[Net King] Pilgrim

The scandal quickly fermented, like a thunderstorm in the tennis world, and immediately aroused worldwide attention and discussion.

Echizen Ryoma did not rest even after returning to the hotel. He discussed with the coach the subsequent response and the next schedule, in order to prepare for the possible postponement of the event and make adjustments to the training.

He hasn't set up a personal team yet. The public relations and lawyers are all partners who have cooperated before. He raised his opinions on this matter on Skype, and the arrangements were made after a short chat.

The main reason is that the right and wrong in this matter are obvious, and he only needs to respond frankly and pay attention to the details to minimize the loss.

Everything that should be done and can be done has been settled, and Echizen Ryoma finally got peace, only feeling more tired than losing a game openly.

Machida spent the whole night "warming the show" in the room. After hanging up the phone, she forced herself to regain her composure, and only checked her phone again before going to bed.

There is already a statement on Echizen Ryoma's personal official website, which clarifies the principles and positions in his name. There are two versions in English and Japanese. The words and sentences are rigorous and sincere, with the usual cool and proud.

The message area has been filled with support and encouragement from fans. Machida's eyes fell on those warm words, and a small piece of warm orange under the floor lantern beside him cast a shimmer between the lines.

She thinks that their trust in Echizen Ryoma is not without reason, at least he has nothing to worry about on the court, just enjoying the appearance of the game, such a pure mood can be felt by others.

Coach Sherwood also spoke out on this matter on social platforms, saying that manipulating the game is a zero-tolerance behavior, a serious violation of sportsmanship, and even a crime.

The coach's remarks were reposted a lot, and many of them, including the sports industry and other authoritative figures, stated that there is no room for match-fixing, which is the case in any sports...

Machida let out a breath, quickly pressed the lock screen, trying to calm down his mind.

The next day, when the sky brightened in the early morning, the sky after the rain gradually bloomed into bright blue, revealing a few beautiful morning glows.

Under the golden sun, everything is invisible.

Machida didn't look at his phone for a whole day.

The performances are at 2 pm and 7 pm. The actors are divided into A and B roles. It is not a long repertoire. If there is no accident, it will be A role this time. From the moment she stepped into the theater, she asked herself to pay attention strength and begin to develop creative emotions.

The mobile phone is put in the jacket pocket, and it is only used to check the time. Until the performance, she will do vocal cord stretching and vibration exercises in the lounge backstage with everyone, and no one will go to the front of the stage to inquire about the attendance rate.

At the beginning of the stage with dim lights and flowing music, Machida and his co-performers devoted themselves to the creation at the beginning of the story, maintaining a proper sense of tension, excitement, and a rational state, as well as awe of the stage.

Ingenious costume design, imaginative dance scenes with a touch of cool greenery, the narrative rhythm is calm and gentle, telling a story that is slightly heavy and conflicted.

The body, voice and performance are all stretched out naturally, understanding the meaning of the audience's response, but not "working hard" to please the audience.

The distinctive theme of "Sunrise" has a strong social empathy point, and because of the screenwriter's ingenious design and reversal, the ending was also played out.

Not everyone is happy, the world in the play is similar to discrimination and unfairness, and such things still exist.But the world is progressing, and what remains unchanged is to uphold justice and fearlessness in difficult situations, and not to become someone you hate.

……

It was nearly nine o'clock in the evening, and the two premieres ended successfully. After the curtain call, everyone stayed in the backstage lounge to listen to the director's opinions on the performance.

Generally speaking, everyone's performance is still very stable. Only in the group dance scene in the middle, a boy accidentally blocked Machida Kazu's light source. She calmly adjusted the distance and made a little remedy.

After the premiere, they got feedback from the audience that the attendance rate was not high, but for art theaters, the numbers were still within the expected acceptable range.

The afterglow of the setting sun gradually dissipated, and when everything was settled, Machida left the theater first, and while wrapping his windbreaker tightly, he eagerly looked for his phone.

