Disclaimer: "…and now we see a fan fiction writer who has been tied up and gagged by lawyers. This is the result of trying to claim ownership of the Tenipuri characters. :D"

Characters Featured: Yanagisawa Shinya and Kisarazu Atsushi

Silver Snowflakes

- Melting Snow -

by: yukuro

Yanagisawa Shinya was a troublemaker. He was always doing or saying things that would get him into trouble, as his friend, Kisarazu Atsushi noticed easily. This was probably the reason Kisarazu wasn't surprised when his friend had "accidentally" knocked over a small jar of colored ink out of the window from the infirmary and had it spilled all over a furious Mizuki's head. That was just the way Yanagisawa was.

"You're going to get in trouble for that," Kisarazu said simply as his friend sat back down with a mischievous, yet satisfied, grin. "Mizuki was never one to appreciate your jokes."

"I know that, da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully. "I couldn't resist though da ne. It was too tempting."

"Everything's tempting to you," Kisarazu muttered with a roll of his eyes. Hand holding up bandages and medicine, he commented, "You know, you don't look very injured to me. Maybe you should go back to practice. I'm sure Mizuki would love to see you right now."

Eye twitching, Yanagisawa instantly fell backwards onto the bed and dramatically threw an arm over his forehead. "You can't send an injured man back to the war, da ne! I'm in pain da ne! I swear!"

Smirking visibly, Kisarazu leaned over the other boy and carefully applied medicine. "This is some mess you've gotten yourself in."

Yanagisawa was a troublemaker. It was again not much of a surprise when he suddenly decided it was a good idea to run up to Akazawa while he was angry and make an unneeded comment. Kisarazu shook his head slightly but grinned at his friend. "You should know better than to annoy Akazawa when he's mad. But wait, let me guess. That was too tempting too."

"You're making fun of me, da ne," Yanagisawa sniffed as the other boy applied medicine to the cut on his face. "You're not cute anymore, Atsushi, da ne. I want a divorce da ne!"

"Very funny," the other boy muttered with a very small crooked grin, purposely adding a bit more medicine to the wound to make it sting. He was rewarded with a loud "Ite da ne!" from the injured boy. Teasing was fun, but maybe he should stop. Yanagisawa did look as if he were in some amount of pain.

Yanagisawa frowned deeply as his friend bandaged his face gently. First being hit by a racket and now that stinging medicine! The side of his face hadn't hurt so much since he was hit in the face by Momoshiro from Seigaku! "That was mean da ne. Is this because I said you weren't cute anymore da ne? Do you really love me that much da ne?"

Rolling his eyes, Kisarazu set down the medical supplies and smirked. "Don't dream too much," he commented dryly, shooting his friend a fond glance. Somehow, as strange as Yanagisawa could be at times, Kisarazu found that no one else made a better and more loyal friend. "Now stay still and rest, will you? Don't make me force you."

"Is that a bad thing da ne?" Yanagisawa asked with wide eyes. "Sounds interesting to me, da ne."

Raising an eyebrow, Kisarazu shot a sideways glance at the other boy. Flirting with his best friend, who also happened to be a boy…definitely a troublemaker with a touch of possible perverted-ness. Kisarazu rolled his eyes again and laughed silently to himself. "Yanagisawa, another word out of your mouth and I can guarantee you will be in much, much more pain than you are now or ever will be. You're definitely a troublemaker."

"Sometimes that's alright, da ne?" the other boy commented, putting his hands under his head. "Ah, St. Rudolf is so boring da ne! There are no cute girls here! Atsushi, you're the closest thing to a cute girl I've got, da ne…"

"…you must really want to die," Kisarazu laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I'll definitely hit you with a bat if you keep your mouth shut now. I'm definitely not a girl, and I am not cute."

"At least you were when I first met you with that long hair of yours da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully. "Too bad Mizuki made you cut it da ne."

"Too bad Mizuki didn't make you tape your mouth shut when you joined the team," the other boy stated simply in response, sitting down on a chair next to the bed.

"You're no fun at all da ne," Yanagisawa said with a sigh. "Fuji-ototou would appreciate my jokes."

"What makes you think that?" Kisarazu asked, raising his eyebrow. Crossing his legs and folding his arms, he leaned back in the chair with obvious amusement in his eyes. "You tease him just as much as you tease me. Maybe even more."

"I like that kid da ne," Yanagisawa said, grinning. "He's actually a really strong boy. Even though Yuuta came here to escape his problems, he still goes back to fix them. He's really not that bad off with his brother."

