Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Learning to Land	By : Suteishichic Category: Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Ohjisama > General Views: 11419 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis (Tennis no Ohjisama), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 75
- 76
- 77
Learning to Land. Chapter Seventy Six ~Shishido~

Warnings: Yaoi, Love, Angst, Fluff, and Lots of Sex. Some kink. You've been warned ;)

Disclaimer: Nope not mine. Still in my dreams. ;)

------------------------------------

"You're going?" Taki looked shocked. "Seriously?" Taki looked stunned and said, "But, you never go to these things anymore."

Shishido shrugged, "Of course I'm going. He's my little brother and it's his little sister's birthday."

Shishido smirked his one-sided smile without even realizing it. Obviously he was going to completely foil some plot Taki had in the works and Taki looked both stunned and perplexed as he realized that whatever manipulations he had planned on tangling Choutarou in were not going to happen. Not with Shishido around.

The guy still looked so taken aback Shishido had to keep from laughing so instead, he shrugged and stated, "The hostess herself invited me personally and made me promise to go. I was planning on going anyways, Ohtori is my little brother, and I'm supposed to go. So yeah, I'm going." He stared Taki down. Daring him to find any problem with any of this.

Taki looked away, unable to take the stare. But then he looked back and his eyes narrowed. He was not happy that his plans--whatever they were--had just been trashed. Shishido figured Taki's earlier embarrassment over what happened made him act out a little bolder than normal. Taki asked shrewdly, as if he expected he was catching Shishido in a lie, "Oh really? You planned on going all along? Then what did you get her?"

It was a birthday party at Shiori's family's home. Taki didn't believe him for a second, and Shishido figured of course Taki being a rich boy judged things by their monetary value. Shishido quickly debated showing Taki up because with the expensive looking gift he had, really he could have. It was a childish impulse he realized to show a rich kid that he had just as good a gift as the next guy--better even, but then Shishido wisely decided to not give Taki anything to twist and turn. No gift meant Shishido hadn't planned on going, but what Shishido actually had for her, Taki could also turn to his advantage if he got Choutarou's ear first and bent it the wrong way.

"Se-cr-et." Shishido smiled at them both and winked at Ohtori. All right, Shishido knew all this would bother the hell out of Taki, but he couldn't resist pushing him a little further with a jab. He knew this would upset Taki's little world and even though it also might bother Ohtori a little, Shishido couldn't resist, "Oh, Taki? Like I said Atobe is sending a car at nine and you're welcome to ride with us."

And just like that for the first time, Shishido used us meaning him and Ohtori. Together. Going somewhere together. It made Shishido's heart pound in thrill and pleasure. Sure, Ohtori was his little brother and it could be argued that the us was about their relationship like that--but Shishido knew Taki would more than suspect that Shishido was claiming Ohtori as his when he said us. And Shishido really was. Even better, Taki would hear loud and clear Shishido was saying they were an us and Atobe knew.

Taki's jaw dropped open and after a moment where he must have weighed his options and possibilities, he finally shut it and mumbled a yes. Shishido figured that Taki wanted to see what was going on for himself now and would not refuse the front row seat to the action. And really Taki only had himself to blame about all this for not thinking of Choutarou's feelings. With a mental curse to himself, Shishido glanced over at Ohtori.

He hadn't really been thinking of Ohtori's feelings when he mentioned Atobe and the car. The freshman looked hurt and Shishido figured he was jealous that Shishido talked about Atobe--which was ridiculous. Choutarou just didn't understand. He willed Ohtori to listen to what Shishido was saying between the lines, and not get hung up on Atobe. It was just their Vice-Captain's car, not him. Hell, hadn't Shishido just openly claimed he was arriving with Ohtori? He just openly said us referring to his freshman roommate and himself for the first time together. This was a big deal and a good thing if Choutarou could only see.

Besides, if anyone had a reason to be jealous of Atobe being with someone it was Shishido. After all it was Ohtori who let their Vice-Captain make out with him. Shishido was distracted for a moment with jealous thoughts.

