Painless

Summary: Fuji is 'Pain' and Atobe is 'Agony'. Their target is Tezuka Kunimitsu. But will their love for him get in the way? Or is it love for each other?

Warnings: Shounen-ai

Pairings: Atobe/Fuji, Tezuka/Fuji, slight Yuki/Fuji, super slight Fuji/Ryoma

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.

Thanks for the good reviews and support! That's pretty much all I have to say, so read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter 4: Speechless

Fuji sat on a bench in the locker room. It was two Mondays after the tournament, and Fuji was more tired than ever. Fuji hadn't expanded more energy than usual at practice, but for some reason, every day, he felt exhausted. He wondered if it was because of Tezuka's absence, or if it was because he was sick. Many times in class, he would be caught daydreaming. The teacher would call on him and he would always answer the question correctly, yet the voice somehow felt foreign to him.

Everyone else had already finished changing, and Fuji was the only one left. This was how it had been every day after the Hyotei match. Sometimes, Fuji would still be sitting there when Ryoma arrived, usually late. Then, he would get up and change quickly, and would always tell Ryoma that he had arrived late. Ryoma would give him a weird look, and then change himself. After all, geniuses were never late.

The door clicked. Someone was entering, and Fuji hadn't even started changing yet. He hastily searched through his bag for his uniform that his sister had washed for him that weekend.

"Fuji, are you okay?" It was Oishi, the substitute captain ever since Tezuka left for Germany. Fuji thought that he was a good captain, but he would be better suited for something else, like a teacher. Fuji thought that Tezuka's stern, strict way of teaching was better for something like a captain. Oishi was a bit too patient for the Seigaku tennis club.

Fuji then stood abruptly. "Oishi, will you please excuse me from practice today?"

Oishi looked shocked. He couldn't speak. Fuji had never requested anything like this before. Fuji was always the quiet one, besides some incidents with wasabi and juice. He would normally not do anything to start an argument (nor would he do anything to quell it)."Why?"

"I'm going to pay a little visit to Hyotei Gakuen," Fuji said and bolted out of the room before Oishi could change his mind.

Jiroh opened his eyes suddenly. He had been looking through Fuji's eyes and found him, instead of attending practice like usual, running out of the locker room at an amazing speed and out of the school campus. He kept on running until he arrived at the bus stop, and boarded the bus. It stopped at the gates of a very familiar school. And that was when Jiroh decided to stand up and run to the gate of his own school.

Fuji had just arrived there. He had never been to Hyotei before, but wasn't surprised by the elegance of everything. He had hardly taken a step when an excited Jiroh Akutagawa bounced up to him. "Welcome to Hyotei Gakuen, Fuji! What brings you here?"

Fuji was surprised that Jiroh was nearly waiting for him at the gates, as if he expected him to come. "I'm looking for someone," Fuji replied.

Jiroh got a little too excited for his own good, and before he realized what he was doing, he was shouting, "Atobe, someone's here for you!"

Fuji was completely taken aback this time. How did Jiroh know that Fuji had come for Atobe?

Atobe made no move in rushing when he saw who was at the gate, but it wasn't like he was before, either.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Atobe," Fuji said sweetly. Atobe winced at the use of the family name.

"What do you want with me?" Atobe asked.

"I'd like to talk with you in private," Fuji said. He looked at Jiroh, who understood and hopped away. Fuji then leaned on the wall inside the gate, and sighed. He had come to confess his love for Atobe, but he didn't think he could do it anymore. What if Atobe really did love Tezuka? And another problem that was well known to the both of them was that agents were not allowed to love. Not allowed to love each other, and most definitely not other mortals.

Originally, Fuji had thought that even if Atobe did love Tezuka, Fuji wouldn't hesitate to take Tezuka away from Atobe. But they weren't supposed to be inflicting pain on each other, and Fuji didn't want to, because he didn't love Tezuka anymore after seeing Atobe again, and he didn't want to hurt Atobe.

They stood there in comfortable silence for a while, while the wind blew and the sun shown down on them. Finally, Atobe broke the silence. "If you aren't going to say anything, I have a practice to get back to." As if on cue, the wind stopped blowing. "And don't you have a practice, too?"

Fuji sighed and looked Atobe in the eye. He had wished that they could stay like that forever, just comfortably enjoying each other's silent company, but obviously, that was impossible. "Keigo, I do have something to tell you."

Atobe raised an eyebrow at how Fuji used his given name again. "Go on."

"Keigo, I—I…" Fuji was going to say something, but the words suddenly escaped from his lips. He felt like he couldn't breathe, as if the air was flowing out of his lungs, but none was coming back in.

From lack of oxygen, Fuji fell on to his knees, and someone caught him before he hit the ground completely. The last thing he remembered seeing was Atobe's concerned face before passing out.

Jiroh lay on the club room floor, sleeping, as usual. He was really in Fuji's eyes, again, and he heard Fuji talking to Atobe. They just stood there for a while, and it was getting boring to Jiroh, until Atobe finally broke the silence. They talked for a little, until Jiroh felt Fuji tense up. He was about to say something, and Jiroh was sure that it was a love confession. Jiroh mentally cheered Fuji on, wanting him to have enough courage to break the rules for once. Jiroh remembered his last project, in which he had fallen hopelessly in love with his assignment, and had confessed, only to be instantly teleported back to the heavens. It was time for things to change.

Suddenly, Jiroh, or Fuji's field of vision went completely blank. Jiroh blinked. He tried to wake up and enter his own mind again, but couldn't. He was stuck in Fuji's mind until Fuji woke up again, or practice ended and someone shook him awake. Whichever one came first, he concluded. But he felt a realization. What if Fuji had found out about him invading his mind and trapped him there for eternity as revenge?! Jiroh was panicking all over again, when he felt someone shaking his shoulders.

"JIROH! Wake up!" he heard Gakuto's voice ringing in his ears. Jiroh opened his eyes forcefully. He sighed in relief. His secret was safe with him, and he was back in his regular body again. He was about to promise to himself never again to enter Fuji's mind, but decided against it. This life was WAY more interesting that any of the projects ever before.

Jiroh jumped up and hugged Gakuto, a way of thanking him. "It's good to be back!" he shouted. Gakuto looked at him strangely, and shook him off, speechless at this random display of affection.

Did you like this chapter? For good news for some of you, Yukimura appears in the next chapter! Review please!