Heyhey Midori desu! XD Is everyone having a good time?
Obviously, since this is my story *is hit for her ego XD* Finally…an update after one of the busiest times in the year.
This is the first of my Update Challenge to be fulfilled. Requested by XTheTricksterX-senpai.
Trickster-senpai: Alpha Pair just like you requested! XDXD Sorry, I can't do the Kinky Pair part as I already have different plan for them both to be paired with other people:) Enjoy, yeah?
Right, that being said, let's get down to reading this pretty...short chapter. Damn.
Disclaimer: Jackal isn't bald! And my school uniform isn't bright green! Oh wait that one is true TT_TT...
Warning(s): Carried over, crack again, fluffiness, yaoi, OOCness if you see it that way...add more if you deem fit.
Story time then:)
"Genichirou…you're staring into space again."
Sanada snapped out of his daze and back to the world of the living when he found his lover snapping his fingers in front of his face. Yukimura looked amused, smiling back- silence translating into an unspoken question. The black-haired man inhaled, then sighed.
"Sorry. Just thinking about stuff again…even though I don't know what exactly about it is annoying…"
The man trailed away as the bluenette sitting to the opposite of him continued grinning an 'innocent' grin. He really wondered about what his significant other was thinking sometimes…and this time was no exception. Thus he sighed. Again.
"You think too much. Did you not agree to spend today with me? Those 'thoughts' are…awfully distracting…"
Yukimura smiled seductively, or as much as he could. Since it is a tad bit hard to imagine someone like him actually looking that way. His tone of voice was still innocent, but his intentions still disturbingly clear for the world to see as he leaned in closer. The bluenette fluttered those eyelids, knowing full well how to flaunt those long and feminine lashes that one of his age and gender wasn't exactly supposed to have. But we shall not talk about that for now. It was really at times like these that Sanada just wished he had not taken any leave at all. How cosy and inviting that office desk looked right about now.
Yukimura was leaning closer, and closer…
Having prepared himself for a chaste kiss, Sanada decided to give into his instincts, waiting, as his lips were met with…a beautiful…
…magazine.
Yep, bet that was one happy magazine:D
Blushing, or the closest he could get to it while still remaining Sanada, the man looked from behind the magazine (that he had unknowingly cheated on Yukimura with) to stare accusingly at said person. Said person simple acted as if absolutely nothing had happened in the past minutes (Sanada kissing someone…or…something else…was a serious crime!) He simply chuckled at the reaction he had caused, sapphire orbs filled with mirth. He pulled back the magazine from Sanada's face and flipped it open to a page with his design on it- the highlight of that particular vixen…er…magazine.
Yukimura sighed a little, as he continued adding more and more magazines containing his designs onto the tabletop. His lover did not even know what the colour of the tabletop was anymore…oh wait! He did not even remember it in the first place! He had left every aspect of their apartment's design to the bluette and thus had no need to. But that is something different altogether, so let us not dwell too much, on the Emperor, and his affinity to tabletop colours.
"…Gen, my newest design is due in a week."
Oh? The normally stoic man raised an eyebrow. Why was Yukimura telling him of all people his deadline? Sanada did not unnecessarily poke his nose into the other's job, and neither did the bluenette to him. So this was quite a surprise. Even more so considering who it was coming from. He just responded to the speaker with what he thought he should.
"Ah, I see. I'm sure it will be good coming from you, Seiichi."
At this point Yukimura shook his head, his locks helpfully keeping off his face as usual even with all that jostling.
"That's precisely the issue. Normally, I would have gotten everything done by now…but…"
He gestured towards a blatantly blank piece of paper next to him. Sanada nodded in understanding- from the job description on one of the papers littered messily around and keeping him from ever finding out the true colour of the table.
"…its…it…hit too close to home again…hasn't it?"
