Disclaimer: I do not own POT, but I do own this story.

Aura of Yesteryears

by: Misty Lassie

~CHAPTER 1~

The Incident

He felt the same aura. His feeling that "she" might be nearby overwhelmed him and sent him to an imaginary world that had an immense darkness swallowing every figure that should be present, turning his surroundings into oblivion. He heard her voice a soft melancholic sound uttering the words: Go Ryoma. Her voice enlightened the world again, and the setting came to normal just in time to realize what just happened.

A mistake. The ball, shoved by his opponent with full force zeroed in on the side far from where he was looking that is, at the other corner away from him, struck the ground, kept twisting for few seconds, and bounced off with a great amount of force toward the direction of the audience. Without him noticing, a sudden loud thump followed by a wild uproar of the crowd engulfed the whole court.

Still dazed, he saw a cunning smile from his opponent, Tazuka, a blue eyed guy with long light brown hair braided at his back so that no strands were left as distractions. Ryoma didn't know him that much, and he didn't know that he was a rogue who intended to play his game with the Prince of Tennis dirtily. Ryoma felt his nerves fraying, and he knew he had to finish this game already for Tazuka's face with the taunting and malevolent look to taste a sense of humiliation. Ryoma switched his racket to his left hand, and an invigoration surged within him.

Four serves from the famous Ryoma, and the game was over. The last ball hit Tazuka on the face, not because of Ryoma's intentions, but because of Tazuka's reckless move.

"Hey you!" Tazuka hollered with his tennis racket pointing to Ryoma's face. He advanced toward the net. Because of his obvious aversion to the winner, he almost ran amok and said acrimonious words to Ryoma. A whistle stopped him, and his teammates gathered to prevent the blustery guy from making the situation worse.

"We will meet again! In another match. Surely, I will defeat you!" Tazuka curted as he flailed because of the force of his teammates tugging both of his arms.

Ryoma snubbed him and was never in the least piqued about him. Not worth any recognition.

He sifted the audience for the signs of the girl. There were too many people shouting and screaming now. He could not concentrate, but even if he could, he knew that she was already gone again. The cheering of the crowd belied the ominous incident: Someone was badly hurt all because of his mistake.

Oishi, the vice captain of their tennis club who had a shaved black hair, trudged toward him with a concerned look. His brows, unable to be covered by his two locks of hair, were crinkled-a bad omen for Ryoma. Oishi was flanked by Eiji, a feisty red haired guy with a plaster on his right cheek, radiating a vibrant atmosphere as always.

"Yo Ochibi!" said Eiji raising his arms to wave at him, "So how was your griping opponent? You had a tough game, ne?"

"Shut up. I didn't even use a bit of my energy. My time was just wasted," said Ryoma nonchalantly.

"Eh? Really?" he teased while giving Ryoma a wily look. He was focusing on his forehead glistening with sweat.

A trickle of sweat traversed along Ryoma's cheek.

"Ah, Ryoma," Oishi started to say. He was avoiding Ryoma's gaze.

Ryoma remained still and silent as he saw the harried look discernible on Oishi's face.

"A fan of yours"

A shot of malicious stare from Ryoma interrupted him.

Oishi's throat constricted and he was temporarily unable to continue what he was saying. Oops, a wrong start, he thought. They all knew it. Ryoma thought of his fans as pestering, shallow girls pathetic for requesting attention from him.

"I mean...someone was hit by the ball you weren't able to return, and unfortunately, she was the granddaughter of Coach Ryuzaki," Oishi cautiously continued, "Coach was so angry about it, and she even called you a bum."

"So what?" Ryoma said and turned the other way waving his hand to dismiss the conversation.

"Ochibi! Wait," shouted Eiji with a panic on his voice.

"Please Ryoma, this is serious. Let's talk about this," Oishi stressed, "Coach said she wouldn't allow you to join the next tournament if you wouldn't go with her terms."

"Terms? Useless," Ryoma sneered. He was defiant, but he eventually welcomed a short talk. Of course, the next tournament was so important to him. It was an out of country tournament through which he would build his reputation. He would make his title "Prince of Tennis" permanent and would brandish it to the world so that no one would ever get it away from him. A once in a lifetime opportunity only to be ruined by their coach? No way. He would do all to veto his coach's plan, whatever it was.

Since Ryoma had a large ego, there was a long argument before they came into a decision: They would go to the hospital.

"Yay! We're going to visit Ochibi's fan!" Eiji said eagerly.

Ryoma glowered at him. "We're just going to talk with that old coach."

"Fine, fine! No difference. Let's go!"

They decided to travel by foot since the hospital was only a block away. As they walked down the path, he wondered about his childhood friend who was the first and the last one to make his heart skip a beat. He wouldn't want to lose the tournament a once in a lifetime chance to meet her again. That was another purpose. He would win, and his dedication to the girl she was looking for would be broadcasted to the whole world through the announcement he would make.

Years have passed. Where are you? he mused as he fixed his gaze at the sky.

~END OF CHAPTER~

Author's note: Thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter of my story. I really hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think of my story by reviewing. I would really appreciate it if you would give me the urge to continue and update. :D

I'm really sorry for the mistakes that I might have done in this story. I'll try to revise this when I have the opportunity to. I just have to upload this now and go to sleep so as to not be scolded by my parents. Please do give consideration. :D

By the way, Tazuka here was a character from my imagination. :D