Hey guys, and welcome to another story! I know I haven't updated any of my stories but please blame that to my lame-ass wifi connection, which kept connecting and disconnecting at times, and my writer's block. Anyways, I had been wanting to do this for a long while now but didn't know how to get around but after reading one SI story, I was given an inspiration on what to do so here it is.

Oh, and FYI, since I haven't been writing for so long, prepare yourself for some bad composition.

Last thing, knowing me, I might be adding a Slash here. You have been warned.

Without further ado, let's roll the chapter!


~Chapter 1: The Prince of Tennis and The Mirage Prince~

"Ah geez, that Ryoma! He's not picking up his phone!" I grumbled as I looked down at my sky-blue phone. "I hope he's not lost or anything." Sighing, I put my phone back in my pocket before running towards the station, hoping that he didn't go to Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden yet. 'Or, better yet, didn't ask for directions from a certain ditsy girl.' Once there, I looked around trying to find a certain cap-wearing boy carrying a tennis bag when I saw a girl with twin braids talking to an older woman in a pink jersey and sweatpants.

'Ah, could it be I'm too late?' Jogging towards them, I asked, "Ano, have you seen a boy wearing a cap and carrying a tennis bag? He's kind of my height, only a bit taller."

"Oya, why if it isn't Masahiko-kun?" the older woman, who I now know as Ryuzaki Sumire-sensei, said. "Looking for him, I see?"

"Ah, konnichiwa, Ryuzaki-sensei." I greeted politely. "Hai, we did promised to meet at Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden. Until I forgot that he probably didn't know his way around here so I thought of calling him to wait for me here but..."

"Ah, could his name be Echizen Ryoma-kun?" the braided girl asked. I turned to her and nodded. "Then he should be on his way there now. He had asked me for directions so I told him to use the South Exit."

The girl's grandmother looked at her in shock, "What are you talking about, Sakuno? The Garden is just ahead of the North Exit."

"Eh, North Exit?!" The girl exclaimed. She turned to look at the South Exit. "Ah! What do I do? I told him the wrong directions!"

'I knew it. I should have called him earlier.' I inwardly face-palmed. "Then I'll try to catch up to him. It's nice meeting you again, Sensei!" waving goodbye to the two, I rushed towards the South Exit and weaved my way through the crowd, hoping to catch up to him.

XXXX

Upon reaching the Garden, I tried looking around the areas outside the courts, trying to find the boy. 'Where is he?'

"A-Ano!" a voice called out. I turned to find the twin-braided girl. "Can I help? It's my fault that I told him the wrong direction!"

I blinked before nodding, "Ah, that's great. Just find anyone lying on the grass. That should be him." She nodded, and thus, the search for a certain prince began. Though it didn't take long since I finally found him where he should canonically be. "Oi, Ryoma!"

Said boy sat up in surprise and turned to me. "Masa!"

"Geez, where the hell were you? I've been trying to call you." I said.

The boy blinked before rummaging in his bag, trying to find his phone before saying, "Ah. I must have left it at home."

I would have face-faulted right there and then if I haven't considered that at all. "I have a feeling it would be that."

"Urusai..."

"Masahiko-kun! Did you find him?" The twin-braided girl ran towards us, clearly out of breath. Maybe I shouldn't have asked a girl who is not so good in the athletics department to run around a big area like this one.

"Ah, I found him!" I turned to her as she stopped right beside me before turning back to Ryoma, who was glaring at the girl. This surprised me since in the anime, he showed indifference when she told him the wrong direction. It could be that he wants to show me how much he had improved since we last seen each other, but I could be wrong...

"A-Ano, did you make it on time?" She asked, looking genuinely sorry.

"...I was 5 minutes late. I defaulted." he replied, tilting his cap down.

"I'm so sorry!" she said as she bowed. "It's my fault."

"You're right..." He said, looking up at her. "Could it have been anyone else?"

I sighed. 'Couldn't he have said it in a less rude way? But this is Ryoma we're talking about.' After that was a very awkward silence before I decided to break it. "Well, I don't know about you but I'm getting kind of thirsty."

This perked the two tweens up a bit.

"A-Ano, then!" she suddenly said, clapping her hands together. The two of us stared at her, confused.

XXXX

I inserted the coins into the vending machine before pressing a button three times. As the three cans of grape Ponta dropped, I gave one to Ryoma before grabbing the last two and turned to give the last one to the girl.

"Sorry, I didn't bring any change..." she apologized quietly as she gratefully took it. We then took a seat on a nearby bench with me being in between the two. The silence came back again before the girl decided to break it.

"Um... thank you for earlier." she said. "You saved me on the train..."

Ryoma turned his head towards her, confused. "From what?"

"From what? Well... if you didn't step in, then I could have been hit by the racket."

"You were on the same train?" This surprised the girl as she turned to him. "Where did you sit?"

