"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."

~ James Arthur Baldwin; American essayist, playwright, and novelist; 1924-1987

"I'm lost in the middle of my birthday. I want my friends, their touch, and the earth's last love. I will take life's final offering; I will take the last human blessing."

~ Rabindranath Tagore; Indian poet, playwright, and essayist; winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature; 1861-1941

Masquerade

Springtime had arrived once more in Japan, and for a great majority of students in various levels and schools, it meant the beginning of another school year. The delicate fragrance of cherry blossoms heralded the beginning of new things: new lessons, new friendships, and for some, perhaps, new loves.

For the students of Hyotei, it was all this and more. A lot of them had come back from vacations in various corners of the globe, and all were eager to share their stories about what they had been up to over the vacation. Some told tales of winters spent in the Swiss Alps skiing and snowboarding. Others spoke of hot dusty days spent in a jeep underneath the shadow of Kilimanjaro. A greater majority spoke of long, lazy days spent on the sands of some idyllic tropical beach, working on a tan that they were very much proud of. There were a few who spoke of wonderful days spent wandering the streets of Paris or Milan or London; some even bragged about having seen the massive rainforests in Brazil and the mysterious ruins in Mexico, or perhaps having wandered through Angkor Wat or made the pilgrimage up the steps of Borobudur, or marveled at the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Mukahi Gakuto, senior high sophomore, had come to school with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. His family had vacationed in New Zealand, and he had had a wonderful time, because New Zealand was the home of bungee-jumping, and if there was anything that he loved as much as tennis, then it was that.

He glanced up at the blossoming cherry trees that lined the main walkway to the front gate of the campus, and he sighed with delight. It had been an excellent vacation, true, but it was good to be back home, with familiar sights and sounds all around him, and even more familiar people to whom he could talk to about his adventures. He was quite sure that his friends would have their own stories to tell, and he could hardly wait to hear them.

He entered the rather crowded locker hall, which was swarming with people, making it difficult for him to get through – particularly because he was rather short. What made it even more difficult was the fact that the senior high freshmen were running around all over the place, with neither regard nor consideration for the other people around them who might be trying to get to their lockers before the first bell rang.

    "Stupid ichinen," Gakuto grumbled under his breath. While overall he liked the first day of school, it was this crush of people that he hated the most about this day. It always meant tripping over someone's feet or knocking elbows with other people, and given the fact that he had not grown much at all since his junior high days, it meant a lot of ducking and dodging in order to get through unscathed and with his uniform still in order.

He managed to reach his locker mostly undamaged, and he sighed in relief. He could stand here and take his time in getting his things out before the bell rang, and he could avoid going through this mass of people. As he reached out to pull his locker open, however, he felt someone pelt into him from behind, heading for the locker next to his, but somehow managing to collide with his elbow.

    "Itai!" The contact had made electricity shoot up his arm, and it was not a very pleasant feeling at all. Moreover, Gakuto had already had more than his own fair share of getting run into or tripped over for the morning, and he was just about ready to snap. He whirled around to face whoever it was who had so rudely run into him, a tirade already dancing on the tip of his tongue, waiting to be unleashed.

    "Oh dear, please forgive me, sir. I truly did not mean to run into you. Dear me, I have quite forgotten how it is here on the first day of school…"

Gakuto stopped short at the sound of that voice. It was a very familiar one, albeit one that he had not heard for an entire year – apart from the fact that said person spoke English with a slight British accent.

There could only be one person.

    "-chan?"

The girl who had bumped into him suddenly looked up, surprised, perhaps, to hear her name, and blinked, stopping midway through a curtsey. At length, she said, in a soft, somewhat stunned voice: "Mukahi-san?"

Instantly, Gakuto's anger and annoyance were forgotten as an immense grin split his face. He reached over, and pulled the girl into an embrace. "-chan! You're back!"

burst out laughing as well, and returned Gakuto's hug. "Hai, Mukahi-san. I'm back."

    "Don't call me that! Call me Gakuto-kun!" Gakuto moved back, and looked into the pleasant, smiling face of his old friend, . The two of them had known each other since they were in grade school, having met each other in a Hyotei classroom in elementary. There were times when they were classmates, and there were times when they weren't, but in spite of that they had remained friends ever since – never mind that Gakuto spent a lot of his time training with the tennis team, while spent a great chunk of her time after school going to a variety of classes that included dance, piano, and even art.

However, there was one thing that nearly caused an irreparable rift between the two of them, and that was the day that told him that she was going on an exchange student program to England. That had happened two years ago, during the latter end of their days in junior high…

    "Nani?! You're going to England?!"

winced. "Hai, that's what I'm going to do. It's what I always wanted, after all…"

Gakuto attempted to check his tongue and his temper out of respect for her, but he couldn't. This, really, was just too much.

    "You promised that we'd go into senior high together," he hissed, able to bring his voice down but unable to keep the venom out of it. "You promised, -chan! And you're breaking your promise! I thought you said you'd never do that?!"

    "I know I am, and I'm sorry." The soft, sad tone in 's voice made Gakuto stop almost immediately. He had seen cry before – had made her cry himself, as a matter of fact – and he never really liked it. He knew what would do: her voice would go down, become softer, before she quieted altogether. Then she would nod, excuse herself, and then leave to go and cry somewhere else. She never liked crying in front of other people, he knew that much – like he knew that she was on the verge of crying.

continued: "I know that I made a promise to you, Gakuto-kun, and I really had every intention of keeping it. It's just that…" She sighed, and bowed her head. "I honestly cannot give you a good reason at all for wanting to do this, Gakuto-kun. It's something that I really want to do. I know that I sound very selfish, but… I really, really want this."

Gakuto sighed, and came over to hug her. "Its okay, -chan," he said softly, draping his arms around her. "It's okay. This was your dream, after all, and it'd be even more selfish of me to try and stop you." He pulled back, and gave her a small, wry smile. "Just don't spring surprises like that on me, ever again, you hear? I'd like to know if you've got plans to leave me for an entire year before you decide that you're going to go off and do it."

He heard laugh softly, and then she returned his hug, which made Gakuto sigh in relief. He was forgiven, and she had taken no offense at his outburst. Once more, he was reminded of what sort of rare breed of woman belonged to: capable of wholeheartedly forgiving the faults and flaws of those whom she genuinely cared for, so long as they did not mean to do it, or to repeat the same mistake. Gakuto knew that he wasn't an easy person to live with, which was why he thanked Kami-sama for people like , while alternately thanking and cursing same Kami-sama for giving him Oshitari Yuushi for a friend and doubles partner.

He pulled back then, and smiled. "Ne, let's go and get something to eat, and you can tell me all about your plans for England. I'm starving!"

laughed more loudly now, and stood up, linking her arm with Gakuto's in a true show of friendship. "You're always hungry, Gakuto-kun."

    "I'm not!"

    "Yes you are. It's something I find amazing, actually: how can you pull off all those high jumps and somersaults if you eat so much? And you don't gain weight at all! Do you realize how many girls envy that capability of yours?"

    "Are you saying that I look like a girl?!"

    "What do you think?"

    "-chan!"

    "Gakuto-kun?"

Gakuto snapped back to the present, and looked at , who was frowning a little bit while looking at him. He grinned, and waved his hand. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about the time when you told me you were leaving for England."

laughed softly, and Gakuto noticed that it was a more womanly, more cultured laugh – still the same old underneath, but she was a bit different now: more refined, more polished. "I am simply glad to be home."

Gakuto noted the sad tone in 's voice, and he frowned, wondering why she would say such a thing. He opened his mouth, prepared to ask what was wrong, when the bell rang, signaling the start of classes.

He growled quietly, and shook his head. "Class is starting. Where are you headed first, -chan?"

As it turned out, they were classmates, and their schedules were practically the same. That more than made up for the horror and unpleasantness of that morning, and the two of them headed to their classroom, talking like they used to.

