Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or anything associated with it.

"Dammit Kirihara - what's up with you," Marui yelled from the other side of the court.

"Nothing's wrong with me," he spat back.

Kirihara threw his racket on the court and angrily marched away, heaving towards the benches.

The morning practices were going as followed, as the team split up to do various activities. Marui and Kirihara had been paired off to play singles for a short while, but Kirihara's mind seemed to be in a whole other place.

Not only was he shell-shocked that An had slapped him, but he had begun to feel remorseful for what he had said after he caught a glimpse of her tearing. Kirihara was surprised by how closely he had been observing her, however short the time - and although he couldn't register what the feeling was, he labeled it as somewhat 'mushy'.

For both the good and the bad.

He found this new development intriguing and odd in many ways.

And to make matters worse, his grumpy exterior was clear as daylight to the rest of his teammates.

"What the hell Kirihara - you don't just walk out on a singles match like that," Marui said, popping his gum as he prodded towards the bench.

Kirihara didn't reply and simply covered his head with a towel.

"What's going on?" Jackal asked, stopping his stretching and walking up to the pair.

The attention of the remaining players centered on the shaded bench and soon, Kirihara was surrounded by multiple heads.

"I don't know, but he's being more stingy than usual," Marui replied.

Yagyuu tipped his glasses, "well there's obviously got to be logical reason for that, right Kirihara?"

"Tch, what are you saying Yagyuu - its Kirihara. There's never any logical reasoning with him," Niou shot back, pointedly.

"Well it's no use talking amongst ourselves," Yanagi stated and paused, "why don't we ask him directly."

"Kirihara?"

He snapped his head up to look at his obviously concerned teammates, "what?"

"What the hell's got your panties in a twist?" Marui said, raising a brow.

Kirihara growled, "nothing - it's none of your business." And with that, he threw the towel back on the bench and sped off in the direction of the school as the remaining five silently watched his retreating figure.

Once Kirihara disappeared from sight, Marui began to speak, but Niou beat him to it.

"Its a girl."

"You serious?" Jackal said, looking abashed.

Marui's mouth opened in shock, "really? I was going to say puberty's finally gotten to him, but hey, that reason works too."

Jackal sighed, "just stop Marui. But really, a girl?"

"Positive," Niou nodded.

Yanagi stared back in the direction that Kirihara had left off to, "how do you know this?"

Niou smirked slightly, leaning against the shaded bench, "the other day when we tailed him to the library under bouchou's orders, I was wondering why he stayed in the lower level for so long. So after these guys left," he said, gesturing to Jackal and Marui, "I went back to see. The library was closed, but the workers were still there and I was able to catch a glimpse of the girl inside when she was leaving," he ended as the others nodded.

Marui however, frowned, "wait - you mean the girl Kirihara's fussing over is the old croon hag sitting on the front desk?"

Niou shook his head as Jackal pinched the bridge of his nose, "no Marui. That's just wrong."

"The 'old croon' was on first level...but if you went down to the lower level you'd understand why he took so long. I know I would," Niou added, chuckling.

Yagyuu raised a brow, "oh? Who is she - someone we know perhaps?"

Niou shook his head, "someone we all know - An Tachibana."

The reactions of the group were all done simultaneously, and if summed up in one word it would be: shock.

Niou gave a small smirk at the groups' reactions.

"Her brother would peel Kirihara alive - by the flesh," Marui replied nonchalantly, breaking the silence.

Yanagi shook his head, "I doubt she would tell him right away - but this is an interesting development, no? She works at the library, and Kirihara goes there to study."

"You mean flirt," Niou corrected, now amused.

Yagyuu nodded, "but this creates a whole new problem."

"And what would that be?" Marui asked.

"I don't think Bouchou will mind too much if Kirihara is interested in a girl," Jackal replied, realizing the problem at once.

"It's not bouchou I'm worried about. It's fuku-bouchou," Yagyuu stated in a pained voice.

On cue, Sanada appeared on the other side of the courts with Yukimura, who seemed pleasantly dull all the same.

"Everyone, keep your mouth shut - this is not to be brought up in their presence. We will avoid it until we talk to Kirihara about this...predicament," Yanagi said quickly, and made his way to the two approaching them.

Marui picked up his racket and whistled, "well, at least I have something to bug Kirihara about- that little brat is totally in for it."

"This will definitely liven things up," Yagyuu said, with a faint smile, as he tipped his glasses.

