Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 59 Farewell to Hakone
"Let me play the timpani?"

Jun Matsueda looked at the girl in front of him. Yamami Matsukio seemed a little embarrassed and didn't dare to look at his face.

"Yes, the student who was originally scheduled to perform is unable to continue due to health problems, so we now need someone to take over the timpani position." Jun Matsueda remembered the female drummer, and she was indeed a little scary fat.

"Teacher Hirouchi told me that you have a foundation in drumming, so I wanted to ask Matsueda-san to give it a try." The girl glanced at Matsueda Jun's expression and bent down.

"please!"

"Senior Yamami, has your bow never been refused by anyone?"

Jun Matsueda suddenly felt a little emotional. It had been a long time since he saw someone bowing to sincerely ask for a favor.

In Japan, bowing is just a formality. As someone striving to become a "working emperor," he's long known that few people will change their minds just because they bend a little lower. Because only material possessions and rewards truly move people.

Yamami Moji raised her head and asked cautiously, "If I say yes, will you reject me?"

Matsueda Jun laughed and shook his head. "I'm only asking out of curiosity. I accept your request."

It seems that the senior is surrounded by gentle and kind people. Jun Matsueda hopes that she will never realize that bowing is useless.

"Thank you, Matsueda-san!" Yamami Maki excitedly took a step forward, and then realized that the boy in front of her was still wearing the hotel's yukata and had just returned from a hot spring bath.

The girl's face seemed to be reddened by the remaining heat from Matsueda Jun's body. She took two small steps back and thanked Matsueda Jun again.

"Thank you so much, Matsueda-san. How can I ever repay you? Do you need money or anything else? Just ask for whatever I can give you!"

It seems that I have to add that the people around the senior sister are not only gentle and kind, but also help her block all the malicious intent that wants to infiltrate her.

"I don't want anything. If you really feel bad for me, the cookies you gave me last time were delicious. Can you bring me some more?"

The first lesson the children at Mitaka Welfare Home learn is that people must first understand the value of their labor before using their own hands to get what they want.

Yamami Maki shook her head like a rattle. "No, no! Without Matsueda-san's help, we'd have to recruit a new drummer from the percussion section, and we'd have to adjust and adapt as a whole. We'd basically miss out on the national scholarship. Such a huge help can't be repaid with a few bags of cookies!"

Serious people always have serious problems, and Matsueda Jun couldn't think of a solution that would be acceptable to both parties. The man and woman, alone in the corridor, fell into silence.

"Then consider it as a favor I owe you, Matsueda-san. If you need anything later, feel free to tell me!"

"Okay, okay~" Let's just get away with it for now, thought Matsueda Jun, and walked towards his room.

"Wait, Matsueda-san!" Yamami Miki didn't bother to avoid suspicion and hurriedly grabbed his arm, then let go as if she was burned. Matsueda Jun turned around and looked at her.

"Well, I also need to talk to Matsueda-san about reading timpani music and arranging the positions on stage."

The touch of muscles was still lingering on her hand. Yamami Maki's gaze strayed from Matsueda Jun and she looked at the corridor behind him.

"Senpai Yamami, although I'm willing to listen now, it's already this late. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for us to be alone?"

Jun Matsueda pointed to his wrist and made a gesture of looking at the watch. Only then did Yamami Maki realize that it was already late.

"Okay! Um, sorry, good night!" The girl left in a hurry, and Matsueda Jun watched her back disappear at the top of the stairs.

The door was slammed shut, and Yamami Maki returned to her room and squatted down with her back against the cold door.

"How could he be the one to remind me of such a thing!" The girl covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the blood on her cheeks.

With only three days left, Jun Matsueda successfully proved himself to be a very capable drummer.

Hirouchi Aya encouraged him to go and take a look at the light music club next to the wind orchestra club after school started. As soon as this suggestion was spoken, it was killed by the looks of Yamami Maki and Tomatsu Tomoka.

