Chapter 14: The Boy's Playing Field
Arriving before Hyotei's cultural festival is the Seigaku tennis team's in-school ranking competition.
The sky above was clear blue, but the atmosphere on the court was so quiet that you could hear the sound of falling leaves.
When the final ball landed, Momoshiro's racket clattered to the ground, his knuckles whitening from the force. He looked at no one, his back like a taut bowstring as he turned. Even when Kazama called out to him, he didn't respond. It wasn't until he was off the court that someone noticed a small, dark stain on his back, stained by sweat on his white team uniform.
"Peach City..."
"Chiba, let him go."
Feng Jian stopped Yuan Qianye who was about to chase after him, "It's better to think about it alone than to have your wounds exposed by others."
"But......"
"Don't worry, he's Taocheng."
Although they said so, for a moment, no one on the sidelines spoke.
Fengjian withdrew his gaze and looked at the court. He sat down against the fence and Yuan squatted in front of him. He took the towel and covered his head with it.
"Senior Gan is so awesome."
Someone in the crowd said this, and the sound was like a stone suddenly falling into a calm pond.
Fuji stood on the sidelines, his indigo eyes fixed on the court, a rare look of seriousness on his face. "This means that leading us in the Metropolitan Tournament and helping us gather information on our opponents over the past few weeks wasn't the only thing he did."
It should be said that the expressions of everyone on the field were not calm.
"The catfish effect."
Feng Jian wrote four words on the paper unconsciously, looked up and stared at the two people standing opposite each other on the court across the net.
The shadows of the trees fell on the blue and white court, and the boy's clothes looked like a fluttering white sail, reflected under the clear sky.
——
"Senior Taocheng hasn't come to training for three days."
“Is this really okay?”
"Momoshiro-senpai promised last week that he would teach me a great serve."
"I didn't see Senior Taocheng in the cafeteria at noon today. The fried noodles and bread didn't taste good anymore."
At the edge of the court, the first-grade players were picking up the ball. They looked at each other and sighed in unison.
Feng Jian stared at the three lines in the record book that showed the word "absent" and sighed deeply. The text messages he sent to him remained unanswered.
Not only Momoshiro, but seniors Oishi and Eiji also had a fight today and were sent running away by President Tezuka, and they haven't spoken to each other for the whole day.
Speaking of President Tezuka...
She suddenly remembered the half-broken piece of letter paper she accidentally saw in Tezuka's briefcase yesterday afternoon - the words "study abroad" were heavily traced in pen, with a little ink smudged around the edges.
She remembered the ointment on her wrist when President Tezuka was teaching her how to hold the racket last week; she remembered how he always stayed alone on the court after training to practice until sunset... The three words "what a waste of talent" felt too pale, and she quietly closed her bag, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Are you worried about Taocheng?"
Feng Jian came back to his senses and turned around to see Coach Ryuzaki standing next to him. Her face was still gentle and calm. "If it's that guy, there will be no problem."
Feng Jian nodded and turned his attention back to the game. The white clouds were heavy, like a huge rock pressing down on everyone's heart.
After school, the noisy campus becomes quiet as the sun sets.
"Kazama-senpai, are you going to the street tennis court too?"
Fengjian clenched the tip of the pen, turned around and saw a young man in a white baseball cap standing behind him with a knowing and confident smile on his face.
"I'm going too."
When Fengjian bought the throat lozenges for Sister Ling and rushed to the street tennis court, Echizen and Momoshiro were arguing about the unpleasant doubles experience before.
"How dare you say that? You're just like me, Taocheng-senpai. You can only run around like a wild boar."
"You actually called the senior a wild boar?"
"If we don't call it a wild boar, can we call it a wild horse?"
"What?!"
"What's wrong?"
"Okay, I will definitely defeat you today."
"Okay, come on."
"Hey, what's going on with these two people?" The boy with the dark red bob haircut frowned.
"Anyway, I'd rather team up with Tachibana's sister than you."
"I'm telling you two—" Feng Jian punched the back of their heads, and with a "bang" his voice stopped abruptly, "That's enough! You're even quarreling in front of others."
