[Net King] Pilgrim

Echizen Ryoma went straight to school as soon as he got off the plane tonight.

Before meeting Machida Kazu, he actually thought about what to say and how to say it to her, but when he saw her, he forgot all of it, not surprisingly.

She didn't know that it took him a long time to stand in front of her and say "Long time no see".

There are traces of the emotional timeline, but he can't tell exactly where it falls and how it started.

Even if the deep thinking inevitably gave him a slight headache, it was certain that on his last birthday before leaving Japan, he hadn't dragged her halfway to the tennis court for some bullshit birthday present.

It's just that at that time, he still didn't understand what the emotion that seemed to be blocked by a stone in his heart was.

When I first came back to the United States, I was not used to not seeing her all of a sudden.But every time he holds the racket and stands on the field, that unaccustomed feeling will gradually be smoothed away.

Because only in those moments did he feel that she was by his side, just like she was standing across the court that day.

He thought at first that he just missed her a little.But later, I missed more and more, and it was beyond the controllable range.

As a result, two years after he left Japan, when Minamijiro called to say that he had turned down the tennis club party for him, he turned a deaf ear and booked a plane ticket to fly back to Japan.

Don't blame the stinky old man for making his own way. Nanjiro and his coach are old friends, and he knows that he didn't have any vacations in those months.

He had to fly back to the United States within 24 hours of his stay in Japan, and he didn't even have time to tell everyone in advance.

Echizen Ryoma didn't know whether this temporary decision was correct or not. When he stood across the road and saw her sobbing and being hugged and comforted by another person, he felt his internal organs were frozen.

He wanted to ask her why she was crying, but she couldn't move as if roots had taken root under her feet.

The feeling of being afraid of losing at that moment told him that the essence of missing was "caring".

That night, he pushed open the door of the Echizen house with a sullen face, scaring the whole family in the house. He explained a few reasons, and then called the old man who was woken up from sleep to play a game in the yard.

He knew that she and Yuta had a relationship growing up together, so he restrained himself from thinking too much about it, but there were many moments when he still felt powerless.

It's not as simple as losing a game and then winning it back.

In the middle of hitting the ball, Nanjiro stopped abruptly, "Hey boy, tennis is not a tool for you to vent."

He bowed his head and panted, standing in place for a long time.

Nanjiro watched his son walk away to the sideline full of worries, and immediately made something out of it, and smiled very seriously, "Looking at your feeling of being so upset that you can't eat and want to fight with someone, are you broken in love?"

Echizen Ryoma naturally wouldn't talk to him, but he slowed down the movement of collecting the racket, and remembered the scene of her crying on the street that made his heart tremble.

However, Nanjiro doesn't mind being ignored, and even thinks that he has rich experience and can enlighten this silly son, "At this moment, if the girl who appears in your mind is single, I sincerely suggest you to get her Chase it back."

Echizen Ryoma finally reacted, but turned around with a calm face, "What if she's not single?"

"..." Nanjiro let go when he was excited, and was a little unconscious by the question again, "...it's unlikely. You're not single, you won't even take a look."

Echizen Ryoma completely ignored him and went straight back to the room, ignoring the old man behind him asking questions.

The bedroom was pitch black. He was lying on the floor with his arms covering his eyes, and the only light was the phone screen.

"I've been promoted to the Youth Academy Headquarters. How are you doing?"

My heart at night is like a street, when I think about something, I turn on a light.If you think too much, the lights are bright. [1]

He sat up and made a phone call.

"...Senior Fuji, I am Echizen."

Bu Er Zhou Zhu's gentle voice was full of surprise.I asked him about his recent situation, chatted a few words about the dinner that just ended in the evening, and told him that everyone is fine, so that he can train and study in the United States with peace of mind...

I was so busy that I was about to hang up the phone, but Echizen Ryoma finally got to the point.

The first sentence of the question was: "Senior's younger brother... how is it?"

"Yuta?" That end was slightly puzzled, "He's fine."

