Chapter 16

On the day of the regional preliminaries, when Tsukikage Higure arrived at the meeting point, Kiriya Akaya was already there. He was counting off the members one by one, preparing for departure. Though a bit clumsy from unfamiliarity, he managed without any mishaps. In fact, he even appeared somewhat reliable—though he did sneak peeks at his cheat sheet from time to time.

Once everyone was seated, the school bus headed toward the tennis park where the competition would be held, and Kiriya Akaya finally wiped the sweat from his brow with a sigh of relief.

Tsukikage Higure, sitting across the aisle, spoke to him: "Kiriya-kun, you came early today."

"Of course," Kiriya said, holding up three fingers. "I set three alarms just to make sure I wouldn’t oversleep."

"Really? Did they work?"

"Hahaha, I didn’t hear any of them—that was my mom who woke me up."

Tsukikage: "..."

Others: "..."

Well, that was the Kiriya Akaya they knew all along.

Tsukikage withdrew his gaze and noticed Tamagawa Yoshio sitting upright beside him, muscles tense, breath quickened.

"Tamagawa-kun, relax a little."

A booming voice replied, "Yes!"

Everyone turned their attention to him in an instant. The already nervous boy grew even more anxious.

Tsukikage sent a glance to Kiriya: leader! It’s time for you to step up!

The seaweed-headed boy understood and felt the pressure mounting.

He had never comforted anyone before!

His simple mind raced, trying to come up with something beyond tennis and teasing.

Suddenly, Tamagawa sensed an unignorable gaze and turned to find Kiriya smiling kindly at him. The boy’s voice dropped to a chilling whisper: "Tamagawa, don’t let your emotions affect your performance. You don’t want to drink Senior Yanagi’s vegetable juice, do you?"

That was a threat, right? Definitely a threat?!

Tamagawa shivered, from numb feet to the tips of his hair.

Yanagi Shin couldn’t help but glance at the tennis bag by his feet. It belonged to Kiriya Akaya, bulging heavily with something substantial.

"Just out of curiosity," the purple-haired gentleman adjusted his matte oval glasses, "Kiriya, where did you get your vegetable juice recipe?"

"I asked Senior Yanagi for the formula, then made it myself." Kiriya puffed up his chest, hands on hips, brimming with pride and satisfaction. "I prepared thoroughly for this competition!"

A dreadful silence fell over the bus.

Tamagawa felt doomed.

If Senior Yanagi made it himself, one might faint briefly, but if it was Kiriya... well, one might actually die!

The once relaxed atmosphere shifted abruptly; the boys broke into cold sweats, limbs icy.

Tamagawa was practically losing his soul, his entire body turning pale.

Tsukikage slapped Tamagawa’s forehead, pressing his spirit back inside. "Tamagawa-kun, pull yourself together!"

Kiriya looked puzzled. "Huh? What’s wrong with Tamagawa?"

Wasn’t it because of your scare tactics?!

Yanagi said, "Kiriya, don’t intimidate your teammates."

"I wasn’t," Kiriya protested innocently, scratching his messy hair. "Senior Tsukikage said vegetable juice can boost everyone’s motivation, so I just wanted to encourage the team."

"We’re not going to lose, so there’s no need to be afraid, right?"

Well, that’s true.

The boys gradually calmed down, their strange tension easing.

They were members of the Rikkaidai Tennis Club; even if not starters, they weren’t the kind to be easily defeated.

On the contrary, wherever they went, their skill secured them starting positions.

With such confidence, why would they be afraid? And why would they lose the first match of the regional preliminaries?

Tamagawa’s eyes blazed with determination, his clenched fists cracking: he would win!

Tsukikage watched with surprise as the morale, sparked by Kiriya’s careless remark, soared.

"Kiriya-kun, you’re pretty good at boosting morale, huh."

Without much thought, Kiriya replied, "Really? Maybe it’s a talent, hahaha!"

Tamagawa hesitated but ultimately remained silent.

Tsukikage noticed his unease and asked, "It’s not just me, right? You guys seem a bit afraid of Kiriya-kun?"

Not just you, but all of you, including others on the bus.

Tamagawa stammered, "No... I’m not... uh..."

Could you speak any more unclearly? Are you a cursed spirit too?

Tsukikage muttered to himself and pressed on, "Why? Kiriya has a pretty cute personality, doesn’t he?"

Tamagawa: "..."

Manager, are you talking about the Kiriya we all know?

The shy boy glanced at the oblivious seaweed-headed boy and explained awkwardly, "Kiriya is amazing—not just in tennis skills but in his relentless resolve to challenge the ‘Big Three.’ If it were me, I’d have given up long ago or never had the courage to face them on the court."

"Senpai Tsukikage, you might not know this, but the tennis club members all admire Kiriya, especially those of us in the same year and the first-years."

Tsukikage was even more puzzled, his confusion almost tangible.

Tamagawa’s face twitched. "Senpai Tsukikage, you’ve seen Kiriya play, right?"

