A/N: Her we go, second to last chapter. This one is a little bit longer than my other chapters but I had to finish and tie up some loose ends. Anyhoo, just read and enjoy my random fluff.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Count on Me

"Everybody…Jiroh…Wake up!"

Choutarou giggled at the tennis captain. He was trying to wake the other boy up but failing miserably.

"Just a few more minutes…"

Atobe closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Kabaji."

"Usu."

Choutarou watched as Kabaji easily hefted Jiroh off the chair. He slowly opened his eyes then began to panic.

"H-hey! Put me down! I'm awake, I'm awake!"

Atobe triumphantly crossed his arms and nodded his head.

"Good. Today, you're all going through a day long tennis camp courtesy of me."

"I don't get it. Why this one day thing?"

Gakuto looked up expectantly at Yuushi who adjusted his glasses.

"I suppose we need to make sure we're ready for the nationals and all that stuff."

Choutarou smiled. He thought it was odd as well, but he did not question it too much since the tennis captain was quite odd. Whenever Atobe did something, he just left it alone. He looked over at Shishido and smiled.

"What do you think, Shishido-san?"

"I don't know. It is Atobe afterall…When does he make sense?'

"True, true."

Choutarou smiled happily. It was the first time that he was able to relax. After the episode yesterday, Choutarou felt relieved and a lot friendlier with Shishido.

"Now here's a schedule of what we'll be doing."

Atobe handed a pile of papers to Jiroh who took one and passed it along. As everybody began to read the itinerary, Jiroh began complaining.

"More running? And around the estate? Are you insane?"

Shishido sighed and Choutarou smiled.

"It does build endurance…"

"You're way too understanding with a guy like Atobe."

"It's better to be understanding and on his good side, then arguing and having him loom in such a menacing manner."

Shishido froze. He looked over at Choutarou who gave him a sweet, innocent smile and pointed behind him. Shishido slowly looked behind.

"A-Atobe…"

The tennis captain was standing imperiously over Shishido and glaring beams of death upon him.

"Ore-sama needs to teach certain members the meaning of respect?"

"It's not like that…I'm just saying…"

"Ore-sama could make you run extra times or…"

Choutarou had to put his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Shishido was sweating bullets as Atobe leaned forward menacingly. Then, he suddenly brightened up and smirked.

"However, ore-sama feels generous on this nice day so you are free…this time."

Choutarou walked up beside Shishido and patted him comfortingly on the back.

"Isn't Atobe-san in a good mood today?"

Shishido sighed in defeat and nodded his head tiredly.

"Yeah…You're right."

"See? It's not so bad."

"Yeah…Not that bad."

Atobe stood in from of the regulars and signaled for them to start running. Everybody took off except for Jiroh who sluggishly ran as every single person passed him.

"Hey, Yuushi! Bet I can beat you around!"

"You're better, but you still can't manage your energy perfectly."

Gakuto paused and looked back at Yuushi defiantly.

"I still am going to beat you."

"Not standing still you can't."

Yuushi calmly observed as he ran past his doubles partner. Gakuto all of a sudden sprinted to catch up with Yuushi.

"I think Oshitari-san is going to beat Mukahi-san. What do you think, Shishido-san?"

He was running along side Shishido who looked up in thought.

"I don't know…Gakuto can be pretty tough when he gets determined…but since he has to catch up with Yuushi, it will take more energy."

"Do you think that's what Oshitari-san't plan is?"

"Probably. I wouldn't put it past him.

They continued to run for a while, keeping a watch as Gakuto was sprinting ahead of Yuushi. Choutarou then looked over his shoulder and noticed Jiroh running with his eyes closed.

"Hey, Shishido-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Akutagawa-san is going to be okay?"

"What? Why?"

Shishido looked behind and noticed Jiroh running, but seemingly sleeping at the same time.

"So…Can you sleep run?"

Choutarou shrugged his shoulders and kept running.

"Apparently you can. Hey, Atobe-san! Should I do something about Akutagawa-san?"

Atobe looked behind and sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and yelled at Jiroh.

"Jiroh, wake up! Don't blame ore-sama if you run into something!"

His comments and warnings fell on deaf ears as Jiroh continued to sleep and run. Atobe and the others shrugged at his incredible ability.

"Ignore him. Now you two, stop lagging behind and get going."

"Yes, Atobe-san."

"Right."

Choutarou sped up along with Shishido. He looked ahead and saw Gakuto furiously tryig to keep the lead with Yuushi following behind at the same exact pace as the beginning.

"Mukahi-san is determined; Oshitari-san is crafty."

