TR: I do not own Bleach or Prince of Tennis. While I am up to date on the Bleach manga, I have not finished the manga or anime for Prince of Tennis. Also, I am not an expert on tennis rules by any means, so please count any factual errors as creative licensing. That said, have fun and I hope you enjoy the story!

Standing out in front of the office building that housed the National Junior Olympic Committee, Tezuka couldn't help but marvel at the unseasonable heat. It was the beginning of October, and yet the temperature was closer to what one would expect to see at the end of August. Raising a hand to block the sun from his eyes, the ever-stoic young man began to debate the merits of moving into a shadier spot when he heard his name being called. Turning toward the source of the sound, Tezuka was only mildly surprised to see the captain of Fudomine's tennis team walk up to him.

"Ohayo, Tezuka-kun. Somehow, o can't really say that I'm surprised to see you here."

"Ohayo, Tachibana-kun. I can't really say that I'm shocked to see you either. I hear Fudomine got a new transfer to their tennis team." Tezuka shot the other teen a sideways look with a slight smirk on his face.

Tachibana blinked in surprise for a moment before shaking his head with a chuckle. "So you heard about that did you?"

Deciding that he was tired of standing, Tezuka sat down on the stairs behind him with an amused snort. "I'm pretty sure that Fuji called everyone on Seigaku's team –not just the regulars- as well as players from several other schools to share the good news. Truthfully, he wasn't the only one who was happy to hear that Yuuta-kun is out from Mizuki's clutches and away from his influence."

"Ah, I do agree with that." Tachibana replied as he sat next to Tezuka on the cement steps. "He, Shinji, and Akira are practically attached at the hip most days since he came to us. I suppose I shouldn't be too overly surprised though, they are the ones that saved Yuuta from the beating that Mizuki was giving him."

"Did we miss something Tezuka?" Oishi asked as he and Eiji walked up. Sitting on a lower step from the two captains, the Golden Pair turned to look up in anticipation of an answer.

Reaching down to scratch the back of his shin, Tachibana greeted the pair with a smile. "I was just telling Tezuka about how Shinji, Akira, and Yuuta are practically attached at the hip. Personally, I think it's because they were the ones who saved Yuuta from Mizuki when that little shit decided to beat him up."

"What? Why would he beat up his own team mate?"

Sighing, Tachibana looked at Oishi for a moment before continuing his story. "The only reason that I can come up with is that Mizuki couldn't handle the fact that Yuuta refused to blindly follow his orders. Ann, Akira, Shinji, and I were walking home after playing at the street court and somehow we ended up near St. Rudolph's campus. We heard what sounded like a fight, and when we went to check it out we saw Mizuki sitting on Yuuta's chest while hitting him repeatedly. Before we could react, Mizuki switched from punching to strangling. He started yelling about how ungrateful Yuuta was, how he had invented the twist spin shot just so Yuuta could get strong enough to beat his brother. Apparently Akira and Shinji had had enough by that point because they ran over and grabbed Mizuki by the arms, and they didn't stop running until they slammed that jackass into a tree. Ann and I helped Yuuta up and we took him to our house to patch him up. While Ann treated Yuuta's injuries, I called his parents, and the five of us met them back at St. Rudolph. By the time we got there, Yuuta's parents were talking to the principal so we took Yuuta to go pack up his dorm room. When we were done we met up with his parents by the gate and all the regulars were there too. You could tell by the look on Mizuki's face that he was absolutely livid that was Yuuta was leaving; but the kid turned to his parents and told them that he wanted to transfer to Fudomine so he could play on the same team as people who gave a damn about each other and played with dignity."

"What happened then, Tachibana-kun?" Eiji was very curious.

"Akazawa-buchou told me that he knew that I was only really talking about him and Mizuki-senpai, my Kaasan started freaking out over all of my scrapes and bruises, and Oyaji told me not to cuss." Yuuta remarked casually as he stopped in front of the group of seniors with his brother on one side and his new best friends on the other. Rocking back on his heels as he stuck his hands in his pockets, Yuuta smiled innocently at Tachibana before speaking again. "Ne, Tachibana-buchou, how much trouble will I be in with you if I take Akira's mp3 player and use it strangle Shinji?"

