aircannonsinc Page 244
Page 244
But he wakes up easily.
Chapter 197, Section 196: Kitahara Hakuba No Longer Dared to Look Down on the Mouthless One (4K)
Time flew by, and the day before the audition selection arrived.
Kitahara Hakuba walked out of Goryokaku Station. The river surrounding the fortress was a dark green, yet extremely calm.
It's already September, but the scorching sun still hasn't subsided. However, the sea breeze, carrying the scent of the ocean, takes away the heat, making people feel refreshed.
As he walks into the school gate, students will greet him. Even the disciplinary committee members, who usually have a stern face, will greet him with a smile.
Unlike the students, the teachers at Shenxu do not have indoor shoes; they only have indoor slippers, which they bring themselves.
Good morning, Kitahara-sensei.
He walked into the school building and looked at the girl who had spoken to him: "Good morning, Minister Yukawa, Minister Akamatsu."
"I'm the vice minister."
Sayaka Akamatsu smiled, turned her brown loafers upside down, and the small pebbles inside fell out due to gravity.
"It really took a long time."
Sakurako's gaze fell on Hakuma Kitahara's slippers, and she said excitedly:
"Teacher Kitahara, have you been looking at the brass band's official website lately?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Kitahara Hakuba had never seen it, because the website was for people who didn't know anything about brass bands, and no one knew the Shin-Asahi Brass Band better than him.
Akamatsu Sayaka interrupted Yukawa Sakurako before she could say anything:
"The audio recordings of this Divine Ascension Assembly sold over 1,200 copies! At 1,600 copies each, that's almost two million copies!"
Kitahara Hakuba snapped out of his daze and said dismissively:
"That's normal. Once we win gold at the national championships, it's possible we'll sell 10,000 copies."
Actually, it's not much. Among them are 500 portions for Ōtaki Chikao, and the rest are just over a thousand.
Hokkaido's reputation still isn't good enough... Even the All-Hokkaido Tournament, such an important competition, only sold this many tickets.
Moreover, the Shin-Asahi Brass Band is the representative of Hokkaido.
If it's in the Kansai or Kanto region, or even a prestigious school representing the region, the number of students would probably be over three thousand.
However, Sakurako Yukawa didn't understand. She thought that selling 1,200 copies of their performance was already a very impressive achievement.
But Mr. Kitahara didn't seem very happy. Was it because his standards were too high, or because their standards were too low?
Sayaka Akamatsu unconsciously sniffed the loafers, then put them back in the shoe cabinet as if nothing had happened, put on her indoor shoes, and said:
“We used to sell at most a few dozen servings, but now more than a thousand servings is really scary.”
If even the usually carefree vice minister said something like that, it must be really scary.
"By the way, Mr. Kitahara, has the performance order for our national tournament been released yet?" Sakurako Yukawa asked, having changed into indoor shoes.
Kitahara Hakuba shook his head and said:
"Not yet. We usually only give a month's notice. I'll let everyone know when the time comes."
"so.:::
Since the third-year students and the staff offices were on the same floor, Kitahara Hakuba followed them upstairs.
But just in case, he chose to walk in front, and Sakurako and the others cooperated by walking behind him, one step away.
"Teacher Kitahara, will there be any changes to this audition?" Sakurako Yukawa asked, looking up at his profile.
"What do you mean by 'what changes will occur'?" Kitahara Hakuba asked, somewhat confused.
Sakurako Yukawa hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat nervously:
"It's like... adding one more euphonium player and removing one player from each of the other sections, like the saxophone section... something like that?"
Kitahara Hakuba was even more unable to understand:
"why?"
He thought and thought, but couldn't find a reason to do it.
Moreover, the saxophone section is already the weakest part, with an average grade of only 17 among its members. If another person is removed, the tone will drop by one grade and deteriorate even faster, which is tantamount to suicide.
“Sakurako thought that since Harutori had returned, Kitahara-sensei, you would make room for her,” Akamatsu Sayaka said bluntly.
“Sayaka!” Sakurako Yukawa blushed.
Kitahara Hakuba shook his head and said:
"No, there will only be two euphoniums in an arrangement."
He knew exactly what those girls in the club were capable of; this year's euphonium could only be performed by Iso Gen and Saito.
Strangely, why would Sakurako Yukawa think that way?
