Atobe

Waiting for Ryoma to pick up his cell, I wondered what was taking him so long. He usually picked up in the first three rings.

Finally, I heard a click, and voice came on, saying, "Moshi moshi?"

Not recognising the voice, I asked, "Who is this? Why do you have Ryoma's phone?"

There was a pause on the other line, then the person said, "Nya, I'm Eiji Kikumaru, Ryoma's sempai! And you are?"

"Ore-sama is Atobe Keigo, his boyfriend. Where is he?"

"Atobe-san!" he said loudly. Then, in a significantly lower voice, "Sorry, but Ryoma-kun can't come to the phone right now, he's playing a game with Momo-chan.

I felt a smile tug at my lips. "Okay then. Can you tell him that ore-sama can't come pick him up today? But if he needs something, just let me know."

"Okay!" he said in that perky tone of his. "I'll let him know!"

"Thanks," I said. "Goodbye, Eiji-san."

"Ja ne!" he said cheerfully, and I hung up.

Momo

We were on our way to Ryoma's house when Eiji suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! I suddenly remembered something!"

We all turned to look at him, and Kaido hissed, "What?"

"Ryoma-kun, while you and Momo-chan were playing, Atobe-san called."

I was surprised. Why would the monkey king of Hyotei be calling Ryoma?

"Hm? What did Keigo need?"

This surprised me even more. Keigo? They were on a first name basis?

"He said that he couldn't hang out, but if you need anything, just call him."

Hang out? Now I was seriously confused.

"You had a date to hang out with Atobe?" I blurted out.

He stared at me, seeming curious. "You knew I was going out with Keigo?"

I blinked once, then twice. "WHAT!" I shouted.

Wincing a bit, he said, "Obviously you didn't."

"You're going out with Atobe? The Atobe?"

He laughed. "That never gets old."

I was still gaping. "Atobe?"

He was about to say something when we turned the corner and saw Atobe standing there. Coming up to us, he wrapped his arms around Ryoma, giving him a peck on the lips.

"What about me?" he asked, looking at me.

Shaking my head, still in a daze, I said, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Turning around, he put his arms around Atobe's neck and kissed him again. I had to turn away. It's not that there was anything wrong with Ryoma having a boyfriend, I just really didn't enjoy public displays of affection, and I found this really very odd.

"I thought you weren't coming today?" said Ryoma in a happy voice, and I turned to look at him. He had the happiest smile on his face, and suddenly, I didn't mind his choice of partner as much as I had.

Atobe laughed. "Well, I finished early. Which reminds me…" he trailed off and suddenly, a whole group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Looking closely, I realized it was the Hyotei regulars, all showing various degrees of disgust and/or disbelief.

"W-what are they doing here?" I asked, surprised.

Atobe sighed, shaking his head. "They demanded they be allowed to come with me."

Ryoma, his hands still around Atobe's neck, chuckled, and said, "Really, Keigo, you must be losing your touch. I mean, you can't even control your own team anymore."

Oshitari

I watched in disbelief the scene that was going on in front of me. Atobe was being so…gentle. Although I was still pretty shocked, I couldn't help the smile that was tugging at my lips. They really did make a cute couple.

Suddenly, Echizen seemed to remember that the two of them weren't alone and turned to us, a bright blush spread across his cheeks. "Why don't you guys come inside?"

I shook my head, saying politely, "We wouldn't want to be a bother."

"It's no bother at all!" he said, heading towards his house, dragging Atobe along behind him. "Please, do come in!"

I followed obediently, and within minutes, we were all settled in Ryoma's room (do not ask me how fourteen almost fully grown teenagers managed to fit themselves in there) and were drinking tea, or in Ryoma's case, ponta.

"So," I said hesitatingly to Ryoma, who was at this moment sitting in Atobe's lap. "We were wondering…" and here I trailed off, not sure how to bring it up.

"Yes?" he said politely, looking at me with inquisitive eyes.

I fidgeted a little, knowing that my next question would sour the relatively pleasant mood. "We were wondering if you could maybe tell us what happened two years ago and why you left?" I asked quickly.

At this, Atobe shot me a death glare, and Ryoma's eyes clouded over with pain. Whatever it was, it had to have been major, to give Ryoma an expression like that.

Regretting my words, I said, "N-never mind. You don't have to answer that. I am so very sorry for being so impolite."

He smiled absently at me, and said, "No, it's quite alright. I-I don't mind explaining it."

Atobe bent down to give him a comforting kiss on the head. "You don't have to do this, Ryoma."

It still disconcerted me how sensitive Atobe had suddenly become, but not as much as Ryoma's reaction to what I had said intrigued me.

"But I want to," said Ryoma, tilting his head up to look at Atobe.

And so, for the next few minutes, Ryoma had explained to us what had happened after the nationals. He explained everything, and by the end of it, I was speechless. This young boy had experienced so much despair and betrayal, and yet he was able to still love so much. I was so moved at his determination and strength, and yet at the same time, I was horrified at the cruelty the Seigaku regulars had shown to the baby of their team. From the outside, they had all seemed so close, so loving, had it all been a lie? And yet, when I saw the expressions on the faces of the regulars present, I knew that was not true. It was obvious that they regretted deeply what they had done to Ryoma, and they really did care for him. I could only that the other three did too.

SkyeSyren: And that's a wrap! You all said you wanted more Atobe, and here he is! Although…it's mostly the other regulars, but at least he's there, ne? Anyways, please review, and tell me what you thought! And, as a little treat to all my wonderful readers, here's a little sneak peek for the next chapter:

"Ryoma-kun!" called my cousin from downstairs.

"Yes?" I asked.

"A young man just dropped this off for you. I told him to come in, but he said he had things to do."

I looked at what she was holding in her hand, and was frozen to the spot. She was holding a notebook. A green one. One I remembered all too well…

Hehehe, I guess this could be considered both a blessing and a curse ^_^ I bet you all wanna know, ne? Well, you'll just have to wait till tomorrow…or possibly the day after. I don't know. It depends on the number of reviews I get. Also, I am going to be posting a new story sometime in the next few weeks called "While I Slept…," here's the summary:

Ryoma wakes up one hot summer day in a hospital to find that he's been in a coma for the last two years of his life. After returning home, he finds almost everything that he's ever known and loved is different. His parents have a daughter now and Ryoga has moved to Japan. Even his sempai-tachi, who used to be so cheerful and energetic are now cold and withdrawn, and are feared by the entire school, not to mention that they're not even on the Seigaku high tennis team, let alone the regulars. Will the reappearance of the team's favourite super rookie change things? Who knows? The only way to find out is to read on…