Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: One of the six 1,004 word fics I wrote for Atobe's birthday, which is today.

Cap to King

"…Ore-sama fails to see the amusement in this." Atobe was, to put it simply, seething. He would have given a great deal for the satisfaction of glaring at Shishido from under the cap in his head, but Shishido had insisted on putting it on backwards. Why he'd done a thing such as putting a cap on Atobe's head in the first place was certainly beyond Atobe's usually rather outstanding skills of comprehension.

"That's just 'cause you're too serious," Shishido said, smirking. "Come on. Learn to laugh at yourself every now and then!" He took a step backwards to look properly at Atobe. "Gods, I sure wish I had a camera right now! You look exactly like me, 'xcept for the hair colour, of course. And the mole."

"It's a tear mole," Atobe huffed. If the idiot wanted to make fun of his charm point, he could at least use the correct terminology.

"Whatever, whatever." Shishido rolled his eyes. "Hey, cheer up a bit. You're even worse than usual."

"What cause do I have to 'cheer up?'" asked Atobe dryly. "I lost my most important match to this day. What on God's good Earth is cheerful about that?"

"Nah." Shishido reached his hand up to adjust the cap on Atobe's head. "Remember what you said when I went to the coach?" He gave Atobe a serious gaze, his hand travelling from the cap to the side of Atobe's face in a slight caress. "This guy hasn't lost yet."

"I have," Atobe protested. Whatever he might have said about Shishido, he couldn't forgive himself quite as easily. "It's not just something I can erase from my past. I lost the match; that fact remains."

"Do you really think anyone cares?" Shishido asked frankly. "Sure, we wanted to go on, but… Hell, Atobe. None of us could have won that match. None of us could've continued for as long as you did. Okay, so you lost. And? You're not the first one to do so, and hardly the last one. What matters is that you played one Hell of a match, one you should be proud of." His serious expression turned into a smile, just a tiny one. "You think Taki offered his hair just for fun? Think again. One loss or not, you're our captain whether you want it or not."

"Even if you did not mind that I lost… I do." Not that he believed Shishido, though. The others must have been so very disappointed. Shishido had the most cause to blame him, Shishido and Ohtori who had worked so hard to win their own match to let Atobe decide on their team's fate… only to see him fail.

"Come on, Atobe." Shishido shook his head. "This's not like you at all. You're Atobe Keigo, remember? You're supposed to be Hyoutei's King, and damn all who say anything else. Now act like it, damn it!"

"Easy for you to say," Atobe murmured. He then reached up to take the cap off and hand it back to Shishido. "I've made enough of a fool of myself for your amusement."

"So I'm a fool for wearing a cap?" Shishido asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No, you idiot. It suits you," sighed Atobe. "However, it most certainly does not suit me very well."

"Even though you look almost exactly like me with your new style?" Huffing, Shishido put the cap on his own head, carefully adjusting until it was precisely backwards. The idiot. "You're just picky. Sanada wears a cap too, you know."

"And looks ridiculous in it," Atobe replied calmly. "I also do not feel any particular need to hide the evidence of my loss."

"Oh, whatever." Shishido was quiet for a while, watching as Atobe ran hands through his hair, trying to straighten it into something resembling an acceptable order. He'd really have to have it properly styled some time soon. "…So, what now?" Shishido finally asked, looking at him questioningly.

"What do you mean, 'what now?'" Atobe asked back. "That is a rather vague question, as I'm sure you are aware."

"What are we going to do now?" Shishido elaborated. "We got dropped from the Nationals. No more tournaments for us. So what do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Atobe huffed. "We continue working hard, watch Seigaku's victory streak, see them win the National championship, and eventually leave the club to our kouhai. What's there to ask about?"

Shishido's eyebrows rose. "You're that certain Seigaku'll continue to win?"

"Well, obviously." Atobe glared at Shishido. Why was there even a question? "They won against us, not only once, but twice. They also beat Rikkai. There's no way anyone else is going to stop them, not anymore."

"I guess. If you say so." Shishido shrugged. "But really, cheer up. The whole club's watching you, you know. If you're this depressed in private, you can't keep up the cool mask in public for long."

"I'm not depressed." Such a ridiculous claim! Sure, he wasn't exactly happy with the outcome of the match, but it didn't make him any less the King of Hyoutei. Truly, he was shocked that Shishido would dare even suggest such a thing.

"Sure you aren't." Oddly enough, Shishido didn't sound very amused anymore. "Look, Atobe, you can't fool me, and you don't have to. It's okay to feel bad about losing, but you can't get stuck on it."

"Are you telling me what to do?" Atobe asked disbelievingly. "Me, your captain?"

"I'm telling you what to do because, unlike you, I have experience on this." Shishido smirked. "If I'd just got depressed over my loss, I wouldn't be a regular now."

"Well, I'm certainly not giving up," huffed Atobe. Quite to the opposite; he'd started training even harder than before.

"Good to hear." Shishido turned to go. "…Oh, and Atobe?"

"Yes?"

"I was wrong." Shishido smirked at him over his shoulder. "You don't look like me. The short hair suits me much better."

Atobe smirked despite himself. "Keep telling yourself that."