I live my life in Tokyo

The professional musicians in the wind orchestra association may not have felt anything, but the students of the Kitauji Wind Orchestra could not help but feel mixed emotions after hearing these words. Only they knew how tired they were during this period. The pressure of training was even greater than that of the Kansai Tournament. Not to mention going out to play at night, after arriving at the hotel every day, they just wanted to lie on the bed and take a nap. Sometimes they were so tired that they didn't even have the energy to play cards. It seemed like they were experiencing working life in advance.

"Thank you to all the wind orchestra students of Kitauji High School for your love and persistence in music. We see your efforts, you are really great!" Mr. Yamada turned to Mr. Takisho, smiled gently, and asked him with inquiring eyes if he wanted to come up and say a word. Mr. Takisho hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed.

Seeing Teacher Takisho coming on stage, the students of the Kitauji Wind Ensemble subconsciously straightened their bodies. This was the pressure left by Teacher Takisho's teaching during this period.

Sakakibara Kaede was wiping his sweat on the side, and he wanted to laugh when he saw this scene. Compared with Mr. Yamada, the pressure from Mr. Takisho was probably more intense.

“I am proud of you for being able to perform with professional musicians. I hope you can learn the advantages of professional bands and become even better.”

"Ahem, disband—"

Teacher Yamada waved, and the crowd picked up their instruments and began to clean them, or put them directly into their cases to take home for maintenance. The three members of World Shine went up to greet and thank them as they should. After the rehearsal, they didn't have any extra work to do. The final photos had already been taken last week, and the last week was spent entirely on practice.

Yuuma Miura went to talk to Mr. Noboru Taki, Kaede Sakakibara stretched, and left the concert hall side by side with Maki Nishikino.

"Maki-san looks very happy. What activities are there tonight?"

"Well, Honoka and the others will arrive in Osaka tonight, and as the host, I naturally want to entertain them."

Nishikino Maki said softly, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face. Sakakibara Kaede nodded slightly, "Are you going back to the hotel tonight? If you stay with them, you may need to inform Miss Nanakusa."

"I understand. Tell me now."

Maki Nishikino took out her phone, found Nanakusa Hazuki in the contacts, and quickly typed a message about going out to dinner and staying overnight tonight. At the end of the message, she attached the address of the accommodation so that Miss Nanakusa would have a good idea. But to be honest, Miss Nanakusa would not worry about anything at this dinner party. The people who were having dinner with Maki Nishikino were all her best friends, so nothing would go wrong.

Sakakibara Kaede was bored and scrolling through her phone. There was no new news recently. As expected, the official account was still in the daily routine, with a little update every day, which made fans think, oh, I should check what the official account has updated every day. Sword Art Online updated the new version yesterday, and the new version will be introduced in the form of a live broadcast in mid-October this year.

As a member of the planning team, Kaede Sakakibara knows something about the updates of the new version. In addition to the common new professional skill updates and the opening of the level cap, new main storyline side quests, outdoor battles and positional warfare have also been added.

The two of them were walking while looking at their phones. When they arrived at the door of the hotel, Sakakibara Kaede put away his phone temporarily. When he saw the figure standing outside the hotel, he groaned and suddenly became speechless.

Maki Nishikino noticed that Kaede Sakakibara paused and looked in the direction of his gaze in confusion.

"Isn't this Higuchi-san, Feng-san? Is she waiting for you?"

Although it was a question, Nishikino Maki's tone was cold and mixed with bad taste, and she did not hide her gossiping mood at all, and even gently pushed Sakakibara Kaede. She walked up the stairs by herself, greeted Higuchi Yuanka, and walked into the hotel leisurely after chatting for a few words. Although she wanted to stay for a while to see the sparks between the two, she had a dinner party tonight and had to dress up before going.

When Sakakibara Kaede saw the cold look on Higuchi Madoka's face, he felt a little uneasy for some reason. He was also shocked. It was probably because he hadn't been with Higuchi Madoka for a while. He had gotten used to her cold eyes, which sometimes looked like she was looking at trash, but now he felt strange about it.

"Yuanxiang, why are you waiting for me here? You didn't even tell me on the phone." Sakakibara Kaede took a few steps forward and came in front of Higuchi Yuanxiang. He paused for a moment and said, "Are you free tonight? How about going out for dinner together?"

Higuchi Madoka looked at him calmly for a few seconds, then looked away after a moment, "Yeah."

"Just eat at the hotel. I don't want to call Miss Nanakusa and ask her to drive you home."

"You want to drink?"

"Tsk, I'm afraid you'll be too tired to fall asleep after dinner."

