Returning to China
Narita International Airport.
As Hezou pushed his suitcase out of the international arrivals hall, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling a pang of longing for the air in Tokyo.
"sister!"
As soon as Kanade exited the checkpoint, she saw her aunt Shizuka and cousin Mirai standing in the crowd waiting to greet people at the airport. Mirai was waving vigorously at her; if it weren't for the barrier, she would have already rushed up to her.
"She's still so energetic in her senior year of high school; there's probably nothing that can defeat the little princess of the Yagyu family in the future."
He Zou thought to herself with amusement, but quickened her pace. As soon as she stepped out of the fence, she was pulled into a warm embrace.
The usually dignified and elegant Shizuka Yagyu rushed to hug her long-lost niece before her daughter could: "Mero, welcome home, Auntie missed you so much~"
Surrounded by the familiar scent, Kazusa's heart trembled slightly. She turned her face and buried it in her aunt's arms, speaking softly and coquettishly as she did when she was a child: "I'm back, Auntie. I missed you too."
Having been beaten to it by her own mother once again, Yagyu Mirai stood to the side, gritted her teeth, and tugged at the hem of her cousin's scarf: "Sis, Mirai misses you the most!"
Even this needs to be compared.
He Zou chuckled and looked up, and sure enough, he saw his aunt winking at him, her upturned lips looking mischievous no matter how you looked at it.
Her aunt has enjoyed teasing children for twenty years. Before, she teased her and Bilu, but when they got older and it became less fun, she found a new love.
Spurred on by her mother, Mirai held onto her older sister's hand tightly until they got in the car. On the way, she chattered to Kanade about the rest of the family's activities that day: "Dad has another surgery and won't be back until tonight. My brother was called back to school by his advisor; he said he needs to see him for some research project."
Where is Grandpa?
"Grandpa said he was coming, but then he got angry when it was time to leave." Wei Lai said, putting on a stern face and imitating her grandfather's mannerisms. "She can come back or not, it's up to her! She's gotten too big for her britches and hasn't been home for two years. If this old man goes to pick her up, he'll probably just annoy her. I'm not going, I'm not going!"
He Zou knew that they had another argument, and he would probably have to coax them for a while when they got back.
So she squeezed her cousin's hand.
Upon receiving the signal, Future shrugged helplessly: "Sis, you see, I'm useless. I've tried, but it doesn't work."
That makes sense. Their family principle is that whoever makes Grandpa angry has to appease him. This time, it's clearly aimed at her.
However, she may have to disappoint him again. She can only stay at home for a week at most. After that, once Professor Antberg arrives in Tokyo, she will officially join the project and begin her internship.
He Zou felt a little guilty towards her family, but she still grinned at her cousin, raised her hand to ruffle her neat short hair, and said in feigned anger, "You were saying 'I miss you the most in the future' just now, and now you're gloating."
She didn't resist in the future. After Kazusa let go, she shook her head twice, and her messy hair returned to normal—the Yagyu family's signature elegant purple hair was almost shaved into a buzz cut by her, looking even shorter than her brother's.
Walking beside her, Shizuka Yagyu was watching the two sisters' little antics with a smile when she noticed a commotion at the exit behind them. She reminded her children, "Stop fooling around, there are more people behind us, let's walk faster."
——
In the airport arrival hall, Tezuka felt a flash of long purple hair in his peripheral vision, and he subconsciously looked up and followed it.
"Hikaru, what's wrong?" Tezuka Ayana noticed her son's pause and followed his gaze, but only saw a crowd of people hurrying by the corner and didn't notice anything special.
I wonder what caught his eye?
Ayana looked back at her son. His handsome face still had a calm expression, but she could see some fluctuation in his expression—was it... disappointment?
This is quite rare. But now is not the right time to speak, so Ayana kept the question mark in her mind.
Perhaps he had misread it. Tezuka looked away, loosened his grip on the tennis bag strap with his left hand, and pulled his baseball cap down even lower with his other hand. He looked down at Ayana and said, "It's nothing. Mom, let's go home."
Ayana led her son toward the parking lot, glancing up every now and then at his face, which was gradually becoming stiff. She tried to hold back, but finally let out a soft laugh.
Although Hikaru cleverly wore a hat to cover his face, his tall and slender figure still attracted attention as soon as he appeared. Coupled with his ever-present tennis bag, he was probably recognized by now. Ayana could feel the gazes directed at her becoming more intense, let alone those directed at her.
Her son, Xiaoguang, has never been good at dealing with other people's enthusiasm. When he was little, because he was cute and well-behaved, he was often hugged and kissed on the cheek. I wonder if it left a bad impression.
In the past two years, as his fan base has grown, he always has a tense expression whenever he goes out, probably trying to scare people away with his cold attitude.
But according to Ayana's experience, doing this will only have the opposite effect on people who are gentle at heart. What's that word again?
Oh right, the contrast is adorable!
"Xiao Guang must not have seen some of the comments online."
