Ch 16. Solo Tennis
The two rushed all the way to Sobu High School, and as soon as they passed through the school gate, Yukinoshita uttered a word with a cold expression.
"Hoshimi?"
Hoshimi, who had been wandering far and wide without caring about his surroundings, subconsciously turned his attention to Yukinoshita's profile.
"Hand, let go." Yukinoshita squinted at Hoshimi, but her cold tone remained unchanged.
"Oh..." Hoshimi responded and released Yukinoshita's soft, white hand.
He hadn't paid much attention while holding it, but the moment he let go, he realized that Yukinoshita's little hand was genuinely soft, smooth, and tender.
As he released it suddenly, the warmth flowing from the palm of his hand made him feel a slight sense of reluctance.
"..."
As soon as their clasped hands parted, Yukinoshita's crescent eyebrows furrowed imperceptibly for a moment.
She raised her left hand, still clenched, grabbed the shoulder strap of her schoolbag, and walked towards the teaching building without uttering a word.
"What a ruthless woman..."
After Hoshimi mumbled something indistinctly, he lazily followed Yukinoshita.
"Jingle bell~~~"
The bell rang for the first class, and Yukinoshita and Hoshimi stepped into the classroom through the back door.
At the same time, the math teacher entered the classroom through the front door with the bell ringing.
"Click---"
The front and back doors of the classroom opened simultaneously. After seeing the math teacher at the front door, the students in the class all turned tacitly and looked at Yukinoshita and Hoshimi, who entered one after the other, with ambiguous expressions.
The students in the class looked at the two ambiguously, whispering to each other with bewildered smiles.
Seeing this situation, Hoshimi raised his brows slightly and knew what was going on without even thinking about it.
Thanks to the female high school students' gossiping ability, the misunderstanding between him and Yukinoshita this morning must have spread throughout the class.
It wouldn't be long before it spread throughout the entire grade and the whole school.
Thinking of this, Hoshimi raised his eyes and looked at Yukinoshita, who was already sitting in her seat.
Obviously, Yukinoshita had also noticed this issue, so this humanoid refrigerator was producing cold air and low air pressure with unprecedented efficiency.
Normally, Yukinoshita's demeanor would have instantly silenced the class.
But at this moment, the female high school students caught up in gossip and youthful ambiguity weren't so easily intimidated. They lowered their voices, their pretty faces flushed eagerly, and their eyes swept over Hoshimi from time to time.
"Class begins."
The mild-mannered math teacher didn't address the discipline issue, just picked up the chalk and began his lecture.
Amidst the students' whispers, the math teacher, who was about to retire, seemed exceptionally indifferent.
Hoshimi, who had no intention of listening to the class, ignored the high-powered refrigerator sitting next to him and observed the students in the class with great interest.
Occasionally, when he encountered some bold girls, he responded with a kind and polite smile.
After a round of observation was over, Hoshimi held his chin thoughtfully.
Class J of the second year of international education had many girls, and their quality was also very high.
Most of them showed a certain kindness towards him.
A small number were very bold and curious about him, eager to get close to him, perhaps to learn interesting news from him.
A very small number, just two girls, showed no interest in him or in the class gossip, concentrating seriously on studying and listening to the class.
As for the boys in Class J of the 2nd year, there were very few besides him, only three, and these three boys all harbored varying degrees of hostility towards him.
This hostility wasn't deep, probably just discomfort.
He knew very well why.
After all, he, a transfer student, had broken through to the untouchable "Flower of the High Mountain," Yukinoshita Yukino, just a day after arriving. At the same time, he had aroused discussions and interest among a large number of girls in the class.
Therefore, it was normal for these adolescents, whose minds were immature and largely controlled by hormones, to be hostile towards him.
But he wasn't worried. As time passed, the girls in the class would gradually lose their curiosity and discussions about him, and the hostility of those three boys would fade away along with it.
"Ha~~"
Hoshimi, resting his chin, yawned lazily.
He glanced at the dense mathematical formulas on the blackboard, squinted his eyes, and fell quietly asleep in the warm April sunshine.
In his previous life, he had been tired of studying and studying, but now that he had sufficient material conditions, let's be lazy...
Sleeping in class was truly a novel experience...
...
Time passed like water, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last class of the day.
In the final physical education class of the afternoon, when the teacher asked the two to freely form teams, Yukinoshita stood expressionlessly in front of Hoshimi and handed him a tennis racket.
"En?" Hoshimi maintained a polite smile and looked at Yukinoshita with some doubt.
"Do you dare to come?" Yukinoshita raised her tennis racket, a provocative sneer curling up at the corner of her mouth.
Hoshimi raised his brows slightly and instantly understood Yukinoshita's plan.
This woman wanted to challenge him to a solo tennis match to humiliate him.
To have such an idea, it seemed Yukinoshita was very confident in her tennis skills.
Coincidentally, Yukinoshita's move hit the mark. He knew nothing about tennis except the basic rules.
While he could hold his own in basketball, table tennis, and badminton, tennis might prove challenging even to serve properly.
So...
"Come."
Hoshimi smiled and took the tennis racket without fear.
What was there to fear? It was just tennis. Even if he lost, it wouldn't be shameful.
Besides, it wasn't certain who would win or lose.
"Heh~ Hoshimi, I'm going to beat you all over the court."
Seeing Hoshimi take the racket, Yukinoshita smiled. The smile was unusually sweet; under the sun, her shallow dimples and cute canine teeth were alluring.
Hoshimi couldn't help but want to poke her dimples.
Surprisingly, this little girl had dimples and canine teeth when she smiled, something he hadn't noticed before.
Yukinoshita had never smiled in front of him before; even when she did, it was mostly a sneer. This was the first time she had shown such a sweet smile.
It wasn't bad; it would be even better if the malice implied in that smile could be removed.
"Okay, I'll do my best to cooperate."
Hoshimi turned the racket and walked nonchalantly towards the tennis court nearby.
"Tsk..."
Seeing Hoshimi's relaxed attitude, Yukinoshita couldn't help but click her tongue lightly.
This guy had completely different temperaments in his dreams and in reality. He was vile and arrogant in his dreams, a model villain.
In reality, he became gentle and laid-back. She didn't understand what this guy was pretending to be.
Sooner or later, she would strip away his disguise, expose his dark side to the sun, and disinfect it!
"Hey, Yukinoshita, why are you still standing there? Scared?"
Already in position on the court, Hoshimi noticed Yukinoshita was still standing and casually taunted her with his racket raised.
"Tsk~"
Picking up her racket, Yukinoshita walked towards the tennis court with a frosty expression.
Today, she would freeze that sloppy expression off Hoshimi's face!