"Shishido-san? You should shower first." Ohtori said and Shishido figured that he wanted to talk to Taki alone. "It's really okay if we leave at nine when the invitation says seven?"

Shishido smiled despite hearing Ohtori say san instead of senpai. Ohtori was so new to all this it was adorable. Shishido had forgotten how green Choutarou was, and he realized he would have to explain a lot of things to him later. They needed to talk, and kiss, and maybe just hold each other for a while again.

Shishido wished Ohtori could be as happy and excited as Shishido was feeling, "Of course it does. That's why the car doesn't pick us up until nine." He smiled at slipping in another us, hoping that this time Ohtori caught his meaning.

Then seeing Choutarou look adorably perplexed, but knowing he would trust him completely, Shishido shrugged and went to shower first. He figured he would to spell it all out to Ohtori as soon as he could find a moment for the two of them to be alone. Damn, Shishido realized he lost an excellent opportunity to be alone with Ohtori on the drive over by inviting Taki along for the ride, but there would be other chances to talk to Choutarou.

Shishido guessed he should probably start with mentioning again to Choutarou that nothing happened between him and Atobe earlier. And that it wouldn't. Hell no, and especially not with those disgusting things Atobe was sucking on. And probably while he was at it, Shishido figured he should mention that Shishido considered Ohtori's little sister to be just a friend. Hell the last thing Shishido needed was Ohtori more worried or taking Shishido's gift to mean more than it did. Actually Shiori was more like an acquaintance because in truth Shishido didn't even much like her as a person and really had only been nice to her because of Ohtori. This gift meant nothing, cost nothing, and she meant nothing, but Ohtori meant...well damn, Shishido realized that already Ohtori meant a great deal--almost everything to him.

It was too soon to tell him this of course. The last thing Shishido wanted to do was to scare him away. It was already scary enough for Shishido to contend with how strong he felt, but as he noticed that as usual, even jealous, Choutarou was looking at him in that adoring way, and Shishido realized for the first time in a very long time he was happy.

Shishido finished his shower and felt very aware of two sets of eyes admiring him as he walked to his room wearing only his robe. On his way, he gently reminded a very crimson-faced Ohtori to go shower and tried not to smirk at the annoyed, sour look Taki threw him. No doubt Taki had planned on showering next and taking his time. Taki sometimes took almost as long as a damn girl did getting ready, and really Ohtori needed time to get ready for his first "real" Hyoutei party more than Taki did. A sudden hot thought flashed through Shishido's mind as he shut his bedroom door--he wondered if Ohtori would touch himself--especially knowing Shishido had been in the shower before him.

Would Ohtori wonder if Shishido touched himself and if his senpai had thought of him? Shishido had been tempted. Very tempted, but he still for some reason wanted to wait for Choutarou even while he cringed as he wondered how long it might take for something more to happen between them. Ohtori was most of the time shy and then suddenly, inexplicably had been bold. It could take weeks for Shishido to figure him out or take things further. He didn't want to pressure Ohtori. All this was new to the freshman, hell it was new to Shishido. It could take weeks or even months unless Choutarou suddenly got bold again. Especially after the chaos of earlier today.

Ohtori kissing Atobe and making that noise still turned Shishido's blood to fire. He wanted to be the one to coax sounds like that and more out of his little brother's throat. As his erection grew in response to thinking of creative ways to make Ohtori make sounds like that, Shishido shook his head and tried to quickly shake them off. He needed to get dressed. He needed to focus.

He wished once more that he and Ohtori lived together with no one else--although he realized that if they did, they might never make it out of the house let alone get to the party.

But damn, Shishido thought that would be a nice way to go.

Shishido rummaged through the tons of clothes Atobe had bought for him. Many were ridiculous--completely not him--he was no one's doll. Most still had the tags on them and Shishido again reminded himself to sell them as soon as possible--before the fashion changed. He could squirrel away the money for a rainy day as usually came.

