Episode 31: Moon Volley



Momoshiro and Kaidoh continues on with their game and even if they're slightly behind in scores but already on the right path in overcoming the enemy, they still hadn't stopped arguing over the simplest things. Kaidoh's been hitting Boomerang Snakes a lot more than before since it's the most effective strategy against the Doubles 2 pair of St. Rudolph right now. The St. Rudolph manager, Mizuki, wasn't at all worried about the possibility of Seigaku winning the match since he knows that when Yanagizawa and Kisarazu are in a pinch, they'll show their real potential. Kisarazu then thought during the match that the way to seal Kaidoh's Boomerang Snake is to hit the ball dead-center on the court and avoid shot near the side lines. However, he didn't use his plan since he thought that winning the match like that isn't really "winning" at all. So he hit it beside the line and Kaidoh returned it using a Boomerang snake. Kisarazu ran after it and hit the ball using a lob which Momoshiro chased. Momoshiro jumped really high and hit an extremely strong Dunk Smash which bounced off on front of Yanagizawa and squarely hit him on the face, prompting him to faint and letting Seigaku win by default. Momoshiro and Kaidoh were dumbstruck. They couldn't believe that the match is finished and that they won by default. Momoshiro was frustrated that they could continue the match and he's convinced that he hadn't caused enough ruckus. Kaidoh seemed frustrated too that they hadn't had the chance to finish the game, thus another Momoshiro-Kaidoh argument started off again.

It's now the Golden Pair's turn against St. Rudolph's Akazawa-Kaneda pair. The Golden pair's really excited about their match. :) Meanwhile, on the St. Rudolph's bench, Mizuki is really angry at Yanagizawa and Kisarazu. He told Akazawa not to be like those "losers". Akazawa just told Mizuki that he'll be happy with the way he'll be playing...

Mizuki's happy alright. Right at the bat, as the match commenced, Akazawa and Kaneda's really concentrating just on Kikumaru and plainly forgetting all about Oishi. After some time, something mysterious is happening to Kikumaru. He's deteriorating at a faster speed and he's losing his concentration on the game. Kikumaru's really frustrated about the way things are going but still, he manages to return most of the balls despite his clear difficulty in doing so. The Seigaku members were confused as to what's happening to Kikumaru when Ryoma commented to Inui and Fuji that he's seeing multiple tennis balls after being hit by Akazawa.

Inui couldn't see what Ryoma's referring to, but he observed the way Akazawa's been hitting the ball. He immediately got his technique. He's using the frame of the racket to produce some kind of illusion on the ball and that it would appear as if there were many balls. Ryoma's now complaining that his eyes are now hurting just by looking at the ball and that he's seeing 4-5 balls. Inui agreed that it would hurt and suck away your vitality and that's the reason Eiji's having a hard time. Indeed, Kikumaru's having a hard time since he's seeing 8 balls due to his uncanny ability in seeing fast moving objects.

Akazawa's real pleased now, having sealed Kikumaru's acrobatic and weakening him at the same time. Kikumaru's still tries valiantly to fight off this illusion. He's still got his will even though he hasn't got any more strength. Mizuki's starting to twirl his hair in happiness. (^.^v)

Back on the Seigaku corner, the freshmen are now worried about the Golden Pair. Fuji tries to calm them down by making them remember what the Golden Pair is all about. They remembered how good the combination of Oishi and Kikumaru really is when they've been asked to play against Ryoma and Momoshiro while being tied to each other by a rope. Momoshiro and Ryoma got all tangled up, while Oishi just supported Kikumaru by handling their rope, while Kikumaru's hitting all the balls.

Back to the game, Kikumaru seemed to have lost all his strength and was about to slip. Akazawa saw this chance and hit a ball towards Kikumaru who just avoided the ball. We now see Oishi in action. Oishi hit the ball by his ultimate move, Moon Volley. Moon Volley is a kind of high shot (which looked like a lob) and just drops right on the furthest line. The Seigaku freshmen were awed by their performance and their connection to each other. They weren't just a simple doubles pair, they really really have that connection. Eiji thanked Oishi. Oishi just smiled at him. They really are the Golden Pair. Mizuki's now infuriated at Oishi because of his Moon Volley.