A/N: I know, I know. It's been insanely long since the last update – and I apologize. TT_TT I just started college, so I've been ridiculously busy. I'll update faster, I promise! Uhu~

Please read and review, and let me know your thoughts so far! 8D Reviews make me a very happy coffee, keke.

Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.

By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, Nanao was sitting on edge.

Rima always had had a way of making her feel like this- the other girl had always, even since they were little girls, been quick to point out the ways in which she was better than Nanao. From looks to boyfriends to popularity, Rima had always taken a vindictive sort of glee in showing off and putting Nanao down. But it was never very blatant – sly, underhanded, seemingly offhand comments that dug into Nanao's skin and made her flush and look down at the floor, scuffing it with her shoe.

She hated hanging out with Rima.

But they'd been friends ever since Nanao had been old enough to know the concept of what friends even were, and despite Rima's borderline egomania, she wasn't a bad person. Still. Nanao dreaded meeting whatever new boyfriend the girl had dredged up this time.

She let out a sigh.

"Stop wasting Ore-sama's air."

Atobe's bemused voice entered her ear, and Nanao shifted to stare drily at him. Atobe glanced at her momentarily, before his attention flickered back to the cup of tea in front of him. "Do I have to ask, or are you just going to tell me?"

Nanao's eyes widened a bit and her lips quirked into a small smile. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired-" She glanced down at her wristwatch, smooth black leather wrapped securely around her small waist. The polished glass surface cited a '3:30' back at her, and at the numbers, she stood up in a hurry and dusted off her skirt. "I'm going to be late- I have to go."

Atobe's brows furrowed in a light frown.

She picked up her bag and straightened her blazer. She turned to leave, but upon catching the gaze of several of their watchful peers, sighed once more and turned back around. Dutifully, she bent forward and lightly pressed her cheek against his, briefly, giving the impression of having kissed it.

"Bye, Keigo," she murmured. Her smile widened a bit as she turned to Oshitari, who sat beside him with a book open in his hands. "Goodbye, Oshitari-kun."

And she'd rushed off right after, leaving Atobe's frown to deepen.

For the past several months, Atobe had known everything about Nanao's schedule – from small dentist appointments to family dinners to even when she was going to stop by that bakery on the way home. It wasn't that he kept tabs on her, but rather, in the infinite amount of time the two spent together, she naturally rattled off her plans for the day, the same way she came to find out about his to-do list.

In fact- dare he say it? This could very well be the first time he didn't know what she was doing at any particular time.

"Worried?" Oshitari closed his book and leaned forward on the table to smile at Atobe – an insufferable, dirty smirk that had Atobe wanting to wipe clean off his face.

"No."

Oshitari's smirk widened. Atobe frowned again.

"You know something," he accused, and Oshitari almost laughed.

Sakazaki Rima was an old family acquaintance of his family. They weren't close, but they were acquaintances who met frequently enough whenever their parents invited one another to dinners and galas; for years, she'd occasionally speak about a 'helpless childhood friend' of hers. He'd caught the signs of an egomaniac and deep-hidden insecurities when he saw it; the girl was practically a prancing horse, eager to show off whatever small gifts she may have. The kind of girl who couldn't quite stand it when their friends were better at anything than she was, the kind of girl who elevated herself by putting others down.

She wasn't a very pretty character, despite her face and admittedly nice legs.

It was only last week that he'd finally heard this childhood friend's name- "Nana-chan," she'd said, and a polite inquiry later, and Oshtiari had deduced that it was indeed, Suzuki Nanao, that Rima so often spoke of.

And if memory served him correct (it always did), Rima had talked of "introducing" her new boyfriend to Nanao today. Introducing, which meant more along the lines of showing off and making her friend feel bad about the fact that she didn't have one.

"Don't I always know something?" Oshitari hummed whimsically.

Atobe's brow twitched. "Yuushi. Out with it."

Twenty minutes in, and Nanao already felt the claws of hell beginning to close themselves around her neck in a steely grip. She sat against the plush loveseat of a ritzy, popular café halfway between Hyotei Gakuen and her own house; across the glass tea table was Rima, slender legs crossed and blonde hair practically glowing beneath the café lights, rattling off something that Nanao was only half paying attention to. Beside Rima was 'Saito-kun,' a handsome, tall boy with dark hair and light eyes and oozing terrible confidence in himself.

"-and I always told you, Nana, that if you don't start paying more attention to your looks, you'll never get a boyfriend, you know? I always worry about this girl," Rima sighed weakly and flashed Saito a helpless smile.

