Sanada didn't usually pay much attention to his former tennis rival, present fellow student at the University of his Choice, but even he couldn't ignore the fact that there was something really wrong with Atobe. The diva just didn't seem to posses his usual flare.

I mean the smirk was still there, the flipping of the hair, and everyone still seemed to fall all over themselves at the snap of his fingers, but something was… just not right.

Sanada knew it was a really bad idea, and they weren't exactly friends, but… Well hell, he was curious. What could bring the mighty king of Hyotei to his knees? Or something like that.

Sanada had always been a little over dramatic. Deep, deep down. And he never could say no to a juicy piece of gossip.

The perfect opportunity presented itself when he noticed Atobe sitting alone at one of the benches in the university grounds. After a little hesitation, he sat next to Atobe, who quirked his eyebrow questioningly.

"Something bothering you, Atobe? You've seemed a bit down lately?" He got right to the point, causing the eyebrow to skyrocket.

Atobe flipped his hair, and Sanada saw the beginnings of the 'ore-sama' rant forming on the diva's face, when Atobe suddenly just seemed to inflate. "Ah, the hell with it," Atobe scuffed, and just rubbed his temple with his long fingers. "I'm too exhausted to banter with you, right now, Sanada."

"I might be insulted, if I weren't so pleased." Sanada told him. "Mind telling me what's bothering you, so I can pray for it to continue for a little while longer? It's been strangely peaceful for couple of weeks now, and I find the situation pleasing."

"Don't even try to lie to ore-sama, Sanada. You're just bored." Atobe stated, mildly amused.

"Perhaps," Sanada answered, admitting to himself the truth behind Atobe's words.

"Besides, it's not a 'what', but a 'who'." Atobe continued, and Sanada was surprised that the diva was actually speaking to him about it.

"A who?" he prompted.

"Yes, a who. You now have my permission to gloat." Atobe closed his eyes, and his fingers continued massaging his temple.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sanada said.

"Really?" He was amazed at Atobe's ability to stretch a single word to such an extent, that it became almost a sentence on its own.

"Really. I want to know more." He got a barking laugh out of Atobe.

"Fine. Talking to someone might actually help."

"Really?" Inside, Sanada was dancing with glee, holding pom-poms. Outside, you'd never guess it.

"But I'm not relieving any names. I doubt he'd ever forgive me." Atobe frowned at thin air, but Sanada snagged on to the definite clue.

"So it's a he?"

"Like you didn't know?"

"Well, I wasn't really sure until now. Puts a whole new meaning on your fixation with Tezuka at junior high, doesn't it?"

"Yes it does, doesn't it?" Atobe smirked at him, and Sanada found himself coughing, trying to hide his uncomfortable ness. "Believe it or not, I was never in to Tezuka in that way. It was pure rivalry." Sanada really didn't know why that made him feel better. Maybe it was because of – "But I can't really say to same for you." Okay, the uncomfortable feeling was back. "I never even considered you as a rival." He shot Atobe an evil glare that would have made the hounds of hell flee. But Atobe was used to them by now. He'd received plenty of them when they'd started attending the same university.

"Just get on with it." He glared harder.

"Touchy, are we?" Atobe snickered, but proceeded, either way. "Really can't tell you how it started. It just happened. We were playing a game and it just, happened." To emphasize his point Atobe waved his hands to the sides.

"So he plays tennis?" Sanada asked.

"Yees! I thought you were here to listen, not to interrogate me." It was Atobe's turn to glare.

"Sorry. Please continue. I'll try not to interrupt you again."

"Good." Atobe glared at him a couple of more seconds to make sure he was paying attention. Finally he crossed his arms on his chest, and turned his gaze inwards. "It started out just as an amusement. We'd play a game every now and then, just to keep the boredom a way. But it quickly turned in to something more, for me at least."

"Ever considered he might just not be in to you in that way?" Sanada suggested.

"You actually think we just play tennis, ahn?" Atobe asked him, quirking an eyebrow, looking quite serious.

Sanada was having another coughing fit.

"So you're saying you're having, hnh…"

"Sex, Sanada. It's a three letter word. With your education, you should be able to say it."

"Well I don't see what the problem is, then? If you're having sex, that means the attraction is mutual, right?"

"The problem isn't sex, Sanada. It's that every time I suggest we do something else than play tennis or screw, the brat almost has a panic attack. It's like he doesn't care about anything else but tennis! I know he's always been like that, and Tezuka always told me he was single minded but really, you'd think that after-" Atobe suddenly stopped in the middle of his rant, and turned slowly, mouth still open, to look at Sanada, realising he'd given Sanada a little too many clues. "Shit!"

"Let me get this straight." Sanada grinned. "Someone who Tezuka seems to know, well enough to comment on his character, who's a brat, and who doesn't care about anything else except tennis." He turned to look at Atobe. "Very vague, Atobe. I wonder who it could be."

"My migraine is getting worse by the second." Atobe had returned to rubbing his temple.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. I think you just need to give him some time." Sanada commented.

"You're actually helping?" Atobe asked, genuinely surprised.

Sanada shrugged. "Why wouldn't I. It seems like you actually care about him."

Atobe sighed, and let his hands fall on to his lap. "So it would seem."

Sanada left Atobe to stare in to space, feeling good about him self. After all, he had just done his good deed of the day. He came to regret it soon, though, when a smirking Atobe was back to normal, annoying the hell out of Sanada about his prowess in everything, including the subjects of every class he had with Sanada.

And let's not forget about the 'chats' they had, after Atobe found a good listener and a confidant in Sanada. After hours of complaints and whines on how unfair and insensitive Echizen could be, Sanada was ready to kill himself. But when Atobe started to talk about his and Echizen's 'activities', Sanada was seriously contemplating on how he could blame murder on self defence. Or perhaps temporary insanity would be more convincing?

He voiced the question to Atobe, and as an intelligent young man, Atobe got the message. And everything was perfect, until next Monday. Apparently the brat had scoffed at the diva's attempts to deepen their relationship, and now Atobe was spilling his heart out to Sanada.

Echizen was going to pay. Dearly.

A/N: Just a quick question: Is Sanada OOC? He's hard to grasp. For me, anyway.

And thanks for reviewing, and reading.