Higuchi Madoka clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, turned around and left Sakakibara Kaede behind her, and walked into the hotel in her sandals.

Sakakibara noticed that she was wearing a brand new outfit today. It might be the fashionable clothes she got while shooting the endorsement advertisement in Kyoto. He caught up with her and said, "Um, the clothes Yuanxiang is wearing today are very suitable for you."

"Ah, is that so?"

Higuchi Madoka replied indifferently, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised, but that curve soon disappeared as she entered the elevator and faced the young man's face.

Different floors of the hotel are adjacent to different restaurants. On the top floor is a revolving Western restaurant with very high-end ingredients. During the time that Kaede Sakakibara has lived here, he feels that it is a bit of a waste to eat alone. Besides, eating alone reminds him of the time when he went to Haidilao to eat hotpot alone, and there was a doll sitting on the seat opposite him.

He called out to Higuchi Yuanxiang, "Well, I'm going to go back to my room and change my clothes first."

Higuchi Yuanxiang nodded and followed Sakakibara Kaede, walking on the soft carpet of the hotel.

"Where do you live, Yuanxiang?"

"It's nearby, just a ten-minute walk." Higuchi Yuanxiang seemed to be talking about trivial matters, occasionally looking out the window. The night at this time gently enveloped the whole world. The lights on the street were on. On their floor, they could only see the lights of the cars on the ground. There was only the slow and melodious background music in the corridor. Inside and outside the French windows were two different worlds.

When Higuchi Madoka saw Sakakibara Kaede coming into the room and starting to take off her clothes, she blushed and spat, "Go to the bathroom and change."

"Sorry sorry, I didn't notice."

The young man walked into the bathroom with a change of clothes. Higuchi Madoka sighed and sat on the sofa by the window. She suddenly regretted what she had just said.

After a while, the young man changed into a decent suit and slowly walked up to Higuchi Madoka. He stretched out his hand to the girl, who stared at him indifferently for a few seconds. When Sakakibara Kaede thought that Higuchi Madoka would withdraw her hand and say a few cold words to her, Higuchi Madoka held his hand and stood up.

“Why a suit?”

"Ah, aren't we going to perform for four days? The Osaka Symphony Orchestra and the students from the Wind Ensemble will all wear suits. We at World Shine will also wear suits to match theirs for the first two days, and we'll wear our own clothes for the next two days. Well, it should be said that they're more rock and roll style."

Sakakibara Kaede took Higuchi Yuanxiang's hand and, despite her reluctance, pulled her out of the bedroom. After closing the door, he held her hand and walked towards the elevator.

He originally thought that Higuchi Madoka would resist and say something like "Don't touch me, it's disgusting!" "Huh?" "Call the police." Unexpectedly, Higuchi Madoka was surprisingly honest.

"Two people, do you have a private room?" Sakakibara Kaede naturally let go of Higuchi Yuanxiang's hand and looked at the waiter. The latter politely lowered his eyes, nodded, and led the two to the private room with the best view.

The lighting in the room is not bright, it can even be said to be a little dim. The purple and blue ceiling lights are not dazzling, but give people a feeling of being in a dream.

Higuchi Madoka couldn't help but hold her breath. This scene... seemed familiar.

She pursed her lips and said nothing.

Sakakibara Kaede glanced at her strangely, pulled out a seat for her, then sat opposite her and began to look at the menu on the table.

"Yuanxiang, you must be hungry. What would you like to eat? I'll treat you today."

"...Well, let me take a look."

Higuchi Yuanxiang curled her lips and glanced at the menu casually. She couldn't help but be shocked when she saw the numbers behind the names of the dishes. Although she was a popular idol and earned a lot of money, she was not born into a wealthy family after all, so her daily consumption was ordinary. What's more, she was influenced by her mother, Mrs. Higuchi, who was a very family-oriented and good person. As a result, she would not spend money lavishly at all. In fact, because she didn't have any special hobbies, she had even fewer reasons to spend money.

"Why should I ask you to treat?" she frowned.

"Usually in this kind of occasion, it's the gentleman who treats the lady to a meal." Sakakibara Kaede chuckled and waved his hand nonchalantly, "To be honest, I'd feel a little embarrassed if we went AA in this kind of occasion."

"Hmph, boring machismo."

"Yuanxiang, why don't you just come back next time?"

The young man put down the menu and smiled at Higuchi Yuanxiang. "Money is something that you have to spend after you earn it. Spending money in a relationship is a two-way process, and relationships themselves are naturally two-way... Just treat me to BBQ in Tokyo next time."

