Chapter 166 School Trip (15)
Toru Watanabe put the reed in his mouth and tried to blow a short phrase.
The unfamiliar oboe quickly took on his appearance.
"I'm fine now," he said, removing the reed from his mouth.
Everyone in the Kitauji Wind Band looked at him with shining eyes, except for Kaizuka Mizuki who was sitting next to him. She was staring blankly at something with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Please play it again!" Kumiko requested firmly.
The scale alone is beautiful, and it looks really amazing when played by a great person.
"Aren't we going to play together?" said Toru Watanabe.
"It's okay!" A short girl clenched her fists and shouted while standing on tiptoe.
Watanabe Toru was taken aback by her enthusiasm, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Well, a short tune should be enough."
Several basic practice songs slowly spread out from the oboe, and the heart-throbbing and goosebump-raising timbre penetrated the entire music classroom.
Kumiko listened silently, her heart fascinated.
The performance ended quickly, and everyone in the wind orchestra was not only impressed, but even stunned.
It's obviously the same song, but for some reason, every note released by Watanabe Toru is more gorgeous than anyone else, making it irresistible.
Kumiko thinks this is what makes music interesting, but she is also afraid of this fact and needs to muster up the courage to face the huge gap between herself and others.
"That's right!" Kumiko suddenly had a good idea. "How about we connect to the school radio when we play together? Let all the students in the school listen together!"
“I agree!”
"And it's lunch break!"
"But I'll be nervous...Ah! No, no! My brain is already confused! Music score! Music score! Where is the music score?!"
Reactions were mixed, but almost everyone supported the proposal.
After Minister Yuko nodded affirmatively, Kumiko looked at Kiyono Rin and Watanabe Toru, hoping to get their consent.
"No problem. Only when there's an audience can we show our true performance level." Kiyono Rin nodded in agreement.
"Where's Watanabe? There must be nothing wrong with him, right?" Kumiko asked in a fierce tone that said 'no problems allowed'.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Watanabe Toru said in a dilemma, "Originally, everyone in Kitauji would like me 100% after seeing me, and after listening to my performance, it would become 1000%."
"What's that weird percentage? Just say yes or no!" Lina said unhappily.
"I advise you to be more polite when you speak. I am your only fan. Be careful or I will stop following you."
"You..." Lina had never seen such a shameless boy and was so angry that she couldn't speak.
"Tetsu Watanabe-san," Kiyono Rin rubbed her aching temple, "don't waste my time."
"Okay, I'm fine, let's start." Watanabe Toru's voice was crisp and clear.
After everyone was ready and the music was tuned, the new deputy director - a girl named Natsuki Nakagawa - connected the music classroom to the school radio.
"Hello, hello, sorry to bother you all, this is the wind band. Today we have invited a conductor and oboe player who won a national gold medal to come and exchange ideas..."
While the deputy director was communicating with the faculty and students of the entire school through the microphone, Toru Watanabe and Kumiko were also communicating in a low voice.
"Here are your notes. How's practice going?"
"You will definitely be surprised!" Kumiko replied with high morale, "Your senior is really amazing!"
"...It's quite impressive." Watanabe Toru said perfunctorily, "Don't let me down, I will always pay attention to the tone of the euphonium."
"Forget it!" Kumiko sternly refused, "Please concentrate on playing your part!"
At present, she can only show off her "effort not to lose to others". As for her performance level, please wait until next year!
It will definitely surprise Watanabe! Just call her 'Kumiko-sister'!
“…That’s all. Please listen to the wind orchestra’s lunchtime ensemble, ‘Dance of the Crescent Moon’!” The deputy director ended his exchange, and the two also ended their conversation.
Qingye Rin looked around at everyone and slowly raised his baton.
"call--"
The sound of the orderly and even breathing was transmitted through the radio to every corridor and every room in Kitauji.
In the office, teachers put down their work; in the classroom, students stopped chatting, and even the boys playing basketball on the playground stopped shooting.
Silence dominated Kitauji at this moment.
The next moment, the main melody of the trumpet rose from the ground.
…
In the third grade classroom, Asuka Tanaka was eating a sandwich and listening to the ensemble on the radio.
The notes were neat and uniform, without a single impurity. It seemed that they did not waste their time even after she withdrew.
"You're awesome, Asuka!" praised a good girl in the class.
"Hehe, after all, she is my junior who was trained!" Asuka Tanaka took a sip of milk proudly.
"With this level of skill, you didn't get the national gold medal?"
Asuka Tanaka put down the milk and said with a wry smile: "The national competition is full of monsters, especially..."
