Chapter 110 Kanto Competition (2)
"Sorry, we still have some preparations to do." After saying this to the reporter, Kiyono Rin gave Watanabe Toru a 'follow me' look and walked towards the main brass band.
"Watanabe-san!"
Watanabe Toru had just taken two steps when the reporter suddenly called out to him.
"I was just joking, please don't take it seriously." He turned around and explained, "Actually, my goal is to become an idol like Kimura Takuya, or to write about the two sexes like the writer Watanabe Junichi..."
"Watanabe Toru." Kiyono Rin called out his full name.
Toru Watanabe had no choice but to give the reporter an apologetic look and walked away quickly.
reporter:"……"
He just wanted to ask what Shenchuan High School's expected goals were for this competition.
"Do you like talking nonsense so much?" Qingye Rin said unhappily.
"What's the matter? Just liven up the atmosphere. You see everyone is very nervous. Only if they relax can they perform at their best."
Qing Ye Lin glanced at him and said, "You are an active reporter and there are other schools' atmospheres?"
"…It's over! We've assisted the enemy! But never mind. The more nervous we are, the better we can perform. If we think about it this way, we've basically won."
Qingye Rin sighed with a headache and had nothing to say to him.
The two of them walked up to the brass band, and she glanced at everyone whose faces were pale with nervousness.
"There is no need to worry about those strong schools. Everyone should keep a normal mind and just do our best to play our music. The result will be left to the judges."
"yes!"
Simple words certainly cannot ease the heavy atmosphere.
Watanabe Toru was just about to speak and tell a joke when he heard someone calling his name.
"Watanabe!"
The voice seemed familiar, but it didn't seem to be a reporter.
Watanabe Toru looked in the direction of the voice, a smile appeared on his face: "Look, look, isn't this Lady Ayako!"
The girl who ran over was Ayako Homma, a fellow villager of Toru Watanabe who attended high school in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The short bob haircut makes her round face look very cute, and she looks a lot like the heroine in "Hot Girl" with short hair.
Ayako Honma, who was holding a flute, hit him hard on the chest.
"Why are you here?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm joining the competition. What else can I do?"
"You?" Honma Ayako looked doubtful. "With your recorder playing level that woke up the whole village, you can participate in the competition?"
"You are so rude, how can you be so exaggerated as the whole village?"
Ayako Honma raised her head with a smug smile on her face, saying "I am just like this, what can you do to me?"
"uh-huh."
Watanabe Toru looked at Kiyono Rin who cleared her throat, and introduced the two people as if he had just reacted.
"This is my senior from the same village, Ayako Honma. This is my friend from high school, Rin Kiyono."
"Hello!" Ayako Honma greeted with a smile.
"Hello, Honma-senpai."
"Don't use honorifics, just call me Ayako like Watanabe." After saying that, Ayako Honma turned her gaze to Toru Watanabe, "Is this your girlfriend?"
"That's right, it's my daughter... um!"
Qing Ye Lin retracted the cold gaze that could kill people and said to Honma Ayako: "No, he and I are just ordinary friends."
"What I meant was 'female friend'." Toru Watanabe expressed his grievances.
Qing Ye Lin glanced at him without any emotion: "Then please speak more briefly, and when others mention girlfriend, please don't give a positive answer."
"To liven up the atmosphere, I've already applied to you, right?"
"No."
"Huh?" Watanabe Toru recalled, and it seemed that he really hadn't. "I thought you could read my eyes and understand my application without saying anything."
"The only people who understand you are the uncivilized apewomen."
Ayako Honma looked at Kiyono Rin in confusion. It was the first time she had seen a girl with such a sharp tongue. It really was Tokyo. There were all kinds of people there.
Watanabe Toru noticed her expression. Although Kiyono Rin herself didn't care about other people's opinions, he took the initiative to explain: "Kiyono is a person who likes to make sarcastic remarks. Don't take it to heart."
"No, I only like to do this to you, Watanabe-san." Kiyono Rin said with a smile, crossing her arms.
"Why?!"
"Because you are special."
Watanabe Toru suddenly became happy. Kiyono Rin never lies, which means he is indeed a special person.
"What's so special about it?" he asked expectantly.
"Don't like me."
“…”
As for expecting Kiyono Rin to praise him, he should just dream about it.
But wouldn't it be too sad if I had to face her all day and dream about her at night?
"Hahaha!" Ayako Honma patted Watanabe Toru's shoulder and laughed, "I understand! It's just that you deserve to be scolded!"