Shishido hated shopping. He hated being on display. He hated how Atobe would force him to model each and every thing for him, but he had learned to go with Atobe or he would wind up with things he would never wear and couldn't use. He wasn't likely to play in any polo matches yet he had everything but the horse and saddle because Atobe had liked how some damn king or prince had looked wearing them. When Atobe decided Shishido needed to learn how to ski during winter break he ended up with tons of ski clothes he would never use, but when they went to the stores together, Shishido had learned that he preferred snowboarding and that style of dressing--even if Atobe hated it.

In Atobe's absurd shopping sprees for him, Shishido had learned to go along and to casually throw in a few things he truly had loved. He had to be careful to not seem like he really wanted something though or Atobe--much like Shishido's mother used to--would either not buy it or to be taciturn would buy it for him in a different color, size, or style ruining it. Usually what worked was Shishido would flirt and make eye contact with a salesperson, especially when it was something he really did want. Young or old, male or female, if they flirted back and gushed over Shishido wearing something he secretly liked or wanted, Atobe would be sure to buy it for him. True, the more they gushed, the more often Atobe would later remind harshly how much he owned Shishido and in essence would try to make him pay that night when they were alone because he would...

Shishido took a deep, slow breath in and reminded himself that was then. It was over. He had been young. And stupid. Naive.

Shishido had more than paid Atobe for his clothes and would never do anything like that again. He would never do anything like that or be with anyone who treated him like th at.

He remembered Ohtori kissing him and how contented they both were before Atobe crashed their private kissing party. He recalled pulling Ohtori behind the old church and kissing him hot and willing during their run. Shishido felt the tension that had been building up in his body fade away as he thought of the freshman. Shishido vowed to work things out between them. He wanted it so that nothing could come between them. Neither of their pasts should matter, and he hoped that what they had started together was bigger than anything they might face. He wasn't a copy and Ohtori was as far away from Atobe as could be. They were good together, and if they just kept going slow and steady, Shishido felt confident that Ohtori would see and feel that too.

Shishido had planned on not wearing underwear but as turned on as he was thinking about kissing Ohtori, he decided that was not a wise idea. He slid on a pair of black silk boxers before putting on his favorite tight dark blue jeans. He rarely wore street clothes but really liked these jeans. They were some hot label, ridiculously expensive, but that wasn't why Shishido liked them. He liked them because they fit perfectly and were washed light in all the right places. Shishido felt good in them, comfortable and confident. Every time he wore them he got complements, from men and women, and truth be told he wanted to see Ohtori's reaction. Atobe only bought them for him because some guy approached Shishido about modeling when he came out to show Atobe the jeans. Shishido tried to look casual while he secretly had and hoped to have them.

After, Atobe had torn the man's business card up and his lips had pressed into a thin, white line of anger and jealousy while he pointed to indicate the clothes Shishido had on would be added to the pile the Vice-Captain was purchasing. He had more than paid for the modeling scout's attention later when Atobe had...

Shishido realized he was doing it again and swore at himself under his breath. How the hell was Ohtori supposed to get over him being with Atobe when in his own head Shishido kept thinking about all the bad things? He reminded himself again that it was the past, and happily, hopefully, Choutarou was going to be in his future if he could stop dwelling on the negative and move the hell on. Shishido was embarrassed by his past, and what he had done, but he knew somewhere inside that if anyone was ever going to understand, Choutarou would.

And Shishido needed someone to understand.

And maybe forgive him so that maybe he could forgive himself. Even if it was in the past, Shishido wanted to somehow clear the slate. He knew it was a long shot that Ohtori would listen, understand, and still like him regardless, but with Choutarou, it was possible. Wasn't it?

Shishido thought of those long, hot looks of longing Ohtori usually gave him. Choutarou's laugh, his kiss, his touch...it was possible. It had to be. It just felt right. He had to be right about this, about Choutarou, about them at least this time.

