Chapter 45 A Serious Gift for Reunion
Since the start of the school year, Yukimura Seiichi and his tennis club's regular players have been absent from school for two weeks due to competitions outside.
Having lost her only study group member, Yuihara Kaoru can only submit various reports in Rika's group.
During chemistry experiment classes, she habitually left detailed notes for Yukimura, but she didn't know when he would be back.
Of course, for the vast majority of Rikkai University students, this semester will be even more exciting than the previous one. There's the Kaihara Festival next week, the sophomores' study abroad program and freshmen's hiking trip in October, and the sports festival in November... After all these events, it's time for final exams.
But for Yuhara Yuuga, the most important thing must be this year's spring high.
She had seen many players with very distinctive personal styles at the national youth team's training base, and she always wondered if Rikkai University could compete with them.
During her training camp days, Teacher Misaki once again led the remaining team members to the Matsumoto family's base for special training. When the whole team practiced again at the beginning of the school year, Xiangcheng also felt that everyone had made great progress.
"Don't think you're the only one who's strengthened!" Matsumoto Genon said with a smile, "We're working hard too."
Igarashi-senpai showed off her now much stronger biceps: "Look at that! My upper body strength is amazing."
Yuihara Kaoru touched it enviously: "Wow! It feels so good!"
Abe-senpai also poked Xiangcheng's arm and said, "Speaking of which, you went to training camp. Was it because you were exercising too much? How did you get so thin?"
Xiangcheng thought back to the inhumanly intense practice session. "Yeah, it was incredibly difficult to avoid elimination..."
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at how pitiful we are," Igarashi-senpai pinched her face, but there was no flesh left to pinch. "How long will it take to make up for this?"
"You're taking advantage! I want one too!" Rika's hand appeared out of nowhere and touched Xiangcheng's face.
Matsumoto Genon looked at them with amusement, and upon seeing Xiangcheng's pleading eyes, he quickly said, "Alright, alright, let Xiangcheng go. Let's get on with the meeting!"
The society office gradually calmed down.
Matsumoto Genon handed out the forms she had on hand to everyone: "It's time to start preparing for the Kaihara Festival. One is the club performance, and getting a good ranking will give you extra points. The other is the club shop, and the profits can be used as additional funds for our future."
Pointing to the table, she continued, "So today we're mainly deciding on two themes. I've compiled some ideas for you to choose from. If you have better ideas, please write them down at the bottom of the table."
The performance and the festival suddenly brought back some strange memories for Xiang Cheng. Matsumoto Genyin saw her strange expression and asked, "Xiang Cheng, what's wrong?"
Xiangcheng quickly shook her head: "Ah, it's okay, it's okay."
Then he confirmed again: "Rikkai University... there's no custom of cross-dressing, right?"
"Hmm? Not really," everyone looked up at Xiang Cheng, and Matsumoto Genon continued, "But if you like, we can also..."
"No, no," Xiangcheng said nervously, "Please don't do that."
Strange memories began to stir in her mind again. The awkward moment she had deliberately forgotten washed over her, and her toes began to scratch the ground again.
"There's a story," Igarashi-senpai commented, and the others nodded in unison.
"Haha, it's not important, it's not important..." Xiangcheng picked up the form and looked down at it carefully.
Finally, everyone unanimously decided that the program would be dancing. As for what to dance specifically, they would collect videos after returning and choose one in the group.
If you want to open a shop, Aiko-senpai's family runs a beverage shop, so we can bring some equipment to make some simple drinks, which is also a good choice.
Back in class, Yuka Hayakawa was also asking for everyone's opinions on the Umihara Festival.
Xiangcheng and Lixiang looked at each other, then hurriedly sat down to participate in the arrangements of their own class.
Because there are classrooms available, there is more room for creativity in the class shop. The students talked a lot and came up with suggestions such as "coffee shop", "haunted house", "photo studio", etc.
After writing down everyone's opinions, Hayakawa Yuka said, "I'll go talk to the other squad leaders again, and try not to repeat anything. I hope everyone will support me when the time comes!"
"Okay~" the whole class agreed in unison.
"Also, everyone gets five invitations to this year's Kaihara Festival. Please make sure to distribute them!"
Xiangcheng counted the people she could invite—her parents were too busy to come, and her grandparents were too busy to travel, so forget it. That would only mean Haruko, Hei, and Momo.
Well, the more I think about it, the more I feel that I have a serious problem with making friends.
Xiangcheng's face fell, and Rika turned to her and whispered to her what was wrong. After hearing Xiangcheng's answer, Rika burst out laughing: "What's the big deal? Don't you have a lot of friends now? What a coincidence that they all go to Rikkai University!"
Too.
Xiangcheng sat up, looked out the window and thought, will Yukimura and the others... come back before the Umihara Festival?
It should be night in America now.
"Yukimura, what are you doing?" Fuji walked to the balcony and watched Yukimura pointing at the stars with his knuckles.
