_ I'm really sorry, everyone! I'll try my best to update faster! Also… I'm going to make it so that they're 8th Graders and all the Regulars are high schoolers. Sorry, but the rest of the story makes it match better. O_O;

Oh right, here's the story since you probably don't want to hear about my nonsense rambling. -.-;

"Are you going to join any teams, Masahiko? Join the tennis team with me!" Horio asked the 3rd-year laying on the grass. It was lunch break and the two students decided to eat on the green hill behind the school.

"Ugh… I don't even like sports. They're such a waste of time." The lethargic boy groaned and yawned. Horio grinned.

"C'moooon, Masahiko! Join the tennis team with me!" Ryoma gave him a glare and rolled over, then started to walk downwards towards the school.

"No."

"Augh! Waaaaaait!" Horio wailed and grabbed Ryoma's polo, dragging him back to the shade of the cherry blossom tree Ryoma was recently napping under. "Join!" The boy begged with desperation. "I'll be all alone!"

"I'm sure you'll make other friends." He sighed, already slipping away from Horio's grip.

"I bet you're good at tennis! When you actually attempt something, you do really well!" Ryoma stopped and turned around.

"Actually attempt? I just don't like to waste my energy on unnecessary things."

"That doesn't give you a reason to always skip PE!"

"I can't help it. Whenever we go to the gym my right leg just starts to feel sprained."

"No! Last class you told our teacher that it was your left leg!"

"Right leg, left leg. Really, what does it matter?" Ryoma shrugged, and his friend slumped, defeated. Suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Well, you do know it's required for all students to take a sport, right?" He grinned mischievously. "And tennis is one of the sports that requires less running." He wasn't sure that was true because last year the Seigaku Regulars were always running whenever he saw them, but it was a desperate attempt so he wouldn't be lonely. There was silence as Horio anxiously waited for Ryoma's response… then he realized that his friend was sleeping. Although his friend was lazy, he was actually really talented if he tried. Ryoma sighed without opening his eyes.

"Fine. Whatever, I'll ask my parents."

"How was your first day of school?" Nanjiro, the former tennis pro star, asked his son as he walked into the house. "Meet any hot chicks?" Rinko, his wife, hovered dangerously behind him with glinting eyes, holding a spiked bat. Just the average day in the Echizen household.

"Ahahaha… Calm down… I was just kidding, Rinko. I don't think you heard me correctly. I asked him if he made any new friends!" Rinko shot her husband a piercing unamused glare and then smiled at her son.

"Was it fun? Seigaku's a really large place."

"Yeah, sure. I don't know why but Seigaku seems so familiar to me. Especially the tennis courts. Weird, right?" The two parents looked at each other urgently. Familiar? Could this bring back his bad memories?

"Well, I'll be in my office. Finish your homework, alright?" Rinko left with Nanjiro to her study. Ryoma grabbed a can of Ponta and headed into his room.

"Do you think he remembers?" Nanjiro asked, once they were sure Ryoma was out of earshot.

"Is this the school that Ryoma went to before?" Rinko opened a file drawer. "It'll probably be in here, right? Since this is our old house from a year ago."

"Oh, is that it?" Nanjiro asked, delicately grabbing a folder labeled "School". They flipped through it for a while and saw a paper that said "Seigaku School Tuition" behind a cleverly hidden magazine of Nanjiro's consisting of adult material. (This earned him many bruises)

"AAAAGH, I'm an idiot!" He shouted, as quiet as he could, after verifying that they all said Seigaku for Echizen Ryoma.

"We sent him back to the worst possible place!" Echizen Rinko and her husband sat in silence for a while. "Well, you know we can also just send him to Hyotei Gakuen. I think there's a spot available there."

"Wouldn't he be suspicious though? We should just let him stay. I mean, it's not like it's going to kill him to stay." Rinko's voice became quiet and shaky.

"But it might…" They heard a loud pound from upstairs.

