Title: The Reason Why
Chapter: One – Christmas Crush
Coupling: AtoxOC (More so hinted than anything)
Summery: Atobe hasn't always hated Christmas... He loved the winter break from school so he could see her shining face. But now... She haunts him… (One Shot could be Two Shot) (Hinted AtoOC)
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. And YOU do NOT own Hikaru Kin. XP (Hikaru Kin is a character I made up in my mind for this story.)
A/N: I came up with this story randomly one day when I watched some Christmas AMVs on Youtube and saw one featuring something like "Why Atobe hates Christmas" and this came to mind. It has actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I plan on it being a One Shot and leaving it here as just a short little thing… But if I get enough reviews about it I'll turn it into a Two Shot and give Atobe a reason to love Christmas again.
First person to guess what happened to Hikaru will get a cookie! Or maybe if I'm in the mood I'll give you a One Shot of your choice.
'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Narration (By Atobe)
"So… What'd you get…?"
A young Keigo Atobe shot around with a wide grin on his face as he spotted the female behind him. She was a small girl no older or taller than he was. She had long brown hair that fell to her butt and deep hazel eyes that glinted in happiness. Her skin was almost ghostly white from staying inside away from the sun but she seemed to glow herself. Though it could have been from the lights upon the Christmas tree behind them…
"Hikaru!" he said with a bright face as he jumped up and hugged the girl.
The one called Hikaru laughed as she hugged him back, "You seem surprised to see me Kei-kun. You know I wouldn't not come to see you." She gave him a smile as he nodded and they sat down together to talk. But all of the sudden darkness crawled in and started to envelop everything. The walls disappeared as the shadows danced across it. Fear shot into Atobe's eyes as he saw shadowy hands start to reach out towards Hikaru, slowly wrapping around her body without fazing the girl.
"What's wrong Kei-kun?" Hikaru asked with a confused stare as she tilted her head slightly.
"H-H-Hikaru!" Atobe shouted as the girl was jerked up with a scream and started to be dragged into the darkness.
"Kei-kun…?" she asked even more confused than before. It was like she didn't even feel it or realize she was being dragged backwards.
"Hikaru, don't go! Don't leave me!" he shouted as he tried to run to the girl. His body started to grow older and older, changing into his current 3rd year self. All the while Hikaru was being dragged backwards, her body slowly dissolving into the darkness until just her confused eyes lingered…
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Atobe shot up with sweat pouring down his face, his eyes wide and breaths deep. 'That…that dream… Why… Why do I always have that dream…' He brought his knees close and rested his elbows upon them, gripping his head tightly. His hands balled into fists in his hair as the dream ran over and over again in his mind. 'Always on this day…'
For years now I've had this dream... Two days a year my childhood love would haunt my sleep. She would come to my house on Christmas like every year and surprise me while I opened her gift. But then the darkness would grab her and take her away from me. The whole time she played dumb and acted like nothing was going on. I know it's stupid… To have dreams like that when you're 15 years old and the buchou of Hyotei Gakkuen's tennis team… But I can't help it. Christmas Eve and Christmas… Those are the worst days of my life. Because it is on those days I remember her...
"It's been five years now…" Atobe muttered as he stared at the calendar on the wall.
Five years ago, Hikaru Kin disappeared from the world. She wasn't dead and if she was then she wasn't buried anywhere around Japan. But what made it stranger was that her whole family completely disappeared. A different family was in their house though it had never been sold. Their histories in the schools were wiped out… No one knew a thing about it. They just disappeared one day. And I found out the hard way…
"I really hate Christmas…" Atobe murmured as he headed out of his house and towards the public tennis courts. Ever since he found out about Hikaru's disappearance he could never bring himself to stay in his house around Christmas time. Sometimes he couldn't even sleep and would just sit in his room and stare at the wall until it was over and he could go back to school. His team got worried one year when he actually did that and almost passed out at school. He had then decided it wasn't a good idea and tried to find ways around it. His team didn't need to know that their strong leader was brought to his knees by a dream.
Every year the dreams change a little bit. Sometimes they are completely different. Mostly she is consumed by darkness… But sometimes…sometimes she is murdered right before my eyes. And bodiless laughter rings all around. I don't know why I get so worked up over it. She was just a childhood love… A simple crush… That was all… But sometimes I really wonder about that since she has plagued me so…
The sound of the ball hitting the slushed court rang out through the area as Atobe stared down at the yellow ball. 'She did always love to watch tennis…' He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts as he hit the ball and watched it lazily bounce towards the wall and kind of flomp back to him with no real enthusiasm. Not only was it not smart to play in the snow it wasn't the easiest thing to do either… The ball didn't bounce very well in the snow. 'Not only is she driving me insane but it's like she's taking away the only thing keeping me insane at this point…' He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the sky. "Where are you…Hikaru…"