Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I don't think I'm even good at writing the characters anymore. Sorry, Konomi-sensei. And the title isn't mine either. It's a song by the band HIM.

A/N: This is a fic to bring closure to my life. Closure about something that has hurt me a lot in the past two months or so. This is me trying to move on. It was good while it lasted. Don't ask for explanations. It won't help my cause any if I have to keep being reminded. Thank you.

YOU ARE THE ONE

It wasn't something he could tell the rest of his team. They wouldn't understand. Kirihara Akaya, Devil of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, was in love with Number One Annoying Acrobat, Mukahi Gakuto. It made absolutely no sense. But it was true. And Kirihara was so in love, he was bruised from the fall.

- - - -

"Akaya, what's the rush?" Kirihara heard the distinctive 'pop' sound from behind him and knew exactly which senpai was being nosy this time. Hopefully he could come up with a good excuse for once, though. Somehow, he really didn't think that his goldfish - yeah, the one that's died for the fifth time in two weeks - was going to fly again. Sure, the first two times it was true, but after the second time he fed his goldfish catfood, his mother put her foot down and refused to get him another one.

He skidded to a halt and turned around, sheepishly rubbing under his nose. "Hey, Marui-senpai," he laughed awkwardly. "My sister's got some kind of, uh, pageant. Yeah! And mom wants me home so--"

"Oh yeah?" Marui smirked. "You hate your sister, and you never, under any circumstances, try to get home this fast." Kirihara bit his lip as Marui continued, "So what's really goin' on, huh?"

"I--"

"And don't give us no cheap excuses, brat," a voice drawled from behind him. "We know you ain't got any more pets."

"Niou-senpai!"

"That's my name, wear it out and I will wear you down," he smirked before grabbing his kouhai in a headlock. "Now spill."

The junior gave up struggling and sighed, "Okay, okay! Jus' lemme go!" He breathed a sigh of relief once he was released and stepped back in case Niou decided another headlock, or worse, would be a good idea. "I kinda, um, kinda sorta..." he paused and took a deep breath. "I-guess-I-kinda-sorta-have-a-sorta-special-someone-maybe," he finished, completely out of breath. Hopefully they either understood that and didn't care, or they didn't understand and he could write it off as, 'well I tried, bye!' and run off.

Sadly, it was none of the above.

He was grabbed by the back of his collar and lifted four inches off the ground by Niou, to be prevented from escaping. He turned his head to see two equally smirking senpais.

"A special someone, eh?"

This was not going to be fun, he could tell already. And for once, 'I plead the fifth' would not come in handy.

- - - -

After minutes- yes, minutes- of endless (or what he'd like to believe was endless) questions from his senpais, he was set free to go where he pleased. Of course, the ten- maybe fifteen- minutes he was stuck in the locker room felt like hours to Kirihara when he was supposed to be meeting his boyfriend. It had been a while since he'd last seen the jumpy little acrobat.

He flipped his phone open as the bus turned the corner to the stop for Hyoutei and sent a quick message.

"B there in a min.

Senpais wanted 2 ? me.

-Akaya"

He grinned as his message tone went off immediately.

"Take ur time.

- #1 Acrobat!"

The bus pulled to a stop and the junior quickly stood up, grabbed his school bag, and ran off the bus. The drivers' yell for him not to run was ignored. He was too excited to care.

He ran past the gate, knowing exactly where to go- Gakuto had shown him around once before, after all. It was like a right of passage to know your way around Hyoutei Gakuen if your boyfriend happened to be a tennis regular. The regulars took care of their significant others, whether they were poor or loaded rich (though no one was as loaded as Atobe Keigo, or anyone else from Hyoutei for that matter). Neither the principal nor any of the teachers even cared anymore that a Rikkai student was meandering the halls.

Skidding to a stop in front of the locker rooms, he grabbed the door handle and pushed, halting as he heard a familiar voice, rough from overuse. "Yuushi..."

What? That wasn't the right name. That wasn't the name he heard that voice say every night they spent at each other's houses. In each other's beds. Under the same covers. No, that wasn't the right name at all. What was happening?

He thanked the gods, assuming there were any, that Hyoutei kept up on the usage of door grease- or maybe not, because he wasn't ready to see this, not yet- otherwise he would have been kept in the Darkness of The Nile™, condemned to survive this thinking he was imagining things. Lying to himself that the boy he loved actually loved him back and was not, in fact, cheating on him.

"Yuushi, please...."

He bit his lip, forcing himself not to open the door the rest of the way. He didn't want to see. Because then it would be final. They would be done. If he can't see, he can still deny; he can still-

"Nn.. Gakuto..."

An almost-whine escaped his lips, his grip tightening on the door handle, turning his knuckles pasty white. There was no mistaking it now. Gakuto wasn't his anymore. Gakuto belongs to Oshitari Yuushi now. And Kirihara was well aware that he could not win against a tensai with an extremely deep, sultry voice dripping with kansai dialect. He was just too perfect.

