"Seiichi, I need to talk to you." Sanada said stopping his friend after Saturday practice. He hadn't had a chance to talk to him and Ryoma as the two had left shortly after the scene Noa had caused the day before.

"Of course Gen. Shall we go for a walk? Ryoma won't be here for almost a half hour yet so I have time." the blue haired boy said congenially. He'd wanted to talk to him yesterday, but Ryoma had pulled him away quickly after the girls had left.
He had brought the subject up over dinner but Ryoma had simply stated that he wouldn't give him up without a fight and changed the topic. He wouldn't give the boy up either, but he wasn't about to shut out his best friend and first love. Honestly he didn't know what he wanted, but he wouldn't intentionally hurt his boyfriend. The two set out on one of the extensive garden paths walking side by side in companionable silence for the first part of the path. Finally Sanada spoke stopping them on the part of the trail closest to the road.

"You once confessed your feelings for me Sei. I was not free to reciprocate then, I am now. Do you still feel the same?"

"Gen, I do, but... I'm in a relationship Genichirou, and I won't hurt him. You will always be my first love, but I just can't do that to him." Yukimura didn't look at him as he said this. He couldn't meet his eyes for fear he would forget himself.

"Seiichi. I wouldn't ask you to. I will understand if you say no, but there is something I would like to suggest to you. Upon analyzing myself after finding out that I am no longer responsible for that girl, I realized that I have feelings for both you and Ryoma. Do you think you could both accept me? We have all seen that such a relationship works. Atobe, Tezuka, and Fuji have a strong partnership. We could have that, couldn't we?" the vice-captain was having a difficult time putting words to his emotions, having locked them down for so long.

"Gen. That, that would be wonderful. I..." he cut his own words off by throwing his arms around the taller boy and kissing him deeply.
The two stayed in the embrace until a throat being cleared caused them to fly apart. Ryoma stood there staring at them, his face an emotionless mask.

...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB...

Ryoma sneezed for the third time since he left school.

"Are you ok brat? We're here." Atobe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You shouldn't overdo it if you're sick." Tezuka stated reaching out to feel the boy's forehead. He missed as the 16 year old ducked and moved to leave.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the lift Monkey King." Ryoma said as he exited the limo, anxious to see his boyfriend. He was a little worried about Yukimura being around Sanada now that he wasn't engaged anymore, but he was sure Seiichi wouldn't cheat on him.
He'd been happy when Atobe had offered to drop him off when he'd come to pick up Tezuka and Fuji for a dinner date around the Rikkaidai area. He'd asked them to stop on the side of the road near one of the garden trails so that he could surprise the boy by getting there early. After waving to the three as the limo drove away he turned and started down the path. Oddly enough he thought her heard voices up ahead of him. This path wasn't as popular as the others because it ran so close to the highway. Turning the corner he nearly fell as he stumbled to a halt. There in front of him were his boyfriend and his boyfriend's best friend kissing passionately. He was in shock, he hadn't even had a chance. Schooling his features he cleared his throat.

"Well, I see you've made your choice. I hope you two are happy together." he said in a low flat voice when they broke apart, staring at him in horror. He didn't give them a chance to respond he just turned and ran back to the road, though he thought he heard them call after him. Once there he didn't stop running until he'd reached a gas station where he called a cab. As it pulled away he caught sight of them in the rear view mirror, they reached the building just as the car turned the corner.

He held himself together with some difficulty until he got to his bedroom, having given the cab driver his home address instead of the Fuji's. Once in his room he put his back to the door and slid down it as his legs gave out. Despite his best efforts a sob escaped his throat which was tight with sorrow. Eventually he made his way to his bed and fell asleep.

...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB...

"Seiichi? What are you doing calling me now? Shouldn't you be in the middle of a match with Ryoma?" Syusuke asked as he answered his cell phone excusing himself from the table and making his way to the washroom.

"Syusuke, there was a misunderstanding. I really need to find him, but he's not answering his cell."

"Find him? What have you done?!" Fuji demanded before listening with growing incredulity as Yukimura explained what had happened.

"Listen to me, Yukimura, you have done enough today. You will stay away from my little brother for now. We will find him and take care of him, and maybe one day you will have apologized enough that he will talk to you again. For now I suggest you keep away from us." with that Fuji pressed the end button on his phone and made his way back to his boyfriends in a towering rage.

"Syusuke, what's wrong?" Keigo asked in a low voice, standing as the boy came back to the table. Tezuka stood as well looking concerned and placed his hand in the middle of Fuji's back guiding him to his chair.
After all three were seated again Fuji explained everything Yukimura had told him. The other two boys were just as appalled as he was, and Atobe summoned the waiter immediately. He ordered a stop put to their food order and paid the bill in full before the three got up and left. He called for his limo even as they were leaving the table and it pulled up just as they got out the door.

"Where should we look first?" Kunimitsu asked as they piled into the vehicle. He honestly didn't know where to start in this situation. He knew Ryoma, had been around the boy in every sort of mood except this. Under normal circumstances he would have looked at the nearest tennis court or restaurant. There were other places of course, but none of them applied to him now. As far as he could tell this was Ryoma's first heartbreak, his first experience with personal betrayal.

"His home. He wouldn't be thinking about my house, or the fact that his family isn't home. We need to make a stop though. There's one thing he won't have at home right now." Fuji said seriously. Atobe gave the order to the driver and they were on their way.

"I'll send the driver to pick up our clothes after. Your weekend bags are still in my room, and I always keep and emergency bag packed. I assume we'll be staying at his house for a few days? He won't want your family seeing him like this. What are we picking up at your house?" Keigo asked curiously a few minutes later.

"His cat."

...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB... ...TKB...

It was the cries of his cat that woke him and he blinked in confusion. He was in his own bedroom, but Karupin shouldn't be here right now. His bedroom door opened and the looked towards it through blurry eyes. There were indistinct shapes in his doorway but he had eyes only for the cat that jumped onto the bed and cuddled into his chest under his arm.

"Karupin, how did you get here?" his voice was hoarse from all the crying he'd done earlier, he curled further around the feline. He didn't want to think about earlier right now.

The bed behind him dipped as a familiar presence lay down and wrapped an arm around his waist. Two more people were in the room and Tezuka crawled onto the bed in front of him and rested a hand on Syusuke's. Atobe sat behind Fuji and reached a hand over to run his fingers through Ryoma's hair comfortingly

"What are you three doing here?"

"You didn't think we'd leave you alone right now, did you little brother?" Syusuke replied holding him closely.

"It's alright Ryoma, we understand." Tezuka said quietly.

"I don't understand. Why does it hurt so much? We've only been dating a couple weeks." his voice choked off and he closed his eyes tight trying to ward off the oncoming tears.

"You said it yourself, didn't you. You've actually been dating for a couple years now, even if you didn't realize it till recently. It's not just that though, you had a connection. It doesn't matter how long you were together if you have that." Keigo said leaning over and resting his head on Syusuke's shoulder.

"It's ok to feel this way. We're staying here with you for the weekend." Kunimitsu stated, his voice still low but commanding.

"Ryoma, you should get some more sleep, we'll be here when you wake and we can talk more then." Fuji said as Keigo spooned up behind him. It was a tight squeeze but no one minded and no one wanted to sleep on their own that night. The only time someone moved was when the limo driver knocked on the door to drop off their bags.

Hey peoples. Sorry but it's still just going to be a threesome, I know this last scene could have gotted out of hand, but in this fic I think Ryoma has more of a very close brotherly bond happening with these three and others of his friends. I hope you all still like this, I'm getting a little unsure of it all again. Please let me know.