Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Encounters of Another Kind - Part 2 ❯ Preliminaries ( Chapter 2 )

Encounters of Another Kind Part 2

An An and Hiyoshi Story

By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]

Chapter: 2

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Tachibana An and Hiyoshi Wakashi

Genre: AU, Humor, Romance, Seduction

Warnings: Underage characters situations of self-discovery. Characters are written in character according to author's interpretation.

Spoilers: none to my knowledge

Summary: Another chance encounter between two very antagonistic personalities.

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

Date Started: August 11, 2004

Status: complete

Revised: September 5, 2004

Word Count: 1245

~Preliminaries~

The only real good thing about school was tennis club. Only in tennis could Hiyoshi Wakashi demonstrate his true power and skill. Only in tennis did he feel like he was really one of the best. But this year there was something missing even from tennis. Maybe especially from tennis.

"What do you mean you're thinking about quitting the tennis club?" Wakashi demanded, staring at his roommate with horrified shock.

"Please don't get upset, Wakashi-kun," Otori began. "It's just that, this year is our senior year, and I'm going to be really busy with the music club, and--"

"So what you're saying is you're choosing the music club over the tennis club?" Wakashi demanded.

Otori looked hurt by Wakashi's refusal to understand. "Wakashi-kun, I'm president of the music club this year--you're captain of the tennis club. We both know we have to do what's best for our clubs."

"How is losing one of my best players a week before preliminaries good for my club?" Wakashi exploded.

"I don't want to play tennis anymore!" Otori practically shouted back before taking a deep breath and calming himself down. "I---I just don't feel comfortable playing tennis anymore, Wakashi. Not... not right now."

Wakashi had wanted to argue some more, to try and convince Otori to stay with the tennis club, but nothing seemed to change his mind. That was why he found himself at the preliminaries without his best friend and roommate. He had known something had been upsetting Otori, but he couldn't figure out what--

"Ow! Hey, watch it! Oh, geeze--"

Hiyoshi wasn't really paying too much attention to where he was going and walked into a familiar face--

Actually, it was the same girl he'd run into last week.

"Don't you ever pay attention to where you are?"

Wakashi growled. He knew this girl was from Fudomine, but he couldn't remember her name. "And I just bought that soda, too," the girl continued to lament.

"Don't you ever shut up?"

"Don't you ever act like a normal human being and apologize for walking into people?" she returned. "The least you could do is offer to buy me another soda."

They glared at one another for several moments, not saying a word.

'She has pretty eyes.'

Wakashi started, not sure where *that* crazy thought had come from. Unsettled, he turned away abruptly.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Where are you going?" she demanded, stalking after him.

"I was going to replace your soda," he answered without looking back at her. But he stopped short and pulled out his change purse. "Better yet, here," he said, withdrawing two hundred yen coins and holding them out to her. "Get it yourself."

"Well that's not very gentlemanly of you," she snorted.

"What do you want from me?" Wakashi practically shouted at her.

The girl across from him stared at him openmouthed. And then her mouth snapped shut and she grinned, and suddenly Wakashi had a very bad feeling about what was to come.

*

An stared at the boy in front of her. She'd done her homework so An had no trouble recognizing him this time.

Hiyoshi Wakashi --current captain of the Hyotei tennis club.

"Tell you what," she started, grinning. "Your next match is with Seigaku, right?"

"Ah." He was frowning--he was actually pretty cute when he frowned like that. He reminded her of someone else she knew who was cute when he frowned. It made An wonder how he looked when he smiled.

"You're playing in Singles 1?"

"What?" he responded with surprise and then annoyance. "No. Not that it's really any of your business, but I'm playing in Singles 3."

An could barely contain her glee. "Even better," she proclaimed. "Let's make a little bet. If you loose, you have to buy me an ice cream soda instead of just a regular soda."

"An ice cream soda? But it's still cold out--" Hiyoshi protested.

"So?" An shrugged nonchalantly. "I happen to like ice cream."

"Okay, fine. Whatever" he huffed, clearly convinced she was strange.

That was okay--she could deal with strange.

"But what about when I win, huh? What do I get?"

An had to think about that for a moment. Not that there was any question of whether or not he would win, because he knew he wouldn't--she'd seen Seigaku's line up. But she should try to be at least a little fair and offer him some incentive, right?

"Well, if you actually manage to win," she said thoughtfully, "Then nothing. I'll just have to get my own soda, right?"

He shot her another 'You are strange' look, and, indeed, his next words back that look up. "You're strange, you know that?"

"Afraid you'll lose?" An grinned.

Hiyoshi scoffed. "Not likely."

"Don't be too confident," An waved a chastising finger at him, "Or haven't you seen Seigaku's line up yet?" She knew he hadn't. "They've placed Echizen in Singles 3 block. Do try to keep a little bit of face this time, huh?" she added before walking off.

But not before catching Hiyoshi's face. Oh, if only she'd had her camera on her....

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

An turned where she was and informed him, "Fudomine's getting ready to play St. Rudolph, and I want to talk to some people before they begin." She shook her head. "Yuuta's convinced he's going to win against Akira, but no one's told him yet that Shinji's slotted in Singles 2; Akira chose Singles 3, and, boy, is that going to annoy him to no end..." She turned back towards the opposite courts before remembering, "Oh, but don't worry. I'll meet you here for that ice cream soda you owe me."

"You're annoying, you know that?" Hiyoshi shouted after her.

An just laughed at him, calling over her shoulder, "You ever spend anytime with yourself?"

*

The match between Hyotei and Seigaku ended before Fudomine's and St. Rudolph's. Both Wakashi and his team lost to the former Nationalists. Still, it had been a good match, and at least they had won Doubles 2, he thought as he shook hands with Seigaku's new captain.

He dismissed his team, and, since he had the time, wondered over to the C courts where Fudomine and St. Rudolph were facing off. Wakashi figured to use the time to investigate Fudomine and the girl he would be treating to an ice cream soda.

He found out quite a bit before the matches ended at Singles 2--Fudomine's game.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Tachibana An called almost ten minutes after the game ended. She smiled pleasantly at him as she finished strapping her bag closed. "I don't know what they said to each other, but Shinji and Yuuta seemed to be really going at each other. I thought they would never finish it!"

She turned suddenly, her skirt flaring out around her knees and her camera bag bumping against her hip. "Now. How about that ice cream soda?"

Wakashi wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed with her. "Isn't that kind of presumptuous of you to just *assume* I lost?" he asked instead.

"Not at all," An continued to smile. "Actually, truth be told, I *did* kind of sneak away just to check in on your game." She paused and then shrugged. "At least you did better against Echizen this time than you did last time."

Annoyed, Wakashi decided. Definitely annoyed.

~*~*~*~

TBC...