Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

When the day comes that Yumiko is willing to bring up this matter, she will probably be a very different Yumiko from now.

She is looking forward to that day.

----split line----

When the girl with golden curly hair said that she hoped to have a chance to play doubles with Zhixian in the future, Zhixian thought to herself, how can you play doubles if you don't even know the Australian formation? You might as well buy an introductory doubles tutorial and learn some opening and closing tactics.

Zhixian has a very serious attitude towards tennis. Ordinary tennis club members and professional tennis players like him are simply not in the same league or level.

It's not that I look down on those who are not good at tennis, but there is a natural gap between professionals and amateurs. Not to mention that this girl didn't really want to play tennis, she just wanted to use the topic of tennis to get closer.

Zhixian is good at playing tennis so she likes tennis. Similarly, Kashima is good at acting so she can be said to like drama, and Yeshan is good at playing football so she can be said to like football.

After all, liking something and being good at it cannot be equated.

It costs nothing to say you like something, but it takes a lot of practice to become good at it.

Zhixian generally won't engage in in-depth discussions with people who don't truly love tennis; it's pointless. Even if you teach her how to play a slice, she won't be very happy, because she doesn't truly love tennis.

Maybe this idea is not correct, but Zhixian does think so, so he almost ignores the opposite sex who approach him under the guise of tennis.

It turns out that his current friends were all met without considering tennis, and everyone gets along well.

Chiyo's existence also shows that Zhixian is not completely against making friends with girls, it's just that some people have the wrong idea and are stuck in a dead end.

If you want to get closer to someone you like, you need common topics to talk about. But trying to find common ground with a professional using your half-baked skills is not the right approach.

Although the common topic between Chixian and Chiyo is Nozaki, it is something that no one else can learn...

Zhixian: You may not believe it, but Mikoshiba and I are actually Sakura’s best friends.

36. Street tennis courts are full of people

The two groups of people finally met in front of the store.

The two groups of people looked at each other, and Ye Shan had no choice but to be the first to greet.

"Hello, Kashima-san and Tachibana-san."

"Ah, you're Hayama from Class F, right? Hello, hello!" Kashima thought for a moment when she saw Hayama and then remembered the other "prince" in the school who was as famous as her.

Zhixian just nodded without saying anything.

The two blonde girls' eyes met.

"Oh, isn't this Miura-san?"

"Hello." Yumiko answered simply. The other party obviously knew her, but she didn't know him at all.

That's why this guy did such a poor imitation, but Yumiko didn't care.

In terms of beauty, no one present could compare to her. (Has anyone seen KO One?)

"Do you know Yumiko?" Yuigahama asked curiously.

"We are from a junior high school." The girl with golden curly hair answered.

Yuigahama felt a little embarrassed looking at the other person's subtle hairstyle.

The fake is somewhat inferior to the real thing, even though the other party is not aware of this.

Yumiko's every move and gesture is something no one else can imitate. The temperament of the "Queen of Fire" cannot be learned by just dyeing your hair blonde or curling it.

"I see." Yuigahama nodded. Because she didn't know about Chizuru and Yumiko's past, the girl with golden curly hair didn't say what she wanted to hear.

"Next time we can make an appointment to play tennis together." The girl with golden curly hair invited Yumiko, "With Tachibana-san." After saying that, she smiled, as if she had agreed on behalf of Zhixian.

Before Youmiko could say anything, Zhixian responded: "There are plenty of people on the street tennis court, no need to call me specifically." There was a lot of disgust in his tone.

"Puchi." Yumiko laughed out loud without hiding her feelings.

"Kashima, I still have training to do, so I'll take my leave now." Zhixian said to Kashima.

"Oh ok, no problem, see you at school."

Zhixian hesitated for a moment before leaving, then nodded slightly to Ye Shan and left without even looking at the girls who were partying with him.

This is Tachibana Zhixian! The men at the party sighed inwardly, if it weren't for Miko Chai's escape, Zhixian would have already quit.

"Is it because of us that Ju is holding back?" The boys were touched, and their opinions of Zhixian changed.

