A/N: Hello again! Forgive me for the delay, but I was busy with my school's post-exam activities. More and more people are reading this, and I'm glad you guys like it! Without further ado, here is the 5th chapter!
Disclaimer: See 1st chapter.
Chapter start
They sat down at the table, leaving the few seats near the head of the table empty for Sakuno and Atobe's parents' guests. Monsieur Gusto had prepared shark fin soup, lamb chop and ujikintoki kakigori (Green tea flavored Japanese shaved ice, for those of you who don't know. I think it should be nice, I found the recipe online.) Atobe and the rest waited patiently and quietly for the elders. When Atobe and Sakuno's parents came in, all stood up, greeting them. The guests, introducing themselves as Kashim-san and Nahoko-san had brought their daughter and son with them, namely Maya and Tamahome.
Lunch passed by with polite conversations, and silent jabbing from Gakuto to Oshitari, that Oshitari ignores for most of the time, at least. On the rare occasion he did respond, it was always a swift kick or pinch. When lunch was finished, the adults left to discuss business, leaving Sakuno and the rest to interact among themselves. Maya had already been shooting Hiyoshi suggestive looks, while Tamahome had simply stared at Atobe and Oshitari. He didn't know why Atobe had shot him glares, and why Oshitari had smirked whenever he noticed Atobe glare at him.
Tamahome gave a silent sigh. What was it with these people? He knew, he had stared a bit too long at the only girl present among them; yes, she was pretty, and yes, he couldn't help blushing slightly when Sakuno talked to him. He already knew it was going to be a pretty long day when his parents told him they were going to a friends' place. Sakuno had retreated to the kitchen, kami knows why. Did she want to get something? She could've told the maid that though. So what?
Tamahome joined his sister, listening to her futile attempts to make Hiyoshi talk. The group made their way to the vast, empty, unspoiled space at the back of the house. A lake was situated there, several trees grew around there as well. The back of the house was actually the top of a hill. Ryuuzaki Renji had arranged for a couple of tennis courts to be built there, as well as several stone benches and tables.
Maya was still trying fruitlessly to get Hiyoshi to respond. Hiyoshi clamped his mouth shut, fervently blocking out any incessant chatter in case he loses his temper and snaps at Maya. Shishido, noticing this promptly began to wonder about how many things he could get Hiyoshi to do if he recorded the whole happenings and used it as blackmail. Damn, he was really becoming like Seigaku's tensai. He should stop watching all those videos that Jirou bought from Inui of Fuji's doings in school. Jirou forced him to. Don't ask. Jirou even bought videos concerning Marui Bunta's daily doings from Yanagi Renji. Shishido is confident he can remember excatly what Marui and Fuji had been doing for the past week during their tennis practice. The number of times he watched and re-watched the videos with Jirou must be beyond what an average human could count………. Fuji and Marui's habits were already starting to imprint in his head…..
"Would you like to play a tennis match? Kashim-san mentioned you played for your old school in America."
Tamahome gladly accepted Oshitari's request, eager to stop watching his sister. He was getting more and more annoyed of her by the second. Borrowing one of Oshitari's rackets, Tamahome smirked inwardly. There was no way he's going to let anybody beat him so easily in tennis. So far, Tamahome had beat all of the people who challenged him to a tennis match easily, with a 6-3 average. There was no way Oshitari was going to win against him.
Atobe sat down at the plastic chair, silently watching Tamahome and Oshitari's rally. Really, what the hell was Oshitari thinking? He should stop wasting time and gain that point already. Tamahome was getting more and more frustrated . He hadn't expected Oshitari to return his first shot; it was one of his special ones. Watching Oshitari return all of his shots so easily was only aggravating him.
"F&S."
'Hn. Only now he starts playing seriously against this Tamahome.'
"Game! Oshitari. 2 games all."
Tamahome bristled. Oshitari had won two games already. He rarely played with anyone this good. Still, he was going to crush Oshitari. He had one last trick up his sleeve.
Executing a twist serve, Tamahome waited for Oshitari to return it. Oshitari lobbed the ball high. Tamahome dashed forward, smashing it strongly. Oshitari used Higuma Otoshi. Tamahome didn't even have time to react. The shock was imprinted clearly on his facial expression. Even Maya stopped talking and stared in surprise. Atobe was so used to seeing Oshitari use this that he gave a soft silent snort. Shishido scoffed, while Hiyoshi looked extremely thankful that Maya had stopped talking. It came as no surprise to them when Oshitari won, 6 games to 3.
