#7Chapter 7 Atobe Keigo
Today was a special day: the enrollment day for first-year students at Hyotei Academy. All middle school students were to gather in the school's central auditorium for the freshman entrance ceremony.
Shiratsu Tomohoshi led Tezuka and the other four as they walked, and everyone automatically made way for them.
The reason was simple: their powerful aura.
"Which club are they from? They're so intimidating."
"I don't know, these guys are all new faces. But I heard from Sato in the Tennis Club that about two months ago, a bunch of incredible kids joined their club and defeated everyone in no time.
Could it be these guys?"
"Really? A bunch of third-years lost to some first-years?"
"Believe it or not, that guy said it himself, so it must be true..."
Shiratsu Tomohoshi popped his head out at some point: "It's fine, you can say it openly. If you don't know, you can ask me who I am, I won't not tell you."
Tezuka remained expressionless, and the others stayed silent.
Shiratsu Tomohoshi smiled, unconcerned: "Listen well, my name is Shiratsu Tomohoshi, and in the future, I will lead the Hyotei Tennis Club to achieve three consecutive national championships. As for whether you believe it, that's up to you."
Arrogant! Too arrogant!
This was the consensus of everyone who heard Shiratsu Tomohoshi speak.
How could this guy so shamelessly declare that he would win three consecutive national championships?
"Let's go," Shiratsu Tomohoshi said, signaling for everyone to leave and not linger.
At the ceremony, the principal tirelessly delivered a "wonderful" speech, as if the world revolved in his hands at that moment. (Indeed, no matter where you go, you can't avoid the school's time-wasting spirit.) It had already been two hours; wasn't this guy tired? It was terrifying.
Shiratsu Tomohoshi was on the verge of collapsing. It was like this in his previous life, why hadn't it changed in this one!
He really couldn't keep his eyelids open!
What Shiratsu Tomohoshi wanted to do most right now was to hit the pot-bellied man in front of him with a Light Ball and make him shut his mouth!
Fuji next to him? Hmm? This guy is truly a talent! What narrow, squinting eyes? That's clearly a devious personality! This guy was actually asleep, and because he usually didn't open his eyes, it was impossible to tell!
You ask why Shiratsu Tomohoshi knew?
Of course, it was Fuji's steady breathing!
On the other side, Tezuka... Hmm, his eyes were open.
But, huh? Why were his eyes so vacant?
No wonder, Tezuka had learned a bit of Extinction of Five Senses from Shiratsu Tomohoshi a while ago, though it wasn't complete yet, and he was already using it here?
Directly sealing off his hearing and sight, so he couldn't hear or see. Brilliant, my friend!
A dying man suddenly sits up in bed; the clown was me?
Half an hour later, the damned speech finally ended. The next moment, Fuji woke from his sleep, and Tezuka released his control over his senses.
???
That fast?
"Next, please welcome our outstanding freshman representative, Atobe Keigo, to the stage!"
The applause in the venue suddenly erupted, perhaps because Atobe was genuinely famous, or perhaps because everyone knew this cursed ceremony was about to end.
With short purple hair, a handsome appearance, a tear mole under his right eye, and that disdainful smile always on his face, he wore the Hyotei Academy uniform and walked slowly and elegantly up the steps to the stage.
He reached out and picked up the microphone in front of him, his tone gradually becoming more impassioned.
"Starting today, Ore-sama will be the emperor of Hyotei Academy.
Hyotei offers an excellent learning environment. Whether you make the most of it or squander it is entirely up to you. Life has its bitter moments, so don't indulge yourselves too much. Grasp your future lives with your own hands, hahahaha..."
It was chuunibyou, but it was also hard truth. How your future turned out was up to you.
The freshmen below were very supportive, applauding, and some girls already had stars in their eyes.
The applause quickly ended, and Atobe spoke again.
"Also, Ore-sama will soon be joining the Tennis Club, becoming its sole emperor! Hahahaha!"
With that, he put down the microphone, turned, and walked off the stage.
An awkward atmosphere began to emerge. Shiratsu Tomohoshi's surroundings were filled with the Tennis Club members, and they all looked at him meaningfully.
"To be honest, I don't mind you guys gossiping, because I love to gossip too. But don't underestimate this guy's strength because of it. Underestimating an opponent and being careless won't do."
The others watched Shiratsu Tomohoshi, who was both joking and warning them, and began to take this "Atobe Keigo" a little more seriously in their hearts.
"Tezuka, Atobe's strength is slightly superior to Fuji's. In the Tennis Club, besides me, you are the only one who can defeat him. This guy is very strong, I don't trust anyone else.
This match is inevitable, so you take it.
He can't win the match, but we also can't make him lose too much face, after all, this guy is our future sugar daddy."
