Chapter 50: Frozen
"Why are you here?"
A trace of surprise flashed across those usually calm eyes when they saw Fengjian, but the ripple quickly subsided. He stood up, picked up the racket on the ground with his right hand, and passed by her. His steps slowed down a beat, but he did not stop.
Feng Jian stepped over the puddles and rushed over. His umbrella was blown over by the wind, and the ribs rolled into the grass. The rain hit his face, stinging like needles. Mixed with tears, it slid into his collar. He stretched out his arms to block him, his nails digging deep into his palms. "President Tezuka has actually been lying to us. Your hand injury hasn't healed yet, right?"
"Maybe it recovered, but the intense training brought it back, right?!"
She looked up at him, the rain poured into her pupils, making her blink violently, but she still held her neck stiff and refused to lower her head.
Tezuka didn't respond and tried to move away, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed. Her palm was colder than the rain.
In the rain, Feng Jian's voice was like soaked paper, heavy but persistent: "You always say that the victory in front of you is the most important..."
"What about your own hand?" Her voice trembled like a spiderweb in the rain. "What about your career? Doesn't it matter?"
Tezuka paused and stared at her. The lightning above the court illuminated her wet eyes, and it was hard to tell whether it was rain or tears on her face.
"Didn't President Tezuka say that he would always play tennis with us in the future?" The choked voice hit his ears directly, carrying the weight of moisture. Kazama sniffed, "If my hands are broken, what's the point?"
"Why did you break your promise? Why didn't you say anything? Why did you carry everything... on your own?"
His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and the words he wanted to say were stuck there, like a sponge swollen by rainwater.
"This is the agreement between us..." Her hands turned white from exertion, her fingertips tensed. "The Kanto Tournament wasn't enough. Is President Tezuka going to put his own future on the line now?!"
Her voice was hoarse and rough, as if sand had rubbed against her throat.
Lightning flashed across the court, and the lights briefly shone on her tear-stained face.
My hands were suddenly empty.
Tezuka looked at his hand that she had shaken off, and slowly clenched the hand hanging by his side. The pain of the racket handle digging into his palm actually overshadowed the slight soreness of the old injury.
The lights from the stadium cast a cold white haze in the water, lengthening her running figure. The word "sorry" got stuck in her throat and finally turned into a short, low voice that hit the ground, so low that even he couldn't hear it.
......
"April, April, I stewed your favorite drink, rock sugar and snow pear..." Sister Ling knocked on the door twice. Seeing no one answered, she pushed it open and found the room empty. She covered her forehead and sighed, "This kid still had a cold this morning and ran out to watch the game again. Give Jingshi a call to ask if he is okay..."
It was rush hour and the subway was packed with office workers carrying briefcases. Fengjian huddled in a corner wearing a mask. He finally reached the platform and answered Yuan's call as soon as he stepped out of the subway station.
Before he could even open his mouth, the voice on the other end of the line boomed like a cannonball, "Kazama Siyue, what the hell is wrong with you? Today is the preliminaries and finals, and we've already finished two games and you're disappearing!"
Feng Jian subconsciously moved his phone half an inch away, and walked to the edge of the crowd before speaking in a low voice: "Qiye, I'm sorry, I have a cold."
The line froze for a few seconds, and a commotion rose and fell in the background. Yuan's suspicious voice rang out, "Your voice does sound a little hoarse, but are you sure you didn't oversleep and make excuses?"
"I really have a cold," Fengjian pulled at his mask, his tone filled with a sense of emptiness that he himself didn't even notice.
"Okay, I won't argue with you anymore," Yuan's tone tightened slightly, "but you know, Fuji-senpai...lost in singles."
Kazama's steps paused slightly as the subway car pulled in, swirling with exhaust fumes. Gen's voice continued, "Right now, there's one win and one loss on the court, but..." She paused, her tone brightening again, "but next up is President Tezuka's doubles match. The opponent is Chitose Chisato of Shitenhoji Temple. She's incredibly strong. Do you want to come and watch?"
