Chapter 289 Plum Rain (1)
While waiting for the train at Atami Station, Toru Watanabe was wondering whether to buy souvenirs.
When I arrived, I found that there was a "Heiwa-dori shopping street" nearby.
This shopping street is built on a very gentle slope. Perhaps because he has to climb the slope every day to go to school, Watanabe Toru feels very close to it. He has never had this feeling when he saw the slope in front of Kamikawa School.
There are many shops selling souvenirs, and many merchants simply pile up boxes of local specialties in front of the store.
Toru Watanabe was in no rush to buy anything. He walked slowly down the hill, preparing to finish strolling through the streets.
I forgot my mask and book at the station when I came here. Fortunately, there is a famous saying that "Except for Tokyo, the whole island country is countryside", so no one came to chat with me in this "countryside" town called Atami.
Just the constant glances from shop assistants and tourists.
He walked along with an expression that was neither cold nor enthusiastic, but just a little bit of "don't bother me" - I don't know whether he was as noble as Kujo Miki or as cold as Kiyono Rin in the eyes of outsiders.
On the way, I saw a store called "Bai Ye Shu Yuan".
Opening a bookstore in the shopping street in front of the station?
Standing in front of the store, Toru Watanabe was not sure whether it was a bookstore or not. It might be a hot pot restaurant where seasonings were dipped in brushes.
He took out his cell phone and took a picture.
"Even if I'm in Atami, a hundred kilometers away from Tokyo, I still subconsciously pay attention to bookstores. You have no idea how much I..."
The hand stopped.
Toru Watanabe looked at the screen of his mobile phone and deleted the line of words.
The exit of the shopping street was not far away, but he had no interest in going any further.
I put away my phone, walked back slowly, and bought three boxes of Strawberry Daifuku on the way.
After returning to the station, there was still some time before departure, so Watanabe Toru simply went to the free hot spring foot bath in front of the station.
There are quite a few people sitting here, mostly tourists with suitcases beside them - the locals are probably tired of these hot springs.
The corner seat was also occupied, and Toru Watanabe sat down in the middle, took off his shoes, and soaked his feet in it.
The slightly high water temperature and the screams of the female tourists around him who were afraid of being scalded made Toru Watanabe think of Kujo Miki.
The last time they traveled to Izu, she was afraid to put her feet in the hot spring foot bath at the Kawazu beach because it was too hot, so she slowly poured the hot spring water on her feet herself.
I took out my cell phone, took a picture of my feet in the hot spring, and sent it to her.
"Sexy?"
"Tonight I'll show you what real sexiness is." Also sent was a photo of her thighs with her skirt slightly lifted.
"I'm drooling...Save!"
"No future", then, Kujo Miki posted "Where are you soaking your feet?"
"Atami. (well behaved.jpg)"
"snort"
"Don't be angry, I bought you a souvenir. (Strawberry Daifuku.jpg)"
"I won't see you tonight, don't ever come back"
"I've bought the tickets. (tickets.jpg)"
"It turned out that no one wanted me, so I was sent back."
"Send me a voice message, I miss you"
Voice from Meiji: "Go away."
"It sounds great, so great! I will always be a fan of Sister Meiji! (waving a glow stick.jpg)"
Sister Miki ignored her little fan who was far away in Atami.
On the return train, I didn’t meet the two female voice actors.
Since I didn’t have lunch, I bought a station bento. The taste was average, but it was quite pleasant to eat it while looking at the scenery along the way.
A little bit of the fun of traveling on a whim.
…
After Toru Watanabe returned to Tokyo, the plum rain season arrived and it rained for a week.
On a drizzling Saturday, Toru Watanabe went to school holding an umbrella that would never get wet to guide the wind band's practice.
On the slope, I met Kiyono Rin.
"Good morning, Kiyono-san." Toru Watanabe walked forward.
"Good morning." Qingye Rin was holding an ordinary transparent umbrella.
