lg: sanada and yukimura

[shattermelt]

"Come here." Yukimura gently crooked a finger at Sanada to soften the order, smearing aloe vera gel on his nose once he edged closer. "So much for SPF30." While not badly, both of them had gotten the crispy end of the sun and had spent much of their last day lounging in the airconditioned comfort of their room. "I gave you the bus tickets, right?"

Sanada frowned slightly at the pasting of gel on his nose, but he stood patiently until Seiichi was finished. It wasn't that bad of a burn, really.

"Yes, I have them," he answered, rather than point out that Seiichi's fair skin had burned more badly than his own, and he shouldn't be worrying about Genichirou. He had a feeling that Seiichi wouldn't appreciate that.

"Good." It was not that he thought that either of them would forget them, but more a force of habit. While Yukimura Seiichi could delegate, and felt confident in delegating things to Sanada, there was still the anxiety of letting something out of his own hands. Nevertheless, he reminded himself, he was less fanatical about such things now than three years ago. If the mysterious illness hadn't derailed him, stress and obsession would have taken its place. In some ways, getting sick was the best thing to happen to him. In retrospect, of course.

Just barely, Yukimura resisted drawing a smiley face with the pale green gel on the tip of Sanada's nose. Instead, he rubbed it in, pleased when it seemed to make the angry red hue recede a bit. "Can you get my shoulders?" he asked, offering the bottle to Genichirou. "I'm not as good at being a contortionist anymore."

Sanada nodded, suppressing the flicker of worry at the words, and took the bottle of soothing gel, spreading a generous amount on Seiichi's shoulders and rubbing it in with strong, gentle hands. It had been an enjoyable trip, so a bit of sunburn for himself was a small price to pay. It was far less acceptable when it was Seiichi getting burned as well.

"We should have been more careful," he noted, although they had used sunblock. There wasn't much more they could have done to avoid it, save to stay indoors, which was not why they had come. Sanada thought he wouldn't have minded much, however. Being stuck inside with Seiichi was not a hardship.

"Mmm, that feels good. Better than yesterday." Indeed, Seiichi had been sore then, but today the aloe, and Sanada's hands, was very welcome. Head down, Yukimura's shoulders shook under Sanada's hands with laughter. "We were. But sometimes you just can't outsmart the sun, it seems." He didn't bring up their missing out on surfing; one, it brought up Davide and that was a touchy subject for Genichirou, and two, he wasn't sure if Genichirou even knew /how/ to surf or cared to learn.

"Would you hand me my shirt?" One slender hand gestured towards a lump of fabric draped over the room's lone Western chair. "I almost don't want to go home, I've had too good a time with you."

Seiichi was laughing. That was probably good? Sanada reached for the shirt and silently handed it over, not without some reluctance. Seiichi looked good without it.

"I enjoyed it," he admitted. "I am not looking forward to going home as much as I might." Even though going home meant tennis, and what did that say about how much he enjoyed Seiichi's company? He didn't really want to think about that.

"Perhaps we can do this again."

His skin had quickly absorbed the gel, and Yukimura slid on the button-up shirt, doing it up only partway for the moment. "I'd be all for a repeat. When is our next holiday? Summer...which will be so full of tennis we won't have time to blink." No, summer would be impossible, not with his sights set on winning a title this year.

He bent down, rolling up the rest of his loose clothing and tucking it into his bag. "The photos should be ready, and we can pick them up on the way to the bus stop."

Sanada restrained a sigh. Yes, summer would be busy. It would be a long time before they could do this again. A long time before he could have Seiichi to himself again. Somehow, tennis didn't quite compensate, even if they did win a title.

"You're not going to show them to everyone, are you?" he asked warily. Photos. Damn it. They were good photos and he wouldn't mind having copies for himself, but he wasn't sure at all that he wanted others to see them.

Yukimura raised his head, surprised Sanada would even ask. "No. Not unless you want me to. I think some of my temple appreciation would be lost on others." He smiled and got to his feet, tucking the bag under his arm to button his shirt the rest of the way. "Renji would like them, though."

Sanada made a soft grunt of assent, thinking about it. It was true that Renji would like the pictures, and Renji wasn't really on his list of people he would object to seeing them.

"Renji would be okay," he agreed, a bit grudgingly at having to give up any ground at all, but Renji was a good friend and he would enjoy them, so it wasn't really fair to say no.

