AN ATOBE

Chapter 2 - Interest

I do not own Prince of Tennis

Naya opened her eyes. She stayed still as her eyes adjusted to what's above her. Ceiling. She can see a ceiling. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then suddenly sat up. Her mind was panicking. She looked at her clothes and realized that she's now wearing a white button down and cycling shorts. She can see her dress being placed in that couch across the room. She was lost in her thoughts when she felt the bed shift. The person then rolled to his back. It was Atobe. He was still wearing his gray button down. She tried remembering everything. She can remember everything but the last thing that she can remember was the kiss.

"Nothing happened." He said as he opened his eyes.

"Did you change my dress?" She asked.

"If I could, I would but you asked me to turn around while you undress." He propped himself up and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Oh," She sighed in relief. "Why are we on the same bed?"

He looked at her, wondering if she can remember everything that night. "Because you didn't want me to bring you home so I booked us a room." She can remember that. She looked around and embraced a pillow. "What's with that?"

"I'm acting like its awkward." She breathe. It felt weird but it didn't make her feel awkward at all. Maybe not yet.

He was wondering what was running inside her head as she stared at the edge of their bed. "Do you feel awkward?"

"Its supposed to be awkward." She turned to him then placed herself back flat on the bed.

They fell silent for quite sometime. She was still thinking.

"Are you done being awkward?" He asked, amused at her silly idea.

"Aren't one night stands supposed to be awkward?" She turned to him. He was smiling or rather smirking and it irks her.

"Its supposed to be awkward if you woke up naked but you didn't." He answered as stared at the ceiling.

"We shouldn't do that again, okay?" She said calmly.

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Let's go grab breakfast."

–

"Did you arrive home safely?" Sakuno asked as she scooped her vanilla ice cream and shove it to her mouth.

"Yes," She ran her hand through her hair, debating whether or not to tell her about what happened 4 days ago after they partied.

"Ryoma asked me something though." Sakuno watch as Naya scrutinized her nicely permed hair. Naya gave her a nonchalant look. "Are you and Atobe-senpai an item?"

She straightened her back. She was pretty much caught off-guard. "No." She shook her head and at the same time, she placed her hands in front of them, moving it side by side to mean "NO".

"Oh, you guys glanced at each other most of the time when we were there at the club" Sakuno wondered why Naya seemed upset. She was even confused if she was even upset or just surprised. "Do you like him?"

Naya suddenly burst out laughing. "Me?" she threw her head back, laughing.

–

Philosophy's test was just to pick 3 questions from the 5 questions given by the professor and make an essay about it. Naya finished her essay 5 minutes before the time. She proof read her work then stood up to hand it to the professor. After that, she headed out and was grabbed by the elbow.

"Hey!" She complained as she turned to who was dragging her.

Atobe Keigo.

"What are you doing?" She tried pulling her arm but the more she tried to break free, the more his grip tightens.

"You're ignoring me for days." He didn't even looked at her as he dragged her around the campus. He took her to the parking lot, opened his car and gestured her to enter.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She glared at him, annoyed that he made her look like some helpless girl.

"You don't have to shout, Natsume." He didn't look surprise at her boldness.

"What do you want?" She fixed herself and raised a brow at him. The people around the parking lot are not looking them.

Atobe leaned in and looked at her menacely. "You will enter or I'll kiss you in front of everyone."

Naya's lips parted. He sounds serious. Too serious to be exact as his gaze locked on her and his jaws tightened. "Ugh!" She entered the car and he closed it. After that, he rushed to the driver's seat, started the engine and drove away.

The two stayed silent. Naya was crossing her arms and frowning while her eyes were fixed on the rode, she resembled a little girl who actually didn't get what she wanted.

"Talk to me!" She exclaimed. She was now looking at him; greatly annoyed at the fact that she was taken against her will. "You can't just take me like that in front of everybody!"

"The past few days, you've been ignoring me?" He said with eyes fixed on the rode.

Naya was taken aback. She didn't think that he would even notice. She had been ignoring him because the awkwardness made its way after he drove her back to her house after they kissed and shared a bed without even touching each other.

"I—I wasn't!" She tried not to stutter.

"You run whenever you see me. You grasp in surprise whenever I arrive in class." He pulled somewhere and turned to her.

It was true. Seeing him makes her nervous but she never expected it to be too obvious. "I'm just occuppied." She lied. "Why are you so mad anyway?"

"We have this project that we weren't able to do and we're late in passing it because you kept ignoring me." He was awfully displeased. "I'm not the type who pass my projects late."

"Oh," She swallowed. She actually thought that he's mad because she's ignoring him. He was just mad at her because their project is now late and its her fault. "So let's make it."

"We're doing it in my house." He then drove away.

–

As soon as they arrived, Naya looked around the mansion. The butler and two maids were bowing down in their presence but she noticed that the butler was surprised upon seeing her.

