Chapter 48: Evergreen Academy vs. Youth Academy

"Go for it, Ryuya Sakaki!"
The cheers from the crowd and the students of Housaki rang out relentlessly from the sidelines. Although they had lost both doubles matches, Housaki Middle School had always prided itself on developing well-rounded tennis players. They encouraged their students to excel in both singles and doubles, and thus, singles was just as much a strength of the school as doubles.
Hearing the voices of support from the stands, Ryuya Sakaki smiled with confidence. His grin grew even wider when he saw the petite figure of Mei Matsubara step onto the court. "Oh, looks like a little shrimp. This should be an easy win, right?"
"Hehe, I’m Mei Matsubara, with two years of tennis experience. Please go easy on me."
Both Matsubara and Sakaki walked to the net, where the former extended a hand and smiled kindly.
"As expected from a school with such a solid tennis tradition. This is what Housaki's true strength should look like. Those two doubles matches must have been outliers. All right, from now on, I'll turn the tide with the singles matches!"
Sakaki chuckled to himself, then cleared his throat and replied, "Sure thing. I’m Ryuya Sakaki, with eight years of tennis experience. I hope you’ll show me what you’ve got!"
With the match officially underway, it took less than a minute for Mei Matsubara to shut out Sakaki, taking the first game 1-0.
"You’ve got to be kidding me! It’s already 1-0?"
Sakaki’s face twisted in disbelief, almost comically so. Why was this petite Matsubara nothing like the pushover he’d imagined?
For the next five minutes or so, Mei Matsubara continued with the same tactics as the top pair in doubles, not only taking the match 6-0, but also preventing Sakaki from scoring a single point in any game.
As the umpire called the score, Sakaki stood rooted to the spot, as if turned to stone, while the roaring cheers outside abruptly fell silent.
"Match over! Evergreen Academy wins! Six to zero!"
"That was unsatisfying. I didn’t even get to use my ‘Universal Pull’ move once during the entire match…"
Though victorious, Mei Matsubara looked crestfallen and dejected.
"Damn it... At the very least, we can’t lose every match!"
At the sidelines, with a bandage across his nose, Rikiya Nobi clenched his fists and spoke with spirited resolve.
...
"Match over! Six to zero! Evergreen Academy’s Shuji Fuji wins!"
With a gentle smile, Fuji turned and left the court, racket in hand, while Rikiya Nobi’s face contorted in defeat. To others, this boy, who smiled throughout the entire match, might have seemed refined and courteous. But to Nobi, he was nothing short of a smiling devil.
Now, the scoreboard showed Evergreen Academy leading Housaki Middle School, every match ending at 6-0.
"Incredible... Just one more and they’ll complete the ‘skewer’..."
Mamoru Inoue, seeing that Evergreen had won four out of five matches, couldn’t help but marvel.
"Inoue-senpai, what does ‘skewer’ mean?"
Saori Shiba looked at him with curiosity.
"It’s tennis slang. When a team wins both doubles and all three singles matches with scores of 6-0, it’s called a ‘skewer’—like dumplings lined up on a stick."
Inoue gestured to illustrate his point.
"I see..."
Saori Shiba nodded, half-understanding.
"If it’s a 6-0 like Matsubara’s and Fuji’s, where the opponent doesn’t even win a single point in any of the six games, that’s called a ‘dumpling wrap’."
"There’s a term for that too?"
"These aren’t official terms, just some popular slang among players."
"Although Evergreen still has the match between Kunimitsu Tezuka and Naruto Uzumaki to play, the outcome is already decided. Housaki has no chance of winning," Inoue said gravely.
"Match over! Evergreen wins! Six to zero!"
Tezuka’s match soon ended as well. Defeated, Naruto Uzumaki could only shake his head with a wry smile—there was simply too great a gap in strength.
About ten minutes later, the main players from both Evergreen Academy and Housaki Middle School, now back in their long-sleeved warm-ups, stood face-to-face as the umpire descended from his ladder with the results sheet.
"Evergreen Academy: Doubles 2-0, Singles 3-0, Total 5-0! Evergreen Academy is victorious!"
"Now, both teams, salute again!"
At the order, both teams bowed deeply and spoke in unison: "Thank you very much!"
