"Game and match, Kirihara Akaya! Six games to love!" the referee cried, as the tennis match between Kirihara Akaya, a first-year student from Rikkaidai, and Chotaro Otori, a first-year student from Hyotei, ended.

"Yahoo!" Kirihara cried, celebrating his dominant win by happily jumping up and down and raising his arms up in victory. "I'm on fire today!" He then stopped celebrating and turned around to look at his opponent, who had walked up to the net. He scratched the back of his head as he laughed awkwardly, slightly embarrassed. "Ah, but don't feel too bad though! You've got a really good serve there!" Kirihara reassured. He then had a smug grin on his face. "Have to admit, you almost got one past me a couple of times, but I was like, 'Oh no you don't!' and I returned every single last one of them!" He scratched the side of his nose as he let out a small laugh. "So you see, it wasn't because you were too weak or anything, it was just that I was too strong! So don't let this loss put you down or anything, alright?" He looked at Chotaro, who was still standing in front of his side of the net and who hadn't said anything since the match ended. Kirihara frowned. "Oh come on! What else do you want me to say man?! I mean, there are just so many compliments I can dish out in so little time!"

"Idiot!" Kirihara cringed and nervously looked behind him to see an angry Sanada Genichiro. "You're supposed to go up to your opponent and thank him for the match!"

Sudden realization hit Kirihara hard. "Oh, that's right!" He ran up to the net and apologetically bowed repeatedly to the referee. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! I completely forgot!"

The referee sighed and shook his head. "It's alright. Just remember to do it after every match, win or lose, alright?"

Kirihara nodded. "Right, right, of course!"

The referee sighed. "Alright then."

After the two thanked each other for the match, Kirihara said, "Sorry about that." He eyed his seniors nervously. "I'm probably gonna get chewed out for this."

Chotaro smiled. "That's alright. I probably would've acted the same way if I had a win this good."

Kirihara let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was afraid that you'd take it the wrong way."

Chotaro smiled and let out a small laugh. "Well, I try not to."

Kirihara smiled back. "Hey, you're a pretty nice guy! What school are you from?"

"Hyotei," Chotaro answered.

"Hyotei, huh? Then I guess I'll see you in the Kanto Regional Tournament next year, huh?"

"Well, I'll try," Chotaro looked down, a little sad. "It's pretty hard to be a regular on the tennis team in my school."

Kirihara thought for a moment. "Aw yeah. You guys go by a 'one loss and you're out' policy, don't cha?" He laughed. "I guess that'd be good for me, since I don't plan on losing, but," he looked gravely at his seniors who had come to watch his match, "I've got bigger fish to fry." He then blinked, looked at Chotaro, and quickly added, "Not that you don't have big fish to fry back at your school or anything, it's just, well…." Kirihara was struggling to come up with something comforting to say.

Chotaro smiled, and said, "Don't worry, I get it."

Kirihara looked at him, surprised. "You do?"

Chotaro nodded. "Yeah, you've got someone you want to beat." He looked at his friend, who had come to watch his match. "Just like someone else I know."

Kirihara let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, you DO get it!" He casually pointed his tennis racket towards Chotaro. "You're a pretty cool dude! Too bad we're from different schools; otherwise, I think we would've gotten along pretty well! Ah well, gotta go!" He started to leave the court, but then looked back one more time, and said, "And I guess I'll see you at the Kanto Regional Tournament too, regular or not! But as for me," he pointed at himself with his thumb and laid his racket on his shoulder, "I'll definitely be one!"

Chotaro stared at the other boy for a moment, before smiling, nodding his head, and saying, "Yeah. I guess I'll see you."

Kirihara smiled, before finally leaving the court. After a few seconds of watching him leave, Chotaro eventually left too and they both went their separate ways: Kirihara going to his seniors, and Chotaro going to his childhood friend, Hiyoshi Wakashi.

"So, how did I do?" Kirihara asked his seniors. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Of course!" Marui Bunta said. "You've been dominating the competition after all!"

"And you've been developing quite nicely," the captain, Yukimura Seiichi, added with a smile. He turned to the team's treasurer, Yanagi Renji. "Isn't that right, Yanagi?"

"Yes," Yanagi answered.

"Really?!" Kirihara asked, obviously getting excited due to all the praise he was getting. "Awesome! So… how much have I been improving?!"

Yanagi thought for a moment. "Well, let me put it this way: It isn't everyday that I find somebody who I constantly have to change my data on."

"Dang, that much huh?!" Kirihara cried, about to celebrate, but was stopped dead in his tracks by one of Sanada's menacing glares.

"It's too early to celebrate just yet! You've still got to face one more opponent in this tournament, and you obviously still have room for improvement!"

Kirihara shook his head, shaking away his fear of Sanada, and put up a more serious countenance. "Y-yeah."

It was the 2007 Newcomer Tournament, and it looked like every first-year student from every middle school in the Kanto region had come to compete. Of course, for Kirihara, this tournament was going to be a stepping stone for him to achieve his goal of defeating Rikkaidai's three monsters (Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi) and becoming a regular on Rikkaidai's tennis team, so naturally he wanted to breeze through the competition and win the whole thing. And so far, he had done just that. Every match he had played up till now had been a dominant win, six games to love, twenty-four consecutive points in a row in each match. Admittedly, he had to fight a little bit harder for some of those points than he had expected, but all in all, it was a pretty good day for him, but deep down, he knew that he'd have to do a lot more than that in order to catch up and beat the three monsters of Rikkaidai, much more.

"Remember the Rikkaidai motto!" Sanada said, folding his arms. "Losing is unacceptable! Whether it is an official match or a practice match, it doesn't matter!"

Kirihara quickly stood at attention. "Yes sir!" he cried.

Yukimura couldn't help but let out a little laugh. "Hey Sanada, don't you think you can go a little bit easier on him today? He's been doing just that."

Sanada looked at his childhood friend. "Nonsense Yukimura. We'll all be graduating one day, and with Kirihara being the best candidate so far to take the lead after we leave, we need to start instilling the spirit of Rikkaidai on him now! Besides, you were the one who created the motto in the first place!"

Yukimura smiled. "Yes, but you being angry all the time is bad for your health."

Sanada, taken aback by his friend's little joke, looked away, a small blush on his face. "O-oh, so that's what you meant."

Yanagi stepped forward. "In all seriousness Kirihara, despite the fact that you have indeed been improving in leaps and bounds, the motto still stands. You can't afford to lose."