The transparent umbrella wet by the rain suits her very well, with that clean and transparent feeling.
"If this rain continues for another day, it will last a week. By the way, do you know the cause of the plum rain? It's because..."
"You said it last year." Qingye Rin's cold voice was more pleasant than raindrops falling on an umbrella.
"Would you please forget it? I want to repeat it."
The two climbed up the hill and walked into the campus. There was a small area under the oak tree that was not wet by the rain.
On the wet playground, without the members of the sports club, the sound of trumpets could be heard coming from the direction of the club building.
"Who did you go to Atami with for the Strawberry Daifuku last time?" Kiyono Rin asked in a natural tone.
"I didn't go with anyone. Ms. Koizumi went traveling first. I was returning home from Jimbocho and when I was changing trains at Ichigaya, I suddenly wanted to go see her, so I went. In the end, I only stayed for an hour."
"Were you driven back?"
Toru Watanabe took out his cell phone and showed her the message that Miki Kujo sent him, "It turns out no one wanted me, so I was sent back."
"Anything you want to say?" he asked.
"You two talked a lot." The umbrella was tilted, and Qingye Rin leaned over slightly, looking at the phone screen and said.
"What's the point?"
"If I don't look for you, you will ignore me?" Qingye Rin raised her eyes and looked at Watanabe Toru with her beautiful eyes like ice crystals.
"How should I put it..." Watanabe Toru put away his phone, "Everyone knows that I like you the most."
"Yeah." Qingye Rin smiled and nodded.
"That's why I can't find you."
"The longer you spend with me, the less you can control yourself? Can't you control your love for me?"
"It was before, but now, there's no way I'll give up Meiji and the others."
"Really?" With her long hair swaying gently, Qingye Rin turned her head and walked into the school building.
There are many wet umbrellas on the umbrella stand in front of the shoe cabinet. The wind orchestra has more than 100 members, and they are a sports club training in the indoor training ground. They have no days off until the end of summer.
After the morning practice, Toru Watanabe did not go to the Human Observation Department to be alone with Kiyono Rin, but ran to find Kunii Osamu.
The baseball club's indoor practice field is made up of iron grids. Each member of the club stays in one grid and practices pitching and swinging the bat by himself.
"Watanabe-kun!" Before finding Kunii Osamu, the baseball manager came over.
"Good afternoon, Kobayashi." Watanabe Toru nodded.
"Good afternoon!" Kobayashi Yukiko smiled happily, "Are you here to play baseball?"
Toru Watanabe glanced at the training ground. Everyone was practicing seriously. The coach's roar and the metallic sound of the bat hitting the ball came one after another.
Thinking it would be bad to disturb Kunii Osamu’s training, he said, “Is it okay?”
"Of course, Watanabe-kun is also a member of the baseball club!"
"I had forgotten all about it."
"Don't worry, Watanabe-kun. I will ask my father to arrange for you to be a substitute player. Although you may not be able to play, you can sit on the bench and watch the game up close!"
"Thank you, but no thanks," said Toru Watanabe.
"You're welcome. By the way, I'll take you in."
Yukiko Kobayashi led Toru Watanabe into a barbed wire fence used by batters.
"Do you know how to use it?" asked Yukiko Kobayashi.
"Is it similar to a baseball casino?" Toru Watanabe looked at the automatic pitching machine and the bats.
"Um!"
Yukiko Kobayashi walked out of the barbed wire and sat on the bench outside, pen and paper in hand, ready to record Watanabe Toru's training records - how many balls he hit, how many times he swung the bat, and so on.
The main purpose, of course, was to wait for Watanabe Toru to get tired, give him a towel and water, and then chat during the break.
Toru Watanabe picked up the heaviest bat and kept swinging it at the balls thrown by the pitching machine.
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”
The faster the ball is thrown by the pitching machine, the more satisfying it is to hit the ball.