Kisarazu watched silently as a peaceful, somewhat nostalgic look crossed the other boy's face. "Yanagisawa," he began suddenly, trying to lighten the mood. "Do you remember when we first became partners?"

"How could I forget da ne?!" Yanagisawa exclaimed suddenly, snapping into the mood at once. He sat up and grinned cheekily at the other boy. "You were so cute then da ne! Even though we did fight a little…"

"A little?" Kisarazu asked incredulously. "We fought everyday and I thought you were the most ridiculously idiotic person there was!"

"Thanks a lot da ne," the other boy said dryly, feeling a vein on his forehead popping. "So maybe you weren't so cute after all."

"I'm a boy," Kisarazu said flatly, swiveling the chair over while crossing his arms, "I'm not cute. Never have been, never will be."

"Just wait until a girl tells you you're cute da ne," Yanagisawa shrugged. "Then you'll believe me."

"My old teammates used to call me and my brother that all the time," the other boy stated. "It gets annoying after a while."

"If you say so da ne!"

"Oh, just shut up already."

-- Ichi-nen Mae… (One year ago…) --

"I've recruited a new member for our team," Mizuki stated dully to the regulars that sat before him in the St. Rudolf boys' tennis clubroom. "He's from the Chiba prefecture."

"Kisarazu Atsushi desu. Yoroshiku."

"So he did end up recruiting the Kisarazu kid," Akazawa muttered quietly to the other members. "So why does Mizuki still look so pissed off?"

"I heard that this Kisarazu has an older twin and Mizuki wanted to recruit the older one," Nomura said musingly.

"So he's bitter," Akazawa said with a smirk. "That's pretty amusing. No wonder the kid looks different now. He's got short hair and a red headband."

"Heh! You're pretty cute for a boy da ne! So what was your name again da ne? Kanarazu da ne?" Yanagisawa asked cheerfully as Mizuki walked out of the clubroom, rubbing his temples.

"Kisarazu!" the new recruit said firmly, frowning at the boy addressing him by the wrong name. "Stop calling me cute. It's weird."

"No it's not, Kanarazu-kun da ne," Yanagisawa chirped, lifting his racquet to rest on his shoulder. "It's a complement, da ne."

"My name is Kisarazu! Ki-sa-ra-zu! Not Kanarazu!" The newly recruited boy glared hard at the grinning St. Rudolf Regular. "Didn't you hear me?"

"Ah, but I like Kanarazu better da ne," the other boy went on, grinning at the ceiling. "Liiiiike…kanarazu katsu da ne! Heheh, but I guess I can't say anything until I see your tennis skill da ne."

"Jerk."

"Eh…Akazawa-san…do you think they're going to fight?" Kaneda asked with wide eyes as he watched Yanagisawa continue to provoke the new boy.

"Not sure," Akazawa commented, watching the two with amusement. "I saw Kisarazu in his class earlier and he's actually a really quiet kind of person. Yanagisawa must really annoy the hell out of him. Haha…"

"Um, I don't think that's a good thing," Nomura squeaked, his glasses sliding down his face. He lifted his finger to point at Mizuki who had just walked in and was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Kisarazu will be playing doubles with Yanagisawa from now on," Mizuki stated dryly, ignoring the way Kisarazu was twitching silently. "If you're all done dallying, practice needs to start now. St. Rudolf mustn't lose again."

"Hai," the team called out in dull unison. There was an especial lack of enthusiasm on Kisarazu's part as he chewed on his lower lip.

"Come on, Kanarazu-kun, da ne!" Yanagisawa exclaimed, roughly patting the boy's back, making him cough slightly. "Show me what kind of tennis you play!"

The rest of the team watched in awkward silence as Yanagisawa cheerfully blew out the door with Kisarazu charging after him with renewed determination.

"This'll be interesting, I daresay," Akazawa muttered with a smirk. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Mizuki? Kisarazu doesn't look too happy with your arrangement."

"He'll get over it," Mizuki muttered, obviously still annoyed at the fact that he had recruited the wrong twin. Not that he would dare let anyone think that his beautiful self could make such a horrible mistake. "You and Kaneda play against them for practice."

Mumbling something about doubles under his breath, Akazawa frowned and stomped out of the room with Kaneda at his heels. Nomura glanced awkwardly at Mizuki before turning and darting out of the room before Mizuki could say anything to him.

Sighing in frustration, Mizuki rubbed his temples again. His "perfect" team would need a lot of work. Emphasis on a lot.

