A/N: Long time no see! I updated...finally. I finally got back into the groove of things. Anyways, this is a longer chapter than usual. I had fun with it. Anyways, please read and enjoy!

I don't own PoT.

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When the sun rose, Hiyoshi wanted to do nothing but curse out the invasive light and go back to sleep. As he shifted in his bed, he let out a low growl as he felt a strain crawl up his body from sore muscles. It was an outrage. He, Hiyoshi Wakashi, was aching from a single day of training even though his body was in peak form from his martial arts.

"Atobe…"

The name came out more as a venomous hiss than anything else. He sincerely hoped that the egotistical captain was suffering miserably somewhere in that ostentatious palace he called a home as well. Images of Atobe being miserable and suffering made Hiyoshi unconsciously smirk, but then, other images slowly crept into his happy fantasy. He could see Atobe sitting proudly at a grand oak desk writing out a new training regime that would put the military to shame, all while laughing haughtily with sparkles to top it all off. It made him involuntarily shudder.

The sun became brighter and soon birds began chirping. After some internal debate, Hiyoshi finally slid out of bed and grunted as stiff muscles protested at being used. Taking some time before getting ready, Hiyoshi began a simple kata that helped stretch out his limbs and make his body more readily movable.

After finishing, he found his body easier to move and was in a far better mood as he made his way to the bathroom and took a shower. He spent a little longer under the hot spray letting the water pelt his still somewhat sore muscles.

Knowing that his mother would be calling him down to breakfast shortly, Hiyoshi reluctantly turned off the hot water and dried off. He neatly dressed himself in the school uniform making sure nothing was out of line. After checking himself in the mirror and being satisfied with the results, Hiyoshi exited his bedroom and walked to the table.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, dear."

His mother cheerily set down his plate of food as he pulled out the chair and took a seat. He stared at the contents of his plate and was pleased at what he found. It was a simple breakfast of a couple eggs set on top of some toast and a small salad. A cool glass of orange juice accompanied the meal making it all the more complete. After saying his thanks, Hiyoshi happily dug into the food. He was mildly surprised at how hungry he was. Then again, it was reasonable since he worked all day and did not eat much dinner do to fatigue. As he thought about it, the previous feelings of animosity towards Atobe came back full swing. With a scowl, Hiyoshi quickly shoved the remains of his breakfast into his mouth and washed it down with the rest of his juice. Making sure to properly thank his mother, he went back to his room to collect his school bag and went to the entrance to put on his shoes.

"I'm going to school."

"Have a good day!"

Hiyoshi shut the door behind him as he took a moment to stretch once more. Within a few moments, he was ready, took a deep breath, and headed off to school. He walked quickly to the train station checking his cell phone for the time every so often. There was no need to rush and besides, he did not want to get too hot or sweaty from the heat before he got to tennis practice.

Making it to the platform with time to spare, Hiyoshi began to slowly walk the length of the home platform trying to keep his muscles moving so they would not become stiff again. As he did, he passed by an old man with a newspaper. With a discreet glance, he was able to see the weather report. The numbers made him mentally cringe at the thought of having to keep up tennis training in the heat. The days were quickly approaching summer break and that also meant the temperatures would be rising. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the train approaching. Stepping into the train car, Hiyoshi was crushed between the morning crowds of business men. The close proximity of all the passengers made Hiyoshi all the more aware of the heat.

The train ride was only a few stops, but Hiyoshi felt like it was taking forever. At the second stop, he was polite and stood up to allow an elderly woman take his seat. With a small smile, the little old lady rummaged in her purse for a few seconds before procuring a piece of hard candy. She happily held it out to Hiyoshi who politely refused the sweet, but after her request to take it, he accepted it with a humble thanks.

When he finally reached hist stop, Hiyoshi let himself be shoved off the train by the flow of people flooding out of the car. Making sure to exit at the right exit, he walked a short distance and soon stood in front of the large gateway leading to Hyotei Gakuen.

"Good morning Hiyoshi-san. Yesterday was a bit of a rough day, huh?"

Ohtori Choutarou cheerily came up beside Hiyoshi and would occasionally wave to a fellow student. How he could be so happy in the morning was beyond his understanding.

