The bus slowly pulled up in front of Fudomine Middle School's gate. Members of the Fudomine tennis club stepped off one by one. Seeing the slightly unfamiliar school entrance, it felt almost like a lifetime had passed.
But with Akashi's call, everyone snapped out of it. Carrying their luggage, they headed toward their homes. The regulars said their goodbyes before going their separate ways—except for Krauser, who didn't move.
When everyone else had left, Krauser looked at the smiling Akashi in front of him and finally spoke up:
"Akashi! I've noticed that ever since we entered the training camp estate, your personality seems to have changed. Can you tell me what happened?"
Akashi wasn't surprised at all that Krauser noticed the difference. Compared to others, he'd known Krauser much longer. With a gentle tone, Akashi answered:
"Don't worry, Liliadent~ I just figured out a few things. I haven't really changed at all deep down!"
"That's good, then I'll head home first!" Hearing Akashi's reply, Krauser didn't think more about it. He said goodbye and left.
"Looks like someone still noticed. Not surprising~" Akashi murmured as he watched Krauser's departing figure. But thinking about the 1.5% increase in fusion rate, he didn't mind much.
The regulars of the other four schools felt similar when they got back. A month was enough time to change a lot of habits.
It's worth mentioning that Inui Sadaharu and Yanagi Renji really brought the penalty drinks back to their own schools. They even exchanged recipes, which made life miserable for the members of Seigaku and Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku's tennis clubs. The regulars were fine since they'd already experienced them and were mentally prepared.
But the ordinary members were in trouble—the first time they tried the drinks, everyone went down at once. Other teachers at the schools even thought it was a mass food poisoning incident!
Yamabuki had suffered a big loss in strength after Mitsuya left, but there was no helping it. Luckily, the camp helped first-years like Sengoku make great progress.
It was the same for Hyōtei—even two third-year regulars had improved. But both of them were planning to quit tennis after graduating. Their talent had probably reached its limit, and breaking through again would be difficult. Still, they intended to give it their all in this final year.
Actually, for the four schools other than Fudomine, the most valuable thing from the camp wasn't just the increase in strength, but the training methods Akashi shared. Even though the camp was over, they all continued using these training plans.
Just like that, time flew by, and July arrived. There were only a few days left until the Kanto Regional Tournament began. All participating schools were making their final preparations.
On Rokkaku Junior High's tennis court, the old man was kneeling on the coach's bench, holding a cup of hot tea as he watched the boys training on the court. He couldn't help but feel moved that so many promising newcomers had joined this year!
In Josei Shonan's training room, the curvy Hanamura Aoi was seriously recording the players' training data. The entire room was filled with all kinds of high-tech-looking equipment. It was Hanamura-sensei's first year at this school, and she really hoped to get good results at the Kanto Regional with her methods.
On this day, in front of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku's gate, a lot of people had gathered—captains and vice-captains from all the schools qualified for the Kanto Regional. Then, two luxurious cars arrived and stopped at the entrance.
Four people stepped out: Akashi, Tezuka, Atobe, and Oshitari. By coincidence, they'd all arrived at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku at the same time.
"Didn't expect to run into you right at the gate, Akashi! Looks like ore-sama's luck isn't great today~" Atobe said with a hint of annoyance.
"Oh? Really? I was thinking maybe you were following me, Atobe!" Akashi shot back without backing down.
"It's almost time. We should go in now—wouldn't be good if we were late~" Oshitari quickly stepped in when he saw the two about to start bickering again.
And when he heard the word "late," Tezuka instinctively frowned a little, even though he wasn't sure why.
Inside Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku's conference hall, many people were already seated. They were from all the strong tennis schools in the Kanto area, having qualified for the Kanto Regional through their district tournaments.
After Akashi, Atobe, Tezuka, and Oshitari entered the hall, they split up and sat on opposite sides, waiting for Yukimura and the others to arrive.
Soon, Yamato walked in with Fuji. When Fuji saw Akashi and Atobe sitting far apart, a playful smile spread across his face.
Yamato stepped up to Akashi, speaking with a hint of emotion:
"This time, Seigaku was only able to make it into the Kanto Regional thanks to your help, Akashi-kun!"
"Captain Yamato, you flatter me. Seigaku qualified on its own strength; it really had little to do with me~" Akashi replied with a smile.
Yamato had actually wanted to thank Akashi for giving Seigaku's first-years a fair chance at playing matches because of Akashi and Fudomine's influence. But saying that out loud in front of everyone wouldn't have been appropriate, so he just smiled and sat down quietly to wait for the ceremony to start.
Then, a white-haired Saeki Kojirō walked up to Fuji, his face lighting up happily as he spoke:
"Fuji Shūsuke! Long time no see—didn't expect to meet you here!"
"Long time no see, Saeki! Judging by your uniform, you joined Rokkaku? That's a great school~"
"Haha! And you too—looks like you're with Seigaku now?" Saeki replied with a grin.
Seeing Saeki, Akashi remembered he'd grown up with Fuji. Even though he didn't have much screen time in the original story, he seemed pretty sharp. Not on Atobe's level, but definitely above Sengoku.