Ayana, who had secretly watched her son's fans, felt happier the more she thought about it.
It turns out everyone knew that Xiaoguang was a gentle person.
Just like now, the surroundings are starting to get crowded, but he is mindful of his small strides and is not walking fast.
Before long, more and more people gathered around, and some of the bolder ones had already turned on their phone cameras... Fortunately, everyone maintained their manners and did not engage in any other excessive or inappropriate behavior.
If it were to be an activity with the team as usual, Kerber would arrange for Tezuka to use the VIP channel to avoid any trouble or danger.
However, Tezuka returned alone this time. With a week to go before the training camp begins, he wanted to spend time with his family before then, while Kerber would arrive with the team the day before the training camp started.
Tezuka originally thought he wouldn't stand out too much on his own, but he miscalculated because he didn't know that the news of his return to Japan to lead the team in the Davis Cup had already been released domestically. As a result, in addition to entertainment reporters, there were also more sports reporters staking out the airport recently.
The tennis craze of recent years has made tennis a national sport. For this Davis Cup, the Japanese Tennis Association has fielded its most luxurious lineup, planning a massive promotional campaign to attract more sponsors. After all… star players command high prices, and the cost of bringing them all on is considerable; more sponsorships are needed to recoup the investment!
The tennis association has its own agenda, but that's how professional tennis has always been.
This is a necessary rule for survival, and Tezuka will not use it to antagonize the Tennis Association or journalists.
After politely declining several reporters' requests, he escorted his mother back to the car.
Tezuka originally wanted to drive, but Ayana, feeling sorry for his tired journey, made him rest in the passenger seat.
While fastening her seatbelt, Ayana reminded him, "Hikaru, your phone keeps ringing. Is something urgent?"
Tezuka's phone kept vibrating after he got off the plane and turned off airplane mode, but he ignored it until he got into the car.
At this moment, LINE showed 999+ unread messages. I opened the app and sure enough, they all came from the same group chat.
This group chat, which has existed since junior high school, hasn't been this active for quite some time.
Through the Davis Cup, a team competition, a group of people who had competed and grown together, and then went their separate ways, returned to that incredibly enjoyable yet regretful summer.
Just as he took out his phone, the message notifications kept vibrating, after all, there was more than one chatterbox in this group.
As soon as Tezuka clicked in, the system highlighted that he had been tagged.
[King]: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my kingdom. From now on, don't embarrass Japan. @All
Oh right, this group was created by Atobe back then, and he's the group owner.
Tezuka unconsciously pushed up his glasses. Although it was a text message, it felt to him as if he had opened a voice message, and the magnificent tone seemed to be right in his ears.
The chat in the group then became the familiar chaotic scene—
[Marui]: Will there be cakes provided during training camp? I wonder if the training meals are good.
[AKAYA]: I'm going to crush all my opponents! Hahahaha!
[Fanta]: It's still a long way off.
[Fuji]: Hehe, Echizen's still the same. Where's Tezuka? Has he arrived yet? @[Tezuka]
[King]: "@Oishi, what time will Tezuka arrive?"
[Oishi]: "It's a little after 3 p.m., they should have landed by now."
[King]: "@Tezuka, come out here, you bastard."
Tezuka scrolled to the bottom of the message list and saw this sentence.
[Tezuka]: "...just landed."
[Data]: The plane landed at 13:17. It took 20 minutes to collect the luggage. We have now left Narita Airport and are expected to arrive home in 70 minutes.
[Neko]: Damn, where did you get this data? You secretly went to pick someone up at the airport all by yourself behind our backs, huh?!
[Fuji]: Hehe, that's really funny. It's been so long since I've seen Tezuka, I'd love to go pick her up at the airport too.
[Data]: To clarify, I only watched the live photo stream. Link: [I unexpectedly bumped into Tezuka Kunimitsu on my flight back to China! What a surprise!] — Forwarded by X.
Cameras really are everywhere.
[Sanada]: Too lax!
[Yukimura]: Sanada, don't be so serious~ Tezuka's hat is nice.
[Fanta]: Minister, you still have a long way to go. Yukimura-senpai, please send me the link to the sunglasses you posted last time...
[Shiraishi]: Mm-hmm~ Everyone's here. You three have all worked hard, welcome back.
[Tezuka]: Thank you.
[Kori]: puri~ I found something interesting. Partner, doesn't that person in the background of the photo look familiar? @Gentleman.
Yagyu was probably busy and didn't show up; the message was quickly pushed down.
[King]: Everyone, adjust your schedules and get your spirits up for this training camp!
[Yushi]: Yay! Our minister has already started.
The chaotic and lively conversation filled the air with a familiar yet warlike atmosphere.
While driving, Ayana vaguely sensed a change in the atmosphere beside her. She glanced over and, sure enough, saw that her son's lips had loosened slightly.
It's been a long time since we've seen such a passionate look.
Wait, "passionate" and Tezuka Kunimitsu? This is probably just my mother's filter... right?
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