Emerald: I'm back! This is really sad. I'm supposed to be studying for my Spanish exam, but here I am in the middle of the night. Response to reviews at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Prince of Tennis

Warning: Some Bashing and swearing (I think it's one swear word, not sure).


~Morning Tennis Practice~

Ryoma entered the courts wearing his usual white cap and jersey. "Oi, Echizen!" Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro ran up to where he was standing. Ryoma looked up. "Oh, it is you," said Horio.

"Yeah, we thought that Kage was you at first, because of the hat," said Kachiro, pointing towards a guy wearing a black cap, Katsuo nodded, agreeing with his friend's statement.

Ryoma looked at the boy. He was wearing a similar jersey like his, except where his was white, the boy's shirt was black and where his was red, the boy's was blue. He also wore black shorts and a black hat. The boy turned around, "Kage," said Ryoma. The front of the cap was like his, except for the red 'R' was replaced by a blue 'K'.

Kage raised an eyebrow at Ryoma, Ryoma smirked, walking up to him, the three boys following, "Quite confidant, ne Ryoma?"

"I could say the same for you."

"Nice outfit."

"You too."


~School Entrance~

"Ryoma Echizen and Kage Higurashi, have you heard of them?"

"Iie, who are they?"

"Momo says that Echizen is some kind of kid phenomenon."

"And Kage Higurashi?"

"I heard from Momo that the kid seemed as good as Echizen, Momo had to ask around for his name because the kid wouldn't say anything."

"Hey, whatever, if they are good, it'll benefit the team."


~Tennis Courts~

"Morning practice… This is rough, I wonder if I'll last the day…" said Kachiro.

"Hm. I thought it was strange that Momoshiro-senpai was beaten so easily. He hurt his foot, so he wasn't even playing with half his strength," said Horio.

"He was injured?" Katsuo said.

"I couldn't tell at all," said Kachiro, "Sugoi, na."

"Like I said last time… The other regulars had a match, so they weren't here," said Horio.

Horio looked at Ryoma and Kage, they were tying their shoes, not paying attention.

"Echizen, Higurashi, are you two listening?" Horio asked.

"Not at all," Ryoma replied easily.

Horio made a grumbling sound, "No matter, this just shows that a freshman can't be as good as a regular. Seigaku's level is just too high."

"Why does your age or year matter? It's your skill that you measure, not how old you are," said Kage, 'That should shut him up.'

Kage's thoughts, however, were proven wrong when Horio continued after a short pause, "Freshmen just don't have that kind of skill. Even though the regulars aren't here yet, the rest are still really good."

"I want to see a regular's match soon," said Kachiro.

"Must be awesome," said Katsuo.

"Did you guys know about the monthly ranking matches held in this school?" Horio asked.

Not waiting for an answer, he continued on, "Every month, we use the matches to determine the regulars. This is one of the secrets that keep Seigaku strong," said Horio.

Ryoma and Kage silently stood up and walked away.

A group of boys came up, a sandy brown haired boy said, "You're pretty knowledgeable, that's cool."

"H… Heh. It's nothing really, I'd call this common sense," said Horio, rubbing the back of his head.


"There are some who know nothing but useless information," Ryoma said, Kage nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey, which one of you is the "super rookie"?" asked one of the older students.

"Super rookie," Ryoma asked, he pretended to think about it, "Oh, there," he said pointing to Horio, who was talking about something.

"Huh, that guy? I see, he stands out with those colorful clothes." He walked towards Horio who was saying, "They're already one of the top 4 in the Kantou region. Seigaku regulars are awesome."

"Freshmen, why are you guys standing there?" asked an upperclassman.

"Let them be," said his opponent. The first guy just turned away.

"I want to play against the captain in the ranking matches," said Horio, "Maybe I can even take a point. Haha."

""H… Hey…" Katsuo said, trying to warn Horio of the approaching upperclassman.

"Don't get all arrogant. Stop this ranking match nonsense. If you think a freshman can play in it, you're a fool; it's only for ninth graders and up, maybe eighth graders. You freshman are ball fetching and doing stamina training till the summer. Regulars will be determined from juniors and seniors."

