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

Chapter 75: The Trumpet and the Tram

[Sakurai: I shouldn't bother Inoue-san with this, but since you've been such a big help to the piano club, I'd like to invite you along... and formally return the favor.]
Sakurai: Igarashi-sensei will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. We'd like to pick her up and have dinner together. If Inoue-san is free, would you like to come with us?
Walking out of the school building with Amano, the garden trees in Kitakura High School were all cherry trees. The setting sun stretched the shadows of the trees. He took out his mobile phone under the shade of the trees and browsed the message that Sakurai had just sent.

In just two seconds, before he could raise his head, Amano's phone rang with a Line message.

It was inevitable that he had some slightly malicious speculation in his mind - the group message he and Amano received might just have been a message with a changed surname.

Considering the reality, this speculation is a bit absurd. First of all, his relationship with Amano and Sakurai is different.

"Is Amano-san going?" he asked, putting away his phone.

"Where are we going?" Amano asked with a hint of confusion.

"Hospital."

"..." Amano stared at him for a few seconds and couldn't help but sigh, "I have explained many times that the only mentally ill patient here who needs regular treatment is you, Inoue-san."

"Go see the piano club teacher! Sakurai just sent a message." He couldn't stand it. "What do you think it is..."

"I see..." Amano even turned his face away, and it was hard not to suspect that he was laughing.

It seems that he also has a problem of self-righteousness, subconsciously thinking that Amano would receive the same news as him.

In fact, the two people's network of relationships only has a few people who overlap slightly.

"I should go." Amano looked at him again and said.

"Will the matters of the wind orchestra be delayed?" he asked.

"It's just one day," Amano said. "It takes time to wait for Hayashiko's response."

"Didn't Sakurai tell you?" he asked again.

"I already told you yesterday..." Amano suddenly smiled faintly as he thought of something and asked him, "Natori said she wants to go to FID to buy some clothes and wants me to go with her for reference. Are you going too?"

I see……

"I don't lack clothes." He was already planning his itinerary after leaving school and couldn't wait to part ways with Amano.

So Amano laughed at him again, "Oh, so Inoue-san can wear a skirt..."

It seems that FID is still a clothing store that only sells women's clothing.

In today's diverse world, my perspective is a bit too narrow...

After leaving the school, he went to a convenience store that could deliver mail, stuffed the painting into a large cardboard envelope, attached a note with simple competition information, filled in the delivery address specified by the Youth Painting Competition, and mailed it out.

Then I took the train to Ochanomizu and walked back to the musical instrument street where I had recorded the audio and video for the competition under the pretext of buying a piano, and visited the wind instrument shop that sold saxophones.

The affordable ones are mostly between 50,000 and 150,000 yen, while the more expensive ones can cost over a million yen, just like all other musical instruments.

But for him, even the most expensive Selma would only cost around 10,000 yuan if he used points.

If nothing unexpected had happened since the day he approached Natori, the Kitakura High School Band would have lacked a saxophonist capable enough to perform solos.

But even after the third-year girl dropped out, there were still four saxophonists. As long as they didn't perform solos, judging by the results of the Tokyo Metropolitan Competition, it was more than enough to complete the work of the main group.

As for solos, Amano's piece also does not have a saxophone solo part.

As a reason to unconditionally join the brass band midway, being just an ordinary member...isn't enough.

There are two solos in "Spring Rising from the Depths of Tomorrow", one for trumpet and one for flute.

"Have you only recently become interested in wind instruments?" Seeing him put down the saxophone and turn to look at the trumpet, the clerk walked up to him and started talking to him.

"I guess so." He picked up a trumpet and examined it carefully, though he knew nothing about the instrument, let alone how to play it. "I saw you just looked at the saxophone. Do you have a specific instrument you're interested in?"

"Trumpet and flute." He thought for a moment and made up an excuse. "The saxophone looks too complicated... Which is simpler, the trumpet or the flute?"

"There's no such thing as simple or not. It all depends on your preference. Everyone has an instrument that suits them." The clerk beat around the bush.

"I'm almost an adult. I'm not a kid in elementary school who has plenty of time to practice and develop interests, so I want to learn something simpler." He interrupted in a serious tone.

"Then..." The clerk, smiling unwaveringly, hesitated for a moment before coming to a conclusion, "Then the flute should be more suitable for you. With a little practice, you can play some simple tunes and get started quickly."

"Okay." He nodded. "Then it's a small one."

"I recommend you try this PEL-581. It's a good starter...eh?"

He finally bought a small silver trumpet, named "PMT-71" or something, probably a sub-model under the brand, for over yen.

For beginners, it's definitely expensive.

Thinking about how I was still sharing a haunted house with a girl from the same school that cost 50,000 yen a month, yet I was willing to spend so much money on a trumpet, I couldn't help but feel like I was caught between two different worlds.

He carried the instrument case containing his trumpet on his back and boarded the tram heading back to the old residential area, as if he was heading from one side to the other, crossing the overpass and passing through the neon streets.

The trumpet he carried on his back became the lifeline tied to this side of the source.

If you get stuck in a quagmire, just pull the rope tight and you can return safely to the other side.

There are no ready-made skill items for "Tomorrow Spring" in the points store, so the only option left for him is trumpet performance.

I spent another 3 points to learn Lv. trumpet playing.

When the tram arrived at the station, he went to the riverside park and tried to play a few melodies facing the river where he had jumped into and swam back and forth.

The sound of the trumpet is melodious and loud, as if it can be heard from one shore to the other with just a slight blow.

He thought of the ensemble at the welfare home and the trumpet played by Amano. He looked up the music score on his phone and played "The Dove and the Boy".

From being unfamiliar to being proficient, he soon provoked the dog tied to the rack in the park, which started barking at him.

The man who was sitting on a bench and fiddling with his mobile phone had to get up, take the dog away and leave the park.

Well...it seems like he won this time.

Late at night, Takeda came home later than usual. By the time he heard the doorbell, it was already after eleven o'clock.

The bag he carried in his hand no longer contained the expiring lunch boxes from the grocery store, but a rare iron lunch box.

I changed my shoes at the entrance and went straight to the second floor.

"There's hot water," he reminded.

"Hmm..." Takeda hummed a little tiredly, but kept walking.

"Takeda..." Before he could say the second sentence, Takeda had already gone into his room and closed the door with a click.

It seems I can only find another opportunity...

Five minutes later, when he shook his head and gave up and returned to his bedroom to rest, Takeda took the initiative to send him a message on his mobile phone.

[Takeda: I'm a little tired today, let me lie down and then we can talk.]
[Takeda: You're waiting for me in the living room. Is there something wrong?]
He paused and chose to talk about the main role of "The Wrong Love" first, without asking about what Takeda was doing recently.

[......]
[Takeda: Although he is the main protagonist...]
[Takeda: If we start dubbing soon...]
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt a sense of alienation from somewhere between the lines of Takeda's writing.

[Takeda: Sorry, but thanks anyway.]
(End of this chapter)