Hyotei Gakuen Bag Check

A man of many words

Character: Atobe Keigo

Summary: Truly, there are many words to describe Atobe of Hyotei Gakuen.

"Has anyone seen Atobe-buchou lately?" Ootori asked, looking at Atobe's bag in the clubroom.

"Haven't seen him since we told him we're going to the Nationals," Shishido answered, shrugging on his jersey. "He hasn't been to his classes too."

"But that's almost three days ago... Where could he be?" Ootori said, a hint of worry appearing on his face. He glanced at Kabaji beside him. "Did buchou tell you where he's going, Kabaji-san?"

The larger junior shook his head. If one would look properly, he's wearing almost the same expression as Ootori.

"That guy! Honestly, wandering off in such important time!" Mukahi said irately, trying to tie his shoes in vain. The laces keep on tangling. In frustration, he took his shoe off and threw it. "Go die, shoelaces!"

Oshitari, who easily dodged the flying shoe, raised an eyebrow. "He's probably training off somewhere. You know that guy. He's never satisfied with his current skill and always aims higher."

"Still, he's the team captain. He should be here to lead us," Shishido stated, shutting his locker a little forcefully than usual.

"Can't you practice without buchou's help, Shishido-senpai?" Hiyoshi asked logically from his corner.

Shishido glared at his kohai. "Don't be so lame, Wakashi. Of course I can. It's just that Atobe's been a selfish bastard when his responsibility lies here, with his team."

The Hyotei team fell silent, each unknowingly thinking of the same thought.

They are a strong team, each and every one of them knew it and flaunted that knowledge. They deserve to win, and nothing less. The horrible loss against the un-seeded Fudomine was a bitter pill to swallow, but they learned not to underestimate their opponents from then on. They trained, harder than usual, but still maintained that same confidence that their win is in the bag; confidence which shattered once again as they suffered another loss, this time to Seigaku. It should have been the end there, they knew. But then, another chance presented itself: a third chance for Hyotei Gakuen tennis club to reach the Nationals.

By now, every one of them knew that to win, they'd have to really want to win and fight with everything they got for it, not because they deserve it. And each Hyotei regular is willing to do this, and more.

It was Mukahi, unsurprisingly, who broke the silence.

"Well, I for one won't stand here waiting for that bastard," Mukahi declared, picking his shoe up and tying it haphazardly. "C'mon, Hiyoshi. Your form still sucks."

Hiyoshi sighed and bent down to tie his senpai's shoe correctly. "All those practices would be for nothing if you break your neck over untied shoelaces, Mukahi-senpai."

Shishido donned his signature cap. "Gakuto has a point, for the first time in his life—"

"What the hell do you mean 'first time'?! I'm gonna kick your ass, Shishido!"

"—We should practice harder by ourselves, captain be damned." Shishido turned to his Doubles partner, completely ignoring the kicking redhead held at bay by Hiyoshi. "Let's go, Choutarou."

"Okay, Shishido-san," Ootori stood up, followed by Kabaji, who handed him his racket. "Oh, thanks, Kabaji-san."

"Everyone is so inspired all of a sudden," Oshitari commented amusedly.

"You're one to talk," Shishido scoffed, glancing pointedly at the power wrists and ankle weights Oshitari was putting on.

The door to the club room suddenly burst open, revealing Jirou panting slightly. The look on his face made the other regulars freeze, as it was neither of the sleepy expression or the giddy happiness it usually wears. It was pale and apprehensive.

"Oi, Jirou! What happened?" Mukahi cried out when the blonde didn't immediately speak.

Jirou looked up. "Atobe."

"He isn't here, and you know that," Shishido replied, frowning. "What the hell—"

Shaking his head wildly, Jirou continued, his next words making several tennis rackets hit the floor.

"Atobe's in Rikkai."

"Three games to love!"

"RIKKAI! RIKKAI! RIKKAI!"

"FINISH HIM! SANADA-FUKUBUCHOU!"

"N-no way..." Ootori whispered, stunned. "Atobe-buchou..."

Hiyoshi gritted his teeth. "This is almost too painful to watch."

The Hyotei regulars arrived almost unnoticed to the Rikkai courts, as everyone was too focused on the intense, but grievously one-sided match between two of Japan's best middle school players.

"What the hell is Atobe doing?" Shishido demanded, slamming a fist against his palm.

Mukahi was openly enraged. "He's letting that Rikkai-bastard push him around! He's going to lose at this point! OI! ATO—hmpf!"

