Disclaimer: Still doesn't belong to me. :D

Warning: Grammar/spelling mistakes, missing words/letters. Characters are probably going to be OOC. Possible yaoi in the future, bad language and maybe fights and blood.

I Cry For The Last Time

Chapter Twelve: I Kind Of Love You.

He didn't know what was happening anymore.

Ryoma's mind had stopped working the moment Keigo's, a man's, lips had settled on top of his own, planting a warm and gentle kiss on them. For whatever reason, he was being kissed right now. In front of all these people, in front of those that loathed him and tried to make his life in Japan miserable… he was being kissed in front of all of them.

Questions like 'why?', 'what is going on?', 'is that really Keigo?' and 'why me?' ran around his head. Ryoma wasn't sure what had happened, he wasn't sure if that was even for real. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his hands to push Keigo off of him, away.

But his hands didn't move. And he didn't even hate it. He liked it, even. Why? He didn't like men; at least that was what he had thought until now. So why, why couldn't he hate Keigo for doing this? Why couldn't he break free from the light hold that Keigo had on him.

Something that had been sleeping inside of him woke up. A feeling he couldn't name. A feeling that felt so foreign to Ryoma.

The golden, widened eyes looked into the half-lidded, dark blue ones. A silent plea passed thought them, but Keigo only tightened his hold on Ryoma's waist. For whatever reason he was doing this, he will do it until the end, it seemed.

When they broke free, the rich diva smirked and glanced at Tezuka from the corner of his eye. "Tezuka, I have more money than I need and even if he paid me with his body, I would not step as low as accept one's offers of whoring oneself out." He smirked, "Like I said already, he is my lover."

Keigo brought Ryoma closer to himself, the younger stumbling a bit and falling into Keigo's chest, face hidden from the curious glances that were on him. Somehow, Ryoma was thankful that Keigo pulled him so close, but, at the same time, he didn't like it, being so close to someone that was lying about their relationship without his agreement. Without thinking about Ryoma's feelings.

"Bullshit." Momo said, walking out from behind Tezuka. "He hasn't been in Japan for over five years and has been here for what, two weeks? There is no way that you have become so close." He pointed at Ryoma, eyes burning with hate towards the male that he used to call his 'best friend' once. "He rejected you, I know. I heard. "

Ryoma's fingers reflexively clutched onto Keigo's light purple dress shirt. He was well aware that Momo had never thought of him the way that he did for the elder, but… It still hurt to hear those things said about him.

And then, he had told Momo himself. All about Keigo confessing and him rejecting the elder, he had told him all, thinking that he is his friend. Someone he was able to trust without any shred of doubt.

"Who said that we started to date in the last two weeks, or those five years, haah?" there was some sort of eerie amusement in Keigo's voice when he said that. Ryoma could fell the rich man's chest vibrating as he laughed under his cheek. "Even before all this… we were one already. I confessed again, before the Nationals started and this time, I was awarded with fruits of success."

Another silence filled the room.

Akutsu tried to move forward, already opening his mouth to protests to all this madness, when Marui's hand covered it. The delinquent glared at his boy toy, but not with hate. Confusion was coloring his eyes. The red-head merely shook his head and silently begged for his boyfriend to calm down.

"Lies." Fuji hissed, even if he did that very rarely. "Echizen was too dense to realize what affection and love even is. And to think that you are trying to make us believe in that…. Just look at him! He's just as confused as we are." The blue-eyed tensai waved his hand in Ryoma's direction and turned half-way to face Tezuka.

"I just wasn't informed that he will be doing this." Ryoma pushed himself off from Keigo's chest and faced the crowd, his emotions and fear and confusion sealed away for the time being, a fake, trained smirk on his lips, "You would have been surprised too, if your lover would suddenly do this…. Even after insisting on keeping this all a secret for all this time." He bent down to pick up his hat, placing it back on his head and tilting it a bit on the side.

Keigo widened his smirk. "So he says."

Yukimura, looking really amused right now, clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, alright. This isn't the right place for this. Although, I would not mind knowing the full story behind all of this mess." He smiled, as if saying that this situation was something so usual, that it wasn't worth the attention it was getting right now.

"But, Yukimura…" Sanada scowled, throwing a quick glance at Tezuka, "This needs to be resolved at some…" he didn't get to finish what he wanted to say, one look from his best friend shut him up.

