I think, think, I should update now. Or anytime soon, because I've been delaying my updating duties long enough to deserve a sack of tomatoes being thrown at me.

----------------------------------------

Don't own Shaman King or Prince of Tennis

Integrate

Chapter two: Plus Insanity

----------------------------------------

Asakura Hao was.... For the lack of a better word, lost. It was also something remotely annoying to talk about, since he had navigated through schools much larger than Kerry High. But there he was, standing in the middle of the open campus, people chattering on the grassy sloops next to him, looking around for the science department.

Sure, he had considered asking for help. But that wasn't his style, to say the least. And in the mist of turning right left up corner-down and then another U-turn later, for he had wonderful memory, Hao found himself standing in front of a wooden cased door. It looked like the chamber to a madman's dungeon.

But that was what science class were designed to be, so he naturally pushed the door open, peaking inside. There was only one person there, sitting cross-legged in the first row, paper laying out in front of her. Hao concluded that she was probably taking a make-up test.

And in the mist of observation, the girl had looked up at him, offering an annoyed expression. "What?"

If she wasn't in the mood to be civil, he didn't need to be either. "Where's the science department?" It came out as some sort of a demand.

The girl had tilted her head, her chestnut brown hair pulled up with green-ribbons. "You're standing in it."

"Where's the Forensic Science lab?"

The girl had gone back to working on her test again, head lowered inches from the paper. She was waring a green-on-white screen-tee that perfectly matched her eyes. But her attitude? It need work, much more working on.

"Hello?" Hao spoke up.

"I don't like to repeat myself." She barked back, slamming her pencil down. He had thought for a moment that the girl was going to turn on him, or at least try to attack or something. Instead, she walked next to the teacher's desk before laying her test-paper on top.

"So..."

The girl sighed, turning to lean back onto the desk. "This is the Forensic Science room. Miss Kane went to the office, but you're early."

"Then why are you here?" Hao replied, striving to start a conversation whose end he already knew.

"Social service, had to convert printers into toilet paper." Ah, he didn't expect that one. "No, I had to make-up a test." She quickly added, suspecting that he wasn't getting the joke. "You new?"

"Maybe." He replied, hand grasping onto his backpack.

"You're not a man of many words." The girl deduced, sitting on top of her desk. "Everyone in this honor class was in the same group last year, not many people can live down Forensic Science without throwing up. And since I've never really seen you on campus before, I just assumed you were new." Her expression was happy enough, but the voice was semi-bitter.

"Is there any to point to annualize the story of my life?" It was the only combat he would think of. At the moment.

"Kids, would you like to continue this argument somewhere more comfortable?" A young women came into the room, hands holding onto a coffee-mug. "As in, somewhere outside of my room?"

"Sorry, Ms. Kane." The girl raised her hand in defeat. "I just wanted to be the first one to pick on the new kids, s' that okay?"

"You must be Hao." Ms. Kane turned to him, hand flipping through her pieces of paper. "I just got your record this morning, or a few minutes ago." She handed one to him.

The paper was a PC print-out. It included factual informations such as his name, address, phone number, parent access, student ID, hair color, length, style, eye hue, height, all of which were neatly stamped next to a recent photo of himself, smirking at the camera.

The girl had leaned over, reading it over his shoulder. "Damn, weren't those things suppose to be confidential?"

"Lina." Ms.Kane smiled, settling back behind her desk. "Don't be rude."

That was when something clicked in the back of Hao's brain, so -that- was where he remembered her from before. The tennis court! She was one of the girls on the field, arguing with... With... What's her name, Macchi. "You're on the tennis team."

"Ah, it speaks!" The girl exclaimed, voice suddenly happy. "Let's walk and talk." She grabbed him by the air, pulling him out onto the campus after giving Ms.Kane a quick wave.

He decided not to talk as she dragged him through the many foils of the campus, passing by countless people who just stared at them. A few hours later- no, it was actually seconds, but Hao had voiced not to count- they ended up on the corner next to the room. "So, why are you here?"

He had paused for a second. "To go to school?"

