"Oh! King-chan, I didn't know Mi-chan invited you tonight!" Kamiko excitedly beamed at Hitomi, and Hitomi crossed her arms.

"I thought it would be best if Atobe came."

The gears in Kamiko's head were turning at a pace that Hitomi could tell might have been unsafe. There was a suspicious little slyness in the Echizen's behavior all of a sudden, "I don't mind, does King-chan mind being here?"

"Ore-sama has no qualms about being present during one of your matches, little peasant. Hopefully there's something interesting enough to catch my wonderful eye, ne?" Atobe smirked upon seeing Kamiko's reaction- a giggle and a reassuring nod before she skipped away to the match at hand.

Hitomi rolled her eyes, "Your behavior is about as insufferable as ever."

"Much like the presence of your problems."

His dig at her was enough to make Hitomi shut up, though she would have replied if Kamiko and Otagaki hadn't started fighting verbally rather than through tennis.

"Hey!" Hitomi's anger flared, and in a moment she was standing in front of Kamiko and looking up at Otagaki, "Step away from her, Otagaki."

Otagaki merely grinned, obviously not as intimidated by Hitomi as others were.

"Or what?" He asked, leaning down so his eyes were level with her glare. The amused grin he possessed caused Hitomi's eyes to narrow further.

"He seems like a fitting opponent. Ore-sama supposes he should have a go at this street match."

"What?"

Every head turned towards Atobe, and with all the attention on him Atobe smirked. Hitomi noted how it looked like he actually enjoyed the attention itself.

'Knowing him, he probably actually does enjoy this!' She thought. She tried to voice out something rational, "You shouldn't-"

"Ore-sama can handle a match against a cowardly opponent."

"Cowardly?"

That alone was enough to piss off Otagaki.

"Tch, I'll take this arrogant friend of yours down free of charge to you, little miss queen bee." Otagaki moved to stand at the other side of the court, but was stopped when a hand came upon his shoulder.

"You've had your fun, Otagaki. Why don't you let a few of us back you up now?" The boy standing next to Otagaki towered over him, a sly smile on his face while dark eyes shone dangerously towards the three middle schoolers, pushing his thin-rimmed glasses up his nose. He moved his ruffled brown hair out of his left eye and held a hand out to Atobe.

"I'll be your opponent this time." He said, "And if you're anything like the little queen bee, then this should be a good match."

"But-" Hitomi was interrupted by Atobe; she hadn't meant to stop talking when he held his hand up for her to stop speaking, but for some odd reason she had listened to his actions.

Atobe smirked as he shook the hand held out to him, "Ahn~? She's not even number one in our rankings."

"Atobe!" Hitomi glared at Atobe this time.

The boy beside Otagaki chuckled, "Then I suppose you're the number one there. Well, this will be an interesting match indeed." They each walked to their respective ends of the court.

"Atobe, please, you can't be serious." Hitomi tried to reason.

Even Kamiko was a bit hesitant, "I was excited that Mi-chan and I had someone like you to be here, King-chan. But this opponent is leagues above Otagaki."

"And we are leagues above that obnoxious player as well." Atobe countered, "By that logic, ore-sama is already good enough to beat him."

Hitomi stood in front of Atobe, looking him straight in the eye, "He's Kenji's right hand man, Keigo. He was there when Kenji came that one day..."

"All the more reason ore-sama should have a chance to play." Atobe was flippant about the situation, it seemed. But Hitomi knew better than to fall for that facade he played. Atobe had remembered the faces of Kenji's team, and he wanted to play against them. He probably wanted to play against the boy in front of them more now that he knew this was Kenji's right hand man!

"His name is Marc." Kamiko informed when she realized that Atobe was serious about playing, "But anyway, King-chan, good luck.

When Kamiko's words became joyous the whole arena of people seemed to lift up in spirits. So much so that Kamiko found herself becoming excited and happy, though usually she would be downright anxious and uncharacteristically frightened for Atobe.

"Wow, King-chan, you're really gonna play!" Kamiko was excited to see how a game like this would play out. Oh if only Fuji were here to enjoy the chaos and reactions that would ensue. Actually... "Ah! Mi-chan, I have to call someone really quick but I'll be right back to watch King-chan play! Cheer for him!"

Kamiko waved and skipped out, and Hitomi watched as Kamiko's skipping stride was bubblier than usual.

'I'll have to ask later,' She thought, 'For now... I need to focus on what's at hand.'

"Be careful." They were the only words Hitomi could find that were appropriate to say. Anything other than that just seemed... Unnecessary.

Atobe, however, just thought of good lucks and well wishes as a way of telling someone that they can't rely on their own skill or strength.

"Ore-sama knows his own strengths and weaknesses and can accommodate as needed." He said flippantly as he inspected the racquet he played with. It was the same brand as his own, and he adjusted to the grip well enough.

A hand on his arm stopped Atobe from proceeding to the center of the baseline.

"Keigo," Hitomi looked up at him, eyes completely serious and, Atobe could barely catch it, worried, "Please be careful. You've seen how Kenji is. Their tennis isn't any better. They play dirty, and they like being ruthless about it."

If this had been any other time Atobe would have teased Hitomi. He would have said something along the lines of: 'Ahn~? So it seems ore-sama's charm has finally reached out to you?' Or even, 'Ore-sama didn't think you cared so much about his wellbeing, are you reverting back to your second year self?'

Instead, Atobe could hear the brevity of the situation in her voice. Her tone sincere and she was obviously anxious that there was a possibility of him getting hurt. Despite the fact that he was in danger, he couldn't help but smile. The fact that she cared enough to sincerely worry about him showed just how much progress their friendship had made.

"There's nothing to worry about." He assured her, and Hitomi stepped back, eyes narrowed at the match that was about to start.

How could things have gotten this far? To the point where even Atobe had to step in? And where the hell was Lily, the new leader, during all of this?

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.