Title: Manipulation 06: Overheard Conversation
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: Kamio Akira, Tachibana Kippei, Ohtori Choutarou, Tachibana An (others mentioned)
Prompt: 074 - Dark
Word Count: {WordCount}
Date finished: 09/29/2007
Rating: G
Summary: Kamio is not happy - and goes to get more information.
Author's Notes: "Kamio Akira / Mukahi Gakuto - discovery". Two redheads. I didn't dare put them in the same place at the same time. I do not have enough snark in me to do them justice. Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

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Kamio Akira was not happy about this whole… engagement. In fact, he hadn't really believed it until he'd seen the ring on An's hand that evening at Kawamura Sushi. He still wasn't sure he believed it, but when Tatsunori asked, she answered in the affirmative and so he had no choice. The rest of the group - all of them but Kyosuke were there - were happy for her, and Akira joined in the congratulations, but he was pretty sure he didn't fool Kippei.

He'd never been able to do that.

Akira didn't care, as long as An was fooled. But it didn't sit right with him; he knew Ohtori Choutarou - or at least who he was and where he'd gone to school, and the kind of people he'd hung out with - and could not fathom what he wanted with An. Well, no, he understood that, but she was so… different from him.

Watching Kippei gave him no clues, either. The older boy watched her with affection and exasperation, which was nothing new, really, but there was… just… something he couldn't put his finger on. Whatever it was, it bothered him.

The conversation, of course, didn't center on her, just started there, and pretty soon the subject had changed to what everyone else was doing. Akira, however, only followed vaguely, dwelling on An.

He could admit a few things now: one, that he and An were never suited to each other; two, that he still cared very much about her; and three, he was not sure she'd be happy in the world he'd only glimpsed a little in his interactions with the students at Hyotei. Four, he added mentally, he did want her to be happy.

He knew better than to ask her, too; she'd just put him off, try to reassure him that everything was all right. He'd seen her do that.

So, he was going to follow her, especially since, as they left the restaurant in a group, she mentioned she was going to meet her fiancé at a café down the street.

"Can I walk you?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. "Are you going to interrogate me?"

"No."

"Are you going to interrogate Choutarou?"

He felt his cheeks go pink when Shinji and Tetsu laughed, and sighed. "No, An. I'll stay outside when you go in."

He told himself, when he followed her in once she'd been seated with the taller boy, that he'd never said how long he'd stay outside. He hadn't lied.

He sat behind them; they were seated next to each other at the booth, so that made it easy. He could listen in without trying too hard.

"How are you holding up?" Ohtori asked gently.

An sighed. "Well enough. The team is very supportive, and not once did they ask 'why did he choose you?' unlike your friend."

Ohtori sighed. "I know. Shishido is… very protective. Did they ask you why you chose me?"

An laughed. "No. I think Masaya might have, only Kippei was there, and I think he's still a little wary of my older brother."

"I can't imagine why," Ohtori teased gently.

"No, neither can I," An retorted, and her smile was obvious.

Akira had to smile as well. She really did like this guy, so maybe….

"We might have a problem," he said, then, and Akira stiffened. "Can you come up with a reason to bring the wedding forward a couple of weeks?"

"I can try," An said. "What happened?"

"Things are moving faster than everyone anticipated. The date for the partnership was reset - if it were later, it wouldn't be so bad, but I think they feel that if we're not married, there's still a chance."

"I see." They fell silent. "How will your parents react?"

"They'll be furious, but there's nothing they can do. They promised this to me, and even had to rewrite the contract with Hosokawa-san because they were certain I'd never find someone on my own."

An laughed. "And certainly not someone like me. You'll tell me if I make it too difficult for you?"

"You're doing fine," he assured her. "Most of the time, one or the other are so angry with me, they aren't speaking to me. That's fine with me."

"I'm sorry."

"This was my choice," he reminded her. "It's okay. I expected it. And," he added with a smile obvious even to Akira, "it merely means I get to spend more time out of the house, and with you."

An laughed.

Their conversation moved on, then, and Akira paid and slipped out. He caught sight of another redhead and abruptly turned away, hoping Mukahi Gakuto hadn't seen him, at least not to recognize him.

So. An was marrying Ohtori simply to keep him from… what, an arranged marriage? Angry at Ohtori for putting her in that position - and at An for getting into it on her own - he broke into a run.

He hoped she knew what she was doing.

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