Girls
disclaimer - Don't own it!!
notes - Another one written for an exchange. Shishido/An, rated PG. WEIRD PAIRING, I know, but don't read the fic for the pairing. Trust me on this. Give it a try! Lemme know what you think. :D
It wasn't that Shishido didn't like girls. He certainly wasn't scared of them or anything uncool like that. No, quite the opposite. He loved girls. Really. Maybe he wasn't quite on par with Oshitari, who tended to boast a new girlfriend every other week, but he was certainly better than, say, Choutarou. Choutarou could barely glance at a girl without blushing, while Shishido managed to have at least one complete conversation with a girl every day. Sometimes twice. He'd even had two girlfriends in his lengthy fourteen years, and one of them had actually KISSED him.
And it definitely counted, as much as Oshitari tried to say it didn't. Just because they'd been in kindergarten at the time meant absolutely nothing.
So it wasn't his nonexistent dislike for girls that had him scowling and unable to meet the eyes of one Tachibana An as she smiled brightly and tried to hand him some towels on the first night of their stay at the Senbatsu camp.
"We didn't have a chance to get around to all of the rooms earlier," she said, clasping her hands behind her back.
Shishido frowned, hugging the towels to his chest. "Thanks," he said gruffly, looking over his shoulder and wondering why his roommate had abandoned him. He turned back to An when it became apparent that she wasn't leaving. "What?" he asked.
An smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Shishido Ryou," she said simply. "You're the one my brother beat."
As if Shishido needed to be reminded of that. "And you're that cheater's sister," he bit out, eyes narrowing.
"He didn't cheat." She paused. "You cut your hair."
Another thing he didn't need to hear. "Is it that obvious?" Shishido said, tugging a lock of hair in front of his eyes while wishing he still had his hat on. "I was hoping people would think I just got it trimmed."
The obvious sarcasm in his tone didn't go unnoticed, and An gave him a quick, impish grin before bowing and moving to the next door down the hall. Shishido glared at her back as she left, and then slammed the door shut before she could see him doing so.
He stomped around his room for a bit, grumbling about Tachibanas and girls and the lameness of those two things combined into one tidy package, but that quickly got boring so he grabbed his hat and decided to go find his roommate instead. Choutarou had said something about going to get a snack from the kitchens about a half-hour earlier.
Some of the doors along the hallway were open, but Shishido didn't bother stopping to see who was in each room. Mostly because he really didn't care, but also because he knew Atobe and Oshitari were on the floor above them, so it wasn't likely that he'd find anyone worth talking to on this level. The bits of conversation that drifted out to him sounded dull and boring, too, which only made the idea that much more unappealing.
"Mizuki-san, are you sure you didn't switch the nameplates?"
"Nfu, Yuuta-kun, would I do something like that? It was simply fate that my destined rival and I would be thrust into this situation together! We will simply have to cope, I'm sure in the end it will only prove to be beneficial--"
"Beneficial for the rest of the world once he knocks you back into place, you mean."
"Saeki-san!"
…On the other hand, raised voices usually implied an argument of sorts was taking place. And arguments were interesting.
Shishido paused outside one of the slightly cracked doors, leaning against the wall and straining his ears to see if he recognized any of the voices coming from inside.
"You're worrying too much, Yuuta. I'm sure Mifuki and I will get on just fine."
"…It's Mizuki."
"Hm? Oh, right. I'm sure Miducki and I will--"
"Mizuki."
"My apologies. See? We'll be best friends in no time, won't we Mizuke?"
"Excuse me?!"
"Aniki!!"
Someone started laughing. "You three work it out amongst yourselves. I don't care who I room with."
"You can have him, then. Yuuta and I are used to sleeping together."
A choked sound. "…Nfu. Would you care to elaborate on that, Fuji-kun?"
"-Stop saying weird things, Aniki!"
"Heh. I'm going to get something to drink. Figure it out before I get back."
The sound of footsteps moving towards the door propelled Shishido back into motion, and he was quickly backing away from the wall and trying to appear casual, like he hadn't just been listening in on their conversation.
He only vaguely recognized the boy who pulled the door open.
"Oh," he said, and then grinned. "Sorry. Didn't see you- Did you hear all that?"
