[Net King] Pilgrim

Machida Kazu, who was sent back to the apartment by Echizen Ryoma for a walk, was still digesting what happened that night before going to bed.

When she woke up the next morning, she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling, and went to touch her phone after a while.

There was indeed a text message from Echizen Ryoma in the mailbox—"I'm at the apartment, go to bed early."

He sent her downstairs last night and said goodnight. His figure was clear in the dark night, his eyes were bright, and his voice was as deep as a violin.She could still recall the scene when she was with him yesterday, and the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily.

There were still classes in the morning, so she checked the time and hurriedly got up to take a shower.

The door of Janice's bedroom was closed, she should not have woken up at this time, so Machida moved lightly and went to school after eating breakfast.

The sky above her head was azure blue, and her mood became lighter as if being sprayed by the fresh water vapor.

The news that Echizen Ryoma was studying at Georgia University spread like wildfire.In the physical class after the morning work, Machida heard a few words from the students during the class. During the break, she took out her mobile phone and clicked on the school's Facebook page.

Sure enough, there were several popular discussions about Echizen Ryoma, especially after his appearance last night, the topic level soared.

But the discussion is a discussion, but no one exposed the photos of the party.

She flipped through a few topics at random: some were curious about why he came here to study, some asked what major he was in, and some people said he didn't look good on camera—the real person was better looking than on TV and photos, and some people said they wanted to. Invite him to dinner...

Machida thought wholeheartedly, invite Echizen Ryoma to dinner, then you have to be patient and wait for him to let you know when he has decided...

Holding the mobile phone, I wanted to ask him what he was doing, and remembered last night that he said that he would go to see the mentor today, hesitated for a moment, but gave up the idea.

In fact, she had thought about a confession plan, but after thinking for a long time, there was no result.Maybe it was because this liking had been buried for too long, and she had to seriously think about how to express this feeling to him well, so she gave birth to all kinds of twists and turns, giving herself courage over and over again.

Just as I was about to pick up my phone before class, a text message came in. It was Janice asking if I wanted to have lunch together.

She should come down, pack up after class and go to the school cafeteria.

"Do you have class in the afternoon?" Janice scooped a spoonful of tomato beans into her mouth.

"Yeah." Machida leaned against the back of the sofa and sipped the hot chocolate in his hand, "There are still two hours left, don't worry." After saying that, the phone on the table suddenly vibrated twice.

Sitting up to look, it was a message from Echizen Ryoma.

"get out of class has ended?"

As soon as Machida put down the hot chocolate, he replied, "Yeah. What's wrong?"

A few seconds after sending out, a call came in.

She paused and pressed answer.

The other end asked first, "Where are you?" The lazy voice warmed her ears.

"In the school cafeteria."

"I'm going to find you now...for dinner."

She froze for a moment, and unconsciously drew a small arc on her mouth, "Are you at school?"

"Yeah. About five minutes."

Janice looked at her with her chin on her shoulders and smiled. It would be too easy to guess who Machida could speak Japanese and then contact the tone of voice.

Yesterday I didn't ask much because of the scene, but now it's just the two of them, and Janice doesn't shy away, "I haven't heard of such a powerful classmate from you before." Then she raised her chin at the phone she hung up, "Last night you Slip away early, it has something to do with him."

As soon as Machida knew that Janice wouldn't talk nonsense and didn't want to lie to her, he admitted frankly, "Yes. It's just a chat to catch up on the past, so don't think too much about it."

Janic sneered and said, "You think I can't hear it? You defend him like that."

Machida snorted softly, acknowledged her teasing, and did not refute.

From the confusion last night, Janice can guess a little bit of her thoughts now, "Don't worry, although I sometimes gossip, I am not interested in spying on other people's emotional life." She poked her cheek with her finger, " Just don't get yourself hurt."

The subject changed, "By the way, I'm scheduled to leave at the end of May."

"Is the flight booked?"

"No, I'm still watching. I told the landlady that I was going to move out. She mentioned something and asked me if I could help introduce other tenants. I agreed. If you have a friend in need, you can also talk to her directly. .”

Machida smiled, "I think we lived in like this before, time flies..." Halfway through speaking, a plate of pasta suddenly "clicked" on the table in front of us.

