The Ranking Matches Begin

The next day...

The first-years were cleaning the tennis courts. As Katsuro and Katsuo worked, they talked about the intramural ranking matches.

"The ranking matches are starting soon. Horio's been put in the same group as Senpai Momoshiro and Senpai Tezuka. Do you think Horio can make the team?"

"Of course he can. We saw Horio play Ryoma yesterday, didn't we? Ryoma's the one we should be worried about. He lost to Horio, 6–0. It'd be hard for anyone to bounce back from that."

"I'm still rooting for Ryoma. Lots of us first-years support him. Ryoma can definitely beat the second- and third-year senpai."

"Horio, you're here! Good luck in your matches! You've got to make the regular team!"

"Oh? Looks like the ranking match groups have been announced. Do you know which one I'm in?"

Horio had overheard them and couldn't help wondering which group he'd been placed in.

"You're in Group C. Kikumaru-senpai and Momoshiro-senpai are in your group too."

"Momoshiro Takeshi again, huh? Oh, well. I'll just do him a favor."

Horio slung his tennis bag over his shoulder and left. He had no interest in doing chores with the first-years.

Horio had his tennis bag with him and was on his way to buy a drink when he turned a corner and ran into Ryuzaki Sakuno, practicing her swings with a pink racket.

"Oh? Sakuno. Why are you practicing your swings all by yourself? And that form of yours..."

"Ah... It's you, Horio. I was just practicing a little. I keep feeling like something's off, though. Hey, could you teach me?"

Sakuno blushed as soon as she realized Horio had caught her practicing in secret.

"Uh, no need. Keep practicing for a while, and the person you want to see will come along and teach you. I've got something to do, so I'd better go."

Then Horio left Sakuno behind and headed for the vending machine.

When Horio returned to the courts with his drink, Ryoma was already warming up. Across the net, Kaitou Kaoru was slightly bent forward, ready for a fight.

The regulars who weren't playing were paying close attention, too. Ryoma's two fangirls were cheering from the sidelines, while Inoue had come to watch Ryoma's match with Shiba Saori.

With no match scheduled for the moment, Horio found a place to slack off. Knowing how the story went, he couldn't muster any interest.

Kaitou Kaoru and Inui Sadaharu weren't enough to pique Horio's curiosity yet, and Ryoma even less so.

What Horio didn't know was that the people watching Ryoma were actually more interested in him.

An hour later...

Horio passed the court where Ryoma was playing and saw him locked in a drawn-out match against Kaitou. Horio smiled knowingly.

"Hey, Ryoma! Do you really think you can outlast the snake? When you swing, extend your arm as far as you can."

Hearing Horio's voice made Ryoma's mood sour. But even though the long match had worn him down and left him sluggish, he suddenly perked up.

A few of the regulars heard the meaning behind Horio's words and exchanged glances. It was obvious that Horio had seen through Kaitou's strategy.

"Extend my arm?"

Tezuka Kunimitsu stood on one side of the court, Horio's slightly audacious figure reflected in his gold-rimmed glasses.

"What are you two still doing here? You don't need to watch. Ryoma's got this match in the bag. You can stop worrying."

Horio reassured Katsuro and Katsuo, who were anxiously watching from the sidelines.

The two relaxed at Horio's confident words. When they saw that Horio was about to start his own match, they immediately moved to follow him.

"No need. The first two matches are just against ordinary second- and third-years. Come watch this afternoon when I play two of the regulars. I'm off."

Horio headed straight for Court C without looking back. Everyone in Group C had already arrived.

Horio looked at the older student in a blue tracksuit and couldn't muster the slightest interest.

Horio served and returned the ball with ease, never moving his feet. His opponent, meanwhile, was already sweating from running back and forth across the court.

"Inui, can you do that?"

Oishi Shichirou and the others had shown up at Court C at some point. Watching Horio play without moving his feet, Oishi turned to Inui Sadaharu.

"His opponent isn't a regular, but even if I had all the data, I couldn't match that level of ball control."

Inui pushed up his thick, reflective glasses and gave his assessment.

"Looks like Eiji and Momoshiro have a tough match ahead."

Oishi's hand unconsciously clenched as he spoke. On the neighboring court, Kikumaru Eiji and Momoshiro Takeshi had also stopped joking around after seeing Horio's match.

They knew that if they didn't get serious, one of them would be kicked off the team.

Katsuro and the others arrived just after Ryoma and Kaitou's match ended. They watched Horio play as if he were facing elementary schoolers.

They weren't all that surprised, but Sakuno and Tomoka, who Sakuno had brought along, were stunned.

"Horio's actually so good! I thought he and Ryoma were just friends. I didn't know he was this strong, too."

"Hmph. He's nowhere near as good as Ryoma. If Ryoma played him, that rude guy would've lost ages ago."

The moment Tomoka heard Sakuno say Horio was strong, she immediately argued back.

Katsuro and Katsuo wouldn't let anyone question Horio, whom they looked up to as their big brother. Without hesitation, they told her how Ryoma had lost to Horio the day before.

Ryoma had just arrived and heard them. When Katsuro noticed him, he hurried to explain.

"Ryoma, I didn't mean anything by it. Don't get the wrong idea."

"It's fine. He really is strong. Before I beat that guy, I'm going to beat him first."

Ryoma didn't seem bothered by yesterday's loss. If anything, his match against Horio had only made him more determined.

On the court...

"All right, senpai. Let's wrap this up. I've got another match this morning, and I'm already getting hungry. I need to finish quickly so I can go eat."

With that, Horio smashed a powerful serve into the far corner of the court. His opponent didn't even catch sight of the ball before the match was over.

Back on the sidelines, Horio sat down and took a big gulp of the drink he'd bought. A little hungry, he returned to the court—and saw who was standing across from him.

Horio smiled, thinking it really was a small world. With so many people around, he'd run into this guy again.

"Senpai, what a coincidence. We get to play each other again."

Horio looked at Arai's stiff expression, then walked straight to the baseline to serve.

Four aces in a row earned Horio a point. Arai's legs were shaking, and cold sweat ran down his face. Even his serves kept going wrong. Seeing that Arai had lost his will to fight, Horio wrapped up the rest of the match in five clean minutes and went with Katsuro and the others to eat in the locker room.