"I wasn't eavesdropping," Shishido said abruptly, and then promptly winced.
"…Of course not," the other boy – someone from Rokkaku? – said, chuckling. He paused, crossing his arms. "You're Shishido, right? From Hyoutei?"
Shishido blinked. "A-ah. Yeah," he said. "And you're…hm. Lame."
"I'm lame?"
"No!" Shishido scowled. "You're from Rokkaku."
"I am." He waited. Shishido scowled some more. "Anything else?"
"Look, I don't know your name! That a problem?"
"No, I was just waiting for you to admit it. Saeki," he said, winking. "Pleasure."
Shishido frowned. "Sure." He glanced back toward the door of the room. "What was…?"
Saeki followed his gaze. "Oh. That. Apparently there's some confusion over the rooms." He rolled his eyes. "Or Mizuki just can't decide which Fuji brother he wants to room with."
"I don't know who that is."
"Mizuki?"
"Yeah."
"He seems to have that problem a lot."
"What problem? People not remembering him?"
Saeki snorted. "Yeah, that."
"Sucks to be him, then," Shishido said, smirking.
"Clearly," Saeki said, grinning. "Anyway, I came out here for a reason. Where are you off to?"
"The kitchen," Shishido said. "My roommate went down there awhile ago."
"Oh cool. I'll come with you, then. I was thirsty anyway."
Shishido shrugged. "If you want."
Their kitchen excursion was cut short when Choutarou turned up in the stairwell. "Shishido-san!" he said, pulling up short on the landing below them. "Sorry, I was talking to Momoshiro-kun. I got you a drink, though!"
"You didn't have to," Shishido said. He glanced at Saeki. "Never mind, I guess."
"No problem!" Saeki said. "I can go on my own. I'll see you around."
"Who was that?" Choutarou asked, climbing the rest of the stairs and looking over his shoulder at the other boy.
Shishido shrugged. "Someone from Rokkaku." He took the can Choutarou offered him, cracking it open. "You were gone for awhile," he said, leading the way back to their room. "Some weird girl came by."
"Tachibana An?"
"What--" Shishido spluttered, choking on his drink. "How'd you know?!"
Choutarou grinned. "She was downstairs, too. Talking to Momoshiro-kun. She mentioned you."
"I don't even know her." Shishido huffed, his brow furrowing. "…What'd she say?"
"That she thought you seemed like a strong tennis player."
"…"
"And that there's a good chance you could be chosen for the Senbatsu team."
Shishido blinked. "Well." He crossed his arms, scowling. "I mean. OBVIOUSLY."
"She seemed nice," Choutarou said cheerfully.
"She was annoying."
"You probably didn't even talk to her, Shishido-san."
"I did too!" He frowned down at the can he was holding, tightening his grip and crushing it a bit. "Why wouldn't I have talked to her? It's not like I'm rude or something."
"Shishido-san."
"And I definitely don't MIND talking to girls. Geez, lame, she probably said I was scared of her or something stupid like that, didn't she?"
"Shishido-san!"
Shishido spun around, glaring. "What?"
"You passed our room," Choutarou said simply, raising his eyebrows and pointing at the door.
Oh. "I knew that."
"Uh-huh."
"I just wanted to throw this can away."
"There's a trashcan in the room."
"…Right."
- - - - -
The next couple days passed in a blur of tennis, weight training, tennis, drills, and more tennis. By the time they sat down for lunch on the third day, Shishido was already exhausted.
"I'm so hungry!" Kirihara groaned, already shoveling food into his mouth before he'd even managed to sit all the way down. "I haven't eaten anything ALL DAY."
"That's because you slept through breakfast," Kajimoto said, setting his tray down next to the other boy's.
Kirihara paused. "Oh yeah. Hehe, whoops!" He grinned sheepishly around his chopsticks. "You could have tried a little harder to wake me up, Kajimoto-san."
"I tried three times. You sleep like you're dead." Kajimoto rolled his eyes. "Actually, if it weren't for your snoring, I might've thought you were dead."
"I don't snore!"
"Yeah you do," Kamio spoke up. "I can hear it from our room, and that's with my headphones on!"
"Shut up, Kamio!"
