Merry X'mas, everyone!!
There's going to be lots of tennis, and the creation of an OC in this chapter, as you probably notice from the title. Hope everyone likes Takahashi. I need to create more opponents for them to set up for the nationals, ne?
As you can see, the story follows the manga plot, and everything about the international matches with Amerian team is left out (I only knew there were such episodes recently...)

It would be great to get some feedback about Takahashi. Also, a vote for pairings here. Which would you prefer? (It would perhaps affect what you read later)
Oshitari Yuushi x Atobe Keigo
Atobe Keigo x Jiroh + Oshitari x Mukahi Gakuto
Tachibana x Ibu Shinji or Ibu Shinji x Kamio Akira or none for Fudomine

Chapter 2 – Takahashi Alex

"So this is the kid the coach brought all the way from Japan? Looks like he's on top of the world, eh? Not even bothering to acknowledge us. So what if he's all great in that small piece of Asian land? We'll show him who's boss here." A bulky boy stalked over to my direction. I wasn't ignoring them on purpose, just that German does not know me, and I was not the type to get ideas across using body language.

"Hey, newcomer, wanna go for a match?" He pointed to the court with his tennis racket. At least that was clear enough.

I nodded curtly and followed him onto the court.

The opponent was strong, which was to be expected from the world-class tennis training school, but he was definitely not Sanada or Atobe. I considered using the Selfless State, then decided against it. That was saved for better opponents, the ones like I met in Nationals…

"Oi! What the hell are you doing? Don't play around with me and show me your best! If this is all you've got, then don't cry after I beat the crap out of you!" The guy on the other side sneered. Such insolence. Even Kikumaru and Echizen had better manners.

It was certainly not worth it to waste the Selfless State on such an enemy. Something about him just bugged me, setting my sensibility on fire and leaving only ashes that were immature stubbornness in me. I despised him, more than any hideous rival I'd seen in Japan, more than St. Rudolph's Mizuki, Hika Secondary's Kite, and even those thugs of Shishigaku Secondary who took to bullying little girls like Chitose Miyuki.

However, this repulsion did not boost up my fighting spirit like before, but rather, was so intense that I lost any interest in even trying against the opponent.

"Game Michael, 6 – 2!" Someone shouted from the sidelines, and the match was over when my thoughts were still in reverie. The captain losing his focus in competition, what would the others' faces be if they knew this?

Strangely, I didn't mind losing. I was just relieved to be free from that scum on the other end.

"What was coach thinking?! This guy is such a weakling! Did you see how I smashed him? Brilliant, wasn't it?" Uproarious laughter started up, and I walked away.

The alarm clock rang, and Tezuka woke up on the second chime. He looked at the source of malicious noise a little gratefully, then turned it off.

Those things were already left back in Germany, and this is Japan.

There was morning practice today. He'd better hurry. People were waiting for him.

………………………………………

"Momoshiro! Echizen! You two are late for the first practice! 20 laps around the school!" Tezuka ordered, once he caught sight of the two of the younger members trying to sneak into the courts.

Momoshiro scratched his head sheepishly, and tried to reason, "Sorry, bucho, but it's the first day of school, and 6 a.m. You've gotta let us get used back into school life."

"No excuses. All the others are here on time, even the other first years!" Tezuka remained stony as usual.

"I'm late only because of Momo-sempai. He was late in picking me up." Echizen tossed a glare at the taller boy, or his personal chauffeur for the past three years.

Tezuka frowned, "Then couldn't you have left without him?"

Echizen started, as if that thought never occurred to him, then lowered his cap and began jogging wordlessly.

"Yo! Echizen, wait up!" And off sped Momoshiro to catch up.

Tezuka frowned deeper. Weren't they unwilling to run?

Fuji ambled over, and having caught this scene, commented, "Those two rockheads." Tezuka looked questioningly at him, only to be bestowed with the ever-famous "Tezuka, you rockhead."

