Starting a new girl's tennis team shouldn't be hard. Add in a team manager with a superiority complex, a boy's tennis team that doesn't understand the concept of sharing, and an entire school with enough confidence to overthrow Japan…and well, you have Hyotei. Chapter 1: "You'll soon find that Hyotei does things quite differently that other schools in general."
Apparently, it's Hyotei
Chapter 1: To begin
People always want school to start until school actually starts
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"Most schools have a loud system of loud bells, which startle the students and teachers at regular intervals and remind them that time is passing even more slowly than it seems."- Lemony Snicket
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"Hello, I'm Kato Asami. I'm glad to be a part of your class."
"Please be respectful and kind to your new classmate." The teacher said in her unwavering monotone voice. The girl standing at the front of the class bowed deeply, her black hair almost skimming the floor. "Kato-san, you may sit behind Shishido-san. Shishido-san raise your hand." A boy wearing a baseball hat backwards waved his hand in the air for a half-second while staring out the window the entire time.
There was a mixture of responses to the new student's introduction, mostly of fleeting interest and short glances. But Asami noticed one girl had immediately straightened in her seat when she was introduced. Her straight white-dyed hair was pulled into a tight ponytail and gave her a very harsh look. Her sharp dark brown eyes roamed over Asami in a short appraisal before the girl turned to dig through her backpack.
Asami decided to ignore the girl, and follow the teacher's instructions to sit behind the boy with the baseball cap. Quickly she lost interest in the subject matter the teacher was addressing, as was everyone else including the teacher herself.
Asami had been warned about Hyotei. Everyone had been warned about Hyotei. A school with an abundant amount of over-cultured, bratty-assed kids with too much money and not enough time to pay attention to anyone other than themselves.
When her father told her they were moving and that she would be attending Hyotei, dread would be the best name to give the feeling of bottomless in her stomach. But she promised herself to take things in the best light. Hytoei was nothing short of an elite school, the elite school for that matter. And it was an honor to become one of their students. Asami had always disliked gossip and figured she would formulate her own opinion of Hyotei and their students based on her judgment. It was only fair.
Still there was this feeling….an anxious annoyance. New student jitters weren't unfamiliar to her since she moved a lot with her family. However she was a little pissed that she was spending her third and final year of high school in a snob infested institution where no one knew her. But that particular judgment aside…she was prepared to take on anything Hyotei could spit at her.
The boy in front of her suddenly turned around with a piece of paper between his fingers.
"Uh…I'm Shishido-"
"I'm Asami." She smiled brightly raising her hand to shake his. He blinked at it for a moment before raising his eyes back to her.
"You don't seem like the kind of girl that would greet people with a handshake." He surmised with a slight scowl, "And you introduced yourself with your first name."
"You don't seem like the kind of boy who would try to befriend the new transfer student." She answered back still smiling, and her hand unwavering. "And I know how I introduced myself." Shishido stared at her for a moment before sighing. He then placed the piece of paper he was holding into her hand.
"This is from Reiko." He said. She accepted the letter looking curiously at it.
"Who?" she asked, he pointed to the same girl with white hair that was sitting up front.
"Try not to the scream with joy when you read it," Shishido turned back around and raised his hand with a short backward salute, "Nice meeting you Kato."
She was left with a view of his worn out cap and the teacher talking about something concerning another thing. Asami glanced down at the paper, it has a royally decorated border and embellished at the top with clean strokes of letters forming the sentence: Welcome to Hyotei.
She frowned as she continued reading.
All the students of Hyotei welcome you to one of the highest acclaimed and most prominent high schools in the nation. You should be proud to become one of our students and are advised to make wise decisions as they will now be made in the name of Hyotei. As you may know it is required by all students to join two clubs to promote versatility. You are expected nothing less of excellence.
That being said, as a member of the prestigious lineage of Hyotei Students you are formally welcomed to join the ranks of the school's top and foremost club. We have recruited more than 65% of the school's population and you will be pleased to know that we provide the best assets to our members. Please keep us high on your consideration list, and when you have a response ready contact the President of our club Hidaka Reiko.
Sincerely, The Hyotei Tennis Fan Club
Asami had never been more confused in her life.
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Oshitari was rather pleased with this year's seating arrangements. With a window having a view of the empty blue sky on his left and a deskmate with a completely empty head to his right, there was no room for any potential fan girls to ruin his school year.
Not to mention his deskmate was none other than Narita Saniro. He'd known the boy since he was in middle school, he was one of those friends you never really talked with outside of class but seemed integral to your school life.
What was even better was Saniro's position as Vice-president of the student council. In most schools this title would bless it's holder with privileges beyond imagination. At Hyotei it meant dealing with the holy presence himself, the President of the student council Atobe Kiego.
