Match Point

Horio made no attempt to control his volume; in fact, his voice was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire venue.

Kikumaru's emotions remained unchanged despite hearing Horio's words.

However, Horio's words resonated with those involved outside the venue.

"Horio Satoshi, will your insightful words be a wake-up call or just adding fuel to the fire?"

"If they can still listen to that first-year Seigaku, there's still time for the competition."

"To those from Seigaku, I hope you can remain calm and not let Horio's efforts go to waste."

"Eiji, did you hear that? You need to calm down."

Oishi, having overheard Horio's words, realized his mistake; doubles should be a two-person match.

We shouldn't choose to fight our own battles or even turn against each other just because our partners have problems.

At this moment, Oishi hoped that Kikumaru would think through Horio's words soon, otherwise it would be too late for the match.

"Judging from his expression, he probably won't listen to anything."

"Hmph, good medicine tastes bitter. How easy is it for someone who has lost their composure to regain themselves?"

The two from Rikkai Dai, seeing Kikumaru's somewhat ferocious expression, were not worried about Horio's words.

However, Kikumaru suddenly turned around and walked towards Oishi, and his originally unfriendly expression gradually changed.

"I'm sorry, Oishi. I was very anxious because my habits were exposed, but I will calm down and fully cooperate with you from now on."

"Eiji... Okay! Now let's make up for the points we lost."

Seeing that Kikumaru had finally returned to normal, the anxious Oishi also calmed down.

"Seigaku seems to have recovered. Do they think they can win the match just like that?"

"It seems they've realized their mistake, but that actually works in our favor. Those two aren't the type to lose so easily."

Seeing that Kikumaru and Oishi had regained their spirits, Rikkai Dai and the others had no more worries and clearly had a lot of confidence in their teammates.

"The stronger the opponent, the more worthwhile it is to defeat them. Let them see the grandeur of Rikkai Dai."

Sanada, sitting on the Coach's bench, took in all the changes on the field, but his face remained serious.

"Alright, let's start again. Since you've figured out my habits, I might as well use them to my advantage."

At the net, Kikumaru realized that he had lost so many points because of his own habits, so he decided to use his own habits to make up for the lost points.

On the baseline of Rikkai Dai's half of the court, Yanagi began his offensive, serving a powerful serve.

He quickly moved to his position, waiting for Kikumaru to hit the ball to his spot.

As expected, Kikumaru's habit remained unchanged, and he still hit the ball to Yanagi's position.

Yanagi then gripped the racket with both hands, and his golf-style swing reappeared, accompanied by Laser Beam.

Having already witnessed Yanagi's Laser Beam Oishi, Oishi was already waiting at the baseline, unleashing his Moon Climbing Intercept.

Aiming at the gap between Yanagi and Niou's baselines, the tennis ball flew into the air and then fell back to the baseline.

"Seigaku's score: 15:40"

"They've finally started to fight back; the Golden Pair has awakened again."

Coach Ryuzaki, sitting on the bench, finally smiled as he saw his student return to his usual level.

"Damn it, they managed to take advantage of the situation."

"Niou, I sense something's wrong. Be careful."

Kikumaru's habitual movements remained unchanged, but he didn't score as many points as before, prompting the astute Niou and Yanagi to immediately sense something was amiss.

"I understand. As long as we keep an eye on Kikumaru, even if Oishi's defense is strong, it won't matter."

Niou seemed determined to go all out against Kikumaru, his eyes fixed on Kikumaru's racket.

Yanagi returned to the baseline and served again.

As soon as the tennis ball flew out, Kikumaru immediately sprang into action.

In that instant, the racket shifted slightly to the left, and Kikumaru indeed moved to the right.

When Oishi returned the ball, Niou saw Kikumaru's racket deflect slightly to the right.

A slight smile appeared on his lips, and then Niou headed Kikumaru to hit the ball to his right.

However, Kikumaru, who was supposed to appear on the left, did not appear; instead, he appeared behind the tennis ball.

"Hehe, you fell for it, I knew it."

Kikumaru smiled, then quickly volleyed a shot towards Niou's right side.

Bang...

"Seigaku's score: 30:40"

"The racket clearly veered to the right, so why didn't it move to the left?"

Niou was also startled by Kikumaru's sudden appearance, thinking that it was impossible for him to change his habits so easily.

"Habitual movements are indeed hard to break, but I deliberately shifted the racket just now. Actually, I wasn't sure which way I would move."

Kikumaru, with a smile on his face, said somewhat shyly, but Oishi had the bottom line, showed a relieved smile.

"Indeed, in this situation, even you don't know which way it will go, but you have another partner who knows you better than you know yourself."

The Golden Pair, having changed their tactics, quickly recovered some points thanks to Kikumaru using his signature move.

Bang...

"Seigaku scores, score tied 3-3"

The score was tied at 3-3, and both players were looking tired, with beads of sweat appearing on their faces.

"No, we can't let them lead us by the nose like this anymore."

Despite being covered in sweat, Yanagi was wearing glasses, remained calm.

Starting in the seventh game, Oishi became more confident after winning three consecutive games, and his serves became much more powerful.

The tennis ball flew out so fast that Niou didn't even have time to react, resulting in him failing to catch up with the ball.

"Let me play this ball."

Yanagi's voice rang out, followed by the sound of a racket hitting a tennis ball.

Niou was somewhat taken aback by Yanagi's sudden appearance; Yanagi, who was usually known for his composure, had actually acted impulsively.

As it turned out, Niou's surprise was justified. In the following balls, Yanagi single-handedly received all the balls, making Niou seem like a pawn that had been abandoned.

Bang...

Rikkai Dai scores, 15:0

Bang...

"Seigaku's score: 30:30"

Bang...

"Rikkai Dai scores, score 5-4"

With the two sides constantly pulling back and forth, Rikkai Dai took the first game and secured match point.

"You Seigaku have a long way to go if you want to beat our reigning champions, Rikkai Dai."

By this time, Yanagi was already panting heavily, clearly running out of energy.

"Hey Yanagi, you're acting a bit strange today."

"This is the last game. If we win this one, the match will be over."

Having said that, Yanagi walked back to the bottom line.

Seeing the equally panting Golden Pair, Yanagi tossed the ball up and swung it with all his might.