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

This commotion did lighten the mood a bit.

Hyotei coaching bench.

Atobe sat upright in the chair, his fingertips resting on the metal armrests, tapping them rhythmically. The pace was slow, yet it carried an invisible sense of pressure.

It was as if even the air around him was vibrating along with his fingertips.

He glanced sideways at the Seigaku rest area; the group couldn't hide their smugness, as if they had already won. He then glanced at his own teammates; those guys all looked panicked, as if the sky had fallen.

Finally, my gaze rose and landed on the Rikkai University area at the junction of the stands.

Ryo Mochizuki stood by the railing, idly folding roses with a handkerchief. Her posture was elegant, but the way she looked up at Seigaku was like a lion that had spotted its prey and crawled into its trap.

Atobe noticed that the moment he looked at Tezuka, his eyebrows twitched very slightly, and then he resumed his nonchalant expression.

It looks harmless, but... it's terrifyingly cruel.

Their eyes met briefly in the air. Wang Yueling's azure eyes curved into a smile as she raised an eyebrow at him.

That look in his eyes clearly said, "See? I guessed right. I won't let anyone laugh at you."

Atobe's eyelids twitched, and he let out a very soft hum, his expression blank. He looked away, returning his gaze to the court, watching Tezuka adjust his racket strings, and tapped his fingertips heavily on the handlebar.

I don't know what she's thinking.

……

Irie leaned against the railing and happened to catch Atobe's gaze. He held his sunglasses in his hand, turning them idly, and then clicked his tongue softly.

"Oh, this kind of lineup is common in professional leagues. You use the weaker position to neutralize the opponent's strong point, then the strong position secures the points. I just didn't expect a junior high coach to be so adept at it. It's a bit of a surprise. Have we been in the training camp too long? Is sacrificial tactics starting to become popular in junior high?"

Tokugawa stood beside him, his expression cold and stern, his dark eyes fixed on the arena. "Professional matches are played like this because the players have comprehensive medical support. Junior high school students' bodies are still developing; pushing themselves this hard will have too many long-term consequences."

After speaking, he shifted his gaze from Tezuka to Mochizuki Ryo over there, and stopped there.

Irie glanced at him sideways: "Why did you stop talking?"

Tokugawa, hands in his pockets, didn't answer immediately, his face cold. Instead, he looked at Mochizuki Ryo for two seconds before speaking, his voice clear and cold: "His reaction is off."

"who?"

"Looking up at the moon."

Irie followed his gaze. Mochizuki Ryo was lazily playing with a handkerchief, his expression unchanged, with even a faint smile playing on his lips.

He squinted for a moment, then smiled: "You're quite observant. Indeed, he's too calm. Seeing the opposing minister play singles against two opponents, most people would either be surprised or frown, but he didn't react at all."

He wasn't surprised.

"Hmm." Irie leaned closer to Tokugawa, his smile deepening. "What does that mean?"

Tokugawa glanced at him but said nothing.

Before he could answer, Irie continued, "That means he already knew."

He turned his head, looking in the direction of Wang Yueling, his eagerness barely concealed: "Now I'm increasingly curious about just how many steps this person has calculated for today's match."

……

Over at Rikkai University, several people were now standing even further forward than before.

Kirihara, munching on snacks, listened to Hyotei's discussion, his gaze shifting back and forth between Tezuka and Atobe, his face showing obvious confusion and disappointment. Turning to his seniors behind him, he muttered, "Weren't they saying those two captains were going to have a duel? I thought I'd see it today. Why is that Seigaku guy off to play singles second?"

Marui, still rubbing his cheek, glanced at the still angry Shishido with wide eyes and whispered, "Actually, Seigaku's lineup is pretty brilliant; they're planning to gamble one last time. It's just... they're even willing to sacrifice the captain's dignity just to win?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone next to him chuckled softly, and the people around him quieted down and looked over.

Just as Mochizuki Ryou took a half step, intending to correct Marui's one-sided view, she caught a glimpse of Yukimura smiling out of the corner of her eye, so she stopped and stood quietly to the side, listening with her eyes lowered.

Marui turned his head and saw Yukimura teasing the cat. Luna's little paws were pawing at his fingers, trying to gnaw on the finger as if it were a small fishbone. Yukimura let its tiny teeth grind for a while before looking up.

"He doesn't have the airs of a minister."

