I live my life in Tokyo

"Yuan Xiang believes in palmistry?"

"I don't really believe it." The girl said softly, "When I was in high school, there were always activities like astrology, palm reading, and tarot card guessing during the school festival. I just don't have much interest in it."

She looked up and glanced at Sakakibara Kaede, her face still pink, "What about you?"

"Me? I would rather believe it exists than not believe it exists. Those who believe it will believe it, and those who don't believe it won't believe it."

"It really looks like you. That mature and smooth-talking attitude is exactly the same as your daily behavior."

"Yuanxiang, I'm really sad when you say that."

Higuchi Madoka originally wanted to say something sarcastic, but she thought that if she said this, the young man who was smiling all day would lose the smile on his face and leave, or he would be hit by a truck and sent to the hospital on the way, and she would have to lie in front of the bed and cry while looking at him with a ventilator on his face.

This was not something she had made up out of thin air. In the movie that Higuchi Madoka and Asakura Toru watched at home before, the heroine was like this. She repeatedly expressed her disdain for the male protagonist who was her childhood sweetheart, but when the male protagonist really had to leave, she was reluctant to let him go. When she witnessed the scene where her childhood sweetheart left the house angrily because of a quarrel with her and was hit by a car, she had already knelt on her knees and cried like a tearful person.

Regarding her path to becoming an idol and her own life, she is afraid of failing after trying her best.

So, she hesitated for a moment and swallowed the words she was about to say.

Sakakibara Kaede blinked, and the two looked at each other. The young man wondered why he didn't wait for Higuchi Madoka to say the next cold word so that he could let go of Higuchi Madoka's hand.

But now, their hands are still held together.

He coughed lightly, "I wonder if Mrs. Higuchi or Yuanxiang will make dinner when we return to Yuanxiang's house."

Higuchi Yuanxiang raised an eyebrow, "Who do you want to cook?"

Sakakibara Kaede was suddenly choked. His original intention of saying this was to laugh it off and smooth things over, but he didn't expect Higuchi Madoka to keep pressing him. He didn't dare to relax at all and had to be vigilant at all times.

"It's from Aunt Higuchi..."

Before Higuchi Yuanxiang's eyes turned dangerous, he quickly said, "When I'm with Yuanxiang, we usually eat Yuanxiang's cooking. Just think about it, if the two of us go home, auntie will definitely welcome us home with 100% enthusiasm. Yuanxiang, you can't steal your job from auntie."

Higuchi Madoka spat, looked away, and spoke more beautifully than she sang, saying that the two of them were going home, but they were going back to her home, not theirs.

"Which one is better, my cooking or Mai-san's?"

The warm summer weather made Kaede Sakakibara's back sweat.

This kind of question also appeared in galgame. In the class monitor line, the class monitor once asked the male protagonist whether he thought it was more fun to make school festival props with classmates or to draw school festival cards with the class monitor.

Sakakibara Kaede tried hard to recall the protagonist's answer. After thinking for a long time, she felt that the protagonist's answer in the game was very close to the answer in her mind.

"Mai's best cooking is Chinese food, Yuanxiang's best cooking is Japanese food, I like them both."

"What an expected answer. Well, after hearing you say whether you believed it or not, I can guess the answer."

Her hand suddenly exerted force and squeezed Sakakibara Kaede's hand, "I never learned to cook for you."

"If you want to move out and live with Asakura, you have to learn to cook, otherwise we will starve to death." Higuchi Madoka snorted. She hadn't said anything else. At that time, her mother swore that it was some kind of bride training, that capturing a man's stomach was equivalent to capturing his heart.

It seems that she has captured Kaede Sakakibara's heart.

Before they knew it, the young man and the girl, who were originally sitting back to back, were now facing each other, with one hand tightly clasped underwater - Sakakibara Kaede tried to let go several times, but the one who was in control now was Higuchi Madoka, and the iron-like grip surprised Sakakibara Kaede.

"I'm a little tired. I'll go back to my B&B and take a nap."

Sakakibara Kaede stood up, his hands still clenched, but Higuchi Madoka sat in the water, with Sakakibara Kaede blocking the sunlight. From the girl's perspective, the sunlight was shining behind him.

This was indeed the case. He suddenly entered and broke into her world, smashing the gray glass into pieces. The sunlight shone through the glass, revealing everything about her, her body and soul, nakedly before his eyes.

"Yuan Xiang?"

"...Nothing, I've had enough."

"You didn't get dizzy this time?"

"...abnormal."

Higuchi Yuanxiang glared at Sakakibara Kaede, then she let go of Sakakibara Kaede's hand and walked out of the pool along the stone steps. She glanced at Sakakibara Kaede from the side and then entered the women's locker room.

Sakakibara Feng let out a light breath, he raised his hand and found that the back of his hand was red - it was completely caused by Higuchi Madoka's pinching. Her strength was so great that Sakakibara Feng was amazed. For the sake of a healthy body, it seems that Higuchi Madoka is also exercising.

But today I made a good appointment to go back with Higuchi Madoka to see her mother.