Kirihara smiled. "Got it. Just leave it to me."

"Now if only he could say that about his school work," student council member, Yagyu Hiroshi said, lifting his glasses with his index and middle fingers.

Marui looked at him curiously. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Yagyu, out of habit, lifted his glasses again, and answered, "I was able to calculate Kirhara's grade point average." He looked at Kirihara. "You're dangerously close to losing your 'C'."

Yukimura frowned. "Is that true, Kirihara?"

Kirihara scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Well… I guess you can say that."

"Idiot!" Sanada cried. "You understand that if you don't have at least a 'C' grade point average or higher, you won't be allowed to participate in any sporting events, right? That includes being a regular on the team!"

"Of course I do!" Kirihara cried. "But it's not that simple!"

"What type of weak-willed excuse is that?!" Sanada cried.

Kirihara diverted his eyes away from the intense vice-captain. "Just because I want a good grade doesn't mean that's what I get."

Yukimura nodded understandingly. "I see, so you need a tutor." He turned to Yagyu. "Yagyu, which subjects are dragging Kirihara's grade down?"

"English mostly," Yagyu answered. "And now that I think about it, if we help him on that subject alone, it should be enough to keep him in a comfortable spot grade-wise."

Yukimura smiled. "That's good." He turned to the rest of his team. "Alright, who's willing to volunteer as Kirihara's English tutor until his English grade goes up?"

Marui raised his hand. "Leave it to me! I know the perfect tutor to help Kirihara with his English."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? And who's that?"

Before Marui could answer the captain's question, Yanagi said, "'Jackal' is what you were going to say," he turned to Marui, "isn't it?"

Marui laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Can't get anything past you, can I?"

Jackal Kuwahara, who had been quiet up until this point, was taken aback by his friend's nonchalant response to Yanagi's question. Awkwardly pointed to himself, and asked, "Wait, so you were seriously going to suggest me?"

Marui coolly glanced at him. "What? Are you saying that you can't do it?"

Jackal, again, was taken aback by his friend's response. "Well… no… it's just…."

"Ah, forget about it Jackal!" Kirihara cried. He turned to the other seniors. "And don't worry about it! I can get my grades up all by myself!"

Yagyu lifted his glasses again. "Understood, but you might have to study for hours on end in order to bring your English grade up."

Kirihara folded his arms. "If I need to study for hours on end, then I'll study for hours on end!"

"Good, because you have an English test the beginning of next week."

Kirihara flinched. "Seriously?!"

Yagyu nodded. "Yes."

"Oh geez, then I really DO need to study!"

"I suggest you go home immediately after the tournament is over and start studying as hard as you can."

Kirihara nodded furiously. "Y-yeah! I'll do that!"

Jackal looked around. The referees were giving the results of their matches to the officials. "You might as well start warming up. It looks like the last match will start any moment now."

Kirihara nodded. "Right!" He then ran off to go warm up.

As everyone watched him go, Yagyu Hiroshi walked up to the group and said, "Sorry for being late. I needed to go to the bathroom."

Everyone turned around, shocked. "Yagyu?!" Marui cried. "But you're right here!" he said, pointing at the Yagyu next to him.

The Yagyu next to Marui smiled, and said, "Puri." He took off his wig to reveal gray-silver hair in a rat-tail style and took off his glasses. It was Nio Masaharu, the team's trickster.

Everyone put two and two together. "We are all," Sanada said slowly, "still too soft."

Meanwhile, Chotaro and Hiyoshi were having a conversation of their own.

"He was right you know," Hiyoshi said, trying to comfort his friend, "you serve really is something."

"Yeah, I know," Chotaro said, though he sounded a bit depressed. "But he still returned all of them." He sighed. "I've still got a lot to work on."

"Maybe I can help with that," a voice said behind them. They turned to see their seniors (and Kabaji Munehiro) walking up to them, the voice in particular coming from Taki Haginosuke, the Hyotei tennis team's treasurer.

"Taki!" Chotaro cried. "What do you mean by that?"

Taki smiled, and showed them the speedometer in his hand. "I was measuring the speed of your serves during the match," he explained. "Every serve you did was one hundred and eighty kilometers per hour. You have a fast serve, and the speed of your serve is consistent. That's pretty good, especially for a first-year."

Chotaro couldn't help but smile at the praise he was getting. "T-thank you."

Taki help up his index finger to stop him. "But," he added, "it could be faster." He took some measuring tape out from his pocket. "Do you mind pretending to do your serve for me?"

"Huh? Why?" Chotaro asked.

Taki smiled knowingly. "Because I want to measure your serving movements. Like how much you twist your wrists, how much you lean back when the ball's in the air, or how much you move your arm. Oh, wait just a sec," he took out a timer from his other pocket, "and I'll use this to measure how fast certain parts of your body move from one point to another. And just to be safe," Taki smiled again, "I'll also use my internal clock and compare the two different times (if I need to)."

"But… why do you want to take all of those measurements?"

"Well, I'll look at all the measurements I've made and make some calculations. If all goes well, I can probably help you find a way to make that serve of yours faster than it is now."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Chotaro said, in awe of his senior's measuring abilities. He then looked Taki over, and asked, "But, don't you need something to write all those measurements on?"

Taki shook his head. "Not to worry." He pointed at his head. "I also have an internal chart."

"Whoa, seriously?"

Taki nodded. "Yep. I incorporate all my measurements into my tennis, so you can say I kind of have to."

"Wow! Isn't that amazing Hiyoshi?"

Hiyoshi shrugged. "I guess." He looked at Taki. "But doesn't it get tiring, carrying all that stuff around with you and whatnot?"

Yushi Oshitari couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "He's got a point there Taki. It wouldn't hurt to leave some of the stuff you bring around at home, would it?"

Taki laughed awkwardly. "Well, now that you mention it."

Shishido Ryu couldn't help but get slightly ticked off by this. "Seriously man? Getting called out by a first-year over something as simple as that? That's super lame!"

"Everything to you is super lame," Taki scolded.

"Not everything," Shishido denied, "just the obvious stuff."

Taki sighed. "Well, anyway," he turned back to Chotaro, "do you mind?"

Chotaro shook his head. "No, go ahead!" Taki then ushered Chotaro to a spot with adequate swinging room and they got down to business.

As they were doing that, Hiyoshi looked around, and asked, "So, where's Jiro? Is he asleep somewhere?" He was referring to Jiro Akutagawa, a talented member of the Hyotei regulars, though he was usually found sleeping.