"Yes, but why here?" She demanded. "I knew you looked familiar, but just remembered your name. Why could the most acclaimed state-soccer player transfer to a school with no soccer team?"

"You speak so high of me." He leaned back against the wall gratefully. "Okay, forget it." She sighed, leaning back a bit. "I remember you, We played your school in state championship. Vera Strikers, remember?"

Hao had pause for a second, flipping through the database that is his brain. "You played soccer..." Oh crap, now he remembers. "You're that crazy midfielder that took down half of the girls' team!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, please. Your girls sucked more than our boys. Heck, we won by Seven. I'm sorry, but that was sad."

"Hn." Hao let out somewhat of a significant grunt. She was right though, the boys finished their match just in time to catch her score the 4th goal before half-time. "I thought you looked freakishly familiar. Kuroba Lina, right?"

"And you're Asakura Hao, captain of the Byrd XS."

The two fell silence.

"Soccer props, I didn't know you played."

"Used to." Lina shrugged. "Actually, I still do. But my main focus now is Tennis, can't get over the new trends. But you gotta agree, the only flaw this school has is its lack of a soccer team."

"True." Hao silently wondered if they could play a few games on the weekend. It has been so long since he played with someone worthwhile. "You asked me what I was doing here, what about you?"

"Soccer has its up and downs." The girl raised her hand. "One day you're gonna wake up and think to yourself, 'is there anything else to me than a pair of soccer shoes?' Then you'll do something absurdly brainless, like signing up for a soccer that has no soccer team the next day."

Why had -he- switch schools? He didn't quite know. Maybe it was the lack of competition at his old environment, or maybe it was his uncanny sense of adventure.

"Heh." Lina smirked. "Now we're done with the familiarities, I want to know why you think Tennis is so degrading."

"I don't." Hao replied smoothly. "But it seem so flimsy compared to soccer."

"Mmmm." The girl rolled her eyes. "Then I guess it's too bad you're not the one playing tennis, then. Although, by your deficiency of guts, I doubt you could play Tennis if you wanted." With a casual flick of her wrist, she was ready to leave.

"What does THAT mean?" Hao demanded.

"Fine then, prove me wrong, oh great god of soccer goodness." Lina smirked once more, provoking the unsettled nerves in his brain. "Join the tennis team, then we'll see who's right."

"No." He replied slowly. "I know you're smart, Striker, and I know what you're doing. But don't think for a second that I would switch professions just because you dared me to."

"Well, too bad." Lina shrugged. "But my offer still stands, we need people like you on the team. Even if it raises the already abnormally high level of ego you have." She added as an afterthought.

Hao paused, mumbling something incoherent.

"What was that?"

"I'll think about it."

"Good." Lina smiled, grabbing him by the arm. "Now that's settled, let's go enjoy the unbelievable disgusting education that is Forensic Science!" She practically dragged him back to the room. Hao made a note about the direction to the lab, providing that he would not get lost again.

When he entered the room, Hao was semi-pleased to discover that five unknown newcomers had already made themselves comfortable. A blue-hair girl jumped up in her seat in the sight of Lina, clapping her hands together before rushing to her.

"Guess what?"

Lina paused. "Eh... Macchi decided to quit and let me take over her position, because everyone knows that I deserve it more?"

"Ah-No." Her friend made an amused face, hair in white headbands. "I was gonna say that Nic decided to extend try-out period for the boys, since he was getting too many weird requests."

"You wish." A blond boy appeared on the other-side of the girl. "He's just paranoid that I might take his position. Oh, plus the fact that Redseb is trying to woe that girl-what's her face? Ma.. Mana.. Madona something-"

"He's still at it?" Lina blinked. "I told him that the best way to get the girl was to send her flower."

"And to rescue her from impossible danger!" Another voice added in, a blue-hair boy that seemed to relate to the girl. Hao blinked, family, maybe?

"Wow, nii-chan." The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes. "What kind of advice is that?"

"What? Girls dig that!"

"No we don't." Lina chorused with her friend, dead-serious.

