(Gathering info: Aside from Byoudouin and Tetsuya, are there any other canon high school characters from Rokkaku? If not, I'll start making stuff up.)
After returning to Japan...
Yoru used Ten Sense Manipulation on Ryoga.
However, he had underestimated the sheer terror of Devour. Even with Consciousness Control unlocked, he couldn't fully seal or dominate it.
At best, he could grant Ryoga a degree of self-restraint.
Whenever Ryoga played tennis, he could now suppress Devour on his own.
For a limited time, Devour would remain sealed—but not for long.
Based on tests conducted by Nanjiroh, the suppression lasted about 15 minutes.
The good news? As Ryoga grew older and stronger, his control over Devour would improve.
Perhaps one day, with the foundation of Yoru's Consciousness Control, he could fully master it.
Of course, there was another way: the final stage of Ten Sense Deprivation—"Thought."
By altering Devour at the conceptual level, its effects could be completely rewritten, eliminating all risks.
But reaching that point wouldn't be easy. Yoru would have to wait for another "Talent Upgrade Card" quest to appear.
Even so, Ryoga was thrilled.
At least he now had 15 minutes of normalcy.
His talent status also shifted from "Out of Control" to "Controlled (15 min)."
But to be safe, Ryoga still wasn't allowed to play against Ryoma—only Yoru and Nanjiroh could face him.
Not even QP was permitted to try, let alone little Ryoma.
Worth noting:
Not long after returning to Japan, news broke about Joanna Longman getting into a car accident.
It happened during dinner.
Everyone's eyes were on Yoru, but to avoid worrying Ryuzaki Sumire, he played dumb.
"Even a world champion should follow traffic rules," he muttered casually, brushing it off.
Time together was always fleeting, but each parting left deep longing.
With Ryoga's issue temporarily resolved, he had to return to the U.S., though Ryoma could stay a bit longer.
---
Time passed steadily.
The National Tournament was still some time away.
Seigaku resumed its usual training.
Even though it was summer break, their victory in the Kantō Tournament had the team fired up.
Notably, two new figures had joined the training grounds:
Tezuka Kunimitsu and Ryoma.
(Shūsuke had finished his surgery, and Sanada had returned to Kanagawa to play babysitter.)
Tezuka and Ryoma had met three years earlier than in the original timeline. The gears of fate had begun turning.
From the moment Tezuka saw Ryoma, he felt a strange sense of duty—just as Yoru had taken him under his wing, Tezuka now took a keen interest in little Ryoma.
Especially when it came to teaching him "Zone" techniques.
Ring ring~
A phone call interrupted Yoru's supervision of practice.
The caller?
"Hey, Golden Guy. What's up?"
"FUCK, Yoru. I hate that nickname. Call me 'Handsome'!"
"I can't call someone with golden chest hair 'Handsome.'"
"That's a sign of a mature man! You have no taste!"
"Zero interest in understanding. Why call now? It's nighttime there—did you just 'reward' yourself?"
The caller was Ralph Reinhardt, Yoru's first real friend.
"I'm boarding a flight soon. Heading to Japan to see you."
"Huh?"
Yoru paused. "Seriously?"
"Of course! Why else would I waste money on an international call? Here's the deal..."
Ralph explained that the U.S. U17 team wanted to conduct overseas training matches.
"Arena battle"
"Yeah. Four of us, four Arena. Interested?"
Yoru processed the idea.
He had initially assumed it'd be like the original timeline's "Kevin Pursues Ryoma" arc.
If so, he wouldn't have represented Japan.
But Arena match? That sounded fun.
"When do you arrive?"
"Tomorrow, around 5 PM. The matches will be at Tokyo Tennis Park the day after. Bring your teammates—there'll be media coverage."
"My teammates too?"
Yoru instinctively glanced at QP, who was still training.
He didn't know who Ralph was bringing, but if QP played, Ralph would probably have to step in personally.
But Ralph's underlying message was clear:
He wanted to test the team he'd trained against Yoru's.
And Yoru wasn't about to back down.
This was the perfect chance to humble his team before Nationals.
"Got it. We'll be there."
---
"Big Bro, is Ralph coming?"
A childish voice piped up behind him.
Ryoma had snuck over, a sly grin on his face—as if saying, "I knew it."
"Did he mention this before you left?"
Ryoma nodded. "Yeah, but I didn't think it'd be this soon."
"Why didn't you tell me? Playing mind games with your own brother? Wanna 'practice'?"
"I'll go train!"
Ryoma bolted back to the courts, terrified Yoru would use "practice" as an excuse to whoop him.
---
QP, having finished training, walked into Court 1 to rest.
Yoru approached.
"There's Arena competition at Tokyo Tennis Park the day after tomorrow. The U.S. U17 is sending four players. Let's take our own four and check it out."
(The four being Yoru, QP, Kirihara, and Yamato. The others weren't ready for this level.)
QP replied calmly, "U17? So even the U.S. is preparing early now."
Yoru shrugged. "The trend's inevitable."
Only Japan was lagging behind, still oblivious while other countries groomed their middle schoolers.
"Any strong opponents?"
Yoru hesitated.
That was tricky. He wasn't sure how much Ralph had grown since they last met.
Given Ralph's rapid development phase, his physical stats were likely peaking.
With Yoru's prior training, Ralph was probably at least on QP's level—maybe stronger.
"Yeah. Their leader's around your strength. He was already solid before."
QP's eyes flickered with interest.
If Yoru said that, this opponent was no joke.
"I'm in. A worthy opponent will refine my 'Perfection.'"
"Just one warning."
"Hm?"
"Their captain's a weirdo. Also, he has gold chest hair. Super creepy."
QP: "..."
---
Ralph: Achoo! Achoo! Ach—ACHOO!
That bastard Yoru is definitely talking shit about me!
---