Disclaimer: I do not own PoT in any way and I do not own the characters and I am in no way profiting from writing this (besides my own personal entertainment).

Note: You'll read something about Atobe going to sleep, see a * and then a big italicized section. That section is his dream and his dreams are his past. When you see another * it means he's going to wake up.

CHAPTER 3

"Atobe!"

"Atooobe!"

"Moron!"

"Monkey King!"

"Atobe."

"Nya, his hair grew back!"

Atobe ignored the combined calls from the boys who had been left on the bus, they were too loud an annoying to deal with at this time of day (not that Atobe would know it's 6am). The Hyotei captain scanned the crowd and noticed that everyone who had not come in last night was standing there with their bags.

"Upstairs, once you finish climbing the staircase behind me, to the left is a hallway. The three doors on the left are bedrooms, and the first and third door on the right are. The second door on the right is the bathroom. If a door is closed then that room is already full. You may change rooms at any time."

There was a wave of whispers and "hey, sleep with me"s that shot through the same mob of boys until he had to speak up.

"Yes, Tezuka?" Atobe asked with his best tone. He was tired, but why wouldn't he be? He hasn't slept in two days because he's been running around like a drunken dolphin doing Sakaki's work.

"Ryuzaki-sensei said that you would be conducting bonding exercises," there was a collective groan, "and I was just wondering if I could help you plan those."

Atobe thought about it for a second. Did he want Tezuka's help? Sure, he would have less work, but if something went wrong Atobe will most likely lose any standing he had left with Sakaki. Atobe sighed before answering. It was Tezuka. Why did Tezuka have to ruin his day already? Then Atobe thought of the perfect solution, he just needed a perfect boy.

"If you wish, but please inform Yukimura that he must help as well. It's us three or just me." Tezuka nodded before he picked up his bag which was at his feet at making his way upstairs. If Yukimura helps, being Mr. Perfectionist, things will be more likely to work out. There's some logic behind it. Some.

Atobe watched the rest of the boys walk by him and once they were out of site he figured it would be okay if he sat down for just a minute. There was a loud thump and a drawn out sigh of relief as Atobe fell onto the leather sofa in front of the fireplace.

*

Atobe had just arrived home school when he heard her scream. He thought nothing of it, she was a clumsy woman and often fell. And then he heard the maids begin to yell for him to stop. That's what made Atobe run down the halls of his mansion. He slide as he turned around the corner and she was laying on the ground with him standing above her.

"Stupid woman! How could I have married you?!"

His eyes turned and locked on Atobe, but the maids stood in front of him and told him to stop. Atobe pushed the maids out of the way and darted down the hall.

*

"Atobe… wake up!"

"Don't touch her!" Atobe shot up and was panting to catch his breath.

Sanada pulled his hand off of Atobe's shoulder and just blinked. Atobe looked around and saw Yukimura, Sanada, Oishi, Tezuka, Kabaji, and Oshitari staring at him with rather odd expressions. Not many people see Atobe sleep because he always has work so that's an odd site as it is, but having Atobe wake up from his sleep screaming and panting was not exactly a common site either.

Atobe rubbed his head and mumbled a sorry as Sanada slowly backed away. "What is it? If you needed to wake me up so badly it better be pretty damn important."

Oishi nodded and handed Atobe a sheet of paper. Atobe gave him a look as he (Oishi) rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Oh, it's nothing bad! It's just some ideas to help the team bond!"

Atobe wanted to say that there's no way in hell they're using these because Sakaki would ring his neck, but that wouldn't go over too well. "We should do the ones our senseis want us to do first and if we have extra time then we will use these."

"That sounds find to me," Yukimura said with a warm smile. Everyone began to depart, except for Yukimura. "Just what kind of dream was that anyways?"

Atobe ignored Rikkai Dai's captain as he stood up and walked towards Kabaji who was standing at the kitchen door.

"Atobe?" Sanada asked, he and Tezuka were casually chatting before heading outside.

"Hn?" The two boys just looked at him. "Oh, it's not time to eat yet. However, if you are hungry, there should be something in here." Atobe had almost forgotten that the man told him the guests were here and that he was needed in the kitchen.