"Brain against brains." The blond laughed. "It's a cynically war."

"Speaking of wars- we almost started one yesterday." Lina cut in, hands on hips while leaning toward the blond boy. "Where were you yesterday? We had practice, remember?"

"I didn't forget." He raised his hands in defeat. "I just didn't remember until later."

Lina rolled her eyes, turning toward Hao. "Quick intro. Pilica and Horohoro, Pill's with us, Horo's with the Hockey team. Chiaki's the blond, he's with the boys. Oh, and Pil's Horo's sister, etc."

"O... Kay." To be honest, that didn't really help much. Of course, Hao wasn't going to be the one to say that to her.

"How... Persistence of you." Pilica gave Lina a soft nudge.

"Oh, and that's Hao." The brunette girl quickly added. "He plays soccer."

"Interesting." Horohoro robbed his jawbone. "That means you'll be free right now. Hockey -could- need someone like you."

"Hey, stop recruiting the newest member of our posse!" Lina demanded, half-laughing. "Weird, has anyone seen Kevin? Class starts in five, and he's always here early."

"Ah." Chiaki rubbed his head. "Probably met some insane tennis freak on his way over, forgot all about school, and wagged war by challenging them to a match. Or ten."

"You know." Pilica smiled. "The possibility of that happening is actually very high. But Kevin is such a control freak, he wouldn't want a dent on the record, right?"

"Oh not." They were cut in by the newcomer. Hao was enlightened to see the figure of a seven year-old enter the class, hand buried in his overlarge backpack. "He probably just got annoyed of sharing the first class of the day with a bunch of asian people. You know how he hate Japanese-"

"Come again?" Hao didn't realize those words were slipping out of his mouth.

"Oh, it's a long story." Lina quickly waved it off. "No big deal. His dad was some famous hot-shot that got defeated by a japanese tennis player which supposedly led to his road of alcoholic destruction and all. Kevin's set to find the son of his arch enemy and defeat him in tennis."

"He plays, too?"

"Oh no." The short boy shook his head. "He's not on the team. I don't blame him though, he's like a god when it comes to tennis. Kevin's national material, he even made it to the nationals and all the war to Japan. I'm pretty sure Nichrome wouldn't be leading the team if Kevin was here."

"Sound like a man of issues." Damn, he should have tapped his mouth shut.

"Many, many issues." Lina agreed. "But we're not talking about him right now, we're talking about Nic's reason to extend the TRS."

"Well, I guess he feels threatened by all the newcomers this year." The short boy offered them a brief smile, setting all of his belongings on the next next to the wall.

"True." Pilica twirled her hair. "Macchi's the only one who would not admit his insecurity when it comes to the team. Otherwise, Nic doesn't have to be so bitchy all the time. But then again, he's just a little too absorbed in his position against all odds."

Every paused.

"And that's why you study psychology and I don't." Horohoro concluded, staring at his younger sister. But then again, what else was there to say? they were two years apart and in the same science class.

They were abruptly cut off as a loud and high-screeching bell twirl through the school, signaling the beginning of class. The group had shrugged, each finding a seat in the back row, it was easier to socialize that way.

Hao looked around the room, turning toward Lina. "Who many people are this class?"

The girl sitting next to him shrugged, twirling the end of her pen. "I don't know, seven? Or was it eight? Like I said, not many people take a interest in these kind of things, I wouldn't blame them."

That was the end of their conversation. Ms. Kane had started a semi-interesting lesson on the reproductive system, and what to look out for during autopsy when the victim is extracted by any sort of chemical. Hao had stopped taking notes after three pages of his notebook, noticing that no one else was either.

The discussion ranged from various small details to vase complications and pointers relating to time of death and hormone tissues. Hao was only half-listening, since he had already gone over this particular subject back in his old school. But by the confused look on everyone else's' face, he was probably the only one.

Halfway during the lesson, Ms.Kane finally set her chalk down, realizing that she had already filled the blackboard with equations and formulas unknown to mankind. She turned to the class before letting out a smile. "Now, any questions?"

About everyone raised their hand.

