A/N: Phew! Finally finished in time for Sakuno-chan's birthday. Marui may pop up later. Expect some cameos from other cast members in PoT (and maybe characters from other works) as we go along.

Part 7: Not! A Love Square?

It was a new week and, by now, Sakuno knew she shouldn't be surprised by all the prying eyes and mindless rumours circulating around her like a dizzying whirlpool without end. Thinking it, however, wasn't the same as experiencing it live in 3-D. Try as she might, it was just impossible not to notice the countless eyes drilling holes of curiosity into her back anywhere she dared to show her face. She could guess what they were about. Some absurd love square that should have made any sane person with half a surviving brain cell chortle in disbelief. As if Ryoma-kun (who was stuck on tennis), Tezuka-sempai (who was like a long-suffering older brother), and Atobe-san (whose One True Love was himself) could find her remotely attractive as a girl. In fact, she had only caught the eye of the Essence of Ego himself because she was the Nice Girl who apparently fulfilled his mother's idea of The Perfect Girlfriend. And once Sakuno passed her useful expiration date, she had no doubt that she would be relegated to Just Another Ex in Atobe's mile-long history of conquests.

Yeah, how romantic.

What made the whole situation even more uncomfortable? Well, Sakuno was kinda-sorta dating Atobe Keigo on fraudulent terms, so she was understandably hesitant on revealing the finer points of their 'relationship'. Like, how did they fall in love? Where? When? Good kisser? Questions like those rained down on her relentlessly like a hail of bullets by overly curious girls who had grown devious enough to corner Sakuno alone whenever Tomoka was distracted. On the up side, Sakuno actually learned to be grateful for her blushes and stammers, because they helped hide her non-answers by making her responses as comprehensible as her English essays. On the other hand, it also ensured that any attempts at explaining that her 'other' suitors could only exist in the figment of their boredom-induced imaginations ended as exercises in futility. (Of course, it didn't help that half of Seigaku's student body could, in fact, rival Atobe in the selective hearing department.)

Life in her school had also changed from merely noisy from gossip just a few days ago, to downright life threatening. Not because of the gossipers. No, what made Sakuno frighteningly aware that the newspaper headlines may one day read 'Teenage Girl's Corpse Found Mutilated in Dark Alley' were the fangirls—Tezuka's, to be precise—who were smart enough not to launch an outright attack on the pigtailed girl for fear of upsetting the Object of Their Worship, but dumb enough to march into Sakuno's Biology class on Monday morning to demand a private meeting for full clarification on her relationship with Tezuka. (They promptly beat a hasty retreat before the secretly pyromaniacal Tomoka could put the Bunsen burners at her disposal to creative use.)

Thereafter, to ensure her friend's safety on school grounds, it became routine for the ever loyal Tomoka to bark hostile threats and death-glare anyone who even so much as look at Sakuno cross-eyed (the nail-studded baseball bat was still a work in progress). Not to be outdone, the overprotective Seigaku regulars—who had taken it into their heads that Sakuno's pristine reputation must be defended at all cost—were weeding out the culprits behind Sakuno's malicious character assassination like sniffer hounds on crack. After all, even if her taste in men were kind of...questionable, their Sakuno-chan was loyal to the core and she wouldn't string along anyone.

Her earlier plans for the North Pole didn't seem like a joke now. But Sakuno was a survivor and, with the help of her faithful friends, she endured.

And then Wednesday came. They had chosen different electives, and so, unfortunately, Tomoka didn't share her best friend's last period for the day. Nevertheless, in case of an ambush, she had offered to be Sakuno's personal escort to the school gate where Tezuka would be waiting. But Sakuno—aware that Tomoka had an imminent part-time job and a crabby manager that evening—had assured her gallant friend that she could make it without help. Really, she could. She told a doubtful-looking Tomoka not to wait up because it would only be a brisk walk to the school gate where her sempai would be waiting. She would be fine. Cross her heart.

