On the court.
The moment Ryo Shishido faced the Zero-Shiki Drop Shot rushing toward him, his entire body froze.
No one who hasn't faced a Zero-Shiki Drop Shot head-on could possibly understand the sheer bewilderment and helplessness of encountering a tennis ball that refuses to bounce.
At that moment, Ryo Shishido was utterly lost.
"What… what kind of tennis is this?" he muttered to himself.
"It's called the Zero-Shiki Drop Shot," a voice answered his question.
"Zero-Shiki Drop Shot?"
Shishido repeated, his voice tinged with disbelief."A shot that doesn't bounce? That's terrifying."
As he spoke, his mind raced, searching for a counterstrategy.
There was a way to deal with a shot that didn't bounce: hit it back before it touched the ground.
The problem, though, was whether he could even track Rin Matsuoka's ball.
"It's different from receiving," Shishido thought, gripping the racket as he bounced the ball."This time, I'm serving…"
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The rhythmic sound of the ball seemed to sync with his heartbeat.
"I'm serving, so I have the advantage!"
Shishido's eyes gleamed with determination.
By controlling the serve, he could dictate the ball's path, its every move, and ultimately influence how Rin Matsuoka would return it.
Thwack!
With a swift motion, Shishido tossed the ball and smashed it with force.
The ball let out a crisp sound as it hurtled toward Rin's side of the court.
Shishido moved immediately, positioning himself.
"Not a bad idea," Rin said from across the net, a faint smile on his face."But it's pointless."
He already knew Shishido's plan.
And it meant nothing.
Thump!
The ball hit the ground, arcing upward.
In that split second, Rin swung his racket—seemingly at nothing.
It looked like a complete miss.
But then—
Thwack!
Whirr!
The familiar sound of impact, paired with a fierce spin, propelled the ball forward.
And then, just like before, the same scene unfolded.
Thump!
Whirr!
The ball landed, spun, and went silent.
Another Zero-Shiki Drop Shot.
And Shishido… still couldn't return it.
He had moved early, but it made no difference.
"My God… did you see that?"
Gakuto Mukahi exclaimed, wide-eyed with disbelief."What just happened?"
"Before the ball even bounced, the vice-captain already knew exactly where it would land!"
Jiro Akutagawa said, his gaze heavy. They, too, had this kind of predictive ability, honed through experience and instinct.
But it was never a certainty—only a calculated guess.
Rin Matsuoka, though, was different. He was calm. Confident. Certain.
That certainty was what made it so astonishing.
Even the server couldn't be 100% sure where their ball would land.
After leaving the racket, a tennis ball was subject to countless variables—force, angle, wind, and more.
Everyone had to adjust and adapt to those changes, and mistakes were inevitable.
"Could it be… the vice-captain knew from the start how Shishido's serve would move, how it would travel, how it would land, and how it would bounce?"
Jiro's voice trembled, his scalp prickling with the thought."How is that even possible?"
"That's why I said I never want to face him again,"
Yushi Oshitari finally spoke, his tone grave."When I played him, I didn't even know if the ball was mine or his."
Not knowing whether your own ball belonged to you or your opponent.
The others' eyes widened in shock.
"During my match with him, I felt like he knew everything," Yushi continued."From the serve to its movement, its landing, its bounce, its return—everything. The vice-captain knew it all."
No one who hadn't faced him could understand that kind of fear.
To doubt whether your own tennis ball was even yours.
"That's impossible!"
Gakuto muttered, still unable to believe it.
On the court, Shishido stood frozen, equally incredulous.
"How… how is this possible?"
His serve—how could Rin Matsuoka understand it better than he did? How could he be so confident?
"Nothing's impossible,"
Rin said with a light chuckle, his smile bright and infectious."If you can perceive the ball, you can control it, dominate its every move. Isn't that perfectly normal? Like breathing—you can control your breath."
"That's impossible!"
Shishido blurted out. Perceive the ball?
Sure, with training, they developed something called"ball sense."
But that was just experience, not some mystical connection.
Nothing like breathing.
Yet, as he looked at Rin Matsuoka standing across the net, Shishido couldn't bring himself to argue further.
What was going on?
From that moment—or rather, from the very start—Shishido was doomed to lose this match.
"Game, Rin Matsuoka scores, 2-0!"
"Game, Rin Matsuoka scores, 4-0!"
"Game, Rin Matsuoka scores, 6-0! A complete shutout!"
The court fell silent.
A total defeat. An absolute, crushing defeat.
From beginning to end, Rin Matsuoka had used only basic techniques and that single Zero-Shiki Drop Shot.
Yet, Shishido had no chance to fight back.
"Seven minutes,"
Yushi Oshitari said solemnly."It took less than seven minutes for Shishido to lose completely."
And this was only the beginning.
Soon, Jiro Akutagawa, Gakuto Mukahi, Yushi Oshitari—one by one, nearly all of Hyotei's regulars, except for Keigo Atobe, stepped onto the court.
The result was the same.
Every single one was shut out.
Complete defeat after complete defeat.
When it was over, everyone was left in a daze.
"What… what was that feeling?" they murmured, exchanging glances of disbelief.
When facing Rin Matsuoka, they all felt it—their tennis, their every move, seemed to be entirely under his control.
It was a chilling sensation.
"Now, I trust there are no objections?"
Keigo Atobe's voice cut through the stunned silence."Then I declare Rin Matsuoka the official vice-captain of Hyotei!"
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