Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is finally rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and the Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime
Main Pairings [with a twist]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada
Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^_^
Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns POT.
Chapter 4: The Party, The Reunion and The Girlfriend
[At the Mediterranean Reception Hall]
VIP Table no. 1- Atobe, Tezuka, Sanada, Tachibana, Kajimoto, Sengoku, Fuji, Yukimura
"It's so… tropical." Sengoku said, looking around the place.
"There are even live toucans here." Kajimoto pointed at the orange-billed birds perching on the branches of a tree.
"I love our spot! It's overlooking the sea…" Yukimura said, facing the huge glass window.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Atobe-sama is so sweeeeeeett!"
Kajimoto raised his brow as he turned to see what the ruckus was all about. "What did you do this time, Atobe?"
Atobe discreetly pointed at the table labeled, 'ORE-SAMA'S FANGIRLS' and shrugged. "Saa…"
"Why didn't you group your guests by teams?" Tezuka asked.
Atobe smiled. "I want my guests to socialize with each other." He said in a suspiciously happy tone.
Tezuka shrugged it off and turned to the their table. His eyes widened as he saw the name "Fuji" plastered on one of the chairs. Fuji, who was across Tezuka, flashed a sadistic smile as she went to her respective seat beside Atobe. The Hyotei king smiled at the girl and put his arm around her. Tezuka, who was watching the whole scene didn't know if he should be scared, nervous or angry. But, one thing's for sure. He was dumbfounded.
"Oi, Tezuka. Aren't you going to sit down?"
Tezuka didn't say a word and sat down. He quietly listened to the conversation going on.
"Gaaahhh… It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Sengoku said.
"Yeah… I miss our chuugakusei days, Sen-kun…" Fuji said.
"Who doesn't?" Sengoku said, munching on a chicken drumstick.
Tezuka wondered silently. 'Chuugakusei days?'
"Now that we're ALL captains, we wouldn't have much time to do what we usually do… Na, Sengoku?" Atobe teased.
Sengoku pulled a face. "Heeey, I'm also a captain! It only has the word VICE before it!"
Everyone except Tezuka and Sanada laughed.
"Oh yeah, do you guys remember the time when we were playing in the sandy playground?" Yukimura chimed in.
[Flashback- grade school days, third grade.]
"Ne, give my pretty rock back!" the little shusumi yelled.
"Nuh-uh!" A certain orange-haired boy said, blocking the pretty little girl from obtaining her precious stone.
"Sen-kun… please?" Shusumi tried to reach her rock.
"It's my lucky day today 'coz I found this nice, shiny rock!"
"If you want, I'll share that with you… just give me my rock back…"
"Nope."
Shusumi gave up. She grabbed her mini bucket and shovel and sulked under the big, plastic slide. She sniffled to avoid tears from rushing down.
"Ne, Sumi-chan… what happened?" A cute blue-haired girl asked.
"Sei-chan…" Shusumi sniffled as she looked up, teary-eyed. "Sen-kun wouldn't give me back my rock…"
"Really?" a young Seira bent down and caressed her friend's back. "It's okay…" you'll find a prettier rock than that…"
"Seira-chan. What happened to Shusumi?" the little Keigo asked.
The girl looked at her friend. "Sen-kun was bothering her."
"Oh?" Keigo shot daggers at the little Sengoku. "I'll teach him that bullying my friends is a no-no."
Keigo then stormed to Sengoku's direction. "Oi, tropicana."
"Huh? Who's Tropicana?"
"You're the only orange head here, duh." Keigo snapped. "Give that rock back to shusumi."
Sengoku held the rock closer to him. "No."
"If you won't give that back to her, I'll tell my Otousama to kick you out of my school." The boy said, smiling a devilish grin.
"Che. Unlucky…." Sengoku sighed and handed him the rock. "Here."
"Now, say sorry to her." Keigo demanded.
Sengoku rolled his eyes and went to Shusumi. "Ne, shu. Sorry."
Shusumi smiled. "It's okay, Sen-kun… Let's just share stuff the next time, 'kay?" she extended her hand as a sign of making up.
Sengoku nodded and shook her hand. "Un!"
