Krai - For readerofasaph
Title: Krai
Author: aiwritingfic
Recipient: readerofasaph
Rating: G
Other Characters/Pairings: Sanada Genichirou
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi
Warnings: None as far as I can tell.
Summary: In the last week of the last month of the last year of Yanagi Renji's last life, he meets someone new...
Notes: Dear readerofasaph, I only managed to fit "Sanada" and "AU" into your fic. (I managed to get in some vague academic reference, if that counts...?) I suspect there's no point in hiding that this fic is nowhere near complete, but I didn't have it in me to write an epic just yet. If you hate this, please don't comment, and I'll write something else for you after reveals! Last but not least, thank you, P, for being a lovely beta.
Krai: border, i.e., a place of the cut-off (source).
It was the last week of the last month of the last year of Yanagi Renji's last life.
The milliner's voice was pitched uncomfortably high. Renji suspected her piercing efforts at courtesy were more an indication of the relative poverty of the village than the value of his mother's patronage. As foreigners, the Yanagis owned no land, but Renji's father's academic stipend was probably worth more than the milliner's shop.
He studied the hat on display beside him a little more closely. Correction: his father's academic stipend was certainly worth more than the milliner's shop.
His mother eyed herself critically in the handheld polished mirror, which was undoubtedly the most valuable thing in the shop. Renji turned to look outside the window. It was midday, and he would have asked his mother for permission to wander; but the wind was strong today, and it picked little puffs of snow off the drifts. The wind's chilling effect would be much-magnified through this little shopping alley, and there was nothing Renji particularly wanted to examine in the cold. The shop was warm, and he wondered if he might permit himself to become a little drowsy if there was nothing else to observe.
A dark shape whipped past the window, closely followed by a boy.
That shape had been a hat, hadn't it? Renji watched as both hat and boy headed towards the end of the alley. It was a futile chase. As fast as boys could run, windborne hats could fly faster. He noted the angle of the sun, the height of the snowdrifts against the wall on the opposite side, and considered what he had seen before his mother had ushered him into the milliner's.
"Mother," he said, "May I be excused a while? I won't be far."
His mother turned, and Renji met her eyes. She took the monstrosity-masquerading-as-a-hat off her head. "Will you be within calling distance?"
Renji nodded.
"All right. You may go. I'll come for you when I'm finished here." Accepting another hat, his mother turned back to the mirror, and Renji slipped outside.
As expected, the boy was at the end of the alley, glaring balefully up a tree. Renji didn't need to look to confirm the hat's presence within those branches, but he did anyway. It was a strange hat. Renji hadn't seen anything like it in any milliner's, nor any illustration, but hats were his mother's interest and not his own. Part of the strange hat--a clasp of some sort--had snagged on a branch. It was too high for one boy, and there were no low-lying boughs one could use to bring oneself closer.
It was, however, easily within their combined heights.
"Excuse me," Renji said.
The wind continued to swirl around them. The boy paused in his attempt to glare the tree shorter. "Yes?" he said, but he gave his hat another glance as it swayed out of reach.
Renji narrowed his eyes to keep out the snow particles it kicked up. Snow was only water and would melt quickly, but knowing that didn't lesson the sting of cold snow in the eyes. "Two can succeed where one might fail," he said, glancing up the tree at the hat within its grasp.
The boy hesitated. He looked Renji up and down, and Renji waited, submitting patiently to the scrutiny.
Finally, the boy said, "You're lighter."
Renji nodded.
The boy glared up the tree again before transferring his gaze to Renji's feet. "You're wearing boots."
"I'll be careful," Renji said, deciding not to point out that the other had on a sturdy pair of boots himself.
"Do." The boy said no more, and braced himself against the tree.
Although Renji was somewhat buffeted by ice-cold drafts, his impromptu human stepladder held firm and didn't waver, and the hat was soon retrieved without difficulty. Once he was safely on solid ground again, Renji returned the headwear to its rightful owner, who muttered his thanks without looking at Renji. The boy hadn't complained of any mistreatment under Renji's boots, even though there was a faint snowy bootprint on his shoulder. Renji watched as the boy patted the hat's dark fabric smartly, dislodging bits of ice and compacted snow. The boy then pressed it down over unruly windblown hair without stopping to smooth the strands down.
Though it was one Renji had never seen before, it seemed less unusual now that it was where hats belonged--on a person's head rather than in a tree. Renji wondered where the hat had come from. It lacked fasteners of any sort to keep it on its owner's head, and unlike lightning, the wind could and likely would perform the exact same misdeed twice without compunction. "It will only fly off again," Renji said, wondering if that had occured to the other.
The boy scowled. Evidently, he hadn't thought of it. He took the hat off, holding it tightly in his hand. "Thank you," he said. Then he seemed to realise he was in Renji's debt, for he added reluctantly, "My name is Sanada Genichirou."
"Yanagi Renji," Renji said. "My father is the new physics professor at the university." He wondered if Sanada was a foreign name like his own. He had never heard it before, but it sounded more likely to be a family name than Genichirou.
Genichirou--Sanada?--paused. "I see," he said after a moment, but volunteered no more.
"I've never seen a hat like that," Renji said.
Genichirou's fingers had been worrying the brim, but they stopped at Renji's question. "And?"
They stood there at the end of the alley, the wind whipping Renji's hair against his face. He began to appreciate the merits of Genichirou's hat a little more. Opening his mouth, Renji was about to speak when--
"Renji! Where are you? I'm leaving now. Come, don't keep me waiting!"
"Goodbye," Genichirou said, turning on his heels and walking away without another word.