Gakuto smiled to himself, pleased. He was actually looking forward to school again.

--~*~O~*~--

    "She's back."

Atobe Keigo gave Akutagawa Jirou a rather lazy look. "What do you mean, she's back?" He was in no mood to play guessing games – not right now.

Jirou blinked. " , of course. I thought you knew about it already."

Atobe waved his hand in an elegant, dismissive gesture. "Of course I knew. Do you think that Ore-sama would not?"

Truth of the matter was, though, Atobe didn't know that had returned. He had heard rumors, of course, but he didn't really like paying attention to gossip – mostly because such petty talk wasn't worth even a moment of his time. But …that was news of the first order.

As always, he did not make it known to anyone around him just what he was thinking. He knew that Jirou knew that he did not know until he told him, but he could count on Jirou to keep a secret. It would never do for Atobe Keigo to be behind on any sort of news, especially of this kind.

In truth, however, he was quite startled by the news. He remembered the day that he heard was leaving for England quite clearly in his mind, and it did not take him long to recall what had happened that day…

    "She's leaving for England."

For a few brief milliseconds, Atobe froze in the middle of bringing his fork to his mouth. Had he heard Gakuto correctly just then?

    "Nani? -sempai's leaving?" Ohtori asked. "Naze?"

Gakuto stabbed at his food rather vengefully as he replied: "Hai, she's leaving. She told me just a while ago. She's going to England on that exchange student program. She'll be gone for the whole of next year."

    "So?" Shishido asked as he ate a little bit more of his lunch. "What's the big deal about her going? Shouldn't you be happy for her, Gakuto? So many other people want to make it into the one-year program, but only a few actually get in. And as I recall, she's wanted to go to England ever since she was young."

Gakuto shook his head. "That's not the point. -chan and I have been friends for a long time, and I was kind of hoping that she and I would get to go into senior high at the same time, like the way we went into junior high together." He looked at Shishido with a very sour look. "She's not even going to be at the graduation ceremony, did you know?"

Oshitari sighed, and shook his head. "You have to learn to let her go sometime, Gakuto." He patted the redhead most solicitously on the head. "They all grow up eventually, you know."

While Gakuto turned the full force of his frustration on his doubles partner, Atobe continued eating, and thought over what he had heard. So she had passed the exams and the interviews… That really wasn't a surprise, since she was smart enough for it. Neither would she have problems coping in England; she spoke English like it was her first language, and apart from that, she had such a sweet and kind nature that one could not help but respond in the same way towards her.

No, what troubled him was the fact that she actually planned to leave – and for an entire year, at that.

Damn it, he thought. This was not how it was supposed to be. They had planned everything, right at the beginning of the year! They had planned that, as soon as they had graduated, they would take a long trip to his mountain retreat, and just spend time together for the rest of the vacation until school started. She promised him that she would let him teach her tennis, and he had promised her that he would – not all his tricks, of course, but enough to make her a stunning player all on her own.

She had promised that they'd watch the sunset together when they graduated junior high, and then watch the sunrise together on the day that they started their freshman year of senior high.

She had promised that, come their birthdays in their freshman year of senior high, they would tell all the world what had been going on between them in secret – the relationship that they had kept a well-guarded secret from everyone save Jirou and Kabaji, whom the both of them trusted to keep their secret.

Damn it … Why are you breaking your promise to me now?

    "Ne, Atobe, something the matter?"

Atobe looked up at Jirou, who was looking back at him with an alert look that was not normally present on the normally-lethargic boy's face. Atobe merely smirked, covering up just how upset he was, and shook his head. "Nothing is wrong with Ore-sama. Nothing is wrong at all."

    "Atobe."

Atobe gave Jirou a lazy glance. "You wanted something?"

Jirou gazed at him for a long time, and finally shook his head. "Iie, I was just thinking about something."

    "Jirou-kun? Atobe-san?"

Atobe looked at the door, and smirked upon seeing Minami Eiri, star of the Hyotei girls' track team and Oshitari's girlfriend, standing in the entryway, and looking very impatient. "Do you know where Yuushi is? He said he'd help me with my math homework over lunch today."

Jirou blinked, and grinned at Eiri. "Ah, konnichiwa, Eiri-chan! Gomen ne, but I haven't seen Oshitari yet."

    "Oh. Well then maybe he's gone on ahead. Thanks anyway, Jirou-kun." With that and a smile at Atobe, she turned, and went on her way.

Jirou turned to Atobe once again, and Atobe noticed the look in his eye. "You're going to fix this and soon, Atobe. She's my friend too, you know."

Atobe rolled his eyes, and waved his hand. "Ore-sama will get to it when he feels like it." His jaw tightened. "Right now, he really doesn't care."

    "You say that you don't care about her one more time and, so Kami-sama help me, I'm going to punch you." Normally Jirou's face was kind – he and Ohtori were said to have the kindest faces on the team – but at that moment there was no denying the violent emotion that bubbled just beneath the surface. "And if I don't, then Gakuto will."

Atobe's eyes flashed. "You dare, Jirou?"

    "Akutagawa-san? Atobe-san?"

Atobe's head snapped to the doorway again, and he felt his heart twist painfully when he saw standing in the doorway, looking as pretty as ever, though her features had certainly matured. She no longer looked like a sweet young girl, but looked more like a young woman – not quite an adult just yet, but she was close enough.

    "Ah! -chan!" Jirou bounded over to her, and gave her a hug. "We missed you so much, -chan! You were gone for an entire year and things just weren't the same!"

laughed, and the sound pierced Atobe's heart. There was a different tone to it now, a different undercurrent, but it was still the same as he remembered it to be.

Was it possible for her to still say the same, and yet change so much?

    "Ne, -chan, don't call me ‘Akutagawa-san'! It's so formal! Besides, you used to call me Jirou-kun, ne?"

laughed again, and nodded. "Hai, if that's what you want, Jirou-kun. It's just that it's been so long since we last saw each other that I'm not really sure of what I should call you."

    "But you called Gakuto ‘Gakuto-kun,' I'm sure."

    "I called him ‘Mukahi-san' first, and then he insisted that I call him Gakuto-kun again."

    "Mou, -chan, when did you become so formal?!"

Atobe stood up when and Jirou laughed again. It had been a familiar-enough scene two years ago, and the sight of it now hurt him more than he wished to show them.

    "Atobe-san? Where are you going?"

Atobe looked over at , and felt another pang of pain twist his heart. Still the same, and yet he could tell that she was different…

She broke her promise to him, and no one but no one broke a promise once it had been made to Atobe Keigo.

And yet he smiled at her cordially as he bowed. "Welcome back, Miss ," he responded in English, before switching back to Japanese: "I presume that your stay in England went well?"

blinked at him, and for a moment Atobe thought he caught the hint of hurt in her eyes, but in a few moments it was gone, replaced instead by a mask of culture and civility as she offered him a small, ladylike smile while bowing. "It went quite well, Atobe-san. I learned a lot of new things while I was there." She smiled slightly wider. "It was refreshing, to say the least."

    "That's good to hear." Atobe started walking past her, and as he did so, he smiled at her – not in the sweet, caring way that he used to, but in that typical way that he smiled at when he knew a person, but was not particularly close to them. "At any rate, welcome back to Hyotei, -san."

He turned away, and as he walked down the hall he allowed his mask to lift from his face, which showed the inner turmoil that roiled in his heart.

She wanted to play her game, then very well, he would give as good as he got. was not the only one who was clever at playing this masquerade.

What he did not understand, though, was why it hurt so much.

--~*~O~*~--

Spring passed quickly enough, and soon summer was upon them all. With the coming of the heat and the incessant singing of cicadas were the tennis tournaments, much in the same way that it had been in junior high.

