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

"In that case, Kawamura's actions make sense."

Niou took off his sun hat and put it on Yagyu's head, the brim crooked. He dropped his joking expression, his fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of hair. "He thought he was sacrificing for the team, but in reality, what he sacrificed was far more than the team could give him."

Liu Sheng reluctantly took off his hat, twirled it halfway in his hand, and said, "The team atmosphere, coupled with personal obsession, would likely have led to the same choice for anyone else in his situation."

Sanada pursed his lips and remained silent.

The spot where he had been hit was still slightly numb, and thoughts kept swirling in his mind.

Athletes should give it their all.

Taking a step back is admitting defeat and becoming complacent.

Looking back now, many times what we call "going all out" was just a choice we were forced to make when we had no other option.

You need a teammate to lend a hand.

It's not that they were weak, nor can it be called lax.

For the first time, he began to doubt whether his long-held belief in "never backing down" was truly reasonable.

Yukimura glanced at his childhood friend, who was lost in thought, but said nothing. Some truths, you have to figure out for yourself.

He turned his head to look at Mochizuki Ryo's profile, his breathing becoming lighter, his brows slightly furrowed. He could understand Kawamura's feeling of being swept up in collective honor, and he also understood Tezuka's dilemma.

Understanding does not equate to agreement.

"What Ling said is exactly what I was thinking. When the pressure of collective honor comes down, many people forget that the first people we should protect are those on the field."

"Atobe won't let Hyotei do that." Mochizuki Ryo turned to look at him, her eyes serious. "Neither will you. If we're really going to fight, it should be the coaches who fight with tactics, and the captains who fight with leadership, not the players who fight with their arms and legs."

A faint warmth spread across Yukimura's eyes as he gently pinched Luna's little paws, making it "spread its claws." "Hmm. Rikkai's consistent victories have always been based on strength."

Upon hearing this, Sanada straightened his back even more, nodded emphatically, and spoke with a firm and resounding voice.

"That's right. Winning at the cost of injury, what a price to pay. The reason why Rikkai, the champions, have won every match is the result of the collective efforts of every member of the tennis club, and we will not abandon any of our teammates."

Niou stroked his chin, a sly smile on his face.

"Speaking of which, Sanada, after you lost to Atobe at the training camp, you secretly practiced your special moves every day until your arms were swollen. If Yanagi hadn't discovered it early, you might have become a one-armed samurai by now."

Sanada's face flushed red when his embarrassing moment was exposed in public. He turned to glare at him, his voice sharp.

"Nioh!"

Seeing that things were not going well, Liu Sheng took half a step forward, shielding the mischievous fox behind him, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"Yaji, don't bring up things you shouldn't talk about."

Jiro leaned over and started picking through Kuwabara's snack bag. His fingertips touched a bag of strawberry-flavored gummies, and his eyes lit up.

"Hey, seriously," he suddenly looked up, "Didn't Ling just say that Kawamura is going to inherit the family sushi restaurant after graduation? What if his hands are ruined? Making sushi requires a lot of finger strength, right?"

Liu closed his notebook, his voice steady.

"According to statistics, the probability of a professional tennis player fully recovering from an acute tendon injury is no more than 20%. With his injury, his daily exertion will definitely be affected. Even making sushi will be limited."

"Ah, that serious?" Kirihara's eyes widened in shock. He scratched his head. "That's too much..."

He wanted to say that it was too stupid, but he swallowed the words back, feeling a little depressed.

Marui spat out the chewing gum from his mouth, wrapped it in a tissue and held it in his palm. He pursed his lips and said, "We won, but we won't even be able to eat at the victory celebration. What's the point?"

"Bunta's right, that's like the sky falling down." Jiro nodded vigorously, waved his arm at Kuwabara, and started acting like a brat, "Kuwabara-san, I want to eat that strawberry gummy."

Kuwabara smiled helplessly, took out some gummy candies from his bag, and handed them to him. Niou, watching from the side, shook his head, took a lollipop from his pocket, and tossed it over.

"Here you go, so you won't hurt your ears from all that noise."

Cilang caught the lollipop, immediately putting the heavy topic from his mind, tore open the wrapper and stuffed it into his mouth, his cheeks bulging like a hamster hoarding food.

Luna rolled over in Yukimura's arms, revealing her soft little belly, her four short paws curled up, and her tail resting on Yukimura's wrist.

