"Didn't expect you to be the one opening the show~ Echizen! Good luck out there~" Atobe said with a playful tone as he looked at Ryōma.
"Echizen! Go get 'em! Show these high schoolers what we middle schoolers can do!" Momoshiro threw his arm around Ryōma's neck and cheered him on.
"Don't worry~ Momoshiro-senpai! I've been wanting to see what someone from Court 3 can do!" Ryōma sounded full of confidence. After all, after some training, he'd just barely started to grasp the feeling of Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami.
"Echizen! Give it your all! Show everyone here what us middle schoolers are made of!" Fuji, eyes now open at some point, looked at Ryōma seriously. Ryōma didn't notice, but Fuji's words didn't actually include any expectation for him to win.
Akashi gave Ryōma a cold glance. He knew full well that with Ryōma's current strength, he had no chance against Irie. What Irie would actually do during this match, even Akashi couldn't predict. And even if Irie lost, Akashi wouldn't be surprised at all.
Led by the staff, everyone arrived at the court. Irie was already standing there smiling, clearly waiting for Ryōma to show up.
"Ara~ See? I told you there was no need to rush, Echizen Ryōma~" Irie said with a grin as soon as Ryōma stepped onto the court.
"Oh? Then I'll be in your care for this match, senpai!" Ryōma gave a confident smile back at him.
"No need to say 'in your care'—I know you middle schoolers are crazy strong! Still, as your senior, I should look after you a bit. I'll give you serve first!" Irie spoke gently.
'Seems like this Irie-senpai is actually a good guy!' Ryōma thought to himself, watching Irie.
"Looking at that face, don't tell me Echizen really thinks Irie-senpai's a nice guy?" Yukimura said playfully to Fuji at the sidelines.
"Hmph! Way too relaxed! Echizen!" Sanada snorted from nearby.
"I actually do think Irie-senpai is a good person," Fuji replied, not agreeing with either of them.
"Oh? You really are a dangerous one, Fuji Shūsuke," Yukimura chuckled at that.
Ryōma was now standing on the baseline. Since this was an internal match within the training camp, they skipped most of the official match protocol. After confirming serve order, the umpire immediately called for the match to begin.
Ryōma pulled out a tennis ball, tested the bounce a few times, then tossed it high. Irie instantly noticed that Ryōma was using his right hand and a strange smile curled at his lips. Ryōma lightly jumped, swinging his racket with his right hand, and added a strong spin to the ball.
The ball whistled over the net. Irie quickly rushed to the bounce spot. The moment the ball hit the ground, it began spinning rapidly, then shot toward Irie's face.
"External spin serve!"
"W-What?!" Irie exclaimed, barely twisting his head aside to dodge the ball.
"Ace! 15–0!"
Atobe's eye twitched from the sidelines. Unpleasant memories flooded back—he remembered training hard with Irie during his second year. Their playing styles were eerily similar.
"I honestly didn't expect someone your age to already master such a vicious external spin serve. Impressive as always, Echizen Ryōma~" Irie said with a bit of admiration after dodging the ball.
"Thanks for the compliment, senpai. But I don't think that's all you've got, right?" Ryōma, unusually, wasn't sarcastic—clearly, his impression of Irie was pretty good.
"Well~ my strength's nothing compared to the monsters in this camp. Still, I'm supposed to represent the high schoolers after all!" Irie said with a smile, then bent his knees slowly and his face turned serious.
Meanwhile, a sudden stir spread among the high schoolers watching the match. Akashi turned his head and saw two figures approaching—one unusually tall, the other looking a bit lazy. It was none other than Ochi Tsukimitsu and his roommate Mōri Juuzaburō!
'Why are those two here? Weren't they supposed to be on the overseas expedition match? Looks like I'll have to have a proper talk with Mifune later,' Akashi thought to himself.
"Hey, why are First String guys here? Isn't this just a regular rotation match?" a high school student whispered.
"Who knows~ Maybe they wanna see how the middle schoolers perform. Wait—hold on! That Akashi guy's wearing a First String uniform too!"
