I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

She would definitely be the first to stop the sender's next move, which is why the sender hasn't taken any further action even now that the situation has reached a stalemate. However, the third-year students' behavior will become increasingly intense because of their forbearance and restraint. If, at this moment, she were to step forward and stand up for the person who should have stood up...

Kaori Nakajiko was the biggest winner, but the price she paid for her victory was herself.

Kiyoyori's previously steady pace quickened at this moment. She had to be faster, even faster, to get ahead of Nakajiko-senpai and tell her that her actions were unnecessary.

Qinglai ran wildly through the sparsely populated streets, her short skirt billowing in the air, her leather shoes rapidly touching the ground before quickly disappearing. Her lungs began to ache, and her steps grew heavy, but she couldn't stop. Her chaotic breathing echoed in her ears. A red light stopped her in her tracks. Noticing her phone vibrating, she leaned against a streetlamp and, panting, answered the call.

"Hello, hello."

"Hello? Is this Yukinoshita-san?"

Who are you...?

"I'm Haruka Ogasawara, from the brass band—"

"Ogasawara-senpai, is there anything I can help you with?" Kiyoyori asked, trying his best to steady his breathing.

"Kaori, Kaori—!"

Qing Lai's heart sank suddenly.

"Kaori sent a mass email saying that she was the one who sent the email before!"

Chapter 30 Intersecting World Lines

When Kiyoshi arrived at the brass band club, it was deserted. Not only were the third-year students absent, but even the first- and second-year students who usually came to practice were nowhere to be found. It was like the calm before the storm, with lightning brewing in the dark clouds.

Suddenly, the melodious sound of an oboe drifted from the practice room.

Kiyoshi walked quickly forward, opened the sliding door, and saw a girl with long hair sitting in the center of the classroom. Her ten fingers danced on the silver keys, and the sound of the instruments echoed in the classroom. Kiyoshi couldn't help but lighten his steps and breathing.

She had heard countless oboe sounds—her own, her mother's, her teacher's, her classmates'—each one different. The sound of the person before her was even more unique, as if she had poured all her emotions into her playing. Her hair swayed with the movement of her body. Despite her expressionless face, the music she played was like boiling water, deep yet unrestrainedly releasing her emotions.

The sound of that wind instrument was all too familiar.

Just like when he used to play the oboe only for his teacher, Kiyoyori has lost his teacher for a long time.

When the song ended, Qinglai remained standing there, stunned, until the other person turned around, their eyes met, and he still couldn't say a word.

"sleet!"

Hurried footsteps sounded from behind Kiyori. Yoshikawa ran up to Yorizuka, panting, seemingly ignoring Kiyori's presence.

"Let's go back to the classroom first."

Yoshikatsuka followed Yoshikawa without complaint, giving her a slight nod as they passed Kiyori.

Kiyoshi watched the two leave but did not leave immediately. She went into the practice room and looked at the photos and trophies on the wall. She had visited the storage room earlier to see the large number and completeness of Soubu High's musical instruments. It was clear that the club had a strong foundation. Now, seeing it, the former Soubu High brass band was indeed very capable.

Not to mention regional awards, I've even participated in the national competition many times, and even won a gold medal.

"There was even a national gold medal... What a glorious history..."

In the dusty photo, one can vaguely see the bright smiles of the members, and the middle-aged man with black hair standing in the center, wearing a black tuxedo, looks strangely familiar.

“This is…” Kiyoyori brought his face close to the photo and squinted.

The man in the photo with curly hair has a gentle smile on his face, his chin-rimmed glasses sit on the bridge of his nose, and one hand is placed on his lower abdomen. Paired with a tuxedo, he is simply the male god in every girl's heart.

"Mr. Taki...?"

"This is impossible..."

As if struck by a sudden thought, Kiyoyori began frantically searching through the photos for the face of the person she longed for.

Until she found a commemorative photo of a silver medalist from a national competition, the man standing in the center was still a refined middle-aged man, while the girl standing next to her, holding the silver trophy and with red eyes, was the person Qinglai missed in her dreams.

Kiyoshi took a deep breath and wiped the dust off the photo with trembling hands. The girl's face immediately appeared before her eyes, youthful and innocent, yet exactly the same as the face in her memory.

"teacher……?"

"Chihiro... teacher...?"

As if something was blocking his chest, Kiyotaka could barely breathe.

Hello, starting today, I will be your oboe teacher.

[Kiyoshi is wonderful; no wonder she's Touko-sensei's child.]

[Our teacher never won the national gold medal, so she must return to her alma mater and lead Kitauji to victory!]

【I'm so happy that Xiaoqinglai likes me, but you're still too young. You'll find someone more suitable for you in the future.】

[Kiyoshi, I'm getting married. I hope to receive your blessing.]

I'm sorry, Xiao Qinglai, your teacher couldn't keep her promise to you...

Impossible, impossible, impossible!

