(A/N: Hiya! This is my first attempt at writing Prince of Tennis fics. Basically, to give you some background on the fic, Ryoma left at the end of his first year at Seigaku junior high. Now he's back a few years later, just in time to join the first years at Seigaku High School. And yes, he will run into his old gang sooner or later. So yeps, stick around and read the fic and review if you wanna know more. If Ryoma seems a bit OOc, well that's because he's older. I'm trying to write him as a fifteen/sixteen year old, not as his 12-year old self…so yah...on with the fic!)

Prologue – New Beginnings

Ryoma looked up at the building, his eyes straying to the words "Seishen Gakuen High School". So different…and yet it was still so similar to his junior high. It had been 2 and a half years since he had set foot on Japanese soil and he realized that he had missed the country, his school and his team. He wondered idly if his senpai-tachi had changed as much as he had.

The school bell rang and he sighed. One thing he had not missed about Japan was the dreary, intense nature of the lessons. His American schools had been more relaxed and very sports-orientated. This was in marked contrast to the Japanese school life where so many of his peers did nothing but study. Ryoma shouldered his bags and pulled his cap over his dark green spikes as he stepped in. He had arrived here early, courtesy of his cousin Nanako who was now working. But he hated going to class early.

Ryoma didn't merely dislike the social niceties that came with life. He hated them. Things like tact and greetings were to him simply the wrapping paper that covered gifts. They served no real purpose other than to make the present look nicer and more presentable. It was needless to say that Ryoma had never wrapped a gift in his whole life. As such, he hated going to class early as well. He did not want to go in and spend half an hour watching his classmates quibble over frivolous things and make small talk over the latest movies and gossip over who was dating who. It was a waste of time.

In his eyes, school too was a waste of time. But if he had to go to any high school, he supposed Seigaku was the best merely because of his old tennis team. He frowned at the thought. There was no guarantee that his senpai-tachi would all be here and that they would be all still playing tennis. After all, people changed. He knew that more than anyone else. Ryoma shied away from the memories that brought him. He looked down at the piece of white paper clutched in his left hand. His timetable for the first day of school.

He sighed and walked through the doorway and up the stairs. Room 2-E6. He passed 2-E1. He was in the correct hallway then. He paused outside a noisy classroom with a flustered teacher in the front. Yup. This was his new class. And he was late, as usual. He hesitated for a while as memories of being shouted at and lectured at by various teachers filled his mind. Oh well. Nothing new, right? Anyway, it was his first day here. Most teachers tended to let new students off the hook. He pulled his baseball cap down further before he stepped into the room, curiously spying at his classmates from under the hat.

The teacher was still looking helplessly at the class, trying to take the roll call. Eventually, the students noticed him and piped down and the teacher too took notice of the boy that had caused their sudden silence. "Ah! Our new student from the states! Class, we have a boy here from the USA. His name…" she looked at him uncertainly. He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Apparently they had told her his background but not his name. "Echizen Ryoma", he said tersely. He hated first days.

"Ah. Hai, I remember now. Echizen-kun, you can sit next to…Tomoe-chan please raise your hand. Yes, her!" the sensei said, pointing to a sullen, goth-makeup wearing girl. Great. A girl. And a freaky-looking one at that. This day couldn't get any worse. He muttered a quiet "Arigato", before making his way to his seat. After all, Ryoma had learned that without a certain amount of glamour, gifts tend to be rejected.

The goth girl glanced over at him. He was one strange guy. Green spikes peaked out of a baseball cap that had 'New York!' emblazoned on it. His school uniform was rumpled and un-ironed and gave off the appearance of sloppiness. He carried two bags, both Fila and he was now making sure that the bigger one was carefully tilted against his desk.

"Lockers are over by the back", she told him.

"Eh? Oh. Right. Thanks", he said before placing his sports bag on top of the lockers and then sliding into his seat. Tomoe got the impression that he was a monosyllabic kind of kind.

"So…you play tennis, huh?" He grunted in reply. Yep, monosyllabic alright. Yippee! She had such an interesting seatmate for the year ahead!

"My name's Yuki Tomoe. You're Echizen, right?"

"Hai. Yoroshiku", he said, interested despite himself.

Oh wow! He said two words. Next thing she knew, he might actually spit out an entire sentence. But maybe…maybe he wasn't good at Jap? She decided to try English.

"So, where did you use to live in America?"

He glanced at her in surprise. "San Diego".

"Oh?" He didn't reply. "So, why did you move to Japan?"

"Seigaku", he said.

"Huh?"

"I moved back so I could study here", he clarified.

"Really? Wow. You dragged your family half-way around the world for this place! I mean, Seigaku's a good high school yea. But I'm sure there are better ones in the US, right?"