"You shut up, Kirihara!"
"Guys, please," Oishi said, leaning across the table. "Don't start again."
Shishido snorted. "Lame," he muttered under his breath. Choutarou grinned slightly from beside him. "Hey, Oishi," Shishido said. "What're we doing after lunch?"
"Hm?" Oishi glanced at him. "More practice matches, I think. Maybe we have weight training first…"
"When are we practicing doubles?" Shishido asked. "All we've been doing so far is singles!"
"I imagine we'll get to doubles soon- ...Er..."
All movement at the table halted suddenly as everyone stared at something over Shishido's shoulder. Shishido frowned, turning in his seat warily.
"Hello!" An said cheerfully, beaming.
Shishido's frown deepened. "…Hi."
"I saw you guys eating over here, so I thought I'd come visit for a second."
"...Right," Shishido said slowly.
An smiled. "I've been watching some of your matches," she continued, undeterred. "I think you've gotten better!"
Shishido blinked and, to his horror, felt his face go hot. "I – I'm not--"
On the other side of the table, Sengoku whistled. "Hehehe. What's this, Shishido? Been using your spare time to flirt with the ladies?" He gave a wide grin. "I'm jealous, none of them will even look at me!"
"That's because you scare them," Kirihara said around a mouthful of rice. Sengoku pouted at him.
"What?!" Shishido exclaimed, whipping around. "I haven't been – been – No." He glanced back at An. "What do you want?!"
"Careful, you'll never get a girlfriend if you talk to them like that," Sengoku said, clicking his tongue.
"I don't want a--"
"It's okay," An interrupted. She winked. "I'm not scared off that easily."
Shishido's jaw dropped, and Sengoku whistled again. "Luuucky!"
"Shut up!" Shishido said, slapping his hands down on the table. Sengoku snickered.
"Shishido-san!" Choutarou said, grabbing his arm.
"I have to go," An said, smiling. She leaned forward a bit. Shishido pressed backwards into the table. "I'll see you later, ne?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed off, and Shishido did not watch the way her skirt bounced against the back of her thighs.
"So lucky," Sengoku murmured dreamily.
It took both Choutarou on one side and Oishi on the other to keep Shishido from jumping over the table to tackle him.
- - - - -
The following night was one of the first nights that Shishido did not feel like immediately falling into bed once their matches were done. So instead he and Choutarou wandered through the halls, trying to find something fun to do. There was a movie set up in one room, but Shishido was pretty sure he'd fall asleep if he went in there, and there were a bunch of guys sitting around talking in another room, but that just looked boring. They finally found the game room at the end of the hall on the first floor.
"Whoa," Shishido said, pausing in the doorway. "No one told me they had pool tables here."
"You play?"
Shishido glanced toward a group of boys clustered around one table. Saeki was looking at him, so he assumed he was the one who had spoken.
"Yeah, I play," he said, smirking. "I'm awesome at billiards."
Saeki arched an eyebrow. "Well aren't you the confident one," he said, chuckling a bit. "Care to prove it?"
"If you don't mind losing."
"I won't lose."
"Shishido-san's really good," Choutarou spoke up. "He's not lying."
"Saeki's really good, too," Fuji said from the other side of the pool table. He paused. "Then again, his opponent probably just wasn't very challenging."
"Excuse you," Mizuki said, twirling a lock of hair. "He just got lucky."
"Ah. Right, right. Forgive me for doubting you, Mi-zu-ki-kun."
Mizuki twitched, glowering at the other boy. Fuji smiled innocently.
"You did kind of suck, Mizuki," Kisarazu Atsushi said.
"I had an off game," Mizuki said, turning up his nose. "Anyway, I've beaten you before."
Kisarazu Ryou snorted. "That's because he kind of sucks, too."
"Hey!"
"Oy, are we playing or not?" Shishido asked, taking a cue stick off the rack. "It's been awhile since I've beaten someone into the ground."
"It's only been ten minutes for me," Saeki said, grinning.
"Stop bringing it up!" Mizuki snapped. Shishido and Saeki ignored him.
"Let's use that table," Shishido said, pointing at the one farthest away from where everyone else was gathered.
"What's wrong with this one?" Saeki asked.