Still no updates from Wimbledon, but apparently the match-fixing turmoil is not over yet.

Machida frowned slightly, thought for a while, and found Echizen Ryoma's number from the phone book, and sent him a text message asking, "Are you okay?"

It didn't take long to receive a reply, saying that he was fine, and then asked her how the performance was.

Machida had just sent a message to say that the show was over, and he was on his way back, when the other end called him the next moment.

The first sentence asked her, "Is the performance going well?"

She was stunned for a moment, "Well, the two games went well..."

"That's good." Echizen Ryoma breathed a sigh of relief, paused and said, "I'm fine, the situation isn't that bad, except that it's not convenient to go out."

"...Is there a reporter?"

"Well, outside the hotel. The statement has already been sent, and I don't want to respond for the time being. The coach also means the same."

Echizen Ryoma took his mobile phone and walked to the window. With the wide view of the high floor, he looked into the distance little by little, imagining which street Machida would appear on.

"Yi."

"Ok?"

He suddenly fell silent, remembering that he had also encountered those messy things. He never cared about getting involved, but it didn't mean he didn't know.Many times in the past, he always thought of her, and when he smiled, he was light and pure.

And now she stays with him.

He didn't speak, Machida became tense for a moment, "What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing." His voice was clear, as if he was standing in front of her eyes, "I just think it's nice to have you here."

By the time the official release of the latest news about the event, Machida had successfully completed the third day of the show.

The news was released in the evening. When she saw the report, she had just finished the evening performance. She was tidying up at the backstage of the theater and was about to leave. When she saw the news that popped up, she paused.

She quickly caught the key sentence in the report, "...the police collected more evidence pointing to Angus, including the documents of the mutual agreement... Angus confessed to this and was sentenced to a life ban... Echizen Ryoma did not Involved in this case, no evidence pointing to his involvement has been found... The police said that they will transfer other people involved in this case and relevant evidence to the prosecutor's office..."

At the end of the news, there is a simple sentence of thanking Echizen Ryoma for his cooperation.

The comment area has accumulated countless comments. In addition to paying attention to the interest chain behind this matter and condemning the people involved, the most in the comments are the solidarity and support of Echizen Ryoma fans, waiting for his return in the Wimbledon final...

The opponent in the final is a player who has just transferred to the professional net. He also expressed on social media that he is looking forward to playing against Echizen Ryoma in the game...

At this moment, Machida felt that he was more relaxed than he had successfully finished a few performances. The relaxed mood instantly permeated his whole body, and he couldn't restrain his smile.

As she walked out, she looked through the address book, trying to call Echizen Ryoma.

Before dialing out, Erica behind her suddenly stopped her, and said excitedly, more and more people recommended their drama on ins, "Wegotalotoflikes!"

Erica deliberately lowered her voice. After six performances, everyone's voices were on the verge of their limit, but she still couldn't hide her good mood.

Machida was a little surprised, and like a few people in the same room, he quickly clicked on his ins to check it out.

In the past few days, she has been focusing on the performance, and the only extra energy she has is also filled with Wimbledon news, and she doesn't pay attention to other news. She only remembers that the feedback on the day of the premiere was mediocre.

But the performance went on until today... Machida looked at the live performance photos of the first performance posted on the official account of "Sunrise", and found that the number of readings and likes has skyrocketed, and the comment area is mostly full of approval.

"I would recommend it to all of my friends!!"

"The ending song was very touching #heartandtheplot was fully meaningful..."

"Soooooo good! I've seen it twice..."

"The costumes' effect was tunneling!"

……

While gaining attention, there are also voices of disapproval, but most of them are about character creation. Some drama critics said that there is nothing wrong with the performers singing, but there are a few scenes that are too calm...

The lounge gradually became lively, and everyone was really happy to receive more attention and comments. Two boys from Morocco were about to dance in the play.