The bluette nodded in defeat, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
"The only other time I felt like this…It was during that time a client asked for a silver-themed room…complete with emerald curtains. And now…I'm feeling it again…but it's an offer I can't really refuse right now…"
Yukimura looked up when he felt a familiar and large warm hand place itself over his own small and demure one, He felt a tear roll down his cheek, but felt no need to hide it from the one who would have discovered anyway. Sanada saw this and slowly led his bluenette lover back to their bedroom, knowing much better than to say anything that might trigger a sensitive nerve.
Leaving the now interior designer alone was the best solution at the moment. The ex-captain had been greatly affected by what happened all those years ago, even now. That particular…memory of when both were younger…was traumatising, to say the least. Their tennis team had never felt more complete than it did back then. Then, fate in all its cruel demeanour had to take it from there and tear that pure fulfilment and happiness apart. It was extremely unfair…but since when was life ever fair?
Trying to distract himself from such disturbing and haunting thoughts, Sanada went into the connecting room to their bedroom- Yukimura's art studio. It was where his lover literally locked himself in for the entire day whenever he was trying to think up a new design for his latest assignment. At the side, there was a modern study desk with a table lamp- a great area to sit at for thinking for hours at length. Even Sanada used it sometimes, and it was also a great place to view Yukimura painting from if he had nothing better to do. Then at the other side, a painting area. Empty canvasses of different sizes lay against each other at a certain corner, eagerly awaiting to be turned into masterpieces. Completed paintings were placed in their own corner.
The single easel stood just to the side of them, currently holding a partially completed painting. It currently showed an adorable kitten rolling about, playing with its ball of greyish-silver wool. It was doing so in all its crimson-brown fur coated glory, innocent and playful. A wonderful snapshot of a moment in the creature's imaginary life, frozen in time for all to admire the beauty of the moment.
Stowed away in a place where Yukimura thought only he knew and Sanada discovered, was a painting. Not just any painting, it was a portrait. It was originally intended as a gift- quite obviously for the one being brought to life within the still canvas. Sanada carefully picked it up, observing the tineiest details of it, down to every bit of paint that went into constructing the artwork.
To normal people, it was indeed a piece to behold. Every line seemingly drawn to perfection, every colour thoughtfully picked out from tens of others to fully capture the appearance of the subject, only serving to add to the sheer realism of it. Mischief was evident in those eyes, as they stared back at you from the coloured surface. But then…as you scrutinised the supposed masterpiece at a closer distance, you could actually see a number of imperfections.
Certain sections of the clothing and the face had a slightly different colour compared to the rest of their respective regions- only unnoticeable by the general audience up till now because it had been cleverly covered up by the artist. By one Yukimura Seiichi, albeit with a little hastiness and inconsistency while doing so. Sanada could just feel all that frustration and lingering sadness radiating from those imperfections, how anguished the artist must have felt as he forced himself to continue the art even though it hurt. It was also perhaps because even the bluette himself knew that these imperfections showed his true feelings, that he never showed it to anyone else other than Sanada. Even then he had been reluctant.
Niou had just been such a huge part of each of the regulars' lives, even if they refused to admit it out loud. Practice was never practice unless the Trickster was late for it due to detention or just plain truancy. It was never practice unless the silverette set off a chain of events involving an angry redhead, a humiliated junior, and one exasperated babysitter (or so as the team dubbed him). And…neither was it practice when the vice-captain didn't need to Tarundoru!slap Niou at least once during it. It felt so wrong and out of place, when he never got the chance to do that anymore…
"That's rude you know, Genichirou. Looking at it without my permission."
Sanada was jolted out of his personal and rather depressing thoughts by the sound of a certain bluenette's voice coming from the doorway to the room. Sure enough, Yukimura was standing there, leaning casually against the side. Yet, his expression was far from being just plain annoyed or angry- it was a little…upset. Did his lover even know that he still kept his captain's charisma up till this day? The black-haired man hung his head down guiltily, muttering an apology, then moving to comfort the other…when a hand told him to stop.
