Title: Because He's Worth It
Characters / Pairing: Gakuto, Atobe, Jirou, Shishido, mentions of other Hyoutei members / onesided!AtoJi, hinted!Dirty
Word Count: +/- 1337
Rating: PG-13 for Gakuto's language
Summary: Something's not right at practice, and Gakuto's determined to get to the bottom of it.

Something was off.

I couldn't place it. Practice seemed normal enough. Everyone was present; Atobe was preening, Ryou and Ohtori were preparing for a match against me and Yuushi, Jirou was awake, Hiyoshi was—

Wait.

Jirou was awake.

I stared across the courts towards the bench the blond occupied. He was sitting up, his eyes open – just barely, but still open – and staring down at his lap. He looked… sad. But Jirou never looked sad. In all the years I had known him, I'd never seen him do anything but smile.

"Something wrong, Gakuto?" Normally, having Yuushi sneaking up behind me and dropping his chin on top of my head would set me off in a world of ranting – I was short enough as it was, dammit, I didn't need him making me any shorter – but today was different. Jirou wasn't smiling and I wasn't going to just ignore it.

"I gotta ask Jirou somethin'," I stepped out from underneath the head using mine as a rest and made my way off the court, pausing only to call back over my shoulder for Ryou to follow. We three had been friends since elementary. It was only natural for us to stick together when one of us was down.

Not that we made it very far. Barely a second after we stepped off the court we were meant to be practicing on, our names were yelled out and the entire team stopped. Unsurprising. The problem with a school like Hyoutei was that all the kids were prissy, stuck-up rich kids who lived and breathed gossip and would take any opportunity to create it. Gossip within clubs was particularly notorious, especially in the tennis team, where regulars spots were just as hard to come by as they were back in middle school.

"Mukahi, Shishido. Ore-sama demands to know what is so important that you both must abandon your assigned training match."

Just because Atobe was in charge of deciding who was a regular and who wasn't didn't mean I had to like him. And I really didn't.

"A friend."

I watched as Atobe, standing on the bleachers that stood on one side of the courts, looked down at us. His eyes moved slowly, scanning each and every face on the team. He smirked.

"Friend? I was unaware you had any, Mukahi."

"Fuck you, Atobe."

"Ahn~? Does Yuushi know you think of me when he's screwing you?"

I ignored him. I told myself he wasn't worth it – he really wasn't. Besides, there were more pressing matters at hand. Tuning out any further taunts from my beloved captain and the odd looks we were receiving from the team, I dragged Ryou by his wrist towards Jirou. I kneeled down in front of him and placed a hand on his knee. When there was no response, I frowned and gave it a soft squeeze. Still no response. Jirou was just staring down at his lap, eyes half-closed and unfocused and… a faint red.

"What's wrong with Jirou-sen-"

"There is nothing wrong with Akutagawa." Atobe cut the curious pre-regular off before he could even finish. Jirou flinched. I twitched.

"His name is Jirou," I corrected him scathingly.

"Akutagawa," Atobe stressed the name – purposely; just to see me twitch. "Practice match with Hiyoshi. Now. Shishido, Mukahi, return to your partners and complete your doubles practice match."

There was no movement. Time seemed to drag on in silence. I didn't move from my spot in front of Jirou, nor Ryou from his place sitting at Jirou's side. The world seemed frozen, until a felt something wet hit the back of my hand.

Right. That was it.

"Atobe. What the fuck did you do to Jirou?" I wasn't angry. Pissed off beyond any level of aggravation previously achieved by a human being… That seemed pretty close. I stood, slowly, and turned to face Atobe. I couldn't believe him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. The guy was a complete and utter asshole. I couldn't see what anyone saw even remotely attractive about him; what Jirou saw in him to make him even consider falling for him. "Answer the question, Atobe. What the fuck did you do?"

"Ore-sama has no idea what you're tal—"

"Like fuck you don't. You've never called him Akutagawa before. Why suddenly start now?" God, I just wanted to go up there and sock the asshole across the face. The only thing stopping me was the shaking hand clinging to mine. I wasn't about to leave Jirou's side for anything. There was a thick, heavy silence hanging over the court as I waited for Atobe's response, my eyes locked with his.

"Royalty and peasants do not mix."

Anger subsided momentarily for confusion, before it clicked a second later. I tore my gaze away to stare wide-eyed down at my friend. "Jirou, you…" I didn't have to finish the question. He nodded wordlessly. I squeezed his hand and glared back up at Atobe. "All because he told you he liked you?"

"Ore-sama has no problem with members of his team becoming involved with each other. He just simply does not wish to become invovled himself. Besides, ore-sama is engaged and due to be wed so he can be ready to take over the company. There is no time for pathetic school crushes."

"Pathetic school… Fucking hell, Atobe. Do you have any idea who you're talking about?" I ignored the hand squeezing mine in a silent plea to make me shut up. No way in hell was I shutting up now. Not after that. "You know how big Jirou's heart is? Fuck knows how, but it's big enough to even slightly care about an asshole like you. He fucking adores you—"

"As he should."

"Don't interrupt me. Jirou adores you and, for god knows what reason, he loves you." And when Jirou loved someone, he put his all into it. It may have been completely platonic love for me and Ryou and rest of the team, but Atobe… Whatever Jirou saw in him had made him lucky enough for my friend to love him more than us. Or at least in a different way. "I thought you were supposed to have more clsss than this, Atobe. I always knew you were an asshole, but I didn't think you'd go as far to abandon a good friend just because he tells you he loves you."

"Love?" Atobe laughed callously. "You're one to talk about love. That 'love' of his? It is nothing more than a paathetic crush and makes him no better than the hoards of girls who throw themselves at ore-sama's feet."

"… You did not just say that. What the fuck gives you the right to decide the genuinity of someone else's love?"

"Mukahi, this is really getting quite pathetic. If you do not return to the court now, then Akutagawa, Shishido and yourself wil be dropped from the team. Permanently."

Jirou flinched.

Ryou breathed in sharply.

I didn't stop.

"See if we care. I don't even know why we're still here. We were perfectly happy before you showed up back in middle school. Why anyone would want to be in a team with you is beyond me."

"So you've made your decision? Then get off these courts. They are for use only by members of the tennis club. And I expect your cubbies to be cleared by the end of training."

As I helped a shaking Jirou to his feet, I cast a glance across the courts towards my partner. A pang in my chest at the expression Yuushi was wearing made me realize just what I had done… But I didn't let it show. Even if I was going to regret this for the rest of my life, no way was I giving Atobe the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead, I focused on supporting Jirou as we walked with Ryou back to the clubhouse.

We three had been together since elementary. It was only natural for us to stick together.