must love tennis

When I got home, the cicadas were ringing, intertwined with the chirping birds on the treetops. The hot sun shone on the open space in front of the temple, but it was rare to hear the bell.

Ryoma put down his luggage, and before he had time to tidy up, he couldn't wait to sit in front of the dining table. Irie Kanata, who was wearing an apron, was bringing the last soup on the cooking table to the table.

"Where's Dad?" she asked.

My mother took a case and flew to Hokkaido, and it is estimated that she will be busy for another week.She had just heard from Tokugawa Kazuya, but Nanjiro, who always liked to stay at home and sleep late, was also missing, so she was a little surprised.

"Uncle said that there was an invitation from a friend. They set off this morning, probably to go fishing in the mountains." Irie said with a smile, untied his apron and sat down.Ryoma noticed that his forehead was covered with sweat, and handed over the tissue box next to him.

He laughed immediately, and said in a deliberately sweet voice, "Thank you, Ryoma."

Tokugawa glanced at him, he seemed to feel very nasty, and there was a little disgust in his eyes.

Even if you get used to it, it's really annoying.

"Speaking of which," Ryoma took a hard bite of the crispy fried spring rolls.After a few days of thrilling and adventurous life on an isolated island, with irregular work and rest and one meal at a time, I was really hungry. When I returned to my familiar home, I felt relieved.She gulped it down and asked, "Where have you been these days?"

The two brothers exchanged glances.

The topic of this kind of explanation will ultimately be left to Irie Kanata.He just filled a bowl of soup for himself, took a sip from the bowl, and put it down leisurely when he heard her words.

Obviously, he deliberately delayed the usual regular lunch time in order to take care of the two of them, but it didn't seem to affect him at all.

"When I was dreaming recently, I would think of something." Irie said slowly.

Ryoma was startled, his chewing speed also slowed down, and he blinked his eyes: "Eh?"

Is it the human memory of being a gashapon?Seems like a good thing?

But looking at their expressions, they didn't feel lucky or joyful.Have you ever had a terrible encounter?This made her swallow the congratulations that she subconsciously wanted to say, full of doubts, and patiently waited for the next sentence.

Irie Masaichi pondered and said: "To be precise, it's just a vague impression, but it's still very vague, and I can't remember clearly. Ryoma would feel very uncomfortable if this feeling was it?"

Ryoma nodded without hesitation: "Yes. But if you really can't think of it, maybe it's not very important."

Just like herself, although she is curious about the childhood she experienced with Long Ya, she is not so persistent in pursuing the answer.Let nature take its course, maybe one day - when he sees Long Ya again, he will tell her.

"That's the problem. Who knows whether those things are important?" He sighed with emotion, and there was a bit of bitterness in his smile. "A person without a past is very pitiful."

Tokugawa Kazuya had already finished a bowl of rice in silence at this time, and got up to serve it.

Longma looked at his own bowl, slowly picked some rice grains with his chopsticks, and asked, "So, you are going...to find that Bailan, right?"

"Smart." Irie affirmed, "A small correction, he came to us on his own initiative."

"What a strange man," she muttered.

If anyone else, even she herself, would wish to stay away from Bai Lan, for fear of being involved in something terrible, but in the end, in order to find their past, the gastronomy had no choice but to contact this dangerous person...

"and then?"

Entering the river was not in a hurry to continue, but picked up the bowl and drank the soup in small sips, picked up some vegetables with chopsticks, and filled the rice bowls for himself and the other two: "Talk while eating, come, this is what Ryoma likes." steamed eggs—didn’t you say you’re already hungry?”

It's playing tricks again.

Ryoma realized that he was not surprised. He picked out the clams from the soup bowl and shaved off the shells: "Then let me guess. He took you out to sea?"

"Why do you say that?" Irie Zuodo was noncommittal and asked back with a smile.

"Because—" she said slowly, "communication is difficult at sea. Although there is a satellite phone, it has not been used. We changed the itinerary, but Brother Kazuya knew when we would block the port. Isn't it because he knew Is Elizabeth's route temporarily changed?"

"It makes sense." He nodded, "I also don't think I should keep it from you, so I discussed it with Kazuya and decided to tell it."

Irijiang Zuoduo said that the two of them were not the only ones who were sought by Bai Lan.

The others are also teenagers around 16 or 17 years old, with the grade seal produced by Brother Gacha.There was also a particularly irritable and fierce guy who came over to greet them very familiarly: "Ha, it's been a good time. How about it, let's play a game?"

——It may be impolite to be rude to someone you meet for the first time.Hit, the reason why I say that is also because the way that guy greets is to use a tennis racket to hit a high-speed serve at a speed of more than [-] per hour.

Naturally, they avoided them.

But in fact, Irie and Kanata didn't know each other. They only thought they looked familiar, but they couldn't remember where they had met before.

