"Did you hear?"

"Yeah!"

"Wait! Hear what?"

"Atobe Keigo is doing a guest lecture for the senior business management course!"

"No way! What time?!"

Atobe walked down the halls of the university funded by his family's company, head down to avoid any attention. Despite his flamboyant teenage past, he realized with age that being at the centre of attention at all times wasn't necessary. He looked at the cell phone in his hand, noticing that he had passed the preparation room that he was supposed to meet his assistant for today at. As he backtracked, he heard a couple of voices.

"But sir! I'm doing my masters in finance, not business management! I think you should find a management student to aid this lecture, rather than me." It was a female's voice.

"But Yui!" An older man's voice chuckled, imitating what the said girl had just done, "You graduated at the top of the school, best we've had in a while. I think you would do a better job than most management students."

"But sir!"

Atobe chuckled to himself; it seemed as if the girl really didn't want to assist in his guest lecture. He opened the door, a polite smile hung on his face, hiding his amusement. "Hello Yamato-san, and… " He trailed off.

"Ah Keigo! You're here early! This here is Asahina Yui, she'll be helping you with today's lecture. She had also offered to be your escort of the day." Yamato, the elderly professor, smiled.

"Sir!" Yui widened her eyes in shock.

"That's very nice of you, Asahina-san. I look forward to today." Atobe flashed a charming smile.

Almost instantly, Yui turned to Atobe, bowed and smiled. "Nice to meet you, I'm Asahina Yui. I will be your guide for the day. Let us begin planning for the lecture then."

Atobe took note of her business-like attitude, and her natural leadership. It also appeared that Yui was unaffected by his position as Atobe Kingdom's CEO, and his supposedly godly looks.

"Of course, Asahina-san." And thus, they began to plan the lecture.

~.~.~

It wasn't until late afternoon that they had completed the agenda for the day. The last lecture Atobe was scheduled to attend was over, and they finally had time to sit down.

"Although the food at the cafeteria may not be as grand as you are familiar with, it will be a decent meal that will satisfy your hunger." Yui smiled.

"Contrary to public belief, I am not as 'grand' as portrayed. I live alone and make my own meals, it just so happens that magazines tend to photograph the extravagant parties and whatnot." He grimaced.

"Well, that's not a surprise." When she chuckled, there was a certain ring to it that tug at Atobe. "So I'm going to assume that now the lecture is over, we can be a bit more casual, right?" Atobe nodded as Yui gestured to the table that they were going to sit at. "Take a seat, I'll go buy some food."

Without waiting for Atobe's response, Yui walked over to order a very belated lunch for the two of them. Atobe stared at her back, amused at how she never treated him as being better than her, but rather as an equal. Even when she was helping him with the lectures, she was courteous and respectful, but it seemed like how she would act to anybody when it came to business. It was something that rarely occurred to him in Japan, in comparison to the time he stayed in London.

As Yui returned to the table, Atobe stood up and pulled out her chair. "Thanks," she smiled, "Today's menu consists of… ramen!" She enthusiastically announced as she set the tray down.

"Sounds great! Travelling abroad all the time makes it hard for me to enjoy Japanese food as often as I would like."

"Well then, you could come here more often! It's cheap and good at the TouDai cafeteria!" She stopped eating for a moment, "Not that you need it to be cheap… but it's always good to save more money, isn't it?!" She laughed lightly.

"Definitely." He smiled; it had been a while since Atobe could speak to somebody at his level. His middle school tennis teammates were busy people, leading busy lives with their families. With each man being an influential figure in their respective industries, their families had pressured them to get married early to a candidate that would aid them. Thankfully, most of them liked their partner. Atobe, being twenty-nine now, was starting to feel the pressure of finding a wife from his family, less for politics, but more that he was at the 'appropriate age' for marriage.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's on your mind?" Yui stared at him. "Something's distracting you… let me guess... family?" Atobe shuddered, it seemed like he was being read, whereas he was usually the one doing the reading.

"How did you know?" He asked, wide-eyed.

"I didn't!" She chuckled, "It was just a guess. I mean, it's always family, isn't it?" For just a fraction of a second, Atobe saw a dark expression cloud her eyes, but then, as sudden as it appeared, it was completely gone.

He smiled at her, "It is."

