The rest of the morning went without mishaps. If there were any, Ryoma was too exhausted to notice. He spent lunch break and most of English class sleeping and felt moderately better when he woke up.

He stole some leftovers from the lunch room for dinner that night, pushing away his guilt. They were going to throw it away anyway.

Ryoma was crossing the courtyard after school when he heard his name being called.

"Yo, you're Echizen from my class, right?"

He instinctively avoided the outstretched hand and took a step back. The enthusiastic freshman was undeterred. About eight inches taller, he had short brown hair and a smug expression.

"Hey, are you joining the tennis club too?"

"Who are you?" Ryoma asked coldly. He didn't like strangers. They were always trying to get into his business.

"I'm Horio!" the boy said brightly. "And this school is famous for its tennis. There are tons of strong players."

Ryoma relaxed and let the boy ramble on. He seemed to be interested in no one but himself.

"I have two years of tennis experience and I've even gone to a special tennis school. Becoming a Seigaku regular is my dream, it wo –"

Ryoma tuned him out and tried to plan out his evening. Pick everyone up…oh; he needed quarters for the laundromat. Hm…punishment would take at least an hour, assuming he didn't pass out. And there was the matter of homework. There was an essay and a few math problems…

He stopped just in time.

"If you don't look where you're going you'll hit someone," came an annoyed voice.

Ryoma peered out from under his cap at the taller boy. He had thick black hair and a friendly-enough face. Dimly, he felt Horio run up next to him.

"Oh hello senpai, I'm Horio…"

Ryoma drifted off again. Yumi hadn't looked too well this morning. Maybe she was coming down with a cold. Should he spend any money on medication? Milk, also…

"I don't like it when people disrespect me, Horio," the boy suddenly said. "But since you're a freshman I'll let it go."

Ryoma pulled his hat down further over his eyes and watched the boy jog off. Disrespect…memories of his last punishment…not good…

Horio didn't notice anything amiss. Instead, he began muttering angrily. "What's with that guy? I can't believe he just…"

Ryoma hurriedly collected himself and continued towards the courts.


Inwardly, Ryoma felt a wave of excitement pass through him.

"It's just like Seigaku to have such nice facilities," Horio said happily. "Come on, Echizen, let's go sign up."

"You can't," someone interrupted. "The juniors and seniors have a game with another school, so the sign-ups are tomorrow."

Horio immediately began rambling on again, so Ryoma took the opportunity to survey the two new tennis players. Both had dark hair and were about six inches taller than he was.

"Most of the freshmen have already left," one boy continued. "But we want to hit some balls before we go."

"Damn, this sucks," Horio finally grumbled.

Ryoma privately agreed, but there were things he had to do. Laundromat…milk…medicine…that essay…

"Hey. You there!" yet another new voice broke in. "Are you guys going to join our tennis club?"

"Ah, hello!" the freshman chorused, bowing.

"I'm Katsuo Mizuno."

"I'm Kachiro Katou."

"And I'm Satoshi Horio! I'm honored to be able to join a tennis club as renowned as Seigaku's, and I'm sure my friend Echa…huh? Where'd he go?"


Echizen woke up sprawled out on the porch. Muscles screaming, he pulled himself to his feet. How had he gotten here?

Then memories of last night flooded back to him, and he stumbled backwards. Leaning against the post, he tried to catch his breath. He worked through a couple stretches, relieved that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

With a jolt, he raced into the house to check on his siblings. They were all sleeping peacefully; no bruises, no cuts, no blood. A waved of relief swept through him.

He could get through this.


Ryoma brushed off Sasori's hands and picked up his satchel. "Really, I'm fine," he reassured her. "But I couldn't manage dinner last night...if it isn't too much trouble, could you cook some rice?" He held out the coins, a pleading expression on his face.