Machida couldn't help laughing, and looked down at the phone again.

Her ins account has gained a lot of attention, which seems to be fans, which surprised her for a moment.

In the past two days, she didn't post any news, and many people left comments under her previous ins. The picture is a street scene she took casually when she got up early for a run. She said that at the end of the month, she must buy a matcha mille-feuille to treat herself...

Many people guessed that she was controlling her diet for the performance, so they all left messages asking her to take a good rest after the performance.

Moreover, she wrote in Japanese, and there were people asking for help in the translation of the accompanying text in the comment area. Machida blinked and looked down...someone really helped translate the English...

In addition to these, there were messages of encouragement from family and friends, and Janice even mobilized all her friends in London to join her.

She curled her mouth and was about to reply when a call from Echizen Ryoma came in.

She walked to a corner to pick it up, and the sound of her companions dancing and dancing could be heard from behind her.

Echizen Ryoma obviously heard it too, and asked after a pause, "Have you not gone back yet? I thought you had already gone back by this time."

"I was going to leave..." Machida told him about the improvement of the show's response. At the end, his tone became clearer, "I saw the news, you can continue the competition, right?"

"Well, but wait until the date is confirmed."

"I saw a lot of comments under the news, your fans are so happy..." She was talking when she saw the theater manager and Chloe walk into the lounge and called everyone over.

Machida looked over there, said "wait for me" to Echizen Ryoma in a low voice, put down his phone, and walked over quickly.

Echizen Ryoma's mobile phone was still in his ear, and he went to the kitchen to get a can of soda, and when he closed the refrigerator door with his elbow, he suddenly heard a pleasant voice from the other end.

Strangely enough, the phone was picked up again after a while.

He went out of the kitchen, and heard Machida Kazu's joyful and dull voice, "...We are going to add another performance, and the attendance rate is higher than expected..."

He was surprised for a moment, then smiled and said, "Isn't that great, why does it sound like you're a little lost."

Machida Kazuya laughed, "It's very good, but I originally wanted to watch your game after the show..." She said goodbye to everyone while picking up her things, came out from the backstage, and continued, "It seems that it is not possible Yes, there should be rehearsals later."

"Compared to this... how is your body?" Echizen Ryoma asked in a low voice, he could hear that her voice was a little unnatural, as if she had rubbed gravel slightly.If he didn't ask, she wouldn't take the initiative to ask.

"Well. It's okay, there is still enough rest time, just take it easy."

Outside the theater building, Machida slowly jumped down the last step, and the shadow on the ground also swayed, "... Ryoma, we should meet soon."

She was actually thinking about him.

Echizen Ryoma's breathing slowed down, he could hear his own heartbeat, and the same emotion surged up, "Well, soon."

When the time for the Wimbledon finals was announced, Machida Kazu also received a performance contract extension from the show.

The four-day performance has come to a successful conclusion. "Sunrise", which only attracted a small amount of attention at the beginning of its release, has won a place in the West District thanks to its good reputation. Many people even commented regretfully on ins that they didn't get tickets.

According to the release date coordinated by the theater, it was finally decided to add two consecutive days and four performances. After the news was released, it immediately attracted fans of the show.

Machida looked at the show time, um... the last added show was on the same day as the Wimbledon final, and both she and Echizen Ryoma were busy.

but.

While she was standing on the stage, he was also chasing his dream on the tennis court, chasing something more important than winning or losing, fame and fortune.

The rehearsal for the additional performance was going on as scheduled, and Machida hadn't seen an interview with Echizen Ryoma on the Internet for a few days.

Although the public opinion of that turmoil has not completely dissipated, but the final is approaching, and everyone's attention is on the game.

She didn't contact Echizen Ryoma too frequently, and his training progress and mood must have been affected by the previous incident. It is a good thing for him to train without outside interference.

After a few days of intense rehearsals, Machida devoted himself to several performances again.Some problems in the previous performances were adjusted a little during the rehearsal, and the cooperation was very tacit.