But Akashi couldn't help thinking to himself, 'That hair is obviously dyed, right? Good grief, I could understand if Tachibana dyed his hair blonde since he's a bit wild, but what's with white hair? Early grays?'
Yamato also looked curiously at Saeki chatting happily with Fuji. He hadn't expected Fuji to know anyone here. It looked like Saeki was also a first-year. This year, a lot of schools really had first-years joining their regular lineups.
After catching up with Saeki, Fuji introduced Yamato to him, and even introduced Akashi and Tezuka too. Saeki froze a bit when he heard Fudomine's name.
Of course he'd heard of Fudomine—after they won the Tokyo District Preliminary Tournament, their fame rose quickly, and more tennis media started paying attention to this dark horse team. He just hadn't expected Fuji to know Fudomine's captain.
But he immediately stepped forward and shook hands with Akashi. Akashi's gentle demeanor left a good impression on him, though if they ended up facing Fudomine in the tournament, he'd probably feel differently.
As everyone chatted, Yukimura arrived at the hall with Sanada and Yanagi. When the other schools saw Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku's regulars enter, conversations across the room stopped—no one could ignore a team that had won the Kanto Regional thirteen times in a row.
Yukimura and his teammates didn't pay any attention to the reaction. They walked straight up to Akashi's group. Smiling, Yukimura spoke first:
"Welcome to Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku, Akashi-kun. And welcome to you too, Tezuka, Fuji, and Captain Yamato~"
"You're too kind, Yukimura. By the way, is your health all good now?" Akashi replied with a warm smile.
"It's completely fine. I just need regular checkups now. Honestly, it's all thanks to you, Akashi-kun~" Yukimura still felt deeply grateful.
Tezuka and the others were a bit curious about what Akashi and Yukimura were talking about but didn't ask—if they wanted to share, they'd say so themselves.
"Tezuka, let's settle things between us at the Kanto Regional this time!" Sanada said, his face as stern as ever.
"Anytime! Let's both give it our all, Sanada!" Tezuka answered seriously.
Fuji and Yamato were already used to it—during the training camp, these two had said the same thing more than once, and even played a match together. No one knew the result, but judging from Sanada's expression afterward, he probably lost.
But Saeki was a bit intrigued; it looked like Rikkai's and Fudomine's vice-captains knew each other well, and there was some history there. He had no doubts about Rikkai's strength, and seeing how mysterious Fudomine seemed, it matched what the rumors said~
After everyone had arrived, it didn't take long for the staff from the tennis association to walk up to the stage and announce the start of the draw ceremony. They brought up the box for drawing lots.
Meanwhile, a blackboard showing the Kanto Regional Tournament's bracket was pushed into place, though all the schools' names were still blank.
Akashi was curious—he remembered that in the original story, Seigaku faced Hyōtei in the first round and eliminated them. If the national tournament hadn't been in Tokyo that year, Hyōtei might not have qualified at all.
But that was just the original plot, and two years later at that. Things probably wouldn't line up that perfectly now. Even if they did meet, Seigaku's chances of winning weren't high.
Sure enough, this time Seigaku and Hyōtei didn't face each other in the first round. They weren't even in the same bracket. Seemed like Fuji's luck was way better than Oishi's—speaking of which, Oishi's luck was legendary; in the U-17 World Cup exhibition match draw, he pulled Germany right off the bat. Unreal.
When Akashi went up to draw, he glanced at Fudomine's section of the bracket—just a bunch of background schools, probably around Ginka Middle School's level. Only one name caught his eye: Josei Shonan!
What he remembered about Josei Shonan was just the coach's amazing figure. As for their players, nothing impressive. Of course, Akashi had no interest in Hanamura-sensei herself—women would only slow down his swing speed.
Thinking about Josei Shonan also reminded Akashi of Wakato Hiroshi. If Wakato played Niō right now, he'd probably question his entire existence! Akashi smirked at the thought.
With the draw complete, the final bracket for the Kanto Regional was set. Akashi looked it over and chuckled—Fudomine, Rikkai, Hyōtei, and Seigaku had all landed in four different sections. Yamabuki was the unlucky one, ending up in Rikkai's first section.
Rokkaku got put in the same section as Seigaku, while Hyōtei had the easiest path, full of weak teams. Their spot in the semifinals was practically guaranteed, meaning they'd already secured a spot in the national tournament. Atobe looked at the bracket with a confident, dismissive smile.
Yukimura and Sengoku traded glances. Yukimura's expression was confident behind his smile, while Sengoku looked a bit bitter—seemed Yamabuki's luck really was awful this year. If Mitsuya were still around, they might have stood a chance, but now it looked grim.
Meanwhile, Fuji and Saeki exchanged encouraging smiles. Captain Yamato looked a bit emotional—Seigaku's chances of making it to nationals this year were higher than ever. Once they got back, he could have Inui run the numbers. It had been almost three years since Seigaku last made it; finally, their dream seemed within reach.
With the draw ceremony over, each school's representatives began leaving the hall. Akashi's group said goodbye to Yukimura, then boarded their car to head home. In just five days, the Kanto Regional Tournament would begin.