Hiya! It's been, what, more than two weeks since I last updated? Sorry, sorry! School's being a real pain and I have to prepare for two upcoming piano exams. x.x I'm going to get myself killed trying to balance all of this. Sigh.

Shortest chapter I have ever written so far, I believe. Like I promised, this chapter is focused more with the regulars. However, not all of them appears. I am somehow more bias towards the other regulars than the Demon Three. Don't worry! I won't forget them but just don't expect them to make a big, grand entrance here. Kirihara... well... you'll see.

Thanks to Full Manga Alchemist, The Devil Inside, Hiroen Nnir, VampyBlood24, LellowOssapus, Shinbei21, and all the readers that left anonymous reviews. Thank you for all your support! Special thanks to VampyBlood24 for helping me out this chapter and giving me a few new ideas. Arigatou!

Some of the characters may seem a bit OOC when they speak and I apologize for that ahead of time. Hopefully it isn't too bad and won't stop you from reading. If you catch any, suggestions on how to make them more in character are welcome.

Enjoy!

Before you begin...

Note: Please excuse any kind of grammar, spelling, and/or other errors. Spell check is not always perfect and I may not catch everything in it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters except my version of the plot and characters.

-o-o-o- Chapter 4 -o-o-o-

Dealing with Rumors

-o-o--o-o--o-o--o-o--o--o-

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

Jackal and Marui walked past their fellow classmates as they strolled down the hallway, heading towards the lunchroom. The two were officially on the tennis team despite being only second years. In the past, it was most often third years getting the regular spots on the Rikkaidai team. Third-years weren't picked out of bias but because they had more experience and time to hone their skills. However, the Brazilian and sweets boy were one of the best doubles teamwork the school had ever seen. Therefore, it was no surprise that they had easily beaten the previous doubles pairs and earned themselves the right to be team regulars.

Walking, the two team regulars could hear the badly kept secretive gossip of their fellow classmates. Many were huddled in small groups of two or three, openly whispering. Some of them talked as if they were having a conservation that was practically made to be overheard by others. That particular topic everyone was focusing on was about the kid that had seaweed hair and turn himself into a devil on the courts. And, out of all the things said, none of them were pretty.

"You know that first year brat, Kirihara? I heard he was sleeping in class again!"

"Again? Cocky bastard probably thinks he can do whatever he wants because he's as good as the regulars!"

"Pft, it's no wonder his class hates him. From what someone told me, Higa-sensei got pissed at him and gave the whole class extra homework and detention!"

"Who even likes him in the first place? He's a demon! Did you see the way he plays?!"

"My onee-san told me that he sent someone to the hospital when several broken bones just by looking at him funny!"

"How did he even get into this school?! Rikkaidai doesn't accept devils!"

The Brazilian tennis player frowned at all the outrageous comments targeting Kirihara. Ever since he came here, the gossip had got wider and crazier with each passing day. And with each new event, they got bigger and bigger. After the first day of school, everyone in the school, including staff, knew Kirihara's name. When he challenged Sanada to a rematch earlier this week, the 'devil' began appearing where ever his name was mentioned. The day after right after his first official tennis practice with the club, numerous illogical rumors popped up. And, after the incident that happened just this morning, hate talk and whispers were rapidly making its way around the student body.

Jackal was amazed Kirihara was still who he was during practice. Personally, he saw Kirihara as his equal in tennis despite his faults and being his junior. He respected Kirihara for his determination to reach his goal, no matter what attitude the freshman displayed. It was true that he was cocky, arrogant, and certainly violent but he acted a lot like a little kid most of the time. All of the downfalls of Kirihara's personality didn't give them the right to ridicule the boy.

Marui saw it the somewhere along the same lines. "Boy, things are really getting out of control, eh Jackal?" he asked, popping his strawberry gum. His friend nodded.

"Yes. The school has been out of control since Kirihara-kun joined," he agreed. No other words wre exchanged, the surrounding chatter filling in the air for them. The two continued on, reaching the sky bridge that connected to the main building. Before they reached the other side, though, they stopped to see what everyone was whispering and pointing at. All of their eyes were focused on the building directly across from the bridge. The one for the first years.

A short kid with messy, seaweed hair was sitting in one of the empty classrooms, doing work. No one, not even the teacher, was there with him with him. The kid was sitting there along, quickly scribing down things on a piece of paper. Some crumpled balls of paper were scattered beside him. A math book laid out in front of him.

