Famous Atobe Heir Returns to Japan

Atobe Keigo, after coming to America for five years, has returned to Japan, with the intention of opening up a branch of his company here. He has stated that he might relocate his company, the AK Corporation, to Japan entirely, making the American location the branch.

Mr Atobe had left Japan at the age of nineteen, and has since put his own father, president of the Atobe Company, out of business. As the most successful businessman in America, Japan, and perhaps the world, at his young age, Mr Atobe is also considered one of the most eligible bachelors (see page 24 for complete list) and one of the richest men in Japan, previously America.

He had left suddenly, giving nobody any advance notice, but has agreed to an exclusive interview with one of our reporters on Saturday, and the interview will be printed the day after.

Rumours that a secret love is the reason for the impromptu return have been abound, since Mr Atobe's infamous letter to the press from a few years ago had been found with a section missing...

If there were any more reporters around him, Atobe would have been able to walk on their heads without worrying about falling and scuffing his perfectly polished black shoes.

'Atobe-san has been very obliging today,' his assistant, Tanaka Daisuke - around five years his senior, though he often seemed older - interrupted, noticing his employer's distress, though most wouldn't have noticed it. Tanaka was a good assistant in that way. 'But he must be going. He has matters to discuss at a meeting soon, so I'm afraid you will have to disperse.' Tanaka's voice was calm but firm, and the crowd of reporters left, albeit grudgingly.

'Thank you, Tanaka-san,' Atobe said, sighing, once the last of the reporters had left through the now closed door. He didn't want to get up from the plush leather chair just yet; he was so tired. He had gotten more questions from nosy reporters than he could count, most of which involved detailed queries about Atobe's love life. These queries were mostly about the section of the letter that had disappeared without a trace. Its mysterious addressee had been nicknamed E-san by the rumourmongers, since the section of the letter that had been torn had started with 'To E', though the remaining characters had been ripped off.

'It's nothing, Atobe-sama,' Tanaka replied, brushing back a lock of his own black hair with an amused look in his eyes. The two of them were the only people in the conference room now; the room that had previously been bustling with action was now blissfully quiet. Silence wasn't something Atobe often experienced.

Atobe got up slowly from his leather haven, regretting the action immediately after carrying out with it. Smoothing out the creases in his suit that had been created upon his sitting, he sighed. 'So where is this meeting?' he asked his assistant resignedly, wondering what antics he'd be made to do next - the media wouldn't be happy until Atobe had done something stupid on camera, he assumed, which probably wasn't very unlikely, since he was too fatigued to think straight.

Tanaka laughed softly. 'You stress too much, Atobe-sama,' he said, chiding. 'Why don't we get you to the limousine first? It'll be a long ride, so you may rest for a bit, since I know you didn't sleep on the plane ride here.'

Atobe harrumphed; the black-haired man could always see right through him, ever since the brunet had employed him two years ago. He did make things easier though, taking care of Atobe's schedule and meeting up with people than Atobe really didn't feel like meeting up with. 'I don't pay you to be my nanny,' Atobe responded with a sniff. Nevertheless, he let Tanaka lead him out: he really did need some sleep.

The pair went out into the hall, with Tanaka iterating names of people to Atobe. 'The person to your left,' Tanaka whispered, leaning in towards Atobe's head so that he could feel Tanaka's soft breath on his ear, nodding towards a man dressed in a dark grey suit, 'is Smith-san. He brought over a branch of his company from Britain. He deals with-'

'-Sorry, Tanaka-san,' Atobe replied drily, after greeting the man surnamed Smith with a polite 'Hello', 'but I'm not really listening to what you're saying at the moment.'

Feeling rather indulging, or at least that's what Atobe supposed, Tanaka simply shut up, but not without an amused sigh, and continued walking, greeting the other people in the hallway so that Atobe would not have to.

Finally reaching the limo, Tanaka opened the door smoothly, saying graciously, 'After you, Atobe-sama.' Atobe practically threw himself inside; he didn't need to conduct himself perfectly with Tanaka, which he was eternally grateful for. His brain was just about ready to shut down from forming too many politically correct answers for the reporters, and his body was following very closely.

