Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 172, Section 13: "Hey, Masumi, let's go on a date!"

The streets at night are like glass.

Leaving the izakaya filled with the smell of cooking oil and alcohol, Kurokawa Mio took a few steps in her high heels and realized how cold the night wind was, only then realizing that she hadn't worn a coat when she came out.

By the end of September, Sannomiya becomes cool and clear, with pedestrians dressed in summer skirts and autumn clothes, looking like fish from different ecosystems migrating through this estuary.

Before the last rays of sunlight faded, the streetlights were already on, and every building was enveloped in a warm glow, making one feel both bewildered and happy, as if one could enjoy something even without a penny to one's name.

But Kurokawa Mio only found them noisy.

"You're here, Masumi."

Hearing a voice from beside him, Masumi instinctively turned to the side. Kurokawa Mio was standing right next to him.

Her dark dress blended into the night, and under the streetlights, her fair skin, devoid of pigment, took on a bluish tinge.

"Huh? Why is Mio out here? And she's not even wearing a coat."

He casually took off his coat and jacket and draped it over Kurokawa's shoulders, saying, "It's still a bit chilly tonight."

"I noticed you hadn't come back for a long time, so I thought I'd come out to look for you."

As if seeking warmth, Kurokawa Mio subconsciously tightened the coat that Masumi was wearing over her shoulders.

It would be even better if she didn't bury her face in her shirt with "hehehehehe" sounds, but instead took a deep breath.

Masumi shook her head, focused her gaze on something not far away, and began to explain:
"I just wanted to come out and cool off, but I saw this and ended up looking too far ahead."

Kurokawa Mio then turned her gaze to the scene she had been watching.

There was a band... or rather, an open-air band, that had carved out its own musical kingdom in the bustling city center.

A large crowd of spectators had already gathered around them, including the two of them.

The clarinet is bright and beautiful, while the viola has a passionate melody.

The cello's warm tone is like the roots of a plant, quietly stretching out in the soil.

"Don Quixote?" Kurokawa Mio murmured to herself.

"What?" Masumi asked.

"The piece these children are playing is the first variation of Richard Strauss's Don Quixote," Kurokawa Mio explained. "It depicts the scene in the original work where Don Quixote charges at the windmill."

"The instruments have been simplified to eight people. I think they must be members of the brass band, formed for the Hyogo Prefecture Ensemble Competition two months later."

"I see."

Masumi nodded. "Kurokawa really knows a lot about classical music."

"I remember you studied phonetics, and were you a member of the brass band in high school?"

"No, I studied music in high school. The National Wind Instrument Competition is a non-professional competition, and it's stipulated that schools specializing in music are not allowed to participate."

"Oh, I see."

Masumi looked at the orchestra playing and said, "Amateurs? I think they're playing very well."

The woodwinds produced a light and cheerful tone, gradually building up the heat of the music, Kurokawa Mio continued.

"If it's the powerful Osaka Toin High School in Kansai, or the powerful Ina Academy in Kanto, even though they are ordinary high schools, the members of the brass band receive an education that is almost identical to that of a high school."

"However, being strong in the wind section does not equate to being musically strong. Wind performance competitions are team competitions, and the importance of overall balance in the performance is higher than individual technique."

"On the contrary, pitch is where people who hope to pursue a career in music will go, so it is a gathering place for highly skilled musicians."

Masumi listened quietly as Kurokawa Mio recounted knowledge she didn't understand, then suddenly asked:

"And what about you, Mio?"

"I am also the strongest among those people."

Without hesitation, Kurokawa Mio answered with a confident, domineering smile.

It wasn't an arrogant or boastful smile, but a natural one.

His poised and elegant demeanor is truly handsome, and Masumi is filled with respect for him.

"From the moment I heard Mio's music, I had no doubt about that."

"Masumi really knows how to compliment people."

The corners of Kurokawa Mio's lips curved upwards almost imperceptibly, but the turmoil hidden within that slight movement was far more than just a slight one.

Masumi suddenly felt a hand reaching out from her heart, wantonly tearing at her internal organs. It was unbearable, yet she was helpless. A strange, fermenting feeling kept swirling in her heart.

