I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"But let me make this clear first, don't tell Xia Ji about this."

"Of course. Even if you say it out loud, it won't change anything."

Kiyoshi crumpled the milk carton in his hand and let out a long sigh.

“It’s so convenient talking to someone like you,” Yoshikawa turned to look at Kiyoyori. “But I don’t want you to get involved. If anything happens, at least the oboe still has you.”

"and--"

"Service Club, you and Yukinoshita are quite familiar, aren't you?"

P.S.: As soon as I got home, I heard a man in the neighborhood vomiting violently. I don't know why he was able to make so much noise that almost the entire neighborhood could hear him...

Ah, today is another day when I don't want to write.

Chapter 41, Section 202: Has Shimizu-kun forgotten?

Kiyoyori's "part-time" job in the Service Club wasn't exactly a secret, but it wasn't common knowledge either. The brass band club is a club activity that requires members to devote themselves wholeheartedly in addition to their studies, and such an individual case might cause dissatisfaction among members or lead to unauthorized imitation, which is why this matter was not made public.

I don't know how Yoshikawa found out.

"I wouldn't say we're close, but our families have some connections," Kiyoyori said vaguely, without mentioning that he had joined the Service Club. "At school, we were just seniors and juniors."

"Really?" Yoshikawa looked distrustful. Her full forehead, exposed by her bangs tied back with a hair tie, combined with her baby face, gave her an unexpectedly cute look despite being a year older than her. "I saw you and Yukinoshita browsing the stalls at the Chiba Festival last time. If you weren't familiar with each other, you wouldn't go on a date alone, would you?"

"It wasn't a date, and it wasn't just the two of us."

Kiyoshi did not intend to offer much explanation. At such a time, the more he cared, the more explanations he offered would only make it seem like he was trying to cover something up.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter anyway. It's not necessarily a good thing to involve Yukinoshita," Yoshikawa said, seeing Kiyori's indifferent reaction, and stopped dwelling on the matter. "She's the kind of person who won't give up until she achieves her goal. Mizore can't stand Nozomi right now. If she really finds a way to bring Nozomi back, that would be the real trouble."

Unfortunately, it was too late...

She looked at Qinglai, who hadn't spoken, and said, "Although you're still the one playing the oboe, the oboe club is already short-handed. Since you can give it your all, don't let other things affect it."

"What are you doing? Why are you making that incredulous face?!"

“No,” Kiyori turned back and smiled to himself, “Yoshikawa-senpai recommended Kaori-senpai so highly before, and even asked Reina to go easy on her so that Kaori-senpai could get the solo position… Does that mean he’s admitting that Reina is more suitable for the solo position?”

“'Kaori-senpai'…” Yoshikawa noticed the change in Kiyoyori’s address. “Even now, I still think Kaori-senpai should be the soloist, but she’s not as suitable for that position as Kousaka.”

Yoshikawa clenched his fist on his knee. "Yukinoshita must have mentioned what happened last year to you, right?"

"Last year..." Given Asuka and the others' silence about the truth of last year, Kiyoyori reasonably suspected that most of the brass band members only knew the surface of the incident and were unaware of the truth. Therefore, her answer at this moment should not focus on Kambara Akira, but rather on what was more likely to be known by everyone, "That photo...?"

This is just a guess by Qinglai. If he is wrong, then he can only honestly tell the other party that he is unaware of it.

“Yes, it’s that photo,” Yoshikawa’s voice sounded a bit resentful, “If it weren’t for Kaori-senpai protecting that sender…”

“Originally, Kaori-senpai was the best trumpet player in the club, and she should have been the one to do the solo, but she didn’t get to do it,” Yoshikawa said, hunching over and taking a swig of soda like a middle-aged man who was disappointed in his career. “Not only the third-year students, but also the sender of that email. That person had no idea how much Kaori-senpai had sacrificed for them!”

"Was it around that time that Yoshikawa-senpai met Yukinoshita-senpai?"

"Yes, she was entrusted to deal with the mass exodus of first-year students from the club, but I later heard from Kaori-senpai that Yukinoshita was also credited for resolving the email incident."

Therefore, the one who should express gratitude is the so-called "email incident".

“In short,” Yoshikawa jumped off the table, “you shouldn’t get involved in this matter, and don’t tell Yukinoshita or Natsuki. From your perspective, you wouldn’t want Mizore to get hurt, would you?”

Kiyoyori did not answer, so Yoshikawa took it as a tacit agreement.

"Good night, go back to sleep, you have practice tomorrow."

Yoshikawa waved without turning his head, then pushed open the door and left.

"Did I get hurt..." In the empty practice room, Kiyoyori slumped back in a relaxed manner. "This is so troublesome..."

The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Qinglai unlocked the screen in confusion, and the moment he saw the message, his back stiffened like a frightened bird.

【Kiyoshi-kun, if I don't send you a message first, will you not contact me first?】

The seemingly insignificant question mark at the end of the message sent a chill down Kiyotaka's spine even on the sweltering summer night. He could almost see Kasumigaoka with glowing red eyes, flying black hair, and a strange smile on his lips.

