Chapter 365 Basketball Game
School day, playground.

The weather is getting cooler. Although the sky is still sunny, the clothes for physical education classes have changed to winter sportswear.

On the playground, because there will be basketball training later, the students are doing body stretching to avoid muscle strain due to intense exercise.

However, some people became distracted while doing it, and their eyes involuntarily looked at the people they cared about.

"You're spying on Sakura here again, aren't you?"

Just as Li Xiaolang was watching intently, Xia Yu's faint voice rang in his ears, startling him and bringing him back to his senses.

"S-What are you talking about!"

Seeing Li Xiaolang's panic, Xia Yu sighed softly, patted his shoulder and said, "Forget it, since you bravely took the initiative before, I won't say anything to you this time."

"Also, if you like someone, just confess openly. Your hesitation gives me a sense of déjà vu."

"Deja vu?"

Li Xiaolang, who was originally a little excited when he heard the confession, looked at Xia Yu with some confusion after noticing this word.

Why did his hesitation give this person a sense of déjà vu?
In response to Li Xiaolang's question, Xia Yu just shook his head.

How could he explain this? Did he see his old self in Li Xiaolang? He clearly liked her, but for various reasons he hesitated and did not dare to take the next step.

Although it was his own character that stopped Li Xiaolang, and he was hesitant because of his own inner reasons, but putting this aside, his hesitation was no different from Li Xiaolang's.
Now he has achieved his goal, but his good brother who has been following him all the way has fallen behind him and is still hesitating and not daring to confess his love. He can't help but want to give him a push.

Let’s not talk about anything else for now, at least you should express what you like, right?
I didn’t think anything of it when I hesitated before, but from an outsider’s perspective, this hesitation does make people feel a little itchy, and they want to do it in one go.

On the other side, Li Xiaolang looked at Xia Yu, who suddenly stopped talking and was stretching silently. He was a little puzzled, but Xia Yu was a little strange to begin with, so he thought about it and didn't explore it any further.

However, when he thought of Xia Yu's words just now urging him to confess, he couldn't help but glance at Xiaoying. Just this glance seemed to make Xiaoying notice his gaze.

Facing Sakura's smile, his face instantly turned red and he hurriedly turned around to stretch.

Soon, the teacher's whistle sounded.

"Everyone gather."

"Okay."
With the sound of students' dense footsteps, they quickly gathered in front of the teacher, and the teacher put down the whistle and said.

"Last time it was a five-on-five game, so let's try a one-on-one in today's basketball class."

When the students heard the teacher announce today's basketball training program, they immediately became excited because it sounded very interesting.

Soon, the one-on-one competition began.

Since they were still elementary school students, the one-on-one basketball game was not divided into boys and girls, but was randomly paired.

"The next group, Kinomoto and Natsu."

As the game was over, the teacher read out the name of the next group. When Xia Yu heard that he was going to play against Sakura, he subconsciously looked over.

Xiaoying also happened to be looking over, and after noticing Xia Yu's gaze, she smiled, clenched her fist and said, "Even if it's classmate Xia, I won't admit defeat."

"Fate is cruel and unpredictable. I never thought we would end up like this."

Xia Yu covered his chest with his hands, his expression struggling, and said in a dramatic manner: "Xiaoying, we have finally become enemies. This painful reality is inevitable. Come on, let me see your determination!"

"Forehead……"

Watching Xia Yu's exaggerated performance, Xiaoying's toes tensed up for a moment and she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

Xia Yu's unconscious normality almost made her forget that this was Xia's original style. She was actually used to it, but after being normal for a long time, she suddenly performed like this again, which made her feel a little strange and embarrassed again, and the long-lost shame also surged in her heart.

It was clearly Xia who was performing, so why was she the one who was embarrassed?

Just when Xiaoying was feeling uncomfortable, Terada Yoshiyuki had already walked to Xia Yu helplessly, pushed him and said, "Okay, okay, let's talk about it after the game is over. Let's play first."

"Yes."

Xia Yu's expression changed, and he stood in front of the basketball hoop, waving at Xiaoying and saying, "Come on, don't let our past friendship stop you from doing it. Is this the extent of your determination?"

"No way."

Hearing Xia Yu still saying these embarrassing words, Xiaoying suppressed the shame in her heart and transformed it all into motivation to win.

After coming in front of Xia Yu with a basketball in her hand, Xiaoying patted the basketball and stared at Xia Yu who was blocking the way ahead. Suddenly, she rushed forward and tried to pass him by patting the basketball.

However, Xia Yu's reaction speed was not slow either. He stretched out his hand to block and tried to snatch the basketball, but Xiaoying dodged with a fake move and then jumped high and tried to throw the basketball.

Just when the basketball was about to slip out of his hands, Xia Yu blocked the ball with his backhand, then patted the basketball to create distance.