Gakuto Mukahi scowled at the younger tennis player. "Hey, don't talk about your senior like that!" He looked around for any sign of his fellow regular. When he finally spotted him, he pointed him out. "Ah, see! There he is… NOT sleeping! He's talking to one of those Rikkaidai guys!" Everyone looked at where he was pointing and sure enough, Jiro was talking to Marui, and for once, looked completely awake and surprisingly energetic.

Oshitari sighed. "That Jiro, how can it be so hard to keep track of him?"

Shishido shrugged. "Beats me," he said.

Gakuto turned to Hiyoshi and placed his hands on his hips. "See? Your senior does more than just sleep you know! The next time you see him, make sure to apologize for thinking so lightly of him, got it?"

Hiyoshi let out a small sigh. "Yeah, yeah."

"Hey, what did I just say about talking to your seniors!"

"Let it go Gakuto," the captain, Atobe Keigo, said. "It's not easy to be as persuasive and captivating as a king, isn't that right, Kabaji?"

"Yeah," Kabaji said, and he said nothing more.

"Oh, now that I think about it," Chotaro called from where he was reenacting his serve to Taki, "why didn't Kabaji participate in the Newcomer Tournament?"

Atobe looked at him and smiled. "It's because I'm personally overseeing his training. And with the skills he has, I think it'd be best if he laid low until next year," he looked at Kabaji, "isn't that right, Kabaji?"

Kabaji nodded. "Yeah."

Hiyoshi scowled at his fellow first-year. "So he's getting special training, huh?" He already knew for a fact that Kabaji had monstrous strength that, even for the seniors, made him difficult to win against, but now he's just finding out that Kabaji was getting some personal training by the so-called "King" himself? "It's obvious that Atobe is training him to be a singles player," Hiyoshi deduced. "After all," he looked at Oshitari, Gakuto, Taki, and Shishido, "we've already got four guys who can play doubles, and games only ask for two doubles pairs, so we're in the clear on that. The only spots left are singles positions. Atobe obviously plays Singles-1, and Jiro can either play Singles-2 or Singles-3, which leaves only one singles spot left. And even if he wasn't being trained for singles competition, then that'll just mean that one of the other regulars could take that singles spot." It wasn't that Hiyoshi had any personal dislike towards the larger boy, it was just that with Kabaji already possessing monstrous strength and him just finding out now that Kabaji was getting special training from the captain, it looked like Hiyoshi's goal to overthrow the "King" and claim his Singles-1 spot continued to grow farther and farther away from reach.

It didn't help that his chances were getting slimmer and slimmer by the second, as Taki was going to help Chotaro improve his already amazing serve, and all Hiyoshi had to lean back on was his newly found, underdeveloped Enbu tennis. One day at the Hyotei tennis courts, the coach, Taro Sakaki, noticed that he was having trouble on his follow ups, and suggested that Hiyoshi hit the ball in a way that was most comfortable to him. His family owning a kobujutsu dojo, it was obvious that the form most comfortable to him was that of the ancient martial arts stance. Using that stance and those martial arts movements, Hiyoshi not only solved his follow up problem, but everything about his tennis got better. The only problem about this was the contrast in styles. Martial arts and tennis were never really meant to mix, and although Hiyoshi had, at times, made it work, that was mostly due to his knowledge, ability, and skill of the two, but when you got right down to it, his Enbu style still needed some polishing up before he could be serious in using it in an actual match. Hiyoshi had promised himself that, in order to keep him and his secret style of tennis at a low profile and to stop him from embarrassing himself, he would work on it during the summer, and that he wouldn't use it in an official match until he perfected it. And besides, if it was going to be his secret weapon, then he shouldn't be using it all the time anyway, and thankfully, he's been improving his normal game too. If you want proof of that, just look at him now. With an orthodox style of tennis, he had gotten himself into the final match of this year's Newcomer Tournament, and by the looks of it, his final opponent was going to be the one who just defeated Chotaro, Kirihara Akaya from Rikkaidai, a school that has won the National Tournament two times in a row. He was secretly proud of himself, but he didn't want to get teased for losing his cool, so he kept it in.

Atobe walked up to Hiyoshi, a smile on his face. "So, I hear that you got yourself into the final match of the tournament."

Hiyoshi looked at Atobe. "Yeah."

Oshitari nodded. "Good. Make us proud."

"Don't lose," Shishido said. "Losing after you've gotten this far would be super lame."

Hiyoshi nodded. "Yes, I understand."

Atobe smiled. "Good to hear." Atobe couldn't help but smile at the first-year. This one showed a drive and a dedication to the sport like no one else that he knew (except maybe himself of course) and he showed great creativity in combining his martial arts with his tennis, creating maneuvers that even he had never seen before. He could be a bit strange though. Well, not strange per say, more… interesting. He could still remember the first time he had met the ambitious first-year.

"So, you two want to join Hyotei's tennis club?" the tennis coach, Sakaki Taro, asked. It was the beginning of the year, and the Hyotei Tennis Club had set up a rather large and extravagant booth to advertise their club. Sitting at the booth was Atobe Keigo, Sakaki Taro and Kabaji Munehiro. Chotaro and Hiyoshi nodded. "I should warn you," he continued, "that we aim to go to Nationals."

Chotaro nodded. "Yes, we know."

"And I should also warn you," the coach continued, "that the captain of the team," he gestured towards Atobe, "wants nothing more than to win, and that in order to win, we need to form the best possible team out of all of our members."

"Of course," Hiyoshi said.

"And that means," Sakaki continued, "that we need to weed out the weak."

Chotaro, slightly taken aback by the harsh words, nervously asked, "What do you mean by 'weed out the weak'?"

"What I mean," Sakaki answered calmly, "is that in order to do that, and form the greatest team, we have enforced a 'no-losing' policy. If a person who has been given the honor of being called a regular on the team loses a match, they will be permanently dismissed from the regular lineup."

Chotaro's eyes grew wide. "Permanently dismissed?!"

Sakaki nodded. "That is correct. Please try to understand. This club already has a total of over two hundred members, and all of them are fighting to get a spot in the regulars. A loss from a regular is the quickest and easiest sign that that regular is slipping, and those who don't take this seriously don't deserve to be on the regular team in the first place. They will be replaced by the next best player that has worked hard and deserves to be on the team. And if that player loses, then the cycle continues until there's a player that CAN keep his place."

"That's kind of impractical, isn't it? I mean… not everyone's going to win every match he's in, right?"

