Moonlight
He Zou instinctively reached out to help him up—
"?!"
The moment her fingertips touched his forearm, Tezuka seemed to have a switch flipped, his body instinctively tensing as he tried to steady himself using his own balance. Extreme self-control was ingrained in his consciousness, making him unaccustomed to and unwilling to lose control, even now.
However, the alcohol impaired his control over his body. His attempt to step back to regain his balance only made him lose his equilibrium further.
As he instinctively resisted, Kazusa stumbled... and the two of them fell backward at the same time.
A muffled thud echoed from inside the quiet medical room.
Harmony: "..."
She really didn't mean to do that wall slam.
Years of karate training have given her balance that rivals that of professional athletes. Before falling, she decisively raised her hand to brace herself against the nearest wall, preventing herself from hitting Tezuka.
But in this position, she almost lost the courage to lift her head. For a few seconds, all she could see in her mind was that warm chest.
The height difference and the curve of her body meant her face was almost touching his chest, nearly brushing against the zipper of his tracksuit. They were so close; she could almost feel the warmth emanating from his body on her cheek, not to mention his breath.
The air was filled with a faint smell of alcohol, a slightly bitter dark chocolate scent, and the crisp scent of cedar emanating from him.
It was as if he was surrounded...
By the way, her other hand was still gripping his arm, the taut muscles beneath the fabric supporting the other half of her body.
He Zou didn't dare to look up.
She began to seriously consider which hand to let go of first in order to stand up gracefully and not let this embarrassing situation that made her blush continue.
If she removes the hand that's supporting her against the wall first, then all of her body weight will be transferred to Tezuka's arm; if she removes the hand that's holding Tezuka first, then it's no different from throwing herself into his arms.
Well, she's seriously considering these questions, probably because the heat from her ears has reached her head.
In short, during the few seconds that Hezai fell, his body did not react.
But Tezuka remained motionless, whether startled by the sudden contact or slowed by the alcohol.
He looked down at the head pressed against his chest and the reddish ear tips that were showing because the other person's hair was tied up.
His left hand, which had been hanging down, slowly rose as if by instinct...
"I'm sorry, Tezuka-kun."
A clear, melodious voice broke the silence of the room, and the raised left hand quietly fell back down.
With the help of his right arm, Kazusa straightened up and, with her usual smile, looked at him with concern, asking, "You weren't hurt, were you?"
Under her concerned gaze, Tezuka did not meet her eyes, but instead looked away. After a moment, Kanade heard his voice, deeper and hoarser than usual: "...No."
Hmm, looks like he's still drunk.
Now even the last trace of embarrassment that Kazuna had left disappeared. Seeing his cold expression, which was almost no different from usual, Kazuna even wanted to reach out and wave her hand in front of his eyes and ask him, "What number is this?"
But she wasn't sure if Tezuka would remember the situation the next day.
Just to be on the safe side, Kazusa took a step back and said to him with a bright smile, "Tezuka-kun, let's not do the check-up today. Shall we sit down and rest for a bit?"
Her tone was not much different from when she used to coax her younger sister into giving her the rabbit and apple in the future.
"...Oh, my apologies."
Tezuka responded slowly and stood up straight. Then he raised his hand and rubbed his temples hard, as if trying to use the stinging pain to clear his head.
When he looked up again, Kazusa saw that the mist in those deep brown pupils seemed to have dissipated somewhat, and the sharpness of his eyes was struggling to re-coagulate, but the remaining trace of confusion told Kazusa that this person was not yet fully awake.
It seems my thank-you gift was... a bit too enthusiastic.
Thinking of this, when He Zou spoke again, her tone was clearly smiling, "Sit down, I'll go get you a glass of water."
She admitted that the liqueur-filled chocolates were intentional.
Kikumaru Eiji's eyes betrayed a mischievous glint in them; his suggestion of liqueur-filled chocolates was clearly not a respectable one. However, the fact that he brought it up so readily, coupled with Inui Sadaharu's tacit approval, indicated that Tezuka was not allergic to alcohol, and that a small amount would not harm him.
Kazusa speculated that Tezuka probably just had a low alcohol tolerance or didn't like the taste of alcohol. Out of meticulousness, she carefully checked during preparation that the amount of rum added was insufficient to affect nerve reflexes, while still providing a temporary nerve-relaxing effect.
The only thing that surprised her was that Tezuka's alcohol tolerance was a tiny bit low.
He Zou looked at the person sitting upright on the sofa in silence and placed a glass of warm water in front of him.
His long-standing upbringing instilled in him the same upright posture as he was – eyes forward, back straight, hands half-clenched and resting on his knees. Even when not fully conscious, upon seeing the cup placed before him, he would still earnestly say thank you to himself.
He Zouxiang wondered when this person would be able to truly relax.
It's said that one's appearance reflects their inner state, but Kanade has yet to find concrete scientific evidence to support this claim. However, looking at Tezuka, she felt that the ancient physiognomy had some merit. His beautiful forehead symbolized good upbringing and moral values, while his sharp, pure eyes revealed a high level of intellect.