"Eh? No Way," said Horio.


"You know he was talking about you, super rookie," Kage said to Ryoma as they watched the upperclassman chew Horio out.

"So?"

"He's going to find out eventually." Ryoma just shrugged, but paused as he thought of something; "If you jinx this..." he said trailing off.

Kage only smirked at Ryoma from underneath his hat.


Arai walked up to the upperclassman confronting the freshman, "Why are you wasting your time on the freshmen?"

"Ah… this is the super rookie."

"Huh? What are you talking about? The one that played Momoshiro the other day isn't him, it's that guy, with the white cap."

"Huh? Why that twerp, trying to make a fool out of me, I'll show him," the blue haired upperclassman said.


"Looks like he knows," said Kage, bouncing the tennis ball on his racket, pretending to not pay attention, Ryoma was standing next to him doing the same.


~In the Locker Rooms~

Kage went into one of the stalls for the bathroom and came out in his school uniform and heard Horio talking, 'No, not talking, more like bragging.'

"I heard that the captain, Tezuka, went undefeated. Isn't that awesome?" Horio asked.

"That's nothing for you to brag about," said Kachiro.

"Yeah," Katsuo agreed.

"Oi, Echizen… Isn't it bad to be hated by the juniors? You should be careful. That Arai-senpai seems pretty strict about high-low grade relationships," said Horio, "He must hate you."

"Arai doesn't hate Ryoma because he's a freshman, he hates him because Ryoma got him in trouble with Momo-senpai," said Kage, putting on his sneakers.

"Then he hates you too," said Ryoma.

"Of course, but not as much as you," said Kage.

Horio nodded, "That makes sense-AHHHH! Echizen, that's Arai-senpai's jacket!"

"Huh? Oh this?" Ryoma asked, looking at the jacket, which he was sitting on.

"Why did you have to be sitting on Arai-senpai's jacket!"

"Oh well," said Ryoma getting up, leaving the messed up jacket where it was.

Kage just shook his head at Ryoma's nonchalance. 'Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk, plus, Arai's not gonna know who did it, just that it happened.'

"Damn, I just stepped on someone's racket," said Horio, picking it up and examining it.

"That's a really old racket," Kachiro commented.

"Dusty too," said Katsuo, "look, there's another one." He pointed to another racket behind Horio, it looked similar to the one Horio had stepped on.

"Thank goodness it isn't Arai-senpai's," said Horio, he picked up both rackets and put them on a shelf, "Come on, if we don't hurry, the class will start." He walked to the door and opened it, he walked out without looking and ran straight into someone, falling on his ass, he looked up. There, towering over him stood Arai, his two friends on either side of him.

"Watch where you're going, monkey!"

There was a moment of silence, than Ryoma and Kage made their way to the door, walking outside, side by side, not looking at the older kids in front of them.

"Cheers," said Ryoma, Kage didn't even bother to talk; he just lifted his hand in a small wave, not uttering a word.

"Oi! What was that? Was that supposed to be a greeting to me?" Arai asked.

Ryoma and Kage didn't even look back, they just kept walking, "You bastards," said Arai. Horio and the others saw their chance and ran out of the locker rooms.


"Did you see their attitudes? Taking liberties with us…" said Arai, walking into the locker room.

He saw his jacket, messed up on the bench, "Who did this? Messing up my jacket! Damn! Everything's turning out annoying!"

"What were the names of those two?" asked the red head, "They're really getting to you."

"The one who said "cheers" was Ryoma Echizen and the one who waved was Kage Higurashi, because of them, Momoshiro's so mad at me," Arai replied.

"I heard both of them are very good, if they get into the ranking matches, it could mean trouble, we could get kicked off the team," said the blue haired boy.

"There is no way I'm letting that happen, they're only in seventh grade!"

'I've got to find a way to embarrass those two in front of everyone,' thought Arai.


~Random Classroom~

"Well, Tezuka, have you divided all the players evenly into 4 blocks yet," asked Coach Ryuzaki, "This ranking match will be determining the regular members for the district tournament. Must be tough. We have so many good players, the challenges will be a lot of fun this year."

