Kannagi Shinichi's Chicken Soup for the Soul

The regional tournament is held over two weeks, and it's only on the weekend, six days from now, that Hyotei will continue their matches.

The Hyotei regulars have also returned to school and are back to their daily training.

Kannagi Shinichi also took advantage of the weekend to call his family. Three years have passed since he came to this world, and he has long since accepted his family in this world; they have become an inseparable part of Kannagi Shinichi's life.

Kannagi Shinichi listened to his family's instructions on the phone. It was a long time before he finally hung up.

Seeing that the sky outside was still bright, Kannagi Shinichi tidied himself up and prepared to go to Sakaki Taro's office.

A moment later, Kannagi Shinichi was standing before Sakaki Taro and got straight to the point about Hyotei's current problem: "Advisor, all of Hyotei's current regulars are singles players, and doubles has become Hyotei's weakness.

In the National Tournament, there are two doubles matches. If Hyotei doesn't have a doubles team with sufficient strength, it will become a weakness that opponents can exploit."

Sakaki Taro had long noticed Hyotei's doubles problem but had no good solution. He could only rely on combining the players' singles strengths to compete in doubles.

However, such a combination has a major drawback: if they encounter a truly well-coordinated and highly synergistic doubles team in a match, they are very likely to hit a snag and become an opening for the opposing team in the team competition.

Unless the players' strength can match two opponents, just like Kannagi Shinichi.

But no tennis club coach would be willing to put such a player in doubles.

"Do you have a solution?"

Sakaki Taro understood that since Kannagi Shinichi had come to him, he must have thought of a way to solve Hyotei's doubles weakness.

"Training. We can start training a doubles team with true national-level strength from now on." Kannagi Shinichi paused, the image of Shishido Ryo appearing in his mind, and then continued, "Among our Hyotei players, there is one person with exceptional doubles talent, though he hasn't realized it himself yet."

Listening to Kannagi Shinichi's words, Sakaki Taro went through all of Hyotei's regulars in his mind, but he couldn't find anyone suitable for doubles. He frowned slightly and asked, "Who is it?"

"Shishido. He has great doubles talent, especially his superior running ability and explosiveness. If he plays doubles, he can not only cover the backcourt well but also, if paired with an attacking frontcourt player, he can fully unleash his teammate's offensive capabilities."

"Shishido?"

Sakaki Taro's frown eased. He was well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the players on his team. Hearing Kannagi Shinichi say this, he realized that Shishido Ryo was indeed suitable for doubles.

But he realized another problem: who would be Shishido Ryo's partner?

As if sensing Sakaki Taro's confusion, Kannagi Shinichi spoke directly, "You can pair Jirou with Shishido for doubles."

Hearing Kannagi Shinichi suggest Akutagawa Jirou, Sakaki Taro shook his head, "Jirou has strong net offense, but he's not suited for doubles, and he won't develop much synergy with Shishido."

Kannagi Shinichi knew what Sakaki Taro meant; it was mostly because Akutagawa Jirou was too sleepy, but currently, he was the only one suitable to partner with Shishido in doubles at Hyotei.

Kannagi Shinichi sighed softly, "Currently, only Jirou can form a doubles pair with Shishido. Besides, my intention is to first cultivate Shishido's doubles awareness. When a suitable person appears later, he can directly skip the doubles adaptation period."

In the original story, Shishido's doubles partnership with Ohtori Chotaro was no weaker than any other doubles pair. And unlike those who had been cooperating for years, Shishido and Ohtori's doubles partnership, formed in just a few months, was able to break through to the national level. This was enough to show how outstanding Shishido Ryo's doubles talent was.

"Can you convince Shishido to switch to doubles?"

Although Shishido played doubles in both regional matches, both Sakaki Taro and Kannagi Shinichi knew that Shishido had always aimed for singles.

Moreover, in the previous two doubles matches, Shishido relied more on his singles play and had little coordination with his teammates.

