Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I'm merely 'borrowing' them a while for my fic.

Warning: Extreme silliness

Pairings: Vague

A/N: This idea hit me some time ago thanks to my bro, who is in cheerleading.

I would like to dedicate this fic to three people.

One would be my bratty little brother, whose team had managed to get Best Newcomer's Award during the Cheer 2007 competitions. Congrats, and don't get cocky just because of it. XD

The second is my pal Yuki Amane, whose birthday is on the 19th of July.

Last but not least, to my pal mimikitty, who had written a wonderful birthday fic for me. This fic would be my thanks.

Short Note: Italics to indicate flashbacks

Okie dokie then, to the story…

Prince of Cheerleading

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 1

It started off as an ordinary day for the happy residents of Seishun Gakuen. Everyone was enjoying these few competition-free months, with the first years practicing their swings, the second years and third years doing some light practice, and the regulars doing stamina training.

Tezuka seemed to be less edgy too, as he loosened up with the punishments. So far, no one had been assigned laps or pushups yet, which was a pleasant change of pace for Seigaku tennis club.

Sadly, this temporary peace was to come to an end soon. Momoshiro Takeshi, Seigaku sophomore, had just arrived late for practice that day. The dunk smash player meekly padded over to Seigaku's feared, stoic captain, and gingerly held out a letter, which he pinched at the very edge of his fingertips, as if it would suddenly explode anytime, and Momoshiro was trying to put as much distance between him and said letter as possible.

No sooner had Tezuka taken it from Momoshiro, the black-haired boy then spun around and fled as fast as his legs could carry him. Frowning slightly at Momoshiro's unusual behaviour that day, Tezuka turned his attention to the letter and tore the envelope open to read its contents. There was a short moment of pause as Tezuka's eyes moved from side to side rapidly, reading the letter.

10 seconds later, Tezuka's surroundings erupted with flames. Figuratively, not literally speaking. All the other club members halted practice as they watched their captain, whose glasses were flashing furiously.

"Momoshiro! 100 laps now!"

XXX

As to how Seigaku found themselves in this current predicament, they'd have to thank their dunk smash player for that. All these actually began two hours ago, and the setting then wasn't in Seishun Gakuen, but at the street tennis courts instead.

It hadn't started out with anything unusual either. Nope. It wasn't unusual for Momoshiro to be hanging out with Ann at the street tennis courts before practice began. Nope, it wasn't unusual for Kamio, Tachibana's super loyal vice-captain and Ann's bodyguard, to tag along. It certainly wasn't unusual either for the speed demon and Seigaku's trickster to be involved in an argument that was, as usual, concerning Ann.

"Ann-chan! What are you doing with this…this…bike-thief?!"

Momoshiro gave a frustrated snarl. "How many times have I told you the same thing already? I was borrowing your bike to chase after a thief. I'm not a bike-thief!"

"And look what was the condition of my bike when you returned it to me?! Do you know how much the repairs had cost me? Ann-chan, Tachibana-san would be most upset if you ever went out with this guy."

"W-who's going out with her on a date? We're only here for tennis. Right, Tachibana's little sister?"

"I never said anything about a date. Ah-ha! You've confessed!"

Meanwhile, Tachibana Ann merely chuckled as she watched the two bicker, deciding that it was not necessary for her to interrupt them. Teenage boys with their oversized egos and raging hormones. These two will be fine once they get thirsty from all that shouting.

Somehow, the topic switched from Ann to the impending competitions, which was still five months away.

"Fudoumine will not lose to Seigaku this round."

"Oh yeah? I think you said that the last time." Momoshiro snickered.

Kamio threw him a glare. "We have learnt from that defeat, and now we have practiced harder than ever. This round, we will return to the courts at least 10 times stronger than before."

"Oh yeah? Seigaku will return 100 times stronger."

"Fudoumine will return 200 times stronger then. Also, we will have our cheering squad to back us up."

"Hah! Seigaku will have a cheering squad which is even bigger than yours. In fact, all of our players are so versatile; we can do our own cheers too."

"The both of you make it sound as if your team members are cheerleaders." Ann chuckled.

Both of the boys stared at her. "Y-yeah. That too. If there was a cheerleading competition, my team would win hands down." Momoshiro pressed on.

"Nonsense! It's my team which would emerge as champion of any cheerleading competition!" Kamio retorted.

A low chuckle could be heard following that statement, causing goosebumps to break out on both of them.

"Now now, what is this ore-sama hear? It sounds like Seigaku and Fudoumine are having something up their sleeves. Of course, our grand school Hyotei cannot be excluded from this. Right, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Both Momoshiro and Kamio turned around at the voices and to their horror, Atobe and his loyal servant/fellow regular were standing not too far away from them. Who knew what was Atobe doing in a street tennis court?

Atobe gave a snap of his fingers, and Kabaji immediately held an umbrella over his head. The diva then walked over before stopping just a few feet away from the two, putting a hand on his waist and a smirk on his face.