He never knew he didn't actually mind being called a rockhead…

"Tezuka, can we talk for a minute?" Fuji suddenly asked, although his tone did not make it into a question. Those blue eyes pierced into Tezuka for a second, and the latter knew better than to refuse Fuji when he was serious.

"Fine, but just for a while. You have to practice too."

"Of course, bucho." Fuji beamed. "Somewhere private?" And without needing a reply, dragged him out of the courts.

It was only 6 in the morning, a time when people of the right minds would never be in school, therefore, it was reasonably easy to find a bench away from curious or lovesick glances. Fuji made Tezuka sit down, then stood in front of him, finally being able to level above his captain for the first time all those years. From the weird aura that was emitting from Fuji's compassionate smile, Tezuka strangely felt like a trapped prey.

"Ok, now talk." Fuji was straight to the point, "What was with the match yesterday with Echizen? How exactly is your condition now?"

"You don't seem like the type to pry, Fuji." Tezuka deftly avoided the question.

"And neither did I know you were to type to escape from things." Fuji retorted, then with a mixture of childish scheming and the unique Fuji threatening stance, placed his hands firmly on both sides of Tezuka's face, and by force, turned it around to face him again. "If it is only for me, I wouldn't have touched your personal thoughts with a five feet pole, but the whole team is depending on you now, and it's no longer your place to be selfish."

Tezuka cast his eyes down, then lightly covered the colder hands placed by his face and gently trapped them within his own. "What good would it do even if I tell you, other than letting you worry?"

"You are being stubborn and impossible! I know you would want to die on the tennis court if left to your own devises, but think about us! Yes, we need you to be strong in order to support the whole team, but more than that we care for you as friends." Great job, Fuji Shuusuke, you just managed to sound like the most cliché drama out there.

"Then do you want me to throw my weaknesses out there and beg for pity?"

"It is not begging for pity! The last thing people connect to Tezuka Kunimitsu is weak, even if you've lost. It's… it's just… trust us, and let's work anything out together, ok?" Fuji was torn between wanting to give him a hug, or bang him on the head for being a rock.

Tezuka fell silent, hunching over in the thinking pose, all the while latching onto Fuji's hands unconsciously. Unable to move in fear of disrupting his captain, Fuji could only freeze on the spot, feeling Tezuka's warmth creep up his own hands, marveling at how the light bounced off his hair, how much broader his shoulders had grown in the past two years, and how… how from their positions, that it seemed as if Tezuka was proposing to him…

Even winter days could be hot, couldn't it? At least that was how Fuji was feeling right then.

"Fuji…" Tezuka's voice came as a whisper, "I… can no longer initiate the selfless state."

"Wha--?! How?"

"BUCHO! FUJI-SEMPAI! Something terrible!" Horio suddenly barged into the scene, screaming in his broken voice. "Some blond guy just walked into our courts and challenged us, and now Momo-sempai and Inui-sempai have all been beaten!"

Tezuka leaped up and dashed towards the courts. Fuji followed suit, feeling a huge migraine coming up.

"Is this enough for me to become a regular?" A deep voice vibrated through the grounds, and Momoshiro glared fierce and vicious towards the intruder. His Japanese was perfect, which was why Fuji was so shocked to see a pure Englishman standing in front of them, with the stereotypical fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. The type that would make girls shriek on sight.

"Isn't this what you promised? That I'd become a regular if I can beat two of you." He was smiling civil enough, but the smile was too familiar that it sent shivers up Fuji's spine. That was the smile he saw everyday in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what my members promised, but entering the tennis club requires my approval, not theirs." Tezuka interjected before Momoshiro could do anything rash. "Please give me your entering application, and you'll have to win in the ranking matches before you can become a regular."

The stranger cocked his head and looked at Tezuka with interest. "You must be the Tezuka Kunimitsu everyone talks about. Sorry for my abruptness, my name is Takahashi Alex, and I'm joining Seigaku high school as a third year. Nice to meet you."

So he's a mixed blood…

Tezuka was hardly the person to be moved by courtesy, and gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. "The application form is in the extra-curriculum office, you can hand it in to Ryuzaki-sensei, me, or Oishi fukubucho."

