At six thirty on Saturday morning, Watanabe Tetsu finished his run and his morning calisthenics. Thinking about spending the entire day with the girls, he took a shower and changed into fresh underwear.
On the seven o'clock train to Yotsuya Station, he leaned against the door and thought: maybe going out often is one of the best ways to improve one's appearance.
Even without actively trying—like bathing, trimming nails, or wearing makeup—simply keeping your back straight over time can change a person's aura.
Of course, this didn't apply to people who were truly lazy—but then again, they lived freer lives.
Lost in these thoughts, Tetsu's train rolled into Yotsuya Station.
The path up the hill toward Kamikawa was empty. Tetsu took out his phone and snapped a selfie with himself and the slope.
Watanabe Tetsu: First day of getting up early to train for Miki
Miki: Good boy
"Your savings card received 1,000,000 yen on June 22 at 7:13. Current balance: 102,105,652 yen."
Tetsu blinked.
Did he really need that extra million?
Though the 100 million in his account had all come from Yuki Miki, what use was so much money? Right now, all he wanted was to send some home to make his parents' lives easier—but explaining where the money came from was tricky.
Being vague would only make his elders worry.
He changed into his indoor shoes at the empty locker area, covered a yawn with his hand, and headed toward the music room.
On the second floor, faint musical notes floated from a distant covered corridor—an alto horn with deep resonance.
Currently, the only person in Kamikawa's brass club capable of that level of playing was Mai Asahi.
Mai Asahi was beautiful, especially her big, clear eyes, which always reminded Tetsu of the pristine streams flowing down the hills back home.
Not only was she an exceptional musician and pretty, but she also topped the academic charts—a product of arriving even earlier than Tetsu.
Truly excellent people made the most of their time, or perhaps only those who made the most of their time could become excellent.
Tetsu climbed to the fifth-floor corridor, set down his backpack, and took out his oboe, officially nicknamed Black Duck.
A slightly off-pitch long note echoed along with the alto horn through the empty morning school building.
Lost in practice, he didn't notice when Mai Asahi quietly appeared at his side, her clear eyes watching him.
"Senpai Asahi?!" Tetsu jumped, having heard no footsteps at all.
Mai Asahi nodded silently, her naturally falling bangs swaying softly, like grass by a stream—fresh and unassuming.
"Good morning," Tetsu said awkwardly, thinking of what had happened the last couple of times.
"…Good morning."
"Senpai Mai~~" A cheerful voice rang out. "Eh? Watanabe-senpai's here so early? I thought I'd be the second one!"
Aoi Ichiki bounced over, carrying her heavy tuba effortlessly.
For a moment, Tetsu noticed a flash of mild annoyance in Mai Asahi's clear eyes.
'Ichiki-san, for your own good—please, next time, pick a more reasonable moment to show up!' he thought.
While Aoi fussed with Mai Asahi, they began morning practice. Tetsu, meanwhile, played his oboe with all his strength toward the distant train departing Yotsuya, lungs dizzy from CO₂ buildup.
After eight o'clock, people slowly began appearing along the corridors and in the music room—some practicing instruments, some loudly reciting English vocabulary.
By nine, nearly everyone had arrived. The combined sounds of various instruments created a cacophony far more grating than the cawing of crows on a tennis court.
Why were there so many crows in Tokyo, anyway?
The numbers were high enough that the government had implemented measures: anti-bird nets at trash stations, nighttime garbage collection, and so on.
'What can we learn from this?' Tetsu thought.
'Tokyo has a lot of trash.'
Exactly.
By ten, Tetsu was exhausted from practice. He set his instrument aside and hummed the music according to the sheet notes as he headed toward the restroom.
Along the way, he ran into Rin Kiyono coming from the trombone section. She smiled appreciatively.
"Improvement! The level of unpleasantness has gone down slightly since yesterday."
She measured a centimeter between her thumb and forefinger.
"Are you mocking me?" Tetsu, a casual anime fan, recognized the "finger universe" meme.
"Huh?" Rin tilted her head in confusion, wondering why someone would get annoyed after receiving praise from her.
"Nothing. I'm headed to the restroom—want to come?"
"Sure." Rin nodded.
As they walked together, Tetsu continued humming the melody.
"This note needs to be a bit higher, like this…" Rin's soft lips parted, her clear, lively voice reaching his ears. "Got it?"
Tetsu imagined her voice in his head and hummed along.
"The middle note should last longer."
He hummed it again.
"Can you breathe more continuously? Let it flow."
"…."
They reached the restroom and separated at the sinks.
While washing his hands, Tetsu overheard voices from the women's restroom: "That arrogant underclassman!" and "He dared belittle our abilities, saying years of practice were worthless—we'll have to start over!"
The voices fell silent as Rin exited, calmly washing her hands and drying them with a white handkerchief.
On the way back to the music room, Tetsu asked, "Everything okay?"
"I'm not here to be liked. As long as they attend practice and eventually make it to the nationals, that's enough."
"You're amazing." Tetsu truly admired her strength.
"I'm just a junior with the ability to guide them. Every word I say hits their weakest point. Hating me is natural—it's not something a bit of politeness could fix."
By now, Tetsu had a decent understanding of Rin's personality: she didn't care what others thought of her.
"Do you really think we can make it to nationals?" he asked.
"No one can stop me," Rin replied, in her typically narcissistic style.
...
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