The thought of junior high made smile, as did the thought of the tennis tournament. Those had been happy times – wonderful times – for her, and the memories she had of that time were memories she cherished deep in her heart. Although her interest in tennis had really been peripheral – her mother played recreational tennis at the country clubs while her father played golf with his colleagues – all of that had changed when Gakuto introduced her to his friends in the Hyotei Tennis Club.

Some of them were people she already knew, but wasn't close to. She knew Ohtori because she saw him whenever she went for violin lessons – their maestro was one and the same person. She knew Shishido, Taki and Oshitari because, for one, Shishido and Taki were in the same class as she, and Oshitari…well, it really was hard to miss someone like him. Hiyoshi she recognized since she saw him on-campus, but she didn't really know him until Gakuto made their introductions. Eventually, though, she became quite close to the Tennis Team Regulars, and counted them as among her closest friends.

Atobe Keigo, however, was an entirely different story. She didn't tell Gakuto before, but she and Atobe had already met each other before. Their parents walked in the same circles, so naturally they would have met each other at some function or another that they attended with their respective parents. In fact, they were more familiar with each other than they were ready to admit to the rest of Hyotei. After all, the last thing they both needed was to have every single person on campus playing matchmaker between the two of them. She was more than familiar with the rumors and the speculation, and she did not do anything to confirm or deny them.

But of course, she and Atobe knew the truth. She knew as well as he did what went on between them off-campus: the quiet dinners, the long walks through ornamental gardens, the little impromptu dances to Strauss records played on an antique phonograph. She knew well enough that, although he might have put on self-important airs while in school and around others, deep down inside, Atobe Keigo was a generous and kindhearted person.

    "Why aren't you like this to everyone else?"

    "Why should I be? I don't like showing this side of myself to anyone but you."

    "Why is that?"

    "Because I know that, whatever I may say or do, you'll accept me for who I am."

    "Oi, -chan!"

snapped out of her reverie, and looked up to see Gakuto giving her this weird look. "Huh? What's the matter, Gakuto-kun?"

"You're spacing out again," Gakuto replied, frowning as he did so. "What is wrong with you, eh, -chan?"

laughed softly, and shook her head. "Nothing is wrong with me, Gakuto-kun. I'm just…thinking about something."

She heard Gakuto sigh before he sat down next to her, giving her a concerned look. "You know, you've had a tendency to just float off into the clouds ever since you got back from England. It makes me think that something must have happened all the way over there for you to become like this."

gazed at Gakuto as she thought up her answer. How could she tell him that the reason why her mind was floating around was because she did not understand why Atobe was acting so coldly to her? How could she tell him that, since the beginning of their third year in junior high, she and Atobe had been going out as a couple? How could she tell him that they had both planned to announce the status of their relationship on their sixteenth birthday, which was on the same date?

She might have trusted Gakuto, and he might have been her dearest friend, but this was one secret she could not confide to him.

    "-chan, you're doing it again…"

    "Oh!" She blinked back to reality, and shook her head. "Gomen nasai, Gakuto-kun." She shook her head. "As for your question, no, nothing happened in England."

    "Are you sure? You look as if you're thinking about someone you left behind."

    "Well, I did leave someone behind – just not in England." She laughed softly, and looked at her hands. "I think…I think that he doesn't care for me anymore, and now that I'm back he's avoiding me."

    "Nani?" Gakuto's frown became deeper. "You mean you left someone behind here? And now he's not paying attention to you?" He growled. "What's his name? I want to kick him – either that, or I'll get Yuushi to do it for me!"

laughed, and shook her head as she reached out to still Gakuto's hands. "It's all right, Gakuto-kun. It's not that he's ignoring me, it's just that the way he pays attention to me is…different." A part of her wondered whether it was because she had called him "Atobe-san" the first time she saw him again in the classroom with Jirou, but she figured that it should not have mattered, since she did call Jirou "Akutagawa-san," and he was the only other person apart from Kabaji who knew about her relationship with Atobe.

    "Still, no one has the right to treat you badly!" Gakuto exclaimed, before growling again and trying to work off what knew was his building frustration by jumping around a little. "Kuso-kuso! Ne, -chan, why won't you tell me who it is? I want to kick him!"

    "Oi, Gakuto, cool down a little. You're hopping around like a cricket in a hot frying pan."

laughed in amusement as Gakuto's growls turned into a full-blown snarl as he rounded on the speaker. "Shut up, Yuushi!"

Oshitari Yuushi smirked in that usual way of his, before turning to bow to . "Begging your pardon, -chan, but I couldn't help but wonder just what's gotten Gakuto so steamed."

    "Oi Yuushi, quit flirting with her!" Gakuto exclaimed. "You already have a girlfriend!"

Oshitari shrugged. "Just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean I can't greet an old friend the way I used to." He turned to , and the smile that played on his lips was kind, welcoming – nothing like the cold, formal one that Atobe had given her. "Which brings me back to the question: what's gotten Gakuto so steamed?"

    "Someone's ignoring her!" Gakuto replied, his voice still rather loud due to the temper that he was trying to keep in control. "Some guy she liked is not paying attention to her anymore!"

reached out to put a hand on Gakuto's shoulder. "It's okay, Gakuto-kun. There's no need to be so angry about it."

Much to her surprise, Oshitari said: "Iie, I think that Gakuto has every right to be mad at this person," said Hyotei's Tensai, pushing up his glasses as he did so. "It's terribly insensitive of him to do such a thing to you. He is a disgrace to Hyotei."

lowered her gaze to her lap. "I believe that he has a right to ignore me."

It didn't quite make sense to her. They didn't know that she was referring to Atobe, but for some odd reason she didn't like the idea of Gakuto and Oshitari wanting to beat Atobe up. It was her fault, after all… It was she who broke the promise, not him…

That one statement was more than enough to make Gakuto's temper flare higher. "Nani?!" He grasped by the upper arms. "What are you saying, -chan?! No one has the right to do that to anyone!"

She looked up at Gakuto, her eyes already filling with tears. "When I broke a promise to him, I think that it's only right." It was her fault, after all, wasn't it? She had broken the promise she had made to him, and now, there was nothing she could do to salvage it…

    "I think it is a selfish man that would allow himself to get so upset that he would ignore you, when faced with the fact that going to England was a particularly special aspiration of yours," Oshitari remarked. "He did know about that, ne, -chan?"

She nodded her head. Atobe did know about it. She had told him about it more than once before.

But still, she had broken a promise she had made to him. She shouldn't have made promises that she could not keep.

    "-chan, are you sure you're all right? If you want you can just go home you know…"

looked up at Oshitari, and smiled, shaking her head. "No, I don't want to go home just yet. And I'm just fine, Yuushi-kun. Thank you for your concern." She stood up, and smiled at the two of them, willing her tears to disappear as she attempted to look forward to what they were going to do that afternoon. "So, are we still going to the street tennis courts or not?"

--~*~O~*~--

    "Eh? There's someone already on the courts?"

Tachibana An blinked in response to Kamio Akira's assessment. She could hear the soft thudding of a ball against court and racket, court and racket, in a rhythm that she had grown very familiar with over the passing years. Only this time, there was something else mingled in with those familiar sounds, something that An believed to be entirely unfamiliar in this area: the laughter of a girl.

An beamed at the thought. It wasn't often that she met any girls at the street tennis courts – they seemed to be a rarity, after all – but whenever she found out that there were girls playing, she was always more than glad to talk to them and, if they were willing, play against them, or with them as well.

She raced ahead of Kamio to get to the top of the stairs sooner, and she came upon a most interesting sight: Oshitari Yuushi of Hyotei playing against a girl who was dressed in Hyotei uniform, while Mukahi Gakuto played referee.

The girl smiled at Oshitari as she prepared to serve. "I get the distinct feeling that you're holding out on me, Yuushi-kun."

The man who was known as Hyotei's Tensai smiled in a way that An had never seen him smile before: a little embarrassed, as if he had been found out. "It would be impolite to go all-out against you, -chan."