"Aww… but isn't there a faster way? Wouldn't it be ok if I just prove myself strong enough?" Those azure eyes sparkled cunningly, "Such as… if I can win against Tezuka-bucho over here. Hypothetical, of course."

"Yeah, in your dreams, you blondie!" Momoshiro yelled from the sidelines.

"Please call me Takahashi." The edge in his voice cut through the air and rested on Momoshiro's throat, and a dangerous blue flame alighted at the back of his eyes. "I am Japanese like all of you, so please ignore the defects of my appearance."

Just count on Momo to make this guy really mad. Fuji was beyond exasperation.

"It would be a great honour if Tezuka-bucho would give me some advices in my playing." Takahashi twirled his racket, and before Tezuka could respond, set it like a top on the ground. "Which?"

Out of pure instincts, Tezuka answered, "Rough."

Oh, Tezuka you rockhead.

"Smooth. May I serve?" He had already taken his position while asking. Forced onto the spot, Tezuka could only get his racket and stand in preparation stance. Fuji grimaced. If what Tezuka said earlier were true, then…

"I'll try to stop the match if the situation gets bad, but try not to let others see through about your… injury. At least not in front of outsiders." Fuji whispered on passing Tezuka, and was about to saunter away when the captain grabbed his arm.

Black eyes bore into Fuji with a hint of coldness known as disappointment. "You don't have confidence in me?"

Fuji was struck silent for a moment, and Tezuka let go, turning to face the flashing golden hair on the other end.

"I promise you I won't lose. I won't let anyone break up our team."

………………………………………

"30 – 15!"

"That's it, bucho! Don't give him a chance to use his stupid counters!" Momoshiro cheered on, especially enthusiastic to see their captain avenging his earlier loss, which of course, was only because he slighted the opponent.

"But you have to admit he's an amazing counter style player." Inui commented, earning a distinctive sniff from Fuji. The former seemed to not have heard, and continued, "By using counters, you can hit back the attack the opponent thinks would surely score, therefore, catching the latter off guard. This makes power a less dominant factor in playing a good counter move, making it suitable for people of smaller builds, such as Fuji. However, it is already difficult enough to retaliate a full power attack, and much more so if you want to return it into a position out of reach, which is why counters often lack power."

The Caucasian blood in Takahashi gave him a towering height advantage, which enabled him to make lightning serves like Ootori of Hyotei. Tezuka took one step back from the mid court in anticipation of the next serve.

"You don't have to do that. My serves are really weak." Takahashi offered, then tossed the ball high up and hit it lightly like an armature, sending it flying hectically into the sky and looking as if it won't even cross the net.

Chance ball! It was extremely suspicious for a player like Takahashi to make such a mistake, but trap or not, and even though he was not Momoshiro, there were still very few people who could return his smashes. Let's see what the intruder had up his sleeves. Tezuka sped to the front and leaped.

"Shit! Bucho! Don't smash!" Momoshiro shouted, momentarily forgetting the rule for audiences to refrain from advising.

Tezuka's feet hadn't even touched the ground when the ball whizzed fast and hard past his face. "Higuma Otoshi?" That was how it seemed just judging from Takahashi's ending posture, but Higuma Otoshi returns a smash using a lob, not passing shot. Even the more powerful Kirin Otoshi was just a more advanced lob that falls faster, making opponents harder to make it in time. That counter ball just now… did not have any force of the smash negated. No, it was more powerful than the smash itself.

"40 – 15!"

Inui's glasses glinted. "Did you see what happened, Fuji?"

"Ahh…" The feeling of having your move copied, morphed, and reinforced beyond your recognition was not something pleasant.

"That's my version of the Higuma Otoshi, or rather, Higuma Zensoku (full speed). Does the original creator find it satisfactory?" Takahashi said cheerily, slightly bowing in Fuji's direction. "I'm a big fan of counter moves, so when I heard about the prodigy Fuji Shuusuke's brilliant counters, I set about analyzing and making them into my own."

