Even though Tsukimi Sakurazawa noticed this, she herself wasn’t lacking in the number of times she looked at Shirakawa Sawahei. But after all, it was a sudden change in her close friend, and she had to care a little. After a slight hesitation, the whiny monster chose to quietly lean in and ask Ise Yu.
"Is everything alright with things at home?"
"Huh? Things at home?"
Ise Yu Yuzhijin was momentarily stunned, then quickly caught on: "Ahhh~ that, it’s fine now. Sakurazawa-chan, why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"Mainly because you seem a bit distracted today..." the whiny monster carefully probed, "Is it related to Shirakawa?"
"Yeah... you’ve been looking at Shirakawa a lot more than usual today..."
The fish-smuggling girl’s face turned red, and she murmured, "Really? I didn’t feel that..."
"That’s why I’m worried about you... Do you have something unresolved? It just seems like you have something on your mind."
Cute little Ise Yu was quite alarmed, clutching her chest, "Sakurazawa-chan? Since when did your character become so detailed... How can you still detect my thoughts?"
"I’ve always been quite detailed... Did I really guess right?"
"No... nothing like that, Sakurazawa-chan, you’re overthinking..."
The fish-smuggling girl thought about her girly feelings, feeling a bit tangled inside, not knowing whether or not to tell her good friend in front of her, who was also a good buddy of Shirakawa Sawahei, that she had already developed a crush on him.
To say or not to say, that is the question...
The fish-smuggling girl thought again, recalling the outcomes for those female protagonists in anime shows who shared love secrets with their best friends...
Onodera Kosaki... hmm... black-haired loser...
A certain swimmer who eats ping pong paddles... hmm, she’s the winner...
Thinking about it this way, it seems like it’s a 50-50 chance, without any curses... Should I share my romantic feelings with Sakurazawa-chan, and let her give me some advice?
Well, Sakurazawa-chan has a good relationship with Shirakawa, so she probably knows a lot of secrets about him... If I can know everything, the success rate for a confession will definitely increase!
With this thought in mind, the fish-smuggling girl decided to find a chance to talk privately with Tsukimi Sakurazawa about this matter after the basketball game... As for why not tell the other two girls in the Calligraphy Club, it’s naturally because of shyness.
That’s right, even an old master like Ise Yu, in the face of falling for a guy for the first time in her life, still felt a flutter in her heart like a little deer...
But then again, why did Sakurazawa-chan notice that I often look at Shirakawa?
The fish-smuggling girl’s denial seemed to temporarily ease Tsukimi’s worries. Although still finding it a bit strange, she didn’t think much of it after some thought—after all, Koorikin and Shirakawa had always had a good relationship, so it’s not surprising for them to occasionally act ...
The thoughts of a girl in love are full of twists and turns, elusive like the wind. Right as the whiny monster and the fish-smuggling girl were discussing gaze issues, Shirakawa Sawahei and his teammates slowly made their entrance.
The audience immediately responded with applause and cheers, many of which were female voices. It seems that the prior efforts of Little Arrogant’s open training sessions have borne fruit. Many students developed a kind of nurturing involvement as they watched their team’s training.
In layman’s terms, this is a kind of alternate mama fandom...
"Ahhhhh, senior Apin is so handsome, sob sob... Do you know how hard he works every day?"
"No way... it’s clearly senior Junyan who’s the handsomest! For training, he even cuts his hair without anesthesia! He’s working so hard, how can you deny him!!"
Among the cheering group of spectators, there seemed to surface different disdain chains: those who liked skill and those who liked good looks despised each other. One side believed that in sports competition, the winner is king, skills speak, while the other side said, being born human is wearying enough, is there anything wrong with liking good looks?
These two chains of disdain formed a perfect closed loop. Originally, there was also a group of fans who liked Shirakawa Sawahei, who fortunately combined both good looks and strong skills, standing above both sides with an invincible feel.
Unfortunately, this group didn’t last long. The black-hearted little girl sabotaged from within, soon quietly dismantling them, nearly effortlessly accomplishing her mission of sweeping potential threats.
Shirakawa Sawahei was clearly unaware of these intricacies. His turn to enter was in the middle, not striking like the first ones in the front, so he simply followed the footsteps of the others and casually entered the scene.
"Look! It’s Shirakawa!"
"Over there, Xiao Mo, did you see?"
"Shirakawa’s entry is so understated, I thought Hayakawa would have arranged a flashy entrance for him..."
In the eyes of the Calligraphy Club members, Shirakawa Sawahei’s figure seemed to always shimmer in the crowd. Even the little loli immediately spotted the pretty boy’s position and slightly puckered her lips.
Hmph, damned pretty boy, hiding in the crowd, thinking I can’t find you?
"Go Red Team! Red Team must win!"
The shrill cheers of girls echoed on the field, and the White Team wouldn’t back down. As the atmosphere gradually reached its peak, the first exhibition match officially began.
Serve, jump, a whistle blew, and with Shirakawa Sawahei’s excellent leaping ability, he won the opening possession. Since it was an exhibition match, Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t have to worry too much about them defending too tightly—in short, just play as stylishly as possible.
"Sato scores a beautiful three-point swoosh!"
"Nice! Shirakawa successfully blocks the shot! The tide starts to turn!"
"This cyclone dunk from the regret of the dragon... a legendary secret move... Who would have thought Shirakawa would actually use it... It’s simply unbelievable!"
"Shirakawa went in, and Shirakawa got knocked out!"
"Jianjing stepped up, he looks like a god of war! He charges! He shoots! He misses!"
"Why isn’t he passing the ball? Is something wrong with his mindset?"
"Who dares to stand across, only I, General Kyūtōryū! Kyūtōryū Shichi-ichi proves himself in this desperate match!"
"Shirakawa was pinned, making it hard to chase... from this position...%￥%...%... wow... heaven-sent descent..."
"Goodness, just moments after being blocked, Shirakawa executes a killer dunk, winning cheers from the entire crowd, and leading the score at halftime! Let’s take a break and wait for the players to bring us an exciting second half!"
The commentator on the commentary stand, filled with emotion, began explaining the match to the audience. Seeing many boys whose emotions were also stirred, Shirakawa Sawahei, who was resting off the court, felt that the show-like match that emphasized style over winning or losing seemed to have achieved its initial purpose.