tastes like apple
*whoosh*
Title: Tastes Like Apple
Author: ieatchu / shikanashi_kk
Rating: PG or K+
Genre: romance, fluff, humor
Pairing: AkaBun, Maruihara, a side dish of D1
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all of its characters do not and never will belong to me.
Summary: Kirihara likes apple-flavored sweets. The old man at the candy store wonders why Marui's basket is full of apple-flavored candy this time instead of cherry-flavored ones.
t a s t e s l i k e a p p l e
"Candy?"
Marui's ears perked up, immediately popping the bubblegum that he has been blowing until Niou and Yagyuu showed up. He eagerly opened his palm up, grinning as Niou tossed him a pink one without question. Text on the wrapper was written in English, and he knew enough to read it, but the unfamiliar foreign brand was immediately discarded from his brain as he ripped up the wrapper, spitting his gum into it, before popping the new candy in his mouth, humming in contentment as the cherry flavor filled up his mouth.
As Niou and Yagyuu sat down beside them, Jackal raised an eyebrow at the bundle of candies in their arms. "I don't suppose you bought all that?"
Niou shrugged, "On the way to school this morning, some girls from another school handed me these candies. Said they were fans or something."
"And you can't even remember their names. Shame on you." Yagyuu sighed, glasses glinting as the sun continued to set in the horizon, bit by bit. An arm had wormed its way around his shoulders after he spoke, but he refused to acknowledge it, choosing to grab a piece of candy instead -- a mint one -- to emphasize that the arm around his shoulders is ignored and is not there in his mind.
Niou sighed mournfully, "You'd be mad if I remembered them."
"He's mad now." Marui supplied helpfully, to which Yagyuu scoffed at and chose to ignore.
In the distance, a familiar voice boomed throughout the courts, and faintly, they could understand the words that were stating that practice was over. Soon enough, lines and lines of tennis members walked past them, some greeting them as they went.
"Akaya," Jackal said slowly, blinking as the second year came into view, flushed and panting, his jersey clinging to him because of sweat. "What happened to you?"
Groaning, Kirihara plopped down next to them, swatting away strands of hair that stubbornly and wetly stuck to his face. "The vice captain, that's what happened."
"Candy?" Niou offered sympathetically.
Kirihara snorted, but raised his hand anyway, only to scrunch his nose up at the pinkness of the wrapper. Even if he couldn't read English, he already knew what flavor it was. "I don't like cherry."
"Why?" Marui peered at him curiously.
"Too sweet." Kirihara shrugged.
"What flavor would you like then?" Yagyuu asked, fishing around the bundle to find something less sweet. Mint? Coffee? Coconut? Butter? Avocado? Cheese? Cookies and Cream? He tried his best to conceal his disgust, but the amusement clearly found on Niou's face told him that he was failing.
Kirihara wasted no time pausing and thinking, and immediately answered, "Apple."
iii
It was nearly the end of the month, and Marui's stock of sweets was nearly gone. He figured that since it was a Saturday, it was the best time to shop as any, because surely, what was left of his stock wouldn't be able to last until the next weekend. The walk to the candy store wasn't a long one, although it felt like it, especially since Marui had practically memorized everything about it, down to the last HELP WANTED poster on each telephone pole. He hadn't really expected to find any new surprises, so it would be safe to say that his jaw had dropped when a person with a familiar face turned the corner.
Kirihara was just as surprised as he was. "Marui-sempai?"
"Akaya," Marui grinned, waving, "What're you doing here?"
"Soy sauce," Kirihara replied mournfully as he raised the plastic hanging from his hand.
"Your mom?"
Kirihara nodded, "What about you, Marui-sempai?"
"Candy store."
"Figures."
"Hey!" Marui started, but as the sound of Kirihara's laughter reached his ears, he figured he could save his complaint for some other time. "Wanna come?"
"Why not?" Kirihara shrugged, falling in step as Marui started walking. "My mother won't need this until dinner time anyway."
Once inside the candy store, Kirihara wasn't even surprised when the old man behind the counter greeted Marui cheerfully and loudly. After all, his sempai was probably the man's best customer. He followed Marui around the store, not even trying to conceal his shock at the price, "When did candy start being so expensive?"
