A/N: Okay, go me. Here is the next chapter. My goal is to finish this before the semester ends...which is in a week. This should be finished within two more chapters. The next two might be shorter, but we'll see. I know what needs to happen, but how it gets to that point, I have no idea. So, I'll just let you guys read and enjoy this chapter.

I don't own Prince of Tennis

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"Remember, your projects are due next week. I hope you have at least started on it. That's it for today, class dismissed."

Atobe stretched in his seat. He was brilliant at it, but math was just boring. Or maybe, he thought, it was because the teacher was. He glanced at the desk next to him and sighed. Jiroh was asleep as usual. Atobe could not blame him too much though, sometimes, he just wanted to sleep through the class as well.

"Jiroh. Let's go."

Jiroh sleepily lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. He let out a huge yawn and stretched slowly. Atobe picked up his belongings and waited for the other boy to pick up his pace.

"Alright…"

Just watching him made Atobe want to go take a nap. However, he could do no such thing as he had a tennis team to lead.

"Step up the pace, Jiroh. Ore-sama has to tell the team the line up for the invitational so we can begin practicing."

The other boy perked up a little and looked at Atobe.

"What is it?"

He smirked.

"You'll find out the sooner we get to practice."

As he anticipated, Jiroh's curiosity got the better of him and he began to move much faster. Atobe had to refrain from chuckling at his teammates newfound energy. The littlest things could make him so happy.

"Shall we go now?"

"Yup! All ready."

The two tennis players then made their way to practice where the other regulars were already present. Gakuto was the first person to notice their appearance.

"Hey, what took you two so long?"

"I don't know, Gakuto. Sometimes they come late…And they do have the same class last period."

Atobe's eyebrow began to twitch when Oshitari joined in. Gakuto caught onto his partner's comment and began grinning.

"You're right, Yuushi. Wonder what they do that holds them up so long?"

Jiroh looked over at Atobe who looked like he was ready to throttle them both. Jiroh suddenly had an idea. He only hoped Atobe could figure it out.

"It's not your business what Atobe and I do before practice. As the two top players, we're entitled to have our way."

He smiled as he usually did, but this time, after that comment, the others were not so sure about it anymore. Atobe glanced at Jiroh oddly a moment before realizing what was happening. In a flashy style, Atobe placed his arm around Jiroh's shoulders and leaned on him as a support and grinned wickedly.

"Jiroh, don't explain yourself to peons like them. What does it matter?"

"I suppose you're right, Atobe. Then again, you're always right, aren't you?"

He tried his hardest, but he could not longer do it. Jiroh burst into laughter as the others stared at them with wide eyes. He especially loved the look on Gakuto and Oshitari. They were both staring at them at a complete loss of words. Jiroh had never seen Oshitari look that stunned in his entire tennis career.

"What do you know? Gakuto and Yuushi got it all shoved right back into their faces."

Shishido was grinning now. Even though he did not get the revenge himself, it was still nice. Hiyoshi could only shake his head and roll his eyes.

"Too bad Jiroh started laughing. It would have been great to carry it on longer."

Atobe was smirking at the scene before him. He always felt much better when he had the upper hand. Oshitari and Gakuto had regained their composure somewhat and were now looking at each other in a confused manner. He looked down and grinned when he saw Jiroh. The boy was still on ground laughing and rolling around. Jiroh could behave like such a little child sometimes, but once and a while he had good ideas. Atobe then thought about the fact that Jiroh came up with such a wicked idea.

"I'm impressed, Jiroh. Such an idea coming from you and so quickly."

Jiroh paused in his laughter and stared up at Atobe. The others began staring too.

"Did…Did Atobe just make a compliment?…Today is just so bizarre."

Shishido was shaking his head while Otori patted him on the shoulder consolingly.

"Thanks, Atobe!"

