"What's all the commotion?" Gakuto stopped a classmate to ask.
He was with the rest of the regulars, walking to practice and talking about the latest Spider-Man movie when students were crowded around the front.
"This one man managed to chat up Kobayashi-sensei, Rin-sensei and even Saotome-sensei, and they all fell for it!" A boy said. His proclamation surprised the boys, because those three female teachers were some of the most serious, deathly scary, never-for-a-moment-smiling dragon ladies.
A girl classmate ran opposite the crowd and clapped her hands together.
"He's movie-star handsome!" She exclaimed, "And he started talking to me about being in a movie, I could be famous!"
The girl pulled her boy friend to the crowd, and Oshitari looked around.
"It's about time we find Hitomi." He mentioned.
Shishido knew then exactly what was happening, "Che, not a coincidence then, is it?"
"What are you talking about, Shishido-san?" Ootori asked as the third year members tensed.
"That guy is Hitomi's dad." Gakuto said.
Jirou's hands went from behind his head to his sides, "Is it really him?"
"Ito is one of the biggest shadow names in Japanese entertainment." Oshitari explained vaguely.
Hiyoshi blinked at the two different statements. The only thing connecting them was...
"Her love of acting came from watching her father work in his field of business- producing the talent that Japan comes up with." Atobe connected the dots for the younger regulars, "Ito is referred to as a shadow name because he works behind the scenes. While the general public may not know his name, such as ore-sama's, the successful people do, which is more than sufficient in the business world."
The man was clearly looking for Hitomi, and even got the teachers to begin searching for her. All it took was a charismatic smile and a flippant compliment. When he spotted the group that Hitomi frequented, however, he headed their way.
"We've gotta find Hitomi before he does!" Gakuto hissed over to his friends.
"That would be leading him to her." Oshitari quickly advised against it.
"We'll head into the student council room," Atobe said, making his way around the corner, "Ore-sama would like a bit more information on that man, anyway."
Kabaji opened the door for Atobe when they reached the room, and Atobe's brow rose out of surprise and irritation. He was quick to hide his irritation when he found Suzuki standing at the door way with wide eyes, and Hitomi just as doe eyed while she sat on the couch.
"Ah~n? What are you two intruders doing here?"
"Hitomi!" Gakuto expressed concern immediately.
Now what would happen if Hitomi's father followed them?!
"Suzuki-chan? Why're you hiding here?" Jirou asked, "Helping Hitomi-chan out?"
Suzuki nodded shyly, and quickly retreated to stand beside Hitomi. Hitomi managed to stand up, holding her crutches in one hand, and clenched her jaw.
"Sorry... Is-" She couldn't believe what she was doing as they all entered the room, but she was desperate at this point, "Is it alright if we stay here, Atobe?"
Kabaji closed the door, and Atobe sat on the edge of the long council table, crossed his arms and gave one nod, not bothering to use his voice.
They were all alerted to the sound of her father's voice, and his silhouette appeared on the window.
"I'm sure after Ito-chan's fall her friends would be asking for an escort service in the student council room." One of their senseis said.
The doorknob fiddled after being held, "Ah~, but it's been a while since the end of school, yes?" That was her father.
"Saotome-sensei, Ito-sama, I usually see Hitomi-chan walking to the tennis courts at this time. One of her friends usually takes her home, and I think this time they insisted because they heard of her fall."
"Hn," The doorknob stopped moving, meaning that Hitomi's father had turned away, "That's very reasonable. May I ask who this lovely young lady is?"
"My name is Katanawa Michiko, Ito-sama. It's a pleasure to meet someone of your stature."
"The pleasure is mine, I'm delighted to find that my daughter is around pleasant company. Now, my ladies, shall we head to the tennis courts?"
"Of course, Ito-sama!"
"Right this way, Ito-san!"
Hearing the conversation between the adults reminded Jirou of how fangirls would react whenever Atobe was around. Atobe would say something so charming that girls would fall over themselves to please him; and piecing that information together suddenly made realization dawn on all of them. Why Hitomi held such spontaneous disdain for Atobe and why she refused to have anything to do with him, although her own thoughts clearly contradicted her actions. Hitomi didn't hate Atobe at all. She hated the fact that he reminded her of her father. Atobe reminded her of the side that ended up being a lie, a lie that made the truth much more painfully blatant in her life.
