At this time, Chitose and Tachibana walked to the coach's bench to take in water. Akashi glanced once at Kimijima on the other side, then turned directly to Tachibana and Chitose.
"I imagine last night, Kimijima must have tried to negotiate with you, right?"
"That's right! But I don't plan on following his way!" Tachibana was the first to answer.
"Me neither. Even though the final goal of a match is to win, I still want to win it fair and square!" Chitose immediately added.
"I see. Then just go with your own thoughts," Akashi nodded lightly and said no more.
In the original, Kimijima once went to Marui and Kite, asking them to target Toono's left kneecap during the match. That ended up reopening Toono's old injury, nearly preventing him from playing in the World Cup.
In this timeline, Akashi thought Kimijima would still try something similar—just that this time, the negotiation target had shifted to Tachibana and Chitose. Kimijima's patience with Toono was already at its limit, though Toono himself hadn't noticed at all.
It was only unclear what conditions Kimijima had offered this time. The ones in the original story obviously couldn't move Tachibana or Chitose. But since they hadn't said anything, Akashi wouldn't pry.
On the high school bench, Toono was still venting his anger. He kicked a water bottle hard, sending it flying. Kimijima frowned unconsciously, his eyes growing cold as they lingered on Toono's left knee.
'With Chitose's state now, the chance of successful negotiation isn't high! In the end, it might have to be me personally!' Kimijima thought quietly.
"Looks like Kimijima has other plans," Irie said meaningfully from the stands.
"Isn't that just how he always is? Otherwise he wouldn't be thriving in the idol world," Tanegashima replied casually.
"This match, Kimijima and Toono's chance of victory is 2.3%," Mitsuya muttered as he closed his notebook.
The second set began soon after. The first game was Tachibana's serve. Standing at the baseline, Tachibana looked at the serious faces of the two across from him. His earlier anger gradually settled, then he unleashed his long-unused serve—Abare Jishi!
The ball cleared the net and smashed into the backcourt, scattering into multiple afterimages in all directions. Kimijima instantly picked out the real ball, stepped forward, and cut across with a diagonal passing shot.
Chitose activated Ten'i Muhō, his body flashing into the ball's path. He swung a backhand sharply, the ball vanishing into the air with rapid spin before suddenly reappearing at the right baseline corner.
"Don't think this move will work forever! Execution Method No. 2—Firing Squad!" Toono's figure appeared at the corner without warning, swinging to blast the ball at Chitose's head.
But Chitose simply tilted his head aside and dodged. Behind him, Tachibana sprinted up and, without hesitation, unleashed Abare Dama. Countless ball shadows rained toward the opposite court.
"One… like a volcano erupting!" Kimijima said, his aura flaring sharply higher.
He locked onto one shadow and rushed, his body dragging streaks of afterimages. As he reached the ball, he pulled off his jacket, flung it up to cover his upper body, and swung.
"One… as still as a silent shadow!" Kimijima's voice rang out as the ball turned into a blur, slamming into Tachibana's left sideline and bouncing out. Both Chitose and Tachibana were surprised.
"0-15!"
Chitose frowned at Kimijima. Just now, it seemed he had shaken off Ten'i's glow and forced out his full strength, completely different from the previous set.
"Concentrated bursts? Yes… that's a way to counter Ten'i's radiance, at least for a short while," Akashi instantly understood what Kimijima had done. In the original, Kirihara had used this against Germany's Elmer Siegfried's Light of Restraint.
Tachibana and Chitose exchanged a glance, each seeing caution in the other's eyes. Tachibana then fired a Lion's Roar serve. But Kimijima returned it almost casually, as though it were just an ordinary serve.
Soon both sides strangely fell into a slugfest again. Kimijima relied on short bursts of concentrated power to occasionally hit shots that threatened Tachibana and Chitose, while Toono resisted the erosion of Ten'i's glow with sheer obsession, constantly covering for Kimijima once his bursts ended.
This actually surprised Tachibana and Chitose a little. At first, they even lost a few points to it. The match on court became a tug of war, though the First String watching knew Kimijima and Toono couldn't keep this up for long.
"0-30!"
"15-30!"
"15-40!"
"Game! Japan Team! 1-0!"
Through sheer desperate bursts, Kimijima and Toono stole the first game. But the sweat pouring from Kimijima's face was clearly abnormal, and Toono's long purple hair clung wetly to his neck—he hadn't had it easy either.
"You're planning on doing that, Tachibana?" Chitose walked over and asked directly.
"Let's bring out everything. End this fast—that's the respect they deserve as senpai!" Tachibana thought for a moment before answering.
Chitose nodded, the blue glow around him growing brighter, releasing a special wave that washed across the court, bringing a sense of calm joy. Behind Tachibana, a giant beastly phantom slowly appeared.
"Radiance of Love!" "Alternate Dimension—Huoyan Suanni!"
At the same time, the fiery red aura around Tachibana flared wildly, swallowing him and Chitose in its blaze. As it faded, both of their pupils had turned pale gold, faint firelight shimmering around their bodies.
"Synchronization!"
Though their signature was Beast Synchronization, that didn't mean they couldn't use standard Synchronization. When the beast aura couldn't keep up with the match's intensity, ordinary Synchronization was actually more effective.
Kimijima looked at the two across from him and could only smile bitterly. Tachibana and Chitose now stood side by side, the phantom of a mighty suanni behind them, their entire half of the court transformed into a sea of fire.
Toono's face darkened. This crushing pressure—he'd only ever felt it from Byoudouin before. Yet now, two middle schoolers were making him feel it again.
But Toono had no intention of giving up. He tossed the ball and, without retreat, slashed it at Tachibana. The next second, flames flashed before his eyes, and the beast roared with earth-shaking fury straight at him.
"0-15!"
The umpire's call yanked Toono back from that mental world. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. From here on, the match became one-sided. Once Tachibana opened Alternate Dimension, no matter how Kimijima burst, he couldn't withstand it.
"Game! Second String Selection! 1-1!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 2-1!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 3-1!"
"Game! Second String Selection! 4-1!"
In the blink of an eye, Tachibana and Chitose had swept four straight games. Across the net, Kimijima and Toono were clearly in bad shape, both bent over, hands on knees, gasping hard. It wasn't just stamina—it was the crushing pressure from their opponents.
But after those few games, Kimijima also confirmed Chitose's stance. Their negotiation had officially collapsed. Now his mind slowly began to drift away from the match.
When Toono served and play resumed, Kimijima's performance suddenly nosedived. Whether it was the erosion of Ten'i's glow or something else, many shots he could once reach now only flew past helplessly.
"0-15!"
"0-30!"
"0-40!"
Though Toono scrambled desperately to cover, they still kept bleeding points. He gritted his teeth, refusing to give in. For Toono, conceding here was worse than death.