After pausing a moment more waiting for his erection to finally go away, more difficult with the whisper touch of silk against his hot sensitive skin, Shishido decided on a black button down cotton-sueded shirt. The soft cloth felt sexy against his skin, and was the perfect length to hide his erection should it decide to re-appear again at another inconvenient time. When he left for the party, Shishido planned to wear a black leather jacket he liked with his favorite pair of comfortable slip on black leather shoes. He was going to wear his hair down as he usually did when he wore street clothes, but he brought a pony tail holder in case it bothered him later. He'd used his hairdryer after his shower, something he only did when going out at night so he hadn't used it in a while. He made sure his long hair was dry and wore some cologne--very lightly. He used to wear it a lot more often with Atobe but now that he didn't go out as much, Shishido couldn't remember the last time he had put some on. He hoped Ohtori didn't hate it as Atobe used to say he did. Shishido loved the way it smelled on his skin, even if it was store-bought. Maybe Ohtori at least would like it.

He wondered if he would like Ohtori to wear cologne or not and for the first time understood something. The smell of Ohtori's bare skin was damn sexy. Choutarou always smelled softly of a powdery soap and his bare skin also had a sexy almost cinnamon or peppery smell that now drove Shishido crazy. Cologne lightly if would maybe somehow enhance Ohtori's natural scent would be nice he guessed, but too much would cover the great natural smell of his skin. That would be a shame, and Shishido wondered if that had been Atobe's objection about his cologne.

Shishido spit out several curses as he put on his shirt because he remembered again he had another hickey from that idiot Atobe. Over his heart. Where Atobe was most definitely not. Shishido didn't even really remember Atobe doing that to him. He had never really liked it when Atobe marked him up.

But again, he realized if it had been Ohtori leaving marks on his skin, claiming him as his own, Shishido would be tempted to show them off. It would be damn sexy knowing your lover claimed you and your skin as his own. Shishido smiled and thought it would be the only time and way he would ever wear this leather see-through mesh shirt Atobe had bought him. It had been absurdly expensive and at the time infuriated Shishido at Atobe's ridiculous excesses. Now he was beginning to understand Atobe's actions but only because he felt the same things--for someone else.

Shishido really needed to sell off all this crap from Atobe he would never use--although he wondered what Ohtori's response to Shishido in something that bare and revealing would be. Good he hoped. Maybe even a little turned on in that sweet, embarrassed way Choutarou had. Would he finger Shishido's bare skin through the mesh while kissing him in that really hot sexy way? Or would he press a kiss through the mesh on Shishido's bare chest first?

Damn it. With a sigh, Shishido sat down and started reading his historical novel on the Peloponnesian war. Shishido's mind loved history, and fortunately his body did not. It was the only thing that worked when he was this turned on. He came out of his room a while later when he was dressed, centered, and no longer a walking hormone. Just as he wondered how Ohtori would think he looked, Choutarou waiting on the couch stood up and then blushed deeply in response when he saw his senpai.

Shishido felt like doing the same. In his mental state of flux and lust he had forgotten he would also see Choutarou in his street clothes instead of the uniforms they saw each other in every day. Ohtori had on a pale gray soft-looking turtleneck sweater that made his chocolate brown eyes stand out. Shishido had noticed when they first started studying together that Choutarou's eyes were a unique shade of brown. Lighter than most people's brown eyes and more expressive. He had thought they looked like melting milk chocolate around dark, expressive pupils, although at times in a good way they also reminded him of his dog's.

Ohtori's sweater looked so soft Shishido figured it was cashmere and he had an absurd urge to touch Ohtori's chest or rub his hand or his face against the material. Shishido really wanted to touch Choutarou's skin again, and feel his muscles which looked strong and nice under the perfect-fitting sweater. Ohtori also wore a pair of black dress pants, different than school pants, that fit him just as well. He looked good. Really good. But of course Shishido couldn't say that to him so instead he said with a smile, "Hey."

Ohtori replied with a hello back. He smiled while finding something on the floor intensely fascinating.

