Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ How unfortunate ❯ How unfortunate ( One-Shot )

Title: How unfortunate!
Author: Nekocin
Genres: General
Type: One-shot
Warnings: OoC, might be cliché, depressing
Pairings: light Shishido+Ohtori or is it Ohtori+Shishido?
Rated: PG13, for language
Additional notes: hints of shounen ai, Shishido's PoV
Disclaimer: I don't own Tennis no Oujisama, 'nough said!
Author's notes: I really, really, really don't like this story >.> I believe I'll probably write an alternative version of this story.

As soon as I've opened my eyes I know today is going to be one of my most dreaded days of the year. Those dreaded days I always seem to get.

I groan to myself, pathetically hiding under my bedcovers and cursing fate for being so cruel to me.

I want to sleep the day away.

I want to mind my own business within these four walls.

And I want to have my first real 'Happy' Birthday for a change.
But my conscience tells me otherwise...

"Argh!" I throw aside the covers and kick them off the bed irritably.

"Stupid morning! Stupid new day! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" I mutter to myself as I head into the bathroom.

"Augh!" And the next I know, I'm sprawled across the bathroom's floor; I've tripped over the small bathroom's stool when I entered.

I knew this is going to happen, I just knew it! I've a sense of foreboding that this is just the beginning.

I take a deep breath and look at the school, with my face straight [I hope]. If I've to go through today's -torture-, I might as well start with school [sigh].
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why do I have to go through this? Why can't I have a normal day on this particular day anyways?

"Good morning, Shishido-san!" Choutarou interrupts my thoughts as he walks besides me; he smiles brightly at me. But I did not return the smile.

"Good morning" I greet as politely as I can be, without snapping at him. Really; I really don't want to deal with Choutarou at the moment... I might end up hurting him while I'm at this 'bad luck' day stuff.

Choutarou's smile disappeared, I can 'feel' it. I dare not look up at him. Something bad is bound to happen... something humiliating perhaps -

"IN COMING!"

I blink at the warning voice and -something- hard smacks into my face. Wow! I see pretty stars... and tennis balls.

"Shishido-san!" the blurry image of someone looking down at me, is slowly stripped away, revealing Choutarou's worried face in front of me.

A wave of nausea comes surging out of nowhere in my system and knocks me senseless; in other words, my head hurts so bad that I must have gotten amnesia. And no, I did not get amnesia, fortunately.

"Are you okay, Shishido-san?"

"Other than having tripped over the stool in the bathroom this morning, getting several bumps afterwards and getting my face smashed by something hard, I'm fine!" I respond truthfully.

Is it just me or did my position turn awkward?

Oh, that's right Choutarou's holding me in his arms. That sounds plain weird.

...

Wha-?

"Uh... Choutarou, you can let go of me now"

Choutarou blinks. A look of horror dawns on his surprised face and then he drops me on the ground, unceremoniously letting me land on my behind. "Umph"
I swear I saw a rosy-colored hue somewhere on his face...

"I'm sorry, Shishido-san!" Choutarou ducks his head, gives me a quick apologetic bow and runs off without looking back at me.

Did you see what I mean? Two unfortunate events in one go - first something has almost smacked me unconscious [what had actually hit me? Where's the culprit who had thrown that something?] and now Choutarou has dumped me on the ground [I'm sure he did not mean to... I hope].

I sigh, pick myself up from the ground [all the while dusting off my uniform] and head into the school's main hall. Of course, I'm aware people are watching me and whispering behind my back - any other day I might have lashed out to protect my pride- but today is -not- any other day. I let all those comments behind me slide.
Why would I hide my curse on this day? Because anything can happen, that's why!-

"Shishido-kun! Happy Birthday!" the members of some girl group call out simultaneously, making cheering sounds in the background. And boxed are shoved into my chest- even getting gifts that aren't what they seem. The girls stare eagerly at my face.

I sigh once again; I really did not want to know what's in either of the gifts.

"You've got it all wrong. Today isn't my birthday" I lie through my perfect white teeth and brush past them, ignoring their shocked looks. You'll never know what hit you once you accept their gifts.

There's been a time in the past when I did accept them... they all turned out to be... not what I've expected, of course: bright-colored lingerie, a pair of silicones and... ugh! You get the picture! That had been some kind of sick joke, a real insult too, played by rabid fan girls of my school's tennis team. Really. It IS a sick joke.

What do they think I am? A girl?! It's the most insulting birthday present I'd ever
gotten on such a shitty day.

"Ungrateful bastard!!" I hear a chorus of angry female voices behind me and - I feel all the gifts hitting my back.
Che! their pitches are so weak.

Looking over my shoulders automatically down at my feet, I see my scattered gifts, all half-opened... with strange stuff in strange prints hanging out of the boxes. So today's theme is Tiger Print?

What's with these girls? I shake my head thoughtfully and enter my Home room class.

