I Know You
Written by: Skaey (also known as Amakiresu)
Dedicated to: N.A and M.P. I luff you guys.

A/N: Inspiration hit me when I attended the NaNa con here in the Philippines last July 7. N.A and MP were with me that time. N.A went as Nana Oosaki while I cosplayed Nana Komatsu and MP was our photographer (M.P's damn good).

Summary: Atobe made a mistake once. Ryoma has always forgiven him. But Ryoma is reminded what broke them before again.

Part One: Only in Dreams

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream,
I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,
Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem,
But if I know you, I know what you do,
You love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream."
--Once Upon A Dream,
From the movie, Sleeping Beauty.

It is only dreams I know you.

"Sir," a man calls out meekly, his head bowed down in respect, "the car awaits you."

The young entrepreneur who is the head of the company looks up, cold gray eyes clashing with the commoner's onyx ones and scoffs quietly at the nervousness his employee is showing. He nods in understanding and waves his hand dismissively. He watches as the worker scurries out of his room in a rush.

He stands while glancing at his Rolex watch and counts the time; he has an hour to go before he would meet with the rest of the sponsors.

As he takes a deep breath, knowing fully well that it would be another long day ahead of him; he closes his eyes and relaxes his tensed shoulders. Stretching and yawning loudly, he chuckles thinking what would happen if these acts of him were to be caught and shown to public. Probably and mostly likely, the business world would have uproar as he was Japan's representative in all aspects concerning the art of socializing and doing business with other countries.

Suddenly, the view of his large window pane catches his eyes and stares at it with such intense passion that could drill a hole in the glass. The scene of Tokyo's sky gray and the fog on the window clenches his heart painfully; his eyes sting and he easily blinks the unshed and unformed tears away, believing firmly that it was because of the cold that caused dryness in his eyes.

His arm moves up and reaches to touch the fine glass, but then he thinks it over; there is no time for silly things. With a straight face he has come to master after how many years, Atobe Keigo exits his large, spacious office, skillfully covering his sad smile.

Silently, he thinks that winter is fast approaching and he doesn't like it one bit.

--

"Atobe-san, I cannot express how much gratitude I am feeling but if there is anything – anything- you need, call me and I shall handle whatever it is."

The said man smirked in content. Why was it, that even the people considered to be part of the High Rank class would beam at the act of donating one million dollars was such a great thing? It wasn't, to him, since he had done far much more things than these. Like giving the Queen a pair of vases that were from the 2nd Emperor of China's hidden stash was considered a 'small token' for him.

"So," Atobe says, not looking up from the folder he was reading, "who's the big-shot that's joining this year?" He knew very well that it was required for a small tournament such as this to have at least one well-known player to participate; it was the best way to gather more sponsors and more players to join.

The man quickly straightens in pride. "Echizen Ryoma," he beams.

Atobe almost drops the files he holds. Almost.

--

"I hear you're joining the 50th Japan-America-Germany competition," says Fuji on the side of the court, one hand holding a Nikon camera.

Ryoma continues practicing his serve. No flaws, he thinks, I should have no flaws at all. He ignores Fuji's statement.

"And I hear that it's Atobe sponsoring this year," the older of the two states, "coincidence much?"

For the second time, Ryoma proceeds to ignore the latter.

Fuji chuckles, softly but he hears it clearly. He tosses the ball once more, higher than earlier and twists his foot a bit, getting ready to hit.

"You shouldn't run away this time, Ryoma."

He serves perfectly, the ball bounces sharply on the other side of the court beautifully.

I know.

--

"I didn't know you were going to sponsor this year, Keigo."

Atobe raises his brow in silent question. "Is it wrong?"

Oshitari waves his hand as he sips champagne. "No. Of course not," he mumbles.

They continue back to working; Atobe is typing madly in his desk while Oshitari sits in a sofa, reading the statistics in his laptop.

"Ne," Oshitari suddenly speaks up after a pregnant silence between the two. "Did you know he was going to be there?"