Taki came out a moment later wearing a burgundy pullover with black tight jeans. He announced he was ready, and told Ohtori he cleaned up nicely which made Choutarou blush even deeper. The color of Taki's shirt. Taki suggested they play a drinking game to pass the time, but then the phone rang to tell them the car was downstairs.

They all threw on light jackets and Shishido remembered to tuck his gift in his coat pocket. They made small talk in the car and soon arrived. The girl's family didn't live too far from school. It was a Hyoutei requirement that all Junior High students live on campus. Development of the individual and all that the school spouted while they raked in the bucks. In High School living on campus was elective, but by then few students chose to live back at home. Most lived on campus or in apartments and many high end luxury apartments that had grown up in response to the demand by Hyoutei's prodigal, pampered students.

When they arrived they were greeted by the birthday girl and her family. This was pretty standard and Shishido didn't expect to see Shiori's family for the rest of the night after this. After the introductions they were lead into to a large room, probably what was probably a ballroom. It was bigger than four of their suites combined.

In the vast expanse, music was being played by a DJ, there was a buffet table of food, and a table of soft drinks. There were around forty to sixty people from school already there and the noise from everyone talking was almost louder than the DJ. About half the people there were girls and the rest were mostly Hyoutei tennis club members. Shiori was Ohtori's little sister after all and Ohtori was in so everyone was expected to make at least an appearance at her birthday party whether or not they liked her or even knew her.

Atobe was there already, obviously with Jiroh so they must have patched things up enough. Shishido hoped that was going better for Jiroh after earlier. It was early for the Vice-Captain to arrive. Usually Atobe was late and made a grand entrance gracing the party with his presence, so he must have wanted to make a point of being there before Shishido, or maybe he just planned to cut out early. Shishido didn't know and realized he didn't really care. He remembered a time when he would have been sitting right next to Atobe and would have arrived with him. Then he remembered how it was after when he excluded himself even though he seethed with jealousy. Now he only felt glad to see everyone and just said hello. No drama and angst was nice.

He saw Oshitari who was practically all over his roommate Gakuto. The little redhead was surrounded by Kabaji, Kaida, and Kashiwa and loudly telling them some story that they were all laughing over. Probably something idiotic that Oshitari had done or said to make Gakuto laugh. Shishido nodded hello to Chikabayashi standing over by his little sister and her friends.

Shishido's little sister appeared, dragged over by a friend of hers she drifted over and stammered a hello. He wasn't close to her, and she was usually blushing when she saw him. But not in a cute way like Ohtori, she was so submissive and stammering even after all this time of him talking to her that it was awkward and not very attractive. He had even gone out of his way to be nice to her so she could see he was just a regular guy and get over it, but that had only made things worse. He had eventually given up, and just let whatever would happen, occur. At least she had never confessed to him or anything. That would be a nightmare.

She and some of her friends were keeping busy serving the guys mixed drinks, or shots. It was always this way at first parties, someone usually quietly brought in alcohol and some of the little sisters quietly distributed it among the guys and girls. At a few places, like Atobe's, alcohol was served openly at least although this was usually when everyone was spending the night so there were no angry parents the next day. Second parties, usually at a hotel where the whole floor was all Hyoutei was when things really got rowdy and crazy. A floor full of drunken, wealthy, spoiled teenagers tended to be insane. Shishido intended to go with Ohtori to Shiori's second party, at least to stop by as was expected, but then he intended to get the both of them the hell out of there before any drama or chaos could happen. Shiori's second party was two weeks away, and he wanted Choutarou to attend tonight so he would have some idea what would happen and wouldn't be shocked when he saw the insane upcoming second party.

More people arrived. A lot of people seemed happy to see him. He was greeted and pulled and hugged and somewhere in the chaos Shishido lost track of Ohtori. He thought maybe that was for the best because it would keep Atobe and others from seeing that Shishido had repeatedly been looking over at Ohtori. He was technically watching to make sure Ohtori was okay but that wasn't the truth. Choutarou looked damn good, and Shishido was jealously guarding him out of the corner of his eye while he mentally also undressed him. What's more, Ohtori kept looking back at him like always so their eyes would frequently meet and lock for a long, very hot moment. That had to stop, at least in public, even if it did make Shishido's heart pound in a nice way.

