Journal of Atobe's Little Sister

Part IV: Tachibana An

Tachibana An – a good friend of mine today; maybe even a best friend.

I used to lack girlfriends. I will admit that. But that day I met An a lot of things changed for me.

Here's how we met~

~~~

walked back home, feeling better now. She had been sick for the past few days and her brother had locked her up at home after finding out that she had gone out to pick up Leiko. The boys of Seigaku were still at camp for training, and she realized that a part of her was relieved because she got to rest a bit. Unlike her brother, she enjoyed the walk home. She used the opportunity to study the scenery. She enjoyed watching people, a secret hobby of hers. The way they moved, chatted, walked, etc. She could tell who was feeling confident today and who was not.

She kept on walking, enjoying the view, when she spotted a group of friends being silly together. She felt something… Like an open wound, maybe? She wasn't sure, but it hurt a little. She tried to remember when the last time she had acted silly like that was, but she couldn’t recall at all.

She wasn’t one to feel sorry for herself, but she suddenly felt weak. She looked away from the group, so she could think of something else when a yell stopped her.

"LET GO!" she heard someone yell.

stopped. Her heart started racing. She looked left and right, trying to make out the source of voice.

"I SAID NO."

Her eyes widened at what she was witnessing. A bully, a mean looking boy, was holding onto a girl's wrist tightly and he was forcing himself on her as she struggled helplessly.

didn’t even think twice. "Let her go!" she yelled angrily, running towards them.

Before the boy even looked up, he was knocked back hard.

"Are you alright?" asked the girl who was on the floor. To her surprise realized that the girl was probably her age and was almost her height as well.

The girl nodded gratefully.

looked at her and she didn’t realize she was shaking. She looked at the boy who was on the floor and realized she had thrown someone twice her age onto the ground. She hated boys that took advantage of girls. Even Keigo had told her several times that sometimes she didn’t know her own strength.

"I can't believe you pushed me, you bitch!" the boy yelled in rage. He stood up in one quick motion and glared at them.

and the girl held onto each other, but it was fortunate for them that someone intervened...

[SMACK]

The boy fell to the floor losing consciousness as a familiar round object collided beautifully with his head.

"An-chan! An-chan!" A red-headed boy ran towards them.

"Kamio-kun," said the girl, whom figured was An. "Thank you," she said softly as he looked at her worriedly.

realized that he looked furious. He muttered a welcome and something about wanting to hit the boy in a more sensitive area when he saw what he was doing.

Kamio nodded and blinked, as if noticing for the first time. He watched stand up and to his surprise she winced a bit, holding her upper arm lightly. "Ow…"

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

looked at her and smiled mischievously. "I guess he was bigger than I thought," she said, realizing now how stupid it was that she used her own body to push him down. She had bruised her right arm in the process.

The girl looked worried, but smiled when she saw the determined look on 's face. "Thank you," the girl said politely while bowing. "I am Tachibana An." Then she turned to look at the boy standing next to her and said, "And this is Kamio Akira."

"Atobe ."

An made a face. "That arrogant bastard's your broth..." she began, but a hand muffled her mouth.

"An-chan!" Kamio said surprised, interrupting her sentence.

laughed, "It’s alright, Kamio-san." She laughed shaking her head, "I agree with her, but no bad-mouthing Keigo." She pointed at An and looked at her seriously "Only I get to do that."

Tachibana An smiled at . "I like you, ." She smiled genuinely, and realized that An hadn't used any suffixes to her name. "Come on, I'll introduce you to all our members. They're at the street courts."

~~~

"I can't believe someone cute and sweet like her is Atobe's little sister. What a waste for an arrogant ass to have a sister like her. So pretty standing there. She is looking my way now... I hope I'm not all stinky and sweaty from the tennis... "

stared in fascination at the blue-haired boy as he mumbled away to apparently no one in particular. She had to stifle a giggle, so he wouldn’t embarrass herself.

"Excuse Shinji, this is normal,” said someone from behind her.

turned around to the source of the voice and she found herself standing in front of a rather attractive looking boy. His features were quite different from anyone else, but looking into his eyes she immediately knew that this must be...

"Tachibana Kippei," he said politely. "You're Atobe's sister, right?" he asked as he held out his hand to her.

She took the offered hand and nodded. "Yes, I am," she answered, smiling at him. "But please, call me ."

"As long as you call me Kippei as well."

"Thanks."

watched them train and smiled. They were good for an unseeded team. All these people were new to her. A while back she would never have even bothered going to any games. She could never stand those stupid Hyotei cheers and the hype so she had never gone to any game. But now it was different. As Seigaku’s co-manager she had to look at everything and know all the other teams. She was taken to a completely new world.

She enjoyed her time with Fudomine and what surprised her was how nice An was. They became good friends at once. It was as if they had known each other for a long time. She didn't know whether it was because both of their brothers were captain of respectable teams, or because they were both girls always surrounded by boys who play tennis.

Taking her eyes off Kamio and Ibu's game, she looked at An who in turn looked at her.

The girls nodded in acknowledgement.

This was the start of a beautiful friendship...

~~~

DeVeliCious

Edited by Kashii & Elenniel