The two boys turned down his generous offer and continued outside. Atobe didn't seem to realize that Yukimura was sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace with his head lost somewhere in the clouds. Atobe only realizes things that can affect him in some way, bad or good. Maybe that's why everyone thinks he's heartless. In a way he is, even he would admit that.

"Keigo-kun!" a young woman came up and hugged Atobe, but he merely looked at Kabaji as a desperate plea for help. She let go of him and she looked him up and down. She had brown hair and rich brown eyes, like most Japanese do. She clapped her hands together and sighed. "My, my, my… how you've grown!"

Atobe didn't want to sound blunt or rude, but he really just needed to ask, "Who are you again?"

She laughed and smiled warmly at him. "I'm the chef. It's okay if you don't remember me. After all, the staff basically changes every other week."

"Ah." She mocked his expression before laughing again and Atobe gave a small nod and smile. "I was told that I was needed in the kitchen and I suppose that you called me down here. Is there anything I'm needed for?" Atobe was desperately trying not to bore himself to sleep with the sound of his own voice.

"Oh, yes, I would just like to tell you that breakfast will be made and served roughly around nine in the morning. Lunch will be served at one or so, depending on the size of the first meal. Dinner will be served around seven. BUT," she held up a finger to emphasize the "but" (as if he sudden change in volume didn't stress that enough), "the kitchen is open at any time so please feel free to come in and snack between meals. Also, if you have any requests for a meal just find me before hand and I'll see what I can do."

Atobe nodded and the turned to leave, but she grabbed his shoulder so he turned around. "Sorry, was there more?"

She nodded and pointed to a small cabinet in the corner. "Alcohol is kept in there. The sake and wine is imported so it cannot be traced back to anyone besides the general Atobe family, so if you or any of your friends are, for some odd reason, in need of alcohol feel free to grab a bottle."

"You're allowing us to drink underage?" Atobe wasn't sure if he was excited or worried. Sure, he has had his fair share of puking his guts out of the toilet because of that damn wine his father imports, but he was pretty sure some of those goody-two-shoes at Seigaku hadn't come within a mile of expensive imports.

She winked. "As long as it stays in the cabin I don't see why not. Oh, and don't worry about me trying to get you all drunk or something silly like that, I only use minute amounts of alcohol for my dishes and most dishes to not require alcohol at all."

Atobe nodded and looked at Kabaji who was also taking in just how insane this woman is. "I see. Well, thank you for informing me. Is there anything else or am I free to leave?"

"Um? Oh, feel free to leave! I'll see you later!" she smiled and basically shoved them out of the kitchen.

Atobe shook his head as he looked up at Kabaji who had a small grin on his lips. Atobe copied that grin before heading back upstairs to hopefully get some sleep. He also noticed that Kabaji didn't follow him upstairs. He was so used to having the boy there that he could basically tell if he was standing behind him or not. Atobe tugged off his shirt and somehow managed to close his eyes and ease his thoughts as he slowly drifted into sleep.

*

"Don't you dare touch me, you ungrateful son!"

Atobe jerked back as the maids and servants stood silently in the back. Atobe watched as his eyes darted between himself and the woman. The man shook his head one more time and hurried down the hall.

Within a heart beat Atobe saw the maids rushing to the woman's side. She pushed them away and crawled over to Atobe.

"Are you okay, Keigo?"

Atobe nodded. "You're bleeding again."

She reached up and felt her head. She sighed and then smiled at her son. "It's okay, I'm strong, I think I'll live."

*

Atobe felt himself shaking. No, not shaking. He was bouncing. Bouncing? He opened his eyes and looked at Jirou who was jumping up and down at the end of his bed. Atobe told him to stop, but Jirou just crawled up to him on his hands and knees.

"Ne, Atobe." Atobe nodded for him to get whatever was in his system out and stretched. "What are we doing today?"

Atobe sighed and looked at the clock. "Well, we'll be eating breakfast in an hour and after that I was going to meet with Tezuka and Yukimura to discuss the actives for the day."