Sakuno intended to keep that promise. So, summoning all the powers of her concentration, she had waited until the coast was clear and then, quiet as a mouse, tiptoed down the school corridor like the ballerina hippos from Fantasia. She did some tricky Mission Impossible moves that involved scurrying behind conveniently located pillars and bushes (her sempai-taichi would have been so proud) before—at last—spotting her Prime Objective: the sweet pearly gates of freedom glittering under the sunlight like a beacon of hope. Almost there. Taking a deep breath, she looked left and right, then flattened her back against the wall to slowly—

"That's her! That's Ryuuzaki Sakuno!"

She froze.

Drat.

So much for subterfuge.

A group of rabid Tezuka-fangirls were shooting poisoned daggers at her through eyes filled with flames of undying animosity. At last, their target was alone and ripe for interrogation! They'd never had a problem with Sakuno in the past, because they assumed she was too fixated with young Echizen to make cow eyes at their infinitely superior beloved idol. Who knew that this seemingly innocent little minx had such an insatiable appetite! And, to top it off, actually daring to break poor Tezuka's heart for the so-called 'King' of a rival school! Simply forgivable!

"Ryuuzaki Sakuno!" One of the fangirls who had been made their representative—and henceforth shall be known as The Representative—after a game of rock-paper-scissors (necessary, for shockingly, there was no official Tezuka fanclub) stepped forward to eye Sakuno with such chilling contempt that our heroine feared she was going to ice over right there. "How DARE you treat Tezuka-sama with such disregard! After how much he was willing to sacrifice!"

Huh?

"Using him to make some lame hotshot from some other school jealous! Such traitorous behaviour! Such lows that would shame even a scum-sucker!"

Sakuno blinked. Again. And again.

"Any girl loved by Tezuka-sama should be overjoyed! He is as close to perfection there is! Smarts, looks, talent, dedication, leadership—he has it all!" The Representative—and some of the other hormonal Tezuka-fangirls—actually began to weep sparkling tears of unselfishness. "We loath you, Ryuuzaki Sakuno! But for Tezuka-sama's sake, please reconsider dating him again!"

Sakuno's first instinct was to yell: WE WERE NEVER DATING IN THE FIRST PLACE! Because she was well-bred and disliked confrontations, however, she pinched the bridge of her nose and silently counted to ten. "I-I don't know what you're..." Smoking. Drinking. High on. Because, unless they had been born mentally unbalanced, only substance abuse could explain their bizarre ramblings.

"Annoying."

That monosyllabic academic assessment of the situation made the absolutely baffled Sakuno and her melodramatic harassers stop short. It was Echizen Ryoma, who was looking bored out of his mind at the gathering of squawking hens blocking his path. "You're in my way," he told the irritated Tezuka-fangirls most helpfully.

"E-Echizen!" Tezuka's groupies squawked in an unmusical chorus, turning to face the indifferent Ryoma with indignant stares. "Aren't you angry at that ungrateful backstabber, too, for abandoning her feelings for you when the going got tough!?" demanded their Representative.

Sakuno flushed crimson as she looked down, an irrationally guilty feeling rising in her throat. But Ryoma, possessing all the sensitivity of a rock (which was, admittedly, an insult to rocks), only rolled his eyes. "It's none of my business." His deadpan reply made Sakuno's heart twinge. "Now move."

Despite his rather average height, the coldness in Ryoma's amber eyes made The Representative's look like a measly snowflake. Obviously defeated by the superiority of his glare, the hapless Tezuka-fangirls scattered like so much frightened pigeons. It was, after all, better to run to fight another day.

Now it was just Sakuno and Ryoma—along with some random students in the backdrop, but they weren't plot-relevant right now.

Sakuno's cheeks reddened as she figuratively burned a hole in the ground with her stare. She was being a burden again, she thought sadly. With all the molecules in her body, she wished she didn't always show such a pathetic side of herself in front of him. "Th-Thank you, Ryoma-kun," was all she could muster in her embarrassment.

