The train was painfully slow.
By the time the two of them returned to Seigaku, it was already midnight.
As soon as they stepped inside, Ryoko Echizen approached them with concern. "You're back so late—have you eaten?"
"We ate. Grabbed something on the way back."
"Don't come home this late next time."
As she spoke, Ryoko took a tissue and gently wiped the sweat from Yoru's forehead.
Yoru didn't resist, a warm smile spreading across his face. Ryoko's kindness always comforted him.
The tender moment made QP slightly uncomfortable. In broken Japanese, he muttered, "I'll go take a bath first."
"Sure~"
Realizing something, Yoru pulled back slightly and chuckled. "Ryoko-mom, I'll go find the old man first. Where is he?"
"Backyard."
"Got it~"
He strolled to the backyard, where Nanjirou lay sprawled as usual, flipping through a risqué magazine.
Sometimes, Yoru couldn't understand it—Japan's entertainment industry was so vast, with plenty of movies and other distractions. Why was the old man so obsessed with these magazines?
Shaking off the thought, Yoru gave the small tent a light kick.
"Ow—owow! You little—!"
Not letting him finish, Yoru cut in first: "Old man, let's play a match. I feel insanely strong right now!"
"Made some progress?"
Rubbing the sore spot, Nanjirou wore his usual unbothered expression.
Over the years, Yoru—who hated training—had always grown stronger in bizarre, unpredictable ways, often reaching absurd levels despite barely putting in effort. Even his so-called "training" was just a lazy two-hour session of half-hearted drills.
Hearing about another improvement was nothing new.
The two grabbed their rackets and headed to the court.
Seeing Nanjirou wielding that old wooden racket again, Yoru scoffed. "Who do you think you're underestimating? Turn up the heat today—I don't want people thinking I'm some weakling."
"This confident, huh?"
Nanjirou raised an eyebrow. It was rare for Yoru to act so cocky. Normally, he'd demand Nanjirou hold back before agreeing to play.
Had he finally broken through that door?
Well, if Yoru insisted, Nanjirou dusted off his long-unused carbon-fiber racket.
...
Three minutes later.
"Hey, kid! You alive? Don't die on me!"
"Please don't drop dead—Ryoko will murder me if she sees this!"
On the court, Yoru lay flat on his back, eyes closed, face eerily peaceful.
A panicked Nanjirou knelt beside him, shaking him desperately.
The old man's expression was pure despair—if Ryoko walked into the backyard now, he was done for.
"You barely improved and still talked big! Wake up, brat! Your mom's gonna come out here any second!"
...
Life returned to normal.
By early July, just one week remained before the Kanto Tournament.
After nearly a month of intense training, the entire tennis club had leveled up in different ways.
- The three background players had all reached 5-star ability.
- Yamato crossed the threshold into 7-star.
- Although Kirihara's star rating hadn't changed, he'd successfully developed his "Hyper Speed" state—a unique ability tailored to his playstyle, drastically boosting his combat effectiveness.
Most notably—
Perhaps due to the adrenaline from his match with Oni Juujirou, QP's base stats had surged to 8-star!
His fundamentals weren't fully polished yet, though, so he'd been grinding nonstop to balance his attributes.
Of course, QP hitting 8-star meant Yoru's all stats were now maxed at 10-star.
But this time, he didn't go provoke Nanjirou again.
The memory of nearly dying last time was still fresh.
---
Court No. 1
Yoru stood drowsily on the court, about to attempt his secret technique—sleeping while standing with eyes open—when a voice called out:
"Captain! There are two kids at the gate asking for you. One of them looks like that glasses-wearing boy who came before."
Glasses-wearing boy?
Tezuka?
Yoru blinked, then said, "Bring them to Court No. 1."
"Yes, sir!"
The club member scurried off. Soon, Tezuka and a black-capped boy approached.
That iconic look made it unmistakable—"Sanada".
Yoru greeted them first. "What brings you here?"
Both replied in unison: "Good afternoon, Yoru-senpai!"
Sanada seemed stiff, while Tezuka was more relaxed—after all, this wasn't his first visit.
But wait—weren't Tezuka and Sanada supposed to be rivals at this point?
Yoru eyed them curiously.
Tezuka, sensing the question, explained: "My grandfather took me to meet an old friend..."
Turns out, their grandfathers were longtime acquaintances.
This reminded Yoru of a New Prince of Tennis subplot—the Tezuka and Sanada families were old friends, with the grandfathers being competitive yet fond of each other.
Yoru frowned. "Hold on. If your families are close, why did you only meet at the JR Tournament?"
Tezuka coughed awkwardly. "We actually knew each other as kids but hadn't seen each other in years, so... we forgot."
Ah.
Yoru shrugged. Just another trivial plot point.
"So why're you here? Don't you have school?"
Tezuka: "Elementary school's on break."
Break?
After dedicating himself to tennis, Yoru had almost forgotten that Japan had a summer vacation (July to September 1st)—similar to China's.
"Um..."
Sanada, who'd been hesitating, finally spoke up: "Yoru-senpai... could you... please train me?"
Train him?
Yoru glanced at Tezuka for context.
After some explanation, it all made sense:
After his crushing defeat at the JR Tournament, Sanada had spiraled into self-doubt. Back then, Yukimura had comforted him and trained with him.
But thanks to Yoru's warning, Yukimura had detected his illness early.
Luckily, it was still in the mild, treatable stage. With surgery now having a 100% success rate, he wouldn't suffer like in the original timeline.
Naturally, Yukimura was now hospitalized.
Watching Sanada grow increasingly despondent, his grandfather grew worried and arranged a trip with an old friend—Tezuka's grandfather.
The rest was history.
Hearing about Sanada's struggles, Tezuka suggested seeking guidance from Yoru—the person he saw as untouchably skilled.
"I see."
Training Sanada wasn't an issue.
Yoru already knew his future development path. With a few pointers, Sanada could unlock "Fire" and "Mountain" earlier—maybe even "Shadow" and "Thunder" ahead of schedule.
But first, he needed to test the waters.
Besides, he had nothing better to do.
Strengthening Sanada now would just mean better "fertilizer" to push Ryoma's growth later—which ultimately benefited him.
"Alright, let's play a match first. I'll gauge your current level."
---
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