Disclaimer : I do not own Prince of Tennis & the hot tennis princes inside, although like everyone else out there, I really wish I did.

Note to all : A special dedication to my favourite Silver pair from Hyoutei, Prince of Tennis, on Shishido Ryou's birthday! (29th September) I'm aware that it's been half a year since I've touched this story, hontou ni gomenasai yo, minna-san T.T

Finally.. Part 3!

I know it's so super late, but still, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHISHIDO RYOU!


No, this can't be good at all. Usually, nothing's good when Oshitari gives his eerie chuckle, it's even worse to have Atobe's evil smirk along with it. Something must be terribly wrong. Shishido Ryou's slender fingers found their way to his temple as he traced repeated circular patterns lightly, to help himself think. Just a couple of months ago, Oshitari and Gakuto had somehow convinced his poor kouhai to put himself up in a human-sized wrapped up gift box to surprise him after the tough matches they'd won in the last tournament, and things had gotten all confusing and embarrassing. This time, who know what they had convinced Choutarou to do.. Another drop of sweat found its way down his cheeks this time, and Ryou couldn't help but to shake his head lightly at Gakuto's comment about cakes.

Wait a minute.. Cake? They brought a cake?

"Mukahi senpai, you know perfectly well who the cake is for-"

"Of course I know! But it's unfair, I want to have cake on Ryou's birthday too-"

"Gakuto, keep quiet, or it'll be more rounds for you. Kabaji, have you found it yet?"

"Usu."

"Atobe, you're not planning to-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I WANT A CAKE TOO-"

"Shut up, Mukahi senpai-"

".. I wanted to say, you're not planning to-"

"How about you do the shutting up, Hiyoshi-"

"I've already-"

"No you're not-"

"Enough! Ore-sama has decided that the both of you shall-"

"Atobe!"

"Buchou!"

"It's not me-"

"I'm not the one-"

"- who started it-"

"Says who, you lousy-"

"Enough, the both of you! That'll be a hundred rounds tomorrow for each of you. Ore-sama will add fifty more for each word you say from now on." Atobe had saved the day for now - Gakuto and Hiyoshi were reduced to glaring at each other, the former sniffling slightly because he was bullied and his boyfriend didn't stand up for him, the latter alternating his angry glare from Gakuto to Atobe. Ryou sighed, and dropped his hands as he glanced towards Kabaji's direction.. Also spotting the can of whipped cream as he did, only just in time for him to react as Kabaji caught his eyes and tossed the mentioned can towards him.

Fingers curling reflexively around the foreign can, Ryou raised a brow as he glanced at Kabaji, then the can, then Atobe, then Oshitari, then back to the can once again.

The cold, circular shaped metal felt odd in his hands, and Ryou held it away from him instinctively, as though afraid it'll spring up to bite him. Somehow, he had a horrible feeling pertaining to this.. Whipped cream..

"Whipped cream? What, am I going to be decorating my own cake?"

His question was met only with raised brows, anticipating giggles, and exasperated sighs.

"Oh, don't worry, you will be needing that later.."


Tears, like pearl off a broken necklace, continued falling from his eyes and dissolving into the dark cloth still wrapped tightly around his head. Twice, Choutarou urged himself to take in deep, measured breaths as he waited quietly, begging in his heart for his sentence, no matter what form it may take, to come. Thoughts in the form of haunting whispers by his ear wrecked at his control, but Choutarou forced himself to continue recalling the day's events as he tried to stay still in the same position.

To be honest, he wasn't even quite sure if an entire day had passed. Time didn't quite mean anything to him at the moment, since he couldn't even tell whether it was dark or bright outside.

He recalled doodling much more than usual during classes, and how distracted he had been throughout the whole day - Shishido senpai had passed by his classroom twice before their first break. Briefly, he recalled the disappointment he felt when he received news that Shishido senpai wouldn't join him for both recess and lunch-break earlier in the day, and how he had chased the unhappiness away by heading down to the tennis courts for.. Practice. If that was where he had been knocked out, it seemed logical to put Oshitari senpai into the picture.. But what reason did Hyoutei's tennis tensai have, to put him into such a situation? Oshitari senpai didn't seem like the kind of person to attack someone else, and if there was anyone who would be more than willing to hit him like that, it'll be Hiyoshi. But even Hiyoshi wouldn't hit him for no good reason, let alone knock him up and tie him to a bed.

Choutarou sighed, concluding that he couldn't quite come up with anything..

Until he started trying to remember today's date.

If he wasn't mistaken, and if the day hasn't ended, it would be the 29th of September today. 29th September.. OH! Shishido senpai's birthday! That would explain all the memories he had of the day, and the gaps in his recollections he had failed to register; but it was no help as to why he was knocked out.

