Half an hour later.
"Now, the first singles match will begin. Hyotei Academy's Oshitari Yushi will face Seishun Academy's Kamata Saburo."
The opening match.
Hyotei sent out Oshitari.
Oshitari had finally gotten the chance to play singles.
Seigaku, meanwhile, sent out a third-year student who looked older than his age.
Two seconds later.
There was a noticeable difference in height between them. Oshitari had just started seventh grade and stood about 165 centimeters tall. Even so, he was among the tallest of the seventh graders.
But Seigaku's third-year, Kamata Saburo, stood a full 178 centimeters tall. His bones had nearly finished developing, and judging by height alone, the difference between them was far greater than anyone might have expected.
"Oshitari."
At the sidelines, Atobe spoke calmly. "Finish the match in fifteen minutes. Don't let it interfere with today's practice."
Holding his racket, Oshitari turned to look at Kamata and replied coolly, "Fifteen minutes is too long. Ten will be enough to deal with someone like him."
"That first-year sure is cocky!" On Seigaku's side, a burly third-year with a white headband slammed his fist against a stone bench and glared at Oshitari on the court.
"Tch. That little first-year... I'd say Hyotei's lost its mind, putting a first-year in the starting lineup." Takei spoke bluntly beside him, not taking Oshitari seriously at all.
Aside from Yamato, Kamata was their second-best singles player. Taking care of a first-year kid should be a piece of cake.
"Kamata, at least show the kid some respect. You're playing at Hyotei, after all."
Takei called to Kamata from the sidelines with a mocking grin.
"Hmph!"
Kamata held the ball in his left hand, his expression cold. "Sorry, Takei. I'm not the kind of guy who shows other people respect!"
"If he wants to act so high and mighty, I'll show him what a real gap in skill looks like."
Kamata tossed the ball and swung hard.
Crack!
The racket struck the ball at high speed.
Whoosh!
The ball flew in an arc and landed in the left half of Oshitari's court.
The others were delighted. That was Kamata's fast serve, his winning weapon.
Thump!
Before anyone could even react, the ball shot past Kamata's feet.
He hadn't even had time to respond.
"0–15, Oshitari!"
The umpire called out.
"Hey, senpai over there by the net, could you hurry up?"
Oshitari sounded impatient. "Don't try to drag out the match like this."
Kamata gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. Damn brat!
Thump!
Thump!!
The sharp sounds of the rally rang across the court.
As time passed, the Seigaku players' expressions grew darker and darker.
Jiro sat in the stands, yawning. If Mukahi hadn't kept shouting beside him, he'd have already stretched out on his seat and fallen asleep.
A match at this level simply couldn't hold Jiro's interest.
"Shishido, how long has it been?"
Atobe sat in the stands with his arms crossed and asked calmly.
"Exactly eight minutes."
Shishido held a stopwatch in his hand and answered quietly.
Atobe nodded. "Finishing the match in under ten minutes. That's passable."
Thwack!!!
Oshitari raised his hand and hit another ace.
Kamata dropped to his knees, helpless. The mental pressure had weighed on him far more than the physical exertion.
Throughout the match, he could only touch the ball when he served. During Oshitari's service games, he couldn't even get near it. Every time Oshitari tossed the ball and raised his racket, he hit an ace!
"Game, Oshitari, 6–0."
The umpire called out, glancing at Kamata on the ground.
A third-year, and still as useless as a loser.
The umpire really couldn't understand what Coach Sakaki had been thinking, agreeing to play a school like this.
"Let me take the next match."
Mukahi rolled up his sleeves, eager to test how much he'd improved during this training match.
On Seigaku's side, everyone lowered their heads. Their earlier arrogance had vanished.
"Takei! You're up."
Coach Ryuzaki's gaze flickered uncertainly.
Takei, called by name, glanced at Coach Ryuzaki but showed no sign of stepping onto the court.
"You..."
Coach Ryuzaki drew a deep breath and called on several other third-year starters.
But none of them seemed willing to play. One by one, they lowered their heads.
"That's enough!!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Yamato finally spoke up.
He turned to the starters around him, then took off his black sunglasses and stared at them. "None of you deserve to be starters on Seigaku's tennis team!"
No one argued.
Yamato was the only person in the entire tennis club who had the right to call them out. He was Seigaku's captain in name, and the only tennis player the school had worth mentioning.
"Yamato, I'm counting on you."
Coach Ryuzaki looked at Yamato apologetically and sighed.
"Coach Ryuzaki..."
Yamato looked at her seriously, a glint of coldness in his eyes. "I hope you'll remove the starters who refuse to do their jobs from the lineup after this training match."
"Yamato..."
The starters jerked their heads up and looked at him.
Even Coach Ryuzaki stared at Yamato in disbelief.
"If you don't, I'll quit the tennis club."
Yamato was resolute. He'd had enough of the club's current state. If it weren't for what the captain had said all those years ago, he wouldn't have stuck with the club for so long.
"Yamato, you have to become Seigaku's pillar!"
"Yamato, don't act on impulse!"
Coach Ryuzaki panicked. Yamato was practically the only player Seigaku had worth mentioning. If even he gave up, Seigaku would truly become a third-rate tennis school.
"Coach Ryuzaki, I'm serious."
Yamato said without mincing words.
He'd thought that becoming strong enough would be all it took to change the state of the tennis club. Even if the third-years had bad attitudes, they could still help the team.
But now he realized he'd been wrong... terribly wrong!
Hyotei!!
A powerhouse school that had made it to the national top four last year.
They'd dared to shoulder the pressure and put first-years on the team, while Seigaku's players were busy fighting among themselves, bullying the weak, and cowering before strong opponents. Was this really the tennis club he'd worked so hard to build?!
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
He needed to step up and shut those Hyotei starters up.
Yamato walked onto the court, took a deep breath, and said coolly, "Let's begin, Hyotei starter!"
"Hey... aren't you Seigaku's captain?"
Mukahi, standing on the court, looked a little surprised, but didn't take him seriously. Then he said, "Fine. Let's see what kind of level the captain of this garbage tennis club is at!"
"Wait!"
A stern voice came from behind Mukahi.
"I'll play this match."
Tezuka walked onto the court with his racket and looked calmly across the net at Yamato.
In that instant,
Yamato's heart lurched, and a powerful sense of danger rose within him.
His instincts told him that the guy standing before him was even stronger than he'd imagined!!
Before you continue