A Prince of Tennis fanfic.
SanaYuki pairing a.k.a. alpha pair

Story: Milky Tea (sequel to Sugary Coffee) - Chapter.2

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

Author's note: Thanks to everyone who left a review! Your reviews were just so motivational~ Thank you. The next chapter will be longer, I promise.

Please review!

2. Lukewarm Cappuccino

If Sanada was a little less disciplined, he would have truanted like everyone else.

There were only six people at the lecture today, and Sanada could understand why. The little, bald professor was so dull that it would probably be more interesting to read through a driver's manual fifty times than listening to that flat, droning voice. Sanada would rather do anything else besides wasting two hours of his life in a poorly ventilated room.

He would much rather concentrate his thoughts on Yukimura.

It had only been twenty-four hours since he had last seen Yukimura, but for some reason, Yukimura's failure to present an explanation really unsettled him. When the lecture finally finished, Sanada ran out of the gloomy room and into the broad daylight. Checking the time, he dialled Yukimura's private mobile. The phone rang for a long time until it was connected to voice mail. He hung up and tried again. But again, his call did not go through. It was strange, because it was lunch time, and Yukimura would always turn his mobile on to wait for Sanada's call. This was the first time in months that Yukimura had not picked up after the first ring.

Sighing, Sanada decided he would have lunch at Denny's and try calling Yukimura later. He ordered a chicken salad; it was small, but he was not hungry. The waitress inputted his order into a hand-held device and confirmed it by reading it aloud. Sanada nodded and added a cup of hot tea to his order.

Halfway through his lunch, Sanada tried calling again, but no one picked up. Maybe it's out of battery, Sanada thought. He sipped his tea slowly, and when he finished, he tried calling again. Still no luck. Sanada had no idea why he was so worried. Yukimura was an adult, and he could most certainly take care of himself. Trying to put the issue at the back of his mind, Sanada left Denny's and caught a train home. He was glad he had no more lectures that day; just one had been enough to drain all his energy.

Sanada revised his lecture notes when he arrived home. Keeping awake was a strain on days like these, too warm with a seeming lack of oxygen. He stared at the piece of paper, trying to concentrate as intensely as possible. But when he realised he was reading the same sentence for the fourth time, it became obvious that it was an impossible task in his drowsy state. He put the paper down, sighing, and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

He used various spices and herbs to make a savoury sauce that his mother taught him a few years ago. He wondered if it would still taste as good; it had been a long time since he made this dish. After the sauce was prepared, he took out two fresh fish fillets from the freezer and dunked them into the sauce. A few hours would be needed for the flavour to sink in. It was a time consuming and difficult dish to make, but it was worth it, Sanada told himself, because it was Yukimura's favourite dish. Deciding to settle payments and emails, Sanada switched on the computer, his body slumping across the table as he waited for the start-up screen.

Unsurprisingly, there were a few junk mails. He deleted them without second thoughts and proceeded to read the other emails. There was one from Todai concerning upcoming events that did not concern him, one from Niou with rude jokes, one from the phone company with his bill, and many other similar ones. None of them caught his interest particularly and he replied or deleted (Niou's junk mail) after reading them.

As a habit, Sanada read the newspaper online. He scanned through the usual news about politics, thefts and youth violence. Then, he clicked into the sports section and checked if there was any news on his kouhai. There was only a short article informing readers that Kirihara would participate in Wimbledon despite a knee injury.

After that, Sanada checked Yukimura's blog. It was not something he did after he reconciled with Yukimura a little more than two months ago, although perhaps, this was instinctive when he felt distant to Yukimura. He searched "Yukimura Seiichi" in Google and pressed the first link. It directed him to Yukimura's blog, which Sanada noticed had changed from having a green palette to a blue one.

He read the first entry, which was yesterday's. There was nothing unusual. Yukimura had talked briefly about his day at work, and then thanked everyone for their support. Sanada scrolled through a few more entries before deciding to give up. It was not likely he would find anything concerning Yukimura's true state of mind anyway. But just before he closed the browser, a bright picture near the top of the page caught his attention.

It was a picture of a poster with a few links beside it. Sanada stared at the picture for a few moments before clicking on it. A new window popped up and the picture was enlarged. Yukimura was lying on a plain of flowers, his eyes closed and his lips curled into a sweet, innocent smile. A girl lay beside him, presumably his co-star. Sanada did not pay attention to her, except for her fingers, which were intertwined with Yukimura's.

Ah, this is the movie Yukimura's shooting now, Sanada realised, Yukimura was talking about it before... something something love... can't remember.

Just as he was about to check the name again, his phone beeped, signifying the arrival of a new message. Sanada's heart pumped in anticipation as he slid his phone open. It was from Yukimura! He bit his lips nervously as he pressed the centre button to read the message.

I'm not coming home tonight. Sorry.

Sanada's heart sank immediately. He stared at the screen until it changed into his screensaver. He must be busy, Sanada tried to distract himself from disappointment. He went into the kitchen for a cup of water and saw the fillets. He sighed. He would just have to eat the leftovers for breakfast.

Please review!!! And... what is Yukimura doing...?