Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

Yumiko steeled herself and switched from a single-arm return to a double-arm one, increasing the force but sacrificing the angle. Ignoring the technique of the return, it was like two wrestlers wrestling, a test of strength.

Her purpose in doing so was to force Zhixian, who always returned the ball with one hand, to also choose to hold the racket with both hands, which might cause cracks in this seemingly impregnable "territory".

Originally, Yumiko had only wanted to try this possibility and hadn't held high hopes. However, she hadn't expected Zhixian to respond in an unexpected way.

Yumiko found that all her counterattacks were out of bounds.

The ball missed the line by a hair's breadth.

She could understand it once or twice, but all the counterattacks after that were out of bounds.

In the sixth game, with the score at 40-0, Yumiko chose to hit a short ball on a return—but it also went out of bounds. (This is actually the phantom of Tezuka, or Yukimura's domain.)

"This is the reverse use of the domain."

As Zhixian said, it was a complete victory of 6:0, a shutout game.

"Do we need another tiebreak?" Zhixian let the rain hit his face. He could see Youmiko's unwillingness, and it just so happened that he still had something to show.

"Hit!" Yumiko said without hesitation.

Rain? It couldn't quench her urge at the moment. Even though it was already 6:0, she still wanted to continue fighting with Zhixian, even if there was no chance of winning and even if the rain continued.

"Just now all the balls went out of bounds. Next—" Zhixian picked up the tennis ball, "—all your balls will hit the net."

He threw the tennis ball to Yumiko on the opposite side of the court.

"I have completed the protection of the Hundred-Armed Giant." Zhixian said this while standing in the rain.

“…” Youmiko looked at Zhixian opposite her. The rain obscured her expression as well as his.

All she could do now was to challenge this move called "Guardian of the Hundred-Armed Giant" herself.

The Guardian of the Hundred-Armed Giant requires the tennis ball to roll on the front of the racket, forcibly adding super spin to the tennis ball, while also rotating the racket face in an instant and cutting with the back side to double the spin.

To break this move, Youmeizi must hit several times more counter-spins than Zhixian to get over the net.

One thing that needs to be explained is that the rotation number of the Guardian of the Hundred-Armed Giant is higher than the reverse use of the domain and domain just now.

Therefore, Youmeko, who couldn't even break the domain, had no way to deal with this stronger rotation.

Although the rain affected the ball, the protection of the Hundred-Armed Giant was still flawless, as if there really was a giant wielding all kinds of weapons in his hands so tightly that no one could penetrate it.

Hang the net, hang the net, hang the net!

All the balls that Yumiko hit back went into the net, just like all her returns just now went out of bounds.

Hit the net 6 times in a row.

Yumiko served the last ball.

The girl wiped the rain off her face and decided to adopt the serve-and-volley tactic.

So the girl took a deep breath and decided to play this last ball well.

She aimed her serve as close to the corner as possible so that she could have more time to reach the middle of the court near the net.

But the girl who rushed to the net suddenly found that the boy on the other side of the net was smiling at her.

Oh no! Yumiko suddenly felt something was wrong. That smile was one that was under her control.

At this time, Yumiko rushed to the midfield position and did not feel the strong rotation when she returned the ball.

She instinctively hit the ball back.

Zhixian on the opposite side also left the baseline at this time, moving towards the landing point of the ball, and had already made a move to intercept the ball.

Zhixian looked at Youmeiko and smiled.

With a slight raise of her arm, the tennis ball left a trace like a crescent moon and finally hit the baseline behind Youmiko.

"...It's actually a moon-climbing volley." Yumiko muttered to herself as she stood in front of the net.

Zhixian, who had been scoring with all kinds of fancy techniques throughout the game, was very simple in his handling of the last ball.

In their past matches, Zhixian would often unexpectedly perform such moon-climbing volleys from the baseline.

This made Youmiko feel that the Zhixian in front of her was still the Zhixian who used to support her with all her strength. Zhixian, who was like a singles player throughout the court, seemed to have become the brain of the platinum combination in the last ball.

The moon-climbing volley just now made Yumiko fall into the vortex of memories again. Under her cover, the silver-haired boy instantly switched his racket hand, and then raised his arm to make a beautiful moon-climbing volley.

Until Zhixian put a towel on her head and opened a folding umbrella with his other hand.

"Long time no see." Zhixian covered the two of them under the umbrella, "Also, I'm back."

53. Under the umbrella in the rain

"Where are we going, Zhixian?" Yumiko moved closer to Zhixian while hiding under the umbrella.

