A/N: Okay, I know I'm really, really late. It's been like what, five months? Sorry! I had lots of school and exams! Now it's summer, and I can write... a little. I have summer school every weekday for four (FOUR) hours! Stress! Oh, and for Hayashi, I changed his first name to Daisuke because that's what it really is. It's not Yoshiaki (I made that up before).

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Beginnings, and Meeting Old Friends

By: SadistFujiFan

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Kikumaru Eiji leisurely walked the halls of Akigawa Kou, towards his class, 1-3. Eiji really wondered if he would be able to survive school. He didn't know anyone to help him. Fuji, Oishi, and Inui, who all tutored or helped him, were all at different schools. There wouldn't be anyone to wake him up when the teacher called him. Can I really survive high school when I barely survived middle school?

Eiji soon arrived in front of his homeroom door. He reached out and put his hand on the handle of the door. Just as he was about to open the door, it opened of its own accord. Eiji jumped back, scared to death.

"Hey! I'm Kanda Shirou! I'm your classmate! Who are you?" A brunet boy, not much taller than Eiji himself, appeared in the doorway.

"...um, I'm Kikumaru Eiji. I'm a student in this class?" Eiji was hesitant about answering, not knowing if he said the right thing.

"Are you telling me, or asking me?

"...um... Telling? At least, I think I'm telling you. Eiji was NOT used to people as loud and energetic as this. The only person like that was... Momo. I'm not going to see Momo around here, just this kid.

Thinking about Momo made Eiji think of all of his other teammates from Seigaku. He longed to be with them, playing tennis. He must have dreamed off, because the next thing he knew, Kanda was snapping in his face.

"Yo, what's wrong? Wake up.

"Huh? Oh, nothing... Let's go in! I want to find me a seat! Eiji had reverted back to the happy Eiji that everyone at Seigaku knew.

Deep inside, Eiji knew that he wasn't back to the normal him. He still wished that everything hadn't changed. He wanted to be in the same classes as Fuji, hang out with Oishi, be tutored by Inui, eat at the hamburger joint with Momo and Ochibi, and play tennis with the tennis team that he had enjoyed. Eiji didn't want to grow up. It was painful.

Eiji never showed his pain, though, and continued talking and laughing with Kanda-kun until class started. He was going to survive school with or without friends.

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Inui Sadaharu clicked his pen out and prepared to write down information in his newest notebook, especially for Fuyu No Yo Kou Kou. This was the notebook that all of his newest data would be going into. Looking around, he spotted his first victim, a blond guy that looked like a freshman. Perhaps he was an English transfer student? Inui's glasses glinted dangerously.

172 cm tall, blond, green-blue eyes, probably a freshman, European, possibly English, left-handed. Upon closer inspection, Inui saw that the boy had a sports bag, although he noted it wasn't a tennis bag. Ii data.

Walking away towards the school, Inui wondered what other people he would meet. Reaching the school, Inui exchanged his shoes for his indoor shoes. Finally, he walked towards his classroom.

Entering, he found quite a few people. Some had laptops out, while others were reading. Some were talking to other students. Inui noted that two had basketballs, one had a volleyball, and one had a soccer ball. Ii data. People who play sports. However, looking around, he saw that no one had a tennis bag or rackets. A shame.

Inui went to his seat and took out his laptop. He had to find out more about the school. He had, of course, done plenty of research about the school already. Inui was curious and wanted to know more.

Inui had been so caught up in researching that he hadn't heard the door open and close. He didn't notice the person that entered until the said person spoke to him.

"Well, well, Inui-kun. Imagine seeing you here. You attend this school now, too?

Inui looked up to the mystery person to see the one guy Fuji had hated Ð Mizuki Hajime. "Mizuki. I didn't know you were coming here. And yes, I do attend Fuyu Kou now.

Seeing Mizuki had brought back memories of middle school that Inui had so painfully tried to not think about. He was never going back to those times, so why think of them. Obviously, Mizuki wasn't going to help him forget.

"My, you're cold. Why, we haven't seen each other since Nationals. I haven't played against you in ages. We should get together and play. Don't you think? Mizuki had that face that made you want to pound it in on.

"Yes, yes, maybe we'll get together a different time. I really must be getting back to my research. Please excuse me, With that, Inui completely ignored Mizuki.

Inui didn't look up until Mizuki had gotten seated. Playing tennis against an opponent from middle school. He chuckled softly. That's something I'm hardly ever going to be able to do from now.

Inui started reviewing his course schedule and noting where all the room he needed to go to were. After he did that, he reviewed his data until the teacher came in.

