“Hey, she’s probably being honest. She is a moron, you know.”
As I spoke, Yukinoshita’s stiff expression loosened. She gave us her usual determined smile and brushed her hair back with one hand.
“Please don’t take me so lightly… You may not expect it, but I have quite a good eye when it comes to people. And it’s not possible that someone who can treat Hikigaya-kun and me nicely can be a bad person.”
“That’s such depressing logic…”
“But it’s the truth.”
Indeed, it was.
“I’m fine with playing some tennis, but… Could you please give me a moment?”
Yukinoshita said that and headed for Totsuka.
“You can at least treat your wounds on your own, correct?”
Totsuka looked a bit bewildered as he took the first aid box being held out to him.
“Eh, ah, yeah…”
“Yukinon, so you left just to get that… You really are kind.”
“Is that so? Even though some of the boys call me the Queen of Ice behind my back…”
“H-how did you know… Agh! Did you read my ‘List of People I Will Never Forgive’?!”
Crap. I had called Yukinoshita every single bad word in the book in that thing.
“I’m shocked. You really call me that? …well, it’s not as if I care what people think of me.”
Yukinoshita turned to face me. However, her expression wasn’t the usual cold one, but was tinted with a bit of hesitation. Her voice also gradually fell from its usual self-assuredness into something more frail, and she suddenly averted her eyes.
“…and… I don’t mind it if you think I’m your friend… either…”
I could almost hear a small pop! as a bit of red bled onto Yukinoshita’s cheeks. She held the racquet she had taken from Yuigahama and let us catch a glimpse of her face as she looked at the floor.
That insanely cute side of hers was enough to earn her a hug… From Yuigahama.
“Yukinon!”
“Stop… Don’t stick so close to me. It’s stifling…”
…huh? Wasn’t this the point where she was supposed to act deredere toward me? Was it just me, or was she only acting deredere toward Yuigahama? That wasn’t it, was it? Were we in a romantic comedy where the guys got together with the guys and the girls with the girls?
All the gods of romantic comedy were idiots.
After Yukinoshita managed to get Yuigahama off her, she cleared her throat a few times and continued.
“It’s incredibly regrettable that I have to team up with him, but… It seems I have no choice, correct? I’ll accept your request. So I just have to win this match?”
“Okay! …yeah, I couldn’t do much to help Hikki win.”
“Sorry for making you do this.”
I bowed my head, but Yukinoshita just looked at me coldly.
“…don’t misunderstand. I’m not doing this for your sake.”
“Ha ha ha, you’re just such a tsundere[1].”
Ha ha ha, geez, ha ha ha ha… It’s been a while since I’ve heard that cliché.
“Tsundere…? For some reason, that word sends shivers down my spine.”
Yeah, no kidding… I guess it was obvious that Yukinoshita wouldn’t know what a tsundere was… More than anything, that girl didn’t lie--she would always speak the truth, no matter how cruel. So she probably wasn’t lying when she said she wasn’t doing this for my sake.
Well, it’s not like I wanted her to like me or anything, so it was fine, yeah.
“More importantly, show me that list later. I’ll look it over and touch it up for you.”
Yukinoshita gave me a wonderful smile, reminiscent of a flower beginning to bloom. But why was it that her smile didn’t make me feel warm inside in the slightest…?
I was terrified. It was like being stared down by a tiger.
And if there was a tiger in front of me… Hmm, that meant there was a wolf behind me. Or maybe a horse.[2]
“Yukinoshita-san… Was it? Sorry in advance, but I don’t go easy on anybody. You’re one of those princess types, right? If you don’t want to get hurt, you should go ahead and quit.”
I turned around and saw Miura standing there twirling her vertical rolls even more as she looked at us with a bold smile. Miura, you idiot… Challenging Yukinoshita is a death flag…
“I’ll go easy on you, so you can rest assured. I’ll smash that cheap pride of yours to pieces.”
Yukinoshita said that and let out an invincible smile. At least, she seemed invincible to me.
She was a terrifying enemy, but it was really reassuring to have her on your side… I really pitied the people who made an enemy of her.
Hayama and Miura both readied themselves. Yukinoshita's intense smile was beautiful and cold enough to freeze you in your tracks.
“You’ve been harassing my frie-…”
Yukinoshita said that much, then blushed a bit. It was probably still a bit embarrassing for her to use that word, so she quietly shook her head back and forth before she tried again.
“…you’ve been harassing our club members long enough. Prepare yourself… You know, I may not look it, but I’m the type to hold a grudge.”
No, you definitely look it… A hundred and ten percent, you look it.