"If you don't agree with the policy, then don't join the club or don't try out for the regulars. It's that simple."

Chotaro, taken aback by how blunt the coach's answer was, didn't say anything at first. He looked at Kabaji, but his face was as blank as it always was; he looked at Atobe, who was looking attentively back, as if eager to see what Chotaro's decision would be; he looked at Hiyoshi who was just looking back at the unwavering Sakaki, who was looking at the two of them, also eager to see what their decisions would be.

"Fine by me," Hiyoshi said.

Chotaro's eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"

Hiyoshi nodded, and said, looking at Atobe, "Yeah. If you want a spot in the regulars, then you're going to have to fight for a spot, while kicking someone off of their spot in the process. Those who continue to win will be rewarded for their hard work, and those who lose when it's most important get punished. Makes sense to me."

"Hiyoshi…."

"So, let me say this to you beforehand, captain," Hiyoshi said. "I will take your spot in the regulars. I will take your Singles-1 position, as well as your title of 'captain' away from you."

Atobe was slightly taken aback by this blunt threat, but regained his composure a second later, smirked, and asked, "Is that so?"

Hiyoshi nodded. "Yes. It'll be a gekokujo."

"Gekokujo, huh?" Atobe was smiling now. "Interesting. I look forward to the day that you do. But let me make one thing clear." He paused dramatically and said, "Overthrowing a king is never easy, especially when that king is me. Isn't that right, Kabaji?"

"Yeah."

"That's to be expected," Hiyoshi said.

"So," Sakaki asked, "does that mean that you're going to join the Hyotei Tennis Club?"

Hiyoshi nodded. "Yes."

Sakaki nodded in understanding. "Okay then." He took out a clipboard and a pen, placed it on the booth, slid it towards Hiyoshi, and said, "Sign your name and your grade right here." Without beating an eye, Hiyoshi did just that. "Thank you. Practices start tomorrow."

"That early?" Chotaro asked.

"Yes," Sakaki said. "We need to get started right away if we're going to get everybody ready for regular tryouts."

"What time is it?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Six in the morning."

Hiyoshi nodded. "Alright."

Sakaki looked at Chotaro. "Are you going to sign up too?" When Chotaro didn't answer, Sakaki added, "It's okay if you don't. Even I have to admit that we're taking things a bit too far, but if we want to win Nationals, these are the things we need to do."

"Yes, I understand," Chotaro said. He looked at the clipboard in front of Hiyoshi before looking at Hiyoshi himself. Likewise, Hiyoshi was looking at Chotaro. He didn't say anything, nor did he do anything, he just stood perfectly still as he stared at Chotaro to see what he would do. His face was as cool and collected as it always was, and his hands were at his sides. Nothing about him suggested that he was influencing Chotaro's choice or pressuring him into joining. Everyone just stared at Chotaro, wondering what he would do next.

Despite the fact that Hiyoshi wasn't really doing anything to influence Chotaro's decision, Chotaro could see that Hiyoshi, in his own little, weird way, was concerned for his friend. Hiyoshi was never the type of guy who would nurture or comfort someone, but through all of those childhood years together Chotaro had seen Hiyoshi's little ways of concern or loyalty towards his friends. This was one of them. Hiyoshi wasn't going to pressure Chotaro into a decision, he was going to respect whatever decision his friend would make. Because of this, Chotaro couldn't help but smile. People always wondered why they were friends, as the two seemed as different as night and day, but in all honesty, that didn't matter. People don't need to be the same to be friends, there just had to be an understanding between the two, and there was definitely one between Hiyoshi and Chotaro.

Chotaro thought for a moment, and everyone waited patiently for his answer. "Alright, I'll sign too," he said. He signed up for the club.

"Thank you," Sakaki said, taking back the clipboard. "I'll be looking forward to seeing the two of you tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir," Hiyoshi and Chotaro said, before they walked away.

Atobe took the clipboard out of Sakaki's hand and read Hiyoshi's name. "Hiyoshi Wakashi huh?" He let out a laugh. "He's definitely an interesting one."

And he was interesting as he was skilled. Many members of the Hyotei Tennis Club have even considered Hiyoshi a shoe-in for the next captain of the tennis team after he graduates, but Atobe couldn't help but smirk at this. True, there were a lot of qualities Hiyoshi had that would've made for a great captain, but no leader makes such decisions so prematurely. He'd just wait with the grace he had and see what happens until he has to pick one.

"By the way," Gakuto said, "who's your opponent anyway?"

"It's the one that just beat me," Chotaro cried, Taki still measuring his serving movements. "Kirihara Akaya from Rikkaidai."

Atobe frowned. "Rikkaidai?"

Oshitari crossed his arms solemnly. "And he got a perfect score off of Chotaro too."

Shishido nodded grimly. "Yeah." He turned to Hiyoshi. "Even if he's stronger than you, at least make it a fight, alright?"

Didn't have to tell Hiyoshi twice. He nodded. "Yeah."

Atobe smiled. "That's good." He placed one of his hands on Hiyoshi's shoulders and squeezed it firmly. "Show the champions Hyotei's power. Treat this match like it's your last, got it?"

They stared at each other for a moment, before Hiyoshi nodded, and answered, "Of course."

Everyone smiled at this, and, as if they had rehearsed it, they all looked at Rikkaidai's team at the same time. The Rikkaidai members took notice of this, and they all looked back. The tension between the two groups was incredible. These two schools were always top competitors in the Kanto Regional Tournaments and they were already fiercely competitive to begin with, so it was as if whichever school's first-year would come up on top in this match would ultimately set the tone and momentum for the next school tennis season.

The only ones not participating in the stare-off were Jiro and Kirihara (who had just come back from a satisfying warm-up). When Kirihara finally reached his team, he looked at what they and the Hyotei team were doing. Confused, Kirihara poked Jiro on the arm to get his attention, and whispered, "Hey, did I miss something? What's going on here?"

Jiro looked back and forth at the two schools' tennis teams. "I'm not really sure," he whispered back. "Though, I think I'd better get back to my team now." He waved cheerfully as he went back to his friends. "Well, I gotta go! See you again Marui!"

Marui was taken out of his tension-filled stare and waved back. "Uh, yeah, sure. See you again man."

"Oh man, he waved back at me!" Jiro couldn't help but cry out in delight. "This is so totally awesome!"

Marui couldn't help but smile. "That guy…," was all he could say.

