The Perfect Gift

I have no better title. Which is pitiful. Agh. I'm so out of my Royal writing phase. And this is so bad. XD And it's just... agh. It's just bad. Please read my poor attempt at AtoRyo, 'cause I wanted it out before Christmas... but this is as far from perfect a gift!ficcy can get.

x The Perfect Gift

'Do you really think I am going to go outside with you when it is dark and rainy and almost 11 PM just to play a tennis match?'

Ryoma really hadn't needed to ask. The answer should have been clear to him, as he was Echizen Ryoma, boyfriend of the rich, arrogant Atobe Keigo.

But Ryoma had asked anyway.

The snooty reply from Atobe was exactly what he had expected.

'I'll pick you up at your house in five minutes.'

Ryoma let out an indignant grumble, but the only reply the phone gave him was an incessant beeping dial tone. He glared at the cell phone (which coincidentally had been given to him by Atobe) and threw it against the wall. The cell phone kept beeping.

---

Ryoma smirked triumphantly, his racquet already in his hand with a tennis ball at the ready. The rain came down in a light drizzle, with some raindrops just hanging off of his Fila cap. 'Can we play now?'

Atobe looked around the street court warily. Even after meeting with Ryoma at the public tennis courts so many times, there was something that was still so eerie about them. Perhaps it was the fact that he knew there had been at least twenty people who had been standing on the same court he was, and who knows what they could have done to it? Atobe glared at one particularly suspicious-looking splotch.

'If you're done scrutinizing, Monkey King,' Ryoma whined, 'I want to play tennis.'

Atobe complained, 'It's too dark, and the rain is ruining my hair, brat. Can't we just play at my courts, like I had suggested?'

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. 'Are these courts not good enough for your amazing presence, Keigo,' Ryoma asked, his smirk simply growing wider. 'Or do you think you can't beat me if you're not on those courts of yours?'

Atobe scoffed. 'I'll beat you in thirty minutes.'

---

'Maybe you should just give up now,' Ryoma said, panting.

Atobe replied, 'As if', panting as well.

The rain was pouring down even harder now, and it was getting hard to see. The tennis ball was getting slicker, sliding on the ground a bit before bouncing back up for the receiver to hit.

'What time do you think it is?' Ryoma suddenly asked, bouncing the tennis ball on the ground to prepare for his serve.

Atobe checked his more-expensive-than-a-worker's-salary-for-a-year watch. '11:42.' His eyes widened. It was already that late?

Ryoma nodded, and served. However, Atobe caught the tennis ball in his hand, and said, 'Let's stop playing for today, okay?'

'What?' Ryoma complained. 'I was winning, Monkey King. Just because you don't like to lose-'

'I was only losing because of these courts,' Atobe retorted. 'There was this random lump in the middle for who knows what reason and I kept on tripping on it. And you were only winning by one game.'

Ryoma shrugged. 'Blame it on the courts if you want,' he said. 'Can I go home now then?'

'I'll just call my chauffeur to drive us back,' Atobe said, nodding. He looked through his bag. He looked through his bag again. And again.

'What?' Ryoma said impatiently.

Atobe swore. 'I don't have my cell phones.'

'Why not?' Ryoma asked. 'You have five, Monkey King! How can you not have them with you?'

'Do you have your cell phone?'

Ryoma thought of the cell phone (which was probably still beeping) lying on the floor in his room.

'No,' he replied.

'Then what do we do now?' Atobe asked grumpily.

'We walk.'

Atobe paused, sure that he had heard wrong. 'Pardon?'

'We walk.'

Atobe had to ask. 'Could you say that again?'

Ryoma almost grinned. 'We have to walk, Keigo.' He then added loftily, 'That's when somebody moves one leg, and then the other-'

'I know what walking is,' Atobe said huffily. 'But I don't want to!'

Ryoma would have smiled at how Atobe was acting if he wasn't just a tad pissed off himself about having to walk him in the rain. In the dark. In the rain.

The two walked slowly on the street, neither saying much. Atobe kept on glancing at his watch, while Ryoma was thinking of ways to kill Atobe for forcing him to come out in the rain to play tennis in the first place.

'This is all your fault,' Ryoma said, glaring.

Atobe snarkily responded, 'If you hadn't insisted on coming to the street courts instead of my private courts-'

'Well if you hadn't asked me to come out at 11 at night in the first place, I'd be sleeping!' Ryoma retorted. 'And then I wouldn't have had to leave Karupin by himself and I wouldn't be soaking-'

Ryoma would have continued his rant had not a pair of lips, namely Atobe Keigo's, been stopping him from doing so.

'What the hell?' Ryoma said immediately after Atobe let him go, smirking.

'Happy birthday, brat.'

Ryoma stared at Atobe, who looked so pleased with himself.

'You know what?' Ryoma said.

'You better have some sort of real birthday present for me when I wake up.' x owari

x omake

Atobe, upon his return to his study, immediately went to his computer, and turned on the monitor. He quickly shut the open window: 'Ten Perfect Gifts for Your Lover'.

Number 7: A moonlit kiss at the twelfth hour.

---

Oh my, I am so out of practice and this was so hard to write and agh. This is so lame. A review would be lovely, if only to yell and complain about my total lack of any proper Royal in this. -awinchan