"There are better places and a better timing for these lowly fights where certain people only know how to play dirty." Yukimura smiled at Tezuka and then faced Keigo, "I hope you understand what I mean by that, Atobe?"

The two, the Child of God and the King, had become quite good friends over those years, both ending in the same learning facilities and finding the same interests, besides tennis, in common after the first few talks during lesson time. Also, both refused to believe the rumors and facts that were flying around about the whole Nationals incident, choosing to stay and watch from the sidelines first. But Yukimura knew all along that Keigo would stand by Ryoma, no matter what the truth may be. His feelings wouldn't let him do the other way around.

Keigo placed some of the loose strands of his hair behind his ear and then grabbed Ryoma by his left wrist. "But of course, Yukimura. Let us meet sometime soon again, in a more… Civilized situation. I shall bring Ryoma with me, so that he could be a part of our conversation."

"Like I said, I would like to hear more about the situation, but not here." The blue-haired man now allowed his eyes to settle on Ryoma, trying to send the other something though look alone.

The young male didn't have the time to answer with anything to Yukimura, his hand was pulled, making him follow Keigo out of the room and the small circle of people that had gathered around them, to watch the whole thing progress and turn into a verbal fight. Or maybe even more than that.

Ryoma was glad; he will get out of here now. Finally.

Akutsu could feel Marui clinging to his arm and sighed. "We're going too. The ass in the glasses and all his puppy dogs – next time, I will bash your faces in. And I won't give a fuck about the consequences." He glared at Tezuka, not caring about the murderous look that was directed at him from Momoshiro.

He wrapped his right arm around Marui's shoulders and started to steer the red-head away from the bunch of lying pack of wolves that only knew how to use people for their own good. Akutsu did wave his farewells to those few that actually thought with their own head and brain, the few people that weren't brainwashed by Tezuka's goody-two-shoes act.

"He won't be showing up tomorrow." Akutsu reminded Yukimura as matter of fact, nodding at Marui with his head, and then flipped off Tezuka. Just because.

Yukimura merely smiled back and titled his head on one side. "Yes, I already thought he wouldn't. Have a good night then." He then turned to face Sanada, "We will have to talk, Genichirou. Later."

"What the hell did you do? Why the hell did you do that?" Ryoma quietly asked Keigo. His head was bent back against the headrest, face covered with his cold, sweaty palms. "Why the hell did you fucking did that? And why the hell did I even play along?" it was as if, he was close to crying.

"I got you out of there, did I not?" Keigo shot back at the man that was in his car's passenger's seat, "Now, they will not have all the freedom to act the way they want to." as he said that, Keigo made the car turn and then drive faster.

There was a sound that weakly resembled a laugh that came out of Ryoma's mouth. "Freedom.. act… Bullshit. They will do even more crap now! Because, after all, I seem to be sleeping with you now!" The last part Ryoma half-yelled and flailed his hand in his "lover's" direction.

"So? For your information, not all have this magnificent chance to say that they do." The rich man merely smirked back and drove past the other drivers on the road. He never did like to follow all the traffic rules anyway.

The other didn't reply to that, only silence was left as an answer to Keigo, something that could be interpreted in so many different ways and possibilities. An answer, that wasn't really an answer at all. For everything that had happened, silence wasn't the best of choices, too much could be misunderstood and not said.

"I don't need more people coming after me because you felt like toying with me a little." The golden-eyed man finally quietly said, his eyes wide and the pupils shrunken a little, making him look mad, "Just because I turned you down that…."

"It's not because of that!" the purple-haired man interrupted Ryoma, suddenly stopping the car at the side of the road. The honking of other drivers made this annoying ringing in his ears worsen, his knuckles turning white while his fingers clutched around the steering wheel. "I would never use such method just to-"

"Bullshit, Atobe!" Ryoma no longer tried to control all the emotions raging inside of him, they had just suddenly taken over his whole being, clouded his mind and started to rampage over all those painful memories that tied him to this country and these people. "I rejected you! I was the one that broke your heart then, we both know it too damn well! And besides that, what could you get by helping me, of all people!" Ryoma's breath came out in short puffs, hands shaking so hard it was impossible to hide it now, "I'm just an asshole that doesn't deserve your help…." He finally quietly said.

