Disclaimer: I don't own PoT... Never would...

Chapter 10: Upside-down Smile

Ryoma sighed as he got out of the bed. His nightmares have decreased a little, though another nightmare has stared to haunt him. He was now having dreams of Atobe and Tezuka being killed by Aki Tsubasa. Their sadistic grins, their hysterical laughs and their blood-covered clothes drove Ryoma to the edge. He can't stop dreaming about it. He was attached to the two captains to the point that he didn't know what to do if they'd been butchered. It was a rainy Monday morning, which means he has to see his nightmare's physical form, Alex Rayne. He showered, and brushed his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror. He was skinnier than ever, the circles under his eyes were deeper than before and his eyes still mirrored fear. But somehow, they still sparkled a little. Maybe the fact that he knows Atobe and Tezuka were always by his side gave him strength to go on. He got out of the bathroom and dressed up. He then got his bag, his wallet and his phone. He looked at the pack of Luckies lying beside them.

I'll bring it. But I'll try not to smoke it…

He went to his car and drove to one of the McDonalds drive through to have breakfast. He wrote his order of sausage and muffin sandwich, hot chocolate and hash browns. He gave 500 yen and just drove off without getting his change. After parking his car in his usual parking, he headed off to his Advance English class with a hash brown in his mouth and a cup of hot chocolate in hand. He entered the classrooms and all eyes laid on him. Atobe waved at him as he stood up and dragged the younger boy to a seat between his and Tezuka's. Alex came in and greeted the class. Atobe and Tezuka's eyes sharpened as they noticed that their sensei was eyeing on Ryoma again.

Class went on smoothly. Ryoma was exempted from recitation because his throat hasn't healed yet. But even without being called, the brunet was as pale as snow and was sweating a lot. The room was air-conditioned, so the two captains found his sweating strange and abnormal. Three hours passed and nothing strange has happened yet. Atobe and Tezuka smiled at Ryoma once in the while and this made Alex furious. The bell rung, and they were about to leave, when Alex stopped and called Ryoma.

"Mr. Echizen, Mr. Takanaka has a message for you. Will you please come over?"

Atobe and Tezuka both looked at the suspicious sensei. Alex caught a glimpse of them and he smiled. Ryoma walked over slowly, his legs were clearly shaking. He gripped his bag tight and dropped it on a chair in front of the sensei's desk. Alex sent Atobe and Tezuka off as he closed the door of the classroom. To avoid suspicion, the two captains walked a little further, but they were still was nearby.

"Now, Ryoma. Can you speak? Well, I guess not. I intended it to stay like that… So, seeking refuge from Atobe and Tezuka, huh? Don't get too close my dear, sweet Ryoma. They might follow your other friends in heaven. Now, I wanted to have some fun with you. And this time, you won't be noisy anymore…"

Ryoma shook his head as he looked at Alex with horror. His eyes started to well up as the older my roughly pulled down Ryoma's pants and boxers. He set the helpless boy on the desk as he unzipped his pants and freed his manhood. He turned Ryoma's head to his direction as he roughly forced himself in Ryoma. The younger boy winced in pain and tried to scream, but the burning sensation in his throat made it impossible. Alex smiled sadistically, as he slowly pushed in and pulled out; knowing the pain it was causing Ryoma. Tears endlessly followed from Ryoma's eyes. He bit hard on his lower lip causing it to bleed. Alex smiled at the sight of the blood from Ryoma's lips. He grabbed the boy's head and forced it in front of his own. He crushed his lips on the younger boy's and sucked the blood from the bleeding lip. He pulled out and looked at the boy's lip. It has started to bruise. He then smashed the boy's head on the desk as he drove himself further and further, deeper in the boy's rear. Ryoma shoved his nails on the desk, making awful hi-pitched sounds. Alex got pissed with the ear piercing noise, so he pinned both of the boy's hands with one and held the waist with the other. He grinded his hips more and thrust harder until he groaned low and reached his climax. He pulled out after draining his seed in Ryoma. The boy was still crying and shaking. Energy was being sapped from him. Alex zipped his pants up and took care of Ryoma's afterwards. He got a bronzer (1) and a light red Cherry flavored lip gloss from his bag and forcefully made him face Ryoma. He smeared a little concealer on the bruise that was forming on the forehead and just below Ryoma's lips. He then swiped the lip gloss across Ryoma's lips. He then smiled as he lifted Ryoma's faced and licked the boy's trembling lips.

"Mmm… Cherry…. Yum… Oh, by the way. Takanaka-san didn't really have a message for you… Remember Ryoma… Atobe's and Tezuka's bodies might be too beautiful to be slashed. But if it means breaking you, I won't hesitate to do so…"

Alex laughed as he picked up his books and headed out for the door. He then went straight to the faculty room, without even noticing his students who where nearby. Ryoma followed soon after. But after stepping a few steps forward, he fell on his knees then flat on the floor. He tried to get up, but he was too weak to stand up on his own. The two captains rushed to his side and helped him up. He then leaned them by the wall as Ryoma tried to regain strength.

"Ryoma, what happened in there? What took you so long?"

"Keigo, he can't speak. Give him a piece of paper!"

Atobe quickly got his notebook and his pen and handed it to Ryoma. The boy was shaking as tears flowed down his cheeks on to the paper. He scribbled down his answer, but his writing was terribly awful. It was nearly recognizable. He wrote in hiragana because his brain seemed to have forgotten how to write in Kanji. As soon as he handed the paper to Atobe, he fell down on his aching rear and twisted to the side, his back facing the two.