"Right across from you." Was her reply

He blinked before indifferently sipping his drink, "Hmm? Whatever. I just told them to shut up because they were loud, that's all..."

The girl pouted and I whispered to her, "Please forgive him. He's like this with everyone." She blushed a bit before nodding.

"What did you say?" Wah, I almost forgot that he has the 'Jigoku mimi'.

"It's nothing!" I said before lifting up his bag. "But geez, Ryoma, why is your bag so heavy? Did you accidentally put Karupin inside again?"

He flushed a pink tint before shouting, "That was one time!"

"Yeah, yeah." I said as I placed the bag beside me. Man, it's fun to tease him. Then my ears picked up a slight sound before moving my head to the side, narrowly avoiding a thrown can.

"Sorry for being so loud..." a haughty voice was heard. They turned around to find four teenagers walking towards them. I raised a brow as I eyed the fourth one wearing a tennis attire. 'Was he in the anime? Or manga?'

"That's the brat from earlier." One of the goons said. (Goon A)

"It looks like he just lost and is ready to leave, huh?" Another goon said. (Goon B)

"It could be!" The last goon laughed. (Goon C)

The orange idiot put his racket near Ryoma's face. "I'm seeded in the under-16 tournament... and also one of the people aiming for the trophy. You want me to shut up? I dare you to say that again!"

All Ryoma did was to glare at him.

He pulled his racket away. "I don't like that look of yours!" he seemed to be riled up. "It's 100 years too early for a brat like you to talk to me about tennis!" he lifted his racket. "You ignorant brat-!" he swung the racket.

"Ah!" The girl covered her eyes.

"Oi!" I stopped the racket before it could go anywhere near Ryoma. I know the guy wouldn't really hurt him(yet) but I'm not going to sit around and let it happen right before my eye. "If you're seeded, then you should know violence is not forgivable in the area unless you're looking for disqualification." Wrenching the racket out of his hand, I used it to point at him the same way he did to Ryoma, "If you want to settle this, then settle it like a sportsman! In a tennis match!"

XXXX

In the end, due to my big mouth, I was forced to play a doubles match with Ryoma. Well, it's not as if this will change the plot or anything, this 'episode' is to introduce the main protagonist, Ryoma but because I just so happened to be there and opened my big, fat mouth, I'm going to get introduced as well. Not that I'm complaining anyways, it's been awhile since I last played doubles with Ryoma.

"Just like old times, huh?" I said as I borrowed a racket from Ryoma since I didn't bring my tennis bag as I didn't think I would be playing in any matches. Luckily I was wearing a sports attire. which consists of a white polo-tee with light-blue linings and a pair of white shorts. "How long has it been since we last played together?"

The cap-wearing prince hummed, "Around six-seven years old, I guess. Mah, just don't get in my way."

I twitched as I went to my position, "As cocky as always."

"Best of one set match. Sasabe to serve." said Goon C.

"You are okay with no referee? We'll self judge, okay?" Sasabe said as he held the tennis ball.

"Sure, I don't mind." was Ryoma's reply as he did his steps.

Sasabe smirked. "Don't worry, I'll give you a handicap..." he said, throwing up the ball. "Here, an underhand serve!"

I watched as Ryoma stared at the incoming slow ball before swinging his racket, "Play seriously!" I smirked at the surprised expression on his face when the ball whizzed past him.

"Hai, Love-15!" I said.

"Heh, I was just fooling around..." Sasabe said.

I rolled my eyes at him. Yeah right!

The match then started as we rallied a couple of times. I'll admit that these two seniors are good but definitely not in par with us as Ryoma returned the ball, earning us another point. "Hai, game won by Echizen-Nanase pair, 0-1!" The plot is already out of order since it's not like the canon but hey, what harm can it do? And somehow, Ryuzaki-sensei had appeared during the match.

Sasabe then served the ball, which started whizzing quickly towards us. "There it is! Sasabe's Bullet Serve!" Goon B said.

I scoffed as I ran towards the area it'll land. "Bullet serve? More like Tortoise Serve!" I shouted as I returned the ball. Goon C tried to receive it but it landed before he could reach it. "If you think that's a fast serve, then you're overestimating yourself." I said to him.

"Besides, don't you mean Snail Serve?" Ryoma cut in as he stood beside me.

"Chotto, Ryoma." I turned to him with a slight pout. "Don't you think that's mean? At least I was nice enough not to call it the Sloth Serve."

"That could be a good name." We then shared a laugh, ticking the two seniors off.

XXXX

Ryuzaki-sensei sighed in exasperation, "Mattaku, like father like son. Those two."

"Nee, Obaa-chan. Did you know those two? It seems like you've met Masahiko-kun before." Sakuno asked.

"Ah, I met him through his father. As for Echizen Ryoma, he is the Prince of Tennis."

"The prince of tennis?" She asked.

"Echizen Ryoma. 12 years old. In a year and a half, he won 4 straight junior tournaments in the US, and is known as a prodigy."

"Four straight?!"