"Can't wait to see what that guy comes up with today..."

Never one to be deterred by anybody's negative outlook, the taller of the two smiled good- naturedly and nodded his head.

"I'm sure Atobe-san will be his usual self."

Hiyoshi could never understand his teammate, Ohtori. Regardless of the situation, and especially regardless of the individual, Ohtori remained positive and always thought about the other person. While those qualities were praised, at least form what he could gather, they did not seem so beneficial for their school or for the illustrious tennis club. Yet there he stood with a more than decent class standing and more impressively, a solid spot on the regulars of the tennis team.

"Well then, I'll see you for practice!"

"Right. Bye."

Ohtori gave him one more smile before going down another hallway while Hiyoshi walked down another. Upon entering the classroom, he walked over to his desk and sat down. He glanced at the classroom clock and began taking out his school utensils. With perfect timing, the bell dinged and donged when the clock arms hit seven and the first teacher entered the room.

The teacher slowly pulled out the textbook for the class and set it on the table up front. It seemed like forever for the instructor to set everything up. When he finally began, Hiyoshi subtly shifted his position, trying to find the best way to prevent total stiffness. He had a feeling it would be difficult to remain still during this period.

"And that is all."

One period down, too many more to go. As the teacher left the room, Hiyoshi risked moving his body and found that it was stiff. He took the short time between the teacher switch to stand up and stretch out his muscles once again. Just as he was finishing, the next teacher entered the room. He reluctantly sat down knowing he would be stiff again by the end of the period.

"Let's begin."

And so, the next period began. It was just as thrilling as the first and kept the same break-neck pace all day long. By fourth period, Hiyoshi was at about breaking point. Not only had the morning seemed to drag on forever, the fourth period was math. Math was an evil machination of boring dead people with too much time to do anything productive. At least, that was Hiyoshi's attitude. They turned in their homework and then learned something new. It was something that he was not completely sure of, but would learn soon enough from the overabundance of homework they were assigned. For Hiyoshi, he finally understood one thing, then math threw something new. Those cursed limits were a pain enough. He wanted to believe that they would disappear, but sadly, he would have to believe it.

"Your assignments will be due at the end of the week when we will have a quiz on Friday."

Everybody in the room slumped their shoulders in defeat at the work they had to do. Never was that bell sounding so beautiful as that moment right then. Sitting through those classes and enduring the suffering of algebra worked up an appetite. Lunch was such a wonderful thing. Moving with all the other students, Hiyoshi eagerly grabbed his bag and bento and headed for the music room. He was glad that their coach granted them permission to use his music classroom as the cafeteria and other rooms were too crowded.

"Don't you look happy today, aan?"

Hiyoshi had to stop himself from shuddering and scowling. He did good on the first, but had a more difficult time with the latter. Atobe smirked as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms.

"Much better. Such a frown is more suiting to you, Hiyoshi. Ore-sama was concerned for your well-being when you entered in such an elated state."

He growled out his response as he walked over to take a seat next to Ohtori.

"It was a good mood that was ruined by you, Atobe-buchou."

Ignoring the less than honorable suffix, the diva rested his chin on his palm.

"Ruined? Ore-sama does not ruin anything. Ore-sama merely asked as to what was the source of your apparent merriment. It was you who ruined your own mood."

Sometimes, it was impossible to maintain sanity while talking with Atobe. Hiyoshi found that the best policy in dealing with Hyotei's tennis captain was to just remain silent. It usually worked well, but like everything, it was sometimes a double-edged sword. Hiyoshi's silence was then at the mercy of everybody else's interpretation.

"Haha, Atobe got you on that one."

Gakuto pointed at Hiyoshi with his chopsticks with a grin.

"Now, now, Gakuto, that might not be true."

The door shut as Oshitari and Shishido walked into the room and sat down. Shishido took a seat on the other side of Ohtori while Oshitari sat between Gakuto and Atobe. The tennis genius of Hyotei was a wonderful addition as he seemed to balance all the others' cruel insanity.

"He could just not have anything smart to retort with."

At least, he could be that way, sometimes. Apparently, today was a day for everybody to gang up on Hiyoshi. He grumbled quietly to himself in between bites of food.

