Neverending Promise(13)
Chapter Thirteen: Doubles One Disaster
Akari combed through her hair with her hand, watching Kisarazu do a forced lob. As she had been in their match against Fudomine, she was not with the team. Doubles Two had been going on for quite some time already. Currently, Fuji was explaining the situation to the less knowledgeable Ichinen Trio. 'The lob has a slice rotation…It hangs in the air and moves with the wind…It's hard to hit a dunk smash off that…A challenge for your senpai…'
"But, look, he's going for it, nya!"
Momoshiro jumped up and smacked it right down to Yanagisawa. He looked ready – until the smash changed course, and bounced up to his face.
A somewhat sadistic smirk was on the usually placid face of the female Senior as she watched Yanagisawa writhing in pain on the ground. The umpire checked and shook his head.
"Saint Rudolph forfeits! Seigaku wins!"
"What? Momo and Kaidoh won?? For once?? Nyahahahaha…" Kikumaru was jumping up and down as he laughed.
Momoshiro shrieked, "WHAT?! I'M NOT DONE GOING CRAZY!" just as Kaidoh hissed, "WAKE UP THAT STUPID DUCK!!"
"Anger management," Rai and Akari muttered in amusement. "The winners sure look pissed off…" Inui grinned, Tezuka shook his head hopelessly and Fuji laughed.
"Ryoma against Yuuta-kun next…" Deciding to watch the game at a nearer view, she went and stayed beside a certain hyperactive redhead.
"Nya! Akari-chan is here!" the childish Senior cheered, earning him stares from some of the people. But it did the trick. Ryoma, already making his way to the court, looked back and caught the female Senior's eye. He smirked and went on.
"About time," Kikumaru said and continued chatting on as if just a while ago he did not lack the energy to even stand. She just nodded at random intervals and kept an expression that reminded one of a certain buchou and some freshmen.
"Lefty Killer and our awesome Chibi Lefty…This will be a match to look forward to," Kikumaru stated happily.
"One Set Match! Saint Rudolph to serve!"
"I heard he overwhelmed Saeki from Chiba in a practice game," Oishi mumbled.
Akari's eyebrow quirked ever-so-slightly with Rai's at the statement. "From Rokkaku?" Oishi nodded.
"Nani??" The Ichinen Trio whined, hearing the news.
"'Little Fuji's' record against left-handers is sixteen consecutive wins." Inui's glasses glinted. "That's why they call him the 'Lefty Killer'."
"Why's he so good against lefties?"
"Southpaws put the opposite curve and spin on their ball from right-handed players. Opponents get flustered." The Ichinen Trio looked up at Akari when she spoke. "He's played too many practice games against left-handed players, or so I've heard."
"But what about Ryoma-kun?"
"He's being pushed," she simply stated. A few others nodded with her as she watched Ryoma struggle to get the yellow sphere over the net.
"Nani?!" Katsuo exclaimed. "Don't tell me Ryoma-kun can't handle another lefty!"
"That's clearly not it," Inui commented.
"It's Yuuta's Super Rising Shot," Fuji smiled. "It's getting much better."
"IT'S NOT THE TIME TO BE LAUGHING, SENPAI! And what is Super Rising?"
"Hitting the ball before it reaches the top of its bounce. It comes back quicker than usual, so opponents don't have the chance to position themselves." This time, Inui continued where Akari left off. "As a result, you can dictate the pace of points. That's what Super Rising is."
'Game, Saint Rudolph. 1-0."
"Ehhh?? Ryoma-kun lost his first game?!" Kachiro exclaimed. "That's not good!"
"Ugh. Against a lefty who can hit Super Rising…" Horio's face had a pained expression.
"It's only the beginning so don't be so tense." The people were startled by the amused sadistic look on the otherwise impassive face of the female Senior. "A lot can happen in a match as it progresses. You never know, there are some players who deliberately give up the first few games for the sake of observation."
"What's not to be tense about?" one of them asked skeptically.
"Results might end up surprising everyone," Rai answered for her. "Normally, if you know the players capabilities, you won't need to worry."
"Actually," Akari interjected, "now that you mention it, they do have reasons to be tense."
Rai smirked. "You're freaking them out, do you know that?"
"Yes."
The Ichinen Trio, with small black dots for eyes, inched away from the two.
……
"A left-handed Twist Serve? How does that work? He usually hits with his right…"
"Think about it!" Katsuo, apparently already figuring it out, said. "The Twist Serve puts the opposite spin on the ball so it rebounds towards the opponent's face. Against the usual right-handed player, he hits it with his right – the only way it'll be effective! But if the opponent is left-handed too…"
"…Of course, he'll have to use his left hand!" Kachiro finished. "Maybe he'll be able to pull of a point!"
