Disclaimers: Refer to the first page.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. Enjoy yourself. However, don't forget to review. Thanks.

"Ry…Ryoya, let go. I can't breathe," Ryoma gasped out.

"Yada. I missed you so much, Onii-sama," Ryoma-look-alike was clinging to him (more like hugging him to death), crying (more like wailing) and talking at the same time.

The tennis club members gathered around to watch the amusing scene. First, it was Kikumaru, and now, this Ryoma-look-alike. It seemed like Ryoma couldn't avoid death by hugs.

"Nya, Ochibi," Kikumaru glomped both the identical boys. "You had never told us you have another brother - and a twin at that."

"You did not ask." Ryoma pulled his cap down to cover his face. Luckily he had gotten out Ryoya's death grip in time to avoid Kikumaru-senpai's. If not… (He shuddered mentally), he could have died. He could handle one at a time, but definitely not both of them at the same time. Looking at Ryoya, he realized that his brother had fallen prey to Kikumaru-senpai's evil glomp. His eyes twitched beneath the cap.

"Can't…Can't breath. O…Onii-sama, help…me!" Ryoya flailed his hands. His face was starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

"Eiji…" Oishi was prepared to help the poor boy. However, he was beaten to it. As he and the rest watched the scene unfold, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and jaws dropped onto the ground.

Tezuka still remained his expressionless self, but to those close to him, his right eye was twitching slightly from irritation. Either because everyone had ditched the practice or some other reasons – no one knows.

Inui was murmuring, "Ii…data," and scribbling non-stop in his notebook.

The tensai of Seigaku still maintained his soft smile, but his eyes had opened to reveal the sharp blue eyes. All in all, he looked downright evil. Even his fans might be terrified of him if they saw him right now.

Ryoma separated his brother from the evil grasp of his acrobatic senpai. He even did it very gently! The Ryoma they knew was an arrogant brat that wouldn't help a dying old man; but here he was, helping his flailing twin so gently. This was a side of him they had never known existed before.

As Ryoya recovered from his lack of air, Ryoma finally registered the faces of his team-mates. "…" He pulled down his cap even further.

"Echizen, I never knew you can be so…sweet." Momoshiro burst out laughing.

"Yeah, Ochibi. You're cute, nya." Kikumaru recovered very fast. "Ne, Ochibi. Introduce your brother."

"…" Ryoma kept his silence.

"Echizen Ryoya, 12, the younger twin," Ryoya introduced himself swiftly. His voice had lost the cheery tone it had when he addressed Ryoma. His face was solemn as well. Right now, he was nearly identical with Ryoma.

The tennis club members sweat-dropped. Were they being disliked?

"Nice to meet you, Echizen-kun. I am Oishi Syuichirou, the Vice President of Seigaku Tennis Club." Oishi pointed towards Tezuka. "This is Tezuka Kunimitsu, the Captain."

"Hoi! Hoi! I am Kikumaru Eiji. Nice to meet you, nya. You are cute like Ochibi." He had wanted to hug the boy again but two identical glares stopped him. A big drop of sweat appeared on his head.

"I'm Momoshiro Takeshi, but please call me Momo-chan. I'm a second year." He pointed to Kaidou. "And that is Mamushi. Be careful – he bites."

"What are you saying, baka Momoshiro? Fushuu…"

"Maa…Maa…Stop it, both of you." Oishi stopped the two rivals from the fate of running laps.

"Fushuu…Kaidou Kaoru, 2nd Year."

"Ano…" Kawamura offered his hand for a handshake shyly. "Kawamura Takashi. 3rd Year."

Ryoya stared at hand offered to him suspiciously before taking it tentatively as though it would suddenly turned into a poisonous snake. He let go as soon as possible, the memory of this guy going crazy still fresh in his mind.

"Taka-san, here's your racket."

"Arigatou, Fuji." As soon as his hand grasped the racket extended to him, his expression changed. "Great! Boy…!"

"Fuji-senpai, please do not…" Momoshiro, who had snatched away the racket from Kawamura's hand, paled.

"Hai?"

Although Fuji was still smiling that trade-mark smile of his, Momoshiro could somehow feel that the tensai was…irritated? Only this guy… "Never mind."

"Fuji Syuusuke, 3rd Year. Nice meeting you."

Ryoya nodded his head. This guy seemed very gentle and kind. In other words; he's a wimp. He ticked him off as a 'no-threat' in his mind.

