Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 284 - 226: A Painting

Chapter 284: Chapter 226: A Painting

Afternoon indoor gym class.

Goto, tackled countless times by the opponent, was so frustrated he could only call on Uesugi for help.

He solemnly patted his shoulder and said:

"I’m counting on you, Uesugi! My life’s glory rests on you!"

Uesugi Sakura glanced at the ping pong paddle in his hand and said calmly, "What is your glory?"

Goto thought for a moment.

"To marry a school idol."

"Isn’t it to be a photographer?"

"Being a photographer is to take private photos of my idol wife."

Alright, fair enough.

Uesugi Sakura walked up to the ping pong table.

Across from him was a boy from the neighboring class, known as the "Ping Pong Prince."

It’s said that he’s placed in the top three in many school tournaments.

Meanwhile, Goto was already the sixteenth person in the class he defeated.

A bit handsome, and his demeanor was decent.

The "Prince" held up the white ping pong ball with his left hand, assumed a serving posture, bent down, and grinned: "Uesugi, it’s coming your way!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he tossed the ball upwards with his left hand while his right arm quickly pulled back to the left rear.

A right-side backspin serve!

Standing by, Goto knew this was the serve technique that defeated sixteen of his classmates.

The purpose was to make the return difficult for the opponent, granting the server the attack advantage in the next few rounds.

This backspin was strong, fast, and incredibly hard to return.

To counter a spin like this, you need to actively hit back with a high-quality return to disrupt the opponent’s attack rhythm.

In conclusion, it allows the server to fully control the situation.

"Uesugi!"

Uesugi Sakura heard Goto’s loud reminder, but to him, it was just about hitting the ball back.

He casually raised his paddle-wielding hand.

With a "bang," the backspin ball was naturally returned.

"Nice!"

The Prince smiled slightly, immediately pivoting his body to strike back with force.

It was a full-force smash, and he was confident about it.

"With this—"

Just as the Prince thought Uesugi wouldn’t be able to return the ball, it came back to him again.

Seeing Uesugi Sakura actually defend against it, the cheerleader Goto instantly shouted:

"Whoa! Impressive!"

The Prince got into it as well, returning the shot again and saying:

"Very good! Uesugi, haha! A worthy opponent!"

...

Ten minutes later.

Holding the ping pong ball, Uesugi Sakura glanced at the "Prince" across from him, panting heavily, placed the paddle and ball on the table, and walked away slowly.

The atmosphere in the gym suddenly became noisy.

Two classes had already gathered to watch, bewildered as to why these two kept rallying the ball for ten minutes.

But overall, watching was exciting, making people guess who would lose the exchange first as they returned and rallied.

Uesugi Sakura sat in the gym’s resting area, unscrewing a water bottle to take a small sip of cool water.

"Uesugi, I’ve suddenly realized you’re pretty good at every sport!" joked Goto Iwao, trying to save face, as he patted his shoulder.

"Mostly the ball-related ones." Uesugi Sakura replied.

After a few more chats with Goto, Kitagawa Sakisa walked over and stood in front of him.

Goto Iwao glanced at the two of them before leaving to find Tsubokawa, who was playing games on the other side.

Kitagawa Sakisa sat down next to Uesugi Sakura and turned to ask him:

"Why did Hanabi go to England?"

"Dreams."

As a lady always overly protected by her brother, Kitagawa Sakisa hadn’t really heard much of this word:

"Why does everyone have dreams? Are they so important?"

"People always need some goals."

Wearing her white tracksuit, Kitagawa Sakisa hugged her knees and rested her face on them, "Actually, I mainly came to this school to play with Hanabi, but she ended up not being here..."

"Are you and her very close?" Uesugi Sakura asked.

"Of course we’re close! Because of her, I didn’t even mind you bullying me."

"What was that about?"

"Last time in Kabuki-cho, you threw a rock at my leg!" Kitagawa Sakisa pointed to her face, "I almost got disfigured! You know that!"

Uesugi Sakura briefly recalled.

"In my eyes, it was just a thief stealing something."

"That was my own family’s—never mind..."

Kitagawa Sakisa’s pretty face suddenly deflated, "I promised Hanabi I wouldn’t be mad anymore..."

This demeanor reminded him of the two talking in the courtyard.

—and how Hanamaru Hanabi would secretly give her a bento to eat. At that time, Hanabi wasn’t in a good mood, and Kitagawa comforted her.

This showed that Kitagawa Sakisa’s nature wasn’t bad; it’s just that her environment gave her some princess traits.

Kitagawa Sakisa stared at her black sports shoes, muttering softly:

"Are dreams... really that important...?"

Uesugi Sakura glanced sideways at her while drinking water.

On Wednesday afternoon, September 3, Uesugi Sakura carried his bow bag to the Kyudo Club.

"A rare guest, haven’t seen you in a while." The club leader, Seisuke Yooya, joked with a smile.

"Any competitions coming up?"

"Oh? You’re interested?"

"I want to find something to do." Uesugi Sakura took off the bow bag from his back.

Seisuke Yooya watched his process of stringing the bow and said, "There aren’t any at the moment, but there’s a Hyakushakai you might want to try."

"Hyakushakai?" Uesugi Sakura, a bit rusty, attached the string to the bamboo bow’s tip.

"As the name implies, a hundred close-range shots. The current record was set by Sakamoto Tadao in Showa 49, with all hits, which is 100 consecutive hits."

"49? That’s quite a while ago."

Showa 49 is 1974, several decades ago.

"Recent records reached 99 hits, with 61 consecutive, by Hosei University," Seisuke Yooya told Uesugi Sakura, "What do you think, interested?"