Chapter 20: The Club's Deadly Record - Tennis Club Watches Risa Go to School on Sunday...

"Ding ding ding—"

A fair arm stretched out from under the covers, waved wildly in the air a few times, and finally slapped down on the alarm clock with a "smack".

The room fell silent again, save for the sound of even breathing.

Five minutes later, the person in bed reluctantly stirred. Risa slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the sunlight spots on the ceiling.

Morning light streamed through the gaps in the beige curtains, casting a golden line across the room.

Like a rusty wind-up doll, she mechanically turned her neck to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

【07:06】

"...It's seven o'clock."

Risa buried her face in the pillow and let out a mournful cry.

Although I've been reincarnated into this world for seventeen years, I've only had my past life's memories restored for less than a month. Those memories are as clear as if they happened yesterday.

That winter was exceptionally cold.

Risa swept the three major film festivals with her performance in "Distant Mountains," becoming the youngest actress in history to win three Best Actress awards. The day she signed a record-breaking advertising deal, she received a death certificate from the hospital.

From that moment on, the glamorous movie star under the spotlight disappeared. In her place was a woman curled up in her apartment, staring blankly at the ceiling all night long.

Success, fame, and financial freedom—these things that were once dreamed of have now become the most ironic reality.

She possessed the whole world, but lost the only person she could share it with. Those ordinary daily routines that she envied and that ordinary people could easily have—regular routines, leisurely afternoons spent with family—became unattainable luxuries.

The relentless filming schedule over the years, with her getting up at 3 a.m. to do makeup, shooting all night until dawn, and then catching an early morning flight to her next engagement after filming wrapped up... has completely shattered her biological clock.

Countless sleepless nights she could only lie awake waiting for dawn. It was then that Risa realized that being an ordinary person was much harder than winning an award.

One morning, when she found herself able to sleep soundly until she naturally woke up, she stared blankly at the person in the mirror, both crying and laughing.

She finally achieved her wish—completely, alone, cruelly…free.

Yoga mats replaced red carpets, and morning runs replaced all-night photo shoots.

She learned to cook and tried making desserts, as if to prove: Look, I promised, and I'm living a good life, including yours.

On the day she went out for a walk to clear her head, she wiped the family photo frame in the entryway and said softly:

"I am fine."

How are you?

Then fate played an absurd joke on her, and she became a 17-year-old high school girl.

"Ugh... why do I have to suffer like this, having to become a high school student..."

Risa sat up abruptly like a zombie, dragging her leaden legs as she staggered down the stairs.

She did it out of necessity to make a living in her previous life, but why does she have to do it all over again after she has achieved success, wealth and freedom?

Risa vaguely thought that if the director from her past life saw her like this, he would definitely say, "Risa, you're in such a state that you could film the sequel to 'Ring' right away."

As if her body had an automatic navigation system, Risa completed a series of actions with her eyes closed: going downstairs, turning right, and opening the refrigerator door.

The cold air from the freezer hit her face, making her a little more awake.

“Frozen udon…my savior…” Risa muttered, pressing the cool udon bag against her burning temples and letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Risa-nee, did you stay up late again last night?"

Risa knew without even thinking who it was from the energetic voice of a teenager.

She barely opened one eye and saw Kirihara Akaya standing at the kitchen door, his seaweed-like curly hair disheveled, holding a carton of milk in his hand.

"Going to bed at one o'clock, how can that be called staying up late?"

Kirihara blinked. "But Senior Yanagi said that going to bed at 1 a.m. is already considered serious sleep deprivation. According to his data, staying up late increases the probability of accelerated aging and organ damage by as much as 75.8%..."

“Akaya,” Risa put her arm around the seaweed’s shoulder and said in her most sinister tone, “I’m going to tell you a cruel truth.”

She leaned closer to Kirihara's face, her dead fish eyes under dark circles staring at him. "You high school students only have this much energy now."

Startled by the sudden close contact, Kirihara froze on the spot.

(How terrifying! Risa's resentment is heavier than a ghost's.)

