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

Chapter 33: Takeda Contest. Come on! Come on!

"Inoue, come on!"

After morning exercise in the park, they returned to the street side and Takeda and he went their separate ways, heading west and east.

"Well, come on, Takeda-san." Having experienced this before, he reacted quickly this time.

"You're getting it, Inoue-san?" Takeda was wearing the school's uniform white sportswear. There were still beads of sweat on his forehead covered by his bangs. With his hands behind his back, he smiled at him sideways, imitating the common actions seen in TV dramas.

"...See you tomorrow, and remember to have a barbecue."

"Tsk..." Takeda stood up in disappointment and walked towards the boarding house with big strides on his back. "Be careful, I'm not happy today and I'll make you into barbecue tomorrow!"

"Then I wish you all the best, at least today." He walked towards the tram stop.

It was only last night that he realized that he needed to wear a standard suit to perform at the competition, and he had to rent or buy one.

Recommended product: Tuxedo

【…】

"Forget it." Before the system prompt was fully displayed, he waved away the virtual words in front of him.

How could I possibly buy something without even a preview of the styles, let alone trying them on?

Besides, points can replace real currency, but money cannot buy points.

Sitting on the tram, he clicked on the dress code displayed on the official website of the competition, which was written in great detail.

Female contestants must choose a tulle dress with a hem that goes below the knee, without revealing any bra straps or underwear; male contestants must wear a suit or tuxedo, tie, and a close-fitting waist.

Girls wear closed-toe leather shoes and over-the-knee socks; boys wear lace-up leather shoes and socks of the same color.

There should be no more than three colors in your clothing.

Girls also have requirements for hairstyle and hair accessories.

The makeup is done by the organizer, and the male and female contestants are put on makeup by professional makeup artists in different rooms.

Competitions organized by different organizers may have different requirements for clothing details, and a formal dress alone is unlikely to be enough.

Piano, private lessons, clothes... If you want to keep learning until you can make a living from it, there are really a lot of things to spend money on.

The performance order of the contestants was announced last night. He is number 12 and will go on stage around 11:00 a.m. Considering the time for makeup, he needs to arrive before 10:30.

Throwing in the two or three hours of train travel, he couldn't afford to be too picky. He simply rented a suit from a casual dress shop, changed into it in the store's dressing room, left his regular clothes there, and hopped on the train to the competition venue.

[Sakurai: I heard from Sou-chan that you also signed up for today's competition?]
The phone screen lit up due to the incoming message on Line.

He took a look, subconsciously swiped up to unlock it, and opened Line. When he realized it, the message had already been read.

[Sakurai: What's the date? I bought my ticket early, so I can hear your performance.]
[Inoue: Number 12.]
[Sakurai: It'll be almost noon after the performance... Sou-chan's date is the 27th, in the afternoon.]
[Sakurai: Let's have lunch together? Inoue-san, me, and Sou-chan.]
Love strategy assistance?

[Inoue: We've already decided where to eat, along with the others.]
Come to think of it, he had never been near this concert hall in Shinjuku, so what to eat for lunch was indeed something he needed to consider.

[Sakurai: What a shame... You're so stupid, Inoue-san.]
[Sakurai: Oh, yeah! Sou-chan's dress is absolutely stunning today! Come to the audience this afternoon, you'll be so mesmerized you won't even be able to take your eyes off her. You won't even be able to remember what song she played.]
[......]
What else was sent to him later was all news about Amano, and he took the initiative to become his intelligence agent.

It's just that the purpose is contrary to his original intention.

Perhaps normal high school girls are keen on promoting romance among those they know.

Found it! Another proof that Amano is a psychopath.

The train pulled into the station, and he came to his senses, stood up, and squeezed out of the crowd. It took him a while to straighten his collar.

Trouble... I wonder if Amano, in her formal attire, took the same train as him. I entered the concert hall, verified my identity with my registration information and student ID, and walked into the backstage.

The monitoring room can see the almost full audience in the conference hall from the camera's bird's-eye view.

There were students of the same age, parents with their children, elderly people with gray hair... and even quite a few male and female employees who came to listen to the competition to relax and have fun on weekends - something he couldn't understand as he had no interest in classical music.

The competition does not allow different contestants to choose the same piece of music. Negotiation is allowed when registration is first opened, but in the last week of registration, contestants can only choose from the remaining pieces.

He could only play and understand two pieces of music, and he had no idea about the others, and couldn't even tell the general level of the music. After listening to one piece, he felt bored and left the monitoring room.

The makeup artist who was responsible for applying his makeup was a short-haired woman with a neat hairstyle and clothes. She applied the makeup very efficiently. She never asked for his opinion and didn't waste a minute of his time.

Most of the other contestants in the dressing room looked nervous, some took deep breaths frequently, and some muttered to themselves.

A long-haired boy sitting on his right was dissatisfied with his makeup artist. He made many suggestions and complained frequently.

The girls' dressing room is right next door. Like the men's dressing room, there are staff members at the door to guide and guard it.

After putting on a dress and putting on makeup, the girls who come out of the dressing room all look pretty. However, few of them admire their dress and makeup when they come out.

Both boys and girls are under a lot of pressure before going on stage.

They were also waiting in the corridor or lounge, closing their eyes, singing, taking deep breaths, waiting for the broadcast to announce their serial numbers.

There was no Amano in the dressing room - Inoue came to this conclusion after waiting idly in the corridor in front of the dressing room for nearly half an hour.

Even though it takes longer for girls to put on makeup than for boys, it should still take more than 30 minutes.

"Contestant number ten has finished playing, contestant number eleven is entering. Contestant number twelve, please prepare to enter—"

He's almost there.

Contestant number 11 was a girl in a red dress with long bangs. She walked past him with a somewhat anxious step. The corridor echoed with the crisp "clacking" of her footsteps under the red dress.

The other contestants in the corridor looked up, followed the red dress to the end, and passed through the door leading to the bandstand.

He suddenly felt that he was out of tune with his surroundings.

The pressure of competition, the tension of performing on stage, and the eagerness to perform.

Apart from him, everyone here has devoted months or even years of persistence and effort to this competition.

No one comes here with the mentality of being a passerby who doesn't care about being at the bottom.

Among the forty or fifty contestants, only the top ten can rank.

Months of hard work ultimately come down to a few minutes on stage.

Even in a small competition like today, where there was only one competition and the length of the piece was limited to at least three minutes, did he, who could master a piece of music with just a thought, really have the qualifications and reason to steal the place they deserved...

"Contestant No. 11 has finished playing, and contestant No. 12 is entering. Contestant No. 13, please prepare to enter—"

The announcement announcing his entry echoed in the corridor.

He came to his senses and walked towards the door leading to the bandstand, passing by the red dress that had just left the stage.

Now that things have come to this, I can only say sorry to them in my heart.

　Thanks to Qingqinzhiqin for the 2 monthly tickets, and thanks to Fengzijian and Yuntong for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)