20demayo Page 584
Page 584
Kitahara Hakuba glanced around to make sure no other teachers were eavesdropping, then asked in a low voice, "Does Fuwa-kun know you're married and have a child?"
You should know, right?
"is it?"
Kitahara Hakuba suspected that Fuwa Seiko had no idea that Kurosaki Yuichi was married and had a child, otherwise she wouldn't have reacted that way.
"Kurosaki-sensei!"
At that moment, the ferry director's voice rang out between the two.
Both of them looked towards the doorway at the same time, where they saw Eiji Ferry, with his Mediterranean-looking hair, frowning and saying:
"Your posture is very bad. What if other students see it?"
Kurosaki Yuichi quickly put his legs down, which was indeed a bit slouchy, but this sitting posture was really comfortable.
"Sorry, I'm going to patrol the building." Kurosaki Yuuichi said and walked out.
"White Horse," the ferryman said, sitting down beside him with a melancholy air, "were you dissatisfied with any of the candidates who applied earlier?"
Kitahara Hakuba straightened his posture and said solemnly:
"Director of the ferry crossing, please listen to me. It wasn't that I deliberately refused. I tested those two seniors from various aspects."
Next, Kitahara Hakuba explained from a professional perspective why they were unqualified, and he also raised questions from a technical standpoint about the other male applicant.
Of course, he couldn't possibly say that "the same mistakes might happen again in the future."
"I see, but that's quite a dilemma."
The ferryman raised his hand, rubbing his scalp, his expression conflicted. "I'm looking for a suitable advisor in Hokkaido, and I also want someone who meets your standards."
"I'm sorry, I will definitely lower my standards in the future."
After speaking, Kitahara Hakuba remained silent for a while before adding, "Of course, I have no objection if the school wants to decide on the bidding itself."
After all, he had already decided to resign, and he was no longer a shareholder of the school. Even if the school wanted to put an idiot in the brass band, Kitahara Hakuba had no right to object.
To put it bluntly, the students in the brass band have more say in this matter than he does.
"Alright, let's look around at the school again."
Director Dukou sighed with difficulty and said, "The school has decided to vigorously develop club culture next year, especially the wind band and track and field clubs, which will receive the most funding. If they cannot maintain this year's performance and regress too much next year, it may be over after this project is completed."
Kitahara Hakuba nodded.
"By the way, are you coming to our house for the New Year this year?" The ferryman crossed his legs and said with a smile, "We can all visit each other."
"New Year's?"
"Of course, we'll all go to the shrine together to pay our respects and get to know each other beforehand," the ferry manager said cheerfully.
Kitahara Hakuba said:
“But Haruka is from Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, and my family is in Tokyo. Hokkaido is very cold in January, and I’m afraid my family won’t be able to handle it.”
"Oh well, Tokyoites are so fragile, they can't stand even a little cold."
Is January in Hokkaido a cold month? It's below -10 degrees Celsius, and the coastal areas are damp and cold, even more uncomfortable than dry cold. "Kanzaki-kun? What's wrong?" A teacher's voice caught Kitahara Hakuba's attention.
Kanzaki Eri was standing alone at the office door, her arms hanging naturally at her sides. She just stood there without saying a word, which attracted the attention of the other teachers.
Her gaze was fixed on Kitahara Hakuba, her purpose obvious.
"Looking for you, right?" the ferryman suddenly said.
Kitahara Hakuba stood up and stepped forward, trying his best to maintain a teacher's demeanor in front of everyone, and said:
Chapter 404, Section 403: The Uncontrollable Girl (4) >>
"What's wrong, Kanzaki-kun?"
Eri Kanzaki tilted her head back, then looked away and whispered, "There's something I don't understand."
"An ensemble piece?" She didn't confirm.
Kitahara Hakuba sensed something was amiss, but with so many colleagues watching, he could only subconsciously say:
"Go to that classroom and wait for me. I'll get it done for you as soon as possible."
Eri Kanzaki nodded and left stiffly.
Kitahara Hakuba returned to his seat and found the ensemble piece.
"A Christmas fantasy festival at the red brick warehouse?" the ferryman asked.
"Yes, I think it would be better to let the members of the brass band try more external activities. Excuse me."
"it is good."
After leaving the staff office, Kitahara Hakuba went to the first floor, to the empty classroom he had specially requested for Kanzaki Eri to prepare for her exams.
As soon as she entered, Kanzaki Eri sat down in a chair, wearing a white school uniform over a white school-issue trench coat, with a pleated skirt peeking out from under the coat.
Below, there were beautifully curved legs and ankles encased in white lace stockings.
The curtains were all drawn; she always knew that.
Kitahara Hakuba had no idea that Eri was ignorant about music theory, which was why she came to him.
There's a strong chance something must have happened for her to be so anxious.
