A/N: Thank you to all who are reading this! And thank you especially to those who have fav/followed it! I truly appreciate you for sticking with me!
"Uh-oh..." Kamiko whispered to herself as she looked at the new building.
'Maybe Yuuta-nii was right. I should have gone to the school earlier to get familiar with my surroundings.'
"Ittai!" Kamiko fell on her butt after she'd bumped into a taller figure, and an odd sense of de'ja vu overcame her as she looked up from where she'd fallen.
Flashback.
"Ittai!"
Kamiko fell on her butt almost instantly, and looked up at the shadow that hovered over her in indifferent concern.
"Gomen'nasai!" She apologized as she saw the brown haired boy, the small scar shaped like an X on his right temple intrigued her, but she paid no mind to it as she realized she was late to class.
"Ah! Do you know where Class 2-1 is?"
He rolled his eyes as he predicted what would eventually unfold. A year's worth of chaos, that's what.
"Follow me," He sighed, "That's my class."
"Ah~! Arigato, niichan!"
The look of shock on his face made Kamiko giggle.
"Niichan?"
"I don't know your name! And since you're so nice to me, I want to be nice to you!"
"Fuji Yuuta. Just call me Yuuta." He muttered.
"Aa," Kamiko lowered her voice as Yuuta opened the door for her to, what was now, their classroom, "Well, arigato, Yuuta-niichan!"
End Flashback.
And that event practically mimicked what had happened here.
"Who're you calling niichan?"
"I'm calling you niichan... niichan." Kamiko giggled at the dark haired boy, "Because I don't know your name."
The boy's hiss of a sigh reminded her oddly of a snake.
"My name is Kaidoh Kaoru." And, with a hesitant hiss, he politely added, "What's yours?"
"Kamiko! Thanks, Kaidoh-nii, for asking!" Kamiko exclaimed as she stopped in front of the door.
'She doesn't give out her full name? Wait a minute does she call every boy she meets her brother?' Kaidoh thought, after all, it was unheard of to not give your surname, and even more unheard of to have such a friendly disposition. He slid the door open to Kamiko's classroom for her.
"Oi, Mamushi, did you get lost? Getting lost isn't a good sign. Not a good sign at all."
So Kamiko wasn't the only one to notice the similarities between a snaky boy and, well, a snake. But she knew well enough that if teacher and class wasn't present then an argument surely would've exploded in front of her.
"Arigato, Mamu-nii!" Kamiko said again, this time with a different nickname.
The new nickname caused Kaidoh to clench his fists, but he kept his cool and left the room, sliding the door shut behind him.
'This girl is crazy... But she sure does look a lot like... Is it possible?'
"You're the new student, then?" The sensei asked.
Kamiko was slightly entranced by his big frame glasses, but shook the thoughts out of her head immediately before grinning widely, "Yes, sensei! Please excuse me for the interruption. I got lost..."
"Well then," He sighed, pushing his big glasses that made his eyes look buggy, "Maybe tomorrow you can introduce yourself properly, since we're a little behind already and we don't want any extra homework. Find an empty seat and borrow notes from someone."
"Yes, sir!" Kamiko sat in the only empty seat left; one that people pitied her for.
Because, well, who would voluntarily sit next to the number one trickster of Seigaku?
Momoshiro Takeshi already had a plan up his sleeve for any newcomers, but decided against it. There was a familiarity in her eyes, and even in her hair, that Momo couldn't ignore. And her little scene at their match with St. Rudolph was something that he felt he should look into. Her hair was the same dark black-green hair, though hers rested down at the taper of her waist, but the eyes- though a lighter shade of brown than who he was thinking of- had the same determination and gold glint, the same amount of edge that made it so obvious.
"Weren't you originally with St. Rudolph?" Momo asked during their break while the teachers switched subjects.
The girl turned to him in a friendly manner, not minding her face-framing bangs as they swung to and fro, and Momo found himself a bit wrong. She did have the eyes, but they were more feminine- bigger, and far more animated than the eyes Momo was thinking of.
"Yea! St. Rudolph wasn't for me, so I decided to come here!"
He nodded, "So... where ya from?"
"America! So~, who are you?" She asked, teasingly mimicking Momo's speech.
"Momoshiro Takeshi, but call me Momo-chan." He grinned. He placed both hands behind his head and leaned back against his chair comfortably.
"Momo-nii... Hmm, I like the ring of it!"
The comment startled Momo so much that he fell from his chair with a loud crash.
"Hehe... Niichan, eh? I'll let it slide this time."
She nodded, "Arigato, niichan!"
"I never thought that we'd get two transfers from America in the same year." Momo pondered with an over-exaggerated tone. He noted that she used her left hand to finish the notes that they'd been writing down.
