Fudomine Municipal Junior High School, Tokyo.
"Ding-dong-dong-dong-dong—!"
As the final bell rang, the female teacher, thinking every extra minute was a waste, left the classroom after a few half-hearted words. The students, now free, instantly released their pent-up energy. Some were eager to go home and play video games, some had plans to go shopping, and many were heading to their club activities.
"Seiya, the regional tournament is about to start. My brother said you absolutely have to come to the tennis club today."
Seiya had just packed his bag. Last night, he had shared power with his SAO counterpart and was considering how to integrate sword techniques into his tennis. He had planned to skip club practice today, but before he could, a sweet-looking girl with chestnut-colored, shoulder-length hair approached him.
"I have something urgent to do at home today. Can you help me ask the captain for leave?"
The sweet-looking girl was Tachibana An, Seiya's classmate and the younger sister of the tennis club's captain, Tachibana Kippei. Fudomine was a municipal junior high school, and its size and student body were not small in Tokyo. However, its tennis club had been completely unknown until last year. A coach and upperclassmen with no sense of responsibility and a penchant for picking on newcomers suppressed talented underclassmen. This resulted in Fudomine having many tennis-talented students but no real achievements in any tournaments.
That all changed last year when Tachibana Kippei transferred to the school. Just like how his SAO counterpart had to complete a prerequisite mission to unlock the system's full functions and enter the "Dream of the Heart," Seiya in this world had a similar system mission. What was the point of being in the world of tennis if you didn't play tennis? So, when he learned he was in the world of Prince of Tennis, where tennis was everywhere, Seiya picked up a racket without hesitation.
Initially, as a transmigrator, Seiya thought he would be a prodigy, if not a world-beater. But after many years, he was sad to discover that his tennis talent was only slightly above average. He even hired many private coaches due to his well-off family, but years went by, and he found that besides his naturally sharp dynamic vision, he had almost no talent.
Honestly, this discovery was a huge blow to Seiya. In the world of Prince of Tennis, if you couldn't play tennis, you were nothing but a nobody. He might not be able to play the "homicidal tennis" of the national level, but he at least wanted to be at the level of the Kanto or Tokyo metropolitan tournaments. Unfortunately, besides his superior dynamic vision and years of training that gave him better stamina and endurance than his peers, he had no other special abilities. Of course, being handsome was one of his traits, but in this world, being handsome was useless. In this world, you had to be handsome AND be good at tennis to be a top player.
Just as Seiya was about to give up, the system suddenly appeared and gave him a prerequisite mission: become a member of a school's tennis team in Tokyo within three years, and the school's overall strength had to be at least at the level of the Tokyo metropolitan tournament. There were many schools with that level of strength in the world of Prince of Tennis, but with his mediocre talent, getting a spot on the team would be tough.
Seiya looked around and eventually settled on Fudomine Municipal Junior High School. Before Tachibana Kippei arrived, their tennis club was a complete joke. Seiya didn't even consider schools like Seigaku, Hyotei, or Rikkai due to the immense competition. He knew he wouldn't even make it as a regular. But Fudomine was different. Their team only had seven members. Even if he wasn't great, he could at least be a substitute, right? Because of this, Seiya rejected his family's offer to send him to Hyotei Academy and chose Fudomine.
In his first year, Seiya, like Kamio and Shinji, was exploited by the upperclassmen, spending a whole year picking up tennis balls until Tachibana Kippei arrived. While his tennis talent and potential were no match for geniuses like Kamio and Shinji, he at least had years of tennis experience. So when Tachibana Kippei got rid of the old coach and took over the tennis club, Seiya secured a spot on the team.
"The regional tournament is about to start. What could be more important than tennis practice? You're not going on a date with some girl, are you?" An put her hands on the desk and leaned her face close to Seiya. Her bright black eyes scrutinized him intently.
"With the training my brother has us doing, I'm too tired to move when I get home. Who has time for a date? It's just that a new game came out today, so I was thinking..."
Before Seiya could finish, An grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the tennis courts.
"Seriously? I thought it was something important, but you're just going home to play a video game? Can you get any more lazy? My brother has told you that if you don't work harder, Shinji and Kamio will surpass you sooner or later."
An was annoyed when she heard Seiya's reason for skipping practice and, ignoring the looks from other students, dragged him out of the classroom.
"Shinji and Kamio have more talent than me anyway. And I'm not being lazy. I just want to try to incorporate the skills I learned from the game into my tennis. An, stop pulling me. I can walk on my own. If Kamio sees us, he'll start nagging me again."
Seiya was serious about integrating his sword techniques into his tennis, and since the SAO world was a game world, there was nothing wrong with what he said. But An thought he was just making up excuses.