Shishido finally found Shiori again now that her parents were gone to wherever it was the parents always disappeared to. He gave her his present. He had been carrying the small box around since he turned in his jacket at the door. He didn't want to hand it to her in front of her parents or in front of a lot of people because at Hyoutei rumors would start on less.

Shiori obviously had been drinking. She held a half-finished glass of champagne in her hand and was a little tipsy. She wanted to go outside to open her present. She grabbed Shishido's wrist and dragged him along with her. He went because he thought some air might do her good and he wanted to get this over with. She opened her gift and the other people outside, mostly smoking cigarettes, although some were smoking other things, all watched as she squealed and hugged him drawing tons of attention. She was thrilled. He wished this was over and he could go find Ohtori.

"What'd ya get?" Naomi asked suddenly appearing. Shiori squealed again and showed her the butterfly ring. Its tiny multi-colored gemstone wings fluttered with each movement of Shiori's small hand.

"Wow. It's beautiful, Shiori. Hello Shishido..." Naomi practically purred and grabbed Shishido before pulling him close. The girl always hugged him like this since the sharing when he had been given her first, but she especially did it when she thought Atobe was watching or around. Shishido didn't bother to look around for the Vice-Captain as Naomi pressed and ground her crotch against his and rubbed her breasts over his chest. Surely, Atobe or someone who would run to report back to him was somewhere watching this show. He moved his mouth away as she leaned up to kiss him and patted her back as if she was one of his cousins.

"Nice gift." Naomi said low in a way that he supposed she thought was sexy while groping his crotch with her long finger-nailed hand. She pointedly turned her back to Shiori, dismissing her. "Very kind of you to give that to your little brother's little sister." Naomi said too loudly to be talking to just Shishido when she was this damn close. He knew, annoyed, that Naomi was saying it for the crowd as if punctuating the idea that Shishido was not interested in Shiori. Finally after she said it she released him from her molesting hug. She had felt Shishido up everywhere and pressed her entire body to his. He now felt dirtied, like some stranger had fondled him on a train, and he wanted a shower again.

He didn't like Naomi anymore and didn't trust her at all. Shishido shrugged in response to her gift praise and her fondling. Shiori had been in tears a while back saying some guy from Seigaku was going to give her one but they had broken up. She had really liked the guy and it was the one thing Shiori said she had really wanted for her birthday. She was really into the whole butterfly girlie thing and even had a charm of one on her cell phone. The truth was Shishido had won the ring off a guy's girlfriend playing pool right after Shiori cried on his shoulder, and he decided to give it to her rather than pawn it. He had no idea what one cost but it looked expensive. He just wasn't going to tell Shiori it was used. It had happened right as he was missing Atobe the most, and he felt a strong feeling of empathy to help her even in some small, insignificant way.

"Have a light?" Naomi asked him placing an absurdly thin and long cigarette between her lips. Girls who smoked these things looked ridiculous. Girls who smoked in general were gross. He hated the taste of kissing someone who smoked. Shishido was glad Ohtori didn't smoke.

"No, sorry." He hadn't smoked since the beginning of his freshman year. Before he knew her and he wondered why the hell she asked because the way she said it was as if she knew he used to. He didn't think a lot of people knew about it. What was interesting was they were surrounded by people who all had lighters and not one person helped her out. It was telling. People did not like her.

Shishido sometimes carried a lighter he had also won playing pool because he liked it. It was silver and a classic old American design he had won off a young American soldier. Truth be told, Shishido figured he would sell it sometime when he grew short of cash but enjoyed carrying it around until then. He liked its weight and its history. Shishido had it with him now, but he felt that giving into Naomi's request for some reason, even this small thing would have been giving too much to her. He noticed no one else had moved to assist the beautiful girl either.

