Phoenix

Hello! The prologue took a lot of effort to write, actually, because I usually about dramatic things, and that's pretty dramatic, but...yeah, I don't usually put in so much detail. Well, enjoy the story, and leave reviews!

Chapter 1

Smack. Smack. Smack. I rushed up to the net after a series of good forehands, preparing to volley. Instead, the opponent sent the ball sailing easily past me, much faster than any normal ball should go. I turned and dashed after it, preparing to hit an under-the-legs shot, but just as my strings were supposed to make contact with the ball, it disappeared, just like Fuji-senpai's Disappearing Serve. I hit the ground more roughly than I ever had in my life and I felt my ankle give way under me. What happened? I limped off to the side, keeping the weight off of my foot. The crowd started booing and howling.

That's when I looked up in the audience. She was there, her auburn hair tied into braids. I hadn't seen her in so long. However, when I looked a little more closely, I noticed that her eyes were dead and her fists were clenched. She looked up and I could hear her say, despite all the noise, "Ryoma?"

"Sakuno!" I said, dropping my racket and running up the stands, hand outstretched. Just as I touched her fingertips, though, a bolt of lightning lashed across the sky. Sakuno squealed and grabbed my hand, pulling my closer to her. Her hand, however, felt soft and fluffy, just like the fur of-

"KARUPIN!" I bellowed as I sat up in bed. He had slept on my face again, suffocating me and heating me up a couple degrees that I didn't want. Karupin meowed, a smug look on his feline features, and strutted out of my room. I growled after him to stay away and flopped back down. A pool of sweat had collected on my pillow again. This year had the worst summer that I could remember.

The dream disturbed me. It wasn't the first time I had thought of her since she left, but it was the only time that it wasn't a memory. She had been gone for, what, two years now? In the middle of the second year of middle school, Sakuno had simply vanished. Even her best friend, Tomoka, had been baffled and frightened. She had accused me of scaring her off or something along those lines. In all honesty, I had thought that she had done something.

I received two clues as to what happened when two strange newspaper articles appeared, each a month or so apart. The first one was of a man and a woman murdered in their hotel rooms in London. What alarmed me was that the father's surname was Ryuzaki.

Sakuno's surname.

The second, and final, article was that an elderly woman was found dead in an alley with an unconscious girl next to her. The grainy picture had a girl with braids facing away from the picture taker, bowing her head to the older woman's body. I knew at one glance that the old woman was Ryuzaki-sensei and the girl was Sakuno. My Sakuno.

My father, the Old Man, called my name from downstairs. "Hey! Breakfast!"

I shouted back a reply and brushed my teeth quickly. It was when I sat down at the table that I realized: I hadn't changed out of my pajamas.

Old Man gave me a strange look. "Well, something's bothering you."

"What would an old perv like you know." I grumbled, standing up to get clothes. Dad didn't reply. He knew better.

An old, faded t-shirt and a pair of tennis shorts was lying on my desk, so that's what I put on. I realized, with a sense of nostalgia, that the t-shirt was the one that Ryuzaki-sensei had given me when I stayed at Sakuno's house a couple years back. My stomach turned, remembering the gruesome murder of Sakuno's grandmother. I shook my head, forced the thought out of my head, and clomped back downstairs.

The Old Man was gone, probably outside reading his dirty magazines again. I sighed and washed my dishes, then put on a pair of shoes and headed outside.

On days when it was too hot to play tennis without risking heatstroke, like today, I would take a walk down to Seishun Gakuen- or, Seigaku- and see which idiots made the mistake of hitting. It didn't seem like anyone was here today, which was good, because I didn't want to call an ambulance like I did last week. That wasn't pretty; the guy had vomited, then passed out. I was the only one with a phone.

On the way there, I passed Eiji-senpai and Fuji-senpai, who were sitting outside an ice cream shop. Eiji challenged Fuji to beat him in a video game, to which Fuji had laughed and said "I'll make you suffer, boy." They didn't see me, which was good, because I didn't want to be dragged into a video game tournament.

Finally, I reached the courts. It was the same as I had remembered; the regularly cleaned courts, the ball carts and hoppers resting against the bathroom wall. A single tennis ball sat outside the gate. I picked it up and bounced it as I walked.

A weeping willow that had been planted recently was standing stubbornly on the other side of the courts. I liked that tree; it was hardy and beautiful. Sakuno had once said that the only living thing she liked more than that weeping willow was a certain cat. With a hint of annoyance, I told her that if she ever got a cat like Karupin, she would regret it. Sakuno laughed. "He's just like you; you just don't realize it." she said, giggling.

I had grumbled and gave her braid a gentle, playful tug.

Usually, the lone bench underneath the tree was empty. That was what I had been hoping for so that I could sit under the tree and think. This time, however, I was a little unlucky. Someone was sitting there with their hands on their knees. He- from my distance, it looked like a boy- was sitting there, occasionally looking around. A red baseball cap rested on his head and two bags- one a large suitcase, the other a backpack that was overstuffed- lay by his feet. He wore a wrinkled short-sleeved button-down and baggy red shorts that were, in my opinion, a little too short for a male. A thin red tie hung down his neck. Why he was dressed like he was going to a formal beach party, I don't know. I guess he didn't notice me, because he didn't make any motion of noticing me. With a sigh, I sat down on the bench that was nearest me and waited for the guy to leave.

He didn't. After about an hour, I got impatient. He still hadn't seen me, which I suppose was part of the reason he hadn't left. I stood up and cut across the courts towards him. He finally noticed me and rocketed to his feet, the backpack in his hands in a flash. Strange.

That's when I realized that his shorts weren't shorts; it was a skirt. "He" had a bit of a chest, too.

He was a girl.

I finally noticed the brown ponytail jutting out from the hole in the cap. Underneath her tie, a gold chain was visible. The buttons on her button-down were on the left side, making it clear that it was a female's shirt.

Her baseball cap was still on, so I couldn't really see her face. But with the next word that she said, I knew who it was.

"Ryoma?"