JSWGAS Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Chapter 97

97.

At the age of ten, Kokonoe Seiichi participated in the Kanagawa Junior Tournament. After the competition, he accidentally met a strange middle-aged man who asked him right away, “Do you want to be my student?”

Kokonoe Seiichi didn’t agree, but the man didn’t seem annoyed. He nodded and introduced himself with a name identical to that of a Grand Slam winner in the tennis world twenty years ago. After that, the two often “happened” to meet in various ways. Nishikiori Koshi didn’t seem to mind Kokonoe Seiichi’s refusal. Sometimes he would stop to watch one of his matches, and then casually point out the advantages and disadvantages.

His insights were unique and helpful to Kokonoe Seiichi at this stage. Gradually, the two became familiar and became friends as well as teachers. Only occasionally was Kokonoe Seiichi curious about why the other party cared so much about him. After all, he had only met this one strange adult who would take the opportunity to visit his house with things after a match – this question was answered one day.

“I wish I could do more,” said Nishikiori Koshi, with a complex look of loss, “Just think of it as me not wanting the younger generation to take detours, to make up for a regret of mine.”

The thirteen-year-old Kokonoe Seiichi sat on the side of a tennis court in a tennis club in Miyagi, his fingers lightly pressing the thin strings of the tennis racket, and looked up at the court. Nishikiori Koshi had called him not long ago, saying that he had found an interesting opponent for him, and asked if he was interested – through the microphone, Kokonoe noticed that Nishikiori Koshi’s voice carried an imperceptible joy, and coupled with the fact that he was also curious about what kind of opponent the other party could bring him, he agreed.

Before the person arrived, the voice came first, “Kokonoe, sorry for the wait.” Nishikiori Koshi pushed the door and walked in, followed by a tall figure, “This is Kokonoe, this is Kokonoe…” With a clap of his hands, he cheerfully and hastily finished the introduction, without noticing the speechless gazes of the two, “Due to time constraints, only one game, as long as you have two more points than your opponent, you win.”

Kokonoe nodded and looked at his opponent, “Hello, I’m Kokonoe Seiichi, currently in my second year of junior high school. Nice to meet you.”

“Kokonoe Taka, first year of high school, thank you for your trouble today.”

The two shook hands lightly. Even so, Kokonoe Seiichi keenly noticed that Kokonoe’s right hand was rough. Especially in the palm of his hand, there was a clear winding pattern: was it a scar?

Nishikiori Koshi had already run to the referee’s seat, and was urging them with a very present sense of sight. Kokonoe Seiichi ignored the middle-aged man as if he hadn’t seen him, but saw that Kokonoe also ignored Nishikiori Koshi, and asked in a calm tone, “If the serving side scores on this ball, they continue to serve, otherwise switch, is that okay?”

Considering that the match was only one game, this arrangement was reasonable. Kokonoe Seiichi pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement to this rule. But before stepping onto the court, he asked thoughtfully, “This kind of serving rule… doesn’t seem to be from tennis?”

Kokonoe Taka paused and fell half a step behind him. When Kokonoe Seiichi looked up, he saw that this opponent, who had been somewhat expressionless since his appearance, revealed a clear expression, his cheeks were tense and slightly bulging, and then quickly relaxed, so fast that he almost thought it was his own illusion.

“It’s from volleyball,” he heard him say.

The two walked onto the court with their rackets, Kokonoe serving first.

Kokonoe Seiichi held the tennis ball in one hand, slightly turned his body and bent over, his eyes focused on the opponent in the other half of the court. After standing on the court, the other party gave people a feeling of silence. If you didn’t pay attention, you wouldn’t notice the illusion.

And it made people feel… he was observing himself.

This guess made Kokonoe feel a little novel. He no longer hesitated, throwing the tennis ball into the air, leaning back and raising his hand, pouring the rotation of half of his body into the ball. This series of movements was as smooth as flowing water, and the tennis ball that was hit flew into the opponent’s half of the court at high speed.

Nishikiori Koshi was a little surprised that the completion of this ball was much better than the last time, and the landing was also aiming at tricky places. It could be seen that even in an informal game, Kokonoe Seiichi didn’t have a casual and perfunctory attitude – what about the other one?

His gaze turned to the other side. As far as he knew, Kokonoe had not touched tennis for quite a long time, and was completely focused on indulging in various other strange ball sports… Nishikiori Koshi knew in his heart that he was subconsciously looking for reasons for Kokonoe not being able to hit the ball.

But contrary to the expectations of the other two, Kokonoe Taka just took a step to the side,

The racket became an extension of his hands, cleverly using the arc of the racket face to unload the force, and then slightly lifted it, sending the tennis ball back exactly. All the movements were so natural, as if this ball should have been returned so easily.

Kokonoe Seiichi widened his eyes in surprise: unloading force, braking, counterattack, the movements were neat and the attitude was tough. Such a level should not have been unknown, but he had never heard of such a person existing.

When he stepped forward to receive the ball, the racket fell heavily, with great force!