An blinked at the modes of address. It was obvious to her that these two were familiar with one another. Was this girl Oshitari's girlfriend? No: as far as she knew, Oshitari was attached to Minami Eiri, Hyotei's track star, and as far as she knew, they hadn't broken up yet. Was this girl Gakuto's girlfriend then? How come she hadn't seen her around before? She spoke Japanese quite well, but there was something in the way she pronounced some of the words that was so-

THWACK!

The girl – apparently named – delivered a serve that was surprisingly powerful: not as strong as something that a boy could deliver, but it was obvious that she had been taught well. Either that or she was a born natural at tennis.

Whatever the case may have been, she piqued An's interest very much. She grinned. She wanted to play against this girl.

    "One game to love!" Gakuto glared at Oshitari. "Oi, Yuushi, what the hell are you doing? She's creaming you!"

Oshitari rolled his eyes at his doubles partner. "I didn't think that she would be that strong." He glanced over at An then, and his usual smirk appeared on his face. "Well, well, well! Look who's here, Gakuto."

Kamio growled at Oshitari – the old rivalries in junior high still remained, after all – but An ignored him completely, choosing instead to focus on the girl whom Oshitari had been playing against earlier. She smiled at the girl, who stood, blinking at her. "Konnichiwa! I'm Tachibana An, from Yamabuki." When she had graduated from junior high (Fudoumine didn't have senior high, after all) she and all of the former Fudoumine team, her brother included, had transferred to Yamabuki for senior high, further strengthening that school's tennis team.

An tilted her head inquisitively – something she did whenever she was talking to strangers who intrigued her. "Are you on the girls' tennis team of Hyotei? I don't think I've seen you before. You're really good!"

The girl blinked, but smiled, and shook her head. "No, I'm not on the girls' tennis team of Hyotei. I only play tennis recreationally." She bowed. "I'm . It's a pleasure to meet you, Tachibana-san."

An wrinkled her nose. "Ah, just call me An-chan! Every time somebody says ‘Tachibana-san,' I think that they're looking for my brother, not me."

The girl named smiled. "I've heard about your brother. He used to play for Fudoumine, am I correct?" She nodded towards Kamio. "As did that fellow over there."

An blinked. "Eh? You know about us, -san?"

giggled. "Hai. And please, call me -chan. After all, if I can call you An-chan, you should be able to do the same with me, ne?"

An grinned, and nodded. "Arigatou, -chan." She tilted her head again at , and grinned. "Is it okay if I played a game against you?"

blinked, and then laughed. "Are you always so straightforward, An-chan?"

    "Well, Nii-chan says that I shouldn't be because I'm going to get in trouble for it one day, but personally, I don't see anything wrong with it," An replied, smiling cheerfully as well.

    "Hmm, good point. Well then, if you want to play, then I don't see why we shouldn't." She winked at An. "Just don't make it too easy for me, all right?"

An giggled, and nodded, her eyes glinting at the prospect of finally, finally being able to play against a girl. "I promise that I won't as long as you won't, -chan."

    "Oh, I assure you that I won't."

--~*~O~*~--

    "Ne, Kamio-kun, would you mind stepping off the court for a minute?"

Kamio paused midway in his semi-argument with Oshitari when An told him to clear the court. "Eh? An-chan, what are you-" He stopped talking when he saw that the girl whom he had seen playing against Oshitari a while ago was standing on the other side of the court.

He looked at An, somewhat worried. "An, are you really going to play against this girl?"

An nodded. "Hai. And her name's . Ne, -chan," the girl looked up at An, and then turned her gaze to Kamio when An nodded at him, "this is Kamio Akira. Kamio-kun, that's ."

    "Ah…anou…" Kamio straightened up, and bowed, just as the girl did the same to him. "It's nice to meet you, -san."

The girl – – smiled as she straightened. "And it is pleasure to meet you as well, Kamio-san."

    "Don't tell me you're going to play another match, -chan," Gakuto said, and Kamio was mildly surprised to see the worried look on his face.

laughed, and waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry about me, Gakuto-kun. It's been a while since I last played against a girl."

Gakuto blinked. "Eh? Then when was the last time?"

    "London."

Kamio blinked. He was definitely missing something here. He didn't think he'd seen this girl before, and if she was in Hyotei's girls' tennis team then he'd most likely have heard about her from An. But the name just didn't ring a bell – well, except for her family name of course, but that was not the point.

Still, he decided to step away from the court even as the conversation continued, with Oshitari asking: "Who taught you?"

    "Michael Beaumont, one of the friends I made while I was in London. He's one of the tennis players for Eton College."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kamio noticed something seem to shift, like a person turning his or her back towards the courts. When he turned to look, he thought he managed to catch sight of someone who looked like Atobe Keigo (sans Kabaji), heading somewhere else. It made Kamio wonder: what in the world was Atobe doing in the area without announcing his presence? It was strange, to say the least, especially since Atobe enjoyed being the center of attention wherever he went…

    "Tachibana An to serve!"

Kamio snapped out of his reverie, and watched as An prepared to serve, her opponent already prepared on the other side of the court. He sighed, and pulled out his cell phone. Might as well tell Tachibana what was going on with his little sister…

--~*~O~*~--

He walked as fast as he could, all the while attempting to maintain his composure. There were people around, after all, and the last thing he wanted to do was lose face. That would certainly not do. After all, he was Atobe Keigo. He would not lose his cool just because of some small thing like finding out that learned to play tennis from someone else while she was in London.

But no matter how much he tried to rationalize it, it did not work. The pain simply refused to go away.

He slammed the door of his car harder than was necessary, and told the driver to take him to his father more brusquely than he had intended. Emotion was overtaking his common sense, and it was doing so very, very quickly.

Then again, Atobe Keigo was not used to the feeling of betrayal – and it was, indeed, betrayal that he felt now.

She had said that she would only let him teach her how to play tennis. She had said that she would only allow him to show her how to play the game that he enjoyed so much, so that she would understand why he liked it and why he strove to be the best in it.

But no, her trip to England had changed all of that.

He knew who Michael Beaumont was, of course: the heir-apparent of a British viscount (1), he was considered one of the most promising players in the British tennis scene. Handsome, talented, wealthy and titled, the media had dubbed him the "Prince Charming of British Tennis." In Atobe's mind, Beaumont was one name in a somewhat short list of worthy opponents whom Atobe looked forward to challenging at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open someday, but that was all.

He had never imagined that he would be competing with him on more than just the tennis court.

He bowed his head, and pressed his hands to his face. He should have known that he never stood a chance. was just too attractive, too kind and too wonderful to belong to him and him alone. He should have foreseen that he would not be the only one who would ever desire her. He should have known that – sweet, beautiful, endearing – would most certainly turn the head of even one such as Michael Beaumont.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have been such a fool?

He felt the car come to a halt, and when he looked up he saw that they had parked in front of his father's office building. He sighed, and pulled himself together just before the security guard opened the door for him.

The last thing he needed was for the world to know just how much he was grieving inside.

--~*~O~*~--

    "Are you sure it's all right for us to come along?"

smiled at Minami Eiri, who was walking between her boyfriend, Oshitari Yuushi, and Gakuto. "Hai, it's perfectly all right. After all, ‘Kaa-san wants to meet you, and it's been a while since she last saw Yuushi-kun and Gakuto-kun."

Eiri nodded, and looped her arm through the crook of Oshitari's. While this was not the first time she had spoken to – they were rather good friends, after all, while they were in junior high, being among the first to make her feel welcome – this was the first time that she had been to the family mansion. While it was not as grand as the Atobe mansion (a place that Eiri was more than familiar with), it was still very elegant and well-furnished, making their wealth apparent in the quality and type of decoration and furniture that the house sported.

So the rumors were indeed true: the s were just as wealthy as the Atobes, but they didn't really like showing off much.

    "Ne, -chan, can I ask you something?"

Eiri glanced at Gakuto just as did. "Hm? What is it, Gakuto-kun?"