Tamahome seethed with anger. He had never lost to anyone before; especially not to anyone who went to some rich school where all the students were snobs. Their match had lasted for two whole hours. When they finally finished, it was already around 4.30pm. The sun was shining so brightly down on them, they all retreated to the lake. The large gingko tree provided quite a nice place to duck from the sun. Atobe sat down, joined by the rest of the Hyotei regulars. Jirou promptly fell asleep on Atobe's lap. Atobe never minded Jirou sleeping on him; he had gotten so used to it that he didn't even bother to complain that his shirt was going to get wrinkled. Gakuto spoke first.
"Man, this place is steaming! Why not take a dip in the lake? It'll definitely be cool!"
"Anything to shut you up." Shishido lay down next to Choutarou, fully prepared for Gakuto's outburst.
"WHAT?! URUSAI, SHISHI NO BAKA!"
The hourly quarrel that must be held whenever Shishido and Gakuto were together was already treated as some sort of annoyingly loud background music or mosquito buzzing around by the Hyotei regulars. Thus, they were barely fazed by the commotion, and Jirou didn't move in the slightest, even when they were already arguing/cat fighting over trivial matters. Oshitari ignored them, politely asking Hiyoshi if he wished to join him for a swim. Glad at an opportunity to stop watching his senpais childish quarreling, Hiyoshi readily accepted the invitation. After changing into spare swimwear with Atobe, Jirou, Choutarou and Tamahome, they returned to see the bickering duo still fighting. Maya sat down, covering her ears in a sad attempt to block out Shishido and Gakuto's deafening argument. Atobe dived into the lake gracefully. Oshitari followed suit. Choutarou hopped lightly into the lake, Jirou just sat at the bank, his shirt still on him, gleefully splashing anyone that was within range. Tamahome raced with Hiyoshi, both parties swimming furiously and maniacally up and down the lake.
The sun was already starting to set, it's fiery-red glare dying the sky and lake a pale orange-yellow shade. The birds flew off, past the horizon. A light breeze picked up, whispering in their ears and caressing them. The trees waved happily. Choutarou wished he had a camera with him right now; it was definitely his mental image on world peace. Nonetheless, Shishido and Gakuto were still arguing.
Smirking, Oshitari thought of a way to shut Shishido and Gakuto up. Quickly filling a bucket (?) of water, Oshitari dumped the not-so-warm-but-would-be-absolutely-freezing-in-this-hot-weather water onto Gakuto and Shishido. The response was immediate.
"YUUSHI! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?!"
"OSHITARI! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!"
"Hn."
Hiyoshi barely suppressed a snicker at the sight of his two loudmouthed senpais screaming threats, insults and…….Well, it wasn't pretty. Oshitari raised an eyebrow, his sadistic gaze effectively stopping the duo from saying anything else. A clear voice cut through the air, the barely suppressed amused tone making Shishido growl slightly.
"I didn't know young people these days have such an extensive vocabulary……"
Ryuuzaki Renji was standing, chuckling and watching Shishido alongside Gakuto drenched.
"Shishido-kun, Gakuto-kun, I suggest you two change out of your wet attire. I'm sure you don't want to get a cold. All of you, take a bath or shower. Don't bother about changing into formal attire. We're just having a barbecue."
Everyone followed behind Renji. Choutarou and Oshitari separated their doubles partner from the other. Oshitari dragged Gakuto to the end and proceeded to give a lecture on not to use certain words whenever at somebody else's house.
Maya joined Sakuno at the back entrance. Sakuno was pulled off by Maya, and both went into her room, with Maya telling Sakuno all that had happened when she wasn't there. When Maya asked what Sakuno was doing the whole time. Atobe, behind the two girls, listened quietly to their conversation.
They separated when they reached their respective rooms. Closing the door behind her, Maya and Sakuno took a bath together. Sakuno listened to Maya's chatter all the while, until Maya asked her.
"Ne, Sakuno-chan, if you could choose between all of those Hyotei regulars, which one would you choose as a brother?"
Sakuno hadn't expected that.
"Eh?"
"Come on, you heard me. Who?"