Yukimura started walking across the room, gently taking the portrait of Niou out of his lover's hands. Setting it carefully on the easel, the bluette picked up his palette and started mixing a few paints- something he should have done all those years ago, regardless of the situation. Having been replaced by the other piece, the kitten portrait leaned against the blank canvasses, forgotten for now. The man paused for a bit.
"I…wanna thank you, Gen. If I…if I hadn't seen the expression you had on as you looked at this picture, then I would not have found what I needed. What I had been looking for for so many years…"
Not bothering to justify his sentence, Yukimura immediately turned back to his paints as instincts and emotions followed his path of memories, continuing what he should never have left to begin with.
Swiftly, with deft expertise, colour flaws were covered up. The artist's gaze never wavered, unwilling to forgive himself if he procrastinated for another second. Yukimura even added extra and brighter colours to the clothes and hair, making the overall feel far more dramatic. If the Trickster had looked life-like before…he was now practically living and breathing. The Child of God had gotten much better at painting over the decade, and he was not afraid of flaunting his god-like skills on this piece. Not on this piece he was not.
Finishing off the last of the now officially completed masterpiece, Yukimura exhaled a breath he did not know he had been holding in all this while. The effeminate face lit up into a warm smile, its owner having been relieved of a burden he had been carrying for a long time now. He unknowingly let a chuckle escape his lips, Sanada joining him in that aspect.
"Seiichi."
"Hn?"
"Would you like to go out for lunch later? I did promise to spend the day with you…" and its really good that you have finally found the peace that you needed all this while…he added mentally.
Deep blue eyes lit up in happiness, the sight warming Sanada's heart in a way only Yukimura could.
"Well…I don't see why not."
The door to the studio closed as the two occupants left, curtains half-drawn to keep the strong morning rays from potentially damaging any of the fragile paintings in the room. The most recently completed piece of art was still sitting on the easel- looking almost completely, yet not so at ease there. The paint had dried not too long ago.
This…artwork. It was not meant to sit on the easel, and never would be. It was meant to be framed up beautifully and hung where it could be admired. If it had been hiding away from the world in that lone and undeserving corner long before, then…as of today…
…it stood there proud and tall, no more worry that it would ever be forgotten again...
xXEternallyXx
"Masaharu…"
Yagyuu stopped when he saw that Niou had fallen asleep- in a pose that didn't look too intentional, and rather uncomfortable at that. She was still holding her red pen, in the middle of marking some assignments. His gaze lingered over the 7 stacks of paper sitting beside her, all marked and already graded- a wonderful effort on her part to keep up with the syllabus and aid in her students' learning.
Still…it did not mean the silverette could tire herself out just like that.
Looking at the clock, the megane sighed a little and went to check what work he had left for the rest of the day- which was not supposed to be much, considering the crazy speed he could literally plough through those with. It was currently 3 in the afternoon, too late for lunch, yet too early for dinner. How awkward. Yagyuu reached over, and although he really didn't want to disturb his lover's slumber, he needed to get her up.
Shake, shake.
"Masaharu."
No movement.
Shake, shake, shake shake.
"Masaharu, wake up."
"Nnn…don't wanna…tired…"
The purple-haired man chuckled at the pure innocence of it all. But he still had to get the woman up so that they could both go out for something to eat, then continue whatever they had to do later.
Quite a chore it was, getting the Trickster to just get up and go wash up before they were to head out to a nearby café. It was only after Yagyuu had done the 'evil glinting thing' with his glasses and 'offered' to 'help' Niou bathe that the other blushed deeply and ran off to the bathroom. Yagyuu swore his ears still hurt from the shouts of "You pervert!" coming from a certain silverette just then. Well, look on the bright side, at least it worked.
"Hiroshi."
Yagyuu came out of his room while still buttoning up his shirt, surprised to see that Niou had gotten herself ready before him. And it was not just any quick and random get-up either. It was pretty and fashionable, an almost repeat of her outfit that fateful night. But of course, more conservative and suitable for a late afternoon outing. He sat down beside the woman on the sofa.
"Yes?"
