Atobe Keigo

Name

Hyotei Academy

School

3-A

Class

Shakespeare, European Films, Atobe Keigo, M.J.(?)

Interest/s

Tennis, Fly-fishing, listening to Classical Music, Admiring Atobe Keigo

Hobby/s

Describe Love in one word.

Atobe : Ore-sama. Right, Kabaji?

Kabaji: Yes.

ToucHeart: It talks? I mean, HE talks?

Atobe: Yes, one of the most wonderful things about me is I know everything about everyone.

ToucHeart: Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Anyway, explain your answer.

Atobe: Simply put, love is beautiful, glorified and shared just like me. You see, the thing about love is it's beautiful and beautiful is the perfect word to describe….

ToucHeart: Alright, Mr. Atobe Keigo. Thank you very much for your time. This fanfic would be starting momentarily. Please exit this room in a calm, orderly fashion.

Atobe: W-wait! What? You haven't even been amazed by my prowess yet… wait. STOP!

ToucHeart: *sigh* Brat…

PROLOGUE: Lily

THE LITTLE Atobe Keigo of three years managed to get out of the godforsaken party that was held for him and escaped the army of bodyguards that was set up in every corner of their vast and elegant British- inspired garden. The most famous and influential icons of the country came in their glittering gowns and expensive tuxedos just to lay eyes on the sole heir of the business empire that the Atobe Family has founded, established and held with pride, intellect and nobility. From the moment dusk fell and evening passed on, he was allowed to do nothing except shake the hands of those who greeted him and thank them or, if given a chance, carry on an intelligent conversation. But he had enough of that.

Ha! If those bodyguards were tough, I'm tougher. He thought to himself as he slowly crawled beneath the bushes that surrounded the space were the party was held. If he crawled just a little bit further he'd be out of the garden and into his favorite part of the estate. He was tired and he already had bruises on his knees. He even scraped his elbows while trying to get past a string of thorns on the way. But he didn't mind any of that. What he was after was the bright light that was now slowly starting to blind him- a light that signals…

"FREEDOM!" he exclaimed out loud as he closed his eyes and took the fresh evening breeze in. "Oh, yeeeeeeeeees!"

"Nooo!"

He opened his eyes and looked at the thing that made the scared noise. It wasn't a thing. It was a girl. She was wearing a pink dress, designed modestly with ruffles and laces that complimented her fair skin. And she was looking at him with scared ash-grey eyes. The moon was round and full, radiating a calming curtain of light. That's how he knew the color. She must be one of the guests in my party. Cute. "Who are you?"

"T-that's my l-line!" He watched in amusement as she saw the girl put up front a meek and false bravery. "D-don't you know that this is an Atobe Mansion? You shouldn't be here. They cut trespassers' heads off."

"T-trespasser?" He fought the urge to laugh. Then he looked at himself. "Ack!" No way! The girl quickly retreated further away from him when he hurriedly strutted towards the fountain and surveyed his reflection in the water. "I'm filthy!" he spat disgustedly, as he tried to mend himself. He was told repeatedly day after day that he was a well-bred and thorough gentleman and he took pride on that fact. "Gentlemen don't look like me right now!"

He never accounted the fact that all his irritation on himself will fly away when at first he heard the girl giggle and then laugh out loud. It was music to his ears, as good as listening to classical music. He could stare at her laughing all day… or night. "Yeah, you look cuter when you laugh."

At that, the girl's laughter gradually died down but her smile still remained on her face. He saw her hesitate in her first few steps but when he flashed her a grin, he saw all doubt leave her pretty face and she finally approached him. She walks just like Mom.

"Good evening, milady." He greeted.

She giggled as she curtsied. "Good evening, Sir." Then she reached out to him. He thought she was going to touch his face but her hands landed on his tie. She, then, enthusiastically straightened it up for him.

"You aren't afraid of me anymore? I might be a trespasser, you know."

"Maybe. But then I figured you know this place more than I do." She said amused. "There, done!"

"You can never be too sure, Little Miss."

"Oh, I am, Little Master. I wasn't the one who came out of the bush like a jungle man here."

"R-right."

She continued to laugh. That irked something in his young pride.

"Stop it." She still continued to laugh.

"I order you to stop laughing." She stopped. There, I guess I showed her. The moment he told that to himself the girl stomped out of the fountain area. "W-wait! Where are you going?" she continued to stomp off. "Hey!" She was already near the archway- a garden passage that led to the west wing of the garden. "I ORDER YOU TO STOP!" For the second time that evening the little stranger stopped her actions but her back was still against him. Young Atobe smirked, triumphantly. "I am the sole heir of a business empire here. No one is allowed to leave unless I order them to."

At that very moment, the little girl swiveled around to face him. The anger he saw in her eyes as she looked at him put him uneasily. What the heck did I do wrong?

"You order me?" He didn't say a word. He was still held paralyzed by the anger in her beautiful, grey eyes. "You. ORDER. me."

The volume in her voice awoke him. He put his stubborn chin up just like he always did. "Yes. Are you deaf, by chance?"

The last thing he saw was her murderous smirk on her pinkish lips when he fell on the grass with a thud, along with the burning ache he felt on his left jaw. "Owww!" It hurt- his jaw… and his pride too. Did this girl just hit him? Why he oughta-

"Jerk." He looked up to see her go the fountain, got something pink out of her pocket and dipped it into the water. He saw her shiver. "Brrr. Cold." She wringed the hanky and approached him. Her face was serious; her face void of emotion and her lips set on a taut line. But when she looked up at her eyes, they were laughing.

