Chapter 223: Restless Valentine's Day (2)
The next day, February 3rd, was a sunny day after the rain.
In the morning at the shoe closet, Kiyono Rin told Watanabe Toru to go to the wind band with her at noon.
After the morning class, Toru Watanabe followed her to inspect the "subordinate departments".
"What exactly?" he asked.
"It's about the regulations." Qingye Rin answered simply.
Watanabe Toru didn't ask any more questions. He was not interested in these things, and he would know the answer when the time came.
In the corridor, classmates who passed by saw the two walking together and cast curious glances at them.
The two of them are already the celebrities on campus just based on their looks, not to mention the endless anecdotes they have.
The reason why it is not obvious at ordinary times is that Kiyono Rin never chats with her classmates. Even in the wind band where she worked hard together, no one can become her friend.
As for Watanabe Toru, he only played around with the boys in his class, and others couldn't see that he had any intention of making friends with others.
The two ignored all the looks.
When I arrived at the third floor of the club building, I didn't hear any musical instrument training sounds.
As I approached the music room, I gradually heard a heated argument.
Because of the filtering of the soundproof door, the sound seems distant.
"We've said it all! We've said it multiple times! We'll train hard in the new semester!"
"Xiu-kun..."
"When we set the goal, you second-year students also agreed to set it as 'National Gold', right?"
"Ryo-san..."
"So what? Do you think we are your freshman? We will face the prospect of further studies next year, and not everyone will go to a music university!"
"Classmate Fanmei..."
"Does this have anything to do with whether you go to the Conservatory of Music or not? Didn't everyone train and study together last year? Why can't we do that today?"
"I say, aren't you first-years too arrogant? "
"So what!"
At the door, Watanabe Toru smiled and said to Kiyono Rin: "Do you think there will be a fight? I bet they will. It will take a week for the club to be clean."
Qingye Rin first glared at him who was gloating, then said: "No."
The two continued to listen to the noise inside.
"Everyone, stop arguing!" Even when Hayami Xun spoke loudly, there was a sense of gentleness in her voice.
"By the way, Minister Hayami, why do you want to let outsiders interfere in the affairs of our wind band?"
"Kiyono-san is not an outsider."
"Huh? You decided to leave no matter how hard we tried to persuade you to stay. What right do you have to interfere now? And make rules that we must abide by?"
"Kiyono-san is doing this for the good of the brass band!" a first-year student said.
"For the good of the orchestra? Is that her business?"
"You are not allowed to talk about Kiyono-san like that!" It was Aoi Ikki's voice.
"That's right! Kiyono-san led us to win the national gold medal, and I believe she is absolutely right!" Tamamo Yomi also spoke.
"Leader, haven't we tried hard? You listen to her so much, but it's a pity that she looks down on you!"
There was a rustling sound of tables and chairs rubbing against the ground.
Watanabe Toru put his hands in his pockets, leaned straight to the right, and leaned close to Kiyono Rin's ear:
"Rin-san is going to lose."
Qingye Rin said nothing and pushed open the heavy door of the music classroom.
"Hey! Hey! You can't be like this!" Watanabe Toru accused in a low and hurried voice.
The door was opened and the music classroom became quiet.
After the third grade students withdrew from the club, the remaining sixty or so members of the wind band were all present.
Most people huddled in the corner of the classroom to watch. Seven or eight people were arguing in the middle. Some chairs had fallen to the ground. Hayami Xun looked uneasy.
Everybody look over here.
"Kiyono-san?!" Hayami Kaoru walked over as if he had seen the real head of the wind band and let out a long sigh.
The first graders also gathered around, each with a relaxed look on their face.
However, the more they respected the first-year student, Kiyono Rin, the more dissatisfied the second-year students became.
"What are you doing in the wind orchestra?" a second-year girl named Imai asked.
"Let me make it clear first," Qing Ye Lin didn't take that person seriously at all, "I don't look down on first-year students..."
"That's right!" The first grade looked at the second grade angrily.
"I look down on all of you."
“…Huh?”
"Hahaha!" The second graders looked at the stunned first graders and laughed loudly and mercilessly.
"Um," Toru Watanabe raised his hand, "Ms. Kiyono?"
"I mean all of them."
"Please continue."
Qingye Rin looked at the second year student and asked, "Have you laughed enough?"
The laughter stopped abruptly at the voice as cold as ice.
"When you've laughed enough, let's start training." Her tone was calm, as if nothing had happened just now.
The girl named Imai came to her senses and said sternly, "Why should we listen to you?"
"From today on, I will be the advisor of the wind band again. Do you have any opinions, Imai Kayoko-san?"
Calling senior students "classmates" has been a habit since last year when Qingye Rin was in charge of the wind band.
"Kiyono-san, are you telling the truth?!" Hayami Kaoru said excitedly.
"That's great!" Tamamo Yomi cheered.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to achieve our second consecutive national gold medal this year!”
The first-year students who had just been looked down upon all cheered.
Not only them, but even the members of the wind band who were standing aside from the matter, smiled happily, chatted with each other, and were full of hope for the future.