"You're so lucky to have a caring friend like Rima," Saito smiled.

Nanao's lips lifted into a weak curve in response. "Um. Yeah."

"You know Nanao's never had a boyfriend before? Oh, well- there was that one boy, but he was terribly dull, Nana," Rima giggled harmlessly. "Oh, maybe Saito-kun could introduce you to one of his friends- he has a lot, you know. He's the tennis team captain at his school. Isn't that so cool?"

Nanao flushed red.

"Oh, that's- it's okay, I don't need-"

"Don't worry Nana, I'm sure we can find someone for you-"

"Nanao."

All three heads turned at the sudden voice – though it had spoken only one word, it carried with it such a decisive tone of unhindered command, that people were forced to fall silent and take note of the speaker. Nanao, in particular, gaped with wide eyes and a growing expression of horror.

"Keigo?"

His lips parted into a small smirk, then, and he casually brushed off the bewilderment in Nanao's gaze. Instead, he only swept down into the loveseat beside her, close enough that he easily draped an arm around her shoulders, that their sides were now touching. He leaned in to press his lips briefly against the side of his head, and out of the corner of his eyes, saw the blonde girl's eyes grow even wider, if possible.

"Sorry I'm late," he murmured. He turned to flash Saito and Kanata a cool, dazzling smile. "Hello. Atobe Keigo; a pleasure," he drawled. He silently swept over Nanao's increasingly surprised expression with nothing but a sniff.

Both eyes widened in recognition of the name.

"Nana's boyfriend."

This time, all three of their expressions grew into one of disbelieving shock – Nanao's included. Atobe only squeezed her shoulder once with his hand, never once taking his gaze off of the two in front of them. He took delight in watching the disbelief on 'Rima's' features morph into confusion, then into resentment and displeasure.

Nasty girl.

Saito seemed to recover from his initial surprise first. "Atobe-san – I've heard a lot about you. You're an amazing player," he grinned, and Atobe sent him a cursory, disinterested glance. He simply looked away a moment later to pick up the menu of refreshments on the table.

Without looking up from the sheet, he murmured, "Of course."

Kanata faltered for a moment, and despite all of her overwhelming confusion at the moment, Nanao couldn't help but to bite her lower lip to keep back a laugh. Since she herself had gotten used to his utterly presumptuous manner, Nanao couldn't help the small urge to relish in the moment whenever someone else was the victim of his blunt persona.

"You- You had a boyfriend?" Rima blurted out. "And- You're dating- him?" She nudged wide eyes in Atobe's direction, and he felt mildly insulted.

Him, she said. A pronoun wasn't sufficient to capture all of his glory in its usage. He observed his nails as though they were the most fascinating objects in the room, studiously ignoring Rima's expression, despite the way smugness practically radiated from his shoulders.

Nanao's lips pressed together. "Um, not rea-"

"We've been dating for months now," Atobe interrupted smoothly, taking the opportunity to squeeze her shoulder once more, sharply enough for her to stiffen. "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na."

Nanao wondered how on earth that particular phrase could have any relevance at all to the current situation, but Atobe wore such a pronounced smirk that all words died upon her tongue. In her lap, she tightened her hands around her skirt; she didn't understand at all why Atobe would go about such a thing – they weren't at school, she reasoned, and they didn't need to act like a couple, here. In fact, he didn't even need to be here.

But he'd arrived, strolling in with that purpose in his step and gleam in his eye, and she'd been at a loss for words.

Slowly, however, Nanao had been gathering her wits, long enough for her to finally realize that Keigo was here, interrupting her usual meetings with Rima, pretending to be her boyfriend. And Rima- well, Rima didn't look very happy, either, if that angry red flush on her cheeks were any indication. Every time Nanao tried to say something, Atobe would squeeze her shoulder, and she'd have no choice but to close her lips and remain silent.

Without taking his eyes off of the pair across the table, Atobe leaned in, until his lips were merely a breath away from Nanao's ear. "Relax, peasant," he murmured. "I just want to see that pug's nose squished beyond all recognition."

At that, Nanao's burst into a short splutter of laughter.

She slapped her hands over it with wide eyes, but it had already left her lips; Atobe barely managed to contain a roll of his eyes, in equal parts amusement, exasperation and affection; Rima hardly noticed the laugh, too busy being red; Saito stared at her strangely.

Pug, he'd called her.

Nobody called Rima a pug-!

