I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 14

Her voice is solid and mellow, calm and composed; you can tell she's a skilled singer just by listening to it.

Kirishima Mai said with a troubled expression:

"I'm not a very good singer..."

"Then sing with all your might," Watanabe Hama said, offering no words of comfort.

Because there were few people, Kitahara Hakuba took the initiative to distribute the sheet music one by one.

Unlike in the clarinet section, they didn't express any opinion on the practice sheet; they just glanced at it and put it on the shelf.

When I arrived in front of Kanzaki Eri, she was still sucking on a whistle, and the honey-colored sunlight streaming in from the window crept slowly down her thighs.

The sunlight illuminated the cotton fibers on her white short socks, making them clearly visible.

"Kanzaki-san."

"......"

Eri Kanzaki raised her eyebrows and looked at Hakuba Kitahara with clear, innocent eyes, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

"Why did you want to support me when we voted this afternoon?" Kitahara Hakuba asked, his curiosity piqued.

She is a third-year student and seems to have a good relationship with Saito Haruka; they are toilet partners.

Eri Kanzaki's gaze fell quietly on the sheet music on the table, her slender white fingers gently stroking the smooth surface of the black oboe. The tube reflected the light of the setting sun, innocently radiating a bright glow.

Her gently swaying bangs obscured her vision, and she spoke in a voice softer than a marshmallow:

"Because the teacher looked so pitiful at that time."

"...That's it?"

"Ah."

Her words left Kitahara Hakuba feeling quite frustrated.

—She clearly had the chance to win my favor, but she chose to give it up. Ha, what an interesting woman.

A moment later, the deep, mellow sound of the bassoon suddenly filled the classroom, like a whisper from a dark forest, carrying a unique magnetic quality of nature.

Hama Watanabe's fingers danced lightly and accurately across the keys, producing a beautiful and resonant high note that lingered in the classroom even after just a short interval.

"The team leader is amazing..."

Kirishima May couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of saliva, suddenly becoming so anxious that she couldn't sit still, her fingertips twitching with tension.

Kanzaki Eri remained expressionless, turning to look at the oboe in her hand. Her almost transparent, snow-white skin contrasted beautifully with the honey-colored light streaming in from the window.

"You guys practice first, I'll be over in a bit," Kitahara Hakuba said.

Leaving the oboe and bassoon sections, we arrive at the bass section.

Saito Haruki's euphonium is also here, along with tuba and double bass, making a total of twelve people.

The classroom was lively, with a group of girls chatting together, while only two boys remained in the corner, heads down, playing on their phones.

"Oh, teacher, you've come."

Saito Harutori greeted them in a coquettish voice, and as soon as she spoke, the girls around her, like larks surrounding a divine bird, chirped and greeted her incessantly.

Kitahara Hakuba looked at the club member and asked directly:

"Is someone missing?"

Saito Harutori lowered her brows apologetically, her fingers kneading the ends of her hair at her chest as she said:

"Yuxiang said she has some things to do today and can't come."

"Physical discomfort?"

Her eyes flickered slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her lips:

"I don't know."

Chapter 16. He appears aloof, yet is quite lewd.

Kitahara Hakuba brushed aside his long bangs with his fingers and handed the practice sheet to Saito Harutori, saying:

"Then let's practice first."

"Wait a minute, Kitahara-sensei—"

Seeing that he was about to leave, Saito Kiyotori stepped forward, her fingers unconsciously stroking the hem of her skirt, which seemed to have been ironed recently, as there wasn't a single wrinkle on it.

"what happened?"

"If we really go to Sapporo, Hokkaido, could we bring Tsukiyo along?"

Kitahara Hakuba hesitated for a moment, then said to Saito Harutori:

"Why? She's already left the department."

His response made Saito Haruka lower her eyes, her voice trembling slightly: "But... she's never been to Tsukiyo."

Kitahara Hakuba turned to look at her, his hand in his pocket constantly turning the reed box.

"Did Nagase-san say this?"

"...No, but—"

Kitahara Hakuba raised his hand and said in a slightly apologetic tone:

"Let's wait until she says so before making a decision. It's not necessarily a good thing for you to be here making decisions for someone else."

