what tennis

◎ is a preference. ◎

Ryuya Echizen is 13 years old.

'click'——

The moment the camera presses the shutter, it makes an exceptionally clear sound.Echizen Ryuya was originally a person with very keen five senses, so he immediately looked up at the source of the voice: the little girl in white short sleeves and dark blue overalls waved the camera in his hand at him.

Echizen Ryuya walked towards her: "Did your mother ask you to bring the camera out?"

Mari Nishijima hugged the camera and smiled: "Yeah! And I agreed to go outside with you today!"

"Where are we going to play today?"

She can't understand American English, and she can't speak it, so she basically hasn't been out since she came to the United States.The only entertainment every day is to come to the orange grove to play with Echizen Ryuya.

So when Echizen Longya offered to take her out to play, the little girl immediately agreed excitedly; she said that as long as her mother agreed, she could go out to play.

Echizen Ryuya looked behind Mari Nishijima - about ten meters behind them, a young man in casual clothes pretended to be reading a newspaper, but poked his head out from behind the newspaper to stare at them from time to time.

Echizen Ryuya: "Do you want to play a game console?"

Shinji Nishijima struggled: "My English is not very good."

Echizen Ryuya: "It doesn't matter if you don't know it. You don't need to know English to play pinball. I can teach you."

He turned around, resting his hands on the back of his head, and walked lazily.Mari Nishijima trotted to catch up with him, grabbed the corner of Echizen Ryuya's clothes, and looked around curiously at the same time.

Echizen Longya didn't take her to the place where she usually played tennis, but only went to the nearest Chinatown.

The architecture with obvious Chinese style really made Mari Nishijima feel more secure and liked it more. The camera in her hand has never stopped since she came in.But the sentence she said the most was: "Long Ya, look at me—"

Echizen Ryuya turned his head to look over, and the sound of the camera 'clicking, clicking, clicking' could be heard incessantly.

He raised his eyebrows: "Would it be too many shots?"

Mari Nishijima poked his head out from behind the camera: "What's taking too many shots?"

Echizen Long Yaqu tapped the camera cover with his fingers: "I said, will you take too many pictures of me?"

"Have you been taking pictures of me since just now?"

Mari Nishijima is confident: "I took out the camera to take pictures of you...... Ah, the drink machine! I want to drink Coke—"

"..."

Echizen Ryuya walked up to the drink machine, put in a coin and chose Coke.There was a 'bang-dang' sound from the floor of the beverage machine. He bent down and reached out, picked up the Coke from inside, and clasped the tab with his fingers to open it.

The rounded triangular outlet immediately surged with dense foam unique to sparkling drinks, soaking his fingers.

After the bubbles were over, Echizen Ryuya handed the Coke can to Nishijima Mari.

Mari Nishijima took two sips of Coke with one hand, while the other hand was still tightly holding the strap of Ryuya Echizen's tennis bag.

Echizen Ryuya is tall, and he is used to being alone, so he walks much faster than Mari Nishijima.He took two steps, and Nishijima Mari only took one step.

Because of the distance between the two of them, the strap of the tennis bag dangled for a while, and was stretched tight for a while; Echizen Ryuya took a step and was pulled.He simply stopped and looked sideways at Nishijima Mari.

Mari Nishijima held a Coke in one hand and Ryuya Echizen's tennis bag strap in the other, looking around curiously.

Echizen Longya tugged on the strap of his tennis bag: "Catch it somewhere else?"

Mari Nishijima hesitated for a moment, loosened the strap of the tennis bag, touched the corner of Echizen Ryuya's clothes with his fingers, and looked at him questioningly.Echizen Ryuya directly stretched out his hand in front of her, Nishijima Mari was stunned for a moment, then obediently took his hand.

Echizen Ryuya: "Don't you want to drink Coke?"

Mari Nishijima walked two steps, ran two steps, barely kept up with him, and replied: "You will choke if you drink with your head raised while walking."

Echizen Ryuya: "...you stand here and wait for me."

