Truth and Lies

Chapter 1

Jirou was drunk. Hopelessly, hopelessly drunk.

Atobe sighed and downed a shot himself; Jirou, the damned lightweight, had insisted that he was fine and that another drink wouldn't do any harm. Atobe had only agreed because Jirou had threatened to strip his shirt off in the middle of the bar crowded with big, burly men that reminded Atobe of thugs, an act that could get him raped – no, no, no, he meant arrested. Yeah, arrested for public indecency.

Thanks to that one lousy drink, Jirou was out cold. Atobe knew from previous experience that it was completely futile to even attempt to wake Jirou up. So instead, cursing the fact that Kabaji wasn't old enough to go drinking with them, Atobe lifted Jirou up and slung him over his shoulder in the fireman's lift.

"Ah, going already, Atobe-kun?" the bartender asked without taking his eyes off the game of Renddle projected on the wall. Atobe didn't blame him; it was the finals tonight. "It's only eleven."

"Jirou passed out," Atobe said by way of explanation and placed three gold coins on the table. "Keep the change."

And then Atobe left, carrying Jirou as easily as he would a sack of rice. It was too bad today was the one day in the month Atobe's magic was useless. Atobe's magic drew power from the moon, and the moon was off-duty today. Something about seeing her boyfriend a couple of galaxies away, Atobe hadn't really been able to catch the details thanks to the ill-tempered messenger who relayed about half the message before throwing down the scroll he'd been reading and yelling that he quit. Just as well, really, considering he'd yelled at AtobeKeigo, who was his boss' son.

The moon was technically his employee, too, but this one had forgotten to say anything until the last minute. Atobe would let her off with a stern lecture because she was new and had been working overtime, shining her brightest even when the sun was out. Atobe's magic had been exceedingly strong all throughout the day, and he had wisely stored away some magic in case of a rainy day.

"Where'm I?" Jirou mumbled blearily, blinking and lifting his head.

"On the way home. Can you walk?"

Jirou's eyes closed. "Mmm, not now, Keigo. M'playing a match... wi' 'Tobe..."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Playing a match?" he repeated. "Of what, Renddle?"

"'Course not, Kei. M'playing tennis. Doubles. Go 'way."

"Tennis?" Atobe repeated, his mouth curling around the unfamiliar word. "Doubles?"

Jirou grunted in annoyance. "You wouldn' know. You're magic, so you're Keigo. M'playing wi' 'Tobe; he's... mmm... he's tennis."

Atobe frowned. It sounded like this 'tennis' Jirou spoke of was a game he'd created in his mind – perhaps a sport? – and apparently dreamt he was in it every time he went to sleep. This world he'd created seemed to be an alternate universe parallel to the real one; even Atobe had been duplicated. It was unlikely, though, that he had dreams in the same world all the time, so that meant...

A spell.

But why? Why cast this sort of spell on Jirou?

A bright white ball of light materialized before them, and Atobe halted, cautious. "Jirou," he said, setting the smaller boy on the ground. Jirou almost crumpled, but Atobe managed to grab his arm and hook it around his neck. "Oi, Jirou, wake up!" he hissed. If something dangerous came out of that thing, Atobe wouldn't be able to take it out by himself. His reserve of magic wouldn't last long enough for a long battle.

There was a loud roar as something leaped gracefully out of the sphere of light and landed on all fours with an earth-shattering thud. The light dimmed and soon disappeared, leaving the creature narrowing its eyes at Atobe and Jirou.

"Jirou, wake up!" Atobe demanded in a hiss, nudging the older boy with a sharp elbow. Jirou grunted and cracked open an eye sleepily. "Whaaat?" he groaned. Then his eyes widened. "Oh, wow," he said, blinking and straightening. "M'I still drunk?"

"I suggest you heal yourself quickly," said Atobe, watching the beast, an incredibly large lion. "Hopefully it doesn't attack, but–"

The lion lunged forward, teeth and claws at the ready. The little light from the stars really didn't help much, but Atobe couldn't afford to waste magic conjuring a light. Instead, Atobe went by instinct (and hearing) and rolled out of the way in the nick of time. Jirou, thankfully, had done the same and already seemed more sober. Jirou shimmered silver for a moment, then shook his head to clear it. "I'm sober, I'm sober," he said, blinking and sending a light up to hang above them when he realized the lack of light.