"...Does he have a girlfriend?" After Echizen Ryoma asked, he realized that he asked these two sentences really strangely.

The other end was silent for a few seconds, "It seems that there is someone he likes, but he didn't admit it." After a pause, he smiled and said, "It's his classmate... Sorry, I can only say this. But I feel that Here, Echizen should be enough for you."

"..." Echizen Ryoma was silent for a while, before asking, "...is she okay?"

"Her?" With a puzzled tone and a warm smile, "Are you asking Ah Yi?"

Echizen Ryoma suspected at the time that Fuji-senpai was just trying to confirm with him or was using his black-bellied attributes.

He held the phone, but had to admit, "Yeah."

Still in a gentle voice, "She has been promoted to Qing Xue, you know that she has always been good in her studies, but she has made a lot of new attempts in her spare time life... Overall, she is not bad."

"However, she seemed a little sluggish in the past two days. She was very sad during the graduation ceremony, and she was very reluctant to part with her classmates."

After that phone call, Echizen Ryoma received an email from Fuji Shusuke:

A graduation photo with a gentle smile standing on campus.

PS. As far as I know, she is still single.

PPS. But there are many suitors.

Echizen Ryoma knew that it was right for him to come back. If there would be another person standing next to Machida Kazu in the future, he thought that he would feel heartbroken and remorseful because of his slowness. He had already experienced this feeling once, even if it was just a person. Misunderstand.

His original plan was to go back to Japan to find her during the holidays after graduating from high school.

But the injury at the New York Open was an accident.

A year later, the recurrence of the old injury at the Australian Open was even more unexpected.

After stopping in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, the coach blocked the news and asked him to stay in Melbourne for treatment instead of the original vacation.

He could only tell himself to wait a little longer, but the longer he waited, the more uneasy he felt. He was afraid that she would meet the person she wanted to be with, and that the person she chose would not be him.

After the French Open in the middle of the year, a series of follow-up interviews made him more difficult to deal with than the clay court.

Although he was still half a year away from turning 19 at that time, he also knew that he needed to know some ways of the world when he was gradually growing into an adult, and he wanted to play tennis, so he had to face the necessary interviews and activities. He was trying, But in most cases, they still want to leave directly.

When he was still in Paris, he skipped the organizer's celebration banquet and hid in the hotel to call Machida.

The moment he heard her voice, his lonely heart finally came back to reality.

"So you escaped the reception?" She asked him with a smile, "The organizers allow it?"

"I have already escaped, if you will." He was a little bored, "I still don't like those activities, and I don't know what to do."

"Well, I understand. In fact, you've already been trying, haven't you? You should take your time with this kind of thing." She pondered for a few seconds, her brisk tone was a bit serious, "If you really don't want to go, don't force it, but in the future Don't run out alone like this...I mean, you still have to communicate with them."

"Hmm... so troublesome." He said with disgust, but he was in a good mood from his tiredness. When he heard her laughter, it was crisp and sweet.

"...Ah Yi."

"Yeah." There was a moment of silence on the other end, "What's wrong?"

He paused for a few seconds, shaking his head slightly here.

He wanted to tell her in person, not through tools like mobile phones or emails.He said it was his stubbornness, and he admitted it.

"Echizen." She said suddenly, "I have applied for the school's project, and I am going to study in England."

He froze for a moment, a little surprised, "Why?"

He thought she would stay in Japan forever.

"...It's a good opportunity, I want to give it a try."

She has something she wants to do, and he understands it, so as she encouraged him at the beginning, "then go try it."

"So how long are you going?" he asked.

"Three years."

"……are you going alone?"

"Well. It can be regarded as a kind of exercise." She smiled when she said this.

Echizen Ryoma realized at that time that if he kept waiting, there would only be more and more uncontrollable factors.

He checked the official website of Cornell University and found the school she was going to in the list of cooperative colleges, but the number of exchange students was limited, so he needed to exchange his grades.

Although he has not yet joined the Nets, after winning the French Open, several sponsors came to him. The more intensive training and academic pressure once made him a little overwhelmed.