The locker room door closed with an audible 'click' and he turned back the way he came, silent tears falling from his eyes.

- - - -

He didn't want to go home. He would never live it down if his father saw him with dried-up tearstreaks running down his face. He'd call him a girl, possibly hit him, and tell him to grow up because big boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. But Kirihara was certain that his father had cried over some girl at some point in his life, and his father had the same reaction. His father would just be passing the information on in hopes that his own son would leave an indent in his future childrens' brains. Assuming Kirihara ever grew out of this boy-crazy phase- not that he was boy-crazy for any boy; just a certain boy.

Where could he go? If he went much farther than Hyoutei he'd be lost for sure. And he didn't want to waste money on bus ride after bus ride. That was money to be spent on trips to the arcade, since now he'll have plenty of free time now that he's single...

Sighing, he headed toward the gate, until he heard a voice call after him, "Hey, seaweed!"

Eye twitch.

Twitch, twitch.

"...Excuse me?" he asked and slowly turned his head to see the boy that offended him. "Oh, it's you." Now that he knew it was only Hiyoshi, he couldn't really care less. The two juniors always made fun of each other. "Whaddaya want, Piyo-butt?"

Hiyoshi folded his arms. "Don't play dumb with me, Kirihara. I know what's wrong with you."

"N-Nothing's wro--" he stammered, but was cut off before he could finish. His back was pressed firmly against the support that held the gate up as clouded-over honey-colored eyes glared down at him.

"I can see the tearstains, idiot."

Kirihara quickly shoved the boy away and walked past him through the opening of the gate. "Like you care. And what do you know anyway? I'll see you at the next match, Piyo. It was a pleasure--"

"I know you loved him." The statement made him pause, but it was the tone of his rival's voice that made his body freeze in place. The voice oozed with regret and spite. "That's right. I know you loved- no, love- that idiot senpai of mine. Get over it. He's not coming back." Rikkai's devil closed his eyes and clenched his fists tight. "They've been at it for a while now- almost two months, maybe more. I just know that I caught them two months ago."

"You... You knew?" his voice trembled and he turned to face Hiyoshi. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

The pathetic tone in the older boy's voice actually made him laugh. "Of course I didn't tell you. You'd never believe me."

"What makes you say that?" he spat. "You'd have no reason to lie to me!"

Hiyoshi took a step toward him, and Kirihara in turn took a step back. He wasn't fast enough. The younger boy had the ace's wrist in a second, tugging him as close as they could be without their chests actually touching. "I do have a reason," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I wanted you all to myself." And with that, his lips were fused hotly to the boy with bright green eyes residing in his arms.

Every end has a new beginning, and Kirihara was beginning to believe that he just might have found his. x owari

- - - -

omake x "Just how long do you think he planned on doing this for, Hiyoshi?" Kirihara questioned on the other end of the line. Even though they were together now, the junior ace still can't help but think of what was, what could have been. He was still caught in the past, so to speak. "I mean, he would have told me eventually... right?"

Hiyoshi sighed and rubbed his temple. Sometimes he wondered about the boy he'd chosen- the boy he'd been in love with for a while. It was still hard to think about; the pain he had to deal with everytime he heard his annoying senpai say, "Ugh, that Rikkai brat is texting me again, saying he loves me. What do I dooo, Yuushi!?" and cling to the strong, broad shoulders. He really wished he could go over to Rikkai, scoop the smaller boy in his arms and say, "It's okay. I'll love you forever." Because he knew damn well that every time Gakuto got a text, he wouldn't reply. The only one the acrobat loved was Oshitari anyway.

"No, he wouldn't've, Kirihara."

The other end was silent for almost a minute before the older boy ranted, "Just the thought of his existance makes my skin crawl... that boyfriend-stealing, fake glasses-wearing, smug bastard."

"Akaya..."

The aforementioned boy laughed, "Piyo-butt, when are you going to stop taking things so seriously? You are the one I love, remember?"

For a moment there, Hiyoshi's breath caught in his throat and his heart stopped. He honestly thought that Kirihara was serious... that he was still head over heels in love with the loud and obnoxious acrobat (that Hiyoshi still has to thank, by the way). He wouldn't have been prepared for the heartbreak. But the other boy said... he actually said that he loves Hiyoshi. He loves him and he doesn't even have a problem admitting it. That stupid seaweed-head actually moved on. And Hiyoshi Wakashi couldn't be happier.

"Thanks, senpai," he murmured, a small smile making its' way onto his face.

"What was that, Piyo?"

"Nothing, Akaya. Absolutely nothing."

E/N: Review if you liked it. Review if you hated it. Just let me know your feelings, please. 'Cause this was how I felt, except I never ended up the way Kirihara did at the end. I'm still down.