Chapter 96: The Confrontation with Kumiko
That night, Yafeng received a call from Cheng Mei.
"Cheng Mei, how is Jiu Mei?"
"Some can't be accepted, but overall it's okay."
Yakaze hung her head in shame, feeling that she had wronged Hisae, having told her to do her best but...
"Yafeng, don't blame yourself. I understand that you didn't do it on purpose and you're not wrong either. However, if possible, I hope you can play a match against Hisae tomorrow and please make sure to win her over. That way, she'll probably be able to accept it."
The next morning, Gao Feng went to the tennis court where he had agreed with He Chengmei. When he saw the Ijūin sisters already there, Gao Feng forced a smile and said: "Sorry, I'm late."
Hisagi turned his head and didn't mind Yafeng, but Mei smiled slightly and said: "No, it's just that Hisagi and I came too early."
"Are you done yet? If we're going to compete, let's hurry up." Kumiko said loudly to Narumi.
"Ah, of course, is Ya Feng ready?"
Sei knew that Hisae hadn't figured out how to face Yafeng yet, so she didn't mind telling Yafeng and gave her a look indicating that she shouldn't worry about it.
"Ah, let's get started."
"Hey, Jumi, I'm not sure if I can play a full match with you due to my physical condition. How about we just play a tiebreaker instead? Is that okay with you?"
Hisami didn't answer and directly walked to the other side of the court, assuming a ready stance.
The first ball was served by Yafeng, and looking at Kumiko on the other side, Yafeng felt a sense of guilt in her heart. However, thinking about Niji and Narumi's words, Yafeng knew that she absolutely could not avoid it, so she decided to accept Narumi's opinion and use all her strength to play against Kumiko, using her abilities to prove that she was worthy of being with Niji. Therefore, for the first ball, Yafeng used her most familiar "True Serve" - a serve that was invisible to the opponent.
Watching the ball flying towards herself at high speed but disappearing at the moment she swung her racket, Hisami was a bit dazed.
"Yafeng wins, 1:0."
Naomi's serve brought Kumiko's thoughts back, she looked at Yafeng seriously with her eyes downcast, then warned herself in her heart that she absolutely could not underestimate the enemy and must cheer up. Although she had always known that Yafeng played tennis, after hearing about her age and seeing her work as a manager of the tennis department, Kumiko had always thought that Yafeng's tennis skills were absolutely incomparable to those of current players like herself and Naomi. But from this ball, she knew that Yafeng's strength was not simple at all.
Watching Kumi's serious expression, Yafeng also warned himself to cheer up. Although Kumi's strength is not even half of those in his school tennis club, she has been playing for many years and is a current player who can be counted as one of the top players in the junior high school girls' tennis world, so he definitely cannot relax.
Kumiko picked up the ball and glanced at Yagami before tossing it upwards, crouching down to jump and swing her racket in one swift motion, unleashing a powerful serve with both speed and strength. She knew that physical strength and power were Yagami's two biggest weaknesses.
Yafeng saw the fast-approaching serve and didn't panic, after all, Kumi's serve was fast but compared to Chihaya's irregular serve, it was still a small trick. She calmly returned the ball to Kumi's foot, not expecting Yafeng to return the ball to her own feet. By the time Kumi saw where the ball landed, she had lost the best timing for hitting the ball, so this point was also taken by Yafeng without any suspense.
"Yafeng wins 2:0."
The third ball, Miyabi's invisible serve still couldn't be returned by Kumi, but she was able to see the trajectory of the ball and react in time. Miyabi inwardly praised Kumi's strong observational skills and reaction ability, worthy of a current player. The probability that Kumi would return the next ball was 90%.
"Yah Feng wins 3:0."
The fourth ball, Kumiko was more careful than the previous one, and the ball she sent out was faster. After Yafeng's return, she immediately reacted at the best return point and returned the ball to Yafeng's foot blind spot, which had a bit of a taste of using her opponent's method against her. However, Yafeng didn't seem surprised or flustered by this return. Instead, she quickly retreated her left foot one step back and then returned it just as the ball was about to bounce up, while Kumiko, who hadn't expected Yafeng to add power to the half-volley, hit the ball into the net.
