- 25 -

When practice came the next day, Akaya wouldn't even look at Yukimura. Even Sanada knew something was wrong. He had Akaya running laps all of practice, and he played a match against Yukimura just to distract the captain.

The day after that, Yukimura went up to the roof. Akaya wasn't there. He took a nap anyways. His head ached more than ever.

Yukimura wasn't sure when he finally decided that they were over for good. It wasn't a pretty sight when he did. All of the club members besides Yanagi, Sanada and he had left. So when he lost it, he lost it big time.

He ended up tossing all the papers off his desk in the back of the locker room. He kicked benches over, punched a locker, screamed – whether it was from the pain in his head or chest, he wasn't sure.

"Seiichi!" Sanada shouted. "Calm down!"

Yanagi simply stared, unsure of what to do.

"He played me!" Yukimura kicked another bench over. Then Sanada was gripping his arms to keep him still. "The brat played with me! He just needed an excuse to break up with me! Of course he would use the sentimental it's-better-this-way trick. I can't believe it. I can't..."

Yukimura lost his voice. All the anger in his body drained. He felt weak, like even a first year could beat him 6-0. His head was pounding. It felt like razors were rubbing against his skull.

"Genchirou, my head hurts," Yukimura muttered dumbly.

Sanada nodded and let go of Yukimura. He hurried back to the desk to find a bottle of pain meds. While he was gone, Yukimura sat down on a bench he hadn't flipped. Yanagi sat next to him.

"On the bright side, I heard Niou and Marui are going out. It's only a rumor, but it appears to be true," Yanagi told him. He honestly hoped to cheer Yukimura up. He didn't know what else to say.

"It's unfair," Yukimura said. "Why can they be together? Niou thinks through things just like I do. How come I'm the one who got the massive migraines for liking someone? Marui and Akaya are similar... Why?"

"I don't know," Sanada said, returning with a bottle of water and three small pills. Yukimura murmured thanks and took them from Sanada, who sat down on Yukimura's other side. "You can't blame Akaya, Seiichi. I'm sure he really did have his heart in the right place."

"No, he didn't. He would have listened to me if he did," Yukimura said. He popped the pills in his mouth, swallowing them without water.

"It's just a rumor," Yanagi added lamely. Yanagi never was very good with words. "I'm sorry."

Yukimura forced a small laugh. "You're sorry? I went Godzilla on the locker room."

Yanagi smiled, though Sanada didn't seem happy.

"I'll be okay," Yukimura said. "It's not like we were together that long... I'll get over it..."

You won't be able to get over it, a voice in the back of Yukimura's head told him. Yukimura knew the voice was right. He cared too much about that idiot to let him go.

A/N: Yup.