Shiori Kirishima, once the annual Grand Slam champion of the tennis world, chose to retire after an accident. A year later, she transferred to Seishun Academy. She had hoped to stay away from tennis, but then she met the icy captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka.
Tezuka drew her into the tennis club as an assistant coach, wagering a friendly match on it. She reluctantly agreed, but laid down one rule: "I won't go on court or touch a racket."
From being forced into physical conditioning to using a baseball bat to coach doubles drills; from watching the district preliminaries to tailoring tactics for each player... Shiori soon became known as the "demon assistant coach."
The Seishun Academy players' distinctive drive to improve and Tezuka's determination to sacrifice himself for the team's future kept chipping away at her guarded heart. The old scar on her arm and the shadow of retirement followed her everywhere. She resisted the court, and hated Tezuka's willingness to push himself at the cost of his own body even more.
"We've never been alike. You're far more stubborn than I am."
Their clashing ideals brought them into direct conflict.
Yet, through Auntie Nanako's care, Coach Ryuzaki's guidance, the players' warmth, and even the friendship of her juniors, Shiori gradually let down her guard. She began to examine her own tendency to run away and tried to understand the meaning of tennis anew.
As the Tokyo Metropolitan Tournament got underway and Seishun Academy set its sights on the national championships, Shiori Kirishima found herself at a crossroads in life.
Would she keep wandering in the shadows, or pick up the racket she once abandoned and find her own answer by guiding others and confronting her past?
A coming-of-age story about passion, responsibility, pain, and redemption is about to unfold.
Whatever the outcome, let's get fired up first.
"Let's play without letting our guard down!"
