I do not own PoT or its characters!
This just came to my head this morning. So thought I'd write it down. Hope you like!
Broken Hearted
Only A Play Thing?
It was Christmas Eve, and Ryoma was wide awake. He was hoping this Christmas would be different than the last. But he doubted it. Mainly, because his lovers birthdays had been just as
bad as last Christmas. They always tossed his gifts to the side. Did he do anything wrong? They didn't throw him out, so whatever he did couldn't be so bad, right? He wondered if he'd get
anything for Christmas this year from them. It was so troublesome, dealing with them sometimes. He didn't know what to do. With those thoughts flowing through his head, he fell into a fitful
sleep.
Ryoma woke to talking and laughing, he yawned tiredly and got of bed towards where the noise was coming from. His lovers were sitting around the den opening Christmas gifts. He knew
as soon as he looked into the room, that there was nothing for him. He sighed inwardly. He watched as they each picked up a small box, a gift from him, glanced at the tag and threw it to
the side, breaking glass was heard. Ryoma stifled his cry of shock. He had spent hours searching for the perfect gift and they just tossed it aside. He lowered his head to hide the tears that
threatened to spill, all though one managed to escape. He turned and walked dejectedly back towards his room. Atobe's butler stopped Ryoma in the hall. "Master Ryoma, this is from all of
us." Handing a wrapped box to Ryoma. By all, he meant Atobe's 'servants'. Ryoma gave him a smile, "Arigato." The butler smiled gently, and just as Ryoma turned away, he was stopped
again. "Master Ryoma, you have gifts from your friends in your room." Ryoma looked back at him, "Arigato." He smiled again. The butler bowed and walked off, wondering how long Ryoma
would be able to stand the other's treatment. Ryoma walked into his room with a sigh, giving a small smile at the gifts. "Arigato…minna." Ryoma whispered as he sat on his bed, holding back
tears.
Opening his gifts he gave a shaky laugh at each one. Kikumaru gave him a stuffed cat, which looked just like Karupin. Takashi gave him a weeks worth of tickets for free sushi, with a note,
'Gomen Echizen. I couldn't think of anything else.' Ryoma chuckled, 'The gift's just fine.' Opening Momo's present, he found his favorite grip tape and a book on how to play double. Ryoma just
shook his head in amusement. Oishi gave him a framed picture of the Seigaku regulars, which he hadn't even known had been taken. He opened Inui's present to find a journal, looking
almost like Inui's, a note inside, 'Thought you would like something to write down your thoughts…or to just gather data.' Ryoma smiled, 'That Inui-sempai…' Then the last was from Kaido.
Inside was a framed photo of him, Kaido, and Karupin. Kaido had also written a note, 'Inui-sempai took this picture sometime. I got a copy myself. Hope you like. Fssshhh…' Ryoma smiled
fondly at the picture, 'Arigato Kaido-sempai.' Putting the photo's on his nightstand, the journal and tickets inside the nightstand. He put the gifts from Momo inside his dresser. And Kikumaru's
gift was sat on his bed. He looked down and saw the gift that the butler handed him. "Oh…forgot one." Ryoma bent down and picked it up, opening it slowly. He pulled out a glass racket
that would sit on the stand, also in the box. There was another gift inside, 'For Karupin'. Ryoma smiled and pulled it out. "Oi, Karupin. Look what everyone got you." Karupin tilted his head
slightly, "Merrow." Ryoma opened it and pulled out a new cat toy and twin food bowls. "See Karupin. These are nice food bowls. They were nice to get them for you." Karupin purred,
"Merrow!" Ryoma set the gift on the bed and lifted a gift from the nightstand for Karupin, from him. "Merrow?" Ryoma smiled, "This is from me Karupin." Karupin watched as Ryoma opened it,
inside was Karupin's favorite snacks, new grooming equipment, and a few more cat toys. "Merrow!" Ryoma smiled at Karupin, "Ah. You like this?" Karupin purred, "Merrow."
