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

Chapter 117 Genius Mori, Escaped Mochizuki Ryo

My phone vibrated again.

Wang Yueling put down her chopsticks, took out her phone, and glanced at it. A message popped up on the screen.

[Senior Tanegashima]: Our vacation is over, we're going back to training camp tomorrow. Want to come hang out with us?

After reading the message, Wang Yueling typed a few words on the screen.

[Ling]: Tomorrow I have to lead the team back to school and also go back to visit my grandmother. Let's meet up again next time. (Little Golden Retriever respectfully bows.jpg)

The phone vibrated again as soon as the message was sent.

[Mouri Cat]: Come on! The training camp is super fun! All the best tennis players in Japan are here! You'll definitely regret it if you don't come!

Looking at the message, Wang Yueling sighed helplessly. What a clingy red-haired cat.

[Ling]: Something really happened. I'll bring you some good food next time.

The other party replied almost instantly.

[Mouri Cat]: Okay, okay! I want to eat that limited edition strawberry daifuku from that restaurant in Tokyo! And I also want matcha-flavored wagashi! And...

Wang Yueling looked at the long list of orders on the screen and her lips twitched.

[Mouri Cat]: Bring more! Just enough for me and Tsukiko-san, you don't need to prepare enough for Taneshima-senpai.

[Mouri Cat]: Thank you, Ling! You're the best!

Wang Yueling stared at the screen and remained silent for two seconds.

[Ling]: ...You're too kind. (Little golden retriever pointing.jpg)

The other side sent a red cat rolling around emoji.

The phone was still ringing. Wang Yueling flipped it over and placed it face down on the table, then sighed.

Yukimura sat next to him, raising an eyebrow as he watched Mochizuki Ryo's helpless expression as she stared at her phone.

He picked up a peeled shrimp, put it in his mouth and chewed it, then slowly said something.

"These shrimp are so hard to peel."

His tone was calm, but Mochizuki Ryo immediately understood Yukimura's little scheme.

"I'll peel it for you."

He smiled, took a new set of cutlery, and brought over the plate of shrimp in front of Yukimura, beginning to peel them. His movements were elegant; with a gentle touch, he peeled off the shrimp shells completely, placing the tender white shrimp meat onto Yukimura's plate.

"The person who just messaged me is the senior from the training camp I told you about before."

While peeling shrimp, Wang Yueling spoke softly, "They invited me to their training camp, but I'm too busy tomorrow, so I declined... However, there's someone there you know."

Yukimura raised an eyebrow.

Wang Yueling put down her knife and fork, raised her hands above her head, made a cat ear shape, and then used her fingers to draw a few whiskers on both sides of her cheeks. Her azure eyes curved into crescent moons.

"A clingy, big red cat. Can you guess who it is?"

His playful and mischievous demeanor made Yukimura's lips curl into a smile.

"Mori Jusaburo?" Yukimura tentatively answered with a familiar name.

"Bingo!" Mochizuki Ryo snapped her fingers and smiled smugly. "As expected of Seiichi, you guessed it right away."

He freed one hand, picked up his phone from the table, and handed it to Yukimura, indicating that he could browse and look at it as he pleased.

"Look at this big cat, he's so outgoing. I haven't even said when I'm going, and he's already ordered the snacks he wants to bring next time."

Yukimura naturally took the phone and scrolled through the text messages. Mori's familiar tone was exactly the same as he remembered.

Jusaburo Mori, their genius ace for Rikkai University for the past two years.

He's one of the key players in the singles competition.

He is highly talented and his strength is unfathomable; even when he is not serious, he can be on par with Sanada.

He's just too lazy and loves to skip training. In the past two years, Sanada has practically traveled all over Kanagawa to catch him.

After he was promoted to the high school section, there was no news of him. It turned out that he had joined the training camp, which did not surprise him.

Yukimura put his phone aside, picked up his bowl, and took a sip of soup.

Kirihara, sporting a bow on his head, walked by with a plate piled high with grilled meat and fried shrimp. Hearing the name "Mori," his ears perked up immediately.

"Senpai, are you talking about Mori-senpai? How is he doing now?"

His voice was quite loud, and several people around heard it and gathered around.

"Mouri? You mean that tall, red-haired guy from Rikkai?" Mukahi asked, his mouth full of cake, "The one who can return the ball with his eyes closed?"

"Yes, that should be him."

Shinobu put down his fork, wiped his mouth, and said, "Rikkai University's 'Sleeping Tennis Prodigy'—Mori Jusaburo."

"He was a legendary rising star in junior high school tennis a few years ago. His talent was legendary, and so was his slacking off during training."

"That's right." Marui took a bite of the egg tart and nodded. "Mouri-senpai disappeared after he moved up to high school. I had no news of him at all. I was starting to think he had given up tennis."

Kuwahara nodded in agreement, saying, "Yeah, they don't reply to messages or answer phone calls."

Yanagi put down his ochazuke and said softly, "According to my data, Mori-senpai didn't join the high school tennis club, and he doesn't have any public match records. I checked, and since last year, he's been like he disappeared."

