A/N: Hi guys! So this is a re-write from my very old fanfic and it does follow the anime but I'd like to say I add enough of my own ideas into it that it doesn't feel like you guys are re-watching the anime, so... uh... hope you guys enjoy!

"Ayame-chan, it's time to wake up!"

The girl named Ayame groaned as she shuffled under her covers. "Just five more minutes…"

"If you wake up any later you're going to miss the tennis tournament!" Meino Nanako shouted.

This immediately woke the sleepy brunette from her slumber. "What?!" She looked over at her clock which in bold red numbers read 10:00. She continued to stare at the time in disbelief before shouting in rage. "That idiot of a brother! He left me here to die!"

Ayame sighed in relief. She was able to get on the next train just in time. "I should be able to make it with a few minutes to change…" She had time to brush out her long brown hair and tie it in a high-ponytail but she didn't have time to change into her tennis attire so she had run out in her pajamas with her tennis clothes in her bag. "That jerk…! When I see him again I'll sic Karupin on him!"

"Name please." The person at the attendance desk asked.

"Echizen Ayame, competing in the under-16 tournament."

The man looked through the names before sighing. "I regret to tell you that you have been disqualified. Your match was six minutes ago."

Ayame sulked, "I see… I'm very sorry for taking your time." She walked over to a bench to take a breath. "Guess I won't be competing… I wonder how Ryoma's doing…" At that moment she noticed she didn't have her cap on. Opening her tennis bag, she took out the plain white cap and placed it on her head. "Much better," Ayame sighed. "Well, I should probably be looking for Ryoma now."

"I'm sorry!"

Ayame's ears perked hearing that apology. "Oh~ is someone having a break up?" Ayame loved drama stories and even though she feels bad she can't help but watch when something interesting was going to happen. It's like a car accident, you want to look away but you just can't. She hid behind a bush to watch a girl with very long brown hair braided into pigtails fidgeting in place looking down on someone lying down on the grass. From Ayame's position she can't see the guy but his voice sounded so familiar…

"Ah! Are you thirsty?" The girl offered.

There was a brief silence before she heard some rustling before a boy with black almost green hair covered with a white cap got up. Ayame's eye twitched for two reasons. One, she wanted to smack herself for not recognizing her own brother's voice; and two, the same idiotic brother that made her miss her match missed his own match!

Ayame decided to stay hidden and watch what happened while her brother interacted with the extremely shy girl. "I'm surprised he hasn't just up and walked away yet…" Over-hearing the conversation, the girl, Ryuzaki Sakuno, was the one who gave him the incorrect directions which made him miss his match and now he's paying for the drinks even though she was the one who offered it to him. "There's a limit to how bad you can be!"

During Ayame's little daydream she didn't notice that three guys, they looked like high schoolers, had walked over to the two. One in particular stood out, talking for the three of them. He moved his racquet around a lot and one time used it to lift Ryoma's cap up.

When it looked as if he was about to swing the racquet at Ryoma's face, Ayame quickly left her hiding place and grabbed his arm, stopping it just a few centimeters from hitting her brother's face. Ryoma remained unfazed. Though seeing the high schooler's surprised face put a smirk on Ayame's. "Hey, I know this guy deserves a smack in the face but it won't be from you."

The high schooler quickly ripped his arm from her grip taking a few steps back. "Heh, pretty big talk from a girl who's wearing her pajamas in the tennis courts."

Ayame's cheeks reddened in embarrassment remembering she never did change into her tennis clothes. Before Ayame could bring up a retort, the two heard a clanging near a trash can.

"Hey, did you ever learn your grip?" Ryoma asked. His back was turned to them but confidence was practically oozing from his voice.

"I think we should stop this before it gets out of hand! They're high schoolers!" Sakuno warned. Anyone could easily tell she was frightened.

"It's not like he's going into a death match. It's just tennis." Ayame replied. She had finally changed out of her pajamas and was lazily eyeing her brother while sipping her own can of ponta. "Besides, he was here to play tennis, it'd be stupid to leave without playing even one game."

Sakuno, in her distress, finally decided to ask what has been on her mind. "U-um..could I ask who you are?"

Ayame's eyes lazily looked at Sakuno and was about to introduce herself but someone else interrupted her.

"Her name is Echizen Ayame, the younger twin sister of the boy on the court."

"Grandma!" Sakuno exclaimed.

An elderly lady, possibly in her 60's to 70's, wearing a pink tracksuit walked through the gate of the tennis court.

"How do you know these two?" Sakuno asked. Ayame made eye contact with the elderly women as she anticipated her next words.

"They're the child of a former student of mine. They just came back from America-"

Ayame tuned the woman out as her own thoughts took over. "So she's the old man's coach. I think we talked to her on the phone before…"

"Wow! You're amazing Ayame-chan!"

The praise of Sakuno brought Ayame out of her thoughts, she looked at the girl skeptically. "For what?"

"Grandma just said you won 3 US Junior Cups! That's amazing!"