He nodded his head at Jiroh and got everything in order again. Jiroh watched as Atobe went back to his normal unreadable, commanding self. He actually enjoyed it when Atobe was playing along. For a few minutes, Atobe was actually goofing off as normal human beings are prone to do. He had never really seen a playful side of the tennis buchou. He thought about it a little more and revised his initial observation. It was the first time he saw Atobe's warped, playful side. Then again, he decided he was not much better if he came up with ideas like that one.

"Enough messing around. Everybody pay attention."

Atobe pulled out a clipboard and flipped through a couple of pages. He made eye contact with each member of the team to make sure he had their undivided attention.

"I have the line up for the invitational."

Everybody moved in a little closer. Normally they would not care, but since Atobe told them the line up would change, they really wanted to know.

"First singles will be Kabaji."

Everybody turned towards Kabaji confusedly. The hulking second year just nodded his head and answered in the affirmative.

"Usu."

Things were already thrown off kilter. Atobe was not playing first singles. Atobe always played first singles even if the match would never even go that far. The other members stared back at Atobe expectantly.

"Second singles will be Oshitari."

Oshitari stared oddly at Atobe and then looked at Gakuto who was just as confused.

"Is this pay back for something?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You're supposedly crafty, go figure it out for yourself."

He snorted and smirked. Sometimes, he could not figure out the frilly enigma that was Atobe. Whatever the case, he let it go by without much of a complaint as was normal for his easygoing personality.

"Third singles will be Hiyoshi."

Hiyoshi perked up when he heard that. Atobe smirked ever so slightly at the younger boy's sudden interest. It was obvious that Hiyoshi realized the implications of being in that position. No matter which way the first two matches went, he was guaranteed a chance to play.

"Don't let it go to your head."

"Hmph. Afraid I'll show you up?"

"There is nothing frightening or threatening about you, Hiyoshi. So just go back to your little corner and brood like you normally do."

Hiyoshi held his tongue, but did not realize that he actually did go back to where he was leaning against a tree and started to brood.

"First singles will be…"

Atobe smirked as he stared directly at Shishido and then at Gakuto.

"You two."

Without even looking at him, Otori reached over and held Shishido by the collar. It was a good thing too since he was about to attack Atobe and do whatever else Shishido would do in anger.

"Why do I have to play with him! You are a spiteful person, Atobe!"

"Yes, ore-sama knows."

"Hey, hey, hey! What makes you think I'll play with Shishido? The guy probably can't even function without Otori."

"What are you talking about? You sure it's not because you can't play without Oshitari?"

Otori and Oshitari had to hold back their doubles partners as they attempted to kill each other.

"My, my, Atobe. You really do know how to shake things up. So, where does that leave you?"

Jiroh was still sitting on the ground staring expectantly at Atobe. By process of elimination, that left him, Otori, and Atobe. The only spot left was second doubles. He was trying his hardest not to decide which would be worse. Not getting to play and have Atobe and Otori play doubles, or, play doubles with Otori and not with Atobe. He really hoped that it was neither. He tried to find any hint of what it might be, but as always, Atobe had the perfect poker face.

"Otori."

"Yes, Atobe-san?"

Jiroh tightened his grip on the grass beneath him as he waited.

"You'll sit this match out."

Otori smiled gently and nodded his head.

"Sure. That's fine."

"Jiroh, you-"

Before Atobe could finish, he was tackled from the side. H e quickly took a few steps to keep himself upright. Jiroh was now rapidly hopping up and down still attached to Atobe who was trying his hardest to pry the other boy's grip off.

"We're going to play doubles! So cool! Playing a match against you is so exciting, and playing with you is going to be so much more exciting!"

The others watched the little outburst not really knowing what to think. They were pretty sure Atobe also did not know what to think.

"Jiroh, calm down."

Jiroh immediately let go and stepped away even though he remained grinning from ear to ear. Atobe straightened out his school uniform and cleared his throat.

"And that is the line up. Any complaints?…You two don't count so don't even bother."

Shishido and Gakuto immediately closed their mouths and returned to glaring at each other. Otori and Oshitari shook their heads and began dragging their partners towards the courts.

