Chapter ten
Tezuka sat at his desk, typing the day's figures out into his computer, when he glanced up at the clock. It was gone noon, and Fuji still hadn't turned up with his coffee. Sighing, he stopped typing, knowing that he wasn't concentrating properly. Pulling out his newspaper, he opened it, and began to glance at the articles, but he was barely reading them too.
He hadn't seen Fuji in the last two days, and he was actually beginning to worry. Fuji wasn't the kind of person to just disappear without notice, he was the kind of person to turn up after orgies just to rub it in that he'd arranged them. It was especially strange that he'd left straight after…that night; he was the kind of person who'd stay to make sure that everyone else stayed, and end up making them have another big gang bang just for the sake of it. Tezuka had been shocked to see that he wasn't there.
He'd also felt kind of disappointed. A part of him had wanted them to all wake up together, and for Fuji to encourage more outrageous sexual experiences. He'd almost hoped for it. Instead he'd woken up to a frantic Atobe, and then he'd been left alone.
And what was happening with Atobe now? And Sanada, and Echizen? Were Atobe and Sanada just going about their average day as if nothing had happened? Had they seen Echizen at all? They must have needed to, to try and arrange more things about his sponsorship.
Looking back down at his paper, he flicked through to the next page, and saw one of the men he'd just been thinking about in a giant picture, right next to the heading 'Echizen smashes opponent in first round of US Tournament'.
"Ah, so that's where he's been."
--
Dialing the number next to Yukimura's name, Atobe waited for the man to answer. There was a moment, before a woman said, "Hello, Yukimura-sensei's office, can I help you?"
"Ah, yes, can I speak to Yukimura please?"
"Can I ask who's calling, please?"
"Atobe Keigo," Atobe told him. "Tell him it's urgent."
"Just a minute please." Some background music began to play as Atobe was put on hold. It was classical, and Atobe suddenly had thoughts of both Sanada and Tezuka, but tried to remove them from his mind. There was another moment, before the phone clicked in his ear.
"Yes, Atobe?"
"Do you know where Sanada is?"
Yukimura paused for a while, obviously differing over whether or not to tell Atobe where he was.
"So you do know where he is, then?" Atobe persisted.
Yukimura sighed. "I'm not sure if I can really tell you."
"Come on, Yukimura," Atobe asked. "You have to know where he is, so why can't you just tell me?"
"It's not my business to tell."
Atobe stopped, and rested his head back onto his hand. "Well, okay, can you just tell him to get back to work soon then, because… I need… coffee."
He was about to hang up, when Yukimura said, "Wait, Atobe. He's up here, at the hospital."
"What? Is he okay?"
"Yeah, it's just his grandfather."
"…His grandfather?"
"Ah. So he didn't tell you."
"Didn't tell me what?"
"Just, come down, Atobe. I'll meet you here."
And with that, Yukimura hung up the phone. Atobe stood up, and pulled on his jacket.
"Alright, Jiroh, man the phones."
Jiroh raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well… fine, don't man the phones. Doesn't matter…"
Once Atobe had stormed out of the office, Jiroh rested his head back down, mumbling a weary, "I hope he gets Sanada-san back."
--
Atobe turned up at the hospital and looked around, confused. Yukimura had definitely been in the Neurological Diseases section, but where? There were loads of offices, which Atobe kept poking his head into, before moving onto the next. Eventually he found Yukimura.
"Ah, Atobe, this way," Yukimura led him out of the office, and down toward the wards, and then on into a private room. Knocking quickly before opening the door, Sanada looked up from where he was sitting, and glared at Yukimura.
"Traitor."
Yukimura smiled. "I'll leave you to it."
As Yukimura left, Atobe glanced to the old man asleep in the bed beside Sanada, who was clearly Sanada's grandfather.
They were silent for a moment, before Atobe said, "So… is this why you left before morning?"
"No, actually," Sanada replied. "I left, and then Yukimura phoned me a few hours later."
"Oh. So you just… left, then?"
Sanada shrugged and looked away. "It wasn't like I was the only one. Fuji and Echizen were gone when I woke up too."
"Well, Echizen's in a tournament in the USA, and Fuji's Fuji," Atobe said, sitting down beside Sanada. "Who knows where he is. It's just… I kind of expected you to stay." Atobe paused. "And you didn't even stay to clear up the party. And at no point that evening did you remind me that there was a party downstairs that I needed to be at."
"Sorry, I was doing other things."
Atobe mumbled, "I pay you to remind me about these things. And why did you turn your mobile off? And why aren't you living at your old home anymore?"
"You're not allowed mobiles on in hospital," Sanada answered. "And I sold my apartment."
"You live in an apartment? You don't have a house?"
"No."
Atobe seemed confused by this. "But I have loads of houses. And you have one apartment. Which you sold. Why, anyway? Where are you living?"
"With Yukimura."
"But… why would a five man orgy prompt you to sell your apartment?"
"That's not why," Sanada retorted, glaring at him. "I needed to get the money for my Grandfather's operation."
"… Why didn't you just ask me for the money?"
Sanada looked up at him, before looking away again. "I wanted to pay for it myself, and I could, so I did."
"Yes, but now you don't have a home."
Sanada glared at him.
"Why didn't you call me? I'd have given you some leave, and you could've crashed at one of my houses," Atobe said. "I have five in this city. Is this because of the orgy?"
"Yes, partly."
"Well, you can't admit that it wasn't good." Sanada raised an eyebrow at him. "What? It's true."
"It doesn't make it any less awkward."
Atobe turned to look at him. "But why would you be acting strange with me about it? Even if we hadn't gone off and had an orgy, something was going to happen with you and me anyway. We were making out before it."
"Well that's… different."
"How so?"
Sanada rolled his eyes at him. "Atobe, there's a difference between being in a couple, and being part of a five-some with your boss. There just is."
"Only… a bit."
Sanada raised his eyebrow again, but couldn't help but smile. "If Fuji hadn't texted me, do you think we would've slept together?"
Atobe stopped to think about it. "Yes."
Sanada nodded. "Me too."
"Right," Atobe stood, as if readying himself to leave. "So you'll be coming back to work, then?"
"Well, my Granddad's surgery's tomorrow morning, but I should be able to come back in the day after."
"Good," Atobe turned to leave, but stopped by the door, and turned back round. Moving quickly over to give Sanada a soft peck on the lips, but when he leant down Sanada pulled him in for a deeper one. The two held for a moment, before Atobe pulled off, looking flustered.
"Okay… I'll see you… the day after tomorrow, then?"
"Right."
"Err… Okay. Right. Yes." And Atobe quickly hurried himself out of the room.
--
Momo stood at the side of the courts, watching as Echizen hit ball after ball against the wall as hard as he could. He'd been like this ever since the night of the party, when he'd returned home at five in the morning, telling Momo that he couldn't wait until the afternoon, he needed to get on the soonest flight to America. He'd thrashed his first opponent, but the rest of them wouldn't be so easy, and Momo was beginning to worry about the boy.
His tennis had been faultier than usual, erratic at best. It could work at his advantage - throwing the opposition off guard; or else it could cost him the match. And Echizen definitely didn't need that happening.
Momo wondered what had actually happened to the boy. He'd heard that Echizen had disappeared just after the meal, and hadn't been seen since. He'd also heard that Atobe - the main host of the event - had been absent too, and Momo suspected that something was up. But he knew there was nothing he could really do about it.