Atobe clenches his fist hidden by the large computer screen. He does not want to reply and Yuushi knows this.

The latter sighs and wonders whether to pity his childhood friend or not. "It's been years, Keigo. Surely, you can face him now?"

The said man grits his teeth. He wonders too.

No, I can't. Not after what I did.

--

He reached out his arms and wrapped them snuggly around the other's strong neck.

"Let's go to Wimbledon together."

The latter smiles sadly.

"I don't think I can."

--

The day of the tournament approaches fast.

The welcoming speech was already delivered; the sponsors were being introduced by the time Ryoma came in.

"It seems like we're late, Ryoma." Fuji states blandly, smiling like always.

Ryoma rolls his eyes.

--

"-it gives me great pleasure to introduce Echizen Ryoma to you, Atobe-san."

The two stood in front of each other, eyes glazing at each other's forms wildly.

The shorter of the two smirks and reaches his hand out. Atobe follows quickly and nods in greeting, his eyes not meeting golden ones.

And then enters Fuji, who drapes a friendly arm around Ryoma. Atobe narrows his eyes at the familiarity. "Ah," he says, "hello again, Atobe."

Atobe does not miss the tight grip Fuji has on Ryoma – his Ryoma.

A fellow colleague of Atobe cheers in delight. "Ara. Atobe, you know him?"

The man nods briefly, not wanting to discuss about it. But Fuji's smile morphs into a grin. He will take advantage.

"Saa. Now Atobe," the brown haired man drawls slyly, "haven't you told them about our past?"

Now, the said man looks horrified. He does not want to dwell on it anymore.

Echizen sees this look and interprets Atobe being embarrassed. Ashamed. His anger starts to boil, remembering the reason they lost communication before.

"Syuusuke," Ryoma calls sweetly, "help me warm up?" He diverts. There was nothing else he could do anyways.

He acts like a child; he smiles innocently and tugs on Fuji's arm. They are all fooled by his act.

A man claps his hand, "yes, yes! Go on, Echizen-san, and prepare. The match starts in thirty." And the crowd of business men leaves, except Atobe.

The green haired boy shoots Fuji a look and walks away.

"Pathetic," Fuji spats bitterly. "You. Are. A. Fool." And then, he lengthens his strides to catch up with Ryoma.

Keigo bows his head down, "I know," he mutters in regret. "I know."

--

"Let's break up."

Ryoma stared at his lover in disbelief. "What?"

Atobe looked away, not being able to bear looking at the younger man.

"I mean it. I need the company to live; I lost tennis a long time ago. I'm not fit to go pro. Without my family's business, what else is left for me?" He spat out inconsiderably.

The other man cringed. He wanted to croak 'Me' but he knew he would be scoffed at rather than shown sympathy.

"It's been fun while it lasted." Atobe stated unemotionally as he bowed his head meekly. "I hope to see you someday soon again. Next time, as professionals, I assume?

He watched Keigo, the man he had dated since high school and loved ever since, leave, taking away all the memories.

Who he wanted to blame, he had no clue. It was neither of them, he thought.

Could it possibly be their fate?

--

"It's been long, Syuusuke, Ryoma."

Ryoma tries to grin sheepishly.

Tezuka places his tennis bag on the floor and approaches the cat-like boy.

"Buchou," Ryoma mumbles before tightly hugging his ex-captain.

The bespectacled man looked at Fuji for explanation.

All he got was a depressed look and instantly, he figured it all out.

He couldn't help but hug the smaller frame in return.

You've been through so much.

TBC

Honestly, I don't know what to write next. I find this story wrong and all, but I don't know why I decided to post it. The meeting of Ryoma and Keigo was too soon and wasn't described well.

Anyways, if you guys liked it, please send me reviews and your suggestions on what I should put on the next and last part/chapter.

Thanks.

Peace out. Much reviews appreciated.

Skaey
07/31/07