[End of flashback]
Sengoku chuckled as he was chewing his food. "I wasn't that bad before!"
"Oh yes you were, Tropicana…" Yukimura teased.
"Naw, c'mon you guys… forget that name, will 'ya? I'm not a brand of juice…"
"I was the one who named you that, if my memory serves me right." Atobe said, sipping his pina colada.
"Back then, you were into bullying girls and now… you're a certified girl magnet." Kajimoto said.
Sengoku flashed a cheshire grin. "I'm just lucky, I tell you."
Tezuka listened to their story in puzzlement, wondering why the others knew about Fuji during elementary and he didn't. He went to the same school with them so he should have known.
Atobe turned to Tezuka. "Hey, Tezuka. Remember our first serious match ever?"
[Flashback-grade school days, fifth grade]
40-0! Advantage to Tezuka!
"Damn it!" Keigo cursed, sweating all over.
The chibi Tezuka Kunimitsu calmly looked at his opponent on the opposite side and served the ball.
"He's good, isn't he?" the little Takahisa, one of the spectators commented.
"Yeah. The likes of Sanada even lost to him." The little Kippei said. The chibi Genichiro, who stood beside him, glared at the latter.
"What?" Kippei said. "I'm just saying the truth…"
"You didn't have to rub it in my face." Genichiro snapped.
"Don't be a sour loser, Genichiro. Sometimes, people win and sometimes they lose." Kippei said.
"Tch." Genichiro held the metal screen surrounding the court, practically glowering at the boy with glasses. "I'll never lose to you next time…"
Deuce!
"You're really good, Tezuka."
Tezuka kept a straight face. "Thanks."
Keigo smirked. "I'll beat you someday."
"But first, beat me now. If you can."
"Tch. You're getting cocky, eh?" Atobe then served the ball.
And so, the match became one of the best ranking matches in the elementary circuit that ever occurred.
[End of flashback]
"You were so much like that ichinen brat back then, Tezuka." Atobe said.
"Yeah." Kajimoto agreed. "I think that Echizen will grow up to be like you."
At the other table, Echizen sneezed.
"Next topic, please." Tezuka said, a vein appearing on his head.
Fuji grinned. "I doubt if Tezuka still remembers this but here it goes…"
[Flashback- grade school days, fourth grade]
"Really? You're the vice-president of your class? That's great, Sei-chan!" Shusumi said, drinking her cup of juice.
"Mm-hmm! I'm really glad my classmates voted for me." Seira cheerfully said.
"Then? Who's your president?"
Seira grinned. "Make a wild guess."
Shusumi took a sip. "Genichiro."
"Bingo."
"As expected…" Shusumi said. She continued to walk forward until…
BAM!
"Gomen!" The girl bowed her head, not even looking at the person she bumped into.
"I don't accept your apology." The person said in a stern manner. "You've stained my clothes with juice."
Shusumi looked up and she was surprised with what she saw. "Wh—I'm so sorry, Tezuka-iinchou!"
"Iinchou? You mean he's your class president?" Seira asked.
Shusumi nodded. She then turned to the snobbish boy. "I'm really sorry…"
Tezuka walked past them and didn't say a word.
"Why did you choose a person like him?" Seira asked as she helped her friend wipe the spilled juice.
"He won the votes of all the girls in my class…" Shusumi said.
"Oh."
"I'll let this pass, Sei-chan…" Shusumi grinned. "….for now."
[End of flashback]
"Oh?" Atobe's brow arched. "Tezuka did that to you?"
Fuji nodded. "Yeah…" She looked at the others with puppy-dog eyes.
Tezuka was dumbfounded again. He remembered now. He remembered the reason why the girl got in his nerves every time he saw her face. It was because of a single, tiny mistake from their childhood. It wasn't like him to bear grudges but ever since that event, Fuji had always bothered him, except during the time when she moved to Chiba for a while. But during their first year in middle school, they were put in the same class again and so, Tezuka thought kami was cursing him.
"You were a snobbish bad boy back then, huh, Tezuka?" Sengoku said.
"I do not know what you're talking about." Tezuka sternly said.
