[There's a faint smile on Yagyuu's face as she returns the ball, and it's hard to say if it's more because she couldn't do anything but play into his hands or out of anticipation of what he knows is coming next. His own racket, an opponent across the net, a perfect setup into his favorite move--and the only thing that could make it better, he thinks in a sudden moment of odd nostalgia, is if this were doubles and there were a partner waiting at the net who already knew what was coming, too, and was wearing an identical smile of anticipation because of it.
Leave it to Niou to worm his way into his thoughts, even now. But perhaps it's not so strange, Niou and tennis and the Laser all inextricably intertwined; that's just one more part of how things are, even if it's something Rise couldn't possibly see in this moment no matter how hard she looked.
His fingers curl around the handle of his racket, the grip tape sure and familiar, the stance so practiced it's reached the point of instinct--and at the perfect moment he steps, sweeps, and lets fly the Laser, arms coming up as he follows through and watches it hurtle and ricochet off her side of the court in that familiar, perfect way.
The adieu that slips from his lips in the first moment of aftermath, coincidentally, is purely from instinct, too.]
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Leave it to Niou to worm his way into his thoughts, even now. But perhaps it's not so strange, Niou and tennis and the Laser all inextricably intertwined; that's just one more part of how things are, even if it's something Rise couldn't possibly see in this moment no matter how hard she looked.
His fingers curl around the handle of his racket, the grip tape sure and familiar, the stance so practiced it's reached the point of instinct--and at the perfect moment he steps, sweeps, and lets fly the Laser, arms coming up as he follows through and watches it hurtle and ricochet off her side of the court in that familiar, perfect way.
The adieu that slips from his lips in the first moment of aftermath, coincidentally, is purely from instinct, too.]