wingless crimson presents

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Title: Fallen

Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama (belongs to Konomi)

Type: Alternative Universe

Genres: Romance/Drama

Rating: T

Summary: When a disgraced, naïve angel is rescued by an arrogant, worldly vampire, an unlikely road to redemption begins.

N.O.T.E.S.

Yay, this is the last of the backstory chapters, so the chapters to come should be more interesting. I'm so happy I get to move ahead now, thanks for all the reviews and...Please enjoy!

-wingless (2-14-07)

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VI

Of Living and Lies

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"You lied! You're a fucking liar!"

Fuji bit his lip hard; the first thought that came to mind was that he ought to ask Yuuta where he had acquired knowledge of that word. But he sighed, and closed his eyes, "Don't say that."

"I'll say it as much as I fucking want to." Yuuta slumped down on the chair beside the bed, he winced, having slumped perhaps a bit too hard on the chair, it wasn't by all means comfortable. "You promised you would be able to come home today."

"Stop saying that word now, or else I will slap you." Fuji said calmly. "It's dirty, Yuuta."

Yuuta fell silent.

"Doctor Takuechi says tomorrow. It's not so hard to wait a day, is it?" Fuji reached out to grasp the younger boy's hand. "You've waited months."

"Aniki, I don't want you to die." Yuuta looked down, "…You can't die."

"Remember? Wish to the angels, my angel and yours, I won't die." Fuji smiled reassuringly, "I promise I won't, if only for your sake."

Atobe's apartment was luxurious enough to sport a private balcony. Given all that Fuji had he had heard and seen thus far, such a luxury seemed almost insignificant.

Fuji leaned against the marble railing of the balcony, staring down at the crawl of traffic below.

"I should go." He said aloud to no one. "…This place…isn't mine."

"Aniki?"

"Hm?"

Yuuta's youthful visage appeared uncertain for a moment, "…How do you know if the angels will listen to us?"

Fuji smiled softly, "Of course they will, we've been good boys. Not perfect, of course, no one's perfect. But we've just about conquered our sadistic streaks and all…they can't ask for anymore."

"You mean your sadistic streak." Yuuta reminded him.

"Ah, yes…mine. Well, I'm not sadistic anymore." Fuji shifted on his side and winced slightly, "But you've still got a temper, little brother."

Yuuta's face grew worried again, "…If I stop having a temper, would the angels listen to me?"

"Saa…"

And then Atobe had kissed him. There was that, all the reason that he should go. Fuji stared down at his hands. Hands that Atobe Keigo held. Hands that touched the lips that Atobe Keigo kissed.

"Tezuka." He shook his head, "You must be furious. Absolutely furious, disgusted with me." He almost said the word, but steeled himself against it, he laid his head down on the balcony, "You should be. I—I'm such a failure."

It seemed like eternity, but then a hand touched him on the shoulder, "…I thought you'd gone."

Atobe.

Fuji closed his eyes, he didn't want to look at the eyes that were almost strange. Eyes that could have been Tezuka's, if he tried hard enough. The scary thing was he actually thought about trying.

"I couldn't find my way back to the bus stop." Fuji felt his eyes beginning to water, all the more reason to not look up, "…Could you please…not touch me, right now?"

The hand dropped.

"…I'm sorry." Hesitation wasn't Atobe, "…I shouldn't have--"

"Don't." Fuji's plea was a bare whisper, he could feel himself shaking, "It's okay, you can't undo it. You can't pretend you've never kissed me." What a pathetic mess he was. "I can't pretend either. If you—apologize, it would only make it worse."

I can't pretend so many things.

That this is a place that's mine and yours.

Mine and Tezuka's.

"…Fuji, are you all right?"

"No."

Silence, then Fuji heard footsteps, if he had to guess, Atobe was joining him at the balcony. "I don't regret that I've kissed you."

Neither do I.

But Fuji found no strength to speak that aloud. "You should, I'm a pathetic weakling. I'm a failure, Atobe, it doesn't matter if I'm beautiful."

"Of course it matters." Atobe said.

"Being beautiful doesn't keep me from messing things up." Fuji said, a thin watery veil clouding his eyes. He forced himself to look at Atobe, who was gazing at him intently. "Stop saying these things. They aren't true. And they're not making me feel any better."

He half expected Atobe to hit him, the glare tinting the steel-colored gaze told him that the other was thinking about it. But what came out was only, "…What did you do that was so unforgivable?"

Fuji almost wanted to laugh, Atobe said such ridiculous things, perhaps Atobe thought the same of him. "If I told you, it would scare you away."

Now Atobe looked as if he wanted to laugh. But he shook his head, "Try me."

Fuji didn't want to, in fact, he would rather die, if such a feat was possible twice, but Atobe's phone conveniently rang, saving him from answering.

"Okay, thank you, bye, Keigo-san." Sakuno nodded into the receiver.

"…Who's Atobe Keigo?" Ryoma wanted to know, when Sakuno shut off her cell phone.

Things had been as placid as Sakuno had dared to hope for, after Tomoka had gotten over the fact that THE Echizen Ryoma had indeed joined them for lunch, and that it wasn't some accident. She had calmed down some.

Until this.

"Oh my god! Ryoma-sama, you don't know who Atobe Keigo is??" Tomoka almost wrung his shoulders off. "He's only like the hottest star in Japan right now, and lucky Sakuno lives with him!"

"Tomo, you have to remember, he's from America." An reminded her.

"But still, Atobe-sama's famous everywhere! I saw an article on him in French once!"

Ryoma turned to her with a rather pained expression, "You live through this everyday?"

"Almost." She said, staring at the grass.

He shook his head, with no small amount of amusement. "They remind me of my parents, kind of." Ryoma leaned back on his elbows. "Why is your name Ryuzaki then, if you live with him?"