Although no one was too surprised that Zhixian took out a folding umbrella from his tennis bag, this umbrella was just a folding umbrella that was easy to carry, and the space under the umbrella was a bit crowded for the two of them.

Zhixian intentionally tilted the umbrella a little towards Youmiko, so when Youmiko noticed this, she moved towards him to prevent him from getting wet - even though both of them were already soaked from head to toe because of the previous game in the rain.

"My home." Zhixian looked straight ahead and answered calmly.

"Oh, so that's it, but I didn't bring it...eh?!" Yumiko, who subconsciously thought that Zhixian said he would take her home, couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Why are you reacting so strongly? You didn't bring your keys, did you? And there's no one at home." Zhixian looked at Youmeiko beside him with a puzzled look. The route they took was a shortcut to his house, and it was also a path they had walked together many times.

Because the walk back after the morning run was too far, Zhixian always took Youyouko back through this path, and after sending Youyouko home, he would return alone.

"I didn't bring my key, but how did you know?"

“…” Zhixian glanced at her and continued to remain silent.

"Is it so hard to ask?" Yumiko was even more curious. Although she knew Totsuka Hayama and the others were looking for her, she was the only one who knew whether she had her keys with her. Zhixian only knew that she didn't have her phone with her.

"......" As if he had made up his mind, Zhixian spoke after a long while, "Your skirt has no pockets..."

Yumiko's expression froze... She looked down at her skirt. Sure enough, it had no pockets, because she usually carried a bag when she went out. But today, after borrowing the video, she threw her bag on the sofa and started fiddling with it...

I didn't take anything with me when I went out.

"I only noticed it because you didn't take anything out while playing basketball." Zhixian explained, but then he realized that his words made things more obvious and his expression became awkward.

The most important thing is that the clothes wet by the rain stick tightly to the body, showing the beautiful curves of women's graceful figures. Every time Zhixian turns his head to look at Youmeko, he can't help but see some exciting scenes. You know, high school students are a group that is quite prone to fantasy - I mean star fantasies.

"Puchi." Zhixian's embarrassed look made Youmiko laugh out loud.

During the brief few dozen minutes that the two of them were together, Zhixian's calm and composed state was broken.

This made Yumiko relax a little. After all, she was a little overwhelmed by the thought of speaking again after a year. The urge that had surged in her when she rushed out that afternoon had dissipated considerably after the match. She still had a thousand words she wanted to say, but now she didn't know what to say. Seeing Zhixian's genuine reaction, her initial hesitation finally eased.

"Is anyone home?" Yumiko asked.

"No," Zhixian replied, without turning to look at Youmiko, silently saying, "My dad's on a business trip, so it's just the two of us tonight."

"Okay." Yumiko nodded, not paying attention to the fact that it was just the two of them.

"Aren't you worried about what I might do to you, a single man and a single woman?"

"Are you referring to the time when a man and a woman spent the entire night studying a game video?" Youmeko raised her eyebrows. It was not the first time she had stayed overnight at Zhixian's house. Just as she said, the two of them watched the game video for the entire night, and nothing else happened.

Of course, there were also a lot of notes and countless sketches designed by Zhixian - about the running positions in the Australian formation and the covering positions in the non-Australian formation.

He's obviously a tennis player, but those sketches are as complicated as the tactical boards that a basketball coach draws for his players.

Yumiko also complained about this at the time, but practice makes perfect. When they defeated their opponents with their fancy tactics, she was deeply moved - you all have dirty minds when using tactics!

He used his partner's running cover to quietly perform two-way attacks, and specially designed several different running methods for this purpose. Youmiko felt that Zhixian would surely become a tactical master if he became a basketball coach.

"I won't show you the video this time." Zhixian couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "Then let's watch Mr. Panda Pan."

"Huh? Who wants to watch something that fools children?" Yumiko's tone contained five parts of surprise, three parts of disgust, and two parts of expectation.

Yes, it does have that flavor. In fact, when I was in junior high, I was at Disneyland and I was holding onto a Mr. Pan doll and insisting on taking a photo with it.

Miss Yumiko, who looks mature on the outside, actually has countless dolls and stuffed animals in her room - this number is definitely greater than the number of dolls that Zhixian owns.

However, Zhixian did not delve into this topic, otherwise the tsundere queen would come online. Although that mode is very cute, it is not suitable now. After all, the two of them are now walking (forced) in the rain with small umbrellas. The right thing to do is to go back early and take a hot bath.

"Hey, Zhixian." Youmiko stared at her toes and gently tugged at the corner of Zhixian's clothes with her left hand.

"Ok?"

