Author's Note: Hey, guys! Okay, so I posted a new fic even though I haven't updated the others. Actually, the chapter 13 for "A New Life" is lost, so I have to rewrite it. It will hopefully be updated next month. Please bear with me. I hope you like this fic.

Warning: No pairing, typo, grammar mistakes, set in high school, a bit of AU, OOC.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis!

PROLOGUE

Echizen Ryoma, a young tennis prodigy, a professional tennis player who was well-known as the Prince of Tennis. He was the youngest player in history who had won the Grand Slam at the age of fourteen.

He was also the only son of one Echizen Nanjirou who had been a former pro tennis player, famously known as the Samurai Nanjirou who had retired mysteriously right before a match before becoming the number one tennis player in the world.

This young man had started playing the sport ever since he could hold a racket. It was said that as an infant, he wasn't interested in any toys his parents bought him; instead his hands couldn't get off of the yellow ball of tennis. His father couldn't be any happier at the time and was very eager to teach his son the sport he loved so much. His wife, Echizen Rinko, felt overwhelming happiness in her chest as she saw her husband found his new big dream.

Melbourne, Australia

January 26, 20xx

Standing on the hard surface of the tennis court, Echizen Ryoma got ready to serve. Gripping the yellow ball on his left hand, he threw it up in the air before jumping and hit it with his red racket, successfully hitting his special serve, Twist Serve. The sound of the whistle ended the game with a score of 6 – 3. He smirked, "You still have lots more to work on."

Instantly, the sound of flashes of cameras and the cheering of the audiences could be heard throughout the stadium.

Once again, the Prince of Tennis had won the Australian Open.

California, United States

Echizen Residence

May 12, 20xx

A ring of the phone in the household resounded in the middle of the night. It kept on ringing for multiple times in the dark living room before a woman in her late thirties wearing a night gown stepped out from her room and answered the call.

"Hello? Echizen speaking," the woman said slowly, still half-asleep.

However, whatever said on the other line made the woman awake immediately; she put her hand on her face in disbelief. She didn't speak for a while before gathering her composure and said her goodbye. She leapt on her foot and ran to her bedroom. Waking her husband up, she told him of what seemed like a bad news.

The Echizen spouses had worried looks on their faces. Nanjirou took his wife on his arms and held her tight as Rinko finally lost it and sobbed in the silence of the night.

Ryoma woke up exactly at eight o'clock; he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness. He looked around his room, noticing his cat lying still at the edge of his bed. He stretched his arms before yawning. He looked around once more, realizing that something felt amiss. Usually, his baka oyaji would wake him up way earlier with his boisterous voice but he wasn't there. Shrugging it off as something his father finally learning not to wake him up too early, he got off bed and went into the bathroom.

Walking downstairs, Ryoma wondered about the atmosphere in his house. It was too still, too silence. Maybe Oyaji is out on something, he thought. However it was proven wrong when he got to the kitchen to see both his parents in the dining table, the food was still untouched. Are they waiting for me?

"Okaa-san? Oyaji?" he called out in curiosity. Now that he looked closer, his parents looked really solemn.

Silence ensued. Ryoma took his seat beside his mother. He was bothered by the seriousness his father emitted.

"Ryoma," his father said, gathering his mother's and his attentions, "We're going back to Japan."

Ryoma seemed confused by the statement, "Why all of a sudden? And you know, French Open is next week, right?" Well, why wouldn't he? His father was the one who signed him up for the tournament.

"Ryoma, your father's ex-tennis coach just passed away. You remember her, right? Ryuuzaki Sumire-sensei. She used to come here when you were young." His mother said sadly as she turned her head sideways, facing him. Ryoma tried to remember in his memories.

"Ah, Sumire baa-san? Sakuno's grandmother?" his mother nodded.

Ryoma was silent. For a moment no one talked. His parents seemed to wait for his acceptance. Ryoma remembered now. The old lady who came to visit them from Japan with her clumsy granddaughter, she always played with his dad whenever she visited while Ryoma and her granddaughter, Ryuuzaki Sakuno, were watching on the sidelines.

He sometimes played with Sakuno while the adults were on their business. Even if he said play, Sakuno would just follow him around as she didn't understand English while Ryoma could speak Japanese as well as English since he spoke Japanese in the house.

Ryoma looked up at his father, "All right. I'll cancel my participation in the French Open then." Nanjirou nodded his head while Rinko looked at her son in understanding.

"We'll go tomorrow morning. Pack your stuffs," Ryoma nodded before starting eating his toast, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, we'll be moving permanently. You'll change school too." His father grinned widely before grabbing his own toast and walked outside. That baka oyaji!, Ryoma gritted his teeth.

Ryoma sighed, oh well, I guess it won't be too bad. I hope.

Rinko watched in silence before smiling to herself. In just a split second, the atmosphere was back to normal. Then she felt something soft touched her skin, she looked down and found Karupin, her son's Himalayan cat, walked to his share of breakfast.