To put it nicely, it's looking out for a friend; to put it bluntly, it's just wishful thinking.

Saito Harutori looked at Kitahara Hakuba's face. He still maintained a faint smile, but his tone was subtly barbed, losing its usual gentleness.

"Saito, you should be more careful. Three years is nothing; it can be over in the blink of an eye, right?"

"......"

Kitahara Hakuba's words were like chalk scraping heavily on a blackboard, leaving a sharp, piercing sound in her ears.

She couldn't answer Kitahara Hakuba's question; a suffocating silence dominated the entire space, drawing the attention of even the other club members.

"Alright, alright, everyone, get back to practicing."

After Kitahara Hakuba finished speaking, he left the classroom.

However, the classroom was still filled with a tense atmosphere; the air was so heavy that my stomach was starting to hurt.

Saito Haruka bit her lower lip hard.

"Hey, Harutori, is Kitahara-sensei really serious? I'm so busy."

"He's just giving orders; who knows if he actually has the ability? There are plenty of people who put on a show of strength when they're not."

"Who knows? I think he just wants to annoy us a lot so he can tell the boss he's done his best in the end."

Several girls walked over with their practice charts. They seemed to notice that Saito Haruka looked unhappy, so they immediately started complaining about Kitahara Hakuba's practice chart.

"Everyone, you can't talk to the teacher like that. Go practice."

Saito Haruka didn't even raise an eyebrow, walked straight to her seat, took out a silver euphonium that the girl considered quite heavy from the box, and then placed the sheet music on the shelf.

◇

"I always felt that... Mr. Kitahara was a very handsome person."

At the rinsing station, Goto Yu was carefully cleaning her reed. She understood to some extent the unpleasantness of her things being tainted by other people's saliva, so she had to clean them thoroughly.

"Yu, how about we switch clubs?" Nagasawa Miya wiped the water stains off the reed with a handkerchief.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because this brass band is terrible. Even Nagase-senpai, who played the trumpet at the opening ceremony, quit the club."

Nagasawa Miyabi said without any mercy, her lips curling down in disdain.

"And the goal is the national tournament. There are already few schools in Hokkaido, so it's really bad not to aim for the national tournament."

"..." Goto Yu became melancholy as he thought about this.

The two of them actually knew nothing about playing wind instruments; it was only after seeing Nagase Tsukiyo playing when they enrolled that they were inspired to join the club and learn.

As a result, Nagase left the troupe, and not only were they not recruited into the trumpet section, but they were also assigned to the clarinet section.

“Look at those third-year students, after Kitahara-sensei left, most of them just chatted and didn’t seem to be studying at all.”

"You can wait until next year."

The sudden sound startled Goto Yu and Nagasawa Miya, who looked to the side in surprise.

A tall girl with long black hair walked over. She bent down slightly, her knees slightly bent, and turned on the mouthwash.

She opened her cherry-colored lips, and clear water washed over her mouth, the liquid leaking out along the crease of her lips, creating a very alluring scene.

Goto Yu had never seen a girl be so erotic just from rinsing her mouth, even though she looked so aloof and cute.

"Nagase-senpai?" Miya said in surprise.

Nagase Tsukiyo turned off the tap, straightened her back, and took out a light blue square handkerchief from the hidden pocket of her pleated skirt, gently wiping her lips.

When Goto Yu saw that her gaze was fixed on the two of them, he immediately held his breath. Being stared at like that by the school's acknowledged beauty made him feel a chill run down his spine.

Good afternoon, goodbye.

Nagase Tsukiyo simply left those words as if nothing had happened, turning and departing.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent, with only Goto Yu's rinsing station still running water, while her gaze remained fixed on the gap between the girl's legs under her skirt.

Nagasawa Miyabi's phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up and immediately grabbed Goto Yu's hand.

"Oh no! Mr. Kitahara is back!"

When the two of them jogged back to the vocal section room, they found Kitahara Hakuba already standing inside, seemingly waiting for them.

"We've been waiting for you. Please bear with us and have some candy while you listen in."

sugar?

Miya Nagasawa looked at the podium table, where a few hard candies of various fruit flavors were scattered about.

"I didn't expect the teacher to like this."

"It was a gift from Kuno-kun a year ago," Kitahara Hakuba said.