Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

The former women's singles champion of the county tournament wanted to join the club, so the head of the women's tennis club had no reason to refuse. In fact, the women's tennis club had wanted to invite Yumiko to join during her freshman year of high school, but she had refused. Now that the former champion had come to them, they definitely couldn't miss out!

However, the news about Yumiko and Chixian just came out before the holiday. Considering that Yumiko was going to join the club as soon as school started, the director of the women's tennis club knew that there must be something fishy going on.

Sure enough, when Yumiko said that she would sign up for the mixed doubles competition with Zhixian, the minister smiled knowingly.

You say they're just friends, there must be something going on here! Why don't you have that keen sense of smell? The Minister is heartbroken. Are all the people in the News Department just sitting there doing nothing but eating and drinking?

...No, the News Department is a social organization and does not pay salaries.

So the minister had to satisfy his burning gossip heart himself.

As a result, Yumiko dragged her into a game with her, saying that she hadn't played tennis for a long time so she wanted to get a feel for it.

As a result, the Minister was defeated 6:2 by Yumiko who was at full power, and it can be said that he had basically no ability to fight back.

At that time, Youmiko said that she hadn't played for a long time so her ball control was not very good, and she hoped to practice more against each other in the future.

The Minister said, "What else can I say? I recruited these people myself and I will finish the competition even if it means crying."

But at least they were not shut out with a score of 6:2. It was said that the men's tennis team had provoked Chixian Tachibana before, but they were all beaten mercilessly with a score of 6:0, and they didn't even get any points.

There is no other national-level player like Chigen Tachibana in Sobu High School, and the principal treats him like a treasure.

It must be hard to partner with someone like that, right? The Minister was also a sophomore in high school, and she knew what Yumiko's life was like as a freshman. Even if her skills didn't decline during the one-year hiatus, it would still be very difficult to catch up to the national-level players, right? Winning at the prefectural level wasn't enough in the eyes of the national level, after all, the prefectural competition wasn't worth the same as the metropolitan competition. The best players in the Kanto region were basically in Tokyo, and the metropolitan competitions would be a bloody battle.

When the minister asked Yumiko about this, she simply smiled and said she was ready. Even if she couldn't make it to the national tournament, or even the Kanto tournament, she wouldn't mind. What mattered was the journey of competing together on the court. It would be a shame to leave too many regrets in our only youth.

The goal is to win the championship, but that doesn't mean they have to win. Yumiko wants to fight with Zhixian, even if they lose. Even if they lose, they still have to enjoy the game before it's over. Yumiko thinks so.

It was because she was too obsessed with winning that she once ignored Zhixian's situation.

She won't make the same mistake again this time.

----split line----

After school, Yumiko sneaked into the girls' tennis club to practice, intending to find some of the old feelings through actual combat.

In fact, her basic skills had already recovered well when she served as a sparring partner for the Chinese students studying in the United States during the summer vacation. What she needs to make up for now is the loss of her awareness, judgment and on-the-spot reaction during the window period.

However, a fight with Zhixian would only be a one-sided situation, so Yumiko temporarily went to the women's tennis club to practice.

Zhixian was not idle either. He went to the men's tennis team to explain the mixed doubles competition and the men's singles competition to the consultant - yes, this time he did not give up the singles competition because of the mixed doubles competition.

The first and second seniors from his freshman year of high school have already gone to college, so Zhixian’s chances of winning the singles competition this year are still very strong, especially since he has become stronger than his freshman year of high school. Even if those two seniors are still here, they may not be able to gain an advantage over Zhixian.

"I'm looking forward to the 'Platinum Combination' competition," the advisor said with a smile.

"Oh? You say so too?" Zhixian raised his eyebrows.

"Is there anyone who beat me?"

"Totsuka, I think he's about to cry." Zhixian thought about how he had just come over from the tennis club and casually told Totsuka that he and Yumiko would participate in this year's mixed doubles competition. Totsuka's big, watery eyes, like a little deer, looked as if he would cry in the next second.

"Hahaha, Totsuka-kun has been working hard to prepare for the county tournament lately."