Oshitari calmly covered his friend's mouth, eyes never leaving the match. "Gakuto, look at Atobe's eyes carefully. Does that look like the eyes of someone losing?"

"He's planning something," Jirou commented, and it was a proof of his focus on his captain's match that he didn't appear to notice that his all-time idol, the Rikkai volley specialist, was just on the opposite side of the court.

The voice of Sanada broke through the noise. "No matter how many times you try, the result will be the same!" He raised his racket, and cheers exploded once more. "Immovable, like the mountain."

The Hyotei team watched as the ball went completely past their heavily-panting captain standing in the middle of the court, again and again. He was sweating profusely.

"Forty-love!"

"You couldn't even make it to the Nationals, and yet you actually thought you could just waltz in here and challenge Rikkai?" Sanada was sneering.

"Game, Sanada! Four games to love!"

The Hyotei captain made no reply, and simply wiped some sweat from his eyes with his already soaked wrist band.

Sanada was unrelenting, using the 'Mountain' of his Fuu Rin Kaa Zan again. "Is this some kind of joke, Atobe?"

Ootori flinched and shut his eyes, while Hiyoshi looked away, both unable to watch the captain they respected lose completely.

"Don't look away."

Both second years turned to their fellow junior, whose own narrowed eyes are trained on the match.

"Win or lose, this is our captain. Watch him," Kabaji said firmly. The rest of the regulars are already watching as if transfixed. The two other juniors exchanged a glance and continued watching.

"LET'S GO, LET'S GO RIKKAI! WE'RE INVINCIBLE RIKKAI DAI!"

Nearby the Hyotei regulars, some Rikkai members are shouting.

"There's no way he can break down Sanada's iron wall of defense!"

"AH! He's turning it in a battle of endurance! He wants Atobe to completely crumble before him!"

That statement broke the spell within the Hyotei regulars.

"'Crumble'?!" Mukahi scoffed loudly. "Are you sure you're talking about Atobe?"

The Rikkai members turned to them in surprise. "EH?! More Hyotei?! The Hyotei regulars are here!"

"Love-fifteen!"

The Rikkai members gaped. A ball went past Sanada who didn't seem to even realize the ball was already on his court.

"Crumble is a word for rocks or cookies," Jirou said wisely. "Not for Atobe."

"Love-thirty!"

Atobe smashed back the ball, and before Sanada could react, the ball was rolling by his feet.

"What—?"

"Love-forty!"

Oshitari chuckled. "There are more than a thousand words to describe Atobe Keigo, but you won't find any 'crumble' in it."

"Game, Atobe! Four games to one!"

"There's simply no way will that guy 'crumble'," Shishido smirked, watching Atobe lower his racket and threw his head back to give a loud laugh, stunning the whole Rikkai court to silence.

"It is completed," Atobe declared, throwing Sanada a very triumphant look for one who just lost four whole games.

"No, definitely not Atobe-buchou," Ootori agreed, feeling suddenly light-hearted.

"Gekokujou," Hiyoshi added, smiling slightly at the familiar sight of his captain's confident strut.

"Usu," Kabaji finished.

"Alright, that's enough."

Yukimura entered the court, and Keigo knew the party had to stop. Too bad; he was just about to heat it up, now that his Koori no Sekai is complete. And he was looking forward to shutting up the whole crowd too. Damn noisy people.

"Hmph, you want to be my opponent instead?" Keigo drawled, throwing the other buchou a challenging stare.

As expected, some Rikkai players reacted badly at that. But none more than their so-called junior ace. "Wait just a moment!"

But their captain spoke again, silencing everyone on his team. "I will gladly be your opponent." He paused, returning Keigo's stare with an even look. "If it's in an official match."

Keigo was sure that smile was mocking him. "What are you talking about?"

Yukimura was unmoved. "You know what I'm talking about." He then moved his eyes away from Keigo and up to the bleachers. "Go home, Atobe Keigo. It wouldn't do to leave your team if you're going to the Nationals."

This drew many gasps from the other Rikkai members. "Hyotei's playing in the Nationals?!"

Glancing to where Yukimura was staring, Keigo had to sigh. "Those idiots..." He gave captain and vice-captain of the strongest school in the circuit a smirk. "We'll have to finish this some other time, I see. Ore-sama will claim his victory later."