Taocheng curled his lips, "It's because Echizen is too disrespectful to his senior."
"cut."
"And you, Taocheng, your bill will be settled for you."
While teaching Momoshiro a lesson, Kazama apologized to Anzuki.
"Hey, who are you?" The bob-haired boy came forward. "Hey, it's the one who talked to Atobe at the lottery venue last time."
"Hello, I'm Kazama Siyue, a second-year student at Seigakuen."
"Oh, Hyotei's third year, Taketo Mukaito."
"Hey, compared to this," Echizen took advantage of the friendly social time and walked towards the stairs, his clear dark green eyes flashing with confidence, "King of Monkey Mountain over there, come and fight me?"
Following Echizen's gaze, a young man with short gray-purple hair was sitting in the middle of Hyotei's group with his legs crossed, and the teardrop mole under his eye was shining brightly.
"Don't be impatient."
"Want to escape?"
Atobe stood up, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, "I will personally defeat you in the Kanto Tournament. And everyone in Seigaku, completely."
"Let's go, Birchland."
“Usu.”
As Atobe passed by, he glanced at Kazama from the corner of his narrow eyes, "Don't miss the event next week."
Feng Jian was stunned.
The teammates walking beside him all looked at the two of them strangely.
"By the way, Kazama, are you very familiar with Hyotei's Atobe? What did the activity he just mentioned mean?" Momoshiro looked at her suspiciously, then looked at the group of figures that had already walked away.
"Well...it's an employment relationship." Feng Jian said vaguely, changing the subject and looking at Anzuki who was packing up, "Anzuki-san, shall we take you home?"
"No need. I'll take a shortcut back. It's no problem walking here often." Ju Xing smiled slightly and turned to look at Taocheng. Her cat-like clear and innocent eyes curved, "Taocheng, do your best in the Kanto Tournament."
Tao Cheng was stunned, his eyes falling on the net behind her. There, the net was tilted at one corner, the wire hanging loosely, exactly where he had just hit it with his repeated smashes. A slight lump in his throat, unable to bring himself to say that he had lost the school ranking tournament and would not have a chance to play, caught a glimpse of Feng Jian picking up the ball he had just thrown on the ground, his movements exactly the same as when he was teaching freshmen.
He remembered what he said at that time: "You must never give up, you absolutely cannot."
That was his catchphrase all the time.
"Yes, I will." Taocheng said suddenly, his face full of energy.
"Well, now it finally looks like the old Taocheng."
"Kazama-san, Echizen and the others, keep up the good work, bye."
"goodbye."
"goodbye."
"Let's go." Echizen's voice drew his attention back.
"Hey, Kazama, we have training tomorrow..." Taocheng looked up, his dark eyes reflecting the orange-yellow sunset, sparkling with a light brighter than diamonds, "Don't forget to save a seat for me."
Feng Jian met his gaze and smiled knowingly.
"Of course."
"By the way, why are you and Echizen here?"
Echizen lowered the brim of his hat out of habit, and Kazama turned around with his hands behind his back.
“Just passing by.”
As he turned, the racket made a soft thud against the ground. Taocheng hurried to catch up, the racket bags rattling. Fengjian walked last and glanced back at the tilted net. The sunlight stretched the three of them's shadows very long, overlapping and sweeping across the grass.
"Today, it's sunny.
There are still two weeks until the opening ceremony of the Kanto Tournament.
When Momoshiro was taking a penalty run, Echizen passed him and their shoulders bumped. Neither of them looked back, but they ran even faster.
Senior Eiji was hanging on Senior Oishi's back drinking water, and the soda foam got all over his neck. The two of them were laughing like fools.
When the smell of dried juice wafted over, everyone was running - not escaping, but Kikumaru tugging at the corner of Oishi's clothes, Fuji handing the racket to Kawamura, Momoshiro and Kaitang fighting for the ball, and everyone was moving towards the same direction at the same time.
The setting sun stretched the shadows on the court very long, and even the shadows of the rackets standing on the ground seemed to say "we are all here".
The wind today is warm."
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