Author's Note: I'm back! Again. This has to be my most popular story. Ever. I'm really sorry for the delay; wrist injuries have been preventing me from typing. Please be patient and bear with me. Thank you all. And here is another lovely chapter. The large section of italic text in the beginning of the story is a flashback. Otherwise italics indicate thoughts.

Disclaimer: No, the lovely tennis bishies do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement. ;)

Replaced

Chapter Three: Underneath it All

Summary: YAOI. Tezuka's mistake may have cost him the love of the one person who really mattered, but can the cause of Tezuka's pain be the one who can heal Ryoma?

Pairings: Ryoma/Atobe, implied Fuji/Tezuka, implied and/or referenced Atobe/Various

Ryoma sat in the phone booth, absentmindedly picking at his hair and trying to figure out exactly what he had just gotten himself into. He didn't know why he had called Atobe, why he had remembered that stupid card now. It had been an entire week since he had gotten the stupid bouquet, but he could remember every last detail of the situation.

Ryoma walked towards the locker room, breathing heavily from the laps he had just run, his only desire at the moment being to change and go home. He froze when he heard a familiar drawling voice. "Ah, Mitsu-chan, I'm glad you're still here. I brought you some flowers." The voice definitely belonged to Atobe Keigo, but Ryoma was at a loss as to why the other captain would be bringing Tezuka flowers. Ryoma crept closer when he heard Tezuka's voice. "I already told you Keigo, Its over." Ryoma arched an eyebrow at this, it sounded as if the two captains had been in a relationship. "But Mitsu, you said you loved me, you said you wanted me." Blinking in confusion, Ryoma leaned a little closer to the corner of the wall. Atobe's voice was almost . . . pleading. Tezuka spoke again, irritation edging into his voice. "Yes, and that mistake cost me the love of the one person who truly mattered." Atobe laughed a little, although the sound was hollow. "Surely you're not referring to that pestilential brat, Fuji Syuusuke?" "That's exactly who I'm referring to. Now leave, I never want to see you again." Tezuka finished, rather coldly.

After that, Atobe had come around the corner and run straight into Ryoma. Both had promptly hoisted their smirks back into place and Atobe had offered him the bouquet, along with a rather inappropriate invasion of his personal space. Ryoma wasn't even exactly sure why he had kept the card, and was completely sure that Atobe was the last person he should be going to for comfort, but here he was, doing exactly that. He heard a car pull up, and let out a sigh as he saw that it was a full-length white limo. If he was going to back out, it was now or never. Unfortunately, the little voice that should be telling him to get the hell out of there seemed to be malfunctioning. Upon seeing Atobe emerge from the car and walk to the phone booth, white silk shirt becoming completely soaked and utterly transparent in the process, said voice told Ryoma to get in the damn car as quickly as possible. He slumped his head in defeat and promptly did so.

After he had followed the younger boy into the car, Atobe closed the door and leaned back against the leather seat. Normally he would have pounced on whoever had happened to be sitting in the back seat of his limo, but there was a little voice in the back of his head telling him that he'd better not screw this up. Atobe vaguely wondered when he had gotten a little voice. Nothing had ever caused him to hesitate in the slightest when it had been Oshitari, or Jiroh, or Taki, or even Ohtori; though he had regretted that particular escapade when Shishido had knocked him flat on his ass the next day at practice. He really wished that the little voice would leave him the hell alone, because he hadn't had any action for weeks, but it didn't seem very likely. Deciding that he'd go for whatever he could get, Atobe slid closer to the young prodigy. Ryoma sat there, completely still, refusing to acknowledge his presence. Now that he was closer, Atobe could see that Ryoma was shaking slightly. "Ryoma-kun?" Atobe questioned softly. The younger boy finally looked up, and Atobe's eyes went wide with shock. Ryoma was crying, not just little sniffles, but tears streaming down his face.

Atobe reached over and gently pulled Ryoma into his lap, keeping his grip loose enough that Ryoma could pull away if he wanted to. The young prodigy buried his head in Atobe's shoulder. Atobe wrapped his arms around the younger boy and rubbed his back gently. "What happened Ryoma?" The younger boy shook his head. Atobe sighed. "Okay, we can talk later, but I'm just trying to help. I care about you Ryoma." Once again, Atobe found himself wondering about his strange behavior. He really had no idea why he had just said that, as far as he knew, he cared about no one but himself. The driver looked into the rear-view mirror and notified Atobe that they had reached the mansion.

Atobe untangled himself from Ryoma, intending to let the boy walk inside, but was immediately pulled back. Ryoma clung tightly to the front of his shirt, shaking his head. Taking the hint, Atobe lifted the younger boy into his arms and began walking towards the house. When he reached the door, he shifted Ryoma slightly so that he could free one had to twist the doorknob, then toed the door open and walked inside. He continued down the hallway, leaving the door wide open and not bothering to change into his indoor shoes. His grandmother and the maid would fuss at him later, he knew, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. He was going to one of his favorite bedrooms, one that looked out over the gardens, which didn't particularly matter at the moment, but was always nice in the mornings. When he reached the room, he pushed the door open and walked inside. Removing Ryoma's shoes and wet jacket, he placed him on the bed and turned to leave. He froze when he heard the tiny voice from behind him. "Keigo . . .?" Atobe swallowed hard. "Hai?" "Please don't leave me." Those four words cut through him like a knife and he clenched his fists. Whoever had done something to make Ryoma this vulnerable was going to have a serious debt to pay when he found them. "I won't." he whispered softly, before changing into a white t-shirt and a pair of track pants. They definitely weren't his normal sleepwear, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Ryoma alone while he went to find something else. He slid under the sheets beside Ryoma and smiled as the younger boy curled up to him. He could figure out what had happened in the morning, for now the best thing was to just let Ryoma sleep.

Author's Note: emerges from an enormous pile of fluff Gomen for all the fluff and another short chapter. bows apologetically Thank you all for the reviews and support, and sorry for any errors. I don't have a beta-reader, because all of my friends are opposed to Yaoi. I'll try to update sooner this time, but please be patient. Thank you all again and please keep reading!