Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Seeing Fuji Shūsuke lost in silence, Oishi Shūichirō, who had his hair in a neat egg shape, asked with concern, "Fuji, are you okay? Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

Fuji, still immersed in his memories, was startled awake by Oishi's question. He quickly shook his head and replied, "Sorry, Oishi, I made you worry. I'm fine, I just remembered something and spaced out a bit."

"That's good then. But, Fuji, what were you thinking about?" Oishi sighed in relief but asked curiously.

"It's nothing important. We'd better hurry and pick up the balls, or we'll get scolded again~" Fuji didn't continue the topic and turned to pick up balls.

"Based on Fuji's usual behavior analysis, the probability he's hiding something from us is 100%!" Inui Sadaharu adjusted his glasses confidently.

"If Fuji wants to say it, he'll tell us. Let's not ask too much for now. Eiji, Momo, let's pick up balls first." Oishi, although noticing Fuji's oddness, naturally didn't ask more.

Actually, Fuji was feeling really conflicted. Before the school year started, Tezuka Kunimitsu had invited Fuji to transfer to Fudomine together. But after thinking it over, Fuji refused because his little brother Fuji Yūta really wanted to go to Seigaku. Fuji chose Seigaku so he could look after his brother more easily next year.

But when he got to the Seigaku tennis club, Fuji found things were nothing like he'd imagined. What he couldn't understand most was that as long as you were a first-year, you had to pick up balls for a whole year, no matter how strong your tennis skills were. You didn't even get a chance to show your abilities.

From Fuji's perspective, the current regulars were all very average. Besides captain Yamato Yūdai, the rest probably wouldn't win a single point against him in a match, but coach Ryūzaki Sumire stuck to tradition and had zero trust in first-years.

So Fuji had started to regret it. He was worried that if things kept going like this, not only would he never defeat Akashi Seijurō, but even Tezuka would leave him further and further behind. Right now, Fuji's mindset was completely different from how he was in the original story.

At Fudomine's tennis club, after finishing daily training, Akashi Seijurō was in the meeting room, watching everyone's practice on the monitors. Just then, Tezuka walked in holding a copy of Tennis Monthly. By the way, Tezuka was now the vice-captain of Fudomine's tennis club, personally appointed by Akashi, and none of the regulars objected, since Tezuka's strength was obvious.

But Akashi didn't bother with any talk about some "pillar of support" thing. He just told Tezuka that as the No.2 of the tennis club, he was naturally the vice-captain. If, in the future, any other regular beat him, the vice-captain spot would transfer too, so improving his own skills should always come first.

"Akashi-kun, the new Tennis Monthly is out. It reports on our tennis club and also mentions Yukimura and Sanada," Tezuka said directly after entering.

"Oh? Yukimura and Sanada? Ever since that Tokyo Youth Tennis Open, we haven't kept in touch. How are they doing?" Akashi of course knew about their situation, but he still asked out of curiosity.

"According to the report, Yukimura and Sanada both went to Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku, just as they said. Together with another player named Yanagi Renji, they're called the Three Giants of Rikkai. Yukimura and Sanada are captain and vice-captain, a bit like our setup," Tezuka said in his usual calm tone.

"Heh~ I'm not surprised they could do that. As for Yanagi Renji, I know a little—he's a pretty interesting tennis player. But he's still way behind Mitsuya-senpai from Yamabuki," Akashi said with a laugh.

"Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku will probably be really strong this year. We'll have to be careful at the Kanto Regional Tournament," Tezuka said, still serious as always.

"Don't worry, Tezuka. It's important to stay alert against all opponents, but it's even more important to have confidence in yourself. That's the pride of a true strong player. No one can block our road to the championship, not even Rikkai!" Akashi crossed his arms, his confidence overflowing.

"I understand. Also, the article mentioned one more person, Atobe Keigo. It says he single-handedly defeated the entire Hyōtei tennis team and is now their new captain," Tezuka added as he remembered.

"Atobe, huh? That's just his style. But don't worry about Hyōtei—besides Atobe, no one else there can threaten us. As for Atobe, I'll deal with him myself!" Akashi said with a sly grin.

