must love tennis

When Ryoma returned to the city and was about to find a delicious ramen shop, he met Kikumaru who came out of the gym.

He was out of breath, and while adjusting his sleeves, he walked staggeringly, even his eyes lost focus, as if he was acting on instinct.Ryoma saw that something was wrong, and called out, "Senior Ying Er?"

boom--

Kikumaru woke up with a start, reached out and rubbed his eyes, then shook his head violently: "Ah, it's the little one. Why are you here?"

"I just came back from seeing the competition venue..." Ryoma said this, and after looking at the other party's reaction, he realized that he was not late.

It was the seniors who were too involved in training and accidentally released the pigeons.

"Sorry little one, I've been running for a long time, and now I'm still a little dizzy..." Kikumaru's footsteps were weak, and with her support, he sat down in the ramen shop, but soon, he was attracted by the smell of the food and started fighting Spirit.

"I'm super hungry right now! I think I can eat three bowls of ultra-invincible luxury ramen!"

Longma let out an "oh", and didn't want to remind him that it was Taocheng's appetite.It's nice to have this kind of ambition, but it must be because I'm too hungry.

Ju Wan pointed at the menu indiscriminately, arrogantly: "Last time we agreed to have dinner together, but you fell asleep... This time I treat you, don't be too polite!"

"Then thank you, senior." She was indeed not very polite, and happily agreed, "I will have a big meal."

Although the two of them together can't compare to Taocheng's appetite...

"So, where is Senior A Tao?"

"Huh? He and Aaron seem to have gone to practice in the mountains."

At this moment, the store manager brought up the first bowl of luxurious ramen, and Kikumaru's eyes lit up, he picked up the bowl and buried his head in his hands, panting.Because he ate too fast, he almost choked on the noodle soup, but when he raised his head, he still looked happy: "Huh, I'm saved—I thought I was going to starve!"

"Really? That's a pity. I thought the two of them were professionals..."

"What professional?" He turned his head alertly, still sucking hard on the ramen he had just bitten off.

"Gourmet appreciation." Ryoma also got her own share, lifted up the chopsticks and stirred the noodle soup and replied, "The very popular coffee shop in the afternoon has a dessert teaching sharing experience course, which is in charge of by my brother."

"Oh, the dim sum brought by sister Fuji last time!" Kikumaru responded quickly, "Then I will go too, bring me and me!"

……

"So, it became like this." Ryoma explained to Sakurano and the others.

Kikumaru waved to his brothers excitedly, totally oblivious to Xianyu who was still dying from heat stroke half an hour ago: "Hello, Kantogo, brother Kazuya! Please give me your advice today!"

"Of course more people are more lively," Irie Kanata replied with a smile, "It means that he is very popular, and my salary will also increase."

"This is too practical." Ryoma couldn't help coughing dryly, "Is it really okay to talk about salary issues in front of everyone..."

But the fact is that the female college students, female high school students...even elementary school students around them are getting more and more excited.If it weren't for the reservation restrictions, it would definitely be too crowded today.

"Everyone is so enthusiastic." Among them, probably Sakurano was not looking at Irie and Tokugawa's faces, wringing her fingers in embarrassment, and her smile was a little awkward—embarrassed for Ryoma.

"However, it just so happened that Pengxiang was called to send her younger brother to an interest class, and her position is just right for Senior Yinger."

"Oh, is that so, then I'm really super LUCKY! -- Let me borrow someone's lines." Kikumaru compared them with a V.

"Today I'm going to make lava cakes with everyone. It's a very difficult job. Please be mentally prepared." Irie cleared his throat, and the store quickly became quiet.

There is not much space in the kitchen, and the fifteen people who signed up to participate gathered around the table without leaving any gaps.They were chattering about something at first, but now they all shut their mouths and listened carefully.

Today, Irie and Tokugawa were the only ones in charge of the reception, and all the customers except Kikumaru were girls... As a result, he blended into them without any conflict, and even pulled Ryoma with emotion: "Fortunately, you are with me, little one, Otherwise, I will still be a little nervous, hehe."

Ryoma: "..."

Well, how should I say it.Senior Ying Er's mentality is really good.

Kikumaru said frankly that he has never made a cake at home, and he also cooperates with his classmates in the cooking class at school to complete the simple work of kneading dough.

So Ryoma told him, I am the same...

The two glanced at each other with sympathy, and then looked at Ryuzaki Sakurano together.

Sakurano: "..."

She, who was already a little unnatural, seemed to be even more nervous now.

At this time, Tokugawa saw that there was no progress on their side, so he came over and asked, "Is there anything I still don't understand?"

His deep voice startled Sakura, but it made her feel relieved unexpectedly, and gradually calmed down: "Senior Tokugawa, do you have an electric egg beater? They are not very good at using manual ones... ...Trouble!"

