The Prince of Tennis | Zhou Zhi

Chapter 20

It was now Zhou Zhi's match against Song Ci from Xing Yao High School.

I sat next to Lu Xia and started to watch them play.

First it was Zhou Zhi's serve which he held the ball up in the air and spinned it before letting it go and hitting it with his racket.

Song Ci went to retrieve it but the ball disappeared before he could hit it. 

"My serve can disappear." Zhou Zhi said to Song Ci, smirking. 

"Did you see that serve? He is fabulous." Song Ci said, excitedly to Jingwu who just smirked in response.

"I told you that before. Are you still... dreaming?" Jingwu said with a small smirk. 

"Ji Jingwu. You are not joking. He is fabulous. He is amazing!" Song Ci said to Jingwu as I caught glances with Zhou Zhi, giving him a small smile which he returned with a wink.

The match went on with Zhou Zhi doing the same serve, earning him a point every match. 

"Wow! He is fabulous!" Song Ci said, making me laugh.

Zhou Zhi does the same serve once more before winning the match.

Now it was Song Ci's serve which Zhou Zhi returns easily, making him earn the point.

The next serve, Song Ci earns a point.

Now it was Zhou Zhi's turn to serve and the ball kept going back and fourth until Zhou Zhi wins once more. Now it was their break time... Zhou Zhi sat next to me as I sat between him and Lu Xia.

I gave Zhou Zhi a drink which he happily accepted.

"A good show is about to begin." Lu Xia said, crossing his arms as Zhou Zhi chuckled and looked at us with smile.

Just then, the wind began to blow before Zhou Zhi returns to the court.

The match starts once more and Zhou Zhi earns the point. 

"Lu Lian. Lu Xia... You guys must have seen my Bear-growl and Shallows-return. Now, I am going to show you the last skill of my three returns. The White Whale." Zhou Zhi says, giving me a smile.

'The white whale? Is that return similar to mine?'

The match starts once more and Zhou Zhi returns Song Ci's ball with his white whale.

I widen my eyes in surprise as the ball flew so high in the air and hits just the inside of Song Ci's side as it bounces off the ground and ends up in Zhou Zhi's hand.

"Lu Lian. Isn't that trick similar to your 'Black Whale'?" Lu Xia mumbles as I stare at Zhou Zhi in amazement before nodding my head in agreement.

My Black Whale is similar to Zhou Zhi's White Whale because right when you hit the ball, the ball disappears as it flies high up in the air and reappears to bounce on the opponent's side of the court before landing in my hand.

"This is the third kind of returns. The white whale." Zhou Zhi said, before smirking to Song Ci.

"The wind is still blowing. Let me play it again with the wind." Zhou Zhi said with a smile.

After one more match, Zhou Zhi wins the match with a score of 6-1 as the crowd erupts in cheers. 

Zhou Zhi returns to Lu Xia and I, sitting next to me as I sat in between them.

"Did Zhou Yu come to see the match?" Zhou Zhi asked as he set his racket down, looking at us before glancing to Zhou Yu who was smiling at Zhou Zhi. 

Now it was Siyang's match against Jingwu from Xing Yao.

The first serve belonged to Jingwu which started with a strong serve. Siyang returned the ball as if it was an easy serve which made Jingwu return it back but the ball hot the top of the net and Siyang returned it with ease. Jingwu returns his with a high jump before hitting it back to Siyang who barely hit it back only for the ball to travel out the court and his racket falling from his hands.

"It's 15-0."

I then notice that Siyang's arm is not completely healed, yet he still continues to play.

"What's wrong? Is it because you haven't practiced since last year's match?" Jingwu asked Siyang as Siyang picks up his racket.

"You are much slower." Jingwu claims, pointing his racket at him.

"That was a good overhead smash." Siyang says, avoiding his question and statement.

"Thanks." 

They both return back to their spots on court and continues their match.

I then notice that Siyang is aiming for the corner so that Jingwu's strength gets depleted.

Siyang starts to do his signature trick. The Absolute Area, making him earn himself a point.

"15-15."

"I am surprised you can play well with your injured left arm. You hurt your left arm in last year's match. It hasn't recovered yet, right?" Jingwu asked Siyang which Siyang ignores and goes back to his side of the court.

The match continues forward when I suddenly think back to where Lu Xia and I were in the states and we were both in the tennis club when I also thought of my shoulder injury.

FLASHBACK

I was just a freshman in the tennis club and there was 2 girls in the tennis club. I was going up against the senior tennis player which was also a girl.

I kept using my left arm to return the balls and at the last hit, I switched to my right arm which was more stronger and powerful as I returned the ball with a powerful overhead smash, making me win the match.

"The match is over. Lu Lian wins." The referee says as I see Lu Xia nod at me with a small smile.

Just then, the girl walks over to my side and points the racket at me with a frustrated snarl.

"Why did you do that? Aren't you left-handed? Why did you use both of your hands?" She asks, pushing me with the racket as I stood my ground.

"Just because you are a freshman, you think you can use both hands to play against me?" She scoffs as I look down, not meeting her eyes.

"Huh. You think you are so smart!" She yelled out as she raises her racket high in the air before hitting my right shoulder with the racket, making me scream in pain.

Lu Xia then comes running to me, yelling my name.

"Lu Lian! What are you doing? You're all our seniors, but you're so unreasonable. The rackets are used to hit balls, not people." Lu Xia says to the senior who hit me with her racket.

"Quit the tennis club." The captain says to the senior as the senior just looks at me with a scoff before walking off with anger.

"Lu Xia. I'm sorry." I whispered as I picked up my racket with my left arm before walking off.

END OF FLASHBACK

After thinking back to that memory, I hold my right shoulder in worry before wincing in pain.

Before you know it, I feel someone sitting down next to me on my right.

"Are you okay? How's your shoulder?" Zhou Zhi asks as he sees me holding my right arm.

"I'm fine." I mumbled, looking away from him hoping that he would understand.

Then, I feel someone holding my right hand. I look down to see Zhou Zhi's hand in mine before giving me an encouraging smile.