Closing his eyes, Atobe had only been in the limousine for a few moments before succumbing to sweet, sweet sleep.

'Why did you leave me?'

The dream always started the same way. One solitary figure would stand with Atobe, always at an arm's distance. His golden eyes would stare at Atobe, sometimes accusing, sometimes teary, but always, always disappointed.

It was the disappointment that always got to Atobe.

'I had to,' Atobe replied, sighing. Sometimes he was more vehement, begging to be forgiven. Sometimes he would lash out, asking why nobody had come after him. But sometimes, like today, he would just accept what had happened: he couldn't change the past, no matter how he wished to, at times.

'No, you didn't,' the other replied, golden eyes flashing angrily. 'You ran off. What's your excuse for not telling me then?'

'I didn't want you to change my mind,' Atobe responded tiredly. He'd gone through this so many times, but never had the outcome of the dream changed.

'Why not?' The question was simple, straightforward, as the asker himself was. But Atobe could never answer this question.

'I...' Atobe started. 'I...'

But then the figure faded away, disappearing into the mist.

And then Atobe woke up.

'We've arrived, Atobe-sama.'

Atobe opened his eyes wearily; had they gotten to their destination already? He wouldn't have minded sleeping for a few more hours - thirty or so would have done the trick. His assistant had already gotten out of the limousine and opened his door, and was now proffering his hand. 'Where are we?' the brunet asked in a tired tone, his exhaustion tugging at his voice.

'A restaurant,' Tanaka replied, smiling, though Atobe had no idea why, since he didn't think a meeting was any reason to smile. He waited for Atobe's hand, and helped him out.

'Meetings in restaurants are never productive,' Atobe muttered, feeling uncharitable towards whoever was going to be at the meeting with him. 'And who am I meeting with anyway, Tanaka?'

'Atobe-sama, we're blocking the entranceway.' Tanaka gestured at the doors to the large building in front of them. 'And people are starting to take pictures.'

And indeed people were, though Atobe hadn't noticed. To his right there were a throng of reporters, who had presumably followed them - the taxis they had gotten out of hadn't left yet, what with the traffic in the more urbanised areas of Japan being awful - that was one thing that Atobe hadn't missed. 'Quick, before they start asking questions,' Atobe grumbled, walking into the building with large strides. Tanaka just laughed as he trailed after his employer, seeming far too amused.

'What floor?' Atobe asked, having reached the elevators.

Tanaka didn't answer, just pushing the 'up' button for him. A few moments later, the elevator chimed, and the doors opened. The pair quickly stepped in, and Tanaka pressed the button on the side with the numbers '29', making the button light up with a faint glow.

'You still haven't answered me, Tanaka-san,' Atobe remembered with a frown, recalling his question from before. 'Who's going to be at this meeting?'

'A few of your... colleagues, I'd call them,' Tanaka said with a nod. 'They just want to discuss - oh, and here we are!' The elevator doors opened, and Tanaka ushered Atobe out. 'Just go down that hall, turn to your left, and somebody will show you to your seat, Atobe-sama.'

'Wait, Tanaka-san!' Atobe exclaimed, even as the doors closed in front of him. 'Aren't you going to come with...' His voice trailed off when he realised that Tanaka couldn't possibly hear him any longer.

Complaining about Tanaka and his disappearance inwardly, he put on a composed face as he walked into the restaurant. The maître d' spotted him immediately after his entrance, and bowed deeply. Upon standing back up, he greeted humbly, 'Atobe-sama, welcome. Thank you for choosing to eat with us tonight.'

Though Atobe thought rather harshly that he himself had not had much of a choice in the matter, a waiter appeared, decked in blacks and whites with a small, polite smile on his face. 'Let me show you to your seat, Atobe-sama. Your dining companions have already arrived.'

Atobe had to admit that having people know his name without introducing himself was quite grand, though that was only one pro in the sea of cons about fame. He followed the waiter obligingly, though his feet stopped a few metres from his table, once he had spotted his so-called colleagues.