Atobe left TouDai soon after. He made sure to give Yui his business card before leaving, and to call his secretary to let her know to let him know immediately if she were to ever call.

~.~.~

"Sora-chan!" Yui called out as she opened the door to her house, "I'm home!"

"Mommy! Welcome home!" A little girl, with honey brown eyes that matched her honey brown hair, ran into Yui's arms.

"Sora-chan, your mother must be tired." An older lady emerged from the living room, "If only she learned to appreciate Kazuya-kun more…" She sighed and shook her head in disapproval.

"I hate him!" Sora screamed and clung onto her mother. "He's a demon! He's a demon!"

"Sora-chan, you're four years old now. You're a big girl! How can you cry over something so little?" Yui smiled at her daughter, patting her back.

"But… but.. he…" Sora sniffed as she attempted to stop crying.

"That's in the past now. Are you crying because you're not happy with mommy?" Yui faked a shocked expression, which in turn made Sora shake her head vigorously. "Then you have to smile for mommy! You said you're a big girl that will take care of mommy, right?"

"Yeah! Sora's a big girl now! I can protect mommy from demons!" The little girl fist-pumped, energized again.

"Alright! Let's go take a bath together now!"

"Yay! Bath with mommy! Can we have bubbles?"

~.~.~

"Graduating today, huh?" Yui stared at the university's large billboard indicating where the graduation ceremony will be held. "Wonder if there will be recruits here today…"

She sat down at her designated seat, waiting for the ceremony to start. Suddenly, the lights dimmed around her, and focused on the stage. "Today we have some special guest speakers, all alumnus of University of Tokyo. All of which are extremely successful in their respective careers currently. Please welcome Atobe Keigo – CEO of Atobe Kingdom, Sanada Genichirou – Chief Superintendent of our Police force, Ootori Choutaro of Ootori Law Firm, and Niou Masaharu – neurosurgeon at our very own University of Tokyo Hospital!"

Yui stared at the four men on stage, all around the young age of thirty, yet are so accomplished. As the four inspired the crowd with their speeches, Yui stared at her hands in her lap, with tears threatening to fall.

When it was Yui's turn to go on stage to represent her 'batch', donned in her hakama like the rest of the females in her group, she took a deep breath and bravely walked on stage. She had once helped Atobe Keigo with his lecture, and he was going to be watching her graduate. How embarrassing, she thought.

After the dreadfully long ceremony, Yui sighed and slumped back into her seat as everybody else was taking pictures. She didn't tell her parents that she was graduating today, because they were sure to invite him and try to get the two of them together again. She didn't want to even think him, much less have to deal with him. Most importantly, she didn't want Sora to see him. Sora was her baby, her precious baby that she had to protect at all costs.

"-na-san!" A man's voice brought her back to reality.

"Atobe-san?" Yui stared at the said man.

"I didn't know you were graduating today." He smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks…" She smiled softly, eyes back on her knees, unsure of what to say next.

"Keigo." A deep voice interrupted them. Yui looked up and saw the other three men approaching. "We're going to be getting some dinner, will you be coming?"

"Genichirou…" Atobe smiled sadly before turning to Yui and offering his hand, "Let's go get dinner, Asahina-san."

And like that, she was dragged along to dinner with the former tennis stars.

~.~.~

They headed to a traditional Japanese gourmet restaurant, something that Yui only had the opportunity to dine at once, which was for her wedding. The men asked Yui what she had wanted, only for her to shake her head and tell them to decide.

It wasn't long before the food and drinks arrived, and Yui was amazed at the plating. It was extremely aesthetically pleasing, and the aroma was amazing as well. "Wow…" She stared, wide-eyed.

Niou chuckled, "Asahina-san, please eat with your mouth and not your eyes."

"Itadakimasu!" The men, the boys, said in unison before digging in. Despite their suits and prestigious jobs, they all ate like normal men, normal boys.

As the night closes in, with the drinks continuously brought into the room, it got louder and louder.

"ATOBE KEIGO!" Sanada shouted, "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL."

Yui stared at Sanada's sudden declaration. "A… a duel?!" What is this?! The 18th century!?

"How would you like to duel?" Atobe glared at Sanada, "Tennis? Calligraphy? Martial Arts? Or… in bed?"

