This story takes place in Seishun Gakuen High School, three years after Seigaku team won the National Tournament. Tezuka does not leave Germany and stays in Seigaku along with all the other regulars. Similar to the middle school tennis tournaments, the high school section also has Prefectural, District, and National tournaments.

Note: Please do also read Chapter Two since it introduces all the Seigaku regulars and provides a lot more information about the story plot. Chapter One somehow serves as a prologue. Anyway, enjoy!


Chapter One - Unexpected Reunions

"Without even realising it, I'd fallen in love."

A chuckle slipped from Saya's lips as she read the sentence from the novel. Love is wonderful! Oh, the magic of love! Once you're in love, there's no way out! The words she had often heard from her bubbly friends in Kyoto echoed in her mind once again. As earnest as she was, she was never keen about relationships. She never believed in love, no, and often wondered why her friends were so optimistic about it. To Saya, love was simply a fleeting feeling of happiness that would in the end deceive, confuse, and hurt its victims, to which her mother and father fell prey. She had made the message clear to everyone who knew her in middle school, and thus had been given the nickname, 'White Rose': beautiful, innocent, but whose thorns made it unapproachable. However, little did her friends know that she secretly enjoyed spending time reading romantic novels, immersing herself in fantasies, where brutal reality would not intervene and the couples, having gone through several obstacles, would live happily ever after.

"We have arrived at Tokyo Station."

Saya raised her head and glanced at the widening gap between the sliding doors. Her languid eyes drifted back to the words on the page as she exited the train. As she did so, a boy, whose age was the same as hers, walked pass her and stepped into the train, his eyes concentrated on the novel he was reading.

With neither even realising it, Saya and Tezuka crossed paths on the last day of March.


"Kunimitsu, I'm... I'm moving to Kyoto tomorrow."

Two 12-year-old children ensconced themselves on their favourite spot in the riverside of a Tokyo neighbourhood.

"You're not waiting until we graduate from Seishun Elementary?" Although Tezuka's tone was flat, Saya could still sense his shock.

She pulled her lips into a thin line, her dark blue eyes locked on the river below her. "Un", said Saya, "The company papa is working for promoted him and assigned him to work in Kyoto. It's an important job so he wants us to move to Kyoto as soon as possible. He told me that we will stay in Kyoto for at least several years."

"I see...", muttered Tezuka. The two words, as simple as they might have seemed, were enough to convey his message to Saya. She was one of the few people who could understand his messages behind his laconic replies and was the only one who could reveal the tenderness hidden behind his stoic countenance, although she was oblivious to the latter fact. This was why they thought of each other as close friends in Seishun Elementary. As much as he did not want her to leave, he had to respect her parents' decision and understood that there was nothing they could do to change her parents' mind.

A small drop of tear escaped from Saya's eye, slid down her chubby cheek, and fell onto her white dress. Tezuka glanced at the small wet spot formed on her dress in silence; he knew she would not have wanted him to point it out. When it came to concealing weaknesses, the two children were stubborn, scratch that, very stubborn. The male was a potential leader, and the female was a potential confidante. For this reason, neither of them could afford exposing their weak sides to people, not even to their close ones.

"But I'll be back before you know it!" Saya's mouth twisted into a grin, "Because who else would have the patience to learn how to read your unique language? It's a difficult language for beginners."

"But I don't have my own language. It's just that people-"

Saya crossed her arms, a slight smirk curving its way across her lips.

"Aa", Tezuka returned a smile with slight amusement, "I guess you're right."

Saya put her left hand out and raised her pinky, "It's a promise."

He quirked his brow, "Aren't we a bit too old for this?"

"Mattaku, we're still in elementary school!" Without his permission, she laced her pinky with his. She could not help herself but grin as she watched him frown in embarrassment.

"There's another reason why I must come back to see you again."

"Another reason?" The little boy's eyes were glazed with curiosity.

"I still haven't repaid you for teaching me how to play tennis and showing me how fun it is."

"You don't need to, Saya", said Tezuka, "Because I also learned a lot from you."

"You did?" The girl's eyes blinked in confusion, "What did I teach you?"

"... Things." She noticed Tezuka's cheeks were tinted with a little blush.

