This is my first story so any comments, questions, concerns or critiques are appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or Rikkai... although I wish I did (T.T)

Telling Yukimura

It was just before 7 a.m., and the campus of Rikkaidai was starting to bustle with activity. Students were beginning to arrive for morning club activities, walking in groups of twos and threes, yawning while still trying to get ready in the early morning dawn. In the back of the campus, however, there was one club fully assembled. Every member of Rikkai's tennis team stood in lines on the court, fully dressed and stretched, facing forward and waiting. In the very front line stood seven members in yellow and black that makes up the regular's uniform. The rest of the club members could feel many emotions coming from these seven, causing a tension to form around the court.

As time seemed to drag on, the youngest of these seven couldn't seem to stay still. He shifted from foot to foot, tugged at his uniform, and tried to put his curly hair into some kind of order. Next to the youngest, a pink haired "tensai", as he liked to call himself, popped his gum for the 15th time. He was bouncing straight up and down on his toes when a hand landed on his shoulder. He glance to the left, seeing his partner give him a small smile, before going back to looking ahead without moving. To the left of his partner was a boy with shockingly white hair, slouched over slightly and he fiddled with the grip tape on his racket. Every few seconds he would glance up, then back down to his racket, then to his doubles partner to his left. The "gentleman of the court", as some would like to call him, was calmly staring ahead with his hands by his side, grateful that the trickster was behaving. Next to the gentleman was the data master, standing tall and appearing calm while counting down the minutes to 7. Finally, at the beginning of the row, stood a tall, slightly fierce looking young man with his signature black hat pulled low, focusing intently on the entrance to the clubroom. The "Emperor" and fukubuchou of Rikkai was anxious, although he stood tall and proud, not letting his nervousness show.

As the bells chimed 7, the sun broke over the trees, casting light onto the courts and the clubroom. Finally, the door to the clubroom opened. Every member held his breath, not knowing anything except the fact that a young man was walking towards the tennis court, head high with confidence and his jacket flowing from his shoulders. No one knew how to react, watching as if in a dream as this young, beautiful man walked through the entrance and onto the court. As the tension reached its peak, he finally stood in front of the team and looked around before gently smiling and giving a soft "Good morning, everyone." As one, the members of the team finally remembered to breath again, and gave small smiles of their own. Yukimura Seiichi, Kami no Ko and buchou of their tennis team, was finally back.

The seven regulars standing in the front, however, did not relax. Losing was not permitted at Rikkai, and they had lost in the Kanto finals while their buchou was in the hospital. They thought back to when they had to tell their buchou of their loss, and his reaction.

The team rushed through the hospital, trying not to think about what just happened at the tournament. As they reached Yukimura's room, they saw a doctor closing the door. The doctor looked up from his clipboard and said, "You are Yukimura-kun's friends correct?"

Slightly out of breath, the boys nodded. Sanada stepped forward, asking how Yukimura was, and if the surgery was successful. The team felt as if a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders when the doctor smiled and said, "The surgery was a success. Yukimura-kun is a very strong young man. He is still sleeping, however he should be awake and allowed visitors soon if you would like to wait."

Sanada bowed and thanked the doctor, and then the team turned and walked toward the waiting area. They sat in chairs, staring ahead, finally letting the outcome of the tournament sink in. Rikkai had lost. The invincible Rikkai, the undefeated and reigning champions for the past two years, had lost. Now that the stress of worrying about Yukimura was gone, it started to hit them what this really meant. Sanada looked up, hearing a sob next to him, and saw that Kirihara had tears running down his face. Looking around, he realized the others were pretty close to tears as well.

A broken whisper of "We lost. What will we tell buch-" came from Kirihara, before he put his head in his hands, unable to finish. Everyone shifted uncomfortably, knowing exactly what Kirihara was thinking.

What would they tell Yukimura?

Sanada took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say. He had never been good a comforting or giving encouragement, Yukimura usually did that. However, until Yukimura stepped back on the tennis court, Sanada was in charge of this team. Sighing, he placed his hand on Kirihara's shoulder and leaned forward.

Immediately, Sanada had everyone's attention. Looking at the tear-stained faces of his team, he began with "Today, we lost as a team. It was not any individuals' fault. We have been through some very hard times these past few months. Our buchou, our teammate, our friend was hurting, and in turn we have hurt with him. We have been distracted, and that led to us underestimating our opponents. We will use this opportunity to get stronger, and grow as a team. We will tell him about our matches, and he will watch the recordings. We will take whatever punishment Yukimura hands us, and we will work harder. Yukimura's surgery was a success, and he will be back with us on the court as soon as he can. We lost as a team, and we will get through this as a team."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they thought about what Sanada had said. He was right. The lost as a team, and they would get through this as a team.

