Series : Tennis no Oujisama
Disclaimer : SO not mine, dammit. >__>
Pairing : mentions of ZukaAto. OshiGaku and ToriShishi if you choose to look at it that way.
Status : Finished
Warning : Set somewhere in the middle until the end of Outside the Courts, when Atobe and Tezuka were still dating secretly. But it can stand alone, so you don't really need to read Outside the Courts to understand it. ^_^
a Tennis no Oujisama fanfiction:
The Secret (... Or Not)
by Silver Wind
silverwind at yaoi-front dot org
"You saw Atobe WHERE?" Mukahi Gakuto asked in disbelief to one of his teammates.
The atmosphere in Hyoutei Gakuen's Tennis Club room after practice was usually relaxed and filled with jokes. Because although outsiders viewed them as a bunch of arrogant and snobbish boys, they were still teammates. And after the usual 'military drill', as how Gakuto had dubbed Sakaki-kantoku's training style, they mostly felt tired enough to just ignore it if one of them made an overly-sensitive insultjoke.
This particular evening, the second youngest member of Hyoutei's Regulars, while putting his school uniform on, offhandedly had mentioned something that surprised his seniors.
Finished changing his clothes, Oshitari Yuushi smirked, "Are you sure you weren't imagining things, Ootori?"
Shishido Ryou's glare was instantly on the prodigy of their team, "Choutarou isn't prone on imagining things, Oshitari! If he said he saw Atobe at the cinema with Tezuka Kunimitsu, it must be true!"
Mukahi rolled his eyes heavenward, "Shishido, Ootori can defend himself. You're not his wife, you know."
"That's not the point!" Shishido half-shouted, blushing at the words.
"But Ootori, are you sure about it?" Oshitari turned to look at the taller boy.
Ootori Choutarou, still blushing over Gakuto's words too, nodded quickly, "I'm sure, Oshitari-san. How can I not recognize Atobe-san anywhere? And Tezuka-san too. Even in the middle of the crowd, they're very distinctive."
"Hmm, true," the Kansai third-year said thoughtfully, "But what would Atobe do in a public cinema?"
"Yeah," Shishido added, still glaring at Mukahi, "He has his own home theater at home."
"Like we can forget it," the acrobatic player snorted, "Atobe probably has the most complete movie collection I've ever seen!"
"Then what was he doing there?" Oshitari leaned back onto the wall, folding his arms across his chest.
"With Seigaku's Tezuka Kunimitsu, no less," the hot-headed player finished.
The sound of zippers came from the corner and another of their Regulars shouldered his racket bag, making his way to the door.
"Oi, Hiyoshi, where are you going?" the bespectacled boy called him.
"Home, Oshitari-san," Hiyoshi Wakashi answered sullenly, but the other Regulars ignored it as it was usual for Hiyoshi.
Mukahi smirked, "Don't have anything to say for this mystery, Hiyoshi?"
The second year just gave him A Look, "I'd say that why Atobe-san was at the cinema with Tezuka Kunimitsu is his own business. But you'll all ignore me anyway. So I'm going home instead. I have martial arts training."
Without any further words, he exited the room, not even turning back to look at his teammates.
"Sheeesh," the shortest Regular grumbled, "He's no fun at all."
Ootori coughed mildly to attract their attention, "Hiyoshi is right, though, Mukahi-san. It's really none of our business."
Silence fell in the club room. They all looked at one another, and looked at the Regular who hadn't said any words. True, the said Regular was snoring peacefully on the bench, though. Mukahi took several steps forward and began shaking Akutagawa Jirou's shoulders.
"Hey, Jirou!" he yelled in Jirou's ears, making Shishido glared at him again, because really... Mukahi's voice wasn't the prettiest when he yelled, "Jirou! Know anything about it? Jirou! Wake up, dammit!"
The Scud Serve expert only sighed in resignation and sat on the other bench. His doubles partner raised an eyebrow at him and Ootori smiled weakly, feeling uncomfortable about 'gossiping' over his captain.
"Don't worry," Shishido murmured, awkwardly patting Ootori's shoulder, "They would get tired of it soon enough."
The weak smile turned cheerful and Shishido blushed again.
Jirou's sleepy protests to Mukahi made the private moment ended and they both turned to look.
"Gakutoooooooo... I want to sleeeeeeeeeep. Go awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay," the other prodigy on the team complained, hands pushing Mukahi away.
"You sleep all the time!" Gakuto retorted, still shaking Jirou's shoulders, "Come on, Jirou! Do you know anything about Atobe and Tezuka at the cinema together?"