When the words "President Tezuka" hit her ears, Kazama clenched her phone tightly, the edges of the plastic phone case causing slight pain in her palm. She looked at the sunlight outside the station and suddenly remembered the rainy night last night. She asked him "How is your hand broken?" But now she couldn't help but think:
His hands couldn't hold on any longer.
"April, where are you? From the sound of it, are you at the subway station?"
Gen's voice was drowned out by the whistling wind as the subway arrived. Kazama quickly covered the microphone, fearing the other party would notice something was wrong. She stared down at the floor at her feet. The white tiles shone brightly in the sunlight, dazzling her for a moment. She could hear her own voice vibrating against her chest:
"I'm not going."
"Ah...really?" Yuan's tone was full of regret. In the background, Momoshiro's exclamation of "No way, Kazama isn't coming" was faintly heard. "Although I feel very sorry, you should rest and recuperate first."
Fengjian responded softly, and remained conscious until the call was hung up.
She looked up at the plaque in front of her that read 'ARENA Forest Garden', took a deep breath, lowered the brim of her hat and walked in.
The last ball landed in the opponent's court, and the announcement on the radio, '7:5, Seigaku Tezuka Kunimitsu won, and Seigakuen won the right to participate in the finals,' resounded throughout the stadium.
"As expected of Tezuka Kunimitsu, he won so easily."
The disc above the court slowly unfolded, and sunlight poured down, falling on the tall and thin figure on the field. The chestnut hair flashed with dazzling white light, as if it had gathered all the light in the world.
Fengjian stared blankly at the field, and only came to his senses when the other party's gaze swept over him, and he quickly lowered his head.
Tezuka glanced at the half head that popped up from the back of the seat, his expression silent for a moment.
"What's wrong, Tezuka?" Fuji came over with a smile.
"Nothing." He pushed up his glasses.
Fengjian crouched down and was about to leave when an ice-purple school uniform appeared in her field of vision. No matter whether she turned to the left or the right, the other party was right in front of her. Once was an accident, twice was an accident, and three times must be intentional.
She looked up angrily, but met Atobe's face full of inquiry.
"Why is it you?"
"I say..." Atobe put his hands in his pockets, "Who are you hiding from with such an unglamorous look?"
"No, you're overthinking it," Fengjian pulled the brim of his hat guiltily and pretended to walk around him, but was stopped.
"Why are you catching a cold again?" Atobe frowned slightly, glancing at the people from Seigaku who were looking around not far away, a playful smile spreading across the corners of his eyes. "Could it be that he's hiding from you Seigaku people? If so, that's really curious."
"I already said it wasn't..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by another exclamation, "Ah, it's April!"
"I knew Kazama would come. She would crawl over to watch our game." Taocheng laughed loudly, with an expression that said, "I guessed you would be such a person a long time ago."
"That's not the case..." Feng Jian couldn't help herself and turned around to scold him, but she accidentally met his chestnut eyes. The rest of the words got stuck in her throat. She turned her head away, walked around the Hyotei people and walked upstairs. "I'm going back first."
"Siyue, since you're here, come and have barbecue with us," Yuan caught up with her, grabbed her shoulders, his eyes sparkling, "Okay~~"
"Yes, Kazama, Coach Ryuzaki said that we can go for barbecue if we win the game, so we have made an appointment to go together." Kikumaru and Momoshiro encouraged from the side.
"Tezuka will go too," Fuji added with a smile.
"hiss."
Fengjian looked at Yuan, then at the expectant expressions of the others, and pursed her lips slightly. She couldn't bring herself to say no. They had just defeated Shitenbao Temple to qualify for the finals, and she didn't want to disturb their high spirits, but...
Just when the stalemate was about to break out, another gentle voice interrupted.
"Kazama, do you want to go back together?"
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