"Yah Feng wins 4:0."
Facing Ya Feng's overwhelming momentum, Rie's eyes became increasingly fierce. She absolutely could not lose, absolutely.
Yafeng changed his mind to continue with the invisible serve and engage in a decisive battle with Kumiko, but the result was not unexpected. Kumiko saw through the ball's trajectory this time and returned it to Yafeng at the best hitting point, and it was an unexpectedly short ball. Since Yafeng was too far away from the ball, he could only watch as it fell to the ground and sigh.
"Kumiko wins 4:1."
Encouraged by getting the ball, Kumiko's third ball was even more precise than the previous two. Yagihara didn't dare to be careless and ended this ball directly with Ryota's beam shot.
"Yah Feng wins 5:1."
Sei's voice was shaking, although she had known that Gafu was very strong, and would know many of Shinoda-senpai and Kirihara-senpai's special moves, but she hadn't thought that she could also use Ryūjin-senpai's Beam Cannon, although the speed and power weren't as good as Ryūjin-senpai's, it was indeed Ryūjin-senpai's Beam Cannon.
Yafeng gripped the tennis ball tightly again after regaining serve, thinking that Kumi's previous short shot was perfect. In her mind, she recalled what Narumi said on the phone yesterday, "Please be sure to win against Kumi, the bigger the score difference, the faster Kumi will come to a realization."
Yah Feng's four fingers are bent inward, exerting force upward and then jumping up to swing the racket. Not a single drag or water stain is left behind. This is Yah Feng's most familiar and lethal serve.
Seeing almost sticking to his own cheek, Goto's serve passed by again and he was stunned once more.
Cheng Mei was also a bit dazed, but she quickly came back to her senses and gave Yafeng a grateful smile. She knew that Yafeng had already decided to seriously play the next few balls well, after all, Qieyuan's specialty was Yafeng's best skill. If she used Qieyuan's irregular serve, it meant she was really serious.
"Yah Feng wins 6:1."
In the midst of a beautiful serve, Kumiko woke up and scorned herself, then gazed at Yafeng with an even more serious and determined look. She absolutely could not lose, absolutely. So for the last ball, Kumiko almost used all her strength and explosive power.
Watching Kumi's serve, which was almost as fast as Chiharu's, Yafeng silently praised her potential, indeed strong. However, such a serve was not enough to intimidate Yafeng, who often played against Chiharu. To give Kumi the final blow, Yafeng directly returned a high lob. Seeing Kumi's powerful spike, Yafeng slightly raised the corner of his mouth and directly countered with a giant bear smash.
Looking at Kusumi's petrified expression, Fudou felt a bit guilty, but using the unbeatable technique to deliver the final blow would make her realize it sooner. Although this shot wasn't taught by Nii, but rather his own Kansai Wolf older brother, in Kusumi's heart, she would directly associate this shot with Nii anyway.
"Yah Feng wins 7:1."
Narumi looked at the completed score sheet, still in a daze, and then walked towards Kaze. She spoke softly to him, "Kaze, thank you."
"Nowhere, I hope this is really useful."
"It will definitely be useful, Yafeng must believe me, and also trust Kumi." Shoumei said, not wanting Yafeng to have too much pressure in her heart.
"I hope so."
Hisakawa also reacted when Kaze and Narumi were talking, looking at Kaze with a gaze full of resentment but not as sharp as yesterday. She said to Kaze in a hurry: "One day I will defeat you, definitely."
"Hey, Yasukaze, don't worry anymore, Kumimi has already moved on."
Yah Feng also smiled and let go, yes, that girl still had some resentment but she had already put it down, her gaze at herself no longer had the hatred and sorrow of yesterday.
"Yah Wind, thanks for today, I'll take my leave now. Hisae probably needs a worthy opponent to vent her frustration on right about now."
"Ah, go ahead."