Disclaimer: i do not own a thing...

My thought process on this one was really confusing.

So i was reading Gakuen Alice and thought about how they would look grown up! which got me really excited! but then i thought, how would the prince of tennis guys look younger! so i started drawing them and the ideas just exploded and this is what i got:

Enjoy! Review!

Chapter 1: Of Moving and Meeting

The soft breeze of the morning blew through the young girl's hair as she swung back and forth slowly on the lone wooden swing in her huge backyard. She was watching her younger brother and her father playing tennis or rather her dad was attempting to teach her youngest brother but the little boy kept getting distracted by the small kitten who though a tennis ball was a mouse and was trying to kill it and eat it. The small white ball of fur kept failing in his mission as the ball kept rolling out of the grip of his small paws.

The girl sighed at the scene, feeling contentment and disappointment at the same time. She was happy that her little brother was so bubbly and was having a good day today, but at the same time she was extremely aggravated that her older brother wasn't there. He had promised to take her to go to the circus today but ended up switching to go hang out with his friends.

She kicked the ground with her toe, glaring a hole into the hard soil where the grass had worn off. But the main thing bothering her was that she extremely bored. Later on in the day she had violin lessons but other than that it was just another lifeless Saturday.

"Hey watch out!" The girl literally leaped out of the swing as she became alert at the sudden scream. A baseball came flying at her, landing only inches from her shoe-less feet. Turning around, she saw that her brother and father were unfazed and were playing a game of tennis, not noticing anything.

Reaching down, she gingerly picked up the white ball and tossed lightly up and down. "HEY! THAT'S MINE!" The same voice from before yelled and the girl looked up to see a boy sitting on the fence that divided her house and her neighbor's backyards. The boy had messy red hair that fringed up at the tips, midnight blue eyes, and loud, goofy smile plastered on his face. But the thing that caught the girl's attention was the white bandage on his nose.

The boy jumped down next to her and grinned at her some more. "What's up?" He asked like it was the most normal thing in the world to climb a fence and then jump in someone else's property. "That's my ball." He added, as if she didn't know already.

"Yeah, I know," the girl chuckled. Her golden eyes stared him down, unintentionally intimidating in their own way. "Who are you anyways? I've never seen you around here before."

"I just moved here," the boy said, pointing behind him, indicating exactly where 'here' was. "Kikumaru Eiji, eight years old, at your service." He gave her another toothy grin and a peace sign.

"Echizen Rin, eight years old, too," the black haired girl laughed delightfully at his introduction.

"That's a pretty name," the boy beamed. "Say, Rin-chan, wanna play baseball in my backyard."

Rin tilted her head to one side, "I've never played baseball before in my life." She frowned deeply as she lowered her head.

"Don't mind, don't mind!" Eiji waved it off, speaking in English then switching back to Japanese as if by instinct. "I'll teach you! Let's go!" And so the boy walked up to the tree in which the swing was tied to and began to climb it.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked curiously.

"Just follow me," Eiji reached out his hand to help her up the tree. When he reached a sturdy branch that went just above the fence, he carefully positioned himself in a sitting position and slid inch by inch, slowly, to the other side of the fence. He turned to Rin and indicated for her to follow him. Once she was sitting next to him on the branch, Eiji spoke, "Now jump."

"JUMP?!" Rin exclaimed as he pulled her with him as he jumped down. The black haired girl squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact. Instead she felt something soft. She slowly sat up and looked down: she had landed on the red haired boy.

"Ow! My back," Eiji whined.

"I'm so sorry!" Rin gushed as she helped him stand up.

"It hurts," the red haired boy continued to groan.

"Sorry," Rin repeated again, looked ashamed. "I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Anything!?" Eiji suddenly bounced to what he had been like moments before.

"You lied to me!" Rin pointed accusingly at the red head who just laughed nervously and sheepishly.

"It's not my fault that you're so gullible," Eiji murmured as he pouted, plopping himself down on the grass again.

"What did you say?" Rin asked darkly, just tempting him to continue. But the bat that was in her hands, told Eiji to stop before he got brain damage

"I'm sorry!" Eiji bowed his head low. "DON'T KILL ME!"

"That was so much fun!" Rin laughed happily but wearily as she was tired from the long lesson of how to play baseball. She plopped down in the grass next to Eiji was poking his bruises and mumbling in pain.

"Did you have to aim at me?" Eiji asked, annoyed slightly.

"I said I was sorry, it was an accident," Rin shrugged.

"I will get revenge," Eiji grinned sadistically making Rin a little scared now.

"Thanks for this, Kikumaru-san," Rin murmured as she stared up into the night sky.

"Eh?" Eiji looked up at the girl, pouting, "no, no, no, NO! I said it's Eiji to you!"

"Ok, okay, Eiji-san," Rin smiled happily then suddenly frowned and her eyes widened in sudden realization.

"That's better- hey wait, what's wrong?" Eiji asked, startled at her sudden mood change.

"I'm late for my lesson. I'm so dead!" Rin mumbled more to herself than to the redhead. "Got to go, I'm sorry." She jumped up from the soft grass and was about to run off when she felt a hand on her wrist, holding her back. She looked down to the owner of hand.

