blogombal Page 122
Page 122
"Because my progress is incredibly fast! Only a truly ruthless person could do that!" Kurosawa Maki said. "I'm happy with the progress, but the thought of having to receive further guidance gives me a headache~"
"I see...."
Yuka Isomoto nodded in agreement, saying that Kitahara-sensei's standards for qualification were very strict, and it would be very difficult to endure if one did not have something driving them.
"Kurosawa-senpai, what made you start playing the euphonium?"
"reason?"
Kurosawa Maki paused for a moment, then smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said...
"I think it's cool to play the euphonium. There's a really popular anime called Sound! Euphonium."
"That's it?" Yuka Isomoto seemed confused.
Kurosawa Maki's eyes widened slightly: "...Otherwise what? Does Isogen-senpai have something else in mind?"
Yuka Isomoto was silent for a while. On the shelf was a black euphonium storage box containing Saito Kazutori's euphonium.
She dared not say that it was because she owed birds, but because she wanted to help Kitahara-sensei win the three-time championship by playing the euphonium.
—Really… Yuka, you have no opinions at all. No wonder Professor Otaki looks at you coldly.
Chapter 119, Section 118: The Schedule, Here You Come!
"Team Leader Isomoto, we're off!"
At this moment, the other members of the bass section took the initiative to come over and say goodbye to Yuka Isomoto.
"Well, bye-bye."
The night swallowed the light in the room. She paused for a moment before answering, saying that she was still not used to the position of section leader.
According to the unwritten rule within the wind instrument club, first-year members must say goodbye to their section leader when leaving after practice.
Many of the department's rules reflect the hierarchical relationship, but these rules have existed for a long time, just like the 45-degree bow, which is buried in everyone's heart.
Even if some people think, "Isn't it really unnecessary?", this trend forces other members to do the same.
Yuka Isomoto's village didn't have so many rules, so she had to learn them here out of necessity, and she's already quite skilled at bowing.
After saying goodbye to Maki Kurosawa, she left the instrument management room with her schoolbag on her back.
Looking at her club members walking home together in the stairwell, Yuka Isomoto gently bit her lip, the noisy laughter of her classmates after practice reaching her ears.
Night continued to engulf the school courtyard, but here it was eerily quiet; even breathing was noise.
Before, Saito Harutori was willing to accompany her home, but now, she can't even find anyone to go home with her.
Thinking of this, Yuka Isomoto couldn't help but sit on the stairs, hugging her knees, a burning sensation rising deep in her throat as past memories flowed into her consciousness.
Why did I suddenly become so lonely and isolated?
“Iso Gen-kun.”
Just as Yuka Isomoto fell into a heart-wrenching silence, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.
The girl's slender arm trembled slightly. She slowly raised her soft eyelashes, turned her head to look, and saw Kitahara Hakuma standing behind her.
"Teacher Kitahara..."
73
"What's wrong? Why are you sitting here? Are you feeling unwell?" Kitahara Hakuba noticed that something was wrong with her; her face was full of melancholy.
"No."
Yuka Isomoto subconsciously lowered her voice, trying to cover up her misunderstanding, and said...
"I feel a bit anemic from practicing for so long."
Kitahara Hakuba saw the girl's tearful face reflected in his eyes and took out a plastic bottle from his bag.
There was a green liquid sloshing inside; it was a bottle of green tea.
“You’ve made great progress. This is a gift for you. Try not to tell anyone else,” he said with a smile.
Yuka Isomoto accepted the green tea with a somewhat flattered expression, her slender white fingers pressing all over the plastic film.
She wasn't stupid; she knew that Kitahara-sensei had given her the drink he was supposed to have.
"Let's go back together, it's on our way."
His words flowed into Yuka Isomoto's heart like a warm breeze. She stood up, patted her skirt, and said:
"is this okay?"
“Why not?” Kitahara Hakuba said with a gentle smile. “I’ll be quite bored on my way back alone.”
"But it will disturb your rest..."
"I'm just using my free time to go back with you, don't overthink it."
Looking at the handsome and gentle face in front of her, Yuka Isomoto suddenly bit her teeth, and a thought welled up in her heart that she wanted to go forward and hug him tightly, and take a deep breath to feel at ease.
But it was still suppressed.
"Have you had dinner yet?" Kitahara Hakuba asked as he walked downstairs.
"Yeah, I ate at the school cafeteria." Yuka Isomoto waited until he passed her before urging her slender legs to catch up.
Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile:
"The school cafeteria food isn't actually that good."
"But it's cheap! And the teachers' meals are different from ours, right? I heard they're really delicious."
"It's the same, there's no difference. By the way, don't tell other teachers that I said these things."
He raised a thumb and pressed it to his lips; such a gesture would seem affected to others, but it came out perfectly naturally to him.