But the pitching machine was still too slow, so slow that while Watanabe Toru was hitting the ball back , he could still think of Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki.
He kept swinging the bat, and even when Kobayashi Yukiko called for a break several times, he pretended not to hear.
"Watanabe-kun, are you okay? It's easy for a novice to get injured if he practices for a long time!"
"No problem, thank you." After the exercise, he felt a little happier. Watanabe Toru said, "Can you come again tomorrow?"
"Of course!" Kobayashi Yukiko responded without thinking, then added in a slow tone: "Watanabe-kun is a member of the baseball team, you can come anytime!"
"Thanks."
"It doesn't matter! Watanabe-kun is really amazing. If we were on a real baseball field, he would have hit the ball out of the field many times!"
"Can you tell that?" There were indeed a few times when Watanabe Toru was distracted by the woman and lost control of his strength.
"Of course! Watanabe-kun, are you going to officially join the training? There are still two months until the preliminaries. With Watanabe-kun's talent, maybe he can be the third or fourth batter in a month!"
"How can it be that simple?" Watanabe Toru said, "I heard from Kunii that many talented people started practicing in elementary school."
"That's because they don't have enough talent!" Kobayashi Yukiko was even more confident than Watanabe Toru. "Watanabe-kun has been practicing the oboe for a month, and he has surpassed everyone, right? There's no problem!"
As long as it was about Toru Watanabe's deeds, there was nothing Kamikawa girls didn't know about it.
Even though he was scolded every day by the two young ladies, he was actually a big star in the Shenchuan school.
After speaking briefly to Yukiko Kobayashi, Toru Watanabe said goodbye and left.
Back in the music classroom, Kiyono Rin stood at the conductor's seat, and the members of the wind band sat in their respective seats, preparing for the afternoon ensemble practice.
Toru Watanabe was the instructor, so he also stood in the front and observed everyone's performance.
"Let's start." Seeing everyone present, Qingye Rin said.
"Yes!" A uniform female voice.
It's not just the wind orchestra. There are also overwhelmingly more girls among Kamikawa's first-year students.
On Toru Watanabe's birthday, the principal met Toru Watanabe in the courtyard and specially said words of blessing.
I don’t know whether it’s because of the enrollment effect of his star students or because of the face of the Kujo family.
"Kanishi-san."
"Yes!" The clarinetist Xilijia was responsible for tuning the instruments.
Following her clarinet, all the instruments made the same sound.
Qingye Rin didn't hold the baton and conducted with empty hands. As soon as she waved her hand, the brass instruments immediately emitted a majestic rhythm.
Watanabe Toru listened, occasionally glancing at Kiyono Rin.
A beautiful and indifferent profile, a focused expression, slender white fingers, and a vague glimpse of the snow-white wrists through the cuffs of the school uniform.
"Stop." Halfway through, Qingye Rin put away his hands that were directing.
The classroom was filled with the sound of musical instruments just now, but suddenly it was silent.
Toru Watanabe could hear the sound of rain dripping down the glass windows, but in the blink of an eye, the sound was drowned out by the uneasy sound of a classmate in the wind orchestra moving his feet.
"What's going on?" Qingye Rin asked coldly.
Swallowing saliva, nervous heartbeat.
"Bass."
"Here!" Hanada Asako and another girl responded quickly.
"When plucking, pay attention to the movements of your left hand. If I remember correctly, I told you this this morning."
“…Yes, I will pay attention!” The first-year students were so scared that they didn’t answer. Only Hanada Asako spoke.
"Trombone."
"Here!" Tamamo Homi's voice was the loudest among the trombone section.
"The error pointed out yesterday was corrected in the morning, but now it has returned. Can you make sure the game is scheduled in the morning?"
"I'm sorry, I will practice more today and guarantee that I will meet the requirements tomorrow!" Tamamo Yomi answered firmly alone.
"You think that just holding an instrument and opening the sheet music is practicing. That's a big mistake."
