-1The lovable redhead casually made his way to the street courts. The nationals were over and most clubs had given their members a couple of weeks of to recover. These two weeks were the busiest the street courts ever got; today was going to be packed, especially since the weather was so beautiful

By the time the redhead arrived, there was already quite a crowd. A stray sentence drifted into Sengoku's ear and caught the boy's attention.

"Can you believe he came all the way from Rikkaidai?" said a silver haired boy.

"I guess he wanted to prove he could beat Tachibana fair and square. Besides you came all the way from Chiba." replied a smiling young man.

Sengoku immediately recognized the two boys from the Junior Senbatsu camp.

"Fuji! Saeki! How the hell have you been?" Sengoku called from a few rows up.

Both young men turned and grinned when they realized who had greeted them. They waved at him to come join them. After Sengoku made his way down the bleachers, the three boys exchanged hugs.

"It's been awhile man," Saeki started, "How have things been?"

"Lucky! I feel like this summer's really going to be one to remember," the redhead grinned, "How about you guys?"

"We're enjoying our time off before we have to start worrying about the real world -- high school and tennis.," chuckled Fuji. The boys all smiled and conversed in depth about their summer plans.

xxxxx

Meanwhile on the court.

I am not going to lose, thought Kirihara as he sprinted to receive a winner to the corner.

You will not beat me again, thought Tachibana as he rushed the net.

The scruffy second year barely received the ball, which resulted in an easy lob. Tachibana slammed it to the left service box.

"Game and Match. Tachibana, 7 games to 5."

After the pair shook hands and gave congratulations, Kirihara paused for moment; his face was furrowed as if he were in a heated debate.

"Is there something else?" the former captain of Fudomine asked the Rikkaidai senior.

"Yes actually. I was wondering... did An come with you today?"

xxxxx

"So Sengoku, what brought you to the courts today?" Saeki asked.

"Well, I was hoping to get a couple fun matches in... and I was looking for An." blushed Sengoku.

"An Tachibana?"

"The very same."

Fuji and Saeki both smiled at each other and pointed, "I think she's over there." Sengoku grinned and galloped of towards An.

He turned back to wave to the pair, "We'll hang out soon!"

xxxxx

Kirihara's mind was racing. What would he say? He didn't want to sound like a douche wad, or over-eager or uncool-- that could be a disaster. Just be smooth. He thought. He ran his fingers through his hair and licked his lips one last time before jogging towards An-Chan.

As he got closer, he realized that An-Chan wasn't alone anymore.

"I'll see you Friday then," said a smiling youth,. He turned and mumbled excitedly under his breath, "Lucky!" as he pumped his fist slightly. The redhead practically ran back to Fuji and Saeki to report the news. He grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh, Kirihara-san," An looked slightly taken aback when she noticed the boy, but she continued, "What brings you here?"

Kirihara hesitated. Did that kid Senguko ask out my An for Friday night?

"I'm just here to play some friendly matches. Speaking of matches, I have tickets to a tennis tournament this Saturday. Would-you-like-to-go?" Kirihara blurted out -- totally uncool.

But An just smiled. "I would love to."

xxxxx

Sengoku looked pointedly at the mirror, concentrating hard on getting his hair just right. He pulled at the collar on his navy pin-stripped button up and smiled a bit. "Lucky," he whispered to himself.

After the redhead felt he looked as good as he could, he glanced at the clock. 7:45, I guess I could leave now and just be a bit early." The youth was too anxious to just sit in his house and wait. He grabbed his white suede jacket and jumped down the stairs.

"I'm leaving now. I'll be back later!" he called as he opened the door.

"Have a great time sweetie!" his mom called from the kitchen. She smiled, remembering the excitement of her first date.

When Sengoku arrived at the Tachibana residence, he had finally decided on just what to say when An opened to door. He rang the doorbell and as the door opened the youth said,

"You look very lovely tonight-" he was stopped short.

"Thank you," replied a grinning Tachibana Kippei. They both laughed loudly and Sengoku's blush disappeared rather quickly.

"It's good to see you Sengoku. I'll go get An," Tachibana ran upstairs and Sengoku could hear a muffled conversation and stifled giggling.

An emerged from her room and walked down the stairs. She was wearing a little black dress, that flattered her figure in every way. But even more noticeable was her smile. Her smile was beautiful. She was beautiful.

"An-chan...uh...well, uh..."Sengoku stammered. He suddenly grinned, "You look almost as good as your brother tonight." And with that, all three busted up laughing.

xxxxx

Fuji smiled as he looked his cool friend. Saeki Kojiroh was one of the nicest and coolest people Fuji had ever known- and he was Fuji's best friend. Unfortunately, the two boys went to different schools and rarely got the chance to see each other. But, since the Junior Senbatsu tournament, the two had made an extra effort to stay in touch.

As the two lay sprawled on the lawn with their comics, Saeki slouching against a tree and Fuji lying face down on his stomach with his chin resting in his hands; Fuji's heart smiled- he'd really missed Saeki.

"Koji-kun?"

"Ne, Fuji?"

"Did you miss me last year?"

Saeki turned towards Fuji, his face a mixture of surprise and amusement.

He laughed softly, "Everyday."

It was Fuji's turn to look surprised. He tilted his head to look at Saeki.

"I just figured you were probably pretty busy with all your new friends at Seigaku, and I didn't want to bug you and be uncool or anything, haha!" Saeki chuckled and grinned at his best friend. Although he had laughed, everything he said was completely true. Fuji smiled back,

"I didn't realize how much I'd missed you until now," said the shorter youth. He opened his eyes and looked at Saeki through his bangs, "Just seeing you makes me think of all the time we haven't spent together."

Saeki winced Fuji looks so forlorn, he thought. "Well, we're hanging out now, right? And that's all that really matters." Fuji turned even more towards Saeki, nodded slightly and smiled. He shifted himself so that he was leaning against the tree, his shoulder touching Kojiroh's and sighed contently under his breath.