"Puri."

The four players headed over to the court to continue their practices without Kirihara before they were asked to do so by Sanada...which never ended well.

"Anyone up for a doubles game?"

"I'm in."

"Whatever keeps fuku-bouchou away."

"Hmhmm, likewise."

Kirihara paced forward through the empty halls of Rikkai, occasionally hissing at any rare on looker he came across.

It was not his day.

He had left knowing the consequences and was sure that Fuku-bouchou would find him later that day at some point for a long one on one lecture about the importance of him playing tennis. But likewise, he was prepared for it - as long as no one bothered him right there and then, he would be fine later.

Much later.

If only I didn't see her at the library, my life would be fine, he thought inwardly.

I see her one more time this week; I'm going to break something.

And while Kirihara decided he would break something if he saw An again, what he couldn't decide was whether he would break it out of happiness or pure anger.

Or both.

Unfortunately, fate had different twists planned for him, none of which went according to what he wanted.

As Kirihara sped up his walk, he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to see the figure that appeared to be walking just as fast as him. On his collision course track, Kirihara bumped straight into the figure, and swore loudly as the other yelped in surprised.

A soft 'umph' resulted from the person's mouth, as Kirihara quickly acted on his agile reflexes, and wrapped his arm around the strangers' waist softening their fall.

He blinked slowly, ready to scream at the idiot who had run into him.

It wasn't his fault, in any case.

"Kirihara?"

At the sound of her voice, Kirihara felt mind-boggled and his swearing was caught in his throat.

Her timing was horrible.

"An?"

She suddenly furrowed her brows, "who else would it be idiot," she huffed.

"What are you doing here?" Kirihara questioned, ignoring her insult.

An suddenly looked somewhat shamed, "I-...I just came here-"

"To what, slap me again maybe?" He snarled, suddenly angry.

Angry with her for showing up, angry that he almost felt happy to see her, and even angrier that she was having this abnormally obsessive effect on him.

"No," she said coolly, "I actually came to apologize for it. I was wrong to slap you, I just lost myself a bit...I couldn't...I- you're so annoying," she blurted and regretted it immediately, covering her mouth with her hands.

She couldn't help it - it was true to some extent from her experience.

Kirihara felt his eyebrows twitch, "I'm annoying, have you seen yourself? Walking around like you own the place and-"

"That's your job isn't it?" She hissed, jabbing a finger in his chest. Her apology was quickly forgotten.

Kirihara growled, "you're always looking for a fight, you know that?"

"Yeah, well - I never loose," she retaliated quickly.

"You will if you're against me," he smirked, throwing her accusing hand aside.

Ann felt her anger rise - she had originally come here to apologize after shoving her pride aside, but the way he was acting made her want to turn that apology into another slap.

Another hard one.

"You think you're so nice coming here to say sorry, but you should've done that ages ago and-"

"Kirihara," An cut in suddenly, "what are we doing?"

He tilted his head in confusion, "what do you mean- oh. Oh. OH."

The pair had been so immersed in their heated argument that they had failed to notice their positions on the hallway floor.

Kirihara still had one arm around her small waist while she lay under him with his knees straddling her thighs and his chest pushing into her breasts, as he held his weight on hers. An glared at him, as a light hue of pink began dusting her cheeks, "get off."

Kirihara though, didn't budge as his angular jaws jittered a bit, hesitating on speaking, but then he stopped.

His head seemed to be doing some quick thinking and soon his face held an unusually dark look. An stared up at his viridian green eyes, her own hazel irises widening when she noticed that he suddenly appeared more intimidating, more controlling after realizing their positions. An felt her heart skip a beat at his change in demeanor.

"Kirihara?" She said, attentively reaching out a hand.

He stared back at her, with clouded eyes, "what?"

Kirihara didn't know what came over him. Just seeing her under him, staring at him with her big doe eyes made him not want to move.

Nope.

Not even an inch.

Not even if someone walked right into them.

Not even if the entire world came crashing down on their heads, Kirihara didn't want to move - and that was a fact.

"Can - can you please get off?" She spoke again, more softly.

An seemed to realize the oddity of the situation, and Kirihara's sudden behavioral change meant nothing good - the best thing to do was calmly ask him to get off and leave. Besides that fact, An knew she could always come back later...at a more appropriate time.

A time when Kirihara did not feel like any other average teenage boy lying on top of a girl.

