mosso more, with motion or animation
Light has always been good at sports. Not brilliant, the way he is in the classroom. Not peerless. But good.
In Light's second-to-last year of elementary school, his school builds a set of tennis courts and tennis becomes a part of the physical education curriculum. Light looks forward to it, if only because it's something new.
"Have you ever played tennis before?" he asks Takashi, making conversation as they stretch the first day.
Takashi shakes his head. "No. Have you?"
"No."
"So neither of us has an advantage. Good." Takashi grins at him, and they go to get their racquets and balls.
As they take their places at one of the new courts, Light toys with the tennis ball in his hand and makes sure he remembers the rules they've been given. Maddeningly, Mori-sensei has only touched on the basics, but he can make do with them for now, until he has a chance to look the full set of rules up for himself. He knows, for now, that he's meant to serve the ball across the net, where Takashi will let it bounce once and then return it, at which point they will volley it back and forth until someone misses, or hits it so that it goes beyond the bounds of the court.
It sounds simple enough. Takashi looks at him expectantly. He drops the ball and serves.
The ball rebounds against the court and bounces past Takashi's right ear before Takashi realizes what's happened.
"Fifteen-love," Light murmurs as Takashi retrieves the ball.
The hour is a blur of serves and returns, vague concepts of arcs and trajectories translated into the swing of his arm, the smack of the ball on the asphalt. "I thought you hadn't played tennis before," Takashi says at one point, sulkily.
"I haven't."
Takashi rolls his eyes.
After the hour of physical education is up, as the students make their way back to the school building, Mori-sensei pulls Light aside. "Do you play tennis anywhere?" he asks, a gleam in his eyes.
"No, sir."
"You should. Ask your parents about it." Mori-sensei claps him on the shoulder. "Go on, then."
Thoughtfully, Light goes.