I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 70

"I'm leaving now," Kitahara Hakuba said.

"Teacher Kitahara."

"what happened?"

Nagase Tsukiyo clenched her hands tightly, pressing and kneading her thumbs back and forth, her face slightly flushed as she said:

"Can I... visit you occasionally? It's nothing by any other name... because... I need to think about your suggestion some more."

Kitahara Hakuba nodded and said with a smile:

"of course can."

Chapter 80. The Second Girl Who Came to the Door

The next day was a sunny day.

When Kitahara Hakuba arrived at Shin-Asahi High School, the girls casually showed off their young and delicate thighs, their curves clearly visible even through their uniforms, and he had looked at them many times.

He was very curious; even though this kind of scene was very common, he still couldn't help but look at it.

At school, members of the wind band stood in their "private areas" with their instruments. The sounds of playing instruments could be heard from the L-shaped corner behind the gymnasium, the bicycle shed, the corridor, and so on.

Kitahara Hakuba only recently learned that because private practice space is limited, many areas are private practice zones "marked" by club members, so everyone knows exactly where everyone is.

For example, he had seen Eri Kanzaki in front of the flowerbed more than once, either practicing her oboe or helping the members of the gardening club take care of the plants.

Kitahara Hakuba stepped forward and noticed that her long black hair had turned leaden gray under the sunlight.

The sole of my shoe hit a small stone and struck the potted plant, making a "thud" sound and leaving a scratch mark on its light red surface.

The sudden impact startled Kanzaki Eri, who opened her mouth in surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't look carefully," Kitahara Hakuba said apologetically.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Kitahara-sensei, Kanzaki Eri's expression visibly relaxed, and she immediately stood up, her posture quite restrained.

Kitahara Hakuba discovered that the potted plant was a rose, which was already in full bloom. The rose petals were clearly visible, with tiny stamens hidden inside.

"Did you grow them?" he asked.

A sweet, melon-like fragrance wafted from the girl and into my nostrils.

Eri Kanzaki shook her head, looking at the dark brown shoes bathed in sunlight, shimmering slightly.

Kitahara Hakuba looked at the damp soil on the potted plant, remained silent for a moment, then picked up the small green watering can next to him and made a gesture as if to water it.

"Uh... I'm sorry, we can't water it anymore," Kanzaki Eri said, gripping her wrist tightly. "It'll look bad..."

"so--"

Kitahara Hakuba picked up the showerhead, a faint smile appearing on his face, and said...

"I originally thought that Kanzaki-san's thoughts and actual words would be completely opposite, but now it seems that it's not that serious."

"..." Kanzaki Eri's small mouth moved meaninglessly, like a goldfish at a temple fair.

"Kanzaki, why did you join the brass band?" Kitahara Hakuba put down the shower and took out his phone to take a few pictures of the blooming roses.

My mother back home will probably like it.

Eri Kanzaki lowered her eyes slightly, almost murmuring to herself, "Because Nagase likes..."

“What I want to know is what Kanzaki Eri thinks,” Kitahara Hakuba said.

Kanzaki Eri paused for a moment, her voice clear and bright, making people instinctively prick up their ears to listen.

However, she remained silent about Kitahara Hakuba's question, as if she didn't know how to answer it.

"But this is really a nice place, it's just a bit sunny in the summer." Kitahara Hakuba said as he sent a photo to his mother, showing how rosy and pink the plants were.

Eri Kanzaki's dark eyes, devoid of any emotion, stared unblinkingly at the fully blooming roses.

"Kanzaki-kun, you actually have high emotional intelligence and strong observation skills. It's just that your lack of language skills and the decisions you make based on the situation often lead to bad consequences."

Kitahara Hakuba stood up and said,

"Your inner self and the external world are not in a tense, hostile relationship, nor is it one-way. Verbal communication requires planning, that is, both parties need to have the same understanding for their words to be mutually understandable."

But after saying these words, Kitahara Hakuba wished he could twist his cheeks and ask, "How can little girls understand these things?" It sounded like he was speaking from an older perspective.

Eri Kanzaki is a person who hides her contradictions with silence. Her relationships with the girls around her are intertwined with protection, exploitation and sorting. She is used to keeping silent and passively accepting arrangements.

For someone who has been labeled, the most difficult thing is often finding their own subjectivity.

Kanzaki Eri remained silent for a long while before finally speaking:

"Keep it this way... it's good for everyone."

A warm breeze blew by, and the flowers and plants in several pots swayed gently along with the girl's skirt.

“You’re lying,” Kitahara Hakuba said calmly. “You actually want to talk to people, but you’re very uneasy because you’re afraid that people will dislike you if you speak.”

Eri Kanzaki paused, instinctively pinching the hem of her skirt with her fingers. Her uniform, which had been ironed just last night, was still perfectly wrinkle-free.

"Well...everyone would think that way, even you, Kitahara-sensei..."

From her seemingly nonchalant tone, one could vaguely detect a hint of anxiety and self-deprecation.