Tezuka always gives the impression of composure, wisdom, and meticulous planning, but behind this composure often lies an overwhelming mental burden. He frequently says, "We cannot be careless," not only to others but also to himself. For him, this phrase is never an empty slogan, but a process of forging his beliefs into his backbone.
A person like him is undoubtedly extremely good at endurance. When endurance becomes a habit, it is very difficult to relax from the constant pressure.
However, all the stress will be reflected in your physical stats.
After posting the data collection markers on the second day, Wakana immediately noticed an abnormal fluctuation in one of Tezuka's values.
At first, she thought it was a bug in the system, so she took the analysis report to Coach Kerber, who had Tezuka's previous data, which could be used for comparison.
“Coach, Tezuka’s peak activity of skin conductance is a bit off. When doing a certain movement, the peak is much higher than that of other athletes.”
"Skin conductance? What does this value indicate?"
"This is a signal of mental stress, indicating that his body was in a state of hidden stress response at that time."
"Hmm, recently... has it been when you're doing curved smashes?"
"You know?"
Coach Kerber shrugged and told her bluntly, "Your data is correct, and he'll likely continue to have problems in this area recently. As for the reason, it involves a confidentiality agreement, so I can't tell you. But the medical team doesn't need to give him any advice; he'll adjust himself once he gets used to the movement."
Since the other party said that, Hezou naturally couldn't press the matter further, since Coach Kerber was the real person in charge of Tezuka's team after all.
After another afternoon of observation, Kazusa discovered a problem: the places Tezuka practiced repeatedly were the same places where he had lost points in previous matches.
Those heart-wrenching moments of conceding goals that viewers had watched on screen were recreated by him in training time and time again.
Wazou stood on the sidelines, watching Yukimura hit a high lob that created an opportunity, while Tezuka repeated a sharp yet tricky smash for what seemed like the umpteenth time.
Watching him leap into the air, his body like a fully drawn bow, curving into a beautiful and tense arc; watching him swing his racket with an extremely calm gaze, producing a short and sharp whistling sound; watching him land smoothly and stare at the ball mark on Yukimura's backcourt baseline, silently clenching his fist; watching the skin activity value on the monitor return to normal.
When Yukimura's probing gaze turned towards her, Kazusa suppressed the subtle smile in her eyes.
"Some people, even though they got full marks, are still compiling a collection of their wrong answers."
He had probably forged his nerves into something incredibly resilient through repeated cycles of "breaking through peaks - falling back - breaking through - falling back," but He Zou still felt he should take a break, even just for a moment.
She knew very well that this idea was not based on a doctor's advice.
So instead of offering him advice on the training field, she added rum when making dark chocolate that evening.
And so, it turned out like this.
He Zou's peripheral vision was always watching him.
After drinking a few sips of warm water, Tezuka's dizziness subsided, and the steam from the warm water blew a white residue off his glasses. He reached up and took off his glasses, carefully placing them on the coffee table. Then, he leaned back gently on the sofa, casually focusing his gaze on the empty glass.
In the medical room, only the ticking of Hezou's mechanical wristwatch could be heard; silence seemed to bind the two together more tightly than conversation.
After a while, Tezuka looked up with clear vision.
“Melodia,” he said, “thank you.”
Kazusa looked through the glass window behind him at the moon that had finally emerged, and smiled as he extended an invitation:
"The moon is so beautiful, let's enjoy it for a while before going back."
—
When Tezuka returned to his dormitory, he saw his roommate Fuji watering a cactus on the balcony as soon as he opened the door.
Hearing the door open, Fuji turned around and looked at him, then smiled and said, "In a good mood?"
Tezuka still doesn't know how his friend could tell whether he was in a good or bad mood from his unchanging expression, but he hasn't denied it.
"The moonlight is lovely."
He sensed that after he finished speaking, his friend's squinting gaze lingered on him for a few seconds, then he said something ambiguous like "Is that so?" and didn't press the matter further, turning back to leisurely continue watering his precious cactus.
Having grown accustomed to his vague and evasive manner, Tezuka didn't respond to him and prepared to go back to his room to wash away the lingering smell of alcohol.
With his back to him, Fuji listened to the heavy, steady footsteps on the carpet, counting in his mind: one, two, three—
Sure enough, just as he counted to three, Tezuka, who had reached the door, stopped and grabbed the doorknob, halting his movement to open the door.
"The only one."
"Is there anything else?" Fuji put down the watering can, turned around, and looked at Tezuka with a relaxed expression, waiting to hear what Tezuka could not hide.
"...It's nothing. Good night, get some rest."
Fuji couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It was rare to see Tezuka so conflicted, but it was also somewhat... well, lively?
Tezuka didn't give him any more chances to explore further, leaving him with only the sight of his back as he closed the door.
Back in his bedroom, Tezuka took off his sports jacket, smoothed out the wrinkles, and hung it on the hanger, thinking about the moon tonight.
He wanted to share his joy with his friend, but felt he didn't know where to begin, which is why he hesitated to speak just now.
Fortunately, Fuji knew him well enough not to press him further.
The moonlight was indeed beautiful.
The clouds were thin, and the oblong moon was clearly visible, with a hazy white halo around it.
The cactus on the balcony basked peacefully in the moonlight.
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