"What are you still doing here? You won't even be able to enter the national competition if you're like this." Qingye Rin said with a cold face, ruthlessly dampening the enthusiasm of the first-year students.
"We will work hard! We will never let you down again, Qingye-san!" the first- year student said loudly.
It seems that they have already figured out in their minds the reasons why Kiyono Rin looks down on them.
Kiyono Rin hates people who don't work hard - the brass band has come up with this impression on their own over the past year.
Amid the cheers, Kashiko Imai was still standing there.
Qing Ye Lin turned his gaze to her: "Imai Kayoko, has your French horn processing become more detailed? Have you achieved the goal of not breaking the sound?"
"I……"
"There will be new members with outstanding abilities joining the club in the new semester, and I will select members of Group A based on their abilities." Qingye Rin's tone was light, but there was a sense of awe that went straight into people's hearts.
A girl behind Imai Kayoko pulled her sleeve.
Imai Kashiko found the step, and although she admitted defeat, she looked at Kiyono Rin with a bit of stubbornness, and went to practice with that man.
The matter was resolved and Hayami Xun was completely relieved.
"Kiyono-san, thank you so much!" She bowed to Kiyono Rin.
"No need to thank me." Qing Ye Lin crossed her arms, "I'm not helping you, nor am I helping the wind band. It's just that Watanabe asked me to help, and I promised to help, so I will naturally take responsibility to the end."
"Do you think that just by saying this you can make me forget about cheating just now?" said Toru Watanabe.
"Did anyone say that you can't cheat?" Qingye Rin smiled slightly, looking a little proud.
"I thought you were a pretty girl who followed the rules."
"She is indeed a beautiful girl." Qingye Rin nodded in agreement.
What else can Toru Watanabe say?
"Watanabe-san, will you return to the wind orchestra too?" Hayami Kaoru asked after the two of them finished the topic.
Watanabe Toru sighed: "Since Kiyono-san is coming, I..."
"Don't worry about me, just be yourself." Qingye Rin interrupted Watanabe Toru's decision and looked at him dimly.
"Oh, is that so? I'll give up then." Watanabe Toru waved his hand without interest. "It's really boring to play."
Kiyono Rin glared at Watanabe Toru fiercely.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Watanabe Toru asked puzzledly.
"Nothing." Qingye Rin said coldly.
She did support any decision made by Toru Watanabe, but as soon as she said that, this man immediately left her alone in the wind band... It was because of him that she took on all these troubles.
What a heartless man.
Just like that, Miss Kiyono once again took over the club with the largest number of members in Kamikawa.
And Toru Watanabe has to clean the activity classroom for a week.
◇
As time went by and February 14th got closer, the atmosphere in the school became more and more agitated.
Friday, February 11th.
"Teacher, you seem to be very busy recently?"
"Well, there are various things to do at the end of the semester, and I have to prepare for exams and interviews."
"Exam interview?"
"It's Kamikawa's entrance exam."
Toru Watanabe was carrying a thick stack of lecture notes, and Aona Koizumi could hardly hold them.
"Today is Friday, do you want to go to the movies tonight?" As soon as the two walked into the office, they saw Akiko's face, who was excited about the holiday.
"Sure, let's have dinner out." Koizumi Aona put the lecture notes on the table.
"What should I eat?" Akiko took out his cell phone to make a restaurant reservation, and the chair under his butt started spinning.
"Watanabe, is there anything you want to eat?" Koizumi Aona looked over.
"I won't go," said Toru Watanabe. "I'll go see Miki today."
Koizumi Aina nodded: "Will you come back in the evening? Do you want us to bring some food back?"
"Well - I guess he won't come back."
"Bad association, write me a five-page self-criticism!" Akiko said with a stern face.
"Let's talk about it when you become my homeroom teacher. Goodbye."
"Qingnai, look at how arrogant your student is. Why don't you teach him a lesson?"
"You also know that Watanabe is my student."
"You bully me too? Woohoo, I'll cry in front of you!"
This is what English teacher Akiko looks like when he is not in the classroom.
Toru Watanabe returned to the classroom, picked up his schoolbag, and went to participate in club activities.
Opening the door, in the club classroom filled with the quiet winter air, Kiyono Rin looked like an exquisite life-size doll.
She sat in her usual position, raised her head from the hardcover book in her hand, gently lifted her long hair, and smiled softly:
"Good afternoon, Watanabe-san."
"good afternoon."
With simple dialogue and a very ordinary scene, Toru Watanabe realized the beauty of life.
Every day on the way to school, as long as he thought that Kiyono Rin would be waiting for him here after school, his whole body would be filled with an indescribable feeling of comfort.
"Spring is coming." He sighed without thinking as he sat down.
"Watanabe-san likes spring?" asked Kiyono Rin.
"I don't particularly like it, I just want to talk about it." Watanabe Toru paused for a moment, "Kiyono-san, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, which one do you like?"
“First rule out winter.”
"understand."
