"Hey, Akaashi-kun, wasn't that a bit much? Matsudaira still has a match to play, you know~" Irie appeared beside Akashi at some point, speaking in a teasing tone.
"It was just a warning. At most, he'll end up with a few scrapes. Besides, I doubt he'll have the chance to play again," Akashi replied calmly, glancing at Irie.
"Ohh~ So strict~" Irie responded with a smiling squint.
Watching Matsudaira being helped away by Miyako Shinobu and Takei, Yamato swallowed nervously. He had known Akashi's personality, but now he realized just how restrained Akashi had been before.
After getting blasted by Akashi's Glowing Shot—Mana Cannon, Matsudaira was completely silent, not daring to say a word. Seeing this, Fuji thoughtfully rubbed his chin. He felt like maybe he'd gone too easy on him earlier.
With the Singles No. 3 match over, the Doubles No. 2 match was about to begin. But the atmosphere had grown tense after the earlier incident. That's when Suzuki Shun and Washio Issa slowly stepped onto the court.
Washio Issa, Suzuki Shun
Both of them were graduates of Shishigaku and had once been the school's ace doubles team. In the original timeline, they were seniors to Tachibana Kippei and Chitose Senri—but that no longer mattered.
From Akashi's perspective, their strength was average at best. He remembered that after returning from the First String, they had challenged the Mutsu twins and got completely wiped out 6-0, with the Mutsus not even taking it seriously.
At the same time, Tachibana Kippei and Chitose Senri also entered the court. Tachibana had a bold grin on his face—clearly fired up after Akashi's earlier attack. Chitose followed behind with a look of intrigue.
"Didn't expect we'd be facing you two, Tachibana, Chitose. Looks like you're planning to go all out and win this shuffle match for Court No. 5!" Suzuki said with a hint of emotion.
"But don't think you'll win that easily! We'll let you serve first though!" Washio added with a smirk.
"Long time no see, Washio-senpai, Suzuki-senpai! In that case, we'll gladly take serve first. Just don't blame us if you lose!" Tachibana said confidently, his golden hair blowing in the breeze, adding to his arrogant flair.
Chitose just smiled calmly beside him, not saying a word, and simply nodded politely at Washio and Suzuki to greet them.
"The Doubles No. 2 match is about to begin. Representing Court No. 3: Suzuki Shun and Washio Issa. Representing Court No. 5: Tachibana Kippei and Chitose Senri! One set match! Court No. 5 will serve first!"
Standing on the baseline, Tachibana stared across at the two. He took a deep breath. This first game was his service game, and he had no intention of going easy—not against the senpai who had once guided him. That would be an insult.
At that moment, pale white energy began to rise from Washio and Suzuki. The aura linked between them, and their pupils turned faint gold—they had entered a synchronization state.
"Facing you two, we can't afford to let our guard down!" Washio and Suzuki said in perfect unison.
"Is that so? Then we'll have to go all out too, Chitose!" Tachibana laughed. A red aura surged around him, and the same happened with Chitose. Their auras slowly connected.
"Beast Synchronization!"
"Those two middle schoolers can use synchronization too? But something looks different…" a high schooler said with confusion.
"That's their unique type of sync~ Let me think… Right, I believe it's called Beast Synchronization!" said Tanegashima, slowly explaining to the others.
The beastly aura swirling around Tachibana raged violently. After glancing at the opponents, he tossed the tennis ball into the air, raised his racket vertically, and struck the falling ball with the frame. A loud crack echoed, and countless ball shadows surged toward the opponents like a storm.
"Abare Dama!"
"There it is again! Why do all these middle schoolers' moves look just like the boss's? Isn't that Pirates of the American!?" shouted the same high schooler who had been shocked during Fuji's match.
But this time, no one answered him. On court, Washio and Suzuki both smiled bitterly as the wave of ball shadows approached. In the next instant, all the shadows vanished, and a single ball rocketed out of bounds.
"Ace! 15-0!"
"Your Abare Dama's gotten even stronger, Tachibana!" Washio said with a hint of admiration.
"Thanks for the compliment, senpai! Now get ready, 'cause they're coming non-stop! Haa!" Tachibana laughed as he spoke, then tossed the ball into the air and unleashed another Abare Dama.
Washio's eyes sharpened as the barrage of ball shadows came crashing in. He dashed toward one spot—it turned out Suzuki had focused on the shadows on the ground the moment Tachibana served, then relayed what he saw to Washio through their synchronized link.
The simplest way to counter Abare Dama was by observing the shadows on the ground. But this method had its flaws: first, there needed to be sunlight or artificial lighting; second, focusing too much on the shadows could delay the return timing. Washio and Suzuki only managed it thanks to their doubles synchronization.
Just as the ball was about to fly out of bounds, Washio swung and intercepted it. All the ball shadows vanished in an instant. Wasting no time, Washio returned the ball with a powerful drive—just as the ball crossed the net, a figure suddenly appeared.
"Geez, senpai, don't forget I'm here too~" Chitose had somehow slipped up to the net without notice.
He swung his racket in a backhand slice at the incoming ball, and the ball vanished on impact. Suzuki instinctively looked down at the ground again, but this time, to his surprise, there was a large patch of shadow—making it impossible to pinpoint where the ball actually was.
Washio couldn't react in time either. The sound of the ball hitting the court echoed a moment later, and a split second after that, it popped up just past the baseline—no way to intercept it now.
"Kamikakushi Kai!"
"30-0!"
"That was... Kamikakushi?!" Suzuki muttered in disbelief.
"Trying to counter Kamikakushi by watching the ground shadows won't work anymore~" Chitose said with a casual tone after scoring.
"Man, you guys are monsters… every one of you!" Washio sighed helplessly.
Chitose scratched his messy hair, not really knowing what to say. Luckily, Tachibana was already getting ready for his next serve, and both sides focused their attention back on the match.
Washio noticed something sharp: this time, Tachibana didn't raise the racket vertically. Instead, he swung it down normally toward the ball. But the next second, the ball split into multiple shadows again—though clearly fewer than before.
"Abare Jishi, huh?" Washio murmured. But what he didn't see was that each of the shadows carried a faint golden glow.
Same strategy—thanks to Suzuki's guidance, Washio quickly locked onto the real ball and moved to the landing point. But when the ball hit the court, the impact was incredibly loud. Washio wasn't sure what was going on, but there was no time to think. Instinctively, he swung to block the shot.
The moment his racket connected with the ball, a massive shock traveled up his arm. In the next instant, his racket was blown out of his hand and flew high into the air. The ball didn't slow down at all and rocketed out of bounds, leaving a shallow dent on the back wall.
"Abare Dama Kai!"
"Ace! 40-0!"
With Tachibana's current strength, he had completely abandoned the weaker version Abare Jishi. Now, the upgraded Abare Dama, fused with Glowing Shot technique, was nearly impossible for normal players to return.
"This is bad~" Washio muttered, holding his wrist, brows furrowed.
But Tachibana gave them no time to think of a strategy. He launched another Abare Dama Kai. Washio pinpointed the ball's landing spot, took a deep breath, and swung with both hands at full strength.
Unfortunately, the result was exactly the same. The ball blew the racket right out of his grip. Without mastering the Super Sweet Spot technique, it was nearly impossible to counter Glowing Shot-level techniques.
"Game! Tachibana Kippei, Chitose Senri! 1-0!"