"It could go either way."

"You're always good at being objective."

"Huh?'

Shishido looked over at Choutarou questioningly.

"I am?…I guess so, but you can never allow yourself to be swayed by feelings or emotions."

Shishido paused then began blushing much to Choutarou's amusement.

"Well, at least in tennis anyways…Not in everything…Uh…You get what I'm saying?"

"Of course, Shishido-san."

Choutarou saw Shishido sigh under his breath. He smiled internally and kept running until he had an idea.

"Bet I'll beat you to the finish."

Shishido smirked and looked at the younger boy. He nodded his head and smirked.

"You're on."

They both took off at full sprint. Shishido was able to get the head start while Choutarou followed closely behind. After running for a while, Shishido glanced over his shoulder but could not find Choutarou.

"You should pay attention, Shishido-san."

"What? Hey!"

He looked beside him just as Choutarou pulled ahead of him smiling. Soon, he overtook Shishido and was now in the lead.

"Bigger stride."

Choutarou energetically called over his shoulder. Shishido sighed, but then picked up his speed.

"That won't help you for long!"

They continued to running and soon passed by Kabaji who did not even acknowledge them.

"Wonder where Atobe-san went?"

Choutarou wondered as he noticed the captain absent from Kabaji's side. As he was thinking, Shishido managed to catch up.

"Better pay attention, Choutarou."

The younger boy looked to the side when he was quoted. Shishido was right there trying to pull into the lead. Soon, he managed to pass Choutarou and take the lead.

"He's always so determined no matter what he's doing…Hm, that's one of the things I like the most…"

"However, I'm not going to give up either!"

Choutarou found a new burst of energy and and increased his speed. He soon caught up with Shishido and now they were side by side, neither able to break away.

"Pretty determined, huh?"

Shishido smiled over at Choutarou who gave a bright smile.

"You bet!"

Choutarou looked ahead and saw the finishing point. He put everything into running and when they approached the finish, they were neck and neck, but at the last minute, Choutarou passed Shishido and reached the finish line barely before him.

"I win."

"Yeah, yeah…Heh, good job."

They both sat on the ground to catch their breath. Choutarou looked a short distance away and saw Gakuto lying flat on his back paning.

"Oshitari-san, is Mukahi-san okay?"

The tennis prodigy glanced sideways and shrugged his shoulders casually.

"He's fine…Gakuto is probably just pouting because I won."

Immediately Gakuto's head snapped up and put up a fight.

"No way, I totally beat you."

"When you cross the line after the first person, it means you're second."

Shishido and Choutarou chuckled at the odd argument.

"Shishido-san…That was fun."

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?"

Soon Hiyoshi and Kabaji finished leaving Atobe and Jiroh.

"I wonder where they are?"

Choutarou looked back questioningly. Shishido stood up and dusted off his pants. He was about to say he would check, but was interrupted by Atobe's voice.

"Ore-sama told you to wake up."

"Well, you could have stopped me before I ran into a tree."

"Ore-sama did try, remember?"

"…Oh, right…You failed, but you did try, didn't you…Hey, thanks Atobe!"

Atobe sighed at Jiroh's suddenly cheerful attitude. The others watched as they approached. Jiroh had a red spot on his forehead and Atobe's uniform was a mess.

"I guess Atobe-san really was concerned about Akutagawa-san."

"Guess so…And I thought Seigaku had a weird friendship thing…"

Choutaoru turned his attention to Atobe and Jiroh. The latter was clinging to the captain who soundly whapped him upside the head.

"Let go of ore-sama!'

"Not only did you help me, but you're also going to play tennis with me also!"

Jiroh seemingly ignored Atobe's attempts to pry the other boy off.

"Don't…get the wrong idea. You're the second seat and if you go injured because you slept while you ran, it would not be beneficial."

"But you're the captain and you risked getting hurt stopping me, so that doesn't make sense."

"…"

"Atobe-san left speechless…This is an interesting day."

Choutarou and the others chuckled. Atobe quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat.

"Right. Now tennis drill and matches."

"Alright. Let's go, Choutarou."

Shishido offered his hand to Choutarou who grabbed if and felt himself helped up.

"Right."

The rest of the day was spent on different aspects of tennis and practice matches. Evening soon came and all the regulars went inside to clean up and have dinner. Choutarou just finished getting dressed and walked towards the dining room. Shishido joined him on the way.

"Everybody else is already waiting. Let's go."

Shishido and Choutarou walked in silence and before they opened the doors to the dining room, Shishido paused.

