98. The Plan of the Kisarazu Brothers

“Ah… I actually lost...” Shiori Shiba moved the camera away from her face, regret in her voice. “Qian and Yanagi were already nearly spent. Even if that shot went over the net, whether they could return it was another question.” Inoue Mamoru only shook his head.

“So close. If it hadn’t clipped the net, they might have gone a little farther against Rokkaku…” Shinya Yanagisawa pulled at the net tape.

“Synchronization… what an extraordinary move. We can only follow in their wake,” Kuroha said, standing at the net with Qian Zhengzhi and taking his hand in admiration.

“Why, why, why did that last shot miss at the end?” Shu Hikan’s question made Qian and Renji Yanagi glance at each other. Kuroha gave a rueful smile. “Sorry, Shuxi. That’s just how he is.”

“Enough, Shuxi.” Kuroha added immediately.

        “Sorry, Tezuka. We’ve lost.” Qian and Renji walked to Tezuka, the former lowering his head.
“It’s fine if you tried your best.”
Tezuka offered no blame. In his eyes, the two had poured all their effort and sweat into the court, and losing at the end was simply inevitable.

“We win.” The old man on the bench knelt, and the wind teased his beard.
“Rokkaku is truly strong…” Shibato Ryo, seeing that Qian and Renji had fought hard and still lost, felt nothing but frustration.

“Not a good start,” Akutsu said coldly.

Now begins the first doubles match between Seisei Academy and Rokkaku Middle School. As the loudspeaker announced it, Tezuka looked toward the sideline where Yoshiro Akase and Shinya Yanagisawa stood, then nodded lightly.

“Well then, it’s our turn,” Ryo Kisarazu adjusted his cap.
“Just keep your head steady,” Jun Kisarazu said, tapping the strings of his racket.

A single set to decide the match. Yoshiro Akase serves.

Right from the opening rally, both sides plunged into a seething contest. The four players traded shots back and forth, and after three or four exchanges the outcome was clear.

“Boom!”
“Seisei’s Yoshiro wins, fifteen-nil!”
“As expected of Akase,” Shinya said with a sly smile. “He put it right where neither of them could reach, of course!”

“Remarkable, Yoshiro Akase…” Shiori praised him. “It’s a doubles match, and yet he looks like he’s playing singles.”

Shibayama Kumakiri marveled at the overwhelming individual power Akase showed, every shot filled with burst and wicked spin. Even though the Kisarazu brothers were in perfect sync, Akase kept sending back shots they could not answer.

The rally continued. Shinya still played as Akase’s support, constantly easing the pressure from both wings. He understood that Akase was now carrying the pair with a kind of single-player force, the one-man thrust that made their doubles terrifying, tearing open the opposing formation where it was weakest.

Akase had started that way because he and Shinya had already discussed it beforehand. As a core member of Seisei, Akase didn’t think of victory as merely putting the point on the board. What he wanted was not only to win, but to make Seisei stronger.

After Seisei’s strongest doubles pair had just fallen, morale had collapsed not only among the starters but among the substitutes and the students as well. Akase had to win, and he had to restore everyone’s spirits.

“1-0, change ends. Jun Kisarazu serves!”

“What a match,” a few spectators called out. “That Akase fellow is like a blade—every stroke tears through Rokkaku’s defense. Even when they counter, Shinya appears in the right place at the right moment. Seisei’s doubles are terrifyingly fierce.”
“Exactly. It looks like only Akase is fighting two players, but Shinya’s movement means you can’t ignore his presence.”
“The Kanto Tournament is magnificent tonight!”

Many in the crowd praised Akase and Shinya’s doubles display, exclaiming that it was as thrilling as one-on-one combat and, on the second glance, flawless pair play. The scene set every onlooker alight with adrenaline.
“Seeking to repay what they took earlier… they’re really pressing us.”

“Jun, if their doubles is built around Akase as the main attacker, we can turn that against them and target him,” said Ryo Kisarazu calmly. “We just need to make him spend his stamina first.”
He had a plan.
“Exploiting their own strategy, you say? Good idea. Let’s try it.”

With that, Jun Kisarazu tossed the ball and swung.

Another flurry of lightning-fast exchanges followed. Akase’s cut-and-strike volley was decisive, and Seisei went to 2-0 at once.

“Wow!” cries erupted from the stands. Inoue Mamoru exclaimed, “What an attack—he broke Rokkaku’s service game outright!”
“Right,” Shiori nodded. “It feels like Rokkaku had no answer at all.”

Shiori gave a tiny nod.
“There’s nothing surprising in it. Everything is exactly as expected.”
Sweat beaded densely on Akase’s dark face. He ignored all the cheers.

“Enough. Let’s close this match in one sweep, shall we?”

Shinya lifted his racket, pulled a ball from his pocket, and his eyes became suddenly sharp.
“Don’t rush, Jun. Their savage offense will consume a lot of energy. We’re only gifting them a few games,” he said.
Ryo Kisarazu steadied his brother’s mood. Even though they had already lost the service game, the other side had also spent some of theirs. At this intensity, Yoshiro Akase couldn’t hold out forever.

“Mm.”
“Game: Seisei leads 4-0!”

“Excellent. Akase and Shinya are giving them no chance to fight back. We may take this one in this game,” Shibayama Kumakiri said, glancing at the scoreboard, a flash of joy crossing his face.
“Rokkaku’s doubles have been flawed since Kuroha and Shuxi played. Qian and Yanagi only failed because they had no stamina left. Akase and Shinya’s nonstop assault is the same pattern, that same force that can tear through a defense. If this continues, the match is over by now.”
Shibato Ryo said this.

Yet Akuto noticed something else.
“Still, the other side doesn’t seem rushed,” he said. “Ryo and Jun haven’t shown a single sign of panic even after going 4-0 down. They’re calm, as if it was all part of the plan.”

“Mm, more than that. Akase’s fitness is already dropping, while the Kisarazu brothers barely seem to be sweating. They’re the ones on the defensive and still so composed—there’s something off.”

Fuji opened his half-lidded eyes and spoke quietly.
“From the data, the older Kisarazu brother is a man of few words, while the younger is cool and controlled. Even if a mountain were to collapse in front of them, their expressions wouldn’t change. On the whole, both are very rational. In a situation like this, staying this unflustered with such a wide deficit can only mean they’re planning something.”

Qian Zhengzhi flipped through his notebook and added his analysis.
Nayori Matsubara remained silent, staring unwaveringly at the court.
“Looks good, Akase. Looks like victory is in sight,” Shinya said with a wide grin.
“Yeah,” Akase replied, nodding once. He wiped the beads of sweat sliding toward his brow with the sweatband on his wrist, feeling the rough dryness on his skin and the cool wind passing over him. His tense heart loosened a little.

This was his first match with Shinya—not only to avenge the second-doubles loss of Qian and Yanagi, but also to make a sharp first impression on his debut. No matter how many reasons there were, the one thing that kept him inventing these tactics was simple: he had to win.

“The time has come, Jun,” Ryo said.
“Whack,” Jun Kisarazu answered, two hands gripping his racket, eyes fixed on his brother’s serve as he had fully prepared.

Purple Pen Literature