Chapter 43: First Encounter with Hyotei

Takahashi was somewhat speechless and said, "So just one person was enough to make the two of you run away in defeat?"

Buchuan felt a bit ashamed and said, "His strength is indeed greater than ours!"

Tachibana An also chimed in from the side, "You must be careful, his power and speed are both very strong!"

"One of you two come over here, anyone will do!" Takahashi said, addressing Izumi and Buchuan.

"Ah!"

Izumi and Buchuan both opened their mouths in surprise at the same time.

"Yes! I'm talking to you two."

"The one with long hair, yes, you, come here."

Takahashi pointed at him with a tennis racket.

"Come over and be my doubles partner!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of both Izumi and Buchuan changed.

They hadn't expected that Takahashi, who had successfully taken on two people last time, would also need a helper when facing these two.

This made the two, who had just lost to Atobe and Huadi, feel very conflicted.

It was bad enough that their own strength wasn't enough, but now they had to find a helper.

If they still lost, their reputation would be completely gone, and how would they ever be able to hang around the Street Tennis Court again!

Buchuan held his tennis racket and walked onto the Court with a panicked expression.

"Have you ever played doubles? We've never coordinated before."

"Will this even work?"

Takahashi interrupted Buchuan, impatiently saying, "Do you see that person sitting on the other side?"

"Whatever moves he makes, you make the same ones!"

Buchuan cried out in surprise, "Ah!"

Takahashi continued, "He's sitting, so you find a place to sit too, don't get in my way!"

Once these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.

Buchuan found an empty spot and sat down, looking extremely flustered.

Atobe on the opposite side could no longer hold it together; his previously extremely smug expression began to turn into a Shadow.

"What a big mouth!"

"No matter how many people there are, we will win, right, Huadi!"

Atobe said.

"Yes."

Huadi replied.

"I'll leave the Serve to you; one ball decides the winner!"

Atobe continued.

Standing to the side, Izumi was somewhat anxious and said, "What should we do? I have a bad feeling about this!"

Tachibana An comforted him, "Takahashi is very formidable, he shouldn't lose!"

Takahashi held the tennis ball in his hand and said, "Are you sure you want me to Serve? I'm afraid you won't even have the chance to touch the tennis ball!"

"Boom!"

The tennis ball shot out at high speed; its speed was so fast that it left a faint, yellow arc in the air.

"Crack!"

It landed behind Huadi on the left and bounced up.

Huadi was holding his tennis racket and hadn't even seen a trace of the ball before he heard the sound of it landing behind him.

Atobe, sitting to the side, had his pupils shrink violently!

Such a fast Serve.

He could barely see the motion of the swing.

Atobe couldn't help but stand up, his eyes fixed tightly on Takahashi.

Tachibana An and Izumi on the side were also dumbfounded.

They hadn't even seen the trajectory of the ball before it landed.

The speed was freakishly fast!

"You lost!"

Takahashi said calmly, holding his tennis racket.

Buchuan, sitting to the side, was also bewildered.

They had already won!

That was too easy!

Atobe's expression turned into a Shadow as he asked, "What is your name?"

"Before asking for someone else's name, you should state your own first; that is the most basic courtesy."

Takahashi replied while returning the tennis racket to Izumi.

"Let's go!"

Everyone watched as Takahashi's figure gradually faded into the distance.

"Why is everyone here!"

Seigaku's Momoshiro Takeshi and Fudomine's Kamio appeared on the other side of the Court and, seeing the few people on the Court, spoke.

Izumi watched Takahashi's retreating figure and muttered, "To think he's so amazing!"

"Who's amazing?"

Momoshiro asked.

Then he saw Atobe on the other side of the net.

The previously relaxed expression on his face vanished instantly.

These are people from Hyotei.

They are players from the No. 1 seed of the Metropolitan Tournament.

How could they be here too?

"Hey, are you playing doubles? Let's have a match too!" Momoshiro proposed.

Atobe acted as if he hadn't heard him and said to Huadi, "Let's go!"

Then, the two of them also left.

Kamio Akira asked Tachibana An, "The back I saw when I was walking over just now, was that Takahashi?"

Tachibana An nodded.

The two from Yurin said, "Those two just now insisted that everyone at this Street Tennis Court was trash, so it just so happened that we ran into Takahashi on the road and invited him over."

"They said one point would decide the winner, and in the end, Takahashi scored directly with a Serve."

Momoshiro said in surprise, "A Serve score, is that for real?"

Momoshiro recognized that the two just now were from Hyotei, who would be an important opponent for Seigaku in the Metropolitan Tournament in the future.

Being defeated by another person with a single ball at this moment aroused his curiosity.

"Who is this Takahashi you're talking about?" Momoshiro asked.

Tachibana An said, "A mysterious person with powerful strength; I don't know which school he's from!"

……

A few days later.

At the Kanagawa Regional Tournament site.

Takahashi stood to the side, bored.

He glanced at the score list listlessly; it was still 6-0!

It was truly too boring!

These past few days, Rikkai's matches have basically all had this score.

There was nothing fresh about it at all!

"Next is the Singles No. 3 match, please have both sides prepare. Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School's Sanada Genichiro and..."

A voice that resounded throughout the entire venue came over the loudspeaker.

Kirihara, who was to the side, was startled and said, "Isn't Singles No. 3 me?"

"Did they make a mistake!"

A curve appeared at the corner of Takahashi's mouth, and he smiled without saying a word.

Sanada glanced at Takahashi, and his heart immediately understood.

He stopped Kirihara, picked up his own bag, and walked forward.

This was a little bit of fun Takahashi had found for himself!

This was the final match of the Regional Tournament.

Takahashi had secretly swapped the lists for Singles Two and Singles Three last night, because the final decision-making power for the starting lineup was in his hands as Vice Captain.

Compared to the result of the match, he wanted to see how Sanada would react when faced with such a sudden situation even more.

Sanada was indeed someone who cared about the big picture and understood the situation!

Without a single complaint, he silently took the court.

However.

The opponent never dreamed that Sanada would actually take the court as Singles No. 3.

In previous Regional Tournaments, Sanada, as the team leader, was always arranged in the Singles 1 position.

The moment he saw Sanada, the opponent thought he had gotten up too early and his eyes were playing tricks on him.

After he reacted, he directly forfeited.

And just like that, they won!

A victory without a fight!

This little interlude did not bring Takahashi the fun he had imagined.

The Regional Tournament ended just like that!

Still with a first-place result!

Sanada walked toward Takahashi and said, "Vice Captain, the starting lineup was changed; we should have informed the team members."

Takahashi responded with a, "Hmm!"

"It's just that the matches were too boring, and I wanted to find some fun."

"Sanada, you don't have to be so serious either, keeping a straight face every day, just like my elder; you're only two years older than me."

"You need to be energetic and full of vitality!"

Sanada continued, "Tomorrow is the day of your scheduled match with the Captain; instead of causing trouble, you should think about what you're going to do after you lose tomorrow."