And without further ado...Please Enjoy!

After a (few) late-night incident(s) a few years ago involving me and a flight of stairs, my mom established a house rule that phones must be answered no matter what time of day – or night – it is. In accordance with the rule, my phone was always extra loud when I slept; it had become a force of habit over the years. It was never really something I minded because no one really called while I was asleep.

Presently, I was cursing the damn house rule as my phone rang out obnoxiously loud on my bedside table. It made me wonder why I chose such a grating message tone. I stuck my hand out of my sheets to grab my cellphone.

The illuminated numbers showed 4:52 and I threw my covers off and groaned. I woke up early recently but not this early. Flipping it open to check the messages, I almost threw my phone against the wall when I saw who it came from.

Opening it, the message read:

URGENT

...followed by an address of a nearby park. How can I ignore such an obscure message like that? For all I know he could be injured or in a life-threatening situation...should I go?

Yeah I should, I sighed.

I threw my legs out of my bed groggily, grabbed a worn pair of jeans, threw on a hoodie and slipped my shoes on before I closed the door behind me.

Outside there were a few people walking and jogging up and down the street with their dogs and whatnot. I resisted the urge to scowl as I saw that the sun was barely even out yet.

This better be good. I thought, yawning, before I jogged down the street.

Slowing down, I panted agitatedly as I neared a figure which I supposed was Atobe, lounging comfortably on a park bench with his head thrown back and his eyes closed. I stopped in front of him, glaring as hard as I was panting. Which was hard.

"That was fast," He said, lifting his head to look at me.

"What are you doing alive and breathing?" I ground out. "With a message like that you better at least have a broken limb!"

He got up and laughed lightly. "That explains why you got here so quickly. I wasn't expecting you for at least another half hour. Ore-sama is flattered that you care so much." He smirked, stretching his arms. "Since you were concerned, I'm in one piece."

Dropping myself into the bench he was just on, I looked up at him and stifled a yawn. "Not for long." I griped. "You do not send someone a message like that in the godforsaken hours of the day. I was expecting you to be on the verge of death, at the very least." I yawned again. "Now I realize that would have been preferable."

He smirked again. "Sorry to disappoint."

I frowned acutely. "Let's get to the point. Why have you awakened me from my glorious slumber in the ungodly hours of the night, or rather, morning?"

"I thought you might want to go jogging with ore-sama."

"'Thought' meaning I should go jogging with you." I deadpanned.

He smiled amusedly. "You catch on rather quickly."

Glaring, I sat up and poked him in his stomach. Even half-awake I could really appreciate his abs. "You wake me up at 4:52 in the morning to go jogging? Are you crazy, you asshole?" I could only slur the words with so much venom because I was still so sleepy.

"Humor me." He drawled, running his hand through his hair with a smirk.

"I was humoring you when I agreed to this fake-relationship. The prospect doesn't look too appealing." I stated.

He chuckled. "This is part of that. The initial deal, that is."

"Says who?"

"Nobody's said otherwise." He said matter-of-factly.

I stared at him long and hard, trying not to doze off while I was thinking. His face told me that he wasn't about to let me wander home until he got what he wanted. And I really didn't want to give him what he wanted but I really wasn't in the appropriate state to fight. "I'd argue with you but I haven't had the sustenance for any sort of mental acuity to properly function yet."

He raised his eyebrow at me. "I should take you out in the morning more often. Or stop feeding you." I rolled my eyes at him. "Get up. You're awake anyway."

Slowly and reluctantly, I pushed myself off the welcoming park bench and dragged myself towards Atobe.

There was no talking while we jogged. He stayed a good two meters away from me most of the time but checked every few minutes to see if I was still lumbering behind him. I tried to inconspicuously run away once but he noticed inhumanly fast and had his hand in my hood before I could get any distance. And needless to say, he was a lot fitter than I was because an hour later saw me ready to collapse on the grass next to the path we were on. Atobe looked back and jogged in place, looking like he was about to laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him as I leaned over, hands on my knees.

"Tired?"

Scrunching up my nose in annoyance, I gasped for air, trying to make a comeback. "I exhausted myself getting here." I managed. "Can I go home yet?"

"Already?" He drawled and I was ready to throw something at him. If only I could lift my arm.

"I think you realize that I'm not very athletic." I reasoned.

He started walking towards the bench we were at earlier. I followed after him sluggishly. "That's why you're here." For you to make fun of my lack of athleticism? I moaned internally as I watched him drag a duffel bag from underneath the bench. "And you're aware that you'll have to walk back the same way right? Ore-sama walked here as well."