Someone snorted, drawing attention away from the 'devil' child and towards them. It was a tall second-year student with shaggy, brown hair curled at the shoulders. His dark purple eyes were focused on Kirihara. He had his arms crossed against his chest, eyes narrowed with a dark light. "Pft, look at that. Stupid kid can't even do his work on time." The shorter male next to him nodded.

"Yeah, he doesn't even belong here. Doesn't know his place," he added. His friend smirked.

"Damn brat sure doesn't. Devils should go back to the hell they came from," he announced firmly, the two bursting out into laughter at the cruel joke they said. Others around them laughed as well, not wanting to feel like a supporter of the freshman. Few to none took in the consideration of laughing at the unknowing boy. Said boy had his hands in his hair as he frustrating tried to figure out the problem. Except Jackal and Marui.

The two approached the brown hair guy and his friend who was disrespecting their kouhai. "Inoue-kun, you're saying untrue, unjust things," Jackal warned, displeased with the behavior a fellow classmate was showing. "You should not be saying---"

"And I should listen to you, why again?" Inoue, the taller one, interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Who cares what I say about that stupid kid? All he did was ruin our reputation, thinking he's all great and stuff! He hasn't got a single damn drop of respect for his elders and already made us look like weaklings!" his friend nodded in agreement. Other students around them were quiet, listening in to the argument.

Jackal frowned again. Was this really how others saw Kirihara? Truly in pure hate? Did they even try to look deeper to the reasons behind his actions? "He did so unintentionally, Inoue-san," the regular tried to reason. "Kirihara-kun is just a kid. He doesn't know all the consequences of his actions most, if not all, the time.

"Oh yeah?" Inoue crackled, laughing dryly. His friend glanced at him warily, unsure of what Inoue was finding so funny. Other students began fidgeting from where they stood, not knowing what to do now expect to listen. The argument in front of them was turning ugly quickly.

Jabbing a sharp finger unexpectedly at Jackal's chest, Inoue hissed, "I'm surprise you can even stick up for the pathetic runt, Jackal. I thought you out of everyone here would see just how evil that brat is."

Marui stopped chewing his gum. Nobody, no matter how big or small, got away with messing with his friends. Apart from his sweets, tennis, and family, his friends were one of the most important things to him. The verdict is still out on where his relationship with Kirihara laid, but the red-head considered them to at least be a little closer than the average senpai and kouhai. That was good enough for now to Marui.

Separating his teammate from the other second-year, Marui interjected, "Hey, hey. No need to get personal, right? I believe we already established the fact a lot of people hate the brat." Inoue smirked, arms crossed in victory. Marui's eyes narrowed as he continued, his attention focused solely on the brunette. "However, you're really crossing the line here." Inoue's shorted friend scoffed.

"Great! Another fucking supporter!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "What the hell do you guys even see in that fucking, stupid, annoying prick?!"

"Yeah!" someone the crowd squawked. "What do you know about him?!"

Other students began yelling their own opinions, finally seeing an opportunity to voice their own thoughts on Kirihara and what Marui and Jackal had to say about him. More than ninety percent of the crowd demanded to know a kid with violent tendencies had the support of two of the tennis regulars. He almost tried to kill the mighty emperor of the school by smashing a ball right at his face! They all felt that if anyone had the right to hate Kirihara the most it would be the regulars.

The Brazilian rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache forming. This was getting way too far out of hand. His patience and sanity were stretching thinner and thinner the longer this argument continued. "I don't know Kirihara-kun very well at all. But---" No one let him finished. His one sentence was the only thing needed to fuel the next fury of words.

"See! You don't know him at all!"

"What reason do you have to even like that brat, huh?!

"Just admit you hate him like the rest of us!"

"What makes you support that idiot anyways?!"

"That boy is nothing but trouble!"

Marui looked at them expressionlessly, his patience on the verge of snapping. "And that gives you the right to diss someone you don't know anything about?" Inoue exploded, unable to believe how the two of them still didn't get what over three-fourths of the school already got.

"How can you even support that... that... thing!" he spat back. "He shouldn't even be in this school! Or on the tennis team for that matter! I don't understand why Sanada-san---"

"I do what?" another voice spoke up from behind him suddenly, sending the crowd of students fleeing towards the nearest door. Inoue and his friend didn't scattered with the rest of the stampede, being frozen in spot. Only Jackal and Marui didn't seem terrified of the new arrival. Jackal was in fact relieved that he had shown up while Marui greatly relaxed.

