The corridor leading to the Grand Concert Hall is filled with solemn silence.

Pushing open the soundproof door, everyone from Kamigawa High School came to the back of the stage.

The stage is filled with blinding glare and stark light, as opposed to the dark backstage. From behind the curtain, you can see the school playing and part of the auditorium.

Miki Kujou sat in the VIP area, her head propped up in her hands, her expression nonchalant. With a hard time to get a ticket, a large area was vacated around her.

"Komatsu-senpai is still the same as always, and the speech before the last Kanto tournament was the same, saying that you must not lose to other schools." Toru Watanabe turned his head and looked at Rin Kiyono who was standing beside him.

Rin Kiyono said softly, "Not only her, but after my observation, most of Kamikawa's students are like this, and they have become accustomed to the concept of 'either you don't do it, and you must be excellent if you do it'." ”

"Well, that makes sense, you're one of those people too."

"Describe me as good?" Rin Kiyono looked at him dissatisfied.

"Perfect, you're perfect."

Rin Kiyono turned around and continued to watch the performance on stage.

Toru Watanabe stares at the side of her face, and she ties her hair into balls for the competition.

"What are you looking at?" Noticing his gaze, Rin Kiyono frowned.

"The beautiful girl really ties any hairstyle very cute."

“....... It's just appearances, what's there to say. Rin Kiyono turned her head, "Please pay attention to my grades, athletics, art, manners, and mental invincibility." ”

"Mentally invulnerable, uh-"

"Do you have any questions, Toru Watanabe?"

"No, I just think you're really cute."

"Are you underestimating me?" Rin Kiyono clasped her arms and looked at Toru Watanabe with a sneer.

"No, how could I underestimate you."

"Lies." Rin Kiyono's face turned completely cold, "It's me who underestimated you, Toru Watanabe, I didn't expect you to be so ignorant." ”

"It's cute to wear a men's suit."

"I'm talking to you......"

"Even if you're angry, it's cute."

Rin Kiyono took a deep breath and said sharply, "I'll tell you again, Watanabe-san, such a superficial thing as appearance is not worth mentioning. ”

"The voice of inhalation is cute, the lips are cute when you speak, the angry eyes are cute, the movement of holding your arms is cute, and the quick blinking of your eyes when you are shy is cute......."

"Superficial." Rin Kiyono let go of the hands holding his arms, pursed his lips, and stared at his round eyes, "I'm not satisfied with the solo later, and you look good when you go back to Tokyo!" ”

She snorted coldly and turned around completely, not even leaving a side face for Toru Watanabe.

But today, it was not a coincidence, she pulled her long, straight and soft hair as black as lead powder into balls, so her delicate and fair ears were exposed.

Toru Watanabe looked at his crystal clear ears and listened carefully to the sound of Rin Kiyono's breathing in the dark, and inexplicable emotions welled up in his heart.

However, he turned his gaze to the audience, and the oboe in his hand gave off a black sheen.

No matter how cute Rin Kiyono is, his music is played for Miki Kujo.

“...... R-san, you must be a god, right? ”

"Shut up."

******

Pushing open the thick door leading to the stage, the sound of the high school performance that was being performed suddenly flooded into my ears.

Unlike the Kyoto and Kansai competitions, once it comes to the national competition, no school is weak, and they are all well-known wind music schools.

However, don't be afraid, Kita Uji is one of the 29 teams, and it is a strong school of wind music! Kumiko hugged the upper low horn and swallowed.

The mermaid of Kita-Uji enters the backstage, and there is already a school ready to play, which is Kanto Representative Kamigawa High School.

A private school with a deviation in the top 10 percent of the country.

A few of the students had brilliant minds, some were frighteningly hardworking, and the rest were all smart and hardworking.

In Hazuki's words, the last kind of person is too disgusting and doesn't give ordinary people a chance at all.

They were dressed in neat black uniforms, and their faces were calm and solemn, like well-trained troops.

Kumiko found a corner, felt that it was difficult to breathe, and her heart was pounding rapidly.

She closed her eyes, and there was bottomless darkness.

"Don't be too nervous." A steady voice mingled with footsteps, whispering a reminder to her.

