~Chapter 5 Part 1~

After they found the girl's tennis courts, registered, and were informed that there was no practice that day because ranking tournaments, similar to the ones the boys had, were being held the next day, all three Kajimoto girls decided to watch the boys play. Yumiko and Sumiko found Eiji and Oishi playing a match against two boys, one of which was in Yumiko's class, and the other in Sumiko's. Later, they would learn that the one at the net was named Kawamura Takeshi, and the one at the baseline was named Fuji Shuusuke.

"Wow, Kikumaru-kun is good!" Yumiko said in awe as she watched Eiji perform flips and dives to get the ball.

"Oishi-kun is great too…they both work well together," Sumiko said after a few more minutes.

"Of course! Nothing less is expected of Seigaku's Golden Pair," a boy next to them said. He wore a green and orange shirt, and it was obvious from his small stature that he was a freshman.

He then gasped and said "Oh, Echizen's practice match is starting now!" and ran away towards the other courts. Yumiko and Sumiko looked at each other and smiled. They were both thinking the same thing: "Let's challenge them!" They stood up, but then Sumiko, being by nature more responsible, wondered where Amiko was. Yumiko thought that she should have found the courts by then. They both shrugged, and walked back to their lockers to get their racquets.

Meanwhile, Amiko was watching Kaidoh play. She was surprised at his amazing endurance and tenacity, traits she had to work and train long hours to gain. She too decided to challenge him. After all, they were friends, right?

After practice, Sumiko and Yumiko followed Eiji and Oishi home, since they had noticed that they would pass by their street anyway. Yumiko tried to be stealthy, and tiptoed behind trees and bushes, but soon she suddenly tripped, and cried out as she fell on the sidewalk. Sumiko sighed in exasperation and stopped to help her sister up. A hand with a small bandage in it suddenly appeared right next to her face.

"Are you alright, Kajimoto-chan? You took quite a fall there," Oishi said kindly, as Eiji chuckled behind his hand next to him. Yumiko shot him a dirty glare and he stopped, straightening his face right away.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just have a tiny scratch on my knee," she said. Eiji took the bandage from Oishi and put it on Yumiko's knee. He said "I know all about scratches and scrapes from tennis…I fall all the time."

"Speaking of tennis," Sumiko said, "Yumi and I were watching your team play today. We saw you guys playing doubles, and both Yumi and I are very impressed. Yumiko cut in, "Yeah, you're sugoi! Kikumaru-kun, your acrobatic play is amazing." Both had a mischievous gleam in their eyes suddenly. Sumiko said "Ne, Seigaku's Golden Pair, me and Yumi were wondering…"

"…would you care to play us in a match?" Yumiko finished. Oishi and Eiji looked at each other and smiled. They both agreed; after all, their opponents were both girls, and on top of that one had just fallen. How hard could it be to beat them? They had no idea how wrong they were.

~Meanwhile~

Kaidoh usually went training in the park nearest to his house. He liked having a pattern that he repeated every day: run 3 miles, do 10 sets of pushups and sit-ups, run for 1 mile, stretch, etc. There usually weren't many people nearby, and he liked that too.

On the day that that the Kajimoto sisters came to Seigaku, a Tuesday, he was a little late in starting his training, due to getting into a scuffle with a fellow junior regular, named Momoshiro Takeshi. A frown grew on Kaidoh's face whenever he thought of that jerk. Momoshiro, or Momo-chan, as he liked to be called, was the complete opposite of Kaidoh, and the two were always fighting.

Running always cleared his head, so Kaidoh started to jog. A few minutes into his first mile, he became aware of someone behind him. He turned around, and there was Amiko. Startled, Kaidoh stopped jogging and stared at his classmate. Amiko stared back for a second, having also stopped, and then said "Is this where you train, Kaidoh-kun? Sugoi! Ne, can I train with you? I won't bother you, I'll be quiet, I promise!"

Kaidoh sighed, hissed, then started to run. Normally, he wouldn't have had any problem telling a classmate no, if it was a guy, like Momoshiro. But Kaidoh, never having any experience with girls before, thought that if he ignored her, she would go away. Also, he thought to himself, there was no way that with her slim arms and legs she would be able to keep with his extreme training regimen. He was quickly proven wrong.

"Wow, Kaidoh-kun! You do so much training! With weights and everything!" Yumi said, after Kaidoh had finished. She wasn't even breathing as hard as he was, and Kaidoh prided himself on his endurance and tenacity. Kaidoh saw that Amiko must have trained hard before, and his opinion of her went slightly up

She continued, "Ne, if you're not too tired, do you want to play a match? Me and you?"

"Are you challenging me?" Kaidoh said quietly but clearly, wanting to make sure that he way hearing correctly. Although he was still certain that he could win, as of when they finished training he was ever so slightly less sure. Yumiko nodded enthusiastically, and Kaidoh hissed and went to get his tennis bag.