Yukimura smiled. "I was there, Tezuka… you can't deny it anymore…"
Tezuka sighed and remained silent.
"Atobe, as far as I had remembered, you and Shu have always been close, right?" Sengoku asked, changing the topic.
"Yeah. Why?"
Sengoku smirked. "Are you two finally together?"
Tezuka quickly averted his gaze to the two aforementioned people. He silently wished that Atobe would say no because if the opposite happened, he will definitely conclude that Kami was truly cursing him.
Fuji and Atobe looked at each other. "What a question. Of course we are." Atobe started. "We've been together for almost three years now."
Tezuka was shocked that he couldn't speak. 'I knew it…'
"She's the girl I've telling you about." Atobe spoke to Tezuka softly. Tezuka was still too astounded to speak.
"You're so cold, Shusumi! You didn't even tell me…" Yukimura pouted.
Fuji sheepishly grinned. "Hehe… sorry."
"My predictions about you two never went wrong…" Kajimoto turned to Atobe. "You were always affectionate to Shusumi here so I thought you two might end up together."
Tachibana nodded. "Yeah."
"Tezuka?" Yukimura turned to the buchou. "You've been silent for a while. Is there anything wrong?"
Tezuka was snapped from his astonishment. "Yes. I'm perfectly fine."
"How about the other set of lovebirds?" Sengoku said, looking at Yukimura and Sanada's direction.
Yukimura was puzzled. "Huh? There is?"
Sanada cleared his throat. "He's talking about us, Seira."
"Oh…" Yukimura sweatdropped and grinned. "We're just super close friends… like this!" she winded up her middle finger and index finger.
"Ouuuch." Sengoku muttered to himself, knowing that Sanada had his eyes on Yukimura.
"Oh well. I expected you two to be together by now though." Tachibana said. "I noticed Sanada has always been taken to—"
"AHERRRRM." Sanada cleared his throat loud enough to overlap Tachibana's voice.
"You need water?" Yukimura offered him a glass of water.
Sanada accepted the drink. "Thank you."
The Yamabuki ace rolled his eyes. "Seira. Are you really clueless or are you just pretending to be?" he said to himself.
"Oh yeah, Keigo. What was that important thing you were babbling about?" Fuji asked.
"Ah, I forgot about that." Atobe said. "There are two things, actually."
Bzzzz… bzzzz…
"Hold on a sec." Fuji took out her phone and read the message. "Yuuta and the St. Rudolph people are coming… along with Mizuki." The tone of her voice dropped upon saying Mizuki's name. "Say Keigo, did you invite him?"
Atobe looked at her quizzically. "Who?"
"The Rudolphian guy who almost broke my brother's arm…"
"No." Atobe said. "I know he's going to invite himself so I didn't bother to send him an invitation. He'd find ways to get in my party anyway."
"Oh." Fuji said grimly.
"And the important thing you were saying?" Kajimoto went back to the topic.
"Right." Atobe took a deep breath. "The first thing is, I'm leaving for Paris next week to attend my Aunt's wedding and to take care of our businesses there."
"How long will you be gone?" Sanada inquired.
"One month, the most." The Hyotei king said. "And second…"
All of the people in the table waited for Atobe to speak.
"I'm sorry if I say this bluntly but Shusumi, you're going to pretend to be Tezuka's girlfriend for that span of time."
All of their mouths (except for Tezuka's) gaped open. "What?" Fuji finally blurted out.
"Tezuka's grandfather declared to him yesterday morning that he's going to engage Tezuka to the granddaughter of his good friend in Europe. To escape that fate, I told Tezuka that since I will be leaving, I'll leave you to his care and at the same time, you'll help him get through his grandfather by pretending to be his girlfriend." Atobe said, almost in one breath.
Silence.
"Wait. Let me take in all of this." Fuji let out a deep sigh. "Okay. So for short, Tezuka needs my help."
"Yes."
Fuji's grin was back. "Okay, fine. I'm willing to abide." This is more torture time for Tezuka… haha.
"See, Tezuka? I told you, it'd be perfect." Atobe said.
"Aa." Tezuka was still sulking [although not obvious] in his seat. He did not want to believe that Fuji was the unlucky girl Atobe chose and is still the same girl who will pretend to be his girlfriend. He sighed, knowing that starting that moment, things are going to get ominous for him.