"Please continue on with the match." Tezuka commanded.

Takahashi gave a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, I'm just too excited. To think that I would be able to fight side by side with such incredible players."

"Che, who wants to partner with him, that copycat." Momoshiro huffed.

"He's not simply copying. Because of his much stronger build, he does not need to cancel out the force of the smash. Instead, he uses the classic turn in Higuma Otoshi to strengthen the return. He catches the ball before the turn, then immediately turns to let the ball stay on the racket surface, thus adding the centrifugal force to the opponent's smash. By flicking his wrist at the right moment during the turn, he sends out the ball with much more speed and it has already dashed past before the opponent could respond." Inui set off another long string of explanations. "Truly clever."

"That sounds totally impossible!" Kikumaru complained. "There's no way Fuji wouldn't have tried that if it's feasible."

"As I said, Takahashi's more Caucasian build, his longer limbs and flexible muscles, creates greater centrifugal force when he turns, and this enables the ball to actually stay on the racket for the Higuma Zensoku to be accomplished. The only other person with similar qualifications I know of is Akutsu Jin."

"Game Takahashi! 1 – 0!"

"It's ok, it's only natural for such a strong player like Takahashi to keep his own service game. Tezuka won't let him break through." Oishi tried calming the atmosphere. It seemed that everyone was particularly tense today, especially the genius of the team, who was gripping the wire net so hard that his knuckles turned white. Perhaps it was because of the possibility of having to admit the stranger into the team that got on everybody's nerves. Tezuka was back, Echizen had risen into high school, and the Seigaku team was finally back together again. Fair as Oishi was in his nature, he still could not find himself accepting the intrusion with open arms, even though it may increase the potential of the team.

It was a beautiful service, and a solid return. Tezuka kept the ball strong and low, keeping the opponent pressed at the baseline, and after a few more rallies…

"Tezuka zone!" Kikumaru cried in triumph.

No matter how many times they had seen it, to have each and every ball swerve and turn towards Tezuka as if pulled by a magnet was still a magnificent sight. The faiths of all the members were drawn in with the tennis ball, into the vortex that was Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Keeping Takahashi still immobile at the baselines, Tezuka sliced steep and hard into the Zero drop shot. It worked to perfection.

"15 – 0!"

Takahashi's eyes widened with surprise, then he laughed. "That was truly something! I'm honoured to have the legendary drop shot used on me."

"So he still has the strength to laugh? Finish him off, bucho!" Momoshiro cheered, and in the next second was knocked to the ground by Echizen, who couldn't take the noise anymore.

"Look! What's that guy doing?" Kikumaru exclaimed, pointing at the extremely high lob Takahashi had just played, after rushing to stalk right in front of the net. It fell easily into the Tezuka zone, was hit back, then the ball was put into a lob again, as if daring Tezuka to smash.

"No a bad plan at all." Inui pushed his glasses, "Playing the lob is relatively easy and free of unforced errors compared to other shots, so when he has the Higuma Zensoku to completely return all smashes, hitting lobs save both energy and reduce risk. By keeping close to the net, he can probably catch the zero drop shot before it contacts the ground. As long as Tezuka has not found a way to break the Higuma Zensoku, he can just keep playing lobs to see who tires out first."

"Fsshh… Slimy bastard."

Another few rallies later, Tezuka managed to shatter the static situation by suddenly dropping the ball right onto the right side line, then immediately follow by a zero drop shot to the left.

"30 – 0!"

"Looks like I gotta move faster, eh?"

The same thing happened with the next ball, only that this time, Takahashi made it on time to break Tezuka's dropping strategy. The lobs continued, each one soaring high above Tezuka's head, blocking the sun, tempting to smash. But he knew he shouldn't, he wasn't the type to attack on impulse, just like the time with Atobe. Even if it would kill him, he'd rather have 100 success rate rather than fall into the opponent's trap. He would play along, and win Atobe in the area the latter was most confident in. So what if there was only disadvantage? It was his match, and it was not a win unless he could beat the opponent solid, in everything. There were no limits for him.

