Chapter 70: Do you like Akaya even more than you like Yukimura-senpai...?
Day 2 Evening
[17:45] Yukimura:
(Photo of the tennis club lockers)
"We found some items. Should we mail them to you?"
(A digital pen that Risa lost is visible through a gap in the corner of the photo.)
[23:12] Risa:
"So it fell here!! That was very expensive..."
"But we don't need it right now, so keep it with you for now."
[23:13] Yukimura:
Storage fees are calculated daily.
"A short story about the film crew every day"
[23:15] Risa:
"This is extortion! [Angry]"
"The parrot actor had to do 20 takes; the director is going crazy."
"That should be enough to pay for tomorrow, right?"
[23:16] Yukimura:
OK
-
Day 5
[22:03] Yukimura:
(Sharing photos of the arcade)
"Aka was tricked into playing video games by Bunta, but was caught by Sanada and punished with an iron fist."
[22:45] Risa:
"Hahaha, serves him right! [laughing emoji]"
"(Sudden withdrawal)"
"...I'm sorry, as the older sister, I shouldn't be gloating."
[22:46] Yukimura:
"It's too late to retract it; I've already sent a screenshot to Akaya."
-
Day 9
[22:05] Yukimura:
(Forwarding a funny short video)
"Doesn't this look like Akaya getting a score of 28 on his English test?"
[01:03] Risa:
"Hahaha! [laughing so hard I could cry]"
[01:04] Yukimura:
He asked, "When is Risa-neechan coming back to tutor me?"
[01:05] Risa:
"Why aren't you asleep yet? [Surprised]"
[01:06] Yukimura:
(Sending a short video of the tennis team's regular players celebrating)
"Have a party at my house"
[01:07] Risa:
"I really envy you young people, you can still stay up all night. [Tears of joy]"
[01:08] Yukimura:
So what's the answer?
[01:09] Risa:
"The end of the month... wait, you tricked me into telling me! [Angry]"
[01:10] Yukimura:
"This is a case of leniency for those who confess [smile]"
-
Day 11
[06:15] Yukimura:
(The sunrise during Rikkai University's morning training session)
"Today's Sky #1"
[23:47] Risa:
"...They only finished filming at dawn, and the clouds look like Niou who got beaten up by Sanada."
[23:48] Yukimura:
Sanada said he didn't [smile]
-
Day 16
[08:30] Akiya:
"Risa-nee! Vice-Captain Sanada made me run laps again this morning! [crying]"
(Attached: A profile view of the Big Three smiling on the sidelines)
[19:35] Risa:
"Serves you right! You probably didn't do your English homework again."
[19:36] Chiye:
"No, that's not it! It was Senior Niou who let it slip!"
"I accidentally saw on the minister's phone—"
(The message suddenly showed as deleted)
[19:37] Risa:
"??? What do you see?"
-
Day 19
[8:30] Yukimura:
"Miss, it's been a long time since we received your storage fees."
[13:11] Risa:
"A sudden downpour disrupted the outdoor shooting schedule, and the entire crew took shelter in a convenience store."
[13:12]Yukimura:
(Send photos of clear skies over Rikkai University)
"The Sun of Kanagawa can be rented."
"The rent is for the first day off after filming wraps up."
[13:15] Risa:
"...Your abacus beads have even reached Hokkaido."
-
Day 21: Heavy Rain
[14:20] Yukimura:
(Photo of stray cats soaked in the rain on the hill behind the school)
The one you fed is waiting for you.
[14:25] Risa:
"Poor little thing..."
"Buy me a can of cat food."
[14:26] Yukimura:
(Received a transfer of 2000 yen)
"They've already been fed."
"What's its name?"
[14:27] Risa:
(The transfer has been refunded)
"Minor Snow"
[14:27] Yukimura:
"How enviable!"
"Not only were I given a name, but I also received virtual food from a pretty older sister ￣へ￣"
[14:28] Risa:
"......"