He went to discuss with the coach in advance to transfer the training schedule to the UK. Coach Sherwood thought about it for a long time.

"The training is not difficult, but Ryoma, I need to know the reason." He added, "I'm asking, the reason for making you spend so much time."

Echizen Ryoma was silent for a long time, "I'm going to meet a very important person."

Coach Sherwood raised his eyebrows with a calm expression.After pondering for a moment, "During the Australian Open, your old injury recurred. You dragged your injury and told me that you had something very important to go back to Japan. Does it have anything to do with it?"

"……Um."

Coach Sherwood didn't ask any more questions, and remained silent for a while, "I think you have your own considerations in everything you do, and I have no right to interfere with your private life, but as your coach, I don't want other things to affect your The state of fitness and training matches."

It may be that the young man in front of him has lost his usual vigor on the court. Coach Sherwood laughed, "It's the first time I've seen you so unconfident." After speaking, he sent him away and asked him to go back to school after training, "If you can't get It's no use if I let you go to the UK if you get a place in the school."

Of course, the coach's unintentional worry did not come true, but Echizen Ryoma had arranged everything and kept a basket of words, but when he really stood in front of her, he couldn't be as calm as usual.

When the words came to my lips, they were broken up and reorganized, and after the reorganization, they were broken up again...

The sky surrounded by night is extremely silent, and the smoky yellow street lamps in the dense night cover the surrounding wind with a layer of warm color.

Machida still had a vague feeling that she was dreaming tonight when she got into the taxi, and she didn't even remember how she promised Echizen Ryoma to go to his apartment at the party just now.

He only vaguely recalled the moment when he was in a daze, and he added in an explanatory manner, "I live alone."

For a moment, she even thought about another meaning of this sentence, whether she was saying, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Across the dim light in the car, I glanced to the side.

Echizen Ryoma sat in the back seat with her, leaning against the back of the chair, lowering his head, wondering what he was thinking.A luggage bag was placed under his feet. Although it didn't look big, it also felt dusty.

As soon as Machida looked away, he was very surprised to see him, and now he sneaked out with him.

She had already changed into casual clothes, and the dress and high heels were put away in the student union building.I used to do this often, and when I went back to pick it up, I didn't have to worry about losing it.

Amidst the low sound of the engine, the driver suddenly spoke up, smiled and started a chat with them, speaking English with an accent that Machida couldn't understand the most.

She reacted first, answered the sentence, and before three rounds passed, she looked at Echizen Ryoma for help.

A section of light yellow light came in from the car window, and it happened to shine on his face. When he noticed her gaze, a faint smile rose from the corner of his mouth, and he answered a few words. Although it sounded like something, he still needed to confirm it. But communication was fine.

After getting off the car and entering the apartment building, Machida sighed, "I only understood 40% of what I just said..."

"I only understand 60% of it. Half listening and half guessing."

She laughed, feeling that his words were very comforting, "But you have no problem communicating, do you have any guessing skills?"

"Listen."

"..."

The elevator went to the eighth floor.

After entering the door, Echizen Ryoma turned on the light, took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, and put them in front of her, "This is new."

The obviously caring actions and tone, in the slightly cramped space of the entrance, made Machida's heart beat a little faster.

Suddenly, there was a meow in the room, and then, a group of furry brown and white came around from behind Echizen Ryoma, and rubbed against her feet a few times.

She lowered her head, bent her eyes in surprise, and couldn't help reaching out and rubbing the little guy's head, "Hello."

Another meow was her answer.

Echizen Ryoma smiled a little, put the luggage bag aside, and leaned over to grab Karubin so that she could change her shoes.

The furniture in the house is all in a simple style. Although it is a single room, the overall area is large enough for one person to live in.

As soon as Machida walked into the living room, he simply looked around, "It's so simple and simple."

"Maybe it's because I don't have much stuff, and the room is big." Echizen Ryoma put his coat on the sofa and walked to the kitchen, "I'm staying here temporarily, and I'll move to another place later."