The classroom, which had been gradually becoming noisy, suddenly became quiet.
The melodious sound of a gospel singer is like the sigh of God, and the sun resonates with it and becomes more sacred.
"What is this?" the girl asked in surprise, "A song composed by a computer?"
Asuka Tanaka shrugged and said easily: "This is the level of the oboe played by the national champion."
"Lie? How can it be so nice?"
"Hahaha, that's a lie. If everyone is like that..."
"Look outside!" a boy sitting by the window shouted.
Everyone subconsciously looked out the window, their eyes widened, their mouths opened, and their faces were full of disbelief.
…
Another classroom for the third grade.
The mechanical pencil in Aoi's hand stopped at some point.
She looked out the window at Kitauji's largest broadcast.
Countless white pigeons are flying, their white feathers reflecting the sunlight, making it impossible to open your eyes.
…
The ensemble ended, and Kumiko's cheeks were lightly flushed.
She thought that she had just demonstrated all her efforts during this period.
But that’s not enough. I only know a little bit of the contents in that notebook.
I want to keep improving like this, keep learning, and keep playing happily with everyone!
Just as she was immersed in it, she heard Watanabe Toru's low voice: "Go turn off the radio."
"Huh?" She didn't respond.
"Go quickly."
"oh oh!"
Just as Kumiko subconsciously walked over quickly, Qingye Rin's cold and pleasant voice rang out.
"Before giving advice, you must first be aware of your own shortcomings."
"Your fingering can't keep up with the rhythm, but your breath can't keep up, and it becomes a mess when the speed is fast. I really wonder how you became the representative of Kansai."
"For the trombone section, do you understand the difference between 'full' and 'too complicated'? If you don't understand, I suggest you ask your Chinese teacher for advice."
"The French horn...sits in the second seat, right? You..."
Looking at the off button, Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief.
The face of the wind orchestra was saved... probably.
"And the euphonium."
"Here!" Kumiko immediately stood still.
"Instead of considering the diversity of the performances and sending one more person to make up the numbers, it is better to let Kumiko perform solo. For you, this arrangement will increase your chances of entering the national competition next year."
Although she was happy to be praised, Kumiko immediately looked at the deputy director Nakagawa Natsuki with an apologetic look - the other party was one of the only two euphonium players left after he quit the club in his third year.
Natsuki Nakagawa smiled at Kumiko and shook her head as if it was nothing.
Behind the euphonium on her knees, she clutched the hem of her school uniform tightly.
There was no anger at all, but it was all unwillingness.
Unlike Kumiko, who joined the wind band since she was a child and has been playing the euphonium until now, she joined the wind band in her first year of high school and then came into contact with the euphonium.
Last year, she was eliminated to Group B during the selection.
We must work hard and join Group A next year!
"Hmm!" Qingyue's clearing of the throat interrupted Nakagawa Natsuki's thoughts and Kiyono Rin's instructions.
"For the entire wind band, a lunch break will mean too little." Watanabe Toru stood up, "I can give Kaizuka-senpai a private training session, how about everyone take a look?"
"I will train the senior one individually." How confident must one be to say such a thing?
Kumiko's original level was better than that of senior Nakagawa Natsuki, and she made great progress after the national competition, but she didn't dare to say such things. She even felt uneasy when the other party took the initiative to ask for advice.
"Yeah." Kaizuka Mizuki nodded nonchalantly.
Everyone came back to their senses from the depression of being scolded and looked at Watanabe Toru curiously.
He couldn't possibly give the same cruel advice to a girl as cute as Kaizuka Mizuki - and a senior at that - as he did to Kiyono Rin, right?
"I've heard Kitauji's performance. Kaizuka-senpai's oboe is really great." Watanabe Toru said, "But, how should I put it... you don't understand the cute contrast yet."
"...Hmm?" Kaizuka Mizuki tilted her head in confusion, revealing her small white ears among her short black hair.
Not to mention her, no one else had any idea what Watanabe Toru was talking about.
Are you kidding?
On the podium, Kiyono Rin folded her arms and looked at Watanabe Toru.
This guy talks nonsense all day long, always talking about "Tokyo handsome guy" and pretending to be childish, but if you underestimate him and believe him, you will be fooled by him.
He is good at influencing people in a tactful way and making them obey him through joking means.
Even someone as outstanding as myself and the annoying Kujo Miki would occasionally be manipulated by him.
"Kaizuka-senpai, your solo was very stable in pitch, and just as calm as you are."
"Yeah." Faced with the praise, Kaizuka Mizuki still showed no expression.
