Steady Progress (日進月歩 Nisshingeppo) is the 269th chapter of manga, Baby Steps.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Ryuhei Aoi
- Soji Ike (flashback)
- Sanae Maruo
- Himeko Sasaki
- Kojirou Kageyama
- Natsu Takasaki
- Atsushi Taira
- Krishna Ramesh
- Marcia O'Brien
- Soji Ike
- Ronnie Medberry
Summary[]
With the help of Ike, Eiichiro goes to America for a two-month training. He also becomes Ike's practice partner during this period.
Synopsis[]
Ei-chan's only accepting enough of an allowance from his parents to cover food expenses. He'll be staying with Ike, who's offered to help him find part-time work at the Florida Academy to cover his other expenses. And Ike offered to lend Ei-chan money if Ei-chan comes up short. Ei-chan's mother is kind of irked since Ei-chan's going out of his way not to be a burden on his parents, but he's totally willing to depend entirely on his friends. However, it was simply because when Ei-chan contacted Ike, Ike's reply overflowed with advice and offers of help and the assumption that Ei-chan would accept his offer, which made accepting his help so easy.
Atsushi meets Ei-chan at the airport. Atsushi has given up on his dream of turning pro since he's already 20 and now works for the tennis academy. He tells Ei-chan about all the changes that's happened at the academy: new facilities etc., including a new name (IMG Academy). Krishna and Marcia are still around, so they're bound to show up eventually. Anyhow, Atsushi leaves Ei-chan with Ike.
Ei-chan thanks Ike for his offers to help him with money and finding work. Ike says Eichan's making it to the Best 4 in the All-Japan Juniors isn't bad, so why does Ei-chan seem depressed. Ei-chan says his goal was winning the championship. Ike looks struck by Ei-chan's answer then tells Ei-chan to change clothes quickly and partner him for a bit of practice. When Ei-chan gets flustered since he still has his luggage, Ike points out that since Ei-chan has his luggage he can change clothes, and that acting as his support is also one job. So it looks like Ei-chan might spend a lot of time serving as Ike's practice partner and Ike's rank is in the Top 50 worldwide.