"I…wanna know something. Do me a favour…please?"
"…it depends."
"Ok, just watch me while I try something. Then tell me what happens afterwards."
Without any further words to clearly explain what she was trying to do, the silverette suddenly slumped back onto the sofa- as if she had suddenly fallen asleep. It made Yagyuu raise an eyebrow. Just a couple of seconds later, she suddenly sat up again, but her eyes…they were soulless…
…and a brilliant reddish-brown.
Right at that moment the Trickster was looking like nothing more than a statue, and it was starting to worry the already concerned Gentleman even more. He tried snapping his fingers, but to no avail- his girlfriend was still sitting there unresponsive. And so, the megane took it upon himself to do a repeat of what he did to wake Niou up from her nap before. Shaking the living daylights out of the poor silverette.
It apparently worked, for a few seconds later Niou started blinking rapidly, her eyes fast changing back into that brilliant sea-green. She was also getting really dizzy from all that shaking, holding on to the purple-haired man's arms to assure that she was fine and for him to just stop shaking her or her head might just damn well fall off! She looked up at him, obviously less than happy that she had been treated like a faulty game console in the hands of an electronics retard. A supposed bespectacled electronics retard.
"Yagyuu Hiroshi! What. Was. The. Meaning. Of. That?"
The man only blushed and muttered a quick apology as he retracted his hands from her shoulders where they had been before, and sat down to the side of her again. Niou started speaking.
"Geez…I said to just observe me…not shake me like your life depended on it! Of course I already knew what I was doing."
"Pardon, Masaharu. You just suddenly became so still…and your eyes changed colour. What exactly happened just now?"
She smiled, fingering her hair.
"I'll explain soon."
xXEternallyXx
The world hated him.
That was what Sanada Genichirou was thinking as he walked beside Yukimura, annoyed at everything in general. Except Yukimura. No one could be annoyed at Yukimura. Because…let us face it people- he IS the Child of God. Any other way would be preposterous. Ahem.
Every single place everywhere in the vicinity just had to have such huge lunch crowds on today of all days. Oh, just for your info, we are talking about eating places. Not eating places, as in places that eat people- cuz that will be just plain creepy. No, we are talking about eating places as in places where people eat at. And as such the couple had to settle for buying foodstuffs from roadside stalls. Yukimura was amused though.
They were currently walking through the streets, with Sanada accompanying the other to just simply stroll about to get some inspiration for his new design. The bluenette seemed to be torn between a certain mental decision.
"Between purple and blue, Genichirou. Which would you choose?"
"Hm…"
Sanada considered the two options, looking at the surroundings to see if there was anything to help him with his answer. Well…it is general knowledge that he has no sense of fashion or art whatsoever. But it would not be appropriate to say beauty because he chose to fall in love with Yukimura. To doubt his sense of beauty when things came to YUKIMURA of all people…would once again be preposterous. Period.
It was then he happened to catch sight of a head of purple hair.
"…purple?"
"Purple? I was thinking blue…Gen?"
The bluette looked puzzled, taking a closer look at his lover's face and realising that he was staring off into a certain direction. Following his line of vision, Yukimura saw a sight that genuinely surprised him. It was something he thought would never happen in a million years. Wait, screw that. A few billeniums (I know it doesn't exist) would suffice to be a better term.
The subject of the pair's focus was in a café…in full view of anyone who was passing by at the moment.
Yagyuu was having lunch- with a girl. And from the looks of it, they were more than just casual friends, what with their hands touching almost every second they were there and the constant blush on the girl's face. Said man was also smiling, SMILING of all things to do, and it was by no means a fake one. Yukimura did not know whether to feel sad or happy at seeing something like that unfold before his very eyes. He could only sigh, and tug on Sanada's sleeve to get his companion's attention back.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, and then both continued walking. The bluenette man turned back for a couple of moments to sneak another glance, and saw Yagyuu being hit on the arm by the girl who was apparently embarrassed by something he had said. His lover could only scowl a little.