Saya let out a little sigh and stood up. With arms stretched in the air, she gazed at the river again, concentrating on the sparkles of sunlight reflected on the river's tranquil surface. Indeed, the river reminded her of Tezuka, especially the way he played tennis: calm yet strong. Both would continue flowing regardless of the circumstances, never allowing themselves to become stagnant, and would shine when provoked.

"Ne, Kunimitsu."

"Hm?"

A gentle smile graced her pale countenance as she turned around to face Tezuka again. Unfortunately for him, her smile was covered by her long locks light ash brown hair, waving subtly across her face as the wind blew.

"Tennis is fun, isn't?"


Tezuka slowly opened and fluttered his golden eyes. He rested his backhand on his forehead, letting out a heavy sigh.

"A dream, huh", he mumbled.

An overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over him. He wondered how many years had it been since he last had this dream. He thought he had long forgotten the feeling he had whenever he was with Saya. Sadly, Tezuka did not know what that feeling was. Six years flew by since his childhood friend had left. He reminisced their frequent exchange of letters after she had left Tokyo. Never did he forget how enjoying it was to read her letters; it was like reading her diary, with each entry as a puzzle piece that Tezuka would fit to gain a clearer picture of her life in Kyoto. Since then he had started keeping a journal, of which up till this day he still kept as a daily routine. When she had suddenly stopped replying, which was five years ago, the confused Tezuka had continuously made attempts to contact her, although in vain. He had thus given up and placed his priorities on his academics and the tennis club.

Sliding his glasses onto his face, Tezuka began to prepare himself for his first day of school of his last year in Seishun Gakuen High School. This would be the last year he could compete as a Seigaku regular along with all his teammates except for Echizen, who had returned to America after his first year in Seishun Gakuen Middle School. Tezuka had decided not to accept the invitation to train and become a professional player in Germany because he had felt it was his responsibility to continue and be Seigaku's pillar of support, and yes, even in high school. After all, he had been born to lead.

Tezuka's grandfather sauntered into the hallway, where he spotted his grandson tying his sports shoes' laces, "Already leaving, Kunimitsu? It's still rather early."

"Aa, I want to do some training in the school tennis court before school starts."

His grandfather laughed, thinking ahead like a leader, eh, Kunimitsu.

"That's my grandson. Go and lead Seigaku to victory once again!"

"Hai, I'll do my best."


It was early April; the cherry blossoms were in full bloom in Seishun Gakuen High School, awaiting incoming first years to gaze upon their beauty. Tezuka was the one of the first spectators, strolling along the pathway that lead to the school's tennis courts. A boy in dark green hair had been awaiting his arrival; he was leaning against a cherry blossom tree, continuously hitting a tennis ball with his red racket. With his signature smirk on his face, he then approached Tezuka, "Cheers, Tezuka-buchou. You're still the buchou, aren't you?"

"Aa. Glad to have you back, Echizen." Of course, Tezuka was not very surprised by Echizen's sudden appearance in Seishun Gakuen High School; he trusted this little guy and believed he would someday return to support the team.

Echizen slung his racket over his shoulder, "I'm back to take your role and become Seigaku's pillar of support."

Tezuka sensed the boy's determination burning in his dark yellow eyes.

"Saa, buchou, let's have a quick match. I've been waiting for you for the past hour."

Curious about how much he had improved since the last time he had seen him three years ago, Tezuka agreed to his request, "One game only."

As the two headed to the tennis locker room, Tezuka could not help himself but realise Echizen was at school before it had even started, "By the way, it's quite rare of you to be at school this early, Echizen."

Echizen turned his head away from Tezuka, an annoyed look on his face. Che. He could be early if he wanted to, it was just there had never been reasons for him to be, and so he had always arrived at the last minute to tournaments back in middle school. He could not say that to buchou though, so instead he made up an excuse, "I arrived from America yesterday and couldn't sleep last night due to jet lag."

The two changed their uniforms, entered an empty tennis court, and placed their tennis racket bag on their respective benches. "Buchou, I learned quite a lot of techniques in America." He grinned confidently as he walked to his side of the court, "Don't let your guard down." He had always wanted to use his buchou's favourite line.

Echizen bent his back slightly and bounced the ball constantly with his right hand. Tezuka gripped his racked tightly with both hands, anticipating Echizen's serve.

