Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Tennis Banquet ❯ Chapter 1

Tennis Banquet

A _Price of Tennis_ Fanfiction

By Andrea Readwolf [andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com]

Chapter: 1/1

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama-Drabble

Summary: Oshitari and Shishido interrupt Atobe's dance with Ann.

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

Date Started: October 3, 2004

Word Count: 1211

Tennis Banquet

"Why is it we get suckered into going to these things again?" Shishido Ryo grumbled as he snagged another flute of champagne from a passing tray. This one he nursed with more care than the first three he'd chucked back upon arrival.

"Because," his long time friend and acquaintance offered mildly, "We are dedicated and loyal friends?"

Oshitari Yuushi looked decidedly more at ease in the insufferable tux, surrounded by the glitz and glamour of annoying people who flitted from island to island in the archipelago of bodies amongst the ever flashy blindness of photojournalists' cameras. The pair stood on the outskirts of the crowd, people watching and enjoying sampling from various tray offerings.

"Who's that?" Oshitari murmured, attention snared by someone across the room.

"Who's who?" Shishido growled, tipping his head back to look past the dance floor.

"That woman."

Shishido's interest deflated slightly. "There are dozens of women here, Yuushi. Could you be any more vague?"

"Don't be a snot, Ryo," Oshitari replied with little annoyance. "The one dancing with Keigo right now. She looks familiar."

The shorter man's gaze found Atobe immediately, and he glanced over the woman, completely disinterested now. "Probably one of yours or Keigo's exes," he suggested, turning away.

"Perhaps," Oshitari allowed. "But unlikely. She does not look enchanted with our dear Keigo, does she?"

And the amusement in his friend's voice had Shishido turning around for a second longer look.

The woman was probably in her late twenties, like them. Her dark auburn colored hair was held away from her shoulders by two sparkly golden clips. Her shimmery wine colored gown was extremely modest, especially in comparison to most of the other women in attendance, covering both legs and chest completely, although the ensemble was sleeveless.

She was not exotically beautiful like most of the women Atobe tended to surround himself with. In fact, Shishido thought it a good chance that she was even one hundred percent home grown Japanese--something that was getting harder to find at this silly post game fancy parties. Nor, in Shishido's opinion, was she exceptionally beautiful. She was attractive, he allowed, in a homey, girl-next-door type of "prettiness" sort of way.

But it was her face that held his attention.

Currently, she was glaring up at Atobe--and yes, she was most definitely glaring. The sight of the expression alone being directed undividedly at his friend was enough to brighten Shishido's previously dour mood.

"She doesn't look happy," he agreed aloud with Oshitari's previous statement.

"No, she doesn't." Oshitari relieved himself of his champagne flute on a passing tray and turned to Shishido. "Shall we investigate this matter further and discover the cause of her distress?"

"Yes. Let's shall," Shishido mocked, draining his glass first before following Oshitari through the crowd towards the dance floor.

After all, an opportunity to bait, annoy, or tease Atobe openly was never to be wasted.

~*~

She huffed as a new piece of music began playing and Atobe still refused to relinquish his hold on her.

She would not make a scene. She would not make a scene. She would not--

"Atobe-san, I believe the dance you requested has ended already," she pointed out as politely as she could manage.

"Why rush?" Atobe returned, obviously not concerned at all by the fact that she tried to pretend that she didn't want to dance with him, because he was Atobe, and every woman longed for the chance to be in his arms. Right?

"The night is young still, and you have already admitted you haven't a boyfriend who would protest--"

Damn her for letting that slip, too. "Atobe-san, I really must insist that--" she tried again, doing her damnedest to remain as polite as possible.

"That you introduce us to this enchanting creature you've discovered," a new voice interrupted. A deep, purring voice that sent a delicious shiver down one's spine.

"Yes," agreed another young man, grinning widely from ear to ear.

She recognized them instantly, noting that neither had changed very much in the passing years since high school. And, thankfully, Atobe finally stopped forcing her to dance in order to greet the two new comers--even if she did have to exert a little force to extract herself from his touch.

"Oshitari-san, Shishido-san," she greeted the two with sincere welcome. "It's good to see you both looking so well."

"Ah, then I was right," Oshitari purred, accepting her hand in greeting. "We have met before." His Kansai accent was still notable despite his many years living in Tokyo, she thought. "But I must beg for forgiveness. While you remember our names, I fear I have forgotten yours."

"No forgiveness necessary," she shook her head with a smile. Oshitari had always been the charmer of the Hyotei members she remembered, and briefly she wondered about his partner. "It would be rather hard to forget a name you never knew. But perhaps it might still sound familiar. Tachibana Ann. Pleased to meet you."

"Tachibana?" Shishido interjected, scowling thoughtfully.

Atobe elaborated before Ann could. "Tachibana Kippei's little sister," he told his friend with no lack of amusement. "You will recall he was the captain of the Fudomine Chugaku."

"Yes, your brother was a skilled tennis player," Oshitari covered for Shishido's continued scowl. "I always wondered why he never continued with the sport."

"Thank you," Ann smiled, shooting a nervous glance towards Shishido before looking back to Oshitari. He seemed safe enough. "After Nationals that year, I'm afraid he sustained further injury to his leg. He still plays for fun and exercise, but he made the decision to peruse other interests in high school and college."

"I'm sorry to hear he injured himself," Oshitari offered. "But I am delightedly surprised to have the opportunity to be reacquainted with you. I do remember your assistance during summer training camps. It's good to see you've continued your interest in tennis." He made a small gesture to the room.

She laughed. "You could say that, yes," Ann agreed, edging closer to Oshitari in an attempt to gain further distance between herself and Atobe--who had seen fit to brush his hand along the small of her back. "I'm a journalist for <u>ProTennis Monthly </u>."

"Ah, I see."

"Yes," she agreed, making another small attempt to move out from Atobe's reach, but it seemed the man was just too dense to realize she didn't want his attentions. "But, if you'll excuse me. I see someone I need to speak to," she made use of a blind excuse used by women many times over and scooted away before any of them could stop her.

"Amusing girl," Atobe commented, watching her departing back slip through the crowds of people.

"Truly," Shishido growled, his thoughts having taken him down the road of memory lane and back again.

Oshitari turned a cunningly small smile to his friend. "Didn't you use to fancy her?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Atobe scoffed, turning away from the crowd at large to head into a different area of the party. "I never dated Tachibana's little sister."

Oshitari and Shishido shared a look behind their friend's back.

Two smiles broadened.

Oh, yes. Atobe-teasing was a much-loved sport.

~*~

The End

Author's Notes:

This is really hard. I've been having such wonderfully amusing thoughts and images about Atobe and Ann ever since the birthday fic, and I wondered about attempting to capture some of them into a story, but I'm not sure it worked very well. {sighs} I guess I'm worried that this concept will try to build out into a much larger story than I'm willing to take on with so many other stories still hanging over my head.....

Still, I will admit openly now to being intrigued by this pairing.

Zan: Me, too. I enjoyed the Atobe birthday/marriage proposal one.