CHAPTER 84

Ryoma had caught Mitsu from the corner of his eye and froze. The other was coming this way and he had no idea what to do. He turned the opposite way pretending that he didn't see the captain. That was until he heard his voice right behind him.

"Ryoma." Mitsu watched as the boy's shoulders tensed. He narrowed his eyes. 'Something's not right...' "Ryoma, look at me." The cat slowly turned, but kept his head to the floor. Crouching down the Seigaku captain was about to touch the boy's face, but Ryoma flinched away when he saw the hand not wanting any contact. Mitsu clenched his teeth and sighed though his nose. "What did Kei say to you?" The cat still keeping his eyes to the ground answered in a quiet voice.

"He said nothing... Tezuka." Ryoma felt guilt course though him. For a split second he looked into the others eye and could see the hurt in them, the cat had an uneasy feeling set in his stomach. It was like someone had force something down his throat. He felt like he was going to be sick. Ryoma just wanted to get away from the other. "I'm going to join the others." He pointed to the regulars who had stopped to see what was going on between them. With that Ryoma ran towards Momo as Mitsu called for everyone to do 50 laps.

Syu was watching as Keigo panicked. They had watch from round the corner the interaction between the two and the Hyotei captain was mentally banging his head against a brick wall. Muttering about the boy not acting like his normal self at all. "Ah, all that brat had to do was pretend I didn't say anything about Mitsu loving him."

"So that's what happened." Kei squeaked as he heard the familiar voice. "I was wondering why he wasn't making eye contact." He looked away from Syu and glanced round the corner to see Mitsu leaning against the wall.

"Mitsu, I'm sorry. It kind of came out by accident." Pushing himself off the wall he went out of site from the regulars and slowly approached Keigo making the other slowly back away. When the Hyotei captain felt his back hit a wall he knew there was no escape now.

Mitsu placed both his hand on either side of Keigo's head. "Why are you acting scared? Do you really think I would do something to you?" He spoke softly to the other. Mitsu could tell that Keigo thought he was probably angry at him. "You know. I'm not mad at you." He watched as the others posture seemed to relax more. "I'm just annoyed and hurt." Kei felt the Seigaku captain lean forward and rest his head on his shoulder. "I just wished you didn't tell him."

The other knew Mitsu meant the words he said. Kei felt upset himself. It really was a slip of the tongue. Taking in a deep breath the Hyotei student felt Mitsu move his head again. Opening his eyes he was met with a face that showed a slight pained smile. "Mitsu, really. If I could, I would change what I said." He felt lips on his and let out a sigh of relief. It was an innocent kiss. No tongues, just lips against lips and from that action alone Keigo knew that he was forgiven. As they broke apart Mitsu spoke quietly.

"Kei, I need you to take Ryoma home. I know he'll just feel more awkward the longer he stays." Mitsu watched as Keigo nodded in agreement. "I'll sort this out later, so stop worrying."

Syu watched from the side smiling. He had to admit Mitsu was really trying his hardest to make this relationship work no matter what. He just hoped Ryoma would start talking to the Seigaku captain properly and without so much formality. He didn't like seeing the look on Mitsu's face when the boy had called him Tezuka.

Sumire was sitting in the tennis club room when her granddaughter and Tomoko came in. The older Ryuzaki looked up only to see Sakuno with a blush and the girl's best friend stomping her foot in annoyance. "Something wrong?" The teacher asked as she marks some school work. She hated the marking. It took up most of her spare time. Then again, she had to admit that if she didn't hand out so much she wouldn't get to see the look of despair on her students faces when she gave it out in the first place. That was the fun part. Knowing she had just ruined their weekend. That in itself brought much amusement to her everyday life.

"Yes. That Atobe won't leave us alone with Ryoma-Sama." She huffed and turned her nose up. "I don't understand why our prince would even want to hang round with someone as arrogant as him." Sumire sighed. She knew her granddaughter had a crush on the cat and that Tomoko admired the boy, but both had to know that Ryoma wasn't someone who could trust so easily. Knowing she might of regret this she asked them anyway.

"I'm going to go visit a friend of mine and stay there for dinner. He's Ryoma's guardian at the moment. So would you two like to come?" Hearing a yes from the louder of the two and a nod from Sakuno, Sumire hoped that when they see how the boy lives they might back off a little.

After all Tomo had told her about a certain relationship that was happening between five of them. She could only hope the five could help Ryoma more than the adults involved ever did. Fuji, Tezuka, Yukimura, Sanada and Atobe were the ones she was betting on for winning the boy's heart. Not like there was too much of a competition. For the last few days she had noticed Ryoma and Kunimitsu getting even more closer than they already were. She would admit that even if the relationship between six seemed odd, the cat would most likely feel the most normal in something that wasn't what everyone else wanted and would except.

She had also heard from a certain best friend of her granddaughters what kind of relationship Sakuno wanted with the boy. She knew that would never work out. She could not imagine Ryoma going to work everyday. She could not imagine the boy ever wanting children and she could never imagine that it would ever be enough for the boy either. Ryoma had the right to see the world and shouldn't be held down in one spot because others thought he should. With a sigh she told the girls to go home and that she would pick them up later.

It was finally morning in England. The alarm in Shan's room went off at 7am. A single arm stuck out from under the covers as it searched blindly for the noise that had woken him. He was tired and he was in a bad mood from not getting enough sleep. What made it worse was that he had to go make another appointment to go see Senichi. He laid there for 10 minutes debating whether to just go back to sleep knowing that one of the old men will wake him up a little later or just to get up now so he could have a nice long shower.

Liking the idea of a shower he sluggishly swung his legs out from under the cover and over the edge of the bed. Sitting up with a stretch of his arms he scratched the top of his head as he wondered to the connected door of his bedroom which lead to the bathroom.

Considering how late both Emon and Kazu went to bed they were already sitting down at the small table in the lounge having some coffee. When they saw Shan emerge from his room they both greeted with a good morning only to get a grunt in return as he stumbled to the kitchen to grab his own cup of coffee. He didn't notice that his wallet had slipped out of his pocket on his way only for Emon to pick it up.

The wallet had opened up to revile a small photo of four people. Two were obvious. One was of a younger Shan and about a three year old Seiichi. It was the other two that got to the elder the most. They looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen them. It was then Shan had reappeared.

"What are you doing?" Emon looked to the other and could see grief clearly written across his face. "Can I have it back?" He held his hand out and waited for the other to place the object in his hand.

"Shan, who are these two?" He pointed to the other man who looked around the same age as Shan and a one year old who was clinging onto Seiichi's waist. Letting out a sigh Shan thought it was time to tell the whole truth. For him keeping secrets was getting painful.

"The other two are Nanjiro and Ryoma Echizen." Kazu chocked on his coffee and Emon just froze on the spot.