"Good. Call the others. I'll keep it busy," Atobe commanded, easily slipping into his role as a leader thanks to the years of school at Hyoutei. He'd been the leader of his team of five, and he could still count on them for back up, even though they technically didn't have to obey him anymore.

Atobe summoned almost all of his magic and conjured a long, glowing sword. Wrapping both hands around the hilt, he ran up to the monster and hacked three of its eight claws off when it tried to scratch him.

The monster roared in pain and growled at Atobe before belching a fireball his way.

Two things went through Atobe's mind as he watched the fireball speed towards him in slow motion. The first was 'Damn, now how am I supposed to claim my inheritance?' and the second was 'Oh, never mind.'

A jet of water had shot out of seemingly nowhere and put out the fireball completely. Atobe shook some of the water droplets out of his hair.

"Losing focus, Atobe?" taunted Oshitari, dropping gracefully from the invisible wind current he'd been riding on. Gakuto, who was still riding the current he'd conjured, blew a gust of wind at Atobe to rid him of water droplets. "You guys suck," he said, yawning. "The best fighters in our group and you can't get rid of a little kitty cat like this? Shame on you."

Jirou grinned at Gakuto. "Yo, Gakuto, come on down here and take on the kitty cat yourself!"

Gakuto humphed and sent a strong gust of wind at the lion, making the beast stumble and fall. "I'll stay here, thank you very much," he said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, 'cause you're completely useless on the ground," taunted a new voice as its owner appeared suddenly before them.

"You can't even use an element, Shishido, so don't talk," retorted Gakuto.

Shishido bristled. "I happen to be able to use the element of wind, just like you, Mr. High-and-Mighty! Just because it happens to be in a different way–"

"An inferior way. You're a minor wind user and I'm a major wind user," Gakuto replied, smirking triumphantly.

"Mukahi, Shishido, focus on the task at hand," admonished Atobe, slicing another two talons off as the lion attempted to cut Oshitari's head off. He deftly dodged a swipe of the creature's massive paw and attempted to stab it in the belly with no success.

"Hmm," said Oshitari, crouching in between the beast's legs and punching its belly experimentally. "Well, this obviously isn't a normal lion, then," he said calmly, rolling out and jumping on the air current Gakuto was riding.

"Then what is it?" growled Shishido as he attempted to stab the creature in the tongue. He failed and narrowly avoided getting bitten, teleporting away in the nick of time.

"Maybe a robot or animatron of some sort?" Oshitari suggested. "Or perhaps a real lion who has been enhanced with magic."

Jirou paused. "It's alive," he stated after a moment. "I can hear his heartbeat and breathing." Jirou shot a blast of purple at the lion to distract it from maiming Shishido. "It's magic, too; I can sense the layer of magic in and around it. Fire and earth elemental."

"So I'm guessing you'll be wanting my expertise then?" Gakuto asked, flexing his fingers. "Though with a creature this size, I'm going to need help."

Atobe nodded curtly. "Shishido will help you. No arguments," he added with a sharp glare. Shishido and Gakuto closed their mouths. Oshitari dropped gracefully and Gakuto hopped, dismissing the air current and glaring at Shishido as the (slightly) taller boy grabbed him by the wrist.

"Jirou, you and I will have to switch. I don't have enough magic to make a significant difference to the attack," said Atobe. Jirou nodded and moved to stand next to Oshitari.

Gakuto closed his eyes and opened his palm out before slowly clenching his hand into a fist. The lion as confused at first, but soon realized what was happening. It fell to the ground soon after, twitching and gasping for air.

"Hurry... up..." hissed Gakuto, eyes still closed tightly. Shishido gripped Gakuto's wrist tighter, and Gakuto's expression eased slightly.

