Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis was created by Takeshi Konomi. Not me. Please don't sue.

AN: I always wanted to do a 1st person point of view. This is a challenge I issued to myself to see how well I could write an angst fic in an hour. Yaoi, non-yaoi, I kept the pairing ambiguous so anyone can enjoy it.

If you feel something, I succeeded. Comments and criticisms welcome. Enjoy.

Masquerade

By Cinpii

Prologue: Eyes

Your eyes glint with unshed tears and I feel like the biggest slimeball in the world. We stand face to face; friends and teammates standby in shock.

"Is it true?" you whisper. The lovely timber of your voice quivers on the last syllable.

I want to say no, I want to explain, but the crowd around us with their prying eyes trigger my pride and I can't say anything. Instead I turn my head away and look off into the distance.

Silence. The wind swirls around us. Leaves rustle along the ground. Birds chirp. But no words are uttered for several long seconds.

I continue looking into the horizon, not focusing on anything really. I feel the eyes burning in my back, eyes from onlookers that have no right to witness something so personal and shameful.

Silence means consent, and we both know it. Your eyes grow larger and you blink, trying to contain the crystalline liquid from escaping.

"So everything was just a lie, huh?"

It hurts. My heart hurts. The naked pain in your voice is so clear. But then, you were always so honest like that. So innocent and untainted. It always made me feel dirty, standing next to you, like I didn't measure up, like I wasn't good enough.

But you never cared, did you? Being with me made you happy, and that was enough for you. But now you know the truth, and everything has come undone. I'm not the kind of person you thought I was. I never was, but I was good at hiding it.

At first it was just a game to see if I could actually win you. But you fell so readily, and I found out I actually liked you. So I kept it up. Kept up the facade. But I liked you too much to have kept lying like this. The days kept passing and I kept wanting to tell you, but one look at your innocent, happy face and I knew I couldn't.

And now it has come to this. You heard about the bet from someone else. The bet I stupidly made to see if I could make you fall for me. And now you think all my feelings were false and everything from my mouth were lies.

I can't blame you. But they were all true. When I said that I – that I was falling in love with you, that was true.

But I can't say it now, can I? Stupid pride. And you just keep looking at me with those eyes. And I just keep looking away.

FIN

Additional notes: This was originally a one shot but I decided to keep going. The characters were supposed to be ambiguous, but if one continues reading, the pairing will become apparent.

Still, for those who enjoy one-shots, stop here. For those who like multi-chaptered works, keep reading.

Any and all comments are welcome. And as always, thanks for liking my work!