Some points were brought up on reviews, so I think I wasn't clear enough: None of these girls is gonna get their own series called 'Princess of Tennis' anytime soon. They're strong, yes, but not Ryoma strong. I don't think that discredits them since Ryoma is, like, the Neo of tennis. Also, this is not 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'. Not everyone is getting hooked up on this fic. Only a chosen few kukuku...More detailed replies at the bottom of the chapter! \o/

Disclaimer: My birthday is close. Feel free to bestow PoT's copyrights upon me, since I don't own the series yet! *_*

Integration

They were all panting slightly. Eiji watched as Eguchi massaged her neck, closing her eyes. The boys had run to escape Inui's juice, the girls had run to beat them and to Eiji's surprise, they had arrived together. "All right, we're gonna have some matches now to see how the teams are doing." Ryuzaki said. Eiji grinned.

Block: The Battle of the Sexes! Forget Riggs vs. King, Seigaku has its own fighters!

By natie-chan

"Coach Ryuzaki and I decided to test how players do against each other, so we're gonna have one-set matches between Doubles 2 and 1 and all Singles positions. Then, we'll mix you guys up based on analysis to decide who'll be better integrated with who. Understood? Good. Doubles 2 get ready on court A." Coach Yoshifumi explained. "So, it will be Shizuka and Eri against Momoshiro and Kaidou."

Both teams made their way to court A. Eiji caught up to Momoshiro and Kaidou, throwing his arms around their shoulder. "Hoi! Don't lose, 'kay? We wanna impress them." He grinned. Kaidou replied with a determined 'Yes, senpai!', but Momoshiro winked and smirked arrogantly.

"I'm gonna dazzle them with my male power." Momoshiro claimed and seemed about to add something else when Eguchi walked by, hands clasped behind her back, and eyeing them sideways. Eiji followed her with his eyes as she walked past them, missing Momoshiro's grumbling. "Hey, senpai!" He repeated, claiming Eiji's attention again. "I said, you better beat her on Doubles 1! We need to fix that arrogant attitude of hers."

"What? Oh." Eiji nodded, letting go of them. Eguchi had her racquet with her. He studied her with trained eyes. She was light; there would be no way she would be able to smash effectively. But Eguchi had well-toned legs, meaning she probably was fast. Her feet were too small, though, sacrificing her balance. He sighed, twirling his racket around his wrist. Eguchi was probably a net player like himself. The thought of having her glare at him for an entire set at such distance didn't settle well with Eiji.

"Hey, airhead, you're gonna miss it." Oishi chuckled, tapping him on the shoulder. Eiji's head snapped up and he nodded, turning his attention to the court where both teams were already positioned.

~*~

"Well, no surprise there." Ayumi sighed, taking off her jacket. Shizuka and Eri had lost, but the Doubles 1 player had expected it. Although Eri was fast enough to return Kaidou's tricky shots, neither girls were a match against Momoshiro's Dunk Smash. Overall, though, the girl assumed it could be much worse. It had been a close score. "Hey, Jun, you ready?" She asked, pulling her hair up in a messy bun.

"Yep." The tall girl answered, stretching. Ayumi walked into the court without glancing at Oishi and Eiji. The way the last one acted had always been a cause of annoyance for her. His constant cat-like attitude and lines such as 'He no Kappa' had earned him Ayumi's dislike. Whereas her looks came from the want to feel good about herself, Ayumi believed Eiji's flashy antics was just the burgundy-haired boy showing off.

And she really did hate show-offs.

"Hey, Ayu." Jun said, grinning earnestly, "Remember they're the Golden Pair."

The shorter girl smiled superiorly, positioning herself. "Idiot. Don't you know gold is one of the weakest metals there are?"

She threw the ball upwards, tensing her muscles, and watched it slowly fall back. Her arm moved, connecting the racket and the ball when its trajectory was at its apex. The ball flew to the Golden Pair's court so fast that Eiji, at the net, started. Ayumi smirked, running to her position.

'Integrate this.'

~*~

"Dang..." Eiji frowned as Eguchi got ready to serve again. Across from him, Jun smiled knowingly.

"Quite the cannonball, right..."

"Wha-SHOOT!" Eiji lunged, his racket missing the ball by inches. He shot Oishi an apologetic glance, to which the vice-captain merely shook his head in dismissal. "How is she doing that?!" He mumbled to himself, studying Eguchi as she evened her breathing. Her arms muscles weren't developed enough for Eiji to say that she served like that always. It seemed she was putting herself under a fair amount of strain to obtain such explosive services.

"Headstrongness. She gets like that sometimes." Jun explained, making Eiji snap back to the game. "Concentrate and block that serve. I wanna play, too." The rastafaried girl sighed in boredom.

"Heads up, Eiji!" Oishi shouted. Eiji ran, this time connecting his racket to the ball successfully and sending it back to the girls' court. Jun hit it back and Oishi received with ease. It dragged like that for a while, until Eiji finally gave in to his instincts. "Enough with the boring game!" He grinned, tensing his muscles.

