Ficlet Series (Tenipuri)

Tea on Ceremony

Sanada gripped the wooden hilt of his katana in one hand, going over in his mind his form and execution. Some of the other regulars, mostly Niou, liked to joke about how his hobbies were more befitting of someone twenty years older than they were. It's not like Sanada cared what Niou and others thought. Kendo and calligraphy, things like that, they focused him in a way that other methods didn't. The stroke of a sword was remarkably similar to the stroke of a pen, and both transitioned into the stroke of his tennis racket.

Sanada became aware of a noise behind him, and turned around to see a familiar mop of black curls behind a pillar.

"You can come out, Akaya. I'm not going to hurt you."

Kirihara's hands appeared from behind the pillar, followed by a pair of bright green eyes and a small pout. "Put your sword away first."

Sanada glanced at his sword before moving over to the stand and lowering it into its cradle. He then turned to the younger boy. "Come in. I'll make you some tea."

Without even looking to see if Kirihara was following, Sanada started to stride into the inner sanctum of his family's residence. Kirihara wasn't the most graceful or quiet of people, so the noises of his shuffling footsteps were perfectly clear, always sounding from just a few feet behind Sanada. When they reached the room Kirihara sat, cross legged, on one side of the low table, and waited for Sanada to prepare the tea.

Soon enough Sanada was sitting down, calves tucked neatly underneath his thighs, and was pouring tea into a small, porcelain cup. He stirred some sugar into one cup and handed it to Kirihara, because Kirihara hated the bitter taste of traditional black tea, and then he was pouring a cup for himself.

"Is your head okay?" Kirihara mumbled, half into his tea cup.

Sanada frowned. "It's fine."

"Yeah... so..." Kirihara stopped to take a deep breath, then rushed out the next part of his statement. "Sorry for throwing that tennis racket at you."

"I'm... sorry as well," Sanada said, albeit grudgingly, the words all but foreign to his tongue. Kirihara's ears perked up, certainly not expecting an apology from his fukubuchou. "After discussing it with Yukimura..."

That probably meant that Yukimura had lectured him about it.

"... I realized I shouldn't have yelled at you like that in front of the whole club."

"Yeah! I didn't even do anything," Kirihara whined. "You sempai-tachi are too hard on me."

Kirihara's posture suddenly slumped down as he made himself even more relaxed than before, and you could almost see the relief taking over him. Sanada felt less tense as well, now that the formalities of the apology were over, and let his shoulders relax minutely. Kirihara was smiling at him, his presence... nice, somehow. Tea with Kirihara was always surprisingly pleasant, even if Kirihara's manners left much to be desired.

"You know," Kirihara continued, tilting his head as he watched Sanada drinking his tea, "you look funny."

Sanada raised an eyebrow. "Funny."

"Yeah, like, without your baseball cap and in traditional Japanese clothes. You look... respectable."

"I'm not a respectable figure usually?"

"Nuh uh." Kirihara shook his head from side to side, a little too vehemently for Sanada's taste. "More like scary."

It might not have been intended as a compliment, but Sanada was oddly pleased with that comment.

"Now, you look, like," Kirihara brought his knees up to his chest, "kinda handsome."

Sanada looked up from his tea cup, surprised. The few moments that passed by next seemed like a small eternity, and Sanada wasn't quite sure what else to do but stare at the younger boy. Then Kirihara broke the silence by chuckling, and his eyes were half circles as he grinned.

"Just kidding. Did I surprise you?" Before Sanada could say anything Kirihara was standing up. "I should go home now."

"... I'll walk you to the door."

They walked to the front of the Sanada household in relative silence, both of them feeling just a little bit awkward. Kirihara paused at the door, shuffling a little. "So I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Kirihara nodded and stumbled down the steps, not even aware when Sanada reached out for him, two seconds too late.

.end.