I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 68

Kitahara Hakuba let out a weary sigh. He glanced at the time; it was almost 10:30 p.m.

Looking out through the glass of the music classroom, a perfectly round moon could be seen in the hazy clouds, its light and outline clearly defined.

Just then, the door to the music classroom was opened, and a beam of light from a flashlight shone directly in.

"Kitahara, what are you still doing here?" asked the security guard on night patrol.

"Sorry, I've been quite busy."

"It's too late to stay any longer. Pack up and go home to rest."

"Yes, I'm sorry to have made you come all this way."

Kitahara Hakuba had no choice but to pack up his computer and turn off the lights in the music room.

On his way downstairs, he almost unconsciously waved his hands as if conducting, the positions of each part already formed in his mind.

Passing through the school courtyard, under the hazy moonlight, every flower seemed to have vanished.

Kitahara Hakuba quickened his pace and walked out of the school gate. The city's electricity would run until 11 p.m., and he estimated that he could still catch the last bus.

The wind was stronger and cooler than during the day, and my head, which had been burning up from work, gradually cooled down, which felt quite comfortable.

As they passed through a residential street, the door of a house happened to open, and light spilled out and onto Kitahara Hakuba's legs.

He hadn't paid any attention, but his gaze only swept over the area briefly before he couldn't help but stop.

"Thank you for your careful guidance, teacher."

"You're welcome. Your daughter is very talented, and your support is more crucial than my teaching."

A woman and a girl wearing the uniform of Shinshu High School were talking.

Kitahara Hakuba immediately recognized the woman as the one who had bought the piano from Shinomiya Haruka's music store, and the girl as Nagase Tsukiyo.

“The guidance fee from last week has already been transferred.” The woman glanced at her watch and said, “It’s not late now, let me take you home.”

"No, no, I live nearby, Gui'an."

After bowing his thanks, Nagase Tsukiyo turned to leave, only to see Kitahara Hakuba standing on the side of the street, and he was immediately stunned.

A gust of wind blew by, and her skirt clung tightly to her thighs. Through the thin fabric, the curves of the girl's lower body were visible, and the outline of her triangle area was also discernible.

Her long, black hair, swaying in the wind, seemed to be dyed with the darkness of night as she rushed towards Kitahara Hakuma.

Her face suddenly flushed, and she avoided eye contact. In the end, she decided to pretend she hadn't seen Kitahara Hakuba and hurried forward, clutching her schoolbag with both hands.

Kitahara Hakuma stood there for a while. Since she wanted to pretend she hadn't seen it, he wouldn't force her to admit it.

Unexpectedly, a policeman rode a bicycle across the street, stopped, and walked straight towards Nagase Tsukiyo.

"Excuse me, which school are you from? Why are you out alone so late?"

Nagase Tsukiyo trembled as if startled, her cheeks burning red, her fingers so nervous they seemed about to tear the shoulder straps of her backpack.

Chapter 78. Firmly Grabbing the Young Lady's Handles

"Excuse me, she is my student."

Kitahara Hakuba then stepped forward to Nagase Tsukiyo's side, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Because it's the wind band, there's a competition going on recently, so we're practicing late."

Listening to Kitahara Hakuba's explanation, she seemed unusually weak at this moment, her shoulders hunched up, and she lowered her head anxiously.

The policeman looked Kitahara Hakuba up and down and said:

"Please show me your ID."

Kitahara Hakuba took out his teacher's certificate and driver's license from his wallet. The police took photos of the information with their phones. However, the young man in front of him looked too gentle, and the girl next to him was also very beautiful.

The police officer, still somewhat suspicious, said:

"Okay, but it's very late now. Are the students' practice sessions really that intense?"

"Yes, we are the Shin-Asahi High School brass band, and we are currently in intensive training for the Hakodate area brass band competition."

Seeing the other person's expression that seemed to say, "You probably want to have something happen with this pretty girl," Kitahara Hakuba could only smile wryly.

The police officer was silent for a moment, then nodded and handed his identification to Kitahara Hakuba, saying, "Then hurry back, it's getting late, and it'll arouse suspicion."

After saying that, he got back on his bicycle and left.

After he left, Kitahara Hakuba said to Nagase Tsukiyo, "Nagase-kun, are you teaching?"

Nagase Tsukiyo slightly loosened her thin lips, which were pressed into a line, looking unsure whether she should answer. Her neatly tied tie swayed gently in the wind.

At that moment, the mains power line sped past, and warm light shone through the neatly arranged rectangular windows on the car body.

Kitahara Hakuba was puzzled. He had heard from his club members that Nagase Tsukiyo's family was very wealthy, so how could she have fallen so low as to become a tutor?