Jirou grabbed the back of Oshitari's neck and let power flow into the taller boy. Oshitari narrowed his eyes and aimed his hands at the beast's mouth. The power built up in Oshitari's body slowly as he added the new magic to his spell. It took him longer than usual; his body was unaccustomed to Jirou's unfamiliar, yellow magic as it was to Atobe's purple.

Gakuto was seeing double and feeling quite faint. Shishido squinted and grabbed Gakuto's outstretched arm to keep it from falling. "Come on, Oshitari, before Gakuto passes out!" he bellowed.

Oshitari tensed, then relaxed and released the spell in the lion's direction. Jirou felt it change from a steady stream of energy into a ball of water. He marveled at the magic, then watched as Atobe constructed a thick, translucent violet shield around them. Gakuto released the spell with great relief and fell on the ground panting. Shishido leaned against the shield wall, panting as he glared at Oshitari. "Take your time, why don't you," he commented. "Gakuto almost passed out!"

"Bastard," spat Gakuto. "Don't berate people for me; I can do that on my own."

"Oh, go to hell, midget," said Shishido.

"Drama queen."

"Whiny brat."

"Attention seeker."

"Hush," said Atobe impatiently, watching the beast carefully. The water had slammed into the beast harshly, and while the shield blocked out some of it, its screech of pain was hard to ignore. The lion was lying on the ground, but Atobe didn't let his guard down. It could have some sort of last resort. Some sort of life-sacrificing attack that could really hurt. "Jirou?" he asked, knowing that the older boy would sense an attack.

Jirou squinted and focused. Something was wrong. Usually it was so easy for him to see magic, but today his senses were dull. He didn't like it.

"I don't know, Keigo," he said despairingly.

"You don't know?" Shishido repeated incredulously. "But you always know!"

"Never mind that," said Atobe. "Shield, now!"

The lion's body had begun to vibrate and glow a faint white. Four shields of varying colors came up only moments before the carcass exploded and let loose a spell powerful enough to have killed them all. The spell shattered Atobe and Gakuto's shields and Shishido's wavered, but Oshitari and Jirou's held strong.

"Man," said Gakuto as he fell back into Oshitari's protective embrace. "That was one pretty powerful spell."

Jirou dropped his shield and stared at the ground with a frown. "That was a lot of power," he murmured. "Enough to have killed us and left no trace of our bones." He could still feel the power pushing against his shield.

"Did it kill anyone in the vicinity?" asked Atobe.

Shishido disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing beside Jirou. "Looks like all the plants and animals within a kilometer's radius are dead, but there were only two houses that were within that radius, one of which was occupied by Seigaku's Yamato-san. He sensed the attack and shielded his and his neighbor's house, so both he and his neighbor are safe. Yamato-san should be arriving soon."

Atobe nodded once. "Good. Seigaku should be informed; if this thing attacked this area, its friends might attack other areas. Seigaku's blabbermouths will spread it around to the other areas."

"Duh, what with that no-good gossip Kikumaru with them," sneered Gakuto. "That bastard."

"Hello, ex-Hyoutei," said Yamato, popping out of virtually nowhere with his usual sunglasses and jacket tied around his shoulders.

"Why's he wearing sunglasses at night?" murmured Shishido to Jirou. Jirou shrugged. "'Cause he thinks it looks cool, that's why," he whispered back. "But I wonder how he doesn't bang into things–"

"I can sense objects around me and the vibrations that come from them," said Yamato. "Including vocal cord movements."

Shishido and Jirou exchanged a glance, then bowed as one. "Sumimasen," they said in unison.

"That's fine," said Yamato. "What happened here?"

Atobe stepped forward. "A big lion, enhanced with magic. It came through a portal. Its fur is like its armor; impenetrable. It was a fire/earth elemental, so I had Mukahi and Shishido choke it by cutting off its air supply, then had Jirou combine his powers with Oshitari's to launch a waterball into its open mouth."

Yamato nodded. "A strategy you used often during your days in the Academy, yes?"

Atobe nodded. "Yes."

"Very well, I will let the protectors know. Otsukaresama," said Yamato, disappearing just as suddenly as he came.

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Prince of Tennis. If I did, it would be about Hyoutei. Or at least it wouldn't have that bloody idiot Ryoma. Bugger.