Outside, the doubles players were calmly rallying for a warm-up. Kisarazu was quite talented, as the other boys noticed right away. Only Yanagisawa, however, complimented him openly and extremely loudly.

"Great shot, Kanarazu-kun, da ne!"

"My name is Kisarazu!"

"We're really not going to get anywhere if this goes on," Akazawa commented with a grin, resting his racquet on his shoulder. Locking over the net, he watched Yanagisawa run small circles around Kisarazu while waving his racquet. The boy with the red headband did not exactly look amused. "Hey, you two! Let's start the match already!"

"Which?" Kisarazu asked politely over the net, ignoring the way Yanagisawa was roughly slapping his back again.

"Rough," Akazawa replied with a smirk, doing his best not to laugh.

After the racquet was spun, the result came out smooth. Continuing to ignore Yanagisawa, Kisarazu went to the baseline and bounced the ball a few times. Just as he threw the ball up in the air, Yanagisawa decided it was a good time to exclaim, "I hope you can serve as well as you can get angry da ne!"

The first ball came back down and hit the top of Kisarazu's head as he glared at the boy at the net who cheerfully waved back to him. Furiously, he bounced the ball again and served it—

"Ite da ne!"

"F-Fault…"

—directly into the back of Yanagisawa's head. Without a word to the other boy, Kisarazu retrieved the ball and bounced it on the ground again. For the rest of the game, he purposely used his first serve to successfully nail Yanagisawa in the head before properly serving with his second serve. This method turned out making Kisarazu much happier, but that did not do well for their game.

"Game Akazawa-Kaneda pair. One game to love. Change court," Nomura said nervously, pulling at the collar of his shirt. Mizuki watched disapprovingly from the side.

"This is getting pathetic," Akazawa commented to Kaneda with almost concern. The pairs switched sides and Akazawa prepared to serve.

"Don't hit me anymore, Kisarazu da ne!" Yanagisawa called out from the baseline, still managing to remain cheerful.

"Oh, so now you remember my name," Kisarazu commented dryly, gripping his racquet handle glaring over the net.

The first serve went in, flying directly into the corner near the alley. Yanagisawa returned it smoothly with precision cross-court to the corner of the alley on the baseline. Akazawa examined the other side of the court for a moment before sending a lob over Kisarazu's head.

Kisarazu backed up, holding his racquet back, clearing intending to return the shot.

"I got it, da ne!" Yanagisawa called from the back as he ran towards the ball.

Kaneda winced from his position at the net when the two crashed into each other towards the center of the other side. Shortly after, the ball landed slightly behind the service line near the two. Somehow, the ball hit the frame of Kisarazu's racquet and sent the ball over the net down the middle. It was a slow ball, but both Akazawa and Kaneda were too busy watching the opposing pair to notice the ball had been miraculously returned.

"That was my ball," Kisarazu stated, untangling from Yanagisawa and standing up. "I could have gotten it."

"It was a lob, da ne," Yanagisawa stated from the ground. Pulling himself up, he grinned. "At least we got the point, da ne!"

Kisarazu blinked a few times and glanced at Nomura. The small boy at the pole nodded slightly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose nervously.

"Love-15…"

"It's pathetic but now pathetically interesting," Akazawa muttered to himself in amusement. Walking to the ad side of the court, he bounced the ball and served again.

Kisarazu returned the ball down the line, straight into the alley, sending the ball past Kaneda and towards the back corner. Akazawa ran to the other side to defend the back court while Kaneda moved to the side the other boy came from.

The returned ball was an approach shot on Kisarazu's side, about half way between both players. Yanagisawa and Kisarazu both yelled, "I got it!" and dived for the ball.

The ball was once again returned, this time as a drop shot, while Akazawa and Kaneda stared at the mess the other two had gotten themselves in.

Kisarazu's long red headband had gotten in the way of Yanagisawa's racquet and tangled itself around it. Yanagisawa just barely swung his racquet to send the ball over before the added weight the red headband tied to it send both of them to the ground once again.

"Love-30," Nomura managed to squeak. He too, stared at the dysfunctional doubles pair on the ground.

Mizuki twirled his hair around his finger, watching from the bench. Sighing, he commented, "This is a tennis team, not a circus."

The match continued with many similar events. However, they ended up on the ground much less. Yanagisawa continued to provoke Kisarazu, but strangely enough it made their combination stronger. The match ended with a reasonable 6-4 victory for Akazawa and Kaneda.