"Eto……Hiyoshi-senpai, I guess."
"Hiyoshi-kun? I thought of Shishido-kun. Then…...Best actor among them?"
"Atobe-senpai."
"Hm, I thought of the same thing. Imagine Kabaji being an actor."
"Anou, Kabaji-senpai is actually quite a good actor. He can act out quite perfectly anything that he sees once."
"Really?" Maya mused over this. "I never thought he would have that sort of ability. Most girlish among them?"
Sakuno mulled over the question for a few minutes.
"This is hard……Gakuto-senpai or Jirou-senpai, perhaps?"
"Yeah, this is hard. I just wanted to ask."
"Maya-san?"
"Hm?"
"Forgive me if this seems rude, but I don't think you're very close to your parents. Demo doishite? You always go everywhere with them, right?"
"Just because I go everywhere with them doesn't mean we're any closer, Sakuno-chan."
"What does that mean?"
Maya gave a soft hum. Standing up and re wrapping the towel elegantly around her, Maya gave a soft smile to Sakuno.
"You'll understand when you're older."
With those words, Maya exited the bathroom, leaving Sakuno to ponder on what Maya had meant.
*******In Atobe's Room*******
The usual fight on who gets to use the bathroom first is no longer unnerving. Jirou just curled up in one of Atobe's armchairs again; telling Shishido to wake him up when it was his turn to bathe. Atobe sat on another one of his armchairs, not really caring about who gets to bathe first. After all, he was the host, and the host always gets everything last, or very early on.
Kabaji stands at a corner with Hiyoshi, talking from time to time. (And by talking, I mean talking. Real, actual talking. Not just plain "Usu".) After some smart-talking, Oshitari got to use the bathroom first. Gakuto only fumed, and pushed Oshitari into the bathroom, flaming red, when Oshitari asked with a smirk if Gakuto wanted to shower with him.
Atobe switched on his laptop, deleting all of his fan-mail without even glancing through them. Reading Ayumi Haruka's email about the update on when the other school events were going to be held, Atobe caught a few snatches of his teammates conversations. He sat up straighter ever so slightly when he heard Shishido and Gakuto's conversation.
"…….Moron……Doesn't know what the hell he's doing…….."
"Yeah……Kill……Atobe……Sakuno……Without a doubt……."
"Mmhmm…….Oshitari……happy……smirking……whole time……"
Why did they mention him and Oshitari? Oshitari was smirking? The whole time? Really? Atobe pondered over what this meant. Did Oshitari think he liked Sakuno, which was why he had glared continuously at Tamahome? Atobe could barely contain his snort. Sakuno, to him was a little sister more than anything else. Hn. That, and he didn't like the way Tamahome was looking at Sakuno. The look was appalling; so disgusting he just wanted to shove Tamahome into a pit of boiling tar. Atobe never had a sibling before, but since he was going to be living with Sakuno for the next two months or so, he really was going to be like an elder brother to Sakuno. Atobe honestly couldn't wait for Monday to come. He was going to set Shishido, Gakuto and Oshitari more laps than normal.
"Atobe? What are you smirking at?"
Damn. Atobe really wanted to smack Tamahome now. He had just started plotting what to do to the gossiping duo when they returned to school on Monday. Now he couldn't, for the life of him remember what was it he wanted to make them do. Contenting himself with giving a strange cross between a smirk and a glare, Atobe answered.
"Ore-sama has merely thought of something amusing."
"Oh? Care to share it?"
Thinking fast, Atobe bit out a reply.
"You do not know the people in the joke, so you will not understand it."
Tamahome gave a low sigh, fervently wishing that Oshitari would hurry up and finish showering so he could get his turn.
*******BBQ PARTY!!!*******
The adults definitely noticed the strange tension between the teens. Kashim-san wrote it off as teens being 'teens'. Renji and Kaname didn't bother much about it. The three women, on the other hand giggling softly among themselves imagined the sort of drama that had occurred and will occur.
All in all, the barbecue cook out was pretty relaxing, in it's own way. Gakuto, Shishido and Tamahome started bickering on something totally stupid; Oshitari and Atobe were engaged in their own conversation; Jirou was snoozing as usual; Kabaji was still dining with Hiyoshi; Maya and Sakuno on the other hand started their own game of chess.