He let go of Mari Nishijima's hand and walked in another direction.

Chinatown was crowded with people, and the figure of the young man was quickly overwhelmed by the crowd.Mari Nishijima stood in place, raised the camera, adjusted the focus, and observed the completely unfamiliar scenery in front of him through the lens.

She didn't have the desire/desire to take pictures, so she didn't press the shutter.

Suddenly the camera went dark, and Mari Nishijima froze.She poked her head out from behind the camera, only to see someone standing in front of her, covering the camera with her hand.

There were a total of eight or nine people on the other side, wearing exaggerated floral shirts, and their facial features had obvious features of foreigners.The leading blond boy bent over to get closer to Mari Nishijima - before he got too close, Mari Nishijima began to back away, maintaining a safe social distance, and looked at each other suspiciously.

The boy opened his mouth and said in English with a local accent: "Are you from the East? Are you a tourist?"

"We'd love to get to know you, can we exchange names?"

Nishijima truth did not understand.

Although I have learned a little English in China, it is well known that Japanese English and ordinary English are two languages.Moreover, listening to the teacher speak English and listening to the English with a local accent are completely different.

She hesitated to maintain a retreating posture, shaking her head.

Although I don't understand, it's fine to refuse.

The blond boy persisted: "Just getting to know each other, we're not bad guys—do you know Hubbard? A famous local tennis player, that's my dad."

"I can take you to play on my dad's private tennis court..."

He reached out to put his hand on the girl's shoulder—but before he could succeed, someone grabbed his wrist.

The young man cursed and turned his head unhappy, facing Ryuya Kamiechizen's half-smile face.He shook off Echizen Ryuya's hand: "Who are you? I warn you, mind your own business..."

Echizen Ryuya: "She shook her head, don't you understand? Need me to translate for you what shaking her head means?"

Looking at each other, the blond boy smiled angrily.He seems to be born well, but he has been pampered by others, but after being rejected, he became even more energetic.

He glanced at the tennis bag on Echizen Longya's back, and a determined smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "You can also play tennis? It just so happens that I can also play tennis well. There is a public tennis court nearby. How about we just play tennis against each other?"

"The bet is—"

The boy took down the tennis racket in his tennis bag, tossed it in his hand, held it firmly, and then pointed at the truth of Nishijima with the tennis racket: "The bet is her name."

"If I win, you have to tell me your name."

Mari Nishijima was at a loss, and asked Echizen Ryuya, "What is he talking about?"

Echizen Ryuya unwrapped the disposable plastic straw she had just bought from a nearby store, and inserted it into the soda can in her hand: "He said he wanted to compete with me in tennis. Didn't he want to shoot me? Now is his chance, When I win, you can take better pictures of me."

Mari Nishijima didn't understand why he could say such a long string of words just by playing tennis.And she always felt that the tennis racket was not referring to Echizen Ryuya but herself...

She lowered her head and bit the straw, took a sip of soda, and nodded obediently: "Okay."

Echizen Ryuya stretched his waist and moved his body, calmly took out his tennis racket and the yellow tennis ball in his pocket, and threw them into the sky.

When the tennis ball fell, Echizen Ryuya swung the racket——with a force that was completely unsuitable for an ordinary 13-year-old boy, he smashed the tennis ball out.The thrown tennis ball happened to distort the tennis racket in the boy's hand.

Echizen Longya twitched the corners of his mouth, smiling lazily and without distraction: "She's not a bet, don't point your racket at her."

"If I lose, I will be responsible for it myself. It doesn't matter if I break my finger or pay."

Hearing the words 'broken fingers', the boy and his accomplice froze.

Suddenly, someone recognized Echizen Longya, tugged at the corner of the boy's clothes, and said in a low voice, "I remember—this guy is what my brother told me a few days ago, and he won consecutive victories on the underground tennis court. There is no failure now..."

The young man interrupted him impatiently: "I don't need you to dictate my affairs."

Neither side lowered their voices.