"In a few years, after entering the workforce and becoming a corporate slave struggling daily for work, survival, and money..."

As Risa spoke, her voice grew more and more wistful: "You'll understand how luxurious and blissful it is to be financially independent and able to sleep until you naturally wake up every day."

She sighed dramatically, "Ah... I miss the days when I could sleep until I naturally woke up..."

Kirihara tilted his head in confusion. "Risa-nee, what nonsense are you talking about? And..." He pointed to the calendar on the wall, "Today is Sunday, so we don't have to go to school. We can sleep in as late as we want."

"What?!" Risa was instantly struck dumb, her neck cracking as she stiffly turned to Kirihara. "What day of the week is it today?"

“Sunday.” Kirihara blinked, looking completely innocent.

At that moment, Risa seemed to see a bolt of lightning strike her head, and dark clouds suddenly filled the background.

"Damn it—" she wailed, clutching her head. "So it's Sunday?! I set my alarm for a weekday!"

Kirihara was at a loss. Although Risa always seemed to be cursed every morning, today... she seemed particularly strange.

Kirihara poked her shoulder worriedly: "Risa-nee, are you alright? If your insomnia gets worse, shouldn't you go to the hospital? If this continues, something bad will happen sooner or later..."

"..."

"Oh, right!" Kirihara's eyes suddenly lit up, and he clapped his hands as if he had remembered something important. "Hyotei Academy invited us to visit their newly opened tennis club today, and they said we could bring our friends along."

He gestured excitedly, "I heard it's invested in by the Atobe Group, it's super luxurious! Risa-nee, do you want to come along?"

"Hyotei? Atobe?"

Risa's brain was still slowly booting up when she suddenly jolted awake.

—Wait, Akaya just said today is Sunday?

She immediately perked up her ears like an alert cat and refused decisively: "No! Since it's the weekend, I'm going back to sleep until I naturally wake up!"

She turned around unsteadily, the udon noodles in her hand falling to the ground with a "thud." Her back stiffened instantly, all sleepiness vanished, and her previously drowsy almond-shaped eyes widened in shock.

A row of handsome young men dressed in casual clothes sat neatly on the sofa in the living room.

Genichiro Sanada crossed his arms, his brows furrowed; Renji Yanagi looked up from his notebook, a strange light gleaming in his narrowed eyes; Masaharu Niou chewed on a Pocky stick, a playful smile on his face.

Yagyu Hiroshi pushed up his glasses; Bunta Fumii had his arm around his friend's shoulder, and Jackal Kuwabara looked like he wanted to laugh but didn't dare; while that Yukimura captain... sat on a single sofa, smiling gently at her.

Good heavens! How long have they been sitting here? How much have they heard?

In this incredibly awkward moment, Risa's inner monologue suddenly started playing a viral short video:

On the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, a girl wearing dinosaur pajamas, still half-asleep, stumbled into the living room, only to be met with over twenty pairs of bright, alert eyes—a scene of relatives gathering to offer their New Year's greetings.

At least once a year, relatives only see each other...

And this group of people in front of me now will meet in the classroom or school corridor tomorrow, in the cafeteria the day after tomorrow, and maybe even on their way to the club activity room the day after that...

Is it too late to immigrate to Mars now?

Why not just let her ascend to heaven on the spot?

In short, Risa was desperate.

"Pfft—" Marui Bunta suddenly pointed at the top of her head, "Your hair's sticking up!"

Jackal Kuwabara nodded in agreement: "Yes, it sticks up like an antenna."

Risa: "..." (It's better not to say this.)

Sanada said in a deep voice, "Too lax! As a senior, how can you be so lazy and even encourage your juniors to have bad habits!"

Renji Yanagi calmly added, "According to Akaya, Matsuno has been getting less than six hours of sleep on average over the past week, which will definitely affect his health and learning efficiency."

"Puri~" Niou chuckled mischievously, twirling the Pocky in his hand. "I never expected Little Seaweed's older sister to be so cute in private."