"Genichiro, you need to be the one to tell him." Brown eyes cracked open as Yanagi glanced over to Sanada. "He will want to hear it from you."

Sanada nodded, saying it was his responsibility as fukubuchou. He was in charge of this team, and he was the one to make the promise of returning with the Kanto Championship medal. While they lost as a team, he would take most of the blame. If only he had issued more laps. If only he had pushed them harder. If only…

I need to stop thinking about this. Sanada looked at Kirihara, who was staring right back with wide eyes while chewing on his lip. He was no longer crying, but he had tear tracks down his face, and his eyes were red. Sanada stood and pulled Kirihara with him. Putting his hand on Kirihara's back, he began to direct his kohai towards the hallway.

"I'm going to take Akaya to run some water over his face. We don't need to meet Seiichi with tears. Renji, come find me if he wakes up. We will go in as a team."

"Of course. If they started the surgery on time, then he should be waking up in another 14 minutes."

Nodding his head, Sanada turned around and began leading Kirihara to the bathroom in the hallway. It was quiet, with no one else in the hallway and many of the rooms on this floor empty. Opening the door, Sanada urged Kirihara in first before following. Kirihara walked over to the sink, then stopped and stood still. Sanada walked up behind him, before placing his hand on his shoulder once again.

"F-Fukubuchou, I'm s-sorry." Kirihara's voice trembled slightly, and Sanada could tell he was once again holding back tears. He moved his hand from Kirihara's shoulder to the back of his head, grabbing lightly onto the curls there, and pulled Kirihara lightly into his arms.

"Akaya, do not apologize. Your match was a necessary loss, and I am glad it happened before Nationals. Seiichi will not be upset with you. We can talk more about your match later if it is still bothering you."

"B-But… What do you mean a necessary loss? You were expecting me to lose?" Kirihara curled his fingers into Sanada's shirt as he looked up, feeling like letting his tears fall again. His sempai-tachi expected him to lose? Could they not trust him to win? Had he let them all down?

Seeing Kirihara's distressed face, Sanada pulled him more firmly into his chest, fitting him against his body. With his free hand, he began rubbing up and down the younger boy's back, before pressing his forehead against Kirihara's.

"I never expect you to lose. However, you needed to learn that there are other tennis players who are strong other than us, and that the way you play tennis needs to change. You become so focused on beating us, and showing us that you are strong, that you would not have listened to us had we told you that your tennis was getting out of hand. You needed to realize this yourself, or you would not have been able to grow. Do you understand? We can talk more about your match later, but first tell me what else is wrong."

Kirihara nodded, a light blush taking over his face at Sanada's close proximity. Still worried, he began chewing on his lip, looking at the ground for a few minutes. He glanced up again at his name, before averting his eyes and softly saying, "Do you think buchou will be disappointed in me? I told him I would win especially for him. I have been working hard. I… I'm worried he might not like me anymore. He was so confident in us… I'm worried that y-you might be u-upset with me too. I was s-so c-cocky before my m-mat." His eyes widened, then slowly closed as soft lips cut him off. He wrapped his arms around Sanada's neck, taking in the comfort he was being given.

Sanada closed his eyes after seeing Kirihara had relaxed a bit. Angling his head, he softly nipped at Kirihara's lips, wanting to give the reassurance he needed. Bringing both hands to his face, Sanada slowly pulled back just enough to look at Kirihara.

"Akaya. Listen to me. First, you are young, and you are growing. You have the right to be cocky. You are a good tennis player. However, you need to learn to pick your battles, and to respect your opponent no matter how strong they are. You are both there for the same reason: because you want to play tennis. Second, Seiichi and I do not like you just for your tennis. We know who you really are, and you are different from how you act in front of others. He may be upset with us as a team, but that will never affect how he looks at us as individuals, as his friends, and especially as his lovers. The same goes for me. We love you Akaya, you know this."

Kirihara blushed brightly, shyly glancing up before saying, "Yes, I do. I… I love you too, G-Genichiro. Seiichi too." Kirihara buried his head in Sanada's chest, still embarrassed when he said those words. "I'm sorry I'm acting like a girl. I just… today has been hard." Kirihara put on a pout before looking up again. He knew Sanada was weak against his pouting face, because he had learned it from Yukimura himself. "Ne Gen-chan, I need a little more comfort."

