pertwk Page 173
Page 173
"How could you not know that I did this just to make you feel more guilty towards me, and to make you think that you must marry this girl as soon as possible?"
Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile:
"Are you really a bad woman?"
"Who knows?" Shinomiya Haruka smiled shyly, her eyes narrowing. "But you really care about them, don't you?"
"Who are they?"
"The girls in the brass band."
Kitahara Hakuba gave a self-deprecating bitter smile, his gaze sweeping over the side wall of the club building, where the elevated corridor also came into view:
"At first I thought they were just some girls who were just going through the motions, but I gradually realized that they were not ordinary. As their mentor, I really hope to lead them to the national competition."
For some reason, the emotions that welled up in his heart strongly shook Kitahara Hakuba's chest.
Shinomiya Haruka raised her hand to brush her bangs away from her forehead. Even though she hadn't spent much time with these girls, she could clearly sense something was off.
She is a girl, a very possessive girl, and a girl who pays great attention to details.
Whether it is they who support Kitahara Hakuba's dream of winning the national gold medal, or Kitahara Hakuba who support their dream of winning the national gold medal, is still unclear.
"If, if I told you that one day I would forbid you from being a mentor anymore and have you come with me to open a music store in Tokyo, would you be willing?" Shinomiya Haruka's gentle voice echoed around Kitahara Hakuba.
He blinked in surprise and said, "Why not?"
1
"Is it hypothetical? For example, if my music store in Tokyo were to generate significantly more revenue, dozens of times more than yours, would you be willing to come with me?" Shinomiya Haruka asked, looking directly into his eyes.
“Hmm…” Kitahara Hakuba thought for a while and said, “We should at least wait until this term is over before making a decision.”
Kitahara Hakuba still has a good chance of winning; it would be unexpected if he didn't.
Shinomiya Haruka put her arm around his and said:
“If you don’t go to the national conference, just resign. Let’s go to Tokyo together. My family is planning to open a music instrument shop there, and we can do it together.”
.
Her words truly stunned Kitahara Hakuba, but he quickly replied seriously:
"If I hadn't made it to the national conference, I would have stayed even more."
Shinomiya Haruka raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"
Kitahara Hakuba was silent for a moment, then quietly lowered his eyes and said:
"Because this is what I studied, as the instructor and advisor of the wind band, if I can't achieve the highest honor, where else can I find my meaning?"
His calm demeanor gripped Shinomiya Haruka's heart.
My own meaning...
"Wait... you're not really planning to send me back to Tokyo, are you?" Kitahara Hakuba asked. Shinomiya Haruka chuckled, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Of course it's true, we've already started planning. Do you, White Horse, only want to sleep with me and not marry me?"
These words were somewhat embarrassing to hear, and Kitahara Hakuba quietly avoided her wary, shifty gaze, saying:
"But I can't just give up on this place...:"
"No, that's not true. I was just kidding."
Shinomiya Haruka shook her head, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, and said...
"My meaning is to help you find meaning."
Her seemingly innocent voice echoed in Kitahara Hakuba's ears. If it weren't for the fact that this was a school, he might have already started to touch her inappropriately.
"Sister, you look so beautiful now!"
"There will be even better shows to come."
Shinomiya Haruka gave a soft hum.
"If you disappear along the way, I will take good care of these girls for you."
"It's better not to use 'if' statements like that, it's kind of scary."
Kitahara Hakuba felt there was something odd about what she said, so he added,
"I usually take care of the wind instrument section, not the girls."
"Yes Yes Yes."
"What do you want to eat tonight? Your place or mine?"
"Come to my house, there's still some beef slices left in the fridge."
"it is good."
?
The next day, at 11:00 AM, in the first music classroom of the Shenxu High School club building.
Following Kitahara Hakuba's baton, a gentle melody flowed out continuously.
The third part of the freestyle begins mainly with woodwinds, and apart from the bass band instruments, many of them seem to have nothing to do.
"stop."
Kitahara Hakuba held his hand across and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
It's already summer, and even though it's in Hokkaido, it still gets hot when there are a lot of people. The air conditioner in the first music classroom is broken, and a repairman won't be here until tomorrow.
"Phew...it's finally over..."
"It's so hot! I didn't expect it to be this hot. Global warming is really happening!"
