Chapter 33 Will you like France on your birthday?

Everyone was already familiar with the post-match process. After a brief cheer, led by Genon Matsumoto, they thanked the referee and their opponents one by one, and finally went to the stands to thank the Rikkai University teachers and classmates who had always supported them. Miss Kinomoto resigned from her temporary position as "Volleyball Club Supervisor" after Teacher Misaki took over as coach, but she still chose to stand in the stands to cheer on the players she had been with for just two months.

"Yuhara-san," Ms. Kinomoto said, waving the plush in her hand briskly. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" Many students in the stands also took out stuffed animals of different colors, and their smiles and cheers filled the entire gymnasium.

Xiangcheng stood there in astonishment, and the next second—the fur poured down from the stands, drowning her in an instant.

"Thank you--" Xiangcheng choked, her throat no longer allowing her to make any louder sounds.

Hayakawa Yuka also leaned on the railing: "Please keep winning! With everyone's blessings..."

"Okay..." Xiangcheng raised her eyes with tears in her eyes: "Keep winning!"

At this moment, teammates held up their phones and said, "Take a picture, take a picture! Tears are about to fall!"

"How many seconds? Who won the bet?"

"Ah~ Why did you hold it back?"

"Is your tear point so high? I was about to cry just now!"

Xiang Cheng, who had wiped back her tears, said speechlessly to her teammates who were about to put the camera into her mouth, "I'd be surprised if I could cry if you guys do that, right?"

"Well, it's just a small problem!" Igarashi Harumi waved her hand.

Li Xiang finished filming: "Okay, this way I can also get my job done~"

"Send me the photos you take when you get home. They have to be good-looking!" Xiangcheng emphasized.

"No hurry," Abe resignedly asked for the large bag from the stands. "Please pack up everyone's love first. My back hurts."

"Yes, yes, my senior!" Xiangcheng squatted down, refused the help of others, and picked them up one by one.

They were all palm-sized fluffy things shaped like volleyballs, each with a name tag on it. There were Miss Kinomoto, Hayakawa Yuka, and many strangers who she had only heard of by name but couldn't match their faces.

This is Rikkai University. Anyone who works hard will be respected.

Haneo and Masuda Aiko helped to clean up quickly, and everyone waited in the gymnasium for Teacher Misaki and Matsumoto Genon to come back from the office to draw lots.

But what they brought was not good news. The first game they had to face was against the strong team in Miyagi Prefecture, Furukawa Gakuen.

"Woo~" Xiangcheng sighed: "Boss oh..."

Matsumoto Genon said apologetically, "It's all my fault for having really bad luck."

Xiang Cheng peeked out from behind, holding a bag of fluffy stuffed animals. "It's okay. How can someone who can make it to the national level be so weak?"

Misaki-sensei nodded, "Yes, so the upcoming holidays might be a bit tough. And there are only three days until the first match."

Three days... It's like a very difficult level-breaking game. You think you have passed a difficult level, but there is a bigger boss waiting for you.

It's really interesting.

This is the third interesting birthday gift.

Next, the teammates on the return bus also mysteriously took out the carefully prepared gifts from their bags. Igarashi scratched her head and said, "Well, I originally thought I could give it to you to pamper you if I lost, and now I'm just adding icing on the cake~"

"Well," Matsumoto Genon was also impressed by the senior's sincerity. "The main thing is that we didn't expect the support team to prepare gifts. Just now, we said that we seemed to be a step behind."

Surrounded by gifts, Xiangcheng is intoxicated with happiness.

"You guys are so nice!"

Xiangcheng excitedly whispered to her parents about everything that happened today, fearing that she would disturb the performance of the nearby Western band.

"Is Xiangcheng satisfied with the meal tonight?" asked Yuhara Nagatomo warmly. Since coming to Kanagawa, Xiangcheng has become much more lively and less gloomy than when she was studying in Tokyo.

Such changes also made him feel that coming here to develop was not a bad thing.

Xiangcheng wiped the juice from her lips with a handkerchief. "It's pretty good, but I think the 'longevity noodles' Mom tried this morning are even better."

Mikiko, wearing a red off-the-shoulder dress, rarely showed embarrassment under her usual strong woman demeanor: "Oh, I followed your grandmother's steps, who knew there would be mistakes..."

The noodles couldn't be pulled evenly, some parts were thick and some parts were thin, it looked so ugly.

But Xiangcheng still smiled happily: "That's my first perfect birthday present today!"

Mikiko and Yuhara Nagatomo smiled at each other.

Xiangcheng pulled her phone out of her bag and checked the time. "Hey, my friend and I are about to meet up. I have to leave now. You guys can enjoy your time alone~"

After saying that, he stood up and walked to the seat opposite, leaned over and gently hugged his mother: "Thank you, Mom!" Then he fist-bumped with his father and said: "You don't have to go home too early tonight~"

"You little single guy knows a lot." Yongzhi mocked, earning a grimace from Xiangcheng.

I had agreed to meet Yukimura at 8 o'clock. It was 7:50 now, so we should still be there in time! Xiang Cheng left the French restaurant at the waiter's direction, leaving the romance to her usually busy parents.

Although it was not a date, Yukimura Seiichi sat in the ice cream shop early, waiting for Yuzuki to appear.