"Does anyone actually listen in this class?" Ms. Kane offered them a devious smile, raising her chalk once again. "It would certainly my job easier if you do. "Alright, Manta."

The short boy Hao had spoke with earlier stood up in his seat. "Um... How can you tell the biological difference that's the clause of time with the reproductive cells if the cause of death was after reproduction had stooped?"

"Gee." Horohoro whispered to Hao. "I was about to ask if she would repeat the whole thing over again."

Hao, however, wasn't really listening. Between the phases of being half asleep, he let a some mumble under his breath, saddening catching Ms.Kane's attention.

"Could you please repeat that?" The young women gestured toward Hao.

"By the amount of oxygen flow in the blood." He replied dully, hand leaning onto the palm of his left-hand. Ms.Kane looked delighted while the rest of the class stared at him, dumfounded. Manta was back to scribbling in his notes.

"Any other questions? Yes, Pilica?"

"I just have something to object to Hao's answer."

"Oh, let's not start this again." Hao heard Lina mumble under her breath.

"How can someone measure the amount of oxygen if the chemicals were already placed in the body? That would mess up blood circulation as well as the flow of oxygen and-"

Hao raised his right hand to cut her off, stilling learning on his freehand. "It doesn't matter. Testings for blood always rinse through respiration first, so it doesn't matter is the level's been tampered with, it'll still come out right."

Pilica looked slightly surprised, but mostly annoyed that the boy had cut her off. "But-"

"Hey! I have a question!" Horohoro cut in. "What is the reproductive system?"

"Oh god." Chiaki pressed a hand to his face. "Why are you in this class again?"

"You shut up-"

RIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG

But they were both cut off by the sound of the bell. Has it been an hour and half already? Ms.Kane breathed a sigh of relief as everyone started filling up the door. "We'll finish this next time."

Hao had wondered if anyone was listening to her, probably not. He was distracted as Lina waved a hand in front of him. "What do you have next?"

"World History through 1000 A.D."

"Oh, fun." The girl grinned. "You have it with me."

True enough, she was probably the only person he would recognize in the class. While the topic had been null, the class time was even more bleak. The professor rambled, the students ignored him. Basically, it was the perfect time to catch up on some beauty sleep.

By the time lunch rolled around, Lina had somehow forced him to sit with her pack of tennis crazed people.

"Hey, it's the fabio wannabe." A blue-haired senior, who was later introduced as Kanna, smirked at him.

"Um... Really?" HaiRuwo pressed a thoughtful finger to her chin. "I would've said he was a little more Brad Pitt-ish, but you're probably just blind. Honestly, do not see his jawbone and-"

"Enough." Macchi rolled her eyes, opening her yogurt. "Let's not venture into the land of plastic surgeries and freakish similarities with celebrities and such. I'm trying to eat."

"I think I'll relocate." Hao spoke up.

"No, you will not!" He was cut off by Zria, entering the scene with Redseb and Seyram. "Everywhere else is filled with snobs. We are NOT handing another member of our clan over to the plastics."

"Eh?"

"See him?" Macchi explained, pointed to the boy next to Nichrome, sitting on the other side of the cafeteria. "He used to be with us, until he was invited to the dark-side. Can't have people dumping out us anymore."

"I thought Nichrome was "with us"." Hao leaned back in his seat.

"No." Macchi's eyes darkened. "He's not, he'll never be."

"Oh good, it's another discussion about Cap's darker side." Redseb whined, biting through his sandwich. "She just never got over the fact that they're not friends anymore."

"Yeah." Seyram agreed. "Macchi-neesan used to be great friends with him until they broke up and-"

"Okay, people. Let's not talk about me as if I'm not here, okay?" The redhead cut in, suddenly annoyed. "Oh, look. There's Mari, I'll go get her!" She stood up, making her way toward her blond friend standing in line for the lunch.

Hao had easily spotted Mari. She was the shortest one, standing with the rest of americans, looking unbelievably small.

"Aw, it's kinda sad, you know?" Manta spoke up, looking at the figure of Macchi and Mari chatting.

