Snowy Night
"ah!"
The sudden exclamation made Tezuka, who was making annotations on the report, look up.
Seeing him looking at him, Kazuna's face showed a slightly urging expression: "Tezuka-kun, it's almost curfew time!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to show him the watch she had just put on, trying to appear anxious and sincere.
The clock hands have now reached 8:47, and as far as she knows, head coach Taro Sakaki's curfew is 9:00.
Because the training and dormitory are in different venues, it takes her 15 minutes to get there each way, so the time is a bit tight. Also, it wouldn't be good for Tezuka, as the captain, to lead the way in breaking the rules on the first day.
He Zou felt that he had considered things thoroughly and that his urging was reasonable and well-founded.
Tezuka, still holding the pen and paper, glanced at the slender wrist held out in front of him. His eyes were calm and unwavering, and even after she finished speaking, a faint smile flashed in his eyes, so fleeting as to be almost imperceptible.
He didn't ask anything, nor did he point out the slight unnatural performance in her tone. He cooperated perfectly, putting away his pen and paper and standing up as she urged him, saying, "Let's go back."
ah?
He Zou opened her eyes slightly, watching him organize the report without any delay, and finally pick up the coat draped over the sofa armrest, waiting for her to get up.
Under his silent gaze, Kazusa had no choice but to stand up, put on her coat, and walk with him toward the outer door.
The two sat facing each other, with Kazuna closer to the door. They had gotten up together, but just as Kazuna turned around and stepped over the sofa, she suddenly noticed that Tezuka was already standing in front of the light switch by the door, waiting for her to come out and turn off the light.
……flash?
He Zou stared wide-eyed at the tall, slender figure standing at the door, doubting that their 18-centimeter height difference could possibly produce such a large difference in walking speed.
Her gaze traveled from her waist down to her toes—those long legs!
It couldn't be a problem with his own proportions. As he walked, Kanade looked at the person whose posture was so upright, wondering if he was using some kind of walking technique.
Tezuka patiently waited for her to come over. Only after Kanade walked out of the room did he snap the light off in the medical room, close the door behind him, and walk with her towards the dormitory.
Two footsteps, one light and one heavy, echoed in the quiet corridor, inexplicably creating an atmosphere of suspense.
Kanade wasn't afraid. She carefully observed Tezuka's stride and found that apart from slowing down his pace to match hers, he didn't seem to be any different from usual. At most, one of his steps was equivalent to one and a half of hers...
Tezuka, who was walking quietly to the side, suddenly said, "Shrinking Earth Technique."
Hmm? The "shrinking the earth" from the idiom "shrinking the earth to an inch"?
The literal meaning was easy to understand, and Kazusa immediately realized it, but a new question mark appeared in her big eyes: So why did you suddenly use it?
Tezuka pushed up his glasses and said with his usual stern expression, "It's almost curfew."
His tone was so calm, as if he were simply stating, "It's snowing heavily today."
A second later, Kazusa realized that he had seen through her joke from the beginning, so he turned the tables and joked back with her in this serious way.
For some reason, an uncontrollable smile mixed with immense surprise and a strange feeling welled up inside me.
"Hahaha--"
She finally couldn't help but look up and laugh out loud.
Access control and such are indeed in place.
This access control system is based on years of experience summarized by head coach Taro Sakaki – these tennis fanatics, if you don't stop them, they might just go and train all night.
Setting up access control is not a form of control but a form of protection; therefore, only team members were restricted from accessing the access control system, while the medical and logistics teams still had freedom of movement.
She was just looking at her watch and getting happier and happier, and couldn't help but make a silly joke. Who knew he would see through it but still play along?
"Tezuka Kunimitsu... really..."
A crisp laugh echoed softly in the quiet snowy night, gradually subsiding after several seconds, but her moist purple eyes, still smiling, were still looking at him.
Tezuka remained silent until she finished laughing, then calmly met her gaze and said, "Let's go, it's getting late."
His deep eyes appeared exceptionally calm behind his glasses, as if the person who had just joked with him using the "shrinking earth technique" was not him.
So He Zou's subtle surprise just now turned into a sense of peace and tranquility.
She looked at his delicate features softened by the light, and the part of her heart that had just been pounding with laughter was gradually filled with a gentle emotion.
"Mm," she nodded gently, a hint of amusement still lingering in her voice, "Let's go."
Without the access control, the feigned anxiety from before vanished. The two walked slowly and quickly made their way down to the first floor.
The heavy glass door opened automatically, letting in a rush of cold air and snow, turning everything outside into a white expanse.
He Zou shivered involuntarily. After putting her hands in her coat pockets, she sighed, "Looks like it'll be raining all night."
The snow was already very thick, and Kazusa saw that some tree branches had broken under the weight.
The air was crisp and cold; as she spoke, her breath condensed into white mist and then quickly dissipated.
