Chapter 348: Girlfriend Buffed Up
On the volleyball court by the beach, two teams were fiercely confronting each other, with the red-and-white volleyball flying back and forth across the net, while the students watching from the sidelines cheered for their favorite players based on the score.
However, no one noticed the blond young man adjusting his body position with the volleyball’s movements, a look of complicated and strange feelings hidden in his eyes.
Sato Shinichi loved sports. Although his physical strength was far superior to that of his ordinary classmates, thanks to the uniqueness of his powers, his control over the strength he had developed from nothing was far beyond that of psychics with explosive awakenings, which naturally would prevent any “killer volleyball” tragedies.
Usually, suppressing his strength to match that of ordinary people and engaging in an exhilarating beach volleyball game with his classmates would be a delightful experience.
But at this moment, it was clear that Shinichi had no mind for an unimportant volleyball game with his classmates. If it weren’t for his earlier promise to Kazumi to come play volleyball and the strong insistence from his close friend Sobakada Asada, he probably wouldn’t even be standing on the court now.
Even so, on the court, Sato Shinichi relied on his body’s instincts to make some receiving actions, while his true thoughts drifted back to the scene from several minutes ago when he was with her.
The mixed scent of jasmine sunscreen lingered at his nose, and the soft, water-like touch of her full thighs felt intimate enough to make him blush from the physical contact, along with the barely perceptible touches on her sensitive areas…
【Stop thinking about it!!!】
Taking a deep breath, Shinichi forcibly pushed those images out of his mind, knowing that such alluring scenarios couldn’t be contemplated in a public setting; otherwise…
He didn’t want to spend ten minutes in a cold shower just to suppress his lively little brother!!
“Shinichi!”
Sobakada Asada’s shout from the front interrupted the boy’s thoughts. Shinichi quickly looked up and saw a red-and-white volleyball spinning rapidly toward him.
His hands, hanging by his sides, clasped together and precisely positioned themselves under the falling volleyball, successfully sending it back into the opponent’s area with an upward flick.
“Nice! Just one more point, we can take them down!”
Noticing that a somewhat dazed teammate had managed to receive a not-so-easy spike due to his reminder, Sobakada gave Shinichi a thumbs-up, pleased that he hadn’t made the wrong choice in teammates.
“Yeah, okay.”
Shinichi, who had snapped back to reality, hurriedly rubbed his cheeks with both hands, trying to wake himself up. After all, Sobakada had asked him to join as his teammate, and it would be quite inappropriate if he completely zoned out and caused his friend to lose and not enjoy himself.
Thus, Shinichi planned to set aside thoughts about Kazumi and focus on playing well in the ongoing match.
He seriously began playing, relying on his suppressed physical reactions to keep up with the opponents, creating a back-and-forth dynamic. However, a small mistake from Sobakada caused the scores on both sides to even out, and now, both teams only had to lose one more point to officially lose the game.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t handle that ball well.”
While waiting to serve again, Sobakada came over and patted Shinichi’s shoulder to express his apologies. Shinichi shrugged to indicate it was fine. Compared to Sobakada’s competitive spirit, Shinichi was more interested in being able to play with his friends and classmates; the outcome didn’t matter that much to him.
Watching Sobakada, who was focused on hitting the ball, Shinichi’s thoughts began to wander again. After all, with his own reaction capacity, even suppressing his strength, it wouldn’t be fair to focus solely on this.
Slightly bored, he glanced at the distant ocean view, then at the small hills on the inner beach, before finally returning to the onlookers around them. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze to receive a ball coming from the opponent’s side, an unexpected figure appeared in his line of sight.
The short girl was not very noticeable in the crowd; in fact, due to only being able to stand in the back, only half of her head could be seen from a distance. Her jet-black and deep eyes stared quietly at the court; it seemed she noticed his gaze, as her originally cold expression slowly softened at that moment, her head tilting slightly to the right, revealing a gentle smile.
“It’s over…”
On the other side, Sobakada, deceived by the opponent’s feigned action, leaped into the air, his eyes filled with despair as he watched the red-and-white volleyball fly toward the back row. He initially thought the opponent delivered a spike but did not expect the targeted area was the bottom left corner of the back court, a spot that was clearly out of reach for the now dormant Sato Shinichi.
To note, the first place in this small volleyball contest would win free jet ski tickets, and having finally made it to the semifinals, it would be truly disheartening to lose such a great opportunity because of his own mistake.
As he slowly descended from mid-air, he could only helplessly shake his head while watching the volleyball gradually fall.
“What a shame… What!!”
But just at the moment when Sobakada was about to give up, a black shadow suddenly appeared at the point where the volleyball and the ground would meet. He couldn’t even see the true appearance of the shadow before the volleyball was forcefully redirected upward into the sky.
“Nice ball, great position!”
Seeing Sato Shinichi suddenly appear in that spot, Sobakada had no time to ponder how fast the boy had saved that last ball. His eyes were wholly focused on the volleyball in mid-air.
The location where Shinichi had received the ball was particularly favorable; from his angle, if he jumped and spiked it again to the right corner of the opposing court, given the two opponents’ positions, it was highly probable they wouldn’t be able to save it.
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and with rich volleyball experience, he seized this fleeting opportunity, bending his legs slightly and waiting for the volleyball to fall to a suitable spot before unleashing his full force.
“Whoosh—” “Bang—”
Just as Sobakada completed his thoughts, a sharp sound tore through the air beside him. Before he could lift his head to see what happened, a red flash pierced through the defenses of the two opponents, heavily crashing onto the sandy ground behind them.
“……. Blue… Blue team scores, 21:20, blue team wins!”
The sudden turn of events even left the referee seated on the sidelines unable to see clearly. After a while, he hesitantly blew the whistle to announce the end of the match.
As the orchestrator of all this had already left the court, walking towards the spectators, one hand touched his neck shyly while looking at the stunned short-haired girl in front of him.
“Um… Kazumi… have you finished resting?”
