The first chapter or I prefer to call it first motif. I added the beginning part of the chapter and edited in some parts, it is longer than the previous version and I hope it will be easier to understand...

As I told you in the previous chapter, I am hoping for the constructive criticisms although that you can tell me whatever cross your mind while you are reading this motif one.

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei and I only own my OCs and the plot.

A Love Tone Circuit: Symphonic Love Buds

MOTIF 1: The Spring of the Third Years

Opening his eyes, Niou Masaharu found his sister pestering his sweet dream with a certain girl. He stared at her, not doing anything. He saw his sister lips are muttering about things he couldn't hear or understand yet. He blinked his eyes slowly as he still feel sleepy and his ears still refuse to deliver what they hear to the brain. He's still wanted to sleep for a while; he's still wanted to be in his land of dream.

"Wait, Masaharu? Are you listening?"

"Hmm….?" He finally responded to his sister, lifting his head a few centimeters from the pillow. But he still has the sleepy and lazy look on his face. His thought filled with the same land of dream.

"You are not listening!" Niou Hibiki stood in front of her younger brother with her hands on her hips. She snorted as her brother place his head back on the pillow and continues his journey to his dream land. Being ignored, Hibiki pinch the bridge of her brother's nose and count.

One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine… … … she kept on counting until her younger brother finally got up from his slumber and gasping for air. She smiled in a satisfaction.

"So…you're alive?" She put her hands on her hips again. She tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

"Hrrgh….it's still morning you know….stop bothering me…." He said between the gasp.

"Indeed it is morning and if you have forgotten, today is supposed to be the first day of the new academic year…." Hibiki replied.

"New…..academic…..year…..Oh crap….."

Hibiki shook her head as her brother dash into the bathroom and get ready for school. She followed him to the bathroom to tell him that there is a sandwich that he can eat while he is on his way to his school.

"Don't forget to take them! You know breakfast is important! And don't forget to lock the house properly too…..you know that…"

"Oh shut up! You sound like mother…..I'll do it okay?" Hibiki words got cut as her brother, Masaharu starts to feel annoyed and shout at her from the bathroom.

"Very well…..I'm leaving now….." Hibiki sighed and turn away from the bathroom door to finally head to her school after checking her appearance once again on a mirror at the porch.

Not long after Hibiki left the house, Niou Masaharu makes a quick school preparation, stuffing several books into his racket bag and dash out of the house after locking it. He left with a sandwich in his mouth. On his way to school, he made a stop at a vending machine to buy a canned coffee to help him swallow the sandwich and cease the sleepiness.

He finally arrived at school a few minutes before the bell rings. He smiled slightly as his eyes catch a sight of a girl he's being dreamed about lately.

'There you are….' His smile grew wider as he follows her.

The spring's air is overflowing with the sakura petals that beautifully dancing with the wind before they reach the ground. The second year and the third year students are busy checking on the class assignments. There is the pleasant feeling about starting the new year of school, the excitement of having the new class with maybe one or two familiar faces. Rikkai University Junior High School is currently filled with chattering here and there, singing the simple crowds.

Ayatsuji Shion walked in the corridor while smiling and greeting several familiar faces. Her steps are stopped right in front of the class 3-B. This class looks quite crowded with some girls from the other classes as well as the 3-B itself. The 3-B girls seemed very excited with the fact that they will be in the same classroom with two of three most popular boys in school. Shion already knew it from the list of the third year classroom but still she's trying to take a peek. She adjusted her height with the tiptoed but she suddenly lost her balance and make herself fell into a group of girls in front of her.

"Ooops….my bad…." Niou Masaharu smirked as he saw the poor girl fell.

"Geez….what are doing Niou-kun….?" Shion asked him while fixing herself and apologizing to several girls she fell on.

"Nothing, just touching you a little…." Niou shrugged and walked by a few steps closer.

"You mean a little nudge! Right….?"

"Puri~"

Shion could only sigh seeing the familiar smirk of the trickster. She's about to opened her mouth when a group of girls started to gather around Niou and tell him how glad they are being in the same classroom with him. She sighed again and made a turn heading to her classroom. She made one last turn over the certain trickster as he walked into his class being tailed by several girls. She smiled slightly, she can't help but thinking how the beginning of a new academic year always filled with the certain excitement. The excitement that makes the spring filled with more happiness and more beautiful with more flowers blossom.

In her classroom, Shion found that it is a little bit quiet compare the rather crowded neighbor classroom despite the fact that the most popular boy is actually listed as one of its students. Shion took a glance at her seat, a seat in the middle of the second front row, a perfect seat to always stay focus in every subject. She looked around the classroom looking for the familiar face but she found no one. The only person she knew is the certain captain of Rikkai tennis club who currently absent due his neurological disease.

'Hmmm….this is my third years and it looks like there are still this many people I don't know….well….this school has more students more than what I know….'

She noticed a girl sits right next to her seat and decides to greet her. After a little chat with her, Shion went to the back of the class to place her bag in a locker before she walks herself around the class for a small self introduction to her new classmates. The introduction went easier due Shion's friendly nature and some of her new classmates notice her as the best student in music subject. She has already involved with the light chattering with some of her new classmates when her homeroom teacher calls her students to line up at the corridor.

'New class with new classmates doesn't sound bad at all….but still….I wish I could have been in the same homeroom with him….'