"I am Inui, also 3rd Year. Please have one of my newly invented drinks. I call it Heavenly Hell." Inui offered the boy a glass of purple-coloured drink, with white foams coming out of the glass.

"Ryoya, do…" Ryoma tried to prevent the inevitable, but he was too late. His brother had already taken the glass and finished the drink in one gulp. He was sweating heavily waiting for his brother to faint or die on the spot, but neither happened. This time, he was also joining the team in being speechless. It seemed that they had found another monster that could endure Inui-senpai's drinks.

"Thanks. I was thirsty. This Heavenly Hell is really delicious. You should consider making more to sell it." Ryoya tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But I guess not many would dare to drink it once they read the ingredients. After all, raw pigs' livers, cockroaches, lizards, and eggplants are not exactly normal ingredients."

"Hmm..You seem very knowledgeable."

Ryoya shrugged. "I have a friend who likes to invent ways to cook insects or any type of unusual foods, and then tests them on me. So, little by little, I learn to recognize the taste. I especially love the chocolate cockroaches' cake and the crunchy fried grasshoppers. There were my favourites."

Ryoma turned a bit green. He had forgotten about this 'specialty' of his twin. He made a new mental note not to share any tableware with him.

It was not only Ryoma that was turning green at the discussion of 'food', but almost all the others as well.

"Echizen-kun, this is our coach, Ryuuzaki-sensei," Oishi changed the subject.

"Hmm…" Ryoya's mind was swirling. Where had he heard the name? A light bulb lighted up. "You're the baba Otou-san was always talking about!"

"A vein popped up vividly on the coach's head. "Oh, really?" she asked dangerously.

Ryoya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He has always talked of you fondly, sensei – said that he had a crush on you back when he was young; that you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen; and that you're the greatest coach he had ever had," he lied through his teeth. (Far away, in America, Nanjiroh sneezed.) Being on the coach's good side would be a great help to his mission. When he saw the suspicious gazes from the coach and half the tennis club members, he sweat-dropped. Had they seen through his lies? Even his onii-sama was looking at him strangely. (Not really. Ryoma still hadn't made a full recovery from the 'food' discussion.)

"Anyway, minna, gather around. I have an announcement to make," Sumire called out. "From today onwards, Echizen Ryoya-kun would be a member of our tennis club."

"Eh!?" a unison of surprised shout rang through the court.

Ryoma's eyes widened slightly. What was going on here? First, his twin suddenly came to Japan; and not to mention: ALONE! That baka Oyaji. Now, this!

"His school in America decided to send him over here as an exchange student for two months with the permission of his parents. So, please help him the best that you can," Sumire explained.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his innocent-looking twin. They grew up together and were as close as twin could be. Of course he knew Ryoya's more manipulative side. This must be his doing. If it was not, then why had the school suddenly done something like this, and sending a Japanese student, no less. Not to mention, the part of his father agreeing to let him come was incomprehensible. There's no way that baka Oyaji would have let Ryoya out of his sight for so long after finally seeing him. He could still remember when they first moved here, the fight Kaa-san had with Oyaji just to make sure Ryoya could remain in America so as not to disturb his studies. They nearly had a divorce over it! What was going on?

Ryoya fidgeted under his Onii-sama's stare. The thought that his Onii-sama did not trust him was painful. Tears clung at the edges of his long lashes, about to fall. Waah! Onii-sama had changed. He had never been like this towards me! He would always take my words for everything that happened. (More like Ryoma found it troublesome to dispute him and thus kept quite.) The warnings of his best friend were ringing in his ears. "Maybe your precious Onii-sama has already found someone over there. Then he'll never come back to America. You will be left all alone." Never! He would find that person and show that brother-snatcher that he, Echizen Ryoya, was the most important person to Onii-sama. He nodded his head determinedly.

What Ryoya was not aware was that all eyes were on him as he held a conversation within himself. As he nodded his head, the tennis club members sweat-dropped. It seemed that Echizen's family was full with strange personalities. First, there was that lecherous monk, and now, this multiple-personalities twin of Ryoma, who suddenly nodded his head out of nowhere. No wonder Ryoma turned out this way. (They had forgotten all about the weirdoes in their own tennis club.)

"Yes! I will show him who the boss is!" Ryoya's shout frightened away the birds that had just calmed down from the outburst of the tennis club members before.

To be continued...

A/N: Can anyone guessed the pairing yet?