Youthful Days (Book 1)

4. Profiling

"Fuji, where did you go?"

Upon entering the court, Fuji was intercepted by the team captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu. The sun shone from behind him, casting layers of shadow over his face.

"Sorry, Tezuka. I was helping a freshman."

"A freshman?!" Hearing this, the happy-go-lucky senior, Kikumaru Eiji, bounded over, his curly red hair bouncing. "Ah, I know! Was it that cute girl peeking into our courts earlier?"

Receiving a nod from Fuji, Eiji threw a playful punch at his friend's shoulder. "Lucky you! She's really cute—really! Damn!"

Tezuka crossed his arms over his chest. "A freshman girl? That's why you left practice?"

Fuji didn't answer right away.

How to explain himself?

He and Eiji were in the middle of their standard practice rally, catching up after a brief spring holiday. That was when he spotted Ayuna standing at the edge of their court. Her face was half-concealed by shade from the cherry blossom trees, and she was looking in yet trying to stay inconspicuous at the same time. She had shoulder-length ebony hair that was left unbundled, their relaxed curls swinging in the evening breeze. Capturing the last glimmer of the sun, her irises seemed to be dotted with rainbow specks.

Fuji missed his shot. Eiji jumped up and down for taking a point.

Maybe it was because she was so obviously a newcomer, or maybe it was because her allure was too dazzling to ignore... Fuji didn't know. What struck him was the muted glow of her face in the dusk. He had never seen eyes with such fresh clarity.

Putting the rally on hold, he walked out on his friend like a string was pulling him.

At the end of his reminiscence, Fuji returned to his usual smiling self. "It turns out she isn't just any freshman. Not only is she the one who made it into the girls' badminton team, but she's also in the same class as Echizen."

"Eh?! You're kidding!" Eiji exclaimed, whirling his head around to look at Ryoma, who seemed oblivious of their conversation. "What an unbelievable coincidence!"

"That's what I thought. It's difficult to believe it isn't all pre-arranged."

Shifting his attention to Tezuka, whose face was still as a stone, Fuji said, "With all these exceptions, it seems like we're going to have an interesting season, don't you think?"

Tezuka uncrossed his arms, nonchalant. "Exceptions or not, my concern is only for the tennis team and making it to the national tournaments."

"Of course."

"Go back to practice, Fuji," said Tezuka, more sternly this time. "You too, Kikumaru."

Ryoma focused on tying his shoelaces so the seniors wouldn't realize that he'd overheard their entire conversation. So the Hanamachi girl had tried to track him down. He didn't know whether he should call her determined or self-important to constantly butt into his business. Even so, Ryoma surprisingly didn't feel repelled by the idea of being sought out and seeing her more often.

There was one thing Kikumaru Eiji was right about: she was cute, he could no longer deny it. Ryoma didn't care much except for tennis and winning up until this point in life. But he was still a teenage boy. Having someone like Hanamachi Ayuna paying attention to him was more than flattering.

Like it or not, he had to admit that they seemed to have too much in common just to call it chance.

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