After the initial ring, who had turned out to be Momoshiro and a very disgruntled Echizen, guests began arriving rapidly. Members from most of the area schools were present, but some were not well represented. Only Shinji, Kamio, and Tachibana managed to make it from the Fudomine team. From all the St. Rudolph's players, only Yuuta and Mizuki were able to attend. Luckily, for them, all of the promised Hyotei players managed to show their faces. Atobe would have given anyone who decided to ditch, hell at Monday morning's practice. Most of the Rikkaidai players were in attendance, though most didn't look happy about it. Kirihara, Sanada, and Yagyuu all wore matching looks of distain. Bunta, Niou, and Renji didn't look quite so pissed, but they didn't look overly ecstatic. Atobe wondered why the team had bothered attending at all. All of the Seigaku regulars made their way to the party and all, save Echizen and Tezuka, looked cheerful.

The house quickly became very cramped and noisy. Atobe could hear Gakuto and Kikumaru pestering Sengoku. He watched as they asked what kinds of food there were to eat, if games were planned, if they were going to watch moives, and if Sengoku has a karaoke machine in his house. He was so engulfed in the scene that he didn't notice Oshitari had sidled up beside him until the blue haired boy spoke up.

"Who are you looking at?" he inquired.

"Why do you assume I am watching a person?" Atobe shot back.

Oshitari only smirked, but his facial expression said a lot. Atobe had been aquatinted with Oshitari long enough to know what his friend was thinking.

"Why is it that lately everyone has been on my case about him?"

No reply from the other.

"It would never work out you know. We are polar opposites."

"…"

"I don't care if they say opposites attract. It's not true."

"…"

"I really don't think we would balance each other out perfectly."

Finally Oshitari spoke. "Keigo, sometimes you don't always know what is best for you."

"Eh? And I suppose you know better?"

"I know best," Yuushi simply replied, then walked away.

Atobe didn't follow his teammate, nor did he call after him. He simply stood in the corner, scanning the crowd. After a few moments he saw Sengoku heading toward him, or so he thought. Sengoku ended up stopping in the middle of the room. He declared at the top if his lungs that there was food in the dinning room for anyone who wanted to eat. The green eyed boy must have forgotten that he had invited tennis players, who all seemed to have bottomless stomachs, to his home. At the mention of food the room was cleared out in an instant.

"Guess they were hungry," Sengoku laughed.

"Of course they are. When have you known them to pass up free food?" Atobe asked condescendingly.

"Good point."

The two stood in silence for a while. Atobe couldn't help but think that Yuushi had a hand in clearing out the room for the two of them. He must have walked away so that he could plant ideas in Sengoku's head.

"What are you thinking?" the orange haired boy inquired.

"Why do you care?"

"Hey want to help me set up the karaoke machine?" Sengoku asked, deciding it was best to change topics.

"If I have to," Atobe said in a bored tone.

"If you put it that way…then you have to." And before Atobe knew what was going on, Sengoku had again grabbed his hand and was whisking him away. The two went down the hallway and entered a small room near the back of the house.

"Ta da! My bedroom," Sengoku informed Atobe while gesturing to the tiny room.

"Small," Atobe remarked. "Why are we here?"

Sengoku pointed to the corner of the room where the karaoke machine stood. It became evident to Keigo that the two of them had to haul the device to the other room together.

"Ore-sama does not want to strain himself. You carry it and I will supervise."

Sengoku looked absolutely crestfallen, but he didn't argue. He went to the corner and lifted the machine. It was obviously heavy. Sengoku, whom Atobe knew to be quite buff, had a hard time lifting it up. He teetered dangerously for a few moments before even attempting to move forward. This, however, proved to be a bad idea. Maybe the machine was too heavy or maybe Sengoku hadn't gathered his balance, either way, Sengoku fell. Hard. And the karaoke mechanism landed on top of him.

A shocked Atobe leapt over to help Sengoku. He could barely lift the karaoke apparatus off of the Yamabuki boy. He could only imagine the amount of pain Sengoku must be in, having that thing fall on him.

"Oi! Sengoku! Are you alright?"

The other didn't answer. He must have been knocked unconscious, which wasn't the least bit surprising. Just to make sure he was okay, Atobe checked his pulse. He found it, and breathed a sigh of relief. "I wonder if that machine broke any of his ribs. It was pretty heavy after all…"

Without thinking, he slid his hand under Sengoku's shirt and began feeling along the rib cage for any abnormalities. He was still inspecting when Sengoku regained consciousness. He lay there for a moment, eyes closed, thinking about how good Atobe's hand felt against his skin. Involuntarily, he let out a small groan. Luckily Atobe assumed it was due to his awakening and not the fact the he was getting aroused.