Gomen… Ore wa daijoubu,(2) don't worry… I'm just so tired lately and I haven't got any sleep. I'm late for my class. I got to go… Don't worry about me… Really…

Ryoma smiled at the two and forced himself to stand up. He had gym class next, and it was a good think he was still sick. He limped his way to the gymnasium, leaving the two captains behind him. The two eyed on him, but they thought it was best not to force anything out of Ryoma yet. They have gone a good job in making Ryoma smile again. They didn't want it to go to waste. After the gym class, he headed to the cafeteria to get something to eat. But even though his stomach was growling, his mind seemed to have rejected the idea of eating. He just got some orange juice and went to the Sakura tree facing the tennis courts. He sat and leaned on it as he sipped his orange juice. He then got his cigarettes and lighted a stick.

Damn, I told myself I'm not smoking, even a stick.

He smoked cigarette after cigarette, killing the thirty minutes break that was giving to him. It was after ten minutes that he emptied the whole pack. Sighing, he headed for the classroom for his next class. During the six hours of class, Ryoma was shivering, sweating abnormally or feeling dizzy. The awful things Alex and Aki were doing to him were too much for his young body to handle. His last class was finally dismissed and all of his classmates are heading home. He, on the other hand, headed for the rooftop. He sat outside the railing for a full hour and waited for every student to leave the campus. At exactly 8:00, he saw that most of the students have gone home and the clubs are already packing up. He stood at the corner of the railing and opened his arm, feeling the night wind on his body.

When I die today, I won't feel the pain. No one will torture me anymore… This will all end… This is my goodbye…

As Atobe and Tezuka were walking to the clubroom to take a shower, they saw the figure standing on the railing that was about to jump. The quickly sprinted to the spot just below it and tried to get a good look at it. They were both surprised as they slowly deciphered the face.

"RYOMA!!"

They both screamed. Atobe was about to run when Tezuka stopped him. It was a good thing though. Because at the same time Atobe was stopped, Ryoma jumped. Good thing it was only from the three-storey high building. The impact was not that strong. Both of them caught Ryoma in their arms, unconscious and cold. They cried out, shaking Ryoma up. They quickly checked his breathing and his pulse. Ryoma was still alive.

"Keigo, look for his bag. We're taking his car!! We're going to the hospital."

Atobe nodded and ran up to the rooftop to retrieve the boy's bag. Atobe almost flew down the stairs to Tezuka as he reached in for the keys to the Porsche. They laid Ryoma in the back seat. Atobe drove and Tezuka was in the passenger's side. It wasn't long before they got to the hospital. Atobe was a fast driver, and under this circumstance, he drove at lightning speed. They rushed the unconscious boy to the emergency room. The doctors quickly examined him. They were advised that Ryoma must be admitted right away. The two captains were taken aback by the doctor's advice, but they followed him. They were willing to do almost anything just to bring Ryoma back to his sanity.

It has been five days since Ryoma was admitted. The doctors have done various tests on him. Atobe and Tezuka took turns on looking after him. After club practices, they usually drop by together and spend some time with Ryoma. The boy hasn't regained his consciousness yet. On the sixth day, the doctor visited Ryoma again, and he was lucky to catch the two captains together.

"Atobe-san? Tezuka-san? I have some terrible news for you. You are his??"

"Friends."

"Where are his parents?"

"Murdered."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear. Well, since both of you are the ones who are always here; I believe I can tell you. Echizen-san… His vital signs are stable; his blood count is normal… His body is physically fit. However, his consciousness has not regained, though after several tests, results tells us that he's not in a coma. It's a rare case. His unconsciousness is brought by psychological reasons. Most of the cases similar to his is because of trauma, usually caused by murder, rape or anything that too traumatic. His brain shunned itself from the outside world. We could only hope and pray that his inner self will fight it and wake up. I'm sorry, but as long as he's unconscious, our psychiatrists are unable to do anything."

Atobe felt his blood rush into his head. He stood up, knocking the chair he was sitting on down. He rushed and held the doctor by the collar. Tezuka tried to strain him, but Atobe's crying image was too painful for him to see.

"CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING SENSEI? THIS IS THE BEST HOSPITAL IN JAPAN!! JUST PLEASE… FIX HIM… Do anything… I'll pay you double…"

"Sorry, Atobe-san… We tried…"

Atobe let go of the doctor and apologized. Tezuka also apologized on his behalf. The doctor then left the two, giving them some time to think and absorb the current situation. Atobe ran to Tezuka and cried to him. Tezuka sighed as his held his lover in his arms tight, patting his head and caressing his hair.

"Mitsu-chan. What if he doesn't wake up? Mitsu-chan!! I don't know what to do… I know I have you, but you know what I'm going through…"

"Keigo… I know it hurts… But please, calm down. It pains me to see you like this…"

"I'm sorry, Mitsu-chan… I'm so sorry… I can't help it… It's so painful!!"

"Keigo, get a hold of yourself… Ryoma's going to come back… I know it…"

"Mitsu-chan!! What if he doesn't? What if he never wakes up?? Mitsu-chan, it's really suffocating me!!"

"Shh… Keigo, just release everything… All of the sadness, frustration, grief, anger… Let it go… Cry it out…"

Atobe cried his eyes out. He felt like he was like Ryoma in a way, crying on Tezuka like he is right now. Tezuka just looked up as he let his tears flow down from his eyes. It pained to see his lover break down, much more now because he knows that he couldn't do anything about the only thing can make him happy… Make them happy. He held Atobe tighter, and Atobe responded with a tight embrace.

Ryoma…. Come back to us… We need you… Both of us…

Author's Note:

(1) Bronzer, concealer, whatever. Just the thing that girls use to hide their pimples.

(2) Literally translates to "I'm alright."

Reviews!!

Domo...

maiden.blooddragons