"Who would have thought Evergreen Academy would emerge as the dark horse of this year’s regional preliminaries!"
"Exactly! Five matches, all won 6-0. That’s unprecedented in the history of the preliminaries!"
"I’m starting to think Evergreen has a shot at becoming a seeded school!"
"I still bet on Seigaku. They’re the top seed, after all!"
"I think North High might get knocked out!"
The park’s loudspeakers blared again: "Kurofumi Eight Schools wins!"
"Hmph..."
Dressed in a dark tracksuit, his hair styled in a pompadour, a young man looked down at his opponent, who was kneeling on the ground, and sneered, "To be honest, I don’t like ending matches this quickly, but you really are only fit to be my appetizer."
From the sidelines, Mamoru Inoue, who had been filming, lowered his camera, inwardly thrilled: "That’s the famous ‘appetizer’ catchphrase of Kurofumi Eight Schools’ Akimitsu Doryuki, who radiates the aura of a king."
"Inoue-senpai, who is that guy? He’s so arrogant," Saori Shiba grumbled, unimpressed by Akimitsu Doryuki.
"Akimitsu Doryuki, the ace of Kurofumi Eight Schools. He never plays at full strength, yet always wins in overwhelming fashion, hence his famous ‘appetizer’ line. It’s said that the tennis team at Kurofumi Eight Schools often practices with high school players, so their strength far surpasses that of ordinary middle schoolers. That’s why they’re the number two seed," Inoue explained.
...
"This afternoon we face Seigaku."
At that moment, Fuji and Tezuka stood alone beside the artificial pond and fountain, speaking softly.
"Yes, that’s right."
"Are you really okay with your match against Captain Yamato?" Fuji asked with some concern.
"Don’t worry. Even against Captain Yamato, I won’t let my guard down for a moment."
"I’m not worried about the outcome," Fuji shook his head.
"My arm’s fine. The odd feeling I had before was just from overtraining; a couple of days’ rest and I’m back to normal."
Tezuka flexed his left hand, unconcerned.
Fuji said nothing more, but the worry on his face only deepened.
As a seeded school, Kurofumi Eight Schools had unsurprisingly defeated their opponent to advance. If Evergreen Academy could beat Seigaku in the afternoon, they would face Kurofumi next.
Though they were the second seed, the strength of Kurofumi Eight Schools could not be underestimated. Compared to Suzuran and North High, their abilities were closest to Seigaku’s.
But for now, Fuji and Tezuka set aside thoughts of Kurofumi Eight Schools. Their most pressing challenge was the formidable Seigaku. The two gathered the entire team for a pre-match briefing.
"Everyone, don’t take the match against Seigaku lightly this afternoon. Give it everything you’ve got!" Tezuka said in a low, commanding voice.
"Yes!"
"Here’s the lineup: Doubles Two—myself, Sadaharu Inui, and Fuji. Fuji, let’s play our best. Doubles One—Shigeyama Kumakiri and Renji Yanagi. Shigeyama, don’t let the pressure get to you. Singles Three—Jin Akutsu. Whether on or off the court, keep your emotions in check. Singles Two—Mei Matsubara. During the match, avoid provoking your opponent unnecessarily; it’s disrespectful. Singles One—Kunimitsu Tezuka. That’s all."
Sadaharu Inui read out the lineup calmly, offering a word of advice to each player.
At the tournament registration desk in the park:
The midday sun hung high in the sky, pouring down its fiery rays, but a cool breeze continued to blow in waves. The atmosphere was lively, with many people discussing the upcoming matches.
"This afternoon’s match is Evergreen versus Seigaku. Seigaku’s sure to win—a seeded team against a non-seeded one, it’s obvious."
"You must not know—Evergreen is the only non-seeded school among the eight that has beaten all its opponents 6-0 today. Even Seigaku hasn’t achieved such a record!"
"Hmph, just because Seigaku hasn’t done it in the preliminaries doesn’t mean they can’t. Stop exaggerating!"
"Exactly! So what if they’re a dark horse? Evergreen is an unknown school—they can’t possibly compare to Seigaku, the tennis powerhouse."
After lunch.
On the court, the umpire called out, "Evergreen’s Sadaharu Inui and Shuji Fuji versus Seigaku’s Oishi and Kikumaru. One set to determine the winner. Seigaku to serve!"