"What makes you think I would do that?" Kitahara Hakuba asked.
"No, no... It was just a silly guess when I was bored. Please don't mind it, Kitahara-sensei." Yukawa Sakurako smiled awkwardly.
Saito Haruka would often approach Kitahara-sensei, and she subconsciously felt that Haruka was asking him for an extra spot in the euphonium so that Kurosawa Maki wouldn't leave.
Because in Yukawa Sakurako's memory, Saito Haruka was such a person.
Strange... So why does she keep seeking out Kitahara-sensei to talk to her?
"Then I'll head back to my office."
"Alright, goodbye Kitahara-sensei."
After saying goodbye to the two cadres, Kitahara Hakuba went straight into the staff office.
There was no one else there, yet he was still the first teacher to arrive at the office.
As soon as I sat down, I noticed an invitation-like object on the table, with a faint fragrance emanating from it.
Upon opening it, I found a ticket for a choir performance at the cultural festival, with a line of neat small print on it.
"We hope that Mr. Kitahara can come to the auditorium to watch! This is the heartfelt wish of the entire choir!"
Oh, so they're the girls from the choir. ::
Kitahara Hakuba smiled faintly and put the tickets in the drawer. However, these students were really quick; it seemed that the tickets for the brass band hadn't even been made yet.
"Are they usually very free...?" He quickly came to this conclusion.
The grandfather
There was a knock on the office door. Kitahara Hakuba turned around and saw Kanzaki Eri standing in the doorway.
Her shoulders were slender, and her neck had a graceful, swan-like curve, exuding a heartbreaking fragility and purity.
Eri Kanzaki was carrying a small bag, and judging from the English on it, it belonged to a luxury cosmetics brand.
"Kanzaki-kun, what's wrong?" Kitahara Hakuba asked from afar.
Would she send me cosmetics?
Eri Kanzaki walked forward slowly and deliberately, her steps steady, each step carrying an almost mechanical, jerky quality.
The girl reached into the bag and pulled out a small black box, placing it on Kitahara Hakuba's desk.
Kitahara Hakuba looked closely and found sixteen brightly colored cherry tomatoes lying neatly in the box, their green leaves contrasting beautifully with their bright red flesh.
"Here, have this." Kanzaki Eri held her hands in front of her, a smile playing on her cherry lips.
Because this is a school, Kitahara Hakuba instinctively picked up the box and said:
"No, no, no, this is for you to eat by yourself, Kanzaki-kun. If I want some, I'll go buy it myself."
Fortunately, it's not a luxury item.
"Hmm...."
"
Eri Kanzaki's eyes drooped slightly, and a soft, distressed groan escaped her throat.
"I grew them myself."
"So...you grew these yourself?"
Kitahara Hakuba stared in surprise at the box in his hand. No wonder there was nothing on it, not even the place of origin or the farmer's name.
At the Hakodate Farmers' Union Market, the growers write their names on the vegetables, fruits, and meats.
Kanzaki Eri gently touched her sideburns, her gaze fixed on the cherry tomatoes she had carefully arranged:
"Hmm, you don't want it?"
Kitahara Hakuba looked up at her excessively cute face. The girl's eyebrows drooped, and her lips moved slightly. The unspoken "sadness" floated through the air and reached his heart.
A series of turbulent waves seemed to crash over his mind, while another voice inside him cursed, "If you refuse, you're no human being!"
"This was grown by yourself, it's too precious to me." Kitahara Hakuba was conflicted.
Kanzaki Eri shook her head and said softly:
“It’s not precious. I’m still planting it. As long as I keep planting it, it won’t be precious anymore.”
Okay... that seems to be the case?
No, no, Kitahara Hakuba has grown some small plants before and knows that it takes a lot of effort to take care of them to sprout and bear fruit. It's no joke that eight out of ten plants die.
Since it was raised with care by Eri Kanzaki, everything about it is precious, regardless of production volume.
Kitahara Hakuba took a shallow breath and exclaimed in admiration:
"Wow, that's amazing. I never knew you could grow these things."
"Ah."
Eri Kanzaki's voice was soft and gentle, like a soft murmur of breath:
"Seedlings need to be transplanted after a month of cultivation, and those planted in the ground need another week. They bloom in three weeks, but several clusters still died... ...only these survived..."
Kitahara Hakuba felt a strange, inexplicable unease in the air.