As he felt a soft arm wrap around his, a citrusy scent filled his nostrils. But Seiya was not happy at all. Instead, he tried to pull his arm away and distance himself from the girl beside him. This wasn't a school romance show or a hentai; it was a shonen sports anime. The two boys in front of them, Ryoma Echizen and Takeshi Momoshiro, were the main characters. To mock them like this was pure suicide. As everyone knows, in shonen anime, how many characters who go against the protagonist end up with a happy ending?
Their actions now were exactly like those of a third-rate villain who keeps jumping around in front of the main character, only to end up as a stepping stone and an experience-boosting side character.
"Hey, are you even a man? Is it okay to hide behind a girl and make her face us?"
Seiya and An were at odds, but it was clear that both Momoshiro and Ryoma chose to believe An. The reason was simple: they were wearing the same school uniform and were very close, so they couldn't be strangers, as Seiya claimed. The two even started to look down on Seiya for being a coward who used a girl to shield him.
Seeing the disdainful looks from the two Seigaku players, Seiya sighed. "Since you've put it that way, let's play. But first, I have to defeat the reigning champs."
After defeating Ryoma and Momoshiro, Izumi and Fukawa from Tamarin Junior High became the reigning champs. According to the rules of the street court, Seiya had to defeat them first to play Ryoma and Momoshiro. And since the rules only allowed doubles, he needed a partner.
Just as he was about to look for a random person, An stood next to him with her pink tennis racket in her hand. "Since it's a doubles match, chemistry is important, right? Instead of a stranger, let me be your partner. I'm the ace of Fudomine's girls' tennis club; I won't hold you back."
In tennis, boys' and girls' matches were held separately, as men generally had a physical advantage. Seiya didn't reject the enthusiastic An. He was planning to win this doubles match by himself, so it didn't matter to him who his partner was.
According to the street court rules, the challenger serves first. Seiya took out his racket and tossed the ball to An. "You can serve."
An was surprised. When you can choose who serves, you usually give it to the stronger server. As a girl, An's serve speed and power were far from Seiya's, so she was confused why he gave the serve to her.
"I'm letting you serve so you can feel like you're participating and not just a mascot."
An was annoyed by Seiya's condescending remark, but she knew he might be trying to hide his strength, so she obediently served.
Fukawa from Tamarin Junior High easily returned her serve and, seeing the way Seiya and An were positioned, immediately knew they were doubles rookies. Seiya and An were both on the left side of the court, so if he hit a lob to the back right, they wouldn't be able to get to the ball in time.
"An, you should practice doubles with your boyfriend. I thought he was so good from the way he was talking."
Izumi, who hit a perfect lob, was also excited. "It's a point! Another doubles rookie team. This is so easy! What do they think doubles is? Do they think we're just some random players who are easy to defeat?"
The ball arced high in the air and was about to land far in Seiya's court. Ryoma and Momoshiro, who were watching, shook their heads. They wouldn't have been able to get to that ball, so there was no way that guy named Seiya could...
"No way! When did he get over there?"
Just as the ball was about to land, Seiya suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the court. He swung his racket at a high speed, and a yellow streak shot into the opponents' court.
"15-0!"
"You're right, it's a point, but it's our point, not yours."
Everyone was in shock after hearing Seiya's words. Ryoma and Momoshiro, who were watching, were in complete disbelief. Momoshiro stared at Ryoma in shock. "Did you see his movements just now? Is that even humanly possible? And his swing speed and the ball's speed were insane. I don't think I would have been able to react to that."
Ryoma didn't reply, his eyes now fixed on Seiya. With his superior dynamic vision, he had clearly seen Seiya's movements. To him, Seiya's movements didn't look like tennis at all; they were like a different kind of sport entirely.
"30-0"
An served again, and after Izumi and Fukawa returned the ball, Seiya immediately hit a fast return to score another point. Just like before, even though Izumi and Fukawa hit the ball as far as they could from Seiya, he still managed to get to it in an instant and return it at a speed they couldn't even see. They could only see Seiya swing his racket, and the ball had already landed on their side of the court. How were they supposed to return that?
They finally understood why Seiya had let An serve and why he had said what he did. If Seiya had served, they wouldn't have even been able to touch the ball. As for the "doubles" match, An wouldn't have even had a chance to touch the ball herself. At least now, she got to serve.