Tsukikage recalled the flushed skin and wild pupils. "Yeah."

"It’s not that Kiriya is scary, but people have an innate fear of violence," Tamagawa shuddered. "When he’s in his ‘demonic’ state, he’s bloodthirsty and crazed; his playing style becomes even more unrestrained."

"Huh?"

Kiriya’s so-called violent bloodthirstiness? Isn’t he just a fierce but timid cat?

Tamagawa hesitated, reluctant to speak ill behind someone’s back.

"Kiriya, can you tell me what you know? I promise I won’t say a word."

Leaning in, Tamagawa whispered, "Kiriya once injured someone during a match. Though it wasn’t intentional, the harm caused was irreparable, possibly enough to make the person quit tennis."

He bit his lip and added, "I don’t think that’s right."

With Kiriya’s skill, even without such incidents, he’d be strong, right?

As a sorcerer-in-training corrupted by the jujutsu world, Tsukikage couldn’t fully empathize with these words; his thoughts had already wandered far away.

Tsukikage asked the seaweed-headed junior, "Have you ever injured someone with tennis?"

Tamagawa: "!!!"

Senpai, why’d you just throw me under the bus?!

Weren’t we supposed to keep it secret?!

Having witnessed too much darkness in society, Tsukikage felt he was just giving an innocent junior a small lesson—not to believe everything others say.

Kiriya, evidently used to such questions, stiffened his neck and said, "Senpai Tsukikage, do you think I did something wrong?"

The seaweed-headed boy silently vowed that if Tsukikage nodded, he would no longer be one of his most respected seniors!

He thought stubbornly but unknowingly his eyes reddened.

"It’s not that," Tsukikage answered evenly, "I just realized tennis really is a dangerous sport, that’s all."

He paused and asked sincerely, "So, can tennis kill someone?"

Everyone’s pupils dilated: who’s ruining the reputation of their tennis world?

"Of course not!"

"Tennis is just an ordinary ball sport!"

"In competitive sports, injuries are common, but death never occurs!"

"Nothing is absolute," Yanagi said slowly, "Strictly speaking, anything can lead to death."

Others: "..."

Don’t be so meticulous here!

Tsukikage nodded with a hint of regret, "I see."

He didn’t dare ponder what his manager was regretting...

He dropped the subject and looked into Kiriya’s eyes, saying, "Kiriya-kun, if you can accept it, I have no objections."

Kiriya blinked blankly. "Accept what?"

"Accept others’ hatred, resentment, hostility, baseless suspicion and wariness, as well as conspiracies and exclusion," Tsukikage said, looking straight into his eyes. "Can you accept that? Or rather, can you endure it?"

Kiriya swallowed hard. "Is it really that terrible?"

Everyone’s minds echoed with the same question: Is it really that terrible?!

Yanagi pondered. Compared to Kiriya’s not-so-violent playing style, none of the starters, including himself, had taken it seriously.

If you got hurt by that kind of shot, it just meant your tennis skills were lacking—no one else’s fault.

But it seemed they had overlooked the criticism the junior had to face. For a psychologically fragile, simple-minded seaweed like Tamagawa, it might be too cruel.

Tsukikage sighed and spoke kindly, "I know you’re a good kid, but others don’t know that. Even if you say it wasn’t intentional, they won’t believe you."

Kiriya wanted to say he didn’t care about others’ opinions, but hearing Tsukikage’s praise made him both happy and shy.

"Well, since Senpai Tsukikage said so, I’ll be more careful from now on." He blushed and said proudly, "I can’t let my senior worry, after all!"

What’s going on? How did this become such a heartwarming father-and-son moment?!

Tsukikage: "Kiriya-kun, very considerate."

Kiriya: "No, not at all!"

Fine, as long as you’re happy.

Tsukikage suddenly felt melancholy. "Actually, I’ve faced similar psychological torment before—it’s a very unpleasant feeling."

The innocent boys were deeply moved but didn’t know how to respond.

It seemed their manager had been through a lot!

"But it’s fine now. Even if I were beaten to a pulp, I wouldn’t feel a thing." Tsukikage tapped his index finger in the air. "It takes a very strong heart to get to that point."

The boys shuddered: what a dangerous thing to say!

Kiriya’s eyes welled with tears. "Senpai Tsukikage, you’ve had a hard time!"

Isn’t it the beaten ones who’ve had it worse?!

Tsukikage’s expression became intense. "The path I walk is destined to be unrecognized by the world!"

Kiriya’s eyes sparkled. "Wow!"

Tsukikage’s face turned solemn. "Progress and renewal are like painful bone surgeries; only by digging out the festering rot can one be healed!"

Kiriya enthusiastically nodded at the seaweed-headed boy: "Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!"

The others stared blankly, ignoring the strange duo.

Tamagawa tried to follow their train of thought but quickly gave up.

"I really can’t do it."

No one told the disheartened Tamagawa that not understanding was perfectly normal.

The bus stopped, and Yanagi reminded everyone, caught in their own thoughts, "We’ve arrived. Get ready to get off."