I threw my head forward tiredly, letting my hair hang down around my head like a black curtain. "I'll be on my way now." I mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. From the corner of my eye I saw him extend a water bottle towards me. I took it with a grateful groan and downed half the contents in one go.

Just as I thought I was finally free to go, Atobe lowered his own water bottle from his mouth and smirked. "One more lap."

I gaped at him as he threw the bottle onto his bag and got ready to start again. "Are you trying to kill me?" Vaguely I remembered him saying something similar to that. Is this revenge? What if this is revenge for what I did to him the other day in the library? He hasn't said anything about that since then. An onslaught of thoughts about the library thing assaulted my mind and as I looked up at his face, I figured that my assumptions were pretty close to the truth.

He looked at me from the corner of his eye as he jogged past me slowly. "Not in the near future."

Looking at my water bottle, I could only gape for a few seconds before I threw the remaining ice-cold water into my face and jogged after him even more sluggishly than I had been doing earlier.

After the promised one lap, we made our way back to the bench and sat down. He looked at me amusedly before towelling his hair with a towel he got from his bag. I closed my eyes for a second when I felt the impact of something fluffy hit me square in the face. Snatching it from my face, I opened my eyes to see a towel and him repacking his bag and getting up. I looked up at him questioningly.

"Ore-sama will see you later." He said before walking off.

I looked at the towel in my hand and sighed as I covered my sweat-drenched hair with it. Good Kami, I still had school with him.

When I got home I had every intention of taking a shower and then going back to sleep since I still had a lot of time before school started but I found myself annoyingly awake and completely unable to go back to sleep.

So there I was, trudging to school at, what had become, my 'normal' time.

I just neared the entrance of the school when a stretch black limo pulled up and I looked down at my shoes, fearing that I was right about who was inside, and tried my very best to avoid looking at who was getting out of the car. Briskly walking inside, I was stopped short by someone stepping in front of me. Sad to admit, but I squeaked. Yes, squeaked. Like a rat. Oh, the trauma one jog in the middle of the morning can cause.

"Mai," It sucked that that was my name because I swore that was the worst word to here at that moment, in that voice. I sighed inwardly and raised my head to look at the most unthreatening person to ever walk the halls of the school at seven in the morning.

Not. Really, really not.

At this point I just really wanted to buy breakfast.

"Atobe," I greeted him disdainfully. Still so tired.

He looked at me for a second and I noticed the side of his mouth turn up before he turned his back to me and walked away. Vaguely, I registered he shoulders shake slightly as he leisurely walked down the hall. The bastard.

A few minutes later, all thoughts of Atobe were floating around in a dark cloud in the recesses of my mind as I pranced down the hall with my cream-filled, chocolate covered bread in hand.

With exhaustion forgotten, I happily made my way to the music room and stayed there practicing for about half an hour until I found myself in the halls again, eating another piece of bread. Halting in the hallway which led to the Student Council Room, I debated going in. After all, this could be another chance to annoy him. Or for him to annoy me.

Chewing on the inside of my cheeks I treaded carefully towards the Student Council Room.

He was there again. As I was expecting. He had his legs up on the coffee table with a bunch of files on his lap.

"Eager to see ore-sama so soon?" He intoned as I stepped into the room.

Grimacing, I took a seat in his chair and propped my head up on his desk, bread dangling from my mouth.

"Fshuhh Uff," I told him through the pastry in my mouth.

He looked from his work to find out why that sentence did not sound as intelligent as he probably expected it to sound.

On his desk, my eyes were half-closed and observing mutely. I watched as he shook his head and went back to work. "How many of those can you finish in one sitting?" He asked me absently, tossing a folder into a pile.

Swallowing the last bite, I leaned back in his comfy swivel chair. "In the morning, about six, I think."

"Impressive." He drawled amusedly. "Open the main drawer and hand me the black file, if you will."

Shrugging, I did as he asked and stood to hand him the file. I cleared a spot on the sofa in front of him and sat down. I hazarded a guess about his earlier torture as I observed him. "Does your inviting me to jog with you have anything to do with my diet and/or my eating habits?'

He set aside his work and smirked as he looked me in the eye. "Among other things."

Ah, I guess I was right earlier as well. "Revenge?"

"Among other things," he repeated mockingly in a drawl. "After all, I wouldn't want you to keel over and die during the span of our arrangement."

Scowling, I grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and hurled it at him. Again, needless to say, he dodged it with ease.

During morning break Atobe came into the classroom and sat on my desk, I looked up at him quizzically since he'd never actually gotten close in class. "What do you want?" I said quietly. Internally, I was thankful that whenever Yuushi or Atobe came, my classmates would gather themselves 'a respectable distance' away to give the royalty space. Royalty being Yuushi and/or Atobe, of course. They'd sooner step over me like a cockroach than allow me any special space.