Sakura, who was blocked, looked in surprise and saw Xia Yu had already run outside the three-point line. He jumped and shot the basketball into the basket.

"It seems that I am still better."

Xia Yu landed and smiled at Xiaoying. Because he was taller than Xiaoying, he took advantage of Xiaoying when blocking the shot. "Alas, I can't compare to Xia classmate in sports."

Sakura, who lost, sighed softly but was not too depressed. After all, Xia Yu's physical fitness had always been better than hers, and his scores in physical education classes were far ahead of hers.

She had expected to lose this basketball game.

"Hahaha, of course. Even if my opponent is you, I will try my best."

Xia Yu put his hands on his hips and laughed, but after just laughing a few times, he suddenly felt someone staring at him, and he looked in the direction he felt, and saw Li Xiaolang staring at him.

Seeing Xia Yu looking at him, Li Xiaolang snorted lightly and then looked away.

Xia Yu: "..."

Tsk, he still wanted to help this kid.

"Okay, next group."

When the teacher saw that the confrontation was over, he blew the whistle to signal, then looked at the list and continued.

"The next group, Hiiragi and Lee."

"Eh?"

Hearing that it was his turn and his opponent was still Elio, Li Xiaolang, who had just glared at Xia Yu, immediately turned his gaze and glared at Elio again.

Facing Li Xiaolang's gaze, Elio smiled gently as always.

A minute later, the two stood on the basketball court, Li Xiaolang was the attacker, while Elio stood in front of the basketball hoop and defended with a smile on his face.

"Elio and Little Wolf, come on!"

Sakura, who had already returned to the team, saw Elio and Li Xiaolang as her opponents, so she simply cheered for both of them and waved to encourage them.
Hearing the cheers, the two looked over together. Facing Sakura's smile, Li Syaoran's face turned red for a moment, his spirits soared. He clenched his fists and looked at Elio who was waving to Sakura.

As if noticing Li Xiaolang's fighting spirit, Elio smiled and said, "Please show mercy."

Beep——!
The whistle blows and the game begins.

Li Xiaolang slapped the basketball and wanted to shoot from the side as an attacker. However, just as he jumped, Elio suddenly rushed forward and snatched the basketball from his hands.

Then Elio made a fadeaway jump shot, and the basketball drew a beautiful arc and fell straight into the basket.

Seeing that Elio made the shot, Li Xiaolang was a little unconvinced. He took the basketball and wanted to try again.

Seeing this, Yoshiyuki Terada did not blow the whistle to announce the end, because Li Xiaolang's group was already the last group, so it would not hurt to give it a little more time.

Seeing that the teacher did not blow the whistle to announce the end, Li Xiaolang patted the basketball again and prepared to attack again, while Elio still stood in front as the defender.

Because of the mistake last time, Li Syaoran made a jump shot on the spot this time, but because he was too concerned about Sakura's gaze, he accidentally let the basketball hit the basket.

Li Xiaolang, who failed to succeed, took the basketball again unwillingly and slapped it, preparing to attack again. This time he chose to rush forward and choose to bypass Elio before shooting.

Taking advantage of Elio's inattention, he broke through Elio's blockade, then ran forward a few steps, and jumped up and shot again.

However, at this moment, Elio suddenly appeared beside him and whispered in his ear: "Calm down, just think about putting the ball into the basket."

Clearly, those words came from his opponent, but somehow, Li Xiaolang felt calm at this moment, with only one thought in his mind, which was to throw the ball.

With a calm mood, the basketball flew out of his hand, drew an arc, and finally fell straight into the basket.

Beep——!
Seeing that Li Xiaolang successfully shot the ball, Terada Yoshiyuki blew the whistle and announced the end.

It was not until this moment that Li Xiaolang came back to his senses. He made the shot?

Elio also walked over with a smile and whispered in his ear: "As long as you calm down and don't lose yourself, you can become stronger."

Hearing this, Li Xiaolang turned his head, but only saw Elio's departing back.

"Okay, that's the end of the physical education class. Let's go back to the classroom."

"Okay."
Following Terada Yoshiyuki's order, the students all walked towards the classroom one after another. However, Li Syaoran was still staring at Elio's back in a daze, as if he had not yet come to his senses.

"What are you standing there for? Go back to the classroom."

It was not until Xia Yu suddenly patted him on the shoulder that he came back to his senses from what he had just said and prepared to go back to the classroom.

But just as he took a step, Xia Yu suddenly came over and chuckled, "Speaking of which, when Xiaoying was cheering you up just now, I called you Xiaolang. When did I change the name? Do you mind telling me?"

"Well……"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Xiaolang's face turned red instantly, and he quickly shook his head. Without saying anything, he lowered his head and walked quickly towards the classroom.

Seeing this, Xia Yu hurriedly followed. Silence, right? He had plenty of ways to make this kid speak.

(End of this chapter)