"Hey."

Takeshi Momoshiro heard the sound of the soft voice. He had been on his way to the Academy, his tennis ball duffle bag swung over his broad shoulder. He stopped walking and turned to face a young girl, a year younger than him, dressed casually in a white shirt and blue cut – off jeans. "Was that addressed to me?" he asked.

The girl grinned, brushing a lock of thick, black hair from her eyes. "Which way?" she repeated, her warm, chocolate brown eyes sparkling.

Momo grinned back. "Over there," he pointed, "keep walking. You can't miss it."

"Thanks!" she replied, taking off at a run. Her open jacket flapped out behind her as she took fast strides. And as she faded into the horizon, Momoshiro couldn't help but think a bit of Ryoma.

Sakuno was humming to herself as she walked. She was on her way to the Tennis Courts to, hopefully, see Ryoma play. She had developed a huge crush on the Prince of Tennis, and though she didn't let it show, she knew he was perfect for her. She walked with a bounce in her step.

She didn't need to look where she was going. She had the path to the Tennis Courts down by heart. When she neared them, she could hear the tennis balls bouncing, creating noise, and she smiled as she opened the wire door to let her into the courts.

Her eyes quickly scanned through the courts, but they stopped on an unfamiliar girl. The girl was leaning against the wire wall casually. She was about the same age as Sakuno. Sakuno decided to introduce herself.

She made her way through the first court and then approached the girl. "Hi," she said, "I'm Sakuno Ryuzaki. Are you new?"

The other girl turned to examine Sakuno. She slowly began to smile. "Yeah," she replied, "I am. The name's Cherrylea and I'm from Central Asia." Her black bangs fell over one eyes, and with the flick of her head, Cherrylea had it tucked behind her double pierced ear. She had soft, light brown skin and a cheerful voice.

"That's a pretty name," commented Sakuno. She didn't mean to be rude, but she allowed her eyes to wander away from Cherrylea. Her purpose coming here was to find Ryoma, after all. "Well, welcome to the Academy."

"It's a great place," replied Cherrylea with a smile, "thanks." Before she could say more, however, a male in a white T – shirt and jeans approached the two females. He had a tennis racket tucked comfortably in the crook of his right arm.

"Yo, Sakuno!" he called, grinning at the female with the long braids. She smiled back at him. Then his eyes slid over to Cherrylea. "Yo, yo, yo, it's you again."

She had to look up because of his height advantage. She raised a hand to protect her eyes from the Sun. The mirrored bangles on her slim arm fell down with a tinkling noise. "And it's you," she shot back.

Sakuno jumped in to help with names. "Momo, meet Cherrylea. Cherrylea, meet Momoshiro. He's on the Tennis Team." As soon as she said that, she cringed. Well, duh he's on the Tennis Team – as if the jacket and duffle bag didn't make it more obvious!

Cherrylea lowered her hand. "Cool," she commented, trying to inject enthusiasm into her voice as she scanned the courts. Too late.

Luckily, Momoshiro wasn't one to get angry over the littlest thing. He bent down to tie his left shoe. "What," he said, "no swooning, no congrats?"

She glanced at Sakuno before settling her gaze on Momo. "I'm sorry…I don't like sports, and the last time I played Tennis, well…" she shrugged before reaching up to fix her hair.

Momoshiro chuckled. "Well, you don't know what you're missing," he said before reaching out to tousle her hair. Cherrylea began to laugh as she tried to escape his grasp. A young male approached them, carrying a bag over his shoulder. He had long - ish black hair, brown golden eyes, and light skin. He had on a white T - shirt and black shorts.

"Yo, Ryoma, meet Cherrylea," boomed Momoshiro. He let go of the girl, and she stepped back to fix her hair hurredly. Almost as an afterthought, Momo added, "She's doesn't like Tennis."

"Because you suck at the sport, right?" Ryoma said coolly. Cherrylea grinned as her eyes widened; she clearly enjoyed his cool confidence.

"No, it's because I got into an accident when I was younger, and Mat - " her brown eyes darkened, and she looked into the distance. She shook her ehad and turned back to Ryoma. "Never tried the sport, sweetie, and it bores me." To add to her point, she yawned, placing her fingertips over her mouth.

"Hm..." Ryoma looked at Sakuno thoughtfully. "She your friend, Sakuno?"

She loved the way he said her name. She blushed and twirled one of her long braids in her hand with a shrug. "She's new..." she let the sentence explain itself to Ryoma.

With her answer, Ryoma grinned devilishly. He dropped to his knees to open up his duffel bag; he stood back up, a Tennis Racket in each hand. He tossed the one if his left hand to Cherrylea. "Then it's time I teach you about tennis."

Cherrylea's hand shot out and she caught the racket. She looked down at it, and something close to a pained look flooded her eyes. When she looked up, however, she was grinning and her eyes were taking on a glimmer. "You're on," she said.