Nobody liked to play street tennis. It was a dangerous game of life and death. Well, not really - it usually ended in some stubborn losers and some sore winners. But either way, the courts weren't maintained and just about anything could happen at them.
Even the old, rickety Gyokurin middle school's tennis courts were less to be desired, with a sagging net and a deep puddle buzzing with mosquitos ruining the furthest court. Several nondescript black garbage bags lined the stands and the fence creaked whenever a gust of wind blew past. It wasn't necessarily a street court, but nobody had gone to Gyokurin in a long time. Not just anybody played a game around there anymore.
It was terrible tennis weather, anyway, to be entirely honest. Momoshiro Takeshi, who had already been cautious about going out to play, was feeling pretty stupid for going along with Ryouma Echizen's plan. His kouhai had been itching for a match, and even though Ryuuzaki had explicitly banned them from doing such a thing, they had snuck out anyway.
"Ryouma," Momo murmured, elbowing his friend. Ryouma looked annoyed. "I'm not too sure about this…"
"It's just one game," Ryouma said, voice slightly whiny. The kid was really desperate for some tennis. He was a tennis-addict, and Momo thought that he needed to be weaned off the sport, especially with the current…. circumstances…
Momo furrowed his brow. "Well, fine." With a smirk, he threw a ball he had been keeping in his uniform pocket at Ryouma, who fumbled with it in surprise. "Then don't be surprised when you lose!"

They played tamely, as it was the first time they had played in a while. When Ryouma finished the game off with an expert hit, Momo knew it was time for them go head back to Seigaku. He walked over to the net clasping Ryouma's hand in a manly handshake. "Good game."
"Mada made dane," Ryouma huffed proudly, tipping the brim of his hat low.
Momo sighed, rolling his eyes. "We should go back now. Ryuuzaki's gonna be mad."
Ryouma silently agreed, and the duo began to pack up their rackets.
As Ryouma zipped up the case for his precious racket, he heard a single groan that sent a knowing shiver up his spine. Momo must had heard it too, because the taller boy was tense and staring off in the direction the sound had come from intently, like a prairie dog being spooked out of it's hole.
"Did you hear that?" Momo said tensely, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes," Ryouma muttered, unzipping his racket again.
As the two boys stood, knees quivering (though Ryouma would deny any quivering activity), the shuffling noise got louder and closer. Momo's hands gripped tighter around his tennis racket. "Man, I'm so not prepared for this. I can't believe you made us come out here."
Ryouma regretted nothing. "Don't be a coward."
"It's not cowardly to not want to have your face chewed off. Echizen," Momo grunted.
The silence between them stunk of a certain catchphrase left unsaid. It made Momo mad. He was so not made made dane.
Before he could tell Ryouma to stop doing that stupid condescendence thing, the chain link fence behind them shook violently, causing both of the boys to jump in fright. A man, dressed in some kind of school uniform, gripped desperately at the fence and pressed his face against it.
Oh yeah, there were zombies infecting Japan. Seigaku was one of the only groups left that hadn't been hit with the sickness, fyi.
"Eek" Momo screeched, stumbling away from the boy. The boy's skin tore away from his arm as he shoved it through a gap in the fence. Ryouma's nose wrinkled before the fear kicked in.
Momo and Ryouma booked it, too spooked by the zombie's appearance. With their bags slamming roughly against their legs, the duo sprinted down the street, away from the school. The footsteps of the zombie stayed in time with theirs, keeping an equal distance between them regardless of how fast they went.
That was the scary part about these zombies - they weren't all slow, like the movies would have you believe. They were even faster than the fastest runner. Nothing could keep them from their meal - like unsuspecting tennis players.
This zombie was pretty tame - he hadn't vaulted over the fence to get to them, which was a plus. Normally nothing would keep them from getting to their target.
Ryouma looked over his shoulder as he and Momo ran, and was disheartened to see that the zombie was still on their trail, his lifeless eyes trained on them expertly. It was hard to get rid of zombies, especially in such an open place. They could hide, but that would invite the zombie to corner them, if he was smart. Ryouma also knew of another way to get rid of the zombie, but…but he wouldn't! He couldn't. He'd never use tennis as a weapon…
Momo had other ideas. Quickly, he produced a tennis ball from his bag and threw it high before slamming that hot serve towards the zombie. It caught the zombie's shoulder, stumbling the monster momentarily. Before long, he was back up, though his left arm was dangling limply behind him as he ran.
"Dangnabbit," Momo grunted. "That was my last ball."
"Where did you leave them?" Ryouma said between huffs of breath, knowing that he had left most of his at Seigaku.
Momo looked sheepish. "At the court…hey, don't look at me like that! We were rushed, I couldn't pick them all up-"
"Echizen! Momoshiro!" A deep voice boomed, startling the boys. From behind the abandoned shell of a car came a tennis ball, soaring through the air with the greatest of ease. It smacked into the zombie's face, and then it came around again, and again, in an endless cycle of ZOMBIE PWNAGE. Finally, the zombie crumpled to the ground, badly beaten and utterly defeated. Momo and Ryouma, stunned at that zombie crushing skill, looked over at the car.
"Buchou!" Momo exclaimed as Tezuka Kunimitsu's head popped up through the car's sunroof majestically, like a dolphin emerging from the crystal blue water of a tropical beach. Their captain strolled over coolly after exiting the car, bending down and retrieving his tennis ball from the zombie's mashed head. "That was great, buchou-"
"Momoshiro, Echizen," Tezuka interrupted Momo's praise, glaring at the duo. "What were you two doing?"
"We-"
"We were playing tennis," Ryouma sniffed indignantly, offering a challenging smirk to his buchou. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing. It's not time for punishment." Ryouma's cocky smirk fell. "We need to get back to Seigaku. Quickly."
"Why?" Momo asked worriedly.
"No time for idle chitchat," Tezuka said, sounding nothing like Tezuka but instead like an old movie hero. "We have to go back to Seigaku."

TO BE CONT..inui…..ed…..