Chapter 64 Sea Salt Cake, Let's Try Volleyball!
That weekend after the school festival ended, Akina Amaho was still dragged out of the house by Yuu Miyako.
She had just finished her morning exercise with them and even had them fix her hair, but she was still dragged out with them again in the afternoon.
Originally, Akina Amane wanted to rest for a day and take the opportunity to organize her paintings, but Miyako looked at her with bright eyes and said, "Akina, you promised to play volleyball with us, so why don't you give it a try? I'll teach you."
As he spoke, he patted his chest, as if he meant what he said.
Akina Amane sighed, "Alright, but don't be angry if you can't teach me."
She knew that Gong You hated bad players, but she was just a beginner, so it was only natural that she was bad at the game.
Gong You nodded: "Don't worry!"
He certainly wouldn't reprimand Mina.
Gong Zhi glanced sideways at Gong You, ignoring him, and said to Ming Nai, "If he doesn't teach well, come to me. We're both the same."
After all, if it's just the basics, anyone can teach it.
Gong You glared at Gong Zhi with displeasure: "Hey, what if she's more suited to be a setter?"
Miyayu still felt that Amaho Akina had the talent to be a setter.
However, she doesn't seem to be going to join the volleyball team. The only reason she agreed to come along is because he said before that he wanted to play together.
"I guess I'll only know what suits me after I experience it on the court," Amaho Akina shrugged.
Anyway, she doesn't seem to be tall enough to keep up, so why is she playing volleyball with these two...?
Now, she realizes there must have been something wrong with her for agreeing to it in a moment of madness.
“That makes sense.” Miyako shrugged, twirled the volleyball in his hand, and then casually tossed it to Amaho Akina, who caught it in a panic.
“Then, Mina, why don’t you try out the feel of your passing first? You’ve watched our training before, so you should remember it, right?” Miyako tilted his head slightly.
In a sense, it must be said that his observation skills are very sharp. He knew that Amaho Akina was able to depict those actions on the canvas partly because of her observation skills and partly because of her skill and imitation ability. Perhaps when he mentioned it, the scene had already appeared in Amaho Akina's mind.
Akina Amako swallowed hard, still a little nervous, her fingers tightening around the volleyball.
"Don't be nervous, you should still remember, right?" Gong You smiled, but perhaps because of the shade of the tree, it seemed that part of his expression was covered by the shadow, which made him appear even more aggressive.
“It’s okay if you don’t do it well, I’ll teach you, so Mina, try it first.” Miyaji sighed almost imperceptibly. He knew that it would be best to awaken the skills in Mina’s mind, but Miyayu’s words were more like pressure than a catalyst.
However, he also believed that Mina could do it.
Akina Amane took a deep breath and then nodded emphatically: "Yes, I will try."
She did indeed still remember the scene. After all, the first model sketch was of a ball-passing scene. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her whole demeanor was different, and she looked more determined.
Then, she perfectly replicated the movements from her memory, without the slightest error.
There was no instruction whatsoever; she simply recalled and imitated the movements from her memory. Even after such a long time, she still managed to do it. Akina Amasui breathed a sigh of relief.
Gong You couldn't help but widen his eyes; he was captivated by the radiance, which seemed to make even his eyes glow.
"Ah...that's really great." He murmured to himself as an even wider, genuine smile spread across his face.
Gong Zhi was also watching her. Sure enough, there were still untapped aspects of her talent. If he also tried to discover them, would there be even more surprises?
His eyes were shining too, but no matter what, Mina, who always persisted in her own path and her own dream, was more moving.
However, after only a few strokes, red marks appeared on her arm. Although Miyako and the others had brought a soft volleyball today, it was still a bit of a challenge for Amaho Akina, who was playing volleyball for the first time.
She was panting, and sweat was dripping from her forehead. She felt a little pain in her arm, so she stopped and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
Then Honoka looked at the other two and said, "Alright, what should we do next? We can't just keep doing this."
Miya Yu rested her chin on her hand: "Hmm... let's try serving then. Mina has seen how we serve, right? Do you need us to explain it to you again?"
Akina Amane recalled the scene from her memory. It seemed that there were two ways to serve. Well, it was easier to simply jump up and hit the ball down hard, but the other way, with its unpredictable trajectory, would require some skill.
"Well, one type is a direct serve, where the volleyball is spinning normally, while the other type is a serve without any spin," she summarized.
Although she had never played volleyball before, she naturally didn't know how to serve the second type of ball; she could only imitate Gong You's jumping motion to hit the ball.
“Yes, then why don’t you give it a try, Mina?” He clapped his hands, seemingly unwilling to demonstrate for Mina any further.