Niou had just found his seat in the back of the class. While putting his bag in a locker he took a glance at the entire classroom. He found himself be in the same class with the certain red headed self proclaimed genius who currently chattering with several boys and girls in the class. There is same group of girls who he had met before expressing the same happiness they just showed to Niou a moment ago. The girls seemed to be very excited. No, they are super excited as they looked to be overreacting.

Some boys in the corner are sighing as they saw the view. What a lively class, early in the morning and they already feel like they are currently in a fish market. How envious, as the tennis club's regulars, Marui and Niou seemed to be the center of attention in the class although that it will gradually reduce along with the passing of time. The boys in the corner sighed and shook their heads. Those girls are definitely overreacting.

Niou had successfully shooed some people who greeted him for expressing their happiness or simply introducing themselves. With a carefree attitude, Niou seated in his seat while watching Marui with his usual self still chattering with the same group of people. His mouth is never stopped from chewing the bubblegum.

'The self proclaim genius with his never-change attitude, why can't I have her in my class instead of him?' thought Niou as he stood up to response the call of his homeroom teacher.

To some students in most school, the opening ceremony may felt as a troublesome thing filled with only the boring speech of the headmaster and the student representative. But for the students of Rikkai University Junior High School, the speech of the headmaster is not something to be ignored. Yoshizawa Tsutomu is a smart guy who gave the attractive speech with the sense of humor that being loved by the students. There is no student ignoring him, all of them listening to him in the formal manner but still relax as they can laugh sometimes.

As the opening ceremony is over, the students headed back to their classes and proceeding with the extended homeroom program which is intended to choose the class representative and member of each committee. As the election of the school committee over and getting a student to be in each committee, the class is finally dismissed. On her way to the gate of the school Ayatsuji Shion decided to take a route that allows her to pass near the tennis courts. She wished to be able to take a little time watched over a boy known as the trickster before she went home.

Noticing that the tennis courts are unusually quiet, she took herself closer to the tennis courts while taking a look around her. The clubhouse seemed to be quiet too, it seemed like nobody is currently present. Shion stood only a step away from the fence surrounding the tennis courts. How unusual, to see the tennis club's territory looked this quiet. Lost in her thought, Shion doesn't even notice someone is currently standing behind her, watching her in silence.

"Kyaaaa…!" she screamed and jumped aside as she felt someone blew her nape. She turned to look at the person who blew her a moment ago and found Niou smirked in amusement. She startled but the smirk on Niou's face somehow makes her calmer. Weird.

"Seriously Ayatsuji….I didn't expect you to scream that loud…."

"Hmm…."

"You should've seen your face, it's amusing…."

"Hmm….?" Ayatsuji raised one of her eyebrows and stared at him with an expressionless face while Niou still preserved his smirk.

One second….Two seconds….Three seconds….Four seconds….Five seconds….

There seemed to be no changes on Shion's face, still a deadpanned. Still with a smirk on his face, Niou stepped closer to the deadpanned Shion. The girl wished that she could stay deadpanned but her instinct tells her to step backwards as Niou gets close to her.

"What are you doing?" She asked still stepping backwards.

"Who knows….?"

His smirk, his ignorant gaze somewhat made him looks like a devil playing around with his prey in the palm of his hands. Shion couldn't take her eyes off of him. She felt like Niou had made her his prey, trapped between the fence and him. She couldn't escape as Niou placed his hands on the fence to the both sides of her.

"Say….Ayatsuji, should I force you to make another face of amusement?" Niou spoken as his face is only an inch away from Shion's.

"It's your amusement not mine!"

"Should I….?"

"Huh?"

'What is he thinking? What is he talking about? What should I do now? What should I do now?'

Her mind seemed to work slower when her heart beats so fast. Her eyes widened, Niou is getting closer yet she has not yet decides on what she supposed to do. The fence is too hard to get through and pushing Niou away doesn't sound as a smart idea too. Somehow, she closed her eyes. Time felt so long to pass even if it's only a second. How many time had past? Shion didn't know it, she still closing her eyes, waiting and waiting.

She closed her eyes until she felt the warm breath close to her ears and hears the whisper, "Did you really think that I'm about to kiss you Ayatsuji….?"

'What….did he just say?'

Niou pulled himself away from her with one of his hands still on the fence and the other one in his pocket. He smirked, looking at Shion whose face is lowered by embarrassment.

"No matter what pranks you do this is way too overboard….Niou-kun…." She finally spoke in a gloomy tone.

STOMP!

"Ouch!"

Niou felt a pain from a stomp on his feet. He saw Shion running away from him without saying anymore words.

'What is he thinking? I don't understand….what's on his mind….' Shion finally reached the gate. Panting, she tried to remove what happened early. She putted one of her hands on her chest, feeling her heart beats so fast, a slight blush colored her face.

'Why did he do that? Didn't he know that is bad for my health? I could have a heart attack!'

"What am I thinking? He was playing prank didn't he? Ayatsuji Shion….you fool…how could you act like you have no escape?" She muttered to herself. She's angry, not to Niou but to herself. She's angry to herself for being as plain as a piece of paper, a piece of paper with her feeling written all over it. After calming herself, Shion took her usual route heading to her home with her mind still filled with the same thought.

Across the road, a brown haired boy is watching her walking away as he adjusting his glasses.

"Plan number one succeeded." He muttered as a smirk grows on his face.