"You didn't hear it this morning? Irie-senpai already said it—Akashi was the former No. 3! Of course he's got a First String uniform!"
"What? Seriously? Then why is Watanabe-senpai No. 3 now?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Just focus on the match for now!" a third-year from Court 1 finally couldn't help but snap.
While they were talking, Ryōma launched another external spin serve. This time, however, Irie returned it easily. Ryōma wasn't surprised. After all, Irie was from Court 3. If he couldn't even return that serve, Ryōma would start questioning the level of the entire camp.
The two quickly fell into a rally. After six or seven exchanges, Ryōma spotted a small opening. He immediately charged forward, dropped low as he passed the center line, sliding from inertia, then leapt high at the net and whipped his racket upward in a sharp flick.
"Drive B!"
The ball shot into the air, crossed the net, then suddenly dropped near the center line. After bouncing, it soared again toward the baseline and flew out of bounds under Irie's stunned gaze.
"30–0!"
"Whew~ I really did underestimate you, Echizen!" Irie turned around with a serious look and called out to Ryōma.
"Senpai, you're way stronger than those guys from this morning~" Ryōma replied as he adjusted his cap.
The match resumed. Ryōma used another external spin serve, but it had no effect now. The two locked into another rally, though Ryōma could feel that Irie had clearly gotten faster and sharper.
Then, Irie sliced with his backhand to return Ryōma's topspin. But Ryōma had already appeared at the net. Holding the racket with both hands, he smashed the ball, which flew like a laser toward Irie.
Irie reacted quickly, side-stepping left several paces and swinging to intercept—but the moment the ball made contact, it knocked his racket straight out of his hands, spinning in the air before landing in the backcourt. The ball had already flown out.
"40–0!"
"I didn't expect someone your size to hit such a powerful drive! Guess I can't hold back anymore!" Irie said awkwardly, gripping his right wrist.
After speaking, he walked to the backcourt, picked up his racket with his left hand, and took a ready stance. That's when Ryōma realized Irie, like him, was left-handed!
"Oh? Looks like senpai had something up his sleeve! Now it's getting fun!" Ryōma grinned, returning to the baseline to serve again.
This time, Ryōma didn't use the external spin serve. First, it no longer worked on Irie. Second, using that serve with his right hand against a lefty greatly reduced its effectiveness.
Once Irie switched to his left hand, Ryōma could feel the difference—his returns were way sharper. Caught off guard, Ryōma got hit by a fast backhand drive at his feet that sent the ball out of bounds.
"40–15!"
"Looks like senpai is finally getting serious~ Then... I'll take this match seriously too!" Ryōma switched his racket to his left hand and pointed it at Irie.
"Hmm? You're left-handed too? Now this is interesting!" Irie blinked, then smiled.
Ryōma served again using his left hand. Thanks to that, the external spin serve came out faster and stronger—and was much trickier for a fellow lefty like Irie to handle.
Though Irie managed to return it, he clearly hadn't expected the sudden boost. Looking a bit messy, he barely hit the ball back. Ryōma didn't hesitate—he rushed up, caught the rising ball, and hammered it with strong spin.
"COOL Drive!"
Irie swung to counter without backing off. But the moment the ball touched his racket, it started spinning wildly, then shot upward toward Irie's face. He was totally unprepared and stumbled backward, landing flat on his backside.
"Game! Echizen Ryōma! 1–0!"
Some of the people who knew the truth couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, quietly mourning for Ryōma. Oni Juujirō, who had just arrived, frowned slightly and let out a tiny sigh.
"Well~ well~ Irie-senpai's still the same, huh? Poor kid," Mōri joked beside Ochi.
"Echizen Ryōma. Son of Echizen Nanjirō. I doubt he's that fragile," Ochi replied with his usual cold tone, but still responded to Mōri's comment.
"A samurai's son, huh? Interesting..." Mōri rubbed his chin, looking like he was enjoying the show.
After taking the first game, Ryōma felt much better and blurted out without thinking:
"Mada mada da ne!"