When she looked up, she happened to meet Kaechizen Ryoma's amber eyes after he took off his sunglasses, hid them under his white hat, looked at her for a moment, and then sat down beside her naturally.

He was wearing a black plaid jacket with a white shirt inside, with a refreshing and clean look.If it wasn't for deliberately covering up and sitting in the corner, with his outstanding figure and appearance, and his high popularity with the new tennis star, it probably wouldn't be such a quiet and ordinary dining scene at this time.

Janice greeted him and cast a meaningful glance at someone out of the corner of her eye.

Machida ignored it and turned to look at him, "Have you finished meeting your mentor?"

"Ah."

I've seen her a long time ago, and I walked around the school for half a circle, and I didn't send a message until she was late after class.

"It's hard to find the classroom over there in the main building." He suddenly complained, pawing at the pasta with a fork.

The other two all laughed out loud, bluntly saying that everyone was a little dizzy at first, but they got better gradually.

Janice picked up the topic along the way, "Echizen-kun, if you are not familiar with the school environment, I can let you walk around casually."

Machida glanced at her and saw Janice secretly raised an eyebrow at her.

...Come on, she wanted to say this anyway.

Echizen Ryoma's eyes moved from the dinner plate to her, and the depressed and natural tone just now had been removed from his eyes, "Then when are you free?"

Machida Yi didn't expect him to answer so briskly, and was stunned for a moment, "I have class at three o'clock in the afternoon..." When he spoke, he saw that Janice was already packing up his things and preparing to retreat. , "It's fine until then."

So 10 minutes later, the two came out of the restaurant, and started to walk around the campus stepping on the light spots that fell on the ground in the afternoon.

It was a January day, and it was cold and humid, but Machida felt that the sun dispelled the chill, "Actually, I really like going to the main building, it feels like I have traveled to Hogwarts. I am quite envious of you, Business School Classes are generally held on the main campus."

Echizen Ryoma still remembered that Machida was a fan of Harry Potter books and movies, and he wanted to come to this school's Gothic buildings to meet her wishes.

"And where do you go to class?" He looked at her by pulling the brim of his hat.He didn't wear sunglasses, only a scarf around his neck, people passing by looked back frequently, and the sharp-eyed fans might have recognized him.

He lowered his hat a little more.Although he is very happy that others define him and Machida as a special relationship, instead of explaining that he is just an ordinary junior high school student, but anyway, he does not want her to be the target of the messy scandal, at least before expressing his heart to her, he Try to avoid unnecessary troubles as much as possible.

"Follow the slope here, and it's the building where I have classes. It's very close." When Machida spoke, he looked at Echizen Ryoma, and pointed him in the opposite direction, saying that that was where she lived. Yesterday they walk that way.

Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered what Janice said about renting a house just now, and looked at him.

But after thinking about it, he should have an assistant or something to help with this kind of thing... She should not pay too much attention to it.

Standing on the side of the road and distracted, the sound of a car horn came from behind.Echizen Ryoma took her arm, turned to the side, and hugged her in his arms, the car passed behind her.

Machida's head went blank, he blinked, his body was stiff, and he heard a deep voice above his head, "Be careful."

"……thanks."

Gently pulling her to the inside, he let go.

The downhill road was a bit steep, and Machida felt his heart shaking.She couldn't tell if it was because of his action of protecting her just now, but after thinking about it, she asked, "Have you found a new place to live?"

"I haven't found it yet."

"...you don't have an assistant?"

"There's a half-assed assistant."

"..." Machida felt that it was still necessary to tell him, at least multiple options, "Janice will move out in a few months, if you don't mind, you can rent..."

Echizen Ryoma stopped and turned to look at her.

Machida was inexplicably guilty when he saw him, "I, I just give you a suggestion, you can consider multiple options. I have lived in school dormitories, and several dormitory areas are not close to the school, so I think you will still live outside of……"

Echizen Ryoma sometimes wonders whether she only trusts him so much, or does she trust others too. From before to now, why is it that she is always worried about things that are not on point?

Her clear eyes made him feel more and more that he must find a time to make it clear to her immediately, "I'll think about it, thank you."

