… Just when Atobe gets it right, things all go wrong! How does the monkey king handle all these NOW?! (Three-shot)
/Disclaimer/ Please see previous disclaimer…
ATOBE'S DILEMMA
By thedancingcheese
Part Three: Conclusion
The great Atobe Keigo was depressed.
It was the worst Hyoutei has ever seen. Usually, he was lounging around like some prince, having everyone work to their bones, but this time… oh wait.
He was still doing the same. Except that he's more bloodthirsty and rude and callously evil that the Hyoutei team was actually sorry that he came back (even Shishido). This time, he would sit atop a high chair with a microphone in his hand, screaming, "More laps! More laps!" to the point that his teammates actually started wanting to push the microphone deep in his throat or to tear off his lower limbs and show him what a lap really looked like.
Of course, this time, nobody said anything; they might worsen their current conditions.
Even Kabaji was too stressed out to say 'usu' at another set of nerve-wracking laps.
"This is that bitch Tezuka's fault," one of them kept muttering under his breath, as he recalled the same thing from the Seigaku captain. "No-good Seigaku bastards." Such comments were also heard from quite a number of them, piling the blame over Seigaku, their recent visitors.
They were right, obviously, but they missed the right person to blame it to.
It was all due to Ryuzaki Sakuno.
o-o-o-o
"Ore-sama fires you! Get out!"
The doctor took a step back in surprise, as Atobe came rushing mad into his office. "Huh?" He had imagined that everything went well – Atobe figured out his problems and he got him totally off his back. Now what was this?
"You have made too many mistakes with your careless prescriptions. You have no right to serve under this hospital's name!" Atobe kept raging.
"Huh? What? What are you talking about, Keigo-sama?" Real thoughts: What is this idiot up to now?!
"Love? Love your hairy ass! Ore-sama is not, and will never be in love with such an inconsiderate girl! You have confused ore-sama enough. You are a useless doctor!" Atobe said, with strong emotions evident in his voice.
"Can you please calm down and tell me what's wrong, instead of you ridiculing other people's backsides?" As if having his patience run out, the doctor sat back into his chair, already calm. He took a deep breath and met Atobe's hostile stare. He then gestured for him to sit down.
Reluctantly, Atobe followed, and gave the doctor a deadly glare.
"Now, now. Glaring like that won't solve anything, would it?" he said, folding his hands in front of him. "Let's start from the beginning and tell me what's all this about."
Without saying anything, Atobe took out the card case from his pocket and threw it on the table in front of the doctor. He had actually kept it with him for the rest of the day, wondering if he should burn it or throw it away, but realized that he could do neither.
As soon as the doctor opened the card, his eyes widened slightly.
"Oh my."
"That's rather an insult to ore-sama, isn't it?" Atobe said coldly.
"No… no, I'm sorry." He put a hand up to stop Atobe, who was about to go on a tirade again. "What we diagnosed was your feelings, not the young girl's. You have to understand, Keigo-sama."
The doctor looked at him sadly; it was obvious that this was the first time that Atobe actually fell in love with someone other than himself. He was experiencing an actual rejection, something that didn't even exist in the young master's nightmares. He wondered how to say it gently, without forcing all of it just then.
"What does ore-sama have to understand? Everything is clear now." The same coldness.
He sighed. "Look, just see the situation in this way," he began optimistically. "Keigo-sama loves this girl, doesn't he? But what about the other girls who are in love with Keigo-sama? You can't love them all back because there is one special person that can only make you happy as she does. Do you understand now?"
This made Atobe silent for a while; he was rethinking what the doctor has just said. Smiling to himself and inwardly dancing a victory dance, the doctor kept on with the momentum on his side.
"Now, what you have to do is to decide. Do you like her enough to try harder? Or will you give up and wait for a more special person to come into your life? One's happiness depends on oneself. You are the only one who can repair all these."
"Decide… ore-sama only has to decide…" Atobe nodded. "How can ore-sama know if what he does is wrong?"
The doctor smiled again.
"There are no wrong decisions, Keigo-sama."
o-o-o-o
"Tezuka, it's ore-sa---"
"Good bye."
"Wait!" Atobe said breathlessly into the cell phone. "How dare you attempt to hang up on ore-sama!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Atobe cursed under his breath. Tezuka certainly wasn't going to be of any help. Asking her grandmother would be a very wrong decision. Sakuno was definitely impossible as a choice. He bit the tip of his thumb as he scrolled through the elements of his phonebook for someone reliable.
"Ah. Yes." He punched the number and waited for a response when the phone began to ring.
A yawn. "Hello?"
"Echizen. This is Atobe Keigo, from Hyoutei."
"Good bye."
"Oi! Ore-sama is talking to you!"
Sounds of leaves rustling sound from the other line. "What is it, monkey king?" Ryoma asked sleepily. "I was taking my afternoon nap."
"You brat! You're supposed to practice, aren't you?" Atobe sneered. Of course, who was this idiot kid anyway? Atobe and he were in totally different leagues. He was no match for his charms and beauty. "Anyway, ore-sama doesn't care about unimportant details. He needs to ask you a question."
"What?" Ryoma was getting impatient.
Atobe took a deep breath. "Do you love Ryuzaki Sakuno?" he asked straightforwardly.
"No."
The answer came faster than Atobe had ever imagined. So fast that it actually left him speechless.