"May I have your attention please!" a voice cried out from the loudspeakers, attached to the top of a pole. "The final match of the Newcomer Tournament is about to start! Would Kirihara Akaya and Hiyoshi Wakashi please come to the court?"

Taki and Chotaro walked back to the group. "So," Taki said, "it begins."

Chotaro smiled to his friend. "Do your best, Hiyoshi."

Hiyoshi nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"Shake hands!" the referee said.

Kirihara and Hiyoshi reached out to each other, shook hands, and determined who would serve first. Hiyoshi was about to head over to his end of the court, but Kirihara stopped him. "So you're from Hyotei too, huh?" Kirihara asked.

"Yeah," Hiyoshi said.

"I figured," Kirihara said. "You friends with that… um…," he scratched his head as he struggled to remember his previous opponent's name, "what was that guy's name again?"

"Chotaro?"

"Yeah, yeah, Chotaro! So, are you friends with him or something?"

"Yeah. But why would it matter if I was or wasn't?"

Kirihara frowned. "Geez, I was just asking!" He looked Hiyoshi over. "You look just about as friendly as a rock."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"What's up with this guy?" Kirihara thought.

"So, you're from Rikkaidai, huh?"

"Oh, so now you're the one that's 'just asking'!"

Hiyoshi shrugged. "So… are you going to answer the question or not?"

Kirihara was starting to grind his teeth in frustration. "Why you little…," he muttered, before sighing and answering, "Yeah, I'm from Rikkaidai."

"I see."

Kirihara raised an eyebrow at this. "You see what?"

Hiyoshi continued to talk as he looked over his racket. "You're from the school that's won the National Tournament two times in a row. Your school's at the top of the food chain."

"So?"

"So…," Hiyoshi looked Kirihara right in the eye, "that means if I win, it'll be a gekokujo."

"Gekokujo?" Kirihara pondered for a moment about what that meant. When he finally understood, he smiled, and said, "That's cool and all, but the only one that's going to get a gekokujo off anyone," he pointed at himself, "is me."

Hiyoshi's eyes narrowed. "We'll see about that."

"Yeah," Kirihara said, "we will."

The two walked to their ends of the courts. The match was about to start.

Yukimura let out a little laugh. "Those two seem fired up."

Marui nodded. "Whatever they said to each other at the net must've been pretty intense."

"No matter how intense it was, Kirihara mustn't lose his concentration," Yagyu said.

"Kirihara!" Sanada cried. "Remember, whatever you do, don't lose, alright?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" Kirihara said, before smiling, and adding, "Besides, he made things really interesting just now."

Jackal looked at Yanagi. "Do you have any data on him Yanagi?"

Yanagi shook his head. "All I've got is that he's an aggressive baseliner and that his favorite word is 'gekokujo'."

"'Gekokujo'?" Yukimura said. He smiled. "That's an interesting favorite word to have."

"And also," Yanagi pointed at Niou, "he shares Niou's birthday."

Niou raised an eyebrow at this. "Really?"

Yanagi nodded. "Yes."

Yagyu let out a little laugh and lifted his glasses. "And fortunately for Hyotei, the similarities seem to end there."

Niou smiled mischievously. "Aw, what? Are you saying that I have bad qualities?"

Yagyu folded his arms. "'Bad' doesn't even begin to describe them."

At the same time, Hyotei was having a little conversation of their own.

"So," Atobe said, "that's Rikkaidai's kid, huh?"

Oshitari nodded. "Yeah, and from what I've heard, he got perfect scores on all his matches."

Shishido's eyes narrowed. "Man, Rikkaidai's already breading players like that?"

Oshitari shook his head. "Not necessarily."

Shishido looked at him. "What does that mean?"

Oshitari fixed his glasses, before saying, "Rikkaidai has a policy similar to ours." He looked solemnly at the Rikkaidai members. "They don't allow loses, not even on practice or unofficial matches."

Gakuto cringed. "Man, that's rough."

Oshitari nodded. "However, it's not like our system, where whenever a regular loses, he is replaced by someone else. It's just that. No one, of any rank, is allowed to lose."

"That explains a lot actually," Taki said.

Gakuto looked at Taki. "It explains what?"

"In a mindset like that, it'd be better to never play at all then to lose," Taki explained.

Gakuto shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"It explains," Taki continued, "why that kid, Kirihara Akaya, is the only Rikkaidai first-year in this tournament."

Shishido and Gakuto's eyes grew wide. "Wait," Shishido said, "he's literally the only kid from Rikkaidai participating in this tournament?!"

Oshitari nodded. "Yeah." He turned to Jiro. "Isn't that right, Jiro?"

Jiro yawned and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think Marui said something about that," he said drowsily.

"That just shows," Oshitari continued, "how much confidence they have in this one. They're confident that this one won't lose, no matter which opponent he faces, that this one will not tarnish Rikkaidai's reputation."

Taki nodded grimly. "And so far, he's lived up to that confidence."

Atobe smirked. "Then we should try our best to crush that confidence of theirs. Right, Kabaji?"

Kabaji nodded. "Yeah."

Atobe snapped his fingers. "Hiyoshi, win this one, no matter what! Show them Hyotei's unbeatable style!"

Hiyoshi sighed. "It wasn't like I was planning to lose in the first place." He then focused on the task at hand.

"Kirihara to serve!" the referee cried.

Kirihara bounced the ball off the ground a couple of times. He looked at Hiyoshi. "I don't know why, but you've got me fired up for some reason." He caught the ball and readied his serve. "Well then," the ball was flying into the air, "I guess I'll return the favor!" He served the ball, which Hiyoshi calmly returned to the other side of the court, away from Kirihara. Kirihara caught up to it, and returned the ball away from Hiyoshi, which Hiyoshi caught up to and hit back.

An intense rally ensued. Marui popped a piece of bubble gum in his mouth and blew a bubble. "In a normal rally, they look pretty evenly matched."

Niou nodded. "The one who tries to disrupt the rally will be the one to set the tone of the match."

Kirihara returned the ball. "Hey, you're pretty good! Guess I can't exactly rest easy on this one, can I?"

Hiyoshi ran up to the net. "A poach!" Gakuto cried.

"Atta boy Hiyoshi! Show them that Hyotei means business!" Shishido cried.

"Gekokujo!" Hiyoshi cried, as he hit the ball to the other side of the court.

"Idiot!" Sanada cried. "You took him too lightly!"

"Don't worry! I got this!" Kirihara cried, as he dived for the ball, lobbing it into the air. Hiyoshi leapt into the air. "Oh shoot!"