After all, he had demonstrated it countless times in his memory.
Miyaji simply crossed his arms and quietly watched his brother teach.
But he was also carefully observing Amako Akina's movements, thinking, "Let me see just how far you can go."
Akina Amazu nodded, took a deep breath, and retrieved the scene from her memory, then slowed it down frame by frame—Found it, that's it, this is the first step.
The aura surrounding her seemed to have changed again. Gong You took two steps back slightly to get a different perspective to observe Tian Suimingna.
She recalled the scene of Gong You's serve in her mind, took six steps, jumped up, and hit the ball down with her racket.
Gong You took a breath, his heart pounding even faster, and he couldn't help but feel even more excited, after all... this was almost a copy of his own movements.
Although the ball's power wasn't that great, making it seem a bit ordinary, and the fluidity of her movements also appeared somewhat immature, it was only Amaho Akina's first attempt, and even just for her first attempt, she had already surpassed many others.
Miyaji clapped his hands: "Very good, Akina did it."
Akina Amazu breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her hands, which were still slightly red. She hadn't expected that she could actually do it.
“No, it’s because I’ve looked at a lot of things that I was able to copy it.” Akina Amaho shook her head.
All the techniques she used were simply scenes reproduced from her memory.
“But if Mina tries a few more times, she’ll be able to do it perfectly, right? Mina’s arm strength should be pretty good too, let’s give it a try.” Miyako’s eyes sparkled as she rushed over and grabbed Mina’s hand.
Akina was a little stunned, and for a moment she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Surprisingly, it was her first time trying this sport, but she felt pretty good about it, a little lightheaded. Perhaps she could consider it as a form of exercise and try it out occasionally.
She was thinking of taking a break and decided to watch the twins play instead, but she couldn't resist their gaze.
So she just sighed and said, "Okay, I'll try again, but the other serve requires more skill, and I don't think I can do it right now."
Even if you replicate the exact same movements, you probably still can't completely control the precision of your movements.
“It’s okay, we’ll tell you what to do in a bit. For now, try a few more times to get a feel for the volleyball,” Miyaji said.
He could tell that Amako Akina was actually completely unfamiliar with volleyball; she had only copied the moves, which gave them a momentary sense of awe. In comparison, her mindset was more cautious and precise.
However, it's okay if it's only at this level, but he still hopes that Akina Amaho can surpass herself.
Akina Amako took a deep breath, closed her eyes slightly, and reviewed the movements in her memory with her own movements just now in her mind, integrating them slightly. After all, she had to make the movements more adaptable to her, rather than having herself adapt to the movements.
On her second serve, her technique was slightly different from the first, and this serve was clearly better than the previous one.
Miya Yu and Miyaji remained silent. Akina Amami picked up a volleyball again and repeated the same movements until she felt tired and stopped, panting.
Akina Amako let out a sigh of relief: "Alright, want to try something else?"
Judging from the current situation, she is actually quite skilled in using memory techniques.
"Minna did a great job! Next, how about you learn my ball-handling technique?" Miya Yu snapped his fingers, looking eager for Minna to learn everything.
Miyaji gave him a speechless look: "In that case, you don't need to play next time, just let Akina do it."
Of course, this was just a sarcastic remark.
Amane Akina shook her head and laughed: "Oh dear, even if I were allowed to play, I wouldn't be able to finish the match."
That's true; she knew her physical condition well enough to know she couldn't do it.
"Anyway, Mina, just give it a try. It's okay to try. Even if you make a mistake, it doesn't matter. It's Osamu who will catch your ball anyway." Miya Yu tugged at Mina's sleeve, her voice sounding a bit coquettish, perhaps because the Kansai dialect is naturally a bit sticky.
Akina couldn't persuade him otherwise, and besides, there was no harm in just trying it out. Maybe it would be even easier than the serve she had just received? It wasn't like she hadn't seen Yuu Miyako's set shot before.
Gong Zhi's temple veins bulged again: "Hey."
"Ignore him. I'll definitely make good use of the ball you hit." He sighed and turned to look at Amaho Akina.
“Then I’ll give it a try, but you’ll have to wait a little while I think about it.” Akina Amako sighed.
Both of them nodded, fell silent, and watched as Amako Akina closed her eyes.
She recalled the scene she had once seen Gong You leaping in the sky. She tried to magnify the image in her memory and began to observe the curve of her wrist and the posture of exertion. It was a movement that she had instinctively drawn on her manuscript paper. Now, she also captured the flow of her body at that moment.
Akina Amaho opened her eyes. After resting for a while, she still had some energy left, and she was full of confidence.
"Let's give it a try." At least she felt that she was ready.
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