Actually, Akashi and Atobe had known each other since they were little. As the heirs of two of Japan's biggest corporations, they were always dragged around to socialize by their families. But when they were in elementary school, Atobe was sent to study in England, while Akashi chose to stay in Japan, rejecting his family's study abroad plans.

Before Akashi Seijurō turned five, his relationship with Atobe Keigo was actually quite good. With the mind of an adult, Akashi could easily handle the still-childish Atobe. But after Akashi's system awakened and he had to imitate the Akashi from Kuroko no Basuke, plus Atobe slowly growing up, two extremely proud people naturally developed distance. Akashi found it a bit helpless.

"By the way, Tezuka, does the article mention anything about Seigaku?" Akashi suddenly asked.

"No, strangely enough, even our Fudomine, which isn't famous at all yet, was mentioned in the article. With Fuji's skill, he shouldn't be unknown," Tezuka replied, a little puzzled too.

"I thought so. Tezuka, don't forget Seigaku's so-called tradition. I'm guessing Fuji's situation there isn't great," Akashi said, a knowing look on his face, his tone full of disdain for Seigaku.

Hearing this, Tezuka immediately remembered what he'd heard about Seigaku's tennis club before the school year began, and his brows furrowed, falling silent.

Akashi saw Tezuka's expression and basically guessed what he was thinking. Shaking his head, he laughed and said, "Tomorrow is the weekend, Tezuka. Please contact Fuji for me. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I have something I want to discuss with Fuji-kun."

Tezuka's eyes flashed, and he nodded. "I'll call Fuji after club activities are done. For now, I'm going to train!"

Akashi watched Tezuka's back as he left, narrowing his eyes, and muttered coldly, "Ryūzaki Sumire, huh? Ridiculous and ignorant! Looks like you haven't made up your mind yet, Fuji Shūsuke! Let me give you a little push!"

The next day at the Seishun Tennis Club, in the exclusive training hall for Fudomine's regulars, everyone was hard at work on their personal training. What everyone found surprising was that Akashi actually showed up here today, sitting off to the side and watching. Normally on weekends, Akashi always trained at his private court.

Soon enough, the regulars understood why Akashi was here. Tezuka and a boy with chestnut-colored hair walked in and came straight over to Akashi.

Akashi stood up and shook hands with the boy, smiling as he said, "Long time no see, Fuji-kun!"

"Yeah, long time no see, Akashi-kun! Did you ask Tezuka to contact me for something?" Fuji also smiled warmly.

"No rush, Fuji-kun. Since you're here, take a seat. Today all our regulars are training here. Feel free to watch—this is a rare opportunity~" Akashi didn't reveal the reason immediately, instead inviting Fuji to observe the training.

"Oh? Since it's your invitation, Akashi-kun, I'll gladly accept." Fuji had noticed the regulars training on the court as soon as he entered, and he was definitely curious.

The regulars, seeing Fuji and Akashi chatting so easily, didn't pay much attention, but they still kept their guard up—only focusing on strengthening their five attributes, not showing off techniques or super sweet spot training.

Even so, Fuji was amazed. He had never seen such novel training. Each person was focused on something different.

After a while, Akashi asked Fuji, "So? What do you think, Fuji-kun? Our regulars are pretty strong, right?"

"They're all really strong. Looks like you have big plans for this year, Akashi-kun~" Even though it was just fundamental training, Fuji could see a lot with his skill.

"Heh, is that so? So, Fuji-kun, what are your plans for this year? I heard that even someone with your skill is only picking up balls at Seishun. Their team must be incredibly strong, right?" Akashi said, clearly poking fun.

Hearing this, Fuji went quiet. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly admit he was stuck picking up balls just because he was a first-year, or that Seigaku's current regulars were really weak.

"Alright, Fuji-kun, I won't joke around. I already know what's going on at Seigaku. Tezuka told me before—he wanted you to come to Fudomine, but you chose Seigaku. Now you have to deal with the consequences, or… overthrow it!" Akashi's face was ice-cold.

"Overthrow it?!" Fuji's eyes widened as he looked at Akashi, surprised.

"That's right! Someone has to make a change. If Seigaku keeps going like this, it'll be left behind by the times. The only question is—do you have the guts to start a revolution, Fuji-kun?"