"Uh?"

"Macchi and Nichrome, I was so sure they'd grow old together, or something." HaiRuwo explained. "Then they broke up over the whole tennis thing, I thought the world was coming to an end." Hao suddenly felt himself -listening- to their rambling.

"Yeah." Pilica added. "Now she's taking it upon herself to pair Mari and him up, even though that's just so..."

"Uncool." Kana added in. "'Cause everyone knows that Nichrome still likes her, and she's still head over hills for him, little Mari is just stuck in the middle of it all." It was getting more interesting by the second.

"Yeah, but it's not like she'll say anything about that." They were suddenly joined by a group of five girls.

"Ah, intros again." It was Lina to Hao's confusing rescue. "Meet our very own Lily5. Mily, Lily, Sally, Elly, and Sharona."

Hao paused. "Why didn't the last one end in an "ly"?"

"AH!" Elly glared at her blond friend. "It's all your fault! We told you to change the name, it was throwing off our rhythm!"

"Oh no, you started it again." Redseb sighed, stuffing his mouth with chips.

"Oh, so sorry, I'm late." Hao looked up as a... Rather girlishly boy sat down opposite of him.

"Ah, Lyserg-sama!" Milly chipped happily, pushing her lunch-bag toward the boy. "Did your rehearsal go well, is there anything you need? I can help with-"

"Let's not make him choke or anything, Mil."

"Hey." Hao slowly knodged Lina. "Who's he?" He gestured toward the table in which Nichrome was sitting at, containing: Horohoro, Chiaki, Manta, Nyorai, an african boy, and another boy with dark hair, and a blond boy with sunglasses in his hair.

"That's Kevin Smith, the one we talked about." Lina replied. "Looks like he really did skip class."

"No, that other guy."

"Oh, the one with the gravity defying hair?" HaiRuwo smirked. "That's my cousin, Tao Ren."

"Never seen him around before."

"Well, he's with the basketball people." Lina shrugged, snapping her can of pepsi. "Last year, when he first tried out, everyone made such a big deal over the fact he's so short. But it turns out that Ren's ubberly brilliant. He can shoot a three-pointer from a mile away."

"I guess skill runs in the family."

"Oh, you shut up!"

Hao diverted his sight back to Mari, ignoring the ongoing conversation of HaiRuwo and Lina in the background. Mari was currently getting out of the line, looking around the cafeteria hopelessly. Macchi was behind her, tapping her foot.

Then, without the consent Macchi, the blond sat down at the table with Nichrome, earning a dark look from everyone.

"Trader." Kanna spit out under her breath, smashing her bag of chips in the process. "She always does this to us. I mean, how hard is it to decide where to sit? Mari always switch tables, it's so stupid."

Macchi was back, looking somewhat pissed-off. She sat back in her seat next to Lina, starting to peel the outside of her orange off. Everyone kept silent as Macchi violently trace the apple-knife around the edge of her already ruined fruit.

"Is there any need for the mistreatment of our fellow oranges?" Hao couldn't help of voice out the fact, it was kind of standard.

"They're going out."

Everyone froze.

"Nichrome and Mari, they're going out. And now she's betraying me to go with him." Macchi huffed, eyes glaring draggers.

"They're eloping?" Sharona gasped.

"Ah, no." Lily silently pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "She went to sit with them, it's a periodical expression for joining the dark side."

"Do those big words make you feel smart?" Sally shot her friend a cynically look..

"You loser, do you understand what this mean?!" HaiRuwo demanded dramatically, slamming a hand onto the top of the desk as she stood up in a theatrical format. "They've just send out a warning, this means WAR!"

"War with the lunch lady?" Lyserg looked up hopefully.

"NO! War with the snobs!" The chinese girl sniped back. "And Mari, because she is such a trader! You do not date your friend's ex! That's like... The rule of high-school equality!"

"..............."

"I think Ren finally drugged her lunch. He brain is actin' funny." Zria finally whispered to Kanna.

