Spring has finally arrived. Thousands of sakura bloomed, painting the school compound a sweet lovely pink colour. Fuji stared at the flowers from his seat beside the window and let out a sigh. If his memory serves him right, it all began on a spring day like this about a year ago when both Fuji and Tezuka were second-years in the same class. Both of them were regulars on the school team. Images of Tezuka in his regular uniform brought a smile to the tensai's face. Indeed Tezuka has changed little over the years.
A gust of wind blew across the lawn, leaving a spiral of cascading sakura petals in its wake. Fuji placed his hand on his chin and his mind began to wander. Oblivious to what his History teacher was saying to the class and a playful Eiji who was busy folding various animal origamis under the table beside him, Fuji relives the memories of that day.
"Ne, Tezuka-kun…will you be joining the Ranking Match this year?" A calm Fuji asked during class interval.
"Hmm…all regulars are compulsory to join," Tezuka replied while arranging his notes neatly into a white folder.
"So, that means Oishi, Eiji, Inui and Taka-san too?" Fuji asked again as he gazed outside the window and admired the lovely sakura trees.
Tezuka merely nodded in reply. He put away the white folder and proceeds to take out his textbook for the next lesson.
"It sure is an interesting Ranking Match this year," Fuji mumbled but it was within Tezuka's earshot. Tezuka didn't reply, he knew that Fuji intended him to hear it.
The rules for becoming a Seigaku Regular are the same from year to year. There will be a Ranking Match where everyone is involved at the beginning of the year. All members will be separated into groups and the 2 top players from each group will be chosen as regulars. The list for the players were released the next day by Yamamoto Buchou and to Fuji's disappointment, he was not placed in the same group as Tezuka. He was looking forward to play with Tezuka again after their first-years friendly game. Instead, he was in the same group as Inui and a junior named Kaidoh. Smiling, he proceeds to the courts for his first game.
The Ranking Match was held over a period of 4 days and by the end of the week, all the regulars retained their places while 2 first-years newly joined the elite group. Everyone was in high spirits and after congratulating the regulars, Ryuzaki-sensei gave a talk on the upcoming tournaments. Fuji caught Tezuka listening tentatively to the sensei's talk and a smile crept upon his face. Just like Tezuka.
A week passed. Fuji was walking to class on the clear cool spring morning when he noticed someone sitting under a sakura tree beside the tennis courts. Curiosity made him walked closer and to his surprise, Tezuka's back was leaning against the tree. He inched closer, intended to call Tezuka but stopped after a few steps when he noticed a pen was lying on the ground and the pages of the book in Tezuka's hands rustled as the cool wind blew. Smiling to himself, Fuji dropped his bag onto the ground and leaned against the tree, sitting quietly beside the sleeping Tezuka. Somewhere in a distant, the school bell rang and Fuji ignored it, waiting patiently for Tezuka to wake up from his nap. Fuji gazed upwards and smiled as some wayward sakura petals that were caught by the wind caressed his cheek as they descended upon the ground.
