Title: First Meeting
Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

Hikari Suzumiya sighed as she walked through the gates of Seishun Gakuen, although her vision was slightly obscured by her long fringe it wasn't to the point where she would have to cut it. 'Man it's so loud,' she thought, glancing towards the tennis courts, and sure enough there was a mass of fangirls surrounding the area.

"Just another typical day, right Hikari," a voice said from behind her.

She turned to find her best friend, Ai Mitsuoka grinning goofily at her, green eyes sparkling.

"So what's with the extra fangirls?" Hikari asked, linking her arm with Ai's.

"Ranking tournament," she answered, pulling away to twist her long brown hair into a ponytail.

"Kyaaa! Tezuka-sama won!" a nearby group of fangirls squealed.

Hikari groaned, "Library?"

Ai smiled, "Anything to escape the rabid monkeys."

As soon as they were inside Hikari instantly dove for the English literature section while Ai headed for the romance section. Hikari scanned the bookshelves until she found what the book she was looking for, Peter Pan. She reached out to take it when another hand brushed against her own. Hikari looked up to find Kunimitsu Tezuka, captain of the boy's tennis team. She knew he was very popular among the female population of the school, but frankly she could care less about the brown-haired, hazel-eyed, bespectacled boy……who was admittedly good looking.

"Are you going to borrow that book?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, "I love Peter Pan."

He raised an eyebrow, "You've read it before."

Hikari glared at the bespectacled boy, "Just because I'm a girl it doesn't mean I'm one of your mindless, rabid fangirls!"

"I was merely surprised that you've read it before, it being an English novel," he said blankly, eyebrow still raised.

"Oh," Hikari mumbled, a blush steadily creeping onto her cheeks, "Sorry, I'm half-American and I grew up learning both Japanese and English."

"Ah," Tezuka muttered, "Well I suppose I'll go borrow another book."

"You do that," Hikari said quickly, walking to the check-out desk where Ai was waiting.

Kunimitsu Tezuka had just won his match against his best friend, Shuichiro Oishi, vice-captain of the tennis team. 'I wonder how he got his hair like that,' he wondered, looking at Oishi's black hair which was in an odd crew-cut two part fringe style, 'I shouldn't dwell on it too much.'

Oishi sighed, "Looks like you've beaten all your opponents. Are you going to go to the library now?"

Tezuka nodded, "I have a book that I want to borrow."

"Just be careful," Oishi warned, his green eyes looking at the mass of fangirls ready to pounce.

"I know," Tezuka said, walking away as quickly and discreetly as possible to avoid the squealing mob of girls.

He let out a sigh of relief when he reached the school library. The library was his second favorite place at school, the tennis courts being his first, of course. Tezuka ran a hand through hismessy brown hair, hoping to neaten it up a little bit, lately with the increase of fangirls he had found himself retreating to the library more often than usual. He headed towards the English literature section, surprised to see a girl there. She was maybe a couple of inches shorter than him, but quite tall for a girl and had long, blackish-blue hair that also covered the top half of her face. 'I don't think I've met this girl before,' he thought, 'well hopefully she won't start squealing if I walk over there to borrow a book.' He walked over quietly so he wouldn't draw her attention to himself. He was looking for Peter Pan, a novel that his former English teacher recommended. Just as he was about to take the book the girl reached out to take it as well. Seeing her closely he noted that she was very pale and quite skinny.

"Are you going to borrow that book?" he asked, hoping that she would say no.

"Yes," she answered, much to his disappointment, "I love Peter Pan."

"You've read it before," he stated, surprised.

He was even more surprised when she snapped, "Just because I'm a girl it doesn't mean I'm one of your mindless, rabid fangirls."

"I was merely surprised that you've read it before, it being an English novel," he said.

"Oh," she mumbled, a blush spreading on her face, "Sorry, I'm half-American and grew up learning both Japanese and English."

"Ah, I suppose I'll go borrow another book," Tezuka muttered, looking back to the bookshelf.

"You do that," he heard her say, looking up to see her walking to the check-out desk.

Tezuka looked at the other books, his mind drifted to the girl from earlier. 'Mindless, rabid fangirls, that's a rather fitting description actually,' he thought. He scanned the book shelves until his eyes fell onto a book titled Dracula. 'I haven't heard of this book before,' he thought', 'I wonder what it's about.' He took the book from the bookshelf and noticed how thick it was. 'This might take me a while, but I do need something to read,' he sighed mentally.

Ai smirked as Hikari came over to the check-out desk, "Mindless, rabid fangirls, that was a nice description."

"Was it that loud?" Hikari scowled.

"Yeah, so what was the deal with you two?" she asked.

"What deal?" Hikari asked.

"The argument you two had," Ai clarified.

"It wasn't that much of an argument," Hikari answered, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

Ai grinned, "Well still, I'd like a chance to see his hotness up-close."

"Ai!" she hissed, her blush growing brighter.

"So you agree too," Ai winked as the librarian stamped her book.

"You are unbelievable," Hikari sighed, passing her book to the librarian.

"Come on girl, if you don't think Tezuka-san is handsome then who do you think is handsome?" Ai asked.

Hikari thought about it for a while, then answered, "I'm not focusing on that aspect of my life right now."

"Okay then," Ai said, "School clubs are still rallying for new members; you want to go have a look around?"

"Okay," Hikari replied, following her brunette friend.

Tezuka started to slowly read through the book, there were some unfamiliar words that he would have to look up.

"I didn't think you were into gothic horror novels," a voice said from behind Tezuka. He turned to find Sadaharu Inui, a regular member of the tennis team and data-tennis player. 'He hasn't changed much,' Tezuka thought, 'He's still got those really thick glasses and same spiky black hair.' He stood up and then noted how tall Inui had gotten. "I was just interested in the title of the book and reading English novels is a good way to improve in English," Tezuka said, contradicting Inui's earlier statement.

"You won your match against Oishi didn't you," Inui mumbled, scribbling into his notebook.

"Yeah, how did your match against Kaidoh go?" Tezuka asked.

Inui sighed, closing his notebook, "Kaidoh's tennis had improved beyond the data that I had gathered."

Tezuka nodded; while they were on the playing tour he had seen the improvement from the second-year boy himself.

"Ryuuzaki-sensei offered me the position of assistant-coach," Inui pointed out.

"That's good," Tezuka said, "Just don't let your guard down, you'll have another chance at a spot when we get to the Nationals."

"You're so sure that we'll get there aren't you," Inui smiled.

The two stood in silence.

"It's been a while since we've had a match," Inui said.

"Hn," Tezuka grunted.

Inui turned to the stoic boy, "Do you ever focus on things unrelated to tennis and school work?"

Tezuka sighed, "If this is a chance to gather data you're being a bit too obvious."

Inui turned away, "Even so, you show little to no interest in females, and you rarely show any emotion at all, I am just curious as to why. I'll be going now."

Tezuka watched as the taller boy walked away, 'Focusing on something unrelated to tennis and schoolwork. What else is there to focus on?'

The school day was drawing to a close; Ai had joined the dance club while Hikari stayed with the walk-home-early club. Hikari wouldn't say it, but she was slightly envious of Ai as she was confident, pretty and a very good dancer. 'I wish I could be like her,' she thought as she walked home, 'All I can do is read and study. Well at least tomorrow is the start of actual classes, I hope that the roster doesn't separate me and Ai.'

A/N: I admit that I made up the school clubs rallying thing, but really, what kind of school lets fangirls go watch the tennis team have a ranking tournament instead of actual classes. Anyway I hope that my writing has improved, please read and review, constructive criticism is appreciated.