Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

A/N: I've written some of the characters' thoughts in italic. Please tell me if it is confusing thank you =)

Day 4

The teacher droned on and on about the history of Seishun Gakuen, and Kimiko had to use all of her willpower to keep herself from dozing off. Ever since the lesson had began, Momo has been hiding behind his history textbook, eating his lunch early.

Earlier that morning, when Kimiko was just entering the school gates, she had heard someone calling out to her and turned around to see who it was.

"Morning Kimiko! Wanna come watch practice later during break?" Eiji Kikumaru senpai offered upon seeing her turn.

"You guys have practice even during lunch?"

"Well, it's not technically practice, but it seems all of us have nothing else to be involved in other than tennis. Plus, the match with Fudomine is this Saturday."

"I'd love to watch you guys practice," Kimiko answered with a smile. She had never seen them play before, and was curious.

Finally, lunch break came, and Kimiko walked with Momo to the tennis courts. When they reached, Fuji and Kawamura were already engaged in a match. Obviously, Fuji was winning, but Kawamura was putting up a good fight. At one side of the court, Tezuka and Inui were watching the match intently, probably analysing their play and coming up with a training program for the future.

Tezuka looked up as he heard Momo and Kimiko approaching. For one second, his mouth seemed to lift a little at the corners, but it was quickly hidden again, behind his usual hard expression.

"Hi Kimiko." Inui approached them said, "Momo, since you're here, what do you say to a match?" I need to gather more of your data.

Momo groaned, "You'll probably chase me around with your new juice again if I refuse."

A glint appeared on Inui's glasses, but he said nothing.

Kimiko was watching the match between Inui and Momo when she felt a tap on her shoulder. A white cap greeted her when she turned around. Looking down, she saw that Ryoma Echizen was looking at her, as if he wanted to ask something.

"You want to learn how to play tennis?" He asked.

The question surprised Kimiko. She had heard from a few of her classmates that Ryoma does not really socialise, with his life already full with tennis. But the question also triggered the curiosity of Kimiko. What would it be like to play tennis? She thought.

"I guess..."

"I can teach you, if you want." Ryoma said hesitantly.

"Really, that'll be great! If it isn't too much trouble for you..." Kimiko answered excitedly.

Ryoma Echizen had no idea why he had just offered to teach the new girl tennis, and he was sure he would come to regret it. As he led Kimiko to a court among the empty courts that the girls tennis team always used, he couldn't suppress a feeling of interest inside him. He was curious about Kimiko's tennis abilities.

"So, tell me what you know about tennis." Ryoma prompted.

"Um, I've watched some matches before, so I understand the scoring system. But I'm clueless when it comes to techniques." Kimiko admitted.

Ryoma nodded. It was the first time he had felt so much anticipation, and he had never thought he would ever teach tennis to a girl. Maybe he, too, was breaking out of his shell.

The rest of lunch break passed with Ryoma teaching Kimiko all about the fundamentals of tennis. Momo had realised that both Ryoma and Kimiko had gone missing, and upon looking for them, he had found Ryoma teaching tennis to Kimiko. He was amazed. He had never seen Ryoma talk so much, and so animately, in his entire life, and he wondered how is it that a mere girl could change the personalities of so many people in this school.

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully. As school ended, Kimiko got up from her seat and stretched, relaxed. She had the rest of the afternoon free to spend it however she wanted to. I should probably finish up on my tennis report. Kimiko thought. So she decided to return home that afternoon to complete her assginment.

Kimiko was so deep in thought about her report that she did not see the small step ahead of her. Before she realised, she was already tripping over it. Her bag slipped from her grip and dropped to the ground. Kimiko closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact of the collision against the cold stone step, but it never came. Instead, she felt a strong arm grabbing her around her waist, and setting her back on her feet.

Surprised, Kimiko opened her eyes and turned her head. Tezuka Kunimitsu's face was searching hers worriedly, just a few inches away. He was close, too close. Kimiko could feel the warmth of his arm and torso as he had pulled her right into himself. Looking up at the gorgeous face in front her, Kimiko felt dazed for a moment, then heat started to rise to her cheeks and she quickly pulled away.

"Are you alright?" Tezuka sounded genuinely concerned.

"Hai, a-arigatou..." Kimiko blushed. She could not believe what had just happened. The two of them had been so close just now, Kimiko had even felt Tezuka breath.

"Be more careful next time," Tezuka said, before handing her her bag and walking away.

Kimiko stared at Tezuka's retreating back as he went in the direction of the teacher's block. Had he actually looked worried for a moment there? What happened to his cold demeanor?

Some distance away, at the running track, a girl was fuming. "I can't believe he actually did that! How could he? He has never done that to me before! I hate her!" Screamed the girl. This girl's name was Aya Fuyomi, and she was an unconditional fan of the tennis regulars.

Aya had walked past Momo's classroom a couple of days before, and saw him chatting away happily with a pretty girl sitting beside him. She remembered wondering how this girl had managed to hook the interest of Momo so quickly, and decided that they must have been discussing an assignment.

But just during break that day, she had seen the girl again, at the tennis courts, acting very friendly with the tennis regulars. After that, she even got Ryoma's attention all to herself by getting him to teach her tennis! That was when hatred and jealousy for the girl started to grow. Aya was furious that this girl attracted more attention from the regulars than her. She had been here much longer, and she had displayed many more kind acts towards them. This was not supposed to happen!

That afternoon she had been crossing the running track with her followers Lya and Rina, in order to go watch the regulars pratice at the tennis courts. When she saw Tezuka senpai walking away from the court, she had immediately glued her eyes to him, and followed him wherever he went. No matter how awesome the other regulars were, none of them could be as perfect as Tezuka. He was academically inclined, and aced every one of his classes. He was the captain of the tennis team, which meant he must be a genius at tennis too, and on top of that he had great leadership qualities. To Aya, Tezuka senpai was the epitome of excellence, and there was no one in the world who could match up to him.

And that was when she saw it. Tezuka had turned abruptly when he saw something at the corner of his eye. Following his gaze, Aya saw, once again, the very girl who had already infuriated her so many times in just 2 days. She was walking with her head down, and her mind seemed to be somewhere else. Then she had tripped against a step. To Aya's astonishment, Tezuka senpai had quickly sprinted over and caught her in his arms. At that, Aya had screamed with frustration and annoyance. She felt like breaking down. How could the most perfect guy ever be attracted to that stupid girl too? Was she some kind of magnet or something?

"What do you say we teach her a lesson, about what it means to cross paths with us?" Rina suddenly thought of a great idea when she had saw the scene in front of her.

"You know, that idea might not be half be half bad!" Aya thought about it and suddenly felt better again. "Lya, I need you to dig up everything you can find about this girl. Her history, her friends, her family, her interests, even her contact details. I'm going to make sure she makes a fool of herself in front of the whole school so that she can never gain back that confidence of hers again!" Kimiko declared, with a determined glint in her eyes.

"Roger! This is going to be interesting." Lya could barely contain her eagerness. The girl had hurt her friend, so she was going to pay for it.