Her childhood crush eyed her with his characteristic apathy for a brief moment, and then heaved a sigh. "You," he said flatly, "shouldn't let them get to you. It's a waste of time." With that, he proceeded to walk past her.

Shock widened her eyes as she felt her heart thump erratically. Okay, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. In the past, Ryoma would have reduced her into a stuttering wreck if he so much as breathed in her general direction. Still, it would have been better if he'd just flat-out ignored her. She stared longingly at Samurai Junior's retreating back. Ryoma-kun, she commanded in her head, stop being so nice. I'm trying to get over you and you're not making it easy.

"Sakuno."

The impassive voice belonged to Seigaku's distinguished tennis captain, who had just made it to see Sakuno standing safely near the gate. The sight of Tezuka was like an oasis of calm in a desert in dire need of sanity. She ran up to him, smiling widely (and with immense relief). "Tezuka-sempai!"

"Did you wait long?" She knew him long enough to recognise the subtle apology.

"N-Not at all!" Frankly, she hadn't had the time to wait.

As Sakuno appeared to be in one piece, he nodded and was about to lead the way out of the school when—what could make her day even better—an all-too-familiar limousine stopped near the gate.

Oh, joy.

Sakuno was sorely tempted to bang her head against the nearby wall. What was he doing here? Bad enough that he had forcefully taken over her peaceful school mornings. She had thought she would at least be free from Atobe's 'dynamic' self with Mitsu-nii accompanying her after school. For all her residual guilt, the fact that there was at least a small part of her time (and life) that wasn't going to be subjugated by the autocratic Atobe was the one solace she had taken comfort in, despite imposing on the ever busy Tezuka.

Obviously, it had been wishful thinking.

Although Sakuno instinctively tried to inch behind Tezuka, Atobe's eagle eyes easily located her. He was, as usual, attracting a lot of attention—mostly of the female persuasion—in a stylish sports jacket and dark trousers. Sakuno immediately realised he was dressed for a date (whether she wanted it or not).

Okay—she closed her eyes—stay calm, Sakuno. Only last week, she had lived to see another day after unwisely drinking Inui-sempai's 'medicine' in a bid for a faster recovery from her fever in the righteous name of work, right? This, she tried to assure herself, was a piece of cake in comparison. She had to tell Atobe she had plans this evening and that he couldn't keep hogging her time (and bossing her around) when it was she who was doing him a huge favour. She would have to explain to him—firmly—that her time was engaged this evening unless it was Something Very Important beyond his whims for the day.

When she opened her eyes again to bravely confront reality, Atobe was already in front of her. The stern talking-to she had been dying to unleash paused when, once again, she saw him glance ever so casually at her right hand. The mild abrasion had healed nicely, with only the barest hint that it had ever existed. Too late, her chance to put the first word in cheerfully waved past her when Atobe called her name and deliberately flashed her a sexy movie-star smirk, designed to make the women within his immediate vicinity keel over from severe nose bleeding. Well, Sakuno thought with a small sigh, she felt faint by his presence all right. She returned his greeting with a weak smile and a soft "Hello, Atobe-san", which satisfied him enough to turn his attention to his Eternal Rival.

"Tezuka."

"Atobe."

What was it with these men and one-word grunts? Sakuno wondered in exasperation. And why was she pondering about this Great Mystery of Life when she should be scrambling to make a quick getaway? Ah well, too late now. A manservant suddenly popped up from behind her to politely snatch her schoolbag and Atobe made a vice-like grip on her wrist to begin dragging her to his vehicle as if it was his God-given right. To Sakuno's astonishment, however, Tezuka prevented them from leaving with his own vice-like grip on her other wrist.

Silence fell. And for what seemed like forever but was probably only five seconds, the three of them stood, stiff and unmoving.

