I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 36

"Managing a department with more than eighty people is really tiring."

"Yeah, it's alright, but it can be quite troublesome sometimes," Kitahara Hakuba said with a dismissive laugh.

"It's okay. If someone misbehaves, just be strict with them. That's how I got here. You have to make them understand that you're better than them!"

"Yes, I will. Sorry, I have to go now." Kitahara Hakuba gestured and left the office.

He walked into the corridor of the first grade and saw students chatting everywhere. Some boys even leaned out of the window to look down.

Upon arriving at Class 1-A, I saw Kuno Tachibana surrounded by a group of girls, chatting and laughing.

"Kuno-san, come out for a moment."

As soon as he shouted, the boys in the class suddenly responded with a chorus of "Oh~~~".

They turned around to continue their commotion as if they wanted to watch a show, only to find that the person standing at the door was actually the school's music teacher, and they immediately deflated.

Only the girls were staring at him intently; everyone knew that the instructor of the brass band was a very handsome guy.

Kuno Tachibana initially thought that a sweet romance had finally arrived, but when she discovered that it was Kitahara Hakuba, her smile became even brighter.

"Teacher Kitahara—!"

She hopped over to him like a rabbit leaping across the prairie, and said...

"What's wrong? What do you want? Did you miss me?"

Kitahara Hakuba said casually, "Wash the mouthpieces of the two small horns this afternoon. Give me one to use, and you should be ready too."

"Two mouthpieces?"

Kuno Tachibana pinched her chin, tilted her head like a curious child, and pouted cutely as she spoke.

"Can't I use the same mouthpiece as you?"

"Stop it."

Kitahara Hakuba really wanted to chop her on the head with a hand chop, but that action seemed too ambiguous, so he chose to give up.

Without wasting time, he went straight to the point about the third-year students' requirement for a battle on alternate accounts.

Sure enough, Kuno Tachibana, who was originally in a good mood, was completely shocked, and even a few strands of hair on the top of his head stood up as if they had been hit by static electricity.

Her mouth was agape, her eyes wide, her arms hanging straight down, and she spread her pale legs wide as she shouted:

"ha--?!!!"

Chapter 40. The protagonist is not it.

"I won't accept this outcome! Why should they get to do whatever they want?!"

In front of the students, Kuno Tachibana angrily retorted to Kitahara Hakuba.

A slight commotion broke out in the classroom, and the students who were watching all looked on with blank expressions.

Although the wind band is a large club in the school, it doesn't receive many honors, and the trivial matters involved are not worth paying attention to.

"Kuno, calm down." Kitahara Hakuba frowned.

"Who is it? It's that Saito guy again, isn't it?"

A fierce glint flashed in Kuno Tachibana's eyes as he resolutely strode forward.

"If I don't punch her, I'm not Hisano!"

Seeing that she was about to enter the third grade and confronted Saito Haruka face to face, Kitahara Hakuba disregarded any teacher-student physical contact and quickly took her slender arm.

Regardless of whether her physique could withstand Saito's dribbling attacks, it's also unacceptable for her to publicly hurl insults at someone who isn't the main character and alert the ferry manager.

"Teacher Kitahara! These people are just evildoers! They even have the nerve to talk about a unique and gentle temperament! She's just a smooth talker! She's not a good person at all!"

Kuno Tatsuka's face turned bright red with anger, and the silk scarf tied around her chest fluttered like a butterfly with her movements. If it weren't for Kitahara Shiro pulling her along, her feet under her skirt could have run incredibly fast, taking three steps at a time.

Her voice echoed throughout the entire corridor, so loud that some students were stunned.

Kitahara Hakuba felt a stinging pain from the increasing number of stares, fearing that some inexplicable rumors would arise.

"Are you going to listen to me or not?" he said calmly.

She took a deep breath, her nostrils flared, and even her thin chest appeared much fuller.

"Of course I'll listen!"

"Then just sit still and I'll arrange things however I want."

Kuno Tachibana stomped her feet hysterically. Seeing her unable to vent her anger, the surrounding classmates whispered among themselves and looked at each other.

"They've gone too far! It's one thing to look down on me, but now they're extending that to look down on you, teacher! I'm so angry! So angry! Damn it, one day I'll bite them all to death—!"

She clenched her fists and grinned as she spoke, a sight that somehow seemed somewhat comical to Kitahara Hakuba.

