Chapter 12: Tennis

I feel like… something inside me is changing every time I get stronger. I looked out at the expansive rolling green hills of the Gongemori mountains. A soft breeze kissed my skin as my hair fluttered in the air. Standing near the edge of one of the several tall mountains, I looked down at the thousands of trees below.

Usually, when someone stood this close to the edge of a tall mountaintop, they'd be riddled with fear at the prospect of slipping and falling. But I found myself strangely at ease. It was just me and the sounds of nature.

"Fuck, man! I'm so tired!" Ryuji yelled as he gasped in exhaustion. A large green backpack on his back.

Well, just me, Ryuji, and the sounds of nature. I sighed and stepped away from the edge. "I think this spot will work. What do you think?" I said with my hands on my hips as I looked around the open space where we stood. We had been hiking for the past three hours, searching for a place to set up camp. And so far, this was one of my favorites.

After clearing the Dungeon after a day and a half of grinding, I stepped out of the portal and saw that it was now morning; on my way back into the city, I found a raging Golem that had escaped one of the Gates. It was my first time encountering a Dungeon Break, so it was an interesting experience seeing a monster running amok in my city.

Seeing as the Hunters that were present were having trouble defeating the monster, I had taken it upon myself to help them out. Once the monster was defeated, I jumped through the city rooftops and ended up at Ryuji's house. Since we still had the rest of Sunday off. Ryuji had suggested we take a trip into the mountains for a quick camping trip.

"Dude! Look at the view!" Ryuji ran over to the edge side of the cliff and stopped five feet from the end. "This is a killer spot! Alright, let's set up camp and get some grub going!"

I smiled at his excitement and took off my camping bag. We set up a cooking pan over a small burner powered by a portable propane tank. I slipped out several recently caught fish from a nearby stream and began pan-frying them while adding salt and pepper when needed. We sat together and watched the sky slowly turn orange from the sunset over the mountains. I handed Ryuji his cooked fish and received a hungry thanks for my efforts.

We ate in silence and enjoyed the scenery before us. When we were done, Ryuji grinned at me and pulled out a bag of marshmallows and a few sticks. We then made a small controlled fire and roasted our marshmallows in peace.

"You know." Ryuji said as he pulled his snack from the fire. "I never thought I'd go on these trips before. Much less with a friend. It's… nice."

I swallowed my sweet treat and nodded. "Yeah... I've been alone throughout elementary and junior high school. I only ever had Komachi, so I haven't had much experience with friends." I looked out at the slowly darkening sky and frowned. "After missing a year of my first year of high school. I pretty much gave up on making friends. I mean, why would any new first-year students go out of their way to make friends with someone a year older than them? I wouldn't."

Ryuji frowned as he swallowed his marshmallow. "But then I met Shouko… she's the first friend I've ever made." I grinned and looked down at the trees beyond. "From there, I met Yui and then you. And at some point, Isshiki joined our merry band. And… I can't imagine my life without you guys. So you're right. It is… nice."

We sat silently and listened to the cracking fire as the night sky hung over us. The bright stars glittered above as we watched them twinkle in and out.

"Hey." Ryuji said suddenly.

"Yeah?" I answered. He remained silent for a moment, almost as if he was deliberating. I looked over in his direction and saw him grinning widely at me.

"Wanna be best friends?" Ryuji grinned. My eyes widened at the two words I never thought I'd hear from another person, and I looked away from him. My eyes stung slightly, and my lip quivered; I then took a deep breath and cleared my throat. Way to stay cool and composed.

"Yeah." I said with a sniff. "Best friends." Ryuji smiled widely and held out a fist towards me. I grinned and gave him a fist bump. Maybe I am changing as I grow stronger. But was that so bad? Especially when these changes allowed me to have the connections I never thought I would.

x x x

"Say what?"

I looked up at Yui, Yukino, and a short girl with silver hair from our game of Uno. Ryuji, Shouko, Iroha, and myself all had several different colored cards in our hands. In front of each of us was a small stack of cookies we were using as playing chips. But if a teacher came around, they were nothing but harmless snacks.

"Geez, Hikki." Yui sighed and held her hands at her sides in exasperation. "I asked if you could help Saika here to get stronger!"

"Stronger for what?" Ryuji said and threw down a blue six card onto the small stack. Shouko glared at him and pulled three more cards from the deck. "Like for a fight?"

"No." Yukino said with a sigh. "Totsuka has come to the Service Club to request that we help him improve his tennis abilities. Unfortunately, my suggestion of having him run, practice his swings, and play tennis until he died was vetoed by both Yuigahama and Totsuka." What do you mean, him?! That's a guy?!