Ryoma played with Karupin until the butler entered the room, pushing a food cart. "Are you hungry Master Ryoma?" Ryoma looked up with a smile, "Ah. Arigato." The butler bowed and smiled
at the two before leaving the Ryoma. Ryoma walked to the cart and then looked to Karupin, "Hungry Karupin?" Karupin meowed with a purr. Ryoma set out the new food bowls and filled one
with the cat food, which was also on the cart, and the other with water. Karupin meowed in thanks. Ryoma smiled and took his own food, sitting on the bed, eating silently while thinking of
what he was going to do today. Karupin meowed up at Ryoma. Ryoma looked down at Karupin and blinked, "Ah…looks like we are down Karupin." Karupin meowed again, then Ryoma took
his plate and the food dishes, setting them on the cart. Karupin jumped up on the bed, "Time for a nap, eh Karupin?" Karupin meowed in answer, then yawned and fell asleep.
Ryoma sat and watched Karupin sleep. He didn't hear any laughing or talking now, so they were probably finished opening their gifts. Ryoma sighed, "I wish things weren't so complicated…"
Ryoma got dressed into day clothes, with one last glance at Karupin; he took his racket and headed to the street courts to bounce the ball against the wall there.
When Ryoma got to the courts he noticed that there were already some people there. He shrugged and headed to the wall and started bouncing the ball against it. He listened to all the
chatter going on around him, with little interest. Suddenly there was yelling coming from the courts; taking ball in hand he turned around to see Kamio and Momo yelling at each other. Ryoma
sighed, 'Not again…'
Kamio and Shinji walked onto the courts and saw Momo talking with Ann. Kamio started yelling, "Oi! You can't talk to Ann-chan! Get away from her!" Ann and Momo turned to Kamio and Shinji
a bit confused. Then Momo yelled back, "I can talk to whoever I want to!" Shinji just sighed, then looked around and noticed as Ryoma turned around, looking exasperated. Shinji let out a
soft chuckle and walked towards him. "Kamio and Momo are at it again. Don't they ever stop? Kamio has no say in who Momo speaks too. And he's always yelling." Ryoma looked at Shinji,
"Ne, Shinji…you talk too much." Shinji blinked, "Uh…ah…" Ryoma shook his head lips tilted into wry smile. Shinji looked dat Ryoma, "What are you doing here?" Ryoma just stared at him,
"What are you doing here?" Shinji tilted his head slightly, "Don't really know. Kamio just dragged me out of bed to here. He didn't say anything. He could have told me where we were going."
Ryoma sighed, "He probably brought you to play tennis Shinji." Shinji nodded, "Probably…"
Kamio looked around, he asked Shinji a question and he didn't answer, 'Where'd he run off to?' Momo glanced around too, spotting Shinji and Ryoma. "Ano…if you're looking for Shinji, he's
over there with Echizen." Kamio looked to the appointed area and sighed, "Bothering Echizen again." Kamio walked over, Momo right behind. "Oi! Shinji. You bothering Echizen again?" Shinji
looked over to Kamio, "Ah…no. You two were busy so I came to talk with Echizen. You two shouldn't shout so much. It's bothersome." Kamio sighed, "Fine Shinji. Fine." Kamio turned to
Ryoma, "Merry Christmas Echizen." Ryoma blinked, "Ah. Arigato. Merry Christmas to you too." Kamio gave a small smile, "Arigato." Momo grabbed Ryoma around the shoulders, "Echizen! How
you doing? You like my gift, huh?" Ryoma pulled himself out of Momo's grasp, "Ah. Arigato Momo-sempai." Momo grinned, "No problem, no problem at all." Shinji tapped Ryoma on the
shoulder, Ryoma turned to Shinji looking at him questionably. Shinji sighed, "Forget to tell you Merry Christmas. So Merry Christmas Echizen. Holidays are so troublesome. Don't you agree?"
Ryoma grinned, "Ah. Merry Christmas to you too. And I agree with you." Shinji nodded. They all turned to yelling from nearby, "Oi, brat! Ore-sama was looking for you. Why'd you come here?
We have courts back at the house." Ryoma shrugged, "Maybe I'd like to get away from the house once in a while, Monkey King." Atobe looked a bit shocked, then he glared, "Ore-sama has
no time for your childishness. Come on brat, let's go." Ryoma frowned, "Yadda." Atobe looked at Ryoma, "What was that?" Ryoma glared, "Yadda. I'm not going." Atobe grabbed his arm
tightly, and growled in Ryoma's ear "You're being childish again brat. I said lets go." Ryoma couldn't help the wince that came when Atobe grabbed his arm. "Fine. Just let go." Atobe frowned,
"Yadda." With that, Atobe dragged Ryoma to the limo.
