A Promise with Hanamura Aoi

"Wait a minute, Saeki -kun, are you in such a hurry to leave? Aren't you planning to stay in Kanagawa for a few more days?"

As Muneyoshi left the Jōsei Shōnan and walked to the tram stop to wait for the train, a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him, accompanied by the slight panting of someone running.

Muneyoshi subconsciously turned around and saw a mature and beautiful woman in her twenties, who was none other than the coach of Jōsei Shōnan.

"Coach Hanamura, why are you rushing after me like this? Are you trying to defend your 'work'? Or are you saying you want to accept my invitation right now?"

In fact, Muneyoshi had noticed Hanamura Aoi chasing after him not long after he left the Jōsei Shōnan.

However, he was unsure of Hanamura Aoi's purpose in chasing him, and since the influence of darkness had not completely dissipated, he recklessly allowed her to pursue him for a while.

Hanamura Aoi knew, of course, that Saeki Muneyoshi had discovered her, but she had originally wanted to show Muneyoshi the strength of her school. Instead, she was taught a lesson by Muneyoshi, and she could no longer bring herself to invite him.

However, her complex female mindset still made her feel somewhat unwilling to give up, and she wanted to try again, so she remained conflicted.

Seeing that Muneyoshi was about to leave, he called out to him.

"Saeki -kun, I hope we can have another good talk."

"Coach Hanamura, didn't I just make myself perfectly clear? What else is there to discuss?" Muneyoshi asked, puzzled.

However, he still followed Hanamura Aoi to the big tree next to them.

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Hanamura Aoi." Hanamura Aoi didn't reply immediately, but changed the subject. Seeing that Muneyoshi wasn't interested, she continued:

"It is a great honor to receive an invitation from a genius like you, Saeki -kun. However, as you can see, I am a newly hired coach at the Jōsei Shōnan Academy, and theoretically, I cannot accept an invitation from another school..."

"So that's how it is..."

Muneyoshi looked somewhat dejected, but he nodded in understanding, after all, a novel is a novel, and reality is reality.

He doesn't seem to be the protagonist in online novels who can rally a large following with a single call to arms, and his current charisma hasn't reached that level yet.

However, he still felt somewhat unsuccessful. Up to now, if Akutsu is included, he is the second person he actively recruited and tried to win over, but unfortunately, it seems that both attempts have failed.

"Coach Hanamura, I understand your choice. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now. I apologize for the inconvenience I've caused you today."

Having understood Hanamura Aoi's thoughts, Muneyoshi had no desire to stay any longer. He bowed and prepared to leave.

Seeing Saeki Muneyoshi's expression, Hanamura Aoi's eyes held a strange look, but she accepted Muneyoshi's attitude and stopped worrying about the invitation. Instead, she smiled and asked:

"Mutual verification and exchange for improvement is fine. I'm just here to ask you, after your match with my players, what do you think of their abilities?"

"Skill? Forgive my bluntness, but by my standards, your team members aren't very good!"

Now that there was no longer a demand, Muneyoshi's words became much more straightforward.

Moreover, he genuinely felt that the players on the Jōsei Shōnan were far too mediocre.

Although each individual player looks good and is quite average, they are always a little bit worse than other teams.

But in an official competition, that was almost an insurmountable barrier.

This is also the main reason why Hanamura Aoi High School achieved its best results in the next three years, which is at the level of the Kanto Tournament.

"Truly confident, worthy of being a rare National Level expert."

Hanamura Aoi wasn't angry. After all, she had just witnessed firsthand that her work was currently no match for Muneyoshi's, and she now clearly understood the extent of Muneyoshi's abilities.

"But if I told you that when I first came to this school, neither Wakato Hiroshi nor Kamishiro Reiji were even as strong as the regional level, but after a few months of training with me, they approached the Kanto level, and even broke through the Kanto level, would you believe me?"

Looking at the woman in front of her, Hanamura Aoi had once again returned to her original spirited, confident, charming, and adept at drawing people into her topic traps.

Instead of passively answering, Muneyoshi countered with a question, "What difference does it make whether you believe or not?"

"Saeki -kun, I have great faith in your potential and am absolutely certain that you have a bright future. If you are willing to trust me, then I sincerely invite you to join my Jōsei Shōnan Academy..."

"Just now, while watching your match, I realized that your potential is greater than ever before. However, your school Fudomine enough to allow you to fully realize your potential, and now you're going to have to wait another year. If you come to me, you'll immediately be Regular, and I'm confident that I can mold you into the most perfect ultimate product in my hands."

Hanamura Aoi stared intently at Muneyoshi. She was a beautiful woman in her early twenties who had only graduated a few years ago, and she clearly had her own ambitions.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have given up her comfortable life to come to such an obscure school.

Her idea is to cultivate the strongest players and become another legend in the coaching world.

To be honest, if Muneyoshi hadn't used his clairvoyance to know the future plot, Hanamura Aoi's suggestion would have been absolutely correct.

The Metropolitan Tournament and county-level competitions have just ended, and the Kanto Tournament is still several weeks away.

Muneyoshi's Fudomine didn't have any matches this year, so transferring to Jōsei Shōnan means he can directly participate in the upcoming Kanto Tournament.

The temptation was undeniably great.

Especially since it was personally invited by a very alluring older sister like Hanamura Aoi.

However, as I said before, who would have thought that Fudomine, that lousy place, would produce a true National Level master next year, along with a whole bunch of first-year students whose aptitude, while not exceptionally high, is still at the regional or Kanto level...

If we include the few people that Muneyoshi himself had already decided to recruit.

It wouldn't be difficult for Fudomine to rise to prominence directly.

It can even be inferred that after all of Saeki Muneyoshi's graduating class Fudomine's first-year students were only third-year students.

With such strength, under the guidance of the younger generation, it's not impossible for them to compete for the national championship again.

It could be said that fate played a cruel trick on us.

However, no one would believe Muneyoshi's statement now.

He himself would never do anything that might affect Tachibana Kippei's Shishigaku High School.

He had already decided when he was preparing for his school trip that he would never go to the Kyushu region, for fear of interfering with the Fate of Tachibana Kippei and Chitose Senri.

If it was because of his butterfly effect that Tachibana Kippei stopped Fudomine, then wouldn't his year of seclusion have been a complete waste?

"No, Coach Hanamura, I'm very happy at Fudomine, and I firmly believe that Fudomine will rise to prominence next year."

Muneyoshi shook his head and refused outright. "Jōsei Shōnan's foundation is still too weak. If I join you, I'm afraid I won't even be able to participate in the National Tournament in the future."

"I admit that. Wakato, Shinjo, Kajimoto Takahisa are all far less talented than you, and I haven't trained them to become National Level masters yet. But please give me time. It's okay if they transfer in their second or even third year. By then, I will have completed their training and will do my best to assist you in the competition."

Hanamura Aoi is not in a hurry; she is confident in her coaching abilities.

Unfortunately, no amount of effort can overcome talent!

Muneyoshi has a cheat code; he can digitize his basic data, and the improvements are obvious and cumulative, something others don't have.

"That applies to you too, Coach Hanamura. I'll be reorganizing the Fudomine Tennis Club at the end of next semester. Next year, I'll be gathering a group of incredibly talented players. I hope you'll reconsider then..."

Having figured this out, Muneyoshi stopped dwelling on it, left a few words behind, and drifted away.

"Next year? Interesting little guy..."

I've finished my work and will go home early tonight. There's not much to do at work tomorrow, so I can slack off and write a bit more!