He tried to avoid looking in her eyes as he murmured, "You'll come back tomorrow, right?"

For a second, Rin got a mere glimpse of his eyes. In that short instant, she saw pain and loneliness in the those midnight blue orbs. Her own golden eyes softened, "Of course."

The redhead smiled softly as he watched her run off, barefoot, through the grass. "Bye…"

"I'm very disappointed in you. You're always the first one out of the house and now this! We had to push for lessons back two hours. You're lucky that Kimura-san was nice enough to be flexible with us," Rinko scolded as she looked both ways before turning into the street.

"I know, I'm sorry," Rin murmured softly. She hugged her violin close as she gazed lifelessly out the window. Her mind wandered back to the boy she had met only hours ago yet she felt that she knew him before. There was one thing in particular about him that she couldn't help thinking about. His eyes. They were so empty and hurt. Not to mention lonely. And she had always been able to read people very well, so she knew that she was mistaken. They were a lot like her golden eyes. Eyes that had no life. No feeling. No emotion. They were just there.

The black haired girl broke out of her thoughts as the car came to a stop outside of white mansion. "I'll come pick you up in two hours. Have fun and don't hold back." Rin felt her heart lift as she gazed at her mother's warm smile.

"Bye, drive safely," Rin said as she leaped out the car and turned to wave her mother goodbye. After the black Lexus had driven off, she skipped up the stairs where the door was opened without her even knocking yet. The butler greeted her.

"Welcome, Kimura-sama is waiting for you," he said as he ushered Rin, who was struggling to keep from laughing at the stiff, emotionless man, in.

"Thank you," she bowed respectfully before entering the room she had been led to. "Good evening, Kimura-sensei."

"Rin, dear, it's good to see you," said the mistress of the house. She was seated comfortably on the sofa and was sipping a cup of tea. "Do you want to start first, or do you want to tell me what happened that you're late." There was a kind smile on the middle aged woman's face so Rin knew that she wasn't angry with her, just curious.

"I'll go with the latter," Rin said as she took a seat next her teacher and was offered a cup of tea which she accepted. "This morning I met this boy."

"Details, dear, details," Kimura prompted, amused.

"It's nothing like that!" Rin protested as she felt her face heat up with a crimson blush. "He's my new neighbor apparently. We played baseball together."

"Baseball? I wasn't aware that you played baseball," Kimura raised an eyebrow.

"I don't, but he taught me. It was really fun," Rin smiled at the memory. "But, I don't know why but I feel like he's a lot like me. I saw it in his eyes."

"I'm glad you found someone to connect with," Kimura smiled kindly. "Anyways, you never told me what his name was, dear."

"Oh! He's name was Kikumaru Eiji," Rin replied as she finished her cup of tea and reached for her violin. "Should we start now?"

Kimura nodded and the girl proceeded to open her case and take out the wooden instrument. "Kikumaru? That's strange."

"Eiji! We're home!" The red haired boy heard his mother yell as she entered the house. "Where are you?"

"Here," Eiji replied, in a not caring voice as he walked into the hall to see his mom and his twin sister. "Where's dad and Emi?"

"They'll be home soon. How was your day?" his mother smiled sweetly at him as she handed him the groceries to take to the kitchen.

"Okay, played some baseball," Eiji shrugged taking the paper bag filled with food to the kitchen and placing it down softly on the white marble.

"That lame sport?" His twin raised an eyebrow as she placed the bag she was carrying down.

Eiji glared at his sister, "Shut up, Rika."

"Mom!" Rika whined.

"Eiji, be nice to your sister," his mother scolded lightly as she too entered the kitchen. Behind her back, Rika stuck her tongue out at her older twin brother who fumed with anger. "Did you meet any of the neighborhood kids? The house next door and the one next to that have kids your age, you know."

"Nope, I didn't meet anyone," Eiji lied with ease, thinking it better to keep the girl that he hung out with earlier a secret.

"Tsh, what a shame," Rika looked his way with a smile trickling with fake sweet "Did you meet any of the neighborhood kids? The house next door and the one next to that have kids your age, you know."

"Nope, I didn't meet anyone," Eiji lied with ease, thinking it better to keep the girl that he hung out with earlier a secret.

"Tsh, what a shame," Rika looked his way with a smile trickling with fake sweetness. "Don't worry you'll find someone to make friends with."

"Thanks for your concern, dear little Ri-ri-chan," Eiji replied with the same fake sweetness but enjoyed it when her smile faded into a frown.

"Don't call me," Rika seethed.

"Why not? It's cute like you," Eiji teased skillfully.

"Mom!" Rika stomped her foot.

"I didn't do anything," Eiji smirked innocently with a small shrug. "I'll be in my room if you need me." And with that he strolled out of the kitchen and up to his room which still wasn't unpacked. There were suitcases and boxes everywhere. "I'll unpack them later," he murmured with a shrug and jumped onto his bed. His mind began drift to the black haired girl he had met earlier.

So what did you think constructive critisicm welcome! please review!