Ch.1

Tennis

As Maria left the house, Bijou got out of her carrier, jumped out the window, and went down the big tree in the front yard.

"I hope Hamtaro'll be there!" she thought as she headed for the clubhouse. Bijou has had a crush on Hamtaro ever since she first met him. She knew that most of the time, Hamtaro was oblivious to her feelings toward him, but that didn't matter. She knew that Hamtaro would soon mature enough to notice and return mutual feelings toward her.

"Hey there! How's it goin'?" A hamster with cream colored fur with a white underbelly and a ponytail approached Bijou.

"Hello there! I'm Bijou, who are you?"

"I'm Tennis, what's up?" The name suited her well. She carried a black tennis racquet case over her left shoulder with a tennis racquet most likely inside.

"Are you new hear?" asked Bijou.

"Yeah, my owners just moved in yesterday. So, where're you off to?"

"I'm going to zee clubhouse to see all my friends. Would you like to come?"

"Sounds like fun!" agreed Tennis. "Let's go!"

"Hello everyone!" said Bijou as she and her new friend entered the clubhouse. "Come meet my new friend!" All the ham hams dropped everything they were doing and went over to meet Tennis.

"Hiya! I'm Tennis! It's nice to meet you all!" As everyone introduced themselves, Stan walked up to Tennis and put his arm around her.

"Hey there beautiful! Where've you been all my life?"

"Hiding from you" replied Tennis as she took his arm off of her. "Looks like you found me though, now I'm gonna have to find a whole new hiding spot!" Some of the ham hams laughed aloud, Sandy being the loudest, as Stan walked away, dejected.

"See Howdy, she's funny" said Dexter. "You, on the other hand, aren't, so please don't ever tell another joke ever again!"

"Well I'm ten times as funny as you'll ever be!"

"Pigs will fly before that ever happens!"

"Do they do that a lot?" asked Tennis.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to get used to that" said Pashmina.

"Well, since you're our guest, why don't you decide what we should do today" suggested Boss.

"Well, if it's not too much to ask, do any of you know how to play tennis?" asked Tennis.

"I've seen my owner, Maria, watch it on TV, but I've not played it myself" answered Bijou. "Has anyone else ever played?" The rest of the ham hams shook their heads.

"I never played before, but I'd be fun if someone could teach us!" said Hamtaro.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I am pretty good at tennis!" said Tennis. "I even know where there are tennis courts for us hamsters." Everyone, taking a liking to the idea of learning tennis, followed their new friend out of the clubhouse and to the tennis courts.

There were four tennis courts that were separated by a patio which led to an upper deck. On the upper deck were seats, tables, even a sound system for music.

"This place is enormous!" exclaimed Cappy.

"Yeah! I like to come here and practice a lot!" said Tennis.

"That's odd. I thought she just moved here" thought Bijou.

"Wait a minute" said Panda. "How are we supposed to play without racquets?"

"I thought someone would ask that" said Tennis. "Follow me." The ham hams did as they were told and followed Tennis into a hut near the courts. The ham hams stared at awe at the room.

"Wow! Just look at all those racquets!" exclaimed Maxwell. The walls of the room were covered in tennis racquets of all size and color.

"I would like zee blue one!"

"Oh look, a pink one!"

"Dibs on the red racquet!" After the ham hams picked their racquets, Tennis herded them all out to one of the courts.

"Okay, the basic concept of tennis is to hit the ball past your opponent" began Tennis. "But that's much easier said than done." After showing the ham hams all the different strokes and set ups in tennis, she split the ham hams into groups on the four courts and let them play out some games. Tennis sat on the upper deck, watching and listening to the action below.

"I hit you with the ball Dexter, so that's a point for me!"

"I have to get hit by it during the game Howdy, not while I'm getting a drink!"

"Cappy, I don't think you can wear your saucepan and play at the same time." But there was only one match Tennis was paying attention to, the singles match between Stan and Hamtaro. Hamtaro hit the ball in the far right corner of the court. Stan returned the ball with a quick topspin shot at Hamtaro. Hamtaro countered woth a backhand to the other corner of the court, winning the point.

"That's game!" said Hamtaro cheerfully as Stan panted.

"Hey, you're not bad!" Tennis was clapping for Hamtaro from the upper deck. "Come on up Hamtaro! I wanna talk to you!"

"Okay, I'll be right up!" called Hamtaro.

"Some hams get all the luck" groaned Stan. Bijou could help but feel uneasy.

"Somezing seems fishy to me about her ever since we got here. First zat comment she made, and now she is talking to Hamtaro in private? What is she planning?" A ball wizzed right past her.

"Like, earth to Bijou!" yelled Sandy. "I just totally aced you, are you okay?"

"Oh, yes! I was not paying attention. Good serve Sandy!"

All the ham hams crowded around Hamtaro as he came back down the stairs.

"What'd she ask you up there?"

"Are you two goin' on a date?"

"Does she like you?"

"Ookwee?"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Hamtaro. "Tennis said that she thought I was a good at tennis and asked if I wanted to have a private lesson with her."

"A private lesson, huh?" said Stan. "A private lesson in what?"

"In tennis" answered Hamtaro. "What else would I be talking about?"

"Uh, never mind" said Stan.

"Well, I gotta go" said Tennis as she came down the stairs.

"What? Already? Why so soon?" asked Pashmina.

"My owner's coming home early today, but I'll see you guys tomorrow! Feel free to keep playing, just put the racquets back when you're done." She turned to Hamtaro. "And I'll see you tomorrow afternoon for sure" she winked at Hamtaro before exiting the courts.

"Oh no! This can't be happening!" thought Bijou. "She's fallen for Hamtaro!"

Tennis sat in the tiny house-like part in her cage. "That went better than I thought. If things go this well tomorrow, the plan will be complete in no time! Sorry Bijou, but you don't stand a chance!"

And that's the end of ch.1 of fan fic #2 (Ha! #2!). Are Bijou's suspicious true? What is Tennis planning? How can Hamtaro be oblivious to all of this? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Find out in ch.2, coming soon. Okay, you probably won't find out that last one or the one about Hamtaro, but the 1st two will be answered in this fic sometime. Don't worry, the story will get better.