"Puri~" Niou picked through his plate with his fork, pushing aside the food he didn't like. "Could it be that Mori-senpai skipped training too much and got kicked out of the tennis club?"

"Niou." Sanada put down his chopsticks, his expression serious. "Mori-senpai wouldn't do something so careless."

He recalled the days from two years ago when he chased after Maori every day to catch him skipping training, and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

"Although he is usually carefree, loves to skip training, and loves to sleep, he is serious about tennis. He never slacks off during matches, and he would never give up on tennis easily."

"Genichiro is right."

Yukimura swallowed the shrimp meat in his mouth and nodded. "Mori may seem carefree, but he's actually more persistent than anyone else."

While peeling shrimp, Wang Yueling listened to their discussion, but her mind was elsewhere.

It's pretty absurd, actually.

The U17 matches aren't played in secret venues. Even if the Japanese team performs poorly, each match still draws at least 30,000 to 40,000 viewers.

Why is there absolutely no news from the Japanese tennis world?

It's so weird.

It's like they're playing ball in another parallel world.

Wang Yueling poked at the shrimp on the plate with her fork, pondered for a moment, and thought that this was probably a plot hole.

In the anime world, the main focus is on the growth of the Seigaku main characters, and U17 is like a new chapter for the main characters after the National Tournament.

Byodoin and his group are the new bosses.

The characters will be introduced in detail when the story begins and they appear; for now, it's just foreshadowing to increase mystery.

They could have easily found out about the U17 training camp by simply searching for "Where is Byodoin Phoenix?", but somehow no one thought of it.

So much so that it seems like nobody in the Japanese tennis world knows about that group of people.

Later, when the main characters of Seigaku were progressing through the story, they met again, and they started introducing each of them one by one, saying how amazing each of them was...

Doesn't that seem strange?

If it's really that amazing, how could the Japanese tennis world not have heard about it?

Wang Yueling sighed inwardly, shook her head, and shook off these chaotic thoughts.

"C'est la vie. (That's life!) The logic of the anime world really can't be deduced by common sense."

"What kind of world logic?" Yukimura looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"It's nothing."

Mochizuki Ryo smiled, peeled the last shrimp, and pushed the plate of shrimp meat in front of Yukimura. "I went to a meeting the day before yesterday and happened to run into Mori-senpai. After he went to high school, he entered a very tough training camp. He's playing doubles now."

"Double?" Kirihara's eyes lit up immediately. "Isn't Mori-senpai a singles player? Why is he playing doubles?"

"People always change."

Mochizuki Ryou glanced at him and shrugged. "He's playing really well in doubles now. His partner happens to be our Hyotei's former captain, Oshichi Tsukiko. Their teamwork is excellent; they're a classic example of a strong doubles pairing."

He paused, a smug smile curving his lips.

"It's far superior to your level."

Everyone at Hyotei was stunned for a moment.

Yuezhi Yueguang and the others had only heard of this legendary former minister and knew that he was a very strong singles player. They never expected that he would actually be partnering with Mouri Jusaburo in doubles.

How come I've never heard of it before?

Shinobu pushed up his glasses. "Echi-senpai's singles is very strong, I didn't expect him to play doubles."

Atobe sat beside him, sipping his black tea slowly. He gleaned two key words from Mochizuki Ryo's words.

Training Camp.

A powerful doubles combination.

A training camp that can get two talented singles players to switch to doubles is definitely not an ordinary place.

Atobe raised an eyebrow, a hint of inquiry flashing in his icy blue eyes. It seemed there was some new information he didn't know.

He put down his teacup and touched his beauty mark with his finger.

That guy, Mochizuki Ryo, doesn't even tell me about new information. Does he even remember that I'm the coach of Hyotei?

He looked up at Wang Yueling, a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

While answering a question about Mori, Mochizuki Ryo felt Atobe's gaze and glanced at him.

Atobe glared at him.

Mochizuki Ryo blinked and immediately understood what he was thinking. He curled the corners of his mouth and gave Atobe a bright smile.

"Keigo, let me tell you, last time Echi-senpai asked me about Hyotei's recent situation."

He paused, then his tone became exaggerated.

"I praised you from head to toe, inside and out, from your serve to your smash, from your leadership to your aura, in a 360-degree, flawless way."

"They said you're the most glamorous, most capable, and most charismatic captain in Hyotei's history, and they're even tempted to come and see you for themselves."

He had that smug look on his face, as if he himself was being praised.

Atobe picked up the cup of black tea beside him, took a sip, and concealed the smile on his lips. He glanced at Mochizuki Ryo, his chin slightly raised, his tone full of pride.

"Hmph, I am magnificent from every angle."

"That's right, that's right," Mochizuki Ryo immediately chimed in. "Even when our Lord Atobe rolls his eyes, it's the most magnificent thing ever."

The restaurant fell silent for a moment.

Then everyone burst out laughing at the same time.

