After a simple tour around the campus, everyone headed toward the tennis courts.
There were still fifteen minutes before the matches started, yet the area was already crowded. Some people were there to cheer for their classmates, others simply came to watch the games.
And then there were the boys, whose purpose was very… straightforward:
Girls in tennis outfits.
For example, in the direction Ichin's group was looking—there stood Yukino, dressed in a white athletic outfit, her tall and slender figure drawing countless eyes.
While Yukino warmed up, the area outside the metal fence near her was filled almost entirely with boys. Only a small section had a few girls—who Ichin recognized as Yukino's classmates.
Holding onto Ichin's arm, Utaha glanced toward the court. "We can't go in, you know. Only participants are allowed inside."
"We can go in."
Ichin pointed toward two students standing with the PE teachers. "Those two are seniors from our department, part of the student council. I know them. I'll see if they can let you in. Yukino seems to be alone over there—she'll need someone handling logistics for her."
"That's true."
Utaha nodded, then patted his shoulder. "But Ichin, you handle the logistics. I'll just cheer her on from here."
"You're not going in?"
Ichin didn't mind. He pulled out his phone, called one of the student council seniors, and easily got clearance before walking inside to where Yukino was.
Yukino noticed him entering and looked surprised. "How did you get in?"
"I'm here to help with your support team." Ichin smiled. "Do you have drinks prepared for after the match? And towels?"
"I have a towel. As for drinks, I only brought a bottle of water."
"Water isn't enough."
Ichin took out his phone again and called a few classmates—guys who were free and planning to go around the sports festival taking pictures of girls.
They initially refused, saying they were watching the girls' high jump.
But when Ichin mentioned that there were lots of cute juniors warming up for the tennis tournament, they instantly agreed.
Within minutes, they arrived and handed him three bottles of sports drink.
Ichin placed the drinks into Yukino's bag. "Alright, drinks secured. I'll take your water—didn't bring anything for myself. Which match number are you?"
"Third match."
After adjusting her outfit, Yukino continued, "Has my sister not arrived yet?"
"Haruno-nee? When we left home she hadn't set out yet, but by now she should be here."
Just as he said that, an energetic voice came from outside the court.
"Yukino-chan~~ Your big sister is here! Do your best!"
"…"
Yukino turned toward the voice. Sure enough, over near Utaha's group stood Haruno—holding a video camera high above her head.
"Figures. I told her not to bring the camera, and she still brought it."
Ichin laughed. "Come on, you know you can't stop Haruno-nee. Just let her do what she wants. And it's a rare sports festival—recording it isn't a bad thing. Anyway, they're starting. Let's watch."
The first round of the preliminaries began. The boys' and girls' matches ran simultaneously, so Ichin and Yukino naturally focused on the girls' side.
In the very first match, Yukino immediately spotted a third-year from the tennis club. She muttered softly, "From what I know, every girl in the tennis club is participating. If I win my first match, I'll face one of them in the second round."
"Hm~~ got it."
Ichin nodded and glanced at the ongoing match. It was completely one-sided. The tennis club girl was good—but still miles below Yukino's level.
As for her opponent, she was clearly just a casual rookie here for fun. She couldn't fight back at all.
Still, she was cute, her outfit was nice, and she had slender legs—watching her run was… not unpleasant.
Judging from the cheering around them, she seemed to have plenty of fanboys too.
That's amusing.
Because the preliminaries were only one short game, the first match ended quickly.
When it was Yukino's turn, she took a deep breath, picked up her racket, and walked to her court. Ichin grabbed her bag and followed to serve as her support.
Her first opponent was a second-year girl who looked fairly confident. Whether her skills matched that confidence was another matter.
Since it was a single short game, each side got two serves per turn.
After the coin toss, Yukino served first.
Standing at the baseline, Yukino looked at her opponent, bounced the ball twice with her left hand, then tossed it high into the air.
Seeing her movement, the girl on the other side immediately felt something was wrong.
A second later—
"Bang!"
The ball shot forward at astonishing speed, hit the baseline, and slammed into the back net.
The teacher acting as referee froze for a moment before calling out:
"ACE! 15–0!"
"OHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The crowd erupted.
Even students who knew Yukino—but had never seen her play tennis—were stunned.
Yukino, on the other hand, was completely calm. She took out another ball and began her second serve.
She had warmed up thoroughly, and her stamina was at peak level. Serving a few power shots like this was nothing to her.
Unsurprisingly, the second shot was another clean ace—30–0.
When it was her opponent's turn to serve, the girl wasn't bad, but compared to Yukino she had absolutely no advantage. She was immediately shut out, and Yukino won the first match without even breaking a sweat.
Back on the sidelines, Ichin handed her a towel. After Yukino wiped the light sheen of sweat from her forehead, he passed her a bottle with the cap already opened.
"Thanks."
After two gulps, Yukino glanced toward her sister. Sure enough, Haruno was pointing the camera at her, smiling brightly. When Yukino looked her way, she even began waving enthusiastically.
Since Haruno hadn't shouted anything else after her initial call, Yukino couldn't be bothered to stop her and simply rested to prepare for her next match.
Throughout the morning, Yukino had three matches. Aside from the second match—where she had to put in more effort to defeat a skilled fourth-year tennis club member—the other two were as easy as the first. She smoothly advanced to the afternoon round.
If she won the two afternoon matches, she would enter tomorrow's top eight. And if things went well, she'd play two matches in the morning and the finals in the afternoon.
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