"Beep beep beep, the new energy plan is urgently needed..."
-
Some boys had faces full of worry about "global warming," much like the way they clutched their chests in anguish when they learned as children that "the sun only has five billion years left to live."
"Next is a departmental meeting, and there's something I'd like to discuss with everyone."
Kitahara Hakuba clapped his hands, and the noise immediately quieted down, with all the club members' eyes turning to him.
Sakurako looked at him with some confusion. As the head of the brass band, she had never heard Kitahara-sensei mention any club meeting today.
Not only her, but even some executives like Akamatsu Sayaka had never heard of holding an internal meeting.
Kitahara Hakuba glanced subconsciously at the trumpet section, and Kuno Tachibana's nose turned slightly red as he looked over with a determined gaze.
Her facial muscles were tense, and her feet, clad in beige socks, peeked out from under her skirt, with her toes slightly curled and gripping the soundproofing pad.
Nagase Tsukiyo noticed their gazes meeting and, as if understanding something from it, unconsciously tightened her grip on the trumpet in her hand.
Just as he was about to speak, Kuno Tachibana suddenly raised his slender white arm, the sleeve of his summer uniform barely reaching halfway up his arm.
She spoke in a voice louder than ever before:
"Teacher Kitahara! I request that the trumpet solo be re-selected!"
As soon as she said this, Nagase Tsukiyo beside her showed an expression of expectation and lowered her eyes slightly.
Yu Shou turned his head to look at her, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes, before a faint, comforting smile appeared on his face.
This is the junior who dared to challenge her back then.
Sakura was genuinely surprised. She looked at Kitahara-sensei's face but found that he didn't show any surprise, so it seemed he already knew.
She quickly stood up and said to Kuno Tachibana:
"Kuno-senpai, we already discussed this in our previous club meeting: no questions are allowed to be raised about Kitahara-sensei's selection of A-level candidates. If everyone demands another round, what's the point of the audition process?"
Sakurako Yukawa was very sad. She didn't want to say these words in front of all the club members because she really liked her junior, Tachibana Kuno.
She privately instructed the section leaders and their members not to object to the selection results, precisely because she was afraid of a situation where she would have to stand up and confront the opposing side.
Seeing that Yukawa Sakurako looked somewhat troubled, Akamatsu Sayaka also stood up, joining her on the same "front line."
The tone was very tactful:
"Teacher Kitahara never favors anyone and is never wrong. There are less than half a month until the All-Kingdom Conference. Everyone should do their job well, do what Teacher Kitahara has assigned us, and prepare for the battle with all their might."
Kuno Tachibana stood up, holding the trumpet. Her petite figure seemed insignificant compared to Akamatsu Sayaka.
The little girl looked this way, her bangs falling across her smooth forehead:
"Can you tell me exactly where the difference lies between me and Nagase-senpai?"
1
Hmm:
Akamatsu Sayaka was stumped by the question. She didn't have Kitahara-sensei's abnormal hearing, which allowed her to tell who was stronger between two people with almost equal strength.
Unable to respond, I could only stand there awkwardly.
"Minister Yukawa, can you tell me exactly where the difference lies between me and Nagase-senpai?" Kuno Tachibana continued to press.
Noticing the sharp gaze from Kuno Tachibana, the girl with three braids lowered her head sullenly and made a perfunctory remark:
"But that's not fair to everyone..."
+
Since you can ask to start over, then everyone else might also ask to start over, right?
Wouldn't that mean ignoring Kitahara-sensei's decision?
Miya Nagasawa and some other first-year students looked at Tatsuka Kuno with some nervousness; her face was more serious than usual.
This girl is serious.
Kuno Tachibana lowered one hand, twisting the hem of her skirt above her knees.
Even though she tried to appear calm, her neck kept twitching.
"Because only I would do this, they can't use the phrase 'I'm on par with the other person' as a facade to cover themselves up. Out of jealousy, they feel that what I'm doing is unfair, that I'm picking on Kitahara-sensei. Of course, I don't want to make myself look too pathetic either—"
Kuno Tachibana spat, took a deep breath, looked at Kitahara Hakuba on the stage, and said calmly,
"But compared to feeling embarrassed, my desire to play a solo next to Kitahara-sensei at the All-Dojo Tournament far outweighs it, so there's nothing I can do about it."