Ayame smiled, "well it would've been 4 had I not been sick that time." Ayame was so used to her brother being praised, she felt good being recognized for once.

"Speaking of which, how come you two aren't in the tournament. After all that boasting about playing in the under 16 bracket." Ryuzaki-sensei asked. Her tone was playful, teasing almost.

Ayame felt herself cower back. "Well…" "I can't really say I fell asleep or that it was her granddaughter's fault that Ryoma got disqualified…"

"Game won by Echizen…"

Everyone's attention, who was distracted at the time, was immediately brought back to the game by the high schooler's announcement. "Oh~ Impressive. Winning a high schooler's service game."

"It's not much to brag about especially with this high schooler's lack of skill…" Ayame remarked back in her head. "Well… it's not that hard… Hey Ryoma! Why don't you show him what a real bullet serve is like?"

Ayame could feel the high schooler, what his name? Sasabe?, glare at her. "Don't be mad just cause you suck…" She looked at her brother who was bouncing the ball, waiting. Though under his cap she could see the glint in his eyes. "Oho? He's pissed off? Guess he wasn't as chill about that racquet incident as I thought."

Much to everyone else's surprise and Ayame boredom, Sasabe couldn't return Ryoma's bullet serve. And afterwards, Sasabe's new plan was to only volley all of Ryoma's shots at the net. "Just cause we're short doesn't mean it's an automatic win for you." Ayame looks over at Ryoma. "Why don't you just lob it?" She mutters under her breath.

It seemed as if her brother heard her, or he was thinking the same thing. Either way, the ball went up and over Sasabe's head.

"Amazing! That's just like him to overcome the height difference with a high shot like that." Ryuzaki-sensei praised. Ayame raised a brow. Was it really that impressive? It's not like it's the first time someone thought their height would win them the game.

However, it didn't seem like it would go that easy for Ryoma. Ayame was sure that if Sasabe was going to continue his usual pattern Ryoma would win easily, but sadly, Sasabe was too prideful. "Out!"

"What? That shot was clearly in!" Sakuno argued.

Ayame sighed. "It's pointless. This is a self-judge came. That means that jerk has the right to determine what shot was in or out."

"But… that means Ryoma-kun can't hit any shots near the line anymore right?"

Ayame smirked. "Well… there are ways to prove it's in." Sakuno looked at Ayame incredulously but all Ayame did was lower her head, the visor on her cap covering her eyes. "Well just watch, my brother and I tend to think alike so he's probably realized what to do."

The game was going well, after Ryoma managed to impress everyone, Ayame has already lost count of how many times these people have been shocked, by adding a slice to his lob there weren't anymore incidents and Ayame was planning on how she was going to explain their lost to the old man until she saw Sasabe's arm go back before throwing his racquet right at Ryoma. Ayame gasped as the racquet hit him right in the face and Ryoma was blown back by the force. She held her ground, knowing full well Ryoma wouldn't want her there right now. However, she wasn't able to stop the pig-tailed girl who rushed over to her brother's side. Ayame noticed her brother glance at her and she gave him a silent order. "Finish this now."

Ryoma got up and used the back of his hand to wipe off the blood. "Your grip is still weak… Mada mada dane."

Sakuno walked back to the bench and eyes Ryoma with a concern. Ayame sighed before speaking, "That guy's head is as dense as iron. Don't worry about it."

"But…"

"Shh just sit and enjoy the show." Ayame looked back at the court as Ryoma got ready to serve. "His grip is different… Is he going to use the twist serve?"

Ayame was right on the mark as the ball bounced in a weird rotation and just barely missed Sasabe's face. Ayame found the look of terror he made worth the head injury Ryoma sustained. As this was the final set, the game ended rather quickly, with all service aces due to Ryoma's twist serve.

"That's not fair! If I had one more set I know I could win!" Sasabe argued. Even his lackys were starting to doubt him as they chidded him for his immaturity. Ayame could only laugh.

"Idiot! There's no way you'll ever beat Ryoma!"

Sasabe let out an almost feral growl as he yelled back, "And why is that?!"

Ayame leaned back against the fence, "Because he's left-handed."

This new information caused Sasabe's eyes to dart back to Ryoma as he was about to serve. It was a simple one, not a twist, but the speed significantly increased and went right between Sasabe's legs. This scared him enough to run away, screaming for his father.

Ayame was happy as the annoying bully left and she was finally able to get on the court and see her brother up close. Her hands went to both sides of his face, forcing him to look directly at her. "Geez, you had me worried for nothing. It was just a cut?"

"Well obviously." Ryoma remarked back.

Ayame sighed, she let go of her brother and her hands naturally found themselves at her hips. "How was I supposed to know? You were bleeding an awful lot. Anyway, we should head home." The two headed for the exit, completely forgetting about their audience. As Ryuzaki-sensei watched their retreating figures, she couldn't help but smile.

"Nanjiroh… you've raised excellent children."

*Hides behind corner of wall* What do you guys think? Thanks for reading!