Then, Atobe slowly turned his head, narrowing his eyes dangerously at the challenge. It was a sentiment shared by Tezuka, who was only short-sighted, not blind. He had noticed Sakuno's lack of enthusiasm with her 'date' and, not for the first time, secretly speculated on whether the Ryoma-dubbed 'Monkey King' really had done something diabolical to blackmail the defenceless Sakuno into dating him. The stoic captain blamed part of his misgivings on constant exposure to Momo's paranoid ravings and Eiji's overactive imagination (with Fuji in the background egging them on with an innocent, angelic smile). Indeed, stupidity can be contagious. "Are you sure?" Tezuka asked the still dumbfounded Sakuno, the meaning of his tone hinting that he was perfectly willing to roundhouse kick social niceties (along with Atobe) to the curb and carry her off to safety if she changed her mind.

Sakuno blinked as she felt Atobe's hold on her tighten a little more at Tezuka's words.

The tension was thick enough to slice up with a blunt tennis racquet. This, of course, didn't go unobserved by the now plot-relevant onlookers, who were all holding their collective breaths, phones and cameras at the ready as they eagerly anticipated the next episode of Sakuno's Most Interesting Love Life: Part III, Scene V.

Sakuno had to defuse the ticking time bomb. Now. "I'll be fine, Mitsu...err, Tezuka-sempai." She was almost frantic as she tried to cover up her mistake. She needed to be more vigilant in keeping their relationship under wraps, Sakuno thought resolutely. She was already a heavy load on Tezuka's busy schedule and she refused to add more gossip fuel by acting too familiar with him.

"Very well." The frowning Tezuka grudgingly released her but, despite the siren call of tennis practice, decided to stand by and wait until Sakuno was 'safely' in the limousine.

Sakuno would have none of it. "Tezuka-sempai. Please." And then she pulled out her trump card—the dreaded Puppy Dog Look. So what if it wasn't fair? If her sempai hovered there any longer like some...some jealous rival challenging Atobe for her affections, the rumour mill would surely latch on to their closeness with the rabid tenacity of starving hyenas and make Tezuka's life incredibly difficult. Just go, she begged him with her eyes, for your own sake.

Tezuka's frown deepened. When Sakuno's expression became even more pitiful, he finally relented and, giving one last warning look to Atobe, told his kouhai he would see her tomorrow. To her relief, with Tezuka out of the equation, the crowd around them "aww"-ed disappointedly and slowly dispersed.

Sakuno smiled and used her free hand to wave goodbye to her reluctantly departing sempai before turning to Atobe, half expecting him to gloat over how he'd one-up Tezuka. She was surprised, however, to find the flamboyant captain strangely silent, studying her face carefully with an unreadable expression. She fidgeted anxiously. "A-Atobe-san?"

He was quiet an unsettling moment longer. Then, Hyotei's intrepid captain slipped into his trademark smirk and resumed guiding her to the limousine. Just as he had threatened—err, sweetly proposed last week, Atobe told her he was going to take her to a classical concert. They had missed it previously because of her unfortunate illness, but no worries, they could make up for it this evening.

Sakuno's eye twitched. How like this inconsiderate tyrant to assume she would joyfully drop everything in her life to hang onto his arm at a snap of his fingers. Couldn't he have at least informed her of this 'date' beforehand? Like this morning when he picked her up for school? Or how about calling her yesterday? Would that sprain his oh-so-precious hands? She swallowed her irritation and tried to reason with the impossible. "Atobe-san, I-I actually have plans this evening. I want to buy some reference books..."

But he wasn't listening (why wasn't she surprised?). In fact, His Royal Pain-in-the-Neck was already ordering his waiting chauffeur to head on over to the concert. At her wits' end, Sakuno tried to point out some flaw in his 'ingenious' plan so that she could save herself from an awkward evening stuck in his glorious company. "B-But I don't have anything appropriate to wear..." was her Nobel Prize-worthy excuse.

"Not a problem." As was his habit, Atobe waved away her concerns with a careless hand. "The chauffeur can make a stop at a passing dress shop."

