I thought about writing a chapter with Arai's point of view, but since it would be too troublesome and he's a minor character, decided not to.

Notes: Finally, the OCs make an appearance. I changed the racquet incident from afternoon to morning, because it worked better with the story flow.

New Classmates

Class 3-2

Inui Sadaharu kept writing in his notebook, while he calculated the probability of Tezuka letting that 1st year Echizen to participate at the ranking matches:

"Hmm… He possesses a great respect for rules and is a very strict captain, but at the same time, Tezuka always encourages and push players to a higher level when he thinks they are worthy… Considering today's match between Arai and Echizen wielding that really old racquet… Tezuka assigning us laps means he saw everything… mumble mumble…"

Finishing his train of thoughts, he wrote down a satisfying 87% in his notebook. Putting it aside, he noted Kawamura looking sheepishly from his desk, pointing that the homeroom teacher had already arrived. Keeping his composed face, Inui just fixed his gaze to the teacher while reprehending himself for mumbling and not paying attention to his surroundings. This old habit could make him loose some important data sooner or later.

Ms. Atsuko just coughed lightly and began to speak:

"Everyone, today I have some special news. It's a little sudden, but we'll have a new classmate."

Everyone started whispering at this point. After all, the chance of a senior transferring schools AFTER the beginning of the school year was close to nil. Even Sadaharu was curious at this point and he reached for his notebook again. This could be good data.

The teacher called someone from outside and, suddenly, the classroom went quiet.

The newcomer was a real beauty, and both boys and girls were at a loss for words while they stared/gawked at her. She had milky white skin, not the unhealthy pale white, but the kind of fair skin that seems to glow a soft light. Her straight black hair made a strong contrast against her face, cascading all the way down her shoulders. She was tall for a girl (1,72m he calculated), but her slender figure and elegant movements made her very feminine.

When she finished writing her name at the blackboard, she faced them and Inui saw her most distinguishing mark: she had long thin eyes with blue orbs.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Alexis Kaoru von Rosenthal. I hope to get along with you all, even though the semester has already started."

At once, the silence was broken by a lot of happy replies: "of course!", "let's be friends!", "are you a foreigner?", "kyaaa, she's so cool!", "wow, we're so lucky!", "may we call you Kaoru-chan?", "are those blue eyes for real?"…

Ms. Atsuko took over the introductions:

"Well, everyone, Kaoru-san just moved from Germany, so let's help her feel at home, okay? And don't forget to help her with the classes she missed, right, Chizuru-san?"

"Hai, sensei!" The class rep quickly answered.

"Well then. Kaoru-san, you may take that vacant desk next to the window"

The vacant desk in case was the one in front of Inui. People often found him weird and scary, avoiding him at all costs. Even the class rep, that used to sit next to him, begged to change seats with Kawamura. Of course the shy and gentle boy complied, besides, Taka-san deeply admires Inui for being 3rd strongest of the tennis team using his logical skills, something that he lacks.

When the half-Japanese girl reached her seat, she politely greeted him before sitting. Inui merely nodded back and noted with the corner of his eyes that Kawamura was blushing. The taller boy almost smirked and wrote about it in his notebook.

* * *

Class 1-1

The classroom was filled with excited voices and loud chattering when the homeroom teacher arrived. They were all talking about the great new freshman Echizen Ryoma from class 1-2 and asking Kachiro and Katsuo about what happened during practice this morning. It seems that the tennis prodigy managed to beat a second-year with a racket falling apart!

"Everyone, take your seats! Class is going to start now!"

"Hai, Saito-sensei!"

After the students ran back to their places and calmed down, Mr. Saito decided to go straight to the point and called someone from the corridor. A tall blond girl with pigtails entered and smiled to everyone.

"She's a new student that just transferred from Germany and will be joining our class"

"Hi everyone! I'm Adelheid von Rosenthal, but since my name is kinda difficult, you can call me Adde-chan!!!"

Everyone started blabbing at the same time, so Saito cut it short:

"Greeting time is over! You can talk to her later during break. For now, let's concentrate on our studies. Adde-san, please take that seat on the back row."

Hilde sat between Kachiro and Katsuo and smiled happily to her new neighbors with sparkling green eyes:

"Let's be friends!"

Class distribution:

Class 1-1: Kachiro, Katsuo, Adelheid

Class 1-2: Ryoma, Horio

Class 1-3: Sakuno, Tomoka

Class 2-1: Momoshiro

Class 2-2: Kaido (and Arai, if you care)

Class 2-3: no one relevant (like the bullies Hayashi and Ikeda)

Class 3-1: Tezuka, Oishi

Class 3-2: Inui, Kawamura, Alexis

Class 3-3: Eiji, Fuji