Sanada blushed at the nickname Yukimura officially gave him long ago. Apparently Kirihara had decided to pick up on it. Looking at Kirihara's green eyes, big and wet, and that cute pout that he couldn't resist, Sanada gave into Kirihara's "seduction". Sighing, he leaned down and pressed his lips against the younger boy's, carefully pressing him against the sink. This time, Kirihara pressed back immediately, tightening his arms around the other's neck to hold him there. Sanada traced Kirihara's lips again, this time gaining entrance. He moved his tongue into the other's mouth, tracing around his teeth until finding his tongue. He massaged it gently, before inviting it back into his mouth.

Kirihara pressed up into Sanada, going up onto his toes to try to get closer. He gave a low moan as Sanada met his tongue, and then a louder one when he was invited into the emperor's mouth. The young green-eyed boy could feel himself begin to respond from the kiss, and pressed his lower half into Sanada's, getting a sudden groan from the usually strict fukubuchou. Smiling into the kiss, Kirihara pulled back with a whimper, ready to ask Sanada for something more, anything more…

*Knock Knock*

"Genichiro? Seiichi's awake. He's asking for us."

Sanada pulled back a little further, replying "We will be right out Renji," before looking at Kirihara and giving him one last kiss. "We will finish this later. Are you ok to leave right now?"

Kirihara nodded, excited and nervous as he said he was ready to see Yukimura. He quickly turned around and washed his face, before grabbing his fukubuchou around the wrist and tugging him to the door before throwing it open. Yanagi was standing outside, calmly waiting on the two. His eyes opened slightly as he examined them, before closing them and smiling. "I was right not to be too worried about you two. Akaya, you look much better."

"Yes, Yanagi-sempai, I feel better. I'm ready to see buchou!" Kirihara had started to bounce lightly up and down, his anxiousness setting in again. He followed his sempai down the hall and back into the waiting room, where the rest of the team was waiting.

Sanada looked at the team, realizing the others had cleaned themselves up a bit, although now they were beginning to look nervous again. "Remember, we lost as a team, and we will become stronger as a team. We will take whatever punishment Yukimura dishes out, and we will do it as a team." Everyone nodded, and turned to walk toward Yukimura's room. Standing outside the door, Sanada took a deep breath, and heard a couple others take one as well, each boy wondering how Yukimura would respond.

Opening the door, he allowed the others to go in first. They spread out around the room, taking their usual seats. Sanada was the last to come in, and closed the door behind him. Turning around, he finally looked up, only to be met with an ice-melting smile. His breath caught, and he paused, not moving forward to his usual spot right by Yukimura. He's ok, thought Sanada as he stayed back to observe Yukimura a bit longer, He's ok and he's smiling. Thank goodness.

Kirihara stopped a few feet from the bed, and began twisting his hands and shifting from foot to foot. He finally couldn't contain himself anymore, and burst out with "BUCHOU!" before remembering he just woke up from surgery, and quieted himself a bit. He put one hand on the bed, leaning forward as he tried again. "B-Buchou! I… I'm so glad you're out of surgery! And, and that it went well! And, and…" Not knowing what to say next, he began chewing on his lips again.

Yukimura turned his kind eyes and smile to Kirihara, gently laughing before saying, "Don't just stand there Akaya. Where's my usual hug, hmm? Just be a bit more careful, ok?" and holding out his arms.

Kirihara started tearing up again, before walking forward and slowly putting his arms around his buchou, sneaking a little kiss on Yukimura's neck when no one could see.

Yukimura pulled back and looked around curiously, realizing no one else was speaking. Examining his team one by one, he realized something was wrong. Marui was chewing his gum half-heartedly, not having popped a bubble even once since coming in the room. Jackal was silently examining the flowers around the room. Niou was sitting straight up in his chair, very different from his usual slouched position. Yagyuu, on the other hand, was bent over with his elbows on his knees while looking at the ground. Yanagi was observing Yukimura and Kirihara, yet he had not stepped forward for his usual greeting. Sanada, however, was standing by the door with a troubled expression on his face, not right by Yukimura's side as he usually was. The biggest concern though was that not one of them was meeting his eyes. Not even Kirihara, as he backed away and went to his usual spot by the foot of the bed.

"What's wrong?"

Everyone shifted around at the question, and avoided his eyes even more, looking everywhere but him. Now he was positive something was wrong. Turning to Sanada, he gently called his name.

