Please don't get confused this Reina with my other one from my other fem! Ryoma fics. They are generally quite different. Reviews, comments, critiques, rants, and/or flames are very much appreciated!

DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own the Prince of Tennis Characters.

…

CHAPTER 1: Prelude

CALIFORNIA, USA

Inside a humble suburban home within America's most populous city, lived a 'normal' family of four. It was a quiet neighborhood, though, especially at that time of night... and even they knew the limit to the noise they were making. Especially since they were certainly maximizing that limit. The heads of the family were, you see, having their usual Lover's Quarrel about something quite important.

"Rokkaku."

"Seigaku!"

"ROKAKKU."

"SE-I-GA-KU."

"What noisy parents I have." Ryoga muttered scratching his head. If his sister wasn't such a heavy sleeper she'd be saying the same thing. "What's all this commotion about, anyway? It's like… 1:00 am in the morning."

"We were deciding where to move in Japan, now that Reina's finally retiring from the Pro Tennis circuit."

"Eh... so, where?"

Nanjiroh scoffed. "That's what we were arguing about, duh." and Ryoga shook his head. He really wanted to get back to bed.

He casually took a seat and looked at his parents as if he was a psychologist and they were his patients. "Since I'm currently the calmest one in the room, why don't you two state your arguments."

"Very well." Rinko started and cleared her throat. "Well, first of all Chiba has a way better atmosphere than such a condensed city like Tokyo."

Nanjiroh immediately butted in. "No, Tokyo has the best facilities. Tokyo is the only place fit for my Reina's standards." A vein appeared on Rinko's head at that blasted emphasis.

"She's not your daughter alone, Nanjiroh. And she lived in the way you wanted for the sixteen years of her life!"

This shut Nanjiroh up. For about a minute.

"How can you be so sure she'd want to live in Chiba?" Nanjroh asked confidently, apparently forgetting important events in his daughter's life.

"She has friends there, my family's there, and she has friends there." She repeated. The Echizens were, after all, based all the way in Kagoshima which was literally on the other side of the country. Besides, the family lived in a very rural place that wouldn't nurture their Reina properly. Nanjiroh, though, just scoffed.

"Yeah, she spent her vacation there 7 years ago."

"At least she had a starting point! Not from scratch." She exclaimed. "Besides, my grandfather is getting very old. Why not let him spend the rest of his life with us?"

"Oh please. That old man would live longer than me." He shrugged, making her glare at him in irritation.

"NANJIROH!"

He flinched- but his position as the leader of the family should not be questioned. "I want Tokyo, and that's it." he said firmly, getting Rinko to cross her arms.

"Really?" she asked aggressively, "You won't change your mind?"

"N-No."

"I will be bedding with Reina for a whole month, then."

His eyes widened in despair. "WHAT? Why- NOO!"

Rinko's eye twitched at the over-reaction. She knew he'd falter when a perverted topic was roused, but not like this. In any case, she was determined to keep her cool and maintain the conversation's 'decency', despite the fact that she was the one who started that shift of topic in the first place.

"Why are you so bent up to get her in Seigaku anyway? Rokakku, my precious Alma Matter, also has a great tennis team. Not to mention grandpa's still coaching it."

"Ryuzaki-sensei's good, but my Oji obviously has more experience."

"Because he's older?" Nanjroh oh-so-maturely commented. Ryoga was already fully awake watching his parents brawl in amusement. He knew they would never split- so technically, fights like this was like watching a wrestling match.

"Well, duh."

"But-" Nanjiroh immediately straightened up. "Seigaku always beat Rokakku."

"Because Reina isn't there yet."

"That goes to show how much bet-" he halted when he noticed his wife was reaching her limit. It was too late, though- she already had.

"Reina's life just isn't circling around tennis anymore!" She exclaimed, poking his chest assertively. But seeing Nanjiroh's befuddled state, she calmed down and let out a deep breath. She looked away.

"Reina's bed is big enough. So it's settled th-"

"Okay, fine." he fell back at his chair in defeat. "Rokakku it is."

Rinko beamed and gave her husband a simple peck. "Thanks!"