Tachibana brought one hand up to rub his forehead in exasperation. Next to him he could see Tezuka cover his own mouth as though to stifle a yawn, but Tachibana knew the other boy was trying to keep from laughing. Lifting his eyes to stare at Yuuta, he decided to answer his kohai's question. "Yuuta-kun, I know I've told you that I don't approve of violence within the team."

Smirking lightly at his captain, Yuuta fired back another question. "But is it really violence, or is it a public service?"

"The answer is still no Yuuta."

"Ah, I kind of figured it would be. But the four of you looked so serious that I couldn't help myself. I'm in much too good of a mood to sit here and worry." Yuuta paused for a moment; he had just realized that he was behaving in a manner far too much like his brother than he was comfortable with. Turning to give Fuji a mock glare, Yuuta shuffled just a little bit closer to Shinji as he addressed the shorted brunette in front of him. "Aniki, you are a bad influence. I don't normally joke about tormenting my friends like that, your sadistic tendencies are rubbing off on me."

Fuji had to bite back a grin at Yuuta's words, it was so nice to be able to laugh and joke with his precious little brother again. Ever since Seigaku's match against St. Rudolph in the district tournament, the relationship between the brothers had improved greatly. After having sat down and talked things out, Yuuta realized that Mizuki taught him would leave the younger boy permanently disfigured by the time he finished growing. Fuji couldn't help but be glad the his brother was not in fact willing to do anything to beat him, and Yuuta had begun to break away from Mizuki almost right away.

As the group of eight crowded around the steps of the building that they were to enter in about two hours, another group of eight made their way to the same destination. The traveling group was composed of quite a wide variety of teens, ranging from a tender age of twelve years of age all the way up to sixteen. At the back of the group, Momo and Kaidoh bickered back and forth, with Inui and Ryoma sharing a look of exasperated annoyance from either side of the dueling second years. However, Ryoma quickly grew tired of the way that his senpai-tachi were behaving, so the youngest boy sped up his pace so as to advance to the front of the group. Giving the doubles pair from Fudomine an apologetic nod –he was pretty sure their names were Ishida and Sakurai- Ryoma tapped the oldest boy on the leg to get the orange haired teen's attention.

"What's up Ryoma?"

"Can't you do something to stop those two back there Ichigo? I mean it is your fault that Momo-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai are fighting thins time."

Reaching over to ruffle Ryoma's shaggy green hair, Ichigo chuckled lightly. "Ok, yes, I did flick Kaoru in the forehead for only answering Yuzu's emails and ignoring the ones he gets from Karin and me. Honestly though, I'm pretty sure that Momo kid is the type to use anything as an excuse to pick a fight with Kaoru, and my dumb cousin is exactly the same way. As for stopping them, yeah I could do it easily but it would be pretty counter productive you know?"

Leaning forward to look at Ryoma from Ichigo's other side, Kawamura smiled genially at the first year prodigy. "Senpai is right Echizen. It's much easier to let Momo and Kaidoh walk the rest of the way on their own instead of having to carry them because they were knocked out."

Carding his fingers through his hair, Ryoma had to admit that Kawamura did have a point. Flicking his gaze up at Ichigo once more, Ryoma asked the other question that was on his mind. "Ok, fine, you both have a good point. What I want to know is why in the hell did I get flicked in the head too? That hurt you know."

Ichigo crossed his arms behind his head as he glanced down at Ryoma. "I flicked you because you've been ignoring my emails since you moved to here to Japan."

"Oi! It's not my fault that Kaasan and Oyaji won't go buy a new computer."

Ichigo sighed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Seigaku has a lab that is open to students, yes?"

"Yeah." Ryoma sighed; he knew where this was going.

"And do you or do you not have time between class and practice to go and use said computers?"

"Yes I do." Ryoma was full on sulking at this point.

"The you really don't have an excuse do you?"

"No. Sorry but I got so out of the habit of checking my email that I just don't think about it most of the time."

Smiling down at the younger boy, Ichigo shrugged it off easily. "I understand that I suppose. But if I didn't flick you after flicking Kaoru, I would have created a double standard. And I know you remember how much I hate those Ryoma."

The small boy never got the chance to answer Ichigo, because it was at that point that the group of eight turned one last corner and reached their destination. Looking upon the group already there, Ichigo was surprised to see not eight but nine individuals there waiting. As the seven younger teens behind him spotted the ninth person and ran up to greet them, Ichigo stood stone still as he tried to process what he was seeing. Finding his voice, the oldest teen spoke. "What are you doing here?"