Chapitre 32: Reminiscence!
Just when I thought we were seriously about to do it, she backed away.
"Sorry, I think I can properly stand now."
But she couldn't bare to look at me anymore.
And once again, she was blushing with her whole body as it visibly changed color.
Maybe she was feeling the weight of her own actions.
"What are you sorry about?"
"Umm… its just that I'm making you go through my selfishness and I don't feel too well about it. I just don't feel right."
I thought it was something else.
Is that why she is forcing herself?
"Need I remind you it's my decision that I decided to come here with you. You shouldn't feel that bad about it."
"Even if that's the case-"
"You haven't taught me anything yet."
Then I decided to release her as I went on to pick up my racquet.
"Let's finish quickly and head home before it becomes too late to do anything."
"Where were we again?"
"That's it. I'm heading home."
"Wait! I remember! I remember! Let me go to the other side of the court."
Afterwards, she stood at the other side of the court facing me.
"Okay. Repeat what I just taught you."
Then I iterated again and this time I didn't fall off but instead my ball travelled diagonally to the other end of the court but surprisingly she caught it despite the distance.
"Not bad."
That was very bad.
"But control your direction a bit more."
"As of now, we are going to start with casual passes like the way you hit the ball."
"That's it?"
"There's more. When you hit the ball, make sure your trajectory makes it bounce once on the other side of the court at the same time avoid missing the court. Moreso, you see the two divided boxes which are close to the net?"
"Yeah."
"Make sure that when you send your ball to this side, it has to bounce in either of them."
"Is that all?"
"That's pretty much it."
"Here goes." I saw her bouncing the tennis ball on the ground as she passed it to me in a perfect clear arc which in return I received with minimum effort as it bounced once like she said and I hit it back but since my moves were still uncoordinated, I applied too much force as I sent it back and it bounced in one of the two boxes but the most shocking thing was that she cushioned the ball despite its extreme velocity and weird direction and sent it back to me like last time.
"You are still not ready for that. Trust me. But you can still do it though if you want to. It could help me receive fast balls a bit better."
"Don't mind if I do."
Heh.
I'm going to work her to the bone.
Thus, I began to only attack her with fast balls.
But due to her experience, she isn't just a girls champion for nothing.
All my balls were reflected back to me in a form which was easy for me to return them back to her and I still hit them the same way I did sending them to extreme right or left and gaining a bit of control over the maneuvering of my selected direction.
"Good going. You seem to be improving with every receive."
"That's because I have got a very good instructor."
"I'm not a good instructor. You don't know how hard I am trying to suppress the urge of returning your fast balls with the same energy and vigor plus seeing the anguish on your face when you realize how hopeless you are against me. I'm just waiting for you to get a good handle of it."
She has such scary thoughts.
"How nice."
"Speaking of which, Sayumi?"
"Yeah." She replied in ragged audible breaths.
"How and when did you start playing tennis?"
Through our exchange, we were still ongoing with the onslaught of passes.
"It's a long story but long story cut short, it's because I loved it."
"…"
"You know Asahi Kinoshita, right?"
"You mean like one of the top tennis players in Japan?"
"That's my father."
"Is that so?"
"At least show that you are a little bit surprised."
"I am surprised but since you both have the same last name I figured you were somehow related in some sort of way."
"When I was a small child, my father would often take my mother and I to watch the tournaments especially when he was participating. I can vividly remember the loud cheers of celebrations every time my father scored a point against his opponent.
He would often tell me and my mother that we were the source of his motivation and just the sight of us cheering him on was the best form of support he could ever have.
He was like a hero to my family and in truth, he was.
He would always take me out sometimes to his training sessions and I would just watch him as he practiced nonstop.
He even tried teaching me at first but I would often whine and refuse until he promised to buy me ice cream if I decided to play with him or even just hit the ball once with a racquet. So that was my first experience as he gave me a racquet similar to the one you are using now.
At first, it was so invigorating.
I kept missing the ball and kept on whining a lot.
I would even get mad at him because he laughed at my clumsiness.
But the moment I actually started getting hits in, that's when everything changed for me.
Even my perspective about everything pertaining to tennis changed.
Even my prospects were about me and tennis.
The more times I played, the more ice cream he would buy for me. So it was a win-win. As time moved on, I began to enjoy tennis very much. Not because of ice cream but just as it is as a sport.
The feeling of hitting the ball, the feeling of scoring every point, the feeling of losing a game, the feeling of victory and the feeling of people cheering you on as you win another match have all now become a part of me.
And all of them are still fond memories I still have.
It all made my father proud to see me succeeding him. To see his own daughter finally enjoying the sport he loved most. He's also the one who taught me many techniques about the game and its secrets.
I just couldn't let him down as it was the sport we both loved.
We both wanted to surpass.
Even my mother was shocked at the synergy between her husband and her daughter making her feel left out.
I remember myself making a bet with him that I would one day defeat him and be a better player that he ever was and that day, he crushed me completely I almost cried a hundred times if it wasn't for the ice cream deluxe.
Then one day, he got into a bus accident when he was coming from a training session.
The femur, fibula, tibia and all the other bones in his right leg even his joints were severely injured because the truck which hit the bus came from the right and lady luck wasn't on his side since he was right beside the window, which destroyed most tendons and the muscle joints in his leg.
Luckily enough, no one died from that traffic accident and aside from the right part of his body, he wasn't injured that much anywhere else.
When he was taken to the hospital for treatment, it was said that although his leg and right arm would be fully healed, as an adult, it would take a very long time and he was advised not to do any strenuous activities until he was fully healed.
Unfortunately, it was at that time that there were Inter-Schools Sports Championships and because my father had just been in an accident a few months ago, I could not focus on the games. Not even once.
It's still a surprise to me that I reached the finals on autopilot.
And unfortunately enough, it didn't work in the finals.
After almost two years of rehabilitation, he went for another checkup and the results portrayed that the joints in his legs were now stiff due to lack of use for a long extended period of time meaning that he will never be able to play sports again and use his joints like he used to and had no choice but to resign.
It was a heartbreaking moment for everyone.
Despite receiving that type of news, never once had I ever seen him not smiling. He always smiled at me even if things were not working well in his life.
He still taught me some other things and encouraged me even after he couldn't do it like he used to anymore.
And until this day, all his hopes are on me.
Its not like he pushed them on me and I can even drop the sport anytime I want.
But doing so just wouldn't be right.
If he failed at something then I will succeed it for the both of us.
That's when I promised myself that I would carry on with his dreams and my dream.
Not for his sake nor my sake but for both of us.
That's why I need to improve every single day.
I have to be better."
"…"
"Sorry for the long monologue."
"Its fine. In fact, I'm happy that you decided to share something like that with me."
I never knew that's what she was going through all this time.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I just hope that you are not forcing yourself too much over this."
"Believe me I'm not. I love tennis."
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Lyriryl
Lyriryl Did I ever say I was back?
Yes!
I. Am. Back!
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone