[Net King] Pilgrim

The final exam was due at the end of the month after the cultural festival. On the day the performance ended, Machida studied until late and went to bed, and was still a little dizzy on the way to school the next day.

But from the moment she got off the bus in the morning, her dazed mind gradually came to her senses, and she found that many students turned their heads to look at her along the way, and all eyes fell on her.

From the station to the school gate, then to the front of the teaching building, and finally entered the class, Machida Kazu's sleepiness completely dissipated.

She stepped into the class suspiciously, there was a burst of cheers in the class, and Matsuzaki ran over excitedly and hugged her, "Hajime, you are amazing! The latest release on the school intranet, the most popular program vote for the school festival show ..." Taking advantage of the absence of the teacher, Matsuzaki quickly took out his mobile phone and called up the page, "As of this morning, your program is ranked second!"

Machida looked at the list of rankings on the phone screen, and said "ah" suddenly, guessing that this was the reason why he was scrutinized in various ways in the morning, thanked everyone with a smile, and then walked to his seat.

"Why are you so calm?" Matsuzaki wrinkled his nose and walked over.

"I'm very happy." Machida opened the chair and sat down, and with a big smile on his face, he repeated earnestly, "Very happy."

Matsuzaki stood aside, blinking, "I thought you would jump for joy... After all, it was voted by the teachers and students of the whole school, and the program that ranked first was "The Police and the Hymn" in the third grade. You have won awards outside of school, you are very good behind them!"

Machida nodded seriously, got up and stood between the seats, and jumped in coordination, "Is that so?"

"……you win."

Matsuzaki sighed and couldn't help but smile.

Machida couldn't hold back anymore, so he let out a "poof" laugh, thinking that he was so bored.

Leaning on the table, she was overjoyed, and suddenly caught a glimpse of dark green at the door from the corner of her eyes, and subconsciously looked along, her smiling eyes met Echizen Ryoma's sight.

She was startled, and the smile that hadn't faded from her lips also paused.

Echizen Ryoma probably just came back from the tennis court. He was still wearing a blue and white jacket, a dark ball bag behind his back, a few strands of hair sticking to his forehead, and his whole body was steaming.

He stood by the door and looked at her. After a few seconds, he looked back and walked to his seat.

Matsuzaki was scrolling through the message board on the school intranet, reading the post about the cultural festival with great interest, "Hajime, read this message!"

Machida looked at it absent-mindedly, but he didn't read the words and pictures on the screen at all. He could only hear the sound of putting the ball bag from a row of seats behind him.

She silently stroked her still beating heart with her palm.

There was a joy in my heart that lingered hard to get rid of.

During the big class break in the morning, Machida knocked on the door of the debate club classroom.

Teacher Micang, the consultant of the debate club, sat behind the desk and adjusted his glasses.

"Teacher." Machida walked to the desk, handed over the envelope with both hands, and said in a sincere tone, "This is my application for resignation."

She thought it through.

She had this idea two weeks ago, until the day of the cultural festival, she finally realized that she was not very interested in debate, so she decided to quit the debate club as a chance to try more possibilities .

Yone Cangtsuko took the envelope and nodded kindly, "I heard from the president that since you have already made up your mind, I naturally respect your decision. The school's club activities are also encouraging you to follow your own interests to make choices.”

"Don't worry, it's difficult for us to know what we want to do and what we are suitable for from the very beginning. Try a little more, and you can take your time." After the words fell, he blinked again, "Singing is good, Xiaonei's I voted for you."

Machida was slightly surprised and smiled, "Thank you." He bowed deeply, "I'll make a note of it."

There are a few windows open in the corridor outside the classroom, and sunlight creeps in along the windows, with a bit of cold wind mixed in.

In the winter season, it is a layer of warmth.

As soon as Machida left the debating club classroom, he ran down the stairs in a good mood.

Jumping and turning into the corridor of the first grade, I met the Chinese teacher who opened the door of the staff room, leaned out half of my body, and when I saw her, I hurriedly called her over: "Machida! Come, take your class homework. "

Machida stopped in response, turned around and ran over.

Stepping into the staff room, I heard the Chinese teacher say again: "There is still an exercise booklet, which is needed for the next class. I am afraid that Echiqian will not be able to get it alone, so I will ask someone to help."