There was no denying the small frown on the smaller boy's face. "What happened between you and Michael Beaumont? Did you date him or something?" His frown deepened. "I couldn't stop thinking about it when I heard about it this afternoon."

There was a long moment of silence, and then burst out laughing. She gave Gakuto this look that said: What in the world are you talking about? "Michael and I are just friends. He taught me tennis because whenever he and his girlfriend would play I would always just be sitting around, doing nothing. He thought that it was unhealthy, so he taught me." She winked, and lifted a finger to her lips. "Don't mention anything about his having a girlfriend, alright? It's supposed to be a secret."

Oshitari raised an eyebrow. "And why would that be?"

    "His girlfriend is Amelia Marie Finch, Viscountess Maidstone (2)."

Gakuto's eyes widened. "You're kidding right?"

    "Iie, I'm not."

Eiri blinked at that. "How did you get to know those people, -chan?"

smiled slightly, and bowed her head. "Castelmont Academy (3), the Hyotei sister school in London, has ties to Eton College and the other exclusive schools in the area. I met Amelia at the Easter Ball that Castelmont threw. We befriended each other there because we both had common friends, and she introduced me to Michael, who was already her boyfriend by then." She gave them a teasing look. "He's not really my type. Besides, not only were he and Amelia a couple already, I was thinking of someone else back here."

Eiri blinked at that. She had known for a while, but she hadn't imagined that the girl was interested in someone. "Hontou? Who were you thinking about? I mean, when I first arrived in Hyotei I'd heard rumors that it was you and Atobe…"

She noticed the way that seemed to stiffen at the mention of Atobe's name, and that got her thinking. Were the rumors true, after all? Was indeed involved with Atobe Keigo? Were they having some sort of low-profile romance to prevent the rest of Hyotei from kicking up a storm or intrigue – and to stop Atobe's fangirls from causing a fuss?

    "? Is that you?"

A rich, cultured voice – obviously that of an older woman – resounded from within one of the rooms. Eiri knew that that voice could not belong to anyone but to 's mother.

smiled, and pushed open a door that led into a room bathed in sunlight. In keeping with the rest of the house, the furnishings were elegant and pleasing, blending form and functionality in a most stylish mix. The light seemed to be pouring in through what turned out to be a large bay window, beside which sat a woman with black hair cropped in a most sophisticated manner, and her dark eyes scanned the pages of the book she held in her hands from behind oval-framed glasses. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white collared blouse, but in spite of the simplicity of her attire she still managed to make it look very classy.

    "I'm home, ‘Kaa-san," said as she approached the woman, kissing her on the cheek.

Sanako smiled up at her daughter as she put away her book. "I thought that was you I heard coming." She glanced at Eiri, and smiled. "And you must be Minami Eiri. I'm Sanako, 's mother. Welcome."

Eiri smiled, and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, -san."

    "Oh no, please, just call me Sanako-san. It's a pleasure to meet you at last." She smiled at Oshitari and Gakuto. "And it's nice to see you two here again, Yuushi-kun, Gakuto-kun."

Gakuto grinned at the woman, and bowed politely. "It's nice to be here again, Sanako-san."

    "It's a pleasure to be here, Sanako-san," Oshitari replied, and Eiri noted how her boyfriend, who was normally rather devil-may-care with how he spoke to people, seemed to turn on the politeness factor. She grinned to herself, glad to have something to needle him with later on.

Sanako asked them to sit, and as soon as they did, servants came in and brought in tea and a whole host of pastries for their enjoyment. For a while, they made small talk while drinking tea and eating the pastries, but after a while, Sanako turned to , and said: ", please leave the room for a while. I'll have the servants call you in again later."

blinked at her mother, but did not protest, and did as she was told.

Eiri watched as her friend left the room. What was this all about? What was Sanako going to tell them that she did not want to hear?

    "Now then, there was something I wanted to discuss with you," Sanako began as soon as the door closed behind . "It's about 's sixteenth birthday."

Eiri blinked. "'s birthday? Demo, Sanako-san, isn't it still several months away?"

    "True, but it's going to be a very grand celebration, so we need time to plan everything out perfectly." She looked at Eiri, and smiled. "Her father and I have agreed that we want her to have a formal debut – a formal coming-out party, the way that it is done in the West.

    " is very much aware of the fact that we are throwing her a coming-out ball – in fact, we already know exactly what theme she would like to have for the whole affair. What she does not know, however, are some of the events that are going to take place. That is why I wanted to speak with you, her friends."

Eiri looked up at Oshitari, who was looking at Gakuto, who looked back at him. This was not exactly something they had been expecting, but all the same, they were rather excited. Eiri had always wanted to do something for , but she had never really been able to think up of anything. This was the perfect opportunity for her to give something back to her friend.

It was Gakuto who replied: "Well, Sanako-san, I'm sure that we could come up with something if you told us what you wanted."

Sanako laughed softly, and smiled. "That is what I so adore about you people who are schooled in Hyotei: always ready for the challenge. Very well then, this is what I want you to do…"

As Eiri listened, she became more and more excited as Sanako laid out a list of things that she wanted prepared. It was a fairly long list, but not one that they couldn't accomplish given the time frame that they were given. Some of the things that she wanted done would have to be conducted behind 's back, but there were also parts of it that required 's cooperation.

    "It's the perfect subterfuge," Oshitari remarked. "She thinks that she is involved in every aspect of planning out the party, but there will still be some things that she will not be aware of."

"I know," Sanako responded with a nod. "And there is one more thing that I would like to ask of you. I would like you to join the cotillion."

Eiri blinked, and sat up a little straighter – not because of the fact that they were asked to join the cotillion (after all, dance lessons were a part of the curriculum at Hyotei), but by the fact that they had been asked to do so at all. "Hontou, Sanako-san?"

The older woman nodded, smiling. "Of course. After all, I doubt that Yuushi-kun would dance with anyone else except for you."

    "Demo, Sanako-san…the dress…"

    "We will take care of that," Sanako assured, "as well as the other necessities for those who are participating. All you have to do is to ensure that you come here for practices, and of course for the fittings later on. We will take care of everything else, including your meals."

    "But what about tennis practice?" Gakuto put in. "Meaning no disrespect, Sanako-san, but Sakaki-sensei might-"

Sanako laughed softly again. "That has been taken care of as well. You won't begin practicing anytime soon, of course, since as I understand it you still have the tournaments to see to, but starting September, you will be coming here to practice with the others. Sakaki-san will be overseeing the music for the affair, so you will not have to worry about missing practice."

There was silence as the three of them thought about the offer. For her part, Eiri really saw nothing wrong with it. She might have belonged to the track team, but she also knew that there were no major meets during that month, and for the month after, as well.

Perhaps she knew what they were thinking, because Sanako smiled. "Don't worry, I will make your excuses if necessary when the time comes," she assured them.

Eiri grinned as she looked at her boyfriend and her boyfriend's doubles partner. The two other boys had pleased expressions on their faces, as if they now had nothing to worry about, and were more than willing to see to whatever it was that needed to be seen to for this event.

There was, however, one more question that had not been answered, and that was who was going to be escorting that night. Sanako had mentioned the presence of an escort several times earlier, and it made Eiri curious to know who would have that privilege.

    "Anou…Sanako-san, there's one more question I'd like to ask."

Sanako looked at her. "What is it, Eiri-chan?"

    "Who's going to be 's escort? You mentioned it a while ago but you didn't tell us who it'd be."

Gakuto nodded. "I'd like to know who it is, too."

Sanako laughed softly, and Eiri thought she caught a glint of mischief in the woman's eyes. "Well, I suppose that there will be no harm in telling you, as long as you promise not to tell her."

Eiri nodded, as did Gakuto and Oshitari.

    "Very well then, 's escort is-"

--~*~O~*~--

    "…Me?"