Qingye Rin put his hand on his chin and said thoughtfully: "It's not a specific season. I like the time when the rainy season ends but summer has not officially started yet."
“The hydrangeas are in bloom.”
"The roses are blooming."
"Do you like roses?"
"No, I just wanted to talk about it."
Watanabe Toru spread his hands: "Ms. Kiyono, copyright fee: 100 yen."
"If this is considered plagiarism, then Mr. Watanabe, please calculate how much money you owe me so far," said Qingno Rin with a smile.
"It's over." Toru Watanabe took out "Long Night Journey".
Today is another day when Watanabe Toru loses...
"Knock, knock, knock!" The sound of knocking on the door interrupted the narration.
"Please come in." Qingye Rin's voice was cold and distant.
"Come to think of it, I've never knocked on a door since I joined the club. I'll try next time."
Watanabe Toru would never admit it, he just wanted to hear Kiyono Rin's cold voice.
At that time, the two will definitely have a new round of debate on the winner and loser with "knocking on the door" as the topic, right?
When Toru Watanabe was drafting a debate about 'I don't know if it will happen', someone knocked on the door and walked in.
"Excuse me."
Aoi Ikki, Asako Hanada, and Yoshimi Tamamo walked in.
"Please sit down." Qingye Rin stood up and poured tea for them.
When the three of them sat down, looking at Hanada Asako, whose feet couldn't touch the ground and who was holding the teacup with both hands like a child, Toru Watanabe remembered that he had another mission.
But it doesn't matter.
"No training today?" he asked Ikki Aoi.
"Kiyono-san has given the wind orchestra a day off today." Ikki Aoi said in a relaxed tone.
The wild-style training during this period made the wind orchestra miserable.
In fact, Qingye Rin seldom goes to the wind band. She only goes there once every few days and asks everyone to play for her in front of everyone, and then she points out any problems in a targeted manner.
She had an excellent ear, and unless the problem was improved - not necessarily solved - she would not proceed with the next instruction and would ask people to practice again and again.
If a person fails to make progress once or twice and receives no new guidance, everyone will know whether he or she is slacking off.
"What's the matter with coming to the Human Observation Department?" Qingye Rin put down the kettle and sat back in her seat.
She adjusted the hem of her pleated skirt with her hands.
Although they all had the same style, her skirt alone always reminded Toru Watanabe of a courtyard with flowers in bloom in May.
"It's about Valentine's Day." Tamamo Yomi said impatiently.
"Valentine's Day?" Qingye Rin looked a little confused.
"Didn't you say that you, Kiyono-san, were going to give Watanabe-kun some chocolate?" Ikki Aoi also looked confused.
"..." Qingye Rin stroked his forehead, lowered his head, and sighed deeply.
"Who told you that?" Toru Watanabe stared at Aoi Ikki.
Hanada Asako, who was swinging her legs leisurely, was startled by his attitude and quickly closed her legs.
Ikki Aoi said "Huh?" without reacting, and looked at Watanabe Toru and Kiyono Rin:
“Everyone is talking about it.”
"Who are you?"
"that……"
"Why are you so fierce!" Tamamo Yomi was dissatisfied with Watanabe Toru's interrogative tone.
"Sorry." Toru Watanabe realized that he was wrong.
"It's okay~" Ikki Aoi didn't care.
She boasted that she and Toru Watanabe had "discussed women" and were very close.
"So, who is this everyone?" asked Qingye Rin.
Although she was polite, her tone was even colder than Watanabe Toru's, but no one dared to refute her.
"My classmates and the club, everyone is talking about it." Ikki Aoi replied.
"Number three is going to the brass band, so why are we two going together?" Watanabe Toru looked at Kiyono Rin.
Qingye Rin put his hand on his chin, thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid there are more than that."
After saying that, she raised her head and said, "Forget it, it doesn't matter what others say. Yimu-san, what are you doing here?"
Ichimoku Aoi hesitated for a moment and replied:
"Isn't Valentine's Day next Monday, the 14th? We originally thought that if Qingye-san also wanted to give chocolates, we could go to the mall together tonight to buy the ingredients, and then make handmade chocolates together on Saturday and Sunday."
"Not only do I want to give Watanabe-san chocolate, I want to give him handmade chocolate." Kiyono Rin's smile was a little sinister.
"I will return the gift." Watanabe Toru echoed.
"Shut up."
"yes."
"Then..." Ikki Aoi spied on Kiyono Rin's expression, "Kiyono-san, are you going?"
"Even if we don't buy chocolate, we can go to the movies!" Tamamo Yoshimi leaned forward slightly, "It's at the movie theater in Shinjuku."
"It's a rare holiday, let's go out and play together~" Ikki Aoi said, "I'm planning to invite Asuri-senpai too."
"Kiyono-san." Hanada Asako also stared at Kiyono Rin eagerly.
"Thank you for inviting me, but forget it." Qingye Rin shook her head.
"Ah——" Ikki Aoi wailed dejectedly.
Then, she asked Watanabe Toru, "Watanabe-kun, are you going?"
"No."
"All right."