Machida smiled, turned his head and saw the building next to the traffic light, "This is where I usually go to class." She pointed to him, "I'll be in that building in a while."

Echizen Ryoma looked up at the medieval-style building on the other side of the road, and then scanned the slightly noisy intersection, "Where are the school theater and cinema here?"

"Yeah. But it's only used in class and student activities." She said with a smile, "Occasionally, I would go to the film major class and secretly hide in the last row of the theater to watch movies."

"Should seldom show commercial films." He guessed that she would often fall asleep.

"Yes, most of them are humanities and art films." She was a little sluggish, "Sometimes I fall asleep watching them."

Echizen Ryoma hooked the corners of his lips, put his hands in his pockets and started walking.

Go straight across the road.She told him about the shops and restaurants on the street, that the College of Education was just around the corner, and that the city center could be reached by walking down this road.

Echizen Ryoma suddenly remembered that when they were in Shonan many years ago, the night they walked back to the hotel from the seaside, she was like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube like now, talking all the way.

Did it start at that time?Still hours before that.

Echizen Ryoma found that he was stuck in this headache again.

"The store on the corner..." She said excitedly, "I really like their muffins with special cheese, and the pistachio cake is also good, I recommend it to you."

He smiled, "How much thought have you put into eating?"

With bright eyes and kind eyes, he suddenly wanted to hold her hand.

Machida also laughed, "Speaking of this, I ate sweets almost every day when I first came here, um... I gained a little weight, and I had to control it for a while."

Go out another [-] meters and return the same way.

She thought of something, and pointed to the fork in the road not far away, "The one with the blue sign is a dental clinic. It's not very expensive to see a dentist."

Echizen Ryoma looked along and nodded.After thinking for a while, he looked at her again, "How do you know?"

Machida paused.

It may be this pause that gave Echizen Ryoma a reason to draw a conclusion in his heart, the corners of his mouth raised and he retracted his gaze, "It seems that I really have a lot of sweets."

"..."

Echizen Ryoma found a corner seat in the coffee bar and ordered an Americano.Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling windows, the opposite is the teaching building where Machida Kazu is teaching.

She left him a phone number so he could find out about the apartment.

"The landlady is Japanese. You can contact her if you need. Generally speaking, she is available from ten in the morning to six in the evening."

He checked the time and tried to dial the number.

The landlady's voice sounded like a gentle and elegant woman, with a smile in her kind tone, she told him some basic information, and the introduction was very detailed, so that Echizen Ryoma had no questions to ask in the end.

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing I forgot to say." The landlady added in a friendly way.

"It's my own selfishness. Generally speaking, couples are not allowed to stay, but this is not a mandatory requirement, so I didn't write it in the contract... Maybe it's a little rude, are you and Ah Yi just friends?"

It was already dark when Machida finished class, and there was a bit of wind, and she felt cool all over her body soon after she came out of the hot building.

Echizen Ryoma almost picked the time to call her, his voice melted into the night, "I have contacted the landlady."

"So fast." Machida stepped down the steps and stood on the side of the street, "How did the chat go?"

"She spoke very carefully, and the conditions are very good in all aspects." He paused for a moment, "But I don't think I should rent it."

"why?"

There was a moment of silence.

He said: "There is a park next to the teaching building where you study, do you know the way?"

"Hmm. What's wrong?"

"I'm in front of the fountain." He raised his voice, "Come here, I'll tell you."

Machida couldn't help laughing, "Can't you talk on the phone?" Although he asked like this, he also walked towards the park.

"Well. Can't say."

In the empty and quiet park, there are few street lights, the light is dim, the smell of green grass floats in the air, and the sky is full of stars.

Echizen Ryoma was leaning against the edge of the fountain behind him without a hat or sunglasses.

After hanging up the phone, I remembered the question from the landlady.

He was silent for a few seconds, and replied, "We are friends now, not a couple." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the building outside the window, "I mean, we are not a couple yet."

The landlady was stunned for a moment, then realized something, smiled in surprise and joy, and chatted a few words.

Finally, say to him, "Good luck!"