"Yeah," said Tezuka, tapping his pen on the desk.

"Speaking of which, Coach, aren't there two rookies you're kind of rooting for? Two seventh graders, maybe?" Oishi asked.

"It doesn't matter what I think… Basically, our freshman can't play in a ranking match till the summer."

"Well, I think it's really the captain's choice," said Oishi. Both shared a glance, smiling at the other.


~Tennis Courts After School~

"Why are the practices here so tough?" asked Horio, panting and out of breath, he looked at Ryoma and Kage.

"You two aren't even out of breath!"

Kage looked at Horio, "It really isn't that bad," Kage said. Ryoma nodded, "Mada Mada Dane."

"NO LETTING UP! FIFTY MORE SIT UPS!" A voice yelled at the freshman.

"No way!"

"I can't believe it!"

"I just joined!" Came the varying responses from the freshmen.

Horio held onto Ryoma's legs as Katsuo held onto Kage's legs, Kachiro counted his sit-ups as his friend, Kyoshi, held his legs, "23… 24… 25… 26…"

Kage and Ryoma were almost done, "48… 49…50."

"Hey, Echizen, look behind you, it's them," whispered Horio, at the same time, Katsuo said, "Kage, behind you." Kage and Ryoma both turned around at the same time. They saw Arai standing over them with his two buddies at his side.

Kage and Ryoma just looked at them, Arai looked to the side, he saw Ryoma's and Kage's tennis bags on a bench, he scoffed, 'Who the hell do these kids think they are? Carrying three rackets,' Arai thought.

"Echizen, Higurashi, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, just because you two can play a little, doesn't mean you'll get into the ranking tournament. The regulars rock, and they're coming back today. Don't worry, we'll put you two in your places before they get back," said Arai, he stopped as Katsuo said, "Look!"

Horio gasped.

"Hey, they're here!"

Arai turned around, "What?"

Everyone watched as they entered and walked passed them, wearing the regular Seigaku outfit and carrying their tennis bags.

"Cheers!" Everyone said to the Seigaku regulars.

"Everyone relax, just find a court and start to hit," said Oishi, "We'll give you a chance to show us your best stuff."

"Alright! We'll get to play," was heard from the freshmen around the court.

"You know that's Captain Tezuka, he went undefeated all last year," said Horio, pointing at Oishi.

"Actually, that's vice captain Oishi," said Kage.

As if to prove Kage right, Fuji said, "Hey, Oishi, let's you and me go out and hit some balls."

"That's a good idea, we can warm up before Tezuka gets here," Oishi replied.

Kachiro and Katsuo looked at Horio, "I don't think that's Captain Tezuka," said Kachiro, Katsuo nodded. Horio put his hands behind his head, and with a blush on his face, acted like he didn't know what they were talking about.


Everyone watched as Oishi served and, no matter where the ball went, the players always hit it into the basket that was beside Oishi. "Let's do two balls now, right after the other," said Fuji.

Oishi nodded, "Alright." Oishi served two balls, one after the other with rapid accuracy; again, Fuji just hit them into the basket. Inui, Kaidoh, and Kikumaru, also hit them into the basket.

Wow's and Sugoi's came from the seventh graders around the court, all watching the Regulars warm up.

"Our team is pretty darn good all right, you get it now, hey you two, Echizen and Higurashi?"

Oishi served two balls one after the other, "Darn, I hit them to far," said Oishi. The two balls went into the air, one came at Ryoma, and the other went towards Kage.

Ryoma and Kage looked up, holding their rackets, they both leaned back at the same time and hit the ball with precision, making both balls land in the basket at the same time. The balls hit the basket so hard, that another ball got disturbed and landed on the ground; it rolled on the ground before coming to a stop a few inches away from the basket.

Everyone just gaped at the two, "Huh?" Arai said, shaking out of his stupor. He looked at the two rookies.

"Now, that wasn't so hard," said Kage, smiling he turned towards Ryoma, "What do you think?"

