The JR Tournament concluded successfully, and after receiving their trophies, Shinogawa and Tezuka left together. Tezuka looked completely spent, like he'd just fought a battle.
The venue for this tournament, the Lohsen Tennis Center, wasn't far from Shinogawa's and Tezuka's homes. It would only take an extra half-hour on foot, and even quicker by bike.
In their spare time, during their regular training, they'd often play tennis at the nearby courts. These were mostly friendly matches, and their wins and losses were about even. Their only official match was today's, which ended with Tezuka's narrow 6-4 defeat. In that situation, unless Tezuka could figure out Shinogawa's serves, it would have been tough for him to turn the tide once the match got going.
"Tezuka, your Zero-Shiki is completely perfected now. But you should use Zero-Shiki less often, at least wait until your body is fully developed before using it."
Shinogawa held a bottle of iced water, offering it to Tezuka, who was sitting on a chair. They couldn't find a proper ice pack here, so iced water would have to do for a cold compress.
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Tezuka took the iced water and placed it on the swollen area. His face twitched; the pain from the cold compress on the swelling was quite intense.
When his stamina was almost depleted, he pushed beyond human limits in speed and power, forcing open one of the doors of Self-Actualization. Although the outcome wasn't what he hoped for, he still managed to push that door open. He now understood the purpose of the Limit of Thorough Training.
"Just a while ago, I was wondering when you'd reach the Limit of Thorough Training," Shinogawa chuckled. "I didn't expect you'd push yourself and step through that door today."
Hearing this, Tezuka nodded, uncharacteristically not dwelling on the matter. He then looked up at Shinogawa and said, "I won't go back on my promise before the match. I'll go home and tell my father."
Going back on his word was something unthinkable for Tezuka. Once he promised something, no matter how difficult, he would see it through.
"Tezuka." Shinogawa nodded, listening to Tezuka. "Hyotei Academy will definitely not disappoint you."
"We will lead Hyotei to win the Kanto Tournament and also this year's National Tournament."
"Tezuka, no matter what, tennis is about playing for yourself. Don't chase momentary victories at the cost of damaging your arm."
"I wouldn't want to become a professional player and then lose a suitable opponent by my side."
For Shinogawa, playing tennis was about fitting into this era and enjoying it. The highest pinnacle of tennis, naturally, was winning various tournament championships—Grand Slams, double Grand Slams, and all future championships he might encounter.
In the original story, Tezuka's biggest regret was his arm injury, which nearly ended his tennis career. For a tennis player, being unable to play tennis is undoubtedly like persecuting their life. And that title of Seigaku's pillar was silently eroding and consuming the youth of Tezuka Kunimitsu!
Gazing at his childhood friend's serious expression, a smile appeared on Tezuka's face as he softly nodded in agreement, "Alright!"
"Let's go, time to head back."
Shinogawa checked the time and reached out to take the soda Tezuka was using to reduce the swelling. But Tezuka snatched it first, and while Shinogawa wasn't looking, he took a big gulp, mumbling, "I ran so many errands for you today, you owe me a can, right?"
"Hmph~ Look at you, so stingy." Shinogawa scoffed, pulling another can of soda from his pocket. Of course, he had bought two cans. Was he the type of person who liked to freeload?
"Grandpa, I'm home."
Shinogawa pushed open the door, skillfully placed his tennis bag aside, changed his shoes, then picked up the tennis bag and walked towards the living room.
"You brat, covered in sweat, always playing tennis," the old man walked out from the living room, chuckling at Shinogawa's appearance.
"Grandpa, it's my hobby." Shinogawa pouted.
"Alright, alright, a hobby," the old man, unable to do anything about his grandson, humored him. "You said you had a match today, how did it go?"
"I was lucky enough to win the championship," Shinogawa said with a smile. It wasn't exactly luck; after all, the scores in those two tough matches were both controlled at 6-4, which was relatively comfortable. Of course, Shinogawa wasn't too concerned about the match results. The main purpose of entering this tournament was to test his own strength. At the same time, he wanted to see how strong those two from Rikkai and Tezuka were. From the results, he was quite satisfied.
"A champion, huh!" the old man instinctively nodded. Then, as if something came to mind, "Didn't Kunikazu's grandson from next door also participate in this JR Tournament? Did you go together?"
Kunikazu, that is, Tezuka Kunikazu, is Tezuka Kunimitsu's grandfather. Tezuka Kunimitsu was a tennis prodigy known throughout the region, and this fact was often on Tezuka's grandpa's lips, who would occasionally come to Shinogawa's house to brag. Just recently, when Tezuka's grandpa went fishing with his own old man, he mentioned Tezuka going to Germany for further training—Germany, the world's best tennis mecca.
And then his own good grandson came back and said he won this JR Tournament, indirectly defeating Kunikazu's grandson.
"Good, good, good..." The old man didn't understand tennis, but he was fiercely competitive. Back in the day, he and Tezuka's grandpa used to compare themselves in many ways, and even at their age, they still often compared things. The most frequent comparison was their respective grandsons.
"Good boy, good boy. Keep playing tennis well in the future, and you must surpass Kunikazu's grandson. Let him see the legacy of our Shinogawa family. And after this, you don't need to help your father anymore." The old man walked up smiling, patted Shinogawa's shoulder, and said, "If anything happens at Kunien's place, I'll go help out myself."
"This... wouldn't that be bad, Grandpa?" Shinogawa scratched his head, unsure why his grandpa's attitude had suddenly changed. But as long as it didn't interfere with his tennis, Shinogawa was quite happy inside.
"What's bad about it?" The old man waved his hand nonchalantly. Then, smelling something, he looked at Shinogawa with a disgusted expression, saying, "You brat, hurry and take a shower. You stink. Wash up before you come to the table to eat."
"Got it, got it, Grandpa!" Shinogawa smiled and nodded, casually placing his tennis bag on the sofa before heading towards the bathroom.
"That brat, he's got the same temper as his old man." Watching Shinogawa, the old man helplessly shook his head, reached for the tennis bag on the sofa, and hung it aside.
"Kunikazu, hmph!" The old man couldn't help but chuckle as he thought of his old rival's face.
"You brat, where's the tennis ball~" The old man glanced at the tennis bag. His grandson seemed quite optimistic; he hoped he could stick to this path and smoothly continue down it.