As soon as the first round began, the character controlled by Eriri launched a fierce attack. Judging by the action, it was an almost one-sided beatdown. (Continued)

A few seconds later, his expression changed abruptly. His face grew even redder, and he swore.

"XXX! I didn't come here to play for this! Come on, let's switch sides and keep going! It's my serve now, so you'd better watch out! I'll show you my 'Bullet Serve' in a second!"

He gripped the tennis ball in one hand and spoke menacingly.

"Hey, does the boss really have a serve like that? How come I've never seen him use it?"

"Maybe we're not good enough to see that move?"

"Idiot, he's obviously just making it up."

The Tennis Club members all began talking at once.

Whoosh!

Kawamura Kentaro leaped into the air, the muscles in his arm tensing as he put as much power into his shot as he could. He wanted to turn all the humiliation he'd suffered into rage and unleash it on his opponent.

That was right: he didn't have any special skills. He was simply showing off the serving technique he'd developed through training.

He could say this shot was beyond his usual level. It was nearly ten percent faster than his typical serve.

He believed that even the national champion would have trouble returning it.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was up against.

"It's got plenty of power, but the ball's path is too predictable."

Hasegawa Izumi calmly raised his right hand and returned the ball with ease.

After seeing his earlier spin serve, nobody found this display worth being shocked over.

"As I thought, he returned it!"

Kawamura Kentaro had expected this, so he reacted quickly, chasing in the direction the ball had flown.

Still, this was a good start. At least it wasn't the one-sided beating he'd suffered during the previous service game.

Just as he got into position, ready to return the shot, something strange happened.

"The ball... disappeared!?"

He completely lost sight of the tennis ball and stood frozen for a moment.

"15–0."

Only when the referee called the score did he stare in disbelief at the ball rolling back across the ground.

"What just happened? Did I miss it because I blinked?"

Kawamura Kentaro couldn't figure it out, so he could only assume he was at fault.

Once more, he jumped and served.

Another confident shot.

This time, he saw his opponent standing firmly in place, both hands on his racket, without moving an inch.

Was he going to let him get one?

That was too humiliating!

Everyone else saw it, too.

"Why isn't Izumi-chan moving? Is he tired?"

That was Fujiwara Chika's thought.

"Could he be trying to leave his opponent a little dignity? Surely not! Beating your opponent without holding back—that's the strongman's way."

That was Takanashi Rikka's thought.

While everyone wondered what was going on, the tennis ball hit the ground.

"Too slow."

Hasegawa Izumi finally moved.

"Zzz... zzz..."

A faint crackle of electricity seemed to ring through the air.

The figure in everyone's eyes blurred and vanished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the ball, raising his racket and swinging down as if delivering a slash!

"Crack!"

A dazzling bolt of lightning seemed to ring out across the court.

Arigato, Hasegawa-san

"Ah!!"

A girl let out a shrill scream, drawing strange looks from her friends.

"Why are you screaming? You scared me."

"I'm scared... of thunder."

She answered in a timid voice.

"Oh, come on. It's a beautiful sunny day, and there isn't a cloud in the sky."

Her friend pointed at the blazing sun and spoke in exasperation.

"Oh... I guess I just imagined it."

The girl turned her pitiful gaze back toward the court.

"Let me explain a little. That move just now was 'Move Like Thunder,' one of the styles of Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, Yin, and Thunder. It lets me appear anywhere on the court at lightning speed, and makes the ball bounce at a right angle when I hit it. So it's perfectly normal that you couldn't return it."

Hasegawa Izumi looked at his opponent, who was completely stunned and hadn't reacted at all. After thinking for a moment, he decided to explain the move.

In his dreams, this sort of thing was perfectly normal. He might have been revealing the details of his technique, but more than anything, he wanted to show how confident he was in his strength and skills.

That was the composure of the strong!

His explanation left everyone there dazed and confused.

Who did he think he was fooling?

This was real life, not some cartoon!

Everyone except Takanashi Rikka thought he was just talking nonsense, giving an incredibly grandiose name to an impressive move.

Did he think calling it "Pinecone Flickering Lightning Whip" would change how everyone saw it?

Of course not!

The match resumed.

Kawamura Kentaro had figured it out.

Winning was impossible!

His opponent could use any random trick and leave him struggling to respond. How was he supposed to keep playing?

Even professional players probably wouldn't understand what his opponent was doing, right?

Amateurs watched for the spectacle; experts looked for the details.

The people watching from outside the court could probably see that he was at a disadvantage, but not why.

So all he was thinking about now was how to lose with a little dignity.

But when he considered the gap between them, it was enough to crush his spirits. All he could do was give it everything he had.

The ball flew through the air. At that moment, Kawamura Kentaro had no other thoughts. All he could think about was swinging his racket.

He became completely focused.

Hasegawa Izumi sensed the subtle change in his opponent's presence and praised him silently.

"He's evolved under pressure? Not bad!"

He was worthy of being the head of a club at Shuchiin. He wasn't as bad as he'd seemed earlier.

Still, he was in a hurry today, so there was only so much he could hold back.

He returned his opponent's serve with a swing too fast to see.

"40–0!"

One more shot.

His movement was like a gentle breeze, unhurried as he sliced the ball. It sailed over the net and landed on his opponent's side, like a fierce tiger climbing a mountain.

"Hasegawa wins the game, 2–0!"

In the blink of an eye, it was his service game again.

He didn't step things up. He used his spin serve once more.

This time, Kawamura Kentaro lived up to expectations and returned the ball, though not very steadily. It flew high into the air.

Hasegawa Izumi leaped, rising to a new height. Beneath the blazing sun, he was like a sun falling from the sky.

"Bang!"

It was a smash as fierce as a raging inferno!

"Gah..."

The sound of the wind tearing through the air rang in his ears. Kawamura Kentaro couldn't react at all, and the bouncing ball slammed into the chain-link fence behind him.

"Wow, that was so cool!"

"Hasegawa, you're amazing!"

"Hasegawa! Hasegawa! Hasegawa!"

The girls watching were starry-eyed, cheering and screaming without pause.

His figure was so dazzling that, for a moment, they forgot all about his label-like traits.

"Swift as the Wind."

"Gentle as the Forest."

"Fierce as Fire."

"Then the next one should be... Immovable as a Mountain, right?"

In the crowd, Eriri turned to look. The one muttering those words was a beautiful girl with headphones resting on her shoulders. She looked incredibly excited.

"What the heck? He's actually popular with girls!"

She pursed her lips, a little jealous.

It really was unexpected.

As far as she knew, normal people all found their Childhood Friends annoying.

But she wasn't too worried.

They were only attracted by how cool Izumi seemed right now. Once they got to know him, they'd all run off on their own.

"Go, Izumi-chan!"

"Sage, keep winning!"

The two girls by the fence joined in the cheering.

"Wait..."

Only then did Eriri pay close attention to the strange girl wearing an eyepatch beside Chika.

Chika was a walking cancer upon the Earth, but that was one thing. Why was there someone else acting so close to Izumi?

What had happened while she hadn't been by Izumi's side?!

The ongoing match quickly drew her attention away.

"Hasegawa wins the game, 4–0!"

Before the match began, Kawamura Kentaro had been eager to show off his strongman's bearing and humiliate his weaker opponent. What he hadn't expected was that he'd be the one humiliated.