Shishido raised an eyebrow. "It has all the rest of those losers near it."
"…Right," Saeki said, rolling his eyes. "You don't want them all to see you lose. Understandable."
Shishido bristled. "That's not it at all," he said.
Choutarou snickered softly. "Good luck, Shishido-san!" he said, grinning.
"Yeah, good luck, Shishido-kun!"
Shishido nearly dropped his cue stick.
"An-chan," Fuji said, smiling at her. "Good to see you."
"What're YOU doing here?!" Shishido exclaimed.
An grinned. "I was walking by and heard your voice," she explained. "I decided to come cheer you on!"
"That was thoughtful of you," Fuji said, putting his hands over the top of his cue stick and resting his chin on them. "Very sweet."
"Not thoughtful!" Shishido said exasperatedly. "NOT sweet! Stop following me around!"
"I haven't been," An said, shrugging. She hopped up onto one of the other tables, taking a seat with her legs dangling over the edge. Shishido had to restrain himself from shouting about the sacrilege she was performing to the art of billiards.
After a moment, Saeki cleared his throat, making Shishido jump a bit and spin around. "What?"
"Are we going to play anytime soon?"
Shishido opened his mouth to reply, then he paused and glanced over his shoulder.
An smiled and waved at him.
Shishido frowned.
"I don't want to play anymore," he muttered, turning back around and glaring at Saeki for no reason other than that he was there.
Saeki gave him a flat look. "Don't want your girlfriend to watch?"
"She's not--!" Shishido fumbled, nearly dropping his cue stick again. "I barely even know her!"
"Was it love at first sight?" Fuji asked dreamily. An giggled.
"NO! It wasn't!"
"Nfu. Simpleton."
"Shut up!"
"Fine, let's play something else, then," Saeki said. "They have ping-pong tables."
"Table tennis?" Fuji raised his eyebrows. "You should play doubles."
Shishido immediately looked at Choutarou, but the other boy was already holding up his hands and shaking his head. "I'm really bad at ping-pong, Shishido-san," he said sheepishly. "You know that."
"I can play!" An said.
An alarmed look passed over Shishido's face. "What?"
"Ryou," Saeki said, glancing at his teammate. "Team up?"
The other boy shrugged. "Sure."
"Wait, wait--" Shishido said.
"So it's Shishido – An pair versus Saeki – Kisarazu-the-first pair," Fuji said. "I'll keep score."
"Hang on!"
"Do you have to call him that?" Atsushi said.
"You would prefer Kisarazu-the-oldest?" Fuji asked.
Atsushi frowned. "No."
"Kisarazu-the-better?" Ryou offered, smirking.
"Wait, you guys!"
"Oh, go choke on ping-pong ball," Atsushi snapped.
Mizuki pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Remind me that we need to work on your insults," he muttered.
"HEY!" Shishido shouted. Everyone turned to look at him. He floundered, pointing wildly at An. "I'm not playing with her!"
"Here," An said, shoving a paddle into his outstretched hand. Shishido blinked down at it. "I'm really good at this," she said, standing behind one end of the table. "I beat my brother all the time."
"…You do?"
An nodded. "Of course." She winked. "You should challenge him sometime, you'd probably beat him, too!"
Shishido scowled. "I'm going to beat him in real tennis, not a cheap imitation of it."
"If you want," An said, grinning.
"Whenever you're done flirting," Ryou said, eyebrows raised expectantly.
Shishido flushed. "We're not--"
"We're ready!" An cut in.
"About time," Saeki said.
Then they played.
And it didn't go well.
"Hm," An murmured, bouncing the ball up and down on her paddle. "You might need some more practice before you take on my brother."
"I'm not going to play your loser brother," Shishido snapped, crossing his arms and glaring across at Saeki and Ryou, who were busy high-fiving each other. "God, that was lame."
"It was…close. Ish," An said.
"Ish," Shishido said flatly.
"Sort of," An amended.
"I know what it means!"
An giggled. "You're cute," she said, catching the ball with one hand and leaning over to press a quick kiss against Shishido's cheek, all in one fluid motion. "I like it."
Shishido's eyes went wide and his hand flew up to cover his now blushing cheek as he gave An a look very similar to that of a deer caught in the blinding glare of a car's headlights.
