Spring was short, but spring sleep was long. Twenty minutes after leaving Spring Training Camp, once the noise died down, the children gradually fell asleep. Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, slipping in through the few uncovered windows and casting leaf-shaped shadows across the peacefully sleeping faces.
Kōshū leaned against the side. In his rush to shower, he had not dried himself properly, and moisture was still seeping out from the hollow of his neck. Shen Qing had chosen a light green tea scent for them.
I wonder what they're doing now. As the bus swayed along, Kōshū drifted off to sleep too.
Once the bus entered Tokyo, it began operating more like a city bus, stopping at several major stations to let off the children who needed to transfer.
"I'm getting off here." Hayakawa and Shibasaki both lived in the suburbs.
By the time they reached Kinoshita Club, only a few players were scattered around the bus, including Kōshū and Lang Zhi.
"They're in the Equipment Room. The cars shouldn't be dusty, right?" They had entrusted both cars to Grandma Gu Yue, who had stored them in the warehouse.
"Ah." Kōshū had just been about to answer when he spotted an unread text from two hours ago. "No need to worry about that. Someone came to pick us up."
"Who? Dad?"
As they spoke, the two got off the bus and saw a familiar car nearby. After taking their things out, they turned around and saw an energetic old man step out of it. Though his hair was already partly gray, his back was straight. Beneath his gray knitted cardigan was a shirt with the collar loosened, and two deep vertical creases sat between his brows, probably from his habitual frown.
"Grandpa—" Lang Zhi happily went over to