Love and Tennis mix

Summary: My name is Ayumi Nazu, the author and the main character of this story. This is the prequel of the actual story, "Star Jar: Faded Memories…" also known as "The Past". In this story, I will be talking about how I met Ryoma-kun and became friends; our lives in the past. But then, friends…they can't always stay together forever… Find out what happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. However, I do own the plot of the story and my OCs

Author's Note: YAY!!! My first Fanfic!! . This chapter is from Ayumi Nazu's POV (point of view). Please note that the POV varies, so be sure to read the Authors Note before reading each chapter. Thank you. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

The Past…

It was a cloudy afternoon, I was looking at the sky as the bright sun settled and the sky grew darker. It was July 7; the day of my birthday…I was finally turning 4 years old. Normally, on a child's birthday, they have parties with their friends and family, but not me…

I had no friends, not yet anyway… And…well…I had a family, but it didn't seem, even to me, like I even had one… My mom and dad are working hard to earn money so I don't see them very much; they are always at work… As for my onii-chan, he went off to go to summer school, to take extra courses.

Luckily, for me I had to have my aunt to take care of me… If it weren't for her being with me, I wouldn't know what would happen to me…

I stared silently at the dark blue sky, wondering what would happen tomorrow. My mom and dad said that they might come home for dinner today, as a celebration of my birthday.

"Nazu-chan, dinner is ready!" shouted a voice of a woman, it was my aunt.

"Coming!" I said.

I ran downstairs to the kitchen as fast as I could, expecting my parents to be home… When I got to the kitchen, I looked around and all I saw were my favorite dishes on the table. My aunt was arranging the forks and knives on the dining room table.

"Where are mom, dad and onii-chan?" I asked.

"They called just now. They said they couldn't make it and were very sorry Nazu-chan, because they had to attend a meeting. Kira-kun's classes won't finish until 10:00pm," responded my aunt, with a very sad smile on her face.

I was and felt very disappointed… I was really looking forward to eating dinner with all of them, mom, dad and onii-chan. All 4 of us together, having fun on my birthday, that's all I've ever wanted… I bowed my head low; my long brown bangs covered my face as my eyes got watery.

"Well Nazu-chan, I need to go home now, so good bye. I'll see you again tomorrow," she said removing Mom's white apron from around her waist, putting it back into the kitchen closet. She walked out of the kitchen, grabbing her coat and purse on the way to the door.

"Oh! And Nazu-chan," she called out from across the kitchen entrance. I didn't even bother looking up.

"Happy Birthday," my aunt said with a smile, she opened the front door and left.

Now the house was completely empty… All I heard was the clock ticking as time went by… And again, I had that strange weird feeling inside of me… Loneliness…I think that's what it was, that slowly turned into raging anger… I was so angry at my parents leaving their now four year old daughter alone on her birthday, I ran out the door.

I ran as the frigid wind blew across my face harshly. The sky became dark, and grey colored clouds began to cover the sky. It looked as if the sky wanted to cry out as much I felt like doing right now. But I didn't take much notice of it; I was too into the idea of my parents not being able to return home on such an important day.

I was so hurt inside, my eyes burned from the tears that were threatening to fall. I didn't know were I was going, only that I wanted to run, run as far away as possible, without ever looking back.

I got tired after a while and rested under an orange tree. I hugged my knees against my chest, and secretly cried bitter tears. I probably looked like a mess right now…

Despite the dark, there was still a bit of sunlight coming from the end of the ocean, on my left hand side. I watched the sun as it slowly settled itself, and started to disappear under the ocean view.

I loved sunsets… The sun changes into a color similar to red, and the sky is the best part. The whole sky is like a giant rainbow starting from the color purple and ending off with the color red… The beautiful colors in the sky… It's like a painting… One that was painted with great precision, hints of love and care with every single detail…

I stared at the horizon as the colors started to disappear, leaving only black and dark blue behind. Beautiful as the sunset was, my tears never stopped flowing.

It was then that, I heard a strange sound coming from the bushes that were situated right across the tree to my right. I wasn't sure if I should go check, so I just decided that it was probably just the wind.

But then, I heard the sound again. It sounded like there was something moving around in the bushes. I gathered all my courage and walked towards the bushes. A feline jumped on to me, making me fall to the ground. It was a Himalayan cat! It had a creamy white fur, with brown paws, ears, tail, and not to forget the patch of brown on its face as well.

"Meow" it said.

I freaked out in utter surprise and by using my hands; I tried to push myself away from the feline. All I was thinking was "Stay away from me…!"

My fear of cats has gotten to me… The little kitty jumped onto me again and purred. It rubbed its face against my own. I was so scared; I sort of just stayed frozen in place.

I heard a voice calling from somewhere. It grew louder and louder. The voice seemed to be yelling out a name, "Karupin! Karupin! Where are you?!" the voice said.

I saw a little boy, probably the same age I was, walking around and continuously shouting the name, "Karupin." He looked at me and saw the cat. "Karupin!" he said so happily, he held out his hand for it.

The kitty jumped off of me and ran to its owner right away. The little boy hugged it so dearly.

I was still shaking. Small drops of tears slid down my cheeks. I sat up from the floor and hugged my knees to my chest.

"Kowai… Honto honto kowai…!" I mumbled. The little boy looked at me, with the cat in his arms.

"Oi, are you ok?" he asked. I lifted my head and looked at him…then saw the cat.

"CAT!!!!" I shouted then backed away and kept my distance.

He blinked twice completely surprised, "You know…cats aren't so scary if you get to know them… Hora…" he said.

The little boy walked towards me and lifted the cat right in front of my face!

"CAT!!!!" I shouted again.

I put my hands to the side of my head and sort of ducked. My knees were bent to my chest and my back against the tree. He sighed, and then said "Gomenasai…"

"I am fine as long as you keep the cat away from me… Onegai, please take the cat away!!" I said with a trembling voice.

I cried even harder. Really, I was truly scared of cats… The little boy stared at me; he never thought someone could be that scared of cats before. He looked like he pitied me. It's not so great for a boy to see a little girl cry.

He took out a pack of tissue from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Arigato," I said with a very quiet voice.

I took it and wiped my tears off completely. I stood up, brushing some of the dirt off my skirt. My braids must have looked horrible and my eyes were a bit red. I couldn't brush off much of the dirt so I just left it there.

"I guess I should go. I shouldn't stay here with my cat…" he said, and was just about to leave.

"Mate!" I called out so suddenly.

He turned around and looked at me.

I wiped the last of my tears away and said "Anatawa…namae?"

"Echizen, Echizen Ryoma. And you?" he asked.

"Ayumi, Ayumi Nazu desu!" I replied.

"I'll see you around!" he said.

I waved and said good bye shyly…

Author's Note: In this story, Echizen Ryoma might be a little OOC because I don't know how he was like when he was a kid. So I just imagined him as a quite, kind hearted, stubborn little kid. Not to forget that he's also very kawai Please enjoy the rest of the story and write a review!! And don't be too hard on me, considering this is my first Fanfic!

I must also thank my best friend Kiwi, who has been helping me improve on writing and has become my Betta reader!! Arigato gozaimasu Kiwi-chan!!

Here's a dictionary of the Japanese words I used:

Chan (a way to address somebody)

Onii-chanolder brother

Kowaiscary

Hontoreally

Oihey

Horasee

Gomenasaisorry

Arigato thank you

Onegaiplease

Anatawa namaeyour name?

Desu (a formal way of saying something when it's at the end of a phrase)

Matewait