"Actually, you two don't complement each other as badly as I thought," commented Akazawa as they shook hands at the net. He smirked at Kisarazu who blinked rapidly at him in confusion. "I think you'll both do well in the future with some practice."

Before Kisarazu could say anything, Akazawa stepped off the court and sat down on the benches with Kaneda next to him. Mizuki immediately rose to speak with the captain while Nomura still stood at the pole, with no idea what to do next.

"I don't think we did so badly either da ne," Yanagisawa said cheerfully to his new partner. "Considering we're a new pair and all da ne…"

"We could have done better without the little accidents," Kisarazu said stonily. "You're supposed to be quiet during a match, you know."

"Of course I know, da ne!" Patting Kisarazu's back again, Yanagisawa said loudly, "Just how long do you think I've been playing tennis?! I didn't start yesterday!"

"Then why did you still do it?" the other boy asked dryly, untying his red headband from his forehead to wipe his sweat.

"I was trying to help you da ne!"

Kisarazu was shocked. Utterly shocked. He silently wondered if Yanagisawa was born as confused as he felt at the moment. "Help me? Help me?! Are you serious? I wouldn't exactly call that helping me!"

"Ok, so maybe you were a little annoyed during the match, da ne," Yanagisawa began cheerfully as Kisarazu stared at him incredulously, "but didn't you notice? You played a little better and hit the ball harder every time da ne! I love playing tennis and I wanted you to relax da ne. You'd have more fun that way."

Brows furrowing, Kisarazu frowned. Thinking back, he closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Yes, I am right, aren't I da ne?" Yanagisawa said loudly with a huge, goofy grin on his face.

"…you're still insufferable though."

"So, can I call you Atsushi da ne?"

"No."

"Why not da ne?"

"Because I just met you."

"Come on…"

"No."

"Please da ne?"

"No!"

-- --

"That was some impression we left on the team da ne," Yanagisawa laughed, falling back on the bed in the infirmary. "I had so much fun that day, da ne…"

"You would have," Kisarazu said with a soft smile. "It took us a while to get used to each other though."

"True, but that was the most excitement I had in a while da ne!" the other boy exclaimed at the memory. "I'm just glad we're best friends now da ne."

Kisarazu laughed and rolled his eyes, but said nothing against his statement. It was pretty much true after all.

Their friendship was like melting snow in a palm. At first, it was hard and cold, difficult to adjust to the foreign coldness on exposed skin. However, after exerting some force and will, body heat will slowly melt the snow, turning it into water. Once melted, the snow that had become water is much more comfortable and easier to bear. After all, water is essential to life, much like friendship.

"YANAGISAWA!"

Grinning, Kisarazu stood up abruptly. "Look at that, Yanagisawa! Mizuki's looking for you! You should go out to meet him!"

"Oh, come on, Atsushi da ne!" Yanagisawa wailed.

Kisarazu simply grinned at his partner before stepping outside with a serious face to point Mizuki down the hall. Yanagisawa had always been looking out for him. It was nice to return the favor sometime.

"Kisarazu, you're hiding him, aren't you? You both are going to be in so much trouble!" Mizuki fumed with his now purple hair at the boy who stood in the doorway looking innocent.

"I don't know, Mizuki… I thought you liked purple…"

"TROUBLE, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Mizuki-san, calm down!" Yuuta exclaimed, pulling the purple haired boy away, his face red from restraining his laughter.

Yanagisawa peeked out from the room, instantly spotted by Mizuki. "Ah! Now's a good time to run, isn't it, da ne?"

Laughing, Kisarazu grabbed the other boy by the arm and ran down the hall. They would be partners for a long time. After all, it was Yanagisawa who taught Kisarazu how to melt snow.

"COME BACK HERE!"

"Run faster, Atsushi da ne!"

"YANAGISAWA!"

Owari.

-----

A/N: Ah, gawd… x.X;; that was…difficult to write. Lol. I wrote and re-wrote this several times. I had a bit of a writers block for humor, so I decided to pick this up again. n.n;; Difficult indeed…

I don't know…I just have some trouble writing Yanagisawa in drama XD… this is the result of my sad attempt. Turned out more humorous than I expected and more of Kisarazu than I expected too, but generally I like it. I liked writing the tennis match. That was fun. XDDD Which brings up the tennis terms I used…

Tennis terms:

baseline – line on back of the court

alley – area on the sides of the court used in doubles

service line – horizontal line across the center of the court

ad side – left side (the right side is the deuce side)

Actually, I'm not even sure that was needed, but… Ah, oh well. XD

Thanks for reading, everyone! Leave a review if possible!