"I was just telling the truth... Alright, let's not talk about that. Where's your teacher? I still need her to help me with the music."
"Sorry to disappoint, but Sensei has already entrusted this task to me," Kaori said, lifting her chin proudly.
"To you?" Yusei looked at Kaori with deep skepticism.
Seeing his blatant distrust, Kaori pouted, "Hey, what's with that look? My violin skills are quite good! And even if I'm not perfect, Sensei can always help revise it later, right?"
Yusei thought about it and figured that could work. Her teacher would be the final check anyway.
She probably gave the task to Kaori to give her student some experience. So, Yusei simply nodded in agreement.
"Fine then, give it a try. You've read the story script, right?"
Hearing Yusei agree to let her do it, Kaori beamed, her eyes curving into little crescents, overjoyed. But at the mention of 'story script', she faltered.
"Story script? What script?"
Yusei stared at her in disbelief, "The script for the game you're making music for, of course! When you compose music, don't you need to know what kind of game it is? If it's a horror game, are you going to use an uplifting, heroic piece?"
"Uh..." Kaori, seemingly realizing Yusei had a point, instinctively averted her gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
Seeing her reaction, Yusei understood immediately, 'This girl didn't bother to look into the story outline beforehand.'
Yusei was speechless, 'How could she compose music for a game without knowing its genre or plot? She couldn't possibly make anything suitable.'
"Forget it, forget it. I'd better go find your teacher." Yusei waved his hand and made to leave and find Nishimura.
Seeing this, Kaori quickly ran in front of Yusei, spreading her arms to block his path, "Wait! Don't! Believe me, I can definitely do a good job!"
"Then play me a piece suitable for... an intimate moment first," Yusei said, sitting down on a nearby chair like a boss giving orders.
"A piece for what moment?!" Upon hearing Yusei's request, Kaori's smiling face instantly turned bright red. She fidgeted, unable to form a coherent sentence.
She knew exactly what Yusei meant, and that's precisely why she was extremely embarrassed and shy.
She was, after all, a young maiden who had never been in a relationship. How could she possibly know about that?
Although she'd seen some... movies... it was still too awkward and mortifying.
"C-can you make a different request?" Kaori stammered.
Yusei shot her a sidelong glance, "Are we bargaining at a market? 'Don't like this one, swap it for another'? The story script has scenes like that. I'm just checking the goods in advance. So, if you admit you can't do it, I'll just ask your teacher for help."
"Who says I can't?! I... I can try!" Hearing Yusei was about to involve her teacher, Kaori immediately stood her ground.
This was an opportunity she had fought hard for, a chance to prove herself. How could she let her teacher down?
Moreover, Yusei was her lifesaver. Kaori was immensely grateful and really wanted to do something for him.
For Kaori, she couldn't disappoint either Yusei or her teacher, Nishimura.
Yusei had nothing else to do, so he settled into the chair, ready to listen to Kaori's performance.
Kaori took a deep breath to calm herself, trying hard to recall scenes from those movies in her mind. But the moment she thought about them, her thoughts became a jumbled mess.
How could she focus on playing while thinking about those movies? However, having played the violin since childhood, Kaori managed to imagine the general feeling and began to play.
To truly draw listeners into the music, the performer must first immerse themselves in it. Music is the performer's world, and the listeners hear that world.
So, Kaori completely immersed herself as the female perspective. The awkward part was she subconsciously cast Yusei as the male perspective.
But there was no helping it. She hardly knew any familiar men well. The ones she saw most often were her schoolmates.
Those classmates obviously didn't leave a deep impression on her.
Yusei, however, was not only handsome, young, and wealthy but also her lifesaver. Substituting him as the 'Prince Charming' was a natural thing to do.
The piece had both gentle, winding melodies and passionate, stirring sections… essentially, a mix of fast and slow rhythms.
It had to be said, under Kaori's control, the transitions between fast and slow were handled very well. Even Yusei had to admit that Kaori was very talented with the violin.
The piece concluded.
Kaori's cheeks were still flushed. Her bright eyes seemed to shimmer with moisture as she glared fiercely at Yusei.
"W-well? Is it acceptable now?"
"Of course it is. I didn't expect you to be good at more than just eating," Yusei remarked.
Kaori rolled her eyes at him, lacking the energy to banter further.
"I'm going to the restroom." With that, Kaori walked away with an oddly stiff gait.
No, to be precise, she first went to her room at her teacher's place to get a change of clothes, then headed for a shower.
Kaori wished she could find a hole to crawl into. It was just too embarrassing. Probably because her fantasy felt too real, leading to this mortifying situation.
Especially since the guy in her fantasy was the jerk, Yusei. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.
Yusei didn't know why he waited a full half-hour in the music room, nor why Kaori's trip to the 'restroom' took half an hour.
But when she finally emerged, with slightly damp hair and a change of clothes, he was annoyed.
"I've been waiting here for you, and you went off to enjoy a nice shower and change your clothes?"
Hearing this, Kaori felt wronged instead of guilty. She glared back at him, ferociously saying, "And whose fault do you think that is?! If it weren't for you, how could I have...!"
She stopped there, not continuing. Her face, already rosy from the steam, turned even redder.
Then, she crossed her arms and snorted, "In short, you should know you deserved to wait!"
Kaori stated this 'unreasonable' claim. As for why Yusei deserved to wait, that remained a mystery.