Doubles Are Truly Relaxing

The tennis ball was tossed up, a blur of a racket flashed past, and the ball shot out.

Bang...

"Horio scores, 15:0."

Bang...

"Horio scores, 30:0."

Bang...

"Horio scores, 40:0."

Bang...

"Horio scores, score 1:0."

Horio took the point with four consecutive Bullet Serves. Kikumaru had no answer for a playstyle he wasn't good at.

Even with his superior dynamic vision, seeing the ball's trajectory didn't give him the power to return it.

He could only concede the point to Horio and try to wear him down, hoping that Horio's serves would weaken as he tired.

"Let me show you how good my Special Skill Shot is."

Then, Kikumaru served, and the second game began.

Horio, eager to experience the Special Skill Shot, hit the incoming ball towards the net. As soon as the ball crossed the net, Kikumaru appeared at the net.

He powerfully returned the ball, and a slight smile played on Horio's lips.

"Not bad. As expected of the incredibly athletic Kikumaru Eiji."

Horio immediately hit the ball to another tricky angle. Suddenly, a dark shadow leaped behind the ball and, in a strange stance, hit it to what he thought was Horio's open back-left.

"You really can't be underestimated. It's a shame, though. If you can't defeat me head-on, any other tricky tactic is useless."

Horio stepped towards the ball with his left foot, and in the next moment, he appeared at the baseline on the left side of the court.

"To deal with your Special Skill Shot, Inch Step is all I need."

This was a footwork technique Horio had learned through long practice, requiring high physical fitness.

Horio adjusted his racket angle, imparting extreme topspin to the ball, and hit it towards the sky, to a height even the athletic Kikumaru Eiji couldn't reach.

"That's so high! That ball's definitely going out! How could Horio be so careless? Even if he wanted to avoid Kikumaru-senpai's aerial interception, he should consider if the ball will go out."

Katsuro and Katsuo, watching from the sidelines, were worried seeing Horio hit the ball so high.

"Is that kid doing that on purpose? Does he think he hit it that high because he knew Eiji-senpai couldn't jump that high? But then the ball will go out, won't it?"

Momoshiro, who had been defeated by Horio before, wondered aloud, seeing Horio seemingly intentionally hitting the ball so high.

Fuji Syusuke, the genius who always wore a smile, saw the ball with its unusual spin and suddenly exclaimed.

"It doesn't seem that simple. Something seems a little off with that ball."

The tennis ball, which had been flying towards the sky, suddenly changed direction just as it was about to go out of bounds and dropped straight down.

Thump...

"Horio scores, 15:0."

The crowd watching the match from the sidelines gasped in amazement as they saw the ball, which had reached its highest point, suddenly change direction and land within the baseline.

"Incredible control. It seems my information is outdated. This first-year is much more troublesome than that Echizen Ryoma."

"More importantly... how did he suddenly appear at the left baseline? He was at the net on the right just a second ago, and now he's in the back-left."

"What did he just say... Inch Step? Is that the technique that allowed him to move so quickly to the back-left?"

"Indeed, Eiji's Special Skill Shot can't handle a footwork like that, and this footwork is actually quite effective against his Special Skill Shot."

"Look at him. He doesn't show the slightest bit of panic. It's as if everything is proceeding according to his plan."

The regulars, seeing Kikumaru Eiji's confident shot easily returned by Horio, were not only amazed by Horio's perfect control but also stunned by the Inch Step.

A tennis technique that allows one to cross half the court diagonally in a second could be considered versatile for dealing with any opponent except those who rely purely on power.

"Perhaps, from the very beginning, his goal was to make Eiji use his Special Skill Shot."

Tezuka Kunimitsu, walking over from a distance, said to the onlookers. At this moment, Tezuka Kunimitsu looked at Horio, his back to the crowd, his eyes gleaming with an unreadable light.

"You, who helped Momoshiro overcome his injury's shadow, what will you bring to Kikumaru?"

On the court...

After testing Kikumaru with the first point, Horio stopped playing any complex shots.

He simply returned Kikumaru's Special Skill Shot using basic techniques, not even needing the Inch Step.

After all, his opponent hadn't reached a level that required him to go all out, so there was no need to show off too much.

With his perfect fundamentals, Horio kept pace with Kikumaru, not allowing the Special Skill Shot to gain any advantage.

In Horio's opinion, Kikumaru's current Special Skill Shot was more about flashiness than substance.

Other than occasionally catching an opponent off guard, the effect wasn't very good, and it consumed a lot of stamina.

This was precisely why Seigaku's Golden Pair struggled or even lost when facing slightly stronger opponents in the early stages.

So far, only about halfway through the match, Kikumaru was already starting to pant.

"Kikumaru-senpai, I heard... you've always played doubles? It really seems pretty easy, being able to play a whole doubles match when you can only last half a singles match."

Kikumaru, still catching his breath, began to feel disoriented from the exertion. Hearing Horio's seemingly joking words, he instantly snapped back to reality.

Kikumaru's memory was pulled back to last year's match. Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Shichirou, hailed as the Golden Pair, had ultimately lost because Kikumaru ran out of stamina.

Although he was resentful at the time, Kikumaru only felt that he and Oishi weren't strong enough yet.

Since they lost the match because both of them were exhausted, Kikumaru never considered that he himself had run out of stamina first, putting greater pressure on Oishi's defense and causing his stamina to drop drastically.

The other teammates naturally wouldn't say such a thing so explicitly, merely suggesting that Kikumaru strengthen his stamina training.

And how could the always cheerful Kikumaru realize the hidden meaning in his teammates' words? He still tried to dodge stamina training whenever he could.

Now, Horio's slightly joking words struck Kikumaru like a thunderclap. The regulars off the court also showed surprised expressions, especially Oishi Shichirou, Kikumaru's partner.

Seeing Kikumaru's face filled with complex emotions, Horio didn't continue serving like he did with Momoshiro, but waited for him to regain his composure.

Kikumaru inside the court kept his head down in silence. Horio waited for him, and everyone off the court was also waiting for him.

After a few minutes, Kikumaru looked up, and his usual cheerful demeanor returned.

"You're really quite rude, but it's actually very useful."

Kikumaru said, smiling as he twirled his racket.

"Come on, I know I probably can't win against you, but I'll give it my all."

"Then let's go. This match should have ended long ago."

Bang...

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