Hmph~ Look how stingy you are~

The JR Tournament came to a successful close, and after collecting their trophies,

Kamikawa and Tezuka left together. Tezuka looked completely drained; you'd think he'd been in a fight with someone.

The venue for the tournament, Lawson Tennis Center, wasn't far from Kamikawa and Tezuka's homes. Walking would only add half an hour to the trip, and riding a bike would be even faster.

In their free time and during their regular training, the two of them would play tennis at the courts nearby.

They mostly played friendly matches, and their wins and losses were about even.

Today was the only time they'd played in an official match. Tezuka had narrowly lost, 6–4.

In that situation, unless Tezuka could figure out Kamikawa's serve, it would be difficult for him to find a way back into the match if it continued.

"Tezuka, your Zero-Shiki is completely perfected now. But you should still use it sparingly. At the very least, wait until your body has fully developed before using it."

Kamikawa still had a bottle of ice water in his hand. He passed it to Tezuka, who was sitting in a chair. They couldn't find a suitable ice pack, so they'd have to make do with using the ice water to cool the swelling.

"Mm. I'll be careful." Tezuka took the bottle and pressed it against the swollen area. His face twitched; cooling the swelling hurt quite a bit.

When his stamina had nearly run out, he'd burst forth with speed and strength beyond the human limit, forcing his way into one of the gates of the Myriad Self Profound Mystery.

The result hadn't been ideal, but he'd still pushed open that gate.

He'd learned the purpose of Limit of a Hundred Refinements.

"Not long ago, we were talking about when you'd reach Limit of a Hundred Refinements."

Kamikawa smiled. "I didn't expect you to break through your limits today and step through that gate."

At that, Tezuka nodded. Unusually, he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he raised his head and looked at Kamikawa. "I won't go back on the promise I made before the match. I'll tell my father when I get home."

Breaking a promise was simply not something Tezuka would do.

Once he agreed to something, no matter how difficult it was, he would see it through.

"Tezuka."

Hearing him say that, Kamikawa nodded. "Hyotei Academy definitely won't disappoint you."

"We'll lead Hyotei to victory in the Kanto Tournament, and we'll win this year's National Tournament too."

"Tezuka, no matter what, play tennis for yourself. Don't chase a momentary win at the cost of your arm."

"I don't want to become a pro and find myself without a worthy opponent."

For Kamikawa, playing tennis meant embracing and enjoying the era he lived in. And the highest stage of tennis was winning the biggest tournaments: claiming a Grand Slam, a double career Grand Slam, and every other title he might get to see.

In the original story, Tezuka's greatest regret was his arm injury. It nearly ended his tennis career.

For a tennis player, keeping him from playing was no different from destroying his life.

And that title of Seigaku's pillar had, without anyone realizing it, been wearing down the youth of this famous player, Tezuka Kunimitsu!

Seeing the serious look on his childhood friend's face, Tezuka smiled. He gave a quiet nod. "All right!"

"Let's go. Time to head back."

Seeing that it was about time, Kamikawa reached for the soda Tezuka had been using to reduce the swelling.

But Tezuka snatched it first. Taking advantage of Kamikawa's distraction, he gulped it down, mumbling, "I ran all those errands for you today. You can at least spare me a can, right?"

"Hmph~ Look how stingy you are."

Kamikawa gave a quiet snort and pulled another can of soda from his pocket.

Of course he'd bought two. Did Tezuka think he was the sort of person who'd mooch off others?

"Grandpa, I'm home."

Kamikawa pushed open the door, put his tennis bag down out of habit, and changed his shoes. Then he picked up the bag again and headed toward the living room.

"You little brat, you're covered in sweat. All you ever do is play tennis."

The old man came out of the living room too. Looking at Kamikawa, he couldn't help smiling.

"Grandpa, it's my hobby."

Kamikawa pouted.

"All right, all right. Your hobby."

The old man could do little about the boy, so he went along with him. "You said you were entering some tournament today. How did it go?"

"I got lucky and won the championship," Kamikawa said with a smile.

It wasn't really luck. Both of his difficult matches had ended 6–4, which counted as fairly comfortable scores. Of course, Kamikawa wasn't too concerned with the results. He'd entered mainly to test his own ability.

He'd also wanted to see how the two players from Rikkai Dai measured up, and how Tezuka did.

Judging by the results, he was quite satisfied.

"Champion, huh!" The old man nodded instinctively.

Then, as if something had occurred to him, he asked, "Didn't Kunimitsu, the boy next door, enter this JR Tournament too? Did you go together?"

Kunimitsu was Tezuka Kunimitsu, Tezuka Kunikazu's grandson.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was a tennis prodigy known throughout the neighborhood. His grandfather brought him up all the time, and would occasionally visit the Kamikawa family to brag about him.

Not long ago, when Tezuka's grandfather and Kamikawa's grandfather had gone fishing, he'd mentioned Kunimitsu going to Germany to train. Germany was the best tennis destination in the world.

Then Kamikawa's own grandson came home and said he'd won the JR Tournament, which meant he'd beaten Kunikazu's grandson too.

"All right, all right..."

The old man didn't understand tennis, but he had a fierce competitive streak. He and Tezuka's grandfather had compared themselves in all sorts of ways over the years, and even at their age, they still found things to compete over.

Most often, they compared their grandsons.

"Good boy, good boy. Keep playing tennis from now on, and make sure you beat Kunimitsu. Show him what the Kamikawa family is made of. You don't need to go help your father anymore, either."

The old man walked over with a cheerful laugh and patted Kamikawa on the shoulder. "If Kuniyoshi needs anything, I'll go help him."

"Th-that's not very good, Grandpa."

Kamikawa scratched his head. He had no idea why his grandfather's attitude had changed so suddenly.

Still, as long as it didn't get in the way of his tennis, Kamikawa was pretty happy.

"What's not good about it?"

The old man waved a hand, unconcerned. Then he caught a whiff of something and looked at Kamikawa with disgust. "You little brat, go take a shower. You stink. Wash up before coming to the table."

"Got it, got it, Grandpa!"

Kamikawa smiled and nodded. He set his tennis bag on the sofa and headed for the bathroom.

"That brat's just like his father. Stubborn as ever."

Watching Kamikawa, the old man could only shake his head helplessly. He picked up the tennis bag from the sofa and hung it off to the side.

"Kunikazu, huh!"

"My brat's a lot better than yours."

Thinking of his old rival's face, the old man couldn't help laughing.

"Little brat, where's the tennis ball?"

The old man glanced at the tennis bag. His grandson seemed cheerful enough. He hoped the boy would stick with this path and make it all the way, without a hitch.