Kumiko opened her eyes and nodded silently at Toru Watanabe, who was walking by.

"Have faith?" Toru Watanabe asked.

"Is there any......" Kumiko herself doesn't know.

"You must be fine."

Kumiko looked at him in surprise: "Why do you say that?" ”

"Now, here, at the Nagoya International Conference Hall, there are some powerful people. Including Kita Uji, there are also many people with great wind skills, such as the oboe, and another bass horn player, and your good friend Rina is even more beautiful and powerful. ”

"What kind of reason is that?" Kumiko sighed speechlessly.

"But none of the guys I just talked about are in my eyes. In the whole of Kita-Uji, only Kumiko is qualified to be my friend, and this is the reason why you must be fine. ”

"Why?" Kumiko asked softly.

It's strange, is it because it's about to be a game? Obviously, Toru Watanabe was talking about her respected seniors and Rina bad words, but she wasn't angry at all.

Or maybe it's because Toru Watanabe sees himself as a friend?

I went to Tokyo alone to study, I did hard work, I had a girlfriend who made the organizers dare not speak out, and she was able to get the first place in the country without much effort, and her appearance was impeccable, and she was definitely a typical example of standing above everyone, such a person regarded her as a friend.

Even Reina, whose eyes sparkled and was regarded as a treasure, was not taken seriously by him, but she could.

"You, I," Toru Watanabe pointed at her and then at himself, "the same kind of people." ”

"How do you see that?" Kumiko wanted him to say more.

In her previous life, she had always been said to be a good child and gentle, but she had never been recognized to this extent, and she had a full sense of pride in her heart.

"It's like it's engraved in my head, and I understand it at a glance."

Kumiko glanced at Toru Watanabe's forehead, this person has no dead ends, he is very handsome, but there is no engraving.

She looked confused.

"How can I explain it to you......" Toru Watanabe thought for a moment, squeezing a shallow wrinkle between his eyebrows, "For example, if I am, then you, Kumiko Huangmae, are." ”

"No," Kumiko was dumbfounded, "there's too much difference in range, right?" Anyway, yes! ”

Toru Watanabe was noncommittal about Kumiko's complaints, chuckling and saying, "How is it, are you still nervous?" ”

“...... So you're comforting me, what you just said is all false? Kumiko said dissatisfied.

She carefully realized that her originally tense body did relax unconsciously.

"How is that possible? If you don't know who in Shinjuku City, my greatest virtue is honesty. ”

"Who believes you!"

"Well, that's absolutely true, I kid you not."

Kumiko was about to say something when there was a sudden burst of applause from the audience in front of the curtain - the performance of the previous high school was over, and it was Kamikawa's turn.

Kumiko's mood that had just relaxed suddenly became tense again.

She looked at Toru Watanabe worriedly, but what she saw was an unmoved face.

In all the competitions she has participated in so far, Kumiko has never seen such a confident expression on anyone.

Toru Watanabe stretched out his fist at her.

Kumiko looked at the fist for a while, and then suddenly remembered to slam her much smaller fist lightly.

"I went."

"Well, come on!"

"Enjoy my performance, Kumiko, the next performance will not be there before, and it will never be in the future."

Toru Watanabe walked away with the oboe and sheet music, and together with the people of Kamigawa High School, stepped onto the stage that belonged to them.

Kumiko, who was left alone, closed her eyes again.

In the bottomless darkness, particles of light float under thin eyelids.

No problem, now I can do anything. ’

"Kumiko." Rina walked over, "Let's get closer, I want to see what that guy is capable of." ”

Kumiko opened her eyes and answered softly, "Hmm." ”

The two walked to the curtain.

It's already full of people, there are people who like to listen to music like Lu Hui, and there are also classmates who are looking at handsome guys or crazy men looking at beautiful women.

Looking at the stage exposed to the bright light, Kumiko's heart fluttered again, but it was no longer nervous, it was full of anticipation for the future, and she couldn't wait to perform on stage.

Now I can blow even the most difficult transition syllables perfectly!

"Next, the No. 9, the representative of Kanto, and the students of the Tokyo Metropolitan Kamigawa High School Wind Club will play for everyone."