"No, I'm not worried about being disliked."

Kitahara Hakuba turned his head to look at her beautiful profile and said,

"Kanzaki-san, you can't meet everyone's expectations, and you don't need to use silence to achieve your goal."

Kitahara Hakuba knew that what Kanzaki Eri needed most right now was not Nagase Tsukiyo and the brass band, or Saito Harukori; these would only increase her "expectations" and would be a burden to her.

What Eri needs now is someone who understands her, someone who can perfectly express her inner emotions, and someone who can convey her feelings.

Both morally and logically, as a teacher, Kitahara Hakuma has an inescapable duty to do so.

Kanzaki Eri stared intently at the blooming flowers in the potted plant. She suddenly felt a little afraid of Kitahara Hakuba, who was like someone who didn't knock politely and rudely opened one of her windows.

She also wants to talk to other people and have serious conversations with them.

I was thinking about this when Nagase Tsukiyo left the dessert shop.

I was thinking about this when voting on the orchestra's goals for this year.

I thought about this when I was being unilaterally accused by Saito Harukori.

But now...every time I speak or make a move, I mess things up...

“Kanzaki-san, I hope you can be Kanzaki Eri, not just a tool in a network of relationships.” Kitahara Hakuba raised his hand and patted her shoulder.

This was the first time he had mustered the courage to touch the girl's shoulder; she was delicate and bony.

As Kanzaki Eri watched Kitahara Hakuba turn and leave, the image of this teacher became clearer in her mind. Being told what was on her mind by him made her feel conflicted.

The look in her eyes was no longer as ethereal as before, but rather almost captivating, filled with deep sorrow.

◇

After finishing his talk therapy, Kitahara Hakuba returned to his office and photocopied the scores for each section.

Then, we walked through the elevated corridor into the club building. Just by walking along the corridor, we could hear all sorts of noisy discussions.

Especially on the floor of the brass band, Kitahara Hakuba felt that there were many more students outside the band, whether it was his imagination or not.

"I'm coming--"

"It's a real person!"

“So handsome…”

Many beautiful high school girls would excitedly cast their gazes at Kitahara Hakuba as soon as they saw him, which puzzled many members who wanted to practice.

"Everyone! The band practice room is currently closed to the public! If you'd like to join, please come find me! Most importantly, please keep quiet!"

The black three-pronged whip swayed back and forth in the corridor. It was the first time that Sakurako Yukawa had seen so many people from the brass band. Maintaining order was quite a physical task.

"Please be quiet, everyone. This is the brass band club. For the sake of the members, please refrain from making noise. Also, this is not recruitment season! We will be very strict if you want to join!"

Saito Haruka is usually very gentle, so it's rare to see her shout so loudly.

Kitahara Hakuba walked into the first music classroom; these matters were more than enough to be left to them.

He had already finished organizing the scores for each section last night. The next step was to distribute the scores and explain the selected sections for the audition to each section.

There wasn't much free time before the morning meeting, so Kitahara Hakuba left the sheet music in the first music room and asked Minister Yukawa to pick it up and distribute it.

The third period is a music class, where first-year students learn to play musical instruments.

The instruments in the music classroom can't compare to those in the brass band; after all, it's like a bus where anyone can get on.

Especially the piano, every day students who don't understand music would randomly press the keys, and they would feel good about themselves, thinking they were piano geniuses.

Not only that, the musical atmosphere was also extremely bad.

He played the oboe like a duck quacking, the trumpet like a three-day-long fart, and used the tuba as a giant mirror to get ready...

Watching the double bass player frantically rub the strings back and forth, some clueless boys would shamelessly step forward and ask Kitahara Hakuba a question—

"Why is he allowed to do such indecent things here?"

"Because the frictional heat from the bow is used to dissolve the resin before playing, not for that kind of thing." As a teacher, he had to answer seriously.

Today's lesson is for each student to choose an instrument to play in the next class; the piece will be the school song.

It just so happens that it was the class that Kuno Tachibana and Kirishima Mai were in. One of them was randomly banging on a triangle, while the other was playing the xylophone properly.

Mai Kirishima has a great figure, and people often whisper that she is a super beauty.

Percussion instruments are very popular here, and Kitahara Hakuba thinks that these instruments, which can produce sound with just a tap, are really quite convenient.

"Teacher, this seems simpler than the trumpet. Should we leave some space in the percussion section for the other sections?"

Kuno Tachibana held a triangle in one hand and kept ringing it around Kitahara Hakuba.

She herself didn't find it annoying to tap, but the listeners started to get a little annoyed.

Holding the piano mallet, Kirishima Mai spoke first:

"It's not that simple. Its timbre is very rich, and it also depends on the angle of radiation. In fact, there is a big difference between the timbre that the musician hears and the timbre that the audience hears."

Kitahara Hakuba gave her a thumbs up:

"Kirishima is right. The triangle is very demanding in terms of striking angle and position. If it's horizontal, the tone will be thin, and if it's vertical, the tone will sound muddy."