"Guys, it's okay!" Macchi spoke up, setting her food down. "I'm the one who encouraged them, remember? I think it's really cool that they're finally going out. In fact, I'm not mad, so you shouldn't be either."

"Mach..." HaiRuwo frowned. "You don't have to be, but I still can't forgive Mari for that though. I mean, I thought she was on our side and all."

"That snitch." Zria joined in. "I mean, we were the ones who took care of her when she was all new and friendless. And now she turns her back on us and teams up with Nichrome. What's up with that?"

Hao had paused. Weren't they suppose to be a team? Teams don't declare wars on each other, especially not with the caption. That's just... Well, wrong. "Why does it matter, then?"

"Because." Elly leaned foreword on the table. "Nichrome is with the other side. See those girls they sit with? We hate them, they hate us, we ignore the possibilities of socializing. It's a win-win situation."

"Yeah." Milly chipped in. "Social class is everything here, so you can't just switch sides on people like that!"

"And some of them might be nice, but most of them aren't." Kanna continued on. "We get along with Chiaki, Horohoro, Ren, Chocolove, Nichrome and all; the rest of them are just... They treat everyone like dirt, act like kings and queens."

"Our very own monarchy." Redseb let out a snicker.

"And rules of popularity are set before it all." Seyram nodded. When it came down to popularity, Hao was the epitome of an enigma. But he couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason everyone was so kneen on making him stay with their table.

"So, you get along with the guys; only because they also play tennis. Is that it?" Hao paused slowly.

"Truer words, I have never heard." HaiRuwo replied grimly.

"It's not all that bad, really." Lyserg explained softly. "But you know how everything is more dramatic in high-school. If Mari suddenly decided to switch groups, then they weight it like treason."

Hao couldn't help but wonder. "And what is treason?"

Everyone looked away as Lyserg offered him a sorrowful look. "You'll see."

If Hao knew these people, and he didn't, he might might've even guessed that something was coming up. But with the deletion of time and efforts to drop by the office after school, he didn't have much time to dwell on that piece of information.

The last class of the day passed unnoticed as Hao followed the herd of students out the class, quickly stopped at his locker to pick up some books. He decided that his house on Richman's Grove was close enough that he can afraid missing the bus to walk home.

What he need right now is to meet with the counselor. After all, plans of a soccer team wasn't going to act on itself.

Hao had managed to find the office easily enough, the only problem was that most of the student volunteers had already retired for the day. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally spotted Nyorai, coming in.

"Problem?" She had offered him a soft smile, going back behind the counter.

"I guess, I need to make an appointment with.... Ah, the counselor." He replied grimly, slumping the strap of his backpack over on the right side.

"Oh, you don't need that." Nyorai smiled, leaning back to shout at someone. "Jeanne, is Ms. Grant in?"

Hao had half expected an american girl to pop up behind the counter. Instead, he was greeted by pale skin, silver locks, and crystal ruby eyes. "No, she's out at the moment. Would you like to leave a note, possibly?"

"Eh... Asakura Hao. Grade 11."

Jeanne nodded, scribbling some pointers down on a Stockton's. "I'll make sure to drop this off in her mailbox on the way back, is that okay?"

"Eh." Hao seriously wondered if there was a "on" button to spike up her volume. "Eh, sure."

"Good day." Jeanne bowed, going back into the other side of the consoling department.

"Sorry about that." Nyorai smiled, leaning onto the counter. "Jeanne's just like that, don't mind her. She's just naturally quite, but a genius when it comes to filing and organization" She paused. "Looks like you missed the bus, need a ride home?"

"Eh?"

"The basketball team's been car-pooling since last year." She shrugged, piling back another stack of paper of the counter. "If you can wait until five-thirty, you might catch a ride ride with one of them."

Hao had considered it for a second. It wasn't as if he had anything significant to do at the moment or anything. "Well, if Ms. Grant comes back, you know where to find me. I'll drop by the tennis court then; they have practice, right?"

"Everyday." Nyorai nodded.

------------------------------

"You're not doing tag-teams!" The tired voice was the first thing Hao heard upon entering to courts. It seems that most of the players had always gathered there, fully changed into their exercise cloth.