"What's wrong?" Kitahara Hakuba asked gently.
But this was, after all, a school, and he couldn't sit beside her; he could only maintain the posture of a teacher and stand in front of her.
Kanzaki Eri met his gaze, her fingers resting on her thigh without moving.
Then, the words that came out of her cherry-colored lips were like a booby jumping out of a musical staff, crashing into Kitahara Hakuba's heart.
"Haruto, Yuka, do you like them?"
Kitahara Hakuba took a deep breath. He now understood to some extent that Kanzaki Eri had found out what those two girls had done for him with their feet that day.
It was clearly Saito Haruka who told her, because Isomoto Yuka herself was so ashamed that she would never tell anyone else.
“Eri, things aren’t as simple as you think.” Kitahara Hakuba wanted to explain that he had no choice at the time, because Yukawa and the others were also suffering under his tutelage.
Eri Kanzaki shook her head, her soft hair swaying gently.
"I know it's Qingniao's fault; she shouldn't have done such a thing."
Kitahara Hakuba was speechless. Eri was right; Saito Haruki couldn't do such a thing.
But he was enduring it while also enjoying it, and since he had already enjoyed it, he couldn't join Kanzaki Eri in criticizing it in the end.
His character in this regard is already so low that we really can't go any further.
Kanzaki Eri remained seated, like a carefully arranged doll in a shop window, her perfectly shaped lips opening and closing with an almost mechanical motion.
I must be jealous.
Her voice was flat and monotone, as if she were reciting a text that had nothing to do with her, while the words that should have been filled with grievance and coquettishness fell into the cold air.
The girl's expressionless words left Kitahara Hakuma speechless for a moment. Only he knew how beautiful Eri's voice had been that day, and how beautiful her rosy face had been, creating a stark contrast with today's scene.
Kanzaki Eri remained motionless, only the daylight condensing into a small, sharp spot in her overly clear eyes, silently slicing something apart:
"I want compensation."
"compensate?"
"Okay." Eri Kanzaki nodded, stretched out her arms and said, "Hug."
Kitahara Hakuba really wanted to hug her right now and put his hand inside her brown pleated skirt, but the place didn't allow it, so he could only refuse, saying, "Not here, someone might see us."
Kanzaki Eri lowered her raised hands and said softly:
"When I went to your house tonight, it seemed like you didn't teach me how to make things better for you. Why? Am I not good enough?"
How could that be?
Eri's feet, clad in white socks, were the best experience Kitahara Hakuba could imagine. His hands held her feet together, a sensation that even Shinomiya Haruka's stockings couldn't match.
Combined with the girl's face at the time, it was an extreme disconnect between emotional expression and outward appearance, which elevated the experience to another level.
"Then why don't you teach me? Am I too stupid?" Kanzaki Eri's eyebrows drooped slightly, making her look extremely pitiful.
Kitahara Hakuba swallowed hard. She had once said she would teach him, and now, given their relationship, he could indeed shoulder this "responsibility."
“I don’t know, but how about sometime on Christmas Eve?” he said softly.
"Really?"
“Yes, I’ll make time for it depending on the situation,” Kitahara Hakuba said. “But until then, we should try to avoid situations like today. Eri, you should be able to bear with it, right?”
Kitahara Hyakuma thought he was shameless enough to say such a thing to Eri's face, openly telling her that he would steal time to be with her that night.
Perhaps he started acting abnormally from a certain day onwards.
Eri Kanzaki glanced to the side, then finally nodded and said, "Aomori, are you really going?"
Kitahara Hakuba leaned against the table, raised the sheet music in his hand, and pretended to be looking at it carefully:
"Yes, I promised Yuka that I wouldn't back out at the last minute."
"You can back out at the last minute."
Eri Kanzaki began responding to Hakuba Kitahara on her own, just like she had said before, "Why not just break up?"
However, only Kitahara Hakuba knew that Isomoto Yuka was already deeply bound to Saito Haruka. Last time, after much difficulty, he finally managed to express his feelings to Yuka and decide to go on vacation to Aomori, thus ending this ambiguous relationship.
If he agrees but then doesn't go, Kitahara Hakuba doesn't know if Isomoto Yuka will be so heartbroken that she'll insist on following Saito Haruka all the way down the road.
"It's okay, I'd also like to go apple picking. Don't you think winter is a lot of fun?"
Kitahara Hakuba forced a smile and said, "Besides, it's only for a few days, it'll be fine. And Nagase-san told me she'll be there too." Kanzaki Eri raised her hand to adjust her sideburns, her movements so slow they seemed to have slowed down. "Tsukiyo, she..."
"what happened?"
Eri Kanzaki shook her head, indicating that she was fine.
“Let’s go back then,” Kitahara Hakuba said. “We’ll continue our ensemble practice after school this afternoon.”
Is she coming?
"Who?"