At last, the referee's whistle sounded.
"Out of bounds!"
The match was finally over. After it ended, when Kariu Rena and Tamari Honoka were alone together, tears nearly spilled from their eyes. Tamari Honoka did not truly relax until the match was over, and she had almost burst into tears at the sight of Rena like that.
"Honoka, don't cry anymore!"
"You too!"
Hishiro Chizuru walked over from afar, unsure whether she should leave or go over. At a loss, she was spotted by Tamari Honoka. Kariu Rena waved her over, so Hishiro Chizuru had no choice but to approach. Kariu Rena took her hand and had her sit between them.
"Honoka, you cry out of regret too?"
"Of course! You're happy when you score, and you feel frustrated when you make mistakes, right?!"
"Sigh. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Why did I make that kind of mistake?"
"That wasn't your mistake!" Kariu Rena's voice was gentle. Everything was over now; as long as the misunderstanding was cleared up, everything would be fine. They only needed to put those misunderstandings behind them. The two of them would still be good friends in the future. A little setback and misunderstanding would not destroy their friendship. "I was the one who didn't set up a ball you could hit. That kind of ball was just too difficult to return."
"But if I had managed to hit it back, maybe we would still have been locked in a tug-of-war!"
"There's no use saying that now, is there?"
Sitting between them and listening to their regrets and self-criticisms, Hishiro Chizuru really wanted to escape. This felt like being stabbed by crackers, and it was miserable.
This match would become their most wonderful memory, as well as proof of their youthful friendship.
"Because you didn't