Tokyo: Who would still fall in love after being spoiled?

Chapter 112 There is always a place for him in this world
Not long after he started blowing the whistle, he was found.

Although this old residential area is silent most of the time, like a deserted alley, there are still many real people living here.

He felt this firsthand when an old woman with a hunched back walked to the bottom of the building in the yard, stopping every step, raised her head and waved to him.

The old man praised him for his excellent playing and said that if circumstances permitted, he would really like to hear him play a few more pieces.

The melodies he played were mostly songs with a certain age, preserved along with the memories of his past life, becoming shadows that he could not abandon in this life. Sometimes these shadows of past lives became treasures, exerting their effectiveness, but sometimes they deeply bound his thoughts, preventing him from truly becoming a sixteen-year-old boy.

The old man had a young granddaughter who had just fallen asleep in a rocking cradle. He hoped he would understand and stop playing.

As an apology, the old man also said that he would give him some snacks to express his gratitude.

He declined the snacks, put on his trumpet, and left this old residential area that needed quiet.

First, walk out of the residential area and into the bustling commercial street.

There was no need to keep quiet here. Pre-recorded commercials were being broadcast on the street, looping through speakers. Bars, cafes, and fast food restaurants were playing songs of varying styles. Pedestrians hurried past him, and small cars raced across the road...

But this is not his place to stay either.

The commercial street was filled with a variety of sounds, each with its own origin and destination. Advertisements attracted passersby, music played to customers on their way to diners, pedestrians whispered about incoming messages, and small cars drove towards an unknown destination with the muffled sound of their wheels rolling over the asphalt.

He was just an ordinary teenager who carried a trumpet, didn't know where to go or what to do, and just wanted to kill time.

There is no shop here that needs a young man playing the trumpet, and no pedestrians come here just to play the trumpet.

He wandered aimlessly from street to street until he finally entered a station that led to a longer journey. He boarded the first tram that arrived and looked for his destination by looking at the names of the stations it passed.

It was around four in the afternoon and it wasn't a weekend, so there weren't many passengers on the tram.

Sitting next to him was a young woman in a business suit.

"It's the secondary account, right?" After she finally finished dealing with the trivial matters in the communication software, she looked up from the phone, noticed him beside her, and asked in a natural tone.

"I just learned it recently."

"That's great... I also took trumpet in high school. I was in the wind band, right? First year?"

"second grade."

"I stopped bragging after entering university, but before that, I persevered until the end... Well, actually, it's because I was eliminated early." The young woman still had an energy that didn't match her navy blue suit uniform, and she chatted non-stop.

"Third grade is really important," he said.

"But if you have regrets from the first two years, you will regret it if you don't stick with it until the end of the third year. At least I still do now."

"perhaps."

"So where are we going? To school for practice?" asked the young woman.

He had just browsed through all the stations that this train passed, and none of the three schools that advanced to the Kanto Tournament were among them.

"Ask for leave……"

He wanted to tell her that he had taken a leave of absence and pretend to be a high school trumpet player whose school was not qualified to participate in the Kanto competition but did not want others to know.

But when the words came to his lips, he remembered something that he had completely forgotten since he challenged the leader Pokoblin with a stick last night.

"It's difficult..." He changed his tone, playing the role he had improvised, "I was planning to go somewhere else, but forgot to ask for leave..."

"Eh……"

"But it's not too late." He gave the young woman a perfectly composed smile, overflowing with the sincerity of a sixteen-year-old boy. "Thanks for the reminder, it's a great help!"

He immediately took out his mobile phone, searched for Asukai's records in Line, and applied to be a friend again.

"Ask for leave...? So where are you going, with a trumpet on your back?"

"A friend wants to hear me play the trumpet." He made up an excuse and paid attention to the messages on his mobile phone screen.

After just over ten seconds, Asukai approved the request. The next step was to seize the initiative and send a question -

[Asuka: Do you know what day it is today? Where did you go?]
[Inoue: What day?]
The day when the soloist was chosen—he had always had a good memory and recalled it quickly.

[Asuka: Huh, it's too late now! Asami has already been confirmed to be in charge of the trumpet solo!]
[Inoue: Let’s get back to the topic. Thank you for helping me ask for leave.]
[Asuka: Hmm? You didn't ask for leave? Nishimoto-sensei said you were busy, so that's why you didn't come.]
[Inoue: Yes, there are some things.]
[Asuka: So what did you do? Nishimoto-sensei was still hesitating about the trumpet solo, and I kind of wanted to let you and Asami compete again sometime.]
[Inoue: And finally?]
[Asuka: Of course you were the one who was abandoned in the end! Otherwise, why would you say that the solo was already Asami's?]
"It's okay." He put away his phone and smiled at the young woman next to him who might get off the bus at any time.