(tbc?)
Author: aiwritingfic
Recipient: readerofasaph
Rating: G
Other Characters/Pairings: Sanada Genichirou
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi
Warnings: None as far as I can tell.
Summary: In the last week of the last month of the last year of Yanagi Renji's last life, he meets someone new...
Notes: Dear readerofasaph, I only managed to fit "Sanada" and "AU" into your fic. (I managed to get in some vague academic reference, if that counts...?) I suspect there's no point in hiding that this fic is nowhere near complete, but I didn't have it in me to write an epic just yet. If you hate this, please don't comment, and I'll write something else for you after reveals! Last but not least, thank you, P, for being a lovely beta.
Krai: border, i.e., a place of the cut-off (source).
It was the last week of the last month of the last year of Yanagi Renji's last life.
The milliner's voice was pitched uncomfortably high. Renji suspected her piercing efforts at courtesy were more an indication of the relative poverty of the village than the value of his mother's patronage. As foreigners, the Yanagis owned no land, but Renji's father's academic stipend was probably worth more than the milliner's shop.
He studied the hat on display beside him a little more closely. Correction: his father's academic stipend was certainly worth more than the milliner's shop.
His mother eyed herself critically in the handheld polished mirror, which was undoubtedly the most valuable thing in the shop. Renji turned to look outside the window. It was midday, and he would have asked his mother for permission to wander; but the wind was strong today, and it picked little puffs of snow off the drifts. The wind's chilling effect would be much-magnified through this little shopping alley, and there was nothing Renji particularly wanted to examine in the cold. The shop was warm, and he wondered if he might permit himself to become a little drowsy if there was nothing else to observe.
A dark shape whipped past the window, closely followed by a boy.
That shape had been a hat, hadn't it? Renji watched as both hat and boy headed towards the end of the alley. It was a futile chase. As fast as boys could run, windborne hats could fly faster. He noted the angle of the sun, the height of the snowdrifts against the wall on the opposite side, and considered what he had seen before his mother had ushered him into the milliner's.
"Mother," he said, "May I be excused a while? I won't be far."
His mother turned, and Renji met her eyes. She took the monstrosity-masquerading-as-a-hat off her head. "Will you be within calling distance?"
Renji nodded.
"All right. You may go. I'll come for you when I'm finished here." Accepting another hat, his mother turned back to the mirror, and Renji slipped outside.
As expected, the boy was at the end of the alley, glaring balefully up a tree. Renji didn't need to look to confirm the hat's presence within those branches, but he did anyway. It was a strange hat. Renji hadn't seen anything like it in any milliner's, nor any illustration, but hats were his mother's interest and not his own. Part of the strange hat--a clasp of some sort--had snagged on a branch. It was too high for one boy, and there were no low-lying boughs one could use to bring oneself closer.
It was, however, easily within their combined heights.
"Excuse me," Renji said.
The wind continued to swirl around them. The boy paused in his attempt to glare the tree shorter. "Yes?" he said, but he gave his hat another glance as it swayed out of reach.
Renji narrowed his eyes to keep out the snow particles it kicked up. Snow was only water and would melt quickly, but knowing that didn't lesson the sting of cold snow in the eyes. "Two can succeed where one might fail," he said, glancing up the tree at the hat within its grasp.
The boy hesitated. He looked Renji up and down, and Renji waited, submitting patiently to the scrutiny.
Finally, the boy said, "You're lighter."
Renji nodded.
The boy glared up the tree again before transferring his gaze to Renji's feet. "You're wearing boots."
"I'll be careful," Renji said, deciding not to point out that the other had on a sturdy pair of boots himself.
"Do." The boy said no more, and braced himself against the tree.
Although Renji was somewhat buffeted by ice-cold drafts, his impromptu human stepladder held firm and didn't waver, and the hat was soon retrieved without difficulty. Once he was safely on solid ground again, Renji returned the headwear to its rightful owner, who muttered his thanks without looking at Renji. The boy hadn't complained of any mistreatment under Renji's boots, even though there was a faint snowy bootprint on his shoulder. Renji watched as the boy patted the hat's dark fabric smartly, dislodging bits of ice and compacted snow. The boy then pressed it down over unruly windblown hair without stopping to smooth the strands down.
Though it was one Renji had never seen before, it seemed less unusual now that it was where hats belonged--on a person's head rather than in a tree. Renji wondered where the hat had come from. It lacked fasteners of any sort to keep it on its owner's head, and unlike lightning, the wind could and likely would perform the exact same misdeed twice without compunction. "It will only fly off again," Renji said, wondering if that had occured to the other.
The boy scowled. Evidently, he hadn't thought of it. He took the hat off, holding it tightly in his hand. "Thank you," he said. Then he seemed to realise he was in Renji's debt, for he added reluctantly, "My name is Sanada Genichirou."
"Yanagi Renji," Renji said. "My father is the new physics professor at the university." He wondered if Sanada was a foreign name like his own. He had never heard it before, but it sounded more likely to be a family name than Genichirou.
Genichirou--Sanada?--paused. "I see," he said after a moment, but volunteered no more.
"I've never seen a hat like that," Renji said.
Genichirou's fingers had been worrying the brim, but they stopped at Renji's question. "And?"
They stood there at the end of the alley, the wind whipping Renji's hair against his face. He began to appreciate the merits of Genichirou's hat a little more. Opening his mouth, Renji was about to speak when--
"Renji! Where are you? I'm leaving now. Come, don't keep me waiting!"
"Goodbye," Genichirou said, turning on his heels and walking away without another word.
(tbc?)