Sasori folded the boy's small hand in her own. "Ryoma," she began seriously, forcing him to meet her gaze. "You need to start thinking about your own health. If this gets any worse…"

"I know!" Ryoma snapped. "I'm working on it, okay? I'm saving up…I just…"

"Breakfast is on me today," the matron insisted. "Go out and live a little. Don't let those two bastards ruin your life."

Sasori saw the apology in his eyes. She smiled sadly and shooed the boy out the door. "Don't let go of your dream, little one."


It didn't take long for Kaidoh to form an opinion of the new players.

"Worthless," he grumbled. "All of them."

Inui mumbled his agreement. "My data says the same."

Eiji frowned as he absentmindedly fiddled with a tennis ball. "Ryuzaki-sensei did say that there is one we should watch out for."

"She couldn't have been serious," Momo scoffed. "Honestly." He pointed his racket towards the far fence, where the freshly-registered players were milling around. As if proving his point, one of them tried a particularly complex serve, and the racket soared out of his hand.

"Oi!" Momo called out. "Don't show off unless you can actually hit the ball." He turned back to meet Tezuka's disapproving gaze.

"Don't bully the kouhai," he said shortly. "They have little confidence as it is."

"Tezuka-buchou isn't happy either," Oishi observed. "Maybe we should go see Ryuzaki-sensei. Ask her about this so-called amazing freshman."

The captain shook his head. "Practice is about to start. There's no time for that."

The regulars exchanged glances and sighed.


Ryoma bent down to carefully fix his shoes, frowning. They were really starting to come apart and he didn't have enough money for new ones. He felt uneasy just thinking about it. Was it worth it to skip out on meals, and start saving that money? But it would take so long…

"Echizen, are you listening?" Horio demanded irritably, interrupting his musings.

Ryoma mumbled out a response. He couldn't take much more of this. It was annoying, and he needed to think. Gathering up his racket and a couple balls, he muttered a quick goodbye and headed off to find somewhere else to practice. Where the people were less annoying.


"Are you the 'super freshman' we keep hearing so much about?"

Ryoma looked up and bowed hastily. "Konnichiwa, senpais. Ano…super freshman?"

"Yeah, that's right," Arai said, narrowing his eyes. This kid seemed somewhat strange…had he ever met him before?

Figuring it wouldn't do any harm, Ryoma shrugged and pointed towards Horio.

"That guy?" Shigeki asked, surprised. The one in the green shirt…he was the one who had lost control of his racket a few minutes before.

"Ah…I see…he wears bright colors in order to stand out," Arai mumbled. "Arigatou."


"Arai's causing trouble for the freshman," Kaidoh observed curtly.

Oishi sighed and massaged his throbbing temples. "Eiji, why don't you go and get Tezuka-buchou? Quickly, before Arai and Shigeki do something stupid."

"Hai," the redhead answered, bounding off.


"I want to play the Captain in the ranking matches!" Horio informed his audience, puffing out his chest. "Maybe I can even score a point."

Shigeki rolled his eyes as he approached the freshman. "Don't get all arrogant," he suddenly hissed. "Stop this ranking match nonsense."

"If you think that a freshman can play in it; you're a fool," Arai broke in angrily. "You freshman will be doing stamina training and ball-fetching until the summer."

"Regulars will be determined from juniors and seniors," Shigeki continued relentlessly, smirking. It was fun to watch the freshman shrink farther and farther back. It was also rather pathetic. One of these quivering kids was the "super freshman"?

Horio finished digesting this information and a disgruntled expression appeared on his face. "Eh…no way!"

"Ten laps," came a new voice. "All of you."

"B-but it wasn't our fau– "

"Twenty laps."

Oishi turned towards Tezuka, a sour expression on his face. "That's the super-freshman?"


Ha...wow...what a cliffie! I'm just going to be posting this in about 3 page increments. So if it seems choppy that's why. Right now I have about 32 pages written...I was really surprised to see that so many people like this story, so I guess I'll keep posting.

Yeah...

Shigeki...made him up. I think that Arai has this little friend that follows him around...what is his name?