"yes!"
Qing Ye Lin glanced at her, then turned his gaze to everyone else:
"This is not just for the double bass and trombone. All of you must remember that the time is not the criterion for hard work, but whether you correct your mistakes and improve your level."
The classroom is quiet.
"If there is no progress, it is just a pure waste of time. Don't move yourself."
"Yes!" The second and third graders, including Tamamo Yoshimi, responded in unison.
"...Yes!" the first grade responded quickly.
"The ensemble ends here, practice on your own, and if you can't do it, just keep practicing, or play on your own, don't waste my vacation time."
"yes!"
Qingye Rin closed the music score, turned around and left the music classroom.
The classroom breathed a sigh of relief, but for a long time, everyone just looked at each other and no one spoke.
Toru Watanabe watched Kiyono Rin leave, lowering his head and thinking about something.
Kiyono Rin gave everyone a scolding, which hadn't happened this year.
She promised to help Hayami Kaoru and did a lot of things, but when it came to specific guidance, she was no longer as strict as last year. She only pointed out the mistakes and didn't say anything else.
The sophomores and juniors were fine given last year’s experience, but the first-year students were really shocked.
"Everyone!" Hayami Xun put down the bassoon, stood up and faced everyone, "Don't just stand there, start practicing!"
"yes!"
Everyone dispersed, some returned to the small classrooms of their respective voices, and some stayed in the music classroom to practice directly.
Hayami Kaoru walked up to Watanabe Toru and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, Watanabe-kun, you've been reminded of many mistakes, but you still haven't improved."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Watanabe Toru said, "Only when you are disciplined can you make progress."
"Yeah." Hayami Kaoru nodded in gratitude, "But what happened to Kiyono-san today? Why are you suddenly so eager to help?"
"Maybe it's because after the rainy season, it's her favorite season," said Toru Watanabe.
After a few brief instructions, Toru Watanabe went to the Human Observation Department.
By the window of the activity room, a beautiful girl with skin so white that it was transparent was writing something on the music score with a pen.
Watanabe Toru sat down at his seat and said to her, "Are you angry?"
"No."
"Yes, you are not angry, so you were upset just now?"
Qing Ye Lin stopped writing and looked up at him: "Do you know where you went wrong?"
"Didn't you come to the activity room at noon?"
"more than."
"Didn't I send you a message?"
"besides."
"I apologize for everything. Please stop taking it out on the wind section."
"Superficial." Qingye Lin sneered, "Do you think I would implicate others? And are they qualified to let me implicate them?"
"Then who are you?" Watanabe Toru was puzzled.
"This year is different from last year. Last year, with you, all we had to do was get all the instruments to cooperate with you. The judges listened to your performance and, as long as the others didn't make obvious mistakes, they would naturally give you an A."
"Were you really helping eagerly just now?" Watanabe Toru doubted for a moment that he did not understand Kiyono Rin as well as Kaoru did.
"I helped, but not to the extent of being enthusiastic. While I was instructing them, I made you think that I was jealous and angry, and that I cared about me in my heart."
"Bad woman."
"Are you going out at noon?"
"...Didn't I go to the baseball club at noon before?"
"Did you deliberately avoid me before?" Qingye Rin asked back.
“…It depends.”
"Where's the news? Will you send it to me?"
"It depends."
Qing Ye Lin stared at the depressed Watanabe Toru and suddenly laughed: "Anyway, you have been wanting to send me a message in your heart, opened our chat interface several times, typed a lot of words, and finally deleted them."
"How do you know? Besides reading minds, can you also read other people's memories?"
"... idiot," Qing Ye Lin looked shy, "I also...wanted to send you a message several times."
"..." Watanabe Toru couldn't utter a word.
'How can I not love this bad woman?'
"Impossible, give up. Even I love myself." Kiyono Rin directly answered the question that Watanabe Toru clearly asked in his heart.