She smiled. "I've got kitchen duty in the morning," she said. "Got to go."
"Disgusting," Mizuki said once she was gone.
Shishido threw his paddle at him and stomped out of the room, Choutarou hurrying after him.
- - - - -
"So then she forced her way into the game and made me team up with her," Shishido said, glaring down at his water bottle. "And that was lame and messed up and we lost because she kept getting in my way and then – then she…she... God, she KISSED me!"
"Kissed you?"
"Yes!" Shishido scowled, fiddling with his hat. "I mean, what the hell?"
"Well. Apparently she has a crush on you," Oshitari drawled, pushing up his glasses. "But that would be the obvious conclusion, so no wonder you hadn't figured it out."
"I didn't tell you all that just so you could be a smartass about it," Shishido snapped.
"So why did you tell me?"
"Because…" Shishido frowned, blushing a bit. "Because – I don't know! I don't- I mean- What do I tell her?"
"That you would like to take her out to lunch once the camp is over?" Oshitari suggested.
"But then she'll think I like her back!"
"Don't you?"
"What- No!"
"Ah." Oshitari tipped his head to the side a bit, giving Shishido a long look. "Why not?"
Shishido blinked. "She's – She's too young!"
"Tachibana An is only a year younger than us."
"Yeah, and that's too young!"
Oshitari smirked, leaning forward. "I think you have a crush, too."
"I do not!" Shishido exclaimed, eyes darting all around to make sure no one else was within hearing distance. "And if you tell Atobe about this, I'll kill you."
"I'm so scared, really," Oshitari said flatly. He made an amused sound. "Your first girlfriend. How cute."
"She's not my…she's- She wouldn't be the first!"
Oshitari rolled his eyes. "You only went on one date with Sakura, she hardly counts."
"Harumi--"
"You were five."
Shishido harrumphed. "Fine. Excuse me for not being a whore like you."
"You wound me, Shishido."
"And you're no help at all!"
"I gave you my advice. If you ignore it, that's your problem."
"I want to get rid of her, not encourage her!"
"Right." Oshitari raised his eyebrows. "I don't believe you."
"You suck."
"Only sometimes."
"…What?"
Oshitari coughed. "Nothing. Anyway, Atobe wanted to see me after lunch, so now he'll be all annoyed that I ditched him."
"There's still time left," Shishido said. "Don't tell him."
"Oh, Shishido," Oshitari drawled. "Why would I do something like that?"
- - - - -
"So I hear you've got a girlfriend, ahn?"
Shishido carefully put his chopsticks down on his tray so that he couldn't take advantage of the rather sudden and overwhelming urge to go kill someone.
"Where'd you hear something crazy like that?" he asked casually, looking straight ahead at the person in front of him.
"Oshitari mentioned it."
The chopsticks weren't sharp enough, anyway. Shishido would have to find a knife ASAP.
"Don't believe anything that bastard tells you!" he said, grabbing a bowl of rice and slamming it onto his tray.
"Which one is it?" Atobe asked, looking at each of the girls who were serving food. "I hope for your sake it isn't the one with the pigtails."
"It isn't any of them!" Shishido snapped, moving along the food line. He pointed at one of the main course options and nearly died when he saw who was handing it to him.
"Are you spreading rumors about us?" An said, smiling widely. "I was so surprised when Dan-kun told me!"
"Who? What?! I didn't say anything!" Shishido said quickly, eyes wide.
"Waaah, you're so lucky, Shishido!" Sengoku cried from the end of the line. "I tried talking to some girls earlier, but that guy from Jyousei got in my way."
"Or they just liked Wakato better," Kajimoto muttered under his breath. Sengoku ignored him.
"An illicit love affair," he said, looking strangely starry-eyed. "It's so exciting!"
Shishido looked vaguely terrified of the idea. "It's not a love affair!"
"We're not supposed to be dating yet," Oishi spoke up worriedly. "You'd better not let any of the coaches find out."
"Ah, so it IS this one," Atobe said. He eyed An speculatively. "I guess I approve."
An giggled while Shishido was busy spluttering. "It's not her!" he said frantically. "I'm not dating ANYONE, and why are you even here?! Didn't your team eat already?"