On the other side, Ye Shan saw Zhixian leaving, so he said goodbye to Kashima and left with everyone.

----split line----

After the two groups of people had created enough distance between them, Hubu spoke up: "I was wondering why Ju would participate in such an event. Look at his tone just now."

"There are plenty of people on the street tennis court, no need to call me specifically." Hubu tried his best to imitate Zhixian's cold and slightly disgusted tone. Although his imitation was a failure, several of his companions still laughed in support.

Yumiko was no exception. She had originally planned to give a warning to the fake who dared to provoke her, but she didn't expect Zhixian to take the initiative and defeat the other party with his own hands.

And how could it be possible to succeed by imitating her to get close to Zhixian, Youmiko sighed inwardly.

If he succeeded, Ju Zhixian would no longer be Ju Zhixian. Although he was not a hairpin fanatic, his cold attitude was more hurtful than a hairpin.

It seems like Ye Shan would refuse nicely and gently.

It’s more like Zhixian completely ignored you rather than rejected you. He didn’t take your confession seriously at all, so it can only be regarded as a refusal to deal with it.

In comparison, Ye Shan will at least reject you gently, although the ending is the same.

When Zhixian was in junior high school, he kept everyone at a distance, except for Youmeko.

Moreover, the mixed doubles partners also seem to be acting as shields for each other.

Although they are not dating, anyone can tell that they are a tacit partner in the mixed doubles competition and will become a couple sooner or later.

And taking a step back, even if the two of them are dating, the other party would not be able to accept their boyfriend or girlfriend forming a mixed doubles with another person of the opposite sex, right?

Therefore, neither of them had a partner during their partnership. Moreover, they had been training for a long time and did not have extra time for a relationship. They were mostly practicing or developing tacit understanding.

At that time, Youmiko had also imagined what would happen to her and Zhixian in the future.

After all, a girl’s heart is always filled with spring.

Unfortunately, the quarterfinals of the third year of junior high school completely broke down their relationship.

The psychological quality of junior high school students is far inferior to that of professional players, but even professional players can get so angry that they throw their rackets.

What's more, doubles is a conflict between two people, which is different from singles, where you just sulk and get angry at yourself. When a conflict occurs, you might take it out on your partner, and maybe things will get better after the fight, but it can also lead to a breakdown.

Yumiko still didn't know how to judge the problem between the two, but at least now she felt that it was not a problem for one person, but a problem for both of them.

37.Old friend

The Sobu Tennis Club is about to enter the next regional qualifiers.

For Zhixian, the team competition was not the highlight after all, so he did not continue to play as the third singles, but returned to the first singles position.

Zhixian is in charge of the first singles. As long as the first singles player fails to win in the first four games and is dragged into the fifth game, that friend can achieve an achievement - to experience the intensity of national-level competition in the regional qualifiers.

Although people have always said that the Sobu Tennis Club is weak, it is still relatively strong. If you are lucky, you still have a chance to advance to the prefectural tournament, but if you go higher, forget it. It is completely impossible.

It's hard to imagine a national-level singles player willingly staying at a regional qualifying tennis club. Choosing a prestigious tennis school like Rokkaku might be better for their future career.

(Rokkaku, the number one seed from Chiba Prefecture in Prince of Tennis.)

Time is money, and team competitions are a better way to train players. The pressure of fighting for the entire team can often stimulate people to perform beyond their normal level and break through themselves.

After all, individual competitions only represent individuals, and the pressure is not as great as team competitions.

Many people felt sorry that Zhixian could only play in the regional qualifiers in the Sobu team competition.

If he had chosen to join a prestigious tennis school, that school would have been a strong contender for the national championship. Unfortunately, he chose Sobu, a school whose tennis team struggled to even qualify for the prefectural tournament.

Zhixian himself didn't really care about the team competition. After all, President Sobu had promised him a university admission spot. As long as he maintained his current singles performance, getting that spot wouldn't be difficult.

In addition to these generous conditions, Zhixian also has some selfish motives of his own.

