Prince of Tennis: Shocking! Hyotei's Demon King is a Yukimura fangirl!

Chapter 85 A Mismatched Doubles Match, A Spectacular Doubles Match

Marui glanced at him suspiciously, then at the large peach in her arms, and decided not to pursue the matter further.

Anyway, it's good to have peaches to eat.

He carried his large peach, walked from the front of the Rikkai team to the front of the Hyotei team, and then walked it again.

When the peach was held up in front of Cilang, his eyes shone like two light bulbs.

"Bunta! This peach is even bigger than it looked from a distance!"

"Of course, this genius won it." Marui placed the peach on Jiro's head and compared it to his head. "It's about the same size as your head."

He spun around and held the peach up to Kuwabara again. Kuwabara looked at it carefully, then stretched out his hands and steadied Marui's wrists before Marui could put the peach back in his arms.

"Bunta, be careful not to fall."

"Jack, you're too nervous. It's not like I'm getting peaches for the first time."

Marui was completely unconcerned. As he walked past Oshitari and Mukahi, he paused for a few extra seconds. "How was it? Pretty impressive, huh?"

Shinobu adjusted his glasses, his expression serious: "You're truly a genius at tightrope walking. Your timing and interception angles at the net are unmatched nationwide."

Marui blew a bubble, his smile widening, almost as if he had a note on his forehead saying "Keep praising me."

Xiang Ri nodded seriously: "I just tried to do that somersault in the air, and I almost fell."

He rubbed his shoulders. "It's really tough."

Marui, pleased with the praise, continued his inspection of the next stop while still holding the peach. He walked to the bench where the regulars were resting, where Atobe was looking at the game data while drinking red tea. He looked up when he heard him.

"Marui, your net play is truly spectacular."

Atobe put down his black tea, touched the beauty mark at the corner of his eye with his slender fingers, and spoke with his usual composure and elegance.

"Even Hyotei can't find anyone who can compete with you at the net."

Marui was about to say thank you, but after thinking about it, he felt that something was not quite right.

"Wait, are you praising me or Hyotei?"

Atobe picked up his teacup, took a sip, and didn't answer.

"However, if Marui-kun has any questions about splitting his energy between doubles and singles, Hyotei has no shortage of singles players, but you are welcome to transfer here to practice doubles at any time."

Marui was taken aback. Looking at Atobe's deliberately tense face, he turned and left, muttering, "Hyotei's captain is just as infuriating as Ryo."

After taking a few steps, he turned a corner while carrying the peach and circled around to stand in front of Sanada.

Sanada sat on the bench, his posture still upright, his hat brim still pulled low, but the cold and imposing aura around him had dissipated by most of it.

"Sanada, look at my peach!" Marui held up a big peach in front of Sanada and waved it around.

Sanada raised his eyes and looked at Marui's purple eyes, which were practically bubbling with smugness.

Marui was waiting for him to say something like "You're too relaxed" or "Don't just eat during the training camp" as usual, so that he could confidently reply, "This is something I, a genius, won on my own," and walk away.

Sanada looked at him and nodded.

"Great job, your volleys have been consistently solid."

Marui blinked, his prepared lines stuck in his throat.

He exchanged a glance with Sanada, then silently put Momo back into his arms and walked away.

Walking up to Kuwabara, he lowered his voice, a hint of uncertainty in his tone: "Jack, Sanada just told me, 'Great job, your interceptions have always been very consistent.' This is the first time our vice-captain has ever praised me."

"Has Ling's scolding driven him mad?"

Kuwabara chuckled憨厚ly and said in a deep voice, "Bunta's interception was always very reliable."

That's not the point!

Before Marui could figure it out, Mochizuki Ryo's voice rang out from the coach's bench.

Everyone instinctively stood at attention.

The Hyotei students have muscle memory, and the Rikkai students are now showing the same symptoms.

"You've rested enough, haven't you?"

Wang Yueling stood up, flipping through a page of the scoreboard in her hand. Her posture was elegant and upright, but the curve of her lips looked strange no matter how you looked at it. "I will now announce the pairings for the next doubles match."

The moment the words left his mouth, the air around the sidelines tensed instantly. They had just endured several rounds of harsh criticism, and now they were all on edge, fearing that their names would be called out.

Wang Yueling's gaze slowly swept over the tense faces, a mocking smile appearing on his face.

"Niou Masaharu and Ootori Chotaro will face Yagyu Hiroshi and Shishido Ryo."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air pressure in the stadium instantly soared.

Niou slowly pulled himself up from Yagyu's shoulder. He stood up straight, twirled his braid with his fingers, and slowly curled his thin lips into a smile, his fox-like eyes gleaming with an unfathomable light.

"This match looks like it's going to be very interesting. Hiro, who do you think will win?"

Yagyu adjusted his round glasses, his voice as calm and composed as ever: "We'll see who wins on the field."

Niou chuckled softly, put down his hand that was playing with the braid, and glanced at his new partner not far away.

"Hiro~ Don't hold back later, okay? I really want to see your hand go numb from the shock of Fengjun's serve~"

Liu Sheng pushed up his round, flat glasses; the glare from the lenses obscured his eyes, but the curve of his lips was faint and steady: "Likewise. Don't go too far later, or you'll regret it."

"Piyo~ Am I that kind of person?"

"Who are you."

"Hiroshi, your words have become increasingly hurtful lately," Niou sighed.

"One who stays near ink gets stained black." After saying this, Yagyu glanced at Niou slightly, a glint of light flashing on the edge of his glasses. "However, I won't lose."

Niou blinked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Puri~ That's more like it."

Feng was standing on the Hyotei team's side, looking in Shishido's direction, while Shishido was adjusting the wrist guards on his wrist.