Atobe arched an eyebrow. "Does it look like I have a tray? Honestly, Shishido, pay attention. I stayed back to talk to you."
"Well you can go away now!"
"How rude." Atobe turned to An. "You'll have to ignore his horrible lack of manners, but for the most part he's not a bad guy."
"I don't mind," she said, laughing a bit. "I'm the sort of girlfriend who doesn't let things like that bother her."
"You're NOT my girlfriend!" Shishido yelled. "Stop saying that!"
An winked. "That's the first time I mentioned anything about it," she said slyly. "I never thought I was until you started spreading it around."
Shishido blinked. "Well." He could feel his face going red again, which was seriously Not Cool. "Hmph. Whatever. FINE."
"Fine, what?" An asked.
Shishido stared. "I DON'T KNOW!" he shouted, picking up his tray and all but running to an empty seat across from Choutarou. He turned his hat around, pulling the brim down over eyes. "If Atobe follows me, tell him to go away," he muttered.
"Because I would really talk to Atobe-san like that," Choutarou said, rolling his eyes. "It looks like he's leaving anyway."
"GOOD."
"Are you really that embarrassed about this?"
"No!" Shishido said abruptly. "I'm not embarrassed! Why would I be embarrassed?"
"Just checking." He paused. "I think she's pretty."
Shishido looked up at him. "You do?"
Choutarou smiled sheepishly. "A little, yeah."
"She's…" Shishido frowned. "She's okay, I guess," he said. He shoved some rice into his mouth, refusing to meet Choutarou's amused gaze. The other boy laughed softly.
"Just okay?" Shishido choked as An plopped down into the seat next to him. "That's all I get? I said you were cute, at least," she said playfully.
"I'm not cute," Shishido grumbled.
An ignored him. "Why are you hiding under your hat?" she asked, plucking it off his head and dropping it onto her own, brim in front.
"Hey!"
"What is it with boys and hats, anyway?" she asked, adjusting it so that it wasn't quite as loose. "Echizen-kun is the same way. And the grumpy guy from Rikkai Dai."
"I didn't used to wear a hat," Shishido muttered. "It's kind of a recent addition."
"Why?"
"Because!" Shishido huffed. "Can I have it back now?"
"Why can't I wear it?" An asked, pouting.
"He's probably afraid you'll get cooties on it," Kirihara cut in, snickering as he walked by with his tray.
"That's not it!" Shishido shouted at the other boy. "I…have hat hair, is all!"
An looked at him. "It's just sticking up a bit."
"Is it?" Shishido dug his hands into his hair, almost like he was trying to protectively cover it. "Lame. I didn't used to have that problem."
"When it was long?"
"Yeah."
"I like it now."
"…"
"What?"
Shishido blinked. "You…" He coughed, then scowled and lifted his chin. "Don't lie!" he said loudly. "It looks really bad, I know it--"
"I'm not lying," An said. "It's probably really soft, isn't it? And fluffy." She giggled.
"…Only because I condition it," Shishido said, cursing inside his head because he knew his face had to be bright red by now. He glanced across at Choutarou, looking for help, and noticed for the first time that the other boy wasn't even there anymore.
"He left a couple minutes ago," An said, spinning the hat around so that it was on backwards. "Look, now I'm cool like you!" She stuck out her tongue at him.
"Are you making fun of me?"
"Obviously." She winked. "I want to make you dinner, Shishido-kun."
Shishido had been willing his cheeks to go back to their normal color, but now they were flaring up again. "What – Why?" he asked, flustered. "I've already eaten, I don't – No."
"Not tonight, silly," An said, laughing. "Tomorrow night, six o'clock. Don't be late."
"But – No, that's when everyone else eats!"
An rolled her eyes. "Not in here. We can meet out by the tennis courts. I'll bring the food."
Shishido scowled. "Can you even cook?" he asked.
"I made that," An replied, pointing at Shishido's plate.
"It wasn't good."
"You ate all of it."
"…Well." Shishido glowered at her. "That's how hungry I was."
An grinned. She stood, taking the hat off and putting it back on Shishido, the way he usually wore it. "Tomorrow!" she said, tugging the brim into place and leaning down to smile in Shishido's face. "See you then."
