"Then what is it?" Sanada was becoming frustrated.
"4. When she ignores you, give her your attention."
"…"
Sanada looked at her seriously for a long time, sighed, and then buried her head into his chest. "Hey I don't know what's going on, but I'll be here forever. No matter where you are, when you need me." He added under his breath, "I've got to thank Renji for that rulebook."
"Eh? Rulebook?" Kimiko looked up in confusion, her tears stopped and eyes dried.
"Mm…" Sanada turned slightly pink before sliding his hand into his back pocket to fish out the paper Yanagi had handed to him that morning. Kimiko nabbed it, glancing it over quickly before bursting into laughter.
"…Is it that funny," Sanada sweatdropped a little.
Kimiko didn't respond, but continued to giggle, bent over in her uncontrollable mirth.
After she was done, Kimiko looked at Sanada and immediately blushed, her face resembling a juicy ripe tomato from the number one greenhouse in Japan.
…Not that Sanada's was much better off. They stood awkwardly in the middle of the square for several minutes, not daring to look at the other.
"So, um, in any case," Sanada coughed in embarrassment. "I'll be here for you. I don't know what happened just now, but whenever you feel like talking about it, I'll listen. As long as it's not stupid," he added.
Kimiko mock-glared at him. "Are you implying something?"
Sanada smiled at the change in her mood. "Oh nothing at all. What could you possibly be talking about?"
She grabbed his arm and towed him towards the opposite direction they had come from. "All right you big goof, we're heading to that restaurant now. Come!"
He raised an eyebrow at her "commanding" voice, but followed along obediently.
As she slowed back down to a normal walk, once again silent, Sanada noticed as Kimiko's hand lost its grip and began to slide down to his, finally resting in his hand and interlacing their fingers. She didn't look up, knowing he was looking at her questioningly. "It's easier this way."
Sanada responded coolly. "All right," he said, all the while amused at how even the tips of her ears were tinged a strawberry pink. She was so easy to read…usually, he amended his thoughts just a bit.
"Missing."
"What?" Sanada looked up from his soup to Kimiko, who was on his right. He could not believe his ears. What did she say?
"Yeah…" Kimiko sipped quietly at her milkshake. "They looked through the plane rubble at the scene of the crash but they didn't find my parents' bodies."
"Well, that's good…in a sense. Keep hope." Sanada tried to cheer his girlfriend up, now understanding that the emotional displays the entire day were from the stress of not knowing what was going on. She heard the worry in his voice, and straightened from her dejected slouch, slapping a forced smile onto her face.
"Yeah, I'm sure they're ok." Turning back to her meal, she placed her left hand on the bowl's edge and her right hand on the spoon, as if to eat again.
She lifted the utensil, but did not make a move to scoop any of her food up. Sanada turned immediately when he heard the rattling clatter of metal on ceramic. He looked in panic at Kimiko as he noticed her entire body was shaking. The tears that had been suppressed from before returned with twice as much force as before, flowing unstoppably. Sanada remembered one of the last lines on the sheet.
"5. When you see her start crying, just hold her and don't say a word."
Using his right arm, he pulled Kimiko under his "wing," silently supporting her. Kimiko cried into his shirt with desperate sobs of insecurity, of fear, crying out all of her worst nightmares onto his broad chest. "Thank you," Kimiko managed to mumble out. "Thank you so much for everything."
He was her friend, her love, her savior. Sanada was the haven that Kimiko could run to times got tough. And now was one of those times.
Sanada felt a little awkward just sitting there while Kimiko cried, so he chose to comfort her somehow. His hand hung in the air for a while, unsure of what to do. Sanada settled on her hair, recalling how his own mother patted his head as a child. Though initially, he was a bit hesitant and unnatural, he soon gained more confidence and continuously stroked his fingers gently through her smooth hair.
Kimiko finally stopped crying after what seemed like eternity to Sanada. Not that he minded—he had promised he would be there for her, and he always would be. No matter what happened or who got in the way. Nothing. No one. Nowhere.
She lethargically picked up her head from his chest and stared at Sanada. He looked back at her, confused, unsure of what her expression meant. It appeared to be a face of "deep concentration," but on what he had no clue.
"Genichirou?"
"Yeah?"
"Arigatou."
He grunted. No problem.
Kimiko grinned, and buried her face into his chest again, breathing in the scent of soap and musk that somehow just screamed Sanada. "I love you."
The final pillar of love: "6. When she says that she loves you, she really does more than you could understand."
Source (where the bold quotes come from): http:/gleez . com/ articles/ relationship/ love-harmony/what-true-boyfriend-should-do (get rid of any spaces)
A/N: Ok, I'm definitely back on track. I'll try to keep writing as often as possible, so guys, could you PLEASE review? Seriously, as soon as I stop asking no one writes except for a scarce few. (Thank you you guys, I really do appreciate it.)
Now press that button, PLEASE! In return I'll write as fast as possible, I swear!