Ch 84. Can You Still Hold On?

"Yes." Yukinoshita flicked her wrist, accurately passing the tennis ball to Hoshimi without looking back.

Seeing this, Hayato Hayama on the opposite side and Haruno Yukinoshita, who was watching from the shadows, both felt a chill.

What's going on? The coordination between these two is absurdly perfect...

"The game has begun..." Hoshimi smiled, tossing the tennis ball into the air.

The next moment, Hoshimi leaped up and, with a powerful swing, delivered a 'kick serve' aimed mercilessly towards Hayato Hayama's area.

He wasn't lying; he really didn't like Hayato Hayama.

First, because he didn't like someone as handsome as himself.

Second, because he didn't like Hayato having any relationship with Yukinoshita.

Yukinoshita was right; it was an ugly possessiveness. But he felt it was justified, as Yukinoshita already knew he desired her.

Therefore, eliminating all potential rivals was perfectly reasonable.

"Bang!"

The tennis ball bounced, and the stunned Hayato Hayama watched as it shot towards his face.

"Hayama!"

Yumiko Miura's urgent shout brought Hayato back to his senses.

Relying on his agility and flexibility from long-term training, Hayato managed to dodge to one side just as the ball was about to hit his face.

"Hayama! Are you okay?" Yumiko Miura instinctively wanted to check on him.

"I'm fine..." Hayato quickly stopped her.

"15:0"

"You bastard!"

The referee's voice mixed with Yumiko Miura's angry shout.

The referee glanced at Yumiko Miura, completely unfazed by the near accident.

Is that it? He had seen players beaten black and blue before, even in middle school matches.

The serve just now was nothing compared to the extremely destructive serves he had seen.

"Sorry~ I only know two kinds of serves." Hoshimi scratched his head, looking innocent. "Yukino and I practice like this all the time. She can handle that serve easily, but I didn't expect... Ahem, sorry."

Hoshimi coughed lightly, sincerely apologizing.

"..." Yukino remained silent. She had only managed to receive that 'kick serve' once in her dreams...

That time was just luck, a blind cat catching a dead mouse.

"You..."

"Continue the match!"

The referee, uninterested in listening to any more complaints, delivered his judgment expressionlessly.

Hoshimi smiled, picked up the ball that Hayato had thrown back, and served another 'kick serve.'

It's just a game; if you can't receive it, don't.

This woman is really noisy. He had served this way to Yukinoshita before, and she never made such a fuss.

"30:0"

Hoshimi won the second point easily, but he frowned slightly.

Without showing any signs, he glanced at his right arm and silently decided to switch to 'disappearing serves' for the rest of the game.

"40:0"

"First game over, Hoshimi and Yukinoshita win."

"Players switch sides and prepare for the next game."

After a short break, the second game began, with the opponents serving this time.

Hoshimi, whose return skills were not great, stood at the back to slack off, while Yukinoshita took the front as the main attacker.

Every time it was the opponent's serve, it was disadvantageous for Hoshimi and Yukinoshita.

Even though Hoshimi had become quite familiar with tennis, he was still a clear weak link. Every time it was their turn to receive, Yukinoshita had to expend a lot of energy to win.

Moreover, Yukinoshita had a bad habit...

"Bang!"

"15:0"

Yukinoshita easily scored with a powerful smash.

She loved smashing the ball, finding it very imposing.

However, for someone with poor stamina like Yukinoshita, smashes were not the best choice as they consumed more energy.

"Yukino, be careful, don't overuse the smashes." Hoshimi reminded her quietly from the back.

"..." Yukinoshita glanced at Hoshimi, nodded without a word.

If it weren't for you being so useless, I wouldn't need to use smashes to intimidate the opponent. My arm hurts from the vibration...

Damn jerk, talking big without putting in any effort to help share the load.

Truly a jerk!

"Bang!"

"30:0"

Finding another opportunity, Yukinoshita executed another smash.

"..." Hoshimi sighed.

No choice, this girl doesn't listen...

Until now, Hoshimi hadn't received a single ball, with Yukinoshita handling all of them alone...

The second game ended quickly, with the actual score being 6:4, Hoshimi and Yukinoshita winning again.

Hayato Hayama and Yumiko Miura were quite strong; together, they could give Yukinoshita a good fight, unlike the previous weak opponents.

The rest of the match was predictable. In their serve rounds, Hoshimi and Yukinoshita won easily 40:0. In the receiving rounds, with Yukinoshita's excellent skills, they managed to win after some effort.

The first set ended with a score of 6:1.

The opponents won one game, during which Hoshimi saw that Yukinoshita was tired and took over as the main attacker, resulting in their loss...

But they only lost with a score of 5:3, not too bad...

Incidentally, out of the three points they won, Yukinoshita scored two, and Hoshimi, as the temporary main attacker, scored one...

During the short break after the first set.

A sweaty and tired Yukinoshita sat on the bench to rest.

Hoshimi, not too exhausted, took some warm water from a classmate and handed it to Yukinoshita.

"Rinse your mouth, don't drink too much directly."

It's not good to drink a lot of water after intense exercise; it can cause potassium deficiency, muscle weakness, and irregular heartbeat.

It's best to rinse your mouth to trick the body or take small sips.

"Yes, I know..." Yukinoshita took the water, only rinsing her mouth.

With puffed cheeks, Yukinoshita was about to spit out the water and looked at Hoshimi.

He immediately understood and handed her an empty bottle he had prepared.

Yukinoshita was a very polite girl and wouldn't rudely spit the mouth rinse on the ground.

"Phew~" After rinsing her mouth, Yukinoshita took small sips, not daring to drink too much, and then capped the bottle and set it aside.

"How is it? Can you still hold on?"

Seeing Yukinoshita's trembling right arm, Hoshimi sat down beside her and asked.

"I'm fine." The aloof Yukinoshita would never admit she was struggling, even if she was.

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