"Genichiro?"

Sanada's head jerked up at the sound of his name, and he stepped forward. Steeling himself, he finally looked into Yukimura's eyes. He walked forward until he was right by where the blue-haired teen was sitting in the bed.

"Seiichi…" he began, but then he paused, running his hand through the buchou's soft hair, "We are glad you made it. We knew you would."

Yukimura grabbed Sanada's hand and held it tight, giving him a soft smile. "I told you I would be alright. I had everyone's support." He looked around at his teammates, at his friends, at the smiles on their faces as they finally looked at him, and he wondered if he had imagined the uneasiness earlier. "I will be back soon. I can start rehabilitation in 2 days, and I won't stop until I'm back. We will go to Nationals together, and complete our 3rd consecutive win."

No, he had not imagined it. At the word "Nationals", everyone averted their eyes and began shifting around, as if uncomfortable. Ignoring it for now, he put on an excited smile, leaned forward a little and said, "So tell me about the finals! What happened? You didn't make it before the surgery so I assumed they put up a fight? Did they make it to 5 games? You brought me my medal right?"

Sanada gently pulled his hand from Yukimura's, then stood straight and tall as he prepared to deliver the news to the buchou. Looking straight ahead, he took a deep breath.

"Yukimura-buchou… Rikkaidai took second at the Kanto finals with a score of 3 games to 2."

Yukimura frowned at the use of his last name, before realizing Sanada was in "fukubuchou mode". Though at the next sentence he froze, not really understanding what he heard. Second? That means Rikkai… lost? He had been so sure, so convinced that even without him, Seigaku wouldn't be too much of a problem. They didn't even have Tezuka. All they had was their "Golden Pair" doubles team. It wasn't until he heard a soft "I'm sorry, Seiichi," from Sanada's direction that he realized he hadn't responded. He looked up at his team, seeing just how upset they were about this, about the letting him down. He gave a small sigh and a strained smile.

"I'm not happy about this, but let's talk this out. We have obviously underestimated Seigaku, and let ourselves get distracted. We will review the matches and see where we went wrong, and what we need to do to improve. You can tell me about your matches today, and we will worry about the rest later. Doubles two was Marui and Jackal? You two start."

One by one, the team gave their versions of the games. Yukimura sat there and listened, not happy, but not angry either. He congratulated the doubles teams on their wins. He held Kirihara's hand when his voice started shaking and he stopped, unable to finish his review, and gently said they could talk about it later. He told Yanagi he was glad that the data master could finally find closure with an old friend. After Sanada finished, he nodded his head, and asked for the tapes. As Yanagi pulled out the recordings of the matches, Yukimura began addressing his team.

"Rikkaidai is invincible. Losing is not permitted. These are the words that we have lived by since we entered the tennis team as first years. We will continue to live by them, even though today they have been broken. I will watch the matches, and I will come up with a new training plan. Renji, I will need your help on this tomorrow. For now, I want everyone to keep training. Take Monday off, and have a day to yourselves, because on Tuesday you will have a new training program, and it will not be easy. While training, remember our rule: We are Rikkaidai. We are invincible. Losing is not permitted."

"Yes, buchou."

Everyone began saying their goodbyes, before turning and leaving with a soft smile. Yukimura was coming back. He would know how to fix this.

"Seiichi, I will be by around noon tomorrow to speak with you about the training menus. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course, Renji"

Yanagi nodded, then turned towards the door as well. He paused, and slightly turned his head saying, "I'm glad you were strong Seiichi. It will be good to have you back," before leaving, and closing the door behind him.

Yukimura smiled, then turned to look at the two left. Kirihara's eyes were still red, and Sanada had his hat pulled low to cover his eyes.

"Finally alone, ne?" He didn't receive much of a reaction, feeling an uncomfortable tension still in the room. Sighing again, he decided to take care of the most likely to turn violent first. "Akaya? Come here."

Kirihara looked up at his name, and then slowly moved to stand by Sanada at the head of the bed.

"Sit by me. Now that everyone is gone, I want my hello kiss as well."

The curly-haired boy carefully sat on the edge of the bed, and then leaned forward to softly kiss his lover. Yukimura nipped his lip a few times, before pressing on his lips with his tongue. This action caused something in him to snap, and he hurriedly opened his mouth, tongue darting out to desperately seek his sempai's. He didn't know how long they kissed, but when they finally parted his breathing was heavy, and his hands were in Yukimura's hair, holding tightly.