Oshitari smirked at the thought as he glanced away from his romance novel and down at Saniro snoozing peacefully on top of crossed arms. There was nothing more amusing than watching a conversation between the two, Saniro had a knack for biting sarcasm and Atobe had a knack to promote biting sarcasm. This year was going to be delightful.
Speaking of Atobe…he was proudly sitting in the middle of class. For some reason every year he graced the middle of the classroom as the reign of his domain. It had something do with a safety hazard so his fans wouldn't block any exits during an emergency. That and probably so he could physically manifest the idea of him always being in the center of attention.
In any case Oshitari disliked sitting in the middle and being the secondary receiver of all of Atobe's flatterings. Not that Oshitari didn't get his fair share of obsessed fan girls. In fact, Oshitari was at least thankful for that. With Atobe in his class Oshitari wasn't the sole focus of the menace that is fangirls.
Oshitari blinked when Atobe suddenly rose from his seat and immediately turned towards his desk. The tennis captain's eyes straight on Saniro. Oshitari elbowed the boy to wake him up. He groaned lowly but remained still.
"Bastard. I was sleeping."
"Atobe's coming to talk to you." Oshitari replied flipping a page in his book.
"That bastard. I was sleeping." Saniro growled keeping his head pressed against the desk. Oshitari glanced back up to see that the tennis captain was taking his time striding towards the pair, a gallant trot of sorts that was enough to cause the tensai to roll his eyes. It appeared that the idea of his final year of high school had yet to deteriorate that over-brimming self-perception of himself.
Which wasn't surprising, Oshitari didn't expect a humble Atobe anytime soon. However, he thought maybe his expression of his confidence would be more subtle. Then again Atobe was anything but subtle.
Atobe finally reached their desk, he nodded to Oshitari in acknowledgement. The two had already greeted each other this morning while walking into school. Atobe's eyebrows quirked at the sight of his vice-president sleeping."Ah, Narita. We have much to discuss."
"I look forward to it." Saniro said barely lifting his head off his desk. "And hello to you too."
Atobe frowned deeply, "You appearance is defiling the atmosphere around Ore-sama, why are you so tired?"
Saniro's head popped back up, a slightly alarmed look on his face. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. You will remember the amount of effort Ore-sama puts in to being Student Council President."
"Yes Atobe."
"Then Ore-sama expects the best out of all those beneath him." Oshitari looked up from his book with a sigh, of course right at the best part.
"It's the first day of school, calm down Atobe." Oshitari said evenly a smirk on his face that didn't reach his eyes as he glanced at Saniro. Oshitari returned his gaze back to Atobe and nodded when the tennis captain narrowed his eyes.
"Very well." He smirked, "Ore-sama expects an excellent year out of both of you."
"Okay." Saniro bluntly replied.
"Of course." Oshitari added on with pointed elegance. Atobe shared one last look with Oshitari before turning back to his desk, meeting the flock of fangirls who had to this point been too shocked at finding out they were in the same class as Atobe to act up about it.
"You do look tired you know. More than usual of course, which is saying a lot considering how lazy you are." Oshitari mentioned closing his book and any hopes of finishing the novel today. Saniro didn't say anything just gave him a dismissive wave.
"So…shall we start?" Saniro smiled pulling out a piece of paper. He quickly wrote out the heading: Atobe's Yearly Total. The pair had made a habit of keeping track of the money Atobe spent at his leisure, what started out as a stupid joke in middle school grew into a tradition.
Oshitari smirked, "He's already spent 2,303,255 yen this morning."
Saniro raised an eyebrow, "Bad breakfast?"
"Elevators." Atobe nearly tripped going down the stairs this morning. Nearly, because Atobe would never actually trip. "He's going to install them within the week."
"I'm actually surprised we don't have elevators already."
"Atobe initially thought they were an excuse to slack off in needed exercise."
Saniro frowned, "Not when you have eleven god damn floors. It reaches a point where heart attacks are more likely that an increase in body fat."
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Ever since she received the strange letter from Hidaka, Asami focused on the girl. She seemed nothing like the President of a fan club would be like. The girl seemed very stoic, which invariably seemed like the opposite of how a fan girl should be. Logically the president of a bunch of boy crazed girls would be the craziest one of them all.
But this Hidaka chick was focused and serious. She seemed to fit the role of smartest student in the class rather than a fan girl of all things.
Regardless, Asami was still baffled about the letter. If there was one thing Asami learned from her tenure at various schools it was that fan clubs could be absolutely vicious. And tennis fan girls were blood thirsty devils.
To be invited into the fan club so pain free was… strange. If the letter was correct most of the female population was already in the club. Maybe this was a way to cut out the middle man and recruit as many members as possible. But Asami couldn't shake the feeling that all of this was way too weird for her liking.
When class was dismissed she watched suspiciously as Hidaka took her time to gather her things. Everyone else seemed eager to leave the classroom however and the room was emptying rather quickly.