He could feel hundreds of eyes watching him as he jogged away, and he almost had to stop himself from laughing out loud again. These peasants are obviously in awe of him and his brilliance, as expected.

"Atobe!"

"Buchou!"

Keigo paused, throwing down his shirt's hood to glare more properly at his team. "What are you fools doing here?"

"Watching you get your ass kicked, what else?" Shishido snorted, but he is grinning nonetheless.

"Sanada still wipes the floor with your face, Atobe," Mukahi laughed, hanging on Oshitari's arm for support.

"Gekokujou, buchou," Hiyoshi put in.

"But you were amazing there, Atobe-buchou!" Ootori exclaimed with shining eyes.

"Really SUGEE, Atobe!" Jirou yelled in agreement, bouncing all around him.

Come to think of it, all of them are smiling at him. The idiots.

"What are you all so happy about, ahnn?" Keigo demanded. A towel was thrown at him, and he caught it easily. "Oshitari, why the hell are all of you here?"

Oshitari chuckled. "We miss having a captain, you know..."

"Really, are all of you that useless without ore-sama?" Keigo said crossly, accepting a water bottle from Kabaji with a nod of thanks. "I suppose that only proves how much priceless ore-sama is," Keigo paused. "How did you get here?"

"We took the train of course, idiot!" Mukahi said, rolling his eyes. "Not all of us have a limo to drive us everywhere."

Keigo scowled distastefully. "Ore-sama will not ride a commoner transport. Kabaji! Call ore-sama's driver to pick us up. Use the PHS, as ore-sama is sure the signal here is abysmal."

"Usu."

"Hmph, so you have time to spy on ore-sama here rather than practice on your own, ahnn? Then let me assure you this. When we get back at Hyotei, you," Keigo declared, pointing at his team with his most sadistic smile on. "Will go through hell."

Everyone paled a little at that.

Jirou, who was looking a little down when he just realized he'd been to Rikkai and wasn't able to even catch a glimpse of his idol and therefore was not really listening, suddenly pointed at Keigo's head. "AH!"

"What?" Keigo demanded, a bit startled at the blonde's cry.

"Your hair looks just like mine when I wake up!" Jirou grinned.

Twitching, Keigo turned away. "Kabaji! My gold compact mirror."

"Usu."

"Ne, Yuushi... Do you think if we sell that mirror to Atobe's fangirls we could buy the whole team tickets to fly us to Hawaii or somewhere very far from a pissed off Atobe?"

"You know, Gakuto, if we throw in that lip gloss he's using right now, we can buy Hawaii."

End of Hyotei Gakuen Bag Check

A/N:

Da-da-daan!!! Here's the final chapter of the Hyotei Gakuen Bag Check! Yeah, I noticed his things are more like an after-thought in this story. But for Atobe's part, I really like to give emphasis on why the Hyotei team respects him so, even if he's such a diva. I hope I made him some justice.

Oh, and I haven't found Atobe's actual bag search (done by Sakaki-kantoku) page, as it appeared in fanbook 20.5, I think.

Atobe's bag contains the following:

1. Cell phone - for international calls. People have witnessed Atobe speaking in German over this phone.

2. Cell phone - with video phone capabilities in FOMA. (Note: FOMA stand for Freedom of Mobile multimedia access, and it's a service provided by NTT Dokomo, a Japanese communications company). Used mainly to contact family members.

3. Cell phone x 2 - Equipped with camera. He uses these phones for most normal usage, but doesn't use the camera much.

4. PHS - (Personal Handy Phone) He uses this as a backup for underground use, where it's hard to get a signal. Doesn't use it much.

5. Lip balm - Dry lips are the ultimate indignity! Since he couldn't possibly show himself in public with chapped lips, he always carries this around.

6. Cologne - Uses one spritz of this as a finishing touch after his post-practice shower. Thus switching to "private mode."

7. Foreign book - When he's alone, he's mostly reading. Right now, he particularly likes reading Goethe.

8. A gold compact mirror

Credit: shizumaru. blogspot. com

I'd like to thank these people who showed this story much needed support: babagoui, MaRUi, kay54, EBIL DUSTBUNNY OF DOOOOM, Tressa, Paffu, animeannie, loove it!!, ltifal, Airashii Mochidzuki, BlackBunny15, LiQuYu, melli-elle, Orion. R. Black, Charmane, girl-of-anime, The Tensai Fan Girl and SilentNahani.

Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments! You guys are the best! And...

Maybe I'll do a Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Bag Check too? (-.o)v