Yuka Isomoto, looking increasingly relaxed, smiled broadly.
"Ok!"
Footsteps echoed in the club building. Because the two took different strides, Kitahara Hakuba deliberately slowed his pace, which warmed Isomoto Yuka's heart.
On such a night, she was very grateful that she was not alone.
>
Time flies, and it's already the end of June. Because of a group meeting, the members gathered again in the first music classroom.
Sakurako Kawai arranged the more than ninety members of the brass band according to their vocal parts and distributed copies of the schedules she had just received from Hakuba Kitahara to each of them.
"Attention everyone! Members who don't yet have their schedules, please raise your hands!"
Kitahara Hakuba stood aside watching, confident that no one would miss out, as he was photocopying the summer schedules by the number of people.
After looking around to make sure everyone was there, Kawashiroko continued loudly:
“Okay, because we have a lot of plans, including the Hakodate regional convention, the third-year mock exams, and visits to schools we’re interested in, we’ve made the schedule with Kitahara-sensei in advance.”
The girl with the three braids picked up the schedule and continued speaking in a high tone, trying not to crack:
"Please arrange your training time according to your own actual situation, especially during the training camp. Do not have any other plans during the camp. The audition for the A-group of the All-Kingdom Tournament will also be decided during the training camp!"
Upon hearing that an audition for the "All-Do Tournament" would be held during the training camp, most of the club members began to feel a surge of frustration.
But thinking about it carefully, the Hakodate regional convention hasn't even taken place yet.
Sakurako's gaze fell on Hakuba Kitahara, who nodded and stepped forward, saying:
"Thank you for your hard work. As you all probably already know, the Hakodate Regional Tournament's band competition will be held over two days. The A-group competition is on July 28th, and the B-group competition is on the 29th. Shin-Asahi Private High School will be on the 28th around 10 a.m. At the same time, only one school from the A-group can advance to the National Tournament from the Hakodate Regional Tournament, and the same applies to the B-group competition."
At that moment, almost everyone held their breath. This was the first time they had taken the stage with a serious attitude, and it was the first official competition for society to test their results.
Kitahara Hakuba said with a smile:
"However, please don't worry. Other A-level contestants, and even other departments, in the Hakodate area competition didn't choose the freestyle melody like us. If we're just looking at novelty, the judges will favor us."
At the same time, the repetition of the theme song is very low. Besides, in my mind, you are no longer the clueless newbies who kept demanding my apology at the beginning of the semester. Believe in yourselves; I believe you can definitely make it to the national competition.
He wasn't afraid at all. The Hakodate Regional Tournament was just a small experience boost; he and his brass band would just have to devour it.
Kitahara Hakuba's words made some of the girls below blush, and everyone gasped, their faces beaming.
Especially Mizuno Kase, who had initially demanded an apology from him, is now completely silent.
She even wished she could borrow a time machine from Jiaozi, travel back in time, and slap her ignorant self.
Kitahara Hakuba looked at Yukawa Sakurako beside him and said:
"Minister, let's hurry up."
Sakurako Yukawa nodded and shouted loudly:
"Members of Group A, please stay and continue your ensemble practice. Members of Group B, please practice your individual harmonies! Remember, don't run in the hallways! Don't disturb students from other groups!"
"Yes!"
As the final exams on July 16th approached, the atmosphere within the club became tense.
Because club activities will be banned in a few days, Kitahara Hakuba's training time is longer than usual, often lasting until 8 pm.
He would occasionally be called in for a private talk by the ferry manager, who felt that he was pushing the students in the club too hard and asked if he could slow down a bit.
However, Kitahara Hakuba would say "okay" or "I understand" but in reality, he completely ignored him and continued to train the girls until 8 p.m.
At first, I would often pause and then continue playing the competition pieces, but once I came to my senses, I was able to play them completely. Compared to before, my performance level was a huge leap forward.
Kitahara Hakuba's instruction gradually shifted from basic elements such as intervals and rhythms in each measure to more advanced techniques such as the collective trilling of the brass section, the synchronized uvular trills of the woodwind section, and the cross rhythms of the percussion ensemble.
In order not to let themselves and Kitahara-sensei down, all the club members practiced desperately, striving to learn before the club building closed during exam week.
"Let's do the percussion and brass section again. You have to practice this part until you can do it perfectly today."
"Yes!"
Today is the last time we'll play together before exam week.
The ensemble has now reached its eighteenth performance. To many people, each performance sounds the same, but only Kitahara Hakuba can hear the subtle differences.
Even when a large group of instruments are playing together, he can keenly identify the "bad apples" and provide guidance, to which the offenders can only accept the criticism with trepidation.
"Alright, trumpet group, take turns playing measure 68, starting with Yu Shou."
"Yes."