The three women talked softly among themselves. The topic of conversation gradually changed from jewelry and clothes to their children.
Ringo smirked.
"Have you two ever played this game, in which the players must say out the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to them, their family members or their friends?"
Tsukino smiled. She liked where this was heading.
"No, have you, Naho-chan?"
"No, but just from the sounds of it, I already think I'll like it."
"The rules are simple. Everybody has to say the most embarrassing things they can think of. There are a total of five chances. The one who says the least embarrassing thing will be punished."
"Punished?"
Ringo smiled, continuing.
"The punishment will be decided by the other two players. But nothing sexual of course. So, let's start, shall we? I'll go first."
"I accidentally spilled a can of the drink I was advertising for on a customer when I was working part-time as a salesgirl."
"You really did that?"
"Yup. My wage was cut off cause of that single incident."
"Well," Nahoko smiled at the memory of this. "My brother was trying to get the school flag down one day, nobody knows how he did it, but he managed to pull down his girlfriend's skirt."
Peals of laughter followed this.
"How did he manage that?"
"Nobody knows……."
After the voting was concluded, Tsukino was the one who had to be punished. Grinning happily, she asked what was her punishment. Ringo pondered on the question for a minute, when an idea popped into her head.
"Tsukino, as punishment, you'll have to bring Tama-kun here and ask him whether he 'likes' Sakuno or not."
"WHAT?!"
Everyone turned to stare at Tsukino. Her loud outburst certainly wasn't expected. Blushing slightly, Tsukino sat down. Everyone resumed their activities.
"Are you two serious about this?"
"Mhmm, perfectly serious."
Tsukino turned to Nahoko with pleading eyes.
"Nahoko, Tama-kun's your son. You wouldn't want to embarrass him, would you?"
"I do, actually. That's one of the fun parts of being a parent, now go."
Sighing at the note of utter finality in her voice, Tsukino called Tamahome over. Abandoning the two Hyotei regulars who were arguing about whether one should use more speed or gear when playing this racing game that they both like, Tamahome obediently went over to them.
"What was it you wanted me for, Tsukino-san?"
"Er……Tama-kun……Do you like Sakuno-chan or not?"
"Eh?"
Tamahome was dumbfounded. Did Tsukino-san just ask what he thought she asked?
"Well, Tamahome?"
His mother was trying hard to suppress a smile when she asked this. Ringo-san had already covered her mouth with her hand. Little giggles escaped once in a while. Tsukino-san, on the other hand was looking slightly embarrassed. Furiously wishing he will not have to go through something like this again, Tamahome gave a very soft answer.
"Yes."
Ringo and Nahoko started laughing. They couldn't help themselves. Others dismissed it as one of the strange jokes that they enjoyed. Nobody noticed that Tamahome was blushing madly, other than his Nahoko, Ringo and Tsukino of course.
"O-okaasan!"
This was said in a fierce whisper. Nonetheless, Nahoko wasn't in the least bit intimidated by it. Her son's glare was every bit like her husband's, whose glare she had been immune to since the moment she met him.
"Maa maa, Tama-kun. But I really didn't expect you to tell us so straightforwardly, ne, Rin-chan?"
"Hai."
"Demo!"
"Never mind, Tama-kun. It was just a form of entertainment for us. Now continue with whatever it is you were doing, okay?"
Then poor Tamahome, having (unwittingly) confessed to his mother and Tsukino-san and Ringo-san, Sakuno's mother, trudged off unhappily. He was in that moody mood for the rest of the night, and didn't even pretend to be happy when he thanked them for the hospitality. Needless to say, Hiyoshi was extremely relieved when Maya finally left. Kaname arranged for the Hyotei regulars to be sent home by a limousine. After bidding her parents goodnight, Sakuno returned to her room. She met Atobe at the stairs. Sakuno thought silently for a moment, with her head looking down.
"Sakuno?"
Sakuno looked up. Atobe was standing next to her, staring questioningly at her. Flushing with embarrassment, Sakuno tried to form a sentence, but as usual, it got lost when she opened her mouth. Sakuno always hated this.
"Well?"
"Anou, Atobe-san, can I call you Keigo-nii?"
Atobe cocked his head slightly. Nobody ever asked him a question like that before. Then again, he had never met anyone quite like Sakuno. His first impulse was to refuse, but when he opened his mouth, the words that came tumbling out was:
"Call me whatever you want."
