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Chapter 8
Takeshi repeatedly used Dunk Smash at Kaidoh, who had trouble returning the powerful ball.
"Game won by Tezuka Takeshi. 4-1." An announced.
Kaidoh's Snake had absolutely no effect on the super hyperactive Momo, who showed no signs of wearing out. Kaidoh, on the other hand, was already drained out, especially when he had not recovered from that afternoon's defeat.
Takeshi won another match instantly just with his Dunk serves. Kaidoh was tired to the point that he even had difficulty dragging his feet to catch up with the ball. Even if he had caught up with it, he did not have the strength to return such a heavy ball, given his conditions.
Kaidoh's surroundings suddenly started to revolve in circles around him and he finally gave in to exhaustion and fell to the ground.
"You win… …" Kaidoh said while gritting his teeth.
"Dunk!" Momo posed for awhile before running to the other court to tend to his beloved Kaidoh.
When Takeshi had gotten to Kaidoh, Kaidoh had already fallen into a deep sleep. Takeshi gave An, Eiji and Syuichiroh the thumbs up and mouthed 'Thank you' to them before carrying Kaidoh home.
It was all a plot. Takeshi was not crying. An, Eiji and Syuichiroh did not appear at the school compound by chance to suggest and witness the match.
---
An hour ago, Takeshi was hiding near Kaidoh's house. Upon noticing that his target had gone out, he immediately contacted An-chan and pleaded her to discourage Kaidoh, as well as to declare the match between Kaidoh and himself.
Then he asked his uncle (Syuichiroh) to meet up with An-chan so that Tachibana-san would give permission to her staying out so late. And since Eiji and Syuichiroh come as a pair, inseparable, Eiji followed his darling to see the outcome.
When Takeshi saw Kaidoh walking into the school, he took a shortcut to the tennis club's changing room and hid in one corner.
Of course, they were all going to keep Kaidoh from this little plot or else all of Momo's efforts would have gone down the drain.
---
Kaidoh was surprisingly light for Takeshi to piggyback.
"Despite his muscular build, he's so thin and light… I wonder why I didn't notice it before…"
Takeshi turned to find Kaidoh's sleeping face so close to his.
"Awww… He's so adorable when he's asleep!" Takeshi squealed and gave Kaidoh a little peck on his cheek.
Then he continued to head for Kaidoh's house, almost hopping despite bearing Kaidoh's weight.
---
The next day at club practice, Takeshi was in an extremely high mood and many juniors and sophomores could be seen congratulating him. Kaidoh dreaded to know why Takeshi was receiving all those unknown acknowledgements from everyone. He felt even worse when some of the club members whom Kaidoh was not close to, smiled widely at him when they crossed paths.
"Concentrate! Kaidoh! You must concentrate on your upcoming games!" Kaidoh repeatedly thought to himself.
It was the last day of the ranking tournament and he could not afford to lose focus if he wanted to keep his position as a Seigaku Regular. Furthermore, his first opponent would be Dentai whom he had never won against before.
Kaidoh finally got himself into battle mode and cleared his mind of useless and stupid thoughts.
The match between Kaidoh and Dentai had begun and Kaidoh had already gone on the offensive side. He was more aggressive, powerful and faster than before. His Snakes were hit at much deeper angles, which made it harder for Dentai to return.
Dentai was quite shocked at Kaidoh's sudden improvement. Then he thought of what might have egged his opponent on to change…
"Ah, Kaidoh! I heard about you and Momo! Congrats for giving up your first time!"
Kaidoh swung his racket too hard and it hit his face. In a corner, Momo had choked on his drink and spitted everything out which caused a small commotion and everyone looked at Momo in disgust.
Kaidoh turned and glared very hard at Momo, who noticed it and shook his head profusely. Somehow, Kaidoh felt that he could trust Takeshi and immediately reverted back to battle mode.
'Hmm. So it seems that my diversion tactic had failed on Kaidoh. Compared to the past Kaidoh who took every small comment too seriously and lost his focus easily, he has really matured. At least I won't feel sore if I lose to the present Kaidoh.' Dentai thought.
Kaidoh had used Snake again. Dentai had managed to catch up with Kaidoh's Snake but he could barely return such a heavy ball, being already drained of his energy chasing all the Snakes.
"6-2. Game and set won by Kaidoh Kaoru." The umpire announced.
The game had ended and Dentai had fallen onto the ground. As he was desperately catching his breath, a shadow over. His opponent, the Viper, was standing before him, not perspiring a bit.
"You're great." Dentai gave Kaidoh the thumbs up to admit defeat.
"Ffssssshhhh!" Kaidoh hissed as he walked away from his playing field, satisfied with his victory.
