I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Chapter 45 Please give me your guidance

Under the seemingly pre-arranged back-and-forth between Yukinoshita and Yoshikawa, Sakura's expression had clearly turned very bad.

But clearly, their plans are not over yet.

"To be honest, there's really no need to force the two schools to perform together, is there?"

Hikigaya sat to one side and said coolly.

“While it’s certainly better for everyone to participate in such activities together, there’s no need for everyone to be tied together,” Hachiman said, keeping his head down and not looking at Toyosaki. “If one side is a burden to the other, then it’s better to separate them no matter how you look at it.”

"Besides..."

“Hachigaya-kun,” Yukinoshita spoke up at the right moment to stop Hikigaya, and turned to Sakura again, “President Sakura, our members were just a little anxious, but everyone wanted to do their part for this Christmas event. Please forgive their rudeness, President Sakura. I think someone as understanding as President Sakura will understand, right?”

Yukinoshita's words effectively blocked all of Sakura's escape routes. At this moment, Sakura's face turned red with anger, but she couldn't say anything, so she could only angrily blow on her bangs.

Seeing that Sakura did not speak, the members of the Toyonosaki student council also remained silent. Even though they had a lot of resentment towards Soubu High School, they could not show it because of their pride.

"So, what brilliant idea does President Yukinoshita have?"

Surprisingly, it was Kasumigaoka who spoke, still holding her book. She remained indifferent, not even showing her face.

"Should we continue working together, or just perform separately like this?"

From a personal perspective, Kasumigaoka would obviously prefer to collaborate with the brass band.

She is usually very busy, and Kiyoshi is also busy. If she can take advantage of this opportunity to collaborate with Soubu High School, as the director and screenwriter, she will definitely have a lot of contact with the brass band, which will indirectly increase the time she spends with Kiyoshi.

But on the other hand...

Kasumigaoka also did not want to add burden to Kiyoyori. Cooperation requires a period of adjustment. As the head of the brass band just raised, these issues are difficult to resolve in a short time. Forcing cooperation under such circumstances would undoubtedly increase the burden on both parties, not to mention that the quality of the performance is unpredictable.

It can only be described as a gamble.

Even Kasumigaoka, who is usually decisive and has strong opinions, is in a dilemma at this moment. Not only is she concerned about Soubu High School, but she also urgently wants to find a perfect solution.

Whether or not we can continue our cooperation may depend on Toyosaki's attitude.

Yukinoshita did not give a clear answer.

Kiyoyori noticed that Yoshikawa had released his hand from hers.

My throat suddenly felt dry.

However, under Yoshikawa's eager gaze, Kiyoyori still spoke up.

"Perhaps, if the positions of both parties were reversed, this cooperation could be facilitated more effectively..."

Kiyoyori dared not look at Kasumigaoka, but she knew that Kasumigaoka, being as clever as he was, must have already guessed the meaning of those words.

"What do you mean?"

The question was asked by a member of the student council from Soubu High School.

“Originally, the brass band should cooperate with the drama club, but that won’t work,” Kiyori said after a long silence, so at Yukino’s suggestion, Hikigaya took over the conversation, “But what if the drama club cooperates with the brass band?”

Kiyoshi lowered his head and clenched his fists under the table.

She had actually discussed with Yoshikawa what kind of solution she wanted, and this was the best solution Yoshikawa had proposed at the time. But Kiyoyori realized at this moment that it should have been Hachiman who came up with it.

Kiyoshi had no idea, but she knew that Kasumigaoka was the one who compiled the script, and she also knew that Kasumigaoka had already written the script to be submitted to the drama club, so she didn't want to say anything, and even less did she want to cause trouble for the other party.

“In other words,” Kasumigaoka put down his book and looked at Kiyori, who was sitting opposite him with his head down, “I will write suitable scripts based on the repertoire that the brass band has already mastered, right?”

While that's the correct meaning, coming from Kasumigaoka, it somehow makes Soubu High seem a bit unreasonable on their part.

Such a solution requires the screenwriter to have a high level of literary skill. Although Toyosaki was extremely confident in Kasumigaoka's writing ability, the general public at Soubu High School was not very familiar with him, so they were somewhat unsure.

"Isn't this just dumping what they can't do themselves onto us to do?"

Sakura finally regained some composure, and he was clearly dissatisfied with the suggestion.

However, the decision-making power was not actually in Sakura's hands. If Kasumigaoka agreed, then he would have no reason to object, since he wasn't the one writing the script.

In short, he only lost face a little.

Kiyotori felt even more ashamed. She knew that Kasumigaoka would definitely agree, and the thought of why Kasumigaoka agreed to this condition made her feel utterly ashamed.

"can."

The long silence made everyone on Soubu High's side think they would be rejected, but the surprise came so quickly that everyone's face showed joy.

Apart from Kiyori and Yukinoshita.

As the one in charge, Yukinoshita was naturally confident that Kasumigaoka would agree, but for some reason, she always felt a little uncomfortable.

Kiyoyori closed his eyes in pain, trying to avoid Kasumigaoka's gaze.

“However, I have one condition.” Kasumigaoka smiled at Kiyoyori, then turned his gaze to Yukinoshita.