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VIP Table no. 2- Kirihara, Ann, Momo, Kamio, Sakuno, Echizen
"Ne, Kirihara, why is your nose all red?" Ann asked, entertaining her curiosity.
"He's your enemy and yet you're concerned for him." Momo commented.
"In fairness with him Momoshiro, we're not enemies anymore… True, he has a rotten attitude but it's automatic for me to be concerned about the welfare of others…" Ann defended.
Kirihara, who couldn't say anything, blushed at Ann's statement. On the other hand, Kamio sent a sharp stare at the elf and then at Momo. "I knew it Momoshiro. You're hiding a heartless demon who doesn't care even for the enemies." He said, trying to impress Ann with his 'kindness'.
"Speak for yourself, Kamio." Momo rolled his eyes. "If looks could kill, Kirihara would have been liquidized moments ago."
"ARGH! If you want Tachibana's attention, go find a crab and pinch your noses with it!" He finally snapped after getting pissed enough while listening to the conversation. "If you're happy that way, I'm not! Damn you and those frickin' crabs to hell!"
Ann sighed, wondering if there was a way to shut those three up.
"Ne… senpai-tachi…" Sakuno shyly tried of mediate in the fight.
"You better give up on doing that, Ryuzaki." Echizen advised as he held Sakuno's hand from under the table. "They'll never listen to you. They're useless role models anyway."
Sakuno blushed intensely as she felt a light squeeze on her hand. "O-okay."
Ann watched the currently bickering sophomores. "Guys…" Her eyebrow twitched. "Guys! Darn it…"
The three turned to her.
"Momoshiro, Kamio, why don't you let Kirihara join in the continuation of your friendly singing battle later… just to at least turn your fights into something productive."
"Suuuuure." Momo and Kamio glared at Kirihara with fiery rage. "Why not?"
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VIP Table no. 3- Niou, Yagyuu, Jackal, Marui, Oishi, Eiji, Shinji, Ishida
The eight of them just watched and listened to the bickering sophomores at the adjacent table.
"Who do you think is going to win the younger Tachibana's heart?" Niou asked, a sly smile plastered on his face.
"That's a killer question, Niou…" Marui said. "I think the girl's going to end up with Akaya."
"With his attitude right now, I don't think so." Yagyuu opposed.
"In that case, Tachibana-san is going to end up with Momo-chin!" Eiji cheerfully said.
"Momo is a good guy after all…" Oishi added.
"No. Ann-chan is going to end up with Kamio." Ishida piped in.
"True. Kamio and Ann-chan have known each other longer compared to the other two. They're genuinely close and moreover, Tachibana-san and the tennis team trust Kamio. I bet Kirihara and Momoshiro wouldn't have anything to say to their closeness. Ann-chan and Kamio are practically best friends. And oh yeah, I forgot about the chemistry. I think the three of them look good with Ann-chan… but Kamio's better because I know him better than the others…."
Marui and the others sweatdropped as they listened to the rest of Shinji's ramblings. "Oi, oi."
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VIP Table no. 4- Oshitari, Shishido, Kanami, Choutaro, Gakuto, Kabaji
The people on this table practically didn't care about what's happening around them. They were engrossed in talking about tennis and other related stuff.
"Thinking about Seigaku really gets into my nerves… especially Kikumaru." Gakuto said.
"You're just jealous because he's a better acrobat than you are." Shishido taunted.
"He is NOT better than me, Shishido. I'm one step above that annoying cat-like person!"
"You still have a lot of chances to win against Kikumaru-san next time so don't worry, Mukahi-senpai…" Kana said to ease out the tension between Shishido and Gakuto.
Gakuto smiled at Kana and stuck his tongue out at Shishido. "You're such a useless teammate. You're supposed to be encouraging your other teammates and here you go praising the other team."
"Three words, Gakuto. I. don't. care." Shishido hissed.
"Tch." Gakuto rolled his eyes and turned to Oshitari. "Yuushi, say something."
"What would you like me to say?" Oshitari dabbed the corner of his mouth with a table napkin.
