Chapter Summary: An and Atobe spend a moment in time together in which An softens up to the tennis captain. The moment is ruined, however, when Atobe breaks An's heart by telling her who Jirou's really in love with (and a completely crack pairing emerges).
Chapter Four
When he had first seen her, one sunny day that seemed like ages ago, he had thought she was very pretty. But that wasn't what had attracted him to her. After all, there were plenty of pretty girls around, many of them prettier than her, and enough of them seemed to be enamored of him.
He had gone to the street tennis courts hoping to find some real challenges that he could then humiliate, therefore establishing once again his superior skills in tennis. He was practically depressed to find that there was no one worthy there for him to play. He had turned to leave, signaling to Kabaji, when an argument caught his attention.
Apparently, some people had shown up not realizing that this was a doubles only court, and were arguing over who would be paired with who. The pretty girl from before had stepped in, her voice clear and commanding.
"You two can pair up, and you can play those two."
"But-" came a male voice.
"No buts. If I say those are the pairings, those are the pairings."
It might have been irritating to others, but Atobe was quite endeared of the girl's commanding personality. All the girls he knew were entirely too passive. Most of them acted shy, thinking that's what men wanted, and even the girls who were somewhat outgoing were sure not to assert themselves when they went on dates with him. It was always "whatever you want, Atobe-kun", or "whatever you decide is fine". This girl, though, knew what she wanted, and wasn't afraid to say so.
She was even prettier in Atobe's mind now. He had lingered around the courts awhile longer, casually inquiring as to who this girl was. He found out that most people knew her as Tachibana's little sister, but some knew her as Tachibana An. Then, when he had decided that he would approach her, the thought never crossed her mind that she would turn him down. No one had ever turned him down before. And even after he had fulfilled her conditions, had beaten every player on the tennis court there for her, she still wouldn't date him.
He was genuinely happy to hear that she was coming to Hyoutei. And then, she had not only rejected him again, but she had done it in front of the entire school. He was completely humiliated by her. And though he knew no one would have the audacity to say anything about his embarrassment, he was also certain that they laughed about it behind his back. He would make certain that she never make a fool of him again.
As far as Atobe was concerned, he was done with Tachibana An.
Still, he had felt a little pang of an emotion when he found out An was spending her lunches with Jirou. Why had she accepted the other boy so easily? Why Jirou, and... not him? And just now, walking home, he had to run into her again. Knocked to the floor, against a brick fence, a cut upon her face, and those two horrid girls who were friends with Mukahi standing menacingly in front of her.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The two girls started at the sound of Atobe's voice.
"Oh, nothing, Atobe-sempai." Keiko was a little confused, as Atobe had never stopped them from having fun with the scholarship recipients before, but she was smart enough to tell that he was mad. She grabbed her friend's hand and the two girls ran off.
Atobe looked down at An, a frown on his face. "You're bleeding. My house isn't far away, you can treat it there."
"Why should I go home with you?"
Atobe shrugged. "It's a deep cut. You should treat it right away."
An couldn't refute the logic of that... after all, the bus trip home was quite time consuming in itself, and she would have to wait awhile for the next bus any way. She reached a hand up to her face, drawing away to find that the cut was indeed blooding quite a lot, and stood up to follow Atobe.
When the two arrived at Atobe's house, An couldn't help but gape in shock. Atobe didn't live in a house, he lived in a mansion. It was a large, sprawling brick building, with a iron gate and a circular driveway, a huge fountain in the middle. Impeccable lawns and gardens stretched out from the house.
"Welcome home, Atobe-sama," said two girls in maid uniforms, opening the door for the two to walk through. An looked up and around... the foyer had its own small fountain, and looked to be at least three stories tall. She followed Atobe to the living room, where he gestured for her to sit on an opulent velvet chaise.
"Can I get you and the young miss something, Atobe-sama?" This time the request came from a butler, bowing low at the door.
"Tea, and the necessary things to treat An's wounds." Atobe turned to An. "Would you like any refreshments?"
"No. Thank you."