"Can I hang up now?" Ryoma asked, which broke Atobe's temporary trance.
"Why? Why not?" he blurted out.
'Ah…" Ryoma yawned again. "I really don't have time to think of those things… I'll hang up now… Goodnight…" And the phone beep-ed again.
"It isn't even night yet, idiot!" Atobe said into his beeping phone, but he was already grinning widely.
o-o-o-o
It was pretty evil of Atobe to not consider Sakuno's feelings of getting rejected by Ryoma. Nevertheless, he couldn't care less about his connection to the whole situation. His mind was already full about his plans to make Sakuno totally and unquestionably his.
"Ah, Kabaji, it is such a nice day, ehn?"
Atobe had brought Kabaji with him to help him carry the bouquet he was currently trying to pick out. Of course it wasn't up to him to carry such a big thing to Seigaku, right? He was hovering over the deep, red roses.
"… this girl…"
Atobe turned around, surprised to find the big boy staring at him with eyes slightly wider than usual. It wasn't often that the boy spoke anything other than his agreements.
"… this girl likes Echizen Ryoma…" Kabaji said in his low voice. "… ano…"
"Speak it out, Kabaji!" Atobe said impatiently. "Ore-sama hasn't got all day!"
"… but Atobe-sama… uuu…."
"What? So she likes that Echizen boy? It is no matter to ore-sama. From how ore-sama sees it, it is merely a simple case of infatuation. Besides, he is on an entirely different level, as compared to him! Sakuno has no choice but to fall madly in love with ore-sama's amazing self! Does it not make sense to you, Kabaji?" Atobe demanded, but he was feeling nervous every second. He accidentally tore off a bud, and he crushed it in his palms.
"She… would be sad…" Kabaji replied in his meek, yet strangely intimidating voice.
Kabaji had spent so much time behind Atobe, yet never had he realized that it was possible to look pitiful with such a brute face. He wondered how much Kabaji understood about him since, after all, he had always been looked after by Kabaji… Atobe smiled, despite himself.
"Very well, Kabaji," he said, gesturing for them to go out of the store. "Ore-sama understands."
"Usu."
o-o-o-o
The very next day, Atobe was once again waiting in front of the Seigaku gates. He was silently playing with the card case inside his pants pocket. It had been quite a while since he had it with him, and never did he leave without it.
"Ah. It's you again."
Atobe smirked in reply to Ryoma's greeting. The boy tipped his cap up and smirked back. He was chewing gum.
"Yes. It seems that ore-sama is strangely attached to your school, Echizen."
"You mean 'to Ryuzaki'." Ryoma blew a bubble and smirked again. He gestured for Atobe to look behind him, and instantly, Atobe flushed as he saw that Sakuno and her friend was walking towards the gate. "Hurry up, monkey king, before I start understanding things."
Atobe nodded. "Ore-sama is more amazing than you take him for, Echizen Ryoma. He takes you as a very worthy opponent." And he walked past the young boy and into Sakuno's path.
Ryoma looked back at him and smiled to himself as he watched as Atobe tried to look cool while talking to the two girls.
"Mada, mada dane."
o-o-o-o
"Ano, Atobe-san?"
Sakuno's face was red as she held onto her bag tighter. Atobe was walking her home.
The past few days had been very new to Atobe. There had been many conflicting emotions that he had never felt before – it was as if he had gone through three whole levels of a video game without knowing how he'll be able to win in the end. Despite all that, he wanted to push through and fight all the bosses, even go against Echizen Ryoma in the end… after all, people who refer to themselves as 'ore-sama' must live up to it.
"I… when we went to that cake shop? Ano, I think… I lost something… It was a card case… and…" Her blush became deeper. "I was wondering if you found it anywhere? Because it was really, really important to---"
"Here." Atobe held out the case. "Ore-sama took care of it for you."
Sakuno brightened up, though she was hesitating on whether to look relieved or embarrassed. "Ah… thank you!" She held onto it, as if she mentally noted not to lose it ever again. "Did you look inside it, Atobe-san?"
"Yes."
"Oh…"
Atobe smirked, and said, "Ore-sama is willing to start as friends." Suddenly, he flushed and looked away. This was his decision, and he was going to stick to it no matter what. "This is special treatment, you hear? Only for very few people is ore-sama willing to wait."
And with that, he gave her a small wave and left, leaving a wondering Sakuno.
o-o-o-o
That night, when Sakuno checked the card case, she sighed in relief as she realized that the photo was still there. If it was leaked to other people, it would be very embarrassing, she thought. Thank goodness it was Atobe-san who found it!
All before this, a friendship… no, even a conversation… with the immensely popular Atobe Keigo seemed very impossible, especially for a nobody such as herself. Even Tomoka expressed her surprise regularly (albeit always with suspicions of throwing off Ryoma's fanclub). But right now, it seemed to be the case, and it made the pigtailed girl happy.
Before she closed the case, she noticed a small flap at the back of Ryoma's picture. She slowly pulled it out, and gasped as she realized that it was another one… of Atobe's.
At the back, a small note was written:
In any case you would be too shy to ask ore-sama someday.
Clutching the picture to her chest, Sakuno laughed.
THE END
Thank you very, very much for the reviews… From what you've read, what do you think should I practice more on? Or what story do you want me to try writing? Thanks a lot