Yukimura's gentle voice sent a chill down Risa's spine: "But... how does Matsuno-kun know about the life of a 'corporate slave'? It's like he's experienced it firsthand."

"Well..." Risa coughed twice in a hurry, "That's how it's portrayed in the workplace dramas I've been watching lately."

As she spoke, she moved toward the stairwell in a crab-like motion.

In this incredibly awkward and socially awkward moment, Little Seaweed innocently chases after him and asks:

"Risa-nee, are you really not coming to the club with us?"

Risa abruptly stopped, took a deep breath, and shouted without turning her head, "No, I'm not going! Akaya, remember this: from now on, you must report to us three hours in advance if you bring anyone home!"

After saying that, he ran to the second floor at the speed of Usain Bolt sprinting.

After closing the door.

Risa threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow and screaming silently. She crumpled the pillow out of shape, and her legs kicked wildly in the air.

How can someone encounter so many embarrassing things in one morning?!

-

When Risa woke up again, it was already noon.

After getting up and washing up, she put on some simple makeup and went to a nearby family restaurant for dinner.

As she passed by convenience stores, supermarkets, and bookstores, she saw part-time job recruitment posters outside the stores and took a picture of them for reference.

When we arrived at the family restaurant, the peak lunch hour had passed. There weren't many people inside; a few tables were occupied by young men and women, seemingly working on a group project.

After ordering, Risa took her tray and found a relatively quiet corner by the window.

After finishing her meal, she nestled on the sofa, idly flipping through the photo album of part-time job posters.

High school students in Japan are allowed to work part-time, but there are strict requirements: they must be at least 15 years old, work no more than 3 hours a day and no more than 18 hours a week on school days, are prohibited from working late at night, and require written consent from their parents or guardians.

Risa carefully examined the recruitment posters of those stores, and the positions offered were nothing more than convenience store cashiers and restaurant servers.

She listlessly swiped her phone, refreshing the job postings on the local part-time job app, her fingertips mechanically sliding across the screen.

High school students have very limited part-time job options: convenience store shelf stocking, restaurant waitressing, amusement park temporary work, or tutoring assistant.

The hourly wage seems decent, but saving up 120,000 yen is like climbing a mountain with no end in sight.

"Sigh..." Risa sighed. Her fingers tapped out a chaotic rhythm on the table.

I have considered going back to my old job, like being a part-time model or something.

But this body now...

Risa tilted her head, and the reflection in the glass showed a face that, while not stunning, was certainly pretty. She was completely different from the tall, 179cm figure she had in her previous life.

That once angular and highly recognizable face has now transformed into a standard Japanese sweet style—big, round eyes, a small nose, and cherry-like lips.

While 161cm isn't considered short among Japanese girls, it's still too short for a print model.

"If I wore heavy makeup..." she tilted her head, examining her reflection, "I'd probably be considered a beauty, right?"

She muttered something to herself and turned her attention back to the lit phone screen.

The high school girls at the table behind me were having a lively discussion, their cheerful laughter interspersed with words like "limited edition" and "unique autographed item."

Risa suddenly sat up straight, a thought flashing through her mind like lightning—

She opened Twitter, found the Rikkai University support group's hashtag, and the reward offered for the pinned post, "Seeking to purchase Yukimura's practice match video," shocked her.

"As expected, it's the fans' money that's easiest to make..."

Risa curled her lips into a smile, her slightly upturned eyes gleaming with a sharp light, like a fox that had spotted its prey.

Without hesitation, Risa got up and left the family restaurant, heading to the stationery store on the street corner.

"Sketching book, 2B pencil, fine-line pen, eraser, colored pencils..." she muttered to herself as she swept the art supplies from the shelf into her shopping basket.

When she saw the colorful marker set displayed next to the cashier, she hesitated for a moment, but gritted her teeth and bought it anyway.

Once home, Risa immediately locked herself in her room.

The scratching sound of pencils on paper continued throughout the afternoon until Kirihara's mother knocked on the door to call her for dinner.

A note from the author:

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