"In… In bed?!" Wait wait wait… WHAT?!

Niou laughed at the two men, "I thought you two were over!"

And once again, Yui was shocked at where their banter was leading to. "Niou-san, Atobe-san dated Sanada-san?"

"Shouldn't you ask the man yourself?" He pointed to the other two.

"It's okay, Niou-san. Atobe-san openly dated Sanada-san. It wasn't like they were hiding it or anything. It was all over the magazines for a while too!" Ootori slurred, the alcohol clearly affecting his behaviour.

"Ootori is long gone." Niou laughed. "How are you doing, Asahina-san?"

"I'm… okay. I didn't drink that much. But Niou-san, you drank a lot, but you still seem quite… sober."

"I used to be a host. My alcohol tolerance came from that."

"A host? Was it hard?"

Niou was surprised; rather than asking him why, or just flat out judging him for it, she asked him a question he did not expect. "Yeah, it was hard."

"Did you do it for family?" She stared at him.

"Yeah."

She laughed lightly, "Everything is for family."

"Family only makes you do stuff you don't want to do." Ootori whined. "It's not fair. I wanted to play tennis, but my wife was like noooooo. She wanted to go get some cake together. Like seriously." He rambled.

"Ootori, your wife is pregnant." At some point, Atobe and Sanada stopped bickering and turned their attention on the youngest man of the group.

"Atobe-san! I only wanted to play tennis for a couple of hours, she couldn't have waited?!" He whined some more.

"I understand what you're going through. Mika is no different, always whining about wanting this and that. It wouldn't have taken long for me to finish up my match with Tezuka, but she got on the court and dragged me out!" Sanada was frustrated just remembering what had happened.

"Your wives are pregnant. Just let them do what they want; pregnancy isn't easy." Niou spoke up, "It'll be worth it in the end." When Niou said that, there was a certain warmness to his eyes that told Yui that he was saying that from experience. It was then when Yui noticed that they were all wearing wedding bands.

"You're all married?"

"Ootori and Genichirou both got married a couple of years ago. Mr. Model Husband here got married when he was 21. Ootori and Genichirou's wives are best friends and their bodies decided to get pregnant at the same time." He laughed, but Yui sensed some bitterness in his laugh.

"And Niou-san? Does he have a child?"

"I have two. A son and a daughter." Niou's eyes sparkled as he talked about them, "Hiroki's 11, and Yuuki is 7."

"Wow! They must be wonderful. The way your eyes sparkle when you talk about them tell me that." She flashed him a genuine smile, something that she hasn't done in front of somebody other than her daughter. "And you, Atobe-san?"

"Single." In that moment, both Atobe looked at Sanada who refused to meet Atobe's eyes, "And you, Asahina-san? That is, if you don't mind me asking." Atobe asked in attempt to shift the attention away from him.

"I'm 22, what do you think?" She laughed nervously. The others noticed that she avoided answering the question, but only Atobe and Niou registered that she was hiding something.

Fortunately, for the rest of the night, they didn't bring up the topic of sons and daughters, and marriages.

~.~.~

Yui was going through her list of offers to the numerous companies. Graduating at the top of her year, she received plenty of offers, ranging from entry positions to management positions. Her eyes stopped at the champagne-colored silk envelope, embroidered with the words 'Atobe Kingdom'. A wave of shock came over her. It was a known fact that only the best of the best get accepted to Atobe Kingdom, and it was extremely rare for somebody fresh out of school to be accepted.

She took the papers out of the envelope.

Welcome to Atobe Kingdom.

Then she realized…

I never applied.

I didn't think I was going to write this, much less post this. But the plot bunnies were just jumping around and bugging me for so long I couldn't help but write it. I actually started this a couple of months ago, but didn't finish this chapter until now. So, this will probably have slower updates, but I will do my best to update as frequent as possible.

This is in the "same universe" as my other story, 'Unveiling the Trickster'. It's not necessary to read it to understand what goes on in this story... they're more like companion-fics. Kind of. So, Hiroki (Niou and Amaya's son) is 11, and Yuuki (Amaya announced that she was pregnant at the end of the story) is 7.

This is an AtobeOC fic, but will have components of AtobeSanada in it as well.

Thank you for reading! And with much love,

Jadyn