"Really? I don't see why they'd do such a thing. That form of training is so totally doable." Iroha said dryly and threw down a red two after Shouko finished her turn. Yukino glared at her lightly, causing Iroha to laugh awkwardly and look away. Yikes, what a frosty glare you have there, Yukinoshita.

"Hoh? Is that true, Totsuka?" I said slowly and ate one of my cookies. Saika nodded and smiled shyly at me.

"Yeah. I want to get better; that way, the rest of the tennis club will work harder once they see how much I've improved. At least, that's what I think." Saika said and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yuigama told me you were an Awakened human, so I wondered if you had any exercises to help me."

'Hikki is super strong! I'm sure he'll be able to help Totsuka out!' Shouko said through her notepad. I looked at Shouko in betrayal and threw a red reverse card onto the pile. Don't volunteer me for free work, Nishimiya!

"Great!" Yui cheered and grabbed my arm close to her chest. With surprising strength, Yui pulled me to my feet. I sighed and enjoyed the pleasant softness of her breasts as I was dragged out of the class. Well, I'll accept this as payment. Ryuji, Shouko, and Iroha quickly cleaned up our game and cookies and followed behind us.

x x x

We walked out onto the outdoor tennis court dressed in our gym clothes. Way to hijack my lunch period. As Ryuji, Saika, and I changed, I thought about how to train the weirdly feminine Saika properly. He was an ordinary human, while I was an Awakened individual who could easily throw a car.

Maybe I'll have him do that? I nodded and turned to Saika and Yui's expectant eyes. Yukino, I noticed, was hanging a bit away from the two but had her eyes on me. Shouko and Iroha stood next to Yukino and were watching me as well. "Okay, I've thought up a training plan for you to increase your overall strength and speed. It'll be a little demanding, but if you're as serious as you say, you'll be just fine."

"I am!" Saika said with an eager smile and jumped around cutely. Where's the testosterone in this dude? Ryuji walked beside Saika and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey, if we're training Totsuka here, I'll also join! I got to get back in running shape after all!" Ryuji said fiercely. A determined light flashed through his eyes. I smirked at my friend's energy and nodded.

"Sounds good. Anyone else that wants to join in is welcome to." I said and took off my green gym jacket, leaving me in a tight white shirt. It seems like my body has grown even stronger as well; I'm gonna have to buy bigger clothes. I stretched my arms and looked over at Saika and Ryuji. "Let's get started."

I instructed Ryuji and Saika to follow my lead as I ran them through a less intense version of my daily strength training quest: one hundred push-ups, squats, sit-ups, and a six-mile run. As we all exercised together, I noticed they struggled slightly to keep up with my pace. So, to make things harder on me, I began doing one-armed push-ups, bicycle sit-ups, super squats, and a six-mile sprint.

As we trained, I swore I felt like I was being watched closely but ignored the feeling. It seemed I was still high-strung from the Dungeon. At some point, Yui and Iroha tried to join the training but gave up quickly. Once we completed the exercises, I saw my training partners panting in exhaustion.

"I fail to see how this is better than my idea." Yukino said and walked over to us. I squinted my eyes at her and crossed my arms, straining the fabric over my chest.

"Well, for starters, they're not dead. Once they get their second wind, we'll move onto some special training to help Totsuka improve her-his reaction speed." I said plainly and watched as Ryuji and Saika stood. "See? If it were up to you, I'd be digging two holes in some abandoned park."

"I find it disturbing you have a location to bury dead bodies." Yukino said and backed away slightly. "Hikigaya, Maybe I have misjudged you after all?"

"Cute." I said, slightly annoyed, and walked over to Shouko. She held a large brown box full of tennis balls.

'Thank you for getting these for me.' I said through my hands, causing her to smile and nod. I grabbed the box from underneath, causing our fingers to brush together slightly.

'No problem, I'm happy to help! I can't help with the exercise part, so this is the least I can do.' Shouko signed with a sheepish smile.

"No, this is fine. Thank you." I said and walked back to Saika and Ryuji. Completely missing Yui's strained smile. Iroha ran up beside me and looked at me with surprised eyes.

"I didn't know you knew how to sign." Iroha said as we reached both of my training partners. Everyone else nodded alongside her; they, too, were shocked by my new skill.