The last additional performance was at night, and when the curtain came to an end, the sky was already full of sunshine outside.

After a series of matters such as the curtain call, group photo, and summary, the time has slowly slipped to nine o'clock.

A group of people in the lounge were clearly exhausted, but cheerful nonetheless.There was also a celebration banquet in the evening. Machida returned to the backstage and changed his clothes. He took a towel soaked in ice water and applied it to his throat. After tidying up, he checked his phone.

The Wimbledon final was over. She clicked on the post-match report, and when she saw the news headline, she froze slightly.

...Echizen Ryoma was the runner-up, and the race lasted five and a half hours...

Machida paused with one finger, then clicked on the video clip of the game.

The competition in the fifth set was extremely fierce, as if you could miss something in the blink of an eye. Echizen Ryoma was wearing a white sweatshirt, his face was covered with sweat, but his eyes were still clear, and the crisp sound of hitting the ball kept coming from the field.

When the video was halfway through, a phone call suddenly broke in.

Machida avoided the lively crowd and went to the window to pick him up.

The window was opened slightly, letting in the cool wind, and Echizen Ryoma's voice, "Have you come out yet?"

"...Huh?" She didn't understand what he said.

Just as he was wondering, a short car horn suddenly sounded on the street outside.

She was taken aback for a moment. Although there was a momentary delay, she heard the same whistle sound coming from the receiver.

"You now……"

The voices from both sides passed on, he guessed what she was going to say, and said "um" in a low voice, "You can see me when you come out."

The orange-red glow crossed the entire sky, and the bustle of cars and people in the theater district.

Echizen Ryoma stood on the side of the street, quietly looking at the several classical and elegant buildings in his sight.

While he was still thinking that the style was different from Broadway, he saw Machida running out of the theater gate, still wearing a dress.

He raised his hand and slightly pulled down his sunglasses, saw the surprise and joy in her eyes, and smiled lazily at her.

She stood on the stone steps in a daze, the hem of her dress was blown up by the wind, the brightly lit neighborhood and the bustling scene around her seemed simple and scribbled at this moment, but she was the only one who was clear and profound.

Echizen Ryoma walked over, took off his hat and put it on her head, wrapped his other hand around her waist, leaned over, and kissed her lips.

If it weren't for the feeling of missing her that was about to overflow his chest, he probably wouldn't have kissed her at the entrance of the theater like no one else.

So is Machida.

He released her unsteadily, and before more and more people looked at him, he pulled her into the corner first.

Machida was obviously surprised by his sudden appearance, "Why are you here?"

"After the matter is dealt with after the game, I will come here."

She thought of the news she saw just now, and many things that happened during this period, and couldn't help but squeeze his hand, "Are you okay?"

"Ok?"

"About the game..."

Echizen Ryoma thought she was talking about the just-concluded finals, "Worried that I will fall down?"

Machida shook his head, "You won't be depressed just because you lose the game." She knew that Echizen Ryoma is a person who is strong when he encounters the strong. He wants to win, but he is not afraid of losing. "What I am worried about is not the final, but the semi-final The impact of that storm on you..."

Echizen Ryoma was silent for a moment, "That kind of situation is rare after all, and there are still many athletes who take the competition seriously."

It is true that he was a little depressed because of this incident a few days ago, but the subsequent training, today's fairly enjoyable game, and the presence of Machida Kazu, these are enough for him to recover.

He paused, the light in his eyes was the same as it was many years ago, "I never doubt the meaning of tennis itself."

Machida felt really relieved at this moment, and nodded with a smile.The street was crowded with people, covering this small dark corner, she took off the hat on her head and put it back on for him, "Be careful, big celebrity."

Echizen Ryoma suddenly became interested in teasing her, raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "You should pay attention, I heard a lot of audience members talking about you just now."

"It's hard for me to recognize it. I put on makeup on the stage..."

