Thwack!
"Game set! Match won by..."
The umpire's call rang out, announcing Hayato's victory.
"Kyaaaa!!"
"Hayato-kuuun!!!"
"Ha-ya-to! Ha-ya-to!"
Man... he was as popular as ever.
Well, I suppose it was only natural given that he had the looks and the athletic talent to match. Come to think of it, hadn't he worked as a reader model for a magazine once?
After stepping off the court and gathering his gear, he headed toward the waiting room, raising the hand holding his racket toward the stands to acknowledge his win.
"""Kyaaaa!"""
"He just made eye contact with me!"
"What are you talking about? That was for me!"
"Keep dreaming!"
They weren't wrong... but that look had been directed entirely at me (lol).
Once summer vacation started, the athletic clubs got busy with matches and tournaments. The tennis club was no exception. Today was an important match, so both Sara-senpai and I had come to cheer him on.
Besides, though it wasn't the only reason we were here, we were planning to meet up with Natsumi-senpai afterward to talk about the fireworks festival. For the actual cheering, we had split up: I was rooting for Hayato, while Sara-senpai went to support Natsumi-senpai.
Hayato still had his fan club (Natsumi-senpai probably had one too), but maybe because it was summer vacation, it felt like their numbers had grown since last time.
"Wait! No way!?"
"Why? Why is Hayato-kun coming over here?"
"Oh my god, this is bad."
"Haa... he's so cool..."
The area around me suddenly grew loud as Hayato made a beeline for my section of the stands.
"Hayato-kun, that was an amazing match!"
"Thanks. I was in good form today."
"Hayato-kun, next time, could you—"
"Sorry, I'm pretty swamped with tennis right now."
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"
"If you didn't come to support the team, then just go home..."
"Ah, it's fine. Thanks for always cheering me on."
Hayato responded to the girls with a practiced smile, but I could see the "this is such a pain" look hidden underneath. He broke through the crowd of girls and finally reached me.
"Hey there, Mr. Popular. Still at the top of your game, I see."
When I called out to him, Hayato broke into a broad grin and raised his hand. He was clearly looking for a high-five. It was a bit embarrassing—not really my style... but it would be a shame to leave him hanging.
Clap!
The sound of our high-five echoed.
This was a little awkward... I guess being able to do stuff like this naturally without getting shy was exactly why he was so popular.
"Thanks for coming, Kazunari!"
Hayato thanked me with a genuine, happy smile. He still prioritized his male friends over everything else—even if he did look like a total playboy.
"I’m finally starting to get the hang of the rules. It’s actually pretty fun to watch."
"That’s great! If you’re interested, you can join the club anytime. We'd have a blast."
My words seemed to genuinely please him, and Hayato looked a bit excited. No, that was definitely asking too much.
"I’ll pass on that. An athletic club is out of the question for me."
"I think you'd enjoy it. Besides, I bet Natsumi-senpai would be happy if you started playing, and I can totally see Satsukawa-senpai volunteering to be your exclusive manager, right?"
...Actually, I had a feeling Sara-senpai would be delighted to do exactly that. No, no—that would just be adding to her workload, and more importantly, I just wasn't cut out for it.
"No, I'm still going to pass. I’d rather just enjoy watching you play."
"I'm honestly happy to hear that. Alright, I'll give it my all in the next match so you can enjoy that one too!"
The fact that he could say things like that so earnestly was why he was such a good guy. But it would be counterproductive if he spent all his time worrying about me instead of appealing to Natsumi-senpai. Given our recent trip, I hoped I could give him some support during the upcoming fireworks festival.
"Well, I'm heading back to the waiting room."
"Sure thing. I'm looking forward to the next one."
"Leave it to me!"
He struck a pose with his fist out. A handsome guy really looked like a movie star no matter what he did... the fans around us were desperately snapping photos.
I watched him until he disappeared toward the waiting room, then started gathering my things to go meet up with Sara-senpai. That's when someone suddenly spoke to me.
"...Um, are you Yokokawa-kun's friend?"
"You two seemed really close!"
They had clearly seen our interaction, so I couldn't exactly deny it.
"Ah—well, yeah, we're friends..."
"I knew it! Come talk with us for a bit!"
"Eh? No, I'm about to go..."
Their ulterior motives were so transparent it was almost repulsive. I really didn't care for people like this.
"Oh, is your right hand injured? Here, let me carry your bag for you!"
One of them reached out for my bag, which was sitting on the seat.
"Hey, wait..."
As I started to reach out with my right arm to stop her, another hand swept in from the side and snatched up the bag before she could touch it.
"Ah..."
Thinking I'd messed up, I looked at the person who had grabbed my luggage. It was Sara-senpai. She was smiling, though I hadn't even noticed her approach.
"Honestly... haven't I told you time and again that you mustn't use your right hand?"
She scolded me lightly as she shifted the bag firmly into both of her hands.
"I will carry the luggage. Now, Kazunari-san, shall we go have lunch?"
She pressed in close to my side and urged me along with a sweet smile.
"Wait, hey, this person was going to talk with us—"
"Be quiet. Are you still here?"
Sara-senpai's tone shifted instantly. Her expression changed as well; the lovely smile I adored vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp-eyed stare.
"Do you really want to get close to a man so badly that you would resort to such vile fawning? Then go find some local womanizer to play with. You'd be a perfect match."
It looked like Sara-senpai had entered her long-dormant Sharp-tongued Mode. She’d mentioned before how much she loathed women who used people just to get to other men.
"If you have something to say, say it to the person in question directly. And do not ever approach us again."
Overwhelmed by Sara-senpai's sheer intensity, the two girls were completely cowed. They couldn't utter a single word.
"Kazunari-san, let's go."
Returning to her gentle tone, Sara-senpai suddenly took my arm, linking hers with mine as she pulled me along.
"S-Sara-senpai, you don't have to pull, I'm coming."
I couldn't recall Sara-senpai ever being this forceful about leading me away. Thinking it was unusual, I looked at her face... and saw her pouting magnificently.
"U-Um... Sara-senpai?"
"If those people are being a nuisance, you need to say so clearly. Otherwise, you'll just be swept along. Letting them get that close to you..."
Uh... was she angry, or was she just sulking?
"Um... Sara-senpai, are you perhaps—"
"I don't know... Kazunari-san, you dummy."
Apparently, she was cross that I hadn't given them a firm rejection and had almost let them walk all over me.
She'd probably get mad if I said it out loud, but I couldn't help thinking she was incredibly cute when she was like this.