Chapter 1

Strange Happenings

(Your P.O.V.)

It was a usual Friday afternoon for me. I went home from school and got my homework done and over with, I didn't want to do any homework this weekend. I just wanted to search the web, watch my anime, and read my manga. Oh, and go out and sharpen my tennis skills. I hate the humidity here so I only go to practice in the late afternoon and at night when it is much cooler. And that was what I was doing. I was heading to the tennis courts near my house, they were public but barely anybody played in them so I make sure that they are clean. So I grabbed my I-pod and went out the door, ignoring the fact that my mom wasn't home…again. She had a busy life while my dad was overseas. No he is not in the army but he is helping people in other countries develop their electronics. So mom was out at another benefit earning money probably. We are somewhat rich I have a house with like 10 rooms for guests and then if we have more than that staying over we have a large front room that, like, four more people can sleep in. Walking down the sidewalk I turned my I-pod on and listened to Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park.

Mean While

In Japan, Tokyo to be exact, a wild storm was raging during Seishun Gakuen's lunch time. The teachers had to get all the children into the gymnasium. The storms had been going on daily for some time now but this one was the worst yet. The tennis club regulars and coach were looking out for the little first years and getting them in the gym first. Just as all the freshman (first years) were inside the regulars and coach ran inside. Unfortunately for all but three regulars and the coach, lightning hit a large elm, causing it to fall in the path of the only entrance to the gym. Six of the nine regulars were trapped outside in the raging storm with no place to run to for cover. Eji, Kikumaru (last, first) a third year (senior) at Seigaku (Seishun Gakuen) was freaking out. It took the only second year (junior) regulars Momoshiro, Takeshi and Kaidoh, Kaoru (who for a moment weren't at each others throats) to calm him down. As Tezuka, Kunimitsu, a third year and captain of the tennis team, and Fuji, Syuusuke, also a third year, were trying to calm down the three struggling, the only first year regular, Echizen, Ryoma was just standing there staring forward. No one expected him to suddenly sway and pass out right there on the ground during a raging storm. No one saw it except for his best friend Momo (Momoshiro's nickname).

"Echizen!" shouted Momo, causing the other four to look in his direction.

Fuji, worried, opened his stunning blue eyes, which rarely anybody saw, unless he was serious. As everyone was trying to wake up Echizen, the strong captain of Seigaku fell to the same fate. Swaying slightly he fell unconscious as well. The others were freaking out at how the two of the strongest players were passing out. Next, came Eiji, crumbling to a heap on the ground.

Momo began to freak out shouting, "What is going on here?! Why is everyone just passing o--?' However he couldn't finish his sentence for he too fell to the ground. Then the great tensai (prodigy or genius), Fuji fell with Kaidoh following only seconds after. With all of them unconscious, they couldn't tell that the setting around them was slowing changing. The grey sky turned into a deep crimson with splashes of orange and pink in it, while the raging winds had calmed down to a small breeze. The sakura trees and elm tree that surrounded them turned into firs and pine trees, not native to Japan, and the dirt that they had all collapsed on had turned into soft grass. That grass was close to a sidewalk, in a park, in a country, no, a world completely different from their own. When they awoke they would come to find themselves in a perplexing, terrifying, and interesting situation.