章節 25: A vindictive person.
The match was a fierce back-and-forth with sparks flying.
At first, there were constant, passionate roars and shrill cheers from the
audience, but as the breathtakingly close match continued, more and more
they were just following us with their eyes and then exhaling and cheering
exuberantly when a point was made. It was just like a pro match on TV.
We were in a long rally, and tensions ran high. As the match progressed, it
was as though each smack of the ball took a little bit out of each of us.
What broke the equilibrium was Sausage Curl's serve. By the time I heard
the thwocking sound of ball against racket, the shot was already in the middle
of the court like a bullet and bouncing behind me.
What was that? Did the ball just do a sausage curl, too?
I'll get to the point. Madame Butterfly is a pretty high-level player. "She's
really good," I muttered.
"I told you so." For some reason, Yuigahama sounded proud. Was she
even on my side?
"Wait, you haven't been touching the ball at all!"
"Well, I've never really played tennis before." She laughed, like ta-ha-ha!
as if to try to distract me from what she'd just said.
"Why are you here if you've never played tennis?"
"Ngh! Well, sooorry!"
You idiot, you've got it backward. I should be sorry. Just how much of a
ridiculously good person are you? You've never even played this game, but
you're still saying you'll play a match in front of a huge crowd for Totsuka's
sake. Not many people can do that. If she were actually good at tennis, it
would be incredibly cool, but, well, things don't always go well, and that's
life, I guess.
At first, it was a pretty even contest between the unparalleled accuracy of
my serves and Miura's flawless receives, but as we got closer to the latter
half of the match, the gap between us slowly widened. Well, that was because
the opposing pair was concentrating on aiming for Yuigahama, though.
Perhaps surprised by my string of surprisingly good plays, they had changed
their target. There is also the possibility that they were just completely ignoring me.
"Yuigahama. You guard the front. I'll try to manage the rear."
"Okay. Thanks."
We confirmed our basic plan, and I settled into my prescribed position.
Hayama's serve came fast and hard. It hit the farthest possible point, the
corner of the court, with pinpoint accuracy, and bounced away even farther.
But I leaped to the side and desperately reached for the ball. I stretched my
racket as far as it would go, and when it touched the ball, I swung with all my
might. The ball returned to our opponents' side of the court, but Madame
Butterfly smacked it right back with careful aim.
I didn't even look; I just rolled to my feet and ran at full speed to where I
thought she might be directing it.
I frantically ordered my legs forward, and somehow, they were still
listening to me. I ran past the ball and arrived at the point of descent, and
when the ball connected with my racket, I aimed for the barest margin of the
court and hit it forcefully.
But apparently, Hayama had anticipated that, because he was waiting right
there, and with a swipe, he let fly a drop shot right between Yuigahama and
me, as if testing us.
I'd lost my balance on that last swing and couldn't possibly get there in
time. I sent Yuigahama a pleading glance, and she ran where the ball was
coming down and returned it. But a glancing blow was the best she could do,
and the ball soared up high, falling square in front of Madame Butterfly.
Miura fired it back at us at full power. A sadistic smile rose to her lips,
and the ball skimmed past Yuigahama's cheek before disappearing far behind
her to bounce in an empty spot on the court.
"Are you okay?" I called out to Yuigahama where she had plopped down
on the court instead of going to retrieve the ball.
"That was so scary…," Yuigahama mumbled, her eyes practically
drowning.
Madame Butterfly's expression softened with concern for a brief moment.
"You're such a jerk, Yumiko," joked Hayama.
"What? No way! This kind of thing is normal in a match! I'm not that
bad!"
"Oh, so you're just a sadist, then." Laughter followed as Hayama and
Madame Butterfly teased one another. As if in compliance, the spectators joined in.
"Hikki, we have to win, okay?" Yuigahama said, standing and picking up
her racket. Then she let out a tiny "Ow!"
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Sorry. I think I might have pulled something." She went tee-hee, a coy
smile on her face. In a heartbeat, her eyes were overflowing with tears. "If we
lose, Sai-chan'll be in trouble, huh…? Aw, man… This could get nasty… We
can't fix this by just apologizing, huh? Ah, geez!" Yuigahama bit her lip in
frustration.
