Chapter 55 Risa: You scheming man! Yukimura: Don't you like it? ...
After the school doctor left the infirmary, only Risa, Yukimura, and faint screams could be heard from outside the door.
Yukimura handed her an ice pack: "So, it was Akaya who asked you to impersonate him?"
Risa felt guilty and didn't dare to meet his gaze: "Y-not entirely..."
A soft laugh came from above.
"What a touching sibling relationship."
Outside the door, Sanada's roar and Akaya's pleas for mercy could be clearly heard.
As the sentence of "100 laps around the track" was announced, Kirihara screamed, "No—!"
The sliding door to the infirmary was opened, and Genichiro Sanada stood in front of the hospital bed, the atmosphere eerily tense.
"Explanation?" He stared at Risa.
Yukimura calmly poured himself a glass of water: "Genichiro, calm down."
"Yukimura! She lied to the school, and also—"
"And what?" Risa looked up, staring wide-eyed at Sanada. "And you helped your good-for-nothing junior avoid the crisis of not being able to participate in the national tournament?"
Sanada choked.
"I've seen Akaya's report card. He got 60 in math, 63 in English, but 78 in physics. Do you know why?"
"In the last question of the physics exam, a calculation problem about acceleration, he used the speed of a tennis serve as an analogy. In the English exam, the essay topic was 'My Dream,' and he filled an entire page with tennis tactics. His vocabulary and grammar were basically correct."
"He's not stupid. He just needs to be taught according to his aptitude."
The room was completely silent.
Sanada was simply bad at talking; he couldn't win an argument with her.
Yukimura was astonished by her amazing memory; she not only remembered Akaya's report card, but also knew the questions on every subject's exam paper like the back of her hand.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Risa felt even more confident. She concluded, "Therefore, I don't think Akane needs to attend the school's tutoring for fixed mindsets."
Little seaweed stood to the side, her eyes welling up with tears of emotion.
Sanada remained silent for a long time, then suddenly bowed deeply: "I was too arbitrary."
Risa was stunned for a moment.
“But…” Sanada straightened up, his eyes blazing, “Impersonating a parent must be punished. Starting tomorrow, you will be responsible for tutoring Akaya until he achieves a B grade.”
Risa: "?"
(Genichiro Sanada, what a vicious man you are.)
Kirihara suddenly cried out in protest: "Wait! Why is Risa-nee being punished too?!"
Sanada shot him a glare: "Add another twenty laps around the track."
"Ugh..." The little seaweed wilted instantly.
Yukimura's shoulders trembled as he covered his mouth and chuckled to himself.
“This punishment is quite interesting. However, since it was all because of Akaya…” He handed the water glass to Risa and said with a smile, “Let me help out too.”
Risa took the water glass and took a sip, only to choke immediately.
(Are you sure you're here to help, or just to watch the show?)
"No, no need!" she hurriedly waved her hand, "I can manage on my own..."
"Objections are overruled." Sanada made the final decision. "Yukimura will oversee the process."
Little Seaweed looked at Risa, then at Yukimura, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Ah! I get it! This is doubles teamwork! Risa-nee is in charge of the theory, and the captain is in charge of the practice!"
"Akaya," Yukimura said gently, "how about adding thirty more serve drills?"
When Kirihara Akaya saw the minister smiling, he had a bad feeling and fled the infirmary at top speed.
"I'm going to run laps right now!"
Suddenly, only three people remained in the room, and the atmosphere became slightly awkward.
Sanada looked at this person and then at that person, then coughed heavily: "I'll go and keep an eye on Akaya running laps again."
After saying that, he strode out of the infirmary and thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
With the sound of the door closing softly, only Risa and Yukimura remained in the large space.
(...a lone man and a lone woman, alone in a room.)
The thought intruded into my mind uncontrollably, along with the absurd yet passionate images from my dreams.
In an instant, all the blood seemed to rush to her face, and she hurriedly lowered her head, her cheeks burning.
Can you answer two questions for me?
Yukimura's voice broke the silence, and Risa's heart skipped a beat, as if her thoughts had been read.
"Wh-what?"
"Why do you become so irrational when it comes to Akaya?"
“Nothing special…” Risa fiddled with her fingers. “He’s my younger brother.”
"Is that so?" Yukimura chuckled. "Matsuno-kun, so you're a brother complex, huh?"
Brother, brother control?
In her haste, Risa looked up and met his unfathomable eyes.
My heart trembled for a moment.
"No, is it not allowed...?" she stammered.
