Title: Opening the Door
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: TAchibana Kippei, Kamio Akira, Ibu Shinji, Uchimura Kyosuke, Mori Tatsunori, Ishida Tetsu, Sakurai Masaya, former coach, administrative secretary
Prompt: 041 - Shapes
Word Count: 934
Date finished: 08/07/2007
Rating: G
Summary: Kamio can't figure out how Tachibana got into the locked clubroom, when then didn't have the keys.
Author's Notes: It came about because of the original crossover I wrote, which my friend say "it's nice that Tachi's in it, but it's a story about the twins. It doesn't really work for the claim." I've since rewritten it, but there was a comment in there about Tachibana being able to pick locks. So. Here it is.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

It was a complete mystery to Kamio Akira; he'd been trying to get the keys - as had Tachibana Kippei - to the clubhouse for the last week. The secretary had always given him this vacant, "this is what you get" kind of smile, and said very calmly that the coach hadn't turned them in.

Apparently, no one cared about that but them, not even the administration.

Tachibana Kippei smiled easily even as he got the balls and nets out of the formerly locked cabinet. "I can't tell you."

"Would you have to kill us?" Uchimura Kyosuke looked far too interested for it to be a good thing, and Mori Tatsunori swiped his hat.

"He's not going to kill us for that, but if you keep that up, he might kill you," he teased, but didn't keep his partner's hat out of reach for long. Even when he got it back, Kyosuke continued to mutter threats at his partner, causing Ibu Shinji to give him a strange look. That caused Sakurai Masaya to start laughing, and Ishida Tetsu just rolled his eyes.

So did Akira. "So, buchou," he repeated. "How did you get in here?"

"First off, don't call me that, and second, if I tell you, we can all get in trouble."

"It's illegal," Kyosuke said, sounding even more interested. "Can you teach me?"

It felt disrespectful, not to call him buchou, but Tachibana insisted, and eventually, Akira thought, they'd get over it. "No," he said quickly.

"That's a disaster waiting to happen," Shinji agreed, and Tachibana laughed.

"I think they're probably right," he said. "I'll have to wait until I know you better."

Which was better than nothing.

After practice - a real practice, which was a relief after trying to remember to get the ball before where the net should be, and only having a few balls to practice with - Tachibana pulled Akira aside. "I want you to learn this," he said quietly. "I don't know how long it'll be before we can get keys, and I think you'll need to get in here on days when I can't make it."

"Learn what?" Akira asked.

"How to pick locks."

Akira stared. "That's how you got in today?"

"Yes. And I'm going to teach you how to do it," Tachibana repeated. "I don't want to go back yesterday's practice, and neither does anyone else."

Akira hesitated, then shrugged. "Okay. What exactly to I need to know to do this?"

It was one of the more interesting lessons he'd had, Akira decided as he walked home, the clouds making usual shapes in the sky. Not to mention almost completely useless.

He hadn't gotten it at all.

It took another week - and involving An in the lesson - before Akira made any progress. It took patience - something he did not have much of. At least, not for this kind of thing.

"Maybe you should teach Kyosuke," he grumbled one cold morning as he struggled to get the clubroom door open. "He'd probably be better at it than I would."

"Possibly," Kippei agreed. "But it's not a skill he should have." He reached down and stilled Akira's hands. "It takes patience," he reiterated gently. "You have to move slowly."

"I don't move slowly," Akira grumbled, but he tried again, and finally, the lock clicked open.

"It's about time," Tetsu said from behind them, and Akira jumped, startled.

"It requires patience from you, too," Kippei said mildly.

"It's cold," Tetsu said, shivering. "I've been patient."

Akira couldn't argue with that.

"It's not working," Akira told Shinji on the way home that afternoon. "I really don't have the skills for it."

Shinji regarded him thoughtfully. "No," he agreed, "you don't."

"But he keeps insisting," Akira said helplessly.

"Yes," Shinji agreed again. "This way." He nudged Akira around the corner, far from where he was supposed to turn.

"Where are we going?" Akira asked, following his friend - because, really, he had no reason not to.

"To fix your problem."

"How do you fix the fact that I can't manage to get the door open?" Akira asked after a moment, and then they had to part briefly to get around a man who walked down the middle of the sidewalk.

"Oh," Shinji said easily as he fell in step beside Akira again, and held out his hand. "Get the keys."

Akira blinked at the small ring of keys in his friend's hand, then turned to look behind them.

The man they'd just passed was the former coach at Fudomine.

He turned back to Shinji, eyes wide. "How did you do that?" he whispered almost frantically.

Shinji shrugged and tucked the keys away. "We'll get a copy of the keys we need, and then leave them at the front desk. That way, if they actually get them to us, good, and if not, well, we have keys still."

Akira grinned in relief. "Thank you. Just… don't get caught, okay?"

Shinji shrugged again. "I'll just say I found them on campus. That's where he came from, you know. He's been watching us. Just ask An. She sees him, too."

Akira shuddered. "Weird."

Akira was in the office when the coach came in to retrieve his keys; he glared at the redhead before stomping out - his key ring somewhat smaller than it had been. The secretary looked almost angry that she had to give Akira the keys; she'd been prepared, apparently, to give him the same excuse again, that they didn't have them.

He managed not to smirk at her as he left. But it was difficult.

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