7-4
And so, all the relevant parties in this tennis battle had gathered. The match finally progressed into its bona fide final phase.
Team Hayama and Miura took the first move. Madame Butterfly aka vertical roll girl aka Miura was serving.
“Ya know, I don’t know if Yukinoshita-san knows this, but I’m really good at tennis.”
Miura said that while repeatedly throwing the tennis ball on the ground and catching it, almost like she was dribbling a basketball. Yukinoshita didn’t even budge; only her eyes waited for Miura to continue.
Miura let out a smile. That smile was completely different from the one that Yukinoshita had given before… It was the smile of a feral beast.
“Don’t blame me if a ball screws up your face.”
…Uwah, scary. That’s the first time I heard someone make that prediction.
The moment I thought that, I heard the whoosh of wind and the light sound of a ball being hit.
The ball flew rapidly towards Yukinoshita’s left side and barely grazed the line to the left. Yukinoshita was right-handed so the shot was out of her reach.
“…Easy.”
By the time I heard her whisper that, Yukinoshita was already ready for the return. She dug her left foot into the ground and used it as a pivot, then she spun as if she was dancing a waltz. It was a perfect backhand with her racquet held with her right hand.
Her racquet flew like a samurai sword, and the return ball flew towards Miura with a flash.
The ball hit Miura’s side of the court, close to her feet, and she let out a small shriek as the ball bounced back up. That rapid return ace woke Miura up.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m also really good at tennis.”
Yukinoshita thrust her racquet out in front of her and looked coldly at Miura, almost as if she was looking at some bug. Miura took a step back, looking back at Yukinoshita with eyes filled with fear and hostility. Her lips warped a bit and she began throwing out maledictions. To make Queen Miura look like that… Yukinoshita was incredible indeed.
“…You returned that shot really well.”
Yukinoshita didn’t show the slightest reaction towards Miura’s bluffing facial expression, but just aimed cleanly for one point.
“Well, her face looked exactly like the faces of the upperclassmen who used to come and harass me. It’s easy to see through the thoughts of such lowlives.”
Yukinoshita gave me a triumphant smile and then went on the offensive.
Even her defense was offensive. It wasn’t like that tired old saying, that ‘the best defense is a good offense’--her defensive play was just that aggressive. She would sink serves precisely in
to her opponent’s court on the return, and any balls that were hit towards her were hit back forcefully.
The crowd became intoxicated with her beautiful performance.
“Fuhahaha! My minions are all-powerful! Go, mow them down!”
Zaimokuza had caught the scent of victory and returned at some point, and now he was now completely on the bandwagon. That really pissed me off… But on the other hand, the fact that Zaimokuza was on our side meant that the tables had turned.
When it was just me and Yuigahama, we felt completely like we were playing an away game, but now the crowd was slowly coming over to Yukinoshita’s side. I mean, all the guys were sending Yukinoshita pretty heated stares.
Well, it was true that Yukinoshita was just a different species, and not many people knew her true nature. And, of course, she was also beautiful. She also had that mysterious atmosphere around her; she gave off the impression like an unattainable flower that sits at the height of a mountain peak. It wasn't really that she seemed scary, it was that she felt like some untouchable creature who one should not talk to.
Yuigahama must have a lot of courage to be able to slightly break through that barrier… and she was probably a huge idiot too.
However, her straight-laced honesty and her pure kindness were echoing in Yukinoshita’s heart. Yuigahama was the only person in the world who could've convinced Yukinoshita to come here today, and Yukinoshita was playing with all her strength for the sake of the courageous Yuigahama. She probably wouldn’t have come if I personally had asked her.
--
The huge point deficit we had built up was slowly shrinking.
As I watched Yukinoshita twirl left and right through the middle of the court, I couldn’t help but think she looked like a fairy. Her dance-like footwork was the star attraction on this particular stage. I was just filling a minor role here, and every time I tapped the ball I cringed when everyone looked at me, as if they were saying, “Not you!”
But our audience’s wishes were granted--it was Yukinoshita’s turn to serve again.
She gripped the ball tightly and then threw it high into the air. The ball almost seemed to be swallowed by the blue sky as it flew towards center court. It wasn’t going to land anywhere near Yukinoshita.
Anybody would have thought this was a miss, but then…
Yukinoshita flew.
She stepped forward with her right foot, pushed off her left foot, and then leapt when both her feet had gathered together. It was a light, staccato-like step.
And then she flew through the air gracefully. Her form was like a falcon smoothly gliding through the sky, and there was not a single person who wasn’t shaken by that vision. She was just quick and beautiful. No one even blinked as they tried to burn this sight into their memories.