"I'm not going!" Shishido called after her. She only waved at him, and as soon as the door shut behind her, Shishido found himself surrounded by various members of his team.
"Did you just score a date?" Sengoku asked eagerly, straddling the bench on Shishido's right side.
"Are you having a secret meeting after curfew?" Kikumaru asked, bouncing up and down on his left.
"You'd better not be!" Kamio said, slapping his hands down on the table in front of him. "You'll get An-chan in trouble!"
"You're just jealous," Momoshiro said, shoving Kamio out of the way. "Good luck, Shishido-san! Don't worry, I definitely won't tell the coaches or your buchou or everyone I possibly can or anything like that." He snickered.
Shishido silently prayed for the floor to open up and swallow him, and was horribly disappointed when it didn't immediately happen.
- - - - -
There was no way Shishido was going to meet up with An. Absolutely no way at all. He refused to go down to the tennis courts and make a spectacle of himself. She probably wouldn't even show up anyway. This was probably all a huge trick thought up by Tachibana so that he could further humiliate Shishido, because he was a huge, cheating bastard like that. Shishido could never date An anyway, because what if they got married one day? Then he'd be Tachibana's brother-in-law, and that would just be horrible. And then when they had kids they'd probably name one Kippei, and Shishido would spend his entire life hating the child just because of his name. Then the kid would have to go to therapy for having a terrible father and he probably wouldn't play tennis, because he'd go through a reckless phase after the bad parenting, and then Shishido's life would be ruined. He was going to have an awful future, and it was all Tachibana's fault.
…
Shishido put down his brush, staring at himself in the mirror, and quickly decided to pretend that entire thought process had never happened.
"Shishido-san, you look fine," Choutarou said from where he was lounging on one of the beds, reading a magazine.
"I'm not going," Shishido said abruptly.
"You're going to be late."
"I said I'm not going!"
And he wasn't. He definitely, definitely wasn't.
At least not right at 6:00, anyway. If anyone had overheard their conversation, they would know that's when he was supposed to go. He'd have to go late, so that people would think he wasn't showing up. Plus, then maybe An would get tired of waiting for him, and she would leave, too.
Right. That was a good plan.
Shishido waited until he figured a decent amount of time had passed. Long enough that snoopers would get bored, but not too long, because he didn't actually want An to think he was rude or something.
At 6:05, he headed down to the tennis courts.
He ran into An in the hallway.
"Shishido-kun!" she exclaimed. "Oh good, I thought I was going to be late."
"Er." Shishido scowled. "You ARE late. Five minutes late."
"So are you, then," An said, an amused look on her face. She grabbed Shishido's wrist, dragging him outside. "Come on, I brought a blanket."
There was possibly nothing in the world quite as embarrassing as having a picnic with a girl on the tennis courts in full view of...well, everyone. Shishido ate warily, unable to stop darting suspicious glances at everything and jumping every time the wind so much as blew by. God, what if someone saw them?
"Is it good?" An asked, nodding towards the food she'd packed. Shishido shrugged, even though his cheeks were stuffed, and didn't look at her. She sighed. "So...what else do you like to do, Shishido-kun?"
"Like to do?" Shishido asked around a mouthful of food. An nodded, and Shishido swallowed before shrugging again. "I mostly just play tennis," he said. "And billiards."
An rested her chin in her hand, watching him. "You don't do anything else for fun?"
"I...play video games?"
An smiled. "So does my brother."
Shishido carefully ignored that she'd just implied he and Tachibana had something in common other than tennis.
"I probably play cooler games," he said instead.
"I don't really know a lot about that sort of thing," An said. "Come on, talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Do you play any other sports? Do you have any pets? Is your dad a serial killer?"
Shishido snorted lightly. "No," he said. "Although I'd have something more exciting to tell you if he was. Um." He paused for a second. "I have a dog."
"So do I!" An exclaimed. "Good, that means you're not allergic."
"Definitely not," Shishido said. He glanced toward the tennis net, wiping off his hands, and then looked back at An. "That was...good," he mumbled. "Thanks."
An beamed. "You're welcome! I like cooking. ...Sometimes," she amended.