"There it is! The Twist Serve!"
It won't work, Akari knew. For one, Mizuki was smirking, not the least bit worried. Another was that they probably had a counter for that already. She shifted her gaze from the girly-looking manager to the ball – which was on Ryoma's side of the court.
"0-15!"
Oishi looked very surprised. Inui's face did not betray any hint of expression, but his glasses were glinting once again. Fuji, on the other hand, was pleasantly shocked. "Well Yuuta, I didn't know you'd come this far…The Twist is nothing if you can hit it right off the ground…He's gone way beyond his old level. That was a brilliant Super Rising Shot!"
"The way he hits an early and fast return…It's almost as if the hit and return happen at the same time," Kikumaru remarked. "There is no way O-Chibi can move up under this situation…Scary."
"No," Akari shook her head, making the rest look at her. "For Ryoma, there is no other direction to move but up."
Ryoma dashed to the net as soon as he hit the serve and returned the Rising Shot with a smash.
"15-15."
Kikumaru's jaw slacked. "…N…ya…That was…fast!"
'He's faster than before,' two particular people mused.
"Oi." Ryoma pointed his racket to the younger Fuji. "Is that all you can do? I've played better lefties before."
……
"Na…" Momoshiro pointed to the court occupied by the Saint Rudolph player. "Yuuta's much more confident than before." For the first time, Kaidoh nodded and hissed in agreement.
The freshmen gasped. "Ehh? Fuji-senpai's brother used to go to Seigaku?"
Akari listened quietly as Inui explained how Yuuta hated being compared to his brother, the Tensai. The expression on her face softened for a second before going back to its usual state. Rai looked at her and smirked.
'Reminds you of yourself, doesn't he?'
She looked at the freshman and gave him a look that clearly said 'Shut it'.
Tezuka pointed to the topic of discussion, interrupting the mock, silent glare wars of the Senior and the freshman. "Look."
The ball flew over the net to Ryoma. It spun on the ground and shot right up, getting stuck in one of the slots of the wire fence separating the court from the audience.
Eyes burning with malice and anger, Akari looked at the smug manager. Beside her, Fuji's mouth had slackened and his eyes also had the same look.
"W-What is that?" Kacihiro stammered. "It's a return…with a strong spin, like the Twist!"
"It's the Twist Spin Shot," Rai growled. "That moronic, inconsiderate, aho…"(1)
Everyone gawked at the freshman, save for Fuji who was still looking extremely angry and was concentrating on his brother's game. Someone seriously needed to wash their mouth.
"So that's a Twist Spin Shot," Ryoma looked surprised but smirked.
After that, he seemed to be under more pressure. He tried backing up, but couldn't reach it due to the almost vertical bounce of the ball. The Ichinen Trio looked anxious, Fuji had the most serious expression on his face (giving Rai a feeling that he's up to something) and Akari looked as if she was waiting for something.
"Game to Saint Rudolph's Fuji, 3-1."
Mizuki was mumbling something to himself that Akari did not want to know, lest it aggravate her to the point of not being able to resist the urge to punch out his lights. What she wanted to see, as well as everybody else, was Ryoma coming up with the most brilliant counter. The only difference was that she knew it would happen, and soon.
"Twist Spin Shot! It's coming!"
But this time, instead of backing up, the prodigy freshman was running forward.
"What is he thinking?" Inui rearranged his glasses. "Is he trying to use Super Rising on Yuuta-kun? If his timing is even a tiny bit off, it'll hit his face."
The ball flew out of control and crashed into the fence.
"Out!"
"If the racket's angle is a little off, it flies out," Rai mused.
"Nya…What's O-Chibi going to do now?"
"It's coming again! Twist Spin Shot! And he's charging forward again!!"
"He's being way too stubborn…Huh? What happened?"
Akari watched and smirked as the ball slammed at Yuuta's feet. And although the shot was still out, Ryoma smirked, landing calmly on his feet. "Hmph. It's not easy. I have to angle to ball precisely or it goes out. But I'm getting the hang of it. Oh, and you know that Twist thing? Don't use it too often."
I think I picked up somewhere that 'aho' is a term that, in the Kantou region, acts as a really offensive insult, whereas they take 'baka' as a joke sometimes. And in the Kansai region, take 'aho' as a joke and 'baka' as an insult.