At night, in her bedroom, Asako Hanada practiced her music sheets but took a break to check her phone.
The chat group was called "Aoi Ichiki's Brain Trust"—a group created by underclassmen of the Wind Instrument Club who wanted to help their senior in pursuing personal goals.
Including her, there were now four members in the group.
Asako stared at the group name for a moment, intending to leave the chat and check the feed for updates from friends, when an unexpected message popped up on her screen.
Aoi Ichiki: Where should we hang out this week!!!
Watanabe Tetsu: Saturday and Sunday are all rainy days
Rin Seino: Then let's do something indoors, like watch a movie or sing karaoke
Watanabe Tetsu: Saturday and Sunday are all rainy days
Aoi Ichiki: Then let's go sing! We can play Truth or Dare!
Watanabe Tetsu: Saturday and Sunday are all rainy days
Aoi Ichiki: Senpai Asako, can you help invite Senpai Mai out?
Although she greatly disliked Tetsu's flippant nature, leaving someone ignored was too awkward to ignore.
Asako Hanada: Watanabe-kun, may I ask why you repeated the same thing three times?
Watanabe Tetsu: …Sorry
The room was empty except for Asako, yet her face immediately turned crimson as if she'd been boiled like an octopus.
Quickly, she typed: I'm not blaming you! I'm just really curious why you repeated it three times!
Rin Seino: Don't mind him.
Watanabe Tetsu: It's raining, so I just want to stay home and sleep.
Tetsu's and Rin's messages appeared simultaneously on the screen, moving so fast that only a system could distinguish the order.
Asako Hanada: Watanabe-kun already has a girlfriend, so it's not really appropriate for him to hang out with us all the time. Rin, maybe let him be.
After a long pause:
Rin Seino: Fine.
Watanabe Tetsu: Senpai Asako, you're amazing!!!
Watanabe Tetsu: From now on, please take care of any off-campus stuff!!!
Asako pouted at the screen reading "Senpai Asako, you're amazing," a mix of anger and embarrassment.
He already had a girlfriend, yet he said such things to other girls. No doubt, he was a flippant junior.
——————
There's an old saying: you can't ask for what's not yours, but you also can't escape it.
At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Watanabe Tetsu arrived at school, umbrella in hand.
The reason was simple.
Mai Asuka—the emotionally deficient senior—seemed to have rejected Asako Hanada's proposal to go out because of Rin Seino's critique. She decided to stay at school and practice all weekend.
She didn't ask other members of the bass section to skip their holidays, only offering to guide those who wanted to join.
In Tetsu's mind, Mai's intention was clear: telling others to get back to practice and stop embarrassing her—though of course she didn't say it that way.
Aoi Ichiki, naturally, didn't let this chance slip by.
Thus, Tetsu—who had said, "Leave off-campus plans to you all"—stepped into the Saturday version of Kamikawa, a place he had never been before.
The school during the rainy season felt submerged in a tranquil silence, like the stillness beneath water while swimming. Only the bright tones of instruments and the crisp sound of metal bats hitting baseballs could be heard.
The baseball club, preparing for the July Koshien qualifiers, trained intensively even on rainy Saturdays.
This was what he called a rose-colored private school life.
"Here's to youth!"
But he could only give a saluting gaze.
Tetsu held his umbrella in one hand and a copy of The Stars Shine on Humanity in the other—a collection of biographies by Stefan Zweig, covering pivotal moments in the lives of literary geniuses, generals, politicians, and other important figures.
He hadn't chosen a biography of a single person because he hadn't decided yet: whether he wanted to become a writer, a politician, or a general.
He also wanted to see how people in different roles faced difficulties, adjusted their mindset, and made decisions, which could broaden his approach to handling the Yuki family.
Tetsu ran into Rin Seino by the shoe lockers—their schedules, or at least their arrival times at school, coincidentally matched.
However, riding the same train at the same time daily made this hardly surprising.
"Good morning, Watanabe-kun."
"Good morning."
Rin Seino's manners were precise, far beyond ordinary, but her eyes—sharp and able to pierce through any lie—always gave off an unapproachable impression.
On the way to the music room, Tetsu expressed admiration for their dedication to practicing even on a rainy day.
To Rin, it was a mundane matter.
"If you want to reach somewhere—like Koshien or the national competition—hard work is just the basic requirement," she concluded matter-of-factly.
"Really?"
"You don't need to admire them." Rin opened the thick, soundproof door of the music room.
Inside, not only the bass section but other sections were present, totaling around twenty students.
Tetsu noticed that about half were freshmen. Thanks to Rin, he even knew each of their names and student numbers.
The problems in the Wind Instrument Club, he realized, originated from the seniors. He pulled a chair to the window, leaned against the wall, and opened The Stars Shine on Humanity.
Tetsu's arrival caused a minor stir in the nearly all-female club.
His tall, slender figure, neat uniform shirt, long fingers flipping the pages of a new book, and focused, handsome face instantly captured the attention of most of the girls.
With no strict committee member on duty that Saturday, his unfastened collar drew even more curious glances.
Some girls exchanged looks:
'So glad I came for extra training today!'
'Yes, yes, yes!'
When Tetsu glanced at the clock on the wall, forty-three minutes had already passed.
The music room smelled faintly of various shampoos. The slightly heavy air made him drowsy.
Suppressing a yawn, he set the book aside, preparing to go to the bathroom to wake up his brain.
After washing his hands, he noticed Mai Asuka rinsing her mouthpiece at the sink.
Tetsu washed his hands silently and turned to head back to the activity room to continue reading.
Plop.
A tissue packet slipped from Mai's school skirt pocket to the floor.
Luckily, this was the restroom. Tetsu bent down to pick it up.
"Senpai, here."
At that moment, Tetsu wondered if the bending had caused a head rush, as he saw what couldn't be real:
Mai Asuka, usually so composed and clear-eyed, lifted her skirt—without wearing safety shorts.
From the female restroom came faint voices, as if one person was finished and urging another along.
As the second voice said, "Almost done," Mai's pale face gradually flushed with a strange, unnatural red.
Tetsu could no longer think.
...
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