The Prince of Tennis | Zhou Zhi

Chapter 21

The match with Siyang against Jingwu was still going on and turns out Siyang was in the lead with a score of 3-2.

Now it was break time before they had to continue their next match.

The match continues and I noticed that Jingwu didn't use his special move yet that is until Siyang hits the net.

"Let me see how long your left arm can last. Even if this match lasts for two hours, I'm ready." Jingwu says to Siyang as he goes back to his side of the court. 

The next match continues and I notice that Siyang didn't attack yet. That was until he did a powerful overhead smash, earning himself a point. 

"It's 15-40." 

"Is this what makes the pillar of Yu Qing?" I hear Lu Xia mumble as he kept his eyes on the captain playing.

"It's 6-5. Yu Qing takes the lead." 

"I'm sorry, but Yu Qing is the one who will enter the nationals," Siyang says to Jingwu, making me smile.

The match continues and Siyang still doesn't give up until Jingwu gets a point.

The next match, Siyang does a lob which Jingwu jumps and hits the ball back but Siyang is ready for the hit. As Jingwu hits it, Siyang returns it with so much strength that he doesn't drop his racket. 

But Jingwu, however, decides to do his special move: The Symphony to Victory but Siyang returns that as well with his Absolute Area move.

"It's more than what it seems." Lu Xia mumbles again as I continue to watch the match.

Jingwu returns the ball and Siyang does his Zero Chip move to return the ball as Jingwu misses, earning us a point but we needed one more point to go to nationals.

The match starts and right when Siyang serves, he drops his racket in pain and holds his arm.

"Captain!" We all yell out.

"Don't come any closer! The match is not over." He says as he slowly starts to stand before slowly walking over.

"Mu Siyang, do you want to recover from that or what?" The Coach exclaims as Siyang takes in a breath.

"Captain. Stop this."

"If you force yourself to play, your chances of winning are low."

"Captain, we still have some matches left."

"Don't do this. We had a deal."

Dayong starts to give him an ice pack but Siyang stops him and puts it on own arm.

"You said entering the nationals wasn't a big deal, that we must use our strength to lead Yu Qing to go further. But now...If you break your arm because of this match, how can you lead Yu Qing to go further?"

"I have never forgotten the promise I made to you. Everyone has worked so hard until now. Today... it is my turn. I know what will happen to me if I continue to play. But this is the last time I can play in the nationals with you. So, I'm sorry. I can't give up the match. If we want to get to the very end, we must win the match, right?" Siyang says as we all look at him in worry.

"Yu Qing will win! Yu Qing will win! Yu Qing will win!" We hear Xinglong in the stands as he waves our team flag in the air.

Siyang continues his match as we all watch in wonder of who will win.

'Come on, Siyang. You got this.'

Soon enough, Siyang misses a ball.

"Your arm isn't fine. Give up!" Jingwu yells to Siyang but Siyang ignores him and continues.

The match continues and Siyang is still giving his all to every ball Jingwu throws.

Siyang then does the Zero Chip but the ball didn't roll back. Instead, Jingwu returns it but Siyang hits it back with his Absolute Area. Jingwu runs towards it but the ball hit the net.

"7-6. Xing Yao wins." 

Siyang meets Jingwu at the net and waits for him to shake hands which Jingwu thinks about it before meeting his hand and throwing Siyang's arm in the air, making me smile in happiness.

Now, it was Lu Xia's turn against Ji Nuo.

Just before Lu Xia goes to court, I call him out.

"Hey, Lu Xia!" I yell out as Lu Xia stops and looks at me.

"Don't let me down." I say with an encouraging smile which he returns and makes his way to the court.

Lu Xia serves his ball but Ji Nuo wasn't playing attention, earning Lu Xia the first point.

"That's 15-0." 

I then see Ji Nuo look at Lu Xia with a shocked and almost angry expression.

'That's what you get for not paying attention.'

"Please be serious." Lu Xia says to Ji Nuo before getting ready for his next serve.

Lu Xia starts off with his regular serve which Ji Nuo returns but Lu Xia hits it back with Siyang's Zero Chip.

I look at Lu Xia with a smile, indicating that he actually found his style of tennis.

"You still have a long way to go." 

The next match starts but Lu Xia misses the ball.

Ji Nuo does the same thing, making Lu Xia miss the ball once more.

The match continues and Ji Nuo does the same thing but Lu Xia returned it with ease and gets a point.

The last match, Lu Xia wins the match with his B Drive and we were now lined up against Xing Yao, shaking hands. 

TIME SKIP

We were now in the hospital, waiting for Siyang's results when the doctor came out of the room.

"How is he?" Zhou Zhi asked as he held my hand in concern.

"Who will go upstairs to get Mu Siyang's film?" The doctor asked us as Jiale and Dayong both agreed to go before making their way upstairs. 

We were now waiting for Siyang to come out.

"I'm willing to do anything as long as the captain can recover." Qiao Chen said as he stands up when the door opens.

"What are you willing to do?" Siyang asks as he walks through the door. 

"Captain. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just that my old wounds recrudesced. I just need to rest for a while."

"Don't fool us this time."

"Right. You played with difficulty today. Are you really okay?" Qiao Chen asks. 

"Give me your hand."

Qiao Chen gives him his hand before groaning in pain.

"It hurts! Your hand is okay!" Qiao Chen says as Siyang releases his hand, making me laugh.

"Now that the captain is okay and we have beaten Xing Yao, let's celebrate at my place and have some goose." Xinglong says as Qiao Chen agrees.

I take one last glance and his arm before looking at Siyang who looks at my shoulder.

"Lu Lian. Lu Xia told me about what really happened to your shoulder." Siyang says as I look down, not wanting to talk about it.

I grip my shoulder and look away.

"Don't worry. It's fine." I said as Siyang continued to look at my shoulder.

Zhou Zhi looked at Siyang before grabbing my hand, letting me know that we should go and follow.

I look at Siyang one last time and walked off with Zhou Zhi, hand in hand to Xinglong's place.