She immediately went to her room to plan their move. She mentally squealed in excitement.

"Now, it's finally time to make my Reina live like a normal girl~!"

…

SAEKI RESIDENCE, CHIBA, The next day

Saeki Kojiro clicked on the 'play' button on his DVD remote. He was re-watching Echizen Ryoma's final battle at the last game of the Grand Slam- the one that hailed him the best player. Indeed, an unbelievable feat for a 16-year old boy.

No, who was he kidding? He knew that Echizen Ryoma was not a boy. She had been his playmate as a child, and he knew how much she loved tennis to the point of spending her whole life improving herself.

This passion for tennis also showed in her personality. She was a very unique individual, and it ensured Kojiro that even if he didn't see her in TV from time to time he would remember her every feature. She was very pretty, admittedly, but of course- someone so headstrong and interesting as she was... her face was not the main thing about her one would remember.

One of the most entertaining facts about her was how her personality changes to a mildly sweet beautiful little girl to a calm and composed tiger ready to slit anyone's throat every time she held a racket. She didn't growl or anything remotely similar but her aura certainly felt that way. Her golden cat-like orbs added to that effect. Her eyes... eyes so deep one would feel you are transparent in front of it.

He watched her do one of her and her family's trademark moves: the Samurai Zone. She was staring calmly at the ball that was heading directly towards her. He flinched in intimidation. He would never get used to that.

"Eh, Kojiro's staring at Reina-chan again~ How naughty." He winced immediately and reflexively turned the screen off. He frowned and looked at his older sister, Kaname. Like him, she had natural raven hair but didn't dye it like he did. But that aside, she was being in her annoyingly teasing state again, and it disconcerted him. Especially since she was teasing him with Reina.

"Like I said, we're just friends."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help myself."

He sighed. She was not convinced- and she probably never would- so he calmly opened the television again and watched her play again.

Echizen Reina. Who would have thought they would become good friends? It had been 7 years since they saw each other but he still vividly remembered how they met. They had remained in contact, somehow, by snail mail. He thought they should change to e-mails like him and Syusuke were doing, but her father was very… conservative.

No. The right word was 'technophobe'.

The bright side of it was he was settling for his 'magazines' instead of going to those hideous internet sites even children nowadays go to. He didn't care about that though, not really. He would prefer better contact with his friend any day.

"I wonder when she'll visit us again. I mean she won the Grand Slam, now, didn't she?" Kaname said and held up a picture frame. It held a small picture of her brother and his two closest friends back then.

"Hai." He nodded and eyed the frame with a mix of emotions. It should be soon. Reina focused too much in her career, and her family fully supported her on it, letting her shun practically everything else. He saw Rinko-basan visit her family from time to time, but she never brought Reina with her. She was, apparently, too busy training with her father and brother.

In any case, now that she's the best… she should have more time for herself now, right?

He wanted to see her again…

To play with her once again, of course.

…

SEIGAKU TENNIS COURTS, TOKYO

Classes were staring soon, and somehow the team had decided to play around in the tennis courts before it. He watched as his teammates held practice matches, and his eyes ended on a little moment that had happened countless times in the past.

It was Kawamura, being as meek as usual, and he held a rocket suddenly turning to a different person altogether. He smirked when he started shouting English words with his bad accent.

He was immediately pulled out of his daze, though, and turned to his side- where he felt a stare. It was Tezuka.

"I won't ask." He said stoically, and Fuji knew he assumed something disconcerting.

"It's not that, Tezuka." He corrected. "I was just remembering an old friend of mine. She's similar to Kawamura in the sense that she changes when she holds a racket."

"I see…" Tezuka said in his trademark baritone voice, as he continued to stare at his teammates alternatively. "This person must be very important to you."

Fuji's eyes widened immediately. "That obvious?"

"Hai."

"Eh… that's very troublesome."

"How so?"

He let out a deep breath and looked at the clouds. Very calming creations they were...

Fuji smiled. "She doesn't see me like that."

BOINK

"GREATTOOO!" Kawamura yelled, and Tezuka looked at him. Fuji felt like laughing as he tried to imagine what his good friend was picturing.