"Choutarou. Thanks for everything and all the hard work you put into this team."

"Of course, but why-"

He was interrupted as Shishido opened the doors and an explosion of pink and other pastel colors greeted Choutarou. All the other regulars were standing around smiling at him.

"Oh…Wow…Why, is this for me?"

"Of course!"

Shishido excitedly replied. The other regulars nodded. Choutarou was stunned and excited. He never would have thought they would do something so elaborate.

"Thank you, everybody…But why?"

Jiroh bounded up to him and grinned.

"'Cause you deserve it!"

"It's a little way for us to thank you for always putting everything into this team."

Choutarou smiled and laughed.

"The decorations are so pretty. Shishido-san, was this part of the reason you were so spastic the last week?"

Shishido blushed furiously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah…And I know, I know…I probably should have gone about it another way, but you know…I just wanted it to be perfect."

"I love it."

Atobe sauntered up to them and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"As ore-sama has said before, 'Shishido is dense", but he means well. All of this was his idea for you."

Shishido continued to blush and fidget uncomfortably. The others milled around and took in all the surroundings.

"Why are there so many flowers?"

Gakuto walked around the room observing the seemingly countless array of flowers. Shishido sighed and looked sideways at the tennis captain.

"I asked if you could pick up some decorations or flowers…Not buy out the Tokyo Botanical Garden…"

"If you're going to do something, don't do it half-way."

"Oh right, Choutarou, I got something for you."

Choutarou looked surprised as he thought that the party for him was surprise enough. Shishido ran to a chair at the table and grabbed a box. Choutarou instantly recognized the odd shape of the box.

"Here you go. This is why I missed that first practice."

He handed the box over to Choutarou who looked inside and began laughing.

"Shishido-san actually went to Build-A-Bear? You must really care to suffer through that."

"No kidding. They made me do all these really weird things and it was just…weird…but I wanted to get something kind of unique so…yeah, I got this for you."

Choutarou examined the stuffed toy. It was a simple, overstuffed brown bear ironically wearing the same outfit that he picked out for Shishido's bear. What he noticed the most though, was the little hat placed backwards on its head and a little white bandage over where its eyebrows would be.

"Thank you so much, Shishido-san! I love it! It looks just like you."

Shishido began blushing once again and chuckled nervously. Atobe and the others came over and examined it. The tennis captain grinned evilly and took advantage of Shishido's discomfort.

"How sweet. Now Ootori has a matching bear. Honestly, ore-sama can imagine him with a stuffed bear, but seeing Shishido sleep and cuddle with a stuffed bear seems odd."

Shishido made a noise akin to gasping and a squeak. Choutarou looked surprised at Shishido along with everybody else.

"You do?"

"Uh…I uh…"

Choutarou began to laugh and gave a huge smile.

"I'm so glad!"

"Touching and all, but back to the point…You sleep and cuddle with a stuffed bear?"

Yuushi adjusted his glasses in a curious manner. All eyes were turned on Shishido. He blushed and glared at Atobe.

"Hey! How did you know!"

"Ore-sama has ways."

"So you do sleep and cuddle with a stuffed bear…Fascinating."

Choutarou laughed and had a great time at the dinner party. People continually hassled Shishido about the stuffed bear while others kept passing around a large glossy photo of the two and the dramatic moment captured on camera phones. At last, the party ended and the regulars began to disperse to their rooms.

"Thank you so much, Shishido-san! I'm so happy."

"I'm glad you liked it…Hey, Choutarou."

"Yes?"

Shishido walked over to Choutarou and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry if the last week has been hard on you…I'm glad you're happy now…But you know, you shouldn't leave all those emotions bottled up inside all the time or you're going to stress out and blow up…Well, what I'm saying is, you don't have to…I…You…You can count on me!"

"Thank you…Thank you so much…Shishido-san…"

Shishido nodded and smiled.

"Any time."

For that moment, Choutarou felt light as a feather and walked with Shishido down the hall towards their room.

"All of this was for me…Shishido-san did this for me…Because he does care…We are friends…I know, now…I can be who I am with him…I'm so glad…I know…I know that I can…always rely and believe in him. 'You can count on me'…Yes…I will do that…Shishido-san…Thank you…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Well, that about sums it up except for one last chapter. It's basically going to be Choutarou's essay he had to write for his English class. It's quite obvious of course who he decided to write about . Sorry if this was such a long chapter. I just figured I wanted to sum everything up here so I can leave a whole chapter to the essay part and no, the essay won't be that long…It's not like I'm just giddy over writing more essays than I have to… Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the story!