Machida saw Echizen Ryoma leaning against the edge of the fountain pool from a distance, a few lights in the pool danced up and down with the water splashes, passed along the corner of his coat, and fainted countless light spots.

Hearing footsteps, he raised his head.

"Is it okay if you don't wear a hat?" She ran over, stopped a few steps away from him, and looked around, "Although there is no one..."

He didn't answer, looking at her facial features softened by the night, "Can you come closer." He raised his eyebrows slightly, "I'll tell you why I don't live here, it's too far away for you to hear."

"..." She slowly moved forward a few steps.

Echizen Ryoma lowered his head, curled his mouth, straightened up, and walked towards her.

Machida stopped and saw him standing in front of him, with a calm and high spirit, "Can we talk now?"

"Do you know that the landlady has an unwritten request?" Echizen Ryoma looked into her shimmering eyes, "She doesn't really like letting couples live together."

"Really?" Machida shook his head in surprise, "I haven't heard her mention it, I only read the contract."

She thought about it, maybe she and Janice didn't know each other when they rented together, and they were introduced by the previous tenant, so the landlady didn't say anything.

"So you can't stop because of this? But we are not..." She stopped belatedly, a little confused.

"Not now." Echizen Ryoma saw that her brain was rusted, and said after a pause, "...If I live in, I won't be able to chase you."

Machida was stunned for a while, before realizing, "You said chasing me..." Was that what she understood?

"Do you want me to be more straightforward?" He took a step forward, fixed his clear eyes on her eyes, and hesitated for a moment, "...I like you."

Machida stopped breathing, felt his heart twitch violently out of frequency, and froze in place.

There was a breeze, and it brushed against the eyes for a while.

Echizen Ryoma gently closed his eyes.

Is he still too hasty.

What I want to say is listed on the lips, "...I didn't say this to you suddenly on a whim. It was a long time ago, before I left Japan, but I didn't know at that time... I didn't realize that I I care about you."

Echizen Ryoma never thought he was good at expressing his love, but at this time he was able to speak out in accordance with his heart and tell her.

"It's my own stubbornness, I've always wanted to tell you in person." His tone was serious and slow, but the sweat on his palms revealed his nervousness, "I don't think you have a boyfriend, so... can you think about it? I can wait."

Machida Kazu's heart was so soft that he couldn't even breathe.

It turns out that the person you like just happens to like your own mood, and it can really be so beautiful that it can't be more beautiful.

She looked straight into his eyes without a trace of evasion, "Actually, I liked you when I was in junior high school." Feeling that she had misunderstood what she said, she hastily added, "I like you now too. I'm sure."

"But you said just now that you realized that time...so you liked me when I was in middle school? Or now..." Machida suddenly felt himself falling into a warm embrace before he finished speaking. , stagnated.

Echizen Ryoma held her in his arms and gradually hugged her tightly, "After talking so much, I'm really impatient."

His clothes were stained with clear water vapor, choking her eyes to heat up, "I'm not rambling...... Are you listening to me carefully?"

"Well, I heard." There was a smile in his voice, "You said you liked me. You liked me before, and you like me now."

"What else?" She said softly, leaning against his shoulder.

Echizen Ryoma thought for a while, then turned his tone up a bit, "I only listen to the key points."

"Obviously it's the key point..."

"Yi." He calmed down for a moment, "For me, it doesn't matter if it's you before or now, as long as it's you."

He thought about it, and wanted to express it more clearly, "We have been separated for a long time, but I know that you have not changed, and I have not changed. I remember everything you said, know how to be grateful, and be a kind and clean person."

Echizen Ryoma would not say that the world he loves is flawless, whether it is tennis or anything else, but at least he treats it with heart. He has seen a lot of filth and embarrassment, but he has never let his heart be blinded by it. Dust.At those times, he would always think of her.

Machida's eyes were filled with mist, his vision was blurred, and he only honestly stretched out his arms to wrap around him tightly.

Echizen Ryoma smiled, and folded his arms, "Let's be together." A cool and sweet voice whispered in her ears, "I mean, from now on, we will always be together."

With an uncontrollable smile on her lips, she nodded vigorously, "Okay." The next moment she looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, "I like you. Always have been."

He lowered his head and placed a cool kiss on her lips.