"Stop right there!"

Ai Qi and I stopped struggling against our captors and we raised our heads to locate the source of that voice. Oh, look, our knights in shining armour! An annoying voice mimicked sarcastically in my head.

Three boys wearing blue-and-white sports uniforms entered through the gates and into the court arena. It almost felt like time had stopped and all the attention was on them, every stride, every footstep seemingly echoing around the courts. It was like the spotlight was on them now, like models boldly walking down an aisle. Something clicked in my brain as I realised why that voice had sounded so familiar.

Si Yang had stepped in front of Zhuo Zhi and Lu Xia, his stern voice ringing out sharply. His eyes emitted a piercing, threatening stare. "The racket is used for playing tennis," Si Yang snapped, his voice low and dangerous. "Not for hitting people. Let go of them,"

I snarled at my captor, "Let go of me, or I won't spare any mercy for your future children,"

Thankfully, my captor understood my words and released me, stepping back a little cautiously. The boy holding Ai Qi also dropped her wrist, returning his glare back to Si Yang. Ai Qi rubbed her wrist painfully, picking up her racket as she looked worriedly to the three boys. She advanced in my direction. "Are you alright?" I asked her.

Ai Qi patted my shoulder assuringly. "Takes a lot more than that to hurt me,"

Buzz-Cut, seemingly unbothered by Si Yang's warning, merely scoffed at him, then addressed towards me and Ai Qi, "Oh really? You think you're any better than we are?"

"Wanna try us?" I retorted.

Buzz-Cut sucked air through his teeth, then his lips morphed into a smirk. "Well," he mused, purposefully slow, "It's not polite to ask for such things from a lady..."

"To hell with your gender stereotypes!" I exclaimed in frustration. "What's it that you want?"

He pushed his hands through his hair, messing it up as he shrugged. "You asked for it. Let's settle this over a simple match, then,"

"If you want to pick a fight," Zhuo Zhi called out, stepping towards us with a grim expression on his face, the gentle spark in his eyes extinguished and replaced with a stormy emotion, "Then pick on someone your own size. I'll settle the match with you if you're not afraid,"

It was unusual to see Zhuo Zhi provoked this way, instead of his mild and pleasant temper. Strangely, my heart stirred at this sight, but I pushed the warm feeling away and marched up to the boys, facing Zhuo Zhi with an indignant look on my face. "Pardon me, Senior," I coughed, "But if this egotistical jerk wants to challenge me, he can challenge me however he wants!"

Zhuo Zhi's furrowed eyebrows tensed into one of apprehension. "But Yue En, you don't have to--"

"I'm not weak!" I exclaimed, "So just because I'm a girl, does it mean that I'm lesser than him?"

"That isn't what I meant," Zhuo Zhi looked lost at how he should answer to me.

Si Yang, meanwhile, looked on emotionless, doing nothing to interfere. Lu Xia, who had been quiet this whole time, smirked knowingly. "Senior Zhuo Zhi!" Lu Xia called out. "Senior Yue En knows what she is doing, don't worry about her."

Zhuo Zhi fixed his stare on me, his jaw clenched and his lips thin, his eyes anxiously connecting with mine. I nodded firmly in response, silently assuring him that I got this. Unconvinced, Zhuo Zhi's gaze lingered for a second longer before he turned around to join Lu Xia and Si Yang, and they shuffled over to the benches at the side of the court to spectate.

"Yue En," Ai Qi pulled me away, whispering worriedly. "Are you sure? This guy is from freaking Lan Gang High. The school that Yu Qing will be up against in a month. If you lose to him..."

"If I lose to him," I told her confidently, "Then it would at least be a worthy match. But I won't be willing to lose to anyone, especially not him,"

"A lot of confidence coming from you, sweetheart," the boy sniggered, making his way over to the other end of the court, his friend walking beside him to the benches opposite.

I shooed Ai Qi away to join Si Yang, Zhuo Zhi and Lu Xia at the side, taking my position at the centre of the baseline. My lips curled into a sly smile as I heard Lu Xia's words in the background to Zhuo Zhi and Ai Qi, "Senior, get ready to witness something called Yue En's Storm,"

I gripped my racket at the ready. "Your serve?" I yelled over to Buzz-Cut. I was getting too used to that nickname, that's for sure.

"I'll let you have the first serve. Ladies first!" Buzz-Cut shouted over. "Although I won't stick by that motto for the scores,"

I rolled my eyes. I'll show him. I fished for a tennis ball in my pocket and pulled it out, getting ready to serve.

"Go Yue En!" I heard Ai Qi's cheers at the side. I won't disappoint Ai Qi either. I threw the ball upwards into the sky, and as it fell back down, my arm held the impact of the ball on the strings of the racket, and it soared across the court.

Buzz-Cut predicted the direction of the ball almost immediately, veering to the left. He received the ball and returned it back over to my court. I dashed to the service line and executed a backhand. The rally continued, none of us making the first attack. Well, I thought as a ball flew in my direction, time to show him that he didn't need to be the gentleman anymore.