"It's indeed much better than last year." Zhixian was referring to the atmosphere and spirit.

"By the way, we're having a practice match with the tennis club of Seaside Comprehensive High School in a few days. Both the boys' and girls' tennis clubs will be participating, and there will also be a mixed doubles competition. Do you want to try your hand before the official competition?"

"...Okay, it's a rare opportunity." Zhixian thought about it and didn't refuse. After all, there are indeed few opportunities to play mixed doubles, unless she practices with men's doubles and women's doubles. But when playing against men's doubles, Youmeko will be at a disadvantage, and when playing against women's doubles, the opponent who receives Zhixian's serve will be at a disadvantage.

The best practice is to play mixed doubles.

"You don't need to give Seaside Comprehensive High School any face. Just get a big win to announce the return of your 'Platinum Combination'."

"...I feel like you care about our group more than I do."

"After all, I'm the advisor for the tennis club. It's a credit to me if you guys perform well," the advisor said with a smile. "Sports clubs in Sobu are generally not very good, so we, the advisors for the sports clubs, can't even hold our heads up in front of the cultural clubs!"

"It sounds like the truth. You are all responsible for teaching, and the club is just responsible for management." Otherwise, how could the advisor of the tennis club not understand tennis.

"Hahaha, anyway, keep up the good work, Ju-kun." The counselor still had that smiling face.

"That's the only thing you can rest assured about." Zhixian raised his lips with a confident smile.

103. Studying in the United States and Backstabbing

The next day in class, Chixian mentioned the practice match with Kaihin Comprehensive High School to Yumiko, and said that the two of them would probably play as mixed doubles players. He wanted to ask Yumiko's opinion on this.

If she's not ready, someone else can come on.

"Then let's play. It's a rare opportunity to play mixed doubles." Youmiko's tone sounded quite eager to try, which made Zhixian feel that his worries might be a bit unnecessary.

The tennis club at Seaside Comprehensive High School wasn't particularly strong. If anything, it was only slightly stronger than Sobu, but it was still just cannon fodder in the prefectural tournament. Otherwise, they wouldn't have practiced against Sobu. They usually played practice matches against schools of similar skill, which served as a training exercise and helped them identify weaknesses.

It just so happened that the two schools were in different divisions in the county tournament, making a meeting essentially impossible. That's why they staged a practice match with such fanfare. Otherwise, suspicion wouldn't have led to a practice match, even though they were both similarly weak and there wasn't much value in studying them.

In addition, Haibin Comprehensive High School expressed the hope to see Zhixian play in the singles match, saying that they wanted to feel how strong the national-level combat power is.

After asking Zhixian, Totsuka received an indifferent answer.

Totsuka was worried that Chixian would be tired after playing two games alone, but Chixian said that he could destroy the opposing team by himself at the level of Seaside Comprehensive High School, and one more singles game would only be a little more time to warm up.

On the girls' side, Youmiko was not as calm as Zhixian. She refused the club leader's request to let her participate in the singles match - although she was confident of winning the singles match, she might not be able to solve it as quickly as Zhixian. Her focus was still on mixed doubles, so she refused to participate in both competitions in order to maintain her physical strength.

Yumiko felt as if her position had been reversed with Zhixian's. In junior high, he had competed in both mixed doubles and women's singles, while Zhixian only competed in mixed doubles. Now, it was the other way around, with Zhixian competing in both men's singles and mixed doubles, while she only competed in mixed doubles.

It's really a coincidence.

Although it was just a practice match with little technical content, it was the first show of the "Platinum Combination" in more than a year, and both of them hoped to win it smoothly.

This atmosphere even affects studying in the United States.

"Master, is that Seaside Comprehensive High School really that strong?" I don't know when Liumei started calling Zhixian "Master".

Although the specific reason is not clear, it is probably because the friends in the training class for studying in the United States always say that Zhixian is Liumei's "master", so Liumei, who is too lazy to correct them, simply starts calling him master.

