Lucifer of Rikkaidai
Chapter 44: Nationals: The First Act
It was the last night before the big day. The Rikkai regulars all relaxed in the hot springs at the place they were staying at. After a relaxing time in the hot springs they gathered in their room and sat in a circle for a team meeting.
"We'll have to get to the arena by two o'clock tomorrow. We'll wake up at eight in the morning, have a light training session and eat lunch near the park. They accommodated three courts for us in the courts to the side, so we'll have time to warm up one last time before we start." Yukimura said.
"So what's the line-up for tomorrow?"
"We're still working on that. We'll figure it out and let you know tomorrow." Yanagi said. "But it's probably a bit different from the last few days."
Everyone nodded.
'Different from a last few days… hm, that probably means I'll just play doubles instead.' Akaya thought. 'Well, whatever we can do to win!'
"Do we at least know the line-ups for Seigaku?" Jackal asked.
"Yes. Kaidou-Inui will probably be doubles two, the golden pair doubles one. Singles three should be Fuji Syuusuke. Then the rest of them are Tezuka and Echizen, and it's about ten percent more likely that Echizen will show up on singles."
"Then it should be fine, Yukimura-buchou should be able to beat a kid like him." Akaya said.
"We'll see how it goes."
The Next Day—
"Wakey wakey!"
"Uughhh…" Akaya buried her head under the pillow and squirmed into the blankets. Marui was the one disturbing her sleep, shaking her and yelling at her.
"Akaya. We have to go morning training." Yukimura woke her up like a mother would, stroking her head and smiling like an angel.
"Buchou…" She groaned and opened her eyes, her vision still blurry.
"AKAYA! Tarundoru! Seven hours of sleep is enough! You must fight sleep and wake up!" Sanada scolded, already fully dressed in his training clothes.
"Hiee! Y-Yes fuku-buchou!" With a shriek, Akaya shot up.
"Genichirou. Not everyone can function with only four hours of sleep like you." Yanagi said, patting Akaya on the head. "Plus, Akaya needs average of 9 hours of sleep every day for additional muscle and bone growth."
"Y-Yeah! Fuku-buchou you're just insane, only getting 4 hours. I can't do that since I'm not an old man like y—"
"Hou…"
"I'LL GO GET READY!"
She dashed off to the bathroom before Sanada's wrath came down upon her. She brushed her teeth and washed her face with cold water to chase away the drowsiness. She stared at herself in the mirror, looking straight into the eyes.
'Alright Kirihara Akaya. Today's your big day. Win it for the team. Rikkaidai's 3rd consecutive victory. Make up for the Kantou finals.' She breathed in and out.
The Rikkaidai regulars trained lightly, getting their serves and shots ready and jogging around the town. They gathered all their belongings and headed to the tennis park, ate lunch, and began their before-match warming up session in one of the side courts.
People stared in awe as they passed by, trying to get a look at the regulars of King Rikkaidai. The atmosphere around the team was more serious than any other time; they were ready to claim their 3rd victory and avenge their painful loss at Kantou finals.
Before the match started, Sanada went to turn in the line-ups. After he came back they all stood in a circle before the walkway into the arena. The walkway was dim; they could see the light coming from the other side, also becoming a backdrop for Yukimura.
"They're starting off with Singles 3. Singles 3 will be Sanada. Doubles 1 will be Marui-Jackal. Make sure to watch out for the golden pair. Singles 2 will be Niou. Then… doubles 2 will be Renji and me."
"What!?"
They all gasped. Yukimura playing doubles 2? This had to be a mistake.
"Th-Then, singles 1 is…!"
"Singles 1 is Akaya."
"Wh-What…!" Akaya just gapped at her buchou, who, in the moment, was completely out of his mind. "O-Oh. Senpai-tachi are stacking so we could get three games without playing all five. Gotcha. I didn't have to play, so…"
"We'll see what happens. Just prepare yourself for the worst case scenario." Yukimura said.
Akaya trusted her teammates. The line-up was made so that it was stacked heavily so they wouldn't have to drag out the match until doubles 1. Three games can be taken in no time.
"Now then, let's go onto the courts. Everyone is waiting."
Yukimura started walking and everyone followed behind him. They were just a step before reaching their ultimate goal.
