Mistaken – By RoyLover (AtoSae) Saeki's POV

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Prince of Tennis except Himeko - OC character

-Chapter 11-

Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding myself alone in the room, the sun already high up in the sky. I looked on the calendar on the wall of my room, finding out that I had been sleeping a little over a day. Suddenly, I heard someone come in my room, but when I looked, I saw that it was only the doctor.

"Ah, Saeki, you're awake…" he said in a calm voice.

I nodded in return, my body feeling weaker than ever.

"It seems your friends and family members were in a car accident at around one to three a.m. this morning..."

My head quickly turned to look the doctor's way, and my eyes shot open wide, showing bewilderment.

"I don't know what had become of them yet…but I will soon find out. Well, I'll go and see how they're doing, okay, Saeki? I'll come right back and inform you about the situation so stay put," the doctor told me and walked out of my home.

Sitting there, feeling hopeless of the situation I was in, I clasped my hands together tightly, tilted my head downward, and prayed hard. I prayed and prayed for the lives of my beloved love ones. If they were to leave this world…I don't know what I can do anymore. Life would become meaningless …

Even if the sun had lowered, I was still in my bed, hungry and thirsty, but I continued to pray and pray for them, the people who were so important to me. Suddenly, I heard a door creaked open, and so I turned my head to face the direction of the noise. When I saw that there was a person standing in the doorway, my breath was taken away. Tears swelled up in my eyes, my hands gripping firmly on the blanket over me.

"Saeki…" he said quietly to me.

"You came…Why?" I asked feeling happy, but, yet, I was scared at the same time. "Y-you're not here to hurt me…are you?"

"Saeki, of course I won't…I never will…" he told me.

Looking downward, eyes narrowing, I replied, "You already did…"

"Saeki, I'm–"

"Atobe…It's okay…I forgive you…"

"Well, at least let me make it up to you somehow!"

I stared out the window, my eyes filled with nothingness. "There's nothing you could do…I already lost you…and now I had just lost everyone else…"

"Saeki…"

My eyes traveled to gaze upon his beauty, tears dripping down from my red shot eyes. The sight of him made needles choke my throat and knives slash at my heart, but even so, I wanted to hold him, close my eyes, and imagine everything was going to be alright…just like what Fuji had told me. At that very moment, I wanted to hold his hand and hear him tell me that everything was fine; that everything was still the same as before. Everyone, my precious family and friends, were in a condition of near death…all because of me. Tears continue to drip more rapidly, and then I told him as I ached from more pain, "Keigo…No, Atobe…There is some way you could make this up to me."

Atobe's eyes widen, that telling me he was listening to me.

"Please take me to the beach…I want to see the sunset before I die," I told him, my eyes now closed tightly, twitching slightly.

"Saeki…" I heard Atobe's voice, hearing it waver a bit. "You can't leave here. Without these machines, you won't be able to survive for long."

"I know…and I have no intentions of dying here, either, and I can't live off a machine anymore, Atobe. I'm dying deep inside…More than half of my heart has already rotted away," I could barely tell him, still feeling like I'm being choked.

Suddenly, I could feel Atobe lift me up, detaching the machine from me. Then I heard him whisper into my ear, "Anything for you…Kojirou."

Feeling weaker by the moment, I grasped onto Atobe's shirt, my head lying gently against his chest, hearing his raspy breaths as he ran. From the distance, I could see the orange sky that was so far away. Although, for some reason, it seem everything looked brighter than usual.

Before I knew it, I was sitting beside Atobe, my head lying on his shoulder, both of us gazing at the heavens before us. His arm held my slim body, his free hand holding mine. Gazing up at his angel-like face, I could see his eyes halfway closed, without life. "Can I ask another favor from you?" I asked.

"Anything, Kojirou…Anything." He sounded desperate and in despair.

With my hand slightly shaking, I reached up and gently caressed his cheek. "When I'm gone, will you take care of my family for me? And tell my friends that everything will be alright…Tell all of them that I'll always be with them..."

"I will," he replied quietly to me. His hand gripped tighter onto my hand, him whispering into my ear, "I'm sorry…"

Clutching Atobe's shirt, eyes closed tight, I admitted to him, "Oh, Atobe, I think I should be the one that's sorry…It's because of me that everything's like this. If only I had been stronger…I-I could have saved everyone by being happy about what I have. I mean, if I had took the Himeko problem in a much better manner…I could have saved everyone who's in despair right now…because of me."

