So, after abandoning this story for more than a year, I could not stand it anymore and went back to rewrite it. This story was, frankly, my first fanfiction ever, written back at a time when my English was terribly horrible & I'm not even exaggerating lol. So I will be rewriting this a bit at a time until I'm all caught up – don't be surprised by the quality of the rewritten older chapters & the god-awful later chapters, k? This chapter will now have way better English/consistent tenses/better sentence structure lol. I did nothing to the plot, though, unless I see something way out of hand.

Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. You guys are the reason I go back to this story & try to fix it. :D

From the first moment Ootori saw him on the Hyoutei's tennis court, he knew he was in love.

Ootori was simply talking to a few boys who he had just befriended, all talking about how excited it was to be in one of Kantou's most prestigious tennis club, and how they were going to try their hardest to become a regular.

It was then that he saw him, merely a figure brushing by. Ootori briefly could smell a sweet scent, so he instinctively turned his head back and look. Time seemed to froze as he stared at the other boy – slender but with well-built muscle, silky long brown hair tied back with a loose ponytail, with a few strands hanging on the sides of his face, and a confident smirk as he walked towards a bunch of other Hyoutei regulars.

There was something special about him that made Ootori's heart skipped a beat, then gradually increasing until he thought he was going to die from a heart attack. It was like how some people just know for sure that someone else is "the one" for them with just one look, like love at first sight. Ootori had always thought himself to be a romantic, and at that moment he was pretty sure he had fallen in love.

"So then guess what, Ootori, I--" apparently his friends were still talking, and after realizing that his focus was not where it should belong, one of them snaps Ootori out of his daze. "Oy, Ootori, you there?"

"Ah! Y-Yeah, what is it, Mutani?"

"Geez, you're not listening at all are you? What were you staring at anyway?"

"Ah, umn..." Ootori looked back to the crowd of regulars just 10 feet away from them.

Mutani smirked. "Regulars, huh? We were just talking about it, but I guess you were really looking forward to being one, huh?"

"Uh, umn, yeah." Ootori couldn't really find a way to ask his newfound crush's name without raising suspicions, now could he? "So I guess that our captain, Atobe-buchou, is really good at tennis. I wonder if the other regulars are as good?"

"Of course, they are Hyoutei's regulars, after all."

"Do you thing you can fill me in on the other regulars? I just want to know in case of later reference." There, that was a better question than, 'Say, you know that really hot looking boy right there, the one with the cocky smile who I've just fallen in love with? What's his name?' ...Yeah, certainly much better.

"Sure. I'll just name them from what position they plays. So Singles One is obviously Atobe-buchou. Singles Two is Akutagawa Jirou; see that boy sleeping on the bench there? That's him. Singles Three is Shishido Ryou, that longhaired dude with that smirk on his face. Now, Doubles One is---"

Of course, Ootori was zoning out after that. He got what he wanted. Truthfully, he could care less about the other members right now, not at least until he was able to participate in the ranking matches. So that was what his name was, Shishido Ryou, Ootori thought happily to himself, Shishido-san.

"...So that's all the Hyoutei regulars. Of course, there are sub-regulars too, but that'd be too much to name."

"Yeah, thanks, Arisiwa-san." This time he made sure to listen to what his friends were saying, at least, to know when he's suppose to respond. He was a polite boy after all, and the last thing he wanted was to have people think that he was inattentive, or could care less what other people were saying. Sometimes, though, he might do that accidentally, like before.

"...I don't know if I should tell you guys this, but practically the whole tennis club knows it, except you first-years, mainly because they practically declares it in front of everyone last year, but still..." The second-year spoke in a low whisper.

"Wha, what is it, Arisiwa-senpai, if it's something we should know, then please tell us!" Mutani whined, obviously wanting to get in on the latest news.

"Yeah, yeah!" all the other first-years chipped in. Even Ootori was curious.

"Uh, well, I guess this is something you should know, or watch out for. Quite a few of our regulars have, uh, questionable tastes..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you know our Doubles Two pair, Oshitari and Mukahi? Don't you think they're a bit too close to be seen as just... normal partners...?"

"...No way, Arisiwa-san, do you mean..."

"Well they haven't said anything about it, but when we asked them, they didn't really deny it either."

"Wow, that's really... surprising..."

"But that pair's just based on what we've seen and guessed, but there's another pair who had actually declared to the whole club that they're going out! Seriously, just last year. The whole club was shocked!"

"No kidding, senpai?"

"And it was such a huge fuss, too, because they're of the higher-up players, you know, the more famous ones..."

Ootori was actually happy listening to this. If there are other couples in the club who weren't afraid to hide their feelings, surely he could do that later in the future? He was happy he was not the only one who felt this unnatural desire towards other guys, until--

"...Guess who it is, it's Atobe-buchou and the Singles Three player, Shishido! Shocking, isn't it?!"

