Prince of Tennis

Chapter 1

Fuji knew in a heartbeat that something was wrong. It wasn't the fact that the trees had changed; no longer tame and neatly trimmed like he was used to, but like wild forest trees that had lived for a long time. Each one was different: rugged, deformed, special, unique. No, it wasn't the trees. Nor was it the fact that the lamps that lit either side of the park path had disappeared. Neither was it that the path was no longer concrete, but packed dirt and stones. It wasn't even the suddenly stormy, darkened weather with clouds that seemed ready to burst at any moment. No, it was the fact that he could feel her presence. Like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to her; unable to resist her charm. Spotting a dark grey stone on the path, he picked it up, tossing it lightly into the air, feeling its weight. Then, without warning, he threw it at –OW! He threw it at me. Apparently he didn't like the 'moth to a flame' comment, even though it was true.

"You want another?" Fuji asked. No.

"Fuji who are you talking to?" Eiji asked curiously.

"No one," Fuji answered. He caught up with the group. As they walked on, he turned around to give the writer a warning glare. I gave him the finger. He rolled his eyes and walked on staring openly at Tezuka's butt. Unknown to Fuji at that time, that would be one of the – THUNK! That tennis ball just came out of nowhere. Fuji, you're so mean; beating on a poor, underpaid, underappreciated writer. You just KNOW the world is coming to an end when your characters start beating up on you.

"First, you don't get paid for writing fan fiction. If you did, you would be breaking copyright laws. And second, none of us are your characters; we're Takeshi Konomi's characters."

All right, all right, all right. You guys belong to Konomi, the guy is a genius. But a girl can dream, can't she? Anyway, sorry, please ignore me, back to the story... Where was I? Oh, yes.

The dark gray storm clouds pressed down on the group; ready to unleash the water held with in. Tezuka fell to the back of the group to walk with Fuji as the rest of the group walked on.

"Where are we?" the captain asked him. Fuji looked at him, his smiling mask still in place.

"And what makes you think that I know?" Fuji asked softly. A flash of lighting and a roll of thunder in the distance set the music for the oncoming storm.

"You are far too relaxed. You're even more relaxed then you are at school," Tezuka commented quietly, his eyes studying the smiling face next to him. A few fat raindrops hit the ground, turning the dirt to mud.

"You should watch where you're going. If you don't, you might fall," Fuji said, deliberately walking away without answering Tezuka's question. Then, without warning, a flash of lightning ripped out across the sky. Fuji let out a girlish scream... and is now threatening me with a knife. Where did you get that thing anyway? Fuji continued to stare at me, unblinking. Never mind, it doesn't matter...

The clouds opened, unleashing their gift of water to the parched earth. Everything was drenched in a matter of seconds. The wind picked up quickly, whipping random stuff around chaotically as dripping cloth pressed flat against hard muscular bodies. Fuji, leading the way, ran up the path. When he crested the hill, about two hundred feet away from him stood a huge, old stone castle. They paused; staring for a moment, they then took off running towards the giant double doors. Momo reached the door first and started pounding: No answer. Fuji arrived next, gently pushing Momo out of the way. He tried first one doorknob, then the other; the second turning easily under his hand. Pushing the door open, Fuji led the group inside.

Once everyone had filed in, Oishi shut the door. The sound and light of the storm became muted. The sudden change in atmosphere startled the group, causing them to stop and take in their surroundings. The wind was now howling only faintly, and the shadowed space was lit only by the flashes of lightning seen through the windows. The double doors they had just used were huge, each one about four feet wide and fifteen feet tall. Two great windows flanked the entrance, showing the world outside. The bottoms of the windows started about waist high, and the tops towered over the doors by about two feet. The tops of the windows were curved and had three panes of glass in each.

Fuji toed his shoes off and took a step into the front hall, onto the black and white tiled floor. The room was huge. Along the back wall of the room was an elevated walkway with two doors at either end. Two staircases led to the ground level, one on each side of the room. Between the two staircases and under the balcony was a single door, leading through the back wall to another room. The stairs were marble; the railings twisting, metal vines that ran up both sides of the staircases, across the balcony, and down the other stair. On ground level, off to the right, was a door that seemed to lead to what looked like a family room. A couch and chair could be seen through the door. On the left was another door that was closed. Eiji walked over to one of the windows and stood there, watching the storm. All of a sudden, he let out an unholy shriek and fell to the floor. A sound followed, as though something had hit the window. Everyone turned to look, and there, pressed up against the window, was a tree branch.

