A Date with Tachibana An?

"Big brother, whether Seiya has improved tremendously or was hiding his strength before...

If he really has that level of ability, then we'll definitely be able to win the Regional Tournament this time, right?"

As Tachibana Kippei's younger sister, Tachibana An knew very well just how much effort her brother had poured into Fudomine's tennis club over the past two years.

An had also watched the other members of the tennis club work hard all this time, which was why she had always cared so much about the club's affairs.

"Yeah. Shinji, Kamio, and the others have been improving remarkably quickly. If Seiya has that kind of strength too, then we might have a chance to make it into the Kanto Tournament this year.

But winning the Regional Tournament won't be easy either. We have formidable opponents like Seigaku in the Regional Tournament."

Compared to Fudomine Middle School, Seishun Academy's tennis club was extremely well-known in the area.

They were the top seed in this year's Regional Tournament, while Fudomine Middle School's tennis club was not even considered a seeded team.

Still, the strength Seiya had displayed today had truly given Tachibana Kippei a pleasant surprise.

If they made the right arrangements, Fudomine might truly rise to fame this year and claim the Regional Tournament championship!

To better determine Seiya's limits and make future lineup arrangements easier, Tachibana Kippei even personally played several days of practice matches against Seiya.

The results of those practice matches shocked everyone!

It was one thing for Kamio to get utterly crushed by Seiya. After all, Seiya had already been somewhat stronger than Kamio before.

But in the eyes of Fudomine's tennis club members, Tachibana Kippei had always been a godlike figure.

Not only had their captain revived the tennis club, which had been as lifeless as stagnant water, but his own strength was so formidable that everyone in the club held him in awe.

Yet over several consecutive days of practice matches, Seiya won more often than he lost against Tachibana Kippei.

In other words, Seiya was now actually stronger than their captain!

"Seiya, you haven't shown your full strength in these past few days of practice matches, have you?"

Since the Regional Tournament would begin tomorrow, training ended early today. Just as Seiya had changed clothes and was about to head home, Tachibana Kippei suddenly appeared behind him and asked.

"Isn't the same true for you, Captain?

I don't know what kind of past you have, but I hope that one day, I can fight you when you're going all out."

After several days of practice matches, Seiya had become increasingly proficient in using Kendo Tennis.

And during his practice matches with Tachibana Kippei, it was not only Tachibana Kippei who noticed that Seiya was holding back. Seiya could also clearly sense that Tachibana Kippei had concealed a considerable amount of his strength.

Or rather, it was not that Tachibana Kippei deliberately wanted to hide it. He had simply been afraid that if he used his true strength against Seiya, he might accidentally ruin him.

As one of the former Twin Heroes of Kyushu, he was certainly at least National Tournament level.

But because of what had happened in the past, Tachibana Kippei was now extremely restrained. Thus, when playing Seiya, the most he showed was Kanto Tournament-level strength.

After hearing Seiya's words, Tachibana Kippei merely smiled without saying anything before eventually turning and leaving.

He was no longer one of Shishigaku Middle School's aces. He was now the captain of Fudomine's tennis club.

He would carry their dreams and lead everyone at Fudomine toward victory. Now that he clearly understood Seiya's level, he had gained some confidence as well.

Thanks to ability sharing, Seiya felt that he could now be considered one of the players of Murder Tennis.

Strength comparable to the National Tournament level might not seem particularly impressive later on, but in competitions like the Regional Tournament and Metropolitan Tournament, it was practically no different from steamrolling everyone.

Although Captain Tachibana Kippei had said they could go home and rest today, Shinji, Kamio, and the others clearly took this competition very seriously and were still training on the tennis court.

Seiya, however, had already slung his racket bag over his shoulder and was preparing to slip away first.

"I knew it. You definitely weren't going to obediently stay and train like Kamio and the others.

You don't have anything else to do when you get home anyway, so why not come somewhere fun with me? We can call it a date."

No sooner had Tachibana Kippei left than Seiya, having just stepped out of the school gates, was stopped by An, who had apparently been waiting for him for quite some time.

"Not interested. I have no interest in dates. Women only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword... swing my racket."

Facing the playful and adorable Tachibana An, Seiya wore a look of outright disgust and declared that he was a sigma man who would not be tempted by beauty.

Seeing Seiya's disdain, An, who had waited eagerly at the school gates for so long, immediately changed expression. Planting her hands on her hips, she let out an indignant huff. "Stop lying. Don't think I don't know that you made plans to play video games with Hashimoto from our class tonight.

Seriously, you turned down a date with such a cute girl as me just to play video games with a chubby little guy. Seiya, you really have no sense of romance.

Or are you actually one of those legendary gay guys...? If that's the case, I'm going to have a good talk with Auntie and Sister Miyaka."

That was right. In this world, Seiya had family, and his family was quite well-off.

He had a successful mother and an older sister who worked as an idol.

As his classmate, An had visited Seiya's home before, and his mother and sister both liked her immensely.

The reason Seiya was often completely at An's mercy was because she would report him to his mother and sister.

And whenever An tattled on him, Seiya's mother, who was an executive at a company, and his nationally famous idol sister would cut his allowance for that month.

Thus, under the other party's tyrannical pressure, Seiya was ultimately dragged away by An despite his reluctance...

"So the date you were talking about was just getting milk tea and watching other people play tennis here?"

Seiya had not held much hope for a date with An to begin with, but he had not expected her to bring him to the Street Tennis Court to watch others play tennis.

"What's wrong with that? Ordinary dates are nothing more than watching movies and eating out. They're way too boring.

Instead of doing those boring things, why not come here and watch other people play tennis? And I heard that quite a few Regional Tournament players come to this Street Tennis Court to practice too.

That way, we can enjoy our date while gathering information on players from other schools. What's bad about that?"

An took a sip of her milk tea, suddenly found the flavor a little strange, and shoved it into Seiya's hands. Then she snatched away the ice cream from his hand before he could even take a bite.