"Kabaji, play with Otori today."

"Usu."

"Oshitari, you practice with Hiyoshi. First doubles will practice with second doubles. Got it? Good. Now go."

Atobe made sure the others were going to start practicing before entering the clubhouse to change. Jiroh bounced right after him.

"Hey, Yuushi, how come Atobe decided to play second doubles. He hated playing with Sanada and hated being second doubles."

Gakuto wandered around a little bit as he waited for Atobe. Oshitari just shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his glasses.

"Who knows what goes on in that guy's head? Doesn't really matter though. He wins his matches regardless, so I'll just go with it."

"Don't these things bother you?"

"You bother me. Now move."

Gakuto whipped around at the sound of Atobe's voice. He was standing right behind him and currently looking down at the acrobatic player. Jiroh was standing right behind him grinning.

"Yeah, the sooner we get going, the more time we get to practice."

Gakuto mumbled to himself as he joined Shishido on the other side of the court. It was obvious they did not care for the arrangement, but they still were talking somewhat civilly as to what position they were going to be.

"Jiroh, we'll keep the positions we played from the other day. They shouldn't be too much trouble. However, be cautious. If they figure out how to play together, it might get a little more difficult."

"Right. They're both really good at net and Shishido's speed would let him cover all the open spots left by Gakuto easily."

Atobe nodded his head in approval. Jiroh walked up to the net and smiled at Atobe.

"We've got this one."

"Alright. Let's start."

They began the match with Shishido's serve. Right off the line, Shishido charged the net so that both were guarding the net. Atobe neatly lobbed the ball over their heads, but Shishido was waiting for it and quickly ran back and returned it.

"Jiroh."

"Got it!"

In a flash, Jiroh was right where the ball crossed the net and with a quick flick of his wrist and a step forward, the ball rebounded off his racquet and into the far corner.

"Our point."

Jiroh happily called out as he moved back towards the baseline to receive. Shishido served again and remained at baseline. Jiroh returned it with ease cross-court away from Gakuto. Shishido got to it but had to deal with Atobe who slammed the ball towards Gakuto's feet.

"30-0."

The first game ended in Atobe and Jiroh's favor. They again won the next game, except it was not a clean sweep. Atobe noted with interest that Shishido and Gakuto gradually got better as the match progressed. Soon, the games went on for longer periods of time as each point became harder to win.

"It seems they're getting the hang of it."

Atobe observed Gakuto and Shishido across the court. They still did not talk much, but they definitely had something working out. As Jiroh pointed out earlier, Shishido's reflexes did provide good cover and when at the net, it was hard to get around the two.

"Hey, Atobe…Why did you choose to be second doubles?"

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

"I just want to know…Is it because we probably won't win?"

Atobe watched Jiroh curiously. Again, he had an odd feeling as to where the conversation was heading. It seemed all to familiar from the day before.

"What makes you think we won't win?"

"They're getting better. They're improving. We're not. Yeah, we're good, but we're good at singles. So far, the only reason we can ever pull anything off is because we have enough skills to compensate for our lack of doubles skills."

Jiroh continued to watch Shishido and Gakuto as he spoke. Atobe noted the rare, serious expression. To be honest with himself, Atobe was a little confused with Jiroh's behavior at times. This is exactly what he wanted, but then, he had so many doubts about it. Atobe could tell him everything was all right and everything would work out, but he knew that was not the case. Besides, Jiroh was a little too perceptive at these things.

"Jiroh. Don't think about that now. We can't improve if we're too preoccupied with other things."

It was his way of telling Jiroh everything was going to be fine without telling him that. Jiroh sighed and smiled weakly at Atobe.

"You're right. Let's keep going."

Jiroh knew that Atobe was telling the truth without telling the truth. Everything he said had some other meaning behind it or it was a way around actually answering the original question. It was these things that he did not understand and wanted to understand. If he could not understand Atobe, he did not know how he was going to be able to improve.

"You guys ready yet?"