I subconsciously opened the contacts interface, found the other person's number, and dialed it as fast as if a demon was chasing me.

Isn't she being chased by "evil spirits"...? Her sixth sense told Kiyora that if she stood there dumbfounded and waited for the other party to call, she might need to find a suitable cemetery for herself before their next meeting.

Social death and all that? There's something really terrifying that the other party is holding in their hands!

"Hey... Shiwa-senpai..." Kiyoshi spoke cautiously, afraid of angering the volcano lady who seemed to be on the verge of erupting.

Perhaps Shiwa-senpai is more like magma that silently and slowly devours everything rather than a volcano that erupts with earth-shattering force.

The call was answered, but Qinglai was met with a long and terrifying silence.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't available to answer the phone when you called just now."

First and foremost, you must sincerely apologize. Otherwise, even if you give hundreds or thousands of reasons, angry girls will think you are just making excuses.

"It was my mistake not to call you sooner. I should have noted in the message that I would call you later."

When you fail to make someone angry, phrases like "I forgot" or "I didn't notice" are forbidden; using them even once is enough to be considered a death sentence.

too difficult.

Silence remained. As Kiyoyori waited anxiously, a sigh, seemingly expressing helplessness, finally came from the other end. "Kiyoyori really knows how to know when to advance and retreat, doesn't he? Is this how you fool girls?"

"Completely fooled...? Do I have that kind of personality trait?"

Hearing the changed form of address, Kiyoyori finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does Kiyori-kun really want that?"

"……Do not."

"Ha—" Kasumigaoka's voice sounded tired, but she was still waiting for Kiyori's call.

Looking at the time, it was already close to midnight, and a little guilt arose in her heart. "Senior Shiyu, you should get some rest. It's not too late to talk about it tomorrow."

"No, I want to tell you about this today, lest things get complicated."

For some reason, by the end, Kasumigaoka's voice seemed to carry a dangerous undertone.

"After Shimizu-kun returns from his training camp, the fireworks festival will be coming up soon, right?"

Kiyoyori suddenly realized something, "Could it be..."

"Let's go to the fireworks festival together, Shimizu-kun,"

"It's just the two of us."

"Think carefully before you refuse."

"'SHE'S MINE,' Shimizu-kun hasn't forgotten that line, has he?"

Kasumigaoka was in a good mood, but Kiyori was so ashamed that he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself.

P.S.: Why are there so many things to worry about? It's so frustrating.

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Chapter 42, Section 203: They have no future, only a scarred past.

Time flies when you're fully focused. After leaving the service club and learning some of the inside story, Kiyoyori put those troublesome matters behind him and devoted himself entirely to the training of the brass band, from morning till night, without caring about anything else, just immersing himself in the music.

She didn't know if Yukino Yukinoshita would continue to help Kasaki return to the brass band after seeing the reasons she had given him, nor did she know what would happen to Mizore or the brass band if Kasaki really returned. With the tournament approaching, perhaps they no longer had time to think about anything else.

Back at school, life was no different from being in the training camp, except that we no longer ate and lived together. The training continued as usual, from solo performances to ensembles, from skills to physical fitness, nothing changed.

Perhaps, something else will change.

..................................................................

"Hey? Xiaojing, why did you ask me out at this hour? Drinking so early in the morning? Did your blind date fail again yesterday?"

It was clearly a frivolous joke, mixed with a hint of recklessness, yet it was said in an extremely calm tone, as if she was certain the other party wouldn't do anything to her. A moment later, perhaps after the person on the other end of the phone said something else, the woman in the casual shirt suddenly laughed.

"Don't be so angry. Maybe Xiaojing's marriage is just around the corner?"

"I'm surrounded by colleagues and students, what are you implying?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka took a deep breath. She had never been able to do anything about this former student. Her thick skin, comparable to a city wall, always made her regret why the Yukino sisters were all so troublesome. But compared to Haruno, Yukino was clearly already at the angel level.

"Well, I'm here with you, aren't I?" Yang Nai said with a playful grin, then waved to Hiratsuka Shizuka, whose figure was already within sight. Just as she was about to say something, her attention was drawn to a familiar figure on a bench under a willow tree on the riverbank not far away, and the words she was about to say were also taken away.

"Xiaojing, go inside first. I'll come find you later."

Following Haruno's gaze, Hiratsuka Shizuka also saw the person lying on the bench. She looked at Haruno with a complicated expression, then at the oblivious person, wanting to say something, but in the end, it turned into a sigh, "Haruno, why bother?"

What would happen if the two of them were like well-behaved actors, performing according to a pre-written script?

But Yang Nai was never an obedient child; she wanted to write her own script.

So, she destroyed the future she longed for most with her own hands.

They have no future, only a scarred past, whether they were the ones who were hurt or the ones who hurt the ones who were hurt.