Chapter 1

Pit, pat, pit, pat came the sound of the tennis ball. I heard the sound of the ball hit the wall and head back to me. My name is Rieko Cheng and I just moved to Japan from America with my parents and older sister. I am trilingual, allowing me to speak in English, Japanese, and Chinese freely. My father is Chinese while my mother is Japanese. My mom got a job offering here that she couldn't refuse, so here we are! My sister and I are going to start school tomorrow at Seishun Gakuen's High School Section, which is renowned for their tennis club, so I'm practicing my tennis skills. Rimiko, my sister, and I were the best tennis players at our old school, both boys and girls regular teams. We've played tennis for as long as we can remember, starting at the age of three. We were both aggressive players and were very strict with our teammates. If I am correct, every time I walk onto the court, someone would tremble in fear of my catch phrase, which was, "20 laps around the courts now!" Although my sister is older than me by two years, my skills surpass hers, making me captain, or should I say Buchou of the tennis team and her vice-captain. Rimiko is a 3rd year student, making her a 12th grader, while I'm a 1st year student, making me a 10th grader. Both of us put our studies before our extra-curricular activities, so we are at the level of college academics right now. Along with tennis, I attend martial arts classes such as karate, judo, Xiao ling, and I also like to practice kendo. I like being able to move around while Rimiko is good at sitting down and doing things. She loves sewing, art, music, and of course, singing. Well, enough about my sister and me. Our father is the owner of a chain of tennis equipment stores while our mother is a well known tennis coach, which brings us back to the point of us moving to Japan and me practicing tennis in the backyard of our mansion. Rimiko and Mom went to pick up our uniforms for school, so I'm stuck practicing against the wall, although it is a bit of a challenge when I am blindfolded and listening to a song on my iPod. Oh wait, did I just hear a car pull up the drive way?

"Honey, we're home!" Mom called out. After I took off the blindfold, I ran into the mansion. I caught a glimpse of a school uniform that was in Rimiko's hand. There was a skirt. A foam green colored skirt. That happens to be short...

"Ahhh!!!!" I screamed while running up the stairs into my room, and locked the door.

"Come out Rei," my sister quietly said at the door," this uniform is mine, not yours. You get to wear the male uniform since you did register under the mane of Rei. Besides, the principle gave you special permission, remember?"

"What exactly is that thing?" I stared straight at the short green skirt.

"That, Rieko-chan, is part of the girls' school uniform," Engo-san replied," Unless you want to register as a male and wear the boys' uniform, you are to wear this skirt to school everyday."

I took no time to think and replied," Hai, I'll register under the name of Reimitsu, my tennis alias. Can I request that I wear my cap to school everyday?

Nodding, the principle answered and then turned to Rimiko and asked her, "I take it that you wouldn't mind wearing a skirt?"

"Hai, wearing a skirt is just fine with me," nee-chan replied.

"Alright then, pick up your uniforms on Sunday and I'll be seeing you on Monday with your new schedules. Thank you for taking the time to come."

"Thank you for having us at this school on such a short notice."

"The pleasure is all mine. After all, we are gaining two exceptional students who might be able to take both tennis regular teams to Nationals this year. See you on Monday."

"Sayonara, Engo-san," both Rimiko and I chimed in unison.

"Oh right...I kinda forgot...gomen," I said while rubbing the back of my head. Did I ever tell you I have a split personality? Actually, three way personality. Most of the time I am cheerful and childish, forgetting many important things. Then there are the times I become sadistic, going on a blackmailing rampage for no reason at all. My last personality only shows up when I am mad or the subject is on tennis. Let's just say 20 laps around the tennis courts are only a few laps compared to what I make my team mates do in the States and I think I landed a guy with a coma after making a comment about my seriousness in tennis. I'm pretty sure he is still in the hospital recovering...and that accident was a year ago...I started taking anger management classes after that...but they don't help a lot...Anyways, back to the conversation.

"It's okay. By the way, what should I call you at school?"

"You can just call me Rei. You call me that at home all the time because it's my tennis alias. It shouldn't be a problem unless you slip and call me Rei-Chan...Which you do sometimes..."

"Okay and you are going to try out for the boys' tennis club right?"

"Yep, I didn't win 5 consecutive tournaments for nothing, one of which was a tournament for college students."

"That's right. You beat that boy Echizen in that tournament right?"

"That boy Echizen was my doubles partner from 1st grade to 6th grade, remember?"

"Yeah, and your first kiss. I still remember the date. It was Novem-"

"RIMIKO!"

"Okay okay. I won't say anything about that anymore. But too bad you lost to him during the U.S. Open...He beat you in the last match of that tournament right? Oh well...Hmm... Should I try out for the girls' team?"

"Of course, you rock and I wanna see their faces when you do the twist serve" 

"Hai, konbanwa. See you in the morning."

"Alright, but nee-chan, you will be more open at our new school right? It has been several years since you last saw HIM."

"Demo..."

"Please, for me? At least try." I did the my cute face that I knew she couldn't resist.

"Okay, I'll try for you but don't expect a lot from me."

"Whee!! I knew nee-chan would agree. Konbanwa!"

"Konbanwa."