"Calm girls are very attractive, very attractive. I really like calm girls, such as R-san. Even if she has a terrible personality, I still like her...
"Watanabe Toru-kun." Kiyono Rin's voice came over.
"Let's get back to the point. Kaizuka-senpai, you're playing the oboe for that senior Usagi Nozomi, right?"
"Shimei is special and the most important friend. I only play for Shimei." Kaizuka Mio said the longest sentence of the day.
"Ming." A lively and energetic girl playing the flute responded.
Kaizuka Mizuki looked at the other person shyly and gently, and the flute girl grinned at her.
"Friendship between girls is amazing!" Watanabe Toru wiped his eyes with emotion, "Now, I'm going to tell you the secret of how I became the 'No. 1 most popular guy in Tokyo'. Let this Kabe-senpai love you so much that she will only think of you for the rest of her life."
"Huh?" Nozomi Usagi was startled.
"Yes!" Kaizuka Mizuki looked straight at Watanabe Toru with a firm look.
"Mio?" Nozomi Usagi turned her head and looked at her good friend in disbelief.
Toru Watanabe ignored Nozomi Usagi's reaction and acted like the "most popular man among women in Tokyo".
"A girl who is usually calm and dignified can show her passionate, wild and crazy side at a critical moment, which will excite and fascinate the other party."
"What?" Kaizuka Miyoshi's tone was emotionless, and there was endless confusion in his big eyes.
This is a pure child.
"Watanabe!" Kumiko shouted with a red face.
"Pervert." Lina also turned her head away with a flushed face.
Okay, yellow card.
The people around him all chuckled and whispered to each other.
All yellow cards.
"What I mean is, Kaizuka-senpai, you can try to be more emotional and passionate when playing the oboe. Aren't you playing for Usagi-senpai? Then let her see your greedy and exclusive love, and be passionate enough to melt her!"
"Isn't it good if we can play the music perfectly?" Kaizuka Mizuki asked doubtfully.
"No, no, no, playing according to the score will never reveal all the details." Watanabe Toru shook his right index finger. "The oboe is an instrument with many expressive techniques. What are you thinking about when you play it? Is there anything you want to convey?"
"What was conveyed?" Kaizuka Mizuki asked back with his head tilted.
"It's love, it's love!" Watanabe Toru stood up, "We oboe players are believers in love! When we are given love and feel love in life, we should express it with our oboe! This love is the ammunition of our oboe!"
"...I will do my best." Compared to Watanabe Toru's enthusiasm, Kaizuka Mizuki was as calm as a penguin looking at the sky in Antarctica.
Toru Watanabe pulled out the reed, wiped it clean, put it back, and handed the oboe to Kaizuka Mizuki.
"Blow it for me," he said.
Kaizuka Mizuki's slender fingers moved lightly on the keys, and a clean tone rang out.
Everyone was immersed in this sound.
Kumiko admires Senior Kaizuka very much, she is really amazing.
"No, it's boring." Watanabe Toru interrupted her mercilessly, "Music scores are not such delicate things, you have to smash them hard, come on."
Kaizuka Mizuki played another passage.
“No, no, I didn’t hear the ‘DuangDuangDuang’ sound. It’s not hard enough. Try again.”
Kaizuka Mizuki played the lute again.
"No, no, no." Watanabe Toru shook his head, "You usually show your calm side when you are with Usagi-senpai, so when you play the oboe, you must let her feel your wet love - only such a contrast can capture a man's heart!"
"Man?" Nozomi Usagi looked confused.
"Wet...a man's heart..." Kumiko repeated these words in a low voice as if she had given up everything.
"I'm sorry." Kaizuka Mizuki lowered his head.
"Don't apologize, you've tried your best. How about this..." Watanabe Toru looked at Uzumaki Nozomi, "Uzumaki-senpai, can you please cooperate with me?"
"Me? Oh, no problem."
Toru Watanabe took a chair and asked Nozomi Usagi to sit opposite Kaizuka Mio.
"Kaizuka-senpai, look at Usagi-senpai's face and blow it again."
"Hmm." Kaizuka Mizuki stared at Usagi Nozomi and played slowly.
Watanabe Toru listened for a while, then shook his head and said, "No, it's not enough."
He walked behind Kaizuka Mizuki and whispered in her ear: "Kaizuka-senpai, did you see that? Umaki-senpai is right there, do you want to open your arms and pounce on her?"
"The smell of the neck, the sweat stains under the armpits, the smooth belly, don't you want to smell it?"