It is not something that can be told to outsiders.

----split line----

In the regional qualifiers, the two sides tied 2:2 in the first four games.

Then the first singles player Zhixian came on the stage.

"Long time no see, Ju." When shaking hands, Zhixian discovered that this was a classmate from the junior high school tennis club.

"It's been a long time since we last met." Zhixian felt a little emotional. He thought he would never remember those things and people in the past, but he didn't expect to meet an old friend this time.

"Hahaha, my family doesn't really support me playing tennis, so I didn't make it to the Six Corners."

"Ahem." The referee on the referee chair deliberately coughed a few times to remind the two not to reminisce about the past.

"Oh, sorry, it's been so long since we last met that I'm a little excited." The old classmate laughed and scratched his head. "Would you like to have a cup of tea and chat after the game?"

“...Okay.” Zhixian pondered for a moment and then agreed. He didn’t have any plans for the future anyway.

"Then please show some mercy." The old classmate returned to the bottom line with a smile.

The result of spinning the racket is a string serve.

Zhixian stood at the baseline, gently hitting the tennis ball, recalling the past in his mind.

The person opposite them was also a former doubles player, and he and his partner often played as the first doubles pair in junior high school team competitions. Chixian and Yumiko had also played practice matches with them before, and the results were very good.

An old classmate just mentioned that he chose this school over Rokkaku because his family objected. He probably ended up playing first singles because the tennis club wasn't strong enough, which is pretty much the same situation as Zhixian.

His partner must also have objections to this decision, right?

Zhixian threw the ball and drew the racket. The tennis ball deformed the moment it touched the racket and flew out through the strings.

"15:0." The referee announced the score.

"Is it really too difficult to compete with Tachibana?" The opponent said with a wry smile. Although they were both the first singles players, the gap between them was not small.

"Come on, senior!" Several younger students cheered him on.

He looked at the calm Zhixian on the opposite side, gripped his racket tightly, and talked to himself as if speaking to himself.

"I have to do my best for everyone!"

----split line----

"6:0, Sobu Tachibana wins." Fifteen minutes later, the referee announced the final score.

"You're really getting stronger." The old classmate sighed as they shook hands again, "I can still imagine playing doubles together, but singles is really out of the question."

"You are still very strong in doubles." Zhixian looked at him seriously.

"It's still not as good as your platinum combination... Sorry, Orange." Suddenly realizing that he had said something the other party didn't want to hear, he hurriedly apologized.

"It's okay..." Zhixian was silent for a moment, "It's all over, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's all in the past, but I really miss the time when we made it to nationals together!"

"...After this, will you give up tennis?" After hesitating for a long time, Zhixian finally asked this question.

"Maybe I can't go on, hahahaha." The other party smiled bitterly.

"...Sorry." Zhixian was feeling a little down.

"Hahahaha, don't worry about it!" The old classmate patted Ju's shoulder, "Even if I can't continue playing, I still love tennis."

"So for those of you who are still persevering, you must keep going! Step onto a bigger stage and don't end up with regrets like I did."

......

Don't you want to leave any regrets? Zhixian thought of the promise they had made and couldn't help but sigh.

Junior high school extra 3

"This is the mixed doubles semi-finals of the national tournament. This match will feature the highly anticipated 'Platinum Combination' of Tachibana/Miura taking on the Oriental/Minami combination."

(Author's voiceover: I just picked this pairing up randomly from Prince of Tennis' doubles match. It's not important and won't appear in the future.)

"The Platinum pair had previously defeated their opponents 6-2 in the quarterfinals, while the Dongfang/Nan pair had to fight a tough tie-break to win. The two pairs had no official record of meeting each other before."

"Now we can see that the two pairs have entered the field and started warming up. The match will start in 10 minutes. See you later."

On the court, Zhixian helped Youmiko practice net volleys at the net.

"Are you feeling okay?" Zhixian asked.

"Of course!" Taking advantage of the opportunity between swings, Yumiko reached out and brushed her dazzling golden hair, appearing incredibly confident. "I'm in top form right now!"