Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Encounters of Another Kind - Part 2 ❯ Reconciliation ( Chapter 6 )

Encounters of Another Kind Part 2

An Ann and Hiyoshi Story

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: 6

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Tachibana An and Wakashi Hiyoshi

Genre: AU, Humor, Teenage Romance

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 has Ann thinking of possibilities.

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

Date Started: October 25, 2004

Status: chapter complete

Revised: November 18, 2004

Word Count: 1814

Chapter 6: Reconciliation

Why did she always have to be the one to make all the moves, huh? Ann groused to herself, staring down at her textbook unseeingly. He never reached out for her hand when they were walking together--she always had to take his, first. He never tried to kiss her or hug her or even put his arm around her! Not that she wanted that, she told herself furiously. It *might* be nice once in a while, but not all the time. After all, she didn't want a boyfriend who demanded affection *all* the time... but every once in a while a little affection was nice, right?

And speaking about annoying, what was that crazy kid from Rikkaidai doing looking at her so much last weekend? He was the captain this year--she wasn't surprised. As the only remaining member of last year's regular team, it was only natural that he should be this year's captain, but still..!

She didn't like him.

She'd never liked him, actually.

He was a skillful player, she would admit that, but that still didn't change the fact that she didn't like him. She didn't hate him anymore. That was probably a plus, but she still didn't like him. It was more than just because he'd hurt her brother last year. It was his attitude. Kirihara Akaya reminded her of that Atobe jerk--but Kirihara was worse.

She knew some people thought she was crazy for liking first Yuuta and now Wakashi. Some people even called her masochistic... And she wouldn't even bother to remember the argument she'd had with Akira last weekend after he'd found out she was dating the Hyotei tennis captain. He was worse than her brother, for crying out loud.

She wondered how he kissed--would it be shy and tentative? An embarrassed action filled with blushes? Or would he be as aggressive at kissing as he was when he played tennis? Putting all of his spirit into it?

"Tachibana, the answer please?"

Ann blinked and stared up at the math teacher in startled 'I have no clue what question we're on' surprise.

"Example 2," Uchimura murmured from the seat behind hers.

****

Wakashi frowned at his textbooks.

He hadn't heard from Ann since Saturday's game. It was already Thursday.

She hadn't texted him, or left him a voice message, or showed up unannounced during tennis practice all this week.

His frown deepened.

She hadn't talked to him at all, in fact, since Hyotei succeeded in defeating Fudomine. She hadn't even looked at him. He wouldn't have believed her capable of such childish behavior if he hadn't already know she was unpredictable in most cases, and unreasonable at best.

"Hiyoshi-kun?" Otori whispered from nearby. "Are you okay?"

Wakashi looked over at his--friend?--roommate. They hadn't seen much of each other this week since the taller senior was swamped with last minute preparations for the concert-- "Otori--the concert's tomorrow night, right?"

Otori blinked owlishly at him and then grinned. "Mmm. You'll come, right? You and Ann-chan?"

"Aa, we'll be there," Wakashi answered, reaching into his bag to pull out his cell phone. The sparkly pink sticker winked back at him--the picture sticker of the two of them Ann had made him take with her when she'd dragged him to the arcade the other week.

He'd... had... fun.

Flipping the cell phone open with a quiet snap, he pulled up Ann's cell phone email address and started clicking out a quick message.

It was time to break the silence, after all, and if Ann wasn't going to do it...

****

Ann stared down at the message with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

::What time should I pick you up tomorrow night?::

Tomorrow night was Friday, the fifth. What--?

Oh! The music festival. She hadn't thought Hiyoshi wanted to go. He certainly hadn't seemed enthused about it when Otori had invited them the other week.

When she's first heard about the music concert, she's been excited--she liked music almost as much as Akira did. In fact, when she'd asked about bringing along some other friends, she had been thinking about Akira and Shinji.

But...

Akira had refused to talk to her at all this entire week---which was utterly unlike him. Normally, if Akira was angry with you, he'd just yell at you for a couple of minutes and then an hour or so later, everything was mostly fine again. But Akira hadn't said one word to her since Saturday.

In fact, even Shinji was usually quiet towards her.

Well, there was nothing stopping her from still inviting them along, she thought packing away her lunch box. Otori said it was okay, after all, and it was still free period. There were about ten minutes left before classes resumed. Plenty of time to find the other two and invite them. Then she could get a message back to Hiyoshi---

Akira and Shinji were most likely to be found at the tennis courts with the others, but when she got there, she found the courts sans captain or vice-captain.

