Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis
Lady Monozuki: I apologize for not having anything updated on time. I've had several issues to take care of over the weekend and the days leading up to it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Again, I apologize.
Chapter Four: Anger
Atobe sighed and put down one of the documents that he had been finishing up for the evening. Work had demanded for him to work overtime today and he was more than ready to call it a day. If there had not been an emergency meeting, he would already be at home, with his lovers by his side. Of course, being one of the most successful businesses in Japan often ate away at his free time. His phone rang once again and he contemplated not even answering it. Then he looked at the number and saw that it was the number from the mansion. He frowned. If any of his lovers wanted to contact them, they would contact him through his cell. He picked up hesitantly, not sure as to why someone would want to call him there. No, there was nothing that he could think of that would even merit such a call.
"Moshi, moshi," he said. "This is Atobe Keigo speaking."
"Master Keigo," he heard on the other line. He did not recognize the person and frowned at the thought of being called by some random servant.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he snapped.
"Ah! Gomen, I only wished to inform you of the fact that he attempted suicide."
He had forbidden everyone from mentioning Ryoma's name in his presence because of how frustrated he was with his youngest lover at the moment. He wanted to laugh. He really didn't hold any right to call Ryoma a lover because of how badly he had treated them. To be quite honest, he did not care about how he stood with him. He had enough issues to worry about than some drama queen who was trying to make everything worse in their relationship. He hung up the phone, not even bothering to get an answer to his first question as to who the person was. He did not care at this moment. All he wanted to do was to get out of the office and go home to see his other lovers. They would need to talk.
While he had known that some of his lovers, like Syuusuke and Gen, would want an answer from him because of how he treated Ryoma, he did not want to answer them. There were a number of reasons that he knew could not be avoided forever. He knew that he had to explain to them why he had treated all of them that way, but he did not know if he was ready. The only person who seemed content with not knowing the full truth was Tezuka. Those were thoughts for later though. Right now, he wanted to go home and see who remained. An event like this would definitely not be good for their already strained relationship.
Syuusuke will go with Ryoma, he was always attached to the brat because they went out for a while. Gen is probably unsure of what to do. He was the last to join and therefore doesn't have as much attachment to everyone as we do. I hope that Mistu stayed though, I need him more than anything. He understands me better than sometimes I do and I-I don't know what I would do without him.
Yes, he had hoped that his boyfriend before they became a five some was still willing to stick by his side. Even though he had treated Mitsu wrongly, he still needed that support and wanted to have someone to rely on in all of this. Not to mention that when he would finally talk to Syuusuke and Gen, he needed someone that could keep the sadist in check. With Ryoma in the hospital, there was no way that he could control the nasty temper that Syuusuke could have. In fact, the whole situation would turn ugly if the former tennis tensai were to decide to take revenge. He shuddered to think of how the revenge would be extracted. Atobe walked out of his office and headed for the car that had been waiting for him. He picked up his cell and dialed the number to the hospital. Considering the fact that he owned the nearest hospital, it would not be hard to get information on Ryoma.
He just wanted to know how bad of a condition his former lover was in and assure that Ryoma received the best care, with no expense spared. Atobe may have hated and exiled him, but that did not mean that the love was not there. After all, he would have never felt this way if Ryoma had not betrayed them first. Even though he had been betrayed, he could never fully abandon his former lover. He had even tried to see if he could forgive the youngest, but when Ryoma had pushed away, he found that he could not. It had hurt him to be pushed away like that, he had been trying. While the others may not have seen him, he had sent the other flowers in secret and tried to draw out a response.
However, he had never received such a response and all of his letters had been met with hateful words. He supposed that he deserved them because he had treated Ryoma coldly. A sigh escaped his lips.
You were the one who was trying to fix the relationship. Besides, he was the one who betrayed you all first. I wonder how Syuusuke and Gen will react when they hear the truth. The brat may deny the fact that he planned that event, but I know the truth. After all, there were four of them who said the same story and plus the police sad that there were no signs of a struggle, he had willing let them do it to him.
Another sigh escaped his lips. Whenever he thought about their problems, he always ended up forgetting his usual grace and sigh. The phone continued to ring before someone finally picked up. He talked to the nurse for the remainder of the car ride to try and get the answers that he wanted. A little money went a long way and he was able to find out that both Syuusuke and Gen were in the hospital and that Ryoma was unconscious, but stabilized. He thanked the nurse and then hung up the phone. He was shaking again. Anger and fear were the most prevalent emotions at the time. He wanted to yell at Ryoma for doing something so stupid. His mind we back to the conversation that he had with his then-lover a year ago.
"You betrayed us all!" he shouted.
"You have no idea what you are talking about!" Ryoma countered. "You were not there so how could you know what went on? How could you even take their side in this issue?"