"No, Tezuka, she does not yell like that." Then he was no longer able to stifle his laughter. "-that would be very funny, though."

Tezuka nodded. He had never looked at anyone like how Fuji looked at thin air from time to time, but he agreed about how amusing it would be to see serious people yell like that. He looked at how impressive his team was becoming. They may not have won the National Championship during their 6 years together, but they got into the nationals every single time, placing a spot in the top 4.

They were dreamers, though, and this was their last year before they live their lives- be they lives in universities or working for income. He wanted them to be the best team in the country in everyone's eyes for a change, not just his.

"Fuji." He called and the other boy looked at him. "Let us play."

…

Later that day, the Echizens finally arrived in Chiba, Japan. They hired a taxi, and they dropped off in front of a Japanese-style mansion huge enough to accommodate a whole clan and a number of guests. At the moment, though, only Oji, Motaro Shudou (Rinko's cousin) and his son, and Meino Nanako (Rinko's niece).

So that would make 8 human beings- and looking at Karupin- a few animals would be living in the mansion from then on. They had made customary greetings and gleeful hugs. Even Oji- who could barely move his facial muscles- seemed visibly glad to see them again.

They ate dinner and caught up, especially with regards to Reina and her success in the tennis team. Satoshi narrowed his eyes at her, making her stare at him.

"What is it Satoshi-aniki?" she said after gulping a bite.

"I still can't accept I still couldn't defeat you in tennis."

"The last time we played was 7 years ago."

Satoshi rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously, I'm far from the best in Japan let alone give you a good game." Reina shrugged, and Satoshi continued interviewing her.

"…with that in mind. Are you retiring from the tennis world completely?"

"Maybe. I'll still play against you guys, though." Ryoga quickly chewed his food to comment.

"That would be so boring though... for you, don't you think?" It had been a while since Ryoga retired. He had hobbies that were not tennis. Like getting girlfriends, for instance, and it was the reason he could say something like that.

"What are you talking about? I haven't beat Oyaji yet."

"So Baka-oyaji's your only target? Mind shifting your attention to other things now, Reina?" Ryoga commented, and he flinched immediately when Nanako clasped her hands and excused herself. She excitedly went up stairs to get something and Reina stared at her mother. She knew something about this, she could tell.

"What are you planning, mother?" Actually, everyone knew something. Well, except Ryoga. He was too noisy.

Rinko grinned at her daughter. "Nanako and I made up a plan to help you make up for the 16 years that you had lost."

"It's not like I disliked living that way-" she stated and the boys nodded in agreement. Rinko's enthusiastic expression didn't falter though, much to their puzzlement, and Nanako soon arrived with a conspicuous-looking dress.

"What is that?"

"A uniform." Her eyes twitched.

"I could see that." She said distastefully glaring at the attire. It was a long-sleeved maroon-themed uniform. But it was seriously short- especially since she had grown a bit taller since she was 12.

"Whoever implemented those types of uniforms should be sued."

Nanako puffed her cheeks. "Mou, Reina-chan~" Nanako was quite proud of the cute uniform, after all.

But Reina ignored her and started eating again. She was smart- everyone knew that, and even if she wasn't she would know what the bloody hell they were planning. She had always been home-schooled, so why the sudden change? Oh that's right- apparently, she had to make up for the 16 years she had 'lost'.

"You're going to school, Reina."

"Nadda." She'd really rather not. A few people looked at each other, and in the end Satoshi was the one to speak.

"You'll be going to the same school as me and Saeki."

Silence

That made her pause and think. For an instant, she thought she was going to blush. Every time she thought about a certain closed-eye player she felt her cheeks go warmer. A certain cow-haired guy, too, of course. They were her first Japanese friends, and in retrospect the only good friends that she had aside from her family members.

She mused about it and glared at the uniform (again). She considered cross-dressing but that was out of the question. Her body, sadly, had matured too much for her to continue doing that little precaution. Why did she hate the idea of going to school in the first place, again? She forgot.

Whatever.

She was going to see them again. And it's all that matters...

Not that she'll admit it.

.
.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 2: Realization

...

Thank you for reading!

I would love to hear what everyone thought. :D