It was the first day of the school ranking tennis tournament. All the players were physically and emotionally ready. No, more than that – they were all fired up, after that they saw the games of a certain first year. Ryoma had just finished her first set. Now, she was taking a short break. She looked at the game chart. The number of members tennis club had was impressive.

"So many people… How do you select your players?" Ryoma asked.

"The ranking tournament lasts a week. There are three selections. You must pass all the three selections before you can win a regular spot. They are twenty four regular spots," Niou explained.

"Twenty four regular spots? Then it must be easy," Ryoma said.

Yagyuu shook his head.

"Not necessarily. We have three regular teams, Seigaku, Rikkaidai and Hyotei. Each team has eight regular places. Seigaku has Tezuka as buchou. Rikkaidai, Yukimura. And Hyotei, Atobe," Yagyuu said.

"What? Monkey King has a monkey tribe?" Ryoma said. Oshitari, Ootori, Shishido and Gakuto grunted. Kikumaru, Kirihara, Marui and Niou snickered.

"We are not monkeys!" Ootori, Shishido and Gakuto yelled.

"Oh! Do you mean that you're Monkey King's tribe?" Ryoma said. Kikumaru, Kirihara, Marui and Niou snickered again. Yagyuu sighed.

"Echizen-kun, have a little bit more respect for your senpais," Yagyuu said.

"Hai," Ryoma trailed obediently. "So, you're in Hyotei team," Ryoma corrected herself.

"Yes," Oshitari, Gakuto, Ootori and Shishido answered, nodding.

"Echizen, even if it's hard to believe it, Atobe is actually a very good captain," Oshitari said. "But I admit that sometime, he can be embarrassing to look at," he finished, rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah. He always wears flashy clothes when he's not wearing the school uniform," Gakuto said.

"And he behaves flashy too," Shishido added. Ootori nodded.

"How about you?" Ryoma asked to Kirihara, Marui and Niou.

"We are in the Rikkaidai team," Marui winked.

"Sanada, Yagyuu and Yanagi too," Niou added.

"And who's in Seigaku?" Ryoma asked.

"Fuji Syuusuke, Inui Sadaharu, Ooishi Shuichiro, Kawamura Takashi, Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaido Kaoru and me, Kikumaru Eiji," Kikumaru said. "Look over there, Ochibi-chan." Kikumaru pointed in the court. "You see the boy with the green bandanna?" Ryoma nodded. "That's Kaido. He is a specialist of Buggy Shot. We call it 'snake'. Be careful of his Boomerang Snake."

"Boomerang Snake?" Ryoma repeated.

"It's a refined technique based on the Buggy Whip Shot, but the ball goes around the net before landing in the opponent's court," Yagyuu explained.

"Hee… Impressive," Ryoma said.

"You see the broom-head boy who's arguing with Kaido? That's Momoshiro," Kirihara said.

"He's a power player. He got me with his Super Dunk," Gakuto said. "He can delay the timing of his ball's bouncing."

"Hmm…"

Ryoma looked at the two players named Momoshiro and Kaido. They were forehead against forehead, growling like dogs.

"What did you said, Mamushi (1)?" Momoshiro yelled.

"You're a baka (2), Momoshiri (2)!" Kaido replied.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Are those two always arguing like that?" Ryoma asked.

"Sadly, yes," Kikumaru said. "They will stop only when Tezuka assigns them laps or when Inui threatens them with his Inui juice. By the way, Ochibi-chan, you don't want to know about his Inui juice," Kikumaru added.

"You don't want to taste it either," Shishido said.

"You see the tall boy, who swinging his racket over his head, and the egg-head boy who is trying to stop Momoshiro and Kaido?" Kikumaru continued. Ryoma nodded. "That's Kawamura and Ooishi. Ooishi is my double partner. We are the Golden pair of Seigaku."

"Golden pair?"

"They are last year's National double players. They can synchro," Niou said.

"Synchro!" Ryoma exclaimed. "Sugoi!"

"Desu yo nee (3)!" Kikumaru beamed proudly.

"But that Kawamura person seems scary," Ryoma said.

"Actually, he is not. Kawamura is a very nice boy, and he's extremely shy. But when he holds a racket, his personality changes completely. Like right now," Kikumaru explained.

"And over there is Fuji Syuusuke, Seiyou tensai player," Kirihara pointed to a brunette boy. Ryoma detected a hint of high admiration in Kirihara's voice.

"Hey! The tensai here is me!" Marui protested.

"You're only a self-proclaimed tensai," Yagyuu said.

Niou and Ootori snickered. Marui humph-ed. Ryoma frowned. The brunette boy seemed familiar.

"Ochibi-chan, he's the one with whom you bumped in the other day," Kikumaru said.

"Ah."

"Fuji is a specialist of counter play style. He actually rarely shows his true skills because he usually doesn't need to," Oshitari said.

"Echizen-kun, if you ever have a chance to see him seriously play - or better, have a chance to play seriously against him - it's only then that you will see a glimpse of his true skill," Jirou said.

"Ah! Jirou-senpai, you're awake!" Ryoma yelped. She didn't hear him. Jirou smiled at her.

Ryoma turned her attention to the person called Fuji Syuusuke. From what Gakuto and Oshitari told her, Jirou slept everywhere and anywhere. He would wake up only when there was a very extraordinary tennis player around or when he had enough sleep. So, if he awoke at the mention of that Fuji Syuusuke, then maybe it meant that Fuji Syuusuke must be an extraordinary tennis player too.

They continued to tell to her about all the other regular players in the three teams, describing their play style and special techniques. At the end, Ryoma had a very good idea of all the regulars' play style.

"Then it means that there are many good players. How do you do for the competitions with the other school?" Ryoma asked.

"To be able to participate in the competitions, you must become a qualified regular. You have to get in the qualification ranking," Marui explained.

"The qualification ranking determined the eight people who will represent Seiyou Academy in the competitions. Seven guarantied to play and one substitute," Yagyuu said.

"It's the ranking tournament between the three teams that determine the eight qualified players," Niou resumed.

"If you lose a game during the competition, you will be dropped from the qualified position, leaving a spot for another regular to take," Oshitari said.

"Then it means that the qualified regular are the strongest in Seiyou, right?" Ryoma asked.

"Hmn! That's right!" Ootori confirmed. Ryoma's eyes blazed.

"Who are the qualified players?"

"Well, up to now, there are some people who had never been dropped from the qualified position. There are the three captains, Tezuka, Yukimura and Atobe. And also Fuji and Sanada. As for the three last spots, we are often switched to one spot from another," Shishido said.

"But the qualified regulars can choose not to play in the competitions give other regulars a chance. For example, Yukimura. When he plays, the victory is already ours. So he gives his spot to another regular," Oshitari said.

"During the last month's competition, he gave me his spot," Kirihara said.

"Hmm… " Ryoma said.

"Echizen, it's your turn again!" Tezuka called.

"Hai! I'm coming!" Ryoma stood up and went into the court.

"Ganbatte ne (4), Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru said.

"Sakaki-coach is watching you, so do your best!" Marui winked at her.

"Hai!"

(1) mamushi: viper;

(2) baka, momo and shiri: stupid, peach and butt;

(3) desu yo nee: equivalent to "You think like that too, nee!";

(4) ganbatte: "Courage!" or "Do your best!"