An fidgeted, very uncomfortable being in Atobe's house. And very uncomfortable with the fact that he was being very kind with her. The butler soon came back with tea, and set it out on the table for Atobe. He placed a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some cotton, and a band-aid in front of An.
"I'll do it," An said, before the butler or, god forbid, Atobe offered to help.
"Of course," was Atobe's only reply.
An cleaned up her wound, glancing around the room as she did so. Her eyes settled on a family photograph on the table, a picture of a baby and a very attractive couple.
"Are these you and your parents?" An felt that she should attempt to be nice to Atobe, at least for now, considering how kind Atobe had been.
"Yes."
"They seem very nice."
"I wouldn't know. I never see them."
An looked up at Atobe in shock, but the boy didn't look any different. He was calmly sipping his tea. "They don't live here?"
"They live in America. Our family does a lot of business there. I've been in the care of my servants since I was three."
"But surely you see them some times."
Atobe shrugged. "Some times they'll come home for Christmas, or call on my birthday. If they remember."
An frowned at how casually Atobe was saying all this. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about." Atobe placed his tea cup down, looking over at An. "Now that your cut is taken care of, Arthur can drive you home."
"Oh. Okay."
Atobe watched as An stood up to leave, but he couldn't help himself. He called out to her. "Why have you been eating with Jirou?"
An turned away as quickly as she could, but not quickly enough for Atobe not to notice the blush that had stained her cheeks. So he had guessed correctly. Suddenly, against all rationale, he felt the need to hurt the girl standing before him. This girl that he couldn't help but find so inexplicably wonderful.
"You like him. It's too bad he's in love with some one else."
An quickly turned back around to stare at Atobe, obviously shocked. "What? He's never said anything about that."
"It's a sensitive issue."
"I think you're lying."
Atobe shrugged. "Then you should ask him about Yukimura Seichi."
An stared at Atobe for a moment longer before turning and walking towards the door, her fists clenched. "Just as I thought you might be a kind person, you go and say such a hateful thing. Even if it was the truth, how did you think it would make me feel?"
An ran out of the room and the house, not bothering to look for Arthur. She would rather take the bus. Her thoughts drifted to Yukimura Seichi... she had remembered the name. Yukimura was the captain of Rikkai, who had come in first in nationals for the last two years. Every one involved in junior high tennis knew who Yukimra Seichi. She had never though Yukimura and Jirou might be together though...
An stopped, spotting the object of her thoughts up ahead. She hid behind a fence as she watched him. He was looking into a shop window... a book store. He was wide awake, though his eyes held none of the excitement An associated with a fully awakened Jirou. If anything, the boy looked hopelessly sad. After a very long time he finally left, and when he was out of sight she approached the store window.
A beautiful blue-haired boy stared up at her from behind the glass, the face imprinted on the cover of a magazine. A serene smile graced his lips and a large, cotton headband tried to tame the long hair that still managed to fall into his eyes.
"Yukimura Seichi," the headline wrote, and below it, in smaller lettering, "Can Rikkai Capture Their Third Championship?"
She abstractly noted that Inoue Mamoru had written the article, but didn't really care. So what Atobe said had been true. Jirou was in love with some one else. An took a bus home in a daze, not knowing how she should feel about the situation. Right now, well... right now, she just felt very blank. If she were like most thirteen-year-old girls, she might have cried. But she wasn't as sentimental or melodramatic as that, so she didn't.
When she got home, she wasn't surprised to find Fuji sitting in her living room. He looked at her, the smile instantly wiping from his face as he saw her bandaged face, a mixture of surprise and concern there instead.
"An? Are you alright?"
"Is my brother home yet?"
"No, I was just waiting for him. What's wrong?"
"Can you take me out for ice cream? Before my brother gets home. I don't want him to question me about this." She gestured to the cut on her face.
Fuji, understanding, agreed.
The taste of cherry ice cream was comforting to An. It was something familiar, something that she had grown up with, and something she grasped on to when she felt herself falling into the unfamiliar. So it was over cherry ice cream that Fuji, in his own soft way, coerced the story from of An. And he listened, quietly, because that's all that she needed him to do.