“Eh——???” Nozomi Usagi hugged herself with her hands, looking scared.
As Watanabe Toru described, Kaizuka Mizuki looked at Usagi Nozomi's neck, armpits, and lower abdomen, and his breath became a little bit turbid and heavy.
But her pronunciation is still very accurate.
Watanabe Toru had long discovered that Kaizuka Mizuki was extremely diligent in his practice and memorizing the music had already become his instinct.
"Yes, I need to use such a moist breath to blow on her." Watanabe Toru said slowly, "Look at her breasts again, small but so firm, and her white and tender legs under the pleated skirt, don't you want to touch them with your hands?"
As Kaizuka Mizuki's gaze gradually became more licking, Usagi Hime covered her chest with one hand, pulled her skirt down, and turned her body slightly to the side.
"She's shy, but she's also cute, right? Do you want to bully Nozomi like this? Do you want to hold her in your arms?"
The tone of Kaizuka Mizuki's voice suddenly became thick.
"Yes! That's it! Naked truth, naked heart, naked love!"
In Toru Watanabe's voice, Misaki's performance is full of passion and no longer cold.
The fingers slide gently across the keys, sometimes cheerful, sometimes melancholy, sometimes sweet, sometimes sad.
The timbre seems to become colorful and dazzling, and every melodious melody is full of emotion.
In an instant, Kumiko seemed to see the music classroom filled with pink bubbles.
It's incredible!
"Perfect." Watanabe Toru clasped his hands together.
In Kumiko's sight, Kaizuka Mizuki stopped playing and smiled happily, as if he had mastered something.
"Kaizaka-senpai, you have to remember that you are not playing to reproduce the music score. You have to make Nozomi-senpai shy, touched, sad, or even embarrassed. You have to make her the way you like. The oboe is your weapon!"
"Yeah, I understand!" Kaizuka Mizuki nodded vigorously excitedly.
"Mio——" Hime Usagi covered her skirt and chest, wailing to beg him to stay.
"Senior Kaizuka, your voice is very clean and your pitch is very stable. For a high school student, you have performed very well. Now, after my introduction, you have become a believer in love. You will definitely be able to enter a music university in the future and let the whole world hear your voice."
"As long as Ximei can hear it, I will be satisfied."
"That's right." Watanabe Toru responded, "But when the time comes, Sister Ximei will let you go and let you go to a farther and higher music hall."
Kaizuka Mizuki shook his head, holding the oboe, and looked at Usagi Nozomi in front of him without saying a word.
There was a hint of confusion in Nozomi Usagi's bright and doting smile.
Ming originally had talent and hard work far beyond that of an ordinary person, and her playing skills were beyond reproach. And just now, that even more moving tone truly touched her heart.
In the future, Ming will become more outstanding and be able to go to the best music university. Can I do the same?
Or should I let Ming accompany me to an ordinary university?
Nozomi Usagi clenched the flute in her hands.
…
The lunch break passed quickly.
Kumiko sees off Watanabe Toru and Kiyono Rin at the school gate.
"Kumiko, remember to read the math notes I gave you. I'll be waiting for you at the University of Tokyo."
"You overestimate me!"
"I thought you were going to say 'Even if I can get in, I'll accompany Reina to the women's university'. It seems like you two aren't sticky enough."
"Stop saying that word!"
"Okay, okay." Watanabe Toru was about to say something when the bell for class started ringing in the distance.
"Let's go." He waved his hand and walked down the hill with Qingye Rin.
"Okay, bye." Kumiko was startled by the hoarseness of her own voice. When she came to her senses, she realized that her eyes were almost red.
Fortunately, Toru Watanabe had turned around.
"Kiyono-san, how is my teaching method? Is it effective? I can guarantee in front of Kitauji that Kaizuka Mizuki will definitely become an outstanding oboe player. If not, let it tremble right now!"
"I only saw you harassing girls."
"Hey, hey, hey, it's because you look at this matter with tinted glasses that you think I'm harassing you. If you can calm down, then I..."
The two people's voices gradually became unclear.
"Kumiko, class is about to start!" Reina's voice came from behind.
Kumiko took a deep breath and calmed herself down: "Here I come!"
She suddenly remembered something Watanabe Toru said unintentionally when they first met today.
"Just think about it, everyone was fascinated by me, and then they never saw me again. Don't you think this is very youthful?"
"Tokyo." She turned around and walked towards the school building.
Looking into the distance with a sense of loss, I can see the endless clear autumn sky beyond the mountain behind the school.
Planes flying from west to east left white trails that divided the sky into two.
