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The pre-tournament training camp for the Davis Cup was held at the Yumei Tennis Forest Park, located on the shore of Tokyo Bay.
Yumei Tennis Forest Park, one of the venues for the Japan Open, boasts a large number of hard courts and indoor courts, making it ideal for winter training. However, this is the first time it has hosted a Davis Cup training camp.
The reason why the Davis Cup organizing committee under the Japan Tennis Association did not rent this place before was simple: in one word, they were poor.
Youming Tennis Forest Park is a private club, and a top-tier one at that, with complete accommodation and training facilities. It typically requires a member referral or booking through a specific agency. A week-long training camp here is simply too expensive. The organizing committee, known for its stinginess with prize money, has never dared to include this club in their venue budget…
The reason this year's training camp can be held here is because the "private" in "private club" is named after Atobe.
Atobe was invited to a training camp, but he complained that the Saitama Prefecture Kasumigaseki Club, which the organizing committee had chosen, was too remote and that the indoor facilities there were too few. He thought that training outside in the dead of winter would be just asking for trouble.
So, with a wave of his hand, he opened his own club to the organizing committee for free.
It must be said that the decision made by the heir to the Atobe Group was very prescient.
On the day the training camp began, it snowed heavily in Tokyo early in the morning.
"Kuwabara, look! Look! The snow is so beautiful!"
As the bus headed to the training camp passed through Tokyo Bay, Marui Bunta excitedly pressed his face against the window, pointing at the snow-covered coastline and calling out to Jackal with a look of amazement to come and see the snow scene together.
It doesn't snow often in Tokyo and Kanagawa, so when he praised it like that, everyone on the bus couldn't help but look out the window—in just a short while, the beach, bridges, docked cruise ships, and distant high-rises were all covered with a layer of white snow, making all the sharp edges look round and cute, forming a striking contrast with the dark seawater.
The glass window that Marui was close to was quickly covered with a layer of water mist.
Sitting in front of him, Yanagi Renji had opened his eyes at some point. Looking at the snowflakes flying past the window, his expression hardened slightly. Tokyo hadn't seen snow like this in a long time. This year's atmospheric circulation was too abnormal; heavy snow had previously blanketed Europe, and judging by the current intensity, Tokyo was likely about to experience a blizzard.
Yukimura noticed his expression and asked with concern, "Yanagi, what's wrong?"
"It's snowing quite heavily."
"Yes, we hope it won't affect the training camp."
Across the aisle, Kirihara shouted, "So what if we're stuck here for a few days? We don't have to go out for training anyway!"
Niou twirled the end of his hair with his fingers, listening to the sounds behind him, and shook his head: the younger generation still speaks without thinking. Then, unsurprisingly, he heard a "thud"—look, he'd been punished by Sanada's iron fist.
"Vice Minister, that hurts!!"
"Hahahaha, Sanada's Iron Fist has been upgraded! No wonder it hurts!"
"Marui-senpai!"
"That noisy atmosphere is so nostalgic, hey~ Hiro?" Niou sighed, nudging Yagyu beside him, but received no response. Looking at his unmoving partner, he suddenly remembered something, so he leaned over, put his hand on Hiro's shoulder, and asked curiously, "By the way, Hiro, isn't that Wataru-sama in the photo from that day?"
'Wasou-sama' is a nickname used by students at Rikkai University Affiliated High School to distinguish two students from the same grade, Yagyu.
"Um."
"If we hadn't been photographed, we wouldn't have known she was back." Thinking back to how his partner in middle school treated him like a wolf in sheep's clothing when he approached his cousin, Niou mischievously teased him, "It's been a long time since I've seen my former deskmate. When do you have time to get together?"
To everyone's surprise, when Liu Sheng heard this, instead of elbowing him, he said in a strange tone, "Soon."
Before Renou could even ask him what he meant, the bus had already stopped at Yuming Tennis Forest Park.
However, when they entered the indoor tennis court where they were gathered, Niou didn't need to ask anymore. He looked at the conspicuous purple hair in the center of the court and couldn't help but let out a "puri~", muttering, "This is too fast."
He Zou also served as the accompanying translator for the German team. He arrived in Tokyo a day early to help the team arrange accommodations and coordination.
At that moment, she was listening attentively to Professor Antberg as he explained the day's arrangements when she suddenly felt a gaze from ahead. When she looked up, she met Niou's somewhat surprised eyes.
Even though she knew she would see them today, Kanade was still slightly stunned when she saw their faces after two years. After realizing what was happening, she smiled and waved slightly to her former deskmate.
This move naturally attracted the attention of everyone at Rikkai.
Kirihara pointed at Kanade and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it's Yagyu-senpai! What's she doing here?!"
He wasn't good at remembering faces, but during his six years of junior and senior high school, he frequently went to Yagyu's house for tutoring, and his impression of this senior, Yagyu, was undeniably deep. After all, the person who could patiently explain grammar to him with a smile while Yagyu-senpai was going crazy over his test papers was, in his eyes, a demon king.
Even Yukimura looked surprised and said, "This is quite a pleasant surprise."
The tennis club and Yagyu's younger sister weren't very familiar with each other, but they knew each other. It was a pleasant surprise to see each other again after two years. They waved or nodded to greet Hezan.
Seeing this, he said something to Professor Zou Tong and then walked over to them.
"Hello everyone, it's been a long time."
Kirihara spoke casually and without any apparent awkwardness: "What are you doing here, senpai?"
"Like Liu Sheng, he's a member of this medical team, right?" Liu had already recognized Antberg, and combined with Hezou's expertise, it wasn't hard to deduce the conclusion.
He Zou praised, "Yes, Liu Jun's database has been enriched again."