"Arigatou, Keigo-nii!"
Atobe wondered what on earth came over him when he heard Sakuno's happy reply and the closing of her door later.
Switching on her computer, Sakuno hummed her favourite song, "Yume no Tsubasa" while waiting for the computer to log on. Watching the computer sign in her MSN account automatically, she was rather glad that neither Ann or Tomoka was online at the moment. She didn't wish to chat separately with them, as both parties refused to even give a polite hello.
"Mou gaman bakka shiteranai yo
Iitai koto wa iwanakucha
Kaerimichi yuugure no BASU tei
Ochikonda senaka ni Bye Bye Bye"
Her cell phone was ringing. Sakuno hastily reached out for it, almost knocking her cactus that Syuusuke-nii gave her as a present and without checking the caller ID, answered.
"Moshi-moshi."
"Sakuno! Am I disturbing you?"
Sakuno breathed a sigh of relief. It was Ann, not Tomoka. She didn't she could stand her best friend talking to her all night. Tomoka is a banshee, as much as she denied it when other people called Tomoka that. Not to mention she always talked for a really long time. Her shrieking would definitely wake everybody up.
"Iie."
"Good, are you online now? I don't want my phone bill to get any higher than it already is. Chat with you?"
"Hai."
The click was expected. Sakuno charged her cell phone before returning to her computer. Ann had already started the conversation.
#$ANN$#: Well? Who the heck is this business partner's son at Hyotei?
^*Sakuno*^: Err……..
#$ANN$#: Come on, Sakuno! Just tell!! I promise, I won't tell anyone else!!!
^*Sakuno*^: Don't get mad or anything, Ann-chan. It's Atobe-san.
#$ANN$#: Atobe? Oh. OK.
#$ANN$#: Wait. WHAT???!!!!
^*Sakuno*^: Ann-chan, please.
#$ANN$#: Sakuno, you're staying with the biggest jerk of the century who also has an ego that is about the size of China and Japan merged together. That is a BIG deal.
^*Sakuno*^: But Keigo-nii is nice!
#$ANN$#: Keigo-nii?
^*Sakuno*^: He let me call him that.
#$ANN$#: Sakuno, promise me if he ever does anything to you, you'll tell me first thing, OK?
^*Sakuno*^: Hai.
#$ANN$#: Oops. Damn, it's already 11.00pm. Aniki's gonna kill me. Sorry Sakuno, ja!
^*Sakuno*^: Ja.
Sakuno signed out of her account and switched off her computer, collapsing onto her bed with a sigh. Baking a cake especially for her grandmother was tiring. Since it was her grandmother after all, Sakuno had been so careful with it. The three cooks in the kitchen were surprised when she stepped in and asked if she could bake a cake. The head cook, Noguchi-san had given her a few tips on how to make it better after she got over her initial shock. After all, rich people generally didn't bother or have the time to make things for other people, resorting to buying instead.
Snuggling up to her pillow, Sakuno fell into a deep and very contented sleep.
*******Atobe*******
Atobe was worn out, what with dealing with his teammates and entertaining his guests (not that he did much anyway, Hiyoshi, Shishido, Gakuto and Oshitari had taken a lot of that burden off of him).
He collapsed onto his bigger-than-king-sized bed. Weariness overwhelmed him. He covered his face with one of the pillows, his long groan muffled by it. Atobe always hated having to entertain guests. His narcissistic side wasn't allowed to show at all. He could only content himself with calling himself Ore-sama at these places.
Getting up, he walked outside to his balcony. It was raining. Resting his fingers on the cold glass, the King of Hyotei let out a small sigh. Tomorrow was going to be school again, and he didn't fancy having to deal with his fan girls. They would turn crazy if they ever find out that he was living with Sakuno for the next few months. All this he would try to figure out a solution in the future.
Yes, that's right. He would figure everything out in the future. After all, he wasn't called Atobe Keigo for nothing. With this thought, Atobe drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*******Chapter End*******
A/N: This went totally off course. Quite a few moments of Atobe wishing to kill his teammates. I couldn't help torturing poor Tama-kun though. But I still can't believe I wrote a total of 10 pages for this chapter. I was on crack, then I started reading angst while writing this…… So I think you can understand the rest of it, yeah. Review please!!