Chapter 380

Himemiya Chihaya glanced at his calm eyes hidden behind his glasses, as if she could see the sadness and memories concealed beneath that indifference.

He silently closed his crimson eyes, listening quietly to his playing.

Below, some people who knew the song title were whispering among themselves:

"It's the Sicilienne!"

"Wow, that's amazing! Not a single mistake or error. You're even better than our consultant!"

"You want a beating, don't you, Yamada?"

"Teacher! When did you arrive?!"

"..."

In Kitauji.

"Teacher Taki is really amazing!"

"Hmph, as bad as her personality is, she still has some strength."

"But our strength has indeed increased, hasn't it?"

"That can't hide his Spartan nature!"

"But I feel like I'm still not as good as the silver-haired one. Is it just my imagination?"

"Actually—I think so too..."

"..."

Hearing the whispers around her, Kōsaka Reina, who already knew Taki Noboru's strength, alternated between pride and indignation... In the end, she decided to ignore those people and keep quiet.

Soon, Taki Noboru's performance ended, and everyone on the stage, including Himemiya Chihaya, gave him a warm round of applause.

Taki Noboru held his Trombone in front of him and bowed several times to those around him, as if he were in a concert hall.

"A very beautiful and melodious voice, with very delicate emotions, absolutely fantastic!"

Himemiya Chihaya clapped her hands in praise of him.

This wasn't just flattery; he genuinely felt that way.

"That's great! I was worried that my skills wouldn't meet your standards."

Taki Noboru pretended to pat his chest.

"You flatter me. Your skills are quite good. Also, there's no need for honorifics; I'm not that old."

After saying that, he Hands and clapped them vigorously, as if announcing to the crowd below that it was time to move on to the next segment.

"Stop! As the first performer, what's your question?"

Those in the distance could only hear vaguely, but the onlookers closer were quite interested and equally curious about what questions he would ask.

"Ah, okay."

Taki Noboru considered his words carefully before asking, "May I ask the names of the two pieces you played earlier?"

"It all sounds like an arrangement of a famous piece, but I don't think I've ever heard of it before, and who is the composer...?"

For him, who had a stable job, a good family background, and was a widow with no children, the allure of 10,000 yen was far less important than this question.

As a teacher, this question wasn't just for himself, but also for all the students who had just asked him.

Himemiya Chihaya nodded slightly. As expected, he knew someone would take this opportunity to ask about it, but he didn't expect her to be the first one.

"The second song is called <My Heart Will Go On>, and the first song... I'm sorry, I haven't decided yet."

He scratched the back of his head and gave an apologetic look.

Chapter 391 Sound the Euphonium!

"Not having thought it through means..."

The other person's eyes widened behind their glasses, first with confusion, then surprise, and finally shock, as they seemed to have figured out the meaning of those words.

"It means exactly what you're thinking."

Himemiya Chihaya twirled the Saxophone, making it circle in her hand as she used to with Oboe, challenging the nerves of the crowd below and eliciting soft gasps from some of them.

"These two pieces are my own compositions, so they haven't been released online yet."

The second song, needless to say, was a classic he copied from his memory, but the first song was indeed something he created himself when he was bored while learning music. However, being someone who had always been out of touch with the world, he had no intention of uploading it to the internet.

So it still doesn't have a name.

The accompaniment playing in the speakers was the same music he had planned to perform at this time and place while he was in Tokyo, which he had prepared a few days in advance.

Taki Noboru was so shocked that his scalp tingled, and he couldn't help but swallow hard. If he had been told that it was a composition by a famous foreign composer, he could have accepted it, but the other party actually said that it was his own composition?

The other person clearly looked very young, even younger than him...

His reaction caused an uproar among those around him, who spread the news rapidly and anxiously, creating an even greater sensation.

"I see, thank you for your answer."

Taki Noboru smiled wryly and agreed with the answer; after all, there's never a shortage of geniuses in the world of music.

"You're really amazing! My name is Taki Noboru. May I ask your name?"

He was certain that this young man would soon rise to fame.

"Himemiya Chihaya."

Sakurakoji Talent thought to himself with a chuckle, "Unless he uses this stage name to release his own music, then..."

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like it's not a bad idea after all?" He tilted his head.

Instead of coming up with a bunch of complicated names, isn't it more convenient to just use the ones that already exist?

Never mind, that's for later, it's irrelevant now.

He tossed his hair, ignoring it.

Others might be shocked, but he didn't seem to feel anything.

He had said long ago that his knowledge of music theory was even higher than his performance level.

