Stealing Spree

Chapter 2069: Ruki vs Akane (1)



Using the same rule, Akane and I began our match, standing face-to-face on opposing sides of the tennis court.

"Husband, I won't forgive you if you go easy on me," Akane said as she pointed her racket at

me.

Looking at how her chest was still expanding and deflating at quick intervals, she had yet to fully recover from their intense final rally. There's also her sharp gaze that seemed to say 'I'm also not going to go easy on you!'.

"Mhm. I won't. This concerns your future, after all. I don't want to keep you locked in our house. Getting a hobby like tennis will be great for you."

"Hmph. I know enough that this is you worrying too much, husband. You're aware of it, right? Nothing's more important to me than you. I can even abandon Fuyu!"

"Oi, what are you saying?!" Fuyu couldn't help but react upon hearing that. But well, Akane's eyes remained fixed on me.

She's not wrong though. Telling her to take up a hobby is selfishness on my part. I'm the one who doesn't want to see her stuck in our house, always waiting for me. Because I cannot or it's impossible to devote all of my time to her, it's painful to think that while I'm out with the other girls, she's just there waiting for me at our house.

If she gets a hobby that she can be busy with like tennis with Fuyu, then it will put me at ease.

Although she would probably say that it's enough that she could go out or accompany Fuyu and the other two sometimes, it's still different when she has something she can put her creativity and passion into.

I already promised to stay with her no matter what so... this is really just my own wish for her. That's why I get where she's coming from.

If she doesn't want to then all she has to do is beat me here.

"That's right. I'm well aware of it. So, convince me, Akane..."

Challenging her openly like this was truly the way to go. At the next moment, her beautiful smile that always struck me senseless appeared followed by an adorable gesture of sending me a flying kiss.

"Un. I will convince you. Be ready, husband."

I firmly nodded before standing behind the baseline to wait for the ball to arrive.

Fuyu, who was a little dumbfounded at our exchange, woke up at this point and raised her hand.

"Uhm... Are the two of you ready? Akane to serve. Start!"

With that as the signal, Akane who was clutching the ball tossed it upwards.

My eyes also followed it. If I lose that ball, how am I to return it to her court?

I watched her play earlier. With her stamina already staved off, the strength of her serve should also lose some momentum, unless... she didn't need to recover a lot to show her full strength.

WOOSH!

With my eyes wide open, I watched as the ball hit her racket and flew at top speed, passing by the net in the middle.

Upon judging where it would land in my service box, I took two steps forward and waited with my racket already adjusted to swing.

Thanks to the footwork practice that Ayu put me into, I was now more confident to accurately gauge the distance I needed to traverse.

PAA!

Without putting any spin on it, I returned the ball inside her court.

Akane reacted perfectly as well.

Even before the ball could pass over the net, she already guessed where it would land.

I thought she would volley it back but as soon as she noticed me going up as well, the girl grinned at me. She paused her steps, let the ball drop on the ground, and then swung her racket, firing the ball behind me.

Even with my quick reflex, that momentary error in judgement was more than enough for Akane to score against me.

Soon, Fuyu's voice rang out.

"15-0. Akane leads."

"Hehe... Sorry for deceiving you, husband."

"It's all good. It shows I'm still lacking.

Akane giggled as she waited for me to bring the ball back to her. My response wasn't out of spite to myself. It's just the honest truth.

My silly wife looked like she wanted to comfort me but perhaps, seeing my undisturbed confidence, she held it back and returned behind her baseline to prepare for her next serve.

Up above the umpire's seat, I could see Fuyu raising her fist, sending me her cheers silently. That girl... is that allowed for an umpire? But well, I appreciate her encouragement. It's just one point. I can still take that back!

...

Or so I thought.

[Game. Akane 1-0]

During the second, third, and fourth servings, Akane showed me the difference between someone who has played tennis and someone who is a complete novice.

Even if I managed to keep up with her attacks, I failed to even put myself in an attack position. All I could do was defend against her.

During the second point, I put in too much strength, resulting in the ball flying outside the

court.

During the third point, Akane completed the volley, dropping it just next to the net. Because I thought I learned my lesson earlier, I didn't move up.

And lastly, during the game point, Akane stayed behind the baseline, sending all of her attacks deep on my court. She controlled the flow of that rally, making me run from left to right. What use is my stamina if I can't even break that cycle?

And so, I ended up making another mistake by misjudging the distance between my racket and where the ball would bounce.

"Don't look at me with pity. I'm not broken yet. Look at me, I will also complete my service game!" I put on a smile to break their concerned look when I returned for the short break.

Fuyu handed me the towel and I thanked her for it. I told her that her coaching from last night was helping me. My problem was simply the lack of experience.

As for Akane, the girl clung to my back, hugging me tightly.

Since I told her not to worry, she converted that to this.

Of course, I reminded her not to go easy on me now that she had a love game against me

easily.

Tennis is unlike boxing where you just have to throw punches and protect your body against your opponent. Tennis needs a lot of ball control because if you just focus on returning it, then more often than not, you'll find yourself raking in outs. Furthermore, by doing that, you won't even know where you should wait for the opponent's counter.

I guess that's the reason why many emphasized training their control first and foremost.

A minute later, Akane and I returned to the court. I stood at my service box, the ball clutched

in my hand. "Akane." I said, "I'll apologize in advance. I'll be copying your strategy."

With that, I started the serving motion, tossing the ball and slowly pivoting my foot to get as much strength as possible.

As the ball hit the middle of my racket, it disappeared in a flash, like a bullet ejecting from a

gun.

Before Akane and Fuyu could even react, the ball already hit the wall behind the former and began bouncing back.

The trace of the ball where it landed on the court was still visible, with wisps of smoke coming

from it.

"... S-service Ace. 15-0. Ruki-kun leads." Fuyu stuttered as she announced that.

I did apologize, right? This is the result after putting all my strength into it. Luckily, it landed

in her service box or else, it would be too embarrassing after my declaration.

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