'Look! It's Atobe!'

The short shout was loud, making many of the other patrons of the restaurant at first frown at the speaker, and then look around for where Atobe Keigo could be. Atobe, however, had no eyes for them. His gaze was locked on his table and its occupants.

'Jirou?' Atobe asked in disbelief. The blond man had already gotten out of his seat and had crossed the short space in between them, grinning. He was taller than he had been before - almost Atobe's height, he realised in shock - and looked older, more mature - his face was less cherubic, more angled.

And it wasn't just Jirou. There was Yuushi, who hadn't changed much; he still looked like his usual romantic Kansai-ben self, and Mukahi, who had grown out his mushroom cut so his dark red hair just brushed his shoulders, but was still as skinny as he had ever been. The two were sitting next to each other, with Shishido on their right, his hair long and beautiful once more with no cap on his head. Ohtori was beside him, an innocent smile on his face - still the same old Ohtori, really.

But people were missing. Atobe glanced around the table once more, and couldn't find Hiyoshi or Kabaji.

'Kabaji went to London for university and decided to stay there after he got a job,' Jirou rapidly explained, noticing Atobe's perplexed expression, 'and Hiyoshi is off in Canada, since he got transferred there with his wife and kids.'

London? Wife and kids? Atobe was feeling like a fish out of water - his teammates had gone on in life without him. It wasn't as if he'd been expecting them all to be here waiting for him, ready to join him as they had before on the tennis team, but he felt out of place, left behind.

And there was a strange stillness in the air; nobody seemed to know what to say. Atobe stood, frozen, just staring at the table where all his teammates who were not his teammates any longer sat.

'Sit down!' Jirou pulled Atobe's sleeve, and sat him down next to where Jirou had been sitting before. 'I'm sure you have lots of things to tell us!'

'Much to tell you?' Atobe raised an eyebrow, placing his hands neatly in his lap. 'Why?'

'Don't you?' Jirou replied, his innocent eyes wide. 'You left without telling us anything, and you've been gone for so long! I'm sure we have lots to catch up on, right?'

Jirou slung a casual arm around Atobe's shoulder. 'We missed you a lot, you know?' he said cheerfully. 'Gakkun even cried a bit when your assistant told us that you had come back.'

'Hey, you shut up!' Gakuto replied indignantly, his cheeks flushing. 'I just had dust in my eye!'

'As if,' Shishido scoffed. 'You were sniffling like a fucking girl.'

'Language, Shishido,' Yuushi immediately reprimanded, even as Choutarou said, 'Shishido-san!'

Atobe's worries dissipated almost instantaneously; Jirou's offhand remark had started things up again, and soon Atobe found himself immersed in friendship that he hadn't experienced for years.

'So, Atobe, got anybody special over in America?' Gakuto said, winking in what Atobe supposed was Gakuto's idea of an innuendo. Gakuto had, by this point in the evening, drank far too much wine despite Yuushi's warnings ('But Yuushi, I'll never be able to drink such good wine again!') and was now rather inebriated. 'Do you have some pretty girl hidden there?'

Yuushi immediately shot Gakuto a look that Atobe didn't notice. 'Ignore him, Keigo,' Yuushi drawled. 'Gakuto doesn't know what propriety is, so he can't help it.'

'What do you mean, Yuushi? So mean!' Gakuto looked like he was either sobbing or laughing - Atobe couldn't tell.

'I mean, Gakuto, that you shouldn't talk about things like that.'

'I was just asking, Yuushi-'

'-Mukahi-san,' Choutarou said politely, 'I think we might be forced to leave if we're any louder.'

And indeed the staff had been glaring at them. Gakuto grumbled something about politicians and conspiracy theories even as Choutarou offered his apologies to the waiter, who had already been walking over to warn them. The waiter left grudgingly: he had looked like he'd wanted to lecture them.

'Oh, it's getting late,' Yuushi noted. 'We can just meet up another time.' He pulled out his wallet, but Atobe raised a hand.