Sakakibara Kaede felt his body was a little soft and his knees were a little weak, which was a normal phenomenon after taking a bath. When changing clothes, he couldn't help but think of other elders who had confessed their love to girls to him.

Aunt Sakurajima's whereabouts are uncertain, and she has never appeared in Sakurajima Mai's life. If she wants to contact her, she may have to rely on Sakurajima Mai.

Yuuki Asuna's parents are very convenient. He can visit them next time he returns to Tokyo. However, they can't avoid bragging at the dinner table. They haven't eaten enough, but they have said a lot.

The only relative left to Chizuru Ichinose is her grandmother. She has been in good health recently. According to Chizuru Ichinose, she does aerobics in the community every day.

Asakura Toru.

Sakakibara Kaede put on the T-shirt, and he could sense Asakura Toru's straightforward affection. Before, he thought that this was the way Asakura Toru treated her friends, but after watching Asakura Toru for so long, he found that she was only different towards her childhood sweetheart and young men.

He is not a fool with zero emotional intelligence, so he can naturally see through Asakura Toru's undisguised actions.

"It's time to find an opportunity to meet the parents who know each other well."

Sakakibara Kaede stretched lazily with satisfaction. Everything had been settled. Although the road ahead was full of difficulties, he had a sense of security that everything important had been decided.

He no longer felt lonely.

At the entrance, Higuchi Yuanxiang was scrolling through her phone. She heard footsteps and raised her eyes. "I'm going back to my room to rest. We'll talk again when we have time."

"it is good."

Seeing that Higuchi Madoka was waiting for him just to say this to him in person, Sakakibara Kaede was quite happy. He watched Higuchi Madoka turn the corner in her wooden clogs and then looked away.

Walking on the country road, the feeling of this road gave him a sense of déjà vu. He thought for a moment and then came up with the answer. When he was filming Kamen Rider in Nagano last year, the path between the guesthouse and the bathhouse was a path with a strong rural flavor.

"Well... Maki-san is coming soon. The rest of the time will depend on your luck."

From a distance, Kaede Sakakibara could see several students practicing outside the B&B. They were holding trumpets in their hands and training tirelessly facing the setting sun.

Even after the rehearsal, they would not waste time and put all their attention on playing.

Sakakibara Kaede believes that not only the students of Kitauji will do this, but all the wind band students participating in the Kansai Conference will do the same.

While walking back to the room, Sakakibara Kaede heard something, so he stopped and listened.

Warm, melodious euphonium solo.

With such playing skills, Sakakibara Kaede already knew who it was.

Walking toward the hillside, the young man could see from afar the black-haired girl holding a silver euphonium, playing low, enchanting notes toward the setting sun.

This is a solo for Asuka Tanaka.

Kaede Sakakibara was fortunate enough to be the only listener.

Chapter 30 Want to be misunderstood

Under the sunset.

Asuka Tanaka's figure seems to be coated with a light layer of gold. The melodious melody of the silver euphonium reminds people of the warm family, taking off sandals and running in the pool in the summer, without worries and carefree. It reminds people of the grilled sweetfish with green onions placed in the bowl under the orange light, and gently picking it up with chopsticks, and the aroma of sea salt hits the face.

The random thoughts in his mind disappeared. Even if he was going to go on stage to start a new concert the next moment, he had no fear in front of more audiences than in Yokohama. The trouble with the music score came like a breeze and went away with the breeze of the summer evening.

In this hot season, the young man just wants to get into his room and enjoy the air conditioning, chat with Yuma Miura, and watch the Taiga drama broadcast every night.

But he just stood there, ignoring the cicadas' chirping and the heat, looking at the girl sitting on the chair from afar.

The slow and melodious solo ended, and the young man smiled and clapped softly.

The applause made Asuka Tanaka turn around. She gave the young man a familiar smile with a hint of warmth in it. "I didn't expect that Sakakibara-senpai was listening right here. So, what do you think of my performance?"

Seeing that she looked like she wanted Sakakibara Kaede to praise her, the young man nodded.

"A solo that warms my heart, Tanaka-san."

"this one?"

"If you want to hear fancy idioms, I can tell you as many as I want." Sakakibara smiled, "But I think Tanaka-san might not like to hear that."

Asuka Tanaka shook her hand and smiled, but this time her smile contained a hint of self-mockery that was read out by Kaede Sakakibara.

"It's really scary."

"Tanaka-san is the same. Aren't you usually so gentle to everyone, but when it comes to matters of principle, you are always firm in your words, aren't you?"

"Ah, you found me."

Asuka Tanaka laughed, picked up the silver euphonium, and carefully placed it in the music box. Most of the students in the wind band borrowed instruments that their predecessors had used. Kaede Sakakibara had been to the equipment room and saw that the room was full of instruments neatly stacked. It seemed that the wind band of Kitauji High School had once been glorious.

Asuka Tanaka's euphonium is her own, not borrowed from the school.

"What do you think about Kaizuka-san's matter?"

The girl carried the music box on her back, pulled out her hair that was stuck between the case and her shoulders, and walked forward.