It took a while for the voices to reach him, but the sound of things getting knocked over was easily spotted by the silver-haired boy almost at once. Soon enough, the sounds of conversation caught his attention, having been trapped alone in this silence for so long.. Long enough for him to even lose track of the time. Choutarou's eyelids fluttered open to the familiar voices as he turned his head to the general direction of the voices, and even though he couldn't see through his blindfold, the second year still tried his best to concentrate on the increasingly louder voices, until..

For the third time since he had awoken, Choutarou found himself shaking his head in confusion, almost denial. The other voices in the background were easily blended into a blur of conversations, but one particular voice stood out among the others - a voice he was too familiar with. However, Choutarou really didn't know how to place the owner of that voice into the situation he was in..

It's Shishido senpai's birthday alright.. But what has Shishido senpai got to do with all of this..?

With his heart beating painfully in his chest, Choutarou found himself straining against his bonds as he tried to catch the voices more clearly. Shishido senpai's voice is distinct, but so were a few others - Atobe-buchou's soft, amused voice, the loud, excited voice of Mukahi senpai, and the deep, calm voice of Oshitari senpai reached him after a while, and it seemed they were the only few talking to Shishido senpai, while the mass of footsteps suggested that there were more people outside.

Then it hit him - Oshitari senpai's striking eyes staring straight into his, being knocked out near the tennis courts, the silk robes that belongs to Atobe buchou, and the bonds.. Oh, the bonds..

"We'll leave the last part of the celebrations to you, Ootori."

Vaguely, he recalled being surrounded by snickers, and being stroked gently on his cheeks by Atobe-buchou as his mind tried in vain to fight against the thick fog in his head brought about by the heavy blow he received by none other than Hiyoshi.

Biting down on his lips, Choutarou forced back a note of hysteria as he dropped his head. He was feeling more nervous than ever before.. Except now, it was for an entirely different reason.


It took quite a while to get Gakuto to settle down, but with the help of Oshitari Yuushi, the red head finally agreed to proceed with everyone to the second level of his house - "for the final show" were his exact words, although they didn't quite explain anything at all. Ryou understood not what they have planned, but upon hearing how they've left his birthday cake in his room, the mahogany haired boy realised that he would have no choice but to follow.

"Neh Yuushi, do you think he'll be okay?"

"I wonder.."

There isn't a fridge on the second level of his house, after all. Brows furrowing in worry, Ryou kept his head low as his fingers continued massaging the area near his temples, trying to relieve as much pent-up stress as possible - unnecessarily accumulated stress from his stupid teammates.

"Oshitari, ore-sama did warn you that-"

"Atobe, you were the one who suggested-"

It'll be terrible if they've made a mess; worse, if they've attracted a horde of ants into his room. He had already enough trouble cleaning up the whole house on his own, no thanks to his father.. If they've made a bigger mess for him to clear-

"Ore-sama shall not-"

"Well, maybe he's still asleep!"

Uncontrollably, the conversation around him had dissolved into but another annoyed buzz by his ears, one he was used to ignoring ever since it became an almost daily thing.

"Let's hope he remembers.."

"Ootori should be awake by now-"

"- but Hiyoshi's strike was hard!"

Ryou was so deep in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed he had been led unknowningly all the way to the door of his room. Stopping just before he knocked into Kabaji, the mahogany haired boy looked around, and noticed how the Hyoutei regulars were crowding infront of his room, smirking at him in such a manner, it made him feel extremely uncomfortable and nervous.

"Wait.." Ryou frowned, pushing his way through the gathered group to the door to his room, whipping around so that he had his back against it. "How the hell did you guys know where my room was?"

He was greeted by silence, and he could tell they were all thinking along the lines of, "What, were we not supposed to know?" However, the only person who had entered his house and his room was Choutarou, and Choutarou happened to also be the only person who had access to his keys.

"It's hard to believe he's truly clueless.."

"Senpai, your keys."

"Did you honestly miss something that obvious?"

"... Ore-sama cannot imagine-"

"The bow was bright crimson-"

"- Yeah, KEYS!"

Prompted by his teammates, Ryou unwillingly stuck his hands into his pocket, to fish out his keys. As he wondered vaguely what was it that kept him so attracted to their company, his eyes finally spotted a tiny bow, bright crimson and neatly knotted, resting around his room key.

"I locked it from inside, just so you know. You're the only one that can open the door now," Oshitari added softly, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he reached out to take Gakuto's hand, ignoring the red-head's protests. "So, we should get going. Enjoy your cake, Shishido."

By the time he finally grasped his team's tensai's words, the Hyoutei regulars had already made their way back down the stairs, and were back on the ground floor, searching for the front door.

"What, you guys are not staying for the cake?" Ryou yelled after them, questions after questions flooding his head.

"We can't share it with you, Ryou! I bet you won't share it either way!" exclaimed the red-head, poking his head back into the stairway for the briefest moment, to shoot a smirk in Ryou's direction. "Although we'll all love to share a proper birthday cake.." he added as he withdrew his head.

"We'll let ourselves out on our own," a muffled voice added as they drifted further and further away.

That was all Ryou needed to know that something was seriously wrong.