"It's the 21st century, Akaya!" Marui grinned cheerfully, happy to be inside his habitat. He expected a reply from his kohai, probably even just a snort, but when he got nothing, he turned around, blinking as he caught sight of Kirihara holding a packet of apple bubblegum, lips pursed in thought whether to use the change for the soy sauce for candy or not. With a shrug, Kirihara put the packet back where he got it and walked away, most likely to look at more of the store.
"You aren't going to buy it?" Marui asked, raising an eyebrow as Kirihara picked up a plastic of apple lollipops this time.
Kirihara shrugged, "I'm just looking. Maybe next time."
"Suit yourself."
When they were done looking around and when Marui had finally finished filling up two baskets with various kinds of sweets, they went to the counter to pay for it, before waving goodbye to the old man and leaving. As they left, the old man wondered aloud as to why rather than buying strawberry and cherry-flavored candies like the usual, the baskets were filled with apple-flavored ones instead.
iii
"Marui-sempai," Kirihara approached the benches, grinning that grin of his. He didn't even have to say anything next before Marui fished something from his pocket and tossed it to him. Apple bubblegum. "Thanks, Marui-sempai!" And he was running off, back to the courts, putting that piece of gum in his mouth and stuffing the wrapper in his pocket.
"Is it my imagination?" Jackal asked, voice nothing but a mutter.
"If it is, then we're imagining the same thing together." Niou replied dryly, blinking at the scene that he just saw.
Yagyuu pushed his glasses further upwards the bridge of his nose, "Akaya's been asking for bubblegum a lot nowadays."
"That," Jackal nodded, "is weird, but even weirder is the fact that Marui is actually giving him some."
A small moment of silence passed between them afterwards, each of them thinking on their own. After a while, Niou leaned forward in his seat, increasing the volume of his voice so that Marui could here, "Marui, can I have some bubbleg --"
"No."
Flabbergasted, Niou leaned back, blinking. Yagyuu raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a laughter, letting out a cough instead. "Well, that explains it."
iii
They were playing a game, some sort of silly little thing that Niou made up out of boredom just to have something to entertain themselves with while they sat inside their captain's hospital room. "What about me then?" Niou grinned, pointing to himself.
"The Joker," Renji supplied, a small smile on his lips, "I see you as The Joker in a game of cards, who can be a disadvantage and an advantage to the player, depending on the Joker's mood."
Niou whistled, "What a compliment."
The next few replies that followed from the rest of his teammates were somewhat similar, and his ego was beginning to blow up and was ready to be released any time now, that is, if only Yagyuu hadn't stepped in with a needle and burst it.
"A clown," Yagyuu offered dryly.
Yukimura barely suppressed a chuckle, "Yagyuu's still mad, Niou."
"What did you do this time?" Sanada sighed heavily, crossing his arms. Dealing with lovesick teenagers was obviously not his forte.
Niou sighed mournfully, carefully wounding an arm around Yagyuu's waist, calling out his partner's name, letting the last syllable drone on longer than usual and forming an apologetic whine, to which the other raised an eyebrow at. "I thought we were playing a game?"
Niou gave him a we'll-talk-later face, only less bossy and more sheepish, before continuing on, "Marui, then? What does Marui remind you of?"
"Cake," Jackal didn't even hesitate.
Marui grinned, not even stopping his fork as he ate through the cake that was supposed to be for their captain. "Be more creative, Jackal."
"A cherry then?" Yukimura offered, smiling.
"No way!" Kirihara shook his head, face giving off an expression like that of a child's when they would determinedly say that Santa Clause is real. "Marui-sempai's definitely an apple." When silence met him afterwards, Kirihara faced the stares of his teammates with his own stare, pointing at Marui, "Marui-sempai looks like an apple. See? Doesn't he?"
And slowly, much to Marui's embarrassment, each of their teammates started nodding their heads, looking at him and giving off small murmurs of affirmation. Kirihara looked positively smug, "See?"
"Indeed." Yagyuu replied, "Now that you think about it, he does look like an apple."
