REVIEWS GALORE! To some people, it's not much, but for only two chapters to have 11 reviews... I am very happy. Our poor referee seems to have intrigued some people.

But... Only a few people voted on whether or not to skip the first two years or not... So I decided to do 'character development' (But it's not really character development) and put in two, maybe three chapters of the two prior years to see if the referee gets a little more used to it or not.

I did as much research as I could for the first year... The second year will be better, but not as good as Ryoma's... XD Enjoy!

Disclaimer- Still don't own Prince of Tennis...

The referee didn't really have anything to say about his first year as a referee other than damn, I wish I could play tennis like that.

And holy crap, this isn't how middle schoolers should play tennis! It's a freaking game of hitting the ball back and forth, not some kind of game where you injure the opponent with freaky supernatural moves!

Rikkaidai had easily powered their way into winning Nationals again. For the third time in a row, but this time with new additions- Crazy freshmen.

Hyotei had shown surprising strength with their new additions of freshmen, as did Shitenhouji with some kid with his arm wrapped in bandages.

Seigaku had stayed somewhat the same, from what he had heard. With one freshmen, they still hadn't been able to continue their struggle to the stop, barely getting into the Kanto Regionals only to be knocked out in the second round.

But all in all, he was able to ref amazing matches, regardless of their age. He still was a bit unsure as to whether or not they were freshmen, let alone Middle Schoolers with this kind of tennis, but accepted it. Kind of.

He was able to fluidly get through most matches without stammering, unless it was Hyotei. Because with Hyotei, he was always wrapped up in his thoughts about how pompous and arrogant the Atobe kid was about 'how wonderful' he was and 'how lucky they were to be in his presence.'

He really, really, really disliked the blonde-haired brat, blue-eyed brat, regardless of his awe-inspiring tennis and prowess. He was 'awed by his prowess' and all, but the arrogance was really disappointing from a guy with skills like this. Sure, he was telling the truth since he the skills to back it up, but really?

Then there was Rikkaidai, who were eerily silent but confident about their tennis. And they had reason to be so confident with such skilled freshmen who would probably cause chaos in their next two years, since it was guaranteed they'd become Regulars again.

And that one freshman who looked like he'd like to smash everyone's faces into the ground while smiling. It was very, very unsettling for a twelve-year old to be staring creepily while smiling serenely at one of his senpai who had frozen and walked away quietly with hands shaking while his friends called after him.

That kid's smile practically screamed 'If you insult me or my friends, I will gladly hunt you down, torture you by eating your face, burn you, dance on your ashes and revive you to do it all over again while having the time of my life.'

He didn't understand why two strong schools were filled with freaks.

His friends weren't that bad, but the closed-eye one with a straight face ever so slightly unsettled him with his frequent mutterings of numbers, data, and that person's profile. That included private things. Our referee never did well at math, so he didn't understand half of what the kid was saying.

The other one seemed much calmer and steadier, with a straight face and sharp eyes, but the referee didn't dispel the possibilities that the kid would become a freak in his next years with friends like that.

Seigaku was normal enough, and very average, compared to other two with calm, cheerful teenagers that had pretty basic tennis with the exception of a few moves and skills, but not as astounding and surprising as Rikkaidai. Or Shitenhouji for that matter.

Shitenhouji was like Seigaku. Average. Rikkaidai was above Shitenhouji but below the rich Hyotei. But in tennis skill, Shitenhouji was above Seigaku and perhaps the same as Hyotei more or less, but Rikkaidai topped everyone else.

But Shitenhouji definitely won out in freakiness. Not freakiness exactly, but craziness was a definite yes. They were unpredictable jokesters with amazing tennis skill.

There were other schools that were good at tennis too, but none stood out like the above four. Granted, Seigaku wasn't that notable, but fellow referees were always talking about the great Samurai Nanjiro who came from Seigaku, saying that Seigaku would definitely get out of their slump and find their next Nanjiro.

The referee accepted the kids steadily but a bit unsurely, stunned by their level of tennis and maturity, and grasped just how special the kids would become when they were older, and was glad he was able to see how they started and referee their first matches leading to greatness.

He was prepared to see more freakiness the next year, but believed that it wouldn't be that much more crazy.

Oh, how wrong he was with Shitenhouji and Seigaku gaining new captains and vice-captains that were only second-years and the inevitable additions of new Regulars to each team and the dynamic entry of Shishigaku's Wings of Kyuushu.

You know what? I'm getting tired of calling the referee 'referee.' Anyone want to suggest a name for our nameless friend?

Like I said, there wasn't much character development. I'm not good with character development. This chapter was supposed to be this short, yes. It was actually longer than I expected. The chapters will gradually become more detailed with matches and such once we get into Ryoma's timeline, I just want to ease into the referee's role.

REPLIES TO REVIEWS

Nispendana- Thanks for taking the time to review! Haha, it's nice to know that it's an interesting idea. I have to confess that I was very unsure of posting about such a minor character. And you're right, tennis isn't meant to be dangerous- The players are. I love Shitenhouji, so I decided to use a school that didn't appear as much as I liked and something a bit unexpected for the ref.

midnightstealth- I didn't think it was that creative at first, but I have to say I'm getting a bit fond of our dear referee. Thanks for the review!

TrappedBeat- I have to admit it is rather different from a lot of other fics in the archive, since there's a lot of romance fics. I don't have a problem with it either, since I generally like romance, but I like writing friendship and comedy instead of romance and drama. It's nice to know that you like the brief humour in here! Thanks so much for your review!

LainellaFay- Hi, thanks for reviewing my fic! Ahaha, I wanted our referee to turn into a freak, but in the brief appearances he has, he's a generally normal adult who's surprised as easily as everyone else. And yes, the King Rikkaidai has been king for longer than actually said in the series. They say they've only been champs for two years, but I decided that as great as they are, it's hard to believe they'd be called the King for only two years, so I decided to make it so that they were champions for four years before being defeated by Seigaku. And thanks for the vote, you were one of the few people who did vote!