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Fuji Syusuke looked forward as he walked. He could already see his new school, Teidan Kou Kou from where he stood. It really was a handsome looking building. It looked like something from long ago England. That is my school now, not Seigaku. Fuji kept his head up, his ever-present smile on his face and eyes closed. He had to keep his mask up and pretend that he had forgotten his Seigaku days; he could not live in the past.

Finally reaching the school, Fuji walked up to his classroom. It wasn't far from the entrance. Opening the door, he saw that there were only a few people already here, about three. As he started to sit down in the chair closest to the door, one of the other students came up to him.

"Hi, I'm Shirokawa Kyou. Nice to meet you. If you need any help or a tour around the school, I'll be glad to give it to you. My older brother went to school here so I know a lot about this school," the boy introduced himself warmly to Fuji.

Smiling, Fuji introduced himself. "I'm Fuji Syusuke. I'm glad to meet you too. Thanks for your offers. It's nice to know I can ask somebody if I have questions. I'll let you know if I really get stuck.

Smiling brightly, Kyou went back to his seat. Fuji never let the smile on his face waver. After Kyou sat back down, Fuji went into a deep thought.

His personality is so much like Oishi's. He always tried to help and offered it. I'm guessing that Shirokawa-kun is going to offer help to anyone that walks through the door. But there's another person he reminds me of. Shirokawa-kun is really short, like Echizen. Maybe I should tell him what Inui told Echizen to do, drink two bottles of milk everyday. Fuji giggled softly, and started reading a bit before the teacher came.

Fuji read for about twenty minutes before looking up again. By that time, about ten more students had walked in. None had sat next to Fuji, however. Just as he had predicted, Shirokawa-kun had said the same thing that he had said to Fuji to ever other student. Just as Fuji prepared to read again, the door opened once again to let in a student. Fuji looked up and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Fuji! I didn't know you were attending Teidan too!" the tall boy exclaimed quietly to Fuji. The boy quickly took the seat next to Fuji.

Fuji put his book down after marking the page he was on. He turned to the boy and smiled, possibly the first real smile he had worn all week. "Tachibana! I haven't seen you in a long time! I didn't know you were coming here either! What a coincidence!

"Yeah, it is. I really didn't know you were going to be my classmate! This is great! Somebody I know will be with me. An will be pleased to know this, as well as my parents. Tachibana Kippei smiled brightly at Fuji.

"I know. I was prepared for a high school career with none of my old friends from middle school." F

"So, who took over the tennis club for Seigaku? Kamio is captain and Shinji is vice-captain now. They have to find somebody else to replace me. Remember? We only had seven people last year." T

"Yes, I remember. Momoshiro took over as captain for Seigaku, and Kaido is vice-captain. From what I understand, Kaido also took over the role of opening the clubroom and courts. F

"What about Echizen? Is he stuck with the others while Momoshiro and Kaido talk over things with the coach? I don't think Echizen would like that." T

"Echizen is like an advisor. He goes and talks things over with Ryuzaki-sensei with the captains. Echizen is the strongest on the team now. There's no doubt he'll take over as captain for next year." F

"Yeah. I'm worried about Fudomine next year. The regulars are all third-years now. If they all leave, what's going to happen? The Fudomine Tennis Team is gone after this year." T

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure your friends are thinking about it. Speaking of tennis, are you joining the team for Teidan?" F

"Yeah, I plan to. Are you, Fuji?" T

"Yeah. I'll be your teammate soon! You want to go sign up together?" F

"Sure, let's go after school. Do you want Ð" Tachibana stopped talking when the teacher walked in. Tachibana and Fuji started class as classmates. You could tell that they were both at ease because they found a friend.

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Oishi Syuichirou, who had always been first to his club practices, arrived at his high school, Asa no Gawa Kou Kou very early. He walked up to his class and saw that only one other person was in there, reading a magazine. Oishi decided to introduce himself to the lone guy in the room because he thought it would be rude not to.

"Hi. I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm Oishi Syuichirou. I came from Seishun Gakuen Chuutoubu. Oishi smiled at the guy who looked up.

The guy smiled back and put his hand out. "I'm Yukimura Seiichi. I came from Rikkai Dai Gaku Fuzoku Chuugakkou. I know Seigaku.

Oishi shook hands with Yukimura. "Oh, I know Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, too. I was part of the tennis club at Seigaku. Actually, I was the vice-captain last year. We had a match against your school at Kantou Finals.

Yukimura had a sparkling shine in his eyes. "I was also part of the tennis club at Rikkai. Captain of the club, actually. I was unable to play any matches because I was hospitalized. I remember the Kantou Finals. Sanada told me all about it.

"Yes, I remember. Sanada-san was vice-captain, like me. At the time, our captain was in Germany because of his elbow injury. It was quite a match." Oishi had a wistful look on his face.

