"Ryo~ Are you okay?"
The match over on the other side had just ended, and Mukahi was still feeling a little down. When he arrived at Court B2, he saw Shishido lying in a chair, his face pale.
Could Shishido have lost too?!
How was that possible? How could a tennis player whose name he'd never even heard of beat Shishido?
But when Mukahi looked at the scoreboard, his face filled with shock.
6-0.
The score was so glaring. Shishido had actually lost that badly.
"I lost, Mukahi. That guy's a monster."
Shishido had recovered enough to sit up in his chair, but his eyes were still full of dread.
That guy could have ended the match much sooner, but instead he'd dragged it out until the very last moment, wearing Shishido down without end, tormenting him by hitting every ball just within reach of a barely possible return.
"How did you lose?"
Mukahi still couldn't accept it. He wanted to hear some details about the match.
Shishido fell silent for a moment, then recounted the details. Mukahi listened in utter shock. At Hyotei Elementary School, Shishido's skill was on par with his own, yet their opponent had toyed with him as if he were in the palm of his hand.
He hadn't won a single point. He'd been thoroughly shut out.
Just like Mukahi.
And judging by Shishido's condition, he seemed to have had it even worse.
In Mukahi's match against Tezuka, Tezuka had also won 6-0. He hadn't held back, winning points cleanly and decisively on serves and returns. Mukahi had barely even touched the ball.
As expected of two guys who'd come up together. Their skills probably weren't far apart.
"It's okay, Ryo. In the next match, he'll have to face that monster."
Mukahi seemed to have thought of something. With a hint of schadenfreude, he said, "The monster from Kanagawa Prefecture."
"You mean that one?"
Shishido pictured him in his mind, too.
"Yeah. Yukimura Seiichi! He hasn't lost a match since the group stage, and his opponents haven't even won a single point!" Mukahi laughed and patted Shishido on the shoulder.
"Yeah~" Shishido nodded. "In Group A, Tezuka's next opponent is that monster from Kanagawa, too, right?"
Even before they'd made it into the quarterfinals, Shishido and Mukahi had already taken notice of the two players from Kanagawa. Their skills were off the charts, and almost every match had ended 6-0.
At the thought, a faint smile appeared on Shishido's face. He couldn't deal with Kamikawa, but someone out there would. He wanted to see how many points that guy could score against him.
But what if the guy named Yukimura lost?!
The thought left Shishido conflicted. If Yukimura won, that would mean Shishido couldn't even beat someone Yukimura had beaten. But if Kamikawa won, he wouldn't feel much better either—though it would still be preferable to the alternative.
At least he and Yukimura would have lost to the same opponent.
The semifinals.
They were sure to be the highlight of the tournament, and neither Shishido nor Mukahi wanted to miss them.
There was still some time before the semifinals.
After the matches ended, the crowds dispersed for a while.
People chatted excitedly about the thrilling matches they'd seen on the various courts.
"Tezuka, you're out already?"
After his match, Kamikawa noticed Tezuka sitting in a chair. He was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and holding a can of soda in both hands, his racket resting sideways across his legs. He looked rather aloof.
Tezuka hadn't become a captain yet, and his personality was a little like someone's. His tone and the way he handled things both lacked the composure he'd develop later.
"You're the one who took too long."
Tezuka held out the soda can to Kamikawa and asked, "Was your opponent strong?"
"Mm~ More or less~"
Kamikawa took the soda, opened it, and drank a small sip.
To be honest, that match had dragged on a bit. Kamikawa had his own reasons for that: he wanted to give Shishido more practice, since he'd eventually be joining Hyotei's tennis club.
With the clumsy skills he had now, he might not make the regular team later.
Tezuka didn't reply. He opened his own can and took a small sip.
The conversation stalled.
"Aren't you worried I won't make it to the finals?"
Kamikawa asked with a half-joking smile.
This year's JR Tournament was more competitive than the previous two years. A new crop of players had emerged, and their talent was no less impressive than that of Byodoin's generation. They could certainly be called a golden generation.
"I'm not worried."
Tezuka shook his head. "You've been hiding your true ability, but I can tell you're very strong."
"You have that much confidence in me?"
Kamikawa smiled.
The two of them had played tennis together since they were young and had played plenty of friendly matches. They'd each won their share, but neither had ever truly shown what they could do.
Maybe this JR Tournament would finally reveal how strong they really were.
At that, a hint of fighting spirit appeared on Tezuka's face. "This isn't a friendly match. It's a real tournament. I hope you'll show your full ability."
"Earlier, you mentioned the three doors of Muga no Kyochi. Don't tell me you've mastered one of them?"
Tezuka had first encountered Muga through Kamikawa's guidance. That guy knew a lot of things no one else did. He'd even explained the effects of all three doors of Muga no Kyochi in perfect detail.
"Which path do you think suits me?"
Kamikawa smiled and looked at Tezuka.
He was different from the others. He couldn't lose himself completely in the joy of tennis like Tezuka, awaken the Radiance of Love within Seamless Clothes, or experience the origin of strength and awaken the Radiance of Loneliness.
Likewise, he didn't think he was noble enough to grow stronger for someone else and awaken the Radiance of Resolve. The final chapter of Muga no Kyochi was the Pinnacle of Seamless Clothes.
If he couldn't do any of those things, why take that path?
There were many paths in tennis. Surely one of them suited who he was now.
"I'm not sure..."
Tezuka shook his head. "There's still some time before the semifinals. Want to find a court and warm up?"
Kamikawa waved a hand. "You're going to wear yourself out beforehand. Aren't you worried you'll lose the semifinal?"
"It's fine."
Tezuka replied calmly, "The JR Tournament is the highest honor in the Kanto elementary school division, but it doesn't matter to me. The only thing I care about is..."
Hearing Tezuka say that, Kamikawa felt something was off. "All right, I'll go warm up with you."
"Mm!"
Tezuka nodded, then followed Kamikawa toward the practice courts at the Lawson Tennis Center.
Besides the courts reserved for official matches, there were plenty of spare courts outside the Lawson Tennis Center, available for people to use for fun.
Quite a few competitors picked a court to warm up on.
Some came from tennis clubs and would ask their coaches to rally with them as a warm-up. But none of the players who'd made it to the JR Tournament semifinals had a coach supporting them. They'd all made it through on their own merits.
When Tezuka and Kamikawa arrived at an empty court,
they noticed two boys with an extraordinary air about them, about the same age as they were. One boy, wearing a baseball cap, was rallying with another in a light-blue jacket with dark-blue hair.
Their footwork, strokes, and the spots where they hit and landed the ball all showed that they were no pushovers. Just then, the two boys on the court also noticed the two uninvited guests standing outside.
Before you continue