"It causes too much of a…commotion." Sakuno paused, thinking of the word, "And plus, Keigo-san hates paperwork. So it's easier just to keep my name." She seriously hoped that he would stop asking questions, Yuushi always told her not to say too much, lest something really got out.

"I see." Ryoma smirked, "Famous people, they're all the same." He got to his feet and adjusted the bill of his cap, "Mada mada dane…you might want to go, I think I just heard the bell rang." With that, he sauntered off.

"…Bye?"

Ryoma didn't hear her, probably.

Tomoka broke the argument long enough to watch him go, "Ten bucks he's going to ask you out at the end of the week." She sounded smug.

"…Tomo, this is the end of the week." An rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen."

"I am so not. I meant next week, then." Tomoka spat back, "But Sakuno, Atobe-sama did say you could spend the night with us, right?"

Sakuno packed up her lunch tin and stood, "Yes, he did." She started walking, hoping that they wouldn't bring up Ryoma again.

"Hey, is Atobe sick, Yuushi?" Gakuto asked. "Like really dying sick?"

Oshitari sighed and stretched out on the bed, pulling the redhead on top of him. "No. Atobe isn't sick."

"Liar." Gakuto tucked his head carefully under Oshitari's chin, "You know, I can tell when you're lying."

"You should be." Oshitari stared up at the ceiling, being with Gakuto on Atobe's bed was mildly unsettlingly. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. "I wouldn't expect anything less of my lover."

"Sometimes I wonder if I really am your lover." Gakuto murmured. "…When will you really tell me the truth, Yuushi?"

Never.

"Soon." Oshitari kissed him. "I promise."

"I don't believe you."

But sometimes, there were things Oshitari pretended he never heard. He got up and reached for the tainted glass. "It feels weird here in Atobe's room." He said, more to himself than to Gakuto.

Gakuto stayed where he was, "He has a comfortable bed." Gakuto's way of saying 'stay'. "It's much bigger than mine." 'please'.

But Oshitari didn't move either. "…I like your bed better." He turned and headed towards the door. "It's getting to be dinner, I'll make reservations for four at Luneburg's." Luneburg's was a famed German eatery. One of the precious few Atobe actually deemed worthy. He smiled a lopsided smile. "Be my date, Ga-chan?"

"Yuushi, you bastard." But the smile was back.

Oshitari sighed, a feeling of numb relief washing over him. "I'll take that as a yes."

Atobe replaced the phone inside his pocket, and turned back to Fuji. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" He sighed, more frustrated if anything. What Ore-sama wanted, ore-sama got…but why he wanted this so much—

"Telling you will depress you. And scare you away." Fuji enunciated his fate carefully, avoiding eye contact, "It's none of your business, anyway."

Atobe almost hit him, but restrained himself. "Just because you've made a mistake and some bad thing happened doesn't make you a bad person."

"I suppose you know it all?" Fuji glared at him. "Of course, you've sinned worse, you've seen worse, you've done worse. You make me look like a damned angel, all right--" he cut off abruptly, looking like Atobe had slapped him in the face.

He could have asked, but Atobe knew it would be pointless, there would be no answer, not even if he got down on his knees and begged. Fuji was stubborn to a fault, that much he could be sure. "Yes, you should consider yourself an angel compared to me."

Fuji's lips twitched, into something not a quite a smile, "What did you do?" He asked calmly. "You don't have to answer."

"I lived." Atobe answered without thinking, "My mere existence, it's a sin." He shrugged, "I wake up every morning, and I hate myself for it."

"And yet, you still have the courage to believe that you are beautiful." Fuji shook his head. "You're a strange one." He looked like he wanted to laugh. "You want to know what I did?"

"What?"

"I lied. To a person I love more than anything in this world. In any world. And he believed."

"Everyone lies," Atobe stepped closer so that their shoulders brushed, "I'm sure he's lied to you."

Fuji didn't move. "So? Everyone lives. But while many consider it a misfortune, few call it a sin like you."

Atobe was silent.

But not forever. He wanted to say, not everyone lives forever, trying to lie to themselves that they are beautiful.

Like I do.

Whatever you have done, I promise you I have done it a thousand times over.

You are an angel. Why you don't believe it is beyond me.

Atobe let out a breath he wasn't aware of holding, "…You're the strange one." He wanted to laugh, but the sound that strained from his throat sounded like a dying cat. "Ore-sama doesn't understand you."

"I don't want you to understand me." Fuji shot back rather petulantly.

"You're exasperating." And Atobe meant it entirely, "Do you not want to feel better?"

"I'm not allowed to. The only reason I'm here…" Fuji smiled a vague, pained smile, "…Is to suffer. They have to see me suffer."

"What do you mean?"

Fuji walked the length of the whole balcony, and retraced his steps carefully. "Nothing. It doesn't mean anything. Nothing at all…they must be furious with me."

"…Who's 'they'?"

Fuji finally met his gaze, the cerulean eyes sharper than ever, as if he just saw Atobe for the very first time. "…Atobe." His voice sounded like it was about to break.

Atobe reached out a hand, and then stopped, the fact that he could have picked up a runaway schizophrenic occurring at that moment, the chance of it was slight, but possible. "…What?" he asked, tone slight terse.

Fuji hugged him fiercely, catching him off guard. "Atobe…it's…it's stopped raining."

Fuji's head fit comfortably on his shoulder, Atobe realized. "…That means the sun has come out." He said, patting the other's back rather awkwardly. "It's not a bad thing."

"…It stopped raining…" Fuji repeated, mumbling into his chest, gripping him tighter, "It…stopped raining."

Atobe found nothing else to say. He patted Fuji's back some more and stared up at the sky, almost wishing that it would rain, whatever that meant.