A/N: Here is chapter five for you all. This is also a bit long. It's actually longer than the last chapter, but this is more dialogue driven than anything. Anyways, more Silver Pair fluff and Sanada and Yukimura make cameos. And thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing. Thank you so much! All those nice comments are so meaningful to me. They are my fuel that keeps me going...along with ice cream...but that's a whole other issue. Well, I'll let you go. Read and Enjoy!

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"Hey, Atobe! How about we go there for lunch?"

Atobe looked over to where Jiroh was energetically pointing. It was a small corner café that did not seem to be too busy in comparison to the others.

"Fine."

They both entered the café and were soon seated near one of the large windows. Jiroh began intently studying the menu while Atobe merely glanced at it.

"Hmm, what should I get? Now this sounds good…but this does also…What do I feel like more?…Hey, Atobe, what do I want to eat?"

Atobe stared blankly at the other boy. Jiroh was genuinely asking what he should eat as though Atobe knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I don't know and I don't care. Pick whatever you want to eat."

Jiroh stared thoughtfully at Atobe a few moments before turning his attention back to the menu. The tennis buchou watched the other boy for little while longer noting the intense thinking that was occurring in Jiroh's head. He looked back down at the menu and looked it over a little more closely this time. He did not know why, but he soon found himself searching the menu to find Jiroh something to eat.

"Why don't you just get one of these sandwiches? Besides, that's almost the only thing they have here."

"But I don't know which one!"

"Why don't you just get this one? It has all the meats on it and whatever else you would want plus it comes with chips…If you pick something now, I'll get you Pocky or something when we're done."

Jiroh quickly closed the menu and smiled brightly at Atobe's suggestion and incentive.

"Really! Alright. I'm going to order this one!"

Atobe refrained from shaking his head. The waitress had come over and was now staring at the two of them with an odd expression on her face. Actually, some of the surrounding tables were looking at them oddly. She tried to collect herself as she wrote down his order. Atobe calmly handed her his menu as he ordered.

"Caesar salad."

"Alright…then…This will be out shortly."

"A salad? That's so boring, Atobe."

"Ore-sama feels like eating a salad and if ore-sama feels like eating a salad, ore-sama will eat a salad…Regardless of how 'boring' it is."

Jiroh stared at Atobe strangely.

"But it's still boring."

Atobe could only stare back at Jiroh's statement. This seemed to be the reaction he was hoping for as Jiroh suddenly cracked a smug grin.

"Ha! I got the better of you on that one."

He practically cackled while Atobe remained in the same position and with the same blank stare. He was not sure what was wrong with the picture. The fact that reasoning does not work on the boy or that Jiroh actually assumed he had the upper hand at the situation was currently irrelevant to his mind. At the moment, he was occupied with the fact that he could not understand where these conversations even came from let alone why Jiroh found something so menial amusing. Atobe's silence seemed to make Jiroh even happier.

"See? My brilliant logic shines brighter than the sun itself!"

"Great. Now you've gone and corrupted him."

Atobe and Jiroh looked at the new speaker. Shishido was standing besides their table along with Otori.

"Ore-sama does not corrupt, but merely enlightens…Besides, what do you want?"

The tennis buchou eyed Shishido and then Otori who quickly looked the opposite direction. In an instant, Atobe had his smug grin in place.

"Having a special practice together?"

Shishido's cheeks suddenly had a light tinge of pink which caused Atobe to grin triumphantly. Jiroh watched the two for a moment and then looked at Otori who also had a light pink hue on his cheeks. And then, Jiroh had a great revelation.

"Hey, you two are on a date, aren't you!"

Atobe about spit out the water he was sipping. The expression on Shishido and Otori's faces were priceless. Along with the not so subtle comment itself created an overall hilarious situation to Atobe who was trying not to choke on the water as he suppressed his laughter.

"N-no! We're just getting a bite to eat before we go practice…That's all."

Jiroh stared innocently at Shishido and then looked at Atobe.

"Are we talking about, like a tennis practice, or something else right now?…Are we using one of those metaphor things?"

Atobe grinned smugly up at Shishido who was turning bright red.

"Hmm, that's a good question, Jiroh…What practice are we talking about?"

"JUST A TENNIS PRACTICE YOU-"

Otori quickly regained his composure and grabbed Shishido to restrain him. At this point, he was ready to pounce on Atobe who merely sat unfazed at the now fuming Shishido.

"Well, have a nice lunch, Atobe-san, Akutagawa-san. Maa, maa, Shishido-san, let's just go to the table."

Atobe waved at Shishido as he was practically dragged away by Otori who was also apologizing profusely at everybody they passed. Jiroh was laughing at Shishido's antics and turned his attention back to Atobe.

"What was Shishido getting all up tight about? I mean, I just asked a simple question. Though judging from the way Shishido reacted, it's logical to think that maybe it's a different practice. But then again, since it's them, they really would just be practicing tennis."

Atobe continued to grin even while he answered Jiroh.

"It's not about whether it's something else or not. Ore-sama just loves to harass Shishido. His reactions are priceless. But because your question made everything so entertaining, I'm going to buy you all the Mousse Pocky you can eat."