The red-head blew a bubble. "Hey there, Sanada. How are 'ya?" The tall, stoic man remained silent, not even acknowledging the greeting. He was too busy looking at the top of the heads of Inoue and his friend, the two who hadn't moved an inch.

"Well?" Sanada questioned again, the question sounding more like an order. The ignored sweets boy hid a snicker behind his bubble, anticipating what was about to happen.

Inoue slowly turned around, along with his friend, to face the stoic man. Sweat formed at the top of his head, throat choked as he tried to muster up the courage to say something, if anything, to him. Just standing in the presence of the might Emperor was enough to petrify anyone for life. "A-Ah! Sanada-san! I-It's... um... not what you... uh... think!" An eyebrow rose.

"And what would I be thinking?" he asked, the underlying tone carrying a much darker message. Inoue gulped, trying hard not to wet himself in the pants. His friend was very close to it, visibly shaking and trembling in the near presence of the emperor. The shorter boy's eyes were slightly damp as well, as if fear was threatening tears to fall.

"W-Well," Inoue began, swallowing hard. "it's that k-kid, Kirihara. He s-should have never been able to j-join the cl---" he shut up when he felt two ice beams aimed towards him.

"I believe that you have no say in that matter," Sanada reprimanded, sending more tremors through both. "You should be more worried about how your skills, especially your stamina, is below even that an elementary schooler has. And you, Yamada, are unable to perform well near the net. At Rikkaidai, we are winners, not losers." Their heads hung low in shame, embarrassment, and anger. Never had they been told so bluntly their weaknesses by another player without said offender getting hurt in some way. Always the offender was 'punished' by them. This time, however, none of them stood a chance against Sanada.

Marui leaned against the railing, popping and blowing another bubble. He was clearly and evidently enjoying the show before him. "Hm, why don't you give them some drills now, Sanada? I'm sure they wouldn't mind running some laps to improve their stamina." Two dirty glares were sent in the redheads direction and a shake of the head from another.

"Shut up!" Inoue barked, cringing back when Sanada ordered him silent with another look.

"One-hundred fifty laps," the stoic teen announced without skipping a beat. Inoue and Yamada's jaws dropped to the floor.

"NANI?!"

"Woo~" Marui whistled, bubblegum retracting back inside his mouth. "That's harsh." Jackal shushed him.

Sanada's eyebrows rose again. "Why are you still here? Unless you want to do that and the extra one hundred during practice, I suggest you start running now."

"H-HAI!" the two 'eep'ed, running around the emperor in direction of the route towards the track. Two trails of dust were left in their route as their figures got smaller. Shouts and screams from inside could he heard from innocent students pushed around from the terrified duo. There was also a loud explosion from one of the rooms in the science hall, but nothing too serious. It was the screaming girls screaming bloody murder about runaway rats that echoed throughout the school the rest of the day.

Once the noises died down to a slight murmur from the sky bridge, Sanada turned towards Marui and Jackal. His cold, firm expression still remained on his face. Arms crossed, he barked, "What are you two doing here?"

Marui twitched. "Dude, you're kidding right? You really think that will work on us? Even a monkey could see the difference."

"Are you trying to say that I'm a monkey?" the offended man remarked, looking at the redhead. "Do you want to run with them as well? You need to so you don't eat so many sweets."

PULSE VEIN.

"Oi!" Marui shouted, glaring. "I said stop it already! We already know it's you! And sweets are good!"

Sanada looked him dead in the eye. "I order you to do one thousand laps," he ordered. A light shone in his eyes as he saw the redhead pulse multiple veins clench and unclench his hands furiously, trying hard not to strangle the taller man. "Now."

TWITCH.

"Give it up! Jeez!" Marui growled, smacking his gum angrily. "No way am I running one thousand laps! If you want to do it, do it yourself!" Sanada's eyes glinted again.

"Then no more chewing gum in school or at practice," he declared to Marui's obvious disobedience. The said red-head's gum chewing stopped immediately, shocked at such a statement. Jackal face palmed, wandering if his sanity had finally died and gone to heaven.

...

...

...

...

PULSE VEIN.

"GIVE IT A REST!!! IT DOESN'T WORK ON ME!!!"

Jackal sighed, shaking his head. If his sanity was still here after everything that just happened in the last seven minutes, it would be a miracle. "Niou, you shouldn't try to kill others under false orders. If Sanada finds out you're impersonating him, you'll be the one running laps." 'Sanada' smirked at the doubles player, ignoring the said player's fuming partner.

"Hey, it's their own fault, puri~" the teen answered, taking off his 'hair'. Silver, spiky hair replaced the black-blue hair he had on previously. "Should've known better." Marui glared.