The redhead grunted. "MOU!"
"Mou…" Oshitari mimicked his doubles partner. Gakuto got fed up so he opted to keep silent instead.
"Ne, Kanami-san…" Choutaro started. "During the times you were watching us play, what moves or playing styles did you come to like?"
"Hmmm… lemme think…" Kanami put her hand under her chin while the others were starting to divert their attention to the girl.
"Hmm. I hate to admit it, but really love aniki's uh… whatchamacallit move… Higuma something."
"Higuma otoshi." Oshitari corrected.
"Yeah, that." Kana sheepishly grinned. "Um… Atobe-san's tannhaüser serve and of course, Choutaro-kun's amazing scud serve."
Choutaro blushed slightly. "Umm…what else?"
"Uhh… Mukahi-senpai's moon salute and…"
Gakuto's expression brightened. "And?"
"The playing style I love the most is…" She paused, a slight tint of pink creeping on her cheeks. She knew that, of course so she pretended to drop her table napkin and bent down to pick it up. "Sorry 'bout that." She smiled and continued. "The playing style I adore the most is Shishido-senpai's.
Shishido was flattered. "Eh… really, Kana-chan?"
"Un!" Kana said. "Your play is so simple but straightforward. I mean, not literally. But… gahhh. You know what I really mean, ne?" She scratched her head.
"Uh… I think so." Shishido said, still puzzled with what the girl really meant.
Choutaro stole a glance at Kana and then looked down. 'Could it be…?'
Shishido also accidentally stole a glance at his doubles partner. He saw 'the look' on Choutaro's face. 'Oh no.'
Oshitari, who was quite oblivious to the brewing 'love story' of all time—I mean, in the table, continued to eat his pasta. "Delicioso, na, Kabaji?"
"Usu."
VIP Table no. 5- Kaidoh, Tomoka, Kawamura, the ichinen trio, Akutsu, Dan Taichi
"Mou!" Tomoka screamed. "Why couldn't I sit beside Ryoma-sama? Damn the person who assigned this seat to me to the pits of hell."
Horio looked at Tomoka in an 'oh-so-high-and-mighty' way. "Why look for Echizen when this great man with two years tennis experience is right within your reach?"
"You're not even a man yet…" Tomo muttered to herself.
"Two years of tennis experience, desu ka?" Dan asked, his eyes glittering with interest. "You must be really good, desu!"
"Of course I am! I'm Seigaku's future, if you should know!" Horio declared.
"I better get more data on you, desu!" Dan said, scribbling some notes on his notebook.
"Ne, Dan-kun." Katsuo whispered. "Don't believe in any word he says."
"Why?"
Kachiro leaned closer to Dan's ear. "Because if you're going to get data about him, all your efforts are just going to waste. Two years of tennis experience? More like two years of tennis un-experience…"
Dan stopped writing as looked at Horio. "Oh."
Horio put his hand on his waist. "Oi! Are you going to take my data or not?"
"Uhhh…"
"Oi, Kawamura." Akutsu gruffly said.
"Yeah?" Kawamura glanced at his childhood friend.
"That stupid brattling is getting into my nerves. Can you shut him up before I kill him?"
Kawamura scratched his head. "Ahaha… He's really like that so just bear with him for a while…"
"Tch. One more word from him and I'm really going to kick his ass outta this place." Akutsu then sipped some juice.
Kawamura sighed in relief. At least Akutsu listened to him.
Horio continued on boasting about how good he was and how Seigaku can't live without his mighty presence. Kawamura was getting a little annoyed but with his patience on par with Oishi's, he acted as if he didn't hear anything. A few moments later, a racket, which came from who knows where was handed to Kawamura. And then, the world went blank. [just kidding.]
"BUUUUURNING!" Kawamura yelled, garnering the attention of all the people in the hall.
(At the other table..)
"Who gave Taka-san that damned racket?" Oishi angrily said.
(back to Taka-san's table…)
"KID WITH TWO YEARS OF TENNIS EXPERIENCE!" He said, pointing the racket at Horio.
"Me?"
"YES YOU!"
"What is it?"