Jiroh became ecstatic at Atobe's offer. His expression could best be described as the embodiment of happiness.

"Alright!…Hey, Mousse Pocky is one of my favorites. How did you know?"

The other boy looked at Jiroh incredulously. Atobe confidently crossed his arms as he explained how he knew.

"Ore-sama is simply brilliant. Ore-sama's power of Insight extends even beyond the courts."

He watched as Jiroh's eyes grew big and began getting all excited all over again.

"Wow, that's incredible! That's so neat that my tennis buchou so knows what kind of Pocky I like. See, it's these are the kind of things that I like about you, Atobe!"

Jiroh continued to smile even while he began eating his sandwich. Atobe picked at his salad as he watched Jiroh. That last statement continued to play in his head. He was used to people telling him that they liked him for this or that and he knew how to answer it. Those people were just saying things on a whim or because they were simply infatuated. However, no matter how many times he played it over in his head, Atobe could not find a hint of insincerity or artificiality to it. Everything screamed that Jiroh was totally honest about what he said.

"Hey, Atobe? Hellooo? What are you thinking about?"

Atobe snapped back to reality and noticed Jiroh leaning over the table and had his face hovering a few inches away.

"Nothing much."

Atobe forced himself to retain his nonchalant expression no matter how much his mind was telling him otherwise. Jiroh quirked an eyebrow skeptically, but sat back down in his own seat.

"If you say so…You know, it wouldn't hurt if you actually spoke your thoughts once and a while."

This time, Atobe raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm sure all that narcissistic rambling isn't what you really are thinking or want to say."

"So now you are ore-sama's psychiatrist?"

"No…But do you want me to be? I'm really good at listening!"

"If you don't fall asleep first."

"Heh, heh…But with you, I know for a fact that I would stay awake."

Atobe sighed.

"How about you just eat and we continue on with our project. I'm thinking of stopping by the hospital afterwards."

Jiroh practically spit out his food which Atobe neatly dodged.

"What? Why? You don't feel good!"

Atobe put his hands up defensively.

"Ore-sama is the epitome of perfect health. I want to get the opinions of two prominent tennis figures."

"You mean Yukimura? Who's the other one?"

Jiroh quirked his head to the side as Atobe looked to the side and grew a devious smirk.

"Sanada Genichirou…Speaking of which, he's quite fun to harass too."

"You really like to harass people, don't you?"

Atobe shrugged and then began poking his salad.

"Only certain ones; particularly Shishido and Sanada. Ore-sama loves to see their reactions."

Jiroh just shook his head as he noted Atobe probably beginning to plot how he should approach the whole situation.

Shortly thereafter, the two were on their way again. Atobe continually had to yank Jiroh out of the way of moving objects and pedestrians as the other boy was preoccupied with his box of Pocky.

"It's great that you enjoy what you eat, but…it would be easier if you actually paid attention to where you're going."

Jiroh looked at Atobe with a stick of Pocky jutting out of his mouth and grinned while holding on to the dessert with his teeth.

"But these are sooo good! I have to keep my mind on these or I won't fully enjoy it."

Without a second thought, Jiroh returned to munching on Pocky while Atobe returned to making sure nothing squished Jiroh.

After a short walk, they made it to the city hospital. Entering into the building, Jiroh finally stopped eating for a moment to look around.

"Hey, how are we going to find Yukimura's room? And what makes you think Sanada will be there?"

"First off, I just know. Second, that guy doesn't leave Yukimura's side if he can help it."

Jiroh nodded his head slowly.

"It's one of those things that you just magically know again, isn't it?"

"Of course."

The two boys headed for the elevators and went up. Upon arriving at their floor, Jiroh hopped out and then looked expectantly at Atobe.

"Down the hall to the right, room 426."

Immediately Jiroh started off in the indicated direction while Atobe followed at a slower pace. As he planned, Jiroh was already in the room by the time he got there. He approached as quietly as he could and stood silently in the doorway.

"Hey, Yukimura! How are you feeling? You got to get better soon 'cause I'm always told how great of a player you are and I want to see it for myself! From the way everybody talks about you, you seem to be like one of the greatest junior high players which is so totally cool!"

Jiroh was animatedly talking to Yukimura who was surprised at first, but then smiled at the younger boy. However, the other guest in the room was not so easy going about it.

"What are you doing here?"

Jiroh looked up at the taller boy and stared at him silently for a short while. At long last he finally pointed as he came to a stunning conclusion.

"You look so mean!"

Yukimura had to quickly put his hands in front of his mouth to stifle the laughter. Atobe could not help but chuckle as Sanada was left speechless. All he could do was continue to stare the same way except for a small twitch in one of his eyebrows.

"You're responsible for this!"

He quickly turned to face the chuckling Atobe who did not seemed fazed at all by the death glare he was receiving.

"Good afternoon to you too, Sanada."

Sanada Genichirou continued to glare daggers of death at Atobe while Jiroh looked on innocently clueless. He then seemed to realize something as he quickly got Sanada's attention.

"I'm so sorry. That was really rude of me. You don't look mean, you look…uhh…pleasantly…uhh…serious?"

