Stealing Spree

Starting from that service ace, Fuyu rolled into completely dominating that set. It was such a one-sided matchup that the only time her opponent managed to complete her service game was when Fuyu missed a return volley, sending it outside of the court.

And even then, the rally went on for so long that Fuyu's opponent asked for a one-minute timeout to properly catch her breath and drink water, rehydrating herself after sweating bullets from going back and forth around the court.

What was even more terrifying than that was Fuyu never needed to do the same. She wasn't out of breath at all. In fact, she probably even rested enough during that rally.

Unlike her opponent, Fuyu walked up to the middle of her court, receiving her opponent’s return swing with minimal movements.

It was like she manipulated her opponent to keep hitting within her range.

Imagine tiring your opponent like that. That was some anime-esque skill. But thinking about it, it's realistically possible to do.

Even if I could still call myself a noob when it comes to tennis, I, at least, am aware that Fuyu had incredible ball control. It was probably at the expert level where she could easily apply different magnitudes of her strength as well as giving the ball a variety of unpredictable spins.

Ah. Wait. I might be exaggerating that bit but that was possibly close to it.

Her return swings sent her opponent chasing after the ball, more often than not, in the opposite direction of her previous one.

Witnessing that kind of dominance, I found myself deep into contemplation regarding our upcoming practice match.

She’s going to stomp on me, isn’t she?

She can definitely beat me in the same manner or hold herself back just to make it fair for me. Whichever the case, it's nothing more than mercy from a skilled tennis player.

Dreaming about winning against her should be thrown out the window. At most, the best I can do is to give her a challenge.

And so, the consolation I can take away from this is the successful push on my back to prepare for that occasion. Otherwise, I will be disrespecting the girl's dedication to the sport if I play against her while having no experience in swinging or hitting the ball with a tennis racket.

Maybe I can squeeze that during my morning exercises. Akane bought a tennis racket for me so we can practice together. Right?

Anyway, that’s that.

As the match drew to a close, Fuyu set a new record when compared to the first two matches. While they ended with standard close set scores of 6-4 and 4-6 respectively, Fuyu won the set 6-1.

Furthermore, everyone knew that if not for that one error, that ‘1’ could’ve been ‘0’.

Cheers instantly erupted as the umpire called for the end of the match, lifting the spirits of her seniors and the audience alike.

On our side, Akane, Eri, and Futaba jumped from their seats, clapping jubilantly for their friend’s impressive result. Their support for their friend was truly astounding.

For the other girls, Fuyu’s win was probably at the same level as Sena knocking her opponent out without breaking a sweat. They definitely both excel in their respective fields.

After shaking her opponent’s hand and bowing in front of the crowd, Fuyu confidently walked back to her club’s side wherein her seniors and other club mates received her with the same overflowing enthusiasm.

Her win puts them at an advantage. One more win and they’ll be advancing to the next round.

I remembered that our school’s tennis club was already eliminated so…I guess I could continue cheering for their school if they walked out as winners today.

A while later, Fuyu looked in our direction. She waved at Akane and the others who were still rejoicing from her win. Even from a distance, her festive mood was too apparent.

I mean, her head was bobbing as though she was listening to her favorite song. That’s something I never expected seeing from her given how overly serious she always appeared.

Uh… I witnessed her acting more adorably when given headpats so I guess I should’ve expected this.

Anyway, I thought she’d sat back down soon but when her gaze became directed at me, I caught her stopping for a moment as her excited smile turned a bit bashful as though seeing me also cheering for her brought her no small amount of embarrassment.

Perhaps, if not for the face towel she was using to wipe her sweat away, everyone would be able to pick up the gradual reddening of her cheeks.

Mhm… No doubt. No matter how much we both tried to deny that she wasn’t attracted to me, that kind of reaction wasn’t normal anymore.

Akane, her mother, and Fubuki-chan had been consistent in making the girl conscious of me. It’s already working its wonders. If her little sister was here, she would definitely not miss a chance to tease her older sister.

Thankfully, she’s not around or things would’ve been awkward for Fuyu.

Now, it’s making me wonder if congratulating her personally when I get the chance later should still be viable. That would either be a good or bad idea depending on whose perspective was being considered…

Let’s see… If it would make the girl satisfied then maybe I should…

Shortly after that, the competition resumed for the fourth match.

Unfortunately, despite the momentum brought about by Fuyu’s dominant win, their opponent upped their game, beating Fuyu’s second-year senior in a close set match of 6-7.

It went into a tiebreaker set wherein the first one to score 4 points wins while they alternate in serving.

It actually went in the same rhythm as the first 12 games where it’s just whoever serves takes the point and considering the opponent got the first serve, she reached 4 points first.

In short, the 4th match was so close, it could be written out as a tie. Unfortunately, that’s not within the rules. Hence, the game still reached the fifth match where both sides’ team captains or aces stepped up for a deciding three-set match.

At this point, I received a message from Ayu that the basketball match was about to start in around twenty minutes. That meant it had become impossible for me to stay and watch the tennis competition to its conclusion.

I informed Akane and the others about it. We discussed it in a group chat and decided on what to do while watching the first set of the fifth match.

“Husband, you can take the others with you first. We’ll stay here and wait for Fuyu.” That’s Akane’s suggestion.

“I’ll stay with them too, sweetie. It’s not like we won’t be able to see you later. I need a kiss first though.” Yae seconded but she put on a playful emoji at the end, eliciting laughter from everyone in it.

Apart from the two, Aika, Hiyori, Yua, and Ririka were also going to stay with them. But their reason was more simple.

They wanted to prevent causing a scene and leaving the seats they would be vacating for idiotic hawks to claim.

And with that, we first made sure to let the other female audience take those seats. I also asked Eri and Futaba’s boyfriend to look after them.

Although those not in the know were confused as to why we were leaving when the watch hadn’t ended yet, telling them about the basketball club’s semifinal game was an acceptable reason.

Nonetheless, I still got leered at by Eri and Futaba. They were surely trying to fault me for not taking Akane with me. Instead, I would be going there with the other girls.

Well, that’s an understandable reaction. What kind of boyfriend will leave their girl to watch another girl’s match, right? Whoever does that will naturally be impaled by the judgemental gazes of normal people.

Too bad, we’re already too deep in our complex relationship. Besides, I could’ve taken all of them with me but they’re the ones who opted to stay. Like Yae said, it’s not like we’re not going to meet again later.

A short separation was nothing when the norm for us was not meeting each other for a few days…

Wait. That sounded a little depressing. But it is what it is.

In any case, Akane stepped up, clearing me from Eri and Futaba’s eyes and telling them that she was going to follow me once the tennis match ended.

And with that, we set off with a smaller group to join an even larger one.

Shouldn’t I talk and inform Fuyu too? Nope. That’s hella unnecessary. She’s not my girl. At most, I sent her a message. But she probably won’t be able to read it right away. For sure, her phone was tucked away in a locker.

A few minutes later, we first made our way to the sports complex entrance to pick Mizuki, Otoha, and Hitomi before guiding all of them to the venue of the basketball match where Nami and the others already set aside seats for everyone.