"Kirihara, please stay behind after class," Mr Jones said, while slamming a bunch of textbooks on his desk. "Sleeping in class will not be tolerated."

"Aah?" Kirihara groaned, still sleepy from his afternoon nap during English class. "What? No! If I'm late for tennis practice again Fukubochou will get me to run another 50 laps!"

"Kirihara, please be quiet this instant. Read from page 36 in the textbook," Mr Jones snarled angrily.

"Hai," he replied sheepishly, feeling defeated.

Kirihara tried to sneak out without getting class, but he got caught.

"Kirihara, where do you think you're going?" snapped Mr Jones. "You still need to write out the entire essay you didn't do for homework, remember?"

"Aaah, sorry, I forgot about that," he said, scratching his head.

Needless to say, he spent the next 45 minutes writing the essay out, under the strict supervision of Mr Jones. After Kirihara had finished writing the whole thing out, he dumped it on Mr Jones' desk and sprinted to the tennis club at top speed.

"Kuso! I'm gunna get killed. I hate that old English teacher," he muttered under his breath. "What's the point in learning English anyway – it's just a waste of time. As if I'm ever going to go to England, of all places."

"Actually, there's a lot of point. Learning another language like English will help you get a job when you're older. Also, it can help you communicate with foreigners, since most people know how to speak English."

Kirihara whirled around, startled at whoever had said that. A girl about 3 inches shorter than him with brown hair and caramel eyes stared back at him with raised eyebrows. She wore a black sports top, leggings, and a black headband. Kirihara blinked in surprise and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Heh, how interesting," he said sarcastically. "Kirihara Akaya, second year… You?"

"Asuka Sai, second year also. I'm a transfer student. Unfortunately, I got lost on the way here, so I missed school," she replied blankly. "Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought that school at Rikkai ended at 3:30. It's nearly 4:00 now."

"Ah no, sorry I need to go – I lost track of the time! Hey, wanna come with me, seeing as you're new here. I'm going to the tennis club; it's pretty fun there."

"Sure, why not," she said grinning boyishly.

"Yukimura Bochou! Sanada Fukubochou!" Kirihara shouted at the top of his voice as he arrived at the tennis courts. "Gomen, gomen, I got stuck behind at class because I was sleepi-

"Tarundoru! 60 laps for being late!" bellowed Sanada.

"Hai hai... Eh, where did she go?" Kirihara said glancing around.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and do your laps. When you're done, you will do 150 side steps before playing a match with Jackal."

"Aah, Sanada Fukubochou, that's a bit mean, don't you think?" he laughed nervously, scratching his head.

"Did you say something?"

"No," he said sheepishly.

Kirihara was about to start his laps when he saw Asuka sitting on a nearby bench beneath an oak tree. She was flicking through some textbooks of some kind. Recognising her immediately, he decided to jog over.

"Hey, what you got there?"

Asuka looked up and said, "Science books. See, I can't disappoint father with my grades. When he gets back from France, I want to prove that I'm working hard."

"Whoa, what? He's overseas? For how long?" asked Kirihara, surprised.

"He's always overseas. He has important business with the French and English prime ministers, but it doesn't matter. He always comes back at least once or twice a year when he needs to discuss issues with the Japanese government though."

"Ah, gomen," he said sympathetically. "Hey I need to get back to my laps before Sanada sees me. See you later, yeah?"

"Actually, I think I'll take my leave now – I should probably go and practice ping pong before it gets too dark. Ja, Kirihara-kun," she said, flashing him a smile.