Yukimura put his hand down: "It's okay, I'm seeing if I can connect the stars into a constellation I recognize."
“This gesture…?”
"Oh," Yukimura laughed, "some say pointing at stars will make you stupid."
Fuji rubbed his chin, watching Yukimura's expression soften as he spoke: "That's really interesting!"
"Well... I'm finally going back tomorrow."
Fuji nodded: "Although I didn't make it to the finals of this challenge, it's still a bit regrettable."
"Yeah," Yukimura stared at the starry sky, "Fuji, you must be very unwilling not to fight Tezuka again."
Fuji shrugged: "I just want to see how far I can go... Maybe it will be better to come back in winter!"
Yukimura lowered his head and saw the lights downstairs extending, as if they could reach directly to the German team's dormitory building.
"Yes, wait until winter—"
Then we can fight again.
A dreamless night.
The next morning, the Japanese team set out on their journey home. Before arriving at the airport, the car had a minor problem, so they were a little late for boarding.
The boys had no choice but to get off the bus and start running. When they finally finished checking in their luggage, Yukimura's face suddenly changed.
All that was left of his pendant was a piece of string that had been broken off from the zipper.
It was still there when I got off the bus.
It must have been dropped at the airport.
He subconsciously turned around to look for it, but Bu Er grabbed him and said, "Don't go. It's too late."
"I'll go look for it. Ten minutes... I should be able to make it in time." After saying that, Yukimura hurriedly ran along the way he came.
"Run a little - yes, very good," Xiangcheng and Rika practiced hitting and defending, and it was obvious that Rika's reaction speed was much faster recently.
Li Xiang said while padding the ball: "Actually, you just made a mistake!"
Xiangcheng stuck out her tongue: "Just don't say it out loud~"
Rika glanced at her sideways, said nothing, and continued practicing.
After the morning training, Xiangcheng, as the club monitor this week, helped the manager Xiaolin Xing to put away all the volleyballs and put them in the warehouse. Then she did a simple cleanup, went to the club office to change into her school uniform, and then walked back to the classroom alone.
When walking alone, it is easy to immerse yourself in the theater in your own mind.
At this moment, she was probably thinking about the dance video that was publicly voted on last night. It was a catchy song, but she wondered if they could dance well...
"Orange!"
Oh, Xiangcheng was suddenly awakened from his thoughts, and there was a person standing in front of him whom he had not seen for a long time.
Xiang Cheng smiled: "Yukimura!"
Although Yukimura sent a message yesterday saying that he had returned to Japan, Xiangcheng didn't expect him to come back to school so soon.
It looks so familiar and yet so strange!
Xiangcheng suddenly didn't know what to say next. There were many things that seemed easy to communicate online, but felt a bit weird to ask in person.
Yukimura, on the other hand, walked beside her naturally: "I think you have lost weight?"
Xiangcheng pinched her face and said, "I've been eating a lot lately! Haven't I made up for it yet?"
It seems... it's about the same as before the training camp.
Yukimura cleared his throat. "You said you strained your back earlier. Is it feeling better now?"
Xiangcheng nodded: "No problem."
The atmosphere suddenly became silent again, and Xiangcheng belatedly recalled the tangled questions she had pondered before going to the training camp.
But… she backed off again.
"Ah, well, the Umihara Festival starts on Saturday, so your tennis club probably won't have enough time to prepare!"
Yukimura stopped talking just as he was about to say something else and replied, "Yes, so I can focus on playing... I can help the class look after the store more."
"oh."
"The class decided to have a haunted house, and you can act like an NPC."
Yukimura smiled, and Kaoru looked straight ahead while speaking, always avoiding eye contact with him, and was completely different from how she was when they first met.
My memory suddenly improved.
"Is Xiangcheng afraid of me?"
"No! That's not the case."
Yukimura grabbed her wrist and stood still: "Then why don't you look at me when you talk?"
Xiangcheng was forced to look up: "Hahaha, you should watch the road!"
"Actually, I want to tell you I'm sorry, Xiangcheng."
"Ah?" Xiangcheng was confused and only then saw Yukimura's annoyed look.
"I accidentally lost the gift you gave me at the airport in the United States..."
He ran very fast that day, wishing he had a few more pairs of eyes, but he still couldn't find the pendant until the time limit was up.
"So I'm sorry..."
Xiangcheng laughed: "I thought something was wrong... It's okay! Just buy another one!"
Yukimura asked, "Won't Kazuki think I'm careless? Even a gift—"
"No!" Xiangcheng said, "In fact, now that you say that, I feel guilty."
"Um?"
"I don't think I've ever given you a serious gift... That's why you value that pendant so much."
That’s not the case.
Yukimura thought that it was the first gift that would be special.
But he also wanted to see what the "serious" gift was, so he said "hmm".
Now it’s Xiangcheng’s turn to be confused. What kind of gift is a serious gift?
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