The wind chimes at the door were pushed again and again by the people coming in. Every time he couldn't help but look up, but it was not until 8:10 that the person he was waiting for showed up.

He stood up and looked at Xiangcheng, who had changed into a pink mini dress and rushed over to him. "Sorry, I took the wrong road."

There was a thin layer of sweat on the tip of her nose, and her delicately made-up face was flushed. Her delicately tied hair seemed to be about to come undone.

"It's okay..." Yukimura felt like a runaway princess, rushing towards her prince in a slightly embarrassed manner.

The two sat down and each ordered a small cup of ice cream.

Yukimura put one hand behind his ear and watched her scoop a big spoonful of blueberry ice cream, squinting his eyes in satisfaction.

"It's so hot outside!" Xiangcheng said, feeling relieved after eating the ice cream.

Yukimura then said, "Happy birthday, Xiangcheng." and took out a gift from a chair beside him.

Xiangcheng put the spoon back into the ice cream bowl and took the gift box, which was slightly larger than 14 inches, with both hands. She shook it after taking it. "Is it a book?"

Yukimura shook his head.

"Is that... a puzzle? Or a painting?"

Yukimura then nodded.

"Can I take it apart?"

Yukimura raised an eyebrow, "Of course, it's your gift, you can do with it as you please."

Xiang Cheng put her hands together and said, "First of all, let me thank the handsome and kind-hearted Mr. Yukimura Seiichi for preparing this gift for me. Now I'm going to start opening it!"

Xiangcheng is very careful when opening gifts. She will untie the bow layer by layer and remove the packaging bag as completely as possible, and then reveal a framed watercolor painting.

The background of the painting is smudged with light gold, leaving only the back of a figure wearing the white No. 1 jersey leaping high in the air with his right arm raised high. Under his feet is a field stacked with colorful flowers. There are even two cats lying on their stomachs in the lower right corner.

She stroked the painting inch by inch.

"It was...last year's national competition."

"Yes..." Yukimura thought of that snowy day when he walked into the gymnasium bored.

If Xiangcheng continued to stay in Tokyo, he might still go to watch her games and admire her passion and purity, but he would not know her and there would be no intersection between them.

But as fate would have it, she appeared in his classroom, became his study partner, and became the most important touch of color in his peaceful life.

He still asked cautiously: "Do you like this gift?"

Xiangcheng nodded vigorously. "I love it!" She looked at the picture carefully again. "But why didn't you sign your name?"

Yukimura's expression turned mysterious: "It's not strange to not sign it, right~"

"No, when you become an excellent professional tennis player, I can proudly say, 'This person is my good friend from high school, and he can also draw!'"

"Is that all?" Yukimura tilted his head.

Xiangcheng's mood sank. "If you sign your name, what if after a few years you forget about me, your high school classmate? I can put the painting in front of you. You can't deny it, right?"

"You'll definitely become something great in the future... I'm just an ordinary person!"

You'll just...lose a good friend for no apparent reason.

Do you worry about these issues too?

In my pursuit of career - in such a busy state, I would be more afraid to hear news about you, such as you and the "eight boyfriends" you are determined to find, such as you will get married with one of them, such as you will forget that there is a me, the me who wanted to keep you so much during your high school days.

Yukimura smiled noncommittally: "My signature - you will find it later, so don't worry!"

Xiangcheng looked over and over for a long time, but still couldn't find it: "I know, you painters all have your own anti-counterfeiting marks, right?"

Yukimura had no choice but to nod.

Then he took out the gifts that several other people had asked him to give him from his bag.

Xiangcheng opened the first one, which turned out to be Liu's notebook. Confused, she flipped it open to read the contents, then quickly closed it.

Yukimura asked curiously, "What is it?"

It's your data... including the three-dimensional stuff... Xiangcheng shook his head rapidly: "That's nothing!"

Thank you Yanagi for your kindness – why did you give her Yukimura’s “Instructions”?

Fortunately, there was the "Yukiguro Nunu" made by Nioh himself to divert Yukimura's attention, and Yukiguro secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sanada finally stopped sending her physics exercises this time. Thanks to the senior for the guidance! He chose a pair of popular brand knee pads, which is a clear improvement.

Marui Bunta actually asked Yukimura to bring her a gift - "Teaching You How to Fall in Love"?

Yukimura helplessly covered his eyes with the back of his hand and laughed out loud.

Orange is really...

"Me? Why give it to me?"

Confused, Xiangcheng kept pondering this question along the way: "Do I look like a very stupid person?"

Yukimura quickly interrupted: "He's probably just...free, you don't need to worry about it."

"Really?" Xiangcheng was skeptical.

The two walked along the beach in the evening - Xiangcheng suggested that they could walk home along the coastal path, and Yukimura agreed. He still helped Xiangcheng carry the gift bags and let her sigh to the sea, "You are all water."

We walked for a long time, and talked about the game and some topics about the "future".

Yukimura suddenly seemed to have made up his mind and asked, "Kaoki, would you like France?"

Will we...avoid those futures we envision where we are strangers to each other?

-----------------------

The author has something to say: July 21st is Xiangcheng’s birthday.

[Rainbow fart][Rainbow fart]