Akutagawa sat up, eyes still blinking sleepily as he pouted at Mukahi, "You woke me up just to ask THAT?? Gakuto, you're crazier than I thought."
Shishido snorted at that and Oshitari fixed a glare on the counter-puncher player. Shishido just glared back, muttering "What? He's not your wife either, right?" and making Ootori blushed again.
The shortest Regular put his hands on his hips, glaring half-heartedly because no one could ever be annoyed at Jirou, "You know about it or not, Jirou? The sooner you say it, the sooner you can go back to sleep again!"
"Fine, fine," he yawned, "Wasn't Atobe on a date with Tezuka?"
A pause.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat???" Shishido narrowed his eyes, mentally replaying Jirou's words to make sure he didn't imagine things.
"A date???" Gakuto said incredulously, "With Tezuka Kunimitsu???"
Ootori blinked, trying to recall what he saw outside the cinema on his mind.
"A date," Oshitari repeated, fixing the position of his glasses, "Must be why he leaves the club so quickly lately."
"Yeah, a date," Jirou yawned again, completely uncaring that he just made his teammates flipped out, "You know... they're doing dating things," he waved a hand there, "Watching movies. And stuffs. Dinner. Dating things."
"Dating things?" Mukahi echoed, still trying to wrap his mind over the concept of Atobe dating Tezuka.
"Nnnn. Okay, Gakuto. Let me sleep again. Bye," without even waiting for an answer, Jirou flopped down on the bench again.
Shishido looked at his partner, "Choutarou..."
"Er, I wouldn't know, Shishido-san," the taller boy was still blinking with a dazed expression, "I didn't see them close enough."
"But Jirou wouldn't lie," the prodigy commented, looking at the opposite wall thoughtfully.
"So that's why he invited the Seigaku team for training matches a couple of months ago," Shishido muttered under his breath.
"It's true then?" Gakuto said what was on their minds, "Atobe is dating Tezuka Kunimitsu?"
Silence.
"Yuushi," the acrobatic player said faintly.
"Hmm?" Oshitari looked down at his doubles partner.
"Is this a nightmare?"
Silence again.
Then Shishido reached out to smack Gakuto upside the head. The dazed atmosphere disappeared soon enough, followed by the shorter boy's shouts of indignation and Oshitari glaring daggers at Shishido.
---
"Maybe we should just interrogate Kabaji," Mukahi suggested, bouncing on the steps to test his agility.
The four of them were still walking together. They just deposited the sleeping Jirou at his house, as usual receiving smiles and thanks from his mother and younger sister. They didn't even think about it, as it was an unwritten rule at the club that whoever left the club room last had to be responsible for Jirou to reach his house safely. And since it was Jirou, the rest of the Regulars didn't mind doing it. The one time receiving frantic phone calls from Jirou's family and finding the peacefully sleeping boy early morning in the club room was enough. Not to mention the hundred laps from Sakaki-kantoku they had to run after that.
Ootori looked at his senior reproachfully, "Mukahi-san, really..."
"Yes," Oshitari nodded seriously, "Kabaji won't say anything. You know that, Gakuto."
"That's not what I meant!" Ootori protested, looking at the third-years in exasperation.
"Oh, come on! Aren't you curious about it?" Gakuto just fixed a challenging stare at the much taller boy.
As predicted, Ootori blushed, "But it doesn't mean we should..."
Oshitari just raised an eyebrow, drawling his words out lazily, "Ootori, don't you want to look after your captain?"
Shishido looked at the prodigy in disbelief. Oshitari smirked at him.
"But Atobe-san's privacy...," Ootori still tried weakly.
"Choutarou, just let them do what they want," Shishido glared at the other doubles pair, "And we'll stay the hell out of it."
Ootori sighed and gave up. Mukahi and Oshitari exchanged victorious smiles.
"Come on," Shishido said, tugging Ootori away from the other two. He looked over his shoulder briefly, "I'll send flowers to your funerals if Atobe kills you!"
"He won't!" Gakuto called out, smirking, "He'll order Kabaji to do it, and we can avoid Kabaji!"
Shishido rolled his eyes heavenward, and, with Ootori, left them.
"Shishido-san," the tall boy said worriedly, "Is it really okay?"
He shrugged, "I don't know, Choutarou. But if Atobe doesn't want them to find out about him, they won't. Just relax."
Ootori sighed again.
The hot-headed third year smiled faintly at him, sensing how worried Ootori still was, "Want to have dinner? You can have beef casserole at the usual place."
A smile appeared on Ootori's face, "They have great cheese sandwiches too, right?"
Shishido chuckled, "Come on."