If he had fallen in love at first sight on his first day at the Hyoutei tennis club, no doubt his heart was broken not even ten minutes afterwards.

"Are-Are you really sure, Arisiwa-san...?" Ootori stuttered, barely managing to get the words out.

"I told you that they declare it, didn't I? Last year, out of the blue, Atobe-buchou snapped his finger up in the air after practice, turning everyone's attention towards him, even though he wasn't even the captain yet, and said that 'Ore-sama just want you all to know that Shishido and I are going out from this point on, so you'd best stay away from either of us.' while Shishido just stood beside him, smirking mockingly at everyone – you know, what he does every single day."

"So two of our best players are going out with each other and are proudly announcing it?"

"Well, if you ask me, I'd say it fits them. I mean, look at them! They're the most proud and arrogant people in this whole team, so it's only natural that they can stand each other. I mean, Atobe referring to himself as 'ore-sama' and brags about his wealth nonstop, arriving to school everyday with a huge limo, and Shishido who is way too proud of himself, always wearing that cocky smirk of his, and looks down on everyone, even the regulars! They're way to similar to each other, so I suppose that's what the attraction is."

"True. They are the most cocky players I've ever seen..."

Ootori zoned out after that. It was good, very good, actually, that Shishido-san shared the same kind of interest as he did, but to think... Shishido-san was already going out with somebody else...

With Atobe-buchou too, no less, Ootori thought glumly to himself, someone I can't even begin to compare to, an awesome tennis player who's at the national level, also the captain of this club. Not to mention really rich, too rich, seriously, and also immensely good-looking. Ootori did not like Atobe like that, but even he had to admit that Atobe was also very beautiful as well. Not as beautiful as Shishido-san, but quite close. It was only natural that two very good tennis players with exceptional looks to be together.

Ootori felt sick now. He didn't think he could handle such a feeling when he was so happy just a few minutes ago.

"Excuse me, I forgot something in the clubroom." With a murmur all of a sudden, Ootori sprinted out of there before anyone could ask him anything further.

Sitting down on the bench in the clubroom, Ootori wondered what he should do now. Could you really be so happy to find the love of your life one minute and then go down so deep that it was so painful another? Ah, well, at least I haven't really gotten close to Shishido-san yet, Ootori thought, I've only looked at him so far right? It shouldn't be too hard to try and forget him, should it? How could he feel so much for someone he barely knew, really, it hadn't even been 30 minutes yet from the time he first saw him. Ootori sometimes didn't understand himself at all.

Letting out a quiet laugh at that thought, Ootori was about to get up and go back to practice, or his friends will wonder what was taking him so long, when the doorknob turned.

It was none other than Shishido, and Ootori cursed under his breath for his bad luck. He was just vowing to forget Shishido-san then, and there he was, Shishido-san. Surprised, he stuttered out a "Shi-Shishido-san...!" before he could stop himself. The other boy simply looked at him and just mumbled something that he couldn't quiet hear. He watched as Shishido bend down and grabbed his tennis bag. That was weird... didn't the regulars have their own clubroom? Why was his tennis bag in here?

"Umn... Shishido-san, why is your tennis bag here?" Ootori didn't even know why he asked that question - it really was none of his business - Shishido could see him as being nosy, and Ootori would be devastated if Shishido got the wrong impression of him and didn't like him afterward, even though he knew he shouldn't care what the older boy thought of him.

"Mukahi likes to piss me off and was hiding my tennis bag here." Shishido answered gruffly, none too happy.

"Ah, I see..." Mukahi Gakuto, that was that Doubles Two player who was a bit too close with his partner, Ootori recalled. "Umn... I'm sorry for asking, I know it has nothing to do with me..."

"Whatever." Ootori was happy to find that his reply has no anger or annoyance in it, but was a bit disappointed that the reply has practically no tones in it at all, like Shishido really could care less. Of course, that's why he said 'Whatever', Ootori mocked himself, he doesn't even know you, of course he can care less.

"So, you're one of the newbies, huh. Well, good luck, though us regulars won't be giving our spots to you guys any time soon." Shishido added as he turned the doorknob and started walking out.

"H-Hai!" Ootori flashed a bright smile, surprised at the comment, and Shishido just smirks while looking back, then headed out.

Ootori was happy that they talked, even though it was just a few sentences. He got the impression that Hyoutei's regulars are kind of a clique, and they just associated with their own kind, not caring about the other lesser players. So Shishido's sentence had a bit of a mocking aspect to it, but hey, so what, he did wished good luck to Ootori after all.

Smiling at himself, obviously on cloud nine, Ootori suddenly realized that it might be harder to forget about Shishido-san than he thought.

So… after going through all that & re-reading it, I realized how mushy & potentially OOC I had made Ootori behave orz. *fails* But I swear it gets less mushy later on! I have this thing for angsts, see. XD I hope you review, because if I see that there are still people following this story, I might be tempted to continue writing it after I'm done rewriting all the old chapters. :D