"Ore-sama has once again awed another into complete silence."

At that comment, Hiyoshi began choking on the wad of rice in his mouth. Ohtori, saint of Hyotei that he was, was polite enough to slap his back to help dislodge the food. After gulping down his tea and then inhaling air, Hiyoshi glared incredulously at Atobe who was smirking triumphantly.

"I don't even want to dignify a response to that."

"In other words, ore-sama is right."

Hiyoshi was positive that Atobe did not even really listen to other people. No matter what anybody says, he always takes it as an admission to his supposed greatness. It was what kept Hiyoshi's mouth shut. The last thing he wanted to do was feed the already inflated ego of a narcissist.

"Whatever Atobe..."

Fortunately, the captain opted not to reply as he was suddenly distracted by Jiroh who was currently dozing off with his chopsticks still in his mouth. He was supporting his head with one hand and the arm that said hand was attached to began encroaching on Atobe's personal space.

"Oi! Jiroh, wake up!"

Atobe snapped his fingers a few centimeters in front of the other boy's face. The loud snap caused Jiroh's eyes to fly open as he quickly stood up and looked around frantically. The force of his movement sent his lunch airborne.

"I'm not sleeping again!...Eh, Atobe?"

"Please try to stay awake long enough to chew and swallow. Ore-sama does not want to be responsible for your demise by suffocation."

The other members were dead silent as each was doing their best not to laugh. Jiroh was the only one who started laughing. A small tick developed under Atobe's eye.

"Ore-sama does not want you to suffocate...because ore-sama wants the pleasure of doing that!"

The captain of the Hyotei tennis club stood up and loomed over Jiroh who was torn between being afraid and wanting to laugh. Bits of rice and vegetables clung stubbornly to Atobe's usually perfect hair and uniform. Small stains marred his pristine white shirt. A few grains of rice were plastered on his face as was an extremely menacing glare.

"Uh, is that my lunch?"

"Yes Jiroh, this is your lunch."

The words came out as a low growl while his lips curled into a murderous smirk. Jiroh had to hop skip clumsily in order to maintain balance with the bandage on his ankle and to get away from Atobe who looked like he was stalking prey.

"You will now clean up this mes and it better be sparkling clean by the time ore-sama returns...or else."

"Yes Atobe!"

Jiroh was pinned against the wall by Atobe who still maintained a crazed murderous glint in his eyes. Being the loving family that they were, the other members were merely watching and waiting for any carnage. Nobody so much as made a twitch in an effort to help.

"Ore-sama shall return shortly. It will be clean, right?"

"Sparkling clean!"

The shorter boy saluted smartly as Atobe stepped back and straightened his food stained clothing. The room was thick with silence as the captain calmly walked out of the room and shut the door. The silence persisted until the echo of footsteps faded.

"Hahaha! That was the best thing ever!"

"Did you see his face?! I wish I had gotten a picture."

"Way to go Jiroh!"

It seemed like nobody could keep a straight face. Hiyoshi was not ashamed to smirk with amusement. Gakuto and Oshitari were laughing with each other as the acrobatic player was animately recounting the event even though his partner obviously witnessed it as well.

"Waa! Don't laugh, help me clean up!"

Jiroh was the only one who was not expressing any amusement with the situation. Ohtori sympathetically handed Jiroh his napkin even though he too was smiling. Shishido just shoved another bite of food into his mouth while he pointed at the mess with his free hand.

"You're the one that dumped your lunch on Atobe."

"But I didn't mean to! Nothing will happen if I clean up right? Kabaji, will Atobe do something to me?!"

"Usu."

"I'm dead! I'm going to disappear from the face of the planet!"

Gakuto looked annoyed with Jiroh as he jerked his thumb towards the large second year, Kabaji. The ever present and obedient follower of Atobe just remained impassively silent.

"Kabaji isn't exactly the best person to ask. I mean, he's like a broken magic eight ball. He's only got like, one response left in him."