Nishijima Mari sucked on the Coke, looked left and right, at a loss: "What did you just say?"

Echizen Ryuya waved the racket in his hand casually, and answered her in Japanese: "I told them to hurry up. If you're really afraid of losing, it's okay to fight with wheels. I want to finish the game quickly and then go play the game console with you."

The little girl was very moved when she heard the words, she held the soda can and thoughtfully said: "It's okay, you can play the game console tomorrow, don't feel anxious because you waste my time."

Echizen Longya looked down at her with a smile on his lips, but he didn't speak.

Two groups of people soon arrived at the tennis court.

Mari Nishijima sat down in the rest area next to her and fiddled with her camera.She has no interest in tennis matches, and feels that Echizen Ryuya will definitely win; of course, it doesn't matter if she loses, because today is safe.

She turned her head and looked out through the green protective net - her eyes just met the young man who was behind him at a distance of ten meters.Mari Nishijima made a face at the other party, while the young man shook his head helplessly and smiled.

The small tennis ball was thrown high by Echizen Ryuya and smashed out.

It was really a 'smash'. Just the sound of the tennis ball breaking through the air can already make people feel what a terrible serve it is.

The opposite side had no power to catch the ball at all, and even the tennis racket was thrown out, hitting the wall behind with the tennis ball.The tennis racket fell to the ground, but the tennis ball was completely embedded in the wall.

The audience was terribly quiet, only the camera in Mari Nishijima's hand kept making the sound of 'clicking'.She popped her head out from behind the camera, and excitedly announced: "Long Ya scored first—fifteen points!"

She shouted in Japanese, and 90.00% of the people present did not understand.

But Echizen Ryuya understood.He turned his head to look at Mari Nishijima, with a smile on his lips, and slowly dropped his racket.

All the young boys present had a thought at the same time: This guy... is definitely trying to be handsome, right?

There is no suspense in this tennis match that Echizen Ryuya won.The boy on the opposite side was very face-saving, even if he lost, he did not refuse to admit it, apologized dejectedly, and ran away with his friends.

Although his apology was translated by Echizen Ryuya, Mari Nishijima understood it.

Although he won, Echizen Ryuya's expression remained the same as before.It was only natural for him to win, as if he knew that he would win, so there was no fluctuation in his mentality.

After walking out of the tennis court, Echizen Ryuya asked, "Did you take the photo?"

Mari Nishijima held the camera in front of him, showing a proud expression: "I took pictures of Long Ya so handsome!"

Echizen Ryuya bent down slightly and glanced at the camera screen.Mari Nishijima scrolled through several photos in front of him, taking consecutive shots.

Mari Nishijima didn't boast, she did take pictures of Echizen Ryuya very handsomely; Echizen Ryuya didn't take many photos before, but it was the first time he knew that he was so photogenic.

He smiled and put his fingers on the camera screen: "The photography skills are good."

Mari Nishijima nodded self-affirmatively: "It's a super performance - I usually don't take such good-looking photos. Maybe my camera also likes Long Ya."

She said casually, took the camera away after mumbling, and went to adjust the parameters.

Echizen Ryuya still maintained the posture of touching the camera just now, and was stunned for a moment.He lowered his eyes and moved his eyes from the camera to Nishidao Mari. Nishidao Mari didn't notice that he was looking at her, nor did he look up.

The photos on the camera screen scrolled, and Mari Nishijima said to himself: "This camera is a beauty control, right? It looks ordinary when it takes pictures of other people, but it looks so good-looking when it takes pictures of Longya."

Then went to Pachinko and other arcade games.

Echizen Ryuya accidentally discovered that Nishijima Mari played the game well.And her English is not as bad as she said herself, she knows most of the vocabulary, and sometimes she can even guess the advertisements of many shops.

After playing until after five o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them walked out of the game hall.

Echizen Longya looked at the time: "It's 05:30, shall I take you back?"

Nishijima Mari sat down on the rest bench and yawned: "But I'm so tired, let's take a rest and go back, shall we?"