A shrill sound screamed through the air, and then the ball was rolling away on the floor. The audience, me, Hayama, Miura… No one could move a muscle.
“…A… A jumping serve…”
I spoke, but I was almost at a loss for words. Seeing the nonsense that Yukinoshita had pulled off really made it impossible for me to shut my gaping mouth. We had been so far behind, but she had singlehandedly caught us back up. Even now, we were two points ahead, and if we won another point, then we would win the match.
“You really are just unbelievable. Let’s keep it up and win it easily here.”
I really believed that and made that statement, but Yukinoshita suddenly scowled.
“I would like to do that as well, but… That’s an impossible request.”
I wanted to ask why, but I saw that Hayama was getting ready to serve.
…well, whatever… It looked like we would win the next time Yukinoshita hit a return ace. I wasn’t letting my guard down, I just had faith that we would win as I prepared for the serve.
Hayama also seemed to have lost a bit of his will to play; he didn’t serve as fiercely as he had been doing. His serve was pretty fast, but it was just a normal serve, and the ball flew towards the space in between me and Yukinoshita.
“Yukinoshita.”
I thought I would leave things to her so I called her name, but I didn’t get a response. Instead, I heard a flat, dull thud as the ball flew between us.
“H-hey!”
“Hikigaya-kun… Would you mind if I bragged for a little bit?”
“Huh? Also, what the hell was up with that play right there?”
Yukinoshita didn’t seem to care in the least about what I had said, but just took a deep sigh and plopped herself down in the middle of the court.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been able to do everything, so I’ve never kept to anything for a long time.”
“What is this all of a sudden?”
“Even with tennis, there was a person who taught me the sport, but after three days I beat him. For most sports… No, not just sports, but music too, I can become quite good at anything in just three days.”
“Geez, you’re like the opposite of a three-day quitter[1]. And you really did just want to brag! Is there a point to all this?”
“…The only thing I’m not confident in is my physical endurance.”
I heard another dull thud and another ball jumped up and whizzed by Yukinoshita.
It was seriously way too late in the game to be telling me that…
Because Yukinoshita could do anything, she never stuck with anything, and she never kept doing anything. That meant her physical endurance was her fatal weak point. Now that she mentioned it, she always did just watch our lunch practices… Well, in retrospect, this might have been obvious. If you wanted to get better at something then you would practice, and the more you practiced, the more you built up your physical endurance.
But because she would do everything well from the beginning she never practiced, and so it was clear that her physical endurance would be really weak.
“Uh, do you really think you should be saying that so loudly…?”
I looked towards Hayama and Miura, and saw the Beast Queen with a ferocious smile on her face.
“Oh, but we’ve already heard enough~~.”
Miura sent that combative statement at me. It looked as if all her troubles had been cleared away. Right next to her, Hayama also chuckled.
This was the worst possible situation… The moment after we had taken the lead, we suddenly found the game tied up in a deuce.
We were playing beginner’s tennis with weird rules here. Once we got into a deuce, no team would win until one had a two point lead.
The dependable Yukinoshita had spent all her energy and was now silent. Not only that, but our opponents were well aware of our situation. We already had proof that my serve wasn’t going to fly against them--they could easily return it, and that would be the end of that.
“She might have butt in on this game, but looks like it’s already over, doesn’t it?”
I couldn’t say anything back to Miura’s aggressive words. Yukinoshita was also silent… Actually, she was nodding off. She looked exhausted. What the hell, are you Hiei or something?[2]
Miura gave us an arrogant look and laughed from the bottom of her throat. It seemed that she wanted to just finish this. I felt like I was getting stared down by a snake… What the hell are you supposed to be, an anaconda or something?
Hayama sensed this dangerous atmosphere and chose to butt in.
“N-now, now, we all tried our best… Let’s not get too serious. It was fun, so why don’t we just call it a tie?”
“Wha-? Hey, Hayato, what are you saying? It’s a match, so we need to be serious and clean up here.”
In other words, they would win the match against us and officially take the tennis courts away from Totsuka. Also, clean things up… That was scary. I wonder what she would do to me… I didn’t like this at all… Was it gonna hurt? I don’t like it when things hurt…
As I stood around, waiting, I heard someone click their tongue.
“Could you please be quiet for
a moment?”
Yukinoshita did not sound happy at all as she spoke. She continued before Miura got a chance to get a word in.
“This man here will finish the match, so please lose gracefully.”
Everyone doubted their ears after she said that. Myself included, naturally… Actually, I was the most surprised one there.
Suddenly all eyes were on me. I had been nonexistent up until then, a person who people didn’t want there, but suddenly I felt the value of my existence skyrocketing.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru - Volume 01 Page 21