"What's your waist line?" He asked bluntly and in all seriousness.

I stared at him from my seat disbelievingly. After a second, I straightened my book on his fingers. He scowled. "I'm not fat!" I declared as loudly as I could without the rest of the class hearing.

He gave me a look between amused and weary as he replied to me in a deadpan. "It's not that, you idiot. My mom is asking."

My eyebrows knit together in bewilderment. "Why would – " My inquiry was cut short by our teacher walking in and very meekly asking if Atobe would return to his classroom. Atobe looked at me and sighed lightly as he walked by me and fleetingly placed his hand on my shoulder.

That was strange. Considering that he was inhumanly out of character, I stared at the door he exited through with narrowed eyes for the next fifteen minutes as if I was expecting someone to walk through and tell me I was on Scare Tactics or something.

"What did you want to tell me that would not reach the ears of one Atobe Keigo, Mai-hime?" Yuushi asked me as he accompanied me back to the classroom from buying lunch.

"Seishun Gakuen." I started and his head snapped towards me. "Also known as Seigaku. I'm sure the name rings a bell." Realization dawned on his face.

"Is that where you went after school yesterday?" He asked, slightly surprised.

"Yep. And every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from now on." I informed him blithely.

He slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me towards him. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Sakaki-sensei told me about this concours and had his friend who teaches at Seigaku mentor me for it."

Yuushi looked thoughtful for a second. "Concours, huh?"

Smiling, I nodded before exclaiming, "The winner gets to perform in London, Yuushi!"

He offered me a wide smile before bringing his hand up to ruffle my hair. "You better win then, Mai-hime." He said. "On another note, I suppose you don't want the information that you're staying at Seigaku to reach Atobe." He added with a conniving smile that made me quirk an eyebrow in his direction.

Patting him on the back, I stuck my tongue out at nothing in particular. "Please. I have an irksome feeling that Atobe-sama will be very irksome about it. And the Seigaku guys are so friendly, after all."

"Oh, you've met them?"

"Yup, and somehow I can see why Tezuka is Atobe's rival of sorts."

Yuushi smirked and put his arms around me again. "Interesting arrangement you have there, Mai-hime," he drawled quietly into my ear. "Update me on any developments." He straightened up and gave me a wink after he seated himself at his desk.

"Huh?" Confusedly, I tilted my head at him but I could nothing further as the teacher had walked in. The teachers were really getting in the way of my information gathering today. Yuushi and his ploys…-sigh-

As I was on my way out, I passed Yuushi at the entrance and I stared as he winked at me. "Yuushi, where are you going?" I called after him when I noticed he was going the opposite direction from the courts.

He waved his hand at me, clutching something in between his fingers. Upon further inspection, I realized it was a bright pink envelope. I shook my head and waved him off. He'd be breaking another heart today.

Absently, I remembered that I was supposed to invite Yuushi to the first round of the concours.

When I arrived at Seigaku this time, I was thankful that I knew where I was supposed to go and I didn't have to ask anyone for directions anymore. I made it to the music rooms in one piece and practice was over before I knew it.

"Hey," I greeted Oishi as I laid my book bag on the ground next to an empty bench. He waved back politely as Eiji tackled him and waved in my direction as well.

"You didn't have any problem getting around, Takashina-san?" Fuji said, walking towards me, his racquet resting on his shoulder.

I smiled sheepishly. "Not this time."

He chuckled before sitting down next to me. "What would you like to learn today?"

I grinned. "Is it alright for you to be here? I'd hate to be a bother."

"It's not a bother," He waved his hand dismissively. "I like going through those things. It's like preparation as well. And no one's playing against me right now anyway." That last sentence was followed by a customary shiver-inducing smile to which I responded with an uneasy smile of my own.

Inside, I was rather happy he was offering because I even brought an extra notepad solely for tennis purposes. I really was more of a theoretical learner.

About fifteen minutes after Fuji sat down next to me, Echizen came around with a can of Ponta and joined Fuji in teaching me.

"It's as simple as that," Echizen said matter-of-factly for the umpteenth time. It was rather amusing to have him do this. It would seem as though he was pretty good himself. Fuji acknowledged that it would probably simple for Echizen every time the cat-eyed freshman said it.

Hearing it again, I laughed. "You're a cocky kid, aren't you?" I addressed him amusedly.

He looked surprised for a second and I was about to apologize when his mouth formed a self-satisfied smirk. "It's one of my selling points."