[14:28] Yukimura:
(Received a transfer of 2000 yen)
"?"
[14:29] Risa:
"Sweetie! Go buy some canned food to eat =.="
(Read)
[14:30] Risa:
"It's my turn, bye."
(Read)
-
Day 23 National Tournament Semifinals
[15:30] Yukimura:
(Rikkai vs. Shitenhoji match scoreboard)
"Thanks to Akaya, we took it down easily."
[19:30] Risa:
"I saw the live stream, Minister's 6-0 victory was absolutely brutal!"
[19:31] Yukimura:
"Because someone seemed to really want to see the annihilation of the five senses during the training camp."
(Read)
[19:33] Risa:
"...I'm going to film a night scene."
[19:34] Yukimura:
"good"
-
Day 26 National Tournament Finals
[15:30] Yukimura:
(Close-up of the championship trophy)
[16:41] Risa:
"……Congratulations"
(Typing...)
[16:46] Yukimura:
"I've been typing for five minutes, would you like a voice translation service?"
"for example--"
Risa's chat window displayed "The other party is typing..." for a full 8 minutes before finally sending only a photo of a mountainous area.
[16:49] Risa:
"We're about to enter the closed area for filming, and communication is poor."
"I'll be out of contact for the next few days /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"
[16:50] Yukimura:
"Okay, be careful."
(Unread)
-
During the national tournament, Kirihara Akaya was in better form than ever before.
Rikkai University won the championship with an overwhelming advantage. After finishing the match, with sweat still clinging to his hair, Kirihara couldn't wait to pull out his phone and flash a big "V" sign at the camera.
"Risa-nee! We won!!!"
The moment he sent the message, he could almost picture her expression and her reply. She'd definitely say something like, "Akaya is definitely the best."
However, even after the "read" mark was lit up, no new messages popped up in the chat box.
one day.
Two days.
The phone finally vibrated on the evening of the sixth day.
Congratulations! That's fantastic!
It was just a few words, without even an emoji.
Kirihara stared at the screen, a strange tightness in his chest.
The joy of winning the championship hadn't faded yet, but it felt like being doused with cold water.
Something's not right.
Risa-nee would never have done this before.
But now...
He subconsciously scrolled through the chat history.
The last time she messaged me was almost a month ago.
Who... stole his Risa-nee?
Kirihara gripped his phone tightly, a vague and inexplicable emotion spreading through his heart.
He didn't know what this feeling was called; he just instinctively felt anxious and uneasy. It was like having his favorite toy taken away when he was a child, but it also seemed a little different.
However, his complicated worries vanished the next day when he woke up.
When he came downstairs with his hair all messy, he froze on the spot.
"Good morning, Akaya."
Risa was bending over to change her shoes in the entryway, the oversized suitcase beside her, covered in baggage tags, silently testifying to the exhaustion of her long journey.
"Did you miss me?"
His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, his mind completely blank: "You...how...?"
"I heard that a certain seaweed almost broke her phone because she couldn't get a reply?" Risa pulled out a beautifully packaged box of chocolates from the side pocket of her suitcase and waved it in front of him.
“The last few days of filming were in a closed area. When you messaged me, we were in the mountains and my phone couldn’t get a signal at all.”
"Who, who cares about this!" Kirihara turned his face away, but couldn't help but steal a glance at her.
The scent of gardenias mixed with the smell of airline blankets wafted towards me, and my hair brushed against my cheek, causing a tingling sensation.
Risa gave him a hug.
"Don't be angry anymore, okay, Akaya baby? Risa-nee didn't mean to ignore your messages."
Kirihara froze on the spot, the chocolate box in his arms pressing against his chest, his heart pounding so hard he wondered if he had "demonized" again.
"It's a bit late to say it now, but congratulations on winning the championship! I saw the recording at the airport, and the way you smashed the ball..."
The conversation abruptly ended.
