Chapter 328: The Bending of Rules and Sonoko's Mischievous Smile
As the Seigaku regulars filed into the spectator area, the eyes of Shusuke Fuji and Tezuka Kunimitsu briefly met before they turned to their guests. A familiar, serene smile played on Shusuke's lips.
"Lucifer-san, it's a surprise to see you all here to watch the match," he said, his tone light and playful. "I trust you'll be reporting the situation back to my dear sister?"
Lucifer returned a knowing smile. "That's right. You have no idea. Yumiko was messaging me in the middle of my workday, demanding a first-hand report on the results."
Shusuke chuckled softly. "My sister really does worry too much… But this match won't be so simple. Fudomine's momentum is dangerously high right now… Isn't that right, Tezuka?"
Tezuka Kunimitsu gave a single, sharp nod. "It's highly likely that neither their captain nor I will have a chance to play in this round."
"Because you're leaving the opportunity for Echizen, I presume," Shusuke added, his eyes still closed in that perpetual smile.
Tezuka remained silent, his silence a confirmation in itself.
Ichihara Yuuko, however, tilted her head in thought. "That name… Echizen. I believe he's the boy I saw at the vending machine just a little while ago."
Lucifer and the others nodded in agreement. It was Courage who reacted with sudden shock. "Eh?! Echizen? Which Echizen? You don't mean… from the family of Echizen Nanjiro?"
Tezuka pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his expression unchanging as he gave another silent nod.
Courage's jaw dropped. "Oh my god! He's actually the son of the legendary Samurai Nanjiro! He must be incredibly strong, then?"
"He's decent," Shusuke replied with a characteristic, airy understatement. "But he still has a long, long way to go."
Tezuka offered no comment on his teammate's assessment. Sonoko, who had grown quite familiar with the Seigaku team over time, chimed in with her usual boisterous energy. "Eh? I never thought I'd see the day Shusuke was playing doubles! That's a real surprise!"
Shusuke's smile widened slightly. "Singles, well… let's just say that if there are no unforeseen circumstances, everyone on the team besides Oishi and Kikumaru would probably prefer to play singles. Someone has to make a sacrifice now and then."
Sonoko grinned, clapping her hands together. "Indeed! And I have to say, Shusuke, you and Kunimitsu are much easier on the eyes than that arrogant brat Atobe! Hahaha!"
As if summoned, Atobe Keigo happened to be walking past at that very moment. He heard Sonoko's loud declaration, and the corner of his mouth twitched in irritation. He stopped and addressed the Seigaku players.
"Fuji! It's your turn to play. And Tezuka, I'll be waiting for you at the Metropolitan Tournament!"
Tezuka's gaze remained steady. "Atobe…"
"What is it? Have something you want to say? A declaration of war?" Atobe challenged, a smirk forming on his lips.
"No," Tezuka stated flatly. "Your water spilled."
Atobe froze. He glanced down to see a small puddle forming at his feet from his uncapped water bottle. Sonoko erupted into a fit of unrestrained laughter.
"Hahahaha! You idiot, Atobe! Hahahaha!"
Shusuke cast a brief glance at the scene before turning quietly to his captain. "Tezuka, I'll be heading to the court first. Everyone, I'll see you after the match."
"Mm. Good luck, Shusuke," Lucifer said warmly.
"Shusuke! Give it your all!" Sonoko called out between laughs.
After Shusuke Fuji had turned and walked away, Tezuka Kunimitsu looked at Sonoko and Atobe, who were now in a full-blown argument. He spoke in a low, commanding voice, "Everyone, let's head inside. The match is beginning."
"Mm!" the group chorused.
"Hey! Wait for me! Damn you, Atobe! Just hurry up and leave!"
"Watch your mouth, you insufferable hag!"
In the moments that followed, Ichihara Yuuko would learn precisely what it meant for the sport of tennis to become abnormal. It began with Shusuke Fuji's first serve return—the Tsubame Gaeshi, the Swallow Return. The ball rocketed back, skimmed the very top of the net without bouncing, and then died on the other side, spinning away with an impossible trajectory. The laws of physics seemed to have been politely asked to leave the court.
Yuuko stared, her expression blank with disbelief. "I was aware that tennis involved specialized techniques, but… is that even possible?"