"Kojirou, no…Don't blame yourself."

"But it is!" I pulled myself away from Atobe as I weakly rested on my trembling knees and hands in the sand, staring at him deep into his deep blue eyes. "Just look at me!" I shouted. "I even lied to myself that you'd come back…just so I could live another day, letting my soul be wasted away by the moment. And now, I'm so skinny and so weak…I'll never be able to live up to my dreams anymore…I can never…ever recover from this. How could I even let myself get to this situation?"

"Kojirou…" Atobe's eyes showed of pain; pain from his heart. "It's not like that at all..."

"Yes it is…" I breathed harder, feeling weaker by the moment, but then my arms gave up, and I collapsed into the sand. Tears slowly rolled down my face as I gazed at the heavenly sky, the sun almost out of sight. "I was stupid…to have denied you cheating on me…to have denied the false love you gave me…to have even loved you in the first place when I knew these problems could occur, but…I couldn't help it. I was just too in love with you, every part of you, that I didn't want to face reality because…if I did, all those joyful, wonderful dreams I dreamt of you…would shatter right before me and tear me apart. That was enough to kill me. But after seeing the end of our relationship, I knew that that feeling would come and kill me eventually. You see, Atobe…you mean more than anything to me…and I need you like I need the world."

"Kojirou, what have I done to you…" he quietly said, angry at himself.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't be perfect enough for you," I told him, my eyes closing, feeling the life of me being sucked away.

"Kojirou!" Atobe pulled me up toward him, holding me tightly, securely in his arms. "Everything's fine now, Kojirou. I'm here now, and I want to live those dreams of yours with you and make them come true. Just don't…leave me behind," he said with trouble, tears leaking from his eyes and down his face, dripping onto me.

Barely able to open my eyes, I gazed at my beloved for the last time. With the last bit of my energy, I rose up my hand, using all of the strength I had left in me to be able to raise it high enough to touch his face and wipe away his tears. "Don't cry…Be happy like you always had been…Smile that smile that I adore so much…even if it's not for me…" I told him weakly, feeling myself fading away fast. "I love you, Keigo," I finally worded with the last of my breath, my hand falling at my side, closing my eyes, cherishing Keigo's warmth for the last time as life before me vanished from my grasp.

Saeki's slim body quickly became cold and limb in Atobe's arms as he held him tighter by the moment. Bringing his lover's head up to his face, kissing his forehead roughly, he imaged that his dear Saeki was still alive as he felt his heart ached endlessly, filled with guilt and regret. After some deep breaths, Atobe reached into his pocket and took out the ring engraved with the emerald. With trembling hands, Atobe slipped the ring onto Saeki's ring finger, trying to stop the tears from escaping his eyes. In a hushed voice, he said with a sorrowful smile, "This ring…does not resemble Himeko, but of the aura that surrounds you…a gorgeous green; lively, yet, calm and beautiful…just like you, Kojirou." He, then, gently brought Saeki's hand up to his tender lips and kissed it softly. "I love you, Kojirou…Saeki Kojirou, my beautiful haven." With that, his lips approached Saeki's, and he kissed him deeply, lovingly, only to wish that Saeki was still there. "Oh Kojirou," Atobe breathed, pain throbbing in his chest. "I miss you already."

The sun was now out of sight from the sky, the moon translucent. Atobe continued to hold onto his dear Saeki in his secure arms, kissing him over and over as tears uncontrollably flowed out. Finally, Atobe decided he had to leave the beach since the beach no longer showed its amazing sunset. It seemed Saeki had left with the beautiful sunset he loved so much. Carrying the corpse of his bleached hair lover with much care, he walked onto the sidewalk, tears still flowing; walking to wherever his feet would take him.

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

Updated with Chapter 11! (OMG! I killed off the protagonist…SAEKI :goes off crying: ) Now Atobe's feeling the angst. It t'was about time! But now it's also sad that Atobe's suffering now, too…

…Okay…I admit…I cried as I wrote this chapter…:laughs at self: …Actually, I cried in a lot of parts as I wrote this story! It's just so sad… :cries some more:

REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER ARE SOOO WELCOME!