"Sengoku?" he asked putting his face close to the other boys'. "Oi! Sengoku! Did you make a noise? Are you awake?"

In reply, Sengoku pushed his lips against Atobe's. Though it was painful, he flipped Atobe over, so that he was now on top, pinning the diva to the ground.

"Worried about me Keigo-kun?" Sengoku asked happily.

"Who gave you permission to call me by my given name?" Atobe snapped.

"Keigo and Kiyosumi sounds cuter than Atobe and Sengoku," he boy mused to himself.

"Are you listening to me?" asked an exasperated Atobe.

"Keigo and Kiyosumi. Keigo and Kiyosumi. It has a nice ring to it."

"Don't call me Keigo! And there is no Keigo and Kiyosumi! We aren't a couple we never will be! Give it up! We are total opposites! In what univerise would a relationship between us thrive? You are insane!"

"Me? Insane?" Sengoku laughed and stood up. "I'm not the one ranting like a mad man." He started to walk towards the fallen machine, wincing in pain the entire way. "I have to get this out there. I am sure people will want to start karaoke soon."

"Baka!" Atobe exclaimed, jumping off the floor. "Are you trying to injure yourself again?"

"Like you even care," Sengoku replied, and for the first time since Atobe had know the boy, he swore he heard bitterness laced through his words. "Oh well. It's not my problem. I just spoke the truth. Ore-sama does not apologize." All the same, Atobe had the sudden urge to offer comforting words to Sengoku. He had never seen the boy so upset and, to be honest, it was a little unsettling.

"Let me help," Atobe said, moving towards Sengoku.

Sengoku allowed himself to smile slightly. He nodded his approval and moved into position to lift. Working together silently, the two managed to get the karaoke machine into the living room. By the time they had it all set up, a small crowd was gathering.

"Hoi! Hoi! Karaoke!" Eiji exclaimed, dancing around.

"Sugoi!" yelled Jiroh. "Sugoi! Sugoi Sugoi! Neh, Atobe? Did you see that nice karaoke player? Did you? Did you? Neh, Bunta-sama?" he said, jumping towards the Rikkaidai regular. "Want to do a duet together? Do you? Do you?"

Atobe didn't stick around long enough to hear Bunta's reply. He was hungry, having missed out on the feeding frenzy, so he decided to scour the dining area to see if any food had been left behind. He had expected the dining room to be cleared out so he was slightly put-off when he saw Sanada sitting at the table. The two exchanged curt head nods. There was really no need to speak. Neither felt compelled to have deep conversations with each other. Or so Atobe had assumed. That was why he was stunned when Sanada said, "You should never say never."

"Nani?" Atobe asked, totally confused.

"I overheard you speaking with Sengoku. I was headed to the bathroom. You told him that things would never work between the two of you, but you haven't even given it a chance. You shouldn't give up without even trying."

"What is with everyone today? I can make my own decisions! Who says I even want to be with Sengoku?" Atobe turned on his heals, and stormed out. "Maybe I can find some nutrition source in the kitchen, where no one will be hanging out."

Unfortunately, upon entrance into the kitchen a familiar orange head of hair bobbing up and down, scanning the contents of the refrigerator, swam into view. When he finally turned around, Atobe saw that Sengoku's arms were filled with the alcohol. Assuming that Atobe still wanted no part in the drinking, Sengoku kicked the door shut, stepped around the lavender haired Prima Donna, and walked away.

Atobe assumed that Sengoku was still upset over the exchange in the bedroom. After all, he had been a little hard on Sengoku. Then again, that was how you had to deal with persistent airheads such as Kiyosumi. Still…he must have hurt the boy's feelings. To draw out such anger in him…Atobe was still deep in thought when Sengoku came back into the room, presumably for another armful of alcohol.

"Excuse me Atobe," Sengoku said eyeing the boy who was now blocking him from the refrigerator. Either Atobe was choosing to ignore Sengoku or simply didn't hear him, but he made no response and didn't move. Atobe's browed was furrowed in what looked like, at least to Sengoku, concern. It was a look that rarely graced the diva's face. He was about to ask the Hyotei boy what exactly was troubling him, but at that exact moment Jiroh burst into the room.

"Atobe! Atobe! Let's go do karaoke! Neh, buchou? Want to sing with me?" And before Sengoku opened his mouth, Atobe was gone.

Sengoku shrugged. "Oh well," he mumbled. "It's not like he would have confided in me anyway." He went to join the noisy party.