'It's on me,' he responded. 'I mean, you did take time out of your schedule for me, so it's only proper for me to treat you.'

Shishido stared at Atobe. 'Of course we took time out of our schedules for you!' he retorted, sounding offended. 'I mean, we're your friends, right?'

Atobe stared back, and Shishido immediately flushed. 'And I don't want you to treat us anyway!' Shishido continued, face red. 'We don't need charity!'

Atobe just continued to stare, and finally let out a quiet laugh. 'I'm glad you're still as crass as you ever were, Shishido,' Atobe replied drily, smirking at Shishido with some of his usual arrogance that hadn't shown through for a while.

'And all is right with the world,' Gakuto said mockingly. Atobe then turned to face him, confused. 'I mean, you hadn't acted all pompous and mighty all evening,' Gakuto explained, rolling his eyes. 'It was starting to seem a bit weird.'

Atobe just laughed again, and paused after a few moments. A waiter appeared to his side immediately. 'Yes, Atobe-sama?'

Shishido looked at Atobe incredulously. 'How'd you do that?'

Ignoring Shishido pointedly, Atobe simply took out his credit card, but the waiter shook his head. 'The meal's already been paid.'

'We had a feeling you would refuse, Atobe-san,' Choutarou explained, smiling, 'if we had given you a chance to, so we just paid beforehand.'

'But how did you know what I would order?' Atobe replied, raising an eyebrow.

Shishido snorted in an ungainly manner. 'It was obvious what you'd order.'

Jirou nodded, grinning. 'We all know roast beef is your favourite, Atobe. We did have to listen to your rants during tennis practice, you know.'

'They weren't rants,' Atobe snapped immediately. 'The cafeteria's roast beef was unsatisfactory and didn't even deserve to be called roast beef.'

Jirou laughed. 'You haven't changed much, Atobe,' he replied with a smile. He then enveloped Atobe in an unexpected hug. 'We've missed you.'

Atobe blinked, and responded, 'I've missed you too.'

'What?' Oshitari asked, raising an eyebrow. 'No egotistical comment, like "as you should have" or "I'd be shocked if you didn't"?'

Atobe laughed once more - it was pleasant. He hadn't had very much to laugh at for a while. 'There's no need for one, Yuushi,' the diva replied deprecatingly, 'if you supply one for me.'

Yuushi shrugged in a casual manner, and pushed up his glasses. 'But we really should part. Will you be able to find time in your busy schedule for us?'

Atobe nodded. 'Of course.' He left it at that, as no other words were needed. 'My cell phone number is the same.'

With that, Atobe left the restaurant, feeling less tired than he had in days, even while Gakuto's words weighed him down.

'Did you arrange that, Tanaka-san?'

'I plead the fifth,' his assistant replied with a smile, though Atobe shook his head.

'We're not in America any more,' Atobe responded, smiling as well. 'You can't use that excuse. But thank you, Tanaka-san. I had missed them.'

Tanaka nodded. The two were returning to a hotel - Atobe's previous residence had been sold already, his previous residence being his own manor and not one of the Atobe mansions - to retire for the night. It was already past midnight, as it so often was before Atobe reached his bed, but Atobe was sure that his sleep wouldn't be fitful this night.

'Is there anybody else you wish to meet up with?' Tanaka asked, making Atobe freeze. Anybody else he wanted to meet up with - there were many, but only one that he would give anything to meet but give anything to not meet as well.

'I won't ask,' Tanaka appended politely, noticing his employer's distress. 'You may rest once again if you wish, Atobe-sama, since the hotel is a bit of a ways away from here. You have a full schedule tomorrow, and you will require the respite.'

Atobe nodded, and closed his eyes, with Gakuto's words echoing in his mind.

Got anybody special over in America?

No. His somebody special was right here in Japan, but that didn't mean that Atobe was anybody special to him.

And he wasn't.

With these troubling thoughts, Atobe drifted into a dreamless slumber, though later, when he woke up, he would wonder if he was actually dreaming.

- to be continued.