A Beginning of Something Wonderful^[1]

"I've been walking around this area for almost five hours and still!" A small redhead muttered as he dragged himself on the streets of Tokyo. His team captain, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, informed him that a popular old man from there was selling tennis items – suffice it to say, coming highly recommended. Too enthusiastic for the visit, he forgot to ask Shiraishi to accompany him.

And now he was lost. A situation he was already in five hours ago.

Sitting on the sidewalk, he tried to catch his breath, his mop of red hair fluttering with every huff. He was hungry. He looked up to see a noonday sun, signaling that it was time for lunch. But he was too dead beat to walk now. He was deliberating between taking the bus back to the hotel or walk to the nearest food stall when a gentle-looking old man tapped his shoulder.

"You look tired. Do you want to go inside and eat?"

**********

"Geez, ojiisan is late. I wonder... Ojii!" was surprised to see her grandfather, , walking inside the shop with some grocery bags on one hand, while the other hand was draped loosely on a boy's shoulder. She looked at the boy questioningly.

She went towards her grandfather and took the bags from him while his grandfather told the boy to make himself comfortable. Sweating and almost slumping in his seat, could tell that this young stranger was very tired.

"Ojii, who is he?"

"I think he's lost." The old man smiled, turning to his young companion, "You're not from here, aren't you?"

The boy shook his head, and said, "My name is Tooyama Kintarou, I'm from Osaka. I'm here to compete for the tennis competition."

When heard the word tennis, she stared at the boy more closely. She gasped. She pointed.

"Kimi!"

Her grandfather was also surprised, though his reaction was directed to his granddaughter. "Oi ! Don't drop the keigo!"

But his granddaughter didn't seem to listen to him. disappeared for a moment and then came rushing to the boy. She showed him the sports section of the newspaper.

"You're Tooyama Kintarou of Shitenhouji Chuu, am I right?" She looked almost beside herself with glee. It looked like she was going to jump up and down at any moment.

Tooyama, who seemed to have finally recovered from his exhaustion, began to be caught up in the girl's excitement. He grinned. "But of course! Maa, I am so popular now!"

Confused, the grandfather calmly asked his granddaughter what the commotion was all about. After a myriad of explanations told in awed tones, -ojiisan smiled and patted the boy's head. He had an inkling why the boy was wandering in this part of the city.

**********

"Ah, so you own this ramen shop, ojiisan." Tooyama Kintarou commented as he ate his second serving of -ojiisan's special ramen. The old man laughed, seeing the abrupt transformation of someone he had seen looking so hopeless in the sidewalk, to an energetic and happy lad.

poured a drink on Tooyama's cup. "Mou, Tooyama-kun, please be careful when eating! One dangerous choke might just jeopardize your whole tennis career!" She joked, and then took a seat beside him as he ate.

"So, what brings you in these parts? Don't you have a match today?" -ojiisan asked. Tooyama was slurping the ramen bowl before he was able to answer the question.

"Ah, you see, my tennis captain told me to go here so that I can meet the old tennis guy." He said, as he eagerly munched on the meat buns have served him.

"Old tennis guy? Do you mean Haritatsu^[2]?" asked him.

Tooyama looked up and thought for a while. He smiled sheepishly. "Ah, you see, I forgot to ask Shiraishi about the name of the guy, and... he-he-he."

Tsk, tsk, thought. This guy looks so out of it, he doesn't even know who he's looking for.

-ojiisan laughed heartily. " is probably right, you're looking for Haritatsu. His shop is located at the street behind our shop."

Tooyama suddenly got up. "Behind your shop?!? No wonder I got lost, his shop is hidden behind other stalls. Perhaps, I should go."

"Finish your food first," said, and Tooyama complied. The grandfather got up and declared that he was going out to buy something. When he left, then circled around Tooyama, peering at him from different sides and angles.

Noting her great interest, Tooyama asked:

"You made the steam buns, right?"

"Yep." Her eyes were wide, and almost uncomfortably close to Tooyama's face. Tooyama shifted a little. This girl was weird. Earlier, she looked like she found herself too fortunate to even meet him but now, he was not so sure.

"They taste great!" He grinned, as if nothing was wrong, and took another bite.

blinked. She was inches away from his face, frowning. Then she abruptly stepped back. "You really like tennis, don't you?"

Tooyama smiled, his face lit with determination. "Of course! I will work hard to be the best tennis player in Japan, and I will work harder to be the best in the world!" Turning to , he smiled continued, "but I have to beat Koshimae first."

smiled. Koshimae^[3]? What a weird name. But then she looked at Tooyama and saw the fire burning in his eyes. This guy must be something, she told herself.

**********

A couple of minutes and it was time for Tooyama to leave the shop and pay a visit to Haritatsu. -ojiisan had just got back and both he and went out of the shop to see Tooyama out.

handed him a paper bag. "Here are some steamed buns for you and your team. Hope they like it, too." Tooyama smiled at her, then to -ojiisan.

"I'll be leaving now. Thank you for your kindness. I'll try to drop by again with the rest of the team!" Tooyama shouted, as he was already running towards the direction of Haritatsu's shop.

's grandfather went in first and when herself was about to head inside, she saw Tooyama change course, running towards her. She looked at him with surprise.

Tooyama fished a ticket from his pocket and handed it to her. "I'll see you at my next game, ne? Don't let me down!"

"I won't." yelled at his retreating form, and grinned. "Perhaps, this is the beginning."

##########

^[1] The title of this dream novel is based from the song "A Beginning of Something Wonderful" by the Filipino band, Orange and Lemons.
^[2] Haritatsu is an original character that first appeared on Prince of Tennis anime, episode 24.
^[3] Tooyama calls Echizen Ryoma as "Koshimae" since he read Echizen's surname in a different way (since it's in Kanji).