"I'll give you first serve, Fuji," Yamato nodded toward Fuji, then turned and walked to the backcourt.
The others all moved to the sidelines. Fuji slowly approached the baseline. Both he and Yamato had already completed their warm-ups, so there was no need to waste time now.
"This is the first full match between middle schoolers and high schoolers. I can't afford to slack off—otherwise Akashi-kun might get angry~" Fuji took a deep breath, glanced at Akashi who had somehow appeared courtside, and muttered quietly.
By the way, Akashi was planning to join Court 3 after the shuffle matches ended. While he was clearly a confirmed member of the First String, he hadn't officially rejoined the lineup yet. For now, he still had to enter one of the courts—though of course, certain privileges were naturally afforded to someone like Akashi.
"Now starting the singles three match: Court 3's Yamato Yūdai versus Court 5's Fuji Shūsuke! One-set match! Fuji Shūsuke to serve!"
Fuji gently bounced the ball against the ground, testing its rebound. His brain was already running at high speed, and all his senses had reached their peak. A soft, hazy glow radiated from his body.
"Wind Technique—Hikari Kaze!" As Fuji's voice fell, everything around him seemed to freeze. Everyone looked suspended in time, completely still. Only Fuji and the objects he touched could move freely.
He tossed the ball up, slowly raised his racket, and swung down toward the falling ball. It transformed into a beam of light and shot across the court. Yamato didn't move an inch, still caught in that frozen moment.
"ACE! 15-0!"
Only after the umpire's announcement did Yamato react. He turned, surprised, to see the ball lightly bouncing outside the court. Clearly, Fuji had served without him noticing a thing.
"Oh my~ That was impressive! Didn't expect Fuji to already enter the ultra high-speed dimension. Especially since he's not really a speed-based player!" Irie on the sideline looked a bit astonished at the display of Hikari Kaze.
"Ultra high-speed dimension, huh? Hmph! That's quite the kid!" Oni also gave his praise. He was no stranger to techniques of this type.
"Even though his opponent is the former Seigaku captain, Fuji used Hikari Kaze right from the start. Looks like he's had a breakthrough," Akashi stepped beside Oni and spoke calmly.
"Seriously, your generation of middle schoolers are all little monsters~" Oni gave a wry smile.
Back on court, Yamato finally came to his senses. His tone was a mix of pride and bitterness.
"Seems the gap between us just keeps growing. But I'm proud to have such a strong underclassman, Fuji."
"Thanks for the compliment, Captain Yamato. Now, ready for the next one?" Fuji smiled slightly at him.
Yamato saw Fuji getting ready to serve again... then immediately heard the sound of the ball hitting the ground behind him, followed by the umpire's familiar voice.
"ACE! 30-0!"
"Ara ara~ Hey, Ochi-senpai! Fuji's serve is almost as fast as your Mach Serve!" Mōri widened his eyes from the sideline and elbowed Ochi with a teasing grin.
"No. His serve and my Mach Serve are two completely different concepts. But with his ability, I doubt he'd be afraid of my Mach Serve," Ochi replied seriously.
"Oh? Then the upcoming First String ranking matches are going to be interesting." Without realizing it, Mōri's expression turned serious too.
"Only just realizing that, Mōri-chan~?" Tanegashima suddenly popped up behind the two, speaking playfully.
"Geez! Don't sneak up like that, Tanegashima-senpai!" Mōri looked helpless.
While they chatted, Fuji had already fired off another Hikari Kaze on court. With Yamato's pitiful five attribute values, there was no way he could resist. He just stood there dumbly.
"ACE! 40-0!"
"GAME! Fuji Shūsuke! 1-0!"
"So that's how it is. You've already reached this level, huh~? Looks like I have no chance of winning this match. But as your senpai, I'm not gonna give up that easily!" Yamato didn't seem bothered after losing the first game. He never planned on beating Fuji in the first place.
"I figured as much, Captain Yamato," Fuji replied gently.
The second game was Yamato's service game. He stepped up to the baseline, touched his right arm, gave a self-deprecating smile, then tossed the ball up. As the sound of the hit rang out, the ball whistled through the air toward the low corner on Fuji's right side.
"Gen'u Yume Utsutsu!"
Fuji dashed to the right corner and swung his racket to intercept—but shockingly, the ball passed straight through the strings and slowly vanished. At the same time, a ball suddenly appeared in the left corner and flew out of bounds.
"ACE! 15-0!"
"Gen'u Yume Utsutsu, huh? That's a nostalgic technique," Fuji said softly, eyes fixed on the ball outside the court.
"I'm guessing this won't work on you again, will it, Fuji?" Yamato shrugged, looking relaxed.
"You saw through it~ As expected of you, Captain Yamato," Fuji smiled.
Yamato stood quietly at the baseline and served again. Just like before, the ball shot toward the right-side corner. But Fuji ignored it and ran toward the left.
The next second, the ball hit the right-side corner and bounced out of bounds. Fuji turned his head, feigning surprise, while Yamato stared at him, exasperated.
"ACE! 30-0!"
"I'm always hanging around Irie-senpai. Did you really think a performance like that would fool me, Fuji?" Yamato half-laughed, half-cried.
"Mm! I like that line. Fuji, your acting definitely needs more work. Maybe we can discuss it after the match!" Irie chimed in from the sideline, smiling brightly.
"Is that so? I guess I'm just not cut out for theatrics. I'll have to learn more from you later, Irie-senpai!" Fuji returned to his usual smile.
"Alright. I think that's enough joking around. Time to get serious, Fuji," Yamato's tone turned firm.
"Then… I won't hold back, Captain Yamato!" Fuji's expression shifted to a serious one, and his eyes opened again.
The match resumed. Yamato served for the third time, once again using Gen'u Yume Utsutsu. But this time, Fuji wasn't going easy. He instantly read the ball's real trajectory and slid straight toward it.
Fuji angled his racket to slice at the bouncing ball. As the ball rolled to the edge of his strings, he flipped the racket quickly, accelerating the spin, then gave a forceful slice forward. The ball spun fiercely over the net toward Yamato.
"Fifth Counter—Hekatoncheires no Monban!"
Yamato reacted right away. He recognized it as one of Fuji's six counters. Even though he knew how it worked, his own technique just wasn't enough to overcome it.
Still, Yamato gave his best shot, trying to lob the ball high in an attempt to clear the net. But Fuji had already turned his back and was walking to the baseline.
"Give up, Yamato-senpai. That ball's not getting over the net."
Just as Fuji said, the ball arced high, then suddenly dropped as it neared the net. It smacked into the net cord and rolled slowly to the ground.
"FAULT! 30-15!"
"So it still doesn't work? Looks like you've refined that move a lot since your first year, Fuji~" Yamato didn't seem bothered by the point loss and even offered praise.
In the following rallies, Fuji relied solely on Hekatoncheires no Monban to win point after point with ease. Honestly, Yamato's only real strength on Court 3 was his Gen'u Yume Utsutsu, but against someone like Fuji—a technical ceiling—it simply wasn't enough.
"GAME! Fuji Shūsuke! 2-0!"
"Yare yare~ So Gen'u Yume Utsutsu alone really isn't enough to get past you, Fuji!" Yamato shook his head, amused, but then his eyes suddenly turned sharp.