"Go for it Hiyoshi!" Gakuto cried.

"Gah!" Hiyoshi cried, as he did a smash.

"Taki, can he reach that?" Oshitari asked.

Taki shook his head, a smile on his face. "With his running speed, the speed that ball is traveling at, and his position away from the calculated landing spot the ball will hit, no, he won't make it. This is Hiyoshi's point."

"Agh!" Kirihara cried as he made one last dive for the ball, barely hitting it. The ball flew into the air, over Hiyoshi, and barely landed inside the court.

"Point to Kirihara! Fifteen-love!"

Everyone on the Hyotei side looked on in shock. "But he shouldn't have been able to get that shot," Taki said.

"Maybe it was because he dived for it?" Oshitari suggested.

Taki shook his head. "I calculated that possibility. He shouldn't have been able to get that shot."

"Atobe, did you see anything?" Oshitari asked.

Atobe frowned. "He had a little spring in his step."

"A spring… in his step?" Chotaro asked.

"Hey," Sanada shouted, "what did I say about taking him lightly?!"

"I know, I know!" Kirihara said.

"No, you don't!" Sanada countered. "If you did, then you wouldn't have had to resort to your one-footed split step so early into the match!"

"Kirihara," Yukimura said, no longer smiling, "I understand that this is has been a good day for you, but even I have to agree with Sanada on this one."

"Still," Jackal commented, "to force Kirihara to use his one-footed split step so early on in the match, even if he wasn't taking it seriously, is pretty impressive."

Niou nodded. "The kid might just have to fight a little bit harder on this one."

"Split step," Atobe said.

"Split step?" Chotaro asked.

Atobe nodded. "It's a step that helps increase a player's speed and helps a player maneuver around the court more effectively." Atobe looked at Kirihara solemnly. "And he used it so naturally too."

Taki nodded. "It'll feel like playing against a completely different person."

"All Hiyoshi can do at this point is get used to this speed and find a way to play against it," Oshitari commented.

Kirihara served the ball. Hiyoshi returned it. An intense rally ensued once more. Kirihara was not using his one-footed split step. "What is this?" Hiyoshi thought. "Do you think I'm not worthy enough to play against your split step? Or is it because you want to prove that what happened before was a fluke?" Hiyoshi hit the ball to the other side of the court, away from Kirihara. "Well, I guess that doesn't matter." He ran up to the net. "I'll make you use it whether you want to or not!" After Kirihara hit the ball, Hiyoshi hit a drop shot, aiming the ball towards the opposite, lower corner of the court.

"Oh shoot!" Kirihara thought. He used his one-footed split step and ran as fast as he could to the ball that was so far away and was barely going to bounce. He dived for it, once again making a lob that barely stayed inside the court.

"Point to Kirihara! Thirty-love!"

"Man," Gakuto said, "how lucky can one guy be?"

"It's not luck," Atobe said.

"Wait… seriously?!"

Atobe nodded. "This boy has enough skill to make all of his shots go in, no matter how awkward or intentional the shot or swing may look. He's definitely a player worthy of Rikkaidai's confidence."

"Yes," Oshitari said, "but Hiyoshi's giving him a run for his money. If he doesn't start taking this match seriously, he's going to embarrass himself."

Atobe smirked. "Well of course."

"Hey," Hiyoshi said to Kirihara, "don't you think it's about time you use that split step of yours?"

Kirihara picked himself up, wiped some dirt off his face, smirked, and countered, "Make me."

Hiyoshi's eyes narrowed. "I will."

Kirihara served the ball. An intense rally ensued. Hiyoshi once again hit the ball away from Kirihara and ran up to the net. Kirihara, foreseeing this, but wanting to try something out, hit a shot towards Hiyoshi and ran up to the net himself. Hiyoshi, instead of trying to hit a shot away from Kirihara, did a drop shot in the middle of the court. Due to the ball's low bounce, Kirihara had no choice but to hit the ball lightly upward, giving Hiyoshi the perfect opportunity to hit the ball with a lob to the back of the court. Cursing, Kirihara had no choice but to use his one-footed split step to catch up to the ball and hit the ball with his back facing the net. Shocked by his opponent's ability to hit it at such an angle, Hiyoshi couldn't react fast enough to return the ball, and it flew right past him.

"Point to Kirihara! Forty-love!"

Kirihara served the ball again. An intense rally ensued once again. Hiyoshi then hit the ball at Kirihara, near his feet. Surprised and caught off balance, Kirihara awkwardly returned the shot, but sent the ball high into the air, giving Hiyoshi the perfect opportunity to smash it. Seeing Hiyoshi smash it, Kirihara used his split step to place himself into a position where he could return Hiyoshi's smash with a smash of his own, away from Hiyoshi.

"Game to Kirihara! One game to love!"

"Are you going to use your split step now?" Hiyoshi asked Kirihara. Kirihara didn't answer, and just walked back to his end of the court.

Before Hiyoshi did his serve, he took one last look at Kirihara, who was now using his one-footed split step. "Good, you're taking this seriously." Hiyoshi tossed the ball into the air. "Now if I win, it will be a true gekokujo!" He served the ball.

"Game to Kirihara! Two games to love!"

"That split step made THAT much of a difference, huh?" Shishido said.

Gakuto nodded gravely. "But to make THAT much of a difference… it's unreal."

Kirihara had won every last point in that game. Although Hiyoshi had fought hard, anyone who would've stopped to watch the game would've thought that it was hardly a fight at all. Kirihara had basically controlled the entire game, completely outmaneuvering the player that, in the previous game, had tried to outmaneuver him. The added speed the split step gave him had definitely made all the difference, as Hiyoshi, too used to Kirihara's speed before he had used the split step, had to suddenly get used to a practically new and improved Kirihara in just a few seconds, and, as the scores showed, he hadn't adopted too well to it.

"Is Hiyoshi going to be alright?" Chotaro asked.

Taki smiled reassuringly to Chotaro. "Don't worry," he looked back at Hiyoshi, "if anything, Hiyoshi is doing just fine."

"Really? How?"

"Hiyoshi is profiling. In fact, he's been profiling since the beginning of the match," Taki explained.

"Profiling?"

"Yes. Hiyoshi isn't a data player like I am, so it's not like he can watch Kirihara play and then automatically know how he's going to play, or automatically know Kirihara's stats, especially with a player like Kirihara, who is skilled and flexible enough to change his style of play whenever it suits him. That's why Hiyoshi is playing the way he is. He's profiling his opponent, using his hands-on experience against him to get important information and to use that information to form the proper strategy against him. That's why Hiyoshi was so determined to force Kirihara to use his split step in the first game, because he didn't want a profile that could later end up being useless to him, and why he fought as hard as he did against Kirihara when he actually used his split step, to profile his increased stats."

