"Swoosh!"
Haizaki Shogo gently sent the basketball through the net. The whistle sounded — the intra-team scrimmage was over.
Everyone gathered together, waiting for Coach Kudo's talk.
"Today is Friday. Rest well tomorrow. The day after, we have a game. Even though the opponent is weak, we are also weak. Everyone needs to push harder. Understood?"
"Understood!"
"All right, dismissed!"
Clap! Clap-clap! Clap-clap-clap!
After several crisp claps, the team indicated dismissal and began to leave.
Haizaki Shogo took the bottle of spring water Shimizu Rena handed him and asked:
"Isn't it going to be a little late if we go practice fencing now?"
"No. I made an appointment with Coach Miyazaki at eight o'clock. We still have half an hour."
"Then wait a few minutes for me — I'm going to change."
"Okay, Shogo-kun!"
Haizaki Shogo quickly changed clothes and walked out of the gym. He ended up walking side by side with Shimizu Rena, dressed in a white top and black pleated skirt.
Those slender, fair long legs constantly hooked his gaze. He just couldn't help secretly glancing at them.
Yet the girl in front of him — Shimizu Rena — didn't dodge or blush at all. She let him look openly.
Which only made Haizaki Shogo wonder if he was being too pervy, and why his head was full of insecure self-doubt.
The two took the bus and soon arrived at the fencing hall downtown. After changing into full protective gear, Haizaki Shogo walked out of the locker room.
Another pair of long, shapely mature legs instantly filled his vision. He didn't even need to look at the face to know who it was.
"Yo, Miyazaki-nee, were you waiting here especially for me?"
"Get lost."
The moment Haizaki Shogo appeared, Coach Miyazaki felt his heated gaze sweeping back and forth over her thighs, stirring a faint ripple in her heart.
"Long time no see, Miyazaki-nee. I came just to see you, and you refuse me at the door so coldly?"
"Ugh, where did you learn to talk like that?"
After saying that, Coach Miyazaki spun the slender épée in her right hand and very coincidentally aimed a slash toward Haizaki Shogo's groin.
The smooth-talking Kise instantly shut up. He suddenly felt a chill both down below and along his back.
Seeing him behave, Miyazaki's lips curled slightly, her eyes full of playful mischief.
At that moment, Shimizu Rena came out, already changed, holding her foil.
"Miyazaki-nee, Shogo-kun, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Shimizu, let's fence."
"Shimizu-chan!"
Rena's appearance completely rescued Shogo from the awkward atmosphere created by his own loose tongue and flirty remarks — and from that chilly sense of impending doom.
But escaping that icy pit only landed him into a new problem: being double-teamed.
Coach Miyazaki and Shimizu Rena seemed to have made a silent agreement. They took turns fencing him.
He had already consumed a lot of stamina in basketball practice earlier, and he hadn't recovered much on the way. Now he was being alternately "taken care of" by two beautiful girls.
His stamina couldn't keep up. They landed clean hits on all his vital target areas, one after another.
"Hey, hey, hey! You two can't just do this — what's so fun about taking turns poking me?"
"I think it's very fun! What's wrong? Out of stamina already? Can't keep going?"
Hearing Coach Miyazaki's words, how could Kise admit defeat? He rasped:
"Come on then, Miyazaki-beauty, let's fight another three hundred rounds. I won't stop until you beg for mercy!"
"Ugh."
He couldn't win with the blade, so he refused to lose with his mouth. The slick words kept flowing.
The price of his shameless chatter was Miyazaki's sharp, accurate thrusts, making him flustered and weak all over.
Even in full protective gear, thrusts delivered with force still hurt.
In the end, the result was that Haizaki Shogo — sore and aching everywhere — escorted two laughing, cheerful beauties onto a taxi home.
As for himself, once he got into his own cab, he went limp like a lazy snake and didn't move at all.
The taxi driver, apparently having seen him send two beauties off just now, spoke meaningfully:
"Young man, you may be full of energy now, but if you keep doing this all the time, your body will collapse sooner or later."
Kise froze for a moment. In his head was only one thought: Nani? What are you talking about? I have no idea.
Seeing him silent, the driver simply shook his head and drove seriously.
When he got home, Kise went to the pool, but didn't even last half an hour before becoming utterly exhausted.
So he rinsed off in under two minutes, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep instantly.
The bedroom door opened. His gentle mother entered, shook her head, tidied up the room, tucked him in, turned off the light, and left quietly.
The next day, when the sun was already high, Kise finally stretched lazily and got up.
He changed into his jersey, threw on a jacket, ate breakfast on the table, and went out to meet Satsuki Momoi.
At the convenience store, he carefully selected some premium cherries — Satsuki's favorite.
As for how much she liked them: Satsuki Momoi could tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue. Could you do that?
After getting off the train, he spotted Momoi in a green coat and short skirt. He walked over and hugged her firmly.
He handed her the cherries and saw her, still a bit gloomy before the hug, now shy and brighter.
"Come on, take me to Aomine. I want to see where he's at now."
"Mm. Thank you, Shogo-kun."
Kise turned and gently rubbed Satsuki's head, feeling a little emotional.
In Teiko Junior High, the only ones he was still attached to were Satsuki Momoi, Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintaro, and their old captain, Nijimura Shuzo.
Midorima was a training maniac. Nijimura had to accompany his father every day. The only ones he could still really hang out with were Momoi and Aomine.
Seeing both his close friends depressed for different reasons, Kise felt an indescribable heaviness.
On the court, after hearing from Momoi that Kise was coming to play, Aomine Daiki had arrived early.
"Hey, hey, hey! Aomine, why do you never wait for me to warm up together?"
"Quit talking. Go warm up. I can't wait anymore."
"Hahaha! Same here — I can't wait either!"
Momoi, nibbling cherries on the side, watched the two of them — bursting with excitement the moment they met — and her mood brightened at once.
Squinting slightly, chewing sweet cherries, watching the two race back and forth evenly matched on the court, she suddenly set the cherries aside.
She raised both hands, extended thumbs and index fingers, touched them together in reverse, making a click frame gesture — as if to fix this moment forever.
=============
32+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon.com/Veltoria
100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
Add to Library to support