บท 58: Ch 58. Hoshimi, Ready to Strike
Holding a tennis ball in his left hand and a racket in his right, Hoshimi looked at Yukinoshita with a sinister smile.
Yukinoshita, try facing my serve that I've practiced thousands of times!
Hoshimi bent his waist, spun his left hand's fingers, and released the tennis ball, which spun rapidly as it fell.
"Bang!"
The next moment, Hoshimi swung his racket with a deep smile and hit the tennis ball.
"Here it comes..."
Yukinoshita focused all her attention on the flying tennis ball.
The speed wasn't too fast, the landing point was clear, and the bounce area was slightly to the front left.
Yukinoshita stepped forward, preparing to return the ball to the far corner from Hoshimi.
Her goal today was clear: make Hoshimi run back and forth, exhaust his energy, and then defeat him effortlessly.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Yukinoshita's cold face.
Today, I will still win.
"?!!"
However, the next moment, the bouncing tennis ball disappeared from Yukinoshita's sight!
She stood there, stunned, instinctively swinging her racket at the expected spot.
"Whoosh~~~"
Her racket cut through the air, completely missing the ball.
"Thud—"
A second later, the sound of the ball landing came from behind her.
Yukinoshita turned her bewildered eyes to the rolling ball on the court.
What happened? Did the ball just vanish from her sight?
"Yukino, I won the first point!"
"....."
Yukinoshita snapped back to reality and looked at the unusually bright smile on Hoshimi's face.
A sense of unease quickly flooded Yukinoshita, making her breath catch, as if sensing the impending pain.
"Yukino, throw the ball to me. Let's continue."
Seeing the playful look in Hoshimi's eyes, Yukinoshita forced herself to stay calm.
She picked up the ball and threw it to Hoshimi, taking a deep breath to steady her mind for Hoshimi's next serve.
This time, she had to see clearly! The ball wouldn't just disappear! It must still be there; she must have been distracted earlier, missing the ball.
Now, with a clear mind, she would focus all her attention and respond with full force.
Yukinoshita Yukino, believe in yourself. You won't lose! You will win!
Having calmed down, Yukinoshita's face returned to its expressionless state. She fixed her gaze on Hoshimi, her body tensing.
"Yukino, here I come~"
Confident in his serving technique, Hoshimi started to play with Yukinoshita's mindset.
He tossed the ball, deliberately swung and missed, letting the untouched ball bounce on the ground.
"Oh dear~ I still can't get the serve right." Hoshimi pretended to scratch his head.
"..." Yukinoshita frowned, staying on high alert.
According to tennis's second serve rule, each serve has two chances, and both misses result in a point for the opponent.
She wasn't sure if Hoshimi genuinely couldn't serve or was pretending to lower her guard.
But no matter the case, she wouldn't let her guard down now.
"Let's be a bit serious this time." Hoshimi picked up the ball, looking at Yukinoshita, and loudly reminded her, "Yukino, be careful. This serve packs a punch."
"..." Yukinoshita remained in her stance, her eyes still locked on Hoshimi.
Suddenly, Yukinoshita seemed to remember something and changed her grip from single-handed to double-handed.
"Yukino, be careful."
Before serving, Hoshimi reminded Yukinoshita again.
After all, this serve was slightly dangerous, and if Yukinoshita wasn't cautious, there might be a problem.
Hoshimi bent his back, tossed the ball slightly backward to the left, then jumped up and swung his racket, sending the ball flying to the upper right.
"Bang!"
Hearing the dull thud of the swing, Yukinoshita shifted her focus from Hoshimi to the tennis ball.
She watched the ball, gauging its landing point and bounce area, then stepped forward, ready to swing as the ball bounced.
This time, the ball didn't disappear from her sight, but its bounce direction was completely unexpected.
The ball bounced straight towards her face!
"?!!"
Seeing the ball coming closer, Yukinoshita's pupils contracted. She instinctively raised her racket to protect her face.
"Thud---"
The ball hit the racket's face with such force that it pushed the racket back, stopping just a centimeter from Yukinoshita's face.
The next second, the ball, now devoid of momentum, dropped in front of Yukinoshita.
Yukinoshita immediately looked at Hoshimi, her icy blue eyes filled with a fierce chill.
"Yukino, are you okay?" Hoshimi tentatively asked.
From his angle, it was unclear whether the racket had hit Yukinoshita's face.
"...I'm fine..." Yukinoshita replied through gritted teeth.
She hadn't expected Hoshimi to serve such a tricky shot. If she hadn't heeded his warning, the racket would have definitely hit her face!
The difference in strength between a single-handed and double-handed grip was significant!
How did Hoshimi learn to serve such tricky shots?!
One serve disappeared after bouncing, and another aimed straight at her face; neither was easy to execute.
As for coincidence? That was out of the question.
Hoshimi's warning before the second serve clearly indicated he knew the potential outcome.
Damn it! Was Hoshimi hiding his skills before to ambush her today?
Or did he really master these tricky serves in just one day in the dream world?
She vaguely had an answer but still found it hard to believe. She picked up the ball, threw it to Hoshimi, and gritted her teeth, "Hoshimi! Continue!"
"Okay~ Let's continue." Seeing that Yukinoshita wasn't hit, Hoshimi started to play around again.
He picked up the ball, deliberately missed the first serve, and then sent another disappearing serve on the second try.
Sure enough, Yukinoshita missed again.
"Yukino, it's 40:0. I won the first game." Hoshimi moved his right arm and asked, "Do you want to switch sides?"
According to standard rules, players switch sides after every odd-numbered game in a set and at the end of each set when the total number of games played is odd.
But there was no need to stick strictly to the rules for a practice match.
"No switch." Yukinoshita picked up the ball and threw it to Hoshimi, "And you'll keep serving this game. I'll serve the next two games. Any objections?"
"No objections." Hoshimi caught the ball, not refusing. He only knew how to serve, so the more points he scored, the more times he could strike Yukinoshita. He didn't mind.
He also understood Yukinoshita's strategy—to observe his serves more and figure out a way to counter them.
But it wasn't that simple. These were killer serves he learned from a genuine tennis genius.
There were only two serves: the 'disappearing serve' and the 'twist serve.'
He experimented all day and found these two serves required relatively lower physical demands.
With infinite stamina and endurance in the dream, he practiced serves at a high frequency of once every five seconds, training non-stop for hours until the techniques were imprinted in his memory.
Yukinoshita was indeed a genius, but her talents weren't in sports. To counter the serve techniques of a tennis genius in a short time was impossible.
So, how many strikes could he land on Yukinoshita today?
Winning three points, Hoshimi was already itching to continue.
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