---
"Yuushi, do we really want to spy on Atobe?" a frown appeared on Gakuto's face as he looked around inside the brightly-lit fast food restaurant.
Oshitari smiled genuinely at his partner, an expression the others very rarely saw on his face, "You were so excited about it."
He pouted, "I only wanted to tease Shishido and Ootori."
The prodigy laughed and took some french fries off Gakuto's plate, "I know, Gakuto."
He swatted at the hand and put his own hands over his plate protectively, "We're sane enough not to meddle in Atobe's business, right?"
"At least not directly," Oshitari agreed, hand posing over the french fries again, "You won't finish the fries, anyway, Gakuto. Might as well give the rest to me."
A glare.
Oshitari chuckled, pushing his own plate towards his partner, "Here, you can have my chicken nuggets."
Mukahi instantly exchanged their plates, munching contentedly on a nugget and earning another chuckle from the taller boy.
"Yuushi, have any idea what to do?" he peered up at the Kansai boy through his bangs.
"Aside from leaving Atobe alone?" Oshitari said mock-seriously, pausing to drink his apple juice, "We can ask the Seigaku kids."
Gakuto snorted, "Are you kidding? They're blind! Hell, they wouldn't know their captain is dating someone until the fact is shoved under their noses!"
"True," Oshitari agreed, "But not all of them are like that, Gakuto."
"Name one," Mukahi grumbled, snatching another nugget from Oshitari's plate, "Definitely not that 'Bakamaru Beam'."
"Fuji Shuusuke," his partner answered calmly.
Gakuto stopped in mid-chewing, eyes widening at the name, "Hey, that's right. He would know."
"But will he tell us? I don't think so," Oshitari said, Fuji's blue eyes flashing on his mind, and he chuckled, "Maybe he'll tell Jirou."
"Maybe Jirou knew from him!" the acrobatic player snapped his greasy fingers.
Silence.
"We shouldn't do anything then?" Gakuto grinned.
Oshitari raised his glass to his lips, smiling in amusement, "Well, if Atobe ever admits that he IS dating Tezuka to us, this would be interesting."
---
He entered Hyoutei Gakuen's huge library, looking around for a certain person. He found the person at one of the reading tables, silently absorbing the printed words and ignoring everything around him. Gakuto grinned and made his way towards the student council president, stopping just beside the desk.
"Oi, Atobe," Mukahi said casually.
The Hyoutei captain looked up from his 'Either/Or' and narrowed his eyes, "What do you want, Gakuto?"
The shorter boy looked affronted at that, "What? I just want to borrow your Greek notes, dammit. Why are you so suspicious of me?"
"You deserve it," Atobe retorted, reaching inside his school bag, "What happened with Oshitari's notes?"
Gakuto rolled his eyes heavenward and accepted the stack of neatly bound papers, "Thanks. Yuushi watched Moulin Rouge for the fifteenth time last night and forgot to bring his notes for me today."
Atobe sighed, "I can't believe he did it on a school night, and during final tests as well. Gakuto, copy those notes now. I don't want you to take them home. Although I'm sure I'll ace the last test tomorrow, as usual, but I still want to study again tonight."
"Fine, fine," Mukahi muttered, walking to the corner of the library where the photocopy room was located, "Dating should make him more relaxed. But then again, he's dating Tezuka Kunimitsu, for God's sake. No wonder he's bloody uptight..."
Behind him, Atobe looked suspiciously at the back of the acrobatic player. Sometime later, Gakuto returned to Atobe's table with the photocopied notes in his left hand.
"Thanks," he put the original on the table.
"Hmm," the suspicious look was still on Atobe's face.
Mukahi blinked, "What?"
"You're not turning into that Fudoumine weirdo, right?" Atobe accused, putting the notes inside his bag again.
Blink.
A sigh, "You mumbled to yourself just now," the captain clarified in exasperation, "Because if you are, I'll kick you out of Hyoutei myself."
Gakuto looked disgusted, "I will pretend I didn't hear that."
"Whatever," Atobe waved a hand in obvious dismissal as he looked down at his book again.
"No so fast, dammit," the shorter boy grumbled, "Do you have any idea what's going to be on the test tomorrow?"
"Yes. Everything on my notes," he didn't even look up as he waved a hand again.
Gakuto rolled his eyes heavenward again and left Atobe alone.
---
"Atobe-san," Hiyoshi stopped beside his captain and lowered his voice, looking slightly uncomfortable, "You have a guest."
Atobe looked questioningly at Sakaki-kantoku and the dignified man just nodded, dismissing him. Atobe bowed down slightly and turned to the next captain of Hyoutei Gakuen's Tennis Club. Hiyoshi only nodded in the direction of the club room, the uncomfortable look still on his face.
