[Net King] Pilgrim

In the silence, the breathing of the two could be heard.

After a while, Machida Kazu suddenly said softly, "Ryoma, are you worried about me?"

When Echizen Ryoma was still puzzled, she had already raised her head from his arms and continued, "Although I told you that the injury on my hand is fine, you will still be worried... just like I am worried about you too. .”

Echizen Ryoma was a little surprised. She didn't take the initiative to bring up this matter before, so he kept avoiding it. He was afraid that she wouldn't want to talk about it, so he didn't continue to ask even though he was worried.

"...Well, but I was worried that it might remind you of bad memories, so I didn't ask any more."

Machida was silent for a moment, then pulled him to sit on the sofa.

"……last summer……"

Machida stayed at school last summer and has been preparing for a performance at the Edinburgh Festival in August.

After lunch, she walked to the theater to rehearse as usual, but unexpectedly it started to rain halfway.She didn't bring an umbrella, and when she saw a shop a few meters away, she ran to the eaves to shelter from the rain.

The store is next to the crossroads. Most pedestrians seem to be used to not wearing umbrellas when it rains. They put on hats and bags on their heads to avoid the rain. Those who wear umbrellas and those who don’t are crowded at the intersection to wait for the traffic lights.

It rains non-stop.After waiting for a few lights, Machida looked at the time, and was thinking about whether to rush into the rain, when suddenly a car sped past the side of the road, splashing a large splash of water and rushing straight to the side of the road. People waiting at traffic lights.

She didn't stand at the intersection, but she also hid aside for a while. One can imagine the reaction of the group of people who were close to the water curtain.Accompanied by exclamations and a few curses, the crowd retreated in an instant, creating an inevitable chaotic scene.

At the outermost edge of the crowd, a mother happened to be pulling a little boy. The mother was still holding an umbrella in her hand. The umbrella was overturned in the chaos, and the vision was blocked for a moment. The mother and the boy were dispersed by the crowd.

As soon as Machida was attracted by the screams and turned her head to look over, she saw a little boy accidentally knocked away by the crowd, with a little strength, he staggered and fell backwards, and there was no one behind him. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the boy's head falling In the direction of the trash can, there are broken wine bottles scattered on the ground...

She stood not far away, and instinctively ran over quickly, but the soles of her feet slipped in the rain, and the moment she fell, she hurriedly stretched out her hand and covered him behind his head...

As soon as Machida said this, Echizen Ryoma had already thought of what happened next.

His heart throbbed uncontrollably, and he hugged her, "Say no more."

He didn't want her to recall it anymore. After she was injured, she must have been very helpless.He understood that she always didn't take herself too seriously, and she always did, let alone in that situation.

Machida leaned on his shoulder, "Ryoma, I'm fine." She didn't think much about it when it happened suddenly, "A lot of people rushed to help, I went to the hospital, and the boy was fine. The injury has healed, I want to tell you not to worry."

Echizen Ryoma's heart sank, he stepped back, and looked down at the scar on her right hand.

Somewhat shallow, but still clearly visible.He thought that her hand must have been injured in more than one place at that time, and it was only the fingers that were injured the most that left scars until now.

He rubbed it lightly, "It will affect the performance, and during class...and playing the piano, can I still play the piano?"

"You can play the piano, it won't affect you. I have already made up the exercises in the previous class. It's just that I couldn't rehearse at that time, and I didn't go to the performance at the art festival... But there will be opportunities in the future, just wait... ..."

Echizen Ryoma knew that she was healing herself. Although it had been a few months, he could imagine that she must have been very uncomfortable during that time, both in her hands and in her heart.

Seeing that he seemed to be comforting, Machida spoke first, "I understand what you want to say. I admit that I was very reluctant at first, but I persisted no matter how hard I rehearsed... But the fact is before me, I have to go Accept it, and I don't regret it."

"...Actually, later on, I would like to thank those days, allowing me to slow down and spend more time to enrich myself, and I realized many problems that I hadn't reflected on before." She smiled, "I say it now, I am more sure I'm really fine."

Confiding these emotions and pressures to him, she felt a lot easier.

moment.

"Why don't you speak?" Machida frowned.

"You've said everything I wanted to say, what did you want me to say?" Echizen Ryoma raised the corner of his mouth and pinched her cheek.

She can try to regulate her emotions and is willing to tell him that he really doesn't need to worry.

"A lot of things have two sides, as long as you can untangle your heart." He held her hand tightly, and only said seriously: "I will be here in the future."

Machida rolled his eyes, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, and then buried himself in his arms.

Echizen Ryoma was taken aback for a moment, smiled slightly, and reached out to hug her.

"Dragon Horse."

"Ok?"

"……I'm hungry."

"..."

……

After dinner, Machida was going to watch a movie, but when he turned around, his arm was pulled.

She turned around, "What's wrong?"