"If I want to do this, I need to understand the repertoire that the brass band currently possesses, as well as the playing level of the remaining brass band after the third-year students retired. Of course, I don't understand music, so I also need someone to help me interpret the meaning and stories behind these pieces."

"The performance and the music complement each other. Only by finding the best balance can we achieve the best stage effect, right?"

Kasumigaoka's argument was reasonable and well-founded, but her true intentions were crystal clear to Yuki.

"So, Mr. Yoshikawa, please allow me to borrow someone from your brass band to compose with me, is that alright? I need someone with high musical literacy and who is also familiar with musicals and the like."

Kasumigaoka almost blurted out Kiyori's name.

“That makes sense.” Yoshikawa nodded, her mind racing as she considered which members would agree with her terms.

"Then I'll assist Kasumigaoka-senpai in completing the script."

Kiyoyori's initiative to volunteer was exactly what Kasumigaoka had expected.

Qinglai also voluntarily jumped into the trap set by the other side.

Kiyoyori wouldn't mind if this could compensate for some of the trouble caused to the other party.

"Then please take care of me!"

"Tachibana-kun~"

Chapter 46 The Person You Care About More

The meeting went relatively smoothly. Apart from the Toyosaki student council, who were subtly and overtly mocked, and Kiyoyori, who was sulking for some unknown reason, everyone was in a relatively relaxed mood.

Kiyoyori didn't say anything more until the end of the meeting, deliberately avoiding Yukinoshita's gaze, only having necessary conversations with Yoshikawa, and when leaving, he walked out of place at the very back of the group.

"Ching Lai."

A familiar voice called out to her, this time without a teasing tone, and then a warm hand grasped her wrist.

"are you angry?"

Kiyoshi was unwilling to turn around, but he also couldn't bear to pull his hand away at this moment.

“I think this is fine. I’m used to revising the script at the last minute. Aki’s script has also been revised many times. He even overturned all his previous ideas when preparing to hand over the work. But I still finished it, didn’t I? You don’t need to worry about me.”

Even though Kasumigaoka didn't exert much effort, Kiyoyori stopped and fell further and further away from the main force ahead.

"I just feel that this approach is very unfair to Shiyu-senpai."

Kasumigaoka sighed softly, "But I feel that the previous proposal was even more unfair to Kiyori."

“Don’t always shoulder everything yourself,” Kasumigaoka stepped forward, gently wrapped her arms around Kiyori from behind, and patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Besides, won’t I need Shimizu-kun’s help later?”

"but……"

Kiyori turned around and reached out to leave Kasumigaoka's embrace, but felt her arms were incredibly heavy.

Fortunately, Kasumigaoka quickly retreated to its original position.

"Let's try relying on our seniors too."

Kasumigaoka affectionately pinched Kiyori's cheek. "We'll contact you later. I have to go now."

Without lingering, Kasumigaoka turned and left, her gaze as light as a feather as it swept over a figure in front of her.

Kiyori, who was saying goodbye to Kasumigaoka, was unaware of the gaze watching her from behind.

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

After that, life returned to normal.

Yoshikawa conveyed the event to the brass band, and with everyone's unanimous agreement, the intensive training plan resumed. Meanwhile, Kiyoyori was juggling two things. Although she would always receive a call from Kasumigaoka after club practice, they would either meet in person or just keep in touch online.

But Kasumigaoka didn't put more pressure on her. She just raised some questions appropriately. Most of the time, the two of them were just doing their own things in the same space.

The Service Club is the same as always. Because of a new request, namely to assist Yukino, Hikigaya and the others will always go with the student council to handle matters after school.

It was around this time that Kiyoyori became acquainted with Isshiki.

"Speaking of which, the student council in Toyonosaki is really bizarre!"

During the break, probably because she couldn't find anyone else to vent to, Isshiki pulled Kiyoshi, whom she knew well, aside and poured out her grievances.

"uh-huh?"

Kiyoyori was writing and drawing on the score. After coordination between Kasumigaoka and the brass band, both sides decided to create short interludes that did not require full ensemble playing to smooth out the musical. Such pieces could often be completed by soloists or duets, and handing them over to capable people would not drag out the overall process too much.

Kiyoyori, who was familiar with the Kasumigaoka script and had experience in composing music, took the initiative to take on this task.

"They really don't do any work at all! They leave everything to the General Staff High School. Calling them incompetents is an insult to incompetents!"

Isshiki continued to complain angrily, "Thank goodness I'm not the student council president. If I were Yukino-senpai, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist yelling at them!"

Kiyoshi paused slightly upon hearing the name.

Are you listening to me?

"You wouldn't."

"what?"

“I said,” Kiyoyori looked up, “if you were the chairman, you wouldn’t scold them either.”

After a moment of silence, Isshiki sighed and sat down in his seat.

"Speaking of Yukino-senpai..."

As she spoke, she casually observed Kiyoshi's movements, and when she saw him waver for a moment, she smiled quietly.

Kiyoshi stopped writing and waited for a long time, but Ishiki didn't get any more updates, so he gestured for her to continue with his eyes.