Disclaimer: I do not own Prince Of Tennis or any of it's characters.

Author's Note: HI!! This is my first time submiting a story so please be brutal and tell me if anything is wrong. I especially want you to tell me if Fuji was out of character in any way. Please R&R, all reviews will be replied to in the next chapter (provided there are any)


Smiling Concerto

(By lil tulip)


Chapter 1


Almost there, she could feel right down to her bones. Almost there, she felt the shivers travel from her head to her toes. The tempo was rising. Her mind, body and soul were rising with it, faster, stronger, taking her to heights she never dreamed of. Yes! There it was the climax. Her eyes flew open. Her back arched as she slammed her fingers down on the piano to the last notes of Toccata and Fugue.

It was after school. Club activities were over so there was no one to intrude on her solitude. She liked it that way; she could practice as much as she wanted and no one would interrupt her.

Rin was an ordinary girl, with an average height of 1.58 meters. Not skinny but considered thin, weighing at 54 kilograms. High cheekbones, slightly full lips, a small nose that could have been called straight if not for the barely visible bump on its bridge, and silky brown hair that reached just past her shoulders. But the most extraordinary thing about her was her eyes. Even though they were a simple brown they had a cat-like tilt to them and a gleam that spoke of a strong person with a dream.

Running her hand over the piano keys, she sighed. Her eyes gazed lovingly at the instrument. Sighing she rose from the bench, collected her bag and portfolio of sheet music, waving goodbye and blowing a kiss to the object of her affection before leaving the music room.

It was late in the afternoon and the setting sun streamed orange beams that made the sky seem like a golden river. It was a long walk to the gate since the music room was in the farthest building from the school. She had two choices, take the long safe route that zigzagged through school buildings or take the short route that cut straight through the tennis courts. Usually she'd take the safe road, but today she was eager to get home and was willing to risk the dangers of flying tennis balls.

Taking a deep breath she marched on ahead. Just behind the tennis courts there was a small area of luscious greenery meant to create a relaxing atmosphere for the precious Seigaku tennis club. So far no balls flew at her, but she couldn't let her guard down yet. And rightly so. A ball soared over her head but it didn't hit her…Oh she wished it had.

Instead of hitting her it landed on the tree she was under. The impact caused the branches to shake just enough for one small occupant to lose its balance and land right in front of Rin. It only took her a second to figure out what that shiny exoskeleton was. A ROACH!!

"Eeep." she squealed and tried to walk around the disgusting creature. But no, it wasn't a normal roach, it was super-roach and it spread its wings and flew straight at her. She screamed and used her portfolio as a shield . . . Bad idea. Her music sheets flew all over the place, but that didn't stop her. She continued to swing it around until one of her random shots made contact and hurtled the roach right onto the tree. It latched on and climbed back up, safe and sound.

Finally, after her heart stopped racing and she gathered her composure she started picking up her music sheets. She counted them she realized one was missing! Looking up she saw that it was stuck on a high tree branch. She glanced around, finding a stick long enough to reach the sheet. After several attempts of jumping up and down and poking the paper she finally dislodged it.

But Lady Luck was not on her side today. A gust of wind blew the piece of paper right into a tennis court. "Great! More tennis balls," she muttered as she chased after the accursed thing.

"BURNING!" Kawamura howled as he made yet another powerful swing.

"Eh," was all that came out of tennis prodigy Fuji Syusuke as he returned the shot with amazing accuracy, aiming at the far corner.

"Game, Fuji Syusuke, 5 games to 4." Oishi announced from the judge's bench.

"You can't beat me yet, baby, come on!" challenged Kawamura pointing his racket at Fuji. All Fuji did was smile as he prepared to serve.

An elegant piece of paper floated gently over and covered Fuji's face, just after he had served.

"Come on!" Kawamura returned the shot, oblivious to his opponent's predicament, hitting a powerful shot that hit his adversary in the gut. "Oh no!" he cried after the damage was done.

Fuji was doubled over in pain, the paper flitting from his face and onto the ground. He stared at it. "A music sheet?"

