People have told me often that this story needs a happy ending. A very recent review clinched it for me. I wrote this in a very short span of time, I'm sorry it might be shitty. Yay for happy ending.

When Atobe turns up at school three days after the break-up to see Ryoma, the tennis prodigy throws his Ponta can at him. Open and full.

Atobe doesn't go home that day, choosing instead to spend the night at a hotel and push down the deepening desperation in his heart as he clutches soft bedsheets and gasps in dry sobs (he won't let tears fall).

Of course, he's actually fine, and he can smile and everything. Life's normal, even with a big chunk of it torn away. He only needs to find hobbies to fill the time and space that Ryoma left.

Kabaji often ends up being his shogi partner, and his jogging partner, and tutee. Kabaji doesn't know how to put in words the mask that Keigo has permanently donned.

So sometimes he just puts his arms around Keigo and lets Keigo cry.

The hole is healing. It's filling up. Keigo smiles more often, and doesn't give up the single point that he used to, in games.

Until he goes to see Ryoma again at Seigaku, and Ryoma defeats him in a match, 7-6. Beats him in a tiebreaker.

"Don't walk away," Keigo whispers to himself as Ryoma struts off the court with a carefully-worded, cautiously-spoken 'You have a long way to go.'

Ryoma misses Keigo. Of course he does.

Because in the end, he's still in love with him.

One day Kabaji is the one to greet him at Seigaku, and instead of 'usu', Kabaji slowly, gently tells Ryoma that Keigo never cheated, and tells Ryoma about the different, lovely, brilliant expressions on Keigo's face whenever he sees Ryoma.

Ryoma hardens the walls around his heart, because they crumble inwardly.

A king can never show weakness.

A prince can throw tantrums all he wants.

Atobe Keigo finishes his last year as captain, and prepares for further education with the utmost diligence.

One day he graces the public library with his presence and sits down at a corner table that's vacant. A while later, he is joined by Ryoma (who had been previously informed of Atobe's whereabouts by Kabaji).

"Will you attend Hyotei next year?"

"I... don't know," Atobe answers, steady, stable enough to answer Ryoma without a quaver in his voice.

"Why don't you come to Seigaku?"

"You guys have enough national-level tennis players," Atobe answers, smirking. "Hyotei needs me."

"How arrogant, Monkey King," Ryoma says, smirking back, and Atobe's okay. He's not drowning yet.

"Anyway," Ryoma adds, "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Making presumptions."

"That's okay. I can understand the reasoning, even if your suspicions were unfounded." Atobe gets up to go to the bookshelves, and Ryoma follows him.

As Atobe's scouring the shelves for a copy of University Physics, Ryoma grabs his shoulder and pulls him down, down for a kiss that lets Atobe swim away from the ocean, a kiss that lets Keigo grab Ryoma by the waist and push him not-so-roughly against the shelf and deepen it. They kiss for a couple of minutes. Then they kiss some more for a couple of minutes more.

Everything's not all right, yet, but Ryoma doing this is surely the beginning.

"I'm sorry," Ryoma whispers into Keigo's ear.

"You're the first person I've kissed since we broke up," Keigo whispers back into Ryoma's ear.

"Me too."

"I'm sorry, too."

Their sighs of relief don't go unnoticed by each other, and Keigo's world isn't upside-down anymore.