Tokugawa said "hmm", went to find a spare for them, and briefly taught Kikumaru how to use it.The latter nodded sharply to show that he understood, and rolled up his sleeves: "Okay, I'm starting."

He was in charge of preparing the "Lava Core", and Ryoma helped him.Cutting the butter into small pieces is easy, as is beating the eggs on their own, but getting the butter and dark chocolate to heat while stirring is a bit of a chore.

Ju Wan jumped up and down and kept shouting: "Little one, help me to see if this works! Ahhh - I'm going to be confused, help me!"

Ying Nao was processing the flour, and they didn't dare to disturb them, they were all overwhelmed by the small pot.

Ryoma said seriously: "Well, I think it's better to turn down the fire first? The water is almost splashing out..."

"That makes sense, so what about this?" Juwan stirred vigorously with a spoon in a dignified manner. The black, yellow, black and yellow ones looked very strange, and he couldn't help swallowing, "Is this really edible?"

"It should be fine..." Longma heaved a sigh of relief, and turned back to beat the egg yolk for him.

In the middle of the journey, Irijiang came over to inspect and showed them more efficient mixing methods—"Wrist, strength, and direction of rotation, these are all very researched."

A group of people nodded half understanding, seeing that he was doing it very skillfully, making beautiful white bubbles, but when it was his turn, he became a mess, and almost splashed egg liquid or chocolate sauce on himself body.

After a lot of tossing, it was finally ready, waiting for Sakura to add flour and mix.

"It seems that the steps are so simple, but it's actually so troublesome to do it..." Kikumaru let out a long sigh of relief, found a chair and sat down, Ryoma leaned next to him, and nodded sympathetically.

"This is really not a job that ordinary people can do."

"Yeah, it would be great if Aron was here, he's always been good at this." Kikumaru sighed, looked at his fingers covered with suspicious sticky liquid, couldn't bear to look directly, "I suddenly felt that playing tennis is really important." It's a very simple thing!"

Ryoma: "It makes sense..."

Kikumaru continued: "I am full of energy again, and I will add another running time tomorrow!"

Long Ma said, "Then I'll add another lead bag as well."

The two looked at Sakura.

Sakura hummed subconsciously, skillfully mixed the flour, poured it into a large bowl, and put it in the refrigerator.

The progress of the three of them seems to be faster than the others.Ryoma thought, it seems that Japanese girls are very good at cooking, but in fact there are still high and low points, some just make up the number to barely reach the results of the Valentine's Day, and some are so proficient that they can directly learn from high-end cooking. class graduation.

For example, Ryuzaki Sakurano, her talent for playing tennis is indeed not as good as cooking, and she also has the foundation of hard work, and the gap is clear at a glance.

"Hey, little one." Kikumaru watched her busy, and said suddenly.

"Ok?"

"I seem to suddenly understand a truth."

Longma said he was all ears.

"No matter what it is, if you devote yourself to doing it, and hold the mood you like, you will feel very happy, right?" Kikumaru said, smiling slightly, looking at Ryoma with crooked eyebrows and eyes.

Although playing tennis is very hard, very tiring, and there are terrible dried juices to spare at any time, they still enjoy it...

"Come on." He stretched out his hand, held Ryoma's hand with his own, and said solemnly, "National competition."

Ryoma nodded slowly but firmly: "Yeah!"

"So, if the cake doesn't taste good when it's made later..." Kikumaru continued nervously, "Let's learn after we win the championship!"

Ryoma thought for a while, hesitated: "It's not necessary...is it?"

Fortunately, Ryuzaki Sakurano, who is a superb cook, gave them a complete picture. Although the final cake was not perfect, it was at least a success.

When the cake is cut open, the chocolate flows out like a warm stream, exuding a tempting sweet aroma.It’s just that the appearance is a little bit worse, and the taste is also very different from that made by Irie. The mixing skills of Ryoma and Kikumaru are there, and they really tried their best.

When he left the coffee shop, the red-haired boy was still bouncing around in high spirits.

As a first-hand gift, Irie Kanata gave him a perfect lava cake.Kikumaru took it over flattered and thanked her repeatedly.He secretly whispered to Longma: "I really envy you for having such a good brother, unlike the one in my family... who just knows how to bully me, alas."

"Senior, think about Long Ya..." Long Ma had no choice but to remind.

Kikumaru was silent for a while, then nodded slowly: "I understand, my brother will always be more annoying."

They bid farewell at the intersection, and Sakura also waved away before the next station.

Long Ma was not in a hurry to go home, he sat on the bench outside M's office and waited for the two elder brothers to finish their work.

Once relaxed, people will involuntarily think about many things.For example, what kind of opponents will you meet in the national competition? How terrifying will Minister Yukimura, who is stronger than Sanada, be? If you meet Ice Emperor again, it will definitely be another fierce battle...

