I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 235

Because of the results, no one will have any complaints.

Since there were results, everyone could only express their approval.

This is the premise that Kitahara Hakuba brought to them.

Kuno Tachibana's voice echoed in Kirishima Mai's ears. A short while later, she suddenly reached out a hand and grasped her bare arm.

The fingernails gently dug into Kirishima Mai's skin, and at that moment, a strange sensation ran down her back.

"Mai, I want to be your friend for life, so let's give it our all this time, okay?"

Chapter 191, Section 190: The Time Has Been Filled (4K)

Kuno Tachibana's probing gaze made Kirishima Mai hold her breath. She lowered her head, her black stockings coming into view. "Does doing this make you feel uneasy, Tachibana?" she asked.

"Of course I'd feel uneasy, or rather, I'd be terrified."

Kuno Tachibana's energetic eyes shone brightly.

"Take Eto-senpai, for example. She's been practicing the oboe diligently, hoping to get back into Class A. Are you planning to give her up again? Wouldn't that be too pitiful for Eto-senpai? If something goes wrong, who will everyone blame?"

A complicated expression appeared on Kirishima Mai's face; she felt somewhat embarrassed by her reflection in her trumpet.

"But as you said, Mr. Kitahara gave us this premise, and I don't think getting into the A-level program is a very important thing."

"Then don't have told me you were guaranteed to make it during training camp." That sentence has stayed with me ever since.

Are you trying to make me feel like I owe you something?

Kuno Tachibana casually brushed aside his bangs, sighed deeply, and held a handful of glossy black hair in his hand:

"If you really want to be the lock in my heart, then just keep going like this."

Upon hearing this, Kirishima Mai was speechless, her gaze darting around in the air, perhaps due to some inner turmoil.

A few strands of black hair clung to her fair neck.

Mayi's lips were tightly closed, and she looked utterly displeased, which made Kuno Tachibana feel disgusted.

“If the difference in strength is not significant, doing this will be more conducive to unity within the department,” she suddenly said.

"You clearly don't care at all, yet you're making excuses about club unity. Do you really care about unity? I doubt you care about the entire brass band, do you? I don't understand, you've already been on the competition stage twice, how can you still act like it doesn't matter?"

Kuno Tachibana's personality has always been straightforward, and Kirishima Mai genuinely admires her unwavering determination.

He was even fascinated by it at one point.

But when this determination fell upon her, it was hard for her to accept for a while, and she even felt like she couldn't breathe.

“If you insist on sticking to your own ideas, then you are not worthy of being a wind instrument player.”

Kuno Tachibana, holding her trumpet in both arms, stood upright facing Kirishima Mai, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes reflecting the glow of the setting sun.

"I wish you will stay in the B section of the Shenxu Wind Ensemble forever, and even if you move to the A section, you will not get a solo position and will never be able to climb up."

The short-haired girl's words, sharp as blades, pierced deeply into Kirishima Mai's lungs, almost suffocating her, her nails digging deep into her flesh.

Kuno Tachibana saw a fleeting look of sorrow cross her face, but she didn't intend to take back her words. She simply spat and said:

"Good luck with the audition. I want to play multiple solos with you at the end."

After she finished speaking, she took the small trumpet and walked into the building.

"Go for it. ::::::" Kirishima Mai murmured softly.

"Try to be as dedicated as Li Hua, even to the point of crying from frustration."

"Ugh!" Startled by the sudden sound, Kirishima Mai's shoulders trembled.

Turning around, I saw Kitahara Hakuba standing in the corridor. Every time I saw him outside, I could see that he was carrying a laptop bag.

"Teacher Kitahara..."

Kirishima Mai stood somewhat awkwardly to the side. Could it be that he was able to say that because he had overheard the entire conversation with Tachibana?

Kitahara Hakuba gave a helpless smile and said:

"It's really upsetting. Kuno-kun said it was a blessing, but it sounds more like a curse."

Kirishima Mai had no intention of responding to those words, because Tachibana's words had already shattered her heart.

Kitahara Hakuba noticed the melancholy on her face, then smiled and said:

"Speaking of which, you were the first person I ever personally said I was willing to tutor, but I never imagined that the number of days we actually tutored each other privately could be counted on one hand."

Back when she was at her family's shop, Kitahara Hakuba offered to tutor Kirishima Mai privately, but she never came to him.

Only later did he realize that the girl didn't care about any of that, so he turned his attention to other girls.

Kirishima Mai's gaze fell on his strong arms with his sleeves rolled up, and she asked:

"Does Mr. Kitahara also want me to play a solo?"

Kitahara Hakuba's gaze swept over her black stockings. The words sounded vaguely familiar, but they were fundamentally different from Nagase Tsukiyo's "Does Kitahara-sensei also want me to return to the club?"

One person's heart is hoping that he can come back, while the other person's heart is simply wondering.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled as he said:

"This is actually a difficult question to answer, but I was quite surprised to hear that you took the initiative to ask it."