They had to adjust their eyes a bit to the intense sunlight shining down through the arena sunroof. Seigaku was already in their respective sides, gathered for a team cheer. As soon as Rikkaidai stepped out of the walkway, people started cheering.
Akaya felt her heart picking up pace; after all those time she spent training with her teammates, they were finally here—at the final round of nationals—and they were going to win it.
She looked around and found her teammates, who were in the same mustard yellow jerseys as her, looking more confident and fired up than any other time they played tournaments.
On their side, a whole cheer team, with cheerleaders with uniforms, pompoms, and even their school flag, cheered loudly to a school chant.
"Always win Rikkaidai! Let's go, let's go, Rikkaidai!"
The regulars set their bags down on the bleachers above and gathered in front of the net for a team greeting. Akaya then noticed that a certain super rookie had gone missing and was replaced by a decoy who was shivering much too noticeably despite his face being covered with a white cap.
"Players, greet!"
"Thank you in advance!"
They then went back to the bleachers; Rikkaidai regulars then came together for a huddle, shoulders on shoulders, getting in a circle.
"We are the King Rikkai. We are here to win." Yukimura said, his voice loud and confident. "We are going to take our 3rd consecutive victory. All our efforts up until now should not go to waste. Always win!"
"Rikkai!"
With a loud cheer the team dispersed. Yukimura sat down on the coach bench while Sanada got ready to begin singles 3.
"We will now commence singles 3. From Seishun Academy, player Tezuka Kunimitsu. From Rikkaidai Fuzoku Middle School, player Sanada Genichirou."
"Uwwah, what a match right off the bat!" Marui exclaimed.
Their match, like they had all anticipated, was intense. Tezuka pulled Tezuka Zone right off the bat and Sanada also did with FuuRinKaZan. Then Tezuka started using Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami to read moves, but Sanada sealed it off with a new addition to the FuuRinKaZan with "In."
"The atmosphere around him is really dark…!" Jackal mumbled while staring at Sanada in awe.
Then, he pulled out another new move, rai, which allowed him to move to a spot in an instant and strike down the ball, making its trajectory like that of a lightning.
"What is that…!"
"Apparently he calls the new additions FuuRinKaInZanRai." Akaya said. "He practiced it against me a few weeks ago and it was really scary." She shuddered at the thought.
Then they saw something completely ridiculous; all of Sanada's Rai was going out.
"Tezuka's putting on a spin that makes a ball go out." Yanagi said after observing for a bit. "But it's going to wear out his elbow again if he uses it continuously and recklessly."
Sanada's knees were starting to fail as well; his knees were noticeably red and swollen and so was the case for Tezuka's elbow.
Sanada came back to the bench when they were switching sides.
"F-Fukubuchou…" Akaya's face paled as she saw up close how red his knees were.
"Sanada. Forget going head-on. This is a stamina battle. Let Tezuka tire out." Yukimura said. Sanada looked a bit hesitant; he took a sip of the drink and headed to the other side of the court, and got ready to serve.
It seemed like he was doing what Yukimura told him to do for a few points; but knowing Sanada, his only way to fight and win was through a head-on battle. The score leaned towards Sanada as Tezuka's Phantom wasn't able to hold Sanada's shots.
"40-30." The referee announced. It was a match point for Sanada with a game score of 6-5.
They rallied and rallied until they couldn't move anymore; with a last reach for the ball, Sanada collapsed and so did Tezuka. The ball landed on top of the net, and paused in the momentum for a bit—
"GET OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE!" Sanada yelled. As if it wanted to fulfill his wish, the ball tipped over—and met the ground on Tezuka's side of the court.
"Game and match, Sanada. 7 games to 5."
Everyone broke out cheering, congratulating both players for a stellar performance. Sanada wobbled over to Tezuka and shook his hand; and he wobbled back to the bench.
"Good work." Yukimura patted his shoulder and said. "Although that was a bit too reckless."
Sanada just cracked a small smile and walked back to the players' benches. Akaya hurried over with a fresh new towel and a cold water bottle while the club members in charge of first-aid brought over an ice pack for his swollen knees.
"Fuku-buchou, you were awesome." Akaya said as she handed over the towel and water bottle to him.
"Thank you, Akaya." He smiled and drank down the ice cold water.
"Next, doubles 2. Yukimura-Yanagi from Rikkaidai Fuzoku."
"Yukimura?!"
"That Child of God Yukimura is playing doubles?"
