109. Slice of Life: Minami Matsubara’s Trapeze Mishap

"That was truly a magnificent match, Saeki."

Fuji walked to the net, extending his hand with a smiling squint, his fair face showing not a single bead of sweat.

"You let me get to 5-0 on purpose, didn't you, Fuji?" Saeki reached out to shake Fuji's hand, asking with a wry expression. "How come I never realized you were so black-hearted before..."

Before Fuji could answer, Saeki closed his eyes, sighed, and gave a bitter smile.

"After all, your dynamic vision is excellent. If I had been completely unguarded from the start, the score would likely be 6-0 in your favor right now. Your no-spin shots in the second game only made me more determined to keep dropping points; that way, you would gradually lower your guard as your stamina waned, and that was when my counterattack would begin."

Fuji shared his thought process with Saeki without reservation, his slight smile resembling a satisfied cub that had just obtained honey. Upon hearing this, the latter shrugged helplessly. "I concede."

"You could have won 6-0, yet you chose to come from 5 down to win 7-5," Matsubara Meii said, hands on his hips with a hint of exasperation as he saw Fuji walk off the court.

"I told you before the match that it's hard for me to match your record against Tezuka," Fuji replied with a gentle smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Matsubara Meii shook his head with a smile. When it came to audacity, Fuji was truly in a league of his own; only he would dare to do such a thing. As for Fuji's penchant for treating matches as exciting games, the Rokkaku Middle School team, who viewed tennis as a game to be enjoyed, clearly lost to this elegant, chestnut-haired boy in the wind, both in terms of strength and philosophy.

"Hahaha, a huge success! Vice-Captain Fuji pulled off a comeback!" Oda Fuyuka squealed with excitement, immediately hugging Iwamura Yuna.

"That's right, Vice-Captain Fuji is simply amazing. To win seven games in a row in such a desperate situation..." Iwamura Yuna, who was being pressed closely by Oda Fuyuka, could barely catch her breath, but she nodded softly while keeping one eye slightly closed.

"As expected of our tennis club's Vice-Captain. We need to work even harder, Sara," Kitaumi Kaede said, looking at Sara with her arms crossed and a smile.

"Indeed!" Sara agreed.

"He didn't lose a single point after switching sides. He truly lives up to the name of a genius!" Shiba Saori immediately pulled out her camera and took a rapid-fire sequence of shots of Fuji.

"Changqing leads Rokkaku Middle School three wins to two, with zero draws. Changqing wins!" As the umpire announced the final result, the players from both sides gathered at the net. With a simultaneous bow, their voices echoed in unison across the tennis court: "Thank you for the match!"

...

The next morning.

The Matsubara residence.

Warm, gentle sunlight flooded in, and a few sparrows chirped in the courtyard. Inside, Matsubara Ayana had a faint, subtle smile on her lips as she neatly set the chopsticks and dishes.

By the kitchen stove, Matsubara Hikaru was busy preparing breakfast, her beautiful, gentle face filled with a soft smile. Her diligent demeanor looked quite wifely, while her older sister, Matsubara Minami, helped their mother carry out the freshly cooked fried eggs and sausages.

"It smells so good! Mom is making a Western-style breakfast today!" Ayana said with a joyful smile as she looked at the plates brought by her sister.

"There's Japanese-style breakfast too. Dad and brother both like Japanese-style breakfast," Hikaru said with a gentle smile as she ladled two bowls of miso soup.

Upstairs.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

As the alarm clock blared, a small hand reached out from under the covers, fumbling around the bedside table until it pressed down on the alarm.

Click.

"Whew..."

Matsubara Meii’s arm fell limply onto the soft bed. Letting the sunlight from outside the window stream through the curtains onto his face, he continued to sleep soundly.

In the kitchen on the ground floor, Matsubara Sho sat at the table eating breakfast. The savory, salty combination of miso soup and salt-grilled saury hitting his taste buds made him give a thumbs-up to Hikaru. "As expected, your cooking is the best, Hikaru. It's delicious."

"Hee hee." Hearing her husband's praise, Hikaru smiled tenderly. Remembering something, she glanced at the wall clock and stretched her neck to call out, "Ayana, Minami, go wake Meii up. He's going to be late."

"Yes!" Ayana answered promptly, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps running outside.

"Still sleeping? What a lazybones. And he's already in the first year of middle school," Minami sighed helplessly, following her younger sister upstairs.

Thump, thump, thump!

Rushing up to the second floor, Ayana pushed open the door to Meii's room and said cheerfully, "Big brother! Time to wake up!"

Pushing the door wide open and seeing no reaction from Meii, Ayana examined her brother’s sleeping face. She tiptoed toward him, fearing she might startle him, and whispered with her hands cupped around her mouth, "Wake up!"

Seeing that Meii was still snoring loudly without any reaction, Ayana blinked her large eyes, extended a finger, and poked his stomach gently. "Wake... up!"

"Calling him like that won't make your brother wake up," Minami said as she walked in, rolling her eyes with a helpless shake of her head. "His sleeping habits are still as worrying as ever."

"Has Sister seen brother sleep like this many times?" Ayana noticed the drool slowly trickling from the boy's mouth and mischievously touched it with her finger, giggling at the way it stretched.

"Yeah. Sometimes when Mom and Dad are busy and Meii oversleeps, I'm the one responsible for waking him up," the serene-looking Minami nodded. She then turned to Ayana and said, "Cover your eyes, Ayana. What happens next is not for children."

Saying this, the usually elegant and gentle Minami rolled up her sleeves as if preparing for a major task. Not knowing what was about to happen, Ayana obediently said "Oh" and covered her eyes.

"Phew! I hope Meii's bed survives this time!"

Exhaling, a deep, mischievous smile flashed in Minami’s beautiful purple eyes. She bent her knees and leaped into the air with a running start!

Thump, thump, thump!

The dull sound of her feet hitting the floor startled Meii, who was enjoying a beautiful dream. However, Minami, in the midst of her sprint, didn't notice her brother’s half-opened, sleepy eyes and leaped into the air.

Ayana, who had covered her eyes but couldn't resist wanting to see what was happening, peeked through her fingers. Seeing Minami flying through the air, she couldn't help but remark, "Sister is flying so high..."

During her descent, Minami’s purple eyes narrowed. Her cold, sharp voice, laced with a hint of playfulness, rang out: "Time to wake up, Meii!"

When Meii was in elementary school, he would refuse to wake up, so Minami had once performed a "flying leap" onto his bed, using the vibration to force him awake. That time, Meii was fine, but his bed had let out a "crack" and met its demise, with cotton flying everywhere like artificial snow, adding a touch of tragedy to his little bed.

Back then, they were both much smaller, so Minami had successfully woken him up without hurting him. But things were different now. Minami, currently in a growth spurt, had a body that had stretched out quite a bit, making her less flexible than before. Combined with Meii’s less-than-graceful sleeping position, the scene that followed made Ayana quickly close her fingers and cover her eyes again.

"Waaaah!"

Minami didn't know where to land, because no matter where she stepped, she would hurt Meii. In a panic, she simply closed her eyes and left it to fate.

Crash!

She made zero-distance contact with Meii. The girl’s scream and the boy’s yelp blended together. Meanwhile, Meii’s eyes rolled back, white foam bubbled from his mouth, and countless little golden stars spun and drifted around his head.

"I... I'm sorry, Meii! I didn't mean to!"

Realizing she had caused a disaster with her flying leap, Minami knelt on