Shishido felt the gaze and looked up. He walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a firm tone, "Chotaro, go all out. I'm looking forward to facing you in a real match."

Phoenix's eyes lit up, her tension dissipating considerably. She nodded emphatically, "I will! Shishido-senpai!"

Ryo Mochizuki observed the reactions from both sides and made a mark on the coach's whiteboard with satisfaction. Then he put away the whiteboard, turned around, and slowly shifted his gaze to Atobe sitting next to him.

Atobe clasped his hands elegantly on his knees, his posture dignified, like someone sitting in a concert hall watching a highbrow opera. He noticed Mochizuki Ryo's gaze and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Ah, is it my turn?"

"Fifteen minutes later, singles. Keigo Atobe vs. Kinu Minagawa."

"Minagasaki Kin. Rikkai University's third-year prospective regular." Mochizuki Ryo looked down at the scoreboard, her fingertips lightly tracing the page. "A baseline defensive player with good stamina and a stable backhand. He played twice in last year's Kanto Tournament."

He closed the notepad, a smile playing on his lips, his tone unabashedly sarcastic.

"Minister, I hope to see a spectacular match later."

Atobe stood up. He raised his hand to straighten his collar, his fingertips sliding down the edge of his collar, then raised his chin, his gaze sweeping over his opponent on the other side of the court, the corners of his lips slowly curving upwards.

"Ah, of course my match is spectacular."

He proudly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Snapped!"

It was crisp and clean, and the sound could be heard throughout the entire stadium.

Atobe's eyes shone with an air of self-assurance, and the curve of his lips was both arrogant and aristocratic. "Be intoxicated by my exquisite skills."

"Right, Kabaji?"

"Yes, Lord Atobe!" Kabaji Takahiro's voice came from the side, deep and powerful, as always.

Their back-and-forth singing, with its dazzling aura, stunned Minagawa Saki, who was standing on the sidelines.

He gripped his racket. He was fairly skilled, but facing Hyotei captain Atobe Keigo, he couldn't help but swallow hard, his palms slightly sweaty.

I've watched the videos from the department more than once. The opponent has an all-around suppressive playing style, extremely outstanding dynamic vision, and is at the national level in singles.

I'm just a prospective regular player; I usually serve as a sparring partner for the regular players in the department.

But that doesn't mean he's afraid.

As third-year members of the champion team, they usually train in the high-pressure environment of Rikkai University.

Having been reprimanded countless times by Vice-Captain Sanada and crushed countless times by Senior Yanagi's data analysis, his resilience is truly hard-earned.

He took a deep breath, stood tall and straight, met Atobe's gaze, and said in a loud voice, "Captain Atobe, nice to meet you!"

Atobe glanced at him, his gaze neither arrogant nor scrutinizing, but simply a slight nod of approval.

"Ah, nice to meet you."

The wind blowing from the lake made the peach scent in the air seem a little stronger, or perhaps it was the giant peach on the main field that was trying its best to make its presence felt.

The sun was shining brightly, and the boys were all exuberant and unrestrained.

Wang Yueling closed the scoreboard, clapped his hands, returned to the coach's bench, and turned his gaze to the first and second grass fields.

"Double players, get ready. Singles matches begin in fifteen minutes. Don't just stand around, get moving!"

The crowd began to move toward the doubles court.

Niou pulled his racket out of his bag, humming an unknown tune as he walked onto the court, his silver hair falling obediently to his shoulders.

I stopped briefly as I passed by Feng.

"Feng-kun." Niou turned his head to look at him, his fox-like eyes curving into crescents. "I heard everything Shishido-kun said to you just now."

The phoenix ears are slightly red.

"But he's right." Niou twirled his racket around, his tone unusually serious for a half-second. "Play freely, your serve is indeed quite good."

After saying that, he left, his little braid swaying behind his shoulder.

Feng paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, gripped his racket, and steadily followed. This time, he didn't look down; his gaze followed Ren-sensei's back, trying his best to keep up with the pace.

Ryo Shishido stood on the other side of the court, glanced at Feng, and then looked away.

He picked up the racket from the bench, turned and stepped onto the grass court, the racket spinning deftly between his fingers.

Yagyu pushed up his glasses and followed behind, bowing slightly as he reached the net.

"Shishido-kun, play according to what we agreed on before."

Shishido nodded simply: "Mm."

On the opposite side, Renou stood sideways in front of the net, twirling a tennis ball between his fingertips. His silver hair swayed gently in the wind, and a cunning glint shone in his slender phoenix eyes.

That gaze, seemingly casual, was like a snake's forked tongue, coldly sweeping over Shishido's position, and then vaguely glancing at Yagyu behind him...

For a brief moment, I don't know what he was planning.

Niou tilted his head, his smile deepening, and murmured, "I've thought of something even more fun."

The whistle whistled past the tips of the grass, and the referee raised his hand to sweep to both sides, his voice clear and bright.

"Second round doubles, Masaharu Niou & Chotaro Ootori vs. Hiroshi Yagyu & Ryo Shishido, the match is now beginning!"

The process of spinning the racket to determine the order of play proceeded extremely quickly. The moment the racket landed with its face up, Niou's smile instantly spread across his face.

He walked across the soft grass to the net, his eyes sweeping over Yagyu and Shishido standing opposite him. He touched his lips with his fingertips, his tone light and slightly provocative.

"Puri~ Lady Luck is on our side today."

Liu Sheng pushed up his round glasses, nodded elegantly, and offered no further response, simply raising his hand to straighten the collar of his team uniform.

He said "Nice to meet you" to Feng across the way, then turned and left.

Ryo Shishido tucked his long hair behind his ear and gripped his racket tightly with swift, decisive movements, not even bothering to glance at Niou.