Chapter 1

New School, New People

I would very much like to say that the first day of school included a lot of drama, and events that no one could explain or something. Sorry to disappoint. It was quite a normal school day. My first class had been homeroom, and although Fuji-san did spend a lot of time just looking out the window, he did tell me a little about the school itself. He also asked if I wanted to join him and his friends for lunch, which I did agree to, since I didn't know anyone myself. After homeroom, we had English; a language we both spoke fluently, so we ended up talking about ourselves.

"… then back to Argentina which was kind of fun since I was playing football by then, and they love it over there, so I had that, and my friends and all." I said, finishing out telling him about my many moves and my favorites things of living in those places. "How about you? Lived anywhere outside Tokyo?"

"Nope, just here" he said, the ever present smile on his face.

"Hobbies?"

"Tennis and I guess photography" he said smiling. "Anything other than football?"

"Not really… I like reading and music" I said. "Do you play tennis a lot?"

"I'm on the school club" he said, and then looked out the window.

"Oh, I didn't know the school had a Tennis Club."

"We have clubs for many sports, including football. Maybe you should join?"

"Nah… I liked playing football out of fun… I'm not the most athletically gifted person" I said sheepishly and with a little blush.

"Saa… I get it" he said smiling.

"Are you good at tennis?" I asked

"I guess" he said with a weird smile. It was almost like he was in on a private joke.

Then the teacher distracted us from our conversation, by addressing me "Alex-san, your turn to read"

Unfortunately, I hadn't been paying attention at all in class, so I had no idea what I was even supposed to be reading. Fortunately, someone else was.

"Page 23, Line 8" Fuji-san whispered from my side, whilst looking out the window again.

I started reading the short story we were working own, but I did send some glances towards my smiling neighbor. Just how was he following the reading in between talking to me, and looking out the window. He was definitely something else.

After this class, it was finally lunch. We didn't talk much, but I did follow him to wherever his friends were, and he led me right next to the Tennis courts, towards a group of people I assumed were his friends. At the moment there were five of them. A tall guy with black spiky hair and glasses, a shorter guy with dark reddish hair, who was moving around a lot. Then there was a guy with short black hair, a guy with short brown hair, and the last had longish brown hair and also wore glasses. They all wore the school uniform, and from the collar, I could see they were all also Third Year students.

"Hoi, Hoi! Fujiko! Finally here" the ginger spoke. "Nya! Who's that?" he said taking notice of me.

"Guys, this is Velázquez Alexandra; she is new to the school" Fuji said to the guys, while I bowed politely. "Alex-san, these are Inui Sadaharu" black, spiky and glasses. "Kikumaru Eiji" Jumpy Ginger. "Oishi Syuichiroh" Short black hair. "Kawamura Takeshi" short brown hair. "And Tezuka Kunimitsu" Brown hair and glasses.

"Ohayo. You can call me Alex, though" I said smiling politely.

"Nya! Alex-chan, are you joining us for lunch" Eiji said smiling and literally hugging me.

"If its ok with you guys" I said smiling.

"It's fine, Alex-san" Oishi said smiling, and sitting down on the grass. I just noticed we were standing under a tree.

"Ne, Ne. You can call me Eiji-kun" Eiji said with a smile; as he plopped down on the ground.

"Ok." I said sitting down, and noticing that Fuji sat down next to me.

The lunch had a short recap on my life again, but it was short, and they just ended up asking random questions. I did notice that Inui was writing it all down on a notebook, which Taka-san told me was totally safe; though he was a little shy at first.

"Nya! That's why you moved?" Eiji asked, when I told him about my dad and the pizzeria.

"Yeap. Apparently, my dad has always wanted a pizzeria in Japan… not that it makes sense to me" I said smiling.

"There aren't many pizzeria's around here, so statistically it is a good business opportunity" Inui said, taking more notes.

"I've never been to a pizzeria" Oishi said with a smile. "Can't wait to see you dads"

"It might be a few months before its up and running, but until then, I guess you guys could show me other awesome places to eat" I said smiling.

"You should go to Taka-san's Shushi place then" Fuji replied from next to me. "Its really great, we go there all the time."

"You should definitely come over" Taka-san said shyly.

"I would love to" I said, and then looked at Fuji, only to find his eternal smile in place.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Hoi, Hoi! Time to get up Oishi!" Eiji said, jumping unto his feet.

As the guys were all standing up, I noticed a hand in front of me. I looked up to find Tezuka extending his hand to help me up.

"It was good to meet you Alex-san" he said letting go of my hand after I stood up.

"Same here Tezuka-sama" I said. Then to the rest of the group. "It was very nice meeting you too"

"Nya! It was great Alex-chan! Will we see you after school today?" Eiji asked.

"After school?" I asked a little confused.

"We all have tennis practice after school, if you'd like to watch or hang out" Oishi said with a smile.

"Sure" I said. "Better get to class. Don't feel like being late today."

"Let's go then" Fuji said smiling. "We have math now"

"Ne, so do I!" Eiji said, side hugging me now.

We all said our goodbyes, and I walked to class in between Fuji and Eiji, who was still asking me questions. They all ranged on my likes and dislikes mostly, but it was cute to see someone like Eiji, who was always so much fun and energetic. Which is definitely more than I could say about our math class. I've always hated math. Mostly because it's the same in every country, and in every country I've lived, I have never really understood it, in fact I hated it. I was thankful for a) Eiji, who made the class really fun, b) Fuji, cause it seemed that he explained things a lot better than the teacher did.

My next class was History, which I didn't share with neither Fuji nor Eiji, but I did find a known face since Oishi, Taka and Inui were all in my class. I sat with Oishi, who was a really nice table buddy. My last class was Classics, where I met Fuji, yet again, and Tezuka. This class had big tables that fit four people. Us three sat together and were joined by another student, her name was Megumi Shimazu, whom didn't speak much to us, which I noted was mostly because she seemed afraid of the guys. I really enjoyed this class, a lot because I like the subject, also because I found Fuji a very interesting person. Tezuka acted the way a student should act: note taking, question answering, and attention giving. Fuji on the other hand spent again, an entire lesson looking out the window, which didn't deter him from answering correctly when the teacher asked, or helping me, if I ever got lost.

After that final bell rang. I followed Tezuka and Fuji to the Tennis courts, and they left me for a moment as they went to the club house to change into their tennis clothes. I wasn't alone for long, as at one point, I was attacked with an Eiji-Hug. Unpredictable when those would show. He and Oishi kept me company until practice finally started. I watched and noted a) all of my new friends wore what could be considered first team jackets, or as I learned Regulars jackets, and there were also other second year players who were regulars. b) my friends were good.