Kirihara felt a weight on his shoulder, and the sound of even breathing came through his pajamas.
Are you asleep?
He carefully tilted his head and saw the faint dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she had just finished work and rushed back by plane.
"Really..."
The boy muttered to himself, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his face.
-
After filming all night, Risa rushed to catch her flight. When she woke up from her hazy sleep, it was already night outside the window.
She groggily reached for the bedside lamp, but her fingertips touched something warm and fuzzy.
"!"
He abruptly pulled his hand back, turned on the light, and looked down in the dim light.
Kirihara Akaya was curled up on the carpet, sleeping soundly with his head resting on his arm.
“This child…” Risa smiled helplessly.
"Um... Risa-nee?" Kirihara suddenly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "You're awake!"
"What are you doing?" Risa poked his flushed cheek. "I'm just too sleepy, not sick. Do I need you to stay with me like this?"
"Because... I wanted to give you a present as soon as you woke up~" Kirihara scratched his head and smiled shyly.
"Hmm? A gift?"
"Um, that..." Kirihara stammered, "A greeting for the end of summer... This is for Risa-nee!"
He handed over the gift box he was holding in his arms.
Risa paused for a moment, then took the box.
I paused for a second when I opened it.
"Two lifetimes of joy?"
She took out the bracelet, and the lotus seedpod and lotus pendant swayed gently with her movements, making a crisp sound like wind chimes.
"However, how did you come up with this design?" She had done some research when designing tennis-related jewelry, and this special double pendant structure is rarely seen in traditional Japanese jewelry.
"Y-Yukimura-senpai told me!" Kirihara explained, blushing. "He said it's a traditional Chinese design, with the lotus flower and lotus seedpod representing past and present lives..."
The boy's voice trailed off, a suspicious blush creeping onto his ears: "It means... I can still be family with Risa-nee in my next life..."
Risa stared at the shimmering silver bracelet, her eyes welling up with tears. She gently slipped the bracelet onto her left wrist and ruffled her seaweed-like curls.
"Idiot! Your life isn't over yet."
Kirihara looked up at her, his eyes sparkling: "Does Risa-nee like it?"
"I love it. This is my favorite gift."
“But Senior Liu said you like money the most.” The boy wrinkled his nose seriously.
“His data is wrong.” She flicked a stray hair from his forehead with her finger. “I like Akaya the most.”
Kirihara's eyes lit up even more, like a puppy that had just received a bone: "Do you like him even more than you like Yukimura-senpai?"
The air went silent for a second.
“This…this kind of problem…” She withdrew her hand, the silver bracelet jingling as it slid down to her wrist. “It’s a different price…”
Kirihara tilted his head in confusion: "Do I have to pay to answer?"
Risa: "......"
The boy clapped his hands in sudden realization. Sure enough, Senior Liu's data was correct!
—Risa-nee's favorite thing is still money.
-
That night, Akaya stayed in Risa's room and refused to leave.
He sat on the carpet, eating the chocolates she had brought back while pouring out his grievances.
"Risa-nee, you have no idea! Ever since we came back from the training camp, the club president is like a completely different person—"
He lowered his voice and looked around, as if only daring to continue after confirming that there was nothing dirty around him.
"They double the training volume at the drop of a hat! And there are all sorts of enhancement packages, it's more terrifying than the devil."
"Senior Yagyu is the worst off. He gets called upon by the club president to play practice matches every day, and several times he's even been thrashed 6-0..."
Risa was taking her luggage out of her suitcase when she heard this and paused for a moment: "...Yagyu?"
“That’s right!” Akaya nodded vigorously. “The captain used to arrange opponents in rotation. During that time, we were practically playing against Yagyu-senpai every day. Vice-captain Sanada said it was to ‘improve techniques,’ but I felt it was just a one-sided crushing defeat!”
He shrank back. "The minister's eyes when he plays ball... are terrifying, like a black lily blooming at the crossroads of hell."