"Is this okay? I..."

"It's nothing, just think of it as me picking up a beautiful girl who fainted on the roadside." Zhixian knew what Youmeko wanted to express, but he chose to brush it off with nonsense.

"There are too many complaints." Youmiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she was secretly happy that Zhixian said she was a beautiful girl.

"A beautiful girl should act like a beautiful girl. Stop imagining things." Zhixian deliberately added a reproachful tone, although it sounded like he was praising Youmeko.

"..." This undisguised praise made Yumiko a little shy.

Zhixian always says things that sound like theorems and can be used directly without proof. He says these things in a calm tone as if the fact that a right angle is 90 degrees is as natural as it gets.

The rain was still falling, and a cool breeze blew from time to time, hitting the wet clothes and making people feel cold.

However, being able to walk side by side with Zhixian, sharing an umbrella in the rain and chatting about random topics, was completely different from what Youmiko had expected when she rushed out of the house. She had originally expected a more serious conversation, but she didn't expect it to be just a casual chat.

"We're here." As Zhixian's voice rang out, Youmeko appeared here again a few hours later.

In just a few hours, the world is full of wonders.

54. Ginger Soup and Noodles

Yumiko followed Zhixian into the house and looked around. There was nothing special about the entrance, and the wooden shoe cabinet had no decorations either, just a stack of sticky notes, probably used by the father and son to leave messages.

Zhixian took out a pair of slippers for Youmiko from the shoe cabinet, and when he saw her staring at the note, he took the initiative to explain.

"That's what my dad and I use to leave messages for each other. He's usually busy with work, so I'll remind him that the food is in the refrigerator. And if he's not coming home for something, he'll also write a note to remind me."

Yumiko nodded. She could understand. After all, she had heard some things about Zhixian's father from Ms. Sato in the morning.

"I'll go get some hot water. You can take a good soak. Be careful not to catch a cold." Zhixian said as he was about to go to the bathroom to run the water.

"Wait!" Youmiko grabbed Zhixian's sleeve to stop him.

"Hmm?" Zhixian looked at Youmeiko, his eyes full of confusion.

"...No need to run hot water, just take a shower." Yumiko didn't look Zhixian in the eye, but turned her head and answered in a low voice.

"Then let's listen to Youmiko." Zhixian thought for a moment and made a concession.

"Um, and..." Yumiko still didn't let go of Zhixian's hand, "That's it... a change of clothes..."

The girl stammered and hesitated before she finished speaking. After all, it was very embarrassing to say such words to a person of the opposite sex of the same age.

"......" Zhixian hesitated for a moment, took out his mobile phone, and dialed a number with hardened heart.

"Who did you call?" Yumiko asked curiously.

"...My mother."

"......" Knowing that Ms. Sato runs a clothing store, Yumiko tacitly agreed to Zhixian's actions. She also thought this was the best way to solve the problem.

"Moshi Moshi, it's me, Mom..." Zhixian briefly explained the current situation, hoping that the other party could provide some help.

After explaining the situation clearly, Zhixian handed the phone to Youmeiko, left a message saying "I'll go prepare it", and quickly left.

So Yumiko took out her phone, reported her size to the other person (in her imagination) with a kind smile, and then thanked him.

It felt so strange to meet someone in the morning and then ask them to deliver clothes (including underwear) to her in the evening. Yumiko couldn't help but cover her face after hanging up the phone.

Ms. Sato has a car, and it's not too far from the store to here, so even if you add the time it takes to pick out clothes, it won't take too long.

"Youyouko, you can go take a shower now." Zhixian called out.

"Ah, okay."

----split line----

After a brief explanation, Zhixian stepped out and left the bathroom to Youmeiko.

The girl went out in the afternoon without bringing anything with her. She also played a game of ball with me in the rain. She must have been very tired, both mentally and physically.

While Yumiko was taking a shower, he planned to make some ginger soup for the girl and then prepare a simple dinner.

Zhixian went to the kitchen and started preparing ginger soup.

Although ginger soup can dispel cold, its taste is not so easy to accept, so Zhixian planned to make a cola ginger soup.

As for where the cola came from—to be honest, they had previously entertained relatives at home and bought a lot of drinks like cola and orange juice. This just happened to provide Zhixian with raw materials.

Zhixian took the chopping board, cut the ginger into slices, poured the cola into the pot, put the ginger slices into the cola, brought to a boil over high heat and then turned to low heat so that the flavor of the ginger could be fully integrated into the cola.

The amount of ginger can be added according to personal taste. There are also differences between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, so choose according to personal preference.