"Tarundoru."
Yukimura could only chuckle at his response.
"Maa maa, Gen. Life has to move on, even for him…doesn't it?"
Sanada only stole a look at the one beside him, then turned back to face forward, all the while saying nothing. He looked a little annoyed though, which was a pretty common emotion he displayed to those who were not close to him. He rarely had it on in front of Yukimura.
"I thought he would never love again…"
The bluette's tiny smile widened.
"Much as it was a surprise to the both of us, we saw it with our very own eyes. It must have been fate for the two."
More silence passed between the two of them, even with all the surrounding noise. The effeminate man looked down a little sadly.
"Masaharu…I wonder if he knows…"
xXEternallyXx
"You're sure you have it all planned out?"
"Yes…"
The megane could only watch as Niou busied herself with preparing her clothes for their team gathering, even though it was a few days away. Maybe it was her female instincts taking over or something. The two had thought up a little plan to carry out on the day they were to meet at Marui's house, and the Trickster planned out most of it, down to what she was going to say and how Yagyuu was going to respond to the others. Weird, but then who are we talking about? She picked up her weights and her hairband, then stopped for a couple of moments, sighing.
"I…miss Sei-nii. I miss everyone."
"I know."
Yagyuu rose from where he had been sitting all this while, sweeping the woman into his arms, hugging her from behind. His head lay on her shoulder, not that the silverette minded of course. They stayed like that for a little while, and the man finally parted with a small kiss on his girlfriend's cheek, making her blush really cutely.
"No one will ever forget you. None of us ever did. Don't even think about what might have happened."
He walked to the door, opening it and stepping out. He stopped attempting to close the door at the last second though. He looked back.
"Think…think about what you know happened."
With that, he clicked the door shut.
Niou was still a little stunned at Yagyuu's words, but recovered quickly enough. She smiled as she slowly took in the true meaning of what the other said. It was just like the megane to say something like that, just like him to make her think about what was right for her.
Rikkai. Rikkai's tennis regular team for that year would never ever change. Fate brought them together, but it would never tear them apart forever. Rikkai was all about winning. Rikkai was all about survival of the fittest. But what outsiders didn't know…was that they had all lost badly at something before. They were not afraid to change for the better, they were not afraid of anything that came their way. Simply because they were Rikkai, and nothing would or could stand in the absolute champions' way when they were a team. That was how it had been back then…and how it was going to be even now.
To even think that her teammates would forget her for even a second…it was something only an idiot would have done. Yagyuu did tell her did he not?
To think about what she knew happened, not what might have.
And yes, she did. She knew…she knew, that her team was waiting for her to return even until now, and they would never give up on that hope. Because…
...they were Rikkai Dai. And that made all the difference.
Finding assurance from her thoughts, the Trickster took out a mirror from her bag, looking at it, at herself. Of course she knew what her face looked like- she had had it for years. But right now she was not actually bothering with her looks. Lying down flat on her bag, she shut those orbs, then opened them again. This time, one shone a brilliant reddish-brown just like before.
"I've fulfilled my promise. You happy now?"
Haha…well yes. Not a bad-looking guy if you ask me. Though it's not as if I did not already see him.
"…I hate you."
Love you too~
"…"
Le gasp...we have a cliffhanger over here! God, I need to stop doing that to my readers...
Its the June Holidays people! 4 weeks of supposed no school and plenty of time on our hands...not. Projects and assignments make that impossible. I'm afraid, my readers, that I will be just as busy during the hols as I am now. But with good time management, I should be able to squeeze out something good for you guys.
The Update Challenge will continue as planned if nothing else pops up.
Next up is Fadey-san:) She has also requested for an update for Eternally! XDXD Its a double update deal now. Thank her if you see fit.
Please Review! Reviews are the air we authors breathe, the food we authors eat, the water we authors drink! Don't let us die just like that!
Comments and Constructive Criticism please? We all love the 3 Cs! XD
Thank you very much for reading, will update soon:)