"Ah! An-Ann-chan," Ishida gasped, almost falling backwards in an attempt to stop from plowing right into her.

Ann jumped back, too, avoiding a collision. "Do you know where Shinji and Akira are?" she asked right out. "I thought they would be here, but--"

"Um... I think... they're, ah, in the club office. But, Ann---!"

Too late; she was already darting across the side courts towards the tennis club's locker room and the little room at the back that was really a storage closet but her brother had converted it into an office the previous year. It wasn't anything fancy, by far---a desk, a filing cabinet, and two chairs. There wasn't much room for anything else.

But there was a framed picture of last year's team up on the wall, and a bulletin board on another wall with a collage of pictures from this year tacked on. Next to it was a calendar with important dates, game matches, team members' birthdays, and other miscellaneous information written in a neat scrawl. Most of the pictures, and indeed the notes and scribbles, were the result of Ann's own hand, but she hadn't been in this office since last week. She'd been avoiding it--just like she'd been avoiding Akira, she admitted quietly.

The room was small, and very rarely was the door ever closed.

It was closed today, but Ann just frowned and poked her head in, calling out in a singsong voice, "Akira-kun? Shinji-kun? Do you--oh!"

And there she just stopped, staring in surprise and amusement as her two friends leapt away from each other. Or, rather, Akira darted as far away from Shinji as the small room allowed, which wasn't far at all, and Shinji just turned around so he was leaning back against the desk where Akira had been seconds before.

"Ah. Ann-chan. There you are. I was beginning to think you didn't like us anymore and Kamio was right. Maaa, but what bad timing you have. Yes. It's really unfortunate, but oh well. I guess it's okay if you're going to talk to us again. What was it you wanted, anymore? Aaah. Lunch period's almost over. I don't really feel like going back to class. WE have a History quiz next period--"

"Shinji, shut up!" Akira barked, red faced.

Ann looked between the two boys and then grinned. "Shinji--were you *kissing* Akira-kun?" she teased, eyes flitting quickly from one face to the other. Akira's reaction would be something to see, for sure, but Shinji's response wasn't to be missed, either, after all.

"Mmm. Maybe--"

"Shut up!" Akira exploded into full tantrum form and Ann's grin widened.

"Ne, Akira-kun, no need to be embarrassed," she giggled, slipping into the room. "Oh! There's a music festival tomorrow night at Hyotei's Concert Hall. I wanted to invite you two along anyway, but now it could be like a double date, ne?"

"D-date!" Akira shouted, his jaw practically coming unhinged, and Ann giggled some more.

"Ah. You and Shinji and me and Hiyoshi-kun!"

Akira's expression darkened immediately as he stood up straight and glowered past her. "I don't like you hanging around that Hyotei kid," he said with intense sincerity.

"Don't be ridiculous," Ann replied breezily, brushing aside his worries with a wave of her hand as she settled back against the desk next to Shinji. "Wakashi's a really nice guy once you get past his snotty 'I-don't-need-anyone' exterior. Sort of like someone else I know..."

She studied her nails for a moment, pointedly *not* looking at him, and then she peeked at him from under lowered eyelashes. "So? Did you want to come tomorrow night.... or will it just be Hiyoshi and me?"

"It's not good for you to be alone at a strange school amongst strangers," Shinji spoke up before Akira could. "It's not safe."

"I'm hardly among complete strangers," Ann frowned up at him. "Hiyoshi will be there, and probably some members from the tennis club, too. And besides, Otori is president of the music club. That's why he's not playing tennis this year. So he'll be there, too. You liked Otori, remember? You told me so last summer."

"It's still not safe for you to go by yourself," Akira put in.

"I don't need bodyguards," she replied angrily.

"Hyotei's a really good school," Shinji continued, unphased by the impending argument between the two. "They have really good teachers and are well-funded. I hear their classrooms and labs are filled with state of the art equipment. It must be nice. All their clubs are considered National level, too. I wouldn't mind getting to see it. Don't you think so, too, Kamio? It would be good to see how the other side lives."

Akira sighed and deflated. "Yeah, yeah. We'll go," he added, looking over to Ann. "What time should we meet you and where?"

Ann grinned and flashed him the 'Victory' sign. "Not sure yet, but I'll find out by the end of practice today, okay?"

The bell signaled the end of free time and the three headed back to their classes, Shinji falling behind to watch as Ann and Akira argued over whatever it was they liked to argue about.

TBC.....