Just because he was Tezuka Kunimitsu.

And he would smash!

The ball blazed back, grazing his ear into a searing pain. And again, and again…

"What is bucho doing?! He can just win without using smashes! Or he can just use Hyakuren Jidoku no Kiwami to crush that blondie! What's he waiting for?" Momoshiro fretted, almost climbing up the wire mesh. "And it's 5 – 3 already!"

Fuji shook his head and gave a bitter smile, "Don't you know him well enough now? That's just Tezuka. He's a rockhead, isn't he?"

"40 – 30! Match point Takahashi!"

He was not going to lose! Faster, just one bit faster, and he would be able to catch up with the ball… Kikumaru would have no problem returning the Higuma Zensoku with his acrobatics. Fuji would definitely think of new counters for it, Inui to see through it with his data, Kaidou to drag out the opponent with his monstrous stamina, Momoshiro to…

Faces of his members came as easily to his mind as second nature, and Tezuka looked at the unfamiliar figure across the net. No, he did not come back to Japan to seek more unknown faces. If… if any one of them were missing, there would be no point at all.

He was the support of all these great players, whom he held almost as precious as tennis itself, and he was not going to disappoint them. He was not losing, NOT losing!

The bright yellow ball came falling down, and Tezuka made a moderate jump and smashed it across. The ball tore back almost as soon as it went over the net, but this time Tezuka was already behind it. A powerful backhand sent it all the way to the opponent's baseline.

"Deuce!"

"The Selfless State…" Fuji murmured, feeling the tingling aura that Tezuka was emitting.

"That is the Shikuji Hou (shrinking land method, literally) of that Okinawa team, isn't it? That's it, way to go, Tezuka! Even though your bones are as stiff as a rusted door hinge, but you can still move faster than that slowpoke of a ball!" Kikumaru bounced, almost leapfrogging over Oishi.

"Perfect timing, and superb execution." Inui praised, "By jumping lower, his feet can get back to the ground faster, and once on the ground, he can easily catch up with the ball using Shikuji Hou. This is the first time I've seen Tezuka use the Selfless State and not Hyakuren Jidoku, though. Luckily he did this, or else by focusing all his power to the left arm, he wouldn't have been able to use back moves that requires the whole body."

"Game Tezuka! 4 – 5!"

With the Higuma Zensoku sealed, it wasn't long before Tezuka won the match. Fuji hung back as others hurried up to congratulate, much like the defeated Takahashi.

"I just have one question." Takahashi walked over to Fuji and inquired politely. "Does the Seigaku team want to defeat me this fiercely, because they cannot accept the fact that I'm not purely Japanese, or you guys simply do not admit that separation and departure exists?"

"You have a very affronting way of phrasing your questions." Fuji smiled, "But I can assure you the former is a ridiculous reason."

"Thank you." Takahashi bowed to the perfect degree. "I really admire your counters, and your Tezuka-bucho is a really great tennis player. But even though unity is good, don't let it backfire. You'll be regretting that you've rejected me."

"My, my, doesn't this sound like a love confession."

Takahashi was about to happily tease back, when a pair of viciously unfriendly gazes bore through his back, and the think glass lenses could hardly shield them away. Awkwardly, he let the comment go, and instead, packed up his stuff and stepped out of the strictly Seigaku tennis courts.

"I'll see you guys again in the Nationals! Thanks for the welcome!" Glistening blonde hair sparked once more in the morning sun, and Takahashi Alex was gone.

The class-starting bell rang, and thus ended their first morning training. Fuji hauled Tezuka into their yet empty classroom, pressed him into his seat, and for the second time that day, towered over his almighty captain. "Now, either you were lying, or that match worked miracles."

Just like Tezuka, the taller boy remained silent, until he finally heaved a long sign that had been bottled up deep in his lungs. Pulling Fuji closer, he wound his arms around the slender waist, and lightly rested his head against Fuji's stomach.

"That was the first time I had won in 6 months…"