"I'm glad. How about I have you both over on Sunday for dinner?" Yukimura's mind had already jumped several steps ahead in the planning of said dinner, first on the list how to distract his mother in order to get his hands in the kitchen. Yukimura Shimako was not one to yield her purview, even to her son for his friends. No matter that Genichirou had been coming over since both boys were in short pants, he was still company and still rated her cooking.

Yukimura squeezed out a little more aloe to rub on his face, taking care with his nose. Even the places that didn't hurt felt dry, which meant he should peel quite spectacularly, and much to the amusement of his team. "We've got a good bus ride ahead of us. Would you like to eat first or just grab snacks from the conbini when we get the pictures?"

Sanada shrugged, watching out of the corner of his eye as Seiichi put more aloe on his face. He'd really gotten burned pretty good, and Genichirou was trying not to look too concerned about it. Just a sunburn.

"We can eat if you like," he said simply. He didn't mind, either way, he wasn't all that hungry but he could eat if Seiichi wanted to. "Snacks are fine too."

Yukimura noticed, just a little, the way Sanada's eyes followed his movements. It was natural concern, but a sunburn was hardly life-threatening. Nevertheless, it brought another, more private smile to his face. "I'm starved, but I definitely will need stuff for the trip, too. All the extra training means I'm always eating."

Sanada nodded. Training could do that to you. "Then we eat first and then get snacks too," he decided. It wouldn't do to have Seiichi starving on him. Although he wondered privately if Seiichi got hungry enough... never mind. Not going there, Genichirou!

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, since Seiichi was the one who was hungry.

"The ramen place across from the bookstore?" Yukimura suggested. If Genichirou wasn't that hungry, and all indicators were that he wasn't, then ramen was something easily and quickly eaten so they could be on their way soon. "Their spicy combo was really good the other day."

Sanada nodded his agreement, and resisted the urge to take Seiichi's arm as they left, heading for the restaurant. For one thing, it wasn't something you did just between friends, unless you were girls. Even if they were both men, he didn't want Seiichi thinking that Genichirou thought he was girly, since that was very far from the truth. He didn't want Seiichi thinking he was girly, either. But he thought it would feel good to have Seiichi's arm tucked in beside him. He snorted mentally; maybe he was girly, at that.

"Next time, we should bring tennis things," he muttered. He missed the weight of his tennis bag, the strap over his shoulder to occupy his hands. Besides, there were probably some nice places out here to play in. Just the two of them.

Yukimura snorted, nudging Sanada's arm with his fist. "Tennis things on a temple trip. And I thought I was the obsessed one." He chuckled, warmly, the sound all melted chocolate and sunshine. "Don't get me wrong, I love tennis. I just can't love it so much that I can never walk away from it." That had happened before, and, well, they both knew how well it had turned out. "I like it when we do things that aren't just tennis."

The walk to the restaurant was short, and the owner's wife waved to them when they walked in. "It's my turn to buy," Yukimura said before Sanada could protest (and he would, oh he would, Seiichi knew). "What do you want?"

Sanada hadn't meant that, at all, and he was suddenly extremely sorry that he'd said it that way. He wanted to apologize, but he didn't know what to say.

"I like it too," he said finally, shrugging a bit uncomfortably. "I didn't mean..." Never mind. Seiichi didn't seem to be upset, so he probably understood that Genichirou had said it wrong. He usually did.

Sanada frowned at the suggestion that Seiichi was paying for everything, and he was certainly going to protest, but somehow instead he found himself saying, "I don't know. Whatever you're having is fine."

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[shiroibara.livejournal.com]

The subtle pat on Sanada's arm told him that yes, Seiichi understood, even if the action was largely subconscious. Yukimura gestured towards the table they occupied the last time they were in the restaurant, cracking a smile at his companion. "Two," he said, pointing to the board that announced the shop's special. "And tea, please." The lady bustled off to prepare their order.

Yukimura slid into a seat, quirking an amused eyebrow at Sanada. "Don't make that face at me, Genichirou. You're buying snacks later."

[shattermelt.livejournal.com]

"Hmmm," Sanada grumbled, only slightly mollified. Letting someone else, even Seiichi, pay for anything was all wrong on some level. Sometimes, though--alright, most times--there was no saying no to him, but that didn't mean Sanada had to give in with good grace, or with grace at all. Snacks was hardly an equal return for a meal, but he most certainly would be paying for them, at the very least.