Momo, Kamio, and Shinji stared after them in shock. "Ne Momoshiro?" Momo turned to Kamio, "What?" Kamio turned to Momo, "Is it always like that?" Momo shook his head, "That's the first
time I've seen that." Shinji looked thoughtful then started his muttering again, "That Atobe hurt Echizen. I wonder if he always hurts him. He did grab his arm pretty tightly. It even looked like
it hurt. I wonder how the others will react to how Atobe hurt Echizen." Kamio and Momo turned to Shinji, "Oi, Shinji. What do you mean he hurt Echizen?" Shinji stared at them as if they
were stupid, "When Atobe grabbed Echizen's arm, he winced. Didn't you see it?" Kamio and Momo put on a thinking face, "Ah! Now that you mention it, he did." Momo said wonderingly. They
all turned to where they saw the limo leave. "He better not be hurting Echizen." They all said in unison.
Atobe glared at Ryoma in the limo, but Ryoma's face was set in an 'I don't care' look. Even though he was hurting inside, he wasn't going to let him know it. This made Atobe even angrier,
"Brat, you should be thanking Ore-sama." Ryoma turned to Atobe, "Why?" Atobe hit the window, next to Ryoma, hard, but not hard enough to break it. Ryoma winced and instinctively moved
away from Atobe. Atobe didn't notice this; if he did he probably would have apologized. "Because you brat, not only did Ore-sama pick you up. But Ore-sama is letting you stay in his home."
Ryoma frowned, "It's not like I wanted you to come pick me up." Ore-sama snarled at him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, "You should be grateful! Ore-sama doesn't just pick up
anyone. I wouldn't have come looking for you if you had just told us you were going out." He said all this while shaking Ryoma. Ryoma looked unaffected on the outside, but inwardly he was
scared. "Go…Gomen Keigo…Arigato…" Atobe let him go with a push and huffed. "Fine." Ryoma sighed, inwardly, with relief.
Soon the limo pulled into the drive; the driver got out and opened the door for the two to get out. Atobe got out, followed by Ryoma. The man gave a sympathetic look towards Ryoma.
Ryoma just smiled a bit shakily, giving him a small thanks, he followed Atobe inside. The others were in the den talking when the two walked in. Tezuka stood, "Where'd you find him?" Atobe
huffed, "At the street courts. Why would he even go there when Ore-sama has perfectly find courts here? He didn't even want to leave; I had to force him to come back." They looked to
Ryoma, who looked at them defiantly. Fuji spoke up, eyes open, "Is this true Ryoma?" Ryoma just nodded. Fuji stood and slapped him. Ryoma held his hand to his face looking up at Fuji in
shock. "You are just a play thing. You do as we say and when we say it. Is that clear?" Ryoma nodded, hiding the pain, hurt, and fear that just wanted to burst through. Fuji nodded satisfied,
"Good. Now go to your room. We have no use for you now." Ryoma nodded again, with a small bow, and then hurried out. Is that all he was to them, just a play thing? It hurt to even think
of it. He went to his room and curled up on his bed, blinking back tears. Karupin jumped up on the bed and purred against Ryoma. Then curled up to give Ryoma reassurance that he was still
loved. Ryoma petted Karupin gently, "Arigato Karupin. I don't know what I'd do without you." Ryoma whispered.
The butler stood outside the room, pondering if he should go in to comfort him. But decided against it as he heard him talk to his cat. He thought about what had happened in the den. 'Is
that really all they see him as? Gomen, Master Ryoma. Gomen that you have to deal with this pain alone. Maybe one day they will see you as they should…and not just as a play thing.' With
that he walked away to leave Ryoma to himself as he silently mourned at the fact he was nothing more than something to toy with then as someone they should love. 'I'm not just a play
thing…I'm not…' These thoughts made the tears, he had been holding back, fall down his cheeks. "I'm not…" he whispered, "I'm not…"
Cliff-hanger! What will happen to Ryoma? Will his lovers see what they were doing wrong, before it's too late? Will Ryoma leave?