Of course. Why didn't she, a mere peasant, think of that? Sakuno had to suck in a big, calming breath to control the maddening desire to soundly whack this spoiled brat upside the head with the nearest blunt object. Useless. It was useless to argue with this-this Neanderthal. Best to just get this ridiculous date over with. At least, she thought with forced optimism, her frugal side wouldn't haunt her dreams for wasting the stupidly overpriced concert tickets. She was about to enter the open door of the limousine and resign herself to another date from the lowest pits of hell when she heard her 'Prince Charming' say, "Sakuno-chan, before Ore-sama forgets..."

She turned to him warily. There was a sudden glint in his eyes—reminding her of the gleam of Inui's glasses whenever the Data Man was up to some mischief—which put Sakuno on her guard. Sure enough, Atobe declared that "Ore-sama has a gift for her!" and, with a snap of his fingers, the male servant from earlier suddenly appeared from behind her as if by magic. The servant bowed his head and proceeded to show her a small, open box.

Even the somewhat technology-illiterate Sakuno recognised the sleek surface of the latest iPhone model out in the market, complete with a matching pink case decorated with sparkling Swarovski crystals and specially customised with a cute Hello Kitty background...which looked suspiciously similar to the print of the comfort slippers hidden under her bed.

Her jaw dropped open.

"Ore-sama understands." Atobe sighed dramatically as he lifted the obscenely expensive phone from the box and placed it into her frozen hands. "Sakuno-chan is so awed by Ore-sama's unmatched kindness that she has been struck speechless! But it is fine. No thanks is necessary, for Ore-sama is simply doing his duty as Sakuno-chan's boyfriend!" Sakuno had a sneaking suspicion that this was becoming his favourite excuse to meddle into every aspect of her life. "And, for Sakuno-chan's convenience," he continued as if she'd been breathlessly waiting for this moment all her life, "Ore-sama has already put himself on her contact list! It is the first number she can call if she is ever in any kind of trouble. Indeed, Ore-sama's generosity astounds even his humble self!"

The air in his head could definitely fill up all the gas stations across Japan, she thought dryly.

Atobe continued brazenly giving an impromptu manifesto on his vast and unparallelled generosity until Sakuno finally mumbled something under her breath. Hyotei's self-styled monarch paused, confident smirk faltering and entirely certain that he must have heard wrong (while equally certain that his irreproachable hearing was never wrong). "Hmm?" He leaned his head closer to her. "Pardon Ore-sama?"

"I-I said..." Sakuno inhaled deeply and burst out in rapid succession, "Thank you but I can't accept it!" Then she looked down and blushed to the roots of her hair.

Now it was his turn to freeze up. What trickery was this? Since when did girls turn down free gifts? Especially from their boyfriends? Especially from Atobe Keigo? Unless—the light-bulb in his head lit on—so that was it. After a dramatic pause, he folded his arms and stroked his chin with an all-knowing nod of his majestic head. "Ah, so Sakuno-chan would prefer a Blackberry."

Only Atobe's logic was special enough to reach such a conclusion. Sakuno stared, aghast, at this Master of Missing the Point. What would it take, she wondered in despair, to get it into his concrete thick skull that she didn't want his well-meaning but completely unnecessary pampering? PowerPoint presentations? Okay, deep breaths. "I-It's just..." She tried to control her voice so that her speech impediment wouldn't be justification for his selective hearing problem. "I want to purchase my own phone with my own money." She pushed the phone into one of his hands. "So, err, thank you, but I can't accept it."

He blinked. Then, to Sakuno's utmost incredulity, he broke into a conceited smirk. "Ah, Sakuno-chan, your shyness is so endearing! But there is no need to be modest." With the back of one hand resting theatrically on his head, Atobe pushed the phone back into her hands with a self-sacrificing sigh. "It's all yours out of the awesome goodness of Ore-sama's heart!"