"Want a hit?" She then asked holding out a lit cigarette of a different kind. He hadn't done that since the beginning of freshman year either. Atobe hated that Shishido had smoked cigarettes and seriously loathed drugs of any kind. Shishido had only done it for at most two weeks when he had first started school. His roommate at the time told him it would let help him sleep. And it had. Shishido would sleep after using it although he had totally bizarre dreams.

His roommate the beginning of freshman year sold the stuff at school on a small scale to his friends and had always kept Shishido supplied probably to keep him quiet. Or maybe as Atobe had suggested, to get Shishido hooked and turn him into a customer. Shishido didn't know. And in the end it didn't matter. Atobe had put a stop to it all right away and Shishido knew part of him being moved to a single back then was the Vice-Captain quickly moving him away so he wouldn't be tempted. His former roommate had soon after gotten busted and Shishido knew he was lucky to not be implicated at all. He had an easy time quitting smoking because he had only started the during the previous summer when he had been playing pool all the time. Shishido had won a carton off a guy who ran short of cash and that carton had lasted him for well over two months. Truth be told, he really didn't like it although he did enjoy doing it at first because it bothered Atobe so much.

But even annoying Atobe grew old fast so he quit. Plus, Shishido hated the nasty taste and how the smell clung to his clothes and hair for hours after. Even now he showered immediately after playing pool to rid himself of the clinging odor. As far as quitting the other thing, he had no money for it, hated the weird dreams, and he had stopped before Atobe even insisted.

He stopped and it went back to normal whenever Shishido couldn't sleep. He found though that he felt better on nothing and his tennis was improved since stopping both. He had been sickly with a lot of things including asthma as a child, so he figured the increased lung capacity could only help his speed and therefore his tennis.

"No thanks, I'm good." He wondered again why Naomi was asking in a way as if she thought he would agree. As if she knew more than even he did. Well the rumors about him were often wrong. Naomi though must have been doing some research regarding him and Shishido wondered why.

She stupidly tried to light the cigarette from the joint and without having any clue as to how, failed. She passed it on after taking a hit herself. Someone finally took pity and held a lighter out for her. People snickered, at her, but quietly. It seemed many other people really didn't like or trust her very much, but she was still Atobe's little sister and that carried some weight even if her pretty face and figure had already worn her welcome too thin.

"Oh? Ryoh-kun, I thought you might have started again since you're single now. You know, you don't have to listen to him or follow his rules anymore." Naomi said with a triumphant grin, "You're free. You can do whatever you wanna with whoever you want. It must feel so goo..."

It was then that Shishido felt familiar, strong arms wrap around him. He had known from how Naomi was acting that he was somewhere around, but Shishido was surprised at how close he turned out to be. So close and yet Shishido no longer had any sense of him when once upon a time, Shishido felt sure he would have sensed him. All he was aware of now was that Ohtori wasn't close, although Shishido had that familiar feeling that Ohtori was watching him. It was a comfort to him, even as he hoped that Ohtori would understand that this, right now, it wasn't real. It was for show, and more importantly it was directly, publicly striking against Naomi more than a display of any kind of affection.

"Come inside." Atobe both ordered and purred nuzzling Shishido's neck, "Its cold out here and it smells terrible. I've barely seen you since you got here." Atobe was pouting. Shishido played the game and put his hands over Atobe's though he didn't lace their fingers together as he once instinctively would have unless they were in a fight. He hoped Ohtori would notice if he was seeing this. Atobe, he was sure, did immediately notice. No one else probably would though.

Shishido knew Atobe would do something like this in public only for a good reason. Either this was for Shishido's protection or something between Atobe and Naomi was going on. Something like a war. No way did Shishido want to be caught in the middle of anything like that. He had enough drama to sort through.

"You know what your cologne does to me." Atobe said in a growl, knowing Naomi heard every word. He probably had been standing behind Shishido the entire time which was why Naomi basically molested Shishido when she had hugged him. "Shall we?" Atobe said.