Tokyo, Japan

Echizen Residence

May 13, 20xx

Getting off of the cab, Ryoma looked around the area before staring at his home which he hadn't been in for years. Picking his cat's cage and luggage from the cab, he saw his cousin, Meino Nanako, walked out of the house to greet them. He knew from his parents that Nanako-san had stayed in their house for three years now since it was near her college. They didn't mind since it would have been nice having someone looking after the house.

"Oji-sama, Oba-sama, it's been a long time!" Nanako-san said as she took a luggage from his mother's hand.

"Oh, Nanako-chan! You've grown!" his father said in that boisterous voice of his.

"You're right, anata." His mother agreed in agreement as she patted Nanako-san's shoulder which his cousin smiled in response. Not long, Nanako-san's gaze fell on him.

"Oh my! Ryoma-san, you've grown a lot taller. And you're more handsome than on TV, I see." Nanako-san said. Ryoma's left eyebrow twitched slightly before nodding his head in greeting.

They then got into the house. Ryoma went upstairs to look at his room. Once up there, he saw his room, on the door there was a square board hanging on the door. He stepped closer to look on what's written on it, "Ryoma's Room. Knock Before Coming In!" he read aloud the messy handwriting. He wondered when he made that because he was sure it was he who wrote it when he was a kid. Even though we never stayed for long whenever we came back to Japan, I wonder….

He stared for a moment longer before opening the door. A spacious room greeted his eyes. It's clean; maybe Nanako-san always cleans it. He looked around.

There was a queen size bed in the corner under the window. Beside it was a desk with a seat. Right next to the desk, there was a shelf filled with children's books. And in front of the bed was the closet.

He walked inside and got closer to shelf. Sliding his fingers on the books, he took one of them and couldn't help but sweat dropped when he saw it was a science book for children. Seriously? Just what was he thinking when he was a kid?

He put the book back on the shelf, thinking that he should put them away later and stacked his current books. Putting his luggage and tennis bag in the corner, he freed Karupin from the cage, telling to himself that he should've done so sooner.

Throwing his Fila cap on the desk, he lied on the bed. Not long after, his eyes closed as he slept through the jetlag.

"Oi, Seishounen! Wake up! We're going to the Ryuuzaki's!" His father's loud voice reached his ears. He automatically grabbed his blanket and covered himself further, but his father wouldn't back down so easily. Nanjirou shook his son harshly to wake him up, "Come on! Wake up!"

Ryoma got up from his lying position and glared daggers at his father. Nanjirou stepped back a little before raising his voice again, "Hurry up and get ready! We're going to the Ryuuzaki's. The cremation's today." Ryoma's eyes softened a tiny bit.

"Hurry up! Get up! Get up!" his father's loud voice made Ryoma feel annoyed. Not that that rarely happened. Ryoma's eyes twitched before he grabbed his pillow and threw it at his father, "Shut up, baka Oyaji!" Before his father could retort, he had walked out the door and into the bathroom.

After getting ready, he went downstairs and saw his parents wearing black clothes. He himself wore a black t-shirt and a black pant, not to forget his favorite Fila cap on his head as usual. His father wore a simple black kimono and his mother wore a black dress.

His mother smiled at him and gestured him to come closer. Outside, he saw a car, which was probably his oyaji's car which had been in the garage all this time. Looking at the lack of dust, his father ought to have brought it cleaned.

Ryuuzaki Residence

04:00 PM

The drive to Ryuuzaki's residence didn't take too long. After twenty minutes, they had arrived and the car was parked in front of the house. There were not many people around; most likely they had gone home. Walking behind his parents, Ryoma noticed eight boys, probably one or two years older than him, surrounded a girl his age. Seeing the familiar auburn hair, Ryoma realized that it ought to be Sakuno. However, he let her be with her friends and continued on following his parents to pay their respects.

Ryoma then saw a spouse, Sakuno's parents, he realized. Following his parents, his shook their hands to show his condolences. Realizing that his parents would stay longer with the Ryuuzakis, he walked around the house before stepping outside to get fresh air. He noticed that Sakuno was still with those eight boys. He shrugged and leaned against the wall, checking out his cell phone.

Ryuuzaki Sakuno couldn't believe it. Her grandmother had just passed away. She was just at school when she got a call. She heard from her parents that she had a heart attack. She was too shocked to move. The phone fell from her hand and she passed out.

When she got her consciousness back, she thought it was all a dream until her mother came to her room and cried while hugging her. Realizing what it was supposed to mean she cried together with her mother. She couldn't believe it. her grandmother had taken care of her all this time. Whenever her parents were busy or out of town, she would stay with her grandmother.

Ryuuzaki Sumire was a very healthy woman; she just didn't want to believe all of this happened suddenly. She loved her grandmother dearly, more than anyone else!

