Work Text:
the line of blossoming sakura goes on forever...
I want to stay with you
The future was meant to start with the rolled-up bits of parchment in the wooden cases they carried. Graduation, Yukimura thought to himself. Such a light word for a ceremony that was meant to contain three years of accomplishment. The years themselves were heavier in his opinion, and the future was hardly a piece of paper. It was a path lined with trees just like the ones blossoming around the walk away from the school. There was no question where it would go. Straight to the boardroom at his father's company, no matter what he chose to do along the way. Not that there would be much fun in decimating players on the professional circuit. He'd leave that to others who'd enjoy it more. He didn't mind walking a straight, wide road as long as he could take the time to look at the messy, hidden gardens along the way.
Like the shadowed inlet where they landed when he pulled Gen'ichirou's hand, interrupting his vice captain's own walk home.
"Sei'ichi..."
He pressed a soft but unforgiving kiss against his lover's mouth. "Remember me when you go to Tokyo, Gen'ichirou. I won't forgive you if I don't get my New Years cards."
"Of course."
the truth is, we're all lonely together...
but in the last game we'll find out what strength really means
"Didn't you used to play tennis, Yukimura-kun? I heard you used to be good."
Used to be. The most ridiculous assumption anyone -- and everyone -- made when he came into conversations on Echizen's games on the circuit, among others. Smiling at his division manager, Yukimura laughed, "Why, Koizumi-san! I still play tennis, every weekend! My friends from the school leagues still come to challenge me."
"Oh, I'd love to challenge you to a match! I used to be pretty well known at the club myself!"
"What an honor!" Yukimura lied through his professional mask. This wasn't a man who would survive two minutes. He'd be no fun at all. "Perhaps some other time. My dance card is full at the moment."
Since the US Open had just finished, Gen'ichirou would be coming home.
though I can't say what matters most...
I can never have my way with you, oh, baby knows
"Hatsune, why would you send Gen'ichirou an invitation to your wedding?" He hadn't realized his little sister even knew Gen'ichirou's address overseas.
But she looked at him with her usual sass and sarcasm. "Because you'd never trot him in front of father as your plus one, Nii-san, even though Mother could probably talk him into not caring. Honestly, sometimes it's okay to have weaknesses."
"Not that my baby sister would know anything about that."
now, can I be by your side forevermore?
... the nights I pray fade into dawns with the stars, that remain even as they fade
"Can the heir to the Yukimura media empire afford to be caught in a corner with me?" Gen'ichirou asked after they'd dodged all the small talking crowds in favor of standing possibly too close for safety at a social event like Hatsune's wedding. The news cameras were thick, loved his face, and Gen'ichirou wasn't exactly an unknown himself. Up and coming mogul has affair with professional tennis player was a headline for page six, not the polite society papers. So as much as the hakama Gen'ichirou had worn was a treat amongst the sea of tuxedos, and as much as the champagne made him wish they were alone, he couldn't forget that they were far from it.
But he sighed anyway, to let Gen'ichirou know he disapproved. "You're so much less obedient than you used to be."
"No, I'm not, Sei'ichi." In the dark, Yukimura couldn't see the flush on Sanada's cheeks when he turned away, but he remembered it well enough, and made one of his more honest smiles.
you've stolen my heart now, like that dahlia flower...
you bloom and never fade in my heart though you're beyond my reach
Making love in a hotel bed, without needing to be quiet, without worrying if someone would walk in, was nothing like their high school rendezvous. And for once, Yukimura had to admit, he'd honestly missed someone. He could get sex anywhere he wanted, and it had never mattered to their little romance that they never made time to sleep together when the tennis circuit allowed Gen'ichirou visits to Japan, but as Yukimura played his fingers through Gen'ichirou's sleeping breaths, there was no shame in admitting the truth before his eyes.
He'd missed being close to this man, for no reason at all. Nothing complicated. Another thing to know.
roses have thorns, so touch them gently...
always the morning, but never the same
"I'll write you as usual," Gen'ichirou promised, snapping his watch into place before he left.
Yukimura didn't look away from the mirror as he brushed out his bed-hair. "Write me more."
Silence followed the click of the door opening. No footsteps, no closing door. Just Gen'ichirou listening to what he'd been told, and taking it in.
"I'll write you more," he promised. Only then, he left.
the clouds are passing, something calls to me, you haven't realized my eyes look backward, too...
these eyes are the hidden knife that is my heart
His father's words, that they had to consider the future, were very true, and the girl across the table -- Tokiko-san -- was pleasant enough. They'd had a very entertaining conversation, Yukimura had agreed to meet her again, and as far as he was concerned, that was that.
"I hope you'll pardon me," he told her, pulling out his cell phone and typing a simple text.
I'm getting married.
"Business?" Tokiko-san asked.
"No. Telling my boyfriend about our arrangement." She seemed surprised, enough to have no response, but didn't seem angry, so Yukimura gave her his most reassuring smile. "I'll introduce you next time he's in Japan. I'm sure you'll be great friends."
His phone buzzed. The text read, "Is she interesting?"
Quite, Yukimura texted back. This changes nothing.
I'll sing you this song of love because I don't know it well...
anytime is fine for going home as long as I always have you
The three of them gardened sometimes on the weekends. He maintained lines of flowers carefully sculpted to look like they'd grown wild. His wife and his lover shared tea on the verandah like the civilized people they were so good at pretending to be.
"--love watching his matches with visitors, but Sei'ichi-san never lets me play him for some reason."
"Hmm," Gen'ichirou said, nodding.
Yukimura brushed the dirt off his work pants and left his gloves on the wheelbarrow, joining them long enough for a few gulps of water. "Well, darling, restraint has never been one of my best qualities. Isn't that right, Gen'ichirou?"
That time, Gen'ichirou's noise was a bit more like a, "Hmph" than a "Hmm."
"Well, aren't we feeling cheeky today," he laughed, kissing both of them before returning to his flowers.
there were days we hurt each other, too...
and good-byes happen even without saying farewell
"You'll be back," Yukimura told him. "And when you are, I expect more than an apology. It was never up to you to decide what's in my best interests."
with my hand outstretched, I chased an illusion I thought I could catch...
my body remembers what happened here as if it were still that day
"You don't have to pretend you don't miss him when it's just me, Sei'ichi-san."
"What's to miss, Tokiko? It's not as if I've forgotten him somewhere."
She sounded bemused as she asked, "Sometimes I wonder if you realize you have feelings at all. Now, you'll wear out those bricks if you stand there too long. Then we'll have to replace them, and goodness knows where you'll be after that."
It was true, he'd memorized the pattern of the bricks where he'd stood when Sanada walked away. But what of it? He remembered so many other things, too.
even if this moment becomes a memory...
what colors would I layer to paint this?
A package crisply wrapped in brown paper landed on his desk with no return address. The letter inside was unsigned as well, but Yukimura could hardly forget the bold handwriting that'd formed the words: "I was in France. When I saw this, I thought of you."
"How sweet, Gen'ichirou," Sanada murmured to himself, and pulled the protective foam away from the book inside. A monograph of Renoir paintings, with "Among the Roses" (the one Yukimura had hung in his parlor) gracing the cover. A cheap museum book of reproductions, touristy nonsense that couldn't contain the beauty of how the paint strokes fell on the canvas. He never would have bought it for himself.
But he kept it on the corner of his desk instead of hiding it on a shelf.
Honestly, all he had to do was come home, and he'd be forgiven. Gen'ichirou had to know that by now.
people called us that name carried on the wind...
and the fates we can't evade become stars for the ones who follow us