I angled the racket closer to the ground, adjusting my footing so that the ball could hit the middle of the racket's face perfectly. Then I slid my racket upwards and over my shoulder swiftly, quickly. As the ball sailed, it spun forwards. It smacked the ground and Buzz-Cut leapt towards the ball, but before he could reach out, the ball had already bounced up and flew to the back of the court at a tremendous speed. Score.

A smirk made its way to my lips as I watched Buzz-Cut's facial reactions. He seemed to be in disbelief at his mistake for missing the ball, or that I had actually managed to get past him. Then he raised his head, his eyes in a deadly glare, his expression stony and determined now. Oh, the fun was just beginning, I cackled in my head.

I served again. This time, Buzz-Cut wasted no time in playing out an attack. He twirled his racket in a way that made it look like he was going for a backhand, and that he was aiming into the service boxes. I speeded up to the net, ready to catch the ball, but before I could react, Buzz-Cut had hit the ball, and it flew high over my head and to the back of the court. Stunned, I whipped my head back to look at Buzz-Cut. He was still in his earlier position, his shoulder facing the court and the back of his hand towards the net. I had guessed the path of the ball wrongly. Very wrongly.

I turned around and made my way back to the baseline so as to not see his smug smile.

Sharp eyes and reflexes. That was what I needed.

I served the ball over once again. Buzz-Cut this time ran up to the net, a tactic I recognised that he focused more on attacking than defending. Now, he had twisted around in such a way that I could not tell what movements he was about to play out. I bit my bottom lip. I had to think fast. Where should I stand to defend my ground?

At the last second, I spotted his racket angling towards the left. Left it is, then. I sprinted to the left of the court, my eyes on the ball. Unexpectedly, the ball began propelling to the right side of the court. My eyes widened as I uselessly ran back to the other end of the court, the ball several inches away from my racket. I diverted my attention back to Buzz-Cut. He still had his racket angled at the same position as I had seen it, but I had predicted the path of the ball inaccurately again. This must be his tactic, to trick opponents where he was to hit the ball and falsely lead them off its path.

I could see the reason why he was strong enough to get into the Nationals now. This guy's attacking skills were powerful. Every move he played out to hit the ball back was so complicated, it was immensely difficult to tell where the ball is headed to. After a couple more failures of me not being able to catch the ball, I decided that staying in the middle of the court was the safest, so I had the widest range guarded. But it still wasn't enough to block his attacks.

I decided that I should use a tactic of my own. I held the racket above my shoulder, gritting my teeth, and struck the ball while pulling my racket downwards. The ball started to spin backwards now while flying over the net. I gave a small, satisfied smile as I noted the ball bouncing just the right distance away from the net and then bounding back in a smaller arch into my court again. The Returning Bounce Ball.

The score was at 2:5, with Buzz-Cut way ahead in the lead. I called for a time-out and headed towards the benches to get a drink of water. Ai Qi passed a bottle to me and I drank a couple of gulps as she told me, "Yue En, I don't want to come off as offensive but frankly speaking, I don't think you stand a chance against him,"

I capped the bottle back and placed it on the bench. "Ai Qi, relax, I know what I'm doing,"

"Are you sure?" This time Zhuo Zhi asked. His expression was anxious and the corners of his eyes crinkled in worry against the bright sun. "Yue En, don't push yourself if it's too much,"

"Thanks for having faith in me, guys," I laughed sarcastically. "Trust me, I really got this. I don't lose easily,"

Lu Xia nodded encouragingly, although his face still remained neutral. "Show him what you can do, Senior,"

"Gotcha, Little Lu Xia," I grinned at him. I glanced at Si Yang, who was the only one who hadn't spoken anything at all. The gaze in his eyes only spoke the words: You can do it.

I inhaled, feeling slightly more energised even though it was just from that few mouthfuls of water. I jogged back to the court and picked up the racket that I had left on the ground.

Buzz-Cut was already at his place. He made a show of glancing to the makeshift scoreboard, then back to me, talking loudly, "Ah, looks like a few more points and you'll have to admit your loss,"

"Try saying that after I win this game," I said through gritted teeth.

"Win?" Buzz-Cut jeered. "Just give up now, there's no more point,"

"What makes you think so?" I straightened up, lifting my arm and pointing my racket at him, feeling the fire and rage burning in my eyes. "I've seen all your mistakes and flaws. All those scores you've won won't matter anymore,"

I gave a slight smile, bent in the ready position to receive his serve. "The real fun only begins now,"

☆☆☆

It's been a really busy but fast week for me, I nearly forgot to post the chapter today oops.

I'm loving Yue En's confidence in this. And I think it's sweet how Zhuo Zhi tries to defend her.

Support The Love Score by giving your vote for this chapter! 🥰

~ Snowy ♡