Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of Tennis, only the OCs in this story.

A/N: Short chapter update—bear with me. I planned to summarize the district preliminaries into one whole chapter, but it was over 30 pages long. (And I'm still not done with it.) Therefore, I cut it in half.

The matches for the next chapter will be slightly detailed, but not as much as the matches in chapter 6, 7 and 8.

I will start following the proper PoT canon AFTER the matches with Yamabuki, I believe. Which means, yes, Tezuka will most likely re-injure his arm with Atobe in Hyotei matches (so the canon goes). And yes, Seigaku will meet Rikkaidai in the finals.

Akane's dark side isn't completely explained yet, though vaguely hinted. And apparently Tachibana Ann is supposed to be spelled "An", but since Microsoft Word glares at me with green lines when I type "An", I shall be using "Ann".

To Catch A Falling Star—Chapter 13: District Preliminaries!

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"Man, we owned Koshikawa High…" Sayaka said as she slapped a high-five with her twin. Even though both of them had sat out during the matches, they witnessed total Seigaku domination, male and female. Just watching had set fire to their passion, and their hands itched for their rackets. They vented their frustrations against Koshikawa mixed doubles, the latter showing absolutely no resistance against the twins.

"We still have another match before we go into finals," Tezuka said. "We mustn't let our guards down."

"Hai, hai…" The team replied easily.

The team made its way to a fast food restaurant next to where the tennis courts were. They still had a match after lunch. However, do to the tournament drawings that had taken place a couple weeks ago, Fudomine had 1 more school match than Seigaku did. Inui and Reina were currently missing from the group in order to gather data.

Kimiko picked lifelessly at her fries. She wasn't eating; she was just ripping them up into smaller pieces so it looked like she was eating. Akane noted the strange behavior in the normally cheerful girl. "Oi, Kimiko. You aren't still upset that they won 2 games from us, are you?"

"We should've won 6-0," Kimiko said quietly. "Everyone else won 6-0, except for that other doubles pair."

She was referring to the Sakuno-Aiko pair. They, miraculously, had won their match, but at a score of 7-5. The pair they were against had neither their skill nor their talent, but had a sense of compatibility and combination that the two lacked.

"Kimiko—"

"It doesn't work," Kimiko said to her food. "It just doesn't work. We just don't… click, you know?"

"It won't work at all if you keep thinking like that."

She stood up. "Akane-buchou, for once, could you just listen to me? It's not working out, okay? I think I felt it a long time ago, but the last game confirmed my suspicions! We aren't compatible! And you're telling me this is all in my head?"

The whole area was silent. Diners dropped their plastic forks and spoons. Momoshiro stopped fooling around with Sayaka. Kaidoh raised his eyebrows. Inui dropped his pen.

Tears sprang into her eyes, blurring their lavender color. "I'm sorry, okay? But I don't want to be your partner anymore!" With that, she pushed open the door and let it close behind her with a swoosh.

Everyone's eyes riveted to Akane. She exhaled, looking at the food in front of her, before looking up. "Ryuzaki-sensei, I request permission to change the roster against Mizunohuchi High." she said, in a perfectly businesslike and calm manner.

"EH?"

"Shouldn't you try to fix your relationship with your partner?" Kikumaru asked. "I mean, Oishi and I have fallen out a couple times, but we always patched it up nya," He grinned at his partner. "Right?"

"A-ah… Akane-san, maybe you should consider this first…" Oishi suggested worriedly.

"Okay…" She sat silent for about five seconds, and then looked up again. "Done. Now can we change the roster?"

All of them sweatdropped. Trust Akane to be practical and level headed, even when her partner just quit on her.

The only person who wasn't watching the event with a shocked expression was Suzume. She couldn't care less—as long as she won all her games 6-0, and Seigaku advanced to the next round every time, these minor setbacks were nothing. In the meantime, she was sitting at her own table, on her phone. "I'm at the fast food place near the fountains… no, not those fountains, the ones where the entrance is, you know? Come and meet me. No, I'm serious…"

"Should we send someone out to get Marui-san?" Oishi asked anxiously.

"Give her some time," Akane replied, looking out the window. "She'll figure it out."

'She won't. She's not coming back. She's no longer my partner. In truth, she hasn't been for a long time. But she's so naïve! How can she expect a new doubles pair to work out in the middle of a tournament? The girl lacks common sense.'