The voices of Kamigawa High School sat in their assigned positions, and the sheet music, which had long been filled with notes, was placed on a black music stand.

"The designated song is the fourth track, and the free song is composed by Hideichi Kawa and conducted by Rin Kiyono."

As the curtain ended, the auditorium suddenly fell into darkness, and only the spotlights on the stage were still on, and the snow-white light shone on the black uniform of Kamigawa High School.

The conductor, the conductor their age, looked at everyone's faces one by one.

Her slender fingers raised her baton, and the rest of Kamigawa raised their instruments in unison like soldiers who saw the banner.

Kumiko couldn't help but grab the hem of her skirt.

Then, the baton is waved downward.

In an instant, neatly drawn notes erupted from the mouth of the instrument without a trace of impurities.

The trumpet is powerful, the percussion runs forward, the brass plucks clang, the bass drums roar loudly, and the small drums are like thunder, and the sound is continuous......

The sound and the sound constantly collide, and the main theme is complex and shocking.

Suddenly, the flute's beautiful melody blows like a night breeze, and the fierce performance is slowly subdued, followed by the upper bass horn with a lingering tone like a love song.

The notes overlap each other, and the strings are seamless.

Although the upper bass horn is more of a foil, like a slow simmer to increase the quality of the flute, the tone is too beautiful, too transparent, too warm.

That's the most beautiful upper bass horn sound Kumiko has ever heard.

She also served as an upper bass trumpet, and she couldn't help but look over, Kamikawa had two upper bass trumpeters, and at this time there was only one girl with an indifferent expression playing.

She didn't look at the score, she didn't look at the conductor, and she followed her line of sight to see that it was Kamigawa's oboeist.

It was Watanabe, who had just thought about it when the court suddenly became quiet.

Kumiko hurriedly looked at the conductor, and Rin Kiyono lowered her hands at this time and bowed her head lightly to the oboe.

"Leave the timing of the solo to the performer!" On the side, Rina couldn't help but whisper in surprise.

Kumiko was taken aback.

Rina is a trumpet solo in Kita Uji, but she is strong enough to be a soloist in the first grade, and the timing of the start is also subject to the conductor's arrangement.

The solo goes with everyone, not everyone with her.

The silence continued, filling the concert hall.

The air grew agitated, and a few viewers even began to whisper.

But by the time Toru Watanabe took the reed in his mouth and spit his breath into the oboe, all that was left of the world was a melancholy melody.

It is as if the notes that can stretch to the ends of the earth, driving away all anxiety and anxiety, filling every inch of the concert hall.

Everyone's heart was beating violently, shaking the eardrum.

That timbre intoxicated Kumiko as always, resonating with her and shaking her heart.

In a trance, a bluebird hatches from an oboe.

She grew slowly, stretched her wings lazily, adjusted to her body, and then, spreading her wings, chirping and flying.

In response to her call, all the clarinets spoke together, and the golden winds gathered behind, following the bluebirds like a flock of birds.

But.

Just when everyone was fascinated by the ensemble and swallowed up by the torrent of sound, the blue bird suddenly let out an arrogant roar.

The chirp burst through the air, breaking the harmony of the ensemble, and forcibly piercing their eardrums whether they wanted it or not.

The audience, the judges, Kita Uji backstage, and everyone who watched the live broadcast on TV watched this scene on the stage in amazement:

Whether it was the clarinet or the golden pipe, all of them were abandoned by the bluebird, and she danced alone, and the higher and higher she flew, the higher she flew, the brighter the light began to shine, and the colors gradually became colorful.

As she circled the concert hall and the crowd basked in her radiance, everything was all and all was convinced.

Kumiko felt like her brain was about to melt away.

******

"Representatives of all schools are invited to come to the stage and line up."

Before I could react, I don't know when the awards would start, and the sound of the oboe still remains on everyone's eardrum.

A whole row of golden trophies, glittering under the stage lights, aroused everyone's desire even more.

"No. 1, Hokuriku Representative, Yiyan Commercial High School, Bronze Award."

Sighs of disappointment came from around the corner, but no one cared about them.