"And doesn't that mean you STOP when they'd gone?" Niou shrugged, making the boy twitch again. Despite being friends, that didn't stop the trickster from always trying to find ways to prank them. And with each one, the next got more and more annoying. Maybe it was for that reason many wondered why Jackal didn't have any gray hairs. Or it could be that he had no hair in the first place.

Jackal sighed again, tired. "Guys, stop it." Niou held up his arms innocently, his smirk saying 'Hey, I didn't do anything'. The read-head rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before turning away.

Marui found himself glancing back towards Kirihara when he turned away. The boy was glaring angrily at the work in front of him, as if daring it to solve itself. His head dropped in defeat ten seconds later when the answer didn't magically appear in front of him. The sweets loving player chuckled.

"Poor kids doesn't seem to like math."

"Or any other subject," Niou added, his Sanada disguise discarded. He leaned against the railing a few feet to the left of Marui, getting a closer look at the freshman he constantly tricked easily. "Only class he doesn't is Japanese and P.E."

Jackal frowned, remembering all the gossip and false rumors being spread around about the seaweed haired kid. "He must be really lonely, having no one actually respect him or treat him equally. Many are instead pretty scared of him, in fact." Marui shrugged.

"You can't blame anyone, though. Brat's attitude and actions is bound to anger some, if not everyone's, pride. He was actually one of the few that could hold his own against Sanada longer than most. And, the kid still has the will to fight even after losing that bad. Many are probably jealous of his daringness and skills." Niou snickered.

"Never knew you could have such thoughtful thoughts," the trickster commented, popping Marui's large bubble with a finger. The boy blinked as his face was covered with sticky, pink pieces of gum. He scowled at the silver haired teen and twitched again.

"Hey! I'm a genius! 'Course I would know all of that!" Marui retorted, annoyed that no one would listen to him when he said he was a genius. How many times did he have to say it? Marui Bunta was the genius of Rikkaidai! Niou snickered again, pissing the boy off further.

The bystander Brazilian rubbed his head, agitated by the seemingly never-ending arguments the two got in. Rather than using words, the male used one of his rarely used glares on the two to get to shut up. Though Jackal could glare when he wanted to, it was a very, very uncommon thing, which it made it all the more effective when he decided to pull it out. Niou crossed his arms, lips twitching as Marui glared one last glare before looking away, huffing. The peacemaker sighed.

The three stood in silence, not looking at each other. Their eyes, however, found themselves drawn back to the classroom Kirihara remained in. His pencil tapped rapidly against the desk. He was still trying to find the solution to the problem. But by the looks of it, it wasn't coming anytime soon.

Suddenly, the tapping stopped. A wide grin grew on his face. Bending forwards, Kirihara began writing something furiously, eager to finish. Once done, the freshman jumped up, his chair falling over from his frantic movements. Racing up to the teacher's desk, Kirihara slammed his finished work down. Finally done with the painful, tear-jerking, dreaded thing called math work, Kirihara did a little victory dance to celebrate. Unknowingly, he was the cause of his three senpais' laughter outside, all amused by his obvious childish behavior.

"That kid sure is weird," Marui observed, chewing his bubblegum. "but he doesn't look like a devil when he's like this." Jackal nodded.

"No one, though, probably believes that. I haven't seen anyone who approached him unless necessary, pinning his behavior on the court as his true personality." A light bulb went off in Niou's head, an idea forming in his head. Smirking, he dropped his arms around his fellow teammates, a light twinkling in his eyes as they looked at him in confusion.

The two didn't like the look he was giving them. Well, Jackal didn't. He already knew with experience that whatever Niou was scheming was never up to any good. On the contrary, Marui was curious on what the infamous school trickster had up his sleeve this time. "You got something, Niou?" the man's smirk grew larger.

"Let's prove if this little 'devil' really is a devil or not. I heard that he eats on the rooftop during lunch..."

Hm... I wonder what Niou has in plan for Kirihara? All I can say is that it's called Forming Bonds. Any guesses on what's going to happen? Guess we'll just have to wait for the next chapter~

For the next chapter, it most likely won't be out for awhile. I really, really need to update my other story and make it the last few weeks of school. Plus, it needs A LOT of editing.

I should probably go and finish my other story now... or start on my homework. Eh... Anyone want to do Romeo and Juliet homework? Haha, never mind.

Anyways, please continue to support The Devil Prince! Reviews are greatly appreciated and loved!

Sayonara!

*~Kira~*