"Well, it'll all work out somehow. Worse comes to worst, we'll put
Zaimokuza in a girls' uniform."
"They'll be able to tell right away!"
"I guess. Then let's do this: You just stay in the middle of the court. I'll
handle the rest somehow."
"What're you gonna do?"
"Since antiquity, there has been a forbidden move in tennis. It is known as
Whoops, my racket turned into a rocket!"
"That's just rough play!"
"Well, in a pinch, I'll get serious. When I get serious, I'm more than
capable of groveling and shoe licking."
"That's some weird stuff to get serious about…" Yuigahama sighed in
exasperation, then giggled. Maybe it was her injury, or maybe she'd just
laughed so hard that now she was crying, but when she gazed at me, her eyes
were moist and red.
"Oh, you're terribly stupid, Hikki. You've got a terrible personality, and
you're even terrible at giving up. You're just terrible all over. You never gave
up back then, either. You just went all the way, yelling so hard it was creepy.
You looked so desperate… I remember."
"Hey, what're you talking about?"
Yuigahama cut me off. "I just don't think I can keep up with you," she
said, blown away. She delivered it like a parting remark as she turned her
back to me and walked away. She shoved through the confused crowd,
saying, "Hey, hey, you're in the way. You're in the way!" and then
disappeared.
"What was that about?" I was left standing alone in the middle of the
court. When I glanced over where Yuigahama's back had vanished into the crowd, a grating laughter rang through the air.
"What's wrong? Had a little scrap with your friend? Did she abandon
you?"
"Don't be stupid. We've never fought once. We're not close enough to get
into a fight in the first place."
"Uh…" Hayama and Madame Butterfly actually flinched.
What? That was supposed to be funny.
Oh, I get it. I guess you need a certain degree of intimacy with most
people before you can make self-deprecating jokes with them, huh? If you
don't, they just get really weirded out.
Zaimokuza was the only one who got it, and he stifled a laugh. I whirled
around, clicking my tongue, and he pretended he had nothing to do with any
of this as he mumbled something to himself and disappeared into the crowd.
The bastard was running away, huh? Well, if our positions were reversed, I'd
most certainly have done the same thing.
His expression growing glum, Totsuka looked at me sadly.
Oh well. I guess it was time to start groveling. I'll show you serious. If
you're going to suck up, you've got to throw away your pride and suck up
with all you've got, and that's something I take pride in.
Alone on the tennis court, I felt so helpless it was unbearable, or maybe
I'll just say I was stuck in a painfully awkward atmosphere. Abruptly, the
crowd began murmuring.
And then it parted on its own.
"What kind of nonsense is going on here?" Appearing before us was an
incredibly displeased-looking Yukinoshita clad in her gym top and a skort. In
one hand, she was carrying a first aid kit.
"Oh, hey, where'd you go? And what's with that outfit?"
"Who knows? I really have no idea. Yuigahama simply asked me to put
this on," Yukinoshita said, and when she turned, Yuigahama popped out at
her side. It seemed they had exchanged clothes, and now Yuigahama was
wearing Yukinoshita's uniform. Where did you guys change? No way, not
outside?! Mm-hmm…
"I didn't want us to lose like this, so I got Yukinon to step in."
"Why me?"
"I mean, you're the only friend I have who I can ask to do this, Yukinon."
Yukinoshita twitched. "Fri…end?"
"Yeah, friend." Yuigahama replied instantly.
Oh, I dunno about that.
"Do you usually ask your friends to handle trouble for you? I feel like
you're just conveniently using me."
"Huh? I wouldn't ask if you weren't my friend. I couldn't ask someone I
didn't care about to do something important," Yuigahama stated
nonchalantly, as if it were completely obvious.
Oh-ho, so that's how it works… I've been manipulated into doing
cleaning duty before by the phrase we're friends, right? so I hadn't gotten
that impression at all. I see… So me and those guys had actually been proper
friends. Yeah, no way.
Yukinoshita must have felt precisely as I did on that point. She gently
pressed a hand to her lips and pondered silently. Her doubts were reasonable.
I wouldn't have taken that so easily, either. But Yui Yuigahama was a special
case. I mean, she was an idiot.
"You know, I think she's being serious. Because she's an idiot."
