Think about it

It did indeed snow all night.

Winter is cold, and it can be a little difficult for Kazusa to get up, but her years of self-discipline have made her used to waking up early.

This isn't about rolling around, but rather about waking up early so that her brain can maintain its optimal state for the longest possible time.

As she overcame her instinct to crave warmth and got out of bed, the last vestiges of night still lingered on the horizon.

After pushing open the French windows and taking a deep breath of fresh air, her sleepiness vanished almost instantly.

The morning after the snow was exceptionally peaceful. The fresh air carried a moist, icy scent of snow, clean and crisp, which was invigorating.

In a good mood, He Zou opened his phone's music player, played a song, placed his phone on the tea table, and went into the washroom.

After washing up, He Zou dried her face with a towel. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror; her cheeks, flushed and rosy from the warm compress, were moist and bright, and her eyes were glistening with moisture from the steam. She raised an eyebrow, and the person in the mirror returned a sly smile.

For some reason, the image of someone seriously teasing her last night suddenly flashed into her mind... Then, muffled laughter came from under the fluffy towel.

She laughed for a while, and to the beat of a passionate jazz dance, her fingers moved nimbly through her long hair, braiding herself into a low ponytail with a fishtail braid.

When Hezou came out, the floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the bright, awakening world.

The pleasure brought by dopamine turned into an even stronger joy when I saw Tezuka in the indoor training room!

He was the only one in the huge training venue.

The temperature control system kept the room at a comfortable temperature. He was wearing only a team uniform short-sleeved shirt and trousers, with his back to the gate, practicing catching the ball with a ball machine.

Inside the quiet venue, the crisp, rapid sounds of hitting the ball echoed continuously.

He Zou raised his wrist to check the time—6:30, training was scheduled to start at 7:30.

The number of tennis balls scattered on one side of the ground in a regular pattern told her that Tezuka must have been there for a while, but she didn't know what time he had arrived.

Hezou quietly took a few steps forward, stopping at a distance where he could clearly see the movement of his muscles, watching him repeat the same movements over and over again.

This seemed to be the first time she had seen him play basketball off-screen.

It was different from what the camera recorded. Without the conversion and attenuation of radio waves, even a layman like her could feel that Tezuka's movements, though simple, exuded an extremely strong sense of pressure. She couldn't imagine how much more intense that feeling would be if it were an opponent standing opposite him.

Fortunately, the machine opposite them was a serving machine. The machine seemed to be programmed with a random serving mode, and the balls it served were completely unpredictable. However, it could make every swing motion when returning the ball appear the same to the naked eye, regardless of the power, angle, or speed.

She could hear the sound of him hitting the ball even before she could see its shadow clearly.

Is this how top tennis players train their ball control?

Watching his actions, He Zou sighed inwardly, realizing that the human being has so many possibilities, and that medicine's understanding of the human body is still severely lacking.

Tezuka, standing on the court, was completely focused on the tennis ball, but the keen senses of an athlete had already made him aware of the gazes from the sidelines.

Just as a round of serves ended, he turned around and saw her standing there in her white coat, holding a tablet in one hand against the backlight. When their eyes met, she smiled, gave him a fist bump in a thumbs-up gesture, and then pointed to the medical room in the corner.

This means she has to go and get busy too.

Tezuka nodded slightly to her and continued practicing, but his hitting motion seemed even more aggressive.

He stopped looking at him and, amidst the sound of the ball being hit, walked towards the corner where medical supplies were piled up, and began to check the items on the tablet.

On chilly mornings, the two would each occupy a corner of the empty training ground, focused on their own tasks.

The crisp sound of the ball hitting the shuttlecock echoed throughout the room, creating a comfortable rhythm.

With this background noise, the efficiency of the chorus work improved. She thought that if she recorded this sound and used it as white noise, it might be very popular.

After taking inventory of the items, she arranged the various instruments into categories on a folding table covered with a clean white cloth. Her movements were quick and steady, without the slightest hesitation, clearly demonstrating her thorough understanding of these complex instruments.

With everything ready, she carefully picked up a sensor with complex wiring from the table, quickly tapped on the touchscreen to bring up the German settings menu for adjustments—this was the latest instrument Professor Antberg had brought from the lab, and what she needed to do today was monitor Tezuka's motion data using this sensor.

After thinking for a moment, she took out a thermometer and hygrometer from a box in the corner, created a new table on the tablet, and recorded the humidity and temperature at this point in time.

If there were medical personnel here, they would know that what Kazusa is doing is not something a third-year university student needs to master.