As usual, her words were going in one ear and out the other like there was no grey matter to hold them in. "Atobe-san," Sakuno said patiently, as if she were speaking to a headstrong five-year-old (she may as well be), "you don't have to do this. I-I'm not 'dating' you for your gifts."

Something flickered in his eyes. Sakuno was confused when his expression briefly softened. The moment was quickly over, however, when he insisted that she keep the phone. "Sakuno-chan already rejected Ore-sama's bodyguards," he said, looking almost offended at the memory of her timidly but firmly refusing his most benevolent offer as his limousine took them home after the check-up on her hand last weekend. That, Sakuno remembered with a grimace, was a long and arduous battle which resulted in a skull-splitting headache that had practically made her cross-eyed for an entire night. The mental trauma, however, was more than worth it because she'd rather not have fifty armed bodyguards stalking her every move, thank you very much. "You need some form of protection, and Ore-sama cannot always be there by your side." Atobe sounded sincere in his regret and this touched Sakuno. "Ore-sama was shocked to find out you had no mobile, unlike the rest of the civilised world—" okay, now she was annoyed again "—and he insists that Sakuno-chan have one so that you can easily call for help!"

She was grateful for his concern. Really, she was. But, shoving the phone back into his hands once again, she stammered that she was close to saving up just enough for a good budget phone and besides... "Atobe-san, th-this is just too much!" She was almost physically nauseous at the thought of losing the pricey phone thanks to her absentmindedness.

"Nonsense!" The vehemence in his expression and voice took her by surprise. "Sakuno-chan is Ore-sama's girlfriend and she deserves only the best!"

She could tell he meant it, too. Her mouth went dry as his eyes burned intensely into hers, brooking no opposition or compromise. Then she narrowed her eyes and curled her trembling hands into fists. No! She refused to allow her resolve to weaken. Atobe Keigo was, in many ways, such a force of nature that he could easily make an EF5 tornado seem tame. She had to plant both feet firmly on the ground or she'd be swept up by his pace.

The rebellious look on her face clearly didn't please him. "Sakuno-chan, don't be so obstinate," the God-King of Stubbornness admonished with a completely straight face. He raised himself to his full height and held the iPhone out to her. "Take the phone."

He made it sound like an imperial edict, which only succeeded in driving Sakuno so high up the wall that she was practically seeing spinning stars. Fed up with her darling boyfriend's apparently malfunctioning eardrums, she stuck out her chin, trying to look as bold and determined as her Obaa-chan would. "I-I'm sorry," she said, not at all sorry and voice shaking with barely suppressed rage, "b-but the answer is still no."

He looked away and Sakuno thought she must have upset him with her refusal. She crossed her arms and looked the other way. Well, too bad. Even doormats had their limits. She was tired of having this control freak completely dominate the tattered pieces of her normal life (which was all this patronising, overbearing, self-centred JERK'S fault in the first place). She was going to get her own phone using her own cash and that was that!

What she didn't realise was that Atobe was using all his awe-inspiring willpower to resist expressing any amusement at the cute little pout she was making. It was an absolute delight to observe how, whenever she was in one of her tempers, her delicate face could turn so many appealing shades of pinks and reds within the span of mere seconds. But, he mused as his lips twitched, he refused to reward her stubborn behaviour. Why couldn't she see he was insisting this for her own good? What was so wrong with accepting his exceedingly generous gift anyway?

He glanced at her again.

Would she have rejected the phone if he had been Tezuka's protégé? Or, perhaps, even Tezuka himself?

It was suddenly very easy to scowl as all his amusement died a quick and mysterious death.

And so, wholly convinced that their respective positions were in the right and it was the other who was being infuriatingly difficult, their First Official Cold War commenced. The iPhone was returned to its box and the couple stiffly climbed into their respective sides of the limousine. Needless to say, the rest of the ride—which most girls would have happily gnawed off their own right arm to sit in—remained silent, tense, and plain uncomfortable. Well, Sakuno thought as she stared grumpily out at the buildings blurring past the moving limousine, at least it couldn't get any worse...

TBC