Chapter 107: Training Camp (2)
On the morning of the second day of training, Toru Watanabe woke up earlier than usual. He looked at the time and it was only half past five.
The air conditioning in the room was very strong, and the other three boys wrapped themselves tightly in blankets.
Watanabe Toru quietly walked out of the room and stretched himself to the training ground. There were several wooden tables and chairs covered with dew.
The air in the early morning was cold. Watanabe Toru took a deep breath. The clean air instantly inflated his lungs. He closed his eyes and felt like he was back in his hometown.
If there were no wind band, he would probably be climbing mountains and swimming rivers in the village, fishing and hunting birds.
I did some chest exercises, stretched my legs, and ran into the forest.
The rising sun shines through the dense branches, forming beams of light in the woods, and the chirping of various birds can be heard in the distance.
After running for fifteen minutes, Watanabe Toru heard the sound of flowing water and stopped only when he reached the river.
This is an open river beach with clear stream water and pebbles on the bottom.
Watanabe Toru scooped up a handful of water and poured it on his face.
The river water was so cool that it was even a little chilly. After all, it was still early in the morning before six o'clock.
After washing his face several times, Toru Watanabe raised his head and stared at the big guy on the other side of the river.
"……Good morning."
The black bear just looked at him, ignored him, and continued to drink water in the stream with its head down.
Watanabe Toru stood up naturally and slowly walked away from the river.
He behaved himself this time. Although he thought he had [Healing Medicine] and [Fruit Knife] and was definitely at 100-50 with the black bear, he still chose the man-made path and did not run around in the forest again.
Just a few steps back, I saw a big red sign on the side of the road saying "Attention! Bears are around!"
“…”
I trotted back to the training camp, and when I heard the sound of musical instruments coming from not far away, I finally felt relieved.
As long as there were people around, he was confident that he could run faster and the bear would not eat him.
Just kidding.
As long as the system is not exposed, he will choose to help if possible.
Toru Watanabe slowed down his pace and walked towards the sound of the musical instrument.
The bass is steady, the melody is precise and emotional, and the notes are like streams splashing in the sun, sparkling and dazzling.
Toru Watanabe immediately guessed who was practicing there.
Even if it is the same instrument, the sound produced by each person is completely different. Among the euphonium in the wind orchestra, the only one who can produce such a beautiful tone is Mai Asu.
He raised his left wrist and checked the time. It was just past ten o'clock, still early for the eight o'clock training camp.
Getting up early to train is indeed Mai Asu's style.
After walking a few steps forward, the lush green woods became sparse and the view suddenly widened.
The gold-plated euphonium reflected a dazzling light under the rising sun. The girl holding it stood there, her satiny black hair cascading down her back and her raised arms slender and white.
So beautiful.
Watanabe Toru imagined this scene as:
The young musician was favored by the Muse, the goddess of music, who came from Olympus one morning in the forest to give him encouragement and inspiration.
The tone slowly faded, Asu Mai's crystal red lips left the mouthpiece, and she turned to look at Watanabe Toru who was standing beside her.
"Good morning, Toru." Asu Mai slowly smiled.
If Ikki Aoi or other members of the brass band were there, they would definitely suspect that they had met a goddess.
"Good morning, Asuri-senpai." Watanabe Toru walked forward. "Very good. You have improved a lot."
"Well, I've been working on it lately. You see."
Just when Toru Watanabe thought that Mai was going to play again tomorrow, she clamped the thinner part of the euphonium with her right thumb and index finger and slid it up and down.
"Che, look, this is the hand gesture." The sun was rising, and the girl's hand gesture was illuminated by the holy light.
“…”
"I bought a disc for 1980 yen and learned a lot. Also, this is..."
"...Senior, I'm going to take a shower. See you later." Before Asu Mai's mouth touched the euphonium, Toru Watanabe walked quickly towards the main building.
Take back what I said.
Toru Watanabe was not favored by the Muse, but by Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, as well as the goddess of lust.
When Watanabe Toru finished his shower and went to the restaurant to eat, many members of the wind band were already sitting there, chatting and laughing.
He brought breakfast and sat opposite Koizumi Aona.
"Good morning, teacher."
"Good morning." Koizumi Aona glanced at Watanabe Toru's hair, which he hadn't blow-dried because it was too hot. "Have you taken a shower?"
"Yeah. I went out for a run and worked up a sweat."
"Watanabe is the most self-disciplined person the teacher has ever seen."