"SHUT UP! TWO YEARS OF TENNIS EXPERIENCE! HAHHH! RIDICULOUS!" Kawamura swished his racket.
Katsuo and Kachiro were about to get hit but they ducked and the racket hit Tomoka instead. Due to the impact, the glass of water she was holding was spilled on her shirt.
"Kawamura-senpai… if it weren't for the fact that you're my senpai, I would have HIT you right now, damn you." Tomo angrily cursed.
Kaidoh, who was already VERY pissed, slammed his fist on the table. "FSSSSSHHHUUU! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU $#*&%$ PEOPLE!"
Kawamura dropped the racket in surprise. "Eh?"
Akutsu grumpily stood up. "I'm leaving this –toot-ing place."
Katsuo and Kachiro let out a sigh of relief. Horio was frozen like a rock, still too traumatized by Kawamura.
Kaidoh sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry senpai. I had to do that."
Kawamura patted the viper's shoulder. "It's okay, Kaidoh… I should thank you for saving me from embarrassment…"
Kaidoh then turned to the girl beside him, who looked like a wet duck. He gruffly handed a table napkin to her. "Here."
Tomoka didn't know if she'd get angry or be happy at Kaidoh's 'kindness'. She accepted the table napkin anyway. "Thanks, senpai."
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VIP TABLE no. 6- Sakaki, Hanamura, Ryuzaki-sensei, Banji
In this table, the four of them were busy doing their own thing as if the Kawamura scandal never happened.
"Aww… that's just so sweet, Tarou…" Hanamura giggled as she read the love quote/pick-up line on Sakaki's phone.
Sakaki smiled. "There's more, Aoi…" He then scrolled down and read his other messages.
Banji looked at the sweet couple and grinned. "If cellular phones were invented in our time, I would have gained your affections Ryuzaki-sensei…"
Ryuzaki just rolled her eyes and ignored the old man's antics.
"But, it's never too late… Ne, Sumire?"
Ryuzaki finally glared at him. "Don't you Sumire me!" the hag snapped. "And besides, you're way older than me."
"I may be way older than you but you've also aged, Sumire… no one could even tell the age difference…."
"BAKAMONGA!" Ryuzaki tried to hit Banji in the face but then, it missed so she hit Sakaki instead. The result: Sakaki accidentally kissed his dear Hanamura in the lips. Sakaki was kind of light-headed after the incident.
"Wow. A mere kiss already made you dizzy… what will happen if I do more than that…? Will you finally faint?" Hanamura teased, still positioned under Sakaki.
"You'll faint before I do, Aoi…"
[NEXT SCENE CENSORED- PARENTAL GUIDANCE IS RECOMMENDED… ^_^]
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VIP Table no. 7- Shinjou, Wakato, Inui, Yanagi, Hiyoshi, Taki, Minami
"Kantoku and Hanamura-sensei does have chemistry, don't you think, Hiyo-kun?" Taki asked Hiyoshi.
"Yes, I think they do." Hiyoshi said. "But wouldn't that be a distraction to him? I mean, he's the coach."
"More like inspiration…" The spiky-haired Yamabuki captain said. "After a few days, expect your coach to be 'blooming'…"
"Oh." Hiyoshi and Taki chorused.
"Hyotei people, don't you think it's fun to spy on our coaches? Maybe late at night, they'd go somewhere else and—"
"You're thinking dirty, Wakato-san." Hiyoshi interjected.
"I was about to say eat, dang it." Wakato mumbled to himself.
"Hm. I think there's a 100 percent possibility that their relationship will work out." Inui suddenly said.
"Yes, I agree. There's also a 95.786574 percent that Hyotei will improve due to Sakaki-sensei's inspired leadership and a 99.923332 percent that the same thing goes with Hanamura-sensei." Renji seconded.
"There's a 90.00 percent that they will get married within the next two years…"
"And a 80.7777 percent that they will quit being coaches in order to peacefully live together."
"On the other hand, there's a 99.9999999 percent that a certain someone will surely, definitely and absolutely kill Sakaki-sensei if all the above mentioned data will take action." Inui finally said.
Then, all the people on that table went silent as they turned to a flaring Shinjou, who was already dying to get the said Hyotei coach to the hands of death.
