Tokyo: Who would still fall in love after being spoiled?

Chapter 54: Broken pieces on the table, yen in change

The judge is still Amano, and the last night of practice for the piano competition club has ended.

After understanding the cause and current situation, Kato smiled and cheered Kimura on.

It doesn't matter if you lose. Even if you eat together, Inoue is the only boy present, so he doesn't have the final say on who pays the bill.

A coin toss was used to decide who would play first. He took out the 500 yen coin he had just snatched from Kimura today, guessed the number side, and tossed the number side.

Even though the preliminary round of the competition was tomorrow, he did not hold back and made the most of the performance experience given to him by the system.

Then it was Kimura's turn to perform, but the patrol teacher had already arrived and was standing in front of the door, shining a flashlight on him.

"Wait a moment!" he shouted at the patrolling teacher.

"How long?" The inspector said expressionlessly.

"Why don't you go to the art club first?"

"They also asked me to wait a little longer, saying that since you haven't left yet, they won't leave either." The patrol teacher's face darkened.

"Ten minutes! No, twelve minutes will be enough!"

"As soon as possible." The patrol teacher urged and left with a flashlight.

Maybe he went to the art club, or went upstairs to find the wind band.

Someone leaked the news to Sakurai, and Sakurai announced it again in the competition sprint discussion group - every time he kicked them out of the piano classroom, the wind band would still be training, but because there was an advisory teacher, he, as an inspector, did not dare to act rashly.

A typical bully who only cares about the weak and fears the strong - this judgment was made by Kimura and has nothing to do with him.

After some twists and turns, Kimura took a deep breath, adjusted herself to the best possible state, sat down in front of the piano, gently raised her hand, gently lowered it, and began her performance.

He heard the accusations that were constantly emphasized, intensified, and intensified again; he heard the increasingly fierce resistance that progressed layer by layer in a circuitous manner; he heard the romance that unfolded in the form of a mazurka in the second half...

Melody, rhythm, motivation and intention... those problems that she had ignored and difficulties that she had made mistakes in over and over again were basically overcome without her realizing it.

From the beginning to the end, he only handled the original song faithfully, but expressed stronger and more persistent emotions that were different from his performances based entirely on systematic experience.

You can hear the struggle against injustice, the struggle against fate; you can hear the cries in the storm, and the heroic epics of that era...

The rhythm of the passage about missing her pastoral hometown slowed down, and she pressed the piano keys more gently, clumsily but gently introducing the ordinary things behind the "heroes".

That was her family, just ordinary people who couldn't afford to buy musical instruments or hire a teacher to teach their children music.

That was her home, just an ordinary small house, cool in winter and hot in summer. She lived in the one facing the sun, and the clothes drying on the balcony had a fragrance unique to that balcony.

That was her heart, hidden in a small box wrapped in layers of packaging, but it contained extremely strong emotions. She opened the box in front of the piano and showed her heart to everyone who heard the piano.

Although simple and clumsy, she played with a seriousness that only she could understand. She played her favorite song without reservation, the song she wanted to play for the judges and the audience at the competition, to the only three listeners in this slightly empty piano classroom.

There is no applause here, only silence.

The applause will come tomorrow, and the excitement will also come tomorrow.

After playing the last melody, she wrapped her heart and the sadness of the third part of the song back into the box, stopped neatly, and stood up.

After listening to Kimura's performance, Amano was silent for a moment before announcing the winner: "So the result is—"

"I lost."

Kimura interrupted Amano and admitted defeat. His tone was calm, his eyes fell on his face generously, and he was in a good mood.

"What do you want to eat?" He just had a sudden impulse during the dinner. If he had known earlier, he would have asked in advance what the recent high school students had eaten at dinner parties.

I can't go eat barbecue anymore...

"Whatever you want to eat..." Kimura's mind was still full of Polonaise the previous second, and he couldn't come to his senses in this second.