While she was talking, Erica called and asked her where she was, saying that everyone had gone to the restaurant for a celebration dinner.

Machida checked the time. She wasn't very interested in participating at first, let alone saw Echizen Ryoma again.But he also knew that she was at least going to show up, so he said that he would go there afterwards.

After she hung up the phone, he asked, "Is there a celebration banquet?"

"Well, are you going back to the club tonight?"

"Not going back for now, the coach has given me leave."

Machida smiled and pointed to the western restaurant at the intersection ahead, "The celebration banquet is over there, I'll go say hello, you wait for me outside."

Echizen Ryoma looked over, nodded, paused, and said, "Don't worry, it doesn't matter if you're late."

It's not that he hasn't attended similar celebration banquets before, and he also knows that even if he just goes through the process, it won't be too fast.

……

There is a small square next to the restaurant at the intersection, and the surrounding street lamps cast an orange light.

Wearing a hat and sunglasses, Echizen Ryoma passed the time alone on a bench by the side of the square, listening to the wandering singers singing in the middle of the square.

Flipping through one song after another, it must have been a long time before I saw Machida Kazu coming out of the restaurant across the road.It was the same dress, coral color, simple style.

With loose braids hanging on one side, she trotted across the road in slightly golden stiletto high heels.Echizen Ryoma is very confident about his height of nearly 1.8 meters, and he is not very willing to stand up at the moment.

She ran to him with a smile, "Let's go." She stretched out her hand to pull him up, and then remembered something, "By the way, if you don't go back to the club, where do you live?"

"Go back to the apartment, I have a place to live in the city."

"where is it?"

"The banks of the Thames."

She became interested, "Can I see the London Eye?"

He nodded and smiled, "Want to see it?"

"Ah."

The double-decker bus with a red body takes a 15-minute drive from the theater district to Echizen Ryoma's apartment.

After getting out of the car, the two went to buy dinner near the apartment building.Machida had avoided eating for two months, and once he relaxed, he said he wanted to have a big meal. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally decided, "French fries burger."

Echizen Ryoma: "..."

Oh, and the matcha thousand layers she was thinking of.

There were quite a lot of people in the all-day fast food restaurant. While waiting for the meal, a little boy looked at Machida Kazu frequently, and finally got up the courage to go up and ask, "Excuseme, are you Heather?"

Machida turned his head, was slightly taken aback, realized that he was talking about her character, smiled, "Yes."

The little boy smiled immediately, and looked back at his parents with some excitement, as if he was very happy that he confirmed his conjecture.

It wasn't until Machida found out that their family had watched the performance at the evening show. The parents laughed and said that their son couldn't even distinguish similar words, but they recognized her easily.He couldn't call Machida Kazu's Japanese name well, only the character's name.

The little boy has reddish-brown hair, a small fair face, and a pair of piercing eyes looking at her, "May I have your signature?"

Echizen Ryoma frowned, seeing Machida Kazu and the staff borrow a marker pen, and teased her in a low voice, "Who said it was difficult for me to recognize?"

He was dressed fairly safely, leaning against the wall casually, watching her squat down with smiles in her eyes, wrote two names on the hem of the little boy's T-shirt, asked his name, and wrote them together Going up, the two smiled and said "thank you" to each other.

Compared with when he saw her at the beginning of the year, now she has begun to show her potential, but her expression is much more stable than then.

It was nearly ten o'clock after shopping, and the sky was still pale.

Echizen Ryoma lives in an apartment building on the north bank of the Thames River. It is a spacious and bright duplex apartment. The living room on the side facing the river has a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.

As soon as Machida entered the door, he kicked off his tiring high-heeled shoes, looked left and then ran to the window barefoot, overlooking the other side of the river, and saw the London Eye directly opposite merged into the fading sunset.

She turned her head and saw Echizen Ryoma was coming out of the kitchen with tableware, and asked him, "Have you lived here often during this time?"