"I learned it so I could better talk to Nishimiya." I said offhandedly and placed the box down. "Anyways, let's move on to the next part of the training. Totsuka, I'm going to be throwing a ball beside you in a random location in random patterns. Your goal is to catch each ball as they're thrown at you. This way, you will train your reaction speed and muscles to change directions quickly. Any questions?"

"No, I think I get it. Let's begin!" Saika said eagerly. I nodded and looked at Ryuji. "Ryuji. You're going to be sprinting after the balls Totsuka misses to catch. This way, we'll work on building up your leg muscles."

"Sounds good to me!" Ryuji grinned and ran behind Saika. He bent his knees and readied himself. I smirked and looked over them both.

Without warning them, I began throwing balls at either side of Saika at slow speeds and watched as Saika struggled to catch the whizzing green balls. He managed to catch one in every ten at the start, but he began to catch more and more as we progressed slowly. After a half hour of training, I decided to call it quits for the day. Which was a good call, considering they looked ready to fall over and pass out. Not to mention, Lunch would end in five minutes as well.

"Saika, here. Have some water!" Yui said and bent next to Saika. She offered him a bottle of water, which he accepted and gulped down quickly.

"You want some, Blondie?" Iroha waved a bottle to a panting Ryuji, who had been sprawled out on the floor. He nodded between gasps of air and reached up towards the bottle. Iroha pulled it away before he could grab it and smiled slyly at him. "That'll be a hundred yen."

"You're... evil." Ryuji wheezed out, causing Iroha to chuckle. Ultimately, she had given him the water and a towel. I shook my head at the two and felt something cold on my cheek.

"Oh." I saw Shouko grinning mischievously as she held a water bottle for me. "Thank you."

'You're welcome.' Shouko said through her hands. I smiled at her and drank my drink slowly. I wasn't tired, just slightly thirsty. I looked over and saw my fatigue still at a five. As I looked at my stats window, my mind wandered off toward the sudden Quest I had received at the end of my fight with the boss. The job change quest. I was curious about the Quest but decided to take it easy for a while. I came close to dying, so a break from the Dungeons was a welcome idea. At least for a little while.

x x x

It's been one week since I agreed to help Saika become stronger and more proficient at tennis. During our training, Yukino researched how to improve one's swing in tennis by studying several pro players. So, we implemented her ideas, and Saika's skills had begun to improve steadily.

During our time together, I learned some more about Yukino and Saika. I discovered that Yukino had a pretty sharp mouth and had a real Ice Queen persona. She also seemed to enjoy throwing sharp verbal jabs at me on occasion. It was slightly annoying, but I couldn't help but find some of them funny.

I found Saika to be a nice guy, a little too girlish for my liking, but to each their own. He even grew a liking to me and asked if he could call me by my first name. I found no issue with it and allowed it, which was odd, considering he was technically my senior. Saika also got along with Ryuji, which didn't surprise me since the two were training together. Men do grow closer together by going through hard challenges together, after all.

During our training sessions together, all the girls grew closer as well. Shouko, Iroha, Yui, and Yukino gathered together and had their private conversations as the men trained. I couldn't help but smile as I saw Shouko laughing and enjoying herself as she made more friends beside us.

"Don't you have any respect?! You should watch where you're going! Maybe if you took that shit out of your ears, you could hear when we're walking and get out of the way."

"Hachiman?" Saika asked and touched my shoulder. Gaining my attention. "Are you... okay?"

"Ah, yeah. Why do you ask?" I said in confusion. Saika then pointed down at my hand, and I saw a crushed tennis ball in my grasp. "Oh. Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine. We have several tennis balls." Saika shook his head and smiled at me. I sighed and stood up from the box of tennis balls. I looked over Saika's shoulder and saw Shouko, Yui, Iroha, and Yukino talking to other students. One of which happened to be Hayato Hayama. What is he doing here?

"Hah? What do you mean we can't play tennis as well?" A girl with blonde hair styled into curls near the ends said in an annoyed voice. "Aren't you people playing?"

"It seems your tiny mind couldn't comprehend the words I used." Yukino said calmly, causing the blonde-haired girl to grow angry. "Like I told you in the beginning, The service club has gained special permission to use the tennis court to help Totsuka improve at tennis. So it's currently not open for the student body to use."

Saika and I walked over to the gathered group and noticed that Yui looked uncomfortable as she faced away from the blonde-haired girl. I stepped beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly.

"Hikki!" Yui said and slapped my shoulder. "Don't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry." I said and turned to Shouko and Iroha. "What's going on?"