Gakuto was standing at the net impatiently tapping his foot. Atobe shot him a quick glare and moved into position.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The lack of enthusiasm behind the response was not reassuring, but then again, there was not really a point to being enthusiastic about anything in this match. They continued to play and soon it was the end of practice.

"We'll pick up again tomorrow."

The other members nodded and walked back to the clubhouse. Gakuto ran up to Oshitari and began babbling about the match. His doubles partner just walked with him, silently listening to the other's animated account.

"Good to see you didn't kill each other. Hiyoshi and I were having an interesting match."

He glanced over at Hiyoshi who quickly turned away much to Oshitari's amusement. Shishido caught up with Otori who were also telling each other how their matches went. Atobe walked a little behind the rest with Jiroh trailing behind. The other boy looked dead to the world. He did not pay attention to anything. He just yawned and walked sluggishly back to the clubhouse.

"Hey, Atobe! You're totally going to lose tomorrow!"

"Brilliantly said, Gakuto."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, Yuushi!"

"Nothing."

Atobe made sure everybody had left and locked up the clubhouse. As he headed home he noticed Jiroh was already making his way towards the bus stop. A part of him wanted to make sure he did not collapse in the middle of the road and get run over by the bus, but then again, he decided that Jiroh might need time alone. Either way he looked at it, Atobe felt like something was off. Trying to push it to the back of his mind, he walked over to the school buildings to report on the day's practice results.

"Ah, Atobe-kun, how did the practice go today?"

"Better than planned. Ironically enough, Shishido and Mukahi actually function well together…At least on the courts."

"How about you and Jiroh?"

"Good enough to get by for now."

"I see. If you do not think it will work well, you can change in Otori. He tends to work well with anybody."

Atobe had thought about it, but it did not set right with him on a couple of levels. His pride refused to let him quit because it was difficult and his ego and patience did not want to deal with what the other members would say. But most of all, he did not want to do that to Jiroh. He knew that the other boy had always wanted to play doubles with him, but it never seemed to work out. This was the chance to make it work somehow he would find a way to make it work. Atobe just had to figure out what always set Jiroh off and how to remedy it.

"No. Nothing will change."

"I trust your decision then. You may go."

"Coach."

He bowed his head slightly before exiting the office. As he walked down the deserted hallways, he looked outside the windows and saw that is was almost dark. Atobe began his walk home. He could have called in his chauffeur, but decided he needed time to walk and think. When he was only a few blocks from home, the sun had already set and the moon was in the sky shining dully. Before he reached the final stretch, Atobe's cell phone went off.

"Hello?…He left right after practice…Please calm down…No, I doubt anybody kidnapped him…It is most likely like last time…No…No, there is no reason why yakuza would abduct Jiroh and get caught in the middle of a gang war…Please…Please stop worrying…I'll go look for him…Yes…Of course…Good bye."

Atobe got off the phone and sighed. He had no idea how somebody could have such weird reasoning. Regardless of the odd phone call, Atobe was a little concerned. He knew something was off with Jiroh when he left. He thought about how he should have gone with him. Before he started off in that direction, he decided it was more prudent to save the regret and figure out where Jiroh was. Chances are, he fell asleep and missed the bus. Without thinking too much more, Atobe set off in that direction.

He walked quickly and kept his mind on the goal. He would find Jiroh, wake him up, get him home and everything would be right. However, as he got closer, something in his gut told him it would not be that easy.

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A/N: So what do you think? Well, I don't know anything anymore. At first I didn't like it, then I like it, then I got confused...I wrote this with a headache, so things might be off...I know the beginning part is off in some odd world...My headache got better as I wrote so i suppose things might have leveled out a bit...What am I even talking about? Oh well...So, where's Jiroh? Did he get abducted by yakuza?...Sometime, I need to write something about Hyotei and the yakuza...Anyways, stay tuned for next time in...Smile For Me: Chapter 10! Ooh, the suspense...Ooh, I hope you enjoyed this...Ooh, I'm going to shut up now...