His voice was gentle as he corrected everyone, but it was clear to everyone: "For a team, there's only one identity on the field—'player.' The captain's position is the coach's optimal tactical arrangement; there's no fixed position."

Marui paused for a moment, covered his face, and mumbled an "Mmm".

Kirihara shared the snacks he had with Sheep, scratched his head, and looked at his captain with a puzzled expression: "But...but isn't each team's captain the strongest? Shouldn't the strongest player be playing one-on-one?"

Jiro chimed in, mumbling, "Exactly, exactly. Atobe never plays one-on-one in matches. And isn't everyone here to watch captains versus captains? It's so boring this way."

"Whether it's interesting or not is the audience's business; they're the ones watching the spectacle." Yukimura pulled his finger out of Luna's mouth and saw Mochizuki Ryo hand him a handkerchief folded into a rose. He smiled, took it, unwrapped it, and wiped his hands. "What the team needs to win is the game, not the spectacle. Seigaku clearly planned this lineup long ago. They don't want the 'Tezuka vs. Atobe' hype; they want the result of 'Tezuka securing a point.'"

"I agree with Seiichi's statement." Yanagi stood behind Yukimura, holding a notebook, nodding in agreement. "There is no rule in team tactics that stipulates that the captain must sit in the field and fight one-on-one. Position is a tactical tool, not a symbol of status."

Upon hearing this, Yukimura smiled slightly, but instead of continuing the topic, he turned his gaze to the figure sitting upright in the Hyotei rest area.

After a pause, he said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "I'm just a little curious... why was Seigaku so certain they could make it to singles second place before the match?"

As he said this, he turned his head and his gaze lingered on Wang Yueling for a moment, with a questioning tone, as if to say, "What do you think?"

Meeting Yukimura's gaze, Mochizuki Ryo's azure eyes held a hint of playfulness. Instead of answering directly, she softly asked, "Renji, what does your data tell us?"

Luna sensed the change in atmosphere, peeked its little head out from Yukimura's arms, turned left and right, and finally landed on Mochizuki Ryo. It tilted its head, as if to confirm whether what its human had just said was anything dangerous.

Yukimura reached out and gently pressed its little head back down.

Upon hearing Wang Yueling's question, Liu subconsciously nodded respectfully and began to analyze slowly, "The question Seiichi just asked is indeed crucial. According to the pre-match data, Tezuka has a 78% probability of playing singles first and only a 12% probability of playing singles second. But... if Seigaku assumes from the beginning that they can't get points in doubles and puts all their scoring hopes on singles, the probability will be reversed."

"That explains the current situation."

"Seigaku is confident they can fight until Tezuka plays in singles match two, which means they assumed from the beginning that they had to win at least one game beforehand."

"You have to win?" Niou raised an eyebrow. "Who wins and who loses isn't a pre-written script... Do you think you can just win whenever you want?"

"Of course it's not scripted." Liu interrupted him, flipping open his notebook and scribbling a few lines on the paper with his pen: "Hyotei's winning percentage was already higher in the first two doubles matches. Oishi's absence directly disrupted half of Seigaku's doubles lineup. The golden combination for Doubles 2 is gone, and they might face a temporary pairing against Hyotei's 'Taki and Mukahi,' with a winning percentage of less than 20%. The temporary pairing for Doubles 1 against Hyotei's 'Shishido and Ootori' only has a 30% winning percentage."

"Then the only remaining chance of winning is a three-on-one match."

Liu tapped the paper with his pen, making a soft sound. "Seigaku's lineup logic is very clear: it would be best to win both doubles matches, but it doesn't matter if they don't, and they must win all three singles matches."

"But the reality is that Seigaku won doubles match two because of Mukahi's unexpected performance. Logically speaking, it wouldn't matter whether Kawamura wins or loses that point, but he just happens to be facing Hyotei. The proud Atobe will definitely be in singles match one, and if Kawamura loses that point, it will be a 2-2 tie. Then no matter who plays singles match one, Seigaku will almost certainly lose."

"So, the only options left for the singles third player are to win or draw."

"Hira?!" Sanada turned to look at him. "What do you mean by 'Hira'?"

Liu looked up at him, his voice still steady, but a little deeper than before, "Winning is the best outcome. Seigaku bet on Kawamura's arm to support Kabaji, and Atobe, unable to bear seeing his teammate injured, voluntarily withdrew. Tezuka, the second singles player, directly ended the match."