Echizen Ryoma suppressed his smile, pulled her in front of him, raised his hand to wipe the rice grains from the corner of her mouth, and took a tissue from the table for her.

Machida Kazu: "..."

Embarrassed, she took the tissue and wiped her mouth.

"...I think you need to get ready."

"Ok?"

"You'll slowly see my imperfections, my many flaws."

Echizen Ryoma couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Then let's compare and see, who has more shortcomings?"

Machida smiled with a broken face, and said in a rascal tone, "That must be you, there is no need to compare."

"The one who needs to be prepared is not me, but you."

……

Machida squatted next to the TV, looking for a movie from the connected laptop, "Is there anything you want to watch?"

Echizen Ryoma was sitting on the carpet sending a message, and said a few beats later: "...I can do it."

Machida decided on his own, picked a Japanese movie, moved over and sat beside him, hugging a pillow in his arms.Seeing Echizen checking his phone from time to time, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"There will be a group discussion next week, and I'm discussing the time with my classmates..."

group discussion?

Machida thought of the students she happened to see studying and discussing with Echizen in the library two days ago.

What she happened to see at that time was also the scene where he was confessed face to face by a girl in the same group before he left.

The girl expressed her intentions directly and politely, but was rejected by Echizen Ryoma directly and politely.

--Thanks.I have a girlfriend, just to protect her from being disturbed too much, so we haven't made it public for the time being.

It was actually Machida Kazu's idea not to make it public for the time being. The two are still in school, and she doesn't want to attract too much attention from the outside world because of her private life.

Echizen naturally respected her wishes, but he didn't want her to be wronged, so he didn't deliberately deny the fact that he was not single.

"I will make your existence public, but I will protect you," he said at the time.

Machida smiled, "You can reply to the message first, and I will tell you the previous plot later."

After a few minutes, Echizen Ryoma replied and threw the phone aside.

""Never Stop Walking"?"

She nodded, "Have you seen it?"

"Hmm. I thought you didn't like such bland movies."

"Let's also look at the content. I quite like the movie directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Although it is flat and even a little restrained, it can excavate the touching warmth." She said with a smile, "But if the dialogue is changed to English, I may fall asleep. "

"Why don't you read "Sea Street Diary"?"

"No, I might cry when I see Kamakura."

"If you want to see it, I can accompany you." Echizen Ryoma put an arm around her and tightened it, "I can lend you the clothes."

Machida smiled, and leaned over to find a comfortable position in his arms, "That's good, let's watch together next time."

Who says it's winter now?

When you are by my side, I feel the flowers bloom, the birds sing and the cicadas sing. *

……

It was almost ten o'clock in the evening when Machida returned to his residence, so he cleaned up briefly and went to the kitchen to make milk.

Janice was eating supper in the kitchen, and seeing her smiling and in a good mood, she couldn't help but smiled, "Seeing you are so happy, are you going on a date?"

Machida sipped his milk, "That's right."

Janice knew that she and Echizen were dating.The night they confirmed their relationship, she couldn't stop laughing after returning to the apartment. Janice concluded that she was in love without even guessing, but she was a little surprised when she learned that it was Echizen.

"People who are in love." Janice smiled slightly, then paused and said, "Actually, I've always been curious about what it's like when a girl like you, Hajime, is in love."

"I am like this?" Machida giggled with a smile, "What kind?"

"It's just...enjoying your own life, as if you don't care much about love. And didn't you sing "IKissedAGirl" at the student union party, which happened to be the LGBT celebration day." [1]

Janice remembered that Machida's song was astonishing at that time, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it subverted her previous impression. She is a little thin but has such a warm and open energy, which makes people feel that when she stands on the stage, she is Light.

Even because of her devotion and interpretation, some people even speculated whether Machida had no interest in men, but such irresponsible remarks soon died down.

Janice naturally knew Machida Kazu, but she couldn't help being a little curious about what it would be like when she was in love with a person like her who was not intimate with the opposite sex.

"I happened to think of this song that day." Machida said with a smile, "Now you can see how I am in love."

Janice nodded with her chin propped up, and rolled her eyes with a smile.

It is what most people in love will have, happy and happy.

As soon as Machida washed the empty cup and put it away, he said good night to Janice and went to wash up.

Back in the bedroom, I happened to receive a message from Echizen Ryoma.

It was two links, and he asked her which one she liked.

Puzzled, Machida sat on the bed and clicked on the link, only to find that it was two apartments with different styles.

She froze for a moment, remembering that he was going to move later.

Ask her which one she likes...

She pursed her lips, paused with her fingers, and swiped the screen to see specific information and photos.

One room has an American-style design, and the other room has a fresh Nordic style, both of which are simple, neither complicated nor luxurious, and are very close to the school.

There are some things that Machida can't say when he asks her, even if she asks her, she doesn't know how to continue the topic at this time, and changes the words in the input box for a long time, and finally, he has to reply according to his question, saying that he likes the Nordic style.

