Then Let's Finish the Match Early

Horio tossed the ball into the air and casually hit an ordinary cross-court shot. That was as much as he could hold back.

Izumi slammed the ball back, and Ryoma, waiting near the net, sprang into action.

He pushed off with his left foot, sending himself to the right, then used a backhand with his left hand to hit the ball into the right front corner, where Ayukawa couldn't reach it.

After Ryoma scored against them, the two eccentric players felt a little embarrassed.

They exchanged a glance, understanding what the other was thinking. They were going to start playing both at the net.

After Horio held back on another serve, the two of them returned the ball and went straight to the net.

By narrowing their defensive coverage, they could counterattack more quickly, too.

Ryoma, on the other hand, found his return path blocked by their two-man net attack.

Apart from a lob, any other shot could be returned immediately. With no time to think, Ryoma drove the ball toward them.

Sure enough, the eccentric duo spotted Ryoma moving to the right and Horio, who hadn't moved since serving. They hit the ball toward the open baseline on the left.

"Just as I thought, they're both mediocre. That new first-year is even worse than the one from yesterday."

As the two smugly congratulated themselves, a shadow suddenly flashed across the ball's path. It was Horio, who had been waiting at the right baseline.

"Ah! How is that possible? How did he move to the left so fast?"

With a faint, disdainful smile, Horio hit a slice with tremendous spin.

It looked just like Oishi's Moon Climbing Intercept, but its spin was on an entirely different level.

Thud...

"Horio and Echizen score. 30–0."

"I told you. As long as I'm here, your shots will never get past me."

With Horio's ironclad defense, Ryoma could focus on dealing with the two opponents.

Even when Ryoma couldn't reach the ball, Horio could use his Inch Step to return it and score.

After that happened a few times, the eccentric duo didn't dare go after Ryoma, even when he left an opening.

They could only hit the ball toward Ryoma. Scoring as much as possible against him was better than giving Horio a guaranteed point.

To the spectators, it looked like a doubles match, but in reality, Ryoma was struggling through a one-on-two.

Bang...

"Game, set, and match. Horio and Echizen win, 6–2."

As soon as the referee announced the end of the match, Seigaku's cheering squad erupted.

Exhausted from playing one against two, Ryoma was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. At last, he couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.

Horio hurried to Ryoma's side and caught him. After shaking hands with the eccentric duo, he went straight off the court.

The remaining matches were hardly suspenseful. Horio and Ryoma had already beaten Tamagawa's strongest doubles team, and the other four matches all ended 6–0.

With the match against Tamagawa over, Seigaku's next match wasn't until the afternoon.

They would face whichever team won between Kakino and Fudomine, so everyone from Seigaku had plenty of time to rest.

Outside one of the courts, Tezuka and Fuji watched the other schools play while chatting casually.

Just then, Kuki Kiichi, captain of Kakino Middle School, came bouncing over. Since Tezuka hadn't played in the first match, Kuki was curious about the hand Tezuka had injured last year.

He had come over specifically to test it. If Tezuka was still injured, Kakino's chances of winning this year's district preliminaries would increase considerably.

But the result disappointed him. Tezuka's powerful left hand flung Kuki's wandering hand away.

Bored, Horio and Katsuro and Katsuo found a quiet spot to take a break and listen as the others discussed the afternoon's final.

"This afternoon, we're playing Kakino Middle School. We'll definitely win the district preliminaries again this year."

"Of course. It sounds like Kakino only has one strong player, their captain, Kuki Kiichi. They won't be a problem for Seigaku."

Horio heard them handing the championship to Seigaku after only a few words, so he chimed in.

"We might not play Kakino this afternoon. There could be a more interesting match this year. But you're right about one thing: Seigaku will definitely win the district preliminaries."

"Horio, do you know something? If it's not Kakino, could it be Fudomine? I've never even heard of that school."

Katsuro tried hard to remember what kind of school Fudomine was, but couldn't recall anything. He was completely puzzled.

"It really is an unknown school. But someone interesting joined them last year. It'd be nice to play against him."

Thinking of the golden-maned, ferocious lion from the original story, Horio couldn't help smiling.

Sure enough, news came in that Fudomine had beaten Kakino.

Kakino's captain had even lost 6–2 to a second-year from Fudomine. An unknown school had become Seigaku's opponent in the final.

"I just watched Fudomine's match. They're completely different from before. They've replaced all their players, and their skill has improved by leaps and bounds. The most mysterious one is probably Tachibana Kippei, who serves as both coach and captain. I don't have any information on him yet."

As usual, Inui Sadaharu returned with his notebook and briefed everyone on what he'd learned.

Tachibana Kippei approached with several players, all wearing black uniforms. His hair was black, and so was the band on his head.

"You're Tezuka, right? Let's have a good match."

Tachibana extended his hand as he spoke, his expression serious.

"Gladly."

Tezuka held out his hand as well.

Watching them, Horio couldn't help laughing.

"I never thought one of the Twin Heroes of Kyushu, Tachibana Kippei, would be so polite. What a sight."

Hearing that someone from the Tokyo area recognized him, Tachibana's eyes widened. He'd changed his hairstyle and hair color, after all. Seigaku's players and Fudomine's players were also curious when they heard Horio's remark.

It wasn't just Seigaku's players—even the people from Fudomine didn't know their captain's background. Now someone from another school seemed to know something about him.

Tachibana frowned in surprise and stared at Horio, but Horio acted as if he hadn't noticed.

"Don't look at me like that. The only thing I'm interested in about the Twin Heroes of Kyushu is whether we can have a good match."

Tachibana then led his team away. As they watched Fudomine leave, everyone from Seigaku turned to Horio. Horio immediately understood what they meant.

"Fine, fine. Tachibana Kippei is one of the famous Twin Heroes of Kyushu.

"His strongest techniques are probably Explosive Ball Dance and Beast's Aura. He's a calm player off the court and a violent one on it.

"But it doesn't matter. I'd quite like to play him.

"Unfortunately, Fudomine won't last long enough for First Singles. By the way, Coach, I'd like to be included in the Second Doubles lineup for our match against Fudomine. Please, Coach.

"If I can't play Tachibana, then let's finish the match early."