Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Chapter 1

In Tokyo, the sky was a perfect shade of baby blue. The Sun shone its early dawn rays down at the members of the tennis club running around the courts. An occasional breeze passed them, bringing comfort to them. Beads of perspiration were forming on their forehead, trickling down their necks and backs, drenching their club attire in their body odor and sweat. Only the 9 regular members were still running at ease.

Approaching the club was a girl. She had a beautiful head of long blonde hair that seemed the silkiest, softest and straightest in the entire universe. She had it tied up in a neat, sleek ponytail that swished from side to side as she took a step forward each time. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled under the light given off by the sun's rays, giving her a tinge of beauty perfection. Her skin was fair and flawless with not a single scar or bruising on it. Her face was a perfect circle that was not too round, with a perfect straight sharp nose and nice full pink lips to complete her features. Her height was not too short but a little to the tall side. Her body was shaped like a model's, which would turn heads and gain envy easily. Her walk was smooth and not bouncy as though she herself was a famous model strutting down the catwalk during a fashion show.

She stopped in her tracks as she watched the remaining regulars make their last round before a break could be taken. Catching her eye was the first-year regular. His white cap bobbed up and down as he ran alongside with his seniors. His raven black hair with dark green highlights had sweat dripping from the ends. He was not tall but he could keep up with the tall, well-grown seniors easily. As they made the turn around the last court, all of the regulars emerged together at the finishing point. The girl smiled silently to herself as the regulars laid down on the ground for their break. The other members had gone on with their other practices. The girly slowly took a step closer to them.

The leader noticed her presence immediately. He had golden brown hair that curled outwards at the ends. He wore a pair of thin-framed glasses. His eyes were emotionless and stoic. His mouth was set in a grim line. He spoke in a calm, deep and masculine voice that was rather stern and thick with emotion at the same time," How may we help you?"

The girl looked around and noticed all the regulars' eyes were on her. The first-year regular's eyes widened in shock at sight of her. It then dawned upon him that he had forgotten it was her first day at school and he was supposed to leave with her that morning. He realized that he had left the house late and forgotten about his own sister. He knew he was in deep shit when he got home later that evening, especially when they were on the tennis court. She would be utterly ruthless when she practiced against him when she's mad. The first year decided to pretend to have seen her for the first time in his life. He looked at his sister with feign peculiar interest.

The girl realized that the first year would pretend not to know her at all. She clenched her fist and closed her eyes, thinking of what would she do to him when he got home that day. Upon hearing a sound of someone clearing his throat, she realized that she had totally ignored the question directed at her. She opened her eyes and spoke in her voice that was calm, smooth and as clear as a bell, "Nothing much. Just looking around the school to get to know it better."

She then took another step towards the regulars. She looked at all of them with interest. The regulars felt a sudden cold chill running down their spine as she gave them a sweet smile that would normally melt the entire school's boys' population in less than a millisecond. She took out a racket from her bag and said, "Shall I play with you?"

The regular members looked at her in total shock as she took a ball out from her pocket and balanced it on the third finger of her right hand. She looked at them and smirked. She teased in a voice that could melt the hearts of any boy she met," Afraid of losing, aren't you?"

At that moment, a regular stood up. He was tan and had well-defined muscles. He had short black hair that stood erected on his head. If he weren't in the tennis club, he would be in the basketball club, thought the girl. She looked around and said," So you are the only one willing to play?"

"Bring it on! Let's go on to the court!" Yelled the rash boy. The girl smirked at his reaction and walked towards the court where the regular who had taken up the challenge had walked towards. She could hear the other members gasping as she took a step onto the court. The other regulars had gathered outside the court to watch the match. A member was asked to be the umpire. The Girl was to serve the ball. She bounced the ball against the ground three times and hit the ball with her racket, serving a normal ball. The regular laughed at the ball and shouted, "Is that all you can do?"