"Saa, ikimasu!" Echizen threw the ball high up into the air and performed a twist serve. It was not the same one Tezuka had seen three years ago; Echizen developed it by adding more spin and power to the ball. The ball crashed onto the floor with a terrific thud and hit Tezuka's racket. The shivering in his left arm clearly showed that the ball's power was far too great for him to handle; he lost his grip as the ball knocked his racket, flew over the court fence, and landed into the area where the cherry blossom trees were located.

Tezuka observed the dent on the floor that Echizen's serve had created.

"Your power has increased", commented Tezuka as he picked up his white racket, "I'll go retrieve the ball."

Echizen smirked, lowering his hat, "Mada mada dane."


At the sight of a yellow ball flying in the air, a girl in Seigaku uniform sauntered towards the cherry blossom tree where she predicted the ball would land. She then extended her slender arm up to reach for the ball, which was sitting between several branches. She tipped her toes, one leg standing wobbly on the ground and the other hovering in the air. Just as she managed to grab hold of one of the branches the ball was sitting on, it broke, causing her to lose her balance and stumble backwards.

"Itai..." The girl's eyes twitched. This was not how she had intended her first day of school to be. Why had the tennis ball caught her attention, anyway? She did not know; it was not like she could play tennis anymore, but her body had just acted on impulse. She stretched her arm out to pick up the yellow ball that had landed on the ground, wondering who could have hit the ball that hardly and caused it to land outside the tennis court. It must be a muscular and tall boy. But that ball flew out of nowhere. A monstrous player, perhaps? Hmm... As she began imagining this mysterious person, she heard footsteps coming behind her. Curious, she turned around and found herself facing a stunned golden-haired boy. A light breeze rippled through the air, causing sakura petals to dance around the two.

Tezuka immediately saw an uncanny resemblance between this girl and Saya. Like Saya, she had long light ash brown hair with a side fringe and wavy ends that stopped just above her waist; her flawless pale skin matched pleasantly with her pair of dark blue eyes. Nevertheless, this girl's features were much more refined compared to those of the 12-year-old Saya he recalled.

With a slight gape in his mouth, he stared at her in awe.

"Ano... Is this ball yours?" Without Tezuka realising it, the girl had walked towards him, placing out her hand that was holding the tennis ball.

"Ha... Hai." He retrieved the ball from her hand, "I don't think I've seen your face at school before. Are you a first year student?"

The girl had never heard such a sonorous voice before, but somehow his voice sounded as though he was... surprised. "No, I'm a third year transfer student from Kyoto. I received special permission from the principal to study my last year in high school here."

Kyoto? No, this cannot be.

"May I ask your name?"

"Aa, sorry for not introducing myself! My name is Ito, Ito Saya." Saya greeted him with a polite bow.

Ito Saya. Masaka, so it's... It's really you. Tezuka let out a faint murmur, "You're back."

"Hai?"

"My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu." Surely Saya would remember her childhood friend's name.

"Tezuka-san, pleased to meet you!"

This did not make any sense to Tezuka. She was treating him as though they were meeting for the first time. The only logical conclusion to this was that Saya had lost her memory of Tezuka. But how? What had happened in Kyoto?

"Tezuka-san?"

"Aa, I apologise." Tezuka regained his stoic composure, "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Saya's thin pink lips curved into a tender grin. Ah, it was the same grin that Tezuka had been used to seeing six years ago; the same grin that would never fail to make him feel in ease.

"Oh!" Saya suddenly exclaimed, "I got distracted by the ball that I forgot about the meeting with sensei. Dewa, I shall excuse myself..." She bowed and walked to the left.

"The school is that way." Tezuka pointed to the opposite direction in which Saya was walking.

"A-Arigatou." She blushed in slight embarrassment.

She really hasn't changed. Her sense of direction is still the same, Tezuka amusingly thought.

Saya turned around to face him once more after she had walked a few steps in the direction at which Tezuka pointed.

"Ano... Tezuka-san, you play tennis, don't you?"

"Aa."

Saya tilted her head to one side, offering a gentle smile that Tezuka had failed to see six years ago, "Tennis is fun, isn't?"


Author's Note

Phew, I've finally finished revising this chapter! *taps back*

Thank you so much for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try my best to stick to the original characters' personalities as close as possible. Also, I refer my OCs with their given names rather than their surnames, although this is not the case for all the characters in this anime.

Please do leave a review because I'd like know what you all think; I'll greatly appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Prince of Tennis" and any of the characters, except for the OCs.