"But the previous game went by too fast," Oshitari noted. "He'll probably have to keep profiling, and that'll possibly mean losing some more games in the process."

Atobe smirked. "Knowing Hiyoshi though, that won't be too much of a problem for him, isn't that right, Kabaji?"

"Yeah."

"Kirihara to serve!"

"Kirihara, he's trying to get used to your split-step. Make sure you keep that advantage," Yukimura instructed calmly.

"Got it," Kirihara said. He served the ball. Hiyoshi was preparing to hit it, but then the ball flew dangerously close to his face.

"Point to Kirihara! Fifteen-love!"

"What?!" Hiyoshi thought as he looked at the ball, which was now behind him.

Everyone's eyes at the Hyotei side grew wide. "What serve was that?" Gakuto asked.

"Atobe," Oshitari asked, "was that a twist serve?"

Atobe nodded. "Yeah."

"A twist serve?" Taki asked.

Atobe nodded. "The twist serve is a serve that curves when it is bounced, and it can potentially hit the opposing player in the face."

"So wait," Chotaro asked, "does that mean that he was trying to aim for Hiyoshi's face just now?!"

Oshitari shook his head. "No. It can POTENTIALLY hit someone's face, but usually that doesn't happen, not unless the other person is aiming for it on purpose."

"It's because of its complex angle that makes it a hard serve to return," Atobe explained. He looked once more at Kirihara. "To be able to use that serve at this age… that kid is really something."

"Do you think Hiyoshi can return as serve like that?" Chotaro asked.

Oshitari shrugged. "That's only half the battle. Someone who's really mastered the serve can control what angle the serve goes. If I were Kirihara, I'd use every angle I could to mess with my opponent's head."

Chotaro anxiously looked at Hiyoshi. "Hiyoshi…."

"Game to Kirihara! Three games to love! Change courts!"

"Man," Shishido cried, "that twist serve's super lame! He won that whole game with just that serve alone!"

"And this game might not be any better," Oshitari said.

"Why's that?"

"Has Hiyoshi gotten used to Kirihara's split step yet?"

Shishido gravely turned his attention back to the court. "No. That last game was too quick, and the game before that ended before it looked like he had properly adapted to it."

"Then Hiyoshi might lose another game," Atobe said.

"Making the score four games to love," Oshitari added.

"That's a pretty big gap," Gakuto said.

"But unless he's adapted to the split step, he has no choice," Taki said.

"Dang it! That's super lame!" Shishido cried.

"Game to Kirihara! Four games to love!"

"Hiyoshi," Atobe cried, "did you get used to the split step yet?"

Hiyoshi, panting, answered, "I'll get it when I get it."

"Wait, does that mean that you did or you didn't?!" Gakuto asked.

"He got it," Chotaro said.

"What?" Gakuto looked at Chotaro in disbelief. "How the heck do you know?"

Chotaro shrugged. "It's just the way he is."

"What type of answer is that?"

Chotaro laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, but it's kind of hard to explain."

"Well here's something that's easy to explain," Shishido said. "Unless he's found a way to return that twist serve, it's going to be another game in the bag for Kirihara."

Kirihara served. "Point to Kirihara! Fifteen-love!"

Kirihara served again. "Point to Kirihara! Thirty-love!"

Once more. "Point to Kirihara! Forty-love!"

Niou smiled. "Looks like it's another game for the kid, huh?"

Yagyu lifted his glasses. "It looks like."

Kirihara threw the ball into the air. "This game," he was about to hit the ball, "is mine!" He hit the ball using his twist serve.

"Gekokujo!"

"The heck?!" Kirihara barely caught up to the ball.

"He returned the twist serve?!" Jackal asked, surprised.

"This kid's doesn't give up, I'll give him that," Marui said.

"But," Yukimura said, "it takes more than returning his twist serve to steal a point from Kirihara."

An intense rally ensued between the two first-years. "He's keeping up with Kirihara's split step!" Jackal noted.

Marui blew his bubble until it popped, forcing the gum back into his mouth again. "Guess two games against it were enough for him to get used to it."

"This one's doing surprisingly well against him," Yanagi said.

Sanada looked at Atobe and then at Hiyoshi. "Calm, disciplined, and skilled. Something tells me he's going to be the next captain of Hyotei's tennis team after Atobe graduates."

Yukimura let out a soft laugh. "Complimenting the enemy are we, Sanada?"

"Well… yes, if it's well-deserved."

"Sanada," Yukimura said, putting a reassuring hand on Sanada's shoulder, "you really need to learn how to take a joke."

"S-sorry."

"Game to Kirihara! Five games to love!"

"Oh, so he won that one, huh?" Niou asked.

"Of course," Yagyu said. "But by the looks of it, it was a hard-fought battle for that point."

And he was right. Both players were sweating a healthy amount of sweat from their intense rally, but it ultimately led to Hiyoshi running up to the net, and Kirihara following suit, with a volley away from Hiyoshi.

"Hey, Hiyoshi!" Gakuto cried. "What the heck do you think you're doing out there?!"

"Playing a game of tennis," Hiyoshi countered.

"Why you little…," Gakuto muttered. "You're about to lose the match you idiot!"

Hiyoshi walked up to the end of the court. "Then I'll just start winning."

"Easier said than done though," Shishido said.

"Hiyoshi will need to win seven games if he wants to win this," Taki observed.

"Either that, or go through a tie-breaker," Oshitari added.

"The odds are against him," Jiro, who had finally started paying attention to the match after a little nap, said.

"Hiyoshi…," Chotaro thought, obviously worried about his friend.

"Yes," Atobe said, and then smiled, "but isn't that what gekokujo is? Right… Hiyoshi?"

For once, Hiyoshi would have to agree with his captain. "Yeah."

"Hiyoshi to serve!"

Hiyoshi bounced the ball a bit, and looked at Kirihara on the other side of the court. He was panting a bit, while using his one-footed split step, his eye on the ball in Hiyoshi's hand. Hiyoshi threw the ball into the air. "Get ready," Hiyoshi thought, "because this," he was preparing to hit the ball, "is when the match REALLY starts!" He served the ball.

"Point to Kirihara! Forty-love! Match point!"