"so what?"

"As a mentor, I am probably more realistic than other school mentors. The only criterion is for the brass band to achieve good results. Of course, I have the ability to help weaker members move up the ranks, and everyone in the brass band is capable of meeting my requirements, which is why we were able to enter the national competition."

Kitahara Hakuba's words were very tactful, yet they were filled with the arrogance that had been characteristic of him ever since he became a mentor.

"I hope everyone can improve under my guidance, achieving results and feeling happy at the same time. Kirishima-kun is no exception."

You might not be interested in A-arrangements or solos, but I don't want to force you to do things that don't meet your expectations.

If you believe you're better off now, then continue down your own path. After all, I don't think I can change someone's mindset. Well, it's more accurate to say that your ability to stay true to your original aspirations is a remarkable thing.

This sentence sounds like a compliment, but after careful consideration, it doesn't feel like a compliment at all; in fact, you can detect a hint of humiliation.

Kirishima Mai didn't want to say things like "I will live my life to the fullest," as that would be too much of an overstatement. She wasn't a rich heiress; she was just an ordinary first-year high school girl.

She just doesn't want any particularly specific goals; she's fine as she is.

"I understand." Kirishima Mai bowed deeply to Kitahara Hakuba, said goodbye, and left the corridor.

Although he didn't answer directly, he had already indicated the answer: "As a mentor, I hope you can attend, but it's okay if you don't. I can bring in other students."

Kitahara Hakuba wanted to tell her "good luck," but he held back.

?

"Yesterday, the ferry manager was patrolling and found that the door to a practice room in the brass section was unlocked. I went to check this morning and found it was the saxophone section. With the audition date approaching, I hope everyone will not let their guard down."

"Yes!"

The next morning, in the first music classroom.

Mr. Kitahara is still in the staff office and hasn't come over yet. He is currently the orchestra's principal conductor, Yushou, and is on stage conducting.

"Kanzaki-san."

Following Kitahara Hakuba's ensemble fundamentals, Yushou first tuned the oboe.

Eri Kanzaki gently held the reed in her mouth and blew a long note that maintained a certain pitch.

Then, each part merged in, filling the classroom with overtones that achieved a wonderful balance.

Yu Shou opened the sheet music for basic ensemble exercises, which contained scale excerpts carefully selected by Kitahara Hakuba, such as crescendo, trills, harmonies, lip slurs, and so on.

This is a set of detailed practice exercises that must be done before the ensemble performance. It is because of this set of large-scale exercises that the Shin-Hsu Band was able to enter the national competition.

Kuno Tachibana put the mouthpiece of the trumpet into his mouth, his gaze unconsciously falling on Kirishima Mai sitting in the front row.

The two met at the shoe cabinet this morning, but did not greet each other.

Was what I said yesterday too harsh? Perhaps I should have been gentler?

However, since he had already said it, there was no point in complaining about himself here, Kuno Tachibana said with self-deprecation.

"It seems we're almost there? Let's start practicing the freestyle."

Upon hearing Kitahara Hakuba's voice, the club members immediately looked up and watched him walk onto the stage from the doorway.

This time, Yu Shou didn't forget to hand the baton to him and quickly sat back down.

Kitahara Hakuba stood on the stage, flipping through the sheet music while gently tapping the music stand with his baton.

“These past few days, I’ve kept seeing Saito-kun running into the staff office. Why is that?” Amane, who was sitting next to me, suddenly asked.

She was looking straight ahead, with no one clearly speaking to her, which caused the two trumpeters on her left and right to turn their heads to the side.

Kuno Tachibana's lips curled into a smirk. He tilted his head thoughtfully, placed his hand beside his face, and gave a wicked smile.

"Why don't you just go in and listen?"

Rain Guardian's gaze remained fixed on Kitahara Hakuba's face as he calmly said:

"I have nothing to talk about, how can I go in?"

"For girls, making excuses is the easiest thing."

Kuno Tachibana snuggled closer to Amemori in a coquettish manner.

"As the lead, aren't there tons of excuses you can find? For example, because you've been enthusiastically guiding newcomers, and you yourself still have some questions about certain sections...:..."

Rain Guard finally glanced at her sideways:

"How could you possibly say that? The national conference is almost here; if you still don't understand, it would be disrespectful to Professor Kitahara."

Kuno Tachibana wanted to laugh and say, "It's no good if you don't take the initiative," but then she thought that giving advice to other girls would be incredibly stupid.

"Could it be that she's been running to the office so much that she wants to see Mr. Kitahara...?"

"Pfft"

Kuno Tachibana couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.

“Saito-senpai isn’t like Amemori-senpai, always thinking about these things.”

Rain Guardian frowned, and raised his right foot, which was covered by a white knee-high sock, to bump into Kuno Tachibana's ankle.

As a result, because the space was too small, her little toe bumped into the music stand. From her wide eyes and flushed cheeks, you could tell that she was really in pain.