Atobe Ryuji (4) nodded his head at his son. "Hai, Keigo: you."

Ryuji watched as his son frowned, not bothering to hide his displeasure – then again, Ryuji had raised Keigo to tell him exactly what was on his mind, to be straightforward about his likes and dislikes, so that he, himself, would know what he did and did not want. Right now, Ryuji could tell that Keigo was very much not pleased with what he had just told him.

And that, really, was why Ryuji was so surprised.

    "I thought that you and -chan got along well," he remarked as he set aside his pen, knowing that this would take a while to sort out. "Why are you opposed to the idea of becoming her escort on her coming-out party?"

    "It's the same date as my birthday. I was planning something of my own," Keigo muttered, and Ryuji was mildly shocked to hear his son sound so petulant. People may have thought of his son as a spoiled brat, but Ryuji knew that whatever privileges Keigo had, were privileges that he had worked and strived to get.

    "Yes, that is true," Ryuji responded. "It is also true that your Okaa-san and I agreed to throw the party jointly with the s. After all, you both turn sixteen on the same day, and it would be appropriate if you were -chan's escort. What better way to celebrate your birthday, and hers as well?"

Keigo fell silent, but there was some vague emotion in his eyes that Ryuji saw, something that he had not expected to see. Frowning, he leaned forward on his desk, and carefully folded his fingers together before speaking up again. "There is something more to this than I know, isn't there, Keigo?"

His son looked up at him, and Ryuji was surprised by the emotions that swirled in Keigo's eyes: pain, loss, and betrayal.

His son's voice was controlled, measured, a sure sign that whatever he was going to say held particular emotional value to him. "Otoo-san, there is…something I haven't told you about -chan and myself…"

Ryuji listened patiently as Keigo told him all about the relationship that he and had been conducting behind their backs. Well, it was not totally behind their backs, since Keigo always told them where he was off to, and if he was taking with him, he always made it a point to inform her parents or at least someone on their household staff of their whereabouts. What they had not been aware of were the romantic feelings that had blossomed between the two.

If Ryuji were to be honest, Keigo's story amused him more than it upset him. They had been carrying on as if it were a crime to be in love with one another! He speculated that it was Keigo's idea to think of it that way, to add some thrill to their relationship – or perhaps it was a response to the fact that they were both so popular in Hyotei that, if the school were to find out that they were romantically linked, it would cause a firestorm of intrigue that would not die down while the two of them studied there.

What he did know, however, was this: Keigo was very much in love with , and that he had taken her departure for London quite hard, resulting in his distant treatment of her even when around Akutagawa Jirou and Kabaji Munehiro, who were the only two of Keigo's friends who knew about his and 's feelings for one another. That distant treatment had lasted throughout spring, and now that summer had come around and Keigo could no longer hold onto his anger (though Ryuji doubted that he would ever be able to stay angry at for very long), he had learned that had been seeing someone else while she was in London.

Now this made Ryuji frown. He knew to be a kind and affectionate girl, but he highly doubted that what Keigo was telling him was the truth. "Are you certain of what you are telling me?"

Keigo nodded. "Hai, Otoo-san. I overheard her say that she learned to play tennis from Michael Beaumont."

    "That tennis star from England?"

    "Hai."

    "I see… And what did she say?"

    "She said that Beaumont taught her while she was in London. I didn't find out how they met. I…didn't stay long enough to find out."

Ryuji raised an eyebrow, and resisted the temptation to smirk. Really, his son could be such a strange one sometimes. "And you overheard this."

    "Hai."

    "Perhaps you heard wrong?"

    "Iie, Otoo-san, I heard it perfectly clear."

    "Then did you stay long enough to overhear the rest of the conversation?"

When Keigo looked away, Ryuji sighed, knowing that he had not. "Keigo, I think there are several flaws in this scenario. First of all, you should not have been eavesdropping in the first place."

Keigo looked up at him, eyes flashing. "I was going to talk to her that day, Otoo-san. When I got there, she was already busy."

    "Very well then, you did not want to interrupt," Ryuji replied, waving his hand to dismiss the issue. "That's logical. But you still should not have been eavesdropping. That makes what you heard even more imprecise. Granted, you may have chosen to listen in on the conversation, but you did not know the circumstances of said conversation – you did not even stay to hear the end of it." He looked over at Keigo. "That makes your jealousy, and hence your subsequent reaction to not want to be 's escort, unwarranted, doesn't it?"

Keigo was silent, contemplating everything that he had said. Ryuji sighed, and stood up, approaching his son and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Keigo, it's not a bad thing to be hurt over someone breaking a promise, nor is it a bad thing to be jealous. It just shows you how much you value her, how much she means to you. Your mistake was not remembering the fact that there are more than two people in a relationship. If you feel hurt over the circumstances, then she is, as well."

He did not feel the need to tell his son that Mashiro, 's father, had mentioned off-handedly that his daughter had seemed a little listless lately, as if she was brokenhearted over something ever since her first day back at Hyotei. After all, there was no need to rub this in more than necessary.

    "If you care for so much, then you would not begrudge her the chance to fulfill her dream," Ryuji continued. "You told me that she had always aspired to go to London on the exchange student program, but you felt bad when she did. She has never held you back before; it would be wise not to do so with her.

    "And as for your jealousy over her lessons with Michael Beaumont," Ryuji smirked as Keigo looked up at him, "I believe that you are letting your imagination get far ahead of you. A few lessons in tennis do not make a marriage contract – though I suppose you romanticized that little portion of your agreement, didn't you?"

Keigo's flushed face proved the truth of that statement. Ryuji chuckled, and patted Keigo's shoulder as he returned to his seat behind his desk. "It's good to have a romantic spirit when it comes to a relationship – it makes sure that things don't become boring. It would be wise not to take it too far, however, or else you risk losing that which you are trying to keep."

Keigo nodded his head. "Hai, Otoo-san."

    "Now then: are you still opposed to being her escort?"

    "Iie."

    "Good." With that settled, he glanced at the papers on his desk. "Oh, Sanako-san made a special request: she wants you to come by their place when you can. She wants to check which of her antique rapiers suits you best."

Keigo blinked. "Eh? What for?"

    "To go with your costume, of course."

    "Nani?!"

--~*~O~*~--

    "…I feel as if my ribcage is being crushed."

    "I didn't think that this dress would be so heavy!"

    "Sugoi! My waist is nearly three inches smaller now!"

giggled as she listened to the sound of her friends conversing with one another while they got into their costumes. "I guess that they're enjoying themselves after all."

Beside her, Minami Eiri grinned. "Well, when you're throwing a party as elaborate as this and provide costumes for those of us who are dancing, I don't see why not."

    "You're starting to pick up on Yuushi's mannerisms, Eiri."

Eiri's cheeks turned pink at the idea. "I don't see why not," she replied, coquettishly fluttering her feather fan in front of her face. She was dressing in the role of Princess Odette from the story of Swan Lake, while Oshitari was going to be dressed as Prince Siegfried (5).

smiled, and shook her head as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was the fourth of October: the day, as far as she was concerned. She was sixteen, and by the standards of many, already a young woman ready to be presented to society. For that occasion her family, in a joint effort with the Atobes since their own son was turning sixteen as well, were throwing a magnificent masked ball in the style of the masked carnivals in Venice – a celebration that had captured 's imagination ever since she had first heard about it.

For the occasion, fifteen of her closest female friends and fifteen boys were invited to the party to perform a masked dance in her honor – a version of the traditional cotillion that was in keeping with the party's theme. In line with that, her family had paid for all their costumes, to give the authenticity that delighted her mother (who was enthralled with history and hence was in the antiques business) and thrilled . The theme of the masked ball was mythology, legends, folklore and fairytales (6), and everyone who was participating in the cotillion had chosen a couple from any myth, legend, folktale or fairytale from any part of the world, and their costumes were made accordingly – in the fashion of the Venetian masked ball, of course.