"Yup, there's no fluke in that. He's the son of one of my students. Their family is returning to Japan, and even though he's not known here, he said he was going to appear in this tournament. I told him that if he was that strong, he should register in the Under-14 instead of Under-12, but Ryoma boasted that if he was going to play, he'd play in the Under-16 category." She then sighed. "What a guy..."

"Heh... Ja, what about Masahiko-kun?" Sakuno asked as she turned her gaze to the other boy who was returning another ball.

"Nanase Masahiko, also 12 years old. Unlike Ryoma, he didn't appear much in competitions. Only appearing and winning one junior tournament in the US." Was her reply.

"Eh?!"

"But that's because, like his father who is also another of my student, he doesn't like to attract attention so he stays away from the spotlight as much as he could. That doesn't mean he's weak, though. He did beat a former pro once when he was nine years old after all."

"Nine years old?! Former pro?!" Sakuno exclaimed before turning to the two who had won another point. "S-Sugoi..."

"That's why he's called the 'Mirage Prince'. Only appearing for a moment and then disappearing the next." Ryuzaki-sensei finished. Her granddaughter looked at her in awe before hearing a cry of pain. She turned to find Masahiko on the ground holding onto his face, Ryoma kneeling beside him.

"W-What happened?!" Sakuno exclaimed. The coach could only narrow her eyes at the seniors.

XXXX

"Game won by Echizen-Nanase pair, 0-2!" I called as Ryoma took out a ball from his pocket.

"You're going to appear in the finals, right? Let's end this quickly, then." Ryoma said as he readied himself.

"Echizen's Serve." I called as he served, the ball whizzed past them as usual.

"15-0." I called again before narrowing my eyes when Goon C and Sasabe whispered to each other. I slightly turned to Ryoma who glanced at me, nodding. I readied myself since this could be where Sasabe tries to use his height as an advantage.

Ryoma served the ball, and a rally began which confused me. 'Shouldn't Sasabe be using his dirty trick by now? Unless...' I was snapped out of my thoughts when Goon C jumped up trying to catch the ball until...

"Take this! You arrogant brat!" Goon C shouted as he threw his racket at Ryoma who was right in range.

Realizing what was about to happen, I rushed towards him, "!...Ryoma!" Pushing him out of the way, I ended up taking the hit instead. "Argh!" I cried as my bottom hit the floor while I tried nursing the pain in between my eyes. It was a good thing it wasn't my left eye, or these guys won't be seeing the next sunrise.

"I'm sorry," Goon C said in a not so sorry manner as he picked up his racket. "My hand slipped."

I felt something warm on my hand so I looked down at it and winched to see my blood on it. Ah-ah, dad is so going to flip if he hears about this.

"Masa!" I can feel Ryoma beside me so I slowly turned to him, wincing a bit as he lightly touched the cut. Out of the corner of my, I could see Sakuno and Ryuzaki. Huh, shouldn't it be now where Sakuno starts running into the courts? Maybe it's because I'm not Ryoma... She did develop a major crush on him in the anime and in the manga.

"Ahaha... Daijobu, it's just a scratch." I said as I started to stand before taking out a handkerchief and dabbed at the spot, picking up my racket. "Besides that," I turned to the seniors as I kept the kerchief back inside my pocket and gave them my best cold stare, which did what I wanted when they froze. "Tennis is not a tool used to hurt people. It is not supposed to be used to make people sad, to hurt people, to destroy or whatnot. It was created to be fun. And since you two decided to go against that..."

I can feel Ryoma's smirk as he lightly draped against my left shoulder, tapping his racket on his left shoulder while I tapped mine on the right.

"Oretachi/Bokutachi katsu ni wa mada mada dane!" We said in smirking unison. Faintly, I can hear Ryuzaki-sensei say, "It's decided."

After that was a bit of a blur as Ryoma and I crushed the seniors badly, though I did wonder if Ryoma purposely aimed the Twist Serves on Goon C since his signature move tends to attack people at random when it comes to Doubles. Meh, not that I cared.


Japanese meanings:

Ano - Umm...

Oya - Oh

-kun - A common honorific suffix on boys younger than you

Konnichiwa - Hello

Hai - Yes

Sensei - Teacher/Mentor

Urusai - Shut up

Jigoku mimi - A person with 'hell ears' has a knack for hearing secrets–usually bad ones–that people don't want to be heard. Alternatively, jigoku mimi can sometimes refer to a person who never forgets things that they have heard

Oi - Hey

Chotto - A little/A bit but in this sentence, it could also mean 'Hey'

Mattaku - Honestly (In an exasperated way)

Ja - Then

Daijobu - I'm fine

Oretachi/Bokutachi katsu ni wa mada mada dane! - You still have a long way to beat us!

Ore - A masculine informal way to refer oneself

Boku - A Masculine formal way to refer oneself.

Oretachi - Us (Informal)

Bokutachi - Us (Formal)