"I am indeed very self-disciplined." Watanabe Toru's "self-discipline" is clearly written on the system column.
Koizumi Aona laughed at his words and was about to say something when she saw Kiyono Rin holding a plate in the distance, planning to eat alone in a corner, so she called her over.
"Good morning, Mr. Koizumi." Kiyono Rin looked like she was still sleepy and sat down next to Watanabe Toru.
"Good morning, Kiyono-san." Koizumi Aona nodded.
Watanabe Toru looked at Kiyono Rin who had already started eating: "What about me?"
Qingye Rin raised her half-closed eyes, glanced at him, and then returned her gaze to her own bowl.
"Hey, ignoring it is too much."
Koizumi Aona smiled and said, "You're so rude only because you have a good relationship. You two get along well."
"Teacher." Qing Ye Lin retorted, "Except when the relationship is good to a certain extent, if the relationship with the other party is very bad, I will also use such an impolite way of ignoring it."
"You mean you're ignoring me because your relationship with me is so bad?"
"You're too close. Watanabe-san, please stay away from me . I'm afraid your saliva will splash into my bowl."
"I'm sad." Watanabe Toru poked at his rice bowl and said in a dull voice, "Do you know how much hardship I went through to welcome the morning I met you? Life-and-death struggles, and... and very difficult tests, to be able to stand here with a healthy body and mind."
"Really? Thank you for your hard work." Qingye Rin replied without any interest.
“…”
"You two really haven't changed at all. You've been getting along like this since you first met." Koizumi Aona exclaimed with a smile.
"That's not true." Watanabe Toru complained, "This guy's attitude wasn't that bad at the beginning."
Qingye Rin smiled and seemed to be in better spirits.
After breakfast, as they walked into the concert hall, Toru Watanabe secretly glanced at Mai Asuka.
Asu Mai was holding a euphonium in her hands, her pretty face expressionless.
Looking at her clear eyes, Toru Watanabe suspected that the holy light in the morning might just be a dream.
It is inevitable to have hallucinations after looking into the eyes of a black bear.
When he looked away, Tamamo Yoshimi from the trombone group shot him a warning look, but Watanabe Toru ignored it.
After the morning practice, everyone went to have lunch, but Toru Watanabe stayed alone in the concert hall to continue practicing, wanting to apply the "inspiration given by the Muse" in the morning to music.
From July to now, only one and a half months have passed, and he has been working towards one goal: to be able to make any sound he wants.
The recent intensive practice has allowed the actual performance to gradually overlap with the tone I want to produce in my mind, and the gap between the two is narrowing bit by bit.
For example, this time, the tone of the oboe extended infinitely, clear and transparent, like a goddess holding the sun on her back, sighing with pity for the pilgrims.
The summer air is filled with melodious and sweet sounds that linger in the air.
This is a masterpiece that has reached the pinnacle.
Toru Watanabe put down his oboe with satisfaction and prepared to get up to eat, but was startled by Mai Asuka standing at the door.
It’s over. I actually forgot about Asuka Mai because of practice. She is always the first one to return to the concert hall after lunch.
“…Senior.”
“It sounds good.”
"Thanks."
"I'll come to see you tonight."
"Looking for me?"
"Um."
"Where are you going?" asked Toru Watanabe.
"Your dorm."
"My dorm? When?"
"a little."
"...Wait a minute." Watanabe Toru first confirmed the conversation between the two in his mind, and then asked: "Did Senior want to talk to me about something at that time?"
"Watch a movie with you."
The dream-like scene in the morning suddenly became real, and Watanabe Toru asked tentatively:
"Yeah." Asu Mai nodded obediently.
"..." Watanabe Toru looked embarrassed, "Senior, thank you for sharing, but I am not interested in these."
"I'll come see you tonight."
"I have a girlfriend."
"Just don't let her know." Asu Mai said as if it was a matter of course.
"..." Watanabe Toru heard Tamamo's beautiful voice coming from outside the concert hall, "Senior, how about this, don't come, I'll go find you, okay?"
Asu Mai tilted her head and looked at him in confusion, then nodded and said "hmm".
Toru Watanabe hurried out of the concert hall and happened to meet Tamamo Yoshimi and Kiyono Rin.
Arriving at the cafeteria, biting into the crispy fried shrimp, Watanabe Toru's mind was filled with the conversation that had just taken place.
There was no time to refute him just now. In order to prevent Asu Mai from really running to the boys' dormitory in the middle of the night, he subconsciously said that he was going to the girls' dormitory.
