CHAPTER 1 – WELCOME BACK, ECHIZEN

It was the last three days of summer and 4 months before the national tournament. The whole Seigaku tennis club is training and preparing for it. Nobody knows that a great surprise awaits them. After the training, coach Sumire dismissed them. They were about to go when they noticed that somebody was watching them. Everyone was curious of who HE is because his face was blocked by his cap.

"Who are you?"asked Sumire

Everybody was also curious. The boy sighed and adjusted his cap. That time, his face was seen.

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma said.

Everybody was shocked, glad, and happy of course. They started coming over closer to Ryoma. They talked.

"Since when are you here, Ryoma?" asked Sumire. "You surprised us, Echizen."said Momo " Nya, you're so cold, o'chibi. You didn't even informed us about this."exclaimed Eiji.

All agreed to what Eiji have said. They looked at Ryoma.

"Mada mada dane, senpai-tachi." answered Ryoma.

Jokingly, everyone laughed. On the other hand, Just a meter or two, or even three meters away from Ryoma were Tomo and Sakuno staring at him. Tomo was very angry and jealous upon seeing the others close to his crush.

"Aah! I can't take it anymore."Tomo jealously yelled. "I can't just stand here with nothing to do just watching them taking all Ryoma-sama's time talking."Tomo continued. "Stop it, Tomo-chan."Sakuno tried to stop her. But still, Tomo is angry.

"We should do something about this! It's okay if it's only the tennis club members, but look at that, Sakuno, the other OUTSIDER girls are near him. I can't stand staring it. They should first get my permission because I am the president of the Ryoma-sama's fans club! Right, Sakuno?" asked Tomo. "Stop it, Tomo-chan. Calm down. It's so embarrassing." replied Sakuno.

Tomo got angry even more. She went closer to Sakuno with angry, mad, and scary face.

"Why are you like that, Sakuno? Aren't you a fan of him? You've always supported him in his matches but how could you do this?! I can't believe that you are like that!"Tomo scolded her. "Gulp..It's not like that though, Tomo. I don't mean like that."reasoned Sakuno.

Tomo's angry face started to fade away. She started to grin and said,

"Well, if that is so, why won't we go closer to Ryoma-sama."Tomo suggested.

Sakuno blushed. Tomo started dragging her closer to Ryoma. Sakuno just sighed because she can't stop Tomo. Questions were asked at Ryoma. Of course, Ryoma answered it all.

"So how's America, Echizen?"asked Fuji. "How's the tournament, Echizen?"asked Inui. "How's the girls there, Echizen?"asked Momo.

Everyone was silent and curious about Momo's question. Tomo and Sakuno blushed and obviously jealous about it.

"Gulp!"Tomo and Sakuno expected that Ryoma's lovelife is still vacant.

"All I can say is,"Ryoma continued, "America's fine."

Everyone smiled. And of course, Tomo was relieved. Momo stepped closer to Ryoma.

"Why won't you show us what you've learned in America?",Momo suggested.

Everyone there agreed to what he said. They also nodded. Ryoma just sighed and agreed because he now can't refuse. Fuji volunteered himself to be the umpire. They entered the court. All was excited about the match.

"This will be an interesting match." said Oishi. "You're right." answered Eiji. "Fuushuuuu!" muttered Kaidoh.

"You serve first, Echizen."Momo complimented.

The match has begun. Ryoma started to serve. The ball was so fast and made him earn the first point. Everybody was surprised about the serve.

"What was that serve?"asked Arai. "That ball was fast."said Inui. "I think that was a twist serve." said Eiji.

Everyone looked at Eiji.

"Nya?" asked Eiji "How'd you say so, Eiji?" asked Oishi. "Because look at his stance,(they looked at Ryoma while his doing his serve) it looks the same stance he used to do when he's doing twist serves." explained Eiji. "Oh yeah, it is still the same." said Oishi

. "15 – Love" announced Fuji.

The match continued. The first game was Ryoma's. The second game started. It is Momo's turn to serve. He served a strong serve. But still, Ryoma returned it. Momo done a net dash and returned it. Ryoma came closer to the net and done a Drive C. Once again, they are surprised.

"W-what was that?" asked Kaidoh. "That was amazing!" complimented Kawamura. "Drive C." said Ryoma. "Drive C?" said Oishi. "It's like Drive B because of the sliding movement there." said Eiji "A-amazing. Amazing, Echizen!" yelled Momo.

After few hours, the match has ended. The score was 6-2. Ryoma won the match. Everybody was amazed by him including Tezuka, the captain. They went out of the court. People started to heckle them. Tezuka came closer to Ryoma. Ryoma looked at him. The others looked at them, too.

"C-captain,"Ryoma said. "Echizen,"said Tezuka. "Captain," "Well done, you've never let your guard down."Tezuka continued. "Thanks."said Ryoma, "Welcome back, Echizen." said Tezuka.