"Don't worry, as long as you play well, I'll make sure you stay in first place."

Kitahara Hakuma placed his hand on her shoulder to soothe her emotions. After a while, he spat and used his deep teacher voice to scare away the people who had gathered around.

Upstairs, in the third-grade corridor.

Eri Kanzaki stood in front of the open window in the corridor, where she could hear the noise downstairs.

The whispers of her classmates lingered in her ears. Her fingers rested on the windowsill, and then she could hear nothing more.

"Huili".

Just as she was about to go to the restroom alone, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

Looking back, she saw Saito Harutori, holding two bottles of Pocari Sweat, smiling at her.

"I've been so busy these days, I forgot to buy you water." She handed over the bottle.

"Thanks......"

Saito Haruka twisted open the bottle cap, and she could see the liquid near the bottle opening swaying slightly, floating with a halo of sunlight.

"Eri, you should be on my side, right?" she suddenly asked, as if asking about the time she raised her hand last time.

Her tone was clearly barbed, which made Kanzaki Eri flustered and unsure how to respond.

Yesterday's scene remained etched in her mind.

"Is this... really okay?" she whispered.

Saito Haruka's pupils dilated for a moment, but were immediately covered by her usual smile.

She hummed softly, seemingly quite pleased:

"Then forget it. Eri, you just need to remain neutral and don't do anything."

"..."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter to me who plays the first melody on the trumpet. It's a trivial matter no matter who it is."

Saito Harutori tilted her head slightly, her fingers constantly rubbing the strands of hair on her chest, and said in a clingy voice:

"As long as the person standing on the stage in the end is Yueye, that's fine, but that person is too sharp."

Kanzaki Eri looked up in surprise, and Saito Haruka stared at her intently, his eyes like smooth stones polished by the current on a riverbed.

Her gaze was strong and powerful; after only two glances, Kanzaki Eri had already backed down.

"I will not give up."

Saito Harutori said with a smile,

"I won't take those few simple words to heart. Yueye is someone who likes to test others, and I understand her."

Eri Kanzaki glanced to the side and her gaze fell on the nameplate of Class 3-A.

"Going to the toilet? You basically do that whenever you come out, right? After all, Eri, you don't usually have much to do," Saito Harutori said.

"Uh--"

Eri Kanzaki's vocal cords emitted a muffled sound, but she couldn't utter a single word; only her fingertips trembled slightly.

"Are you going?" she asked again.

"......go."

Saito Harutori raised an eyebrow slightly and took her arm.

◇

The auditorium at Shenxu High School is very large and can seat more than 2,000 students.

The auditorium and the playground are similar in nature; except for special days, they are practice venues for clubs and require various scheduling. It's not something anyone can use whenever they want.

Kitahara Hakuba first communicated with the ferry manager and then with the acting department instructor before finally managing to borrow the auditorium stage for an hour.

On the left side of the stage was a grand piano, which surprised Kitahara Hakuba. It turned out to be a Steinway C227 worth nearly 20 million yen.

He had never played such an expensive piano before. Compared to it, the Yamaha affordable piano in the music classroom seemed like a simple kindergarten student.

Kitahara Hakuba sat on the piano bench, stroking the keys with a hint of regret, lamenting that it wasn't the main attraction today.

~~——~~——~~

School in the afternoon.

"Don't you find this disgusting? Instead of judging performances, it's about who can win people's hearts?"

"I...I'll vote for you!"

"Yu-chan, you have some comprehension problems too. I don't like this kind of thing, because I'm a genius at playing the wind instruments, and a genius at playing the wind instruments doesn't need to win people over."

"Huh? You're the one who's wrong with what you said! To put it bluntly, it's your recklessness that got you into this mess! You deserve to be kicked out of the club in the future."

"Miya, we're in the same year, can't you speak up for me? Someone like me is going to be in history books! The kind of person who dared to rebel, the kind of great person who broke new ground! The kind who would leave a big mark on a coin!"

"whispering sound."

"You're just being sarcastic!"

"It sounds like...there's a sound."

On the way to the auditorium, Goto Yu looked towards the auditorium and heard something.

"Moonlight III."

After remaining silent, Kirishima Mai finally spoke. She already knew who it was; in this school, there was probably only one person who could play the piano so well.