A/N: Hiya all. This is just some Atobe/Jirou fluff. Sorry to all who are reading Love Has No Bounds. I haven't been very motivated to write. :/ I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.
Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis.
"Kei, did you know that if you make one thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true?"
"No. Why is it one thousand?" Atobe asked while lazily wrapping his arm around Jirou's shoulders.
"I don't know. It just is."
Atobe looked curiously into Jirou's eyes. "Have you ever done it before?"
Jirou, eyes sad, replied, "My mom and I used to do that, before she died."
The paper ripped noisily. "Damn it!" Atobe growled, glaring furiously at the ruined paper in his hands. He sighed. He didn't know exactly why he was doing this, but the look on Jirou's face had forced him into it. One thousand cranes! Who the heck had decided it should be so many? Atobe had gotten one of the maids to show him how to make them, but he kept messing up, and he needed to do this by himself, it wouldn't be worth anything if he didn't.
A maid tentatively knocked on the door and entered. She glanced at the crumpled paper on the ground, and said, "Atobe-sama, do you need some more paper?"
Atobe glared at the interruption, but then relaxed back into his chair. "Yes. A lot of it."
Jirou looked curiously at Atobe's tired face. "Kei, what's up? Why are you so tired?"
Atobe blinked, coming out of his daze. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong Jirou. I just couldn't sleep last night." Atobe smiled to reassure him.
"Well ok..." Jirou said doubtfully.
Jirou glanced worriedly at Atobe. He looked terrible. It looked like Atobe hadn't been getting any sleep at all, and he never looked like that. To top it off he had been going home right after tennis practice ended. Jirou assumed that Atobe was doing work for his dad's company, but Jirou was still hurt that Atobe hadn't been spending any time with him. It was almost a year since Jirou's mother had passed away, and he had been hoping that Atobe would help him do something special in her memory, but it looked like that wouldn't be possible.
Atobe massaged his temples. He had a headache again. He hadn't done something so mind numbing in a really long time, but he was determined to finish in time. Whenever he got distracted, he just thought of what Jirou's expression was going to be when he saw it. Atobe closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He was about halfway done. Atobe smiled tiredly, it looked like he would be able to finish in time.
"Jirou."
Jirou looked up to see Atobe standing next to him. "What?"
"Are you free after tennis practice?"
"Yeah."
"Great." Atobe smiled. "Could you come to my house afterwards then?"
"Yeah."
"So are you done with whatever you were doing all this week?"
"Hmm? Oh. Yeah." Atobe smiled, distracted.
Jirou frowned. He had no idea what was up with Atobe.
A maid brought over some drinks. Jirou took a sip. Atobe didn't touch his drink. After a moment of silent fidgeting, Atobe stood. "Jirou."
Jirou looked up, curious.
"Come with me for a minute."
Jirou continued to glance at Atobe as they walked through the house. Atobe looked excited and... nervous? They stopped outside the entrance to Atobe's room. Atobe turned to face Jirou, smiling slightly. "Close your eyes."
Jirou stared at Atobe's eager face and raised his eyebrows in amusement. "If you say so."
With a dramatic sigh Jirou closed his eyes and waited for Atobe to lead him into the room. Atobe's warm hands settled on Jirou's shoulders and guided him into the middle of the room.
"Ok... Open."
Jirou opened his eyes just a fraction, and then they flew open in surprise. Jirou gasped. All around him were paper cranes. Hung from the ceiling, decorating the walls, surrounding the windows; anywhere there was an open space. There were big ones and small ones, all the colors of the rainbow. Jirou spun around, trying to take it all in. Mouth open in amazement, Jirou turned around to face Atobe. "This... What..."
Atobe's smile widened. "I made every single one. We can move them to your house tomorrow. I left one more to make, in honor of your mom." His eyes were gentle, watching Jirou's reaction to the cranes.
"Thank you." Jirou's voice wavered with happiness. "But I want them to stay here." His smile was blindingly bright. A single tear slid down his cheek. "This is where I want to be."
Atobe wrapped his arms around Jirou. He whispered into Jirou's ear, "Then stay with me."
Jirou returned the embrace, head tilted so he could look into Atobe's eyes. "I wouldn't leave for anything."
"That's what I was hoping for." Atobe leaned forward and their lips met in a tender kiss.