"Hm." Shishido leaned back on hands. "We should go out to lunch," he blurted abruptly, and then promptly cursed Oshitari for putting the idea in his head.
"Lunch?" An repeated, blinking.
Shishido's face felt warm again. "After camp is over," he said hastily. "Just – I mean, if you want. We don't have to. It was only a suggestion, I don't really care either way, I just thought I'd ask--"
"I'd love to," An cut in swiftly, giving him a bright smile.
Shishido visibly relaxed, even as his face grew more red. "Okay," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "That'll be good."
"You could come to my house and I could cook for you again, too," An said.
Shishido frowned. "Ahh..."
"I'm kidding," An said quickly, sticking her tongue out playfully. "Want to play tennis?"
"Yes!" Shishido said, latching onto the out she was giving him. "I'll go get my racket!"
"Meet you back out here in five?" she asked.
"You got it!"
- - - - -
The rest of camp passed and the participants for the Senbatsu team were chosen. Shishido wasn't one of them, but he couldn't say he really disagreed with the people who did make the team, so he wasn't too upset. He'd just have to practice harder in preparation for Nationals now.
He was standing in the parking lot with the rest of Hyoutei, waiting for the buses to show up and surreptitiously looking around to see if he could find...no one in particular, when An ambushed him from the side and nearly knocked him over.
"There you are!" she exclaimed. "I thought I might have missed you."
"Er." Shishido concentrated very hard on ignoring the amused looks Atobe and Oshitari were sending his way. "Nope, still here. Heh."
"I just wanted to say goodbye," An said, grinning. "You'll call me about that lunch date, right?"
Oshitari snickered. Shishido wished a thousand deaths upon him. "Y-yeah," he said, blushing and trying to pretend he wasn't.
"Good." An winked. "Don't think I won't find you if you don't," she said teasingly, and then without waiting for a reply, she reached out and grabbed Shishido's tie, pulling him down to plant a short and sweet kiss on his lips.
"Oh man," Shishido heard Sengoku say somewhere off to the side. "He is so lucky!"
An stepped back. Shishido stared at her in shock.
"See you around, Shishido-kun," she said, and with a last smile, she disappeared back into the crowd.
Shishido was still staring after her when the buses pulled up.
"Shishido-san," Choutarou said, tugging on his sleeve. "We're going now. Shishido-san!"
Oshitari stepped up, grabbing Shishido's arm and pulling him towards the bus. "Come on, lover boy," he drawled. "You can reminisce on the way home."
"She just kissed me," Shishido said dumbly, stumbling into a seat. "Did you see that? In front of everyone!"
"Congratulations," Atobe said dryly.
Shishido pulled his cell phone out of his bag. It'd be lame if he called her so soon, wouldn't it? They hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot yet-
Oh.
Wait.
"Crap!" Shishido said suddenly, standing up out of seat.
"What's wrong, Shishido-san?" Choutarou asked.
"Are we leaving right now? Do I have time to go find her real quick?" Shishido said, eyes wide.
Both Atobe and Oshitari turned in their seats to look back at him. "You can't possibly miss her that much already," Atobe said. "You're not getting off the bus. Consider it a favor, because you'd look like an idiot if you did."
Shishido waved his phone around frantically. "But I don't – I didn't get her number!"
Oshitari sighed, pushing his glasses up. "First-timers," he said. "They're so young and naïve."
"Young?! I'm older than you!" Shishido snapped, but before he could say anything else, his ringtone went off. "What-" He glanced down at it, not recognizing the number, and flipped his phone open to read the text message inside.
Now you have no excuses. :P
I'll be waiting for your call!
- An
"What's it say?" Choutarou asked, leaning over to look.
"Uh." Shishido snapped it shut before the other boy could see anything, his cheeks flushing a bit. "Nothing. Well. Not nothing." His brow furrowed. "How'd she get my number?"
"Don't ever say I didn't do anything for you," Atobe said, flicking his hair back. "Stop panicking now, ahn?"
Shishido dropped back into his seat. "I wasn't panicking," he muttered, staring down at his phone. "Maybe I didn't want her to have my number..."
Atobe smirked.
Shishido scowled, but made a mental note to thank him later-
After he killed him, of course.
FIN
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- Maxine