The little bell on the door twinkled, noting the arrival of someone. The Seigaku team members looked up, hoping to see Kimiko back. Who they saw was the direct opposite.

"Akutsu!" Kawamura exclaimed.

He was dressed in the normal white Yamabuki uniform, which indicated that he hadn't taken up tennis again. He walked in as if he owned the place, bumping into tables and waiters and not bothering to apologize. And to everyone's surprise, he calmly walked in and sat across from Suzume.

"Dude, thanks for meeting me." Suzume reached out and punched his fist in greeting.

"Oi… you two know each other?" Momoshiro asked incredulously.

"What's it to you?" Akutsu snapped, but Suzume said, "Yeah, we're old friends. He beat all the pupils in my family dojo when he was just a first year in junior high. Nasty stuff, but you gotta respect him for that."

Akutsu looked at her. "You tell your brother Ren that I still owe him a punch in the face for winning me."

She smirked. "Why don't you beat me first?"

"Don't try me, Kimura," He slung his arm on the back of the chair. "Now what'd you call me out for? It better be good."

She leaned forward, her expression becoming serious. "Have you been in touch with Saki-senpai lately?"

"Matsuyama?" he sneered. "Of course not."

"Akutsu-senpai, I'm serious. I know you and her have always had a thing going…"

"Not anymore," he scoffed. "The girl has become a Christian nut."

She looked down at her hands. "So it's true. I called her a few days ago, and she was all like, 'Jesus forgave my sins…' I didn't want to believe it. I thought it was some ploy to… I don't know, make me less rebellious or something."

"You know what kind of parents that girl had." Akustu said, looking outside.

Suzume knew. She'd never seen parents that treated their children like that. In fact, if she was in her senpai's shoes, she probably wouldn't have lasted that long. She'd probably pack and run away. Come to think of it, Saki-senpai did run away, didn't she? Except soon after she was caught by her parents and shipped off to a Christian missionary school where the nuns looked at you as if you smelled. "I can't believe she really changed…"

He got up from the seat, apparently bored with the conversation. "She wouldn't have needed to change to encourage you to be less rebellious. You've also changed, Kimura. Ever since that incident…" Suzume fixed her glare on him and he stopped. "Oh, that's a scary look. Heh, well I guess I can't expect much from you anymore. Ja."

As he turned away, she spoke. "You're one to talk; pretending you haven't changed at all."

He stopped and turned his head slightly back to look at her. After a while, he walked on, the hint of a smile on his lips. As he walked by Ryoma, he punched him lightly on the cheek. The bell on the door jingled as he walked outside.

'Akutsu knows of it too…' Chiharu thought. Secretly, she wondered how many other people knew.

"Oi, Kimura…" Sayaka said. "The Saki-senpai you just talked about…" She exchanged a glance with Momoshiro. "Couldn't be the one Kamio was talking about, from Fudomine?"

"It doesn't matter. The Saki-senpai I knew is dead." Suzume pulled out a cigarette and put it between her teeth, lit it, and blew out a cloud of smoke. "Fudomine, huh…"

"Kimura! No smoking when I'm around!" Coach Ryuzaki reprimanded sharply.

She crushed the tip against her thumb, not even wincing as it burned her skin. "Sorry. Forgot."

"We'll hear more about it when Inui and Watanabe get back from scouting." Tezuka said.

"Get back from where? I can't be in two places at once." Inui suddenly appeared out of nowhere, as if he had been sitting at their table all along.

"AAAUGH! INUI!" All the regulars fell over, clutching their chests. (Fuji and Tezuka are exceptions. They're used to it.) "You nearly gave us heart attacks!"

"Brief us, Inui." Tezuka ordered.

"Fudomine passed through round one easily. Doubles 2, Ishida-Sakurai pair, 6-0. Doubles 1, Ibu-Kamio pair, 6-0. Singles 3, Mor—"

"Were they all 6-0 or not?" Akane interrupted.

"Yes, they were." Inui concluded.

"Cool. Reina, talk to us." Akane demanded. She didn't see why Inui still had to brief the guys on the Fudomine team; they knew their styles and have played them many times already. It was more important that they gather information on the girls' team, for god's sake! Or maybe she was just being selfish for her team. She wasn't in a particularly gracious mood. "No vocab. I'm serious."