There was no comfort for Jiroh who was frantically scrubbing with a few napkins he had pilfered from his teammates. Being mindful of his hi ankle, he got on the floor and began scrambling trying to find every last scrap of food and cleaning it up. Hiyoshi resumed eating as he smugly enjoyed the new situation. However, it seemed too short lived as the door flew open and Atobe strutted in with his usual air of superiority.

"See, see, all clean!"

Jiroh pointed at the area the food had spilled with a look of anticipation. Atobe slowly examined the area, his sharp eyesight thoroughly studying the area. The others also waited in silent anticipation for his verdict.

"Satisfactory. Now, what wonderfully enlightening conversation did ore-sama miss?"

He sat down imperiously and smugly made eye contact with each member. His gaze finally came to Hiyoshi and lingered there. Hiyoshi summoned all his self-discipline and forced himself to keep acting apathetic. What seemed like forever finally came to end when Atobe broke eye contact and picked up his chopsticks.

"Or can no such conversation be achieved without the presence of the brilliance that is ore-sama?"

An audible and incredulous snort from Shishido signaled the end of any of the tension. Hiyoshi subtly sighed in relief and was finally able to resume enjoying his lunch. The conversation all picked off from where they left off. Jiroh was oddly quiet while Atobe continued to spout something or another to Kabaji. Hiyoshi studied Atobe, discreetly of course, as he finished up his meal. The captain was the epitome of propriety even as he sat and held a semi-average conversation. When he ate, he was careful to never open his mouth too wide so he never took larger bites of food. It was any wonder that he ever made progress. Hiyoshi wondered how long Atobe's servants had to wait around for him to finish a meal.

"Now stop moping."

"Really Atobe? What about you?"

Hiyoshi snapped out of his thoughts. He noticed how Atobe had pushed his lunch towards Jiroh who immediately perked up. The usually dramatic diva absent-mindedly waved his hand.

"Ore-sama is full anyways. You obviously need it more to fuel your sporadic episodes of hyperactivity...Heavens only know where you store all of that..."

Atobe mumbled the last part more towards himself than anybody else. He calmly ignored the sounds of jubilation coming from Jiroh who eagerly set about inhaling the meal. Even though he had already eaten a good deal of it, there was still plenty left for Jiroh.

"Wow Atobe, this is so good!"

"Mm...Chew Jiroh..It aids in this little thing we call digestion...and breathe, Jiroh, breathe."

Atobe did not spare much of a glance at Jiroh as he would intermittently scold him about his eating habits. Hiyoshi continued to observe the situation even as he packed his bento and wrapped it back up. He checked his watch and sighed. There was still a little bit of time left, so he rummaged in his bag and pulled out his math homework. There was no reason to waste good time being idle.

"What a diligent student you are, Hiyoshi."

He about dropped his pencil when that voice invaded his hearing. Glaring at Atobe, Hiyoshi just adjusted himself in his seat and tore his gaze from those piercing set of eyes. As he stared at the paper before him, Hiyoshi became all the more concious of his captain's gaze and his own lack of understanding at what he was reading.

"You need help, aan?"

Giving into his urges, Hiyoshi cringed and squeezed the life out of his pencil. He would have continued his death grip, but a loud cracking noise caused him to look down at his clenched hand.

"Ore-sama pities your pencil that is subjected to such brutality."

Hiyoshi bit back any comments or words that was currently flooding his mind. Examining the two pieces, he sighed. Trying his best to not say anything and to ignore Atobe and all the other pairs of eyes, he picked up his book bag and began searching around for the spare pencil he always kept. Everything in his bag was neat and organized, so when he was unable to find his spare pencil in its usual spot, Hiyoshi felt a sinking feeling work its way into his gut.

"Curse it all...She never returned it..."

He suddenly recalled last week's English class when a fellow student asked to borrow a pencil. Pressure from anger and frustration built inside his head as he realized that there was a quiz in said English class. In addition, it was not in his nature to ask and borrow things.

"Umm, Hiyoshi-san, you can borrow this pencil if you need it."

Ohtori offered one of his pencils. It was the best way possible, but some part of his stubborn pride kept him from accepting. It might have something to do with the smirk plastered on Atobe's face.

"No thanks. It's my own fault I don't have a pencil..."

"Umm, Hiyoshi-san, I don't think that's the point here. But if you're fine, that's good."