'It looks like they want to use the tennis court.' Shouko wrote on her notepad. Iroha looked at what she wrote and nodded with a sigh.

"Yeah, it looks like Miura isn't taking a no for an answer, either." Iroha said while motioning to the annoying blonde girl. Iroha then proceeded to tell me the names of the people who showed up.

Starting with the school's white knight, Hayato Hayama, a fellow awakened person like myself. Followed closely by Yumiko Miura, Tobe Kakeru, Hina Ebina, and finally Ooka and Yamato. Iroha didn't know their last names, but I didn't care for them. It then came back to me that these were Touji's classmates on the second floor. At that, I looked over at Hayato and glared.

"I wanna play tennis already." Yumiko said, annoyed. She grabbed one of the free rackets, spinning it lazily in her hands. Hayato looked thoughtful and turned to Yukino with a charming smile. It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw her step back with a grimace.

"How about this? Since the service club isn't part of the tennis club, that places us both as outsiders, right? How about we have a match to determine who gets to use the court during our lunch breaks to train Totsuka." Hayato said calmly with an air of authority; a slight prideful grin grew as he stepped toward Yukino. Who stepped back? "Playing against stronger opponents will make him a better player. Will it not?"

"Um- I don't..." Saika began to speak, but a sudden look from Yumiko made him grow silent.

I sighed and walked over to Yukino. I stepped in front of her slightly, surprising Hayato with my presence. "Is that so? So tell me, B-Rank, how exactly is it fair for us to have a match against you? We are, after all. Much physically weaker than you. Or are you part of the might makes right mentality like Hatanaka?" I said and looked into his eyes unflinchingly.

Hayato's left eye twitched, and he grew pensive. "Are you insinuating I'm like him?"

"No, no. I'm just saying you are like him. Tell me, do you usually get your way just because you're arguably a little handsome and the fact that you're an Awakened human? Or were you always like that?" I said plainly. Slowly, the air around us began to grow thick and heavy. I was about to release some of my aura when Yukino placed a soft hand on my forearm.

"Thats enough, Hikigaya." Yukino said gravely and looked into my eyes for the first time since we'd met. "We can handle this with our words. Okay?"

I looked at her in surprise and sighed. I nodded and backed off, with me out of the way. Yukino stepped forward with newfound bravery and looked into Hayato's wide eyes. "Very well. Well, accept your challenge. The winner will have free reign over the court, and the loser will leave without another word. Are those stipulations to your liking?"

"They are." Hayama said softly, almost defeatedly, and turned to Yumiko. Who looked pleased.

"Great! Let's make it a doubles match! Hayama and me versus Yukinoshita and Hikitani! That should be fair!" Yumiko said with an excited, self-important smile.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Saika whispered in frustration and gripped the tennis racket in his hand.

"Doesn't seem like it." Ryuji said and wrapped an arm around the silver-haired boy's shoulder. I looked over at my best friend and eyed him in curiosity.

"Ms. Kawakami sure kept you, huh?" I said and watched as he sighed sadly. Ryuji had fallen asleep in class, resulting in our teacher scolding him in the staff room. "Don't stay up playing games, Ryuji."

"Yeah, yeah."

x x x

"Yukinoshita, was it? Sorry, but I can't hold back."

"No need to worry. I'll hold back for you. I'll smash your cheap pride to bits."

How scary. I watched as both girls stood across from one another with the tennis net between them. They had gone and changed into tennis clothes they got from... somewhere.

I looked over at Hayato and saw him with just his dress shirt and school pants. He was also eyeing me; I wore a loose black shirt and shorts. Our eyes met, and a hidden message was exchanged.

If you hold back, so will I.

With the girl's opening remarks done, the tennis match soon began. Yumiko had the opening serve, which Yukino hit back with ease. From there, it was a game of back-and-forth between the two girls. Hayato and I were content with observing them and hitting back the stray balls they couldn't reach. At some point during our impromptu match, we had begun to gain a small crowd of watchers. They mostly cheered on Team Blonde as we played.

A jumping serve? I watched as Yukino delivered a hard serve that Yumiko missed to return. However, Hayato dashed behind her and hit back to our side. The ball flew past Yukino and was about to bounce out of our side, but I moved next to it quickly and returned it. I watched Yukino's chest heave quickly, and sweat began running down her face. Great skill but low stamina.

The ball flew past Hayato quickly, mostly because he allowed it. Instead of trying to return the ball, he paid close attention to Yukino's quick breaths and sweaty face. My enhanced sense picked up the sound of him swallowing his saliva and fast-beating heart. Ah, this prick likes our Ice Queen. So, what's the deal with the blonde bimbo?

