"Now you realize it? It's already too late."
Horio watched Oshitari and Mukahi finally catch on from the court. They no longer had the stamina to last through a seven-game match.
"You've already served your purpose as our whetstone. Now it's time to see how sharp our blade is."
The rest of the match went just as you'd expect. Now that Kikumaru had been unleashed, he toyed with Mukahi at the net.
Kikumaru was more agile than Mukahi now, and he could jump higher, too.
Mukahi
Meanwhile, at the baseline, Momoshiro was filling Oishi's role perfectly. It looked like Oishi had taught Momoshiro some kind of trick.
"Damn it! How can this be? Kikumaru's Special Skill Shot was so-so. How could he suddenly get this good?"
Drenched in sweat, Mukahi braced both hands on his knees, looking as though he could barely catch his breath.
He couldn't believe that the player he'd thought was so-so had changed so drastically.
At the baseline, Oshitari was also nearing his limit. He'd spent just as much energy as Mukahi covering for the balls Mukahi had missed.
"This is bad. Those two weren't taking us seriously at all from the start. They waited until the match was almost over to show their real skills. They were just deliberately messing with us."
By contrast, though Momoshiro and Kikumaru had started to sweat, neither was nearly as worn out as Oshitari and Mukahi.
It was obvious the revised training plan was working.
"Heh-heh, this is the last point. Let's finish this."
"Momo, you've been defending at the baseline all match. You must be itching to get in on the action."
Kikumaru glanced back at Momoshiro from the net, and Momoshiro understood what he meant.
Momoshiro struck a Bullet Serve. Oshitari roused himself to return it as best he could, and Kikumaru quickly took his position at the net.
Instead of hitting the ball away from Mukahi, he tapped a short shot into a spot not far from him.
The ball wasn't too far away, but it wasn't close, either. Mukahi put everything he had into catching up and sent it soaring into the sky.
"That's it. Bye-bye."
Just as Kikumaru had expected, their opponent hit a high ball. He smiled at Mukahi, and then Oshitari and Mukahi saw a figure shoot out from behind Kikumaru.
It was Momoshiro! After being stuck at the baseline for the whole match, he'd finally gotten his chance on the last point.
Seeing the ball soar through the air, Momoshiro charged forward. He seized the moment, pushed off with his right foot, and leaped skyward.
"Watch this! Vertical Smash!"
High in the air, Momoshiro lined up his shot and swung his racket with all his strength.
Seeing Momoshiro unleash a Vertical Smash, Oshitari and Mukahi refused to give up. They summoned the last of their strength and braced themselves.
"We won't let you get away with this, Seigaku!"
The two overlapped their rackets and swung at the incoming smash.
The ball slammed down onto their rackets. Pain showed on both Oshitari's and Mukahi's faces. It was clear that stopping the ball was agony for them.
After holding on for two seconds, they finally couldn't take it anymore.
Their grip loosened, and both their rackets were knocked out of their hands.
"Whoa, he actually knocked Senpai Oshitari's and Senpai Mukahi's rackets right out of their hands! That guy's strength is terrifying!"
"Yeah, I didn't expect Seigaku to be this strong this year."
Even the Hyotei students cheering from the sidelines fell silent at the sight. Now, everyone except Seigaku's own players looked stunned—even the usually composed Coach Sakaki and Atobe.
"Momoshiro and Kikumaru... Seigaku really can't be underestimated this year."
Coach Sakaki was taken aback by the crushing blow they'd been dealt in the very first match.
Behind Coach Sakaki, Atobe stared at the court from the stands, lost in thought.
"Seigaku wins the game. The score is 7–5. Seigaku wins the match."
"All right! We won, Senpai Kikumaru!"
"Yeah, Momo, we won! Hey, what's all this written on your palm?"
As Kikumaru celebrated with Momoshiro, he noticed the writing on Momoshiro's palm. That was when he realized Oishi had written down all of Kikumaru's habits when he played, which was why Kikumaru had been able to let loose at the net.
"So that's how it was. I knew Oishi had been playing alongside us the whole time."
"So that's how it was. This was a three-person match. Still, that was ugly. They came back from being down five games to win seven."
Hearing the surprise and delight in Kikumaru's voice, Atobe couldn't help but remark on it.
"Next is the second doubles match. Their pair probably has a style similar to ours."
Watching Hyotei's two players prepare to take the court, Horio already had a good idea how the match would go.
"Looks like they'll probably lose. Oshitari Chotaro and Mukahi Ryo aren't anything special, but they do work well together."
"Kaitou won't be very willing to follow Inui's instructions. If they lose this one, Kawamura probably won't have much chance of winning Third Singles, either."
He thought of Hyotei's Third Singles player, Kabaji Takahiro—the guy who could copy other people's techniques.
They were both power players. A draw was probably the best they could hope for.
"Kaitou, let's go. It's our turn."
Inui took his racket from his tennis bag. Seeing Kaitou already waiting nearby, he headed onto the court with him.
"The match begins. Hyotei's Oshitari Chotaro will serve."
As soon as the referee announced the start of the match, both teams got into position.
"Come on, Chotaro. Use that move of yours to scare them stiff—the one that made you a regular."
Oshitari gave Chotaro a meaningful glance as he prepared to serve from the baseline.
"One... Ball... One... Soul!"
Chotaro gently tossed the ball into the air, then swung and unleashed his signature technique.
Watching the incredibly fast serve, Inui froze and didn't even try to return it.
"What a fast serve! It's even faster than my hardest one."
Chotaro used One Ball, One Soul to score directly on his next few serves, while Inui continued to stand still.
Thwack...
"Fault. 40–15."
After watching Chotaro score several points in a row with his serve, everyone saw him make two faults in a row and realized the serve wasn't foolproof.
But Chotaro didn't seem particularly bothered by the faults. He was clearly still confident in his serve.
"I told you, his shots are so-so. He can't even keep from making consecutive faults on his serve."
Watching Chotaro's arm muscles briefly go out of rhythm as he served, Horio sneered. The momentary disruption affected his control.
After making a slight adjustment, Chotaro served again. This time the ball landed in.
Thwack...
"Hyotei scores. The score is 1–0."
"Their serve is really powerful. There's no helping that we lost the first game, Kaitou..."
"What are you talking about, Senpai? I don't want to lose. Don't tell me there's nothing we can do. I'll shut them up."
It was clear Kaitou hadn't understood Inui's calm analysis. The fiery Kaitou was already riled up by those last few shots.
His body began to sway, and he was ready to strike back.
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