He had no choice but to abandon his original plan and backhand the ball back. Back and forth, the game fell into a stalemate, with the two repeating the long rallies. The current situation depended on who could take the lead in breaking the deadlock – Kokonoe hurriedly chased after the ball that was hit into the corner, and inevitably lost strength when returning the ball, while Kokonoe Seiichi seized the opportunity and gently hit it, the tennis ball just passed through the top and fell, and it looked like it was about to fall in the front court.

– It was a drop shot.

Kokonoe Taka stared at the shadow of the tennis ball, stepped forward, but suddenly paused, and finally watched the ball roll playfully.

The teenager on the other side of the net smiled at him.

Nishikiori Koshi muttered in a low voice, “Finally here, this speed is considered slow, right…”

…

…………

Another rally.

A faint mist covered his eyes, invisible hands covered his ears, and heavy chains dragged his limbs. This was different from any previous setback he had encountered. It was others purely using mental pressure to give him unparalleled pressure.

Kokonoe Seiichi’s tennis can be said to be perfected through each opponent’s reaction. He receives all of the opponent’s balls, and then uses counterattacks to subtly accumulate pressure from the details, thereby weakening the opponent’s strength.

In this regard, the best way to face him may be to launch a fierce offensive from the beginning. After all, Kokonoe Seiichi needs time to improve his known information, so as to establish his own advantageous situation.

In the past, perhaps that strong desire to win that could burn himself might have come out to clamor – but Kokonoe Taka found that when he was at a disadvantage, the world in front of him was gray, the sound of hitting the ball in his ears gradually disappeared, and the racket in his hand slowly became lighter, as if it had never appeared – and he didn’t care about these at all.

How interesting, he thought. He knew he was still standing on the court, but he had no idea what the game had progressed to. But he didn’t care at all, and even got a chance to breathe in the silent world – it even gave him a vague malicious idea: it doesn’t matter what I do, right?

Venting, coercion, destruction, it doesn’t matter how happy I am, and it doesn’t matter if the means are a little rough, right?

Anyway, I’m the only one here.

So, he swung his arm with only his intuition.

Kokonoe Seiichi knew that he had indeed limited his opponent’s strength – his movements were slow, and sometimes the tennis ball fell in front of him and he paused without moving, his eyes were empty, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

All the players who had experienced Kokonoe Seiichi’s ‘five senses deprivation’ would struggle painfully in that quiet world – but Kokonoe Seiichi caught a glimpse of his opponent’s face the moment he tossed the ball. There was no doubt that he had not broken free from the ‘five senses deprivation’. But his eyebrows gradually relaxed, followed by a crazy, joyful, and twisted smile.

His nerves jumped, and a slight surprise reduced the power of his ball a lot, and it rushed straight towards Kokonoe –

And as if he had already guessed it, his fingers were so hard that they turned white, and when he swung his arm, it was as if he was going to smash the tennis ball. He jumped high and spiked, and the strong wind passed, and it wasn’t until the air flow dissipated that a dull impact of the ball hitting the ground sounded a step later.

Those gray eyes quietly swept over, and little by little recovered their brilliance.

Nishikiori Koshi stared blankly at the court, his consciousness hadn’t even been extracted from the ball just now, he couldn’t control himself and suddenly stood up, accidentally kicking over the chair, the movement was so loud that the two people who were still facing each other on the court looked over at the same time.

Nishikiori Koshi rushed into the court and suddenly grabbed Kokonoe Taka’s hand holding the racket.

“Do you want to be my student?”

“…Huh?”

Kokonoe Taka had just emerged from the ‘five senses deprivation’, and the first sentence he heard was an invitation full of nonsense, and Nishikiori Koshi behaved like a sincere trafficker, so enthusiastic that Kokonoe Taka couldn’t help but take a step back, feeling chills and horror all over his body.

And Kokonoe Seiichi, who had experienced the same scene, also walked over from his half of the court at this time, watching one person desperately trying to break free, and the other was almost like a Jorōgumo tightly wrapping its prey, couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t think any word from a suspicious uncle is worth trusting,” he said to Kokonoe Taka, “It’s okay, I’ll call the police for you.”

Nishikiori Koshi: “…”

He let go with a smile and coughed lightly: “Forgive this poor man who doesn’t even have a student under his seat…”

Kokonoe Taka said coldly: “I refuse.”

Nishikiori Koshi sighed and scratched his cheeks helplessly: “I’m serious. You haven’t played tennis for almost two years, right? After such a long time, you still maintain your original level. Even more refined than before, and your physical fitness has also been well developed… It’s a pity not to continue playing tennis.”

The listening Kokonoe Seiichi was a little surprised. Kokonoe hadn’t played tennis for two or three years?

Nishikiori Koshi started to be indignant as he spoke, and lamented with grief: “I said that old man Echizen should have lied and deceived you to stay and play tennis before, but he was fine, he hasn’t changed at all after so many years, and he’s only skilled at being a hands-off manager…” He turned his head to complain to Kokonoe, “Do you know what this kid was doing before he didn’t play tennis? He went to play basketball!”