After Kazane meticulously completed these preparations, the ball machine on Tezuka's side stopped operating because it had missed the target. The sound of hitting the ball stopped abruptly, replaced by the buzzing of the ball machine spinning idly, which drew Kazane's attention.

Tezuka stood in the center of the court, lowered his left hand holding the racket, tilted his head back, relaxed his body, and adjusted his breathing.

Seeing that he wasn't going to start the next round of training immediately, He Zou took out a bottle of electrolyte water from a box of cardboard boxes next to him, grabbed a tablet computer and a few small silver stickers, and walked over.

As Kazusa approached, Tezuka was wiping sweat with a towel. He was slightly out of breath, and his forehead was damp with sweat, but he did not look disheveled at all. He still looked clean and clear, but his eyes still retained the focused and sharp look from the training just now.

Noticing He Zou approaching, he stopped wiping his sweat and tilted his head to look at her with a questioning expression.

Such a slight tilt of the head, in Kanade's eyes, inexplicably appeared somewhat adorable...

When did you start using filters?

He Zou looked at him, and after thinking about it, he suddenly laughed.

Seeing the other person's growing confusion, Kazusa coughed lightly, suppressing her laughter, and handed over the drink in her hand: "Replenish your fluids." Her voice was exceptionally clear in the open space, and the action of handing over the water was very natural, without the slightest hesitation.

She really didn't mean anything by it; she was just offering medical advice.

Tezuka silently accepted it, his fingertips, still warm from exercise, inevitably touching her hand, which remained cool.

"Thank you." His voice was a little hoarse from the exertion.

After he unscrewed the bottle cap and took a few sips of water, He Zou held up the tablet in front of him.

Tezuka glanced down and saw a 3D tennis court diagram on the screen. He raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the person with a somewhat enthusiastic smile.

“There’s something I need your professional advice on.” She blinked and said earnestly, “To collect more accurate body data when you hit the ball, I’d like to set up monitoring points in several key areas. For example: the position when serving, the usual stance when hitting the ball…”

She pointed at the screen and said, "Actually, I don't know much about tennis. These positions may vary depending on the player's habits. So could you please point them out to me?"

For a professional athlete, this request is practically tantamount to revealing personal information. Perhaps it was confidence or trust, but Tezuka looked at her, screwed on the bottle cap, and nodded without hesitation.

"ah."

Without saying much, he took the marker stickers she handed him and walked to the side of the court.

“I usually serve here.” He crouched down and precisely placed a marker sticker in a specific spot behind the baseline.

He Zou looked at the spot he pointed out and immediately marked the corresponding location on the tablet.

Then, Tezuka walked to the center and stood still, saying, "The ball is usually hit in this area." This time he didn't immediately put on the marking sticker. He hesitated for a moment and scanned his area. The hitting point is a range, and there is no way to mark the specific point.

He Zou immediately replied knowingly, "It's okay, just the general area is fine." As he spoke, his fingers flew across the tablet, creating a text description.

As she typed, Tezuka looked down at her profile and smiled slightly. Although she said she didn't know much about tennis, she had clearly done her homework.

And so thereafter, the two didn't exchange another word.

One pinpoints the location precisely, while the other quickly records and marks it. Their seamless teamwork results in extremely high efficiency.

The morning light had already risen before our eyes, streaming in through the glass windows of the venue, gradually brightening the once somewhat cold and quiet interior.

When the last marker was placed, Tezuka stood up and looked at Wakana, who looked at the results on the tablet with a satisfied expression on her face.

At this moment, she couldn't forget the great contributor. She looked up at him and said, "Thank you very much, Tezuka-kun."

A pair of beautiful purple eyes shone brightly in the morning light.

Tezuka's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he looked away, picked up the bottle of electrolyzed water again, and calmly replied, "You're welcome."

"Don't mention it," Kanade said with a smile, holding up two fingers in front of him. "This is the second time Tezuka-kun has done me such a big favor."

As she spoke, she even folded her ears cutely, mimicking a little rabbit's ears.

Her fingers were fair, and perhaps because she was a doctor, her nails were not long, but neatly trimmed, with a healthy pinkish-white crescent at the base of her long nail bed.

The fingers bounced with nimble movements, looking just as cute as a little bunny.

"I haven't repaid you for helping me find my watch yet, and I haven't had time to start my recovery training plan. Plus this... I need to think of a better way to express my gratitude."

"Need not."

"I'll use it, but you'll have to let me think about it."

When the main group of contestants arrived, this was the scene they saw—

In the morning light, the two stood not too close. Yagyu and Kanade, their backs to them, looked up at the person in front of them, seemingly chatting and laughing, their fingers gesturing playfully. Tezuka, meanwhile, looked down at her, his expression calm, but his eyes…