We walked together arm in arm until we reached the tennis inner courts of located in one of the sports halls.

Maybe not until because she was still clutching me.

"Let's go to the equipment room." She said as she was leading me on.

When she opened the equipment room, I could not help but be amazed at the sheer quantity of the tennis exclusive equipment which was in there. From tennis nets to racquets and balls and other equipment I never knew anything about.

We reached to the racquets section and she motioned me to choose any one I would like.

Since I didn't know anything, I just picked the closest one.

"Are you sure you want to use that type?"

"There are different types?"

"Yes." Then she finally released me.

"There are three types of racquets you can use." She was selecting a few from the many similar I saw.

"First of all, the one you chose is called a control racquet and I wouldn't recommend it since you are a beginner." She began to explain to me whilst demonstrating with the racquet in hand.

"This whole part with the strings is called the head and the midsection with the gap between is called the throat whilst the section you use to hold the racquet is the handle. These racquets tend to be heavier with smaller head sizes and lean on your skill as the player to strike the ball with accuracy and execute well-controlled shots. Since you are a newbie, it's the worst choice for you right now."

"Next we have the power racquets." She changed the racquet she had in hand.

"These ones as you can see have large heads and they are also lightweight which makes them easy to maneuver which in turn makes you as a player to be able to afford a higher margin of error when swinging to hit the ball. Power also comes easily which is helpful when you are learning to develop your own technique. As a starter I recommend you to start with this one. Also these were the ones I used when I started playing tennis and they are very effective."

"Are there any more I should know about?"

"Of course. Last but not least, we have the tweener racquets." She changed into another racquet again.

"This is the type of racquet that I'm currently using because they strike a perfect balance between control and power racquets providing a balanced set of attributes that serve many styles and levels of play."

I simply nodded in understanding at her enthusiasm.

"Here, take this one." She handed me the power racquet and I started swinging it back and forth and she was right. Despite the large size, it was unbelievably light.

And it was definitely fun to swing as I started swinging it in all directions relentlessly.

What I failed to notice was that she had turned away from me and bent down in order to pick the balls we were going to use and by the time I realized it, it came swinging down with vigorous force directly at her exposed ass for all to see which was upright.

-Whack!

"!"

"Uhh…"

After a momentary pause, she continued picking up the balls.

"Uhh… Sayumi?"

"You can go to the court first. I'll follow you after I finish setting up the equipment."

"About tha-"

"You can go and practice swinging all you want outside there. I'll join you in a sec."

Seems like she's avoiding me from saying anything.

If that's the case, then I'll head out.

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The moment I did, I heard the door behind me being shut tight.

Guess she must be mad.

It was at this time that I headed to the tennis court and… saw lines I never knew about.

I heard the door being opened again which was a clear sign that maybe she had calmed down, and she dragged a bag filled with balls and other equipment and afterwards came to where I was.

"By the way, I'm using a control racquet to make things easier for you. You don't have to worry about crying." She smiled at me.

"As if!" I retorted.

"Are you going to be wearing your school uniform?" She asked me clearly scrutinizing me.

"Sure, why not."

It's not like it's a strenuous sport anyway.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"I'm fine."

"What about your shoes?"

"I said I'm fine."

"If you say so."

"First of all, I'm going to show you how to hit a ball. I'm pretty sure you have watched tennis before at least once, right?"

"Yeah I have."

"For starters…"

She let go of the ball she was holding as it descended in free fall vertically before it bounced and shot upwards. Before it even paused midair, it was brutally shot by her racquet as it hit the wall which was a bit further from us by the way, then it came bouncing back in rapid successive motions.

What the f-?

"Oops. I'm still not used to this racquet yet."

"…"

"I'll try again."

Then she repeated the same motions but this time, her hit was beautiful as the ball flew in a clean smooth crescent upwards then back down to the other side of the court.

Her swing, her body language, they were like a perfect dance as her ponytail swayed in correspondence to her fluid motions.

"Beautiful." I said aloud.

"Stop that. You'll make me shy."

"But it was."

"Thanks. But I still have lots of room to improve."

"Aren't you the current girls champion of all junior highs in our province?"

"I was but last time I became second because of my silly mistakes. It still frustrates me."

So that's why she stays late.

"Here. Just copy the movements I just showed you." Then she handed me another ball.

Okay.

I already saw her do it twice.

How hard could it be?

Then I let the ball bounce once on the ground and tried to imitate her fluid movements.

Since my school shoes had no grip, the moment I started swinging the racquet, I could feel myself sliding forward along with my movements which made the trajectory of the ball to shoot upwards spinning inconsistently and I felt my whole body colliding against the hard smooth floor.

Sayumi caught the ball with her racquet and started playing ping pong with it until she stopped.

"Sorry are you hurt?"

She crouched down right beside my head.

I opened my eyes only to be hit by the realization that she wasn't wearing built-in shorts but instead built-in panties in close proximity to my face and I caught a whiff of her sweat from hard labor.

"I'm fine but could you please move away a bit."

"I'm concerned for you and now you are still trying to push me away."

Is she really oblivious that she's exposing her inner thighs to me nonchalantly this close?

"I'm not trying to push you away its just you are showing me too much."

"Too much?"

Then she took notice of my point and immediately backed away with a red face as her butt hit the floor trying to cover her front part which also did zero contribution to her actions, losing the racquet and ball which were in her hands.

This girl.

How is she so…

I know I shouldn't say it again despite having mentioned it a couple of times but damn…

She. Is. So. Cute!

She was so cute I couldn't resist teasing her back.

"If you continue acting cute, I won't resist the urge to hug you again."

"No you wo-." She paused mid-sentence like she couldn't find the exact words to say anymore, leading her to incoherently blushing even more.

She was failing to look even look at me properly.

I still haven't forgotten the emotional attacks she sent me this morning.

No matter how high my defenses were, she did the most unreasonable shocking thing to a guy.

Meaning I have to fight back at every chance that I can get.

And I still have fond memories of that scene which is still fresh in my mind.

I stood up.

"How long are you going to keep sitting there? Didn't you want a sparring partner to train with?"

She wanted to look at me, but as her gaze met mine, she looked down coyly.

That's new.

Nevertheless, we are wasting too much time.

So I walked up to her and went behind her and started to lift her up through her armpits and she flinched.

"Hey, stop acting like a baby and stand up will ya."

"Right."

After I helped her to stand up and let her go, she began to fall backwards as she leaned onto my chest and I reflexively caught her as I wrapped my arms around her slender waist.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I can't feel any strength in my legs."

"Then let me help you to sit down somewhere until you recover."

"No."

"What?"

"I think… I want to stay like this a little more." She said as she was leaning more onto my chest.

She wants us to stay like this?

When I felt like she was about to fall off again, I squeezed her a bit tighter around her waist.

There it was again.

That strange atmosphere.

The only thing audible were our breaths through the whole sports hall as she was pressed against me.

I began to feel my pulse quicken at this precarious situation.

No!

Stop lamenting over useless thoughts.

I hope she recovers her strength quickly.

Unfortunately for me, she turned her head to face me and I could feel her breath tickling against my neck.

Her eyes stared at my face, and the corners of her eyes were slightly wet with tears which appeared seductive and any guy in the school would kill for.

In response, I acted as if I was enchanted.

We were both too caught up in the atmosphere of our own small world as everything else became non-existent except for both our eyes which were staring deep into each other as if boring into each other's souls.

Albeit slowly, our faces began to near each other, our breaths tickling each other's faces.

We were now so intimate to the point where our noses were touching each other, each individual exuding a certain level of consent to the notion of it.