"My family's still in the US".

"Oh. So you're here alone?"

"No. I'm living with a cousin".

"Wow. That's great. I wish I could live away from my parents".

He grunted again. Great. He was back to masquerading as a cavemen. "So, why are you here?"

In the past, Ryoma would have snapped at her for being pesky and nosy. Or he would have just ignored her. But, people change. And as mentioned before, he had learned the need for some things.

"I…" he paused. Why exactly was he here? (A/N: The correct answer would be that some crazy chick of an author decided it would be fun to play with him and his senpai-tachi!)

"I went to Seigaku Junior High for a while", he decided to settle at that.

"Ah. I see", actually, Tomoe didn't get it but she decided against pressing this weird guy for information.

"You missed your friends here?"

"Huh. Iya. It's just…" Ryoma struggled to find an answer. Were his senpai-tachi counted as friends? Was this longing to be in a team with them again counted as 'missing' them? He didn't know.

The bell rang again, signifying the start of lessons. To his surprise, the teacher continued taking the attendance sedately.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The first day is Orientation Day; we play a few icebreakers, learn the school song, a few cheers…you know, the works. And then we get to go down for club selections after lunch. There's a list up on the board in front with the venues we're supposed to go to", she chatted at him.

His only reply was to grunt at her again. They lapsed into silence after that. The teacher finally finished the roll call with "Yuki, Tomoe". She herded them all to the hall where they joined the other 1st years.

Then it was lunch. Yuki was off somewhere, having long given up on getting her rock of a seatmate to talk. So Ryoma sat alone on the rooftop, picking at the bento Nanako had prepared. His cousin really was nice. She had agreed to put up with him in the house again. And although she was working now, she still took care of his meals and laundry and the works.

Ryoma sighed and placed a fried shrimp into his mouth. He chewed it slowly. It was crunchy and nice, not burned in the slightest bit. Not like his mother's, when she deigned to cook Japanese food that is.

He sighed again. He never thought he would miss his parents. He was fifteen dammit. He was supposed to be independent. But he still had a certain attachment to his family he supposed. I wonder if aniki ever felt this way… He closed his eyes. It was no use thinking of that guy.

Ryoma had been so happy to finally leave home and escape the clutches of his depraved, pervert of a father, and his overly-protective nag of a mother. He took another bite of the shrimp. It was nice. But it was not right. Memories of his mother's cooking filled his thoughts. Western food...he had hated it so much…but right now...right now all he wanted was to taste it.

And even his baka oyaji's arrogant smirks and perverted giggles would be all too welcome in the empty house that awaited his return today. Ryoma's sole consolation was that at least Karupin was with him.

Ryoma took another bite of his bento just as the bell rang again. He cursed inwardly. He had spent far too much time thinking instead of eating. Lunch break, he reminded himself, was called lunch break for a reason. Oh well…it was not as though Ryoma ever had had a problem consuming food hastily.

He picked up his chopsticks and shoveled the entire meal into his mouths at a dazzling speed. After that he burped. Loudly. He cringed at that before he remembered that there was no one around. He was not at home. There was no mother to reprimand him. Freedom, it seemed, was not necessarily all it seemed to be.

Ryoma strolled to class late (again...tut tut Ryoma-kun…late twice in a day!). He snuck in and sat down into his seat before looking up. He blinked. The class was empty. What the? Oh well, maybe school had ended early. But what was the reason for lunch then? Wait…lunch…he vaguely remembered being told something Yuki…

Ryoma frowned. What exactly did she say? Something about orientation and games…and clubs…and lunch…that was it! Go for club tryouts after lunch…Ryoma fought the urge to grin stupidly. He also made a note to listen to Yuki in the future.

He glanced at the board then. This time he really had to fight the urge to whack himself.

'Class, please check the list pinned on the left of this board for the meeting places of the clubs you wish to join. Note that you are to report there by 12.45pm, at latest. Everyone is strongly recommended to join a club. Report back to class at 2.15pm, whereupon which I will discuss your choices with you. Don't worry if you aren't able to join a club today. There will be another club-orientation session tomorrow.

-Yumire-sensei'

Ryoma glanced at the clock. 1.05pm. He was late. Very late. Ryoma took his bag and dashed out the door.

(A/N: ok…so that's done…hope it was ok…hahaz…actually this is pure crap written because I'm having yet another case of writer's block…and also because I'm currently obsessed with POT manga! I've never watched the anime and only read up to the Kantou Tournament so my knowledge of POT universe is limited…be kind ok…and please read and review! Oh yah…if anyone was wondering…Yuki will not be paired with Ryoma…she's just a plot device…I swear…LoL…)