"We were barely a competitive school in the regional qualifiers, but once we got to the county tournament, we were basically eliminated in the first round, or at best, two rounds."

"...Does this level of skill require you and Yumiko to be so serious?" Rumi asked, puzzled. While she was still a beginner, a national-level player like Chixian should have no problem defeating an opponent from a regional qualifier. Even Yumiko, a county tournament winner, was at a level that would give her a shot at the Kanto tournament.

What's more, they have been partners for 3 years. In this case, there is no way they can lose to the mixed doubles combination which is probably a temporary combination.

"Well, winning is no problem, the problem is how to win." Zhixian said.

"How else can we win?" Liu Mei was even more confused. "Are you trying to not let the other team score a single point?"

"That's not the case." Zhixian smiled, "I just want to win the game in doubles."

"Double style?" Liu Mei repeated.

"Winning is easy, but in doubles, some uncoordinated behavior is inevitable," Zhixian explained. He wasn't worried about losing points, but whether the communication and coordination between the two of them could be restored. Techniques can be practiced and restored sooner or later, but cultivating tacit understanding is not something that can be achieved overnight.

"I haven't played doubles yet." There was a hint of yearning in Liumei's tone.

By the way, Liumei got the fourth place in the training class civil war at the end of the holiday. She was quite satisfied with it. After all, her foundation was still shallow and her basic skills were not as stable as some people who had studied tennis longer than her.

But to be honest, using the Giant Bear to return a smash was always effective—she'd barely mastered it before the match, and since the little girl's smash wasn't particularly powerful, she could usually return a smash if she got the timing right. How powerful a smash could you expect from a fifth or sixth grade girl? [Spreading hands]

"You can try it with a friend." Zhixian encouraged, "Doubles and singles are completely different."

"If there's a chance." Liu Mei nodded. Her training class actually also taught doubles, but it would only teach doubles after the singles were solid enough.

“Doubles is still fun.”

"Like the master, hiding behind Yumiko and using the two-sword style secretly?"

"...That's a tactic, you know?" Zhixian was speechless.

"But the coach said it's because you're insidious, and other people don't need it at all." Because he was familiar with Zhixian's coach, the coach always told Liumei about Zhixian's affairs. One day, he saw Liumei practicing two swords and took the opportunity to complain about Zhixian.

"It's obviously because few people practice two-sword style."

"Isn't the dual-wielding style essentially intended to solve the problem of a strong forehand and a weak backhand? But it seems that the master's backhand is obviously not weak, but he still uses the dual-wielding style frequently. It's obviously okay if he doesn't use it, right?" I have the impression that Zhixian also hits a lot of backhand slices when I stay in the United States.

"While the backhand isn't weak, it's ultimately more limited than the forehand. It's just that because people usually only have one dominant hand, practicing dual wielding is too difficult and the benefits are low. It's really hard to master dual wielding."

"Are you bragging?"

"No, I'm still far from it." Zhixian said seriously.

"...Exactly the same thing the top student in my class who scored 99 points said."

"Liaomei, you who got full marks on the exam, what are you talking about!"

"No, I think people like Master who can accurately control their scores are stronger. It's not as difficult to get a perfect score as it is to get a consistent 60 points every time."

"...No, how do you know everything?"

"This is what Yumiko told me." Liumei blinked innocently and sold Yumiko out directly.

"What else did she tell you?"

"Uh, you threw the love letter a girl gave you in the trash? You slept through class and didn't pay attention?"

"...I don't think I need to set an example for you."

Liu Mei didn't have the nerve to tell Zhixian that she had never considered him a role model...

104. Resurrection! Platinum Combination! (I)

The practice match between Sobu High School and Seaside Comprehensive High School arrived as scheduled. Both the boys' and girls' tennis teams were training hard. After all, they were playing on Sobu's home court. While they couldn't completely defeat Seaside Comprehensive High School, they hoped to at least win as many matches as possible. Although Sobu's tennis club wasn't strong, they still wanted to show off in front of the entire school.

