After getting through the period of weakness, Muneyoshi, immersed in his rapidly improving strength, felt time pass incredibly quickly.
Once he had completely stabilized and absorbed his surging strength.
The new school year had arrived, and at last, it was time for Muneyoshi to enroll in middle school.
By late March in Japan, early spring had already arrived.
Brilliant cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the streets and alleyways were filled with lovely sights—beautiful girls with slender figures wearing alluring short skirts.
Japan had its own national circumstances, after all.
When it came to balancing style and warmth, girls were always more sensitive than boys.
The Saeki residence, Tokyo.
"Muneyoshi, be good when you get to school. Study hard and get along well with your classmates, understand? And absolutely don't get into fights!"
Saeki Kanna looked at her son, who had already grown taller than she was, and gave him a serious yet gentle reminder.
She was quite happy that her husband's career had gone smoothly enough for the entire family to move to Tokyo Metropolis.
After all, this was the wealthiest Kanto region in all of Japan.
Her only dissatisfaction was with the school her son had chosen. Fudomine was an utter oddity throughout the Kanto region.
In a place filled with private middle schools, it was a public school.
For families that placed great importance on their children's education, it was rare to send their children to public schools during middle school. Usually, they attended highly renowned private middle schools.
However, the Saeki family had only just moved here and did not have many powerful connections. Since her husband's company had some ties to Fudomine, they had chosen it.
Even so, she still felt slightly dissatisfied, having always hoped her child would succeed.
"Mother, please rest assured. I won't get into fights for no reason!"
Looking at the exceptionally gentle woman before him, whose brows carried a trace of worry and dissatisfaction, Saeki Muneyoshi felt rather helpless.
Over the past month, in order to shake off his weakness, he had appeared at courts all over Tokyo Metropolis.
By playing against different opponents, he had not only gained match experience but also witnessed all sorts of techniques.
To find opponents like that, he naturally had to go to street tennis courts and informal courts.
A few times, he had run into older hooligans who resorted to shameless tactics. They had disgusted him, and when his temper flared, conflicts naturally broke out.
Minor scuffles were unavoidable. For boys, such things were perfectly normal.
He thought that boys who had been protected in their parents' palms since childhood and had never fought were the abnormal ones.
Of course, although he had trained since childhood and had even practiced kendo while his grandfather was still alive—
His age was still a limitation. Nothing went entirely smoothly, and when he encountered troublesome people and got carried away in a fight, he inevitably ended up with injuries.
His gentle and attentive mother, Saeki Kanna, had never scolded him. She simply cleaned and dressed his wounds.
Yet every time he went out, worry always filled her eyes.
Muneyoshi could not exactly explain it, since he really had done those things.
All he could do was patiently reassure her.
"Mother, I'm heading out. Be careful on your way to work too."
Saeki Muneyoshi walked out of the house and waved goodbye to his mother.
Whenever this happened, Saeki Kanna would remain silently watching until Muneyoshi had completely disappeared into the crowd before quietly looking away.
Japanese campuses were quite busy in April. In this season of blooming cherry blossoms, Japan's spring term for new students began.
All kinds of welcoming slogans appeared one after another.
Fudomine was naturally no exception.
In truth, aside from Fudomine's eye-searing Tennis Club results, its other aspects were not much worse than those of so-called aristocratic private schools.
Outside the solemn school gates, new students continuously entered with excited expressions on their faces.
Senior boys and girls at the welcome desk received the newly arrived students. This was also the liveliest time of year at every school.
Like the other freshmen, Saeki Muneyoshi entered the school in a pure black uniform with a shoulder bag slung over his back.
Yet no matter how simply he dressed, his naturally handsome face still drew plenty of attention.
Especially compared to the other freshmen, he stood a head taller, and his gradually broadening back radiated a sunny freshness.
His ever-smiling eyes added several touches of innocence and approachability.
Muneyoshi's conspicuous traits naturally attracted the affection and enthusiasm of many senior girls, who gathered around him to introduce every aspect of the school.
Muneyoshi had initially felt rather pleased with himself, but as the crowd surrounding him grew larger and larger, he finally realized something was wrong.
He fled in embarrassment.
In the end, with the help of an enthusiastic senior girl, Muneyoshi arrived at the registration office, completed his enrollment procedures, and found his classroom.
After entering the classroom, Muneyoshi casually scanned the room but did not find any "familiar faces."
Then again, that made sense. Fudomine truly did not have anyone he knew at the moment.
"But that guy Akutsu didn't come either. Did he fail?"
A month ago, when Muneyoshi had played against Tezuka, he had held a "friendly and cordial" conversation with Akutsu.
At the time, he had even invited him to attend the same school.
Who would have thought he would fail?
Because he had been focused on getting through his period of weakness as quickly as possible, Muneyoshi had not gone to look for Akutsu during this time.
He had thought he would see him today, but apparently, it had only been wishful thinking.
"Didn't they say that if the protagonist beat someone up, that person would develop a favorable impression of the protagonist?"
"Why did everything change when it came to me?"
Saeki Muneyoshi found it rather strange. Thoughts flashed through his mind, until he finally reached a conclusion:
"Could it be... I'm not the protagonist?"
Seigaku.
"Jin, didn't you say that because you lost to me, you wouldn't come to Seigaku?"
The imposing Tezuka turned his head and teasingly addressed the figure beside him—a boy with bandages wrapped around his hands, staring at a bowl cut and looking like a delinquent.
The bowl-cut boy looked impatient, his face full of ferocity as he said bitterly, "Don't call me Jin!"
"If it weren't for beating that guy, do you think I'd be willing to come to Seigaku with a poker face like you?"
"I went to Yamabuki Middle School before and fought that bunch of people. Not one of them could help me improve my strength..."
Upon hearing this, Tezuka nodded, seemingly recalling that figure from a month ago. He said coolly:
"Jin, no matter what, since we're at Seigaku, let's give it our all."
"I'm also looking forward to facing Saeki again!"
"You..."
Meanwhile, at Hyotei Academy, a dark red luxury business car stopped outside the school gates.
A middle-aged gentleman dressed as a butler respectfully opened the car door, and two boys, one older and one younger, stepped out.
The shorter boy wore the Hyotei Academy uniform and was quite handsome. A perfectly placed tear mole at the corner of his eye added several touches of nobility to his appearance.
The other wore a somewhat blank expression, but he was huge and brawny. Compared to middle schoolers, he was no less imposing than even high schoolers.
Though he looked much older, he was actually a year younger than the shorter boy.
These two were Atobe Keigo and Kabaji Takahiro, both "familiar" to Muneyoshi.
"Hm? So this is Hyotei Academy? Since I'm here, Hyotei Academy will have to submit beneath my feet. Isn't that right, Kabaji?"
Atobe's arrogance soared to the heavens, as though he did not regard anyone else as worthy of notice, drawing frequent looks from those around him.
"Yes, Atobe-sama," Kabaji answered in a muffled voice.
Rikkai Dai High School.
Two boys of similar height approached in step, one with a green headband tied around his head and the other wearing a cap, as they looked toward the school gates.
Yukimura Seiichi spoke with absolute determination. "Genichiro, our era is about to begin. Let's achieve the great feat of three consecutive middle school championships together!"
Sanada did not answer. Looking at the school gates before him, he instead recalled an opponent from the tournament court.
"Tezuka, we'll settle this again at the Kanto Tournament and the National Tournament!"
Yukimura seemed already accustomed to Sanada's obsession at such moments. He said nothing more and simply walked confidently toward Rikkai Dai.
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