“Of course.” Yukimura sat down next to the hospital bed.
He leaned forward, his bangs brushing against his brow bone. "However, in the past, when something like this happened, Akaya would usually turn to me or Sanada first."
Risa paused for a moment: "You're not... jealous, are you?"
"Who knows?" Yukimura smiled gently.
Outside the window, the cicadas' chirping suddenly intensified. A bold guess flashed through my mind—though far-fetched, it wasn't impossible.
Risa mustered her courage and asked softly, "Yukimura, you like girls, right?"
"Huh?" Yukimura was clearly taken aback.
"Well... while I respect personal sexual orientation, Akaya is still my younger brother, so if you happen to have that kind of inclination, I hope you can find someone else. The other people in the tennis club are also very good, like Yanagi..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was lightly flicked on the forehead.
What exactly is going on in your head all day long?
Yukimura gazed into her eyes, his voice deep and resolute, as if stating an irrefutable truth: "I, Yukimura Seiichi, like girls."
Risa was burned by his direct gaze, and her cheeks suddenly flushed.
She turned her face away in a panic: "I... I like girls, that's all..."
His voice trailed off, until it was almost inaudible: "...Why are you staring at me?"
Yukimura: "..."
(At times like this, they'll pretend to be clueless.)
The moment the shadow fell, Risa instinctively stepped back, her lower back hitting the cold metal railing.
"The second question."
He braced himself against the wall beside her ear with one hand, his shadow completely enveloping her. The gesture was ambiguous and aggressive; Risa could almost feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.
A faint scent of laundry detergent wafted from his sleeve. It was crisp and clean, like a white camellia blooming after the rain.
(...it tastes just like in my dream.)
A wicked thought struck her unbidden, like a thunderbolt into her mind, and Risa suddenly tensed her back.
She turned her face away in a panic, pinching her palm hard, but she couldn't stop her heart from pounding wildly in her chest.
(Too close...)
(And this posture—)
Fragments of a beautiful dream flashed uncontrollably through my mind.
Risa suddenly felt all the blood rushing to her head, making it difficult to even breathe.
Why are you avoiding me?
His voice was lower than usual, with a hint of barely perceptible bitterness.
"No, I'm not hiding from you..."
“Since I returned from Tokyo last month,” Yukimura leaned slightly forward, “no, to be precise, it started the night of the yakiniku (grilled meat) party.”
(He found out?!)
Risa's eyelashes trembled a few times.
"Do you need me to help you recall the specific dates?" He tapped his fingers lightly. "On June 21st, during lunch break, you deliberately took a detour to the lab building; you haven't appeared in the tennis club since the 22nd; after school on the 25th, you deliberately had Akaya pick you up from the club office so you could walk together. Every other weekend, apart from your part-time job, you pretended to be sick and didn't want to see me."
(He even remembers the date so clearly?!)
He had seen through all those deliberately maintained distances.
"Really... it's just... I've been too busy lately..."
Her voice trembled, and she was even more breathless than I had imagined.
Yukimura's gaze swept over her trembling eyelashes and her lower lip, which she had bitten until it turned white. The soreness in his chest grew stronger, eventually turning into a barely audible sigh.
(never mind......)
He lowered his eyes and withdrew, already regaining his usual gentle demeanor.
"Are you free next week?" he asked.
"Huh?" Risa looked up, her moist eyes still filled with lingering panic.
She didn't quite catch up with him for a moment, but still answered honestly, "I'm going to Dongbao for a reading session tomorrow... but I don't think I have any plans before the 25th..."
"I see."
"Huh?" Risa asked, puzzled. "What do you understand?"
"The tennis club is going to the beach for training next week, why don't you come along? You can also tutor Akaya while you're at it."
"I'm not going." She pouted. "You're all a bunch of boys..."
"Are you really not going?"
"I'm not going."
"What a pity."
Risa looked up suspiciously, meeting Yukimura's ambiguous smile.
"I heard that Liu invited three girls from the Tennis doujinshi club, and they've already agreed to come." He tilted his head slightly, a mischievous glint in his purple eyes. "They said they're really looking forward to it."
Risa was skeptical: "...Really?"
Yukimura pretended to take out his phone: "Should I call to confirm?"
"Well... since other girls are going..."
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence. A hint of a smile flashed across Yukimura's eyes, but he deliberately remained silent, patiently waiting for her to continue.
"And Akaya's studies really can't be neglected..." Her voice trailed off, until it was almost a soliloquy.
Yukimura admired her conflicted little expression, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
"Then it's settled."
