what tennis

◎You hear this name, is it familiar? ◎

"Meow-"

The cat sprang out from under the bed again, jumped lightly, and squeezed between the two of them.

Echizen Ryuya lowered his head, held the cat under the armpit with both hands and lifted it up to block between himself and Mari Nishijima; the kitten kicked its legs dissatisfied, its tail flicked wildly, and the fluffy cat fur flew under the sun. everywhere.

He naturally changed the subject: "This guy doesn't have a name yet?"

Mari Nishijima strayed from the topic, and shifted his eyes from Ryuga Echizen's flushed face to the cat.

She touched the cat's tail: "Well, it's true, it's better to give it a name. It can't be called a kitten or a kitten all the time... But what's the best name?"

Echizen Ryuya: "Do you have a favorite name?"

Mari Nishijima stared at the cat's dangling tail, lost in thought.

At this time, the little cat was extremely dissatisfied with being caught between the two of them and treated as a "cat screen", and began to struggle with its teeth and claws.

Echizen Ryuya let go of his hand, the cat landed on Nishijima Mari's lap, cocked its tail and jumped lightly, jumped onto the coffee table, and fiddled with the oranges in the fruit bowl with its paws.

Mari Nishijima: "Is it called Tangerine?"

Echizen Ryuya: "It's pretty easy to remember. Tangerine——"

Tangerine ignored Echizen Ryuya, and pulled an orange out of the fruit plate by himself. After probing left and right with his claws, he abruptly kicked the orange off the table.

After doing bad things, it turned its head sideways, staring at Echizen Ryuya and Nishijima Mari with its round cat eyes.

Mari Nishijima: "... Tomorrow I will put away the glasses at home."

Echizen Ryuya nodded: "The handmade cabinet should also be locked."

Seeing two human beings just talking like this, they didn't want to scold themselves.

Tangerine flicked her tail, turned around and jumped off the coffee table, then nimbly burrowed into other corners, and soon disappeared.

Mari Nishijima gave a dry cough, grabbed the disinfectant from Echizen Ryuya's hand and stuffed it into the medical box.

Echizen Ryuya also touched the back of his neck and stood up: "I'm going to wash the dishes—"

Mari Nishijima: "Good!"

After answering quickly, she was annoyed at herself for answering too quickly.

When he was kissed in a daze, he didn't think of going anywhere else at all, but simply felt that kissing was very comfortable so he wanted to continue kissing; he only reacted after being reminded by Echizen Ryuya.

With his back to the kitchen, who was sorting out the medical kit, Nishijima couldn't help but patted his face: Nishijima, Nishijima, you are so depraved!

Her cell phone on the coffee table vibrated, showing an unread letter.

After Nishijima put the medical kit into the TV cabinet, she picked up her mobile phone to check the information—it was a message from the property management, telling her that the window glass of the villa had been replaced, and asked her to go back and check it if she was free recently. If you have other questions, you can continue to contact them.

Because Xi Dao's parents are not in the country, the text messages from the property had to be sent to Xi Dao Zhen's mobile phone.

Hmm... I just asked for leave today, why don't I go over to have a look today?

Having made a decision in her heart, Mari Nishijima put the phone in her bag: "Long Ya, I'm going out for a while."

Echizen Ryuya poked his head out from the kitchen: "Didn't you ask for leave from school today?"

Nishijima truth: "The administrator of the villa sent me a text message telling me that the window of the villa has been repaired, and asked me to go back and check it when I have time, and let him know if there are other problems..."

Echizen Ryuya: "I'll go with you."

"Oh?" Mari Nishijima had already changed her shoes at this time, stood at the door, looked at Echizen Ryuya with some surprise, "...then, that's fine too."

Under Echizen Ryuya's insistence, the two finally went out together.

The weather outside was too hot, so Mari Nishijima specially brought an umbrella; but when it was time to open the umbrella, Mari Nishijima became embarrassed again.

She jumps repeatedly between 159 and 160 in height, and can reach 164 in wedge heels.

But Echizen Ryuya is more than 1.8 meters long.This is still the net height, not counting the shoes-this also led to the fact that if Mari Nishijima wanted to cover Echizen Ryuya when he opened the umbrella, he had to lift his arms up so that the umbrella bone would not hit Echizen Ryuya Ya head.

