138. Angry Akutsu

"It must be that last series of counterattacks that worsened Fuji's injury."

Sadaharu Inui saw through the situation. He noticed a slight and unnatural limp in Fuji's right leg and spoke up.

"This is going to be troublesome, dane..."

Shinji Yanagisawa had a bad premonition.

"Hmph, that kind of power can be easily returned!"

A fierce glint flashed across Kiryu's crimson eyes. As Fuji ran to receive the ball, a sharp pain suddenly surged through his right leg, forcing him to halt. For a fleeting moment of distraction, he pulled himself together and forced his body to move, but the ball he returned was even weaker than the previous serve. Anyone who didn't know this was the Kanto Tournament would have thought Fuji was merely playing house.

"It's turned back into a one-man singles match again..."

Seeing that he had no opportunity to touch the ball at all, and watching Kiryu drive Fuji to exhaustion across the court, Amane's eyes were filled with annoyance.

"His injury really has gotten worse. This time, Fuji in no way looks like he's just deliberately being forced back to the baseline," Shibayama Kumakiri said with concern.

"Not only that, but Kiryu, having noticed that Fuji's injury has worsened, is continuously forcing him to run back and forth, trying to break Fuji down by increasing the burden on his knees," Inui Sadaharu said.

"Fuji..."

Kunimitsu Tezuka naturally saw that Fuji's injury was affecting his performance, but he didn't rush to call a time-out. It wasn't that he wanted to force Fuji to fight through the pain; rather, he knew that if Fuji truly reached his limit, he himself would be the first to step forward and stop it.

Yet right now, for the sake of giving Chōsei every possible shred of hope and chance to win, Tezuka believed that Fuji was even less willing to walk off the court than anyone else.

For Fuji, his thoughts at this moment were exactly the same. Yanagi had chosen to forfeit because of a broken bone, and compared to that, this minor injury of his was nothing at all.

Furthermore, this was a doubles match; he must not drag down the entire team because of his own personal issues. Thinking of this, Fuji's gaze grew even more steadfast and resolute.

"Show everyone your strength, Fuji, show them the strength of Chōsei!"

Tezuka thought to himself, arms crossed over his chest.

At this moment, Fuji gritted his teeth, desperately returning Kiryu's tricky shots one after another. In the red-eyed state, Kiryu's improvement was not limited to power and speed alone; every aspect of his physical capabilities had been considerably enhanced, though power and speed were the most obvious.

"The hardest part of this match actually isn't Vice-Captain Fuji or Kiryu," Matsubara Mei said in a deep voice, seeing that the two had been locked in a rally for nearly a minute without a winner on a single point.

"What do you mean, Matsubara?"

Shishido Ryo looked at the boy and asked.

"In a doubles match, we all naturally hope we can help share the pressure for our teammate, or perhaps take on the bulk of the offense and defense ourselves while letting our partner assist from a comfortable position, right?" Matsubara Mei thought for a moment and said.

"Hmph... although it sounds a bit complicated, it does make a certain kind of sense. But when I team up with Amane for doubles, I never really get that feeling."

Shishido Ryo imagined the scenario, nodded, but quickly shook his head.

"I'm just speaking generally. You can think of it as both players in a doubles team wanting a sense of participation—meaning more than just one person handling the returns." Matsubara Mei simplified his point.

"Are you saying Amane is feeling some kind of way right now because he lacks a sense of participation?"

Shishido Ryo specifically observed Amane's expression, which indeed seemed a bit displeased.

"Not just Amane; that fellow Uehara on the other side is also frustrated because he can't help Kiryu. The two of them have vividly turned a doubles match into a singles match. For their respective partners, that feeling of wanting to help yet being unable to do anything must be quite agonizing, right?" Matsubara Mei sighed softly.

"Yeah. But this is the first time I've seen Amane act like this. I have a feeling it's not just because he can't play the ball, but also because he feels a bit sorry for Vice-Captain Fuji." Shishido Ryo considered another possibility.

"Hah... that guy, would he ever feel sorry for someone else?"

Matsubara Mei's mouth twitched slightly. The remark sounded a bit too sappy; if Amane were capable of feeling heartache for someone, the boy would immediately think of Taichi Taki. As for Fuji, Matsubara Mei figured Amane was probably just annoyed that he couldn't get any play time.

While making Fuji run back and forth, Kiryu also kept close control over the distance between them, alternating deep shots and drop shots. Looking at Fuji's state, Kiryu felt an inexplicable sense of excitement. At the same time, he recalled being bullied back at Haizuka Junior High; at that time, he had been humiliated in this very way, constantly forced to run back and forth and dodge aluminum cans and tennis balls thrown and hit at him...

At a certain moment, Kiryu intentionally hit a drop shot right near the net. To avoid losing the point, Fuji sprinted forward frantically. Catching sight of this from the sidelines, Shibasori let out an involuntary, piercing cry: "Stop it, Fuji-kun, it's a trap!"

Yet Fuji couldn't hear the voices from the sidelines at all. Even if he knew it was a trap, he would still rush forward without a second thought rather than cower in hesitation!

Running at full strength, Fuji finally managed to reach the drop shot. However, a full second before Fuji returned it, Kiryu had already leaped into the air, smashing the ball directly onto Fuji's left knee!

"15-0!"

"Wari-na (Sorry about that), Fuji. I really tried my best to control the trajectory so it wouldn't hit your injured leg, but you insisted on blocking my shot with your other leg. You can't blame me for that."

Kiryu walked up to the net, looking down at Fuji who had collapsed to the ground, and smiled evilly without a shred of apology.

"You bastard, are you even playing tennis?"

From out of nowhere, a hand shot out and grabbed Kiryu directly by the collar. Seeing this fellow injure Fuji once again, Amane's cold eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he demanded in a low voice:

"Hey you guys! Ayama-ku (Stop right now)!"

The umpire hurried down, shouting sternly to intervene.

"Fuji, are you really alright?"

Turning his head, the umpire's voice softened.

"Don't worry about it."

Fuji sat up and waved his hand.

"I'm genuinely fine. Please continue the match."

Seeing the continued worry in the umpire's eyes, Fuji offered a faint smile and forced his battered body back to his feet.

"Both legs are injured, and that guy Fuji still wants to keep playing..."

Inoue守was astonished by Fuji's persistence.

"I figured Fuji wouldn't give up. Otherwise, he would have quit long ago," Hokuō Kaede said.

"Even if he stopped this match, there are still singles matches left to turn things around..." Shibasori said with a heartache.

"But if we did that, the singles matches would lose any room for error. I'm sure Fuji took that into consideration, which is why he hasn't chosen to forfeit yet, especially since we're still sitting on a large lead in the overall score." Hokuō Sara added.

"While I hate to praise the enemy at a time like this, I have to admit that Kiryu's shot was deliberately aimed at Fuji's left leg. In his red-eyed state, his ball control is not a whit inferior to Fuji's."

Inui Sadaharu watched Hiromi Kiryu with a calm expression.

Fuji prepared to serve once more, but facing Kiryu's return, he could no longer keep up. As he ran, stabbing pains flared through both of his legs. Stumbling and pitching forward to the ground, he felt a blur of motion kick up the wind and flash rapidly past his eyes!