There was this expression on Keigo's face for a second, Ryoma couldn't quiet name it, since so much was now show on the elder's face. It was like a puzzle – so many pieces from everything thrown together and now trying to find their rightful place on the board.

But one Ryoma knew for sure – the man sitting in front of him had a wound as painful and fresh as his own.

Keigo took a shaky breath and calmed himself down. "I could never do that to you, even if it still hurts. I am not such a.. Such a low life that would use you in your most painful moment and then just laugh at your suffering. I am not like them!" he reached forward to cup Ryoma's face in his hands, but the younger male flinched away from the warm fingers that had just stroked his skin, "I love you. Even after all this time, I still cannot let you go, Echizen."

Ryoma tried to get away from the hands that were slowly being placed on his cheeks. It was the first time in such a long time that he had felt human warmth, kind human warmth on his skin. Not the kind that Akutsu could give or his parents were able to send him. It was human warmth of someone who loved him, who thought of him in a way that made his body remember the betrayal it once had experienced. Ryoma' mind shouted for an escape from this, for an escape from Keigo.

From the suffering that might follow.

"Don't run anymore, Ryoma. I will protect you; make sure nothing happens to you. I will make you forget about everything." Keigo whispered as his palms were finally cupping Ryoma's cold face in them. He smiled a weak smile when Ryoma's fingers shakily touched his own.

The tears that had been held in for so long started to slide down Ryoma's pale face as he tried to calm down. "I… I don't know what I feel towards you, just like before. I don't know. But, I… I trust you, at least. I…" Ryoma weakly held on to Keigo's warm fingers on his face, "I don't deserve your love, I am not who you need…"

"Fool." A laugh followed after that word out of Keigo's mouth, "We do not chose whether one is worthy of our love or not. We just love, purely and simply – love. There is nothing more to it. The past, the present and even the future doesn't count." He, Keigo, pulled Ryoma a bit closer to himself, "Thank you, for trusting me."

Ryoma closed his eyes when Keigo leaned closer to him. He could feel the warm lips once again descending on his own, but this time, the warmth slowly spread from that one spot to over his whole body. Slowly, it started to tingle in his fingertips and the salty taste from his tears disappeared. It was like, only he and Keigo were left in this world, all alone and safe.

Just them.

It was the second kiss that they shared that day. It was more real and more… kiss-like. It was special this time, not a way to spite those that were around them, not a way to get the other to be his. It was kiss to show the affections that were between the two, the feelings that had long ago started to spin invisible red strings of fate between them.

Keigo pulled back from Ryoma, his blue eyes searching Ryoma's face for something, anything.

"I… I don't like you, Keigo. Not like that. Not yet." Ryoma said, his hands falling down next to his sides, "But, I feel something for you, I just don't know what. I…." Ryoma got mixed up in his own words. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it meant that Ryoma was having a hard time getting his head over everything that was happening.

Keigo smiled, it wasn't a smirk like he would have done if it were any other person in front of him. But this was Ryoma, the boy he had loved since the times he was in middle school, since that one match on the training camp. "That just means, that I am halfway there already." He simply said.

"Shut up." The shorter mumbled and wiped away the tears that still were lingering on his face, "Take your hands off, they're in the way." There was a weak blush painting his cheeks when he said that.

The purple-haired man removed his hands, but instead, leaned his face close to Ryoma's again. "Just one more time. To make sure." After those words, he kissed the blushing man again, this time deepening the kiss more.

It was the start of something magical for hose two.

A/N: next chapter will have more action. Action. More of it. :D

I… I am so sorry for not being so active anymore. I have school and I have to get my driver's license now too, so… Too much to do and no time to do it. (x.x) But, I will try to update lots - all my stories and maybe even make a oneshot or two if I get ideas.

Thank you for all the Ryoma/Keigo love and Tezuka hate that you left! I felt warm and fuzzy while reading that you love my creation! I love you people! O

P.S. Do you want an Akutsu/Marui sex scene in the next chapter? I was thinking about it, but I am worried that it will scare you people. .

And, is it 'older's' or 'elder's'? I never quite got this. My spell-check says 'elder's', what about you?

I am still sorry about the lateness and stuff… And the randomness too. And shortness and everything else that there is to it.