Smiling widely, I was about to answer when Momoshiro came up from behind and pushed down on Echizen's head. "Is that what it is?" He teased, rubbing the freshman's head with his fist.

While the two roughhoused on one side, Fuji continued with his makeshift tennis lesson. After a while the two of us heard Inui calling him on the opposite side of the courts. "Ah, Takashina-san could you hold on for a bit?"

"Sure." I shrugged.

He surprised me by suddenly catching the attention of their resident buchou. "Tezuka, could you explain this to Takashina-san?" He called and then stood up.

In my seat, I sat ramrod straight in shock as Fuji told Tezuka what the two us were talking about and the latter walked over to where Fuji was previously seated and picked the topic up. It was the first time I'd heard the guy talk so much. The entire time, I was wondering how he felt about this. He was nice enough but he struck me as more than somewhat antisocial. But he even picked up on different new moves for me.

When Fuji came back a few minutes later, Tezuka asked me if I understood it and I answered honestly enough that I did. He excused himself and went back to his earlier post. When I raised my head to follow his movement I noticed how the other Seigaku students were staring at me curiously. And some rather murderously, not unlike how the Hyotei boys' fangirls stared at me at school.

Fuji smiled widely as he sat back down. "How was Tezuka?" He asked, distracting me from observing the people around the courts.

"He was very nice," I said mildly. "He doesn't seem to like talking much, though."

Fuji chuckled. "He'll warm up to you eventually. He still won't talk much but I'm sure you'll feel more at ease around him."

I chuckled. "I rather enjoyed myself actually. I was just…surprised."

"You're eyes looked like they were about to fall out the whole time." He answered calmly with a teasing edge.

"I just didn't expect him to be so accommodating, I guess," I exhaled before laughing.

The brunette chuckled. "It's understandable. He does give out that kind of aura."

I looked at the man in question standing inside the courts. The aura was like a cloud of seriousness that could be mistaken as screaming, 'do not approach me'. My eyes drifted to the people around the court again.

"What's wrong, Takashina-san?" Fuji asked.

Shaking my head absent-mindedly, I looked around. "Do buchou's rabid fangirls bother you, Takashina-san?" Momoshiro suddenly interjected and at the term 'rabid fangirls' I resisted the sudden urge to laugh.

It was unsurprising, of course, that a guy like Tezuka had fangirls but in circumspect, it was just hard to imagine him walking around with a hoard of fangirls at his tail. He just didn't seem the type.

Atobe on the other hand…

"You have them too, huh?" I found myself saying.

Momoshiro and Fuji shared a look as they started snickering. "Yes, we do."

"It has come to my attention that I am the only person who is within four meters of you. Should I relocate?" I stated, really noticing that no one was approaching them. It was understandable at Hyotei. Practically the entire high school tennis area was closed off and strictly tennis members only. Well, except me. That would've made me feel good about myself normally, but the Seigaku fangirls kind of made me wonder about my safety. "Why are they so far away?"

"There's no need for you to move, Takashina-san." Fuji said. "They're mostly just too intimidated to come any closer."

I really didn't like dwelling so I shrugged it off at his assurance. "If you say so."

Just a tiny little sidestory…

The next day at Hyotei practice, only one thing really stood out for me.

I was walking back to my usual seat from talking to my friends through the barricades when I tripped over something that wasn't there five minutes earlier. As I picked myself up off the ground, I turned around, disoriented, to see what I had tripped over. Shockingly, it was a person. A sleeping person? Who the hell slept in a place like that?

"Oh, excuse me," I scrambled onto my knees as he stirred awake. "I'm so sorry."

He blinked up at me blearily before raising his hand and pointing at me uncomprehendingly. "Takashina Mai," I offered politely as the meaning of his look dawned on me. It probably wasn't everyday that a girl stepped on you while you were asleep in a place that practically banned girls. He probably thought I was a fangirl.

"Akutagawa Jirou," he said through a yawn, extending a hand from his position lying on the ground. I took it confusedly and once I released it, he placed both his hands behind his head and was fast asleep.

Blinking slowly, I was about to get up when his eyes shot open again. I paused, surprised. "You're Atobe's girlfriend?" he asked. I twitched but nodded, nonetheless. "Oh." He intoned with a yawn and was unconscious again within seconds.

Once I was standing, I looked down at him with a perplexed expression on my face before I shook my head and stepped over him, strolling back to my usual bench.

This team is just full of weirdos.

I hope you enjoyed! I'm sorry I'm a week late in updating, I fully intended on posting this last Saturday but something came up all of a sudden.

Thank for all the wonderful reviews and all my awesome reviewers. I love reading them so keep them coming!

Anyway...Tell me what you think! Read and Review, please!