Shiratsu Tomohoshi whispered to Tezuka, then began to smile wickedly, heh heh heh.
Atobe's strength was truly not weak, but it was a shame that for so many years, besides Tezuka, he hadn't had suitable opponents and teammates to train with. Otherwise, given his evolution ability, he would definitely have a place among the top five in middle school.
"Fuji, you also have something to do. There's another guy who isn't as strong; you take him down quickly and decisively, don't hold back."
After whispering to Tezuka, he turned to Fuji. Two good shows were about to unfold.
After Atobe arrived, Shiratsu Tomohoshi planned to hand over the Captain position to Atobe, then have Tezuka be the Vice Captain. Inui would be responsible for training and intelligence gathering, and Coach Sakaki would occasionally come to guide. Then Shiratsu Tomohoshi could rest easy as a hands-off manager.
After all, Atobe was already the emperor of Hyotei. Shiratsu Tomohoshi didn't covet that title. As long as everyone was under Hyotei's control and the club members obeyed Shiratsu Tomohoshi, then it didn't matter who held the Captain position.
After the ceremony, everyone returned to the Tennis Club.
Today, besides being the entrance ceremony, it was also the day for various clubs to recruit new members. Everyone had already completed the preparation work.
Many of the old club members who hadn't met Shiratsu Tomohoshi and his group, advised by the defeated candidates who were most likely to become Captain, learned of Shiratsu Tomohoshi and his group's prowess, and were convinced, no longer saying anything.
Moreover, the Hyotei Tennis Club had excellent results last year, so they didn't need to recruit new members like other clubs. They only needed to wait for freshmen to voluntarily submit their application forms to join the club.
Not long after, the established registration desks gradually began to see freshmen queuing up. Soon, the line grew longer and longer, estimated to be over seventy or eighty people, and the number was still increasing.
Fortunately, Shiratsu Tomohoshi was smart and had arranged for people to prepare two other registration desks in advance. The other club members then guided the new recruits through the registration process.
"Inui, go tell those people to divide the windows into three: one for those with a tennis background, one for those who are complete beginners and just curious, and another for those whose skills might not meet the standard but want to work hard and achieve something.
Have them separate; it will be more efficient."
One word from above, and legs run ragged below.
Inui rushed off to relay the instructions.
To be honest, Inui had been very busy these days: recruitment plans, training plans, which were different for official players and others, as well as strategy, data collection, and establishing rules for official player matches. Inui was doing it all.
Currently, Inui felt very much like "holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords." Shiratsu Tomohoshi had thrown everything at him and managed nothing himself, but Inui was enjoying it.
With improved efficiency, the recruitment task was completed in about two hours. Those who didn't meet the requirements could still join the club, but they would only do some basic training, with the rest being self-training. Anyway, Atobe would soon pay to renovate the courts, so it was no big deal.
Approximately 50 people passed the application process, bringing the Tennis Club members to 127 (about 103 who didn't meet the requirements were not counted as members; Inui would create a simple training schedule for them to complete the basics and improve, and those who passed subsequent training could officially join the Tennis Club).
Shiratsu Tomohoshi didn't see Atobe's name among these people. He didn't need to guess; the protagonist was surely preparing for a grand entrance at the end, then taking everyone down and directly becoming Captain.
Heh heh, Atobe, you're overthinking it. Things won't go according to your plan in a bit.
On the Tennis Club training grounds, new and old members gathered. Coach Sakaki began to speak.
He generally spoke about some basic information of the Tennis Club, some relevant regulations, and informed everyone that first-years could also participate in the official player selection match half a month later.
At these words, the entire venue was shocked.
The freshmen were eager, wishing the match would start immediately so they could show off their skills.
The old club members looked grim. They had already witnessed the prowess of Shiratsu Tomohoshi and his group in recent days, tacitly acknowledging that they had already taken six of the official player spots, and with more and more competitors, there were only two spots left.
Everyone was there to play tennis and wanted to secure an official member position in the end to represent Hyotei in matches.
At the same time, they couldn't understand why this group of first-years was so strong!
Coach Sakaki finished his speech and signaled Shiratsu Tomohoshi to come to the stage to introduce himself. Shiratsu Tomohoshi waved his hand, not wanting to go on stage, then pushed Tezuka onto the stage. Tezuka spoke a few sentences and then came down.
Finally, as Shiratsu Tomohoshi and Coach Sakaki had agreed, Coach Sakaki announced on the spot that Tezuka would become the Vice Captain of Hyotei.
Everyone was incredulous, especially the newly joined first-year students. They didn't understand why this first-year, so young, had become the Vice Captain.
"Everyone, quiet down!"
Shiratsu Tomohoshi had no choice but to go on stage and shout it out.
Tezuka was still a first-year after all, lacking in presence, and his words were somewhat insufficient.