Machida was taken aback for a moment, then looked forward, and found that Echizen Ryoma was standing by the language teacher's desk.

Hearing the voice, he turned his head to look at her, but didn't speak.

The Chinese teacher walked over and gestured to the two stacks of notebooks on the table, "That's all, I'll send it to everyone when I get it back to class. I'll talk about it later in class."

The heavy exercise books were stacked together, and Machida only saw another stack of exercise books blocked inside when he walked to the table.

She stepped forward and was about to move the exercise book outside, but saw Echizen Ryoma stretched out his hand, picked up the thick booklet before her, turned and walked towards the door.

The Chinese teacher nodded in relief, "Echizen is such a good boy." Pointing to the remaining small part, "Then Machida, take these, go back and go to class."

Machida responded, picked up his homework and left.

In the corridor, she looked at the heavy objects in Echizen Ryoma's hands, and couldn't help but say, "Give me some."

"It's ok."

Obviously can't talk to him.As soon as Machida walked beside him, he was silent and had no choice but to give up.

But the pile of exercise books seemed really tiring. She thought about it, and thought that if she distracted him, she might not feel so tired, so she asked him, "Why were you in the staff room just now?"

"Change the exercises."

"...Oh." Machida lowered his head.

This topic is not very good.

There were always whispers of conversation along the way.She raised her head in doubt, and saw that many students around the corridor were looking at her and Echizen Ryoma, with surprise and inquiry, envy and jealousy, and various emotions.

Machida froze for a moment.

Of course she knew that this excited scene as if seeing an idol was due to the people beside her, but the problem was that there were not only girls watching, but also many boys who were so excited that they stuck their heads out to look around.

Machida felt a little suspicious, the influence of Echizen Ryoma is too wide...

Before she finished feeling, a boy suddenly rushed out from the front class, and ran towards this side amidst continuous booing.His open uniform jacket fluttered slightly to the sides, and stopped in front of her with the rustling wind.

Machida stopped walking, looking at the boy in front of him inexplicably.Under the short brown-black hair was a face full of vitality, but she didn't have the slightest impression of him.

The eyes around him became more and more ambiguous, mixed with the sound of whistling, a hint of premonition floated in Machida's heart.

And the facts proved that her hunch was right.

"You are Machida Kazu from Group B." The boy smiled generously. "I am Kujo from Group A. I saw your performance at the school festival before. It was very exciting." He said and handed the things in his hands to her. "I want to make friends with you, please accept these gifts."

There was a burst of excited booing in the corridor, and many students came to watch the scene of pink bubbles.

It was only at this time that Machida noticed that the boy was holding a delicate little gift box with a beautiful ribbon in his hand, and a sky blue envelope was pressed under the box.

What he said was actually very euphemistic, but she could probably understand that "making friends" must be more than simply making friends.

It was the first time for her to face such a scene. Although she was a little at a loss, she also knew that if she couldn't respond, she should reject the other party sincerely.

Machida was still holding the homework book in one hand, and stood there with a serious expression on his face. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a cold voice from diagonally in front of him: "Hello."

She was taken aback, stopped talking and looked over, Echizen Ryoma turned half of his body, and said to her: "I'm going to be late." Then he walked forward without looking back.

His tone was as flat as a glass of warm water, and his complexion was the same as usual, but the noisy atmosphere around him was extinguished by his words.

Remembering that he was still holding such a large stack of books in his hand, Machida suddenly lost the intention to calmly deal with this situation, and only solemnly apologized, and walked around the boy.

Echizen Ryoma had already walked a few meters away, and she chased after her, "It's heavy, let's go back to work." As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a bright and loud voice behind her straight through the corridor: "I won't give up!"

Machida was so startled that cold sweat broke out on his back, and he didn't turn his head back. He pursed his mouth a little annoyed, "What and what..."

Echizen Ryoma turned his head to look at her, his tone was calm and not cold, "It's not heavy."

In the next week, Machida received all kinds of gifts every day. Besides the boy named Kujo, there were many other people she neither knew nor named.

Starting with the sudden "making friends" in the corridor that day, many boys who had been hiding before seemed to find a reason to spread their hearts in the sun all at once.And the reason why they have such intentions is nothing more than the performance at the cultural festival.

This reason seems far-fetched to Machida Kazu, so her attitude of refusal is also very clear.