The girl smirked quietly as he sent the ball towards her. Confidently, she made a lob to the far end of the court where the regular had left unguarded. Noticing the swift judgment of the way she was to hit the ball, the regular dashed to the corner where she had planned to aim at. The girl calmly hit a drop shot, tricking her opponent. The ball bounced to the ground as silence filled the air with tension. The umpire called out," 15-0."

The girl looked at the regular and announced," Don't underestimate anyone."

With that, she returned to the baseline and served the ball again. She added more power to the serve and an upward spin so that the ball would fly upwards as soon as it hit the ground. The ball was meant to aim for the face of the opponent. The regular was lucky to avoid the ball as who knows what would happen to him if it hit him. He had felt his hand gone completely numb when he tried to return the ball. His racket had been thrown out of his grip by the force of the ball. He looked at the girl who was already waiting for him to be ready.

"30-0"

The girl served again this time bending her flexible body to about 90 degrees backwards and hit a fast serving ball that was so fast it seemed to be invisible to the naked eye. The regular couldn't even move an inch. The other members stared at the ball with utter shock on their faces. They could not believe that a girl could easily thrash one of their regulars with just three serves. Even the umpire had trouble keeping up with the first round of the game. She shot the umpire a look before he finally called out,"40-0."

The girl looked over at the first year standing at the corner, watching his very own sister playing a match against his senior whom he respected a lot. And it was obvious to him that the result was already out in the first round. His sister would bag the game without even breaking a sweat. She would not even turn serious in the game. She was a real prodigy of tennis. If her brother was the prince of tennis, she was the dictator of tennis

The girl looked over at the regular and rolled her eyes. This is so not fun at all. She threw the ball high up into the air and hit the ball with her racket while jumping in the air. The ball was speedy but the regular caught it however, the amount of strength the girl had put on the ball made it not easy for the regular to return it. The ball hit the net and bounced back onto his side of the court.

"Match 1-0!"

The girl looked over at the regular member. Disappointment was written all over her face. She sighed to herself and made her way to the other side of the court for the switch. She had hoped that the regular would pose to be a challenge for her but her hopes were crushed in just that one round. She positioned herself at the baseline and got ready for the serve. The regular served his bullet serve that was fast for most people to catch but the girl proved to be better than most people. She moved to the area where the ball was headed immediately after he served the ball. She hit the ball back with no difficulty at all. The other regulars could see that she was superior in terms of speed, strength and accuracy. She was almost like a machine. She was better than most professional players. The girl ended the game in the next 15 minutes with a score of 6-0. She did not even let the regular score a single point in the game.

Suddenly, the advisor appeared and shouted at the club," Why are all of you slacking here?"

The girl looked over at the advisor. She was indeed an old hag as her father had mentioned to her. She had wrinkles on her face and she had her brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail behind her head. She wore a plain light blue T-shirt and a pair of pink sweatpants. The girl shook the regular's hand and murmured, "Don't be shocked by the result. It's normal for people to get this shock once in a while."

She then breezed out of the court like nothing had happened while the tennis club members all continued their training. She caught the eye of the advisor while she picked her bag up from the bench at the side of the court. Her blonde hair was released from its ponytail as she took off the small piece of elastic that held her hair together. The advisor approached her and said,"Are you new here?"

"Yes, I am starting today."

"I saw your match against Momoshiro just now. Do you have interest in joining the boy's tennis team?"

The girl stared at the advisor with her eyes widening at every second. It was a real wonder that they did not dropped out form her eye sockets given the size of how big she had widened her eyes. Panicking, she stuttered," But.. I… am a… girl…"

"I know that but you just only need to disguise yourself on the day of the tournaments itself. Other than that, I think you could just be yourself and if any interview is to be done with you, I would reject them straight for you if that's what you actually want."

"I am not too sure about this… I mean my father was your student once and all… But I never thought that you would so screwed up in your mind to get me to join the boys' team…"

"Hold on young lady. What do you mean screwed up?...Wait, your father was my student once?"

" Yeah, Echizen Nanjirou. I am His daughter, Echizen Himeko. A second year."