"Thanks, Hiyoshi," he clapped the younger boy on his back and walked away, with Hiyoshi muttering something he didn't care to hear behind him.
As Atobe passed him, Mukahi looked up from his shoes, his instincts telling him that an interesting thing was about to happen. And it cheered him up. Despite Atobe's notes, Gakuto still didn't think he completely aced the Greek final test earlier in the morning.
"Gakuto?" Oshitari gave his partner a strange look when he saw Gakuto tiptoeing to the wire fence.
"Ssshh," he hissed, not even looking back.
Oshitari followed Gakuto to the fence and he chuckled when he saw the person who stood in front of the club room.
"What is he doing here?" Mukahi whispered urgently, glancing briefly at Oshitari beside him.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" the taller boy said in amusement, "Today's the last final test and club practice for us, and for him too, right? He must be picking Atobe up."
"My God," a low voice beside the two of them surprised them, "They really are dating. I can't believe it."
Gakuto stared at Shishido in disbelief, "You just realized it NOW? Where have you been, Shishido? You heard what Jirou said to us last week!"
"He's in denial," Oshitari commented calmly.
"Shishido-san," Ootori said in a horrified tone, "We shouldn't be here..."
"What are the four of you doing?" the cold voice froze them.
They all turned around, very slowly, and cringed in unison when they saw the expression on the man's face.
"Kantoku," the Scud Serve expert said weakly, stepping in front of Shishido as if to protect his partner.
Shishido shoved Ootori aside, glaring at the younger boy, "We're not doing anything, Kantoku."
Ootori looked down guiltily.
"Somehow I find it hard to believe, Shishido," one eyebrow rose eloquently, "Mukahi, Oshitari, have anything more to add?"
The acrobatic player gulped and looked challengingly at the coach, "We're just looking at Atobe and Tezuka Kunimitsu."
The cold gaze moved to rest on the two soon-to-be former captains, "Indeed."
Atobe had been standing with his back towards them all through the conversation, but when Tezuka nodded at the spectators' direction and said something, he suddenly turned around.
"Kantoku," he said calmly, walking towards the fence with Tezuka following, not even batting an eyelash at the presence of the Hyoutei's Regulars AND their coach.
"Atobe," Sakaki replied just as calmly, "And Tezuka-kun from Seigaku."
Tezuka bowed down politely, "Sakaki-sensei," the eyes behind the glasses looked at the Regulars, "Oshitari, Mukahi, Shishido and Ootori."
Atobe folded his arms across his chest, looking coolly at the boys, "May I ask what were you all doing?"
Oshitari smirked, Gakuto following suit, "We're trying to decide if you're really dating Tezuka or not."
Ootori choked at that and Shishido rubbed his partner's back comfortingly, chewing on the inside of his mouth to hold back his laughter.
Sakaki's eyebrow rose again, "That's interesting."
Atobe glared, "What if we are?"
"Since when?" Gakuto challenged.
"Officially or unofficially?" Tezuka asked suddenly, a faint smile on his face.
"Officially, of course," Oshitari smirked wider.
"Three months ago," Atobe muttered, glaring half-heartedly at his boyfriend who only stood there calmly, looking amused over the whole situation.
"Hah!" Mukahi shouted gleefully and his partner chuckled, both looking smugly at the other doubles pair, "Shishido, give it to us!"
Shishido looked ready to kill, "Damn you all," he took some money from the pocket of his pants and dropped it on Gakuto's outstretched hand.
"Shishido-san!" Ootori shouted in a horrified tone.
"What?" he defended himself, giving Ootori a sheepish look.
Sakaki turned around and walked away, looking over his shoulder briefly, "Just as long as the two of you won't slack off on courts..."
"Shishido-san," the younger boy scolded, "I can't believe you did it!"
His partner only gave both Tezuka and Atobe a guilty grin and dragged Ootori away with the junior still scolding him.
Mukahi and Oshitari smirked, the shorter boy looking at Tezuka and saying, "Well, a belated congratulations then. Thanks, Atobe. We consider this money a treat from you," still laughing, they both started walking away too.
Atobe sighed and called out to his teammates, "In the words of Seigaku's number one brat, you're all still mada mada dane!"
Tezuka's lips twitched and he kissed his boyfriend to shut him up.
FIN
Notes:
For Ryuu Nagareboshi, because she asked for it. And for Becky Marie too. ^___^
Much, much thanks to cadenza for translating Hyoutei's profiles from 20.5. ^^ It helped a lot. XD
Finished : December 17, 2003.