"I am," he said with finality, and that made it slightly better.

"I'll hold you to that," Yukimura teased, his attention deftly captured by the pot of tea being placed on their table. "Pass me your cup," he prompted, taking the handle of the tea pot and waiting to pour. Genichirou could be so...funny about things sometimes, but that was to be expected. Genichirou was traditional and Seiichi was unconventional and in so many ways it meant running on parallel tracks that never crossed.

Ugh. Not going there, Seiichi, he told himself, looking for a subject change until the ramen arrived."Since I chose where we went this time, it will be yours to plan for our next getaway."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sanada replied, handing over his cup. If it was his to plan for, it was going to be just the right thing, and that required some careful thought. A trip like this was hard to top. It would have to be at least as good, if not better.

Seiichi poured his tea and handed it back and Sanada quickly averted his eyes, lest Seiichi notice that Genichirou had been watching the elegant movements of his hands. That wouldn't do at all.

"Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go?" he asked after he'd taken a careful sip of his tea. It was very hot; he set it down again to cool off for a bit. It was cheating to ask Seiichi for ideas, but if he could factor that into his decision, he had a much better chance of picking exactly the right place.

[shiroibara.livejournal.com]

"Surprise me." Yukimura lifted his cup with both hands, one on the side and one beneath, and took a deep sip, not even flinching at the temperature. He liked his tea just below scalding and was known to abandon a cup if it cooled too rapidly for his taste. "You know what I like, probably better than anyone." There was a long, silent moment wherein that statement hung between them, stretched taut like a rubber band between what was and what could never be. Genichirou, I...you...

The moment snapped, derailed by the appearance of two steaming bowls of ramen. Nodding thanks to their host, Yukimura fell upon his like a starving man, slurping the hot soup and noodles with abandon. Hunger was much more easily slaked than sticky, uncomfortable things like feelings.

[shattermelt.livejournal.com]

Sanada nodded, having expected that answer; he had known better than to ask, but it had been worth a try. He did know what Seiichi liked, probably better than anyone, but that was small comfort.

"Of course," he said, a bit awkwardly. The tension of the moment was nearly unbearable, and he wanted to ease it somehow, but he did not know the reason for it, only that it hung heavy and serious and it made him feel as if there were something he ought to do, or say, that Seiichi was waiting for, but he could not imagine what it was. He felt, somehow, that he should know, and was disappointed with himself that he did not. Anything that Seiichi wanted, of course, but he did not know what it was, nor did he have the words to ask.

Thankfully, the ramen arrived to break the tension, and he began to eat with a dedication that stemmed from relief rather than hunger.

[shiroibara.livejournal.com]

Yukimura kept his eyes on his bowl; it was more comfortable than looking at Genichirou now. That was close, too close, and he stubbornly pushed all of it back underneath self-control, locking it away. Burdening his best friend with hopes and expectations he would inevitably try to fulfill was the height of selfish and unfair, and while Seiichi knew he was indeed both of those things, Genichirou didn't deserve that from him.

Food helped, and a familiar smile greeted Sanada when Yukimura finally paused in devouring his food. "Too bad we can't take the whole shop home with us."

Sanada gave him a wry look, with faint amusement. "If you wish to get some to take with us, I am sure the lady would be glad to accommodate you. However, you will have to be content with that, unless you've some means of transportation I don't know about." He was rather relieved to see Seiichi's smile again. He'd been worried by his friend's quietness during the meal, and felt as if he'd let him down somehow. Seiichi not looking at him was not normal, and he was suprised to find how much he missed it on the rare occasions when Seiichi avoided it. He couldn't help feeling that he had missed something, and he tucked it in the back of his mind to puzzle over later.

Dark curls bounced as Yukimura shook his head, the curve of his mouth turning wry. "Knowing me, I'd find a way. But, since we already bought bus tickets, and the good people here would be sad if we deprived them of their ramen, I think we'll just have to come back here periodically." There. That was a good compromise. Sunburn or no sunburn, Yukimura had had a great time, and an excuse to come back to Kamakura was welcome. "That is, if you don't mind bending to an occasional fancy of my spiritual whims."