In terms of performance proficiency, he may not be as good as a professional virtuoso like Touma Yoko, but music theory and composition are two different things.

Creative content doesn't require repetitive and tedious practice... Other industry leaders may not have the time or talent to learn other fields, but he does, doesn't he?

Do you really think design masters just draw useless blueprints repeatedly? What a joke!

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hinomiya -san."

After giving him a slight nod, Taki Noboru returned to his school.

Next, several more interested students squeezed up with their instruments, but the results were mostly unsatisfactory.

It's common for people to stumble and fall while playing due to nervousness, and even if someone manages to finish, they often miss out on the prize because their technique isn't good enough.

This momentarily dampened the enthusiasm of the students below, who looked at each other in bewilderment, and for a moment no one dared to go up.

"Is nobody here? Let me give it a try!"

A familiar voice reached Himemiya Chihaya's ears, and then Tanaka Asuka leaped over him and arrived beside him.

"Yo~! Himemiya student, it's nice to see you again!"

She smiled and winked, greeting us.

"Asuka -san (1) Lin}-Nibaqi Company Logistics, want to give it a try?"

His eyes relaxed slightly; finally, a familiar face had appeared!

"Well, but my skills can't compare to yours or Teacher Taki's, can they?"

"It's okay, as long as it's relatively good and you're emotionally engaged, that's fine! Relax~"

"Is she very emotional...?"

Tanaka Asuka muttered something to herself, then looked up at him. Her playful expression faded, and her look gradually became serious. "I understand."

Then, she looked at another person there. "Isn't this Nozomi? You and Himemiya student knew each other before?"

Taki Noboru is a new consultant who joined this year, so naturally he doesn't know Kasamaki Nozomi, but she is different.

Hearing her speak to her, Kasamaki Nozomi, whose feelings had been complicated since the beginning and who wanted to greet her but hesitated, pressed her arm. "Asuka- senpai... no, we just bumped into each other while watching the parade."

"I see..."

Tanaka Asuka nodded slightly, understanding why she was there, and said nothing, "Then, to avoid wasting everyone's time, I'll begin!"

After saying that, she stopped paying attention to her, picked Euphonium in her hands, and aimed it at the mouthpiece.

"???∮※..."

Like Taki Noboru's melody, the slow, lyrical, and serene Euphonium was played out little by little by her.

The melody was simple, and the pitch was not high; in fact, it required complete silence to hear clearly. But the profound meaning it contained was not much different from Taki Noboru's performance just now.

After glancing at her eyes, he wisely closed them.

After the nearly two-minute piece ended, as if feeling it was too short, too quiet and ordinary, she switched to another well-known piece that was more cheerful and more difficult.

Two or three minutes later, she ended her performance.

"How about it?"

Without a trace of regret for her performance, she hugged the golden Euphonium and grinned with a clear smile.

"Very good!"

Amidst the applause from below, he readily took out one—no, two— Yukichi from his wallet and handed them to her.

"Huh? Why do we need two?"

Amidst gasps of surprise from below, Tanaka Asuka accepted it with astonishment.

"Because I feel your performance has that value, and besides, you played two pieces."

After making a "V" sign with two fingers, he pulled out another bill and loudly proclaimed to everyone:

"Also, since I haven't heard your first song, I'd like to do what the previous teacher did: exchange this one for its name, is that alright?"

"Even if you don't need to give it to me, I'll still say so..."

Her eyebrows furrowed, and her tone was helpless.

"No! That's my pride—but you can only say it to me, since I'm the only one who paid!"

"Sh--!!!"

Such a stingy remark drew boos from the crowd below.

"Haha~ Himemiya student, you're really funny!"

Unable to refuse his insistence, she was momentarily stunned, holding the three brand-new coins in her hand.

Is this what it feels like to make money with music? It's her first time.

"It was a piece that someone I know wrote for me; it's called 'Sound, Euphonium!'"

With a strange feeling, she put away the banknotes and smiled wryly.

"So, just like Himemiya student's song, you can't find it online either~"

Oh--

The audience below erupted in discussion again, surprised that there was another piece of gossip to share.

"I see. The melody is very beautiful; I like it very much. Thank you."

"Then I'll go down now~"

"Ah, wait!"

He called out to her, seeking confirmation. "Are you going straight back to school later?"

"Hmm? Yeah, because there's an event today, there's no practice this afternoon and tomorrow, but we still need to go back to school before we're dismissed... What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing, thank you."

His skin twitched mysteriously, and a knowing glint flashed in his eyes.

Tilting her head in confusion, she saw him calling for others to come up again, and then, perplexed, she returned to the group.