Jirou nodded and got off the bed and ran out the room. Atobe smiled, Jirou was one hell of a wakeup call, but it's nice to wake up to someone so perky, it kind of rubs off on you. He slide off the bed and reached for the dresser (he assumed Kabaji had unpacked his bags, which he had) and pulled out a new shirt, new boxers, and a new pair of jeans. He slipped out of his pants and pulled down his boxers when he heard someone walk into the room.

"Jirou!" Atobe yelled, covering his lower parents with his clean clothes.

The blonde looked at Atobe and then blushed. "Sorry, I-I just need clean clothes. I'm gonna go get a shower." Before Atobe could blink or even understand what the motor mouth had said, Jirou had grabbed a new set of clothes and was gone.

Jirou closed the door behind him and listened to the soft click as he locked it. He slide against the door and shivered as his legs hit the tiles of the bathroom floor. He brushed his hair out of his face and took a deep breath.

It's just Atobe. It's just Atobe. God, who knew he was so hot? No! He's my captain! I can't think about him like that! Or can I? No!

Jirou shook his head in a sad attempt to change his thoughts as he pulled off his own clothes and turned on the water for the shower. When a mist of hot, steamy water hit him he took a step in and let the water soothe his aching muscles. Those beds were uncomfortable and it's not as if his back doesn't always hurt; he sleeps on the ground with his tennis bag as a pillow, that's far from a temperpedic mattress.

Jirou turned the handle to the water and it whistled to a stop as he grabbed a towel and stepped out. He wrapped his waist and looked at himself in the mirror. He sighed after noticing he was only looking at stem. He ran his hand across its cool, sleek surface and tried again. He groaned.

"I look so old…," he mumbled as he looked at the dark circles under his eyes. After slapping his cheeks he quickly got dressed and walked to the second floor foyer with the white towel that was once clinging to his boney waist wrapped around his shoulders to catch water drops that fell from his hair.

He rubbed his towel against his hair one more time and sat in the same over sized bean bag as Mukahi. He noticed that Marui, Kirihara, and Hiyoshi were in the other equally over sized bean bags.

"What are you watching?" he asked as he pushed Mukahi over to get some more room.

"Old anime reruns," Kirihara informed without looking away from the screen.

Jirou nodded. He never did care for anime or manga like some of the other boys do, he never really got that into it. They talk, fight for like thirty episodes (or chapters), go back home and then end up fighting again. It wasn't productive to him; he'd rather be spending his time playing tennis against Atobe.

Atobe... Not again! Ok, Akutagawa, think about manly things and not Atobe. Sweat, boobs, vaginas, penises, Atobe's penis, crap this isn't working!

Jirou absent mindedly yelled as he rested his head against Mukahi's shoulder. "You smell like strawberries. I like strawberries. Atobe smells like watermelon, Marui smells like apples, and Piyo-chan smells like mangos. Why don't I have a scent?" Jirou asked despite the fact that he himself knew he wasn't making any sense at all. He just wanted his mind off of Atobe, all of Atobe.

The boys just pasted Jirou's mumblings off as Jirou's mumblings until Marui became slightly confused at one of those scents. "How do you know what Atobe smells like?"

Kirihara immediately turned off the TV and set the remote on the floor so he could turn and stare at the blonde with fascination. Hiyoshi and Mukahi copied Kirihara and Marui.

"How do you know what Atobe smells like?" Hiyoshi asked, slightly interested in something for the first time since tennis calmed down.

"Yuushi smells like strawberries, too. I think we use the same shampoo," Mukahi mumbled as he struggled against his friend in their battle for bean bag space.

Jirou shrugged. "I don't know, I just know. How do you know what Oshitari smells like?" Mukahi smirked and Jirou interrupted what could have potentially been scaring by saying, "On second thought I don't need to know. I'm going to go for a walk."

The other boys nodded and quickly turned their attention back to the TV. A second later they realized that they needed to turn it back on.

A/N: I just got back from the beach and have some great ideas for this story! It's going to be so long (I need practice so I'm not complaining) but it is going to be good (at least I hope). I know nothing interesting has happened yet, but I'm working on it! Next chapter should be a little better.