"So. How've your stocks been faring lately?" Atobe murmured, eyes lidded and drawn to his nails more than to Saito.

Saito blinked. "Um. Stocks?"

Atobe held himself back from rolling his eyes.

This wasn't fair, Rima seethed. It wasn't Nanao who was supposed to land the swoon-worthy boy, it was she.

Nanao got everything else, didn't she? She got her parents' favoritism, she got the high grades and school accomplishments that Rima's own parents never failed to chastise her with – "Rima, when are you going to stop fooling around and wasting your time? Take after Nanao, will you?" Nanao, who, despite her startling lack of anything extraordinary – her stark ordinariness – was always, always the darling on the tips of everyone's tongues, and Rima was just the pretty girl disregarded by the noteworthy adults.

So excuse her if she took a little delight in being the prettier one, in being the one with the boyfriend, in being the popular one.

But dear Nana-chan had gone and landed herself Atobe Keigo, the figurative god of all boyfriends. Rima hadn't even known that Atobe was in the dating market- because if she had, she'd have surly gone after him, first! That sly Nanao-

Rima caught Atobe's cool stare, then, and promptly burst into her prettiest smile, all fluttering lashes and glossy lips. Atobe quirked a sharp brow before promptly turning to face Nanao, and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

Rima flushed a scarlet, angry red.

It wasn't fair. What did Nanao do, that was so special? For the love of god, the only thing she ever did was study, and it wasn't even as though she placed first in her school, or anything.

Rima tried harder than Nanao ever did. She woke up two hours earlier than she had to, to curl her hair and do her makeup and make sure that she was flawlessly beautiful. She controlled her laughter and always, always thought up to three steps ahead to stay on top of the socializing game; she entertained her peers and sucked up to where she had to and acted the necessary part, heart always fluttering in the nervousness and desire for constant approval.

Nanao never had to work so desperately, so why did she always get everything?

Rima's lips pursed into a thin, white line.

By the time they'd finished eating, Atobe had easily pulled out a flashing platinum card, laid it neatly on the check and coolly demanded for it to be taken care of. Saito seemed suitably impressed, and from beside him, Rima's smile grew another strained edge; Atobe simply basked in it all, a smug curve on his lips and an arm slung around Nanao's shoulder. Said girl currently had to bite her lower lip to bite back the full-blown smile that hovered on her expression.

Atobe almost rolled his eyes. Dork.

He didn't like this Rima girl at all, either, he decided, eyes drifting carefully over her tight expression and narrowed eyes. He doesn't like that she seems far too jealous and competitive towards Nanao to really be a friend at all, doesn't like that she'd brought Nanao out here to show off her boyfriend to her to begin with; he doesn't like the way she continually flirted with him the entire time throughout dinner, given the fact that he was supposed to be Nanao's boyfriend at the moment.

"Thank you for taking care of Nanao," he murmured, and he sensed her shift to glance at him. Rima looked up at him with another forced smile, then, and Atobe widened his own. "She's so clumsy and naïve, that it's easy for her to make unsavory acquaintances."

This time, he gazed directly into Rima's eyes as he said so, a blistering cold filling his own cobalt blue. Rima tensed.

Smart girl.

Nanao merely huffed in protest- "I'm not clumsy, or naïve-"

Atobe pulled her to her feet. Nanao, eyes widening, stumbled and Atobe wrapped an easy arm around her shoulders before pulling her gently forward. "We'll be taking our leave, now," and despite Nanao's confused gaze and beginnings of protest, he picked up her bag and pulled her out of the café.

Rima clenched her hand around her skirt.

"What was that about?"

Atobe simply stood before her, hands slipped casually into the pockets of his trousers. Nanao looked up at him, neck craning so that she could glance at his expression.

From the eyes of the street walkers, they'd make quite a pair, if anyone asked. Atobe, looking as though he'd stepped off the pages of a freshly printed magazine, all broad shoulders and aristocratic grace, posed in an effortlessly crafted elegance. He glanced down in seeming innocence, though with an air of amusement and mischief painted in his posture, the small quirk of his lips.

Nanao, a little more than a head shorter than Atobe, peered up at him with a small frown, but sheer naïveté brimming in her own eyes, a stark contrast to the gleam in Atobe's. Still, the presence of Atobe gave a little lift to her shoulders, a certain composure to the way she held herself, and all of a sudden, she seemed a little prettier, a little more mischievous, and certainly much more entertained, than she normally did.