"It's all right. There are very few things that can get through those windows. I guess the storm outside explains what you are doing inside," said a voice from behind the group. Standing in the middle of the walkway was a girl that looked to be in her late teens. "Though I thought it was customary to knock before entering someone's home."

She turned and walked down the right flight of stairs. A flash of lighting lit the room, glinting off the ring on her right hand. The ring was a rose, framed with vines that reached up to wrap around her wrist. Her black hair was tied back to form a bun at the base of her neck. The light blue, floor-length dress swished softly as she walked down the stairs, her sensible shoes clicking softly against the floor as she reached the first level. She stopped and looked over the group, taking in their dripping and ragged appearance. She stood with her hands in front of her, her right resting over her left, her wedding ring shining through the fingers of her right hand as though lit from within. Almost the whole group felt out of place in the presence of such a beautiful young lady, and lowered their eyes when she looked at them.

"A hot drink would do you all some good, and then a nice warm fire to sit by and dry off. Then you all need a good night's rest, I think," she said, walking to the door of the family room. When she reached the doorway, she turned around to look at them. They still stood by the door.

"Come along then," she said. They followed after removing their shoes. In the next room they found a fireplace, a mantle with pictures on it, five more huge windows, three couches, six recliners, and six end tables. The room was dark like the front hall; the only source of light coming from the windows and entryway. The girl walked through the room and over to the fireplace. Before she was even half way across the room, another voice stopped her.

"Himeko, I would appreciate it if you would alert me whenever visitors arrive. It is highly improper for the lady of the house to neglect her duties." Fuji jumped behind Tezuka as he heard that voice; oh he knew he had to get out of there. But the question was how… if he didn't want her to notice him.

"The lady of the house is me, and you have always neglected your duties," said the girl, now identified as Himeko.

"I have not, but I think it is time for you to go. And like all ghosts, you can't stick around in the light, so bye-bye." The lights flipped on, and Himeko disappeared with a whispered 'Not fair' echoing about the room. Standing on the other side of the room by another door was a teenage girl, looking to be around sixteen or seventeen. She wore a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt, her black hair pulled back in a pony tail to reveal her face. Her hazel eyes regarded the rag-tag group that stood dripping in her family room.

"I'm sorry about that. Himeko has not yet accepted that she is a ghost. But all castles must have their share of spooks. Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten my manners. My name is Jin. And you are?"

"I'm Kunimitsu Tezuka, caption of the Seigaku tennis team, that's Shuichiro Oishi, vice-caption…" Oishi smiled and nodded, "Ryoma Echizen…" Ryoma seemed to be interested in the floor, but was actually asleep, "Takashi Kawamura-"

"You can call me Takashi," he interrupted, smiling shyly at Jin. She smiled back, nodding.

"Sadaharu Inui…" Tezuka continued, Inui busily writing in his note book, "Takeshi Momoshiro…"

"You can call me Momo," he said.

"Kaoru Kaido…" Kaido hissed and looked elsewhere, "that's –"

"HI! I'm Eiji Kikumaru! You can just call me Eiji, nya! How old are you, nya? Your really pretty, nya! Do you live here all by your self?"

"Eiji!" Oishi said as he grabbed him, wrapping a hand around his mouth. Eiji, not one to give up so easily, grabbed a hold of Oishi's wrist and tried to pull the hand off his mouth. "Sorry about that. He tends get…" Jin just laughed.

"It's all right. I have a family member very similar to him. Eiji, I'm seventeen years old, I thank you for the compliment, and no, I don't live here all by my self, my father and some other family members live with me. They're not here right now, though." Eiji smiled under the hand that was still wrapped around his mouth as he gave it one more tug and gave up.

"And this is Shusuke Fuji," Tezuka said as he sidestepping to reveal Fuji, who had stayed hidden up to this point. Fuji looked warily at Jin with a guarded look on his face.

"Hey, Jin," he said.