Sonoko waved a dismissive hand. "No, no, no. This is still considered normal. You'll know when you see truly abnormal tennis. And the professional players in the World Tournament? They're on another level entirely."
Tezuka Kunimitsu nodded gravely. "On the world stage, this is merely the beginning."
"This is still… the beginning?" Yuuko murmured, her eyes wide.
Her question was answered by a roar from the Fudomine side of the court.
"Try this! Hadokyu!"
Lucifer and the others watched in shock as the arm of the Fudomine player—a boy wearing a bandana—seemed to swell to nearly twice its normal size. His expression twisted into a ferocious grimace as he unleashed a shot that blazed through the air like a cannonball.
"Fuji!"
"Shusuke!"
The Seigaku supporters cried out in alarm.
"BURNING!"
Just as the devastating yellow projectile was about to slam into Shusuke, his partner, Kawamura Takashi, threw himself in its path. With a guttural roar, he met the Hadokyu head-on, his own arm bulging with power as he slammed it back with sheer, unadulterated force. The impact echoed like a gunshot across the courts, stunning the Fudomine players into silence.
Kawamura's entire arm was now a swollen, crimson red, trembling uncontrollably from the strain. The veins on his forehead pulsed violently.
"The power in that ball was immense…" Yuuko whispered, her voice laced with awe and concern.
Lucifer nodded, her gaze fixed on the struggling player. "Kunimitsu, your teammate… he can't continue."
Tezuka's expression was grim. "Mm. If he forces himself to keep playing, he will be permanently injured. But Fuji will handle it."
As predicted, Shusuke Fuji calmly forfeited the game, citing his partner's inability to even lift his arm. While Momoshiro Takeshi rushed a pained Kawamura to the hospital, Tezuka's gaze drifted over to Atobe Keigo, who was watching the courts with an unusually focused intensity.
"Atobe, what are you looking at?" Tezuka asked quietly.
Atobe didn't turn, his eyes locked on the Fudomine bench. "Those two over there… they're interesting."
The group followed his line of sight and saw two Fudomine players sitting together. One, a boy with medium-length hair, seemed lost in thought as he observed the court. A moment later, a black-haired boy with a buzz cut said something to him. The first boy then got up and left with another teammate.
"What are they going to do?" Yuuko asked, confused.
As she wondered, she noticed Echizen Ryoma also quietly rising from his seat. Racket in hand and a can of Ponta in the other, he slipped away from the stands.
Sonoko let out a knowing chuckle. "I didn't realize you had such a unique character on your team, Kunimitsu."
"But where did they all go?"
Atobe Keigo spoke softly, his breath misting in the air. "The temperature has dropped… It looks like it's going to rain. Those two went to warm up, but that kid from your team… heh… interesting."
Perhaps the old saying about the unpredictability of the weather was written for this very day. Shortly after Seigaku secured a complete victory in the doubles match, the sky opened up, and a sudden downpour began. Lucifer and the others huddled under the relative shelter of a gazebo, watching the rain soak the courts, each lost in their own thoughts.
Tap… tap… tap…
A rhythmic tapping sound cut through the drone of the rain. The group turned to see the Fudomine boy who had left earlier. He was wearing headphones, his fingers tapping out a precise beat against his leg, perfectly in time with some unheard song. Instinctively, Courage and a few of the others found their own feet tapping along for a moment. Rhythm, much like taste, was a universal language.
Lucifer looked at Shusuke, who was watching the boy with a placid expression. "What is he doing?"
"Continuing his warm-up," Shusuke answered. "And finding his rhythm. It looks like Kaidoh is going to have to do a lot of running."
"The key isn't whether he's warming up," Lucifer countered, gesturing to the drenched court. "It's the ground. A proper match is impossible in these conditions. Tezuka, is this really alright?"
"No problem," Tezuka replied, his confidence absolute.
Just as Yuuko was about to voice her own doubts, Sonoko shot her a mischievous smile. She pulled Yuuko closer and began whispering animatedly in her ear. Lucifer watched them, a puzzled frown on her face, but said nothing. She didn't know why, but a strange premonition prickled at the back of her mind—a feeling that the day's events were about to take another, far more unexpected turn.
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