Risa blinked, a bad feeling creeping over her.
It must be an illusion.
-
After returning home, Risa's sprained ankle had subsided.
She slumped on the sofa, rolling around like a salted fish while hugging a cushion.
(Risa, you're so foolish!)
(She actually agreed... It's a beach camp with the tennis club!)
(Following the typical tropes of shoujo manga, summer vacation and the beach—this kind of plot will definitely develop into something like this later on—)
"Ding-dong—Ding-dong—"
The incessant message notifications interrupted her inner monologue.
She grabbed her phone; the fanfiction group chat had exploded.
【Chinatsu: @Risa-senpai!!! Is that invitation real?! (≧v≦)】
Asuka: Since it was an invitation personally sent by Lord Yukimura, it must be real!
[Yuzuki: Shouldn't we start working on a beach-themed special? Like "The Princes' Summer Heartbeats" or something...? It feels like we have a new merchandise project in the works.]
[Chinatsu: Swimsuit! Sunscreen! Ahhh, I'm going to buy some snacks too.]
[Asuka: Speaking of which, my new camera arrived, and it'll come in handy.]
Risa was completely bewildered. What were these guys talking about?
The premonition she had in the infirmary flashed through her mind again. Her fingers hovered over the screen for a few seconds before she typed, her fingers trembling: 【Wait...didn't you agree to him first?! (╯°□°）╯】
[Chinatsu:? 】
【Asuka:】
【July's End: →_→】
[Chinatsu: Risa-senpai, what are you saying?]
Chika posted a screenshot of an email in the group chat, which Yukimura had sent to them five minutes earlier.
Invitation to Rikkai University Tennis Club Summer Training Camp
Dear members of the Tennis Doujin Club:
Following friendly consultations with your company president, both parties have reached an agreement to jointly participate in this summer retreat program. The relevant details are hereby formally notified as follows:
Event Summary:
Dates: July 17 (Thu) - 25 (Fri)
Location: XX Hotel, Xiangnan Coast
Participants: Regular players of the tennis club and members of the Tennis doujinshi club
......
Risa stared at the screen, her fingers unconsciously tightening.
(I've been outsmarted by this cunning guy again...)
She angrily opened Yukimura's private chat window and sent him a [cat-fury punching image].
The other party replied instantly: 【What's wrong?】
The text was followed by a confused emoticon (·_·)
Risa's fingertip jabbed sharply at the screen:
You did this on purpose!
[They first used persuasive language to get me hooked, then blocked my escape route with a formal invitation email!]
[Yukimura: Aren't they looking forward to it now?]
Risa: ......
【Risa: You're such a jerk! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻】
Yukimura has read it.
A few seconds later, he replied: 【Don't you like it, Matsuno-kun?】
【Risa: A scheming and manipulative man! Who would like him? (╯▔皿▔)╯】
[Yukimura: Um...do you hate it?]
Risa: ......
[Yukimura: Does Matsuno-kun dislike me? /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~]
[Yukimura: [Shiba Inu looking aggrieved.jpg]]
【Yukimura：╥﹏╥...】
[Yukimura: [Lop-eared rabbit crying.jpg]]
Risa ignored him, and he acted as if he had been possessed, constantly sending all sorts of aggrieved emojis.
Risa remained silent.
In the end, only one reply was given:
【......Fool】
[Yukimura: Yes, that's me.]
[Yukimura: So...]
He sent me a photo of seagulls skimming across the shimmering sea.
[Yukimura: Can I look forward to seeing this sea with you?]
"Smack!"
Risa held her phone face down against her chest, looked up at the ceiling, and took a deep breath.
(horrible--!)
(This is terrifying! This man is so good at bewitching people!)
-
The day before the training camp was to begin, Risa let out a small, mournful cry while looking at her dressing table.
The sunscreen is all used up, and there's only a thin layer of lotion left at the bottom of the bottle.
(I have to restock now...)
Under the blazing sun outside the window, Risa sighed repeatedly, but still had no choice but to go out with a parasol.
It was only 10 a.m., but the asphalt road surface was already steaming with distorted heat waves, and the cicadas' chirping was so loud it made people dizzy.
The navigation showed that the drugstore was only a few hundred meters away from the destination, but she spent a full half hour looking for it and still couldn't find it.
"That's strange, the website clearly says the drugstore is nearby..."
"Are you looking for Matsumoto Kiyoshi?"
A clear, melodious voice suddenly came from behind me, like a cool breeze.
Risa turned around at the sound and met a pair of beautiful purple eyes.
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