Just as Atobe Keigo suddenly realized the true identity of the little friend, Tezuka Koku, who was still on the swing, happened to hear Oshitari Eiji calling his name. He quickly used his feet to stop the swing and shouted back, “Koku is coming right away!”
Then he swiftly jumped off the swing and jogged over to Oshitari Eiji, urging him to quickly take him to find his mother, Ayana, “Uncle, let’s go back quickly.”
“Okay, okay.” Although he knew Koku was eager to go home and didn’t like the hospital, seeing him so anxious to be discharged made Oshitari Eiji feel a bit down. If Koku left the hospital, it would be a long time before he could see him again.
Compared to his own son, the well-behaved and adorable Koku was more in line with his aesthetic.
But unfortunately, Koku wasn’t his own child, and because of his profession, Koku was particularly resistant to him and didn’t want to acknowledge him as “godfather” at all!
Just thinking about it made him sad!
Fortunately, with his relentless efforts, Koku was no longer as resistant to him as before, and he could now hold his hand in front of others, which was truly a historic progress.
Oshitari Eiji thought to himself that he needed to work even harder. One day, Koku would call him “godfather” on his own!
But for now, he should take him to find his sister-in-law first!
The little friend had just recovered, and it wasn’t good for him to stay outside for too long.
“Koku, Uncle will take you back.”
“Okay, okay.”
Because he got to play on the swing he had wanted to for a long time, Tezuka Koku was very agreeable.
Even when the bad uncle wanted to hold his hand, he didn’t object and obediently hid behind Oshitari Eiji.
After running over, Tezuka Koku realized there was someone he didn’t know standing next to the bad uncle.
He looked so tall and was wearing a suit that only adults would wear, which seemed really strange in a hospital!
Tezuka Koku thought to himself, because of his height, he didn’t really see Atobe Keigo’s face clearly, but he didn’t want to look up either.
In Koku’s view, anyone who knew Uncle Oshitari was probably a bad guy like him!
So when Oshitari Eiji politely nodded to Atobe Keigo, who was standing to the side, and said goodbye, Tezuka Koku unusually didn’t greet him and instead followed silently behind Oshitari Eiji without saying a word.
“Well then, Atobe-kun, we’ll be leaving first.”
Atobe Keigo: “Please go ahead.”
Although he was very curious about Tezuka Kunimitsu’s younger brother, Atobe Keigo didn’t show any rudeness in front of Oshitari Eiji. Even as Oshitari Eiji led Tezuka Koku out of his sight, the smile on his face didn’t change at all.
But only he knew that he was now genuinely filled with curiosity about the little friend!
Because from childhood to now, Atobe Keigo had never been so ignored by anyone. When the little friend walked over just now, after glancing at him at the beginning, all his attention was completely not on Atobe Keigo, as if he was completely invisible.
Are all the Tezuka family members so aloof, not caring about the existence of others?
While Atobe Keigo was still lamenting his declining charm, the butler suddenly appeared in front of him with a stack of documents.
“Young master, I’ve found the information on the person you asked about yesterday. He is…”
“He’s from the Tezuka family, right?”
Without giving the butler a chance to continue, Atobe Keigo voiced his guess.
The one who Oshitari Uncle personally took care of, and whose name happened to be “Koku,” could only be the person Tezuka Kunimitsu mentioned yesterday.
“Yes, young master.”
“He’s the young master of the Tezuka family. Because of his weak health, he has rarely appeared in public, so few people know of his existence.”
“He had been recuperating in a hospital abroad and only returned to Japan for treatment three years ago. His attending physician is Mr. Oshitari…”
Hearing the butler’s words, Atobe Keigo was momentarily stunned. Weak health? Always recuperating?
But the Tezuka Koku he just saw looked very healthy. Apart from his particularly delicate appearance, which made him look a bit like a girl, he didn’t seem any different from ordinary children!
Could there be some information that his butler hadn’t found? Atobe Keigo speculated, so he instructed his butler, “Give me all the information you’ve found. I’ll look at it myself later.”
Butler: “Yes, young master.”
After receiving the documents from the butler, Atobe Keigo couldn’t wait to start flipping through them.
He didn’t realize that he was currently standing outside the hospital playground, not the best place to read documents.
But the butler noticed the inappropriateness of the location and was about to advise his young master when Atobe Keigo’s phone suddenly rang.
“Captain, why didn’t you come to school today? Aren’t you having lunch with us? Everyone is still waiting for you to come over.”
Jirou’s familiar voice came through the phone, and as soon as Atobe Keigo answered, Jirou bombarded him with four or five questions.
So Atobe Keigo had to hand the documents to the butler and told him, “Keep these for me, and give them back to me when we get home tonight. Also, arrange a car for me; I’m heading back to school now.”
After instructing the butler, Atobe Keigo finally had time to continue chatting with Jirou.
“I’m heading back now. If you’re hungry, just eat without me.”
“No need to wait for me.”
“Okay, Captain, got it.”
Meanwhile, at Seigaku, it was lunchtime. Since Tezuka Koku wasn’t there, Echizen Ryoma had to go to the rooftop alone to eat his bento.
And he happened to run into Momoshiro, who was out buying snacks.
“You’re a member of the tennis club too, right? You look familiar!” Being naturally outgoing, Momoshiro casually put his hand on Ryoma’s shoulder, “Our atmosphere is great, right?”
Echizen Ryoma: “…”
We don’t seem to know each other that well, do we? Why are you asking about the tennis club right off the bat?
Having just joined the tennis club, Echizen Ryoma thought to himself that he hadn’t even gotten to know everyone in the club yet!
Apart from Koku and the Horio trio, Echizen Ryoma couldn’t really think of anyone else he knew in the tennis club.
But that’s okay; as long as he had Koku with him, it was fine.
In the tennis club, the only partners and opponents he truly recognized were just those few people.