Wallowing in her room all by herself, she didn't realize times passed by. It was the day of the death ceremony. People wearing black walked in and out of her house, back and forth. She continuously looked down on the floor not bothering to look up. When there were less people, she went outside, standing all alone. Her best friend, Osakada Tomoka, approached her and tried to cheer her up as best as she could, but she would only force a smile which could fool no one. Not wanting to trouble her friend, she told her to leave her alone for a while. And that's when she found herself all alone again.

Minutes passed. Tears silently wetted her cheeks. She knew she shouldn't be like this. She had to be strong but she couldn't stop the tears. She wiped her face with her hands, but it was no use, the tears continued to flow like streaming rivers. Suddenly, she saw a handkerchief in front of her; she looked up and found one of Seishun High's tennis regular, Kaido Kaoru.

She smiled at him and declined it politely, but he didn't bug so she took it and used it to wipe her tears away. Contrary to popular belief, Kaido Kaoru was a very gentle person although he had a scary face.

When she looked up again, it wasn't only Kaido-senpai, but all of the tennis regulars were there, smiling at her. She was very touched by their efforts.

"Now, Ryuuzaki-san, please stop crying," Oishi-senpai said softly.

"That's right, Ryuuzaki-chan!" agreed Kikumaru -senpai.

"No need to bear it all alone. No need," Momoshiro-senpai said a bit loudly, making Kaido-senpai irritated.

Someone patted her head, and she looked up into a smiling face, "Fuji-senpai,"

"According to my data, there's a hundred percent chance that everything will be okay," Inui-senpai said as he fixed his square glasses.

"Yudan sezu ni ikou!" Tezuka-senpai said in his stern voice.

"That's right. Here Ryuuzaki-chan. A coupon of All-You-Can-Eat at my dad's sushi shop," Kawamura-senpai said as he handed Sakuno the coupon.

Sakuno smiled slightly. Senpaitachi are trying to cheer me up even though they have it hard too since Obaa-chan is their coach. She looked up at them in appreciation.

Meanwhile, Ryoma looked over at Sakuno's place again. He wondered whether she still remembered him or not. It's been years after all. Should I greet her? Comfort her? Well, she's my childhood friend though she might not remember, but I do. I should just do what I want. But it would seem bad if I get there empty-handed.

Then he remembered that there was a shop selling cotton candy not too far from here. He could go buy one. And if he remembered correctly, he used to calm her down by giving her some. With that thought in mind, he walked out of the house and went to the shop, buying one and got back.

He looked at the spot where Sakuno and her friends were at. He walked over there, not bothering to greet them while the boys stared at him curiously, wondering who he was and what he was doing.

"Who are you?" asked a red-headed curiously, this took Sakuno's attention as her gaze turned to him.

Ryoma didn't bother to answer and handed the cotton candy to Sakuno. Sakuno stared at it and blinked twice, didn't know what to do. Ryoma only sighed and took her hand. This action made the guys a bit surprised, but Ryoma didn't pay them any attention. He then gave the cotton candy to her and said, "Now don't cry anymore."

Sakuno blinked once, then twice. Why did she feel like something like this had happened before?

Before she could say thank you, someone called out.

"Seishounen! It's time to go. There are still many things to do!" Ryoma sighed before going to where the man who had called him without so much as a glance back.

"Who was that?" Momoshiro-senpai asked no one in particular.

"I don't know, but somehow I feel like I've seen him before," Fuji-senpai said.

"You too, Fuji?" Inui said, before glancing at their captain, "What about you, Tezuka?"

"Ah, I feel the same,"

On the way home, Ryoma was thinking that Sakuno didn't remember him after all. He shrugged, well, he knew she'd remember it later anyway. He yawned, and continued his sleep.

Echizen Residence

08:00 PM

A phone ring resounded in the household. The one who picked it was none other than the owner of the house. "Moshi moshi? Echizen residence," Nanjirou said cheerfully.

"Ah, Principal Ishikawa! What is it?"

….

"Hmm, sorry, I can't. I have a work too, you know."

….

"But my son will be attending Seishun High. He'll start in two days, on Monday."

….

"Ah, well, it's true that he's now a pro."

….

"Allright then. I'll tell him about it."

Nanjirou hung up and then put his hand on his chin while closing his eyes as if in deep thought. It didn't last for long though as he suddenly grinned widely and snickered to himself. Nanako watched her uncle in wonderment.

Translation:

Baka: Idiot

Oyaji: Dad, father, old man, etc.

Okaa-san: Mother

Oji-sama: Uncle

Oba-sama: Aunt

Obaa-chan: Grandmother

Anata: Dear, darling, etc.

Seishounen: Boy

Senpai: What underclassmen call their upperclassmen.

Ayano: I hope you enjoy reading it! I'm a bit of a procrastinator, so don't expect an update so soon after one is posted. But whenever I feel like writing, it will be done in a flash. That's why you have to review to keep my fighting spirit and tell me when I get something wrong. I'll try my best to update as soon as possible ;)