    "-chan? Eiri-chan? May I come in for a second?"

    "Hold on, I'll open the door," Eiri replied, and watched on in the reflection of her mirror as Eiri opened the door to reveal Kage Reiko, Ohtori Choutarou's girlfriend, dressed in a costume that was supposed to show that she was dressing the role of Eurydice, since Ohtori was dressing as Orpheus (7).

Reiko sighed, and leaned against the door, her hand pressed against the velvet bodice of her dress. "They're starting to get a bit rowdy in there. So many feathers flying around…" She sighed, and sat down in a chair. "Somehow, I wish that Yumi-chan hadn't decided to go with the Firebird."

Eiri giggled. "I don't hear Fuji-san complaining," she said, referring to the fact that Nakayama Yumi was dressed as the Firebird from Russian legend, and to complement that, Fuji Syusuke of Seigaku – Yumi's boyfriend – was dressed in the role of Prince Ivan (8).

Reiko frowned. "Well, he doesn't have to put up with feathers in close quarters: Tomoe-chan chose to go as Otohime," she said, referring to the fact that Yamada Tomoe of Seigaku had decided to come to the ball as the goddess Otohime, while her boyfriend Tezuka Kunimitsu was appearing dressed as Prince Hoori (9).

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and one of the events organizers peeked into the room, smiling as she did so. "-sama, everything is just about ready. Please put on your masks so that we can start."

smiled, and nodded her assent as the organizer closed the door behind her. She glanced at Reiko and Eiri, who smiled back at her. The three of them moved to the dressing table, and started putting on their masks. Reiko's was somewhat simple, but elegant, done in the smooth, classic lines of a Venetian domino (10) in the rich colors of midnight blue and purple like her dress, the corners of the eyes sparkling with tiny bits of cut crystal inlaid into the leather of the mask to trail up in glimmering strands into her hair – a clever method of concealing the ties that held the mask against her face.

Eiri's mask was also modeled after the domino mask, but the upper portion of the mask and part of the sides extended upwards towards the side of her head, sweeping up into white feathers  that mimicked the wings of a bird just beginning to take flight. Details were picked out in gold tooling and sparkling crystals that were also inlaid into the leather, giving her the air of a princess who was just beginning to turn into a swan. The ties were hidden in the feathers, and were carefully attached to her hair. Her dress was colored white and ivory, with hints of brilliant gold in the form of accents.

As for , her mask was also modeled after the domino, but the decoration on it was extremely elaborate: a network of delicate green vines seemed to trail across her brow, around her eyes and over her cheekbones, before sweeping around the side of her face into real roses that were tucked into her hair. Some of the vines also seemed to extend over the mask and into her hair, seeming to explode into a variety of blossoms which were attached to the back of her head. They all matched the gown that she was wearing: a masterpiece of spring-green velvet, silk, and extravagant amounts of crystal and beadwork. She was clothed as Persephone, the goddess of springtime in Greek myth (11).

She looked at her friends, and smiled, her eyes twinkling behind the mask. "Let's go."

--~*~O~*~--

    "This is rather…uncomfortable."

Fuji cast a smiling glance at his neighbor in the line, Ohtori Choutarou. "Which one, Ohtori-kun? The costume, the mask, or the situation?"

    "The latter two, Fuji-san," Ohtori replied with a small, wry smile as he resisted the urge to scratch the mask that he was wearing. "I don't think I can complain about the costume, since it's surprisingly comfortable. It's just that…well I guess I'm not used to the mask, or to the situation out there, for that matter."

    "Hai, it's not everyday that something like this happens," Fuji replied in agreement. Outside, the ballroom of the Atobe mansion had been decorated to look like the grand salon of a Venetian palazzo (12) in the sixteenth-century, when Venice was at the height of its beauty and power: the center and the root of what would be remembered as the Renaissance. A majority of the other guests were dressed in contemporary gowns and suits, but they were wearing masks on their faces as well – many of them antiques that were being loaned to them for the night by Sanako, the debutante's mother.

Indeed, Fuji had never been to something as grand as this. When his girlfriend Yumi asked him to come along after receiving an invitation to the party, he had thought that it would be like every other coming-out party that he had been to. However, as it turned out, nothing was ever "like every other thing" where it concerned the s and the Atobes working together. After all, they were the only ones who could pull off something like this – complete with authentic costumes that had been custom-made for all sixteen participants of the cotillion, and masks sourced from Venice itself, all of them crafted for this special occasion.

His hand rested lightly on the dagger at his hip – something that had been lent to him by Sanako-san, as they were now privileged to call her. Although he knew that he would have to return it when the night was over, he felt rather special with it on him – never mind that the others also had similar pieces on them according to the man that they were supposed to portray, and that Atobe himself was getting a full-blown sword.

Beyond the thick curtain that separated them from the ballroom, Fuji's hearing caught the sound of hushing people and chairs being pulled back so that their occupants could sit. A few moments later, one of the events organizers peered into the curtain, the look on his face signaling to them all that they would be making their entrances soon.

Fuji stood up straighter, already eager to see what his girlfriend looked like. When Yumi said that she would be appearing as the Firebird and he would dress as Prince Ivan, he knew that there was going to be something special in the works here. He could hardly wait to see it.

Music started playing in the ballroom, and one by one, the people in front of him started walking out into the room beyond the curtain. He could hear applause and quiet murmurs of appreciation as couples joined each other and then went off to the side to make room for the next couple.

At last, it was his turn. Putting a smile on his face, he stepped past the curtain, entering the light of the ballroom for the first time.

The first thing that his eyes saw was her, and she was so breathtaking that his eyes widened at the sight. She was dressed all in fiery crimson and gold, her mask of the same color and tooled with gold. Red feathers swept up from the sides of her face, moving downwards into her hair like a bird's wings cupping the back of her head. Feathers also trailed down the back of her dress like a peacock's train, the effect heightened by the cut and flow of her gown.

    "You look beautiful, Yumi," Fuji murmured as he bent over her hand to place a kiss on her knuckles, in the manner that they had practiced it the last two months.

Yumi giggled as she stood up from her curtsy to loop her arm through his as they walked to their assigned place. "You always tell me that, Syusuke…"

    "And why not?" Fuji asked with a smile. "It's the truth, isn't it? Never let it be said that I've ever lied to you…"

She gently hit his arm with her fan. "When will you ever stop with that silver tongue of yours?"

    "Only when you tell me to."

This got him another playful hit on the arm, but the two of them fell silent as more and more couples emerged, until at last, there was only one couple left: the debutante and her escort.

    "Does -chan know already who her escort is?" Yumi asked quietly as Oshitari and his girlfriend Eiri took their assigned place.

Fuji shook his head. "As far as I know, it is still a secret. Atobe has been kept away from her so far, and I can tell you that it has not been easy." Which was the truth: Atobe had wanted to see before the whole affair began, saying something about "apologies" and "making up," but they all made sure that he did not leave the room and go running off somewhere else. Fuji thanked Kami-sama that Tezuka had been invited to this party – or rather, that Tezuka's girlfriend had been invited to this party – because he was the only one who could keep Atobe in line. Although the two were rivals, it was also true that it was that same rivalry that made them respect the other. In the meantime, it was Tezuka's authority – or rather, the fact that Atobe saw Tezuka as his equal – that prevented Atobe from running on over and spoiling the surprise.

At that moment, he caught the shift of pale-green silk from out of the corner of his vision, and when he turned to look, he felt his eyes open and widen slightly in appreciation.

– the debutante – had just emerged from wherever it was that the girls' dressing room had been. She was clad in a fantastic gown of spring green, decorated with elaborate beadwork and silk roses that looked so much like the real thing. Her hair had been pulled up and away from her face and neck, held in place by diamond-tipped pins meant to mimic dewdrops, while fresh flowers were threaded through her hair. Her mask was just as elaborate as her gown, which made a lot of sense. Although Fuji knew very well that it was autumn outside, it was as if had brought the last breath of spring in with her.