Kokonoe Seiichi suddenly realized, “Basketball? No wonder I always feel that Kokonoe’s movements are not commonly used in tennis. …But the serving rules you proposed before were from volleyball…?”

Kokonoe Taka had no choice but to explain, “…I played basketball in junior high school, and started playing volleyball in high school.” Speaking of this, he felt a little irritable. He looked at Nishikiori Koshi again and asked, “Do you think I’m suitable for tennis?”

Nishikiori Koshi nodded heavily, “If you come back to play tennis, I guarantee that the next Grand Slam winner will be you! The world champion will be easy to get!”

Kokonoe Seiichi interrupted with a smile: “You said this to me too.”

Nishikiori Koshi: “…Don’t take my stage at this time.”

Kokonoe Taka said blankly: “You just want to trick me into playing tennis, right.”

He turned to the opponent who had just played against him, and looked straight into Kokonoe Seiichi’s eyes, “What do you think? How did I play?”

Kokonoe Seiichi raised his eyebrows, he didn’t expect Kokonoe to ask him this question. After a little thought, he replied: “It can be seen that the foundation is very solid, and there are very few unfamiliar places… but if you continue to play, I am confident that I can beat you.”

“…Why?”

“Too stable, I can’t see the fighting spirit,” Kokonoe Seiichi said bluntly, “You didn’t think about how to break the move, but you kept hitting back mechanically – to be honest, I almost thought I was playing against a serving machine.” He made a joke.

Nishikiori Koshi laughed: “That ice face will indeed give people this illusion.”

Kokonoe Taka turned his head, smiling but not laughing: “Is that so?”

Nishikiori Koshi: “…You better not smile.”

Kokonoe Taka: “Oh.”

“Only the last moment when you broke free from my ‘five senses deprivation’, that spike was beautiful and perfect,” Kokonoe Seiichi smiled lightly with his eyes bent, “So, from this point of view, I’m a little looking forward to being able to play with you again next time.”

Kokonoe Taka fell silent, and neither of them could see his thoughts from his half-closed gray eyes.

Nishikiori Koshi couldn’t help but said softly: “Look at Kokonoe, this is the real smile that can make people feel refreshed –”

Kokonoe Taka raised his eyes, this time he saw clearly, his eyes were full of murderous intent towards Nishikiori Koshi.

Kokonoe Seiichi euphemistically said: “…Mr. Nishikiori, please don’t provoke him anymore.”

Kokonoe Taka pinched his eyebrows, took a deep breath, and suppressed the idea of knocking the racket on the hateful middle-aged man’s head. The other person’s appearance in a certain sense made him hallucinate about someone who always put on a pure smile (in his own words) to provoke him, and an idea gradually emerged.

“I don’t have any intention of going back to play tennis for the time being,” Under the gaze of the two, he cautiously changed his wording to a more vague look, “But can I ask you two a favor?”

…

…………

“I’m so tired, I’m going to die – Taka, I want to drink water –”

Matsukawa, who was covering his side abdomen, passed by Oikawa Toru, who was slumped on the floor, “The water is right next to you, you can reach it with your hand – and Kokonoe didn’t come today, did he?”

Oikawa Toru was quiet for a moment.

“Iwaizumi – I want to drink water!!!”

Matsukawa wisely covered his ears, even so, he couldn’t stop Iwaizumi Hajime’s roar from across most of the court: “Are you a kindergarten bear kid! Or do you not have hands?! Go get it yourself!”

“That’s too much!” Oikawa Toru got up from the ground, and responded with his throat, “Be a little gentler with me! Don’t always shout, no one will like you!”

“…”

Matsukawa’s eyes saw Iwaizumi Hajime approaching aggressively, and he couldn’t help but devoutly draw a cross on his chest. But when Iwaizumi Hajime really walked up to him, Oikawa Toru suddenly froze, staring at his phone in shock.

“Trash River, you…”

“Koiwa,” Oikawa Toru interrupted, his voice floating like sleepwalking, “Am I dreaming?”

“Huh? What’s wrong with your brain again?”

“Otherwise why would I see this?!!”

He screamed and frantically stuffed the phone into Iwaizumi Hajime’s hand, “Look, it’s this!”

What came into view was a photo sent by a communication software.

– Their childhood friend, who was absent from today’s crazy practice team, was standing in an office, with various trophies and tennis rackets lined up behind him, and next to him stood a middle-aged man with a face full of wrinkles from smiling and a pretty young boy with a somewhat childish face.

Even the middle-aged man was holding a small handwritten banner.

“Warmly welcome Kokonoe classmate to join the Aoba Tennis Club…?”

Oikawa Toru looked at him pitifully, trying to seek sympathy: “Look!”

Iwaizumi Hajime was greatly shocked, and even became a statue without moving for a minute. But after a long period of thinking and recollection, he suddenly grabbed Oikawa Toru’s collar, gave him a set of throat locks and iron fists, and calmed his breathing.

He roared: “So it’s all your fault after all!!!!”!