Fortunately, he prided himself on his self-control; if it was just this level of emotional turmoil, he could simply restrain himself with rational silence.

The last bit of emotion, through slightly trembling lips, took shape in the air, transforming into concrete words.

"Did Mio decide to become a musician from a young age?"

“No, not really.” Kurokawa Mio gently shook her head. “For me, learning the piano was a natural thing.”

"What's this?"

“When I was little, my mother wanted me to learn a musical instrument, so I went to many music classrooms for trial lessons. I initially learned the piano, and I also learned instruments such as the violin and oboe, but the piano was the most suitable.”

"At my elementary school music recital, I was chosen to play the piano. To be honest, the school's assigned piece was very simple compared to the sheet music we usually practiced in the music room."

"So I just mechanically raised my fingers, put them down, and played the music boringly according to the score, but the adults in the audience still responded with enthusiastic cheers."

"I suddenly realized that those people didn't care about the performance at all; they were just adults making fun of children. Even if someone who had never learned piano played the piano flawlessly, their reaction wouldn't change at all."

“This is just to encourage the kids,” Masumi shook her head. “After all, it’s just a music recital organized by the elementary school; no one would expect anything professional from such an event.”

"Masumi is absolutely right, but kids are just so prone to getting stuck on things," Kurokawa Mio said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Moreover, for conscientious people, the very act of not being expected of something is inherently frustrating, isn't it?"

Masumi put herself in his shoes and thought about it for a moment, then nodded gently, "Indeed."

A slight smile played on Kurokawa Mio's lips as she continued:
"So I thought to myself, I don't want to play for these people, I want to play for people who deserve it, and that's when I started participating in various piano competitions."

"When I first received feedback from a professional judge, he praised my skills and efforts, but also pointed out my shortcomings without reservation, which made me feel that my music was being taken seriously."

"In order to hear more of these voices, I practice the piano every day. People around me praise me for my hard work, but for me, practicing the piano is a matter of course. I practice because I have to, that's all."

“I have never said that I want to be a professional pianist, but everyone seems to think so.”

You could say that Kurokawa doesn't see effort as effort, Masumi thought.

She is the kind of person who has talent, can endure loneliness, and is willing to work hard for it.

That's why she was able to win a series of awards and become a highly sought-after beauty.

Seeing her figure, no one would doubt that she would become a professional musician. Only one in ten music university graduates will work in an orchestra, and Kurokawa Mio is one of them.

Even if she has no desire for it, the people around her will make the decision for her, and the road to success will naturally appear before her.

Thinking this, Masumi said, "After all, Mio is a talented and hardworking person. If she can't take it a step further, anyone would feel it's a pity."

"Does Masumi think so too?"

Kurokawa Mio stared straight at him.

Although it was a question, she didn't wait for his answer and continued by nodding:
"I think it's certain, otherwise Masumi wouldn't have dumped me and left Tokyo after the band disbanded." "Mio..."

Masumi hesitated, her lips barely moving.

Close your eyes, and you can immediately picture the melody that Mio Kurokawa played on the piano in your mind.

The precise yet cold piano music, devoid of any emotion, and the mechanical, superb skill were chilling, just as she was describing it now.

"...For me, piano competitions are a very pure thing. As long as you play strictly according to the score like a metronome and don't make any mistakes, that's enough."

This is something only Mio could say with confidence, and it is precisely because of this that she has become an outstanding performer.

"Just when I was feeling smug about winning so many competition awards, I received a critique from a highly experienced judge: 'Your performance was too cold and lacked the passion a performer should have, making it boring.'"

"It may sound weak to say this, but I am truly lost."

"Music is a subjective thing. Is it really appropriate to let amateurs or professional performers judge it?"

A light flickered in her wide eyes.

A joyful performance, a performance driven by competition, and now a performance done to maintain technical skill.

"Is this what happened after you started forming the band?" Masumi asked.

Kurokawa Mio nodded. "Yes, three months after that, I tried forming an all-girl band with my classmates from the music academy for the first time."