Ryoma turned to look at Kage, nodding, "It was unexpectedly easy," he said smiling.

"What, you think you two can show off here, I'm going to show you two who's on top of the ladder around here," Arai said while grabbing the front of Kage's and Ryoma's shirt with each hand.

"What's going on guys," asked a new voice.

Everyone turned to look at the person standing in front of the court entrance. "Captain!" came everyone's voice together.

"I want you three to run 10 laps around the court," said Tezuka.

"W… Wait, they were-" Arai tried to explain, but Tezuka cut him off, "20 laps. Now."

"H…Hai!" Arai said.

"Everyone else, warm up! When they're done, juniors and seniors will enter the courts! Freshman, collect balls."

"Hai!" Came the reply from the tennis club members.

"Tezuka," Oishi called, Tezuka turned around and went towards Oishi.

"Damn! Those two, I'm gonna make them pay," Arai said, "Them and their hats!"

"Man, did you look dumb," said the blue haired upperclassman, he squeaked and held his hands in a gesture of surrender as Arai glared at him. Arai saw the tennis bags belonging to the two freshmen; he came up with a plan. "Hey guys, come here a minute."


Ryoma and Kage finished their laps, when they came to the bench for their rackets, they didn't see their tennis bags.

"Keep it going, low to high…65… 66… 67…"

"Hey, guys, did you finish 20 laps?" Kachiro asked.

"Yeah," Kage replied for the both of them, looking around for their tennis bags.

"Man, you don't even look tired," commented Katsuo.

"Seventh graders have to practice top spins, get started," said Horio.

"Yeah," said Ryoma still looking around for the bags.

"Hey…Horio, have you seen our tennis bags?" asked Kage. As Horio opened his mouth to respond, someone else cut him off.

"Pretty dumb to come to practice without your rackets," came the voice of Arai.

"Think you two are better than everyone else, huh?" asked the redhead.

"Well, they are the hotshot rookies," said the guy with the blue hair.

"Better stop goofing off." They started laughing.

"Oh, no… here we go again," said Horio.

"If you think you're that good, we'll play ya, aw, darn it, we forgot you don't have rackets," said Arai.

"Here, I have two extras," said the red head, handing Arai and the blue haired guy the two beat up old rackets.

Arai threw a racket to Ryoma while his blue haired friend threw a similar racket to Kage. They both caught the rackets and examined them.

"Wow, I can't believe it," said Horio.

"Those are from the locker rooms," said Katsuo.

"Kage, Ryoma, you can't play with those," said Kachiro, "The strings are old and the frames are broken."

"So hotshots, what's wrong with you guys now?" asked Arai smugly, "What's the deal, don't you two want to play us any more?"

'Arai is such a jerk,' thought Horio, 'He knows that no one can play with rackets like those.'

Ryoma and Kage just stared at Arai and his friends.


"Hey, look," said Kikumaru, nodding towards Arai and the freshmen that had made a circle around one spot.

"Hmm?'' said Inui, looking towards the group.

"Arai is picking on the new seventh graders again."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," said Kikumaru, scratching his head, "But Captain Tezuka is going to be furious."


"Man, it seems to me like those rackets are perfect for two showboats like you," said Arai, "Learn your lessons and shape up little men, then if you're lucky, you're rackets will mysteriously reappear, hahaha."

Kage gained a gleam in his eye, when he looked at Ryoma; he saw the same thing happening. Kage smirked; those two were going to get what was coming, and it would be humiliating.

"Just stay cool," said Horio, he was ignored by Ryoma and Kage as they walked towards an open court.

"When you don't have it," said Ryoma.

"You just have to take it," finished Kage.

"What was that? You accusing us of something, you little twerps," asked Arai in a dangerous tone.

"Whatever," said Ryoma.

"Big shot, let's just play," said Kage to the blue haired guy.

"Hey, I think I'll stick around for this," said Fuji.


Arai and the blue haired guy took their positions on the courts.

"My serve!" said the blue haired upperclassman. He threw the ball into the air and served.

After a few tries on both of their parts, they knew how to beat Arai and his friend, "I've got it," said Kage and Ryoma together.