He frowned slightly; could it be that way—

"Dad, you can enjoy your drink at home. Your daughter earned another 5,000 yen today as a customer service representative."

A faint blush appeared on her usually fair, snow-white earlobes, and her breath dissolved in the June night, slowly eroding her exposed skin.

“I’ll take you back,” Kitahara Hakuba said.

"No... I can go back by myself."

"What if the police stop us again?" Kitahara Hakuba sighed.

Moreover, the last municipal power line had already passed him by.

Nagase Tsukiyo's dark pupils flickered with hesitation before she raised her head with proper etiquette and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Kitahara-sensei."

"will not."

Anyway, she wasn't the first girl to walk herself home.

The night in Hakodate was quiet; the sound of the wind rustling through the treetops could be clearly heard. The girl's face was more reserved than usual, and her long, black, lustrous hair was soaked in the water called night.

"Is Nagase-san working as a piano instructor?" Kitahara Hakuba asked.

"......Yes."

As if knowing she couldn't hide it anymore, Nagase Tsukiyo's cheeks flushed slightly, and she spoke in a tone a little hoarseer than usual.

"If it's alright, please don't tell anyone, teacher."

Kitahara Hakuba asked curiously, "Your friend doesn't know either?"

Nagase Tsukiyo turned her face away, her black hair falling along her silhouette obscuring her expression, and her ears, which were faintly visible through the gaps in her hair, were incredibly red.

"do not know."

"Why? Aren't you going to take the entrance exam for the University of Tokyo? Why do you have time to be a piano instructor?" Kitahara Hakuba asked curiously.

She even quit her club to get into the University of Tokyo, and now she's working as a piano instructor.

Nagase Tsukiyo's somewhat sad demeanor was strangely amusing; at least Kitahara Hakuba had never seen her like this before.

“Can I ask you a few more questions?” he said.

"Ah."

Your family probably doesn't know about this, right?

"I don't know. I kept telling them I was studying in the library and wouldn't be back until very late."

Kitahara Hakuba said, deep in thought:

"Why? Logically, shouldn't you share your thoughts with your closest family and friends to receive encouragement?"

However, Nagase Tsukiyo lowered her head in embarrassment. The usually mature and composed Nagase Tsukiyo now looked like a child, which was quite amusing.

"Teacher Kitahara, will you tell my family?"

She hugged her arms tightly, her expression suggesting she was enduring something, her brows furrowed.

As a teacher, Kitahara Hakuba would naturally choose to tell her family, but as a teacher himself, he also knew how to respect a student's wishes.

“What if I say yes? Because I don’t know what happened. From my perspective, not only are you not studying properly, but you’re also working as a piano instructor. Your parents and teachers won’t feel at ease.”

Kitahara Hakuba calmly stated the facts, holding in his hand the only thread that could connect him to Nagase Tsukiyo.

If they could learn something from Nagase Tsukiyo, Kanzaki Eri's condition might improve, which wouldn't do her any harm.

"Actually, I..."

A cool breeze stirred the air and caressed Nagase Tsukiyo's cheek.

"I never intended to apply to the University of Tokyo. I wanted to study instrumental music at the Tokyo University of Music."

Kitahara Hakuba was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but smile bitterly.

To him, these words were nothing short of—

"Haha, everyone is so amazing! Unlike me, my family wants me to apply to the University of Tokyo (smiling crying face), but all I want to do is go to the Tokyo University of Music (covering face and laughing). It's so hard to meet my family's expectations (embarrassed laughing face)"

"I think you should talk to your family about this, wouldn't it be better?"

Nagase Tsukiyo gritted her teeth and said, "It's because the conversations weren't working that things turned out like this..."

The two stopped at the crossroads.

Her home seems to be in Motomachi, but most wealthy people live in this area, where you can see detached villas with a clear view of Hakodate Bay.

"What does this have to do with your part-time job?" Kitahara Hakuba asked, looking at the red pedestrian light that was somewhat glaring in the darkness.

Nagase Tsukiyo pondered for a long time, then took a deep breath, her chest swelling up high.

As if to emphasize seriousness, the girl calmly raised her head and gazed at Kitahara Hakuba, her small face cool as she said:

"Teacher Kitahara, can you promise me that you won't tell anyone?"

Kitahara Hakuba nodded: "Yes, I promise."

“If you lie to me, you’ll have to drink a thousand tons of key oil,” Nagase Tsukiyo said.

To make his stance clear, Kitahara Hakuba took a deep breath, straightened his back, and said:

"I promise you, if anyone tells anyone, I'll drink a thousand tons of body oil."

Nagase Tsukiyo winked her beautiful eyes at him, and just then the green light turned on, and the two walked forward along the zebra crossing.

The headlights from the cars on the opposite street illuminated her pretty and rosy face.