Both students wore the outfit of the all-prestigious Hyotei Gakuen.

Atobe simply rolled his eyes and rapped his knuckles on her forehead and Nanao winced. "You're completely helpless, did you know?" he sighed.

Nanao huffed. Still, the thought of Rima's sheer surprise at the fact that yes, Nana-chan could indeed land a boyfriend (fake or not) had a sort of smugness rising to her features. It failed to escape Atobe's notice, and he snorted. Nanao's smile grew wider.

"You look happy with yourself," he teased, and Nanao responded with a sniff and a feigned cough.

With another roll of his eyes, Atobe gently thumped the back of her head with her schoolbag, before strolling on forward. He paused a few paces forward, though, with slightly widened eyes-

Nanao had burst forward to wrap her small arms around his midriff in a surprising display of fervor. "Thanks, Keigo," she laughed breathily. Amusement quickly filled Atobe's surprised expression, and he rested his elbow playfully on top of her head.

"Stupid."

When the two spent time together outside of class, it tended to be for academic purposes, in the safe realms of Atobe's vast library. Or recreational purposes – still in Atobe's library. It was where the two no longer had to pretend to be dating, where they no longer had to pretend to be anything, really. It was where Atobe could poke fun at Nanao and act a petulant child all he wanted, and where Nanao could huff and act a bit more free-spirited than she could at school.

As of late, however, he'd found that Nanao's room wasn't such a bad location, either. The library held a certain charm in all of its grand magnitude and volumes of valuable tomes, a majestic regale in its burgundy velvet drapes and rich carpeting. Nanao's room was a far cry from such luxury, but-

-Atobe found a strange sense of comfort in the simplicity of everything. The pale cream walls, the overly-girlishness of her frilled pink bedding, the fluffy carpeting that was more comfort than lavishness, the quiet pale white wooden desk in the corner. The fact that her room made it seem as though it was alright if he wanted to sit on the floor, instead of poised in an armchair; the fact that he felt as though it was alright to stretch and yawn, and allow his usual armor of dignity to unwind, in this room, because it was so simple and unpretentious in itself.

He sat on the floor of her room presently, instead of on the sofa, nursing a cup of tea on the glass tea table beside the window. He did like her carpet far more than he liked to admit, much to her amusement.

Nanao padded up to the tea table presently, arms laden with books and bags of chips. Atobe rolled his eyes at her tendency to snack while studying, and Nanao simply stuck her tongue out at him. She plopped down unceremoniously on the floor beside him, and just as she reached for a particularly large math book-

-the door to her room was flung open, with an accompanying "Nanaaaaaaa, we're home-"

Freeze.

Nanao blinked, wide-eyed, head craning so that she could look at the doorway, a chip already halfway into her mouth.

"Nee-chan? Nii-chan?" Both words were muffled by the chip, which she hurried to swallow.

Atobe presently took the time to glance through half-cool, half-interested eyes. The doorway was presently occupied by a young lady, looking several years older than themselves, sporting a sleek, stylish hairstyle of pale hazel hair, pretty pink lips and blush. She was rather pleasing to the eyes, dressed in a form-fitting, pale white dress, revealing a slim, curving figure. Behind her, an equally attractive young man stood, dressed in an impeccable and fashion-forward navy suit, brown eyes peeking curiously over her shoulder.

Atobe stood and dusted off his trousers.

Nanao blinked.

The lady broke out into a large grin, the expression blooming suddenly upon her lips, as though the sun had thrown its sunshine upon her features. "Is this Atobe-kun?" She asked, and before he could reply, she'd already crossed the room in her pink heels, one hand reaching for his.

Nanao wanted to ask why her older sister would even ask, when she already knew this was Atobe.

Atobe seemed to take it all in stride, and simply pressed his lips to the back of her hand. "Atobe Keigo. It's a pleasure to meet you," he murmured coolly, and Nanao could swear she saw Megumi-nee's eyes sparkle, a soft swoon in their depths. Atobe turned to face Jun, who broke out into an easygoing, friendly smile, and the two met halfway across the room to shake hands.

"So we finally get to meet little Nana-chan's boyfriend – at last!" Megumi explained with the usual exuberance in her tone, and Jun laughed at his sister's excitement. She had already wrapped her arms around Atobe's arm-

-and Nanao could only stare, bewildered and apprehensive.

Megumi's voice took on a low, predatory quality. "So you've been dating Nana for a little while now, hmm?"

Nanao's stomach dropped.

Shit.

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