Arai and Hiro (AN: I'm tired of calling him the "blue haired upperclassman") were both surprised when the two returned the serves with the old racket.

"Wow, they did it."

"I thought that was a clean winner."

"Maybe the rackets weren't so bad."

"Don't kid yourself, they're actually that good!"

"They rotated their bodies to put extra spin on the ball," said Kikumaru.

"Don't kid yourself, just because you got lucky," said Arai.

"It was only a fluke," said Hiro.

"Hit this," shouted Hiro, serving a particularly fast ball.

Kage ran towards the net, he stopped at a small distance and spun around, hitting the ball; it went into the court and struck the fence behind it, going right past Hiro's face.

Fuji smirked, "A great calligrapher doesn't need to choose his pens…"

"They'll win, watch out," said Inui.

"Yeah," said Kikumaru happily.


On the courts, Arai and Hiro were thinking the same thing, 'I can't believe that little creep is going to beat me! Especially with that banged up old racket!'

"Don't trip on the ball," said Ryoma.

On the other court, "Don't fall on your face, that would be really embarrassing," said Kage.

With one last hit, Ryoma and Kage turned the tables. Arai and Hiro fell to their knees in disbelief, their eyes were wide and their mouths wide open in shock.

"I can't believe my eyes," said Horio, "Echizen and Higurashi are totally that good! They could probably even play with a frying pan."

"Ryoma Echizen and Kage Higurashi," said Inoue.

"Those seventh graders are amazing!"

"All right Kage and Ryoma!" called Kachiro and Katsuo.

"Hey, that was a bad move, making the eighth grade team look dumb," said Kaidoh.

"Come on Kaidoh," said Inui.

"I'm outta here," he said walking away.


"So I guess it's time to turn up the heat," said Ryoma.

On the other court, "Why don't we make it even more interesting," asked Kage.

"Uh, no… no," said Hiro and Arai together, looking afraid of their opponents.

"Look, Echizen has a broken string, and Higurashi's frame is slightly cracked," said Horio.

"Where?" they both asked simultaneously, looking at their rackets.

"Oh, that isn't a big problem,'' said Kage.

"No worries,'' said Ryoma, "We're not finished playing yet, Arai, you ready?"

Arai and Hiro both backed away, "Just let it go already, it's only practice," said Hiro to Kage.

"Yeah, they look tired, and hey, this match doesn't even count," said Akio (AN: He is the redhead on Arai's side).

"No way," said Kage and Ryoma together.

Kage and Ryoma threw the ball into the air and hit it hard towards their opponents.


From the window of a classroom, Oishi and Tezuka watched the two rookies play with the broken rackets.

"So Captain, what do you think?" asked Oishi.

"I can't let anyone break the rules, have everyone run laps," said Tezuka.

"Even the regulars?"

"Everyone," Tezuka said, he walked out the door and slid it shut.

"Well, well," said Oishi, taking one last look at the playing rookies before leaving the room.

"What's this," said Coach Ryuzaki, as she glanced at the paper for the ranking matches, she smiled, 'So, he picked Echizen and Higurashi, huh?'


Emerald: Wow, 3,484 words (give or take)! Be glad people this is a lot for me. Oh, boy, the next chapter is going to be extra hard. Wow, it is 5:46 AM, it took me all night to write this chapter!

To my reviewers: Thank you all for reading this story and taking the time to review, I really appreciate it.

LoveYa: Thank you for reviewing. Here is your update.

Animebird16: This is a RyomaXKagome pairing and I agree that there are not enough of these.

Dark Void Princess 21: Thank you for reviewing and I'm so glad you like it.

AnimeGrl2519: I'm so glad you like it.

Eva318: Here's the update.

Jessica: Originally, when I was watching Prince of Tennis, I got the idea in my head that what if everyone thought Ryoma was gay… I'll leave that for your imagination. I wouldn't want to give away too much!

Fanficlover16000: Yes the pairing is RyomaXKagome; I'm so glad you like it!

For all those who reviewed, you get: Cupcakes!

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