Shishido shrugged his agreement. He looked past Naomi to Shiori and said happy birthday to her. Then he half-smiled at Naomi who looked stunned by Atobe's actions and Shishido's reactions he guessed. He and the Vice-Captain went inside with Atobe's arm draped around Shishido's shoulders in a friendly, protective, and possessive way as if nothing between them had ever changed.

"You didn't buy his little sister that ring did you?" Atobe said the moment they were out of everyone's earshot in mock horror, but couldn't completely cover his own jealousy. Not from Shishido who knew him. Atobe was now thinking that Shishido secretly had feelings for Shiori.

Shishido inwardly groaned at the stupid gift. If Atobe jumped to that conclusion, then others would too. Hopefully he could get to Ohtori before the rumor reached him. A moment of being nice did not pay. No good deed went unpunished. Shishido ignored the jealousy in Atobe's voice and grinned, "Hell no. Won it."

Atobe looked at him wondering where. One eyebrow arched up in question.

"Playing pool," Shishido shrugged.

Atobe suddenly threw back his head and laughed, "So it's used?" He looked at Shishido and laughed harder, "I won't tell her, don't worry, its much more fun if she has no idea as she flaunts it around showing it off to everyone." Then his smile faded and he looked serious, dangerous, "Naomi has been a...problem of late. Thank you. But do watch your back, Naomi apparently has a...thing for you. I believe she even has plans for you." Atobe made a face of distaste.

Shishido smiled, "Anything for a friend. You know that. Anything, anytime. And she had better change her plans. Honestly, I can't stand the bitch, and I wouldn't trust her as far as Gakuto could throw her." He meant it. If he had to choose sides he already was on Atobe's.

Atobe sighed said, "This party is a terrible bore. Everyone's leaving soon. There's talk of going dancing or to karaoke. Want to come?" Meaning everyone in Atobe's inner circle was going because they were the only people who mattered. Then Atobe added again, although he was clearly still jealous, "Your roommates are welcome to join us as well, of course."

Shishido shrugged. He hadn't even been there an hour. This was a lame party though. Truly Shishido didn't want to stick around for the juvenile five or ten minutes in the closet and spin the bottle games that were sure to come after the alcohol had loosened everyone up. He really didn't want to see Ohtori dragged off with various girls hoping to fool around with the new and single freshman guy either. Shishido felt a strong surge of his own jealousy just thinking about it. "Sure. I'll see what they want to do."

"Excellent." Atobe looked very pleased. "See you in about twenty minutes then."

Shishido soon after located Taki. He was rather drunk for being there so short a time and seriously kissing on some girl in one of the bathrooms by the sink area. He wondered if Taki was faking being as drunk as he seemed. Neither Taki nor the girl seemed bothered by people walking past them to go to the room just beyond where the toilet was. Taki did look up when Shishido approached and gave a wary look around as if making sure someone wasn't with Shishido. Clearly the only person Taki was worried about seeing him with her was Ohtori. Shishido told Taki about Atobe's invite but he said he was busy and didn't want to leave. He also implied he wouldn't be returning home tonight. The girl giggled.

Shishido was thrilled but casually shrugged in response before walking away.

This was fantastic. This meant another night with Ohtori alone, although if it came down to it Shishido had planned on dragging Choutarou off for the night. He wanted to take him to his room and thought he could use the excuse that Ohtori felt safer with him than with Taki after what happened. It was nice he didn't need to lie and that they could be alone together. They needed to talk. Even better was if Taki was so soon moving on to someone else, even for just one night, although Shishido sort of remembered that this girl was someone Taki used to date. Hell, maybe they were getting back together.

Elated, Shishido went looking everywhere but could not find Ohtori. He jealously thought that some girl or even Atobe had carried the freshman off and was having their way with the naive freshman. All it would have taken was them telling Ohtori that they knew where Shishido was or that Shishido was waiting for him, and Choutarou would have gone. Shishido looked everywhere. Twice.

Where the hell was he?

-------------------------------
- 75
- 76
- 77
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Learning to Land