"Are you making f- Argh!" She just slapped the cold cloth unto his jaw! "Agh! It's cold!"

"Of course it is."

"Take it off!"

"No, Your Highness. I most definitely will not."

"I ord-"

"And you CANNOT order me otherwise."

The outburst silenced him.

"Now be quiet and listen to this;" she said as she gently dabbed the cloth on his swollen jaw. "Adel sitzt im Gemüt, nicht im Geblüt." She saw her smile after a few moments. His confusion must have shown on his face. "It's a line my Daddy always tells me when I study. Now when you know the meaning of that, find me." She took his left hand and held it. "Then I'll gladly give you my apologies if that is what you see fit."

Young Atobe didn't know why but all the time she held his hand, he had difficulty breathing. And he even liked the warmth her hands were providing his. And to think that he was supposed to be angry at her, dammit! He would have loved to enjoy a little bit longer but she held his hand to his jaw and she made him dab the hanky himself.

"In the meantime," she said as she unlocked his cuff links, "I'll have this. Don't look at me like that. Don't worry, I'll give them back to you when we meet again."

"If we meet again."

"We will meet again." The girl reassured her with brilliantly glowing grey eyes. "Atobe Keigo-sama." She smiled real pretty before she stood up and ran off towards the archway. She even waved goodbye as she took off.

"Hey! What's your…" The shadows swallowed her presence and the silence of the night enveloped her echoing footsteps. "…name."

A sudden jolt of pain made him wince. "That girl sure has a pretty hard right."

He didn't have time to find her at the party because the moment the bodyguards located him, he was taken directly up to his father's office and was given a year's worth of scolding. He wasn't really listening to his father because his mind was more occupied with finding a certain someone. The moment his father realized his indifference, another year's worth of scolding was added. The litany amounted to 1 hour, 16 minutes and 43 seconds. The rest of the evening he spent on his father's study locked up. When he was finally allowed to leave the room, his coming down to the garden was pointless. He ended up with the musicians packing up their instruments to go back home and the maids clearing the tables. He just sat stupidly there watching the musicians and maids move on and about the place.

The initials "MA" that were sewn on the handkerchief and the face of the girl that punched his jaw to dislocation went with him to his dreams as the cool, evening breeze lulled him to sleep.

13 years later

"DARLING…"

"Hmmn…"

"Darling… Wake up, darling. It's morning."

"Yeah, I'll be up in a minute…"

"Chu."

"I said I'll be up…"

"Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu. Chu."

"Arrgh!"

"Keigo!" He heard his Dad shout.

Atobe sat straight up in a second, his body a ninety-degree angle. "Owww…"

"Oh, my baby… Does it hurt, darling?"

"No, Mom. I'm perfectly fine." he stretched and kissed his Mom's hand then her cheek. "A beautiful morning, my beautiful mother."

"Yes, son. It is indeed a beautiful morning."

"Beautiful. Just like meee-owww- I mean, you, Mom."

"I know. Now stop saying the morning's beautiful because I know it is. Alright? We'll have breakfast then you can go directly to school." Her Mom said as she touched his cheeks and kissed his forehead. Of the Atobe Clan, Atobe Nerissa, was the gentlest and loveliest.

"Nerissa! Stop spoiling your son. He can get up by himself." And Atobe Jun was the most stubborn but, as much as he hates to admit it, most handsome. Second only to him… "And you, Keigo. Stand up there, dress up, eat breakfast and go to school, Son. We'll see you in the afternoon. I still got some scenes that I've got to take back at the studio."

"Oh? Well then, we better hurry. Grandmom and Garndpops are waiting for us downstairs with a summer breakfast and we've got a busy day ahead of us." Her Mom stood up, hooked her arm around his Dad's and gave her husband a sound kiss on the lips. "Right, honey?"

"Oh, yes. Let's make some people happy today." His Dad smacked.

"Don't we, darling?" His Mom asked him with a smile, probably knowing what he's gonna say. From the slight opening of the door, he saw his longtime childhood friend Kabaji waiting for him by the hallway.

"Yes, Mom. Today's another day for people to be amazed of my prowess. Right, Kabaji?"

"RIGHT. I understand, Mother." A young lady with long jet black hair and grey eyes stood in front of a woman adorned with every sense of elegance and wealth. It was Kimiho Fubuki, her beloved stepmother. Behind her stepmother, mouthing 'bear with it just a bit more to go', and pointing at her watch was a girl her age, elegant and charming as the woman in front of her. It was her stepsister, Kimiho Adel. They are two of the three most important persons in her life.

"I'm sorry if me saying this saddens you, my dear." Her mother mistook her sigh of hopelessness for something else it seems and she immediately straightened things out.

"No, Mother, really. I get your point. I'd allow the servants to address me as Young Lady now. I promise." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry if I caused you to worry in any way."

She heard her stepmother squeal like a fangirl and the next thing she knew, all the air in her lungs popped into nothingness as she was hugged tightly. "Ooooooh! You cute little daughter!"

She smiled. I'll just tell the others to call me by name when we're alone.

"Well, then, since this is all settled we should let you go to school." her sister immediately cut in. You're good.

"That's right!" Her stepmother was immediately taken in, smiling cheerfully. "You two have fun and there'll be watermelon desserts waiting for you when you come home, okay?"

"Oh, wow! What the heck are we still doing here, Onee-chan? Let's gooooooooo!"

END OF PROLOGUE