Because it is a training match conducted jointly by the men's and women's tennis teams, it will not follow the team competition system where the men's tennis team plays five games, the women's tennis team plays five games, and then there is a mixed doubles game at the end. A total of 11 games is really time-consuming, so after coordination between both sides, it was changed to one men's doubles, one women's doubles, then two men's singles and two women's singles, and finally a mixed doubles game.

Because the other team wanted Zhixian to play in the men's singles, they agreed that Zhixian would play first, with the mixed doubles scheduled for last. To avoid any potential disruption to Zhixian's performance, two doubles matches would be played after Zhixian's singles match, followed by the remaining singles matches. Otherwise, watching the other singles matches after Zhixian's match would be somewhat dull.

If Chixian and Yumiko weren't participating in the mixed doubles, both teams would have planned to schedule Chixian's singles match for last. However, considering Chixian and Yumiko's popularity within the school, it was fine to have the mixed doubles match last. After all, it was Sobu's home match. If it were Kaihin Comprehensive High School's home match, the order of the two matches could have been reversed.

Because she was very interested in the comeback debut of the "Platinum Combination", Rumi would also come to Sobu to watch. Because Chixian had to play the first match, the task of bringing Rumi to watch the match was given to Yumiko.

In addition, the coach will not appear because he has something to do, but he said that he will be present at all official competitions in the future. He is Zhixian's coach, and this identity will not change regardless of whether Zhixian plays singles or doubles.

"Yumiko!" Liu Mei waved at Yumiko from afar, her long ponytail swaying behind her head.

"Ah! Rumi-chan!" Yumiko also waved at Rumi.

"Hello, Rumi-chan!" Yuigahama also came to pick up Rumi. The girl with the bun-haired hair waved to Rumi happily.

"Who is this senior?" Liu Mei looked puzzled. "Have we ever met before?"

"Eh?" Yuigahama, who was originally excited, suddenly froze in place, and then said in a tone that was about to cry, "It's Yui! Yuigahama Yui! We haven't seen each other for only a month!"

"Actually, I was just kidding!" Liu Mei immediately revealed an expression of triumph over her evil scheme. "I remember, Yui-senpai!"

"Huh?" Heaven and hell are just a thought away, Yuigahama was dumbfounded.

"Really? I haven't learned anything else from Zhixian after spending so long, but I have learned a lot of bad intentions." Youmeiko couldn't help laughing, but her tone was more like praise than criticism.

Yuigahama also didn't expect that Rumi, who was no longer depressed, could be so lively.

After all, he is a primary school student!

"Then let's go. We won't miss the Master's match, right?"

"Of course not. After all, members of both teams still have to shake hands one by one before the game. It's just that Zhixian needs to warm up in advance." Youmiko explained.

"Will the master fight seriously today?"

"Even if he's not taking singles seriously, he can probably finish a match in ten minutes."

"Then it seems we should look forward to the doubles match between Master and Yumiko."

"Wait a minute, Master?" Yuigahama on the side was confused by the conversation between the two. Who was this master who suddenly appeared?

"Zhixian? Yui, you don't even remember this?" Youyouko asked curiously.

"Eh? Oh, really?" She only knew that Zhixian and Youmiko were teaching Liumei to play tennis, but she didn't know that Liumei would call Zhixian "master".

But the way of addressing someone as "master" is somehow cool!

----split line----

After settling Rumi in, Yumiko went to the locker room to change into a tennis skirt and then reunited with the other members of the club.

"You're just in time. Get ready to go on court and shake hands," said the head of the women's tennis department.

"Yeah." Yumiko nodded.

The tennis club members from both schools lined up and shook hands with each other.

Finally, the game is about to begin.

Zhixian took out a racket from Youmiko's tennis bag, swung it gently twice, and then put the racket he had just used for warm-up back into his own bag.

"Master, why do you want to change your racket?" Liu Mei was puzzled, and she didn't even use her own tennis racket.

"In order not to leave an indelible impression on the opponent." Zhixian shrugged. He had no interest in men's singles right now. He just wanted to play doubles as soon as possible, so he was worried that he would not be able to control himself and leave a deep psychological shadow on his opponent.