Fairytale Gone Bad

Musashi's vehicle of choice was – to Sakuraba's surprise – a worn out truck with lots of construction work stuff in the back. There was unexpectedly much space in the front though and Sakuraba sat down in the passenger's seat with a sigh, closing the door behind him gingerly. It resulted in the fact that the door did not close completely behind him, but Sakuraba felt too weak to close it properly and hoped that Musashi would not notice.

But he did not have such luck. After Musashi had sat down in the driver's seat and slammed his own door shut, he checked the opposite door and upon seeing that it was not entirely closed, he leaned over Sakuraba to open and close it properly.

The sudden proximity was too much for Sakuraba though. He held his breath as the other's side touched his legs, muscles heavy on his thighs. He hoped that he would not lean back against his chest by accident, because he felt like he would explode if he did. And there was this possibility that he would feel other parts of him.

Luckily, after a few moments that seemed like an eternity to Sakuraba, Musashi leaned back without commenting on anything. Somehow, the blond was a little disappointed, but on the other hand, it was probably better this way. Thus, he exhaled slowly as Musashi started up the engine, trying to conceal the fact that he had held his breath before.

"Where do you live?" Musashi asked calmly, startling Sakuraba nevertheless.

"Ah! Um," he stuttered, blushing furiously because his thoughts just went into the wrong direction, but then told the other his address.

The older looking one pursed his lips, trying to map the easier way through the entire city in his mind, until he finally gave up and fed the GPS that he fished out of his pants. He waited for a while, staring on its display, as did Sakuraba, looking over to his side, to catch a glimpse of what was happening. Then, suddenly, the route was there, the device said something and Musashi started to back out of the parking space. Quickly, Sakuraba retreated to his side of the car, glad that his hair was just long enough to hide his pink cheeks.

'Calm down, Haruto,' he tried to console himself. 'You're behaving like a schoolgirl, calm down, the more nervous you behave, the earlier he will notice that you're behaving strangely…'

He took another deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment and after that he was pretty sure that he could face Musashi without starting to hyperventilate like a girl. Trying to begin some conversation, Sakuraba tried to think of something to talk about that they had in common, but somehow he had problems coming up with any. The only thing he knew they had in common was American football, but he also knew that Musashi had quit, so he probably was not interested anymore.

"So, what were you doing there?" Musashi suddenly asked out of the blue, startling him so much that he twitched for a moment. "That late at night, too."

"I, um, I was doing a model job for Jerry Productions," Sakuraba explained hastily, "I've been at a photo shoot for Star Burger-"

"Oh, so that's you?" Musashi asked with an amused smirk. "I knew I knew their model from somewhere. I just didn't realize that it was you."

"Ah, but… I'm always looking the way I do in those commercials," Sakuraba said in embarrassment. "That's why my fans keep chasing me around no matter where I go…"

"Huh, guess that's unpleasant. Being unable to go where you want, that is," Musashi mumbled, eyes focused on the street although it was almost empty.

Sakuraba nodded with an exhausted sigh. "Yeah, but I'm grateful they're there for me… I mean, the only thing that I'm good at is looking nice for the camera… On the field, everybody is praising me for stuff that I am not really able to do-"

"You mean your position as a wide receiver for the White Knights?"

"Yes, everybody's praising me for that one catch I did by chance… I don't want to shatter their dreams by telling them that this was a pure coincidence," Sakuraba sighed and let his head hang back. "I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders."

The blond expected Musashi to laugh, to say something, but he heard nothing. He dared to glance over to the driving man, just to see his jaw set firmly. The muscles there were working quickly and Sakuraba could tell that he was clenching his teeth very tightly and he wondered which weak spot he had just prodded.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't want to bother you with my problems," he apologized quickly, laughing nervously. "I mean, on top of you driving you home I unload this stuff on you-"

"It's alright," Musashi sighed, closing his eyes for a second as if pushing away some unpleasant thoughts. "We're all carrying our own pack, right? Some carry more than others though…"

Sakuraba, suddenly very quiet, looked Musashi over and wondered just how much he regretted that he quit school. If it were him, he could not have been happy. He knew that he could make a lot more money if he concentrated on his modeling job, too, but that would have meant that he had to quit American Football, too, but that was the one and only thing he did not want. No matter how hard the training was, no matter how hard the weight on his shoulders, American Football was his dream and he wanted to carry out his dream of going as far as he could, which was hopefully the Christmas Bowl. At least.

The blond wondered as well if Musashi had had any dreams like this. If he wanted to go to the Christmas Bowl with his friends from Deimon just like Sakuraba wanted to with Shin, Takami, Ootawara and all the others. And then he realized just how terrible somebody like Musashi had to feel, who was loyal to his family to the depths of his whole being, if he had to leave his friends because the business was keeping him to busy to keep track with them.

Sakuraba could only guess from the guilty conscience he had every time his team was training while he was busy with some photo or commercial shooting. But, unlike Musashi, he was still able to go to school and train more often than not, so maybe he did not understand anything at all.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, feeling incredibly stupid and sad all of a sudden for his insensitivity and the fact that he was so incredibly lucky compared to Musashi.

"Huh, for what?" the other asked though, not letting show just how worked up he seemed to be just a moment ago.

"Just for… everything," Sakuraba laughed, hiding his own insecurity from not being able to make out Musashi's motives. "Mostly for bothering you to drive me home through the entire city."

"It's okay… Didn't want to go home either," Musashi smirked. "And the city looks awesome during nighttime."

"Yeah… Aren't the lights distracting you from driving? I mean the big ones, the giant screens and-"

"Actually, no," Musashi smiled. "They're like stars, you know? Just… bigger," he added with a sheepish laugh.

Sakuraba stared at the older looking one with wide eyes, being faced suddenly with a teenage boy that had a helplessly romantic streak. Despite himself and his surprise, he had to smile softly at the idea and wondered why he had never seen it like that before.

"You're right," he mumbled and looked outside, watching the signs around them move by fast.

~*~

"Once again, thank you for giving me a ride," Sakuraba said, smiling amiably as he bowed slightly in front of Musashi, who was about a head shorter than he was, still the blond felt as if he was . "How about I treat you to some coffee tomorrow?"

Musashi smiled back, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I said it's okay. You don't have to spend money on me."

"But I want to!" Sakuraba protested. "At least he gas, since you had to go all the way through the city for me…"

Musashi snorted, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. "You won't back down, will you?"

"No," Sakuraba grinned back. Somehow they got along really well, even though they had not talked very much during the ride home. The only topics they had talked about were very superficial, nothing specific. Instead, they had been dancing around the topic of school and football the whole time, knowing that these were weak spots that should not be discussed late at night in a car after they just met. That was something they could talk about later… on a date, Sakuraba thought.

Meanwhile, Musashi shook his head and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I don't know when I'll be off of work tomorrow, but, I can write you a message, if you want to."

The blond's heart beat a little faster at the prospect of getting the other's phone number this easily. "Sure! That… that would be nice! I'll give you my number," he said, fumbling his mobile phone out of his bag. Musashi had already pulled his out of one of the many pockets in his pants and switched it open with a flick of his wrist.

They exchanged their numbers quickly and then said their good-byes, Sakuraba waving after Musashi has left. He waited in front of his house until the sounds of the car had vanished. Then he sighed deeply.

He was having a date tomorrow.