I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Kiyoshi felt his throat was burning with dryness.

"In short, just enjoy the music competition for now. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves. Having goals is a good thing, but don't let them become shackles that bind you."

Perhaps realizing she had said too much, Hiratsuka Shizuka knew that the student in front of her needed time to understand.

"Alright, you can go call the next student now."

Thank you for your guidance.

Kiyoshi bent down, her forehead almost touching the table, and walked out of the classroom with a calm expression, turning her back and closing the door.

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

"Rina."

Before getting up to go to the club, Kiyoyori called out to Reina, who was about to leave.

Reina paused, but did not linger.

"Wait a minute, Reina!"

Kiyoshi grabbed Reina's wrist, but she forcefully shook him off.

"Don't touch me!"

Withdrawing his hand, Kiyoyori sighed helplessly, "I'm sorry."

"for what?"

Reina held her chin up, and although she was shorter than Kiyoyori, she had an arrogant air about her that looked down on everyone else.

"Regarding Mr. Taki's matter, I..."

"That's not it."

"what?"

Kiyoshi looked at Reina with a blank expression; the two seemed to be on completely different wavelengths.

"That's not it."

Reina repeated herself, staring intently at Kiyoyori for a long time, and finally, as if she had confirmed something, she chuckled and turned to leave.

"What is that?" Kiyora, already in a bad mood, could no longer maintain her patience. "Reina, how am I supposed to know if you don't explain clearly?!"

“Kiyori is the one!” Reina turned around, her eyes red-rimmed. “Kiyori won’t say anything, how am I supposed to know what you’re thinking!”

"You dislike Taki-sensei? What were you thinking when I mentioned Taki-sensei to you before? Why didn't you tell me? Were you always accommodating me?!"

Reina's loud shouts attracted the attention of passing students, but she didn't care at all.

“I’m not a porcelain doll. I don’t need you to protect me so thoroughly, and I don’t need you to sacrifice your own feelings.”

Kiyoshi then realized what Reina was talking about.

"Sorry……"

"Kaori-senpai too—"

Kiyoshi's expression froze for a moment, and Reina immediately seized on this flaw, striding towards Kiyoshi.

"So it really has something to do with Kaori-senpai, right? No, it's not Kaori-senpai."

Reina had long found it strange. If Kiyoshi's actions were meant to protect her, given Kiyoshi's personality—he rarely cared about the feelings of unrelated people—he wouldn't have stopped her from speaking.

Kiyoshi stood in front of her, but was protecting Kaori-senpai.

But Kiyoyori is not an easy person to approach.

"Who are you looking for in Kaori-senpai?"

Kiyoshi was speechless after Reina's words. She had never disliked her childhood friend's sensitivity and understanding of her so much.

"What exactly happened between you and Mr. Taki?"

Kiyoshi took a step back helplessly, beginning to wonder if he shouldn't have called out to Reina so rashly. Unexpectedly, Reina grabbed his collar tightly, forcing Kiyoshi to look down at her with evasive eyes.

"I...can't tell you yet..."

"Ah!"

Reina abruptly released Kiyori's collar and took a step back.

"That's why I—"

Reina took a deep breath and swallowed back what she was about to say.

"That's what I hate most about Kiyoyori."

They know everything, yet they do nothing.

Out of fear, they pretended not to know anything.

That's what she hates most.

Without lingering, Reina turned and left, quickly disappearing from Kiyoyori's sight.

The Qing dynasty suffered a major defeat.

Kiyoshi leaned against the wall, tilted his head back, and gave a self-deprecating smile.

You asked for it.

She told herself that.

Seemingly sensing that someone was watching, Kiyoyori looked around and met the eyes of Yukinoshita, who was standing on the stairs and was obviously heading to the Service Club.

There was silence for a moment.

"Good afternoon, Tachibana-san."

"Good afternoon, Yukinoshita-senpai."

A curt greeting won't save the rapidly dropping room temperature.

"I'm sorry to have made you see such an awkward scene."

Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow. "I just didn't expect Tachibana-san to be in such a sorry state."

Kiyori was amused by Yukinoshita's words, "I've always been in a sorry state."

"Perhaps that's not how it is in other people's eyes."

"Is the senior praising my acting skills?"

"Yes, Tachibana-san might have a bright future as an actress."

Qinglai chuckled softly.

"Can you tell me what happened to the brass band last year, senior?"

Yukinoshita silently looked at Kiyoyori for a moment.

"This is not something I can decide."

P.S.: I've been writing sweet stories for days, now I want to write about stomach medicine.

Chapter 71 Because it's someone you care about

The conversation with Yukinoshita didn't last long. Although Kiyoyori hadn't been participating in the Service Club's activities recently, she met with Yukinoshita every weekend.

Making the most of the limited time to catch up on her studies, Yukinoshita didn't want Kiyori to lose her first place with her body, and Kiyori didn't want Yukinoshita to make mistakes in her performance, especially the solo part.

Although……

The two were making good progress. Yukinoshita was already able to play simple tunes with her own body. Her progress, which was no different from that of a novice, made Kiyoyori breathe a sigh of relief to some extent. But there was no denying that Yukinoshita was a genius.

Today should be the day for ensemble performance. There weren't many people in the section classrooms along the way, but the closer we got to the practice room, the louder the sounds of playing and laughing came from under the doors, along with noisy conversations.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw older students tidying up the blankets on the floor and hanging on the wall. The thick blankets were neatly folded and piled up by the door, and several second-year students were sitting on them playing on their phones.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?"

Kiyoshi couldn't find Reina in the crowd, nor did he see any other familiar figures.

The second-year student, who was rapidly typing on his phone, answered without turning his head: "Putting away the blankets, it's too hot, let's put them away to cool off."

Kiyoyori, who was still confused and thought it was Takigaki's idea, immediately frowned. "We're about to start training. If we put it away now, we'll have to put it back later. Isn't that a waste of time?"

The senior student finally raised her eyes and glanced at Kiyoyori. "Ah, you're Tachibana from the first year, right? Don't you dislike Taki-sensei? These blankets were made by Taki-sensei, weren't they?"

“Although I dislike Taki, I still respect him as a teacher,” Kiyoyori said, clutching the suitcase tightly. “These blankets aren’t just for show; they’re there to maximize the effectiveness of the practice—”

"It didn't say we wouldn't use it for practice," the senior waved his hand impatiently. "It's just temporarily put away. We'll put it back when we practice later."

"Besides, who still believes that nowadays—"

What are you doing?

His gentle yet low tone carried a sense of impending storm.

The noise in the classroom stopped abruptly, and everyone looked at the teacher at the door with a calm and composed expression. His fluffy curly hair still clung to his thin face as usual, but the eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses had lost their usual gentleness.

The member who was sitting on the blanket immediately stood up, patted the hem of her skirt somewhat helplessly, and stammered without saying a word.

“I’m asking,” Takigaki emphasized, “what are you doing!”

"Because...because it's too hot, we want to put it away first."

"I never said anything about putting it away!"

Takigaki had never truly lost his temper, much less reprimanded a student in such a stern voice. His anger was like a silent, burning flame, yet it was genuinely conveyed to everyone.

"Please put it back on."

The members looked at each other, but did not set off immediately.

"I said, put the blanket back on now!"

Takigaki gripped the lesson plan tightly in his hand.

Seemingly unable to bear such suppressed anger any longer, the team members lowered their heads and quickly put the blankets back in their proper places, while Takigaki calmly left the practice room.