Hayato then pointed his racket at me and grinned. "How about we pick things up? Put on a little show for our audience, don't you agree? Hikitani?"

My eye twitched at what he called me. You prick, you know my name. Are you trying to pick a fight? I then looked over to Yukino and saw her look worriedly at me. Ah. Trying to look good for the girl you like. Classic. I couldn't help but be curious about their history; Yukino seemed not to like him for some reason. Whatever the case, it wasn't any of my business. I looked over to our umpire and saw Saiki looking at me with hope.

Don't worry, Saika. I'll get these annoyances off your back. "Sure, why not?" I said with my racket on my shoulder. Yukino's sharp intake of breath told me she disagreed with my decision, so I turned to her. "Its okay, Yukinoshita. Well, keep it under wraps. Plus, you only have a little juice left. Don't you?"

Yukino flinched slightly but nodded at my statement. "Unfortunately, you're right. My stamina is the one thing I'm not confident in." Yukino then fell back and pointed at me with her racket. "This man will settle it. Be prepared to accept your loss. I may spew insults and gaffes, but never once have I spewed a lie."

"Not bad, you look pretty cool right now." I grinned and turned back to Hayato and Yumiko. Missing Yukino's embarrassed blush. "You hear the lady? Get ready to kick rocks because I'm ending our childish match."

"We'll see about that." Hayato said and walked back to serve the ball. Yumiko looked at him in confusion as he had an expression she hadn't seen before. "Show me what you got."

Hayato jumped and served the ball with a loud pop. The ball flew towards the opposite side of the court, and I dashed beside it. My racket slammed into the ball, sending it flying back. From there, it was a nonstop back and forth as we hit and returned the tennis ball. Hayama forgot Yumiko as he took point on every hit, relegating her to the back. A hurt and unsure look rested on her face.

"Not bad for an E-Rank!" Hayato said with a grin and returned my strike. I slid to my right and swung my arm across me. A loud pop echoed in the court.

"Funny, I was about to say the same to you!" I said and dashed across the field, dust flying behind me as I struck a wide curving return from Hayato. I won't lie; this is somewhat fun. A grin stretched across my face as Hayato's wide smile turned to me when he spun his body. A pop resounded, and the tennis ball flew high above my head.

I dashed back and jumped high, slamming the steaming ball onto Hayato's side. A small dent cracked when the ball made contact with the dirt field. Not one to be shown up, Hayato flipped his racket onto his other hand and smacked the ball to the far right corner of my side.

My friends and the audience watched with awed expressions as we continued our next-level game of tennis. Neither Hayato nor I could find an opening to land a winning strike as we continued playing. So far, we've kept our power level around mid-D-Rank so as not to destroy the rackets and ball, but we quickly noticed the now black tennis ball wouldn't survive much longer.

Our eyes met one another, and we nodded. This following exchange would decide the game. Hayato dashed back and forth and spun his racket, hitting the ball with the back end of his racket. The ball flew an inch over the net and headed straight down the middle of my side. My eyes widened when a soft breeze of air fluttered across my skin. Okay, How about this?! I slowed my swing and stopped my racket. The ball bounced off the damaged intertwined netting of the racket and flew slowly into the air.

Hayama grinned and moved to return the ball, but a sudden gust of wind changed the ball's course. Hayato, you may not know this. But a particular characteristic of the sea breeze manifests itself in this area around this time. Hayato jumped back to adjust to the ball's sudden change and was about to swing, but another gust of wind pushed the ball's direction once again. The wind doesn't just blow once or twice, no. It blows at least three to four times!

As Hayato moved, his mistimed racket missed the ball's new change in direction by barely a hair breath. A soft pop echoed as the ball fell uselessly next to Hayato's now dirty outdoor shoes. His eyes turned to look at the ball in shock, almost unbelieving that he had missed.

"Ah! M-match point!" Saika said after he was brought out of his stunned state from the epic match. The court was dead silent, but cheers suddenly echoed behind me. I turned and saw my friends cheering for me excitedly. Shouko waved her notepad with large, bold letters saying 'HOORAY!'.

I smiled and looked at Yukino, who sighed and nodded at me with a tiny smile. I gave her a thumbs-up and turned back to Hayato. To my surprise, he was smiling as well, not one of his odd fake smiles but a natural, almost genuine smile. He turned to me and grinned. I grinned back, even if we both held back a great deal. It was still a fun match.