Single's No. 3

Back at Seigaku's player bench, Inui and Yamato bowed to everyone. "Sorry, we lost!"

Tezuka waved a hand and helped Yamato Yūdai to his feet. "It's all right, Yamato-senpai! This is only the Metropolitan Tournament. We still have the Kanto Tournament and the National Tournament ahead of us! As long as you learned something from this match, you can make sure you don't lose next time."

"Exactly, Inui! You did really well to take Hyotei's doubles pair this far. And if anyone's to blame, it can only be me!"

Oishi joined in, offering words of comfort.

Encouraged by everyone, the two, who had been blaming themselves for the loss, began to feel better.

After all, they knew that with Fuji, Tezuka, and Akutsu's abilities, they had a 90 percent chance of winning their singles matches.

Akutsu, who was about to go warm up, tucked a racket under his arm and swaggered past everyone.

"Leave the next match to me!"

But when they saw who Hyotei had sent out for Singles No. 3, their faces changed.

Hyotei's Singles No. 3 was none other than Hyotei's King, Atobe Keigo!

"What? Atobe's playing Singles No. 3!"

"Hyotei isn't planning on giving Seigaku a single chance!"

"They're aiming to win the first three matches!"

Yamato Yūdai, Fuji Shusuke, and the others had just sat down, but their expressions changed completely.

If their opponent had been anyone else, Akutsu Jin would have had a good chance of winning. But they hadn't expected the other team's captain to play Singles No. 3.

"Tch, so it's this guy? Perfect!"

Unlike everyone else, who was worried, Akutsu was taking it all in stride.

He'd been fed up with that monkey king for ages. He couldn't believe someone else could be even more of a show-off than him.

He'd been wanting to teach the guy a lesson, and now was the perfect chance.

Grinning menacingly, Akutsu turned and headed for the practice courts.

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

On the warm-up court, Akutsu faced the wall and practiced. His racket sent the ball flying again and again, straight into a white circle marked on the wall.

Anyone who knew him well would have noticed that as Akutsu kept hitting, his ball control improved remarkably.

At first, the marks left by the balls were scattered far apart. But as his control improved, they gradually converged, until they overlapped completely.

"Are you Akutsu?"

A voice he barely recognized suddenly interrupted Akutsu's warm-up.

Smack!

Akutsu caught the ball that had flown toward him with one hand, straightened up, and glanced over.

"A Regular from St. Rudolph?"

"That's right. I'm Mizuki from St. Rudolph. Nice to meet you, Akutsu."

Leaning against the gate by the entrance, Mizuki lightly brushed his hair aside and smiled.

Akutsu lowered his racket and headed off the court, glaring at Mizuki, who was blocking his way. "I don't care who you are. Move!"

Mizuki froze, apparently surprised by how difficult Akutsu was to approach. But he hadn't come to make friends, so he got right to the point.

"Akutsu, don't you want to know about your opponent's strengths...?"

Not far away, Muneyoshi was dozing against the lawn when he happened to catch the dramatic scene. He couldn't help smiling to himself.

Mizuki still didn't understand Akutsu's personality. He was probably in for a rough time.

Sure enough, the two seemed to get into an argument. Akutsu grabbed Mizuki by the collar and lifted him up, then barked at him and shoved him aside...

"Yo, Akutsu! Your opponent's no pushover, so give it your best!"

Seeing Akutsu getting closer, Muneyoshi propped himself up and waved at him.

"Hmph! You..."

Akutsu had spotted Muneyoshi a long time ago. But after being beaten by him so many times, there was no way he'd go over and greet him first.

So when Muneyoshi greeted him, he didn't respond.

On the court, Akutsu stared eagerly at the smug, arrogant-looking boy across from him, remembering what Muneyoshi had said about his opponent being no pushover.

The thought brought him a thrill of anticipation. If that guy had called his opponent a challenge, then the kid must have some skill.

Since joining Seigaku, Akutsu had played plenty of matches. Apart from that guy, the poker-faced, ice-cold captain, and Fuji, none of his other opponents had really gotten his blood pumping.

It looked like today, at last, he'd get to face a worthy opponent on the court.

With that thought, he reined in his excitement and calmed himself.

Now he'd take on Hyotei's captain and see whether he was really as tough as Muneyoshi had said.

Across the court, Atobe lightly brushed his fingers over the tips of his slightly curled hair, a flicker of regret in his eyes.

He truly admired Seigaku's captain, who had gone through a similar experience when joining the Tennis Club.

He'd hoped to face him in a match.

But as captain of Hyotei's Tennis Club, Atobe couldn't simply do as he pleased. Hyotei needed this championship.

So he was also thrilled at the prospect of winning the Metropolitan Tournament final.

As expected of Coach Sakaki. His match predictions always went straight to the heart of the matter, especially when it came to controlling the course of a match.

That was precisely why Atobe fully supported Coach Sakaki's arrangements.

"I'll end this match with my own hands!"

Watching Akutsu retreat to the baseline to receive, Atobe thought to himself.

"The Tokyo Metropolis Metropolitan Tournament final: Seigaku versus Hyotei Academy. Singles No. 3 is about to begin."

"Hyotei Academy's Atobe Keigo versus Seigaku's Akutsu Jin. One set, winner takes all. Atobe Keigo to serve."

"Ah, hmm? That's quite a well-trained physique. Let's see if your technique is just as impressive!"

Atobe eyed the muscles visible on Akutsu and couldn't help praising him.

Thwack!

He tossed the ball, bent his knees, leaned forward, and leaped—all in one fluid motion!

His blazing-fast serve shot toward the corner on Akutsu's right.

Akutsu darted forward like a leopard and smashed the ball back into Atobe's court.

A sharp glint flashed in Atobe's eyes. A chill seemed to seep from him as he immediately judged where the ball would land.

He smirked haughtily and sprinted forward. Leaping into the air and using his momentum, he gripped his racket with both hands and drove a powerful backhand!

Thwack!

"15–0."

Atobe pushed back the bangs covering his eyes and raised his chin. "En. My aesthetic brilliance shines at every moment, doesn't it, Akutsu?"

Atobe's point sent a wave of cheers through Hyotei's section.

His fan club never missed an opportunity to admire Atobe showing off.

Atobe served again, sending the ball to the farthest corner from Akutsu and forcing him to chase it.

"Hah!"

Thwack!

Akutsu slammed the ball over the net.

Thwack!

But Atobe was already there. He returned it to the opposite corner with another quick backhand jackknife.

"The same trick won't work on me!"

Akutsu reacted in a flash. He roared, his feet flying as he chased down the ball.

Atobe was a little surprised that Akutsu could reach it, but he wasn't caught off guard. He sent the ball to the other side of Akutsu's court.

Akutsu's foot slipped and his body twisted. He surged forward in a way that defied the laws of motion, launched himself into a dive, and struck the ball with a heavy swing.

Thwack!

A Hyper-Offensive shot, leaving him no chance to defend!

The ball slammed toward Atobe like a cannonball. The racket and ball shrieked against each other, making Atobe look at Akutsu with new respect.

Atobe had learned tennis through the English style, and Hyper-Offensive tennis was right up his alley.

"Heh. I'll take that determination of yours!"