Chapter 283: Hikigaya Hachiman's Condition
"Here it comes!"
The moment she saw Hikigaya Hachiman pick up the tennis ball, Miura Yumiko's nerves immediately pulled taut to their limit.
"Miura, is it really necessary to be this tense?"
Although Miura Yumiko's prior warning had made Hayama Hayato somewhat wary of Hikigaya, in his mind, they were all just high school students. Even if Hikigaya was great at tennis, was there truly a need to be this high-strung?
Bang!
The sharp whistle of a tennis ball being struck at high velocity tore through the air toward them.
"So fast!"
Hayama, who had been momentarily distracted talking to Miura, felt a blur pass before his eyes. Before he could react, the ball had already zipped past him.
"So it really is like this..."
Sensing the sheer speed of the ball's movement, a trace of realization appeared on Miura Yumiko's face. Because Yukinoshita was involved, Hikigaya Hachiman clearly had no intention of holding back.
After scoring an ace on the serve, he immediately followed up with the second ball...
"Forty-Zero! Game set, switching sides!"
Accompanied by Yuigahama Yui's announcement that the game was over, the onlookers fell into a stunned silence.
"You've got to be kidding, right? That was only four serves!"
Ooka stared in disbelief at the court, where Hayama Hayato and Miura Yumiko—two people everyone had high hopes for—looked utterly helpless. In that last game, the two tennis experts hadn't even managed to touch the ball before they lost!
"I say, could you go a little easy on us?"
During the brief halftime break, Miura Yumiko approached the net, looking at Hikigaya Hachiman with a resentful gaze. Though she had known since stepping onto the court that winning was impossible, she at least wanted them to not lose so embarrassingly.
Doing this might vent some frustration, but it wouldn't bring Hikigaya any benefits. After all, Hayama Hayato was the "dream prince" for almost every girl in the school. If Hikigaya made Hayama lose too miserably, she couldn't guarantee what those irrational girls might do.
Furthermore, while Hikigaya might not fear their retaliation given his strength, Yuigahama Yui—who was allied with him and Yukinoshita—could very easily be caught in the crossfire.
"Sorry. I'll pay more attention," Hachiman replied to Miura quite politely. After all, she hadn't been involved in the earlier provocation; she had only joined the match at the end to help Hayama.
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"Game set! Match!"
As the tennis ball grazed the edge of Miura Yumiko's racket, the referee, Yuigahama Yui, announced the final victory of Hikigaya Hachiman's team.
"That guy didn't pay attention to my warning at all!"
Miura Yumiko stared blankly at the ball rolling past her toes, then turned a look of pure indignation toward Hachiman. What was that last shot? It changed its trajectory twice in mid-air? He definitely used some sort of power to cheat, right?!
Clap, clap, clap...
Unlike the gloom in Miura's heart, Hayama Hayato, who had also been dazed by Hachiman's final shot, immediately began to applaud once he regained his senses.
"Although I really didn't like your previous way of handling things, your tennis skills are truly incredible."
"Well, it's whatever..." Hachiman appeared indifferent to Hayama's praise. After all, that last shot was something he could only pull off without using spiritual power at a specific time around noon.
"Then, as agreed, since I lost the match, you may set one condition."
Hayama accepted his defeat gracefully. Although he regretted that the chance to have Yukinoshita help him had vanished, he kept his verbal promise to let Hachiman name a condition.
"Do you remember a girl named Isshiki Iroha?"
"Isshiki Iroha? She was the manager of our football club, but she was recently dismissed by the captain for some reasons."
"Then, as a condition, can you get her back into the football club?"
"If it's just letting her return to the club, that's naturally no problem. But..." Hayama's face showed a hint of trouble. From his perspective, Hikigaya didn't know the real reason Isshiki had been dismissed.
Actually, everyone in the football club felt bad about the departure of their junior, Isshiki. But...
"She has various adverse reactions whenever she steps onto the field. If that problem isn't solved, even if the club passes a unanimous vote, Isshiki-kohai herself would likely refuse, wouldn't she?"
"Her problem has been solved."
Seeing Hayama's rare moment of hesitation, Hachiman told a small lie. He intended to find Isshiki Iroha later to repair the suggestion he had left in her consciousness, so in reality, it wasn't a big deal.
"Is that true? If that's the case, we would certainly welcome her back to continue as manager." Hearing that Isshiki's symptoms were cured, Hayama was genuinely happy for her, even though they weren't very close.
Hayama then looked up, a smile playing on his lips. "As expected, I didn't misjudge you, Hikigaya-kun..."
"Huh?"
"Isshiki-kohai's matter... she must have gone to the Service Club to ask for your help, right?"
Since he didn't know about the private deal between Hachiman and Isshiki, and knowing Hachiman was part of the Service Club, Hayama naturally filled in the blanks. He imagined a scenario where Isshiki, after solving her symptoms, wanted to return to the club but was too shy to speak up, and thus turned to the Service Club for help.
"To put so much heart into a request from a stranger... Hikigaya, you really are a kind person!"
'No, no, no, you've got the fundamental premise of the situation completely wrong!'
Looking at Hayama's expression—which said "I misjudged you before, you're actually a great guy"—Hachiman was screaming internally. If he hadn't agreed to the condition of helping Isshiki Iroha pursue Hayama, he wouldn't have bothered with that little-devil-like girl at all.
Besides, his help was entirely motivated by a sense of guilt, okay? After all, he was the one who caused her to be afraid of entering the field in the first place...
What does this have to do with being "kind"?!
However, Hayama Hayato, now convinced he had misunderstood Hachiman, gave him no chance to explain. After apologizing to the four of them on behalf of Tobe and promising to speak to the captain this afternoon about Isshiki's return, Hayama led his companions toward the infirmary.
"Come to think of it... why did Tobe-kun wait until now to go to the infirmary?" Watching Hayama and the others walk away, this question suddenly popped into Yuigahama Yui's mind.
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