"You make it sound like Inoue-san is treating us," Kato complained.

Over the past two weeks, especially since the competition sprint discussion group, Kimura has said countless bad things about Kato. "This is giving you the choice," he said as he walked out of the classroom and rushed to the art club. "My backpack is still in the art club! You guys think first!"

"Really..."

Ichinose had already left, and a petite first-year girl was still in the art classroom, absorbed in drawing.

Even his hurried entry into the classroom only caused her to pause her paintbrush for a moment.

He put on his backpack, picked up the piggy bank, and did not forget to stuff today's hard-earned money of Kimura into the pig's stomach.

When I returned to the piano classroom, the promised twelve minutes had already passed, but the invigilator had not yet come down from upstairs.

"How about using the money in here to pay the bill tonight?" He put the piggy bank on the desk. Although he was asking all of them, he was still looking at Kimura.

"What is this...?" Kato walked forward, holding the piggy bank and shaking it, "There's not much money in it..."

"But there are at least 50- and 100-yen coins in there, 500-yen ones too, and a few 1,000-yen bills." He aroused Kato's expectations and hinted to Kimura.

After being interrupted when the result was announced, Amano had not said a word. He folded his arms over his chest and watched his performance coldly.

"Thousand yen bill?" Kimura finally realized something was wrong.

"Roughly speaking, it should be over ten thousand yen, so we can be a bit extravagant when choosing a restaurant for our dinner."

"Ten thousand yen...it's enough for a sukiyaki meal..." Kato put down the piggy bank and asked uncertainly, "Are you really going to use the money in here?"

"This..." He kept looking at Kimura.

Kimura probably knows the exact amount of money in the piggy bank better than he does.

"..." Kimura looked at him and finally thought of this possibility, "There's 13,250 yen in it?"

"How should I know?" He shrugged.

"Five 1,000 yen bills, eight 500 yen coins, and a 50 yen coin?" Kimura stepped forward, his gaze shifting from him to the piggy bank, his tone becoming more hurried.

"Why don't you just break it open yourself and see." He even brought a small hammer to smash the piggy bank. He took it out of his shoulder bag and handed it to Kimura.

clatter--

The piggy bank shattered as the hammer hit it, dozens of coins scattered all over the table, and five thousand yen bills landed lightly on top.

"Why..." Kimura was stunned for a moment.

"In today's novels and anime, how can a villain not be redeemed in the end?" He laughed. "The school has already reimbursed the piano tuning fees. How could it be your turn to pay for it?"

"you--"

"Since you've saved so much money and play the piano so well, why don't you treat us to a meal?"

As dusk gradually faded outside the window, the sound of the supervisor's footsteps could be heard in the corridor, as he hurried the students from the wind band down the stairs.

The moment the stagnation magic at dusk disappeared, Kimura cried silently.

　Thanks to book friend 20200105101329073 for his 6 monthly passes.

　　Thanks to Mo Kai Ranchen and book friend 20200402224808621 for the 5 monthly tickets.

　　Thanks to Nan Maomaomaomao King for the 4 monthly tickets.

　　Thanks to xyunshangv, Diting, Budaoxianshen, Heiyanzhishang, and Shiguang Xiangzuo Nianhua Xiangyou for the 3 monthly tickets.

　　感谢luan、SachicoQAQ、十月梦、伪装路人、西卡伊布哒、罪与罚的魔王、明我的以火灼身、下北泽热心书友、明知无答偏偏想问、书友20170408224419212、书友20240502222118710、书友20230501044807313、书友20210927113324414、读者1191996299569446912的2张月票。

　　Thanks to tiandao, actor03, Youyouzi6, Single Pusher Official, Yuntong, Tannianxiao, Emei Pen, Qingqinzhiqin, Dongling Enxi, Fentian's Youyin, That Moment of Fragrance, Where to Find Pure Joy in the World, 20220507125529353% Pickled Fish, Alastor's Microphone, and book friend for their monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)