He watched as Eguchi smacked the ball towards him, her brown eyes aflame. It suddenly dawned on him the possibility that this girl he had never really spoken to hated him. Her entire demeanor towards him confirmed that. Eguchi's shoulders were always taut whenever he was near and she more often than not looked at him like he was some sort of disgusting bug who had crawled into her view. Eiji frowned, extremely miffed. He couldn't see why she disliked him so much, but the overall feeling was reciprocated. There was no way he would go easy on her.

Eiji jumped in the air, feeling totally at ease, and returned the ball to Jun and Eguchi's court with a fast and strong hit. He grinned, confident about scoring and landed easily. His eyes were closed, a slightly cocky gesture, as he heard the ball hit the court and then the chain fence. 'Kikumaru: 1. Eguchi: 0', he thought. Opening his eyes, he was puzzled to see Eguchi's triumphant smirk. Searching the court, he saw the yellow ball resting on the ground. On his side.

"Half volley." Oishi said, surprised. "And she wasn't even caught off guard...She planned to use it."

"Eh?!" Eiji gaped. Such a difficult shot wasn't used even by most pros as an offensive measure. "Mou, that's so arrogant!" He exclaimed, not about to say praises for someone whom he had just decided to loathe. "Besides, I only heard the ball bounce once!"

"Maybe your ears just don't work as well as your eyes." Eguchi bit back acidly. Eiji's grip on his racket tightened. "Keep them open from now on."

~*~

"Game and set to Eguchi and Arishima!" Ryuzaki shouted, fighting back a smile. Oishi looked satisfied about the pleasant surprise of such strength among the female players, but the real kick to the coach was Eiji's dumbstruck expression. She turned to Yoshifumi and smiled, "Is she always to-the-point like that?"

"Ayumi's play style favors effectiveness rather than elaborate shots. Of course, here she has the advantage of knowing very well her opponent's moves, so she knows more or less what to expect and is being a whole lot more aggressive than usual. On other matches, Jun and her concentrate to find a weak spot and then work on it."

"What about Arishima?"

"Ah, yes, you couldn't see much of Jun's playing today...She's no good at game making, that's Ayumi's role. She has great offense, though. I wouldn't say her smash is as strong as Momoshiro's, but it's very strong for female players. Her height doesn't hurt either."

"Hmm..."

~*~

"I lost."

"We lost." Oishi corrected, smiling.

"No, I lost to Eguchi!" Eiji groaned, "Manicured Eguchi!"

"You seem very fixated about her nails." Oishi commented absent-mindedly. "Y'know, they weren't as long as I thought they'd be. I took a good look at them when she shook our hands an-"

"Stop talking, Oishi." Eiji sighed, "How did I not hear her racket hit the ball when she did that half-volley?!"

"Soft touch." Oishi shrugged. "I'm gonna go talk to them. Wanna come?"

"No!" Eiji pouted, turning his eyes to the court where the game Madoka vs. Ryoma had begun, "I'm gonna watch Ochibi-chan beat that girl over there."

Oishi shook his head, concern growing inside his mind. He hoped tempers settled down after a while. Shizuka and Eri hadn't showed any signs of annoyance at losing and Momoshiro and Kaidou, thanks to some deeply-buried instinct of chivalrousness, had been very polite to the rest of the female team. He spotted Eguchi and Jun talking and noticed that the shorter girl was spreading something on her right arm. Approaching them with a smile, he spoke first to Jun. "That was a great match, Arishima-san."

"Jun's fine, I'm not that into last names." She answered casually, throwing a bunch of little braids over her right shoulder. "Wicked Moon Volley, by the way."

"Thanks. I have to admit, and I hope you don't take offense, I didn't expect you guys to be so strong."

"We don't." Both girls answered simultaneously. Eguchi rotated her shoulder and seemed satisfied. Oishi frowned.

"Did Eguchi-san hurt herself during the match?"

"Ayumi." She corrected. The girl took a sip from her water bottle before continuing, "I forced the serves too much. My arm was bothering me a little."

"I see. Please don't strain yourself; it would be awful if you got hurt now that we'll be all training together."

"Don't worry, she won't be doing stupid things anymore." Jun said sternly, looking at Ayumi's back, "She gets carried away sometimes."

"Okay." Oishi replied, puzzled. Just then he heard Momoshiro calling his name and, bowing to the girls, went back to watch the game. Ayumi shot an annoyed glance at Jun.

"Stupid?"

"Don't get worked up because of some guy you don't like, Ayu-chan." Jun said, throwing herself at the grass. "Hand me your mp3 player, will ya? Did you get your hands on Namie Amuro's new single yet?"

"Don't change the topic, you delinquent." Ayumi said, hands on hips. She did get the mp3 player, though, and joined her friend on the grass. "It's not just dislike."

"What is it, then?"

"He is the reason I was late that one time."

"You're still hung up on that?!" Jun asked disbelievingly

"Hush."

"Senpai!"

Ayumi and Jun looked up to see a freshman running towards them, long braids trailing behind her and a heavy bag thrown across her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know we'd be training here today." Sakuno Ryuzaki gasped out, trying to catch her breath. Ayumi sighed.