"Don't laugh so hard that you choke on your breath, or you won't be able to exert your strength in the competition later." Watanabe Toru cursed viciously.
"Ah! I almost fell for your trick! So disgusting!" Ayako Honma immediately stopped smiling and said with a stern face.
"It's vicious, isn't it?"
"nausea."
"No, no, no, the context just now should be described as 'vicious'."
"Disgusting!" Ayako Honma tilted her head and repeated in the cute tone of an idol scolding a otaku.
"Yes, yes, I understand. You just want to scold me."
Ayako Honma raised her neck again and smiled triumphantly. At this time, someone called her from a distance and she turned around and answered.
"I'm leaving now. By the way, what's your school number? I'll come and listen to your performance after the competition!"
"Number twenty-two."
"You're the second to last. I'll remember that. Let's work hard together. If you dare to embarrass the village, I'll go back and report you!" After saying this, Ayako Honma waved her hand and ran towards a group of people in brown school uniforms in the distance.
"You two seem to have a good relationship." Kiyono Rin looked at Ayako Honma who was talking and laughing in the crowd.
"Jealous?"
"No."
"My grandma, no, my mom once told me: A girl's nothing is something."
Qingye Rin put down his arms, turned to the band members and said, "Everyone, pack up and go to the rehearsal room."
"yes!"
"Wait, wait, I was just joking. Don't tell me you haven't seen Kamen Rider Kabuto?"
"No."
"It's over, it's over, we can't be friends anymore."
"Really?"
"Of course... not. Normally, I would never be friends with someone who doesn't like Kamen. But you're pretty and honest, so I can turn a blind eye."
"Isn't it because of the nice legs?"
Watanabe Toru glanced around and whispered, "There are so many people here, don't say such things."
"So you really want to be friends with me just because I have pretty legs. I'm so disappointed."
"I told you I'm just studying legs. Studying doesn't mean liking them, understand?"
"Then just tell me, do you like legs?"
"I feel the competition is more important now, what do you think?" Watanabe Toru said worriedly.
Qingye Lin sneered.
When they arrived at the rehearsal room, everyone tuned the instruments more carefully than usual and began their final practice.
Still only training the beginning part.
I used to dislike boring repetition, but now I can’t wait to keep practicing, just like Tamamo Yomi who walked into the examination room before the final exam with a vocabulary book in her hand and looked at it.
The practice time is over and the only thing left for the competition is to go on stage.
In the rehearsal room, the nervous heartbeats can be heard clearly.
Kiyono Rin said to Komatsu Misaki, "Minister Komatsu, please say a few words to everyone."
"Me?" Komatsu Misaki pointed at herself.
Since Kiyono Rin became a consultant, she, as the club director, only played the role of supervising training and was not in charge of the club's expenses.
But she didn't care who had the say, as long as the band could move towards a good direction, anything was fine.
"Yes." Qing Ye Lin nodded, "Although I believe that everyone's ability can enter the national competition, everything has unexpected events. This may really be the last game. As the president and a third-year student who is about to retire, it is better for you to finish it off."
"If possible, I'd like to save the finishing touches until before the national competition." Komatsu Misaki said jokingly, making everyone laugh.
Komatsu Misaki took a deep breath and said, "Everyone, until mid-June, even winning the gold medal in the Tokyo Tournament was unbelievable for us, and the Kanto Tournament was an unattainable dream."
She faced the crowd.
"We are famous for our college admission rate in Shenchuan. Everyone will go to first-class universities in the future. We regard the national competition as our goal and work hard for it. I don't know what you think, but I don't want to lose to those schools whose deviation values are not as high as ours."
Misaki Komatsu's eyes sparkled with a strong and stubborn light, the stubbornness of an excellent student.
"It doesn't matter if we didn't try hard, but since we are serious about it, we can't lose to anyone!" It was Tamamo Yomi who spoke.
"Yes! That's right!"
"Kamikawa is number one!"
"Kamikawa! Come on!"
"come on!"
The shouts of the Kamikawa Wind Band members echoed in the rehearsal room.
What kind of person you think you are is really important.
If the person who ranks first in the grade ranks tenth in the exam, he will fall into pain and self-blame; the person who ranks second to last in the exam and ranks last will even become complacent, show off everywhere, and use it as a topic of conversation.
Toru Watanabe insisted that he would and must become a great person in the future.
Being third in the grade was a hurdle he had to overcome, and being first in the country was where he should be; whether it was sports or anything else, it didn't matter if he didn't work hard, as long as he wanted to, he had to do better than anyone else.
This is what he requires of himself.