"Occasionally."

Machida remembered that when she was traveling in London the year before last, she checked the hotel room rates, and was particularly impressed by the hotels on the banks of the Thames, so she just skipped it after a glance...

"...Do you have places to live all over the world?"

"The places where competitions are often played... a few cities, most of them stay in hotels."

Several cities..."Wouldn't they all be in prime locations?"

Echizen Ryoma paused when he was about to open the lunch box, finally realized what she meant, smiled, "No, but they are all places where life is convenient." He looked up at her, "It will be very convenient for us to travel. "

Machida smiled, "That's right."

Before eating, the two of them went to wash their hands. The bathroom was not small, but it gave Machida an opportunity to play a prank. While Echizen Ryoma was not paying attention, he wiped his hands covered with foam on his face, and hid away with a giggle.

Echizen Ryoma couldn't take it anymore, scooped up water to wash off the foam on his face, fished up the troublemaker, grabbed her hands and pulled her under the clear water, and rinsed.

The light shattered into the clear water, and the two fingers were entwined. It was honey-scented hand sanitizer.

The air is quiet, only the sound of beeping water, and the light illuminates the marble countertop slightly.Machida slowed his breathing unconsciously, feeling his hands were as cold as his own.

After washing off the foam, Echizen Ryoma turned off the tap, but still did not let go of her hand.He turned his head slightly and looked at her quietly. There were still drops of water on the tips of his hair and face, as well as on his eyelashes.

He held her hand like this, and lowered his head to kiss her.

Machida's heart trembled slightly, and for a moment, he pulled out his hand, put his arms around his neck, and slowly deepened the kiss.

After two months of separation, every minute and every second after meeting is precious.

Echizen Ryoma backed away slightly, grabbed her waist and gently lifted her, carrying her to the sink.Putting his hands on the back of her neck, he pressed himself a little harder, then raised his head to kiss her again.

Machida was a little deprived of oxygen by his kiss, put his arm on his shoulder, his fingers touched his dry shirt, and tightened slightly.

The two of them breathed quickly, and the hand around her waist slowly moved up her back, pressing down on the zipper of the skirt, and untied it effortlessly.

With a chill on his back, Machida Kazu finally felt his restless fingers, and was immediately annoyed and at a loss, subconsciously tried to stop him with his backhand.

Raising his eyes, he saw the clear and magnanimous desire in his eyes.

She blinked briefly, and in a daze, Echizen Ryoma picked her up directly from the sink without warning, very lightly.She was startled, her legs clamped around his waist, so she had to hug him tightly, her ears clung to Scarlet.

In the inner bedroom, Machida's back fell into the blue-gray sheets, and the shoulder straps of the skirt also slipped down, revealing fair and transparent skin. Echizen Ryoma supported her side with his arms, and he couldn't help lowering his head.

She closed her eyes obediently and responded to him.

And just when the two of them were half-clogged and on the verge of losing their minds, Machida suddenly thought of a very important question, panting and pushing him away, "Wait a minute, there is no...that..."

She thought Echizen Ryoma would stop, but he kissed her breath, reached out and opened the drawer beside the bed, took out a box, and threw it beside her.

Machida Kazu: "..."

... When did he buy it! ?

She turned her face away and refused him to kiss her, "Did you premeditate, that's why you brought me here."

"Hey, can you explain some reason, you are the one who wants to come here."

"...You can refuse."

"Why should I refuse." The words fell, and she was not given a chance to speak, and sealed with a kiss.

Her senses collapsed bit by bit, and her vision was blurred by the heat. She involuntarily put her arms around his neck, pressing her body temperature against him, and her rapid and scorching breaths overlapped one after another.

The light perfume on her body, the smell of roses mixed with fir, and his body was also stained with this fragrance.

The last ray of sunset at the end of the sky cuts a piece of red glow into the glass window and passes through the gauze curtain. It is clear, pure and warm.