Yukinoshita softened in reaction to my remark. She smiled her usual
unyielding smile and brushed off the hair falling over her shoulders.
"Do not underestimate me. It may surprise you to hear this, but believe I'm a good
judge of character. There's no way someone who can be nice to the two of us
could be a bad person."
"That reason is too sad," I remarked.
"But it's the truth."
Indeed it was.
"I don't mind playing tennis, but…could you wait for a moment?" she
asked, moving over to Totsuka. "You can at least treat your wounds yourself,
right?"
Totsuka took the first aid kit being offered to him with a confused
expression. "Huh? Oh yeah…"
"Yukinon, you went all the way to get that… You really are nice after all,
huh?"
"Perhaps. It seems that a certain boy is secretly calling me the ice queen,
though."
"H-how did you know that?! Ah! No way, did you read my list of people I
hate?!" Crap. That was a diary that contained every single insult I could
possibly hurl at Yukinoshita.
"I'm shocked. You really call me that? Well, not that I care what anyone
thinks of me," she said, turning in our direction. But her demeanor wasn't her
usual calm one, and it had a slight bewildered tinge to it. At first, her voice
sounded strong, but it grew quieter until finally she averted her eyes. "So…I
don't really…mind if you…think of me as a…friend."
Yukinoshita's cheeks went so red that you could hear the sound of her
blush. She held the racket she'd received from Yuigahama and stood with her
head downcast, glancing at the other girl. Her unbelievable display of cuteness earned her a sudden embrace.
From Yuigahama.
"Yukinon!"
"Hey…could you not cling to me like that? It's stifling…"
Huh? This isn't the part where I'm supposed to come in, then? She's
always getting blushy around Yuigahama, isn't she? Is that how it is? Is this
a guy-guy girl-girl rom-com or what? Are all the gods of romantic comedy
total idiots? .
She somehow pried off Yuigahama and then cleared her throat before
speaking. "I'm extremely reluctant to play doubles with that boy, though. But
I have no choice, do I? I shall accept your request. I just have to win this
match, correct?"
"Yeah! Well, Hikki can't win with me as a partner, so."
"Sorry for causing you trouble." I bowed my head, and Yukinoshita
glared at me frigidly.
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm doing this for you."
"Ha-ha-ha! Again with the tsundere lines!" Oh man. Geez. Ha-ha-ha-ha!
No, no, you didn't hear those types of clichés anymore, you know?
"Tsundere? That sounds like quite the repulsive piece of vocabulary."
Of course. There was no way Yukinoshita would know what a tsundere is.
But most importantly, she never lied. The things she said might be
incredibly cruel, but they were always true. So she honestly wasn't doing it
for me.
That doesn't necessarily mean that she didn't like me, so I was okay with
that. Yep.
"Anyway, show me that list of yours later. I'll correct it for you." She
burst into an absolutely brilliant smile, like a flower blooming.
I wonder why that smile didn't warm my heart even the slightest bit. I was
terrified. I felt as if there were a tiger right in front of me. And if there was a
tiger in front of me, then… Of course, you know how the saying goes. There
was a wolf behind me. Or a horse.
"Yukinoshita, was it? Sorry, but I can't go easy on you. You seem like a
delicate girl, so, like, if you don't wanna get hurt, you should back out,
mmkay?" I turned to see Miura with her curls spinning around even tighter, a
bold smile on her face. Oh, you idiot, Miura. Provoking Yukinoshita is a
death flag…
"Relax. I'll be the one going easy on you. I'll reduce that cheap pride of
yours to dust," Yukinoshita said, an invincible smile on her face. At the very
least, she seemed invincible to me. Yukinoshita was someone you really
didn't want to make your enemy, but it was reassuring to have her as an ally.
That was why I was so astonished to see someone make an enemy of her.
Hayama and Miura were ready to square off with us.
The fierce smile on Yukinoshita's face was so cold and beautiful it forced
you to snap to rigid attention.
"You've harassed my friend…" Yukinoshita stopped there, blushing very
slightly. Saying that word out loud had to be pretty embarrassing. She silently
shook her head and began again. "…No, my fellow club member. Are you
ready to face the consequences? Just so you know, though I may not look it,
I'm quite a vindictive person."
No, you look very much like a vindictive person.
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