Title: Gracefully
Author: Coco96
Rating: K
Pairing(s): slight Platinum Pair
Beta(s): Lynn
Notes: My second attempt at a one-shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone that can be recognized from the Prince of Tennis. These characters belong to Takeshi Konomi.
Summary: An ex-girlfriend's short reflection on Niou Masaharu.
-.-.-.- Gracefully -.-.-.-
In the rain, tears become indistinguishable from the drops of the falling sky. Perhaps this was why she enjoyed it so much. Seeing how she was incapable of hiding even the smallest bit of herself from the boy – the man – that she loved, she supposed she took a sliver of comfort that in this one instance, even he wouldn't be able to tell for certain that she was broken.
To think that everything her friends had warned her about came to light. She'd never wanted to believe that he was able to, no it was worse, that he was willing to hurt her. Even now, she couldn't fathom it. But she'd seen it. Seen his betrayal with her own two eyes.
Despite that, she wasn't able to raise hatred or anger or any of the emotions that she had the right to feel out of her sorrow and despair. The feelings just wouldn't come. It was, she realized bitterly, because she loved him. She loved him and for those moments when he'd been cheating on her, wrapping his arms around another, he looked content, he looked blissful. And she couldn't, no matter how justifiable, bring herself to feel anything but a bittersweet… something for him and his newfound love.
It was understandable. They knew each other better than any two who've ever been in existence. Still, their love would never flourish. It was, after all, taboo. Actually, to say their love wouldn't flourish, she knew was a lie. Fondly, she thought back to the smirking boy of her dreams and recalled his lack of care for the rules. She remembered when he'd decided that they should become a couple as well. He'd left no room for any argument on her part, leaving her only to give an unneeded yes.
The smile that found its way to her lips twisted. They, if even for a short time, would be together if Niou Masaharu had anything to say about it. The kind, determined Gentleman didn't stand a chance against to the Trickster. Although from the looks of it, it didn't seem as though he was putting up much of a fight. She paused in her distaste for the reserved boy to sympathize with him; she knew from personal experience how difficult it could be to date Niou.
Though he never told her the reason, she suspected that his need for attention stemmed from his family. Said need was the cause for many of his pranks and random flights of fancy. However, after dealing with him in the tennis club as a doubles partner, she supposed Yagyuu Hiroshi knew of Niou's pathologic need to be in the minds of his companions, whether it be in the front with them cursing his existence or in the back with them wondering whether or not he had anything planned for the day and if they were a target.
There wasn't much she could do other than bow out gracefully, she thought, a frown delicately pulled on the edges of her lips. In retrospect, the outcome was bound to happen. It was a small condolence that she would, for Yagyuu's sake, be the last girl that the infamous playboy dated.