"Would you like to sit next to me? I would love some company and talking about tennis is one of my favorite things to do, Yukimura offered Oishi.

Oishi smiled. "I would like that a lot. I also like talking about tennis, although I like playing it much more, Oishi stood up and walked over to where his bags were and sat down next to Yukimura.

"I have a question, if you don't mind me asking," Oishi first started hesitantly.

"Go right ahead.

"Why are you coming to a school in Tokyo? Don't you live in Kanagawa-ken? Rikkai was located in Kanagawa, if I remember correctly.

Yukimura smiled. "Yes, Rikkai is in Kanagawa, and I lived there until just recently. My father was transferred here in December. My parents didn't want the family to be separated, so after school was done, we moved to Tokyo.

Oishi nodded his head, understanding. Soon, they went back to talking about tennis.

For a long time the two just sat and talked about tennis and middle school life. They only stopped when the teacher came in. Oishi was very happy to have made a new friend with common interests.

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Kawamura "Taka-san" Takashi walked to school, like he usually did. It had been fun to do nothing but train to become a sushi chef for a week. Happy times, must end, however. Taka-san walked slowly towards the school that he would spend the last three years of his school career.

Taka-san reached the school after a short while. Walking down the hallway towards his class, something crashed into him from behind. He was able to keep his balance, but when he looked behind him, Taka-san saw that the other person was not as lucky.

"No wonder today's fortune said to be careful of the floor today. This floor made me slip and crash into someone! Unlucky! The bright orange haired guy was mumbling to himself while Taka-san just stared.

"um... are you okay? Do you need help getting up? Taka-san asked, hesitantly. I know this guy from somewhere...

Without waiting for an answer, Taka-san extended a hand out to help. The shorter guy grabbed on, and Taka-san pulled him up.

"Thanks! I'm lucky to have hit such a nice person! ...Oh! hehe, sorry for hitting you! It was unlucky of you, yeah? The orange-haired guy finally looked up to see Taka-san's face. "Hey, I know you! You're Akutsu's friend! From Seigaku, where Omoshiro-kun is! Remember me? I'm Lucky Sengoku from Yamabuki!

It finally clicked in Taka-san's head. "Yeah, I remember. You're Sengoku Kiyosumi, yeah? I'm Kawamura Takashi. How's Akutsu, by the way? I haven't seen him recently. Do you know where he's going to school?

Sengoku shook his head. "Akutsu's not going to high school. He just hangs out at home or the streets and smokes. I have his number; I can give it to you.

"Really? Thanks, I really appreciate it. I have to go to my class now, but could you give it to me at lunch tomorrow or something? Taka-san looked pleased but disappointed.

"I can give it to you at lunch today! I have my phonebook today. I didn't want to leave without it for some reason. This must have been it! Lucky!" Sengoku looked really happy... but doesn't he always?

"Okay, thanks. Where should we meet? Your class, my class, or somewhere else?" Taka-san asked politely.

"I'll bring it to your class. What is it? Sengoku started walking and Taka-san followed.

"It's... this one, 1-7. What about you? Taka-san pointed to a class nearby.

"Really? 1-7? Lucky! I'm in that class too! I'll just give it to you when we get inside, then, okay?" Sengoku started towards the class.

Entering the class after Sengoku, Taka-san replied, "Sure. Thanks, Sengoku-kun.

Sengoku sat down at a desk and began rummaging around in his bag. Finally, he took out a green phonebook and looked for Akutsu's number. When he found it, he got out some scratch paper and wrote it down. "Here's the number. I like calling him to annoy him. Sit down! Let's sit together! Sengoku gestured for Taka-san to sit.

Tentatively, Taka-san sat down and took the paper from Sengoku. "Thanks a lot for the number. I've been wondering what's up with him. So, are you going to join the high school tennis team?

Sengoku nodded enthusiastically. "I'm really looking forward to it. Are you going to join, Kawamura-kun?

Taka-san shook his head sadly. "No, I'm not going to join. I'm going to train to be a sushi chef after school. My last days as a tennis player passed. Last year was my last year.

"That's too bad. I would have really liked to play on a team with you. Too Bad! Sengoku didn't look disappointed at all, but that's just how he was.

Sengoku and Taka-san talked for a bit until the teacher started class.

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A/N: Okay, really lame. Everyone but Eiji saw someone they knew, but don't worry! Eiji will soon see someone that he knows! It's just that they're not in the same class like everyone else. They'll meet at lunch, but I don't think I'll write it. Next chapter is After the First Day...

The former Seigaku third-years (except Tezuka) are going to chat online about their day! Any suggestions on SNs? Please review and leave some! I would love it!