... I think I'm missing something here.

Shit! I forgot my Math book at home!

- - - - - -

It can't get any worse, can it?, I've asked myself several times. I forgot my math book for first and second period, received punishment for my forgetfulness. I got hit by a piece of chalk [by accident of course, the teacher had aimed for some clown sitting behind me. Too bad her aim was way off] in third period. And I got drenched under a whole bucket of red paint in fourth period; some klutz had 'accidentally' tripped over someone's feet while walking by and dropped the bucket on me.

It's now lunch time. I really don't want to go outside and have lunch in a nice shaded place under a tree [with Choutarou of course]. I really don't want to.

... but Choutarou is... - I look down at the school yard from the roof and scan the area-... simply eating by himself. All alone. And it's because of me.

Oh, Choutarou... today IS getting worse than I'd thought.

It starts to rain.

...

The area is wet.

...

It's raining harder.

...

The school grounds are wet. What more can I say? It's wet everywhere.
Practice had been cancelled. And I can't walk back home now. Or maybe I can?

Fine! I AM walking home in the rain.
Anything can happen, right? Let's see; cars can race past me and let the mud stain my uniform, or the rain can raise the water level and flood the streets, or the lightning can struck me black...
Today's after all, the worst day of my life.

I hunch my shoulders, grip my schoolbag tighter and continue my miserable journey back home. I swear someone must have really cursed me when I'd been born. So cruel. I didn't do anything wrong to the caster of the curse... did I?

So why does everything go bad on this particular day? I don't know.

I hate this. I hate this. I HATE THIS.

"Shishido-san!" Choutarou's voice has paralyzed my hate 'sessions' momentarily as I look at the side of the street in surprise.

He's sitting inside a car, looking worriedly back at me through the opened window. Mr. Ohtori must have thought about bringing his son home in this rain. Lucky him.

"What are you doing, Shishido-san?"

"Walking home. What does it look like?"

I didn't mean to snap at Choutarou as soon as I see him flinch visibly. I really, really didn't mean to. I feel myself biting down my lip angrily; I shouldn't have said that. Not in that tone.
Not to Choutarou.

"Look! I'm sor-"

"Shishido-san, would you like to get a ride home? 'tou-san doesn't mind" Choutarou cuts in uncharacteristically [he usually let people finish first before voicing his own comments] and throws open the car's door.

I stare at him, unsure. Why would Choutarou insist on giving me a ride home when I've been mean to him the whole day?

"But I can walk home on my own, thank you very much"

Mr. Ohtori leans over the front seat and looks at me.

"Come on! Hop in, Shishido-kun!" Mr. Ohtori immediately aids Choutarou and gives me a strange smile - a fatherly smile. "You shouldn't be walking home in this rain"
Mr. Ohtori gives me an all-knowing look; like all adults do whenever you did something wrong without knowing.

I look at both of them, still unsure and feeling at a loss. Today's supposed to be a bad day, Choutarou should be disliking me [NOT hating. Hate is such a harsh word coming from Choutarou], they should've left me on my own devices.

Choutarou gives me an all-knowing look too and a soft smile crosses his worried face. He steps out of the car, looking down at me with those eyes.

"What are you doing, Choutarou? Get back into the car" I order automatically.

I hate it whenever he looks at me with those eyes; it makes me feel so sentimental. I can't even fight it, because... Choutarou is Choutarou.

"I'm sorry for not seeing it earlier, Shishido-san. And I'm sorry I didn't get you anything"

Huh? What? I blink stupidly at him.
He gives me a bright smile and pulls me forward in an embrace. Despite the cold rain running down my body I feel warm somehow. Maybe today isn't such a bad day after all. Hmph. One great moment has suddenly changed my bad mood. "Happy birthday, Shishido-san" he whispers sincerely.

"ACHOO!... ACHOO!... ACHOO!" I sniffle pathetically and wrinkle my nose irritably.
I've caught a cold. Heh. I wouldn't be surprised if this cold is also part of my -bad- day.

But at least there's someone pampering me here with lots of love and lots of good luck. Hehehe.
I look at Choutarou.

"ACHOO!... ACHOO!... ACHOO!"

END

TheNekoTalks:

To be honest, this idea came from my own experiences. I always seem to have bad days while celebrating my birthday :frowns: I don't know why, but it seems that every time when my birthday comes up, I've a bad day. [Or maybe not -that- bad] I remember once I'd cried on one of those days in the past because I'd noticed I did nothing right that day... I lost the money my parents gave me to buy something, for example. I've been devastated the whole day on and refused to come out of the room. So, I hope Shishido hadn't been as dramatic as I'd been on such an important day. I'm glad his day turns out okay. In fact, I also had a different idea regarding Shishido birthday... it's weird and it's gag, and I can't help but find THAT one more amusing than this one. I'll see if I can squeeze that idea in another alternate Shishido birthday fic.

-.-cin