Nichrome was sitting on the bleachers, fussing over a line of boys. "We already have a system."

"Fine." A green-hair boy replied dully, turning back to face the first court. "I'll play them. But if I win, I'm in." Hao turned to see Kana and Zira standing on the other-side of the first court, rackets in hand and ready to play.

"I'll be the referee!" HaiRuwo offered.

Hao had seriously debated over whether he should walk down the none-so steep hill surrounding the tennis courts. After a few seconds, he decided not to. This was the perfect position to examine their game, it was almost a birds-eye view.

"Come on." Zria picked up her racket, getting in a ready position behind the server's line. Kana was adjusting her position in the server's box. "You get one set, no more than six games, no tiebreakers. Get four points and you're in."

The challenger nodded, bouncing his tennis ball a few times on the sideline before coming to a halt. He threw the ball into the air, eyes following the path of the inanimate object. As the ball began to fall downward, he swung his right arm in over his head in a circular motion, racket connecting with the ball in perfect time.

Hao watched the the ball progress over the net before bouncing once on the other side. The path was soon cut off as Zira returned it with a smooth motion of her arm.

The ball went back over the next, taking a final bounce near the server's line.

HaiRuwo took a deep breath. "Fifteen-love!"

Kanna grinned at Zira as the switched sides. The ball was served by Zira again, landing perfect on the side side.

The green-hair boy returned it with a backhand, letting the ball sweep past the two girls in the middle.

"Fifteen-All!"

BANG. Zira served it over the net again, making a soft contact with the ground as the boy returned it with ease.

"Fifteen-Thirty!"

BANG. Another serve returned.

"Fifteen-forty!" HaiRuwo grinned. "Oh, this is getting interesting."

BANG. The boy returned it, barely on the line.

"GAME, Senkun! One to Love. Change courts!"

"Who's that?" Lina whispered over at Pilica. Both were sitting on the bleachers behind Nichrome, silently watching the game. "He's actually pretty good."

"Senkun Morris. He's in my English class, sophomore."

"GAME, Kanna and Zira! One to One!" HaiRuwo announced, happily sitting in her top-seat.

"I thought we might be getting somewhere, my friend." Chiaki mused over his can of Propel, tossing it into the air. He turned to Manta, leaning one-handed one the court-fence.

The shorter boy was sitting on the ground, typing into his laptop. "His backhand need a little working on, and he needs to move a little more on the court. But other than that, he's got a pretty good serve and balance. We could use someone like that."

"GAME, Senkun! Two to One. Change Courts!" HaiRuwo's voice erupted into another burst of mummers from by-standers who were watching. Hao paused before realizing that the bleachers were now filled by the Track team, taking a break from practice.

"Look Tamao, he's creaming them!" A senior smiled good-naturally, her green hair being pulled back by hair clips.

"Ne, Jun-chan. I don't think Zira and Kanna are playing to their fullest potentials yet..." The pink-hair girl replied quietly, hand clinched onto her water-bottle.

"Yeah, but they're play two against one." Sally, who he remembered from lunch, cut in grimly. "And you can't say those two aren't good player either, I think they're testing him."

"GAME, Senkun! Three games to One!"

"Hm... Not bad." A blond senior smiled, walking past the court.

"Meene, break'll be over soon, let's head back." Her friend smiled, taking his girlfriend by the arm.

"Ah, but I want to watch the game Denny!"

"GAME, Senkun! Four games to One! Change Courts!"

"ENOUGH." Nichrome stood up, walking into the court. "There's no point on continuing the game." He casted an wary glance at Zira and Kanna. The girls only glared back in response.

"Aw." HaiRuwo wined, putting her hand on the rail handles of the referee stool. "But I like sitting up here, it makes me feel important. It makes me feel all tall and mighty!"

Hao silently grinned to himself, looks like the tennis team just found another member. He had to admit though, the match was pretty impressive. Of course, he could already pick out the flaws of each players already. He silently found the muse to pick up a racket himself and play some tennis.