"You have a lot of nerve, Seigaku's Momoshiro-kun, Fudoumine's Kamio-kun. How dare you peasants speak of such competitions without even thinking of inviting ore-sama's beautiful school? Ahn?" Atobe glared down at them with his trademark Ice Emperor Stare, shortening their lives by a few years.

"Anou…Atobe-san…there is no such competition…" Momoshiro tried to explain that it was only an argument between the speed demon and him.

Unfortunately, Atobe wasn't patient enough to wait for the Seigaku player to finish the sentence. He silenced the poor black-haired boy with an even fiercer glare, causing him to gulp in horror.

"How dare you speak of such blatant lies right in front of ore-sama's face, you unworthy subjects!" Apparently, the dark-grey haired diva had thought that Momoshiro and Kamio were not keen on inviting him, and so were trying to deny about this 'competition'.

"But…Atobe-san…that's the truth…" Kamio tried weakly.

Atobe held out a hand to silence them. "Enough! Whether you like it or not, Hyotei will be joining this cheerleading competition as well. In fact, to make it more suitable to ore-sama's tastes, I will hold this competition in the hall of one of my private clubs. Be awed by ore-sama's generosity."

By now, it was already too late to dissuade Atobe from his fantasies, as the diva was already in his own world, planning for this new competition with dramatic sweeps of his hands, as well as a lot of "Right, Kabaji?"s.

Seemingly coming to a final decision, Atobe had finally stopped talking to himself (and Kabaji), as he turned around to face the other two.

"Ore-sama will have a formal document printed out immediately regarding this matter, and you are both to pass it to your captains. Ore-sama will expect all of you to be there."

No sooner had he finished speaking when one of his men walked up to him to pass him two letters, which he handed to Momoshiro and Kamio. Both of them gaped at him in bewilderment. How on earth did Atobe get official documents typed and authorized so quickly???

Atobe smirked, looking pleased at their expressions. "You will understand that ore-sama's men are very efficient. Even as ore-sama spoke just now, they already are carrying out ore-sama's indirect orders. Now then, move along, you two. Ore-sama will expect a reply by tomorrow."

Both Momoshiro and Kamio exchanged helpless looks. The same thought whizzed through their minds.

'It's all your fault!'

XXX

So it was, back at Seishun Gakuen, when Tezuka read out this most unfortunate news to all his regulars after they had assembled before him.

Not surprisingly, they just gaped at him. Well, Kaidou, Kikumaru, Oishi and Kawamura gaped at him. Inui was scribbling in his notebook, perhaps noting down the date of the competition, Fuji was chuckling softly, and Echizen, being Echizen, couldn't be bothered about the news. He tuned out anything that was unrelated to tennis anyway. Momoshiro wasn't with the regulars; since he was still busy running his 57th lap.

"So, what would you do, Tezuka?" Inui asked finally, as he shut his green notebook.

Fuji gave a soft, evil laugh. "It looks interesting. Why not go for it?"

Tezuka frowned slightly as he stared down at the letter again. Nearby, Oishi was having a mild panic attack. "It's only 5 months to the Nationals. We were so lucky this round to have such a long break in between the competitions, but now we have another one?! Tezuka, you most certainly cannot accept that! How on earth can we do cheerleading when we've never tried it before, and the cheerleading competitions are in 4 months' time!"

"Calm down, Oishi. I am not intending to accept this in the first place anyway." Tezuka stated calmly.

True to his word, Tezuka wrote a formal reply to Atobe to politely decline the invitation.

"Atobe:

I'm afraid I would have to decline this offer. We are preparing for the Nationals during this period, and we have no time for any other competitions that are unrelated to tennis. Also, no one here has any experience in cheerleading, and we have no coach.

Yours sincerely,

Tezuka."

Barely a few hours after Tezuka had sent his reply, the Hyotei king had sent a reply for Tezuka's reply, and a coach too.

An exasperated Tezuka ripped open the envelope.

"Tezuka:

You're not running away, are you? If Fudoumine and Hyotei can train for the competitions in four months, ore-sama don't see why the famous Seigaku wouldn't be able to do so too. If you have no time, then make time for this event, since it is hosted by ore-sama. You should be honoured. If you're worried about the lack of a coach, I can assure that you will find the coach I sent with this letter to be a very capable trainer indeed. Whatever it is, Tezuka, just remember. The winner is Hyotei.

You should worship,

Ore-sama, the greatest king of Hyotei, Atobe Keigo."

Tezuka translated Atobe's reply easily- "I don't take no as an answer."

XXX

So it was, the Seigaku regulars assembled once more the following day to discuss the situation.

"So what is your reply going to be?" Inui asked once more.

Tezuka's glasses flashed. "We'll accept this challenge. Minna, yudan sezu ni ikkou."

To be continued…

A/N: Taking a short break from my other two fics to clear my mind. Might not be updating this fic as frequently as the other two, since those two are still given priority.

Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.

-Gwyn