The Presidents' Doubles

"Hey, you blue-haired Senpai, I heard you used to be from Hyotei."

I have to thank you for getting Hyotei Academy into the national competition, but... hey! Listen to me, blue-haired guy."

On the court, Atobe looked at Ochi Moonlight, who was standing on the opposite baseline, and continued talking to himself.

However, Ochi Moonlight, who had been standing still, suddenly walked towards the other half of the court. Atobe became a little angry when he saw that the other party ignored him.

But before he could say anything more, he felt a tennis ball appear behind him.

"First String scores, 15:0"

"Shh, you'd better not talk anymore. You won't be able to receive Moonlight's Mach Serve if you don't concentrate."

Ochi Moonlight used Mach Serve right from the start, leaving Atobe's eyes wide with disbelief.

Just then, Mori Juzaburo changed scenes, and after his eyes met Atobe's, he kindly offered a reminder.

"Atobe, didn't I tell you not to let your guard down?"

"First String scores, 30:0"

Yukimura was in the frontcourt, also spoke up to remind them, but he had barely finished speaking when he heard the sound of a tennis ball coming from behind him.

"What... what just happened!?"

"The ball's trajectory is completely unpredictable..."

"The perfect flat shot achieved by someone 226 centimeters tall has a 100% success rate, according to data analysis."

The serve was so powerful that no one could receive it... no, they didn't even have a chance to react...

Seeing their Captain make a fool of himself, Kirihara, Yanagi, and Yagyu were all somewhat incredulous.

"As expected, the junior high school student still struggled against Ochi Moonlight's Mach Serve, which he wasn't using at full strength."

"There's nothing we can do; that serve is a professional-level skill. These middle school students are only just getting acquainted with world-class techniques."

Off the field, Horio and the others, seeing that Yukimura and Atobe were suppressed from the very beginning, lamented that the middle school students didn't have enough practice time.

"First String scores, 40:0"

"First String scores, score 1-0"

"It's really a headache. As long as Ochi's serve is available, there's no way the opponent can break their serve."

"So far, I've only seen you successfully return Mach Serve once, but that doesn't diminish the destructive power of that move."

Ochi Moonlight Mach Serve, and in pure time, he won the first game in less than a minute.

Horio couldn't help but feel a headache for Yukimura and Atobe. Irie to the side, also praised Mach Serve.

"That serve is quite troublesome, but you're not the only one with a good serve."

At the start of the second inning, Atobe stood at the baseline, looking at Ochi Moonlight with a sharp gaze.

He then tossed the ball up, yelled, and swung his racket to hit it.

The tennis ball flew towards Ochi Moonlight, and for Atobe serve of Atobe's caliber, the trajectory of the ball was clearly visible.

Ochi Moonlight took a few steps and arrived at the ball's landing point.

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 15:0"

He was ready to retaliate, but was stunned by the tennis ball that didn't bounce back.

"I knew it. Someone as competitive as Atobe would never let the opponent maintain the advantage."

"Great, it's the Vaishra Serve!"

"Yeah! Atobe has that trick up his sleeve too. The Vaishra Serve isn't as taxing on him as it used to be."

"But how long can this situation last... If it were a one-on-one Atobe might be able to use a war of attrition."

But this is doubles, so the serve needs to be rotated. If Yukimura can't gain an advantage over Mori Juzaburo, the outcome of this match remains uncertain.

Atobe's the Vaishra Serve undoubtedly gave most junior high school students some hope.

However, Gan, who habitually uses data to speak for himself, saw the key point of the match from another perspective, and Liu nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"So Atobe can serve like that too. Although he doesn't win with speed, he has an advantage in technique."

"That the Vaishra Serve, you probably can't keep hitting it for long. To generate that kind of spin on the ball, it must put a lot of pressure on your body."

"That's right. Although Atobe has perfected that move now, in the long run, Mach Serve still has more advantages."

Irie and Tokugawa were also amazed by the Vaishra Serve.

However, they quickly realized the drawbacks of the Vaishra Serve, and Horio also offered his opinion on this.

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 30:0"

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 40:0"

Bang!

"Junior high school student scores, score 1-1"

"That's really impressive. A middle school student can actually play with such near-professional-level skills."

"Adjust your stance and prepare for the attack."

Mori Juzaburo and Ochi Moonlight also saw the power of the Vaishra Serve, but judging from their expressions, the serve didn't seem to confuse them much.

"I never expected that besides that guy, there would be such a capable person among you middle school students."

However, this match involves the right to represent our country, so we can't let you win.