But raising your arms is tiring.

After holding it for a while, Mari Nishijima started to feel sore hands. She switched the umbrella to the other hand, and Echizen Ryuya next to her was completely exposed to the sun.

...I should have known that I should have come out with two hats.

Mari Nishijima thought so, and gently rubbed his sore arm.

Echizen Ryuya next to him was clearly watching the road, but he stretched out his hand to take the umbrella from Mari Nishijima's hand accurately and skillfully, and stretched it up.

Mari Nishijima froze for a moment, then looked up at the umbrella that was suddenly raised a lot.

Echizen Ryuya: "This road can also go around to your door. Although it is a bit farther, you don't have to pass the tennis court."

Nishijima subconsciously glanced at the road he was pointing at: "Oh? Is that so?"

Echizen Ryuya: "Well, I walked by it before. This road just passes the wall of your backyard..."

"Ah!" Makoto Nishijima clenched one hand into a fist and lightly slapped his palm, suddenly realizing, "Do you think that thief passed by this way?"

Echizen Ryuya: "... a thief?"

Nishijima Mari: "It was the thief who messed up my room. Because Police Officer Takagi said that the thief might have climbed up from the garden to the second-floor window sill, broke the window, opened the window lock from the outside, and then entered."

"Doesn't this path just pass by the wall of the little garden?"

"...It seems that there is nothing wrong with this."

Echizen Ryuya was somewhat surprised, but felt it was reasonable.

Originally, he discovered this path when he was investigating the theft of the room of truth. At that time, he also guessed that the thief might have entered Nishijima's house through this way.

Mari Nishijima was a very smart person, so it was no surprise that he would be able to contact the thief through this road.

There are walls on both sides of that road, it is relatively narrow, and there are no street lights installed.Although there are cameras installed by the owner of the villa at his own expense in some sections of the road, because the road is not a straight line, but a more tortuous S-shape, the places that can be photographed are very limited.

The walls on both sides of the road are covered with firecrackers. Now it is the flower season, and the orange red is in full bloom, decorating this narrow road like a colorful gift stick.

Mari Nishijima dragged Echizen Ryuya into this path, hearing the sound of drafts blowing flowers and leaves.When they came to a certain section of the wall, Mari Nishijima tugged at the corner of Ryuya Echizen's clothes: "Here—this is the outer wall of my small garden!"

The wall pointed by Nishidao’s truth is different from other walls covered with firecrackers and flowers. All the plants on this section of the wall are creepers; a whole piece of deep and cool green blends with the bright orange red on both sides. very beautiful.

Echizen Ryuya reached out and fiddled with the overlapping creeper leaves: "The thief should have climbed up from here."

Mari Nishijima: "...Are you kidding? This wall is more than two meters high!"

Echizen Ryuya: "If the thief is a tall, athletic male, there's no problem—like this."

He put away the umbrella in his hand, then took two steps back, stepped on the wall with his strength, climbed up to the top of the wall in two or three strokes, and sat on it with his legs spread apart.

Echizen Longya moved very quickly, and the whole process was smooth and flowing, definitely not more than five seconds.

Mari Nishijima raised his head and looked at him with complicated emotions: "Longya..."

Echizen Ryuya: "Huh?"

Mari Nishijima: "Why are you so proficient? How many walls have you climbed?"

Echizen Ryuya: "..."

"You're moving too fast." Nishijima Mari muttered, reaching out to him, "Okay, okay, come down quickly, don't let others see it, it's not good if you misunderstand..."

"and many more."

Echizen Ryuya made a quiet gesture to Nishijima Mari, and looked down at the wall—he stretched out his hand to touch the flattened creeper leaf, and said, "There are fresh traces of being pressed by a ladder here. Climbed in with a ladder, and the person is still inside."

Mari Nishijima: "... Huh?"

Echizen Ryuya: "I'll go in and have a look, you're waiting for me here."

After he finished speaking, he jumped off the wall directly.Makoto Nishijima looked at the empty wall: ...can't be so unlucky?I just came to see a window today, but I bumped into a thief again?

She was worried that Echizen Longya would not be able to stay where she was waiting, so she walked around to the gate and pressed the password to enter.