"Hey!" By this point, Marui was burning red and was obviously not liking being compared to a fruit.
iii
"Why'd you have to go and compare me to a fruit?" Marui muttered as they walked home, face still burning from all the 'ah, yes, an apple indeed.' that he received back in the hospital. "An apple, no less."
"Well, it is true." Kirihara argued, shrugging nonchalantly, "Marui-sempai, can I have some more?"
As if on automatic, Marui dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a packet of apple bubblegum, handing Kirihara a strip of it. "You've been eating more sweets than usual, Akaya."
"That's because you bought apple bubblegum this time." Kirihara protested, "Back then, you bought strawberry."
Marui hummed thoughtfully in reply, unconsciously making a mental note to buy more apple bubblegum next time, when he realized something, and his jaw dropped as he stopped walking. "Akaya, do you..."
Kirihara raised an eyebrow, stopping as well, "Marui-sempai?"
Marui swallowed, "Is the reason why you like apple so much..." he paused, "Because of me?"
There was a small choked noise of surprise, and he turned his head to the side to look at his kohai's face, but Kirihara had turned away, so that the only thing he saw was the back of his head. It didn't matter, Marui thought, grinning, as he marveled at the redness of Kirihara's ears.
Kirihara waved it off, walking forward slowly, waiting for his sempai to the same, "What are you talking about, Marui-sempai?"
Marui grinned wider, immediately catching up and grabbing hold of the sleeve of Kirihara's school uniform, "Have you kissed anyone before, Akaya?"
Another choked noise of surprise, but this time, Kirihara didn't turn away; he looked at Marui, expression bordering on bewilderment and confusion and just a little bit of hope, "What kind of question is that?!"
"So," Marui continued on cheerfully, pulling at Kirihara's sleeve, "You wouldn't mind if your first kiss tasted like apple?"
That expression of bewilderment stayed on Kirihara's face just a bit longer, before realization dawned, and this time, mischief -- albeit shy and hesitant mischief, but mischief nonetheless -- replaced the shocked expression, "Then..." Kirihara managed to let out, voice shaking just a tiny bit, but that familiar smirk of arrogance was there, and that was all that Marui needed, "Indulge me, Marui-sempai?"
Their first kiss was awkward, very, very awkward, but then Marui slipped his tongue in, hesitant and so sure at the same time, and Kirihara figured that the awkwardness didn't matter because Marui-sempai was kissing him, and he tasted so deliciously like apple.
iii
Taking out a piece of wrapper from his pocket, Marui spit the now tasteless gum into it, crumpling it and throwing it to the first trash can that they passed by, before digging in his other pocket and taking out a lollipop this time, apple-flavored. They were walking towards the clubhouse, all of them sweaty and panting from the harshness of practice, what with the new tournament just around the corner.
"My knees are still shaking." Niou said mournfully, each step feeling heavy.
"We can't relax now," Jackal sighed, although the strain in his voice matched the same mourning tone of Niou's, "We should probably expect harsher training tomorrow."
They all groaned, their thoughts filled with impending doom. The rest of the walk afterwards was filled with a heavy atmosphere, slowly lessening the distance between them and the clubhouse. Marui gave his lollipop one last suck, before taking it out of his mouth and giving it to Kirihara, who simply popped it into his mouth, oblivious to the stares that the other three of his teammates were giving him.
Niou, Yagyuu, and Jackal all looked at one another, blinking, before nodding once. Niou cleared his throat, "Marui, can I have some bub --"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because."
Jackal stepped in, "Can I have some then?"
"No."
Yagyuu chuckled, "I don't suppose you'll make an exception for me?"
"Not a chance."
Around the stick of the lollipop, Kirihara's lips twitched upwards into a grin.
- e n d -
♥ sempai - upperclassman / kohai - underclassman
♥ Jackal needs more love.
♥ ooooh, i wonder what Yagyuu is mad about. Hmm.
♥ please friend this journal for future fics about apples like this. :D
After three hours, I finished it! xD;; I wanted to show more of Akaya's arrogance, but boo. There wasn't an opportunity to do so. D: Please forgive if any of them are sort of OOC. ^^;
This kinda makes me miss apple bubblegum. *crai*
comments are love. x3
Title: Tastes Like Apple
Author: ieatchu / shikanashi_kk
Rating: PG or K+
Genre: romance, fluff, humor
Pairing: AkaBun, Maruihara, a side dish of D1
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all of its characters do not and never will belong to me.
