What if Rinko and Nanjiroh met before they were in LA? What if while Nanjiroh was in Seigaku, Rinko was in Rikkai? This is the prologue to the Prince Of Tennis. This is the REAL Prince Of Tennis!

P.S.: I no own, hence, you no sue and we live happy life! :]

Chapter 1: The notebook

"ECHIZEN!!!"

The young boy stopped in his tracks.

"Ryuuzaki-sensei…"

"Get back here! No more water breaks for you," Ryuuzaki-sensei marched up to Echizen and dragged him back to the courts.

The other boys began snickering behind their hands at the freshman's expression.

"Way to go Nanji-chan!"

Nanjiroh scowled at the other boys as he picked up his wooden racquet.

"Nah, it's just really hot out!"

"Don't talk just practice."

Sumire sighed as she ran a hand through her now short auburn hair. Honestly, the kid was worth more trouble than he was good.

Nanjiroh walked towards the benches and removed his hastily put on sneakers and socks. He didn't need them when he played tennis.

"Alright, who am I playing?" He asked cockily as he rotated his shoulders to lessen the tension. He walked onto the courts and opened his dark chocolate eyes.

A tall boy, a third year, stepped up. "I'll play you."

Nanjiroh smirked and roughly finger combed his wavy/curly dark brown hair as the sun beat down on his already tanned skin.

"Bring it."

--

Rinko sighed as she walked down the halls of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. The bell rang and she yelped. She ran the rest of the way down the hall and to her classroom before rushing in seconds before the teacher came in.

She was a first year, but took second third year English since she was born and raised in London.

A boy snickered behind her and pulled at her long pigtails. She frowned and turned around.

Yukimura Sei, a third year and Regular on the school's tennis team, smiled in his ever so charming way. Too bad for him that Rinko found him irritating.

"What do you want Yukimura-kun?"

Sei cocked his head to the side and let his wavy blue hair fall into his teal eyes (Seichii got his lavender eyes from his mother). "What, I can't talk to you?"

Rinko growled, "No."

She flipped him a quick middle finger before turning around. Sei dropped his smile and frowned. She was supposed to fall right into his arms. After all, he was the school's playboy!

'I'll make you mine Takeuchi.'

--

Rinko changed her shoes into her sneakers and grabbed her light blue pea coat. As she left the building, the wind blew her hair back and it froze her hands. It was too cold for an April day if you asked her.

She was walking to her house when a boy came out of nowhere and collided right into her.

"AH!"

Rinko opened her cinnamon eyes to come face to face with chocolate ones.

The owner of those deep brown eyes laughed nervously, "Sorry there." He offered her a hand picked up their bags.

"Ah, it's okay," Rinko said as she observed him as he slipped his foot back into his sneaker.

Nanjiroh turned back around to hand her bag back. Rinko hand auburn hair tied into two pigtails that reached her knees and her bangs were kept in place by a light blue butterfly hair clip. Under her coat, he could see a dark blue, teal, and white plaid skirt. She also had on black knee high socks and white sneakers.

Rinko looked at Nanjiroh and took in his uniform, which was slightly disheveled and gave him a 'bad boy' look. His white shirt was un-tucked and his jacket was slung over his shoulder.

"Ah, you go to Seishun Gakuen, don't you?"

Nanjiroh grinned, "Yup, and you go to Rikkai, don't you?"

Rinko nodded, "Yes. I'm Takeuchi Rinko."

"Echizen Nanjiroh," He said as he looked around quickly. "You wouldn't happen to know where the bus terminals are, do you?"

"Oh, they're two blocks down and then make a left."

"Arigato," He called as he ran in the direction he was pointed in.

'He was odd,' She thought as she turned around, but she stepped on something and looked down. It was a notebook and it had Nanjiroh's name on it.

'He must've dropped it!' The sweet-tempered girl picked up the book and put it in her bag. Next time they met, she would give it to him.

--

Sei looked over Rinko's shoulder and noticed she had two notebooks on her desk.

"Ara, is this yours?" He asked as he took Nanjiroh's notebook from Rinko's desk.

"No! Give it back, that's Echizen-kun's!"

Rinko jumped up and snatched the book away.

Sei froze, "Echizen? You don't mean Echizen from Seigaku?"

"Yeah, and why do you want to know?"

"Why is he here?"

"Why do you care?"

Sei glared at the smaller girl, "Tell me."

Rinko's eyes widened before narrowing, "Kiss my ass Yukimura-kun." She grabbed her things and left.

Yoshiko gawked at Rinko, well, you couldn't really tell because her eyes were always closed. "He ordered you?"

"I know right, and I was like 'kiss my ass' and I stormed out!" Yoshiko laughed.

"Oh, Yoshiko-chan, do you know when Seigaku's playing Rikkai Dai?"

"Uh, tomorrow," Yoshiko gave her a look as if she was 'special'.

"Seriously?"

"DUH," Yoshiko said as they rose when the lunch bell rang.

--

Rinko held the notebook close to her chest as she walked into the park where the matches were held.

Yoshiko looked around before frowning slightly, "I don't see him!"

"We aren't at the courts yet," Rinko said with a wry grin on her face. The two friends jogged to the tennis courts were they saw Rikkai and a team dressed in red, white, and blue. Rinko easily pointed out Nanjiroh, since he was the shortest.

"Echizen-kun!" Rinko called out as she ran up to him. She blushed slightly as all of Seigaku turned their attention on her. "Ano, when we bumped into each other the other day, you dropped your notebook. Here you go," She held it out for him to take.

"EH!? My chemistry notebook, I thought I lost it on the train or something! Thanks," He took the book from her, but their hands brushed up against the others. Rinko took in a sharp breath as she felt like she was electrocuted for a second.

Nanjiroh hurriedly pinched his hand to make sure it was feeling alright from the jolt.

"Ah, your w-welcome! Anyway… g-g-good luck with your match!" Rinko smiled shyly at him before running to join Yoshiko in the bleachers.

Seigaku's captain, Terchin (don't ask, his dad's not Japanese) slung an arm around the first year Regular, "Neh, Nanji-chan, you got yourself a pretty girlfriend. And from Rikkai Dai, too," He whistled.

Nanjiroh blushed, "It's not like that! We just bumped into each other the other day."

"And may I ask why you were by Rikkai?"

"I had to go see my ….," He trailed off and mumbled something incoherently.

"What was that?"

"I had to go see my ….," He did it again, this time with a bright blush on his face.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"I HAD TO GO SEE MY MOM IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE SHE JUST GAVE BIRTH TO MY LITTLE BROTHER!"

"Oh," Terchin grinned, "Congrats then!"

Meanwhile, Yoshiko was grinning evilly at Rinko.

"You were blushing an awful lot down there."

"They were all looking at me!"

Yoshiko didn't say anything else.

'Yeah right Rinko, I can tell you have a crush on him.'

--

"Singles two match will now begin! Rikkai's Yukimura Sei vs. Seigaku's Echizen Nanjiroh!" The ref said as the crowd began going wild.

"Ugh, they're so loud!" Rinko said while holding he ears. Yoshiko nodded.

"Let's go down there!" The light brunette pointed to the first row and the clambered down.

--

Rinko watched as Sei glared at Nanjiroh. Nanjiroh glared back, what the hell was wrong with this blue haired freak?

Nanjiroh tossed the ball into the air and served it to the other boy. Sei had his racquet ready to hit it, but the ball bounced into his face! He fell backwards on his rump.

"Neh, Yukimura-kun, Mada Mada Daze," He hit another twist serve and watched as it blew the racquet out of Sei's hand.