Risa's hand, holding the makeup remover, froze in mid-air.
In her memory, Yukimura wasn't that kind of person. Did he have some kind of grudge against Yagyu?
“It was even more outrageous during the National Tournament,” Akaya said, taking a swig of soda. “The captain demanded that everyone finish every match quickly. That Kansai player, who was touted as a ‘rising star,’ said in a pre-match interview that he wanted to experience the ‘power of the Child of God,’ but—”
Akaya made a throat-slitting gesture. "6-0, they didn't even last 10 minutes. The scariest thing is that after the match, the captain still had that perfect smile. Wow, the whole stadium was completely silent! The player's hand was shaking when he shook hands with him!"
The air conditioner was humming loudly, and Akaya complained about it for almost an hour.
“...Everyone has worked very hard,” Risa replied.
After unpacking, she was looking at the proposal sent by Yuzuki on her tablet. The Umihara Festival was just around the corner after school started, a great opportunity to set up a stall and make a fortune.
“Actually, the strangest one is the captain,” Akaya scratched his head, “Even though he won the match, he would stare blankly at his phone after each game. I once secretly saw him—”
He suddenly covered his mouth, "Uh, I can't say that!"
Risa looked up and asked curiously, "What do you see?"
Akaya stammered, "It's...it's the department head's LINE chat interface...it looks like your chat window with Risa-nee..." His voice trailed off, "...the background image is your photo..."
Risa's hand slipped, and the iPad fell to the carpet with a "thud".
Akaya stared wide-eyed at the iPad lying on the carpet, as if he had discovered some earth-shattering secret. "Eh—? Could it be... that Risa-nee and the club president are dating?!"
Risa hurriedly bent down to pick up the iPad, her loose hair obscuring her expression: "What...what are you talking about!"
"But the minister has been using your picture as his chat background!" Akaya gestured wildly. "That's the minister! The minister who hasn't changed his LINE profile picture in three years! That—um!"
A piece of chocolate was stuffed into his wide-open mouth.
“Akaya,” Risa said seriously, “remember this: never fall for a girl before graduation.”
"Why?" Akaya chewed on his chocolate, his face full of questions. "Playing tennis and dating don't have to be mutually exclusive..."
“Because…” Risa looked out the window, her voice as soft as a sigh.
"Liking someone is like cultivating a lily of the valley; the purer the flower, the more deadly the toxins in its roots. It can make you weak, unlike yourself, and even humble you to the point of dust."
Akaya's CPU started to overload: "What does this have to do with playing tennis?"
“It means,” Risa poked his puffed-up cheek helplessly, “that the more you care about someone, the more cowardly you become.”
Akaya scratched his head: "Risa-nee, what you're saying is even harder to understand than the English words that Yanagi-senpai gave us in a dictation test."
“It’s okay if you don’t understand now,” Risa said, handing him another chocolate. “Just remember it.”
However, Akaya, always a curious soul, sent the encrypted call verbatim to Yanagi that very night: 【Senior! Please decode it! [dog eyes.jpg]】
Liu stared at her phone, lost in thought. She tapped the screen lightly and subtly forwarded a screenshot of the conversation to Yukimura Seiichi.
[Renji Yanagi: Yukimura, Matsuno-kun seems to have unique insights into love. What do you think?]
[Yukimura:......]
[Liu Lian'er: Do you need a strategist to provide "emotional guidance" services? Back-to-school special offers →_→]
Read.
(Three minutes later)
[Yukimura: Yanagi, for the next training session, you'll practice 200 extra serves with Akaya.]
[Yukimura: Let's have another match after this is over ^_^]
Rikkai University has no blind spots.
If you can't solve the problem, solve the person who raised it.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I've started a new short story in my column, about a village guy. It's my first attempt at second-person narration. It should be a little over 10,000 words. I might subscribe to it later, so check it out if you're interested! [Laughing and crying with facepalm]
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