In addition, Long Ya's smiling face before she left appeared in her mind again, thinking of Bai Lan's haunting "promise", even if the national competition is over, there are still many things waiting for her... Ryoma let out a long breath and patted his cheek.

In recent days, affected by Long Ya's departure, she began to gradually recall more childhood memories.I often dream of some fragments in my dreams at night.

Ryoma gradually pieced them together, trying to restore a complete story as soon as possible, but he always felt that something was missing.

She pointed her chin with her index finger, and shifted her attention to M behind her. Someone hung a string of wind chimes outside, and it jingled when someone pushed the door out.

It was also because of this that she saw the transparent high school student so smoothly for the first time.

"Coincidentally." Heizi was slightly surprised, then came over and handed over one of the two glasses of drink in his hand, "Listen to Vulcan Lord, you are going to participate in the national competition soon, this is for you, please don't be polite, and, work hard."

"Thank you, Senior, but... is it okay?" Ryoma pointed to the glass of drink she had left.

"It was originally prepared for Vulcan Lord, but he should still be practicing. I'll buy another cup later." She said naturally, sat down beside the bench, inserted the straw into the cup, The other one was given to Ryoma.

"Echizen-san seems to be in a lot of trouble, do you mind telling me?"

Ryoma landed on the ground and shook his body: "Well, I don't know if it counts as trouble."

"If it's something other than tennis, maybe I can help." Heizi said seriously.

"That might be more complicated..." she said.

"Because Echizen-san was very determined during the competition and never wavered... This is also very enviable. So I thought, if there is any trouble, it must be something other than this, right?" The other party gave himself Justification for guesswork.

"..."

Ryoma was lost in thought.

In order to thank the other party for his kindness, she remembered that she was still holding that cup of drink, and took a few sips. It was sweet and refreshing.Then she heard Heizi say, "Actually, I'm very envious."

"Ok?"

"If only my friends loved a sport as much as you do."

"Don't they like playing basketball?" Ryoma raised his eyebrows. "It sounds incredible. I remember Senior Vulcan said that this year's players are very strong."

"I don't know, maybe they liked it in the past... But gradually, when they became stronger, they forgot their original intention." Heizi said lightly, although his tone was very calm, but he seemed to be able to hear some helpless sentimentality, "It seems Just to get some kind of mission done and never find the joy of being in the first place -- say, scoring the first time, falling behind for the first time and passing and then winning the game."

Ryoma looked at her unconsciously, bit the straw and took a sip, making a sizzling sound.

"Just like this, can it be so strong?"

"...I'm too weak. I'm still trying to find a way to become stronger." The other party replied solemnly, "So I envy you very much, because you have the ability to prove your belief to everyone now."

She was a little embarrassed to be said: "Uh, I don't seem to have any special beliefs..."

Except win.

Ryoma thought, he always thinks very simply.In the past, whether it was for Nanjiro to play, or for myself and for the common wish of everyone in Seigaku, there is only one ultimate goal: victory.

But it's hard.

They tried their best to break into the national competition, even disregarding their bodies in order to win the victory, with many scars.

"There's nothing wrong with this." Heizi said slowly, looking towards the sunset, "Because, don't you all enjoy it?"

"If you're just happy, you can't defeat your opponent, right?" Ryoma said.

"Well, that's right. But if you beat your opponent happily, that's double the happiness, right?"

Her serious tone made Ryoma laugh too.

"Well, that's it."

"I heard that this is the key to entering the realm of selflessness," Heizi said again.

"Huh? I heard it's concentration."

"Really? I think, just like the ZONE in their mouth, it is a very magical state, which is enviable."

Ryoma shrugged: "Just having this is not a sure-fire move."

"I know this, just like there are deeper realms in ZONE. After opening that door, there is another final door waiting for you. There are also triple doors in the realm of selflessness, right?"

Eh?

Ryoma scratched his hair and twisted the overly long sideburns behind his ears: "I haven't heard of this..."

Is it so mysterious?

"I've only heard about it a little bit. After all, I don't know how to play tennis." The other party said frankly with a little embarrassment, "Sorry, I hope I didn't cause you more trouble."

"I don't care, what kind of door, maybe one day it will be opened?" She pretended to be relaxed, "There is nothing I can't learn yet."

They sat by the bench, glanced at each other and said something, watching the sun gradually set behind the group of houses in the distance, and the sky darkened.

Not long after, there were hurried footsteps coming from across the street, and the two looked at each other, knowing that it was time to say goodbye.

"I still have a little experience." Heizi said seriously, "Echizen-san, the most terrifying opponent likes to wear a coat. This is the skill to identify the final boss. I hope it helps."

Longma was thoughtful.

"...I seem to have seen such a person."