Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ Encounters of Another Kind - Part 1 ❯ 3rd Date ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Encounters of Another Kind

An An and Yuuta Story 3

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: 3rd Encounter

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: An and Yuuta (Syusuke and Kippei? o.O?)

Genre: AU, Humor, Romance, Seduction

Warnings: Underage characters in romantic and sexual situations of self-discovery. Characters may be seen as OOC, but they are written in character according to author's interpretation.

Spoilers: none to my knowledge

Summary: It's a *double* date?

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

Date Started: June 1, 2004

Status: complete

Revised: August 5, 2004

Word Count: 749

~3rd Date~

Yuuta watched her carefully as An's pink tongue slid against the very tip, swirling the creamy, milky substance around, tasting it on her tongue before swallowing experimentally. He squirmed a bit more and swallowed nervously when her eyes closed in appreciation and she hummed.

"Mmm. This is good," An proclaimed, grinning at him before promptly shoving the ice cream cone under his nose. "Here! Try some!"

"Ah, no thanks," he replied, looking away and well aware that he was probably blushing. A laugh from across the table reconfirmed his suspicions, and he tried to bury his face further in his chest.

It had been An's idea to visit this new ice cream parlor, Coldstone's; Yuuta had no clue what he was getting himself into. Once a long time ago he'd visited a Baskin Robbins with his family, but Yuuta hadn't been impressed and as a result, hadn't stepped foot in another ice cream shop since.

So, to one such as himself, Coldstone's was mind-boggling... approximately twelve "base" flavored ice creams, yogurts, and sorbets to choose from, and then there were cookies, cakes, candies, fruits, nuts, and other assorted "toppings" that you selected to "mix into" your ice cream to create an entirely new concoction. It was an absolutely crazy idea...

"Mmm... I'm very interested in trying some different combinations," an all too familiar voice said from nearby, and Yuuta fought off the instinct to sink in his seat.

"I thought you might be," was the amused response.

Across from him, Yuuta saw An's eyes brighten. "Oni-chan!"

"An! What are--" Tachibana Kippei was eyeing Yuuta suspiciously, as if he couldn't quite place *why* Yuuta looked familiar to him.

"An-chan," Syusuke interrupted. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Fuji-san," she greeted back warmly, smiling up at both young men. "Why don't you join us?"

His brother was looking at him with a smile. "That would be great, ne, Yuuta?"

The younger Fuji sibling sighed but was already shifting to make room on the bench. "Sure, whatever you say," he mumbled, determined not to think about how his brother's smile seemed to actually *glow* then.

*

"Yuuta? Do you *really* not like your brother?" An asked him on the way home that evening.

"No."

"Mou... but he's your brother."

"It's not that I don't like him," Yuuta tried to explain as they walked down the streets leading to the Tachibana home. "It's just that... for so long, I was always really angry at him, 'cause it seemed like he's always better than me. Everyone calls him a genius... and, if he's a genius, what does that make me?"

An was quiet for a moment, frowning. And then, "You don't like your brother because everyone says he's a genius and you're not?"

She stopped in front of him, eyeing him closely....and then she exhaled and slapped him over the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Yuuta really *is* a dummy," she proclaimed.

"What!"

"You're an idiot," An repeated. "Kippei and I started learning tennis together, but he's always been better at it than I am? . Everyone calls him a natural and tells me how lucky I am to have such a great brother, and I tell them `right', because my brother is really great. Because I know, if I needed him, Kippei would be there for me in an instant, tennis or no tennis."

"It's different for you," Yuuta groused. "'Cause you're a girl." He tried walking around her, but her second slap stunned him into stillness.

"I may be a girl, Yuuta, but I'm not blind. I don't try and weigh my self-merit against my brother's because there's no way I could ever compare equally. He's Tachibana Kippei. I'm Tachibana An. We may be siblings, but we're two different people, too."

She glared at him; he glared back, stubbornly silent. And finally An sighed and shook her head, her shoulders dropping just a little.

"You're not Syusuke, Yuuta. You never can be. Stop trying to compare yourself to an ideal that doesn't exist."

She turned away. "I know my way from here; thanks for the ice cream," she called over her shoulder. "See you around sometime."

Yuuta stood there, watching her walk away. It wasn't until he was back in his dorm room that he realized two things:

1. An had actually *slapped* him.

And 2. She hadn't given him a good-bye kiss, either.

He wasn't sure which one he was more upset about either.

~~**~~

tbc