Summary: The Seigaku regulars went through middle school without ever meeting Echizen Ryoma. So who's this new freshman that their old coach is so interested in? Despite the fact that they refuse to play tennis?

The Snowball Effect
Prologue

'How is the team doing?'

Tezuka Kunimutsu, due to become a 2nd year at Seishun High School in a few days looked up from where he browsed through the list of the new applicants to the tennis club. 'Ah, Ryuuzaki-sensei,' he acknowledged the woman, dressed in characteristic tracksuit who stood in the doorway of the science lab. Although she was no longer one of his teachers, the middle and high school still kept up a lot of communication since most graduates found themselves entering the affiliated high school.

'Any exciting new prospects?' She asked, taking a seat next to him to scan over the list.

'Apart from those who were notable in the middle school's tennis team, there's likely to be no one else extraordinary,' Tezuka said with a barely audible sigh.

Ryuuzaki grimaced in commiseration, although tennis talent in Seigaku was extremely high – their record at National level certainly proved that - there was nothing better than new blood and unforeseen competition to inject new passion and fire into a club.

Tezuka glanced up when she didn't make any comment, noting that her eyes moved too fast over the list to actually be fully reading it… It looked like she was searching for one particular name than processing each successive member.

'Who is it sensei?'

Ryuzaki glanced up with a sheepish grin, knowing she had been caught out. 'Someone who I didn't expect to join, but despite that I'd hoped-,' she made a vague motion with her hand towards the stack of application forms. 'Maybe he just needs a kickstart…'

The temple grounds were silent. Flowers were open in full blossom, displaying their beautiful spring beauty to an entirely unappreciative audience.

He sat on the tennis court, just to the right of the centre of the base line, where a player would stand to serve the first point of a match. Although he wasn't playing he wore tennis clothes; black shorts, a black and white tennis shirt and bright white sneakers. A red tennis racket, balanced on its knees, and on top of the strings rested a yellow tennis ball.

He didn't move. There wasn't any point anyway, since there was no opponent there to play.

The only people in the grounds were himself and his cat, and the only person due to return was a barely-known cousin.

'Dad, you stupid idiot,' the boy growled, head downcast as he stared at the ball as it slowly lolled off his racket and fell onto the ground, rolling towards the net, but came to a stop before even reaching the service line.

'Welcome to a new year at Seishun High School.

Momoshiro looked around at the new and old faces, everyone dressed to perfection in newly-purchased and ironed uniforms – the shorter students all with a little extra length on their pants in the hope that they would grow into them.

'I wonder how the old club is going?' he wondered. There had been a lot of empty places in the regular line-up to fill when he was appointed captain in his last year, with only himself and Kaidoh being regulars previously – and unfortunately the quality of the contenders for the positions had been quite lacking. However, despite that, numbers had been higher than ever due to the team's success, and they were able to put a good team together. With him and Kaidoh gone though, everything was liable to fall to ashes though – hopefully there was going to be some good freshmen entering.

'Worrying about the junior club?' his thoughts were interrupted by Arai's words, as he stood before him, trying to pull off the cool look; slouching with hands tucked into their pockets. He'd probably tried to attempt getting away with changing his uniform a little to, but the squad of uniform checkers that were waiting by the main gate as people walked in had probably swooped down upon him, checking that everything was in perfect place. Momo tugged at his uncomfortably tight collar.

'A little,' he answered, putting up with the conversation. Although he and Arai had been in the same club for 3 years, and probably would continue to be club mates for their tenure at high school, there had always been something grating about the other that had always chaffed at him. Maybe it was his bloated sense of ego. Some people had a big ego, but they were entitled to have it because they actually had mad skills to back up their words. Arai hadn't been, and was never going to be one of those people.

'You shouldn't worry about them – worry more about yourself, and the new tennis club you're entering now. If you think too much about what they're doing I'm going to pass you, and I'm going to be the one wearing the regulars' jersey,' Arai told him, with a serious face, despite the fact that their last game had ended in a 6-0 loss, where you had 3 guesses and the first 2 didn't count to work out who had won. Momo found himself trying to back away slightly, at the glazed look in Arai's eyes, probably already imagining himself in the uniform, strutting into school and attempting to work his charm.

'I'll do that,' he replied, managing to keep the words from wobbling as he kept a cap on the laughter that he felt bubbling up from the very thought of Arai being remotely suave, firmly closing the conversation by walking away. In some parts, he was true though, as much as Momo hated to think that anything Arai could say held some form of truth. He should think more about what was happening now – for instance the great complex of courts and training equipment Seishun High had at the disposal of the club – especially if you were a regular.

'Yes!' he yelled, punching his fist towards the sky. The three girls walking up the stairs in front of him, turned around and glared, obviously thinking that his declaration had something to do with them. 'Ah…' he backpedalled, trying to get away from what was soon to be an awkward and possibly fatal experience.

He stood at the back of the crowd, trying to get closer, but due to the swarms of people, as they pressed closer to the erected boards he found that simply shoulder-barging his way through would prove impossible. Probably due to the fact that he was shorter then everyone here. Including the giggling girls who tugged at their friends, moaning something about really wanting to be in the same class. Sighing, he decided to put his small stature to use.

'Here I go.' Ducking and weaving here and there around everyone, he was close to the front in no time, but had to stop when he found the way blocked by a tall student who stood in front of the class lists motionless.

He waited. And waited. And waited. And waited... then there was some more waiting...

Was the guy deficient or something? Couldn't he read fast or something? Ryoma hadn't even lived for over a couple of weeks, but still he was pretty sure that even with his own poor kanji comprehension he could have memorised the first two class lists by now. However no one else had dared interrupt the boy.

'Excuse me.'

There was no answer.

'Excuse me!' he said, poking the guy between the shoulder blades, and when that failed to produce a response, kicked him behind the knee so he buckled slightly.

The guy turned around with a hiss, and Ryoma ignored the annoyed look on his pinched face, that was actually more bordering on the murderous.

'You're blocking the way for everyone else to see the board, idiot. If you're angry about not being in the top classes then go see someone about it, don't just stand in front of them staring like some kind of retard and holding up the rest of us up. Some people actually want to get to class on time.'

Ignoring the shocked looks that came not only from his target but everyone else around him, and the stunned silence that had fallen over the crowd he shouldered past the guy and looked at the list for 1-A. 'Echizen Ryoma'

10 minutes later, the crowd surrounding the boards found their path blocked again when Momoshiro was stopped dead, fists clenching and unclenching growing more rapid each time. He had found his name on the 1-B list, and a few names above his… 'Kaidoh Kaoru'.