Toru Watanabe looked at the dark oboe in his hand, his heart beat slowly and violently, and he became excited.
Originally, the national competition was insignificant to him, but now he decided that he must win the gold medal, otherwise how could he be worthy of the adjective "amazing"!
A female staff member pushed the door open and came in: "Students from Shenchuan High School, it's your turn."
"Come on." Hayami Kaoru, who was sitting next to Watanabe Toru and holding a bassoon, whispered.
"I can't wait." Watanabe Toru replied with a smile.
Hayami Kaoru was stunned for a moment, then nodded gently: "I look forward to Watanabe-kun's solo."
In addition to them, everyone else also encouraged each other and shouted "Come on", regardless of whether their relationship was good or bad.
Holding their music stands, the members of Kamikawa High School walked towards the stage together.
"Next, number 22, the Tokyo representative, a student from Kamikawa High School's wind orchestra will perform for everyone."
"The designated song is "March for Endless Dreams", and the free song is "Prosperous Four Seasons" composed by Kawa Hideaki, and conducted by Kiyono Rin."
After the announcement, Toru Watanabe had already sat down in his seat, opened the music score, placed his fingers on the keys of the oboe, and looked at Kiyono Rin standing in front of him.
The lights suddenly dimmed and the stage became brighter, as if it was under a large spotlight.
The sound of swallowing saliva came from all directions, and a tense atmosphere enveloped everyone.
With an expressionless face, Kiyono Rin looked at each person's face in turn, finally stopping at Watanabe Toru.
'Nervous?'
"Didn't I tell you that being nervous can help you perform better than before?"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to your performance."
'Your satisfaction is guaranteed.'
Qingye Rin retracted her gaze, raised her arm, and everyone immediately picked up their instruments.
The front end of the baton sank slightly, and the sound of everyone's inhalation passed through the mouthpieces of the instruments, creating a huge resonance.
As the baton was waved down and the main melody of "March to Endless Dreams" sounded, the tension disappeared without a trace.
The bass notes from the euphonium and double bass made the ground vibrate;
The brass instruments are advancing bravely, the woodwind instruments are delicate and melodious, and in the competition between the two, the flute and clarinet move freely between them;
Then, the euphonium's soft secondary melody blends smoothly into the underlying music.
The performance was full of energy, rushing towards the finish line in one breath, getting faster and faster, more and more intense.
Slowly, everything fell silent.
But the moment the baton in Kiyono Rin's hand suddenly stopped, the performance reached its climax - the oboe took over.
Kiyono Rin once again set his sights on Watanabe Toru.
Toru Watanabe held the reed he made himself in his mouth and slid his slender fingers gently across the keys.
The sweet and melancholy, gripping tone filled the entire concert hall.
At that moment, everyone present stood still, their brains severely shocked.
In the concert hall dyed golden by the lights, there was nothing but silence, and the only sounds left were the notes with a hint of sad melody woven together by Toru Watanabe and his oboe.
It was as if a huge, colorful bubble enveloped the stage.
One of the judges in the judging panel couldn't help but bend forward without even noticing.
Everyone in the Kamikawa High School brass band looked very proud.
The sound of the oboe is even more beautiful than last time.
This is the strength of our Shenchuan High School solo!
…
When the sweaty Kiyono Rin turned around and bowed, the audience, who had been silent for a long time, was suddenly awakened and burst into applause that resounded through the sky.
The faces of everyone in the wind band showed a mixture of joy and confusion, and they had not yet recovered from their previous state.
After leaving the stage, Qing Ye Lin said to everyone: "You can move freely before the results are announced, but everyone must gather in the concert hall when the results are announced."
"yes!"
The group had just disbanded and Toru Watanabe, before he had even seen Ayako Honma, wanted to see Kunii Osamu and Saito Keisuke who had arrived at the venue later.
The two of them came towards each other with excited faces.
"You are amazing! Watanabe!"
"The performance was excellent! If a performance of this level doesn't win the gold medal, there must be something fishy going on!"
"Of course ." Watanabe Toru said with a smile, "Kunii even made it to Koshien, I can't be unable to even enter the national competition, right?"
"Hey, do you have any conscience? I haven't recovered from my failure yet!" Kunijima Osamu wailed.
The Kamikawa Baseball Club was eliminated in the first round of Koshien and only brought back a handful of dirt from the field - the custom of losers.
"Come on, I'll treat you to a soda." Toru Watanabe patted his shoulder.
“That’s more like it!”
"Would you like me to reimburse you for the transportation here?" Saito Keisuke continued to push forward.
"What does it have to do with you?"