The dustproof cloths of most electrical appliances in the living room of the villa were removed when the police came to check last time, but the floor was not cleaned, and some messy footprints could be seen.

Mari Nishijima walked through the living room to the stairs leading to the second floor, and looked up - he didn't hear anything, but there were some fresh footprints on the stairs, but these footprints...

Mari Nishijima squatted down, gestured with his hands, and said to himself: "Are these footprints too small?"

A series of footsteps ran down the stairs, accompanied by the little girl's voice: "Conan! Where did you go, Conan?"

Mari Nishijima raised her head and met the little girl who appeared at the corner of the stairs. She blinked and saw two boys behind the little girl.

The two groups of people looked at each other, and the air fell into an awkward silence.

"Conan? Is it this kid?"

Echizen Ryuya came in from the exit of the corridor connecting the garden, holding a child wearing glasses in one hand.

Nishijima was puzzled, walked up to the two of them, half-bowed: "It's you, little brother?"

Facing the face of Mari Nishijima approaching suddenly, Conan could only scratch the back of his head, and smiled dryly: "Hello, sister Nishijima—"

Echizen Longya put him on the floor: "You know this little guy? I found him on the outside of the air conditioner on the second floor. He's a little kid, but he's quite nimble."

Nishijima Mari: "He is the little assistant next to Mr. Mori, and he helped Mr. Mori deliver a message in the police station before."

"But Conan, why did you and your friends come here?"

Conan rubbed the back of his neck, showing a child's characteristic smile, and explained: "We are playing tennis around here. I accidentally hit a tennis ball in it, so I want to come in with everyone to look for it."

"But we rang the doorbell and no one answered, so we took a ladder and climbed over the wall to get in. We didn't mess with anything in the house. We planned to go out immediately after we found the tennis ball."

The other two boys pushed him and complained softly, "It's all Conan's fault! If you hadn't hit the ball too high, the tennis ball wouldn't have fallen in here!"

"That's right, that ball is my father's treasure, the ball Echizen Nanjiro used to win the first national competition! My father will scold me to death if I can't find it!"

"Okay! Don't blame Conan all the time, Conan didn't mean it!"

The little girl couldn't bear the sight of the other two bullying Conan, she puffed her cheeks and separated them in displeasure.

Conan scratched his head, and when he turned his head, he showed a speechless expression like a very young adult—then he met the scrutinizing eyes of Echizen Ryuya and Nishijima Mari.

Mari Nishijima's expression was pure curiosity, but Ryuya Echizen didn't look very kind.

Conan: "..."

Mari Nishijima thoughtfully said: "Since it is such an important tennis ball, you should look for it quickly. Do you know where it probably fell?"

Yuan Tai: "Should it be in the garden?"

Mitsuhiko retorted him: "It must be over there on the tennis court! We've looked for the small garden—"

Ayumi: "No, no, Conan said, he saw the tennis ball smashed into the room on the second floor."

Mitsuhiko said unhappily: "That must be Conan's mistake! Even if the windows on the second floor are not broken, how could it be possible for a tennis ball to smash into the room on the second floor?"

The children chatted with each other, and soon there was a quarrel, and the chirping sound made Mari Nishijima a headache.

Echizen Ryuya patted Conan on the head: "Did the ball fall into the room on the second floor?"

Conan tried to pass the level cutely: "Because I saw the ball flying very high, it might get stuck in the air conditioner or fall into the window sill..."

Echizen Ryuya looked at him with a half-smile all the time, but that expression didn't look like he believed Conan's words; just when Conan's voice faded, and he even began to think about whether there was something wrong in the process of playing the child——

"Then why don't you go to the room on the second floor and have a look?"

Mari Nishijima took out a bunch of keys from his bag, and stepped on the stairs leading to the second floor: "You guys played on the open tennis court next to the villa, right? It's really easy to lose the ball if you play there." Go in, but usually drop the ball into the little garden."

"On the second floor, the windows of my parents' and me's rooms are facing the tennis court. Just look at the window sills of these two rooms."

After she went up to the second floor, she first opened her own room near the stairs - the things that were messed up last time had been restored to order by Mari Nishijima and Ryuya Echizen.