"Fudomine girls also passed through with little effort. All games were won 6-0," Reina paused, since that was all Akane wanted to hear from Inui. "Should I go on?"

"Yes, go on. But please. Concise, concise, CONCISE."

"They're adopting a tactic similar to Yamabuki's boy team. They put enormous focus on doubles. I believe they plan to take us in three matches, winning both doubles and the 3rd singles."

"Not bad, Reina." Akane finally cracked a smile.

"I disagree, Reina-san," Inui suddenly cut in, notebook in hand. She shot him a swift look. "I think you're overanalyzing the situation. All girl teams are unseeded, so there is no chance of Fudomine being underestimated. And after watching the doubles matches, I think that their team has a sort of trust that we lack. They aren't planning to take us in the first three matches. They're just naturally good at doubles. Fudomine has always had a united team spirit," He closed his notebook. "Besides, Tachibana has great experience in building teams from scratch."

Suzume tossed her cigarette into the trash. "Did a girl called Matsuyama play in Singles 3?" she asked offhandedly.

"No," Inui murmured. "Singles 3 was played by Tachibana's little sister, Ann."

"Then Watanabe-senpai overanalyzed, and you have no idea who you're dealing with."

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"Matsuyama Sakiko," Inui read from his notebook. "Dominant hand: …Unknown."

"What!" Momoshiro looked up. "How can you not know something as simple as that?"

Suzume also looked shocked. "Didn't you go watch all the opening matches after you finished your doubles 2 with Kaidoh? All five matches were played, right? All the way up to Singles 1. She's left handed."

Inui shook his head. "She played three games with her left hand, and three games with her right. Not a hint of awkwardness in whichever is her less dominant hand. That's something even Tezuka and Echizen can't do," He touched his glasses briefly. The other two appeared to be more interested now that their names were mentioned. "According to my data, she's fully ambidextrous."

Suzume looked at the empty ashtray on the table. She remembered everything about her senpai—how she dealt tarot cards with her left hand, how she flicked ash off her cigarette with her left index finger, how she rolled the dice and held the poker cards with her left hand, and how she reached for her gambling earnings with her left hand. And how, every time, every single time, she had crushed Suzume on the tennis court with her left hand. Her left hand was obviously her dominant one. How could she be ambidextrous? It didn't make sense.

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Kimiko had been sitting alone for a while now, the wind brushing through her magenta hair. She couldn't quite believe what she'd done. She'd just quit on her partner, who was her partner for nearly a whole year. She'd forced a split between their doubles 1 pair. And she wasn't even sure why. Even she had enough sense to know what she did was utterly stupid.

'I should've waited till after the tournament.' Sighing, she pulled her headphones out of her bag (Big, bulky headphones—not the cute little iPod ones—like the ones they use for sound recording) and shoved them over her head.

She failed to submerge herself within the music. The music was loud, but her thoughts were louder. She reached for the off button of her CD player and slung her headphones over her neck. Yes, she used a CD player. She didn't understand why everyone had switched to iPods after they came out. CDs had much better quality than MP3 files.

Why had she been so inclined to believe Bunta anyways? For all she knew, he could be trying to weaken their team so his own school's team would have a better chance of winning.

'You know you don't fit well together. You can just feel it…' the little voice in her head said.

So she sat there and thought.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something was thrown lightly towards her and hit her in the chest. It bounced off and fell onto the ground. She picked it up, brushing off the tiny bits of dirt and gravel. It was a carton of milk. She looked up to see who the thrower was, although she'd already guessed.

"Arigato, Kaidoh-kun!" she said, poking the straw through and drinking happily.

He looked embarrassed. "I—I didn't buy it for you!" he insisted. "I bought an extra one by mistake!" He walked off, muttering to himself.

She didn't mind that he denied buying it for her. The facts spoke for themselves; he did give it to her. She giggled to herself. Somehow, he was treating her like he treated kittens. She didn't mind being a kitten. It was fine with her.

'Back to thinking about doubles…' she forced herself. 'Concentrate, concentrate.'

Bunta had said that she needed a strong defensive player to compliment her. The logical choice, of course, would be Ryuzaki Sakuno. She never tries to 'steal' the ball from her partner, and she always goes to cover the empty court. Then there was Aiko, who didn't have much of a feel for doubles but seemed to want to hit the ball a lot. And Kimiko was only so glad to relent. She was always the more passive one in playing doubles. Besides, Bunta had recommended her… sort of.