"Tsk." Higuchi Madoka's heart beat faster and she made a "Puh" sound again, looking at the flowers and plants beside her.

The waiter came forward and the two confirmed the food they wanted and returned the menu to the waiter.

When asked what he wanted to drink, Sakakibara Kaede did not order any alcoholic beverages. The first reason was that he still had to practice tomorrow and needed to be in perfect shape. The second reason was that he had never seen Higuchi Madoka drink alcohol, and he did not want to get her drunk, as he might have to carry her back then.

"Why did you invite me here today?" Zi raised her eyes slightly, and through the orange-red candlelight that the waiter had just lit, she could see Sakakibara Kaede from afar. For a moment, she seemed to be infatuated, and was sucked in by the blue.

"Well... I want to chat with Yuanxiang. The person sitting here is not the actor and singer Sakakibara Kaede, nor is he the cram school teacher Sakakibara Kaede. He is just an ordinary friend Sakakibara Kaede who I have known for a long time." The young man smiled.

Higuchi Madoka took a deep breath and felt dizzy for no reason. Sweet and sour feelings rose and fell like the tide, constantly washing over her heart.

"Yuan Xiang said that she always wanted to know the real me, but I'm a little scared. Maybe the perfect image in Yuan Xiang's mind will be shattered."

"Of course, what I show during filming is not the real me. It's the same as when Yuanxiang is working. It's just a business state. I believe you can understand Yuanxiang." Sakakibara smiled self-deprecatingly, "I believe that what Yuanxiang wants to see is me taking off all my coats, right?"

Higuchi Yuanxiang opened her mouth and took a sip of the drink on the table. "I, I have no hope at all."

"I don't understand Feng-san's attitude towards me, whether it's the concern for me in the crew, the care for me in daily work, or the concentration during tutoring. I also understand that I am a troublesome woman, and you can clearly reject all of this-"

Sakakibara Kaede's smile looked particularly hazy in the soft purple light, making people's hearts beat. He smiled, and then said lightly, "I... think you should understand."

"Because I like Yuanxiang."

Chapter 44: Like a Dream

In the dreamy light, the young man looked at her steadily.

It has been a while since he made this decision, or rather, he has noticed a quiet change in Higuchi Madoka's attitude since the beginning of the year. Whether it was real coldness in her words or insincerity, he could hear these changes. No matter what Higuchi Madoka said, her heart had changed after all.

From step-by-step testing, verbal conversations, and physical actions, Sakakibara Kaede tried to close every inch of distance with Higuchi Madoka. Although Higuchi Madoka still kept her cold words and sometimes sneered and mocked, she acquiesced to such behavior. No, perhaps her words did not make Sakakibara Kaede feel firmly rejected.

So, it turns out that he has a sharp tongue but a soft heart... No, it should be said that he says no but is honest in his heart.

She rejected it with words, trying to shut everything out and maintain a polite distance, but in her heart she was expecting and hoping that someone would one day be able to lift the mask on her face that was sometimes indifferent and sometimes smiling. This was Higuchi Madoka.

"What do you mean?"

Higuchi Yuanka shifted her gaze away, as if her attention was attracted by the flowers and plants placed on the windowsill. She picked up the cup of water and put it to her mouth, but her hands were trembling slightly.

Since she was born, she has never felt her heart beating so hard for a person. Usually, the time she spends with her childhood sweetheart only makes her smile happily. The faster heartbeat when she shows her figure and singing voice on the stage is just because of exercise. She has never tasted the sweetness and sourness of a person. Her world is light and single-colored, but at this moment, someone unreasonably enters her world, his feet gently land on the ground, and colorful ripples appear, gradually adding bright colors to her world.

She felt the indecisiveness, she felt the frivolity, she pulled the young man out of the aura of loneliness. In the monologue, she invisibly pulled the young man's figure so close that she could reach him with just a stretch of her hand.

After more than ten years of worldly life, having experienced success in the hustle and bustle and also going through the loneliness of being alone, I gradually understand how rare it is to meet someone worthy of entrusting your life to in such a huge and cold city made up of steel and concrete.

You like me, I like you. Why is there always love in stories? It's because there is too little love in reality.

"I think Yuanxiang should know what I mean." Sakakibara Feng smiled bitterly. He found that his mouth was a little dry and couldn't help but laugh at himself. Look how nervous he was. Even at this age, he still felt like a freshman who had not graduated from high school.

“Tsk…”

"What do you think of Yuanxiang regarding my confession just now?"

"I didn't think much of it."

Higuchi Yuanka stood up, but her steps were trembling with excitement and she almost fell to the ground.