Her timing had certainly been horrible.

"Kirihara, get off," she said, wiggling her legs under his.

But Kirihara just ignored her, staring vividly at her general appearance.

An felt her impatience level rise a notch, as she pushed her hands into his chest, "Kirihara get of me! I'm serious," she said, harshly.

He didn't move.

"Kirihara! I don't have time for your games, I'm seeing someone after, so get off me righ-mhp-!"

"Shhh, just be quiet for a while," he replied, covering her mouth with his hand. Kirihara simply felt a sudden urge to lie there with her, however odd it may have seemed - it was uncontrollable and unexplainable altogether. An felt herself blush under his touch for no apparent reason, as she continued to struggle under him.

What had she gotten herself into?

And what was he doing, peacefully laying on top of her like it was okay?

Then, suddenly An looked Kirihara in the eye then bit down hard on his hand.

She tasted the pungent, metallic taste of blood on her lips and watched with some satisfaction as Kirihara grunted and swiped his away from her mouth. Her lips were covered in his blood, as she panted hard, still attempting to wriggle free of his grasp.

"What the hell!" He yelled.

An wiped the blood away from her lips, "shut up, it was your fault! And get off me for the last time!" She screeched.

"No."

"No?"

He smirked, looking for a way to stay like that, "you still have to apologize, remember?"

"After what you just did? I don't think so Kirihara - now, get off by the count of three or I will seriously kick you where it will hurt," she threatened.

He didn't budge, however serious the threat.

"Fine, don't apologize," he snorted, looking away.

"I won't apolo- wait what?" An thought she misheard what he had just said.

"Instead - kiss me."

A long moment of silence followed.

An lay under him, getting warmer and more baffled my the minute.

She stared at him as if he had just asked her to fly an elephant. "Excuse me?" She questioned, delirious.

Kirihara simply stared back, "you heard me. Kiss me," he repeated, ever so wistfully.

She glared back, "no."

An didn't move - Kirihara hadn't expected her too, in any case. Grabbing her hands, he pinned them above her head and knelt lower, "it wasn't really a question."

And in a quick move, Kirihara bent down and latched his lips onto hers, ignoring her loud protests. A sudden wave of calmness washed over him under the feel of her soft pink lips. He felt her arms limp under his grip, as he pressed his lips further into her mouth realizing she was not responding. Suddenly he felt a tugging sensation on his curly hair and saw that her hands had woven their way through them, pulling him closer. He silently grinned against her lips, when he felt her beginning to move her lips against his.

Kirihara forgot they were in a school hallway.

He forgot that he was supposed to be at his morning tennis practice.

All Kirihara wanted to do was keep kissing her, the girl under him - the girl who was forced to be under him.

An felt her breath leave as Kirihara's weight lay on her. She didn't know what came over her, but she found herself kissing the person she hated more fervently than ever, as she pulled at his hair, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him closer than he already was. Her mind seemed to have shut off completely, as her body reacted on his movements as he pulled her closer by the waist and she complied fully. His hands roamed across her back, over arms, finally resting on her hips almost naturally.

A hazy thought in An's head kept reminding her how wrong this was, how much she hated Kirihara, and how Kamio was waiting for at the cafe se had promised to meet him at.

Kamio! She thought.

Her eyes snapped open.

An went rigid and pushed Kirihara away, panting hard all the while. She wiped her lips and gave Kirihara the most loathing stare she could muster, as she collected herself off the floor, picking up her bag in the process.

She dusted her shorts and fixed her sweater, and turned back to the now standing Kirihara.

"Kirihara, you're the worst," She whispered.

He stared at her with a mix of emotions before giving a light shrug, "I've heard that before."

At hearing his words, An brushed past him and ran out of sight.

Kirihara blinked aloofly at the strange turn of events.

Suddenly he grinned deviously, touching his lips. Slowly, he walked back down the hallway, pondering about the feel of her lips against his, the softness of them, the warmth of her body, the sweet scent of her hair.

He forget where he was - ah yes, school.

It was all too much for him.

Grinning, he made his way back to the tennis courts, ready for his plate of yells, screams, and 'where-the-hell-did-you-go'.

But none of that mattered at that moment.

Because Kirihara Akaya had somehow managed to kiss An Tachibana.

And he could have sworn that she had liked it.

Author Note: Har har, well that escalated rather quickly didn't it? As usual, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Reviews would be greatly appreciated~