Mentally she hit herself on the side of her head and told herself to be practical. Logical. Yes.

But this is Kimiko we're talking about. And she always went the way she felt.

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"Ne, Aiko-senpai?" Kimiko approached her. "Will you play doubles with me?"

Blink.

"Ano, it's okay if you don't want to! I just thought we might make a good doubles pair! Maybe, you know?" She smiled cheerfully.

Double blink.

"Umm…" Aiko paused for a second. "I'll be right back." A moment later she came back, dragging Ryoma by the cuff of his shirt. She said something to him in English, and he turned to Kimiko with an annoyed expression. "Marui-senpai, could you say whatever you said again? She says you talk too fast."

"Oh! Gomenasai!" She bowed quickly. "I just asked her if she'd play doubles with me! But maybe not in this tournament, since I'm sure Ryuzaki-sensei and the others decided a suitable roster already! And it's okay if she doesn't want to, I understand! We've never played together before, so—" Kimiko realized she was blabbering and shut her mouth.

Aiko looked at Ryoma. "So… what was that?" she said in accented Japanese.

Ryoma said about three words in English.

"I would like to try doubles with you, if sensei and the others allowed it." she said to Kimiko. She felt herself go red as she always did when speaking the language, since she had no idea if she was pronouncing the words properly.

"Really?" Kimiko's whole face lit up, like a million invisible lights were suddenly turned on. "Thank you so much!"

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"Akane-buchou!"

Akane looked up from the tennis booklet she was reading. So far, there hadn't been any articles about the Seigaku girl team printed. She saw one on the Hyotei girl team, but it had been pretty general and ambiguous. Her cerulean eyes shifted back and forth for the source of the voice, even though she knew who it was—only one person still called her 'buchou'. Suddenly, she was glomped from behind.

"Hee!" Kimiko said as she bounced down onto the chair to join her. "I'm sorry about lunch, by the way! Wait, no, I should apologize formally!" She got down from the bench and bowed. "Akane-buchou, please excuse my behavior from earlier. I was really frustrated… and…" Suddenly, she felt rather shy.

Akane just rolled her eyes. "Okay, you're back to normal," she said, a wry smile on her face. Kimiko jumped her again, knowing this was Akane's way of saying "I forgive you". Her neck hurt from where Kimiko was hanging on so tightly. "That's… nice to hear… I guess? By the way, we changed the roster."

"Yay!" Kimiko squealed, and Akane couldn't help but feel slightly hurt at being cast aside. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Akane-buchou! But you know, we really don't fit so well, heheh..."

"Well, you're right, we should broaden our horizons." Akane said. "You're playing with Aiko, if that's okay with you?"

Kimiko's eyes shone. "Really? I just asked her if she would try doubles with me!"

"I hope you can help her evolve into a doubles player…" Akane said. "Doubles with her won't be easy. She isn't really the type."

"Well, it'll work out somehow!"

'She's so naïve…'

"Neh, Akane-buchou…" She smiled. "Thanks for everything, you know? You really taught me a lot. And you listened to me, and you honored my requests… I'm just happy, you know? And if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even know I had a skill in doubles!"

The words struck close to home. Akane bit her lip when she heard the last sentence.

"You know, Akane-buchou, if we're talking about broadening our horizons, maybe you could try singles. I think you might be able to do a good job, actually!"

Again, her words felt like mini-bullets to her chest. It was like she had guns pointed at her—she knew the bullets were coming, she knew the pain would come eventually, she just didn't know when."Hey, Kimiko…" she murmured. "I—I'm sorry. For everything."

"Hmm?" Kimiko opened her lavender eyes wide. "You don't have to apologize for anything! Really!" She hugged Akane tightly. Akane only forced a smile in response. Being Kimiko, she could never hold a grudge or stay mad for long.

However, being Kimiko, she didn't even know what Akane was apologizing for.

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To say they crushed Mizunohuchi High would be an understatement. Mizunohuchi was flattened, rolled up, and tossed aside in a series of 6-0 games. Even the two makeshift pairs, Marui-Komboi and Ito-Ryuzaki won at 6-0. Suzume's tennis scared the singles 3 player so much that she forfeited after a score of 2-0. The whole team was in high spirits as they walked towards the bus. The finals would begin the next morning.