One paw held a crumpled polka-dot fish, while it chewed on the tail of its new favorite little cloth fish. A bread ring rested on its chin, and it tilted its head, munching earnestly, its little whiskers twitching. It pouted as if to say, "Why are you talking about such heavy topics again?"

Wang Yueling glanced down at it, a faint smile playing on his lips, and gently stroked its little whiskers. Luna's ears twitched, it yawned, revealing its pink tongue, and swatted his mischievous hand with its paw pads.

"You explained Kawamura's decision so clearly, you were actually trying to warn us, weren't you?" Yukimura suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone around him quieted down and looked at him.

He didn't look up as he spoke; his gaze remained fixed on Luna's little paws. The kitten gripped his fingers, its nails tucked in, its soft paw pads pressing gently against his fingertips, patting him repeatedly as if giving him a silent massage.

Wang Yueling, who had been staring blankly at the field, turned her head upon hearing this. Looking back into his eyes, she nodded decisively.

"Um."

In my past life, I've seen too many tennis players fall victim to injuries, including myself. Health, once broken, can never be put back together.

"I don't want you to follow in his footsteps."

He said it very casually, but those who know him well can hear the seriousness in his words.

The people around paused for a moment.

Oshitari's fingertips, which were twirling the beverage bottle, stopped; Yanagi's pen tip hovered over the paper; Sanada's fingers, which were behind his back, tightened slightly; Jiro's action of biting the lollipop slowed down by half a beat; Marui and Kuwabara exchanged glances; and Hiyoshi and Taki also put away their nonchalant expressions.

Irie, watching everyone deep in thought, smiled and shook his head, as if trying to dispel some unpleasant atmosphere. His tone was slightly teasing, "Coach Mochizuki's philosophy is much more insightful than those old fogies in our camp. They're always shouting about bleeding and sweating but not crying, that you can't break through your limits without getting injured. Every time we finish training, it's like we're doing wilderness survival."

"I really want to pack you up and send you there so you can discuss coaching insights with him."

Wang Yueling smiled but didn't reply. She simply reached out and poked Luna's little head. The kitten was secretly licking the gauze on its paws when it was caught red-handed. It quickly hid its paws under its belly and pretended to yawn.

He looked completely innocent, as if I hadn't done anything wrong.

Mochizuki Ryou smiled and withdrew her gaze, glancing sideways at the students from Hyotei and Rikkai, her eyes carrying a hint of danger. "You'd better not have such thoughts."

As he spoke, he raised his hand as a warning.

The students from Hyotei and Rikkai subconsciously touched the back of their heads. Even the kitten in Yukimura's arms subconsciously raised its two front paws, tightly hugging its little head, only revealing its two round eyes, peeking out furtively.

"Your threat is quite vivid." Irie couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the subconscious actions of the people around him. "But you have a point. You're all still growing, and injuries can last a lifetime. Rather than winning or losing a game, being able to steadily make it to the professional arena is the real skill."

Tokugawa didn't speak, but nodded very slightly, which was considered as agreement.

Especially Kirihara, Hiyoshi, and Sanada, who had been hit before, moved in perfect unison, their hands still pressed against the back of their heads.

Sanada pursed his lips, his eyes under the brim of his hat fixed on Mochizuki Ryo for a long while, his gaze deep and heavy. His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he only uttered one sentence.

"……knew."

"But this match was worthwhile for Kawamura," someone whispered.

"That means his world is too small," Wang Yueling replied in a deep voice, "so small that it only includes this one match. He doesn't know what that hand really means."

"You know?" Yukimura asked.

Wang Yueling was silent for two seconds before continuing to speak.

"Seishi, have you forgotten? I'm a certified rehabilitation therapist. After Kawamura's hand heals from the external injury, there's a high probability that he'll suffer from irreversible functional decline. His grip strength will decrease, his power exertion will be limited, and his fine motor coordination will be compromised. When he takes over the sushi shop, he'll need to control his hands precisely to make sushi and slice sashimi."

"He will have to pay the price for this match for the rest of his life."

He paused for a moment, his tone softening.

"However... as long as he doesn't regret the match, whether it was worth it or not is up to him to decide."

As Irie listened, the smile on his face was different from his previous casual banter; the curve of his lips was smaller, but the light in his eyes was brighter.

"Your thoughts are truly world-weary." He leaned against the railing, tilting his head to look at Wang Yueling. "Are you really only fifteen this year?"