"Where to move?"

"not decided."

"...you are so calm."

Echizen Ryoma smiled, took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, walked over and handed it to her, "I can live for at least four months, it's not in a hurry."

She took the water, "Are you going to stay here for a long time?"

"Until graduation next year." He went back to the kitchen to prepare cat food for Karubin.

"That's quite a long time..."

In front of the open kitchen, under the milky white light, a straight figure stood a few steps away from her, not separated by mountains or seas.

When Machida looked at him, he couldn't help curling the corners of his mouth.

In other words, if she can see him often in the future, will she still have a chance to fight for it?

She was sitting on the cashmere rug in front of the sofa, and Karubin followed her all the way, lying close to her.From time to time, she touched its head with her finger, and when she met its clear eyes, she smiled even more, "You are not at home these days, is it okay to leave it at home?"

"Well, I have a friend who is here recently and will come over and take a look for me."

Echizen Ryoma looked up at her. Under the fluorescent lamp, her black eyes were bent into crescent moons, and she sat there frankly and happily with the cat. Her hair was tied up, revealing a clear and bright face.

He shook his head, unconsciously the corners of his mouth rose a little.Go over and place the pet bowl on the floor and sit down on the blanket.

Karubin, who was still lazily licking his fur just now, got up, went to the bowl, lowered his head and concentrated on finishing the dinner.

Machida touched its ears with a smile, picked up the water bottle on the side, unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

When the bottle cap was tightened, Echizen Ryoma suddenly said, "Your hand..." He frowned in a hesitant tone, and his eyes were fixed on her right hand holding the water bottle.

Maybe it was because her long sleeves covered half of her hands, so he didn't notice at this time that she had no intention of showing her fingers outside the cuffs, and there was a dark red scar connecting the phalanx from the index finger to the little finger.

Machida subconsciously curled up his palms, and the plastic bottle made a slight sound.The bottle moved to his left hand, and he pursed his lips, "...something happened unexpectedly."

Echizen Ryoma's expression froze, and his eyes moved to her face.

She lowered her eyes, a small shadow fell from her eyelashes, and her expression was slightly unnatural, as if she was considering how to explain.

His gaze fell back to her hand again, on the scar that contrasted sharply with the white finger, and he was silent for a moment.

When he looked at her again, his brows stretched a little, "Are you all right?"

Machida paused for a moment, then raised his eyes, and saw the pure concern in his eyes, and there seemed to be a trace of nervousness in his eyes.

Her heart softened, and her voice softened, "It's okay. It won't have any effect."

Hearing her words was not only a relief, but that she was really all right, Echizen Ryoma felt his heart slowly fall back, and he breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

A moment of silence was broken by Karubin's cry, he stared at the pet bowl reluctantly for a while, then looked up at his master.

Machida glanced into its bowl strangely, and found that the cat food that had covered the bottom of the bowl just now had been swept away, "It also...eat too fast. Is it too hungry?"

Echizen Ryoma was helpless and speechless, "I didn't put a lot, it needs to control its food intake." Ignoring Karubin's dissatisfied eyes, he got up and took the bowl to the kitchen to clean it.

The cat naturally followed, and Machida couldn't help laughing, "Listen to you... I think it looks fat?" Then he tilted his head and looked, "Well, it's a little fatter, compared to the photo."

Echizen Ryoma glanced at Karubin by the pool, slightly raised the corners of his lips, "Much fatter."

Carubin seemed very displeased with this evaluation, not having enough food, and also said that he was fat, so he stretched out his claws to obstruct the dishwashing project.

Echizen Ryoma saw that his sleeves were wet by the water from the cat's paws, and he was still unable to clean it up. His expression was depressed, and when he was about to block it with his arms, there was a sound of footsteps approaching, "Do you need help?"

He was obviously asking for help, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice, which made him sound like he was watching the fun.

She really came to watch the fun, and came over to stand beside him. He was struggling to finish washing the dishes but he didn't see her move.

"...Didn't you come to help?"