The door opened, and Katanawa sighed in relief, tucking the loose strands of her purple hair behind her ear.
"You're lucky I saw you all come in here before they did. You should go before he comes back."
Hitomi looked down at her shaky hands as she crutched out. She noticed Atobe making room for her as he slid his feet nearer himself, and she remembered what Suzuki said about him being someone she could rely on.
"Thank you, Atobe. I..."
She stopped in front of him, and made sure to make eye contact. As many differences as they had before, she honestly couldn't be more thankful for his understanding.
"Thanks."
Why would he even go out of his way for her? A girl that hated him, despised him but clearly looked up to him. He covered for her when she needed it, though she clearly refused the help. The support of it all, though, from her friends, from him, gave her a sense of security that she hadn't recognized before. She always hated running away from her problems, after all.
"H-Hitomi-chan, we should hurry because Katanawa-chan's d-driver is waiting in the car." Suzuki mentioned.
Hitomi broke away from Atobe's eyes, and with a newly found sense of determination managed to smile, "I'll be going home with my father, Suzuki. Michiko, thanks for the offer but I can't accept."
"You can't!" Katanawa exclaimed, "After what I just stepped into, you were scared out of your mind! I won't let you go back home to something like that."
"It'll be worse if I don't come home tonight. The more flattery he gives the more anger he hides..." She replied, "Besides, you're all here for me anyway."
Hitomi left her friends in the council room, and Katanawa would have stopped Hitomi had it not been for Shishido stopping her.
"Che, let her go. She doesn't need anyone meddling or else it'll be worse." Shishido said.
Katanawa frowned, "How did you guys even find out?"
"Michiko-san, you knew?" Ootori asked the purple haired girl.
She nodded, "I found out when I overheard Suzuki-chan and Hitomi-chan talking about it at a store."
"Knowing you, you made a big deal about it." Shishido muttered, crossing his arms.
Katanawa glared at the capped boy, "Shut up!"
"We found out because we saw her hurt one day." Hiyoshi cut in before the two began fighting. They already fought over Ootori's free time (and how it should be spent), may as well not make them fight over Hitomi either.
Katanawa pointed at Oshitari, "But you knew already."
Oshitari nodded.
"So... How?" Katanawa repeated when she noticed that Oshitari wouldn't speak further.
"There was a time last year when the two of us were gone for a week." He began.
Jirou laid down on the couch and yawned, "That was right before everyone started making up rumors about you two, huh?"
"After one of our tournaments I decided to visit her street matches; she wasn't there. By the time I found her Sai had done a poor job of cleaning her up. Of course, what with me having seen my father work I was able to be of better assistance."
"And she just told you?" Shishido scoffed, "Hard to believe."
"It didn't take much considering that the marks on her face explained it all." Oshitari leaned back into a chair, "I lied to the hospital as we carried her into the emergency room. I told them she'd fallen and landed head first down two flights of stairs, that broken shards of glass sliced up her arms on the way down and those marks on her back that looked as thick as a belt had been from the stairs' wooden edges as she tumbled."
He let that information sink in before he added, "She never told me one thing about it. I assumed correctly, is all. Her father works very hard for his money though, she told me that much. She also told me that he's a good man- that if there was good in a narcissistic show-off then there was still hope for him."
"Are you implying something, Yuushi?" Atobe shifted on his feet, convincing himself that it wasn't Oshitari's pointed stare that had made him feel uncomfortable, but that the lengthy explanation was troublesome and his feet were getting tired.
"She has hope because of what she sees. In my opinion, optimism could never be as deadly as it is in this case."
"Yea well no one asked for your opinion." Gakuto scoffed off.
Oshitari dismissed him readily, "If I recall correctly no one asked for your involvement."
"Okay, okay. It's safe to say you all care about her, and obviously she's grateful that you guys are willing to be there for her." Katanawa sighed. Boys could be so immature.
"If-if I may..." Suzuki shyly pointed out, "Hitomi-chan feels like she's a burden if she reveals that she can't handle this herself. She also feels guilty that she let everyone here be a part of this, a-and that it's her fault about her father."
"That's obviously not the case. For now, there are other matters to tend to." Atobe stood up straighter and began walking out the door, "215 tennis members are waiting for ore-sama's instruction, na, Kabaji?"
"Usu."
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the PoT manga/anime.