"Ah! Fudomine!" Horio exclaimed, pointing. Ahead, a group of guys and girls dressed in black stopped to stare at the Seigaku regulars.

"Hi!" Ann waved cheerfully as they neared.

The guys greeted each other in the normal fashion:

"Good job passing through the preliminaries, Tachibana."

"Same goes for you."

"Yo, Mamushi, are you playing in Singles 3 again? I want a rematch."

"Urusei!"

"Echizen, we should play each other again. I see you're acting like you don't care. You never care about who your opponent is. Maybe acting coolly is some sort of psychological trick? Clever. As expected of you. I think…"

"Mada mada da ne."

The girls just looked each other up and down, as they've never set eyes on each other before. It was an awkward moment while they all stared at each other.

"Suzume, you haven't changed." A girl with silver white hair stepped forward, her hand reaching for the second year.

"That must be 'Saki-senpai'." Sayaka whispered to her brother.

"I didn't know there were girls out there that had longer hair than Izumi-senpai!" Momoshiro whispered back. This 'Saki-senpai' had two long white pigtails that reached below her knees.

Suzume forced herself to look directly into the girl's eyes. She never liked this feeling. Sakiko had red eyes, as in red, blood red. However when she brought her eyes to Sakiko's, she realized that they were black—she'd put in tinted contacts. "And you've changed too much. I'm sorry, I don't know you."

"It's me. Sakiko. Suzume—"

"The Sakiko I knew is dead. I don't know who you are anymore." She looked away.

"Look, if you knew what I've been through—" She bit off, shaking her head. "You would've made the same decisions! Don't act like you're so disappointed in me when you have no idea what's happened!"

"You tell me not to act disappointed," Suzume's voice was low, dangerous. "You were the one that encouraged me to rebel! You told me that I didn't deserve the crap that others gobbled up. How can you expect me not to be disappointed when the only person I've ever followed… has given in to the very things she taught me to reject?" She clenched her hands into fists. "How can you ask me to not be disappointed?"

The silver white hair that was once free was now reined in into two pigtails, tied high with black ribbons. Her eyes were hidden, covered up with those contacts—they must be fake contacts, because Sakiko had perfect vision. Even through the jersey Suzume could see a necklace emblazoned with a cross, along with rings and a bracelet displaying the same symbol. 'Like a dog.' she thought bitterly, thinking of how much the necklace resembled a collar.

Sakiko opened her mouth, but decided not to say anything. Instead, she took out a rosary, closed her eyes, and began murmuring something very softly. It took some of them a moment to realize she was praying.

"Eto…" Ann smiled, trying to break the awkward atmosphere. "Umm, I'll introduce you guys!" She went through the girls quickly. Akane did the same with her team. Both sides bowed. "Nice to meet you!"

"We'll be leaving then," Tezuka said. "Let's have a good game tomorrow!"

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Next morning….

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"Oi Kimura, is that friend of yours an albino or something?" Momoshiro asked, looking awed and slightly scared. They had just arrived and were waiting for Ryoma and Oishi. Fudomine had also arrived. Sakiko didn't wear her tinted contacts today, so her crimson eyes were shown in their original pigment. Suzume vaguely wondered if it was to scare off her opponents.

"No. They thought she was though," Suzume said. "Her father has red eyes too, but her white hair is from her mothers' side. Put those two together, and it's easy to mistake her for an albino. The church thought she was one too," She pulled out a cigarette and spun it around in her fingers. "But I always liked her eyes…"

"We've got a super new combination worked out!" Kimiko was telling Kikumaru. "Aiko's really fun to work with!" then she leaned in and whispered, "But she has no idea what I'm saying half the time," She grimaced. "English is my worst subject."

"Heh, it's because Kimi-chan you talk too fast!" He looked at her, only to see her looking at him with wide, watery eyes. "What's wrong, nya?"

"WAAAH!" Kimiko suddenly jumped him, tears flowing out like fountains (anime style). "Senpai called me "Kimi-chan"! I'm so happy!"

"Kimi-chan…" Chiharu yawned. "You're awfully energetic this early in the morning," She leaned against Akane's shoulder.

Akane patted the girl on the head. "I think those pills were a little strong, Chiharu…"

"Morning…" Ryoma joined them, yawning openly.

"Did you help another pregnant lady or something?" Momoshiro asked sarcastically.