"Sakuno, didn't you hear the announcement this morning that non-regulars would be dismissed from club activities today?" The girl asked, supporting her weight on her elbows. Sakuno gasped.

"N-no!"

"Sakuno, you have to be more attentive." Ayumi said, slightly exasperated. "Well, you might as well stick around. Ryoma's your friend, right? His game should be almost over."

"Eh? Ryoma-kun is playing?"

~*~

The only surprise during singles was the fact that Kawamura lost to Yuka. Apparently, the gender of his opponent affected his 'Burning!' persona. Ryuzaki was, though, very much pleased. She had expected the girls to be very inexperienced, but that wasn't the case. With some training, they'd have a fabulous mixed team. "All right, everyone, gather up! We're gonna announce our integrated pairs."

Eiji took a deep breath, stealing a glance towards Eguchi. She was laughing at something that Ren Murasaki had said before jumping on Jun's back and dangling herself from the taller girl's neck. She looked very carefree and not at all concerned with pairs. This brought Eiji a spark of hope. Maybe she knew they wouldn't be paired together.

"Oh, and before I forget!" Ryuzaki exclaimed, bonking herself on the head, "I have to explain how the championship will be like. Since teams will have the double amount of players, there will also be double the matches. That means, for Doubles, we'll have four pairs. Doubles 1A, 2A, 1B and 2B. For Singles it means you'll play someone the opposite gender of you. Now, for the pairs:"

The acrobat relaxed. Heck, they could pair him up all they wanted now. Eiji was satisfied now he had avoided future hours of torture in case he got stuck with Eguchi. Poor Oishi, would have to handle her...Then again, he was the one saying her nails weren't so bad after all. Let the Seigaku Mother deal with the delinquent daughter. Arishima was just extravagant, but he was pretty sure the talk of her being part of the yakuza was a lie.

"Murasaki Ren and Tezuka Kunimitsu, you'll be training for Singles 1. Shiratori Masumi and Fuji Syusuke, you're Singles 2. Jukodo Madoka and Echizen Ryoma, Singles 3. Ono Yuka and Kawamura Takashi, also Singles 3. All Singles, go talk to Inui. He'll give you some directions. Then go to court and start practicing whatever he tells you to."

Now, he was a little concerned about the championship. If the girls at Singles had to play guys, then they would be facing all the schools they had faced on the past. Eiji felt like ice was melting inside of him. From what he had seen, they weren't up for the challenge yet. Hopefully Inui would be able to fix that.

"Doubles 2B: Yanagimoto Shizuka and Momoshiro Takeshi. Doubles 2A: Mifune Eri and Kaidou Kaoru. Doubles 1B: Arishima Jun and Oishi Syuichirou. Doubles 1A: Eguchi Ayumi and Kikumaru Eiji. You all can go to Inui as well."

Eiji turned a bright smile to Jun, walking up to her. The girl looked at him quizzically and then at Oishi, who just sighed and shook his head. "It's useless, Eiji. I know you heard Coach."

The burgundy-haired boy felt the corners of his smile twitch and he swallowed. "C'mon, Oishi..." He began, but the pair was already walking away. He felt rather than heard someone approaching him from behind and turned around slowly. Staring at him like he was the plague, Eguchi looked just as unhappy, if not more, than he was. Eiji sweat-dropped, unsure of what to do. Thankfully, Eguchi took care of that.

"Just move and don't talk to me."

~End of Chapter Two~

Chapter Three Preview:

Ayumi approached Eiji reluctantly, following Jun's lead as the tall girl greeted Oishi on her usual, mellow behavior. Eiji offered her an uncertain smile, but Ayumi ignored it. Slumping, the boy watched as Inui handed each pair a long rope and inwardly groaned. When it came to their turn, the dark-haired boy's grin grew considerably wicked. "Here, tie them up around your ankle."

Review Replies:

Tally: "Think of it this way... it's because in males, they possess greater physical strength and solid determination." I do mostly agree to the first part, but not the second. Are you saying girls just cannot feel as determined as men or did I get it wrong? And yes, I know the stars of the series are the boys. The series is mainly about tennis and their relationship as a team, but this fic main focus isn't that. As for the Top 3, I wrote their names as examples, because I've read so many flames to first chapters, where no matches happened, saying it that I felt the need to discourage people like that from doing this to my fic. But yeah, I agree with you. Even because, as I said, I don't want to dwell into the sports itself because it takes too much explaining, especially when those three are the opponents. And did I write Eiji was playing singles o.o? Thanks for the review!

ltifal: Oh, don't worry about that lol. I'd rather focus on two pairings. I had to create all the OCs because, well, I needed an entire team. I'm not taking the trip down a multiple couples fic, it's too troublesome and takes the focus away. Thanks for taking the time to review!

Charmane: Yes, I used to write about them. My YYH hype has died, though. And yes, RyoSaku is one of the pairings, although I'm not sure how deeply I'll explore them. The focus is mainly Eiji. For instance, Sakuno shows up on this chapter, but interaction between those two happens only on the third. But stick with me, okay? Thanks for reviewing!

A: Thanks for encouragement and hope to live up to your expectations! \o/