Someone suddenly knocked on her desk snapping her to attention. She looked up to see Shishido who looked slightly amused. "Have fun talking to Reiko, later Kato." Asami blinked watching him go over to Hidaka's desk. He smiled at her and she returned the smile, the two conversed briefly before Shishido left. And just as Asami predicted Hidaka turned straight from her desk towards her.
"So you read the letter?" Hidaka appeared right next to her desk her arms folded and her eyes locked on Asami. Her smile from her conversation with Shishido had dropped. Asami stood up and smiled, similarly to before with Shishido, offering her hand.
"Well aren't you polite." Hidaka observed, reaching out to meet her hand. "I'm Hidaka Reiko by the way. The President of the Tennis Fan club."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Asami said, she took out the letter and looked back up at Hidaka. "This is certainly an interesting way of welcoming a new student, an invitation to join your club…"
The white-haired girl didn't seem fazed. "You'll soon find that Hyotei does things quite differently that other schools in general."
"I can tell already. Although I'm curious," Asami said glancing down at the letter. "Are you recruiting me just so that I won't be in the way of any romantic prospects you might have towards the male tennis players?"
Hidaka paused, thinking for a moment before responding. "While I might indeed have romantic feelings for some of the tennis players that does not nor will it ever concern you. Regardless of your endeavors at this school. Any new female students are immediately asked to join the club; you could call it tradition in a twisted sort of way."
"Why only female students?"
"I'm sure you can figure that out on your own. Are you joining?" she asked stiffly.
"Are you going to declare me an enemy if I don't?" Asami smiled slyly.
Hidaka looked her up and down, "As long as you don't mess with me." She muttered seriously.
Asami laughed, "Well that's somewhat reassuring. At least you're better than the fan-club president at my old school. She was crazy, made me sign a petition that I would not pursue any of the boy's tennis players." Asami shuddered at the reminder.
"Why did she single you out?" Hidaka asked.
"Well the girl's tennis team shared the courts with the boys' team, and I was one of the girl regulars so I spent a lot of time with them."
"I see." Hidaka frowned, "Where did you used to go?"
"Shitenhouji, I moved from Osaka."
"You're from Osaka?" Although Hidaka was surprised it was hardly noticeable, just a slight widening of her eyes, "I couldn't tell. You talk like you're from Tokyo."
Asami shrugged, "I only lived there for a couple of years, my dad's job makes our family move around a lot. Anyway, that's enough about me. This letter also mentioned having two clubs as a requirement, what's up with that?"
Hidaka stared at her seriously, "This is Hyotei. We're a prestigious school, and we're expected to live up to high expectations. Extracurricular activities help improve the student image."
"I see." Asami sighed, apparently she didn't have a choice. "What is the other club that you are in?"
"The student council, I'm the secretary."
Asami's eyes rose, "President it one and secretary in the other. Pretty impressive. Does being secretary of the student council give you any advantages?"
"Well, I'm in charge of many of the school events so it's convenient to be able to schedule around Atobe-sama's major events."
"Atobe-sama?" Asami asked.
Hidaka had an appalled look for half a second before her face blanked again, "Right, I almost forgot you're new here. Still…" her eyes narrowed at Asami for a split-second. "Well, never mind. Atobe-sama is the captain of the boy's tennis team."
Asami nodded, "So you worship him like a god." Hidaka smirked.
"What are you talking about, he is a god." Hidaka seemed resolute in this statement, Asami almost wanted to laugh but she stopped herself. If this Hidaka girl had proven one thing so far, it was that she had definite power in this school. Asami didn't feel like being declared the school enemy this year. "But to move the conversation along, any idea of what club you are interested in joining?"
"Well I do enjoy tennis…you probably figured that out." Asami rolled her head to the side still thinking, "But I don't know whether I would want to join the fan club."
Hidaka gave her a blank look, "That's reasonable."
"Ah, thanks for understanding." Asami replied with a weak laugh. Hidaka was a bit of a…stiffneck. "I think I'd be a lot more interested in the girl's tennis team."
Hidaka stared at her, but instead of her usual stare it seemed more bewildered. "What are you talking about?"
"No offense, I love watching tennis and supporting certain players. Cheering….well some think it isn't a sport. I say they're wrong. But I much more enjoy actually playing. It's just a sport I really need to get involved in."
"No." Hidaka said bluntly. "I meant, how can you join the girl's tennis team?"
Asami frowned, "I mean…I'm not that bad…."
Hidaka sighed irritably, "Kato-san. There is no girls' team. Hyotei doesn't have a girl's tennis team."
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A/N: A gentle reminder, this isn't going to focus solely on the girl's tennis team or Asami, although this is a rather large element of the story. It's a look in Hyotei as a school. Expect a lot of OC's and appearances from characters on other teams. And please let me know how I'm doing. My grammar might be bad; I don't have a beta reader. But I'm curious about whether you liked my OC's. Criticism is welcomed and appreciated.