Sakakibara Kaede held the girl's hand, and the latter was slightly startled. Usually his hands were always warm, but now they were a little cold. Higuchi Madoka stopped beside him and looked at his face, and found the shyness and restlessness hidden in his blue eyes.

Her face flushed immediately. This was what she wanted to see, the truth of the young man. Not the mature and steady senior, nor the humorous actor colleague, nor the intellectual and patient tutor. What she wanted to see was the other side of the young man hidden in his heart, the appearance of the student who was only one year older than her.

Beneath the layers of masks, Sakakibara Kaede's true appearance is just a young man who likes to laugh but gets nervous when facing the girl he likes.

"I'm going to the bathroom...thank you for the treat."

Higuchi Yuanxiang said softly, she held on to the wall of the corridor and walked into the ladies' bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she suddenly had an urge to cover her face.

Why is my face in the mirror so red, the corners of my mouth are upturned, and I am smiling so happily, and I really look like I am about to cry?

Submerging her face in cold water, Higuchi Yuanka took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. The boiling on her face forced her to take this approach to cool down.

The dreaming bird, who had no fixed place to live, saw the figure of the young man. She slowly approached him, kept a little distance from him, sometimes stopped on a branch to rest, sometimes flew far away and then turned back. The dreaming bird was tired of flying wings, and she wanted to go home, so she rested on the young man's shoulder, leaned her face on his neck, slowly closed her eyes and began to rest.

Like a wanderer who has been away from home for many years and finally returns home, the happiness that came out of her heart surprised Higuchi Madoka herself. Is this still herself? Is she still the one who has never had expectations for the future?

Her cell phone vibrated, and Higuchi Yuanxiang wiped her face. She took it out and saw that it was a line message from Asakura Toru.

"Higuchi, will you be back tonight?"

She looked at the text message and finally calmed down.

“I’m back.”

Higuchi Yuanka exited the chat with Asakura Toru and entered the group chat called Strategy Group with a tap of her finger. She looked at the chat records and felt a sense of sweetness after all the hard work.

In the past days, she was a bystander, watching the girls who were close to her and Sakakibara Kaede share their secrets. After they succeeded, Higuchi Madoka tasted the taste of lifelong regret and had trouble falling asleep in bed.

She put down her phone.

She wanted to give Sakakibara Kaede an answer, an answer that she had kept in her heart for a long time.

Back in the private room, Higuchi Madoka found the waiter waiting by her side with a smile. After seeing her sit down, she brought the plate up and placed it in front of Higuchi Madoka. Her every move was full of polite service attitude and etiquette. The waitress smiled lightly, said "Enjoy your meal" and gently closed the door of the private room.

"The portion is about what I expected. After all, this is a high-end restaurant. There's nothing I can do about it." Sakakibara looked at the few noodles on the plate and shrugged. He had prepared himself mentally for not being full before coming here. High-end restaurants sell service and scenery, as well as the self-esteem of being a cut above the rest. Food is just a decoration.

No matter how beautiful the presentation is or how sparse the ingredients are, the main issue is that you won’t feel full.

Sakakibara Kaede smiled and shook her head. Higuchi Yuanxiang picked up the fork and said, "Let's go get some midnight snack later."

"Okay, okay, will Yuanxiang treat me to a meal?"

"Ah."

She put down her fork and looked at Sakakibara Kaede, who noticed Higuchi Madoka's gaze and also put down her knife and fork and looked at her with a smile.

This scene reminded Higuchi Madoka of the first time she collaborated with Sakakibara Kaede on a commercial a few years ago. The two had a lot of discussions about the definitions of secret love and love at first sight.

Purple eyes looked at blue eyes indifferently, as if they were being sucked in.

At that moment, at this moment.

She suddenly wanted to say something like thank you. It was the young man in front of her who held her hand and walked towards the world outside the door. It was he who took the initiative in front of her again and again. It was he who took the initiative to call her name. But at this moment, words of thanks were not appropriate.

"I... like it too, Feng-san." Higuchi Yuanxiang said halfway when her face became hot again and she quickly looked away as if escaping.

"Thank you for your love, Yuanxiang."

"Ah."

"future..."

The future life is an unknown, no one knows what will happen, Sakakibara Kaede and Higuchi Madoka stare at each other, the two stare at each other for a long time. No matter what happens in the future, the feelings at this moment will not be forgotten.

The future is uncertain, but what is certain is that Sakakibara Kaede will extend her hand to Higuchi Madoka, and the girl will bravely shake her hand back.

The corners of Higuchi Yuanka's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a faint, barely noticeable smile, and then the smile faded.