"Why do I even have to play with you guys..."
Standing on the badminton court with a racket in hand, I let out a sigh.
I glanced at the gorilla-girl next to . She was holding her racket with a big grin on her face.
"Let's win this, Ren!"
"And why am I even on your team?"
Because I joined in, the number of players beca odd, and I ended up being paired with Hina, playing against her older sister, Alice.
I looked across the court at the girl with short, dyed hair.
"Aren’t I just getting in the way here? It’s not fair for it to be two against one."
"Rather than worrying about , focus on the ga. Besides, adding one random guy to Hina doesn’t change anything for ."
Alice answered, her smile never leaving her face.
... My lips twitched. Although I haven't been moving around much lately, I used to play badminton—to the point where my gym teacher praised .
Being belittled like this makes a little annoyed.
Now Hina was holding the shuttlecock. Tossing it up, she started with a high serve, aiming for the far corner of the court.
Surprisingly, Alice returned it with ease—also slowly and high.
Since it was headed toward Hina’s side, I stayed still and let her take it. She got into position, jumped as if going for a smash, and—
Her racket swung, but the shuttle still fell to the ground. One point to the opponent.
Alice spoke up:
"See?"
"..."
Now I get it. Alice wasn’t underestimating earlier—she was underestimating her sister.
Because if Hina plays this badly—then yeah, even with both of us against her, it wouldn’t change a thing.
"Ughhh! Alice Sis is too strong! Ren, you can’t let your guard down against her!"
"Say that to yourself, not to ."
How could she miss a shot that seed aid right at her? It actually made want to praise her for playing that badly. What’s the point of all those muscles if she can’t use them?
It was Alice’s serve now. She aid her shot at .
Because I wasn’t really in the mood to play with them—I moved my body just a little and returned the shuttle lightly—which Alice easily returned.
It ca back to , and I hit it back to her. The tempo was slow, repetitive, and this went on for several rounds.
Until—Alice suddenly smashed it fast in my direction. Luckily, I managed to block it just in ti.
And by accident, I did a net shot—Alice, being far from the net, couldn't reach it in ti.
One point for .
Alice didn’t flinch, even when I scored. She tossed the shuttle back to while laughing.
"Heh, not bad. Didn't expect you to return that one."
"I just got lucky."
After I said that, Hina ca over. Her eyes sparkled with admiration.
"A—Amazing! Even though it's two-on-one, it's incredible that you could last that long against Alice Sis, and even score a point!"
"Technically, this is one-on-one."
Alice hadn’t targeted Hina once. She had been focused only on the whole ti—as if her sister didn’t exist.
And so, the ga continued.
---
Maybe it had been an hour and a half since I started playing against Alice. I didn’t expect the ga to beco that intense.
Because she kept increasing the tempo every ti either of us scored, I unconsciously got serious too.
Even though I lost, honestly, I enjoyed it. Doing intense exercise like this once in a while isn’t so bad.
We were both out of breath, our bodies drenched in sweat. Alice still looked like she had so energy, but she was clearly tired too.
"I’m... I’m done for now."
"Then too."
Hearing Alice, I stepped off the court—going to return my racket to Hina first.
Honestly, I didn’t even realize when she had moved to the sidelines. While I was focused, she sohow beca a spectator without noticing.
"Um, thanks, Hina."
"For what?"
For the first ti, I saw Hina lose the light in her eyes. She looked like soone who had lost all faith in the world.
"...For praising earlier?"
"Ugh! It’s Big Sis Alice’s fault for never passing the shuttle to ! I invited you, Ren, but she ended up just having fun with you instead!"
"Don’t bla if you can’t even play."
Alice, who had co over, chid in. Then she looked at .
"You’re pretty good to be able to keep up with . So there are guys whose lives aren’t just about cooking."
"Whether I kept up or not, I still lost in the end."
"Seriously, don’t you want to try going on a date with soti? How about this Sunday?"
I just rolled my eyes at that. Sorry, but I already have plans for a date this Sunday. A man of honor knows his priorities.
But, if Alice invites again for next Sunday... w—well, I might consider it.
Since my body was soaked with sweat and my clothes were sticking to , I told them:
"I wanna go freshen up at the faucet. My body’s sore."
"Sa here."
"I’ll co too, Ren! I’m super tired from earlier!"
"...From what exactly?"
I could understand if it was Alice—but Hina, didn’t you just sit the whole ti?
And so, both sisters followed .
The public faucet was in the park—outside the court, so it took a bit of walking to get there.
I took off my school uniform while walking to cool off. The evening breeze hit my body, and I noticed that the shirt under my uniform was soaked through with sweat.
Finally reaching the faucet, I splashed my face with water—feeling a freshness that I thought only existed in heaven. Afterward, I wiped my face with the edge of my shirt.
But when I looked up and turned around, I saw the two sisters looking surprised. It confused .
"What is it?"
"Woah, a—a boy’s stomach. This is my first ti seeing one this close..."
Hina was the first to speak. Both her hands covered her face—but not her eyes. Alice then added with a smirk.
"So it’s not just your butt that’s sexy..."
Suddenly I felt even more exhausted. I only lifted my shirt a bit—just how pervy are these two? Feels like my whole body is inappropriate in front of them.
Deciding to ignore them, I walked over to a bench and sat down. At first, I planned to leave without waiting for them. But because I took too long to think, Alice had already finished at the faucet and sat next to .
"Can I sit here?"
"No point in asking when you’ve already done it."
"Why so bitter? Or what, you scared I’ll grab your butt again like at the restaurant, hmm? Bla your manager for making your uniform so sexy."
"I’m more scared you’ll corner in an alley again in the morning."
"Well~ For that, I genuinely apologize. I was just bored that morning and dragged Hina out for a walk after dawn. When I saw you looking all confused, I just had to tease you a little."
If it was just teasing a little, she didn’t need to go all out against Yona, right?
I sighed.
"What do you want? I already played badminton with you. That should be enough, right?"
"Yeah, playing with you was more fun than I thought. I’ve been getting bored training with Hina all the ti. No, more like playing with a dog than training."
Calling your own sister a dog—that’s a bit much, isn’t it?
But Alice wasn’t done yet. Looking at , she continued:
"But even if she’s as dumb as a dog, she’s still my sister. So... thanks a lot. You’ve been teaching her a lot at work, right?"
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