"I've been living here for almost half a month, but why does it feel like time has passed in the blink of an eye?" It was still the girl holding the tuba. Jun Matsueda had been in the wind band for almost a month and had discovered that she, who was always hiding behind the tuba, was the most lively one.

"Because the time we spend is full of meaning." Yamami Moki said with a smile.

The girls stood by Lake Ashi again. Today was the day of farewell.

It was another beautiful day; Mount Fuji was clearly visible, and if someone had good eyesight, they could even see the three large characters "Mochizuki" on the pirate ship in the distance. The young woman in charge stood before the group, dressed in a suit, looking sharp and confident. She adjusted her bow tie, her hands steadily suspended in the air.

The girls quieted down, adjusted their posture and instruments, and looked up at the conductor's hands.

The girl stood on tiptoe slightly, raised her hands, and the melody of "When the Wind Shines" rose again.

In the forest behind the hotel, the shadows of the trees swayed, and birds rose and fell with the sound of the wind. When the whirlwind blew into the sky, all the birds in the forest flew up and circled high above the lake.

After the melody ended, they realized that there was no wind. They chirped to express their dissatisfaction and flew back to the forest.

The lesson song was over, but the girls' attitudes did not relax. The conducting girl put her hands back on both sides of her body and then stopped in the air again.

"Fantasy of Eternal Summer Days"

Although there was no one around, this was the first time the wind band played a freestyle piece outside of practice. Hirouchi Aya and the two girls from the news club were listening quietly.

The final tenor saxophone sound ended, and Lake Ashi returned to silence.

The three people in the audience applauded loudly, and the girls saluted solemnly.

Yamami Maki walked to the front of the team, raised the clarinet in her hand, and shouted again in a soft voice.

"Target--"

The girls raised their musical instruments, and the lake surface along the shore turned golden.

“National Gold!!!”

Natsumi Imokawa raised the camera in her hand and took a picture of the scene in front of her. After the shutter sounded, the girls put down their instruments.

"It's so tiring to hold it up!" someone whispered.

"We can't even lift the tuba," the girl holding the tuba, also the principal tuba player, complained. "It's all your fault for suggesting that holding the instrument looks cool. Then we'll be the most embarrassed tuba players in the photos!"

Jun Matsueda didn't say anything, but just knocked the drumstick a few times, and the girls laughed.

If there was only one timpani, Jun Matsueda could lift it, but it is a drum set just like a drum set.

Yamami Maki returned to the group of girls and said, "Let's go back to Mitaka!"

The band set off in the afternoon. After the performance by the lake, Matsueda Jun received a message from Mochizuki Haruka that the captain and first mate of the Mochizuki had already left Hakone.

The girls arrived at Hakone-Yumoto Station. They didn't plan to take the Mochizuki family bus back home, but instead boarded the Odakyu Romancecar. The train's name was so well-chosen, it was hard for the girls to resist romance.

The big chief-chan skipped into the station and said to the girl next to him, "If you win the national gold medal, let's go to Mount Fuji together!"

"We haven't even passed the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly yet, and you're already thinking about getting the national scholarship?"

"Think about it, it won't hurt!"

The band's seats were in the front observation seats of car number one. Matsueda Jun sat in the front row, the seat next to him vacant having been taken by Mochizuki Haruka. On the other side of the aisle sat Yamami Maki and Tomatsu Tomoka.

The observation seats have 360-degree sightseeing seats, and the girls can see Mount Fuji on the left, with the top of the mountain covered with snow and the foot of the mountain shrouded in clouds and mist.

The train started moving, and Mount Fuji gradually shrank and moved slowly backwards.

The big chief left his seat, ran to the front of the carriage, turned around, pressed against the glass, and waved at Mount Fuji.

"Goodbye, Hakone!"

Aimlessly watching the summer passing by outside the car window, Jun Matsueda recalled the melody of Fantasia.

The days are long in the hot summer, but there are not many days left.

(End of this chapter)