"You haven't agreed yet."

"..."

Machida suppressed the smile on his lips, rubbed his nose, stretched out his arms and carefully hugged the troublesome Karubin, moved its wet paws to the other side of the cooking table, and decided not to speak anymore.

Echizen Ryoma washed the dishes and put them aside to drain. Turning his head, he saw her leaning against the table, pulling out a paper towel from the corner, and lowering her head to gently dry the paws of the cat in her arms.

Carubin seemed very obedient, he raised his head to touch the tip of her nose, completely ignoring the arrogance he had just caused when he made trouble for him.

His eyes were glued to her, and his beating heart clearly told himself that she was within his sight at this moment, which made him feel at ease.

"Yi."

"Huh?" Machida was wiping away the small water stains on the countertop with paper, while avoiding Karubin's paws to catch her fallen hair. The moment he turned to look at him, the phone in his pocket suddenly sounded a text message, "Wait a minute..." She took out her phone and looked at it.

It was Janice who replied to what she said before that she had left the party, told her to be safe, and asked her when she would go back, or...she stayed out and couldn't go back?

Machida tried his best to maintain a calm expression, and said to leave the door for her, then picked up the phone and looked at him, "What did you want to say just now?"

Echizen Ryoma looked at her for a moment, lowered his eyes slightly and lowered the corner of his mouth, "It's nothing."

If he suddenly appeared in front of her without warning, if he said something strange, would it scare her?

Machida was distracted for a moment, because the look in Echizen Ryoma's and her eyes a moment ago made her wonder if she had an illusion.

Echizen Ryoma turned around to open the refrigerator door, only to realize that he hadn't stored any ingredients for the past few days, so he turned to her and asked, "Do you know what time the supermarket here closes?"

Once Machida came to his senses, "It's usually until 11 or 12 o'clock in the evening, and it will be much earlier on weekends..." He looked at the clock on the wall, "It must still be open now."

It's only been an hour since they met, and she felt that the chance of developing special emotions in such a short period of time was not very high, so she had to attribute it to her overthinking.

"Do you want to buy something?" she asked.

"Well, I'm a little hungry." He closed the refrigerator, "Have you had dinner yet?"

She shook her head. There was only salad at the party.

He thought for a while, then asked her, "Is there any takeaway at this time?"

"Have."

"Fast food and takeaway, you choose one."

Machida was a little confused, did she say she was going to eat here?

Echizen Ryoma looked at her directly, very calmly, "I don't know what's delicious here."

That's it.

Machida thought for a moment, he should have gone to school after getting off the plane and hadn’t had dinner yet, the instant food in the supermarket freezer was just warmed up, “Let’s take it out then.”

He nodded and went to the sofa to get the tablet.

She walked over to sit on the carpet, Echiqian Ryoma sat beside her, took a step away, and directly stuffed the tablet into her arms, "I don't know, you choose."

"..." Machida felt like a restaurant guide.Holding the tablet, sitting with knees bent, "Do you have any taboos?"

"I don't like milk."

...has anything to do with this.

She flicked the screen, "I remember... there is a good pizza, there is a Japanese restaurant in the city center that can also deliver food, and Korean food... South African roast chicken... what do you want?"

"I can do it." Echizen Ryoma saw her lowering her head and thinking seriously, and was in a good mood for a while.

"Then let's have pizza, it's the closest."

"Yeah." He caught a glimpse of Karubin next to her, looking at the screen together, and didn't know what it was doing there.

He leaned forward and reached out to grab it.

Machida raised his head just in time, "You want to drink..." His breath was stagnant, and he opened his eyes slightly to look at the person who was suddenly close at hand.

The moment Echizen Ryoma picked up the cat, he raised his head upon hearing this.

The moment their eyes met, Machida suddenly remembered that the last time he was so close to him seemed to be during the Junior High School Cultural Festival.

The distance at this moment is even closer than that time, her heartbeat missed, and she subconsciously wanted to back up, but her back was leaning against the sofa, there was no way to go back, and her back was stiff.