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[Mediterranean hall entrance]
"We've finally arrived, Yuuta-kun…." Mizuki said, twirling his bangs. "Now… where is Atobe seated…"
"Over there, Mizuki-senpai." A purple-haired girl with black-rimmed oval glasses pointed to the table nearest to the window.
"Can we just go find our table, Mizuki-san? We're really hungry…" Yuuta pointed to his other companions behind him.
"No. We should announce our presence to the host, you know." Mizuki said, dragging Yuuta to Atobe's table. The rest of the St. Rudolph guests followed.
"So. He's here." Fuji said sourly upon seeing the team manager of St. Rudolph approach them.
"Long time, no see, Atobe." Mizuki greeted. "Happy birthday by the way. Here's your present." Mizuki presented a very large box carried by his bodyguards. It was covered with a purple giftwrapper designed with roses and tied with a red ribbon. "I purposely made that grand just for you."
Atobe displayed an arrogant look. "Of course it should be. Those who came to my party, invited ornot, should be polite enough to give Ore-sama his birthday present."
"Tch." Mizuki folded his arms. "At least, I came with a gift."
Sengoku leaned to Kajimoto. "How can you not come to this party without a gift when there's a big billboard plastered on the resort entrance saying, 'Ore-sama gladly welcomes your presence and presents'?" He whispered to the Jyosei captain, who nodded in agreement.
Atobe then turned to one of the Kisarazu twins standing beside Mizuki. "Kisarazu Ryo, you're from Rokkaku, right? I thought Rokkaku couldn't come because of an important school event."
"Hai. But I excused myself from because I heard that St. Rudolph would be here and I wanted to take the opportunity to be with Atushi. It has been quite a long time since I saw him." Ryo explained, a tad embarrassed.
"How sentimental." Atobe said.
Ryou sweatdropped and handed a big sack-like bag (something like Santa's Christmas bag) to Atobe. "The Rokkaku tennis team extends their greetings to you."
"Give them my thanks." Atobe accepted the bag and put it aside.
Fuji turned to her brother. "It's also been a while since we saw each other, ne, Yuuta?" she said, opening her arms to her younger brother. "Why don't you give me a hug?"
Yuuta looked at her in disgust. "Hug yourself, stupid onee-san."
"Aww." Fuji faked a sob. "Is that a way to treat your older sister?"
"If you're that sister, then yes."
Fuji glanced at the pretty bespectacled girl beside her brother. "It seems that you have found yourself a girlfriend, Yuuta…" she teased.
Yuuta and the girl exchanged looks. "What are you talking about? She's just one of my close friends in class!"
The girl bowed her head. "I'm Takeouji Yuri. It's nice to meet you, Fuji-san."
"I'm also pleased to meet you, Takeouji-chan." Fuji then grinned. "So, aren't you going to eat lunch? The food is almost running out."
"Oh yes, thank you for reminding us Fuji-san…" Mizuki said as Fuji snobbishly averted her gaze to somewhere else, purposely showing Mizuki that she was not talking to him.
"Your table is over there, Mizuki, so suit yourselves." Atobe said, pointing to the table labeled 'LATE COMERS'. He then stood up. "I'll be going somewhere so if you'll excuse me."
Tezuka also stood up. "I'll excuse myself as well." He then followed Atobe outside.
0000000000000000
[At the men's restroom]
"So. I've said everything that should be said, Tezuka." Atobe opened the faucet and washed his hands. "It's up to you on how you should arrange your meetings and other necessities. She'll be just following your lead."
"Hm." Tezuka let the water flow on his hands. "But why did you…" He paused, finding the right choice of words. "Why did you choose Fuji?"
"I didn't choose her. My heart did." Atobe said, putting his hands under the automatic hand dryer.
Tezuka fell silent, pondering on what the thing called 'love' has done that even a self-absorbed person like his friend managed to love another person greater than himself.
"Tezuka." Atobe said, opening the door. "Take care of her for me until I get back."
Tezuka closed the faucet. "Hm."
The door closed as Atobe stepped outside. Now he felt satisfied and relieved that the love of his life is in good hands.