Oishi followed soon after. Now that everyone was here, Coach Ryuzaki was ready to announce the roster against Fudomine. "Singles 1, Tezuka. Singles 2, Kawamura. Singles 3, Momoshiro. Doubles 2, Inui-Kaidoh. Doubles 1, Oishi, Kikumaru."

Ryoma stalked off to find a vending machine immediately.

Momoshiro giggled. "He's pissed. He wanted a good match."

Akane recited the girls' roster from memory. "Singles 1, Izumi. Singles 2, Chiharu. Singles 3, Suzume. Doubles 2, Sakuno-Sayaka. Doubles 1, Aiko-Kimiko." She smiled at Reina. "We'll be sitting this one out, okay?"

"Wait…" Izumi said. "Why am I in singles 1? Why isn't Chiharu-san in singles 1?" 'I can't be singles 1, there must be a mistake…'

Inui stepped forward, notebook open. "My data predicts that Matsuyama will be appearing in singles 2. We're putting Oshiro-san there in order to combat her style."

"Chiharu-san plays better than me, shouldn't you—"

"We're not talking strengths here, Izumi," Akane said. "We're talking styles. Play styles."

"But, if there's an even stronger player in singles 1, or if your predictions are wrong and Matsuyama appears in singles 1, then Chiharu, or maybe you, Akane—"

"Izumi," Akane pulled her to face her. "You're making excuses because you think you're going to lose. Because you won't push yourself beyond that limit that has you restricted."

Izumi felt herself drowning under those cerulean eyes. Why did all the people she knew have such powerful eyes? How did Akane read her so easily? Izumi never pushed herself over a certain point. She'd always give up. She knew she did, but she didn't know why.

"If you don't want to push yourself in this match…" Akane said. "Then you can't let your opponent take the lead. It's simple, Izumi. Don't let yourself lose."

"That's all," Coach Ryuzaki said. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Sayaka said, grinning. "What are we waiting for? Let's kick ass!"

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Later…

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The morning matches went by in a blur of action.

"Seigaku!"

"Fight-O!"

"I can't believe Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai lost…"

"Kaidoh isn't Taka-san, why did he try to return Ishida's Hadokyuu? He could've injured himself severely!"

"As expected of the Golden Pair! Perfect combination!"

"Of course they had to win! Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai are unbeatable!"

"Hey, Tachibana's little sister! If I win, go on a date with me, okay?"

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M LETTING YOU WIN, MOMOSHIRO!"

"Kamio, calm down! He's beating you psychologically!"

"Oi, Namazu-chan. Do I really look like that Kamio loser?"

"No Kimura, you don't look alike at all. My brother just has no imagination for nicknames. 'Kamio-wannabe', honestly…"

"HA! Guess I have a date with Tachibana's little sister then!

"SHUT UP!"

"This is troublesome. I wanted to play Echizen again. I wanted to crush him so he wouldn't go around with that arrogant attitude. And maybe I could win that grip tape from him too. Why isn't Echizen playing anyways? Did you plan to trick me because I expected to be matched against Echizen? Maybe—"

"BURNING! I will be a better opponent than Echizen, BABY! Ore, ore, COME ON!"

"Ah! Hadokyuu!"

"Ibu can't use 'spot' because Kawamura's shots are too powerful."

"Looks like we won't get to play each other here, Tezuka."

"See you in the prefectural tournament."

After an exciting array of matches, Seigaku boys took the District Championships at a score of 3 wins and 1 loss. Both teams immediately set off for the female tournaments that were held during the afternoon in different courts. At that moment, the girls were still warming up, tingly feelings all over them from being forced to sit still during the matches in the morning.

Finally, they finished the basic warm-ups and stretches that were needed to avoid cramps and pulled muscles, and put their rackets back into their bags. They slung their racket bags over their shoulders a bit too enthusiastically—some of them ended up muttering "ow" under their breaths when the racket bag hit their backs, but they could hardly contain their excitement. It was the finals!

As they walked to the designated courts, they saw many different school uniforms. Some of them vaguely familiar, others were completely new and unknown. However, it didn't matter how big the school was, or how many students it had, or how much the tuition cost—the girls could see a challenge within every eye of every tennis player, within every color of dyed fabric that was a school jersey.

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A/N: I am not against Christians or any religious beliefs. The views on religion in the story are conducted from the point of view of several characters, and do not represent my views.

Next chapter up (PROBABLY) within two days.

Review. Review. Review.