The Triumph

"Yes!" Kiseki spoke quietly as he celebrated his minor victory over Eiji. Even though he had just started playing the game of tennis, he was able to score against one of the best up-and-coming players in Japan. His serve was so precise and perfect that anyone and everyone in the crowd could tell that he had a natural talent when it came to putting spin on the ball. Yet no one spoke, no one cheered on the fact that he had finally scored, and no one seemed to care. 

"Did Yamazaki just score on Shimizu?" Complete awe had taken over the crowd; they were stunned, with no words left in their mouths to spit up. Insulting him was out of the question; this was the second time that he had perfectly added topspin to the ball, but now he had added a sprinkle of sidespin. 

"An American Twist Serve. How, just how in the hell did he learn that? Some pros struggle to execute this move, and he did it on the first try!?" The observer shouted out in complete confusion; he yelled with such passion that he had brought the attention of everyone toward him. Even Kiseki himself looked over at the yelling man as if he were some kind of circus animal. "Oops…sorry." 

"YAMAZAKI!! YOU, DAMN MUTT!! I'll kill you!" Eiji looked on the boy that he was as nothing more than a mutt, a player that couldn't compare to his overwhelming talent. Now that places of the two had switched, even for a second, even for a fraction of that, it was something that he couldn't allow. His wounded pride could only heal with the complete and utter defeat of his opponent. "Yamazaki Kiseki, I'm going to break you. I'm going to destroy you into nothing." Eiji held the ball in his palm, reading for the last rally of the game. This was do-or-die time; here and now, the winner of this match would be decided. A surge of hatred had blossomed in their minds. For once in their lifetimes, they felt and thought the same. Both of them wanted to destroy the person who was standing in front of them. 

Kiseki prepared his body to receive the coming serve. Prior to Eiji even throwing the ball into the air, Kiseki could already feel the pressure of the ball. "I got this." A line he always says to himself is that he needs to boost his own spirits. Maybe he couldn't hit as hard as Eiji; maybe he couldn't retrieve a single hit, but it didn't matter as long as he tried. If he didn't try, then how could he or anyone possibly know if he could succeed? Sweat glissed in the sun's looming light as it fell from the palm of Kiseki. He was ready—readier than he had ever been. 

"Die…" High, the ball had been thrown so high that it had covered the view of the almighty sun. The density of Eiji's malice transformed into a chilling atmosphere that covered the entire court. It was as if a gun had been pointing directly at the head of Kiseki. It was then that Eiji took his first step; his arm swung backward and his feet scurried across the ground. The New King sprang from the ground, and the seat height of his jump left his feet hanging above the net itself. His eyes focused on nothing but the ball, and his mind focused on nothing but reducing Kiseki to ash. BBBBBAAAAAMMMMM!! A sound more intense than anything that Kiseki had ever heard in his life. A harsh breeze grazed the left side of his head, accompanied by the roaring noise of a car zooming past him. "BIGGU BAN SHOTTO, ビッグバンショット!!! (Big Bang Shot)" 

"GAME! Shimizu Eiji is the  winner!" The student umpire yelled as Kiseki stood there frozen, entranced in a world where he had been able to react to that hit in time. But that world did not exist, at least not here. 

"WOOOO!!!! THE NEW KING WINS!!!" The crowd yelled in support of Eiji, not even acknowledging all of the effort that Kiseki had put into the first game he had ever played. "Man, that was the was the last serve. It was. It was. AMAZING!! Big Bang Shot, was it? The ball was moving like ninety miles per hour!" 

"I lost." A rattling sound emerged as Kiseki dropped his racket on the court floor. His eyes now locked on the ground, and he was disappointed in himself for not being able to defeat the person that he hated the most. Desire wasn't enough to beat someone like this. 

"Surprised?" Eiji said with an arrogant grin. He approached the stunned boy as he whispered in his ear. "You're not good enough to beat me, you stupid mutt. Did you really think a half-breed dog like you could even amount to anything? I think your life would be better if you just died right now."

"That's enough of that. Man, do you two really hate each other that much? Trust me, peace and love are much better  alternatives." From the umpire seat came the student, leaping off of the seat that he had claimed as his. The large smile on his face was his most noticeable feature. But his messy, soft brown hair that reached down to his nose and his golden eyes that shone brighter than the sun were also noticeable. He stood a fair bit taller than both Kiseki and Eiji. A hand landed on both of their shoulders. "My name is Tajima Kōmatsu, and it's nice to meet the both of you. It doesn't matter if you know my name or not; you're going to hear it a lot more from now on. The First String Captain of the West Shinjuku High Tennis Team for the past three years has been me."

Both of their eyes widened at this sudden revelation. It was easy to assume that he had some authority over the team, but he didn't know that he was the team's captain. Captain for all three years, this person possessed skill that was unfathomable in the minds of Kiseki and Eiji. 

"Today, I declare that Eiji Shimizu and Kiseki Yamazaki will move on to the second stage of tryouts. Good luck, cuz you're going to need it." Tajima said as he winked with a smile.