"To be honest, I woke up here, and when I saw you for the first time, I was very concerned." Irie said, looking at the stern and silent young man next to him, "I know Kazuya—this is the first reaction, I also I don’t remember when or how we met, I just feel that we have been together for a while, and we are very familiar with each other’s abilities.”

"Could it be a tennis match, a training camp or something?" Ryoma asked.

"It's possible, I thought so before." When he said this, his expression became a little subtle, as if he wasn't too sure. "But if you are alone, Ryoma, forget it, why do we also know the Gacha brother selected by other people? Could it be that all of them have something to do with playing tennis... Could such a coincidence happen?"

Long Ma frowned and held his chin, and stuffed a piece of shrimp into his mouth: "Rather than a coincidence, I believe that guy Bai Lan made it."

She hadn't forgotten that this mysterious man had followed her to ten years later, using the possibility of not coming back to threaten and lure her into agreeing to his request.

Tsk, there must be some conspiracy.

Forced to do so, Ryoma agreed and agreed, but after returning, the other party never took the initiative to mention this matter to her.She just pretended nothing happened, except that she occasionally worried about when he would come to her to make her fulfill her promise.

save the world?Don't be kidding, how is it possible!She would encounter shipwreck even on a cruise ship, and she would have to be rescued by others.

"Ryoma." Irie Kanata's tone suddenly became serious.He looked into her eyes seriously, and after a while, he took out something from his pocket and put it on the table.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Ryoma had almost peeled the clams, and ate them happily, without caring to look at them.Until she just picked up the soup bowl, she glanced at it inadvertently, her eyes were fixed, and her movements suddenly froze.

"what."

It was a small, simple ring.It's silver, it looks like ordinary iron from the texture, and it may also be mixed with other metal elements, it doesn't look special, and it feels... the same.

But Long Ma clearly remembered that he saw Long Ya use a similar ring to ignite a strange cold flame that night.It is said that different metals will produce different colors when they burn, but this is the first time she has seen such a special color, and she has never heard of it in the chemistry class experiment.

She carefully recalled that when she saw Gang Ji for the first time, there was also a ring hanging on the pendant on her chest, which was ordinary and inconspicuous, but when a flame ignited on her forehead, the ring was also brightly lit. Surrounded by orange flames, although it was burning, it didn't burn the owner at all.

At that time, she just thought that the other party could manipulate the flames all over her body, but now that she thinks about it, whether it is Gang Ji or Long Ya, are they all using this ring—like some kind of switch—to come and go? What about fighting?

"Isn't it possible?" Ryoma suddenly became nervous for no reason, swallowed, and looked up at the two people opposite, "You can also use that special ability?"

Irie was silent for a while, and then asked, "Are you afraid?"

"...It's not about being afraid." She said slowly while thinking, sorting out her somewhat confused thoughts, "It's just that I'm a little worried."

"That's right." He sighed softly, "Ryoma is so gentle."

Tokugawa only spoke at this moment: "Do you know what this means?"

Ryoma shook his head resolutely: "I don't know. You don't have to force me to tell me—if it's some kind of secret."

She emphasized confidential statements.

Curiosity killed the cat, and Carubin wants to live well before she dies and goes to bed.

"It won't be a secret in the future." Irie laughed, "Because, after ten years, this has become a common armed force."

"……what?"

No, don't use such a relaxed tone to say things that subvert the world view!Explain it well first?

"Everyone has different talents. According to each person's characteristics, the body produces different fluctuations, and can have seven different attributes of fire energy. But just like other talents, not everyone can transform this ability. Only A small number of talents can, and they will become important members of the ruling order in the future world.

"However, compared to now, ten years later, this ability will be more fully developed and used through rings, so it will become more common."

Ryoma was startled suddenly, remembering that Bai Lan had given him a ring and a strange little box ten years later.

This, he told her, was the way to get them back to ten years ago.

And you must wear the ring, and you must have a firm belief in "going back" in your heart to successfully open the door to time travel... That's what Bai Lan said. At that time, she, Atobe and Shishido were quite skeptical.

I just didn't expect it to be successful after the first try.

Could it be that she also lit that ring at that time?

No, the amount of information is too large.

Ryoma slowly breathed a sigh of relief, supported his forehead, and thought and thought deeply.

……

"Brother Zanduo."

"Huh?" Irie agreed quickly.

"You——" she avoided the word "death" with difficulty, "before you became Gacha, were you brought back by Bai Lan from the future?"

What answered her was the surprised expressions of the two of them at the same time.

It was as if some mechanism had been accidentally opened, and the expressions of Tokugawa and Irie quickly became dignified again.

"Originally, I was half-convinced by Bai Lan's statement." Irie was thoughtful, and spoke very slowly, "But since you have thought of it, Ryoma, maybe—"

"It's true."

The last voice melted into a weak, imperceptible sigh, and together with the cold soup, it slowly solidified in the air.