Kaede Sakakibara followed her footsteps. In their daily conversations, he did not sense any fanatical emotion from Asuka Tanaka, or any emotion that made her speechless when she saw him. This was also the reason why he felt at ease to have a deep conversation with Asuka Tanaka. She was very mature and knew how to control the distance between people.

Up to now, the two of them have only been discussing matters within the wind orchestra. Although the previous conversation was away from the main body of the wind orchestra, it was about future university choices, that is, academic studies.

No one asked about personal matters, or rather, they didn't want to ask. This kind of interaction makes people feel comfortable instead of timid or suffocated.

"The Kaizuka-san you're talking about, is that the girl who plays the oboe?"

"Yes, as expected of Sakakibara-senpai, you should be able to recite everyone's names and secrets by heart, right?"

"Forget about the secrets in your heart. I'm not some caring older brother. I just solve the problems they raise."

"With Kaizuka-san's abilities, do you think she can stand out in the Kansai Tournament?"

Sakakibara Kaede didn't know. He only knew that the wind orchestra would soon compete in the Kyoto Prefecture Tournament, and then in September and October would be the main venue for the Kansai Tournament. When he was a consultant, he was not oblivious to what was happening outside. Taki Noboru once showed him and Miura Yuma videos shot by wind orchestras of other schools, and the gap between them was extremely large.

"Mr. Niiyama also pointed out problems with Kaizuka's playing. Her playing was like a robot, without emotion. That's what Mr. Niiyama said before."

"Maybe because of confusion, or maybe because of some other reason, she lost interest in music."

The young man pondered for a moment. He felt it was hard to say. From his observation, Kaizuka was a quiet, taciturn female student who didn't lip-sync. She didn't have any close friends to go to and from school with her, and no club members to accompany her in and out of the wind band room. She was always the first or second to arrive for practice every day, and when she left, she would silently carry her instrument case and leave.

This kind of girl reminded him of Toru Asakura when he just met her. He also couldn't guess what the other person was thinking. Or maybe the other person was not thinking about anything and her mind was blank.

"Does Kaizuka-san have any close classmates?"

Sakakibara Kaede asked.

Asuka Tanaka nodded. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, and finally nodded, "Yes, there is a girl who has a good relationship with Kaizuka-san, but the two of them don't talk much anymore."

"It seems like he has a psychological trauma, to the point where he can't speak when he sees his face."

She turned and looked at Sakakibara Kaede, "There is some behind-the-scenes information about this matter, but if Sakakibara-senpai is interested, when you return to Kitauji High School, you can leave the classroom during training and look for a student named Usagi Nozomi."

"The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it, Sakakibara-senpai."

Asuka Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled and waved to the young man. This smile represented a farewell and indicated that the conversation between the two had come to an end.

Sakakibara Kaede watched Tanaka Asuka enter the B&B, followed by the chattering and laughter of the girls waiting in the hall, and Tanaka Asuka's half-joking attempts to stop them.

He thinks Tanaka is a mysterious girl.

Back in the guest room, Yuuma Miura was lying on the ground pretending to be a corpse. Sakakibara Kaede leaned over to take a look and discovered that he was sleeping soundly.

Indeed, working in the morning and afternoon, and squeezing out all the few rest times to write music scores, really makes people feel physically and mentally exhausted, and all they want to do is sleep. Sakakibara Kaede is now a little more energetic because she and Higuchi Enka have been soaking in the hot spring for an afternoon.

Resisting the coming fatigue, he began to write the five-line score of spiritual music in his notebook.

For dinner, we bought river fish from a nearby market. After simple cooking, they were made into steamed fish dishes with a light salty taste and delicious soup.

After curry and beef rice, Kaede Sakakibara finally tasted some fresh game from the farm.

After taking a bath in the afternoon, I felt weak all over. After having a full dinner, I felt a little drowsy. Sakakibara Kaede felt a little tired. Although tired, he was very excited.

Perhaps it’s the excitement that comes with knowing the way forward is already determined.

People are always worried about something when they are alive. When they are young, they worry about their grades in school and the attitude of the girl they like towards them. When they grow up a little, they worry about their performance in exams and filling out their volunteer applications. After they become adults, they worry about whether they can support themselves after leaving school and whether they will not be able to find a job.

This kind of hesitation is the driving force for people to move forward. They always act for their own desires. Sakakibara Feng feels that most of them are related to money.

In a few days, the three people who shine in the world will meet again and create albums and music scores together in the studio in Kyoto. This feeling that the overall situation has been settled makes Kaede Sakakibara very comfortable. Without anything to worry about, the heat of tonight is not so unbearable.

"Sakakibara-senpai, here, this is your share."

Tsukamoto Shuichi held the box in his hand, and he took out a dozen firework sticks and handed them to Sakakibara Kaede.

The training camp lasted for a week. Teacher Xinshan won everyone's love on the first day. When he was about to leave, everyone in the wind section was reluctant to let him go, and the girls in the woodwind section wanted to stay by Teacher Xinshan's side every moment of the remaining time.

Sakakibara Kaede understood the unique mutual appreciation between women. After all, she was a very friendly person. Unlike Mr. Takisho's strict style, she was more gentle towards her students and was more patient in pointing out their shortcomings.

"Here, a lighter."

"Thank you."