On the opposite end of the ballroom, coming towards her, was Atobe – though of course, it was somewhat hard to tell that really, given how those in charge of their costume and makeup had given him special attention since his appearance was supposed to be a surprise. His costume was in rich black velvet, covered in intricate gold and silver embroidery, with a matching short cape that hung off one shoulder and a golden rapier at his hip. His mask was also completely different from what they were all wearing: it was made of soft black leather, and covered three-fourths of his face – hiding the distinguishing beauty mark that would point out his true identity. His hair had also been styled in such a way as to make him look different.

    "Persephone and Hades," Yumi murmured beside him as Atobe and greeted each other with a bow and a curtsy, respectively.

Fuji nodded; he was more than familiar with that particular myth. "When will she find out that he's her escort?"

Yumi smiled. "I don't know, but Atobe's under strict instruction not to tell her anything until after the masked dance. After that, it's entirely up to him."

--~*~O~*~--

He was no stranger to pain. He was used to grueling hours at training, as well as all the accompanying aches and pains that came along with being an athlete.

But this, this was pure and utter torture.

When he was told that he could not talk to and tell her who he was, he thought that it would be easy enough. After all, they had not spoken to each other much over spring and summer, and by the time autumn rolled along there was too much to do in connection to the party they were currently holding.

But when he saw her walk out onto the ballroom floor, dressed in the most beautiful green gown he had ever seen, he knew that sitting aside, watching her from the corner of his eye, would be torture. He wanted to tear off his mask, to show her that he was the one who had bowed to her, that he was the one who had taken her hand and escorted her to the little raised platform at the head of the ballroom, where a small chair, like a throne, had been set. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry, that he did not mean to be so cold to her, and that he would do anything – anything – to make it up to her.

Still, he had been instructed not to say anything until after the masked dance that the others would perform, but after that, he was free to do as he chose.

The hours that ticked by seemed excruciatingly slow to him, while the talk and banter at his table utterly unimportant and annoying. He paid little attention to the discussion that was going on all around him, and only poked at his food, eating nothing more than two or three bites of each dish that was placed in front of him – never mind that this was the finest Italian cuisine that had ever been prepared for a private function such as this.

Thirty minutes after the last of the dinner plates had been cleared – though to Atobe it had felt more like an hour and a half – one of the organizers approached their table, discreetly giving them the signal to stand up and prepare for the dance. Atobe sighed, and stood up as well. He and would be dancing together, even though they had never practiced together before. It didn't matter, though: he knew that they were both excellent dancers.

He approached , who had already been informed by one of the organizers of what was going to happen next, and hence she was sitting a bit straighter than usual. He approached her, and held his hand out, signaling for her to take it. He did not trust himself to smile or to speak; one word or one wrong move would give him away.

He was glad when she smiled up at him, and slid her hand into his, her fine, elegant fingers curling around his palm. The contact made him shiver with memories, but he maintained his composure as he led her to the dance floor, taking their appointed places.

Almost immediately, the music started up: a light, pretty tune played on strings and a harpsichord. As soon as the music started, they, too, started moving, a swirling rainbow of silk, velvet, flowers, feathers, gold and jewels. He kept his eyes on her, and even though from time to time they had to trade partners and dance with some of the others, his gaze never wavered from her, never left her form for one single moment. Every time their fingers brushed, every time they linked hands, he wanted nothing more than to yank off the gloves he was wearing and thread his fingers between hers the way he used to before.

Finally, the music came to an end, and he saw his chance. He twined his fingers through 's – again cursing the fact that he was wearing gloves – and pulled her off the dance floor as quickly as he could, glad that the crush of people in costume and formal wear would be enough to hide their hasty exit. He knew that the closest place to hide would be the large topiary maze (13) not that far from the ballroom, so he pulled her in that direction.

He was mildly surprised that she did not protest when he pulled her away, and though the fact that she had not said anything at all to him thus far – not even bothering to ask his name – made nervousness bite gently at the back of his mind, he decided to ignore it, and entered the topiary maze, moving through the pathways with an ease borne of familiarity. It did not take them long to reach the center of the maze, which was deep enough inside the maze that it would take a while for other people to find them, but not so far from the party that they could no longer hear the music and the noise.

    "Atobe?"

He stiffened upon hearing his name. He turned around slowly to face , and felt his heart ache when he saw that she had removed her mask, and that she was smiling at him, even though her eyes were sad.

She bowed her head then, her eyes focusing on the smooth stone beneath their feet. "I'm sorry… I wasn't supposed to know it was you, was I?"

    "How did you know it was me?" Atobe asked softly as he approached her. She looked so achingly beautiful this way: dressed in spring green while standing amidst a garden in the throes of autumn, with the moonlight catching on her face and her hair and making her appear all the more ethereal for it.

    "I…really wasn't so sure at first," she admitted, her hands moving to clasp themselves together in front of her. "I almost thought for a moment that you were Michael, but I realized when we danced that you couldn't be Michael." She looked up, and offered him a small smile. "There is no one who can dance the way you can, Atobe. And besides, you are the only person who would take me here, of all places."

Atobe gazed at her for a while, and then smiled, nodding his head. "Hai, I suppose that's true."

She nodded as well, and moved past him to sit on one of the benches that were positioned under an arbor of roses. The roses were gone now – their season had long since passed – but the fact that she had done so made him smile. This was their hideaway, the place they went to when they wanted to be alone together.

's eyes were soft as they turned to him. "I missed coming to this place. I…I missed you."

Atobe knew that now was his chance. It was now or never. He walked up to her, and took both her hands in his as he sat down next to her on the bench. ", I'm sorry for the way I've been acting these past few months," he murmured, keeping his gaze focused on her hands. "I was hurt that you had left without telling me in advance, without even so much as saying goodbye. That was why I was formal with you when you came back. As for the rest of the time…" A wry smile twisted his mouth. "I thought that you had been going out with Michael Beaumont while you were in London."

    "Where did you find out about Michael?" asked, surprise clear in her voice.

    "I eavesdropped on your conversation with Kamio and An at the street tennis courts before." He shook his head, and held her hands more tightly. "But that is all in the past now. I was very much mistaken, and I wish to ask for your forgiveness. I should have trusted in you, in what we had. I did not do that, and for that I apologize. You deserve more than what I have given you."

She was still for a moment, but when she started to pull her hand away Atobe felt as if the end of the world had come. She was refusing him, she was turning him away, she would not have him anymore, she-

The gentle touch of her hand against his jaw made his gaze lift to her eyes, and he was stunned by the amount of emotion he saw swirling in their depths.

    "I think it's about time we stopped playing our games with the rest of the world, Keigo," she murmured, and the way she said his first name made emotion well up in his heart. "We have to stop this masquerade, and tell them how things really stand between the two of us." She reached up, and carefully untied the ties that held his mask to his face, taking it away to reveal his face to her as she smiled, and said: "I am not afraid, Keigo, if you are going to be right there with me."

Her words made his heart lighten, and he smiled as he cupped her face between his hands and brought her closer to kiss her, the taste of her lips a flavor he had missed and craved for so long that to experience it again now, after so long, was heartbreaking – and exhilarating.

    "I love you," he murmured against her mouth. "I love you so much, ."

When she drew away she was laughing amidst the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, and he smiled as he lightly dabbed his handkerchief against the edges of her eyes. "It would not do for you to smudge your makeup, a~n?"

She laughed again, and nodded. "Hai, you're right."

He chuckled softly, feeling glad to laugh again with her. He stood up, and held his hand out to her. "Shall we, my love?"

The smile that she gave to him gave him mingled the brilliance and sheen of starlight and moonlight, and the weight of her arm in his gave him great pleasure to feel it. They walked back to the party, autumn leaves whispering in their wake, and they left their masks behind.

fin.
Kage
4.April.2006

NOTES: