Disclaimer: Don't own any Prince of Tennis.

Prenote: This was supposed to take place during WWI, but I ended up mixing some components of WWII and the Vietnam War. So, sorry if it gets confusing. And they're not from Japan in this story.

I will never forget my days with the Seigaku Unit. Nor my fallen brothers. They made my time with war a little more bearable. My father was a war veteran whose enlistment was up and he pushed me to do the same and enlist. Damn him. He practically bred me for war, showing me how to use a rifle and use melee combat. I was one of the top new recruits when it came to training; so all that breeding came into use, I guess. And still I was placed as a private for the Unit 112 nicknamed Seigaku after a training school. Ironically, my father went to that school. Me and another private named Takeshi Momoshiro were taken to the encampment to meet the Seigaku Unit.

I must say, I was like any other cocky teen that enlisted for war and was skeptical about having to follow orders, since I had my father's training wisdom on my side. I figured that any enemy who could face me would not be able to compare to my breeding. Besides the news that was floating around was that the war was coming to a close end. Traveling on that truck, all I could think of was if I would be paired with a bunch of Frenchies. My father was with a unit with a few French men and it wasn't pleasant for him. Just as well, we were stationed on the Belgian and French border.

"There wasn't a day that the French soldiers didn't try to insult me," my father warned. And it made me wonder why we were helping our nation's worst neighbor. What I didn't pay much attention to was the treaty Britain had signed with France. It made me wonder how over a several centuries of bitter rivalry could end with a few signatures. What did I know? I wasn't a politician.

My thoughts about France and their people wavered slightly as I gazed at the sloping hills of the region a few miles from the dense forest that made much of the Belgian-French border. Actually the scenery was quite beautiful, I could get used to this.

"Hey, kid? Are you there?" Momoshiro started snapping his fingers. I turned my attention to the one-year-older-than-I private. The taller man stuck out his hand and introduced himself, "Takeshi Momoshiro. Private in the Seigaku Unit. But you can just call me Momo."

I took his hand and shook it, but didn't smile. This guy was just too joyful for me. We were in a war after all. "What's yours?" he asked of me.

Sighing I answered, "Ryoma Echizen, also a private in the Seigaku unit."

"That's great!" Momo beamed, clearly glad to have someone on the same unit to talk to.

The encampment we came to was filled with several units waiting for orders. The truck driver got out and Momo, a blond haired guy, and I jumped out of the truck. The driver rummaged through the passenger seat for his clipboard.

"Alright, Smith?"

The blond guy stepped forward. The driver continued, "The American units are located by the south outpost."

Smith nodded and left.

"I guess you two are with Unit 112," the driver mumbled while looking around. "Ah they're over there." He pointed a tent with a group of soldiers sitting and lounging around in a circle talking happily. The driver chuckled, "Can't say I envy you. I hear that the captain is tougher than nails. I heard he nearly got his arm shot off and he's still fighting."

My companion and I looked at each other. Either the captain was extremely dedicated or extremely stupid. At first I had a feeling that it was the latter, being the cocky S.O.B that I was. The first of the unit that I ran into was a tall man with a buzzed haircut and the hair shaved all round the sides. He had a kind face and a gentle voice; kinda hard to believe he was suited for war.

"Excuse me, sir, we are privates for the Seigaku unit…" Momoshiro began.

"Ah, the new recruits…" the man beamed, but they were interrupted by a shout. A red-head hyper man jumped up, ecstatic, rushing to us. "Hoi, hoi! New recruits!" The redhead proceeded to cling to us both. How he managed that I will never know.

"Eiji, get off," came the previous man's soft voice as he pried the hyper man off of us. "Sorry, he's a little enthusiastic. Welcome to the Seigaku unit," the shaved head young man greeted, "I'm Shuichiro Oishi, medic of the Seigaku unit. The boy who was clinging to you earlier is Eiji Kikumaru."

"What does he do?"

"Recon."

I found it amusing that this guy could sit still enough without being caught by the enemy during any mission.

"Are we supposed to check in with the captain?" I asked.

Oishi nodded, "You could, but he's having a meeting with Colonel Sakaki. He should be back in a little while."

"Here," a man with rectangle glasses scooted to the side, "why don't you join us?"

"Thanks!" Momo smiled and sat down laying his equipment and utilities bag down. I did the same, sitting round in the circle, observing the other soldiers lounging and sitting, some drinking coffee, others smoking cigarettes and, though I shouldn't be saying this, doing some drugs that I was not totally sure was legal. I noticed they were very secretive about it. The unit introduced themselves and they seemed to me stable enough. Though they had their quirks. Momo beside me was very conversational; all too eager to chat with the other soldiers. The demolitions man, Takashi Kawamura smiled broadly and passed Momo his flask, which I later found was just filled with water. The flask slipped from Momo's grasp and it spilled all over the special weapons expert, Kaoru Kaidoh. Kaidoh, known as the Viper because of his hissing habit, gritted his teeth seething in anger before giving Momo his signature hiss.

"Watch it, butterfingers!" the Viper in the bandana growled. Momo glared back, "Maybe if you didn't freak me out with all that snake junk I wouldn't have spilled it all over ya!"

"So you're blaming me!?"

Pretty soon they both stood, their fists clenching, eyes locked. A fight was about to start. Oishi tried to break it up, but it was useless. The other soldiers including myself, eventually got ourselves involved by trying to pry the two quarreling men off of each other. Fists went flying not really sure who was hit or who was starting it. Now that I look back it was a complete disaster. Luckily I never got hit. It was about to turn into an all out brawl, but that piercing, demanding voice, that for the rest of my life I will never forget, called over us.

"That is enough!"

That deep voice penetrated our ears causing all of us to freeze. I noticed that the soldiers froze in fear and nervousness. Slowly, almost as if we barely dared to move we picked ourselves up. Most of the unit shyly looked over at the owner of the voice, like they were guilty puppies that piddled on the carpet. I straightened myself and looked over at who the unit was staring at.

I will never forget that moment. That moment that I set my eyes on him. I'm sure at the time I really thought nothing of it. Standing there, straight and tall, was a sight to see. Even though he wore a dirtied and tattered uniform (all of the soldiers in the encampment did) he carried himself that indicated that he was in charge. His dark brown hair was slightly messy, and he wore glasses over piercing golden eyes. He was tall. I think taller than the rest of the soldiers in the unit. His body I could tell was well built under the uniform. He had a powerful presence.

"This is ridiculous. 20 laps around the camp. All of you!"

Momo looked around, "The whole encampment?"

"Yes the whole encampment."

Before Momo opened his mouth Oishi pushed him along saying softly, "Best do as the captain says."

"The captain?"

That was my first encounter with Captain Kunimitsu Tezuka, the leader of the Seigaku Unit. Yes we all ran the 20 laps and the rest of the units stared at us like we were insane and the captain was there waiting for us. Oishi took me and Momo aside while the rest went to sit back in the circle. He took us to the Captain.

"Captain Tezuka, these are the new recruits. Private Ryoma Echizen and Private Takeshi Momoshiro."

Momo stood at attention, "Sir, I would like to apologize for what happened…"

"Don't apologize," Captain Tezuka cut in, "Just make sure it doesn't happen here again."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Tezuka examined me a little, lighting a cigarette. "The same goes for you. I won't tolerate any trouble."

Oishi chuckled a little, "Echizen was the top new recruit. Scored full marks in training. And he is the son of veteran Nanjiroh Echizen."

"I see," the captain didn't smile before rounding in on me, "Let me tell you something. Just because you score full marks on your little training session, does not mean you're fit for war. Being able to hit all paper targets doesn't mean you can kill a man in actual combat. Most of all I don't want to hear or see you causing any trouble in my unit. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

The Captain didn't seem pleased, since I really didn't show him the amount of respect he deserved. He turned his back and stalked over to the tent. Oishi, Momo, and I went back into the circle.

The sniper, Syusuke Fuji, a man with a broad grin and honey colored hair, sighed, "Tezuka's really in a bad mood today."

"Ya think?"

Inui Sadaharu, the man with the square glasses was good with numbers and codes therefore, he was the designated code breaker and communications man, he could calculate what the problem with the captain was.

"I see a 86% chance that it had to do with the meeting with Colonel Sakaki. The fight probably didn't make things better."

Eiji, nudged me, "Still, you don't mess with Tezuka."

After dinner, I didn't see the captain much and we just hung around in our circle, talking. Kawamura eventually asked me about my father and I didn't respond much. I really didn't want to go in depth about my father, at least not at that point. But still, I could feel myself warming up to these men more than I thought I would. They were a charming bunch. At the time, I thought that if anything my enlistment would not get dull.

We huddled in our tent to sleep; the only one awake was the captain and I. I was still on my cot trying to get to sleep, but I looked outside the tent, finding the captain hunched over a crate, writing under the light of the lantern. He seemed so engrossed in his writing; I had a feeling that he would be up all night. I turned my self over and lulled myself to sleep by listening to Momo's snores.

A/N: A war story. This won't be as long as my other two Prince of Tennis stories. I made them from England because I am more familiar with the European theaters of both World Wars. I did my best to give the players a position that would suit their personalities.