Summary: Kirihara likes apple-flavored sweets. The old man at the candy store wonders why Marui's basket is full of apple-flavored candy this time instead of cherry-flavored ones.
t a s t e s l i k e a p p l e
"Candy?"
Marui's ears perked up, immediately popping the bubblegum that he has been blowing until Niou and Yagyuu showed up. He eagerly opened his palm up, grinning as Niou tossed him a pink one without question. Text on the wrapper was written in English, and he knew enough to read it, but the unfamiliar foreign brand was immediately discarded from his brain as he ripped up the wrapper, spitting his gum into it, before popping the new candy in his mouth, humming in contentment as the cherry flavor filled up his mouth.
As Niou and Yagyuu sat down beside them, Jackal raised an eyebrow at the bundle of candies in their arms. "I don't suppose you bought all that?"
Niou shrugged, "On the way to school this morning, some girls from another school handed me these candies. Said they were fans or something."
"And you can't even remember their names. Shame on you." Yagyuu sighed, glasses glinting as the sun continued to set in the horizon, bit by bit. An arm had wormed its way around his shoulders after he spoke, but he refused to acknowledge it, choosing to grab a piece of candy instead -- a mint one -- to emphasize that the arm around his shoulders is ignored and is not there in his mind.
Niou sighed mournfully, "You'd be mad if I remembered them."
"He's mad now." Marui supplied helpfully, to which Yagyuu scoffed at and chose to ignore.
In the distance, a familiar voice boomed throughout the courts, and faintly, they could understand the words that were stating that practice was over. Soon enough, lines and lines of tennis members walked past them, some greeting them as they went.
"Akaya," Jackal said slowly, blinking as the second year came into view, flushed and panting, his jersey clinging to him because of sweat. "What happened to you?"
Groaning, Kirihara plopped down next to them, swatting away strands of hair that stubbornly and wetly stuck to his face. "The vice captain, that's what happened."
"Candy?" Niou offered sympathetically.
Kirihara snorted, but raised his hand anyway, only to scrunch his nose up at the pinkness of the wrapper. Even if he couldn't read English, he already knew what flavor it was. "I don't like cherry."
"Why?" Marui peered at him curiously.
"Too sweet." Kirihara shrugged.
"What flavor would you like then?" Yagyuu asked, fishing around the bundle to find something less sweet. Mint? Coffee? Coconut? Butter? Avocado? Cheese? Cookies and Cream? He tried his best to conceal his disgust, but the amusement clearly found on Niou's face told him that he was failing.
Kirihara wasted no time pausing and thinking, and immediately answered, "Apple."
iii
It was nearly the end of the month, and Marui's stock of sweets was nearly gone. He figured that since it was a Saturday, it was the best time to shop as any, because surely, what was left of his stock wouldn't be able to last until the next weekend. The walk to the candy store wasn't a long one, although it felt like it, especially since Marui had practically memorized everything about it, down to the last HELP WANTED poster on each telephone pole. He hadn't really expected to find any new surprises, so it would be safe to say that his jaw had dropped when a person with a familiar face turned the corner.
Kirihara was just as surprised as he was. "Marui-sempai?"
"Akaya," Marui grinned, waving, "What're you doing here?"
"Soy sauce," Kirihara replied mournfully as he raised the plastic hanging from his hand.
"Your mom?"
Kirihara nodded, "What about you, Marui-sempai?"
"Candy store."
"Figures."
"Hey!" Marui started, but as the sound of Kirihara's laughter reached his ears, he figured he could save his complaint for some other time. "Wanna come?"
"Why not?" Kirihara shrugged, falling in step as Marui started walking. "My mother won't need this until dinner time anyway."
Once inside the candy store, Kirihara wasn't even surprised when the old man behind the counter greeted Marui cheerfully and loudly. After all, his sempai was probably the man's best customer. He followed Marui around the store, not even trying to conceal his shock at the price, "When did candy start being so expensive?"
