Episode 55: Hyoutei Presses Near



Since Momo's clearly out of the regulars, he just concentrated on making head bands and carrying the Seigaku flag. He told the first years that they should not lose in Hyoutei (could also be spelled Hyotei) when it comes to cheering. Anyhow, it's now 20 minutes before the end of registration, Oishi's nowhere to be found. Ryoma told everyone that maybe Oishi's stuck helping a pregnant woman, everyone dismissed the though since it's the excuse Ryoma used when he was late the last time. Momoshiro and Eiji thought it would be best if they should be using a dummy instead, and that dummy turned out to be Katsuo, who wasn't a good Oishi impersonator.

Suddenly, Coach Ryuzaki's cellphone rang, it was Oishi! Coach Ryuzaki was surprised to hear that Oishi is indeed helping a pregnant woman who's just about to give birth! The regulars heard Coach's outbursts and were equally surprised. Kawamura commented that since it was Oishi, it couldn't be a lie. Momoshiro told Coach Ryuzaki that he would go to the hospital where Oishi's at. When he reached the place where Oishi is, he told Oishi that he would be the one to look after the woman since he should be registering soon. However, instead of hurrying and leaving Momoshiro, Oishi just turned a sad face to him while holding his right wrist. It seems that Oishi's injured his wrist when he's helping the pregnant woman. So Oishi took his jersey off and gave it to Momoshiro who is still in shock. It was already less than 10 minutes before the end of registration! Oishi snapped at Momoshiro to take the jersey and hurry to the tournament. This prompted Momoshiro to get the jersey. Before Momoshiro left Oishi, Oishi told him to do his best and not let him retire anytime soon. He even complimented Momoshiro for his good job in making the head bands with "Seigaku Sure Win!" on them.

Fortunately, he came back just in time before the registration ended. Now, Momoshiro's a player for the Kantou tournament! Anyway, after the registration, Inoue took one look at the order of the players for both Seigaku and Hyoutei and told the first years that it's disadvantegous for Seigaku. Not only Seigaku lost their Doubles 1 pair, but Inui and Kaidoh's just a newly formed pair. Horio told Inoue that they've still got Singles. Inoue shook his head telling that the line-up of Hyotei which is Munehiro Kabaji, Akutagawa Jirou and Atobe Keigo for Singles is really hard to beat. He even added that Ryoma's not on the list of players too! This caught everyone's attention, it seems that Ryoma's on the reserve this time! Coach Ryuzaki just told Ryoma that she couldn't match him with Kabaji for singles 3 since he's too strong for his small frame. Tezuka also added that he would let him play doubles either. So in the end, Ryoma just sulked.

The playing order for Seigaku is: Doubles 2 - Kikumaru & Momoshiro; Doubles 1 - Inui & Kaidoh; Singles 3 - Kawamura; Singles 2 - Fuji and Singles 1 - Tezuka. The Doubles 2 is about to start, as Momoshiro and Kikumaru entered the court, the 200+ tennis club members of Hyoutei began to cheer. Since the cheers of the Hyoutei club members almost drowned out everything else, Kikumaru seemed uneasy. He wasn't used to playing on a such big crowd with Hyoutei students in majority. Momoshiro wasn't in good shape either, he was awed by such loud cheers. As if on cue, Hyoutei's Doubles 2 pair - Oishitari Yuushi and Mukahi Gakuto entered the court telling Eiji and Momoshiro: Katsu no wa Hyoutei, Makeru no Seigaku (The Winner will be Hyoutei, The Loser will be Seigaku). Gakuto pointed at Kikumaru and told Yuushi that the person he's pointing at is the Kikumaru who's said to be good in acrobatic plays.

So anyway, Doubles 2 started with Momoshiro's service play. He hit a bullet serve which earned Yuushi's compliment and was returned with equal speed. They've exchanged rallies until Momoshiro hit the ball quite high, this prompted the acrobatic play of Gakuto: Moon Salute. Everyone was in awe by Gakuto's acrobatic play. It was better than the plays of Kikumaru! Good thing, Kikumaru was able to return Gakuto's shot. However, Yuushi was bright enough to see the vulnerable areas of Seigaku's pair and hit a shot opposite of where Momoshiro is. Kikumaru attempted to return Yuushi's shot but it was too far from his reach, so naturally, Hyoutei got the first point. Kikumaru apologized to Momoshiro for not being able to reach it, Momoshiro told him it's okay and it's no one's fault.

As the Seigaku's pair were talking, Gakuto's eyes were trained dead on Kikumaru. Yuushi is quite amused by his partner's behaviour. It seemed that Kikumaru's helf-hearted acrobatic plays have hurt Gakuto's pride.