"No. 4, Kanto representative, Tokyo Metropolitan Komazawa High School, Gold Award!"

"Ahh

The schools that are still waiting for the results are pale, and the gold award only accounts for 30%, and the more schools there are, the smaller their chances.

"No. 5, Kyushu representative, Kiyora Girls' High School, Gold Award!"

Two gold in a row.

Qingliang girls are running and jumping, the girls' legs under the skirt, the girls hugging each other, the scenery that usually makes people look at it, but now no one cares.

"No. 6, Kanto representative, Tokyo Metropolitan Katakura High School, Gold Award!"

There was thunder of joy.

The sound slammed into the heads of all the remaining school students.

Three gold in a row.

Although he knew that this was not under human control, and he would not give silver or bronze to the next one because of the gold award, the seventh was already desperate, and there were already female members who couldn't help crying.

The faces of everyone at Kamigawa High School were also not good-looking.

Representative Kanto, there are already two gold awards, will the last one give a gold award?

Will there be judges who are not used to Kanto's strength, or think that Kamikawa entered the national competition for the first time and would be fine with a silver award?

"No. 7, Shikoku Representative, Shikoku University High School, Bronze Award."

The people of the high school affiliated to Shikoku University covered their faces gloomily, and some boys gritted their teeth as if they hated themselves for being useless.

On stage, Misaki Komatsu's hands were cold, and the agitation of her heart spread through her bones throughout her body, and her feet began to go numb.

Behind her, Mai Tomorrow's lips pursed into a line.

"No. 8, Tohoku representative, Iwate Prefectural Hinodezawa High School, Silver Award."

Breathing heavier and heavier, Misaki Komatsu watched as the representative of Sunrise Ze High School accepted the trophy and certificate with satisfaction.

If Kamigawa only won the silver award, she would never forgive herself.

Kamigawa, a school where graduates are embarrassed to participate in the class reunion if they are not admitted to Imperial University, and they are never allowed to lose to other schools after going all out!

"No. 9, Kanto representative, Tokyo Metropolitan Kamigawa High School ......"

Everyone in Kamigawa couldn't help but hold their breath.

The girl folded her hands and prayed with her eyes closed, while the boy kept his eyes unblinked, clenched his fists, and stared at the master of ceremonies announcing the results.

In the silent venue, the awe-inspiring voice of the master of ceremonies sounded:

"Gold!"

"Ahh

"Gold Award! Gold! Gold! ”

"Senior ——!!!" The senior sister suddenly threw herself into the arms of the senior sister in the same voice.

"Don't cry, we're a gold award! Don't cry...... Yes! Comforting, the senior sister herself couldn't help but cry loudly.

The moment she heard the result, Misaki Komatsu felt like she was going to fall.

The sound faded away, the scenery was still, and that short second was stretched hundreds of times longer. Under the stage, the screams of everyone hugging each other were as distant as if they were in a dream.

Great, really good.

"Misaki." Mai tomorrow called softly.

"Hmm." Misaki Komatsu tried to hold back her tears, and walked forward with Mai Asuka with her head held high to receive the trophy and certificate.

The emcee's steady voice continued to come through the microphone.

"No. 10, Kansai representative, Kyoto Prefectural Kita-Uji High School, Bronze Award."

......

"I always feel that I can't take enough pictures!"

"Senior sister, what else do you want to do? It's so troublesome, we just want to hurry up and have a big meal! ”

"When you threw yourself into my arms and cried just now, you didn't have this attitude!"

"You're so long-winded! I'm about to become an old woman! ”

"Okay, okay, Ichinose, what else do you want to do?"

"Hmm...... Ah, I thought about it, let's make a video and sing the school song! Saved in the Wind Club! ”

"Eh—the square is full of people, and it's too shameful to sing the school song!"

"That's it! No, no, no! ”

"1, 2, 3, sing!"

"Wait, I'm not ready! What's the first sentence?! ”

"Yotsuya hills, the school building skipped by crows, our alma mater, Kamigawa!"

“......”

Passers-by stop to watch this group of high school students, their cheerful singing, wandering in the autumn twilight of Nagoya.