"Did that take care of some of your worries? You looked troubled, Akaya."

Looking at his blue-haired lover's face, Kirihara nodded. There were so many things he wanted to say, to ask. He wanted to apologize again and again. He wanted to ask about the surgery, or what the buchou was going to make them do because they lost. He wanted to ask if he was still on the team, and if he could still go to Nationals. However, looking at Yukimura's smiling face, seeing the gentle and understanding look in his eyes, he could only say one thing.

"ILOVEYOU!"

Seeing Yukimura jump a little and flinch back, Kirihara realized he had yelled his last thought out loud. Blushing, he quieted himself before trying again.

"Sorry… I-I love you, S-Seiichi."

Yukimura felt his face soften as he looked at the younger boy's red face and earnest eyes. He raised his hand up, pulling him in for a gentle kiss.

"I love you too, Akaya."

The buchou then turned and looked at the other man in the room, wondering if he would say anything. When he didn't, Yukimura reached out and grabbed the fukubuchou's hand, pulling him closer.

"I love you as well, Genichiro."

Sanada look down at Yukimura for a moment, before giving a slight grin and saying, "I love you Seiichi. Akaya."

He leaned down to give each of his lovers a quick kiss to prove his statement. Then he sighed, and began to say, "I'm sorry, Seiichi. I made you a promise, yet we still los- OW! Ow ow ow ow!"

As soon as Yukimura realized where the fukubuchou was going with this, he quickly reached up and grabbed his ear, twisting it just enough to hurt.

"Sanada. This is my time to be with my lovers, not to discuss the tournament with my fukubuchou. So could you please leave, and tell Genichiro I require his presence?"

Seeing the taller male nod, Yukimura let go of his ear and gave him a soft pat on the cheek. "Good."

Yukimura took both of his lover's hands in his, telling them to go home. "You can both come back tomorrow. My family will be back soon, and you both need to shower and rest. You've had a hard day. Tomorrow, we can talk about whatever you two want." He looked at both boys, smiling and reassuring them he would be fine. "I love you both."

"Love you, Seiichi."

"I love you too, Seiichi."

The new training menu that Yukimura and Yanagi created had not been easy. During the past month, they had all been pushing themselves even harder. However, Yukimura had never gotten angry, or issued punishments for their losses yet. The regulars were not quite sure what to expect. Just because Yukimura was smiling at all of them did not mean they were out of the hot water. Yukimura smiling could be more dangerous than him frowning. The tension would not leave them as their buchou began to speak.

"It's good to see that everyone is dedicated to being on time and ready for morning practice. I'm pleased to tell you that I am officially back, and have been given the ok to begin practicing with the team again. After our loss in the Kanto, I expect each of you to work extra hard. Let's begin practice. Second and third years will be on courts C and D. The regulars will be using A and B. First years, pick up balls and make sure to cheer for you sempai-tachi. Dismissed."

As everyone began moving to the other courts, the seven regulars stayed put, knowing the Kami no Ko was not finished. As soon as the rest of the team was gone, he turned back to his team.

"Sanada has told me how much harder everyone has been training. Perhaps this loss was a wake-up call. We are Rikkaidai. We are invincible. That does not allow us to get cocky. We will not underestimate our opponents again. During morning practice, we will run. That is all. We will run our usual laps, and then we will do sprints until practice is over. This afternoon, I have prepared a conditioning menu. Today will not be easy. We will not lose again. Is everyone ready?"

They all began nodding, with a few groans thrown in. They knew this was coming, this "day of punishment". Thinking back, they knew their fukubuchou was right. They would do this together.

Yukimura grinned, and said, "Let's get started. Put your rackets back in you bags and make sure you are completely stretched out."

Yukimura walked outside the fence and waited for the rest of his team. After everyone was assembled, he began jogging knowing everyone would follow. Realizing he forgot something, he turned around and called out to two of his players.

"Oh yes. Akaya. Genichiro. The two of you will be accompanying me home today, ok?"

The two looked slightly surprised before nodding, and Yukimura smiled brightly as he turned back around. The next thing he heard was, "Yuki-buchou's gonna get some" in a singsong voice belonging to the trickster of the court.

"NIOU T-T-TARUNDORU!"

Life was slowly going back to normal at Rikkaidai Fuzoku.

A/N: Well that's it! My first fanfic! Let me know what you think!

I'm planning on writing a sequel about why Yukimura want Kirihara and Sanada to walk him home ^_-

It should be out within the week!