After replying, she put away the phone and shrank into the bed, covered the quilt over her head at once, and turned off the light to sleep.

Echizen Ryoma moved in on a Sunday in February.Machida has a monthly test every Friday. Recently, he has been busy rehearsing and revising his essays. He doesn't know how Echizen is doing. He wants to wait until the exam is over to see if he needs help.

The exam is on Friday afternoon, and the students are still practicing in the theater in the morning.

Machida held the script book and told the lines of "Les Miserables" with his classmates.

Most of the assessments this semester are rehearsals of old dramas, unlike last year, where students were required to try to create or adapt by themselves, and the quiz is only excerpts, so rehearsals are relatively less time-consuming.

After the part of Machida's lines was over, the boy who played Jean Valjean was still immersed in his own practice.

She couldn't help smiling, and reminded, "George, it's your turn."

"Aha I'm sorry..."

The exam ended at three o'clock in the afternoon, and it went smoothly. After listening to the teacher's summary, everyone packed up their things and prepared to leave.

Feeling relieved, Machida was walking away when he saw a student who had already left the door come back, whispering excitedly that he saw Echizen Ryoma in the corridor just now.

Machida paused, ignoring the discussion behind him, and hurried out before everyone else.

There was no one in the corridor.

Just as she was wondering, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into the safe passage beside her. Before the feeling of shock lasted for three seconds, a familiar voice sounded in front of her, "It's me."

Machida's heart hanging in the air finally landed, "You scared me to death."

Echizen Ryoma's tone was apologetic, but a little bored, "I was waiting for you outside just now, and I was recognized by accident."

Machida laughed, "How is your luggage?"

"I finished moving this morning."

"The move is over?" She was surprised, "Isn't it the day after tomorrow?"

"Training was temporarily arranged the day after tomorrow, and I moved there today if I have nothing to do."

"I still want to help you..."

Echizen Ryoma smiled slightly, "It's okay, there are not many things. How did you do in the exam?"

"Normal performance..." There was a noise from the students in the corridor, and Machida saw someone walking towards the stairwell through the glass.

Echizen Ryoma glanced outside, said in a low voice, "I have something to tell you", then pressed down the brim of her hat, took her hand and walked downstairs quickly.

Machida was dragged by him and ran all the way down the stairs, out of the teaching building, past the coffee shop, across the fallen leaves... all the way to the tree-lined road near the school.

Machida breathed out, "... If what you want to say is not important, I will not forgive you."

She had just finished the exam and was already exhausted.

Echizen Ryoma's physical strength was obviously much better, he smiled and pressed her on the bench by the street, took out a carefully wrapped cardboard from his backpack, and handed it to her.

As soon as Machida took it and opened it to look at it, he was taken aback for a moment.

Wedding Invitations?

She looked up suspiciously, and Echizen motioned for her to continue to open it.

Open it again, and what came into view was a beautiful and peaceful wedding photo. She had never seen the person in the photo, but when she saw the name, at least when she saw "Echizen Nanako", Machida guessed something.

Further down, it is even more clearly written, she and Echizen Ryoma's name are juxtaposed together, in front of the respectful invitation.

"...It's my cousin's wedding. I wanted to tell you about it before, but I've been waiting for the email. I think it's more formal..."

Echizen Ryoma gently pulled her in front of him, wrapping his arms around her waist, "Come with me." After a pause, he added, "As a girlfriend."

Machida Kazu is still digesting this matter, "But I haven't prepared anything..."

"It's fine with you like this, you don't need to do anything." He paused, "If you talk about presents, we can prepare them together. The wedding is in April, and there is still time."

As soon as Machida looked into his serious eyes, he thought about it and asked, "...is it just for the wedding?"

Echizen Ryoma smiled, "If you want, go to my house first."

Machida thought that this guy was too confident, and asked if he would like it. He knew she would not refuse.

Her eyes fell between their names on the invitation again, she couldn't help but smile, looked up at him, and nodded slightly.

The next second, she thought of something, "After you go back, you can come to my house too."

This time Echizen Ryoma was stunned.

Machida grabbed his clothes and pulled him over, "What's the matter, you don't want to."

"No..." Echizen Ryoma laughed, "...I can understand your feelings."

After deciding to go back to Japan, Machida thought that he would have to tell his family when he went back at night.

On the way Echizen sent her back to the apartment, the two began to discuss about giving gifts.

"Your cousin... is that sister who is very good at making desserts?"

"Hmm. Do you remember?"

"Of course, the hand is very skillful..."

She was held loosely by his hand and chatted all the way, and then the topic turned to her exam in the afternoon.

The two walked all the way to the door of the apartment. Machida was still smiling, and suddenly heard a long-lost voice from not far in front: "Hajime."

She turned her gaze to the front, stopped immediately, and widened her eyes in astonishment, "...Brother?!"