"Your room looks neat." She went to inspect Atobe's room. "European style." She went to see his books. "Faust!" She exclaimed. She was surprised that he had wonderful classic books. She could see some collection of Wilde, Shakespeare, Hemingway and a lot more."You read them all?" He could see her enthusiasm as she peered through his collections. "Pablo Neruda! Oh my gosh!" She shrieked and pulled the book from the rack.

"You're a fan?" He asked, pretending that he does not know. He read that magazine after all.

"He's the best poet for me. I love his works." She scanned through the pages of the book with a beaming smile.

There was something adorable about the way she looked as she scanned through the book. Her eyes twinkled as if it was the best thing that she had ever seen.

"Loving is short, forgetting is long?" He said as he prepared his desk for them to begin making their project.

She stopped scanning and looked at him. She was amazed. He was the first man she ever met that recited a line from her favorite poem.

"Come and let's start." He gestured her to come and sit beside him.

It has been an hour since they started cutting pictures and debating how to go over it.

"We're college students for crying out loud. Why do we have to make scrapbooks?" She complained as she cut the last picture in her hand.

"Make your own University and prohibit professors from requiring scrapbooks." Atobe said as he arranged the table. He doesn't like it when everything is not in place.

"Btw, do you really read a lot?" She curiously asked.

"Its what I do when I don't play tennis." He was pairing up the pictures in the empty space of the desk.

"Who is your favorite author?" She questioned as she switched the picture in he was pairing with the one in her hand. "See, that one's better."

He didn't complain and decided to be down with her decision to switch the picture. "I like Goethe."

She was apparently interested in his books. "Do you enjoy Machiavelli?"

"The end justifies the means?" He responded, quoting Machiavelli.

Naya smiled in delight.

Two hours after, they finally finished their scrapbook. Naya immediately ran to his bed when he went out to get something for her to eat since she demanded it. She was tired so she closed her eyes but without knowing it, she immediately fell asleep.

The moment Keigo entered the room with Michael (butler) they saw that she was already asleep. She was curling into a ball.

"Anymore, young master?" Michael asked politely while following his young master's gaze which was fixed on her.

"No more." He answered. "She's asleep anyway."

"Any request for dinner, young master?" He wondered. They have a Natsume guest after all.

"She'll surely eat anything." Keigo headed to his balcony and tried remembering what he and Yuushi talked about.

-Flashback-

"You look interested in that brunette." Yuushi was grinning. He was already grinning the moment Atobe entered the room giving the air that he has a very intruiging secret.

"Natsume?" Keigo sat down and told the waiter to get him an espresso rather than hot tea.

Yuushi had called Atobe for a tea afternoon. It was something that he would initiate when he wanted to talk about something and it appeared that he really had something that he would like to talk about and its about Naya.

"There's something about the way you look at her." Yuushi lifted his cup and allowed the aroma of his jasmine tea to fill the air. He then turned his attention to Atobe who was just sitting opposite him with nothing but a calm expression.

"Tell me about it." He merely answered.

"Why do I have to spell it? You exactly know what I mean." Yuushi sipped his tea without tearing his gaze off his best friend.

"She's just a normal girl who happens to bear the family name of the Natsumes." He said as the waiter placed his espresso on the table.

Yuushi slightly shook his head at the mention of Naya's family name. It means problem for Atobe if he is interested in her and he's sure that he is. "Normal yet the way you looked at her says otherwise."

"Please." Atobe snorted. He can say that she's interesting but she surely does not interest him the way Yuushi is implying. Or at least that's what he thinks.

Yuushi understood that there's no way that Atobe will admit that the normal girl that he's referring to will be of interest just because she's a Natsume; and so he thought about something else. "I'm glad." Atobe crossed his legs and straightened his back. His gaze tightened.

"You're interested?" Atobe was all ears.

"She's pretty." Yuushi kept grinning. "I was just clarifying things because if you're interested in her, I won't go after her but since you aren't, then I'm calling dibs."

He was intently looking at Yuushi. She was indeed the type that Yuushi would go after. She obviously have the looks, the body and the class. "She's not that easy."

"Oh?" Yuushi pushed his glasses back. "I'm interested in her. She's obviously not the kind that you will want as a flavor of the month."

Atobe took his espresso shot and drank it in one gulp. The moment he placed the glass down, he saw Yuushi watching him with interest while at the same time, grinning.

-End-

Yuushi appeared to be interested in the brunette that it sleeping in his bed. Yes, he thinks she is interesting but that doesn't mean that he's interested in her. There's a difference. She's stubborn and she argues with him when she can.

They kissed but that was just nothing. She said it herself that it meant nothing. Even the kiss that they've shared the night they partied, it didn't mean anything. Many people kiss and not mean it so its no big deal.


Author's note: How many of you have questioned themselves if they liked a particular person or not? Who have tried justifying the reason why? Sometimes we just don't know why we like a certain person. Some people like a certain person because he/she is brilliant, or good looking or talented. But what if you just can't point it out? Could it mean, love? But what if its too early to say that its love?