"That's what it says on my ID card. But I think I'm 41 now, do you believe me?" Wang Yueling said as she tidied up Luna's cat carrier.

Although he was telling the truth, it was clear that no one around him, not even the thoughtful Irie, thought much of it, except for one person.

Hearing his slightly exaggerated reply, Yukimura took the kitten's paw pads and squeezed them; the soft touch was very soothing. He then looked up at Mochizuki Ryo, his eyes serious, "What you said just now was so insightful... has it been something you've witnessed before?"

Wang Yueling paused for a moment, only half a second, so short that it was almost imperceptible.

"Um."

He lowered his eyes, his voice very soft, "I've seen it. More than once."

He didn't say anything more.

Yukimura didn't press the matter further, and pulled Luna, who had closed her eyes and started snoring, closer to him. The kitten whimpered and buried her head in his team uniform collar, falling into a deep sleep.

Yukimura took a small fan out of the cat carrier and gently blew it on the kitten. The breeze was warm, and the kitten's ears swayed gently.

He looked up at the staff packing up on the court. "Tennis was originally just a sport for physical fitness. We really can't... put the cart before the horse."

Irie listened to their discussion with his arms crossed, then smiled and chimed in, "That makes sense. We have plenty like that where I'm from, pushing themselves to play injured just to climb the rankings, and many of them end up ruining their careers."

"Many people have forgotten that it is people who play ball, not tools for winning or losing."

Tokugawa stood beside him, his gaze fixed on the distant basketball court, lost in thought.

He wasn't thinking about Kawamura.

Instead, he was thinking about himself.

I wonder, if one day he were standing on the field and faced a situation where he could win but would lose an arm, what would he choose?

The first thought that flashed through his mind was: he would fight without hesitation. After all, any price was worth paying to surpass Byodoin.

When the thought popped into his head, he was startled for a moment. He subconsciously curled his fingers in his pocket, his nails digging into his palms, and the slight pain brought him back to his senses.

"Sometimes, you don't know where your limits are until you push yourself," Tokugawa murmured.

"Pushing yourself and destroying yourself are two different things." Irie turned her head, smiling at him, her words inexplicably profound. "Don't always think that enduring is the same as resilience. True resilience is knowing when to stop, knowing that as long as you're alive, you'll survive. Tokugawa, have you ever thought about what would happen after you surpassed that person once?!"

"Then what's the point of you playing tennis?"

Tokugawa's hand, which was hanging at his side, twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Does it have any meaning...?

If you push yourself to the point of ruining your body, what's the point of playing basketball?!

Irie didn't offer any further explanation, then turned to Mochizuki Ryo, raising an eyebrow: "But your Hyotei is quite interesting. You were clearly throwing the last few games, and you just watched?"

"Go easy on us?" Wang Yueling curled the corners of her lips slightly. "Which eye of yours saw you go easy on us?"

"The returns were all sent towards the middle, the placement neither tricky nor powerful, clearly giving the opponent opportunities. Especially those last two balls, surely your team's big guy couldn't have missed them?"

"That was a tactic," Mochizuki Ryo said casually. "Kabaji could have won those few goals by fighting hard, but he's already strained his wrist. If he puts more effort into it, he might end up like Kawamura. Keigo told him at halftime to prioritize protecting his hand."

Irie stared at him silently for two seconds, then smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, waving it at him: "Oh, I see. Well, your Hyotei's rules are quite interesting. Other teams would risk their players' lives if they were facing match point, but you guys see through it all and take the initiative to back down. Great!"

"Seeing through things and being able to do them are two different things." Wang Yueling smirked, slapping his hand away. "We just happen to have a deep enough roster to afford to lose this game. If no one else comes to the rescue later, I might not be able to stop these stubborn calves."

"You're quite frank."

"To tell you the truth."

Irie smiled and didn't continue the topic. He glanced at Tokugawa, who was still staring intently at the field, his brows slightly furrowed, still struggling with his thoughts.

Irie nudged him with his elbow.

Tokugawa snapped out of his daze, glanced at him, then looked at Mochizuki Ryo and Yukimura. He was silent for two seconds, then pulled his right hand out of his pocket and gave a very short thumbs-up in Mochizuki Ryo's direction.

"...Well played."

The voice was very low, and no emotion could be discerned.

Mochizuki Ryou raised an eyebrow slightly: "It's quite rare for Tokugawa-senpai to praise someone."

Irie laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "You'll get used to it. He's usually even quieter."