A scandal had erupted in Seigaku's tennis club. Jealous of a younger student's talent, an upperclassman on the regular team had struck the boy's arm with a racket and broken it. As a result, six first-year students had quit the tennis club—and Seigaku.
Seigaku had tried to keep the incident quiet, but its central figure was Tezuka Kunimitsu. Sakaki Taro, the Hyotei tennis club's advisor, had been following Tezuka's progress closely, so he learned of it almost immediately.
At that moment, Sakaki had called all of Hyotei's regulars to the tennis club's conference room. He planned to draw up a training program based on the strengths and weaknesses he had observed in them over the past few days.
Once the regulars had gathered, Sakaki's first words were directed at Kannagi Shinichi. "Tezuka Kunimitsu has left Seigaku."
The news stunned everyone in the room. Most of the tennis club had competed against Tezuka when they were in elementary school, so they knew his name.
Atobe was the only one who had recently returned from the United Kingdom. He looked bewildered at the mention of Tezuka Kunimitsu. "Is this Tezuka Kunimitsu really that good?"
"He is. In fact, in the junior high tennis world, he may be second only to me."
Kannagi spoke calmly. He already had a theory about why Tezuka had left Seigaku. It seemed that "that incident" had happened after all.
Atobe was a little irritated by Kannagi's words. Wasn't he saying that Atobe was inferior to this Tezuka Kunimitsu?
"You're pretty full of yourself, Kannagi," he said, his tone slightly mocking.
"It's not arrogance. It's confidence."
A faint smile touched Kannagi's stern face. He then turned to Sakaki and asked, "Do you know why Tezuka left Seigaku?"
Although he already had a theory, Kannagi wanted to confirm it.
The other regulars also looked to Sakaki, curiosity in their eyes.
A hint of scorn crossed Sakaki's cold face. "A regular on Seigaku's upperclassman team attacked Tezuka Kunimitsu with a racket out of jealousy over his talent, injuring his arm."
Kannagi's gaze sharpened. So it really did happen...
The other Hyotei regulars' expressions shifted at the news. Their eyes filled with disgust for the person who had attacked Tezuka Kunimitsu.
"How can a guy like that still be a regular at Seigaku? What a loser."
Shishido Ryo was Hyotei's most justice-minded regular. Hearing what Tezuka had been through, he poured scorn on the attacker.
"Attacking a teammate out of jealousy? Seigaku's regulars are really something." Mukahi Gakuto looked astonished. Like Shishido, he regarded the so-called upperclassman regular with disdain.
"Maybe the guy who hit him didn't consider Tezuka Kunimitsu a teammate."
Oshitari Yuushi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke quietly.
Sakaki turned to Kannagi. "Tezuka wasn't the only one who left. He took five other first-years with him, and they all quit Seigaku."
"What?"
Sakaki's words left Kannagi reeling. Tezuka Kunimitsi leaving Seigaku was understandable, but why had the others quit too? Could they be Fuji Syusuke and the rest?
Kannagi asked at once, "Were any of the first-years who left with Tezuka named Fuji Syusuke?"
Sakaki nodded. "Fuji Syusuke was one of them. The others were Inui Sadaharu, Kikumaru Eiji, Oishi Syuichiro, and Kawamura Takashi."
All of Seigaku's future regulars left the school. How could this have happened? Was it a butterfly effect caused by my arrival?
Kannagi asked, "Do you know why they left Seigaku too?"
"I heard it was because Seigaku's coach went too easy on the regular who attacked Tezuka. The first-years were unhappy with the decision, so they all left together."
"What did Seigaku's coach do to punish him?" Kannagi asked.
"She only removed him from the regular team and demoted him to an ordinary player."
Sakaki's answer made anger flare across the faces of the Hyotei regulars.
"Just taking away his spot on the regular team? That's far too lenient..."
"How could Seigaku's coach let someone like that stay in the tennis club..."
No wonder Fuji Syusuke and the others left Seigaku, Kannagi thought.
Seeing how highly Kannagi had spoken of Fuji Syusuke and the others, Sakaki asked, "Kannagi, do you know these players?"
Kannagi pulled himself out of his thoughts and nodded to Sakaki. "They're all talented players with tremendous potential."
"I see." Sakaki rested a hand beneath his chin and murmured to himself. After a moment, he continued, "It seems Yamabuki will be our biggest opponent at the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament."
"Yamabuki?" Kannagi looked puzzled, then seemed to understand. He asked Sakaki, "Do you mean Tezuka Kunimitsu and the others have joined Yamabuki?"
"Yes." Sakaki nodded, his thoughts turning to the ever-smiling old man. "I just got word that after Tezuka Kunimitsu joined Yamabuki, Coach Bandou personally took him to Germany to have his arm treated."
There was respect in Sakaki's voice as he spoke of Bandou Mikiya.
"If that's the case, Yamabuki really will be a formidable opponent for Hyotei."
Kannagi agreed with Sakaki. Fuji Syusuke and the others were all talented and distinctive players, and with a coach who knew how to bring out their abilities, Tezuka and the rest might become even stronger than they had in the original story.
Atobe Keigo spoke up from the side. "If they had so much potential and talent, did Seigaku's coach really just watch them leave? Didn't she try to stop them?"
"No. From what I know, the first-years left without a second thought. She probably knew there was no way she could persuade them to stay."
Sakaki held Seigaku's coach in utter contempt. Tennis was a sport where ability mattered above all, yet she had imposed a rule that first-years couldn't even touch a racket for an entire year. The rule was practically designed to snuff out talented players.
Sakaki's words left the Hyotei regulars stunned. Just how badly had Seigaku's tennis club let those players down for them to leave so decisively?
Sakaki continued, "Now you know that Hyotei is about to face a formidable opponent. So there's no time to waste in improving your skills. After all, no one will go easy on you in a tennis match."
Knowing that the first-years who had joined Yamabuki were so talented and full of potential, Sakaki was naturally taking them seriously. He also knew that Yamabuki's Coach Bandou was one of Japan's finest coaches—and one of the best at discovering young players. If Hyotei's regulars failed to improve, they could very well be upset by Yamabuki at the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament.
"Yes."
The Hyotei regulars sat up straight, waiting for Sakaki to continue.
Sakaki looked around the room and nodded in satisfaction.
"After observing you for the past few days, I've identified some of your strengths and weaknesses on the court. So I've prepared training programs tailored to address them."
Everyone sat quietly in the conference room, ready to listen carefully to what Sakaki had to say next.
Sakaki turned first to Kannagi Shinichi. "Kannagi, you have great strength, but your technique and fundamentals are still mediocre. So I've designed a training program to improve your technique."
"Thank you, Advisor..."
Before you continue