Therefore, to make Shishido change his playstyle and learn to cooperate with others, someone needed to convince him.

Sakaki Taro chose Kannagi Shinichi, as the department head, for this task.

"I will definitely convince Shishido."

Kannagi Shinichi did not refuse. He believed that Shishido also knew that he no longer had a place in singles at Hyotei.

"Alright, then this matter is entrusted to you. If there's nothing else, you can go find Shishido now."

"Yes."

After agreeing, Kannagi Shinichi left Sakaki Taro's office and went to find Shishido Ryo.

In front of the ball machine on the tennis court, Shishido Ryo was returning the tennis balls flying towards him.

After returning another ball, Shishido Ryo was on the verge of collapsing in front of the ball machine.

He had been training like this for an hour and a half without a single break.

"No, I have to keep training."

Despite his extreme fatigue, every time he thought of Kannagi, Atobe, Akutsu, and the others, Shishido Ryo reminded himself that only by training desperately could he keep up with those monsters.

Shishido Ryo stood up again, preparing to continue returning the balls shot by the ball machine.

However, just as he was about to swing his racket, he saw a tennis ball being knocked away by another incoming ball.

"Minister."

Shishido Ryo turned his head and saw Kannagi Shinichi putting away his racket and approaching him.

"Shishido, are you willing to give everything for Hyotei's victory?"

Since he had to convince Shishido Ryo, Kannagi Shinichi decided to start the motivational talk.

"I am willing."

Shishido Ryo replied without hesitation, his tone extremely firm.

Seeing Shishido like this, Kannagi Shinichi felt that he had secured this one.

So, he feigned a deep sigh and began, "While Hyotei is strong these days, it also has a weakness, and that is our doubles. We still have a gap to close with other strong schools. Therefore, Advisor Sakaki and I have discussed it, and we want to form a doubles team capable of competing nationally."

Listening to Kannagi Shinichi's words, Shishido Ryo suddenly understood and asked Kannagi Shinichi lightly, "Club President, do you and Advisor Sakaki mean you want me to switch to doubles?"

"Yes."

Kannagi Shinichi calmly admitted it, then continued earnestly, "Shishido, you might not realize it yourself, but you actually have a lot of talent for doubles. You just lack someone to pair with. If you start learning doubles now, and once we find someone suitable for you, this doubles pair will quickly reach the national level."

"National level..."

Shishido Ryo murmured, initially feeling a bit disappointed about switching to doubles, but upon hearing those three words, his eyes began to gleam.

Seeing that Shishido Ryo was already tempted, Kannagi Shinichi decided to push harder and continued, "As you know, there's no place for you in Hyotei's singles right now. Moreover, before long, Hyotei will be inviting a nationally ranked singles player to join us. If you insist on playing singles, you'll just blend in with the crowd."

Hearing Kannagi Shinichi's words, Shishido Ryo's expression turned somewhat astonished, "We're getting a nationally ranked singles player too..."

Seeing Shishido Ryo's astonished look, Kannagi Shinichi nodded calmly, "Yes, that's why Advisor Sakaki and I suggested you switch to doubles. Of course, your own talent for doubles is also an important reason."

"Director, may I ask who my partner will be if I switch to doubles?"

"Jirou."

When Shishido Ryo asked this, Kannagi Shinichi knew Shishido had agreed to switch to doubles.

"Ah..."

Hearing that his partner would be Akutagawa Jirou, Shishido Ryo was a little taken aback, because Akutagawa Jirou was a standard singles player.

Sensing Shishido's surprise, Kannagi Shinichi simply smiled and said, "He is the most suitable person for you right now. Of course, Jirou is just a temporary measure. Once someone truly suited for your doubles play appears, Jirou will naturally return to his original position. What you need to do now is learn the techniques and coordination for doubles."

"I... understand..."

"Mhm, Shishido, in the future, you will definitely make a name for yourself nationwide in doubles."

On the other side, Oshitari Yuushi stopped Atobe, "Atobe, please play a match with me..."