บท 57: Ch 57. Now, The Game Officially Begins!
In the afternoon, just before school ended, Hoshimi woke up, stretching and yawning.
"Ha~~"
He yawned, and Yukinoshita's gaze fell on him.
Seeing Hoshimi's lazy yet confident demeanor, a thoughtful look flashed in Yukinoshita's eyes.
Hoshimi had slept the whole day; it seemed he had been preparing some trick in his dream.
What could his move be? A technique from the real world? Something from the dreamscape? Or something else entirely unknown to her?
"Ding, ding, ding~~~"
The school bell rang, interrupting Yukinoshita's thoughts.
She turned her head to look at Hoshimi, who was also looking at her. Their eyes met, and an invisible sense of confrontation rippled between them.
Hoshimi smiled, a warm and gentle smile, "Yukino, it's time for our practice match today."
"..." Yukinoshita silently stared at Hoshimi for a while before turning her head, grabbing the racket bag, and tossing it to Hoshimi, "I know."
"Alright then, I'll wait for you." Hoshimi casually placed the textbook he took out during the first period back into the drawer and, with one hand propping his chin, smiled as he watched Yukinoshita pack her books and bag.
Before long, Yukinoshita had packed up her books. She took out her neatly folded sportswear from her bag and turned to Hoshimi, "Let's go."
"Got it." Hoshimi also took out his sportswear from his bag, and the two of them left the classroom side by side.
In the hallway, Yukinoshita glanced at Hoshimi from the corner of her eye.
She knew that Hoshimi wouldn't suggest a practice match unless he was confident she would lose. The best strategy at this time would be to avoid confronting him.
But she had already agreed to Hoshimi's condition on Friday afternoon: if he trained with her over the weekend, she would agree to the practice match on Monday.
Since she had promised, she couldn't break her word, even if she knew she was likely to lose today.
"Yukinoshita, you still have the pointer, right?" Hoshimi suddenly asked.
"..." Yukinoshita, who had already guessed Hoshimi's intentions, nodded with a grim expression.
"Good, so let's agree: lose a point, one strike with the pointer, okay?" Hoshimi's smile remained gentle as he looked at Yukinoshita's delicate profile.
"..." After a long silence, Yukinoshita responded in a low voice, "Okay."
"Then it's settled." Hoshimi nodded with a deep smile.
"See you at the tennis court in a bit."
During their conversation, they had arrived at the school's changing room. After leaving those words, Hoshimi turned and headed to the boys' changing room on the left.
Yukinoshita stood in place, staring at Hoshimi's back for a moment before turning expressionlessly toward the girls' changing room on the right.
Though she had a vague sense she might lose today, she still couldn't understand where Hoshimi's confidence came from.
It was just a single day of dream practice. How much could a beginner like Hoshimi improve in tennis? Could he actually defeat her? Absolutely not!
Hoshimi's physical strength was almost on par with hers, but her tennis skills far surpassed his. Even if Hoshimi improved a bit through dream practice, it would only be enough to score a few points against her.
In terms of the final result, she was confident she would score far more points, possibly several times more than Hoshimi.
So why was Hoshimi so confident?
Did he just want to use the pointer on her a few times? Or did he have another plan?
Unable to figure it out, Yukinoshita changed into her sportswear in the changing room and headed to the tennis court with her doubts.
...
"Yukino, over here."
As soon as she arrived at the tennis court entrance, Yukinoshita heard Hoshimi calling her.
She turned her head and saw Hoshimi waving to her from the far end of the tennis court.
"..." Yukinoshita didn't respond and walked silently towards Hoshimi's court.
This jerk, Hoshimi, always maintained his character. As long as students were around, he would call her "Yukino."
The moment they were alone, he switched to calling her "Yukinoshita" with astonishing speed, and he had never slipped up once.
How did he manage such smooth transitions without making a mistake?
"Yukino, here's your racket."
Once Yukinoshita entered the court, Hoshimi handed her the tennis racket with a smile.
Yukinoshita took the racket and looked at Hoshimi, "Are you going to the other side? Or should I go?"
"It's up to you." Hoshimi said nonchalantly.
"..." Yukinoshita gave Hoshimi a deep look before silently heading to the other side.
As she left, she didn't take any tennis balls, indicating that she intended for Hoshimi to serve first.
"Yukinoshita, are you ready?"
Seeing Yukinoshita in position, Hoshimi waved his racket and asked.
Yukinoshita nodded in response but then asked, "Hoshimi, how many sets are we playing?"
"How many sets?" Hoshimi raised an eyebrow and smiled, "We won't count sets today. Let's have a proper match, best of three sets?"
"..." Yukinoshita remained silent.
A best of three sets means winning two sets out of three, with each set requiring a player to win six games, and each game needing four points to win with at least a two-point margin. If neither player has a two-point margin, the game continues until one does.
In a long-set format, one must win by two games to take the set; otherwise, it continues until the margin is achieved. This rule is rarely used except in major tournaments.
For her and Hoshimi's match, they would default to a short set, where a 6-6 game tie would lead to a tiebreak.
Additionally, a long-set format for the final set might be used, but that was irrelevant to their practice match. She doubted they would even reach a third set.
The issue was not only the skill gap but also their physical endurance.
If Hoshimi managed to reach a 1-1 set tie with her, she would likely be too exhausted to continue into a third set.
But how could that happen?
Even if Hoshimi improved through dream practice, there was no way he could match her skill level or push the match to a deciding set!
"Yukinoshita, are you ready?" Hoshimi asked again, waving his arm.
"Mm..." Yukinoshita gripped her racket tightly, staring at Hoshimi with a blank expression.
Bring it on, Hoshimi. I will crush your scheme and show you the difference in our raw strength!
Prepare to be whipped!
On the other side of the court, Hoshimi stood in the service area and glanced up at the overcast sky.
The weather was gloomy, with a chilly breeze—a perfect day for training.
However, the sea breeze could be annoying and might affect his serve.
Feeling the cool breeze on his face, Hoshimi didn't rush to serve. Instead, he held his racket, searching for a familiar feeling.
After a while, the sea breeze paused, and Hoshimi found his rhythm.
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