Title: Manipulation 05: Interrogation 2: the Bride
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: Shishido Ryou, Tachibana An
Prompt: 037 - Sound
Word Count: {WordCount}
Date finished: 09/29/2007
Rating: G
Summary: Shishido has a few questions for his friend's fiancee.
Author's Notes: "Shishido Ryou / Tachibana An - Musical Instruments", which of course had to do with Ohtori, as neither of them play. Previous parts: one, two, three, four.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

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An walked through the door Shishido opened, and smiled. "I bet Choutarou loves this room," she said softly.

Musical instruments lined the walls, some of them displayed in glass cases. Those looked old, and some of them she didn't even know the name of. A grand piano stood majestically in the corner, gleaming as if freshly polished. Which it might well have been. She wondered what it would sound like, played by someone who played well. Like Choutarou.

That brought her mind back to the man with her, and she turned to him. "You wanted to speak with me?" she asked, in spite of the strange lurch her insides gave at his intense gaze.

"Yes. Why are you doing this?"

She stared at him. "'This' covers a lot, Shishido-san…."

"Don't call me that," he interrupted.

She flinched, but recovered quickly. "I'm sorry. What would you like me to call you?"

He paused, his brows furrowed. "…forget I said that," he mumbled.

She didn't think he'd appreciate it if she smiled, so she nodded solemnly. "I still don't understand what you mean," she said.

"What do you expect to get out of this… marriage?" he asked.

"Companionship." She regarded him for a moment. "You think I'm marrying him just for his money."

"I'm not sure," he hedged. "I don't want to see him hurt. He's one of my best friends."

Yes, there was no question that was how he felt, either. "Will you believe me if I tell you that's not the reason I'm marrying him?"

He regarded her, eyes narrowed, and then his arms folded defensively across his chest. "Why are you marrying him? It can't be for his family connections."

She ignored the implied slur on her parents. "I am marrying him because he asked, and I think he's one of the nicest people I've ever met. I know that I'm in a lower class than he is - but he doesn't go out of his way to make it obvious." She smiled at him. "I don't want his heart broken, either."

Shishido nodded curtly. "No offense, but why did he choose you?"

An smiled. "I think you should ask him that," she said. "Anything I might say would be… subjective." She waited for him to speak, but he didn't say anything. "Thank you for worrying about him," she said after a few moments of silence. "It's nice to know he has such a good friend."

"Keep in mind that he does have such a friend, and take care that he doesn't regret this too late."

He stalked out, and An followed him because she didn't want to get lost. She wondered what she was going to say when Choutarou asked her what his friend had said - and what he might have said to Kippei.

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