Echizen Ryoma didn't expect her to raise his head suddenly, he was taken aback for a moment, a pair of eyes as bright as black pearls under the long eyelashes looked at him in a panic.

He didn't blink, seeing the lights falling on her face and apricot shirt, such a clean tone almost made him unable to keep his heart.

The cat in his arms suddenly "meowed", breaking the silence as if time stood still.

Echizen Ryoma lowered his eyes, stepped back a little, and let her feel a safe distance, "What are you going to say?"

The air circulates around the body.Machida breathed out slowly, trying to sort out his thoughts, "...what do you want to drink? No Ponta." She looked down at the options, "Coke, ginger ale, 7-Up..."

Echizen Ryoma looked at her and suddenly felt that it was a wrong decision to leave her here for dinner.

How could she trust others so easily.

"Coke," he said.

"Okay." She repeated the order to him, "BBQ chicken pizza, grilled wings, cheese pie, potato wedges..."

But she stayed and was willing to believe him.He is happy again.

After placing the order, Machida put down the tablet, "This store's delivery will not take more than 30 minutes. Some restaurants have to wait for an hour."

"I know very well." After a pause, "Do you often eat takeaway?"

"No, it's just that sometimes there are performances outside the school, and I have to come back very late for several days in a row. If I don't want to cook, I will order takeaway." She smiled, "Generally, I cook more by myself."

The takeaway really didn't take more than 30 minutes.

Echizen Ryoma locked Karubin in the bedroom, washed his hands and went to pack the lunch box.

Machida didn't feel very hungry at first, but he felt hungry when he was sitting at the dining table. His mouth was filled with saliva due to the aroma, and he looked at him with a smile, "I'll treat you to dinner next time."

Echizen Ryoma sat down beside her, took a sip of Coca-Cola, and looked at her, "What about the meal time, is it up to me?"

His eyes were clear and soft, and Machida was almost caught in such eyes, slightly startled.

"Repent?" He raised his eyebrows.

She recovered and shook her head, "Yes."

Echizen Ryoma put down the Coke, turned around and grabbed a piece of pizza, "Then I'll let you know when I've made up my mind."

... Invite you to dinner, it's up to you, and you have to wait until you think it over?

Only he can speak so confidently.Machida sighed secretly, who made her owe a meal.I squeezed a potato wedge and dipped it in some ketchup, and said "oh".

Echizen Ryoma calmly suppressed the smile in his eyes, and took a tissue from the table for her.

"What do you like to eat?" he asked.

"Fish, natto. And... cakes and desserts."

"What don't you like?"

"Onions, garlic." She took a bite of pizza and muttered, "I rarely eat spicy food... It's not that I don't like it, but I'm afraid it will hurt my throat."

As soon as Machida ate, his speed slowed down, and he caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye.

She was worried at first that they would not get used to meeting again after they had not seen each other for many years, but now it seemed that she didn't have to worry so much, since they could still chat so easily, it would be nice for her to get along with each other generously.

After eating a clean meal, Echizen Ryoma put the empty lunch box into the garbage bag and put the rest of the food aside, Machida wanted to help.

"I'll fix it." He looked in the direction of the bedroom, "Help me open the bedroom door, that guy has been scratching the door."

Machida grinned, walked over and opened the door a crack, Karubin slipped out and yelled a few times.

Echizen Ryoma checked the time, "It's late, I'll take you back."

Machida looked up and saw that the hour hand was pointing to past nine o'clock.

Just as she was about to nod, remembering that he had been busy these days, "I'll just go back by myself. You just came back, so you should rest early." After saying that, she shook her phone with a smile, "I'll tell you when I arrive."

As before, the refusal was always justified.

Echizen Ryoma remembered when he was in junior high school, and at that time he also wanted to send her home with good intentions, but he was completely rejected, but the reasons for her refusal included double the good intentions, which made it impossible for people to persist.

"I'm fine." He turned around to get his coat involuntarily, and raised the corner of his mouth, "I want to go for a walk after dinner."