Sanada stared in disbelief at the smaller boy. Jiroh was now bowing apologetically. At first, he was about to throttle him for his impudence, but somehow, he realized that Jiroh was completely serious. This whole situation became very awkward for Sanada while it was sheer enjoyment for Yukimura and Atobe.

"Forget it. I blame this all on you."

Once again he resorted to glaring at Atobe.

"What do you want anyways?"

"I'm just here to ask you and Yukimura a few questions for a report I'm doing for school."

Jiroh then took it upon himself to happily interrupt and continue the explanation.

"Yeah, we're asking all the different tennis players about playing doubles and singles. So to kick things off, which do you prefer?"

Yukimura looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Hm, I suppose I would say singles. But then, that might be because I never really have played doubles."

"Singles."

Sanada answered with his normal confidence and blankness. Atobe grunted in amusement as he was quickly jotting down the notes in a small pocket book he kept in his pocket.

"Alright, second question. How does this make you feel about those who play doubles?"

"I admire people who can play doubles, especially those who can do it well. It takes a whole different type of skill to be able to properly play doubles. I think it's even more admirable when two purely singles players can come together and play doubles."

Following Yukimura's flowery answer, came Sanada's blunt response.

"They're skilled at what they do. Some are meant to play singles and some are meant to play doubles. Those who are suited for one thing should not attempt to do otherwise. If it works, stick with it."

"'To each his own lot' huh, Sanada?"

Atobe was smirking as he quickly wrote the answers. Jiroh stared at Sanada as if he spoke great evil.

"How can you say that they shouldn't attempt to do otherwise? If you always stick with the same thing and never try anything different, you'll never know what other great things that can happen!"

Sanada, Atobe, and Yukimura stared at Jiroh in surprise at his sudden outburst. Yukimura's expression soon turned into a smile.

"Sanada just doesn't like to try new things. Doing new things carry risks."

"And Sanada doesn't want to risk losing something he's become attached to."

"Oh, I see, so really, it's because he's afraid he might lose something special if things were to change?"

Both Yukimura and Atobe nodded simultaneously while Sanada rushed in to keep the conversation from going further down a path he did not want to go, especially with Atobe around.

"I'm not afraid of anything. I'm just saying that if it works, why change it? That's all. Nothing more and nothing less."

Jiroh smiled at him.

"If you say so."

Atobe walked over and patted Sanada on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Just give up. No matter how hard you want him to hate you, that's not going to happen now."

Sanada growled as he suddenly realized the world and his buchou were seemingly plotting against him. Jiroh then brought the conversation back on topic.

"Anyways, for the third question: How do you think playing singles or doubles affects the relationships between the team players as a whole?"

Yukimura once again answered first.

"I believe that between the doubles pair, they form a tight relationship and have an easy understanding and dependence between them. As far as their relationship with the other players, I think it in some ways makes them more readily able to get along. People are much bolder when they have their companions beside them. Singles players don't share that same bond per se, but they do know how to play for the team and respect those who play doubles."

Jiroh looked at Atobe who was miraculously keeping up with Yukimura's response. Atobe was honestly pushing the limits of his short hand skills. However, he knew that Sanada's answer would be short, sweet and to the point.

"Double's players live in their own buddy-buddy world. Singles players know only their own world. Switch the two around and nobody knows what to do. Doubles players have a dynamic only they share and singles rely on themselves. However, the double's can get too dependent on their partner and then fail when they are presented with a problem alone. Likewise, singles players have no idea how to interact with the others when they are placed in the doubles position."

Atobe was still furiously trying to keep up. He had anticipated and hoped that Sanada's answer would be his normal short and curt response. Little did he know that Sanada seemed to be too wrapped up in his analysis to make a short answer.

"Well, that wraps this up. Hope you get better soon. And Sanada, don't go and get yourself beaten to badly before we meet in nationals."

Sanada snorted in smirked confidently.

"As if. Really, I should be saying that to you."

"Perhaps, but my wit surpasses your and I was faster at it. See ya."

Atobe nodded to Yukimura and waved impudently at Sanada. Jiroh soon followed though with less of a feeling of rivalry. While they were walking down the hallways, Jiroh became curious.

"Hey, Atobe…Do you ever want to play doubles?"

"Depends. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering."

Atobe stared at Jiroh for a moment. With Jiroh, it was never a matter of "just wondering." He made a mental note to question him further at a later time. As they were exiting the hospital, Jiroh looked questioningly at Atobe.

"So where are we going next?"

"How about we head to this tennis shop that apparently has good grip tape. I've heard some interesting characters frequent there."

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A/N: Yay, the chapter is done. This seemed a little weirder than the others, but then again, I get weird during a week of non-stop tests. Anyhoo, I realize that Sanada and Atobe played doubles at the whole invitational thing. That event gets brought up later and so it might be good to keep this chapter in mind. In other events, there's nothing much more except that the plot is gradually beginning to become more apparent and very soon we shall see the crisis part. And when I say, "crisis" I don't mean a life-or-death situation type of hting. Just the main conflict. Well, there's something to look forward to...Hopefully. Well, I'm glad you take the time to read this and I hop eyou enjoyed!