It would take at least 10 minutes to walk back to the orange grove from here, Echizen Ryuya estimated Nishijima Mari's physical strength, and immediately gave up the decision to go back now.

He sat down next to Xidaozhen, and said, "Then rest for a while."

Not long after, Echizen Ryuya felt a weight on his shoulders.He glanced at Nishijima Mari who was leaning on his shoulder with closed eyes and breathing evenly, not surprised that she would fall asleep sitting up.

He didn't move, just leaned against Mari Nishidao casually, and rolled a tennis ball flexibly with the fingers of his other hand.That tennis ball seemed to have a magnet, no matter how Echizen Ryuya's hand moved, it just rolled against Echizen Ryuya's hand without any sign of falling off.

After a while, someone walked up to Echizen Ryuya.

Echizen Ryuya raised his head and raised his eyebrows.He recognized that this was the young man who followed him and Nishijima truth all the way from the gate of the orange grove.

The young man gave him a friendly smile, and introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Zhenzhen's father—are you the good friend who taught Zhenzhen to play tennis these days?"

Echizen Ryuya stopped spinning the tennis ball slowly.He didn't speak, and glanced at Nishijima Mari who was leaning on his shoulder, then raised a finger and pressed it to his lips, signaling silence.

Mr. Nishijima was taken aback for a moment, somewhat astonished.

But he didn't say anything else, and sat down beside him quietly.

Until the sun was about to completely set, Nishidao Zhen woke up from sleep in a daze.She rubbed her eyes, then touched her mouth subconsciously: it's fine, no drooling.

Mari Nishijima found that Echizen Ryuya was sitting on the right, and his own father was sitting on the left.

She showed a dull expression, looking left and right.Mr. Nishijima smiled: "Are you awake? Let's go home when we wake up—say goodbye to this Echizen brother."

Mari Nishijima stood up following his father in a daze, and waved to Echizen Ryuya: "Goodbye Echizen brother..."

Echizen Ryuya chuckled, moved his numb arm, and said lazily, "Well, see you tomorrow."

He didn't say goodbye.He wants to say - see you tomorrow.

We will meet again tomorrow.

Mr. Nishijima smiled reluctantly, seeing Echizen Ryuya's expression was really not kind.But when his daughter raised her head to talk to him, Mr. Nishijima instantly put on a gentle expression.

Nishijima Mari: "I ate a lot of snacks this afternoon, can I eat a little less in the evening?"

Mr. Nishijima: "Okay, but you won't be able to eat snacks tomorrow."

Mari Nishijima was frustrated: "...Oh."

They had walked a distance holding hands.Shinji Nishidao suddenly turned her head - she put her hands around her mouth and made a trumpet shape: "Longya—"

"I have something to tell you tomorrow, you must come and play with me!"

tomorrow……

What is she going to tell me?

He never got an answer.Because seeing you tomorrow has really become seeing you tomorrow—the 'tomorrow' that will never arrive, the future tense that will never arrive.

Echizen Ryuya.

Mari Nishijima sat on the living room carpet and fiddled with his camera, pressing the shutter from time to time, and the camera kept making a 'clicking' sound.

Echizen Ryuya was brushing his hair and asked, "Are you taking pictures?"

Nishijima shook his head: "I'm listening to the sound, didn't I have a nightmare with no memory? Although I don't remember what the nightmare was about, I still remember the sound of the camera in the dream, so I want to hear if it was me My own camera—they don't seem to be the same voice."

She fiddled with the camera casually, without adjusting the focus.

Just when Mari Nishijima casually pressed the shutter, the camera unexpectedly captured Ryuya Echizen.She stopped what she was doing and let out a 'huh'.

Echizen Ryuya: "What's wrong?"

Nishijima Mari: "I suddenly realized that you are very photogenic...Long Ya, don't move, I will take two pictures for you."

"My camera lens is not a face control, is it? It looks so good when I shoot you - before I took portraits and filled up the light, it didn't have this effect!"

-Complete-