"It's the 21st century, Akaya!" Marui grinned cheerfully, happy to be inside his habitat. He expected a reply from his kohai, probably even just a snort, but when he got nothing, he turned around, blinking as he caught sight of Kirihara holding a packet of apple bubblegum, lips pursed in thought whether to use the change for the soy sauce for candy or not. With a shrug, Kirihara put the packet back where he got it and walked away, most likely to look at more of the store.
"You aren't going to buy it?" Marui asked, raising an eyebrow as Kirihara picked up a plastic of apple lollipops this time.
Kirihara shrugged, "I'm just looking. Maybe next time."
"Suit yourself."
When they were done looking around and when Marui had finally finished filling up two baskets with various kinds of sweets, they went to the counter to pay for it, before waving goodbye to the old man and leaving. As they left, the old man wondered aloud as to why rather than buying strawberry and cherry-flavored candies like the usual, the baskets were filled with apple-flavored ones instead.
iii
"Marui-sempai," Kirihara approached the benches, grinning that grin of his. He didn't even have to say anything next before Marui fished something from his pocket and tossed it to him. Apple bubblegum. "Thanks, Marui-sempai!" And he was running off, back to the courts, putting that piece of gum in his mouth and stuffing the wrapper in his pocket.
"Is it my imagination?" Jackal asked, voice nothing but a mutter.
"If it is, then we're imagining the same thing together." Niou replied dryly, blinking at the scene that he just saw.
Yagyuu pushed his glasses further upwards the bridge of his nose, "Akaya's been asking for bubblegum a lot nowadays."
"That," Jackal nodded, "is weird, but even weirder is the fact that Marui is actually giving him some."
A small moment of silence passed between them afterwards, each of them thinking on their own. After a while, Niou leaned forward in his seat, increasing the volume of his voice so that Marui could here, "Marui, can I have some bubbleg --"
"No."
Flabbergasted, Niou leaned back, blinking. Yagyuu raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a laughter, letting out a cough instead. "Well, that explains it."
iii
They were playing a game, some sort of silly little thing that Niou made up out of boredom just to have something to entertain themselves with while they sat inside their captain's hospital room. "What about me then?" Niou grinned, pointing to himself.
"The Joker," Renji supplied, a small smile on his lips, "I see you as The Joker in a game of cards, who can be a disadvantage and an advantage to the player, depending on the Joker's mood."
Niou whistled, "What a compliment."
The next few replies that followed from the rest of his teammates were somewhat similar, and his ego was beginning to blow up and was ready to be released any time now, that is, if only Yagyuu hadn't stepped in with a needle and burst it.
"A clown," Yagyuu offered dryly.
Yukimura barely suppressed a chuckle, "Yagyuu's still mad, Niou."
"What did you do this time?" Sanada sighed heavily, crossing his arms. Dealing with lovesick teenagers was obviously not his forte.
Niou sighed mournfully, carefully wounding an arm around Yagyuu's waist, calling out his partner's name, letting the last syllable drone on longer than usual and forming an apologetic whine, to which the other raised an eyebrow at. "I thought we were playing a game?"
Niou gave him a we'll-talk-later face, only less bossy and more sheepish, before continuing on, "Marui, then? What does Marui remind you of?"
"Cake," Jackal didn't even hesitate.
Marui grinned, not even stopping his fork as he ate through the cake that was supposed to be for their captain. "Be more creative, Jackal."
"A cherry then?" Yukimura offered, smiling.
"No way!" Kirihara shook his head, face giving off an expression like that of a child's when they would determinedly say that Santa Clause is real. "Marui-sempai's definitely an apple." When silence met him afterwards, Kirihara faced the stares of his teammates with his own stare, pointing at Marui, "Marui-sempai looks like an apple. See? Doesn't he?"
And slowly, much to Marui's embarrassment, each of their teammates started nodding their heads, looking at him and giving off small murmurs of affirmation. Kirihara looked positively smug, "See?"
"Indeed." Yagyuu replied, "Now that you think about it, he does look like an apple."