"Because they all said the same thing," he said. "Not only that, but the police said that they found no efforts of a struggle on your part."
"I suppose they also said that I enjoyed it and begged for more!"
"They did! How could you do this to us?" he demanded.
"I didn't do anything to you guys," Ryoma said in a low voice. "I did not betray any of you. Can't you believe me for a change? I'm your lover, I have never done anything like this to you guys before and when I need you the most, you won't believe me!"
"Why should I believe you? There is not one shred of evidence to support your claim!"
"Actually, there is and they are going to jail."
"I don't believe you," he said. "I can't believe that you would do something like this."
"Will you still believe them when they are in jail?" Ryoma asked.
"I believe them because it seems like something you would do. You have always been seeking attention and I do not want to deal with you anymore."
"Why the hell is it so hard to believe me, Keigo?" Ryoma shouted. "Why the hell do you have to believe them when they are the ones who are lying? Why would I plan something like this to happen when I am the one who is in the hospital? When I am the one who will never be able to forget what they did to me? Why would I want to suffer? Your logic is screwed up."
"I am done talking to you, brat!"
"As am I, talk to me when you want to be a real lover, Keigo."
He had stubbornly refused to believe Ryoma because of the reports. While they had been able jail the persons who raped his former lover, he had never been able to get the conversation that he overheard while they were talking to each other. He had been angry at the fact that Ryoma had gotten raped and was going to give them a piece of his mind, but when he heard them talking, he had frozen.
"Heh, you would think that when someone hires you to do a job that they wouldn't let you get caught at all."
"We knew that we might get caught. You've got to admit though, the kid is a pretty good actor."
"Yeah, if I didn't know that he was faking everything, I would say that he that he did not recognize us at all."
"Even though when we were raping him, he was pretty much begging for us to screw him. Then again, he's used to it with how many lovers he has."
"Who would have ever thought that the famous Echizen Ryoma would be so horny with so many different men?"
They shared a laugh. "He was a good screw though, I bet his ass must've hurt like hell afterward though."
"Well, if you hadn't caused him to bleed so much, he might not end up in the hospital."
"You were the one who slammed his face into the ground because he tried to get away from you that one time."
"Well, if you hadn't hurt him so bad, I wouldn't have had to!"
"Whatever, just keep everything cool. The police probably won't be able to bring any charges against us."
"I heard that his lovers are in town."
"So, they'll learn from the cops that the brat enjoyed his time with us. When they find out that much, they won't have anyone to be mad at but him."
"I suppose that you're right."
He had not needed to listen to anything else. He went straight to the police to figure out if what the others had said was true before going to yell at someone else.
Atobe entered the mansion and noticed that the place seemed far larger than before. He had a feeling that was due to the absence of several of his servants and his lovers. However, he would not say anything at the time. The encounter would come far too soon in his mind and he would not be able to explain himself. He heard footsteps draw close to him and saw his stable lover, Mitsu. Relief flooded through his veins. At least one of them had stayed.
"Welcome home," Mitsu said. "The others aren't here right now."
"I know," he said. There was no point on lying to him. "I heard that they were going to come back home soon because of the hospital's visiting hours."
"Ah," his boyfriend said. There was not a faintest hint of surprise written on his lover's face. He expected that of course.
"We are going to have to talk," he said. He headed toward the living room with Kunimitsu in tow. "There is far too much that I've kept from you all and I know that you might hate me because of that."
Strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him in. He stopped for a moment and enjoyed the embrace. "I won't hate you. Besides, I think that if you explain he full situation with them, they might understand."
"If I tell them the reason as to why, they will hate me even more. I hurt Syuusuke and Ryoma. I didn't just hurt you."
"You still own them an explanation. They will understand better if you come out with the truth."
"Fine, I will tell them. However, you must keep Syuusuke in check."
"Why?" his lover asked.
"Because he gets over protective when we talk about Ryoma and I know that he will do so when we touch the issue that I've been holding back from you for so long."
"I'll do my best then," Mitsu said. "However, Syuusuke will not let me stop him from getting what he wants."
"I know that better than anyone. I'm sure we all do by now."
He pulled away from Kunimitsu and made his way to the living room. If he calculated right, that meant he had just a few minutes before both Syuusuke and Gen would be back home. The two of them sat on one of the luxurious couches that was in the living room. Having such a short amount of time to sort out his thoughts was not ideal, but he supposed that he should have been prepared for this quite some time ago. The door opened far sooner than he would have liked and he heard the sound of two people coming toward their current location. He reached over and grabbed Kunimitsu's hand. He knew that he would need the support to get through this. Atobe watched as both Syuusuke and Gen entered the room. He noticed the death glare that the sadist sent him. No, this meeting would not be pretty at all.
To be continued…