"Kusojijii, Kaasan!" Ryoma called from upstairs. Nanjiro gave an unhappy grunt at how Echizen called him an old man so casually. "I'm going to join the tennis team, alright?"

The two parents gave worried looks at each other. "Tennis…" Nanjiro began to refuse, but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Nanjiro, don't. Remember, before America, he had so much fun in Seigaku with the tennis team? Maybe…" The old wife looked at Nanjiro cautiously. "Maybe in Seigaku he can remember, once again, that tennis is meant to have fun."

An uneventful week had passed, nothing really new except for him getting permission to join tennis. Clubs were starting in two days. Currently, Ryoma was resting on a sunlit bench near the tennis courts after a few hours of playing his violin. He was having a peaceful nap until something yelled in his face.
Or… to be exact ... Meowed.

"Karupin?" Ryoma asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and waking up to see a red -haired boy with large eyes staring up from his lying-down position on the grass.

"Meow-nya!" The boy meowed again. What's wrong with this boy? Ryoma rubbed his eyes again and the eager boy began to roll around in the sunlight of the setting sun. He wasn't young looking, but Ryoma thought he could be from the tennis courts. But… why was he… meowing?

"Eiji! Come back! We have the cure!" Called a tall teenager with a muscular frame. Eiji, apparently the human acting like a cat, hissed and dashed off on four legs. Ryoma grabbed Eiji by the collar and he became frozen as if he was a plush doll.
The tall boy bowed his head and apologized at the confused third-year.

"I apologize for... this." He said, bowing his head. He finally made eye-contact with Ryoma and gasped.

"R-RYOMA!" The third-year simply stared at the bewildered teen. There was a long pause in the air for a minute, broken by Ryoma.

"Uh... excuse me?" He asked the stunned high-schooler.

"Ah, sorry, Ryoma." He tugged at his short black hair. "It's Shuichiro Oishi! I just grew my hair out a little!" Oishi anxiously searched Ryoma's eyes for recognition. Before Ryoma could reply, Eiji bit his friend's ankle.

"Ouch! Cut that out!" Oishi yelped and grabbed Ryoma's wrist. "Come on, the Regulars are all at the tennis courts."

"Hmm, this did not have the reaction I was aiming for." mused a tall guy wearing glasses.

"Of course not!" Eiji yelled, now back to his normal state after drinking some pink, foul-smelling liquid. "I became a cat. A CAT!

"Who's that you brought with you..?" Kaidoh asked, nodding his head to Ryoma who had his cap over his eyes to avoid the sun. They were all curious, especially because the cap looked similar to their old friend's cap.

"You'll see." Oishi grinned and gestured to Ryoma.

Ryoma lifted his cap. "Oh. Hello." He said, staring at their faces. The tennis geniuses' mouths dropped simultaneously in a long pause of silence.

"Ryoma!" Eiji hugged Ryoma hard, making him pant for air after Eiji let go.

"Ryoma? Where have you been?" A guy with brown hair and oval glasses asked, looking shocked but trying to maintain his composure.
Another guy with a bandanna tied around his head didn't say anything but Ryoma could hear his breathing, which sounded very much like a snake. The snake-boy began to glare at Ryoma... or maybe it was his normal look.
Anything Ryoma said was eaten and interrupted by the tennis Regulars. "Hey, Ochibi! Why did you bleach your hair?" Ryoma scowled.

"Why are you back?" By now he was pretty ticked off.

"Are you okay..? You look pretty annoyed. Did we do som—"

"Listen people. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't even know who Ryoma or whatever is!" He walked off angrily, leaving the Regulars more stunned than they were when they saw him.

However... There was something familiar about all of them. Right! It's probably because he saw them on his tour of Seigaku with Horio. Yeah, that must be it...

And yet something nagged at him in the back of his brain... Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

I know it's cheesy. T_T And I sincerely apologize.

Also, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR POSITIVE REVIEWS :)))

Lastly, thank you SO MUCH to 123ANIMEfun who was really helpful :D

~browni222