A is for Atobe the Alpha of Hyoutei
Fifty shorts on Atobe Keigo -- For 1Character, Alpha set at Livejournal
1.Speak
Atobe watched his teammates before practice that day. Jirou was snoozing on one of the benches, Oshitari was assisting his doubles partner in warm-ups, Shishido and Ohtori were talking quietly out of the way of everyone else, Kabaji was leaning against the fence not really doing anything, and Hiyoshi was reading a book. Nobody was paying attention to their captain at that moment. It didn't bother Atobe though. When he needed their attention he would have it. Ore-sama after all had no trouble calling attention to himself.
In fact, all he would have to do is open his mouth. After the first words had left his mouth, everyone would be looking at him, to him, to tell them what to do. Ore-sama was their leader. Even Jirou would wake up to hear what his captain had to say before drifting back off into dreamland. No one else would know it, but Atobe knew they listened to his every word, looked up to him. They didn't need to worship him (though it would certainly be nice) like Fudomine's captain, he could see it in the way they played, the way they always strived to be better.
He glanced at his watch and saw that it was time for practice to start. He stood up and flipped his hair with a flourish. "All right everyone. Today's practice will begin. Ore-sama wants to see everyone at their best today."
And while he could see Gakuto rolling his eyes and Shishido muttering things under his breath, he knew they had listened.
2.Touch
Atobe knows there's a difference between the Hyoutei regulars and the rest of the school. They don't fall at his feet, for one. Nor do they leap out of his way when he walks down the halls. They're not afraid to talk to him. They'll even talk back to him. His teammates don't treat him like everyone else.
So he shouldn't have been surprised that his Christmas present to the rest of the school, didn't go over as well with his team.
"What? None of you want to touch Ore-sama?"
3. Memory
He remembered the first time he wanted to play tennis. His father was away on a business trip, and his mother was gone for the weekend with the girls. He was left alone in the house with the maids. He was six at the time, and didn't like to be in such a big house by himself, especially when he knew his parents were gone. So little Keigo would follow around the maids. The cook was his favorite. She did more interesting things, and taught him how to cook certain meals, and if he was good would feed him as bits as she went along.
She would often have some mini black and white TV set up in the kitchen. The maid was a gruff, but nice woman he remembered. She loved sports, which he found strange for a girl, at the time. Her favorite though was tennis. So often he would catch matches between internationally pro players as he idly sat on the counters while the woman cooked. What first caught his attention was a doubles pair who had won the first round of their tournement. He remembered in their victory speech that they went on and on about how it was all thanks to each other, and they couldn't have done it without the other. For a kid who didn't have any friends but the staff who took care of him, it meant a lot that people could depend on one another so much. He didn't understand it, but he wanted to. So when his mother returned Sunday night he asked to be signed up for lessons.
He started lessons the next Wednesday. And by eight he was the best singles player his age in the region. (He'd given up on doubles, because it seemed he couldn't learn the cooperation it took, but he'd found a new passion in singles.)
4.Vanilla
Much to everyone's surprise Atobe was not fond of vanilla. If he ever had vanilla flavored ice cream he always made sure there was something else to it. Often this meant coating it in strawberry, or more often chocolate syrup. Or if it was a cone he usually covered it in caramel or sprinkles (of the rainbow or royal purple variety). Either way, anything vanilla flavored was not on his list of favorite things.
However, when Ohtori had baked a vanilla cake for his birthday that year, he took one look at the double's player's hopeful face, and another at his partner's threatning glare, and sighed in resignition. Perhaps vanilla wouldn't be so bad this once.
5.Chocolate
On the contrary to his dislike of vanilla Keigo indulged in chocolate. Unbeknownst to everyone else (except Jirou who had accidentally stumbled upon it one time) there was a hidden chocolate stash in his room. After all he had to do something with all the valentine's gifts he got. He couldn't just throw it away.
So it was one late Saturday night, that a chocolate craving hit the tennis captain hard. The little pieces of chocolate hidden away would to little to satisfy him. So he crept downstairs quietly, so as not to wake any of the staff and made his way into the kitchen. Somewhere he knew there was brownie mix. He dug around in the cupboards for a few moments before--Aha!
Atobe unceremoniously dumped the brown powder into a bowl, added some eggs and water as per the directions and stirred. Hand stirred because an electric mixer would be too loud. And when he finished he licked the spatula and rolled his eyes upward in the pleasure that was chocolate. He finished licking it clean then stole away to his room with a spoon. Keigo loved brownies.