"Hmm," Tezuka's voice came from beside him, calm and steady, "Indoor training won't be affected."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her ears turning red again. Tezuka took an extra half step forward, blocking some of the cold wind blowing towards her.
This movement disrupted their parallel rhythm, moving him to her right front, but also bringing them closer together.
He Zou curled the corners of her lips: He was very quiet, but his aura was somewhat domineering—she could smell the scent of cedar mixed in with the cool night.
"So cedarwood can soothe the nerves. I'll try looking for aromatherapy products with this scent on the market."
It was very quiet around me, and I didn't see a single person on my way back.
The connecting corridor we came from.
The long, open corridor was soaked with snow that had been blown in from both sides due to the heavy snowfall, and some of the melted snow had frozen into thin ice.
He Zou slipped and stumbled.
"careful!"
The top athlete reacted extremely quickly. As soon as he spoke, Tezuka had already firmly supported her elbow with one hand, while his other hand grasped her hand that had instinctively risen up because she had nowhere else to lean on.
"Thank you." Kazusa quickly regained her balance, took a deep breath, and looked up to thank Tezuka.
Once he was sure she was standing firmly, Tezuka released his hand, his palm still feeling a cool and delicate touch.
Her hands were cold.
Tezuka didn't explicitly tell her "don't be careless," but he kept glancing at her feet out of the corner of his eye as they walked.
Actually, it wasn't that dark around us.
Although the stars and moon are nowhere to be seen on a snowy day, the sky isn't black; instead, it's a bright, orange-yellow hue. Under this hue, the cold snowy night brings a strange sense of warmth and security.
"An orange-yellow snowy night, what's this phenomenon called again?"
He Zou vaguely remembered seeing this knowledge point somewhere; this phenomenon had a very poetic name, but she couldn't recall it at the moment.
Tezuka continued, "Snow reflecting the moonlight."
He Zou asked in confusion, "It's also called the luminous cloud?"
"Noctilucent clouds appear at very high altitudes in summer and require sunlight to reach them. They are generally silvery-white or electric blue."
He Zou nodded in sudden realization: "I see, that's amazing."
On a romantic snowy night, the two of them were having a rather serious discussion about atmospheric phenomena. What might seem like an odd conversation to others, they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying.
I don't know when, but Kanade took a step forward—or maybe Tezuka slowed down half a step—and the two of them were walking side by side again.
"It's all knowledge I learned in junior high school. I haven't looked at these things in a long time, and I've forgotten them all." Kazusa chuckled as she talked about herself in junior high school. "Back then, I was always daydreaming. I wanted to do this one minute and try that the next. That's probably how it is when you first get to know the world. You always think you're incredibly smart and that the future is bright. When you walk down the street, you want to open your arms and embrace all the countless possibilities that come your way."
As she spoke, she actually raised her arm, but instead of hugging, she stretched lazily.
Having adapted to the cold, Kazusa found that she quite liked the crisp, clean air.
Her relaxed limbs and pretty face exuded a sense of carefree freedom, reminding Tezuka of the day he first met her. She sat languidly by the window amidst falling snow, which unconsciously made him also let his thoughts drift away.
And now, they can chat side by side like this, seemingly without any particular purpose.
When did Tezuka-kun start playing tennis?
Six years old.
"So early? When did you decide to join the professional gaming platform?"
"Twelve years old."
Kanade turned her head to glance at him, her tone teasing: "Tezuka-kun, you weren't an adult since you were little, were you?"
This was obviously a grammatically incorrect sentence, but Tezuka, with his years of experience, was forced to understand her meaning with great reluctance. He pushed up his glasses: "...I was mistaken for a teacher when I was in junior high school."
Then, joyful laughter rang out again in the night sky.
Fortunately, the thick snow absorbed sound, so the joy didn't travel very far.
However, gossip about the two still spread throughout the training center that night.
***
After everything calmed down, the group chat started to get lively again.
[Data]: Image of two people from behind.jpg
[Neko]: Tezuka? Damn, it's Tezuka! He's walking with a girl?!
[momo]: Eh?! Eh?! Eh?! Are you kidding me?! Minister?! Really?! Senior, is this data reliable?!
[Sanada]: This is too lax! They're actually tracking and collecting this kind of data!
[Yukimura]: That back view...hehe, really interesting.
[AKAYA]: Minister, you're talking to that squinty-eyed guy from Seigaku who's a pharmacist!
[Fuji]: Hehe, that's really interesting.
[Kori]: Piyo~ That back view... @[Hiroshi]
[Yushi]: That back view... @[Hiroshi]
[Hiroshi]: ...
[King]: A bunch of unglamorous guys!
After washing up, Tezuka, who was sitting under the desk lamp reading a book, glanced at the phone screen that was lighting up wildly.
One name after another kept popping up, occasionally interspersed with emojis, and the speed at which the screen was scrolling was faster than his dynamic vision could keep up.
He pressed the mute button expressionlessly, turned his phone face down on the table, and continued reading.
Winter nights are especially long, so we can't waste any time.
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