Hiyoshi was panting and sweating heavily at this point, and to an extent, so was Kirihara. Three intense rallies had just happened, and Hiyoshi had failed to get even one point against the first-year wonder from Rikkaidai. The Rikkaidai side was smiling while the Hyotei side was either watching worriedly or gravely. To come back from these odds was almost impossible. It would've taken a miracle to win at this point.

After not doing anything except looking up to the sky and catching his breath, the referee asked, "Are you alright? Can you still play?"

Hiyoshi nodded. "Yeah… just… give me a sec." The referee nodded in understanding.

Hiyoshi looked at Kirihara. He was panting heavily, and had a large amount of sweat on his head and around his collar, but he looked as focused as ever on the task at hand; and here he was, too tired that he could barely stand straight and do one more serve. "Well, he is from Rikkaidai," Hiyoshi thought. "It should be expected that he's strong." He threw the ball into the air. "There's no shame in losing to someone like this." The ball seemed to be going in slow motion in the air. "I did my best… he was just better than me… and that's alright." The ball was going down. "I'll just come back and gekokujo him some other time." He served the ball.

An intense rally ensued, but Hiyoshi could barely tell where he was at this point. Fatigue had hindered his senses a bit, so now he was just returning balls half out of instinct and routine. The only thing that he could truly hear at this point was his own heavy panting. However, he could hear the calls of his teammates, even though he couldn't really tell at the moment who was saying what.

"Come on Hiyoshi! There's still a chance you can get a gekokujo! Come on! Put up a fight or something! Losing at this rate would be super lame!"

"Hey you idiot, you're going to make Hyotei look bad! Where's all that spunk you had before?!"

"Hiyoshi, your speed's dropping!"

"Hiyoshi, you need to dig down deep, come on!"

"Come on man! This is the perfect setup for an underdog victory!"

"You can do it Hiyoshi!"

"... Don't give up."

"Hiyoshi! Are you okay with losing like this?! Weren't you planning on being a part of the regulars?! Then show them… show them tennis worthy to be called Hyotei tennis!"

…What the heck.

"GAH!"

"What the heck?!" Kirihara cried.

"He returned the ball using both of his hands!" Jackal cried.

"It's going back to Kirihara!" Marui said.

Kirihara hit the ball, but because the hit was so awkward, it went back to Hiyoshi, who hit it to the center of the court.

"That's not enough to stop me!" Kirihara cried as he ran towards the ball and hit it towards Hiyoshi, who was now in a strange stance that he had never seen before.

"What stance is that?" Jackal asked.

Yanagi shook his head. "None that I'm familiar with."

"So," Niou said, "the kid still had a trick up his sleeve."

"Maybe he is like you after all," Yagyu said.

"It depends on how good the trick is," Yukimura said.

"We'll soon find out," Sanada said.

Hiyoshi was preparing to hit the ball. "Dance of the Burning Arrow!" he cried.

Hiyoshi quickly hit a fast shot that was dangerously close to Kirihara's feet. Kirihara, too taken aback by the speed of the ball and by the position of the ball based on his current position, could only lob it awkwardly into the air.

Hiyoshi, still in that strange, unorthodox stance of his, jumped high into the air.

"Oh shoot!" Kirihara thought.

While airborne, Hiyoshi could hear the cries of his teammates (though he still couldn't figure out who was saying what).

"Yes!"

"Go for it Hiyoshi!"

"You can do it Hiyoshi!"

"This is gekokujo!"

"This suddenly got really exciting!"

"Do you see this Rikkaidai?! This… is Hyotei's tennis!"

Hiyoshi was preparing to smash. All Kirihara and the Rikkaidai members could do was look on in shock.

"Don't look away! I want you to see this!" Hiyoshi thought as he was aiming his smash.

"Dance of the Lightning God!" Hiyoshi cried, as he hit an extremely fast smash right past Kirihara's head.

Everyone held their breath for a moment. Kirihara was too thunderstruck to look behind him. It was as if everyone had lost their ability to see or perceive what they saw and it seemed as if everyone was relying on the referee's call. They waited. They waited for what seemed like an eternity before the ref made his call.

"Out! Game and match to Kirihara! Six games to love!"

Hiyoshi collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and shaking his head. All that work… for an out. He would have just stayed there, looking down at the ground for hours, if he hadn't felt a hand softly squeeze his shoulder.

He looked up to see the members of the Hyotei Tennis Club standing over him, the hand from Oshitari, who was smiling at him. "It's alright Hiyoshi. It was a great effort and a great match."

"That was amazing Hiyoshi!" Chotaro cried.

"That shot being out was super lame," Shishido said, but then smiled, and added, "but to catch them by surprise like that was pretty awesome."

"But don't think that that'll be enough to get yourself a spot on the regulars!" Gakuto said.

Taki smiled. "That Enbu Tennis of yours increased your stats greatly. It should be a great secret weapon."

"That was so awesome! I mean… that smash was like BANG and the ball was like WHOOSH and it landed with a BOOM, and… and… man that was so cool!" Jiro cried.

"Not bad," Atobe said, "you did a good job at showing them Hyotei's tennis." A smirk appeared on his face. "But if you want to perform a gekokujo on me, you're going to have to do better than that. Right, Kabaji?"

"Yeah," Kabaji said.

Hiyoshi heavily panted for a few seconds, before finally saying, "Of course."

"Ha ha! Did you see that?! Another straight twenty-four point win and first place in the Newcomer Tournament!" Kirihara cried, happily raising his trophy above his head.

"And we're proud of you Kirihara," Yukimura said, "but if that last shot hadn't been out, you wouldn't have had such a flawless victory."

"Yeah," Niou said, a smirk on his face, "that shot made him better than you for a second."

"Shot?" Kirihara asked innocently. "What shot?"

Jackal raised an eyebrow at this. "You don't remember?"

Kirihara shook his head. "Can't say that I do."

Yagyu folded his arms. "How could you possibly forget something that happened just a few minutes ago?"

"DID it happen a few minutes ago?" Kirihara asked, scratching his head.

"It seems he really did forget," Yanagi stated.

Sanada shook his head. "That's something I'll never believe."

"Oh, that's right!" Kirihara cried, as he starting running away. "I need to start studying for the English test next week!"

It took a moment for everyone to understand what he was talking about. "Um…Kirihara?" Yukimura called out, but it was too late. Kirihara had already run out of earshot.

Niou smiled mischievously. "Puri."

"That kid… is still too soft," Sanada grumbled.