It’s definitely not okay to stand someone up.
If I don't see him at one o'clock, maybe Mai will come directly over tomorrow.
The only thing to be thankful for now is that the chances of being discovered are lower when he sneaks in.
"What on earth is Hanada Asako doing? Why hasn't she dealt with Asuka Mai yet?"
Toru Watanabe searched the restaurant and soon found Asako Hanada who was sitting with Aoi Ikki and other bass players.
She is petite and cute, and was eating curry in small bites with a spoon with a happy look on her face.
"You were very active in staring at me, but why is it that it's useless when it comes to seniors?" Watanabe Toru stirred the miso soup a few times, took a sip, and put it down immediately.
As expected of an island country surrounded by the sea, salt is cheap.
After training in the afternoon and evening, Toru Watanabe stayed alone in the concert hall until twelve o'clock. After taking a shower and going back, the boys in the same room were all asleep.
He was lying on the tatami, and in the moonlight from the window, he could see the vague outline of the light above his head.
I felt both excited and irritated.
Toru Watanabe knew that it would be extremely dangerous to continue like this. If Kujo Miki found out, he wouldn't know whether he would live or die, but Asuka Mai would definitely be in danger.
But Asu Mai's offensive was full of the rampage of 'I will do this no matter what you do'.
Is it really true that I can only wait until she graduates?
As Watanabe Toru was thinking about it, time was slowly approaching.
Maybe it was because of his mentality. Even though he only needed to say he was going to the toilet if he was discovered, he still carefully lifted the quilt and stood up as quietly as possible.
The air-conditioning was turned on high but it was a bit cold in the room. Watanabe Toru tiptoed out of the room, stepping over a boy who was wrapped tightly in a quilt.
It was just as quiet outside as it was last night, and a little eerie. Apart from his footsteps, there was only the faint sound of electricity from the vending machine, or maybe the sound of refrigeration.
Although his physics skills were getting better and better, his understanding of vending machines was limited to where to put in coins and where to get drinks.
When he was almost at the girls' dormitory area, he took off his slippers, held them in his hands, hunched over, walked up the stairs, and came to the door of Asuka Mai's room just in case.
The Japanese sliding door was left a gap as agreed upon in the evening.
Watanabe Toru couldn't help swallowing, pushed the door open, and crawled in quietly like a cat about to pounce on a mouse.
The layout of the room is no different from the boys' dormitory, with four tatami mats and a low table.
The only difference is that in addition to hair dryers and other items that only girls would bring from far away, there is also a faint fragrance in the room.
As soon as Toru Watanabe's eyes adjusted to the dim light in the room, he saw Asuka Mai, who was hiding under the quilt on the innermost tatami and playing with her mobile phone, waving at him.
'The phone is too bright! Also, why is it at the back?'
The dormitories were divided by grade, but almost all the third-year students were driven away by Kiyono Rin. Including the former member who played the oboe, there were only 10 third-year students in total, the smallest number among the three grades.
Asu Mai's dormitory should be one of the two full bedrooms, with someone sitting on each of the four tatami mats.
Watanabe Toru lay on his elbows and knees, not daring to breathe until he crawled into Asu Mai's quilt, then he took a deep breath.
While he was waiting for his breathing to become even, Asu Mai, who was lying beside him, immediately put on headphones for him.
The standby sound of the music game came from the headphones, and soon the sound disappeared. Watanabe Toru looked over and saw her switch her phone to "Photos" and then click on a video that was amazing just by looking at the cover.
The two of them huddled in the quilt, resting their heads on the same pillow, without saying a word, each with a pair of headphones.
The first thing that appeared was a small high school classroom with only a dozen people.
Not to mention the girls, the boys look like they are old enough to attend adult universities. If they are a few years older, they can easily attend senior citizen universities.
The industry needs young people - this is what Toru Watanabe said at the beginning.
The plot is then very simple, with the teacher teaching students without textbooks in the front, and the male and female protagonists doing "little actions" in the back.
The girls tried every means to tease the boy who was studying hard in class, causing the boy to be called up by the teacher to answer questions in a rather embarrassing way.
Toru Watanabe glanced at Mai Asuka on the other side of the pillow and saw her staring at the screen motionlessly.
"Senior," he said in a very low voice, "Can I go back now? It would be bad if we are discovered."
"How do you feel?" asked Asuka Mai.