"Who's going to play singles 1 then?"
Everyone started murmuring; Yukimura never played anything other than singles 1, but on the final round of Nationals, he was playing doubles 2.
Yukimura and Yanagi stepped onto the court.
"This match is going to end soon." Yukimura said. "Niou, prepare to play."
"Okay, okay."
Like Yukimura said, Inui became a victim to his very fearsome ability to give other players yips. Inui fainted on the court and was carried out, earning an automatic win for Rikkaidai.
"Alright, now we just need one more!" Marui exclaimed from the sidelines.
"Go Niou-senpaaai!" Akaya cheered as Niou stepped onto the courts.
The Rikkaidai players then saw him turn into Tezuka Kunimitsu using his Illusion. The fake Tezuka was able to hit a zero-shiki drop shot, muga no kyouchi, and even the two doors beyond it, hyakuren jitoku and saiki kanpatsu.
"…Niou-senpai… is actually really good." Akaya said. "He's doing all the moves that Tezuka-san and Shiraishi-san used."
"Well, he is a quite troublesome guy." Marui commented.
But despite his best effort, Fuji was able to overcome it and win with a score of 7-5.
"Good fight, Niou-senpai!" Akaya said, handing him a water bottle.
"Thanks Akaya."
"I'm sure Marui-senpai and Jackal-senpai should end the match." Akaya said.
Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi heard her. They exchanged glances.
While Marui and Jackal were playing, they realized that players from other schools were exiting the arena one by one, after Momoshiro and Echizen who had left to warm up.
"It seems that Echizen is suffering a short-term memory loss." Yanagi said, coming back after a little information digging. He then looked at the score: 5-5. The Golden Pair had caught up.
"Fuku-buchou? Where are you going?" Akaya asked after catching Sanada making his way out with a bag over his shoulder.
"Are you going to that boy, Sanada?" Yukimura asked.
"…Akaya." He looked at Akaya and quietly called her, with more seriousness than the usual. "You must get ready."
"Fuku-buchou…!"
"Marui and Jackal are not going to make it. It's up to you, Akaya. Now, I'm going to go to Echizen because I want you to face him head-on. That's how we, King Rikkai, have always done."
Akaya gulped. Sanada walked away, leaving Akaya baffled. She then looked at the scoreboard; they were coming to the "worst case scenario" that Yukimura mentioned beforehand. Akaya clenched her fists.
"What is up with this ridiculous line-up…!" She said to Yanagi and Yukimura in particular. "Senpai-tachi, you know we could've ended this if you didn't put me in singles 1! I thought we were supposed to end this in straight games!"
"The chances were slim. And so were all other possible line-ups we could think of." Yanagi said. "Seigaku has gotten that much stronger. There was almost no possibility of us winning in straight games."
"Then why…!"
"Why put you in singles 1?" Yanagi cut her off and said. "That, Akaya. Is up for you to figure out."
Then they all cheered. Doubles 2 had finished and Seigaku won with a score of 7-5.
"Is Echizen back yet?" Yukimura asked, looking around.
Akaya sat down with her head hung low, thinking carefully about what Yanagi had said. 'Why… just why…?! This is our chance at the 3rd consecutive victory that we always wanted… we have to win this match. Just why? Maybe it's because I beat Echizen before? No, no… I could've beaten Fuji-san just fine with the way I am now.'
Unable to wrap her mind around everything, she just shot up from the bench, grabbed her bag and walked down to the courts. She could hear people murmuring as she sat down on the player's bench. They were probably wondering if a girl like her was going to clench a 3rd consecutive victory for King Rikkaidai.
Yukimura came down to be a bench coach for Akaya.
Akaya was stretching lightly, waiting for her opponent to show up.
'Whatever. Now that it happened, I can't turn back. Plus, I beat Echizen before. I can do it.' She convinced herself. 'I am going to earn us our victory.'
People then broke out cheering; Akaya noticed that Echizen had shown up, making his way to the courts. She grabbed her racket, took a small sip of water, and turned to Yukimura.
"Buchou. I am going to give it my best. I know how much we all want this victory. Everyone worked just as much as I did. And buchou… you came back to us after all that so that we could win. I really appreciate it. I'll win this." She said, her eyes full of fighting spirit. "Even if I die, I'll win."
With that, Akaya walked over to the net—where Echizen was waiting.
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