The Bento of Forgiveness

By xxkoffeexx

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

"Get out of my way, bitch."

How long had she stood there, holding that bento and staring ahead with unseeing eyes, too shocked to think, to move, to breathe, to cry?

"Please forgive him. You'd better go home now."

After the initial shock sank in, disbelief pounded in her mind and she thought of excuses to explain his behavior. His blunt, cold rejection, those harsh words... he didn't mean it—he wasn't trying to hurt her on purpose. Atobe Keigo was a warm and considerate being who cared about others. He would never be so cruel to one of his fans.

But no. That wasn't it. No matter how many times she told herself that Atobe Keigo was not that kind of person, his words replayed over and over in her mind, always with that same tone of voice, with those uncaring eyes that looked straight through her as if she were nothing.

And then the realization struck her. Something tore at her heart and she could feel the hot prickling behind her eyes, her breath beginning to hitch—

"Hey!" It was her friends. They ran up to her, smiling eagerly and eyes curious. "What did he say?"

They didn't hear.

"I told you he wouldn't accept it! Atobe-sama is a very busy person. Why, I heard he wakes up before dawn, trains all day and sleeps at midnight—every single day!"

"Where did you hear that? Atobe-sama doesn't need to train because his skills are top-notch!"

"That's right! He even beat the Seigaku captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu!"

They turned back to her, probing. "So? What did he say?"

I can't say it.

She put on a bright, sheepish smile and shrugged. "Nothing. You're right, Atobe-san is a very busy person." He didn't even look at me. They all sighed dreamily as they pictured the handsome tennis captain, cooing over how amazing he was. She wanted to go home.

How many times had a girl been rejected like this? What were his teammates thinking when he said those words? She didn't see their faces when they ran past her but she assumed they were used to seeing hopeful girls like her get crushed. They paid her no attention, except for one.

"Please forgive him. You'd better go home now."

She went home that day, greeting her mother who smiled and asked her how her day went, as usual. She said she was a little tired, went to her room, locked the door, pulled the blankets over her head and cried.

I will never forgive him.

Why did she like him? What was it about Atobe Keigo that she loved so much, enough to become one of his avid fan girls? He was handsome, intelligent, capable, a leader—all of them qualities worth admiring. But that wasn't it. It wasn't that he was crazy rich, or had mad tennis skills that put him on level with professional players.

What was it?

Whatever it was, she didn't care anymore. It was gone, that feeling, that fire that had burned so passionately for him. The flames had died and through the emptiness she could finally open her eyes and see Atobe Keigo for the person he really was.

Never. She would never forgive him.

So she went to school as she normally did, walking and talking and smiling as if her heart had not been ripped in two just the other day. Nobody knew what had happened to her so they didn't have to ask, and she didn't have to tell. Everything was fine, until she heard the sighs and coos of adoration coming from the crowd of girls who greeted him in the hallway, just like everyday.

At the sound of his voice she froze. Without thinking, she turned around to take a detour to her next class—

Stop.

It wasn't as if Atobe would recognize her. He probably didn't even remember what happened, and even if he did, he most likely didn't care. She was merely another girl in the crowd. She was nothing to him. Nothing. Was she going to walk around the entire school, just to avoid a guy like him?

Then she clenched her fists and turned back. To her, Atobe Keigo was nothing.

And as she passed the throng of adulating girls (had she really been one of them?) she held her head up high and looked straight ahead.

It was time to move on.

That didn't mean she didn't go with her friends to watch Hyotei's match during the quarterfinals of the Nationals. Contrary to most of the fan girls who came to watch, she actually cared about her school's tennis team. She had some school pride, after all.

They lost. It hadn't been the first time Hyotei lost to Seigaku, but this time was different. This was the Nationals. This was the quarterfinals. This time, Atobe Keigo had lost.

For a brief moment, she felt unsympathetic. She wondered viciously if the arrogant captain felt half the despair she had felt when he rejected her.

But then she looked at the team and their downcast faces, and the hopes they had cast on winning the Nationals dying along with the setting sun. She looked at the scoreboard that spelled out Hyotei's defeat. She looked at the crying fan girls, and all two hundred members of the team.

And then she looked at him. The flicker of expression on his face confirmed her thoughts, and even when he snapped back to his confident, smirking self, she had already forgiven him.

After all, even Atobe Keigo was human.

Her friends noticed the change in her. They demanded to know what happened to the real her and why she wasn't hanging out with them more. Their idea of hanging out consisted mostly of stalking Atobe Keigo and wondering if he would look at them. What they didn't know was that she was busy studying. High school was just around the corner, after all.

As if that wasn't enough to convince her that she didn't care for him anymore, there was the time when he had brushed past her—literally brushed her arm—and she didn't know until her friends practically screamed her ear off that the real Atobe Keigo had touched her arm.

When had she started to not care about him? Was it after that dreadful first night of crying until she had a migraine? Or maybe when she passed by him for the first time without looking at him? Perhaps it had been the moment he uttered those fateful words.

Or maybe, she mused, it had been the night she devoured the entire bento that was supposed to be for him. It was rather delicious, if she did say so herself, and she felt that he missed out.

It's time to move on.

END

A/N: I watched that episode when he rejected that poor girl and thought, "Atobe you bastard!" And why did it remind me of Sakura and Sasuke from Naruto? Yeah. So I pondered, brainstormed, nearly tore my hair out, and wrote this. Heh. I hope her reaction and behavior made sense. Did I make sense? Hm...

Thank you very much for taking time to read!