At this point in the film, it's time to end the get out of class, and because the next period is physical education, the male and female protagonists hide in the lockers of the women's locker room in various poses - this causal relationship is established in the industry.
"...There are too many movies like this nowadays, and the plots are clichéd. The director should focus on details. If not making the male and female protagonists' little movements more concealed, at least make the classroom more like a classroom, right?"
"Yeah." Asu Mai nodded.
"Also, the photographer in this dressing room is very unprofessional. He focused all the shots on the upper bodies of the female students and didn't understand the temptation of the curves of their legs at all."
As if there was no resonance, Asu Mai did not speak.
As the plot becomes more and more explicit, Asuma Mai's delicate white skin gradually turns bloody.
"thorough……"
Watanabe Toru turned his head and saw Asu Mai not hiding her red cheeks and staring at him with watery eyes.
"Senior, alright, I really want to go back..."
Asu Mai threw her cell phone aside, moved closer to Watanabe Toru, buried her head in his collar, and took deep breaths.
In the headphones, there are girls' joyful laughter and boys' painful groans.
The air in the quilt gradually became turbid.
This level of film has no impact on Watanabe Toru, but he
Even with the air conditioner on, I was still sweating and felt a slight sense of suffocation.
Toru Watanabe even suspected that there was only one breath of air left in the quilt, and he could only breathe when Mai Asuka gasped.
After a while, a faint smell of moisture filled the air.
Asu Mai's breathing became more and more rapid, and she didn't even notice that her earphones had fallen off.
"Hmm--" The soft voice melted into the warm air of the summer night.
The sudden sound made Watanabe Toru suddenly wake up.
No, we have to go!
You can't do anything to let down Kujo Miki!
"Senior, I really have to leave."
"Don't you want to?"
"I want to - of course I want to." Watanabe Toru said with difficulty, "But there are many things that you can't do just by thinking about them. Do you understand, senior sister?"
"Call me Mai."
“…Mai.”
"Hmm~" Asu Mai made a satisfied sound.
It seems that she has no intention of understanding what Watanabe Toru said!
Never mind, let’s go now before she recovers her strength.
Watanabe Toru used his agility from the "Master Class Free Fighting" to swiftly roll out of the damp bed, and the cold air hit him in the face.
Toru Watanabe lay there quietly, waiting for his brain to cool down sufficiently before he picked up his slippers and crawled towards the door.
When he was halfway up, he looked back and saw that Asuka Mai, who had packed up, was already asleep.
"Damn it! Why would I do something like this in the middle of the night that benefits others but harms myself?" Watanabe Toru complained in his heart and continued to crawl forward.
Using hands and feet, they advanced like soldiers in a trench.
Seeing victory in sight, the person on the outermost tatami suddenly sat up, rubbing his eyes.
Watanabe Toru's heart suddenly stopped and he immediately lay down on the ground, not daring to move.
The slippers that he had been holding in his hand were placed two centimeters away from his nose because of this action.
Watanabe Toru didn't dare to look up, so he could only look at his own slippers.
The man covered the person next to him with a quilt, but instead of lying down, he planned to get up and cover Asuka Mai with the quilt.
Finished!
Toru Watanabe is right between that person and Asuka Mai!
At this point, we have no choice but to strike first!
Watanabe Toru rolled over and pressed the half-awakened girl onto the tatami. While locking her movements with her buttocks and legs, he blocked her mouth with his right hand and covered both of them with the girl's quilt with his left hand.
The girl's eyes widened in horror.
"Don't shout, I...Teacher! What are you doing! Why are you here!" Toru Watanabe shouted out the greatest surprise in his heart in the smallest voice!
When Koizumi Aona heard the voice, her originally frightened look gradually turned into question and anger.
Although the situation was still very bad, it was a blessing in disguise that the opponent was Koizumi Aona. Watanabe Toru breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his hands and legs.
"Watanabe, why are you here?! Are you really having an affair with Kiyono Rin?!"
Kiyono Rin? What's the situation with having a relationship? Is she sleeping in this room too? Can you guys follow the rules and not sleep randomly!
etc.
"Teacher," Watanabe Toru sat on Koizumi Aona in the bed, "Actually, Kiyono Rin and I are secretly dating without telling Miki. Please keep it a secret for me! This is a once-in-a-lifetime request!"
Good friends are there to take the blame!
Koizumi Aonai's eyes widened: "Qingye, she, she...really seduced you?"
"…Huh? Ah, um, yes, that's right."