"It's a critical time right now, isn't it? Is it okay to take a day off from practice?"

"Just one day," he said.

"It seems that friend is very important to you..."

"I guess so……"

"Is it a girl?"

He nodded.

He thought for a moment before nodding. He realized he didn't have any close male friends. The only man he could truly call "very important" was his father, who now worked far away in the small town of Tottori.

"Well, well..." the young woman laughed to herself, "I'm so envious... She's a very cute girl, right?"

"Yeah." All the girls he could think of could be called cute.

After that they chatted for a while, no longer talking about the wind band and trumpet, but about the young woman herself.

As the only child in her family, she doesn't have to worry about making a living for now. Rather than expecting her to make money quickly, her parents hope she can find a job that will last her a long time and satisfy her.

She came out for an interview today and just came back from the company where she interviewed.

Her parents only pushed her hard about getting married, even going so far as to arrange blind dates for her. She had one relationship, but it was during high school and ended after graduation.

Passing Asakusa, the young woman got off the car, and he returned to the quiet and subtle environment.

He still had no clear destination—and no one in the tram car wanted to hear the trumpet.

To be honest, he didn't have to play the trumpet.

He just needed something to kill time, and this thing couldn't be painting, couldn't be studying, and couldn't have any utilitarian purpose - he knew this clearly, and avoiding the emptiness of these things made him feel familiar and relaxed.

It's like being in a desert where you can't even see a cactus.

However, from the moment he stepped out of the house with his trumpet on his back, he developed a purpose without any utilitarian meaning - he wanted to blow the trumpet wherever the sound of the trumpet was needed.

He still hasn't found such a place...

He followed the tram past a few more stations, and when he crossed the Arakawa River, he looked through the window at the river flowing endlessly beneath the tram.

A hint of orange-red can gradually be seen on the horizon.

He got off the tram at a random station, but did not leave the station and took another tram going in a different direction.

The first thing to do after getting on the tram is to look at the various stations you pass by.

This time he stared at a certain site for a long time.

[Waseda University]
"Want to apply to Waseda University?" This time, the person who spoke to him was also a young woman.

But he was no longer wearing a suit, but a more casual polo shirt and denim shorts. His hair was neatly tied into a ponytail and passed through the opening at the back of his baseball cap.

"I want to go to Zaishi High School."

"Junior high school student?" The young woman looked him over again in astonishment. "He looks like a senior in high school, about to become an adult."

"Really?" He didn't clarify, there was no place for her in his mind.

He suddenly wanted to go to Hayashi High School, to meet Amano, to hear if they were practicing ensemble, and to listen to the trumpet section's duet.

As for the young woman who came to chat with him, he just brushed her off with a casual reply.

When he got off the tram at the station near Hayashi High School, he had no recollection of what he said to himself or what the young woman asked him.

The phone rang with a message ringtone. It was a kitten emoticon package sent by the girl in the baseball cap.

[Takagi: Thanks for your guidance~]
[Friend deleted]
I don't even remember exchanging Line messages.

He put his phone back in his pocket and walked towards Zaoshi High School with a slightly anxious pace...

The security guard at Zaoshigao is an old man who is very easy to talk to. You only need to register on paper to enter and exit. He is not very vigilant and will not unreasonably stop all suspicious people from entering.

He entered the campus as easily as last time.

This is my second time here and I’m already familiar with the place.

He walked into the school building, crossed the corridor, and quickly arrived at the door of the wind band classroom following the sound of ensemble practice.

The ensemble they were practicing happened to be "Tomorrow's Spring", a version he had listened to through his headphones over a hundred times and was very familiar with.

Amano modifies some melodies or instrumental compositions every day, but the changes are not large at a single time and are always moving in a good direction.

When he arrived at the wind instrumental section, a new ensemble had just begun.

He took the trumpet box off his shoulder, rubbed his left shoulder which was a little sore from carrying heavy weight for a long time, and listened to the melodious music coming from inside the room.

Listen to the prelude, listen to the new Q&A with the father under Amano's re-composition, listen to the solo and duet, listen to that long valley.

Listen to the lingering ending.

When the last note falls, it will be time - he thought.

He waited for this moment, for the silence that would follow the ensemble.

He raised the trumpet and played the new part of the duet.

(End of this chapter)