As he began putting the pencil away, Hiyoshi suddenly had the urge to hit himself. How could he have turned down that offer? Now he definitely could not ask anybody in the room. Atobe's obnoxious and amused stare did not help matters. Perhaps if it had just been Ohtori, he might have accepted, but having the tennis king of Hyotei stare brought out a very stubborn pride.

"Here Atobe!"

The heavy tension that Hiyoshi felt began to dissipate with Jiroh's interruption. He packed up the box and handed it back to Atobe who promptly handed it to Kabaji who quietly packed it away.

"Hey, don't bring lunch tomorrow, Atobe!"

"And why not?"

"Because."

"Well then, ore-sama certainly cannot argue with such an intelligent argument."

A small sigh escaped Atobe as Jiroh happily ignored the sarcasm directed towards him. The small distraction was enough time for Hiyoshi to hastily pack his things and pretend like nothing happened. It was working great until the bell rang marking the end of lunch. As all the regulars began to leave the room, Hiyoshi kept his eyes forward in hopes of avoiding a certain narcissist. Right before he could escape, another body slid by and stood resolutely in the doorway effectively blocking the only exit.

"Ore-sama can only wonder what has gotten into you."

"Imagine what you want Atobe."

He was going to just shove Atobe out of the way, but was prevented by having a pencil shoved into his face.

"Be honored to be able to use a writing utensil belonging to ore-sama."

Not even waiting for an answer or reply, the captain shoved the pencil, eraser side down, in Hiyoshi's shirt pocket. With a flourish and flip of his hair, Atobe turned to leave.

"Let's go Kabaji."

"Usu."

Hiyoshi stepped to the side to let the hulking second year pack mule pass. Bringing his hand to his pocket, he felt the pencil and let out a frustrated sigh. Of all the people, it had to be Atobe. Hiyoshi would have rather groveled and beg a classmate than have Atobe offer his own pencil out of his amusement and pity for a lowly commoner like him. At least, that was what Hiyoshi imagined anyways.

He pulled out the pencil and stared at it as he made his way back to his classroom. It looked ordinary enough. There was no special engravings or precious metals to be found on it. As far as he could tell, it was a regular, cheap pencil. Then again, he wondered if it was made from a single special tree found in some remote and exotic location.

When he got to class, he sought out his classmate who borrowed his pencil last. He found her sitting in her desk in the corner.

"Excuse me, but do you still have the pencil I lent you?"

She looked up from her notes and pulled out the pencil between her teeth.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but could I borrow it some more?"

The pencil she motioned towards was none other than the pencil she had been gnawing on. Hiyoshi involuntarily twitched when he saw the mutilated end of the pencil.

"Sure. Just...Keep it."

"Thanks!"

Sitting down at his desk, Hiyoshi pulled out the pencil Atobe had lent him and set it on his desk and then stared at it. While the others were frantically cramming in last minute studying, Hiyoshi already knew the material and just studied the pencil. The final bell rung and the teacher waltzed in. She immediately instructed all the students to clear off their desks and began passing out the quiz.

As he expected, Hiyoshi knew all the questions and turned his quiz face down with the pencil sitting on top. He was half expecting something special to happen with the object during the quiz since it did belong to none other than Atobe Keigo. As he waited for the other students to finish, he idly wondered how much money he could get from selling the pencil to one of Atobe's groupies. He quickly shook the idea from his head and carefully picked up the pencil and placed it in his bag for safe keeping.

"There is no way I'm losing this pencil...Not Atobe's pencil...Dammit all, it's a stupid pencil! Just return it at practice...I hate you so much right now Atobe... I hate you and your stupid pencil..."

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A/N: How was that? Ever lend something like a pen or pencil to a friend and then they gnaw on it? It's annoying and kind of gross. I have no idea of math would be hard for Hiyoshi or not, but for this story, it is. And math really is an evil machination of dead guys...Moving along, hopefully the next chapter will be posted sooner than this one was. By the by, bento is a special box in sections for things like rice, meat and veggies. Also, in Japan, students don't move to different classrooms, instead, the teachers are the ones changing rooms. Hope you all enjoyed!