"Hn. Pathetic."

Hao turned to see a blond boy beside him, getting ready to leave. His blond hair was chopped in two bangs, falling into crystal blue eyes. He blinked for a few seconds, trying to recollect his memory. "Kevin Smith?"

The blond boy turned around, sending him a non-so friendly glare. "Who are you?"

Hao shrugged. "Not important. I hear you're a national tennis player, why not joining in the fun down there?" He gestured toward the tennis court.

Kevin merrily narrowed his eyes. "I don't know who you are or why you're talking to me, but I gave up tennis a long time ago."

"You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Hn. You probably have, a lot of people have seen me on TV."

"Aren't you the egotistic one?"

"Do you have anything else to say to me, oh mysterious stranger? Because I have places to be going." With that said, Kevin walked away, trailing onto the sidewalks in the direction of the parking lot.

"Okay, what was that?"

Hao turned around to see Macchi behind him, blinking.

"Why were you trying to socialize with Kevin?" The redhead demanded.

"Is that a crime now?"

"No..." Macchi frowned slightly. "But I thought it was odd. You were talking to him about tennis, and he didn't blow up at you. That's what normally happens when we try to talk to him."

"Maybe he just didn't realize I'm japanese." The brunette shrugged.

"Maybe." The girl agreed. Hao had meant for it to be a joke, he didn't expect her to take it seriously. But it seems that it might have been the truth, talk about racists.

"Anyways, what are you doing here?" Macchi grinned. "I didn't know you were interested in watching tennis, I thought you didn't like it."

"I never said that." Hao shrugged.

"Oh, are you gracing the sport of Tennis with your interest now?" The redhead smirked, pulling her arms behind her head. "I heard Lina offered you a position on the team, you should be honored. She usually doesn't do that."

"How's so?"

"Easy, because Nichrome is in a searching frantic right now, he can't find the rest of the players in time for the season. As of now, we only have five boys on the team, we'll need at least ten more." She sighed. "I guess talent is just so hard to find these days."

"Really?" Hao was amused by the topic. "And why are you telling me about it?"

"I just thought you might be the kind of person to really enjoy something." Macchi smiled. "Sometimes you lose focus on the main goal when you're playing a sport. All they think about is to win, win, win. But that's entirely missing the point of Tennis. I love to play Tennis because it something I really enjoy, I love the sport and is happy with the fact that I can share my interest in it with all my friends.

"But sometimes Nichrome loses the meaning of doing so, and all he can think about is getting more players and winning. He's a good player, he his heart isn't in the right place, and I'm afraid he might be rubbing off on the rest of the team. I want everyone to play tennis because it's something they really love, not because it's something to gloat about." Her eye's softened. "I know you must really care about soccer to want to start your own team, and I totally respect that. But what I respect even more about you it your devotion to soccer. If you can use the same methods and apply them to tennis, I know you're make a great impact on our team."

Hao paused.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, this is all absurd and all." Macchi smiled. "But I really hope you can consider it. Maybe it's not just soccer you love, but it's the teamwork and feeling you get out of playing it. So I really, really hope you can give Tennis a chance."

That had stroke a cord, a speech like that can was really kind of inspiring. "I'll think about it?"

"Really?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't expect too much."

---------------------------------

"Hao, Ms. Grant is back." Nyorai smiled. "Do you still need to talk to her?"

"No, never-mind. Forget it, it's nothing important."

---------TBC-------------

Kevin Smith is one of my absolute favorite characters from Prince of Tennis. And since he's American and all, I couldn't help but to take advantage of the situation by adding him. I have no idea if he lives in California or anything, but I'm just guessing. XD So yeah, now you can call this a Shaman King and Prince of Tennis Cross Over.

And I found it amusing that some of the main characters are finally introduced here. Yes, people, they are not important. If anyone really cares, the rest of the mankin cast will come in as players from other schools. Yeah, that include Yoh and Ann.

The whole thing about Tennis was just... Mushy. This is what happens when you watch anime to long, it's kind of sad.

Reviews, please?

Chiharu