Arriving at the bottom line, Mori Juzaburo hit the ball.

Although not as fast as Mach Serve, it is still a threat to Atobe and Yukimura.

Yukimura moved quickly and swung his racket.

Although Yukimura's basic physical stats weren't particularly outstanding, the competition had only just begun, and the difference wasn't yet apparent.

After Yukimura returned the ball, Ochi Moonlight appeared at the net.

Bang...

"First String scores, 15:0"

Taking advantage of his height, he unleashed a forehand smash.

The tennis ball flew through the gap between Atobe and Yukimura, resulting in a point.

"You need to concentrate. This match isn't just about the serve; you need to be careful with that too."

Seeing Ochi Moonlight score a counterattack, Mori Juzaburo's reminder came again.

"Tch, looks like this match will be more interesting than I expected."

"We need to figure out how to break their serve first. Let's put your match against your senior from Hyotei on hold for now."

Seeing that Atobe was still very excited, Yukimura gave Atobe timely reminder.

However, he was already quite excited and couldn't listen to Yukimura's words, but he still cared a lot about winning the match.

Therefore, even when it was Mori Juzaburo or Yukimura's serve, Atobe showed his attitude.

Bang...

"First String scores, score 2-1"

Bang...

"Junior high school student scores, score tied 2-2"

Bang...

"First String scores, score..."

Bang!

"First String scores, score 5-4"

"Wow, that's amazing. I thought this was just a duel between the two teams' best servers, but I didn't expect even the other two players to be playing so intensely."

"Although Yukimura and Mori Juzaburo are secretly competing, this is still a match where whoever breaks the other's serve wins."

After the ninth game, both sides had won points in their respective service games.

Seeing that neither side would give an inch, the junior high school students watching from the sidelines grew increasingly tense.

"Honestly, it's come to this and we still can't break their serve."

Atobe came to the baseline. After seven games, excluding the three games where he scored purely from his serve.

Two of the other four games were served by Mori Juzaburo, and even though Yukimura and Atobe tried their best, they still couldn't break through his defense.

"It seems we'll have to postpone this any longer."

Somewhat helpless, Atobe tossed the ball up, the Vaishra Serve served.

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 15:0"

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 30:0"

Bang!

"Junior high school students score, 40:0"

"What a spectacular serving duel! Atobe's ability to hit that serve for several games in a row is quite impressive."

"However, the side effects should be kicking in soon, or rather, they probably started when that ball was hit."

Hearing Irie's sigh, Horio, who had turned his gaze away from Atobe, shook his head.

"Oh? So, the ball's slightly higher movement just now was indeed due to a side effect."

"In this best-of-three format, not even one game is over yet, and the situation for the junior high school students is not optimistic."

This reshuffling battle is different from the previous one-round decisive battles; it will take at least two rounds.

Atobe and Yukimura didn't even finish one game; Atobe's hand already started having problems.

The scales of victory are now tipping in favor of the First String.

"What's wrong? Is your hand already hurting? But the match isn't over yet, how can you give up so soon?"

Looking at his wrist, Atobe's eyes narrowed.

Should I toss the ball, or choose to serve the Vaishra Serve?

"You actually dared to use that serve? I saw it just now."

Seeing Atobe's stubbornness, Ochi Moonlight lowered his racket.

After keeping the racket close to the ground, swing it out smoothly.

This time the tennis ball floated even higher, Ochi Moonlight used the net surface of the end of his racket to receive the ball.

"They've picked us up!"

Has the Vaishra Serve been cracked!?

"No, the Vaishra Serve is impossible to break. The only explanation is that there was a problem when Atobe hit the Vaishra Serve."

At this moment, the members of Hyotei also began to worry about their Captain. Oshitari, who knew Atobe best, frowned slightly as he watched the subtle change in Atobe.

"You got your comeuppance? Well, you've had a tough time. It's time for me to make my move."

Seeing the tennis ball that had been hit flying towards him, Yukimura began to move.

Before Mori Juzaburo could react, Yukimura went to the net and hit a volley.

Bang...

"Junior high school student scores, score 5-5"

"We can't afford to drag this out any longer; we must break their serve in the next game."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. In that case, let's speed things up."

Atobe also realized that he couldn't rely on the Vaishra Serve forever; the pain in his wrist meant he had to win the first game.

Yukimura understood Atobe's intention, and so the two of them focused their attention even more.

"It's such a shame. I thought you could hold on a little longer, but you couldn't even finish the match."

"On the bottom line, "Mori Juzaburo shook his head and chuckled.

Then the ball is tossed up to begin a new round.