"Hey!" By this point, Marui was burning red and was obviously not liking being compared to a fruit.
iii
"Why'd you have to go and compare me to a fruit?" Marui muttered as they walked home, face still burning from all the 'ah, yes, an apple indeed.' that he received back in the hospital. "An apple, no less."
"Well, it is true." Kirihara argued, shrugging nonchalantly, "Marui-sempai, can I have some more?"
As if on automatic, Marui dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a packet of apple bubblegum, handing Kirihara a strip of it. "You've been eating more sweets than usual, Akaya."
"That's because you bought apple bubblegum this time." Kirihara protested, "Back then, you bought strawberry."
Marui hummed thoughtfully in reply, unconsciously making a mental note to buy more apple bubblegum next time, when he realized something, and his jaw dropped as he stopped walking. "Akaya, do you..."
Kirihara raised an eyebrow, stopping as well, "Marui-sempai?"
Marui swallowed, "Is the reason why you like apple so much..." he paused, "Because of me?"
There was a small choked noise of surprise, and he turned his head to the side to look at his kohai's face, but Kirihara had turned away, so that the only thing he saw was the back of his head. It didn't matter, Marui thought, grinning, as he marveled at the redness of Kirihara's ears.
Kirihara waved it off, walking forward slowly, waiting for his sempai to the same, "What are you talking about, Marui-sempai?"
Marui grinned wider, immediately catching up and grabbing hold of the sleeve of Kirihara's school uniform, "Have you kissed anyone before, Akaya?"
Another choked noise of surprise, but this time, Kirihara didn't turn away; he looked at Marui, expression bordering on bewilderment and confusion and just a little bit of hope, "What kind of question is that?!"
"So," Marui continued on cheerfully, pulling at Kirihara's sleeve, "You wouldn't mind if your first kiss tasted like apple?"
That expression of bewilderment stayed on Kirihara's face just a bit longer, before realization dawned, and this time, mischief -- albeit shy and hesitant mischief, but mischief nonetheless -- replaced the shocked expression, "Then..." Kirihara managed to let out, voice shaking just a tiny bit, but that familiar smirk of arrogance was there, and that was all that Marui needed, "Indulge me, Marui-sempai?"
Their first kiss was awkward, very, very awkward, but then Marui slipped his tongue in, hesitant and so sure at the same time, and Kirihara figured that the awkwardness didn't matter because Marui-sempai was kissing him, and he tasted so deliciously like apple.
iii
Taking out a piece of wrapper from his pocket, Marui spit the now tasteless gum into it, crumpling it and throwing it to the first trash can that they passed by, before digging in his other pocket and taking out a lollipop this time, apple-flavored. They were walking towards the clubhouse, all of them sweaty and panting from the harshness of practice, what with the new tournament just around the corner.
"My knees are still shaking." Niou said mournfully, each step feeling heavy.
"We can't relax now," Jackal sighed, although the strain in his voice matched the same mourning tone of Niou's, "We should probably expect harsher training tomorrow."
They all groaned, their thoughts filled with impending doom. The rest of the walk afterwards was filled with a heavy atmosphere, slowly lessening the distance between them and the clubhouse. Marui gave his lollipop one last suck, before taking it out of his mouth and giving it to Kirihara, who simply popped it into his mouth, oblivious to the stares that the other three of his teammates were giving him.
Niou, Yagyuu, and Jackal all looked at one another, blinking, before nodding once. Niou cleared his throat, "Marui, can I have some bub --"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because."
Jackal stepped in, "Can I have some then?"
"No."
Yagyuu chuckled, "I don't suppose you'll make an exception for me?"
"Not a chance."
Around the stick of the lollipop, Kirihara's lips twitched upwards into a grin.
- e n d -
♥ sempai - upperclassman / kohai - underclassman
♥ Jackal needs more love.
♥ ooooh, i wonder what Yagyuu is mad about. Hmm.
♥ please friend this journal for future fics about apples like this. :D
After three hours, I finished it! xD;; I wanted to show more of Akaya's arrogance, but boo. There wasn't an opportunity to do so. D: Please forgive if any of them are sort of OOC. ^^;
This kinda makes me miss apple bubblegum. *crai*
comments are love. x3