The teacher's alma mater is clearly Kitauji, so how could he be at Soubu High School? That's impossible!

"Yukinoshita-kun".

Kiyoyori sniffed sharply, only then realizing that she was still inside Yukinoshita's body.

"The class meeting is about to start, aren't you going home yet?"

At the door, Mr. Matsumoto kindly reminded them.

"Okay, I'll go back now, thank you."

Kiyoshi walked out of the practice room, his steps unsteady, his mind blank.

"Yukinoshita-san? Are you alright?"

“It’s nothing,” Qinglai paused, “Thank you for your concern, teacher.”

Kiyotomi returned to Class 1-J in a daze. For the rest of the day, she was in complete disarray, as if she had been in a bizarre dream. In the dream, her life and Yukinoshita's life intertwined and separated in places they didn't know about. Even though they lived in two completely different places, why could Kiyotomi find traces of her own life in Yukinoshita's life?

Sitting alone in the Service Department, Kiyoyori took out Yukinoshita's phone, unlocked it, his thumb lingered on the green contact button for a moment, then turned it on and dialed.

She shakily typed a phone number on the keyboard, pressed dial, and then put the receiver to her ear.

The dialing tone sounded in his ear, and after a long wait, just as Kiyora thought the call was about to be answered, a cold, mechanical female voice rang out:

"The number you dialed is not in service..."

Kiyoshi hung up the phone with a complicated expression. It was unexpected, yet also somewhat predictable.

Was all of this really just a dream?

"Under the Snow".

The sliding door to the activity room opened in response; without even looking, Qinglai could guess who had arrived.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, please knock before entering next time."

Qinglai put down his phone and placed his hands on the table, folded together.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said without a hint of apology, "all the brass band activities are canceled today, so you don't need to go."

Kiyotomi paused in packing her schoolbag. "Really?"

What are your plans next?

What is the teacher referring to?

"There's no need to hide it from me. I already knew. If I hadn't kept it to myself for the time being, the school administration would have known long ago."

After hearing what Hiratsuka Shizuka said, Kiyoyori had no better words to say and could only remain silent.

"What do you plan to do? If the Service Club doesn't work, then as a teacher, I'll have to step in," Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned against the doorway, her voice calm. "Would that be acceptable?"

Kiyoshi slung his backpack over his shoulder and said, "Please give us a little more time."

"This week, up to this week."

"Okay, then I'll take my leave now."

Kiyoyoshi Hiratsuka bowed.

“Yukinoshita,” Hiratsuka Shizuka called out to Kiyori from behind, “Are you alright? Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

"Thank you for your concern, I'm fine."

Kiyoshi is very calm now, unusually calm. Now is not the time to worry about his own affairs. He needs to clean up the mess in the brass band first.

A light drizzle began to fall outside, enveloping the city in a curtain of rain. Raindrops splashed on the ground, gradually darkening the light-colored pavement. Qinglai walked in the rain with an umbrella, the wind blowing the raindrops onto her, washing away the summer heat.

On his way back to the apartment, Qinglai saw an unexpected figure sitting on a park bench with his head down. He wasn't holding an umbrella; he was just sitting there blankly in the rain, with a small puddle of water next to him.

Kiyoyori walked over and held the umbrella over the person's head:

"Today's rainfall rate is 80%, aren't you going to bring an umbrella on a day like this? Warrior, Senior Medieval Age?"

Upon hearing Kiyoyori's address, Nakaseko chuckled softly.

"I want to get some rain today, Yukinoshita-kun, you should go home early."

“More interesting than going home is,” Kiyoyori glanced at the soaking wet Nakazeko, “how Nakazeko-senpai managed to get so wet in this light rain, even before the ground was completely soaked.”

Zhong Shigu was dripping wet from head to toe. Her white shirt clung to her graceful figure, and her cream-colored sweater was soaked with water and hung heavily on her body.

"Yukinoshita-san is really perceptive."

Zhong Shigu smiled.

"Yukinoshita-san, could you take me in for a bit? I can't go home looking like this."

Chapter 31 Actually, "my" house is quite big

Kiyoyori brought the soaking wet Nakazeko back to the apartment under the snow.

Although bringing someone home without their owner's permission is quite rude, given the circumstances, Kiyotori couldn't just leave Nakaseko out in the rain. Besides, she had something to say to her, so bringing her home was the best option at the moment.

"Please wait here for a moment, Senior Zhongshigu."

Kiyoyori let Nakaseko stand in the entrance hall, while he went to the bathroom to get a clothes basket and a spare bath towel.

"Please leave your wet clothes here for now, I'll put them in the washing machine with them."

After saying that, Qinglai turned around and went into the kitchen to boil water.

"Please help yourself to your slippers, senior. The bathroom is at the far right of the corridor. I've already started running hot water, so please take a break and relax." Kiyotaka walked back to Yukinoshita's room, glanced at Yukinoshita's clothing size, and then compared it to Nakaseko's figure.