"A draw means the game has gone to a standstill, with both sides unable to continue and forfeiting."

"Seigaku gave up on the one-on-one match against Atobe, a match they were sure to lose. In the end... Seigaku pinned their bets on their bench, most likely on their first-year student, Echizen Ryoma."

As he said this, he glanced down at Echizen Ryoma's name on the notebook. His pen paused there for a moment, then he drew a line under those four characters.

"It seems that Seigaku's coach values ​​that first-year student much more than we thought."

Yukimura's gaze swept over the young boy sitting on the Seigaku coaching bench, and as he listened to Yanagi's analysis, the light in his eyes darkened.

Luna's ears were perked up, as if it were listening. It didn't understand, but it could sense that the emotions of the two-legged creatures around it were different. It placed its little paws on Yukimura's forearm and gently pressed down.

Yukimura glanced down at it, scratched its chin with his fingertip, and softly continued Yanagi's words, "Yanagi's analysis makes a lot of sense. Seigaku's lineup was not a spur-of-the-moment decision from the beginning, and they were betting on two games at the same time. They calculated very clearly that it would be best if they could win Kawamura's point, but if they couldn't, they would force a draw. Then Tezuka would finish the game directly in singles match two, or let Echizen Ryoma guarantee a draw."

"I didn't expect the Seigaku coach to value this first-year student who just enrolled this year so much."

"They placed all their bets on him, even at the cost of giving up a third-year power-type regular, bypassing the renowned genius Fuji Syusuke. Even Tezuka tacitly approved..."

"It seems we really underestimated his power."

Marui covered his face and hissed, "I never expected this! So this is how Seigaku's coach arranges his troops."

"Puri~ Speaking of troop deployment..." Niou leaned against the railing, his gaze shifting from Yukimura to the mysterious Mochizuki Ryo. He raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm, "Didn't someone say at lunch that he had placed Jiro in an 'important position'? I thought it was just empty talk to comfort him, but it turns out it wasn't just empty talk."

Jiro, who had been rummaging through Kuwabara's snack bag, suddenly looked up when he heard this. His reddish-brown curly hair was blown wildly by the wind, and his eyes sparkled: "Eh?! Really? Really? My position is that important?!"

"..." Renou looked at him, a helpless twitch at the corner of his mouth. "What do you think? Hyotei's substitute is you. If you play, Seigaku's substitute will be their prized 'Echizen Ryoma'. Ryo put you in that position because he planned to play his last card."

Jiro paused for a moment, then turned to look at Mochizuki Ryou's retreating figure, his voice brimming with barely concealed excitement: "I knew it! How could someone as capable as me just be an ordinary substitute! Turns out I'm incredibly useful!"

Marui couldn't help but laugh at Jiro's smug look. "Didn't you complain before that sitting in the stands was boring? Now you know you're important, right?"

"Of course!" Cilang puffed out his chest, then turned to look at the snack bag, wanting to pick something to celebrate.

Kuwabara stood behind Marui, shaking his head with a smile, but his gaze still fell to the sidelines, looking at Mochizuki Ryo's back with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

Kirihara looked at Jiro with a hint of envy in his eyes and muttered softly, "Jiro-senpai, you're so lucky... Why don't I have such good fortune?"

"You?" Renwang glanced at him. "Putting you on the bench, the opponents are probably ecstatic. You've barely played two points before you start acting like a demon. What if you get lost halfway through the game?"

"I won't get lost!" Kirihara immediately snapped. "Besides, who gets lost during a match?!"

"That's because you haven't encountered an opponent who can confuse you in a match," Niou said lazily. "What if the opponent is even better at circling than you, and you lose your position while playing?"

"you!!!"

"Alright, stop arguing." Liu's voice came in from the side, not loud, but enough to shut both of them up at the same time.

Feng, standing a few steps away, watched Jiro's overjoyed expression and smiled as well: "Senior Jiro is indeed very capable. He was able to become a substitute because Coach Mochizuki trusts him."

After listening to Liu's analysis with his arms crossed, Hiyoshi understood why Jiro was the substitute and remained silent. He simply fixed his gaze on Mochizuki Ryo, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.

"……I see."

Taki, who was overheard this, turned to look at him and asked, "What? I see?"

"It's nothing." Hiyoshi looked away and back at the field, his voice calm. "It's just that I feel the acting coach's strategy is more sophisticated than we thought."