No matter how much it's called an encyclopedia, Liu's database isn't even up-to-date with the information of a medical professor in Europe, but Professor Antberg is an authority on neurosurgery.
Kazuna remembered that Yukimura suffered from acute polyneuritis that year, and Yanagi must have gathered information on authoritative neurological experts worldwide for this purpose. Just like Hiro, she sought help from all the neurosurgeons and neurologists she could contact and searched through all the relevant medical materials.
Fortunately, he has already fully recovered.
Yukimura Seiichi now stands there, his ever-smiling eyes, honed by his professional experience, are even more profound than he remembers, and his smile is as flawless as ever.
"Yagyu-san, it's been a long time." He glanced at the composed German team and then at the chorus, and chuckled, "It seems the atmosphere in Germany suits you well."
Upon hearing his tone of voice, the wistful smile on Kanade's face instantly transformed into an equally impeccable, playful smile: "The scenery in France seems more soothing."
"Ah, it's starting."
The people of Rikkai looked up at the sky, still wondering why these two people, who didn't interact much, were always at odds.
Fortunately, before they could exchange more than a few words, they heard a commotion outside, and then the door was pushed open, with the Seigaku and Hyotei students filing in.
"Ah! Rikkai!" Gakuto jumped onto Oshitari's back, indignantly saying, "They got here before us!"
Without him saying anything, the people from Seigaku and Hyotei saw Rikkai University, who had arrived before them, and saw the usually aloof Rikkai chatting happily with a strange woman.
When that purple hue came into view again, Tezuka's heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something.
She was talking to Yukimura with her head turned to the side, a relaxed and bright smile on her lips.
His gaze lingered on her profile for a moment before gently turning away, then he nodded to Sanada, who was looking at him, in greeting.
No one noticed Tezuka's unusual behavior, except for Fuji, who was perceptive and knew him well enough.
The glance lasted less than a second, seemingly a casual pause, but that brief look was incredibly focused. Having known Tezuka for so many years, Fuji had only ever seen that kind of focus when Tezuka was chasing after tennis balls.
This is quite interesting. Fuji stroked his chin as he observed Kanade, his icy blue eyes, which he had quietly opened, were full of interest.
His gaze was so blatant that Kazusa couldn't ignore it even if she wanted to. Others, though curious, would only glance at her furtively, avoiding her gaze, but this one was exceptionally open.
Yukimura's smile deepened as he watched Kazuna's expression grow even more, and he teased, "Over there, they seem to be paying close attention to Kazuna-sama." His senses were always sharp, and he could easily spot the momentary lapse in concentration Kazuna had shown when she was talking to him earlier.
Kazuna raised an eyebrow at Yukimura. Although his smile and tone were as usual, Kazuna knew he had discovered something. She then turned to meet Fuji's gaze, her purple eyes filled with a mixture of helplessness and sharpness.
"Oops, we've been found out."
Fuji met those beautiful eyes, his expression gentle and innocent.
At the same time, a cold voice rang in his ears: "Fuji".
"Oh well, I got warned."
Fuji met Tezuka's serious gaze and wisely closed his eyes, no longer looking towards Rikkai.
Gradually, the surroundings quieted down.
The three schools reunited, looking at each other as if they had returned to the arena of the national tournament. A fighting spirit rose inexplicably, and the atmosphere became somewhat subtle.
"Oh my, isn't this Ms. Yagyu?" A low, husky Kansai accent rang out with a smile. Shinobu recognized her and stepped forward to greet her, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere.
After a moment's recollection, Kazusa recognized him by his blue hair and Kansai accent: "Oshitari-kun? Long time no see."
Seeing the woman's momentary confusion when Oshitari called her, Atobe chuckled.
Renji knew this was a mockery of him, a mockery of someone who could also be forgotten. He really wanted to shrug and tell this young master that he was just there to lighten the mood and ease the tension, okay?
He and this Ms. Yagyu had only met once many years ago at a medical gathering; the fact that she remembered him already indicated that she had a good impression of him.
While inwardly complaining, Shinobu still pushed up his glasses and stepped forward, politely saying to Kasane, "Miss Yagyu, I didn't expect to see you here. This is Yagyu Hiroshi's cousin, Miss Yagyu Kasane." The last sentence was an introduction to the Hyotei and Seigaku members, which would slightly satisfy their curiosity and divert their attention from Kasane.
Not wanting to offend anyone's kindness, Kazusa returned the greeting as Shinobu introduced her, saying, "Hello everyone." As she spoke, her smiling gaze fell on the team members from both schools, and she nodded slightly to greet everyone.
Her manners were impeccable, and even the picky Atobe couldn't find fault with her. He touched his beauty mark and nodded: "She's quite elegant."
Fuji noticed that Kanade's gaze was equally gentle on everyone, without any difference, and his friend beside him remained unmoved, which made him slightly disappointed.
After introducing herself and satisfying everyone's curiosity, those gazes finally shifted away from Kazusa. She took the opportunity to retreat to her position and stand behind Professor Antberg, watching the participants of this training camp.
As she looked around, she noticed something interesting.
This group has maintained their habits since junior high school. For example, even though they have graduated from high school and some of them went to the same university from different high schools, they still stand in their positions as students from the three schools, divided into three teams led by their respective ministers.
It's not that they're unfriendly to each other, but their differences are clear.
It is clear that the sense of belonging that the tennis club instilled in them is irreplaceable to this day.
"That's the problem." — This sentence came to mind as the coaching staff, standing on the high platform, looked at the growing generation of young players.
The Davis Cup is a team competition.
The goal of this training camp is to break down and rebuild these barriers.
Everyone has assembled.
Both severe cold and scorching heat are excellent opportunities to test one's willpower.
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