“In Tokyo’s underground livehouses, there are people who enjoy music in different ways as well.”

"In the morning, office workers are crammed into the East-West Line for a commuting trip, feeling lifeless. But at night, they transform into the lead singer of a band, holding the microphone and singing like a frog whose throat has been squeezed out."

She spoke earnestly, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair as if searching for split ends in the smooth strands. Her words, besides a deep sense of emotion, seemed to contain something else entirely.

The vivid description makes it easy for Masumi to imagine what the scene looked like in her eyes at that time.

Having frequented the underground music scene, he was used to it, but Mio, who always played the piano elegantly in concert halls, must have been quite surprised.

"However, because of my annoying personality, the band always ended badly."

"It was then that I met Masumi."

"..."

Kurokawa Mio's slender, artistic fingers, which always danced on the piano keys, now reached straight towards Masumi.

"What's wrong with Masumi?"

"Huh?" Masumi asked, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Before that, you had something you wanted to say to me, didn't you?"

"Ah, well..."

Actually, I've already forgotten what I was going to say.

But facing Mio, who was waiting for his answer like a loyal dog, he felt it wouldn't be right not to say something.

Not wanting to disappoint the earnest person's expectations, Masumi scratched her hair to hide her wavering emotions.

"The night view from Sannomiya is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Kurokawa Mio was taken aback. "Is this what Masumi wanted to say?"

"That's not all. It will be even more beautiful here in December."

Is it a Christmas light show?

"Yes, besides that, there's the Kobe Lantern Festival."

Since 1968, in order to commemorate the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and to wish for the city's recovery, Kobe City has decorated the streets around Kitano-cho with dazzling nighttime lights every December.

"So, speaking of which, my family used to hang up fairy lights every Christmas."

"At home? That's an exaggeration."

"It's nothing, right? I remember the Starry Night Cafe also has decorative lights. I saw them when I went to the warehouse with Rinne last time."

"That was bought from the shopping street for our Christmas business."

"I see. Are there any other celebrations besides this?"

"No." Masumi shook her head honestly.

Music and Christmas, two completely unrelated topics, are like bubbles rising to the surface of the same glass of draft beer, different in shape and size, but the drinker doesn't care.

What do people at Mio's house usually do?

"Besides decorating with colorful lights, it's a Christmas tree, a place for family dinners, and exchanging gifts."

Mio Kurokawa thought for a moment and said, "For example, the Christmas two years ago, I received a new synthesizer from 'Santa Claus'."

"Isn't this supposed to be an exchange of gifts?"

"It's just a formality to ensure that the gift you want to give actually reaches the recipient."

"What Christmas present does Masumi want?" she suddenly asked.

"There are still two months until Christmas, right? Isn't it too early to say these things now?"

"It's not early at all. Masumi's birthday and Christmas fall on the same day, so we have to prepare properly," Kurokawa Mio said with a very serious expression.

"Even so, it's too early." Masumi sighed.

Kurokawa Mio continued to stare straight at him, it seemed she wouldn't give up until she got an answer right there.

Masumi thought for a moment and replied, "I'm the type who likes surprises."

"I see." Kurokawa Mio nodded knowingly, a gentle smile appearing on her lips. "I understand."

"—Thank you everyone!"

After the five-minute performance, the members of the wind band thanked the audience and began tidying up their instruments.

Masumi glanced at Mio without making a sound, her snow-white nape peeking out unguarded from the collar of her dress, emitting a sweet fragrance.

He had never seen Mio standing on stage in a formal dress, but Masumi thought it must be dazzling.

"Don't keep everyone waiting, let's go back—"

"Masumi."

Kurokawa Mio suddenly called out his name.

Masumi stopped in her tracks and saw that the night lights illuminated her profile, making her already fair skin even more striking.

Her expression, her movements, everything about her was so radiant.

Like moonlight in a cloudless night sky.

His obsidian-like pupils stared straight at Masumi, a quiet smile playing on his lips.

Like pressing the piano keys with the gentlest touch, Mio's tender tone resonated in the Kobe night.

"Hey, Masumi, let's go on a date together, just the two of us."

(End of this chapter)