ö First Foreword ö
For each are quasi-gods in spirit,
who am I to border their potential?
For each are human, too,
who am I to define them by what they lack?
They're more than that.
ö Second Foreword ö
A big event from the canon was altered a bit to fit the storyline: the Seigaku-Hyotei match.
Why?
Because that was when the very bedrock of this story made its presence known.
A miracle indeed.
ö Acknowledgments ö
In their own, special ways, they helped me cross the bridge:
A.E. and Alice, online acquaintances who took their time;
Tom, my "senpai";
Kalyope Medina Burato, my best friend and keenest technical critic.
To echo The King:
For what's right, thank them;
for what's wrong, blame me.
ö Disclaimer ö
Prince of Tennis (Tennis no Ojisama) belongs to Takeshi Konomi and TV Tokyo.
The story concept and its rights belong to me. This is clearly nonprofit.
Characters whose names do not appear in the series and manga belong to me and are all original.
Following Nabuhiro Watsuki's footsteps, I honor real-life tennis personalities in this story.
ö Dedication ö
For Baby Fuka
A Prayer in Darkness
by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
This much, O heaven—if I should brood or rave,
Pity me not; but let the world be fed,
Yea, in my madness if I strike me dead,
Heed you the grass that grows upon my grave.
If I dare snarl between this sun and sod,
Whimper and clamor, give me grace to own,
In sun and rain and fruit in season shown,
The shining silence of the scorn of God.
Thank God the stars are set beyond my power,
If I must travail in a night of wrath,
Thank God my tears will never vex a moth,
Nor any curse of mine cut down a flower.
Men say the sun was darkened: yet I had
Thought it beat brightly, even on—Calvary:
And He that hung upon the Torturing Tree
Heard all the crickets singing, and was glad.