'She's a lefty...' Momo smirked. Their conversation had left many interested people bored, and all of them had finally turned away to find something more entertaining. He decided that now was the time to drop his little piece of knowledge.
"Well, anyway, Kyu Echizen, it's nice to have you in my class."
The teacher announced the start of a new class, but she looked up from her notes and narrowed her golden brown eyes suspiciously at the boy who grinned so big.
"I'm Momo," He explained, "Seigaku's Number One Trickster."
That seemed to be all the explanation that he needed.
"I got lost again!" Kamiko berated herself during lunch; she had unknowingly stepped into a club meeting.
'And I got into a fight.' She added silently.
Momo laughed, "What'd you walk into this time?"
"I think a girl's sports meeting... Mamu-nii said it was tennis season, so maybe it's the tennis team!"
"Mamu-nii?!" Momo sputtered out his drink, "What?!"
The alarmed look on his face made Kamiko giggle, and she pat the top of his head, "You're the one who called him Mamushi in the first place."
"I didn't think he was your brother!" He shrugged her off and continued to stare at her in shock.
"He's not..."
She repeated her small giggle as soon as Momo repeated the alarmed, and more confused, look on his face.
She held up two fingers like a peace sign and outstretched her hand, "I like to call the two people who befriend me first my two siblings. To me it means that they're the nicest! That's you and Mamu-nii!" She ended with a wink.
Momo processed this information quietly, and noted that his first impression of her was indeed correct- she was a happy-go-lucky teen with a way about life that made her always grin. So polar opposites in the family could happen.
'I wonder how far off they are from relation to be so different.' Momo pondered as Kamiko happily chatted away about how nice the campus was with the blossoming flowers, 'What if they were siblings?! Definitely not twins, since Echizen- er, Ryoma- is younger. Long lost siblings? Cousins?'
Kamiko generously handed a portion of her lunch to Momo, and Momo thanked her and buried his head in his food as to hide the rising blush on his cheeks. He'd almost been caught staring at her!
'Cousins, then. Second cousins. Twice removed. And she's from the planet Mars.' Momo didn't mind to end his conversation himself as he noticed how delicious his lunch was. A small 'Hmph' ended the one sided conversation between both second years.
"Ko-Konjiki-senpai!" Momo exclaimed.
The whole class had quieted down. It wasn't often for third years to come down to the second years' room, and it was unheard of for one to be requesting the presence for one. Especially when it was Konjiki Hana. She dominated the courts of the girls' tennis team as captain after recovering from an injury. Her whole arm had been fractured due to a horrible tennis incident in her first year. She had kept her black hair at chin-length after that, infamously cutting off more than a foot of hair in her first year of middle school. She even had a scar right above her left eye that was a faded pink but always stood out because of how it contrasted with her dark brown eyes.
"You." She was amused as she looked at Kamiko.
Kamiko almost jumped back; she curiously looked at her senpai, "Yes?"
"Hmph... you don't... Remember me?"
"Remember you..."
Momo deadpanned, 'Has she got the memory of an Echizen?'
"Oh!" Kamiko delightedly laughed at herself, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, Kon-chan!"
'Thank God she doesn't.' Momo breathed out a sigh of relief.
Konjiki, on the other hand, felt a little bit more confused, "Hmph, are you the same girl that fought with my vice captain?"
"Mhm! She was wrong!" Kamiko nodded with a polite smile.
"Hmph..." Konjiki eyed Kamiko, and noticed Kamiko's hands, "Come with me."
"Sure, Kon-chan! Where are we going?"
"O-oi! Chotto matte!" Momo fell over in his seat as Kamiko and Konjiki strode out of the classroom.
Kamiko followed Konjiki down the hall, towards the third year classrooms. They'd entered the classroom with 3-11 posted above it, and found classmates surrounding a desk.
"-it's not my fault if she's pulled out of the tennis team for not having her gear. She just has to learn to be more responsible."
Konjiki pushed Kamiko towards the front of the group, and Kamiko stared at the brunette in front of her. The brunette sat in her chair, and seemed to love the attention that everyone was giving her, she glared at Kamiko.
"More responsible? But, Sakura, she's just a first year!" A classmate of hers exclaimed.
Sakura didn't remove her eyes from Kamiko, "Ryuzaki Sakuno doesn't deserve special attention because her grandma is the tennis coach of the boys team, Sakuno said it herself."
"Hmph... what's going on, Inui-kun?" Konjiki asked her fellow classmate.
A tall boy with glasses looked down to, or rather at, Hana.
"It seems that Sakura doesn't quite like the idea of Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter on the tennis team."
"That's a bit rude..." Kamiko whispered, she didn't seem at all fazed by Sakura's glares.
Inui Sadaharu noted the second year immediately, and Hana laughed at the comment the girl made.
