Second to None

41. fiancé

A stampede of footsteps broke the mid-afternoon lull. A flock of staff passed Mayu's office whispering, and a minute later, another group rushed by. Annoyed to have her work disrupted, Mayu poked her head out of the office to ask Hirose what was going on.

"Everyone's losing their shit because the samurai's here, including the executives."

"Samurai?" she chuckled. "Where are the ninjas?"

"Samurai Nanjiro," Hirose clarified. "Japan's most celebrated player who won 37 consecutive international tournaments and who so happens to be Echizen's father?"

"Oh." Tidbits from Ryoma's upbringing slowly returned to Mayu. "What's he doing here?"

Hirose glanced at her text messages and said, "Apparently Echizen convinced him to come in to take a look at this year's national team and give them a few pointers." 

Leading Mayu down the hall, she explained, "From what I know, the Samurai has been a recluse for the past 20 years: he took no meetings, no interviews, no media appearances. Nobody even knows where he lives. He hasn't trained anybody except for his son. It's a real honor for the association to be getting his advice."

"I see. He's a mystery figure."

"The ultimate mystery figure. That, and everyone wants to see what kind of man raised Ryoma and if he took after his father."

Mayu had to agree: she was dying to see the man who'd convinced Ryoma to leave the U.S. and start a relationship he didn't want.

By the time they got down to the Great Hall, a sizable assembly had gathered around the entrance. Because Mayu and Hirose had helped with the national tryouts, they were allowed inside. Director Yanagi and other senior executives stood with Nanjiro on the edge of the innermost court, observing the players and speaking in hushed voices.

Noticing Sakuno was also let in and was already standing with the advisors, Hirose grumbled, "Girlfriends get all the perks, don't they?"

"Not me."

"That's because Tezuka isn't here," she retorted. "Plus, you already got the biggest perk of all: you came back to the association thanks to Tezuka, right?"

Mayu didn't respond. She knew that was a lingering rumor, and it was for the best to let others think that way.

The two women joined the advisors on the outer court and watched the national team from afar. Over their shoulders, Mayu peeked at the unkempt man standing center forward: his hair was razed down close to his scalp, his chin and the side of his face were covered with unruly stubbles and his sweater seemed to be about two decades too late in style. Yet his sloppy appearance didn't take away from the sharp glints in his eyes as they moved with the nimble steps of the athletes on court.

"You could tell that he used to be a handsome man," whispered Mayu to Hirose.

She agreed. "It's too bad he let himself go."

"I think he's still got it. Look at his eyes: he sees everything."

They watched for a few moments without speaking. During this pause, Nanjiro ordered the athletes to stop the game and stepped on the court. Sleeves rolled up, he borrowed a racket, asked one player to step off and then told the remaining player to serve. As soon as the ball landed on his side, he raised his arm and swung. In the blink of an eye, the shot sliced through the air and landed squarely on the opposing baseline. Suddenly, it was as if Mayu was brought back to the courts of many years ago, where Ryoma's shot had returned to Tezuka like darts of flame in the dusk.

Nanjiro played a rally with one and repeated it with the other. That done, he instructed both players on their footing and corrected the force application for their forehand swings. As soon as he finished speaking, the Great Hall was filled with a round of applause.