Mari Nishijima opened the window of the room, and touched the newly replaced glass by the way: it is very good, very strong.

Conan ran over in three steps at a time, jumped up and hung on the window sill, leaning almost half of his body out of the window.He moved so fast that Nishijima Mari didn't even have time to stop him, but was startled instead.

Echizen Longya quickly lifted him off the window sill: "Little devil, do you know that this is very dangerous?"

Conan who couldn't see anything: "...I'm sorry."

After Echizen Longya took Conan away, he leaned out and took a look outside instead: "There are no tennis balls—the last time the police finished it up very cleanly, and now there is only a trace of maintenance workers on the window sill. .”

When Conan heard this, he showed a thoughtful expression.

Next is the room of Nishijima's parents next door.

The moment Nishijima Mari opened the room, a thin layer of dust fell from the door frame.

This room is larger than the room of Nishijima Mari, but there are obviously more furniture and furnishings. Various honorary certificates and medals are hung on the walls, and the counter is also full of trophies, all related to tennis.

Mari Nishijima didn't look at those tennis-related things, and went straight to the window sill and opened the window: "Well, there doesn't seem to be any here..."

"Wow! This photobook is gold! It's glowing!"

"Yuantai! Don't mess with other people's things—"

Along with the chirping of children, there were also the crackling of various paper booklets falling to the ground.Mari Nishijima, Ryuya Echizen, and Conan who were surrounded by the window—the three turned their heads at the same time. Mari Nishijima looked at the huge photo album that fell to the ground, and the photos were scattered, and the smile on his face gradually froze.

...I never want to see a child appear in my home in my life.

Yuanta, who dropped the huge photo album, panicked and looked around.Ayumi and Mitsuhiko pushed his shoulder at the same time: "Apologize!"

Yuan Tai was pushed in front of Xi Dao Zhen, with his hands behind his back: "Yes, I'm sorry... I didn't mean it, I'm very sorry!"

Ayumi: "We will help tidy up, sorry!"

Nishijima Mari: "... Forget it, let me sort it out."

This huge photo album is the masterpiece of Mrs. Nishijima - Mrs. Nishijima likes to take pictures. When she was not married to Mr. Nishijima, she especially liked to take pictures of Mr. Nishijima during the competition. Over time, she left many photos.

Coupled with this huge photo album case, the whole photo album weighs at least 30 kilograms.

Nishijima Mari was also afraid that the child would hit herself if she moved it carelessly, so it was better to do it herself.

Some of the photos that fell out were of Mr. Nishijima wearing a coach uniform, and two of Nishijima Mari when he was a child.There is a date written at the bottom of each photo, and Mari Nishijima clips them back to the corresponding page according to the date.

Echizen Ryuya was standing behind her watching.

Mari Nishijima raised her head and said sincerely, "It's very heavy, this book."

Echizen Ryuya bent down and picked up the photo album: "Where do you want to put it?"

Nishijima Mari: "Just put it in the sixth cabinet on the second floor... Ah, why did you miss a memory card?"

She squatted down and picked up a thumb-sized memory card from Echizen Ryuya's feet.

Ayumi was curious: "Aren't there only photos in it?"

Nishijima explained: "There are also some camera memory cards. My mother usually doesn't clear the memory card after developing the photos, but sticks them to the next few pages according to the year, month, and day—Longya, you Help me open the photo album."

Echizen Ryuya opened the heavy album cover, Nishijima Mari turned the page to the back, and quickly found the only vacant memory card slot.

She put the memory card back into the plastic bag, and flipped it back.Because there is no way to write on the memory card, Mrs. Nishijima put a post-it note under the plastic bag of each memory card.

Mari Nishijima noticed that there were a lot of words written on one of the sticky notes. She was a little curious, and she opened the plastic bag and took a look: "...Ah, this card is still there."

Echizen Ryuya bowed his head: "What card?"

Nishijima Mari took off the plastic bag and poked the post-it note with a line of words written on it: Truth-chan's 12th birthday-XXXX XX XX.

"It's the memory card of the old camera that was stolen before. Look, there are two in total. There are date and location marked here-I thought it was lost, but I didn't expect it to be in my mother's photo album."

-Complete-