How Should You Choose a School If You Want to Play Tennis?

Huajian Qiye is eleven years old, a boy whose hobbies are tennis and drawing. Having just graduated from elementary school, he faces a very troubling question: where to go next.

His cousin says, of course he'll go to Hyotei Academy, led by yours truly, and win the national tournament with this great me. His father says, "Seigaku is my alma mater, you know. Aren't you curious about it, Xiao Ye?" His neighbor says, "Maybe Teitan is the perfect choice for you..."

Little Huajian Qiye is dazzled by the sheer number of schools, so at his mother's suggestion, he uses a simple, straightforward way to narrow down his options: matches.

A tennis enthusiast, Huajian Qiye grabs his racket and visits schools one by one, beating every strong player at every school in Tokyo. In the end, he comes home with a string of 6-0 scores and throws himself into his mother's arms, feeling wronged.

"Did they go easy on me because I'm young? Why were they so weak?"

The players who really had been bageled: ...

Heaven above, please judge who is telling the truth!!

In the end, after agonizing over it for a long time, Huajian Qiye confides in an online friend of five years. The other boy offers him another option:

"If you want to play against strong opponents, or become the best in the country, come to Rikkai University Affiliated Junior High."

"We're last year's champions, after all ^_^"

And so Rikkai welcomes its second first-year underclassman.

This newcomer looks sweet and well-behaved, speaks softly, and is polite and respectful to his seniors, forming a stark contrast with the other first-year, who has seaweed for hair and showed up talking big in the tennis club.

Marui pats his chest, deeply relieved. "Buy one, get one free. Rikkai really has struck gold."

Then he sees the sweet, well-behaved first-year pull out his racket. His skill is second only to their captain's, his power matches that big guy Sanada blow for blow, and he easily smashes Kirihara into a flattened sheet of compressed seaweed.

Marui: ...

Raise your hand, and there's the thwack-thwack-thwack of tennis balls, dust flying, the ground caving in, and the occasional dramatic scene of "Guess where the ball is!"

Let your guard down, and in your mind you see the young boy bowing properly and softly asking, "Senior Marui, should I hand in my application form here?"

Well... how is that not striking gold?

*

Yukimura has an online friend he's known for five years.

They have never met in person, but they get along so well and understand each other so perfectly that they might as well spend every day together. It's as if their very souls are in sync.

He used to think that if they ever got the chance, they should meet. Once they put aside the slender internet connection between them, reality would surely shatter every barrier, real or imagined.

But he never expected that day to come so soon.

On the day the tennis club welcomed new members, a boy stood before him, bathed in sunlight, warm as a blanket fresh from the sun, with smiling eyes.

"Hello. Should I say it's nice to meet you?"

Please note:

Also known as: We said we'd go through tennis club together, so how did we end up as the losers?

In this story, Yukimura is at the pinnacle of combat strength: no nerfs, no power drops, decisively number one. Huajian Qiye is number two, a true genius, a genius among geniuses, an all-rounder with maxed-out stats.

Yukimura pairing, one-on-one, pure love, steadfast happy ending, though the main story won't focus on it much.

Rikkai's 16+3 stays unchanged. Fans of Fudomine and Seigaku, read with caution!

More notes to come if I think of anything.

Theme: Everyone will get what they wish for.