"Oh, Inui-kun, this is the girl who got Sakura in a bad mood. Her name is-"
"I'm Kamiko!" Kamiko said then, breaking the staring contest and looking up at Inui, "It's a-"
"YOU." Sakura's anger flared when Kamiko turned her back to the third year girl.
The whole class directed their attention at the two girls, and steered clear of the areas between them. Konjiki laughed darkly.
"Hmph, Sakura, don't be mean; she's new."
"Then she should've known her place by not talking back to her senpai!" Sakura argued. She pointed at Kamiko, "Oi, do you have an apology or what?"
Kamiko's expression changed from unwitting second year, to competitive; and Inui knew he was familiar with that competitive glint in Kamiko's eyes. But how?
"It's not an apology exactly," Kamiko started, "It's more like a challenge."
"Challenge?" Sakura asked, eyes narrowing.
"Interesting..." Inui muttered to himself.
"It's obvious you play tennis. But can you play the sport well, senpai?" Kamiko's friendly smile turned a bit mischievous, "So? What do you say?"
"Since I'm in a good mood about that first year getting kicked out, I'll let you choose the time and place."
"Why not today after school? I think it'd sure be fun to play when you're not tired out!"
"Why you..." Sakura stood up and stomped forward, and Konjiki had to step in to stop Sakura from closing the distance between her and the second year.
"One set, but not a whole match." She agreed for Sakura.
Inui was quickly figuring out the familiarity between Kamiko and a certain tennis rookie, but wasn't given enough time as Kamiko was already skipping out of the room.
'Skipping?' Inui thought to himself, 'Hmm... an interesting variable to the data.'
Konjiki rolled her eyes, "I wonder if she'll cause any trouble."
"My data tells me that it's highly possible." Inui informed, 'Especially if she's related to him.'
The third years were left to themselves, unaware that Kamiko spent the rest of the day searching for this Ryuzaki Sakuno that she knew nothing about. Kamiko found her near the boy's tennis court after school.
"Come on, Sakuno-chan, maybe Ryoma-sama is near the other court!" A loud brunette with short pigtails pulled Sakuno away from Kamiko.
Kamiko was sure to stop them, "Ah~! You're Ryuzaki Sakuno?" Kamiko asked abruptly as she appeared before them.
The shy girl nodded, and Kamiko's smile widened as she tried to be friendly.
"Great, Saku-chan! I have a present for you."
Sakuno would've fallen over merely because of this stranger's friendliness, but remained standing. Even with the enormous weight in the tennis bag that Kamiko threw to her. Osakada Tomoka was confused.
"Who're you?" Sakuno's loud friend asked, "What is this stuff?"
"Sakura-senpai said that you would get kicked off for not having the proper gear. I gave this to you so you can surprise her!"
Kamiko suddenly took both the first year girls and dragged them away, looking around hap-hazardly as she did so, "Which way to the tennis courts? You guys will love this game we're gonna have!"
Half an hour later, the boy regulars stepped onto the court, and Inui was just finishing up his data when the team members were whispering about the Sakuno incident. After that confrontation between Sakura and Kamiko, the third years had told the other classes, and most of the school was already looking for the new challenger. Sakura wasn't the vice captain of the girl's team for nothing, her talent, though hidden most of the time, called for her to win all but three matches in her whole middle school career.
"It seems Kamiko is bringing more chaos than her relative counterpart." Inui muttered as he wrote in his notebook. A couple of non-regulars had run past them talking about Sakura.
"You noticed the similarities as well, Inui-senpai?" Momo grinned, "It's noticeable, right?"
Inui nodded, and just then they heard the captain say those fateful words of punishment, "10 laps, Kaidoh. Next time don't be late."
"Hai, buchou!"
"Mamushi's late?" Momo teased, "I thought you were supposed to be committed to tennis."
"Fshhh..." He ignored Momo and looked towards Inui, "The score is 30-Love."
"Score? Who's playing today guys?" Kikumaru Eiji asked intrusively.
Fuji Syusuke chuckled, "I think they mean the match with the girl's vice captain. Sakura-san is going against a new student, isn't she?"
Inui nodded, and saw as Ryoma went for another Ponta; he quickly jot down some notes.
"Echizen is going for water breaks 23.3% more times than usual. The probability that it has something to do with the match is higher than 90%."
"Huh? Oishi! Why is Inui speaking so cryptically?"
Oishi Shuichiro couldn't answer Kikumaru's questions, and turned to Inui himself.
"What's going on?" The vice captain asked.
Momo smirked, "Echizen probably has a relative who's going against Sakura-senpai right now."
"Relative?" Kawamura was just as surprised as everyone else.
"The probability that they are siblings is as high as 85%. The probability that she is a cousin is 14%, the percentages left is for some other type of relation."
"We can't tell anything from that data other than that they're related," Fuji smiled, "After all, it seems that the Echizen clan has a way of beating the odds."