As for the presents on her desk...she could only think of treating them the same way as Echizen Ryoma—distribute them to classmates.But at this time, Machida couldn't help but wonder what the girls would say when they expressed their feelings to him, would it be the same as when she received a gift, for example-"I watched Echizen-kun's game, it was very exciting "some type of?

She thought, there must be some reasons like this. After all, Echizen Ryoma's appearance on the tennis court is too easy to attract people. Whether it is his excellent skills or his more handsome appearance when he is fighting hard, they are all as dazzling as before dawn Like the sun, it cannot be concealed.

However, when he walked out of the tennis court, he was actually just an ordinary junior high school student with the same characteristics as most middle school students in Japan and even the world. He had to face his own good or hard work with a pure heart and not complicated , Maybe there are times when you are confused and confused, but you always have dreams, full of infinite longing and expectations for the future.

"Echizen, will you continue to play tennis in the future?" Machida stood between the class seats, mopped the floor halfway, and asked while leaning on the mop, "I mean, after a long time, will you consider developing it as a career?" ?”

After more than a month, the two were on duty together again.Although Echizen Ryoma still talked less, but this time on duty after school was no longer as strange and embarrassing as before.

Echizen Ryoma paused with his hand that was cleaning the blackboard, remained silent for a while, but did not answer, and asked instead, "Do you think taking what you love as a career will kill that love?"

Machida was slightly taken aback, perhaps surprised by his rhetorical question, thought for a moment, "Maybe, if you continue to do it day after day, even if you like it, you will have a hard day."

She rested her chin on the hand holding the mop, and thought about it again, "However, compared to the previous situation, I can't even imagine that if I am doing a job that I have no interest in, what will I rely on to support it?" How about hard work? Although liking is not the only criterion for choosing a career, if you can choose, try to do a job that makes you happy and meaningful... Uh, it's a difficult question to answer..."

Echizen Ryoma smiled, and for a moment, breathed a sigh of relief, "I can't even imagine it."

He turned around and looked at Machida Kazu, she seemed to be a little dazed, her eyes were fixed on the floor, and she didn't respond for a long time.

Put the eraser back into the slot, walked to the side of the trash can, and glanced at her, "Hurry up and mop the floor, I will turn off the lights and lock the door when I come back from throwing out the trash."

"Ah," Machida came back to his senses suddenly, and hurriedly picked up the mop to continue working.

On Friday evening, after the end of the day, the teaching building was so quiet that the sound of wind passing through the hall could be heard, and...

"Crackling" the sound of various snacks and letters falling on the ground.

The moment Machida opened the shoe cabinet, she was frightened by the "gifts" that poured out and fell to her feet.

Of course, compared to Echizen Ryoma's shoe cabinet, her place is nothing to mention.

However, it may be because he is used to such things, but he behaved much calmer than her. He even pulled out a bag from his schoolbag, packed the scattered things on the ground, and handed her a bag by the way, "Sometimes If you can’t fit in one bag, prepare an extra one.”

"..."

Machida sighed, took the bag, knelt down and filled it one by one, "Do you want to take these home?"

"Ah."

"And eat it?"

"Someone can eat it." He shook the bag, "My dad is very busy."

Machida smiled, reached out to pick up a pack of gingerbread on the ground, and glanced at Echizen Ryoma who was two steps away from him.

He was throwing snacks into the bag, with a careless look on his side face.

After a while, she looked away and put the gingerbread into the bag.

In fact, she already had a little clarity in her heart, such a strange but abundant emotion, a feeling of unconscious joy in front of him.

Although I don't know if this feeling is called liking, but at least it is certain that Echizen Ryoma is different to her.

"You have fewer things than mine, and you pack slower than me."

His thoughts were pulled back by a tease, and Machida found himself in a daze for a long time, while Echizen Ryoma was already standing in front of the shoe cabinet with a full bag and closing the door.

"I'm no more experienced than you." She teased solemnly, packed up the scattered things indiscriminately, changed her shoes, and stuffed a bag of snacks back into the shoe cabinet, "Tomorrow, I'll share it with my classmates."

...What kind of experience do you need to pack a snack?Echizen Ryoma curled his lips silently in his heart, glanced at her, turned and walked towards the door of the teaching building.

Machida quickly closed the cabinet and chased after him, "It's so dark in the building, don't go so fast...!"