Marui laughed so hard he almost dropped his egg tart, and Kuwabara quickly caught it with a plate. Niou leaned on Yagyu's shoulder, laughing so hard his braids swayed. Yagyu pushed up his glasses, unable to suppress the smile on his face. Mukahi laughed so hard he bent over, and Jirou, holding a juice bottle, laughed so hard his hands trembled, almost spilling the juice.

Atobe sat in the main seat, looked at Mochizuki Ryo, and took a deep breath.

"Looking up at the moon!"

"Um?"

Mochizuki Ryo took half a step toward Yukimura, hiding behind him and only peeking out half her head, her azure eyes flashing with mischievous light.

"I'm just telling the truth."

A vein throbbed on Atobe's forehead.

"You're really asking for it today."

He stood up, walked around the table, and headed towards Wang Yueling.

Seeing that things were not going well, Wang Yueling turned and ran.

"Seiichi, help!"

Yukimura sat in the chair, slowly sipping his soup, making no attempt to stop him.

Ryo Mochizuki darted out from behind Yukimura and ran around the pillar in the center of the restaurant. Atobe chased after him, his pace unusually fast, unlike someone who had just finished a two-hour match.

When Mochizuki Ryo ran to the food pick-up area, she bumped into Sanada, who was walking by.

"Bang!!!"

The two bumped into each other.

Sanada's baseball cap flew off with a "whoosh," spun several times in the air, and then landed with a "thud" in the creamy mushroom soup bowl next to him.

The snow-white soup splattered everywhere, covering Sanada's face, clothes, and even Mochizuki Ryo's hair.

The entire restaurant fell silent instantly.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared in disbelief at the scene.

Three seconds later.

"Pfft..."

I don't know who laughed first. Then, the entire restaurant erupted in thunderous laughter.

"Hahaha! Sanada's hat fell into the soup!"

"It's all over Mochizuki-senpai's hair too!"

"That's hilarious!"

Niou crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and laughed so hard he couldn't straighten up.

"Puri~ This is going to be interesting."

Marui also burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Poor Ling! Sanada will definitely not let him get away with this!"

Atobe sat back down in his chair, sipping his black tea slowly. He glanced at the disheveled Mochizuki Ryo, and a slight smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

"Hmph, serves him right."

Sanada's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He looked at his hat that had fallen into the cream soup, then at Wang Yueling who looked guilty, and trembled with anger.

"Wang, Yue, Ling!" Sanada gritted his teeth, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Um... Sanada, I didn't mean to."

Wang Yueling took two steps back, a fawning smile on her face. "How about I wash your hat for you? I'll wash it spotless, and I promise there won't be a single speck of cream left."

"What do you think!" Sanada roared.

"Help!"

Wang Yueling shouted and turned to run.

Kirihara ran straight over, fished the hat out of the basin, shook it, and said, "Vice-Captain, your hat!"

Sanada reached for his hat, and Mochizuki Ryo just ran by and stepped on Kirihara's foot.

Kirihara cried out "Ouch!" and forcefully flung his hat away.

The hat flew through the air in a parabola and landed precisely in Cilang's soup bowl.

With a "splat," the soup splashed out, splattering all over Cilang's face.

Cilang looked down at the soup bowl in front of him, his hat submerged in the soup, a layer of oil floating on the noodles. He looked up, vegetable leaves clinging to his reddish-brown curly hair, his face covered in soup, and blinked.

"My soup..."

Mukahi laughed even harder, and the cake in his hand almost fell to the ground. Kuwabara bent down to catch it, but was accidentally tripped by Niou's foot and fell forward, the cake in his hand crashing directly into Yagyu.

Yagyu was knocked forward by the bump, spilling his red tea which landed on Hiyoshi's clothes.

Hiyoshi looked down at the tea stains on his clothes, his expression shattered, and then he abruptly looked up.

"My clothes."

Shinobu, hiding in a corner, pushed up his glasses, his lips twitching. "Is this restaurant putting on a slapstick comedy?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Kirihara took the hat back into his hand, intending to return it to Sanada.

He ran so fast that he tripped over a chair leg, fell forward, and his hat flew out of his hand again. It spun a few times in the air before landing on Marui's cake plate.

Marui stared at the filthy hat lying on top of the last small piece of cake he had been saving and couldn't bear to eat. A sharp, popping sound rang out, and his expression could only be described as "despair."

"My cake..."

Kuwabara finally got up from the ground and reached out to help Marui remove his hat, but he tripped over Niou's foot again and bumped into Atobe.

Just as Atobe reached Mochizuki Ryo's side and was about to grab him, Kuwabara bumped into him, causing him to sway to the side and step into a bowl of soba noodles that someone had left on the ground.

He stomped on the bowl and it broke with a crisp sound.

Noodles and soup splattered all over the floor, landing on the trouser legs of several people nearby.

In an instant, the laughter, playful shouts, and screams of the teenagers mingled together, creating chaos in the restaurant.

Wang Yueling stood at the door, watching all of this, and blinked.

"I only ran for a short while."

Yukimura sat in a chair, holding a soup bowl, slowly sipping his soup. Looking at the chaotic scene in the restaurant, he couldn't stop smiling.