Title: Manipulation 11: Bodyguard
Fandom: Prince of Tennis: Fudomine Chuugaku
Characters: Tachibana An, Ohtori Choutarou, Kabaji Munihiro
Prompt: 078 - Where?
Word Count: 812
Date finished: 10/04/2007
Rating: G
Summary: Ohtori gains an entourage.
Author's Notes: "Tachibana An / Kabaji Munihiro - jellyfish". Yeah. Previous parts: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

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"You have an… entourage," An teased as Choutarou walked her back to his limo. She knew exactly who the hulking man was, and she'd seen his skill at tennis.

Choutarou's cheeks grew pink. "Atobe asked me to let him accompany us for a while; he's learning to be a body guard, and he needs practice. I didn't see any reason not to."

An smiled up at the man holding the door for them. "Hello, Kabaji-san."

He nodded at her. "Tachibana-san."

She climbed in, and Choutarou sat next to her. "I hope you don't mind," he said quietly as Kabaji shut the door and climbed in the front seat with the driver, "but I thought we'd go to the aquarium today."

An smiled. "That sounds fine," she said.

It was… a little weird, to have Kabaji following behind them. Choutarou didn't even seem to notice, and An tried to act the way he did - after all, the point was to keep the bodyguard invisible. Right?

Choutarou helped by keeping her distracted, and by the end of the third room, she'd nearly forgotten their tail.

The topic had turned from the fish to school and then to plans for the wedding by the time they reached the jellyfish exhibit. An wasn't even paying attention anymore, enjoying Choutarou's company probably more than she should.

She decided it added to the charade. Besides, she shouldn't feel like this. It was a contract, a way to help pay for school. It didn't hurt that he was cute, that he was nice and sweet and…. And if she didn't stop, she'd undo all the good she'd done in convincing herself that she didn't like him.

Which was ridiculous, of course. She couldn't have done this if she didn't like him; she was not that good an actor. But she hadn't been prepared for how much she'd grown to like him.

It didn't help that his conversation was very engaging, and her surroundings faded when she spoke to him.

So neither of them was prepared when someone walked past An in the darkened room and took her arm, pulling her away from Choutarou.

"Don't say a…" the man growled into her ear, but never got farther.

"Let her go," Kabaji said just as softly, one huge hand on the would-be abductor's shoulder. "Let go, and I won't hurt you."

The man released An, and she stepped away. As soon as she got in reach, Choutarou wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Her voice shook, and his arms around her tightened just a little. It scared her, how safe she felt like this, with Choutarou holding her. It was nice, of course; he was well built and strong, but that was secondary. She just felt safe in his arms.

As she began to relax, she also noticed just how good he smelled.

"Are you okay?" he murmured again, and this time she could answer without her voice shaking.

"Yes."

"I think we should go," Kabaji said, and An started. She hadn't even heard him join them. "No one noticed, but we should at least leave the room."

"Are you ready to go?" Choutarou asked.

"Yes," An said, and missed his arms around her when he let her go. He took her hand, though, and gave her such a warm smile that she felt comforted anyway.

In the limo, Choutarou faced her squarely. "I think I should stop this," he said.

An stared at him. "What? Why?"

"Because someone just tried to walk off with you," he said.

"That's probably exactly what they want," she told him. "You can't give in to them, you just can't. It's not that far away, and we know they might try something."

Maddeningly, Choutarou looked at Kabaji. "What do you think?"

Kabaji looked at them both for a moment. "I think it is up to you," he said. "I do not know that person, and I don't know who hired him, or if they would return."

"But you can't let them win, Choutarou," An insisted. "If you stop now, if we break up, they'll have won. It's not that much longer. We'll just have to be careful."

Choutarou hesitated. "Are you sure?"

An nodded. "Oh, yes, I am sure. I will not let people I don't even know dictate how I act and live. I don't even let my family do that," she added with a smile.

He smiled in response, and then shook his head. "All right. I won't call it off, now. But An, if it happens again…."

An smiled, reached out and brushed her fingertips across his cheek. "Don't worry," she said gently. "We'll talk about this again if it does happen."

He didn't look convinced, but he also didn't say anything.

An was just glad her hand hadn't shaken when she reached up to him.

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