I love chinese scanlators. LOVE. I got to actually read this chapter and understand. ;_;<3 This chapter is HUGE for Rikkai fans. It shows an almost desperation to finish the match before Yukimura's surgery so they can present the title to him.

Yagyuu: Buchou's surgery is starting soon......
Marui: Can we make it?
?: No. This loss...
?: Aa...looks like it won't be finished so easily.

[...]

Inui: Rikkaidai fuzoku have 3 geniuses, Sanada, Yanagi, and Yukimura, that were regulars since 1st year.

With the three of them, they were able to win Nationals two times consecutively without any losses, easily.

They're going for a 3rd win this year.

Last winter, their buchou Yukimura suddenly fell ill.

Flashback. I won't translate the part where Yagyuu tells the rest of the team about Yukimura's illness because it's a lot of stuff. Paraphrasing shall do.

Yukimura has acute terminal neuritis which is the inflammation of the nerves. First you lose hand and foot movement then slowly your body will be paralyzed. It will develop to the point where you won't be able to breathe or talk. 2 weeks after the appearance of the illness is the critical stage. Yagyuu explains that it takes at least one month to heal but it can take up to a year. Yukimura is rushed to the emergency room (?) on a stretcher. Sanada yells after the stretcher as it passes through the doors.

Sanada: Yukimura----!! We won't lose even once and we'll wait for your return!!

I practically squealed...no I DID squeal when I got to that part. *_* Oh the SanaYuki-ness. <3 Moving on. Renji stands before Sanada apologizing for the loss. Renji says that he wasn't able to keep the promise to Seiichi (yes he calls Yukimura "Seiichi"... I swear there is a love triangle here...) and that Sanada can punish him however he wants to. Sanada strikes (more like backslap) Renji but Akaya blocks Renji's face with his racket! OMG. This makes me EXTREMELY HAPPY as a RenjixAkaya fan. OMG. *_*

Akaya: It doesn't really matter right?
Akaya: In the end Rikkai is still going to win the Nationals three times in a row.
Akaya: I will finish this match in 13 minutes.
Akaya: Just in time for Yukimura-buchou's surgery!
Fuji: You are Kirihara?
Fuji: If you're in a hurry then I can help you.
Akaya: Hey...you're saying that a bit too early.
Akaya: Watch me finish you in two or three moves.
Fuji: But the winner may not be you.
Akaya: So that's what you wanted to say!

I love this chapter for Rikkai development. We finally get to find out what is wrong with Yukimura. It's not as serious as say cancer that some fans were speculating about but it's still pretty bad. His body will be paralyzed without treatment which means no tennis, no nothing. >_< I was right about Sanada. He is not stoic at all but actually very passionate and emotional. Judging from the uniforms that Rikkai was wearing, the hospital scene was in the winter when Akaya was a 1st year (schools start in April). They have scarves...how cute. XD; Though they're wearing jackets so... I dunno it might be that green. u_u;;; I wonder how that will look. >_>;

Anyway in the group picture of Rikkai's geniuses, Yukimura actually looks like a guy. @_@ Like he looks masculine. Just from that picture, all those fics where they said that Yukimura had an inner fire are right. Because that expression is intense. He almost looks like one of those bushido. Apparently he wears a headband a la Taichi. XDDD And we finally get to see how tall Yukimura is. He is 175 cm and they have him compared to Renji and Sanada. It's so weird to see Yuki so masculine especially after looking at my fanart and other people's fanarts. XD; I read this during my break from coloring too so it was a shock.

The RenjixAkaya part was yummy. I wonder if there will be an explosion of RenjixAkaya fics now... all fangirls need is a little sign and BOOM. XD That was pretty big to me though. Even if it weren't "tru boi luvTM", it still shows that Akaya cares for his teammates. And the part where Renji resigned himself to whatever retribution is coming his way was nice too. He understands the law of Rikkai and what must be done to ensure their wins and their promise. Oh how I love Rikkai. They fight for such a noble cause. They are devoted to Yukimura and Yukimura is devoted to them (like a lover says 20.5 hur hur).

It seems that the Fuji-Kirihara match will be different in essence from the anime. In the anime, there is a big implication that Fuji will seek revenge for Tachibana or something akin to that. In the manga, he doesn't seem vengeful though there is tension. I wonder if Fuji know about the Echizen-Kirihara match... if he does, then Fuji will go avenger on Kirihara's ass. XDDD OMG I can't wait. *_*