Limitless Scattered Flowers

"If your foot's injured, I'll let you serve first."

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"Heh, no need. I want to see that Outer Spin Serve as soon as possible."

Hearing Momoshiro Takeshi say that, Echizen didn't stand on ceremony. He tossed the ball high into the air and put a little force into both legs.

At the same time, he swung his racket with his right hand, sending a fast serve flying toward Momoshiro's side of the court.

Thwack... "Fault."

Inoue, who had been roped into refereeing, watched the court with a fairly calm expression.

"I don't mind a Slice Serve. Just don't hold back your moves."

"You're so annoying."

Thinking Momoshiro was a bit of a nuisance, Echizen bounced the ball on the ground a few times, then sent a powerful serve flying toward him.

Watching the tennis ball come toward him, Momoshiro tightened his grip on his racket and swung at it after it bounced off the ground.

He clearly hadn't expected the ball to have so much force. The rebounding ball knocked the racket right out of his tightly clenched hand.

Only then did Momoshiro get truly serious. In the umpire's chair, Inoue was surprised by the shot too. Could a first-year middle schooler really hit a ball like that?

Once he recovered from his shock, Momoshiro played a few more rallies with Echizen. Neither of them gained the upper hand.

Then Echizen switched the racket to his left hand, and Momoshiro called it quits.

He knew Echizen hadn't been giving it his all, and he'd finished testing him.

Just as Echizen had packed up and was about to leave, Katsuro and Katsuo cornered him, along with Sakuno and Tomoka, who had arrived later. At that moment, Horio, who had been hiding in the distance, made a timely appearance.

"Echizen, how about we find somewhere and play one-on-one?"

Seeing Horio suddenly appear, Echizen, who had originally been shocked by Horio's skill, readily agreed.

Katsuro and Katsuo, who had been crowding around Echizen, immediately swarmed Horio when he showed up. The two girls beside them watched Horio curiously.

In the original story, Horio was a little monkey with short, choppy chestnut-colored hair. But after the system had modified him from birth, and with all the exercise he did, his looks were no worse than Ryoma's.

"Do you two know if there are any public courts nearby? If you take us there, you can watch for free."

"Really, Horio? We know a court nearby. There's hardly ever anyone there."

"Can we come too? We want to watch."

Hearing Horio say Katsuro and the others could watch, Tomoka looked at him excitedly.

"No. Only those two can come."

"Aw, why not? Why can they go?"

"Because I think you're noisy."

At that, even Echizen looked at Horio in surprise.

Echizen didn't like trouble either, but he couldn't bring himself to say it so bluntly.

Hearing those words, Tomoka reacted as if she'd been stepped on.

"Who do you think you are? Don't you think you're rude? Fine, I won't watch. As if I care! Just looking at you, I can tell you're no match for Ryoma. You're probably afraid of losing so badly it'll be embarrassing."

With that, she left with a disappointed Sakuno. Before Horio arrived, she had greeted Ryoma, but he hadn't remembered who she was at all. Horio and the others then headed for the court too.

Outside the equipment room at the courts, Momoshiro, who had been there earlier, was now talking to a woman dressed in pink athletic clothes.

"Are you all right, Momoshiro?"

"Coach, what are you doing here?"

"I've been here the whole time. If you keep this up, the first-years are going to look down on you."

"Hahaha, maybe."

"You sure talk big. If you hadn't sprained your right foot, you might've had a chance of winning."

"He knew the whole time. Before the match, a first-year had spotted it at a glance—the one standing next to Echizen Ryoma. He said he didn't want to play against someone with an injured foot."

"Looks like there's more than one interesting first-year this year. You regulars will have to work even harder."

...At a public court

Echizen Ryoma ran back and forth, gasping for breath. His glistening sweat stood out in the sunlight.

Across from Ryoma, Horio was breathing a little heavily, but there wasn't a drop of sweat on him. He looked completely at ease.

Katsuro and Katsuo, standing at the edge of the court, had gone from surprise to shock, and now they couldn't say a word. They hadn't expected Horio to be this good.

They'd thought Ryoma was already strong, and that Horio would be about as good as him.

Who could've guessed that from the very start of the match, Horio would keep Ryoma on the defensive? No matter which corner of the court Ryoma sent the ball to,

Horio always seemed to appear like a ghost behind where it landed, then hit it back with even greater force.

Watching Horio, who held a purple racket, the two onlookers stared as if they were witnessing something incredible. They'd even forgotten to call out the score.

"Hey, you two, aren't you going to call the score?"

"Ah... oh! Right, Horio 40, Echizen 0. The score is 5–0."

"One more point, Echizen. I'll show you what a real serve looks like."

Across from him, the panting Echizen Ryoma immediately focused his attention as sharply as he could.

Horio took the same stance as for an Outer Spin Serve. As the tossed ball began to fall, he swung his racket hard.

A serve appeared that was identical to Echizen Ryoma's Outer Spin Serve. Echizen had already positioned himself where the ball would land, and tightened his grip on the red racket in his left hand.

Just as the ball bounced, Echizen Ryoma, who had been completely focused on it, suddenly saw the rebounding ball take on an intense spin. At the same time, it split into eight balls that bounced off in different directions.

"Horio scores... The score is 6–0. H-H-Horio wins."

After Katsuro stammered out the announcement that Horio had won, Ryoma stood frozen in place, his expression hidden by his cap. No one knew what he was thinking.

Seeing Ryoma standing there in a daze, Horio didn't want to crush a genius's confidence, so he spoke up.

"Echizen, that was my serve, Limitless Scattered Flowers. Pretty strong, huh? But it's only a prototype. I still need to keep refining it.

"But it's a technique I created myself. It belongs to me.

"Your style of play feels familiar. I once happened to see someone play, and your styles are very similar. You're just a little greener. That person had the same surname as you, Echizen."

At Horio's words, Echizen Ryoma's eyes suddenly widened.

"Ryoma, I think you're strong, and you have a bright future ahead of you. But right now, both of us need to get stronger.

"I hope that someday we'll meet on the world stage and play a match with everything we've got."

After hearing Horio's whole speech, Echizen Ryoma found it hard to accept the fact that he'd lost so badly.

He'd never won at home either, but losing so badly to someone his own age cut even deeper.

"I'm going home first."

Watching Ryoma pack up to leave, Horio smiled.

He knew Ryoma would remember what he'd said. He'd give him time to think it over.

"Okay. See you at school tomorrow."

Horio left too, with Katsuro and Katsuo following along as if they'd become his lackeys.

"I'm home."

After returning home, Horio called out to his mother, then went straight to his room. He thought back to how he'd learned Echizen Ryoma's Outer Spin Serve that day, and how he'd evolved it into Limitless Scattered Flowers.

"This is pretty interesting. I can't wait for tomorrow. I wonder what kind of expressions the regulars will make when they get beaten by their own signature moves."