"That's mine," a brown haired girl standing outside the courts said as she pointed to the fallen paper. She ran to Ryuzaki-sensei. After a short conversation she bowed and entered the court. Even though she was walking behind the actual tennis fields she had to dodge freshmen who were tossing balls to each other or practicing their swings.

"I'm sorry. . .kya. . .excuse me. . .eep. . .pardon me . . .hya. . .coming through. . .Please don't hit me. . .gya!" Rin continued to sputter as she dodged past shots, players and equipment. Finally she reached the location of her music sheet. She bent over to pick up her precious paper, panting, her heart pounding in her ears.

Straightening she kept her head bowed. "I'm so sorry!" She bowed more deeply. She rose and lifted her head to look at the victim of her stray paper. She paused as she stared into a smiling face with gently closed eyes. He's not mad? "I saw what happened, are you okay? I'm so sorry." She was a head shorter than him.

"No, it's okay." He raised his hand as if to stop her from apologizing anymore. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." He continued to smile.

"Thank goodness! Sorry for the trouble." She bowed again before she raced towards the gate of the courts. But luck was not about to give her a break.

"Look out!" The warning came too late. As she turned her head to where the warning came from, a ball came flying at her, hitting her right between the eyes. She fell backwards and her vision went black.

Ryuzaki-sensei ran into the courts to check on the fallen girl.

"It was an accident, I swear," cried Eiji as he ran to check on the girl. He had been practicing his shots when he stumbled and hit the ball in the girl's direction.

"She'll be fine." said Ryuzaki-sensei as she told Eiji to put her on one of the benches, then called for her granddaughter and told her to take care of the passed-out girl.

"Call me when she wakes up," Eiji told Sakuno before he left to continue his practice.

"Ow. . ." Rin groaned protesting the axe that seemed to be tirelessly slashing at her head. Placing her hand on her forehead she gasped, feeling something cold. Grabbing a hold of it and opening her eyes she stared at the ice pack for a while before she remembered what had happened. She bolted upright and pain shot through her skull, so strong she almost fell right back.

"You should take it easy," a soft voice said.

Rin winced as she tried to get a focus on who was talking to her; it was only a small girl with really long pigtails. The girl turned away from Rin as she called out "Kikumaru-senpai, she's awake."

A redhead with a plaster on one cheek ran over, his face full of guilt. "I'm sorry, nya!" he bowed deeply.

 Rin shook her head slowly and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine now, sorry for interrupting your practice." Suddenly she remembered: "What time is it?" she asked, staring at her watch. "Kyaaa! Its 6:30." She bolted out of the seat, headache forgotten, and ran for home, hastily grabbing her bag and file.

Back at the courts, everyone was clearing the field and freshmen were starting to pick up the balls and clean the courts while the senpais headed for the lockers. On his way there Fuji felt something crunch under his foot. "Eh?" looking down he found a music sheet. That girl must have dropped it when she passed out, he thought.

"Hoi hoi. What's that you got Fujiko-chan?" Kikumaru looked over Fuji's shoulder; he folded his hands behind his head "Hanya, looks like she forgot this. Well, guess you better give it back to her since you found it, hanya!"

Kikumaru smirked, "She was kind of cute, nya." Slapping Fuji on the shoulder he said, "you're so lucky!"

Fuji looked at him in bewilderment. "Then why don't you give her the sheet?"

Kikumaru waved a finger in his face. "Tsk-tsk. You found it so you should give it back." Grinning he asked, "so do you know her name?"

"Eh! No." Fuji stared down at the music sheet. "She's a musician so I'll give it to her tomorrow if I find her in the music room."

Kikumaru tapped his fist into his hand "Yeah! That's a good plan. Well, see you later Fuji. Bye," He waved as he headed towards the gates.

Fuji continued to stare down at the music sheet. Fantasie Impromptu 'with wings'.

"Hm."


To be continued . . .

So how was it so far? R&R i will reply . . . oh and the next chapter will be uploaded soon.