I play the wind instrument in Hokkaido.

Page 595

"Why would I say something like that?"

Saito Haruka's breathing became rapid.

"You two are the ones who shouldn't have told me about something as important as teaming up with Kitahara-sensei. Do you think I'm that unimportant?"

Her tone sounded authoritative, but her original voice was too sticky and uncomfortable.

?

Nagase Tsukiyo paused for a moment before reacting and saying,

"Didn't you say you had already formed a team? Why are you complaining about me and Eri now? Why are you always being so unreasonable?"

"Am I being unreasonable?"

Saito Haruka, with one hand clutching her chest, took a step forward and said,

"I've been waiting for both of you to come to me. What do you mean I'm being unreasonable?"

Nagase Tsukiyo suddenly fell silent, because she was also waiting for Saito Harukori to invite her, and she didn't expect that the two of them had the same idea.

"Isn't this just being unreasonable? If you want to be together, just say so."

"Moonlight, you have no idea! What makes me angry isn't this at all!"

Saito Harukori's voice suddenly became quite loud, startling Nagase Tsukiyo, who was speaking at the time.

"What I'm angry about is why neither of you spoke up for me in front of Kitahara-sensei? Why did you leave me all alone outside? Don't you think that's going too far? I'm the one who's being left out!"

"Nee-yi!"

Nagase Tsukiyo shifted her foot slightly backward, awkwardly averting her gaze, biting her lip lightly with her pearly teeth, and said as if to refuse,

"I'm not you, why would I think so much?"

"I actually trusted you two before, thinking you would speak up for me."

Saito Haruka's delicate shoulders tensed slightly, and her lips began to tremble uncontrollably, like a child who had suffered a great injustice.

"I've always wanted the three of us to be together. Before the competition, I thought everything was settled, but you guys never treated me like a friend!"

You know perfectly well that he's all I have left! And you still treat me like this!

Eri Kanzaki stood between the two without saying a word, her gaze fixed on their loafers.

Nagase Tsukiyo's throat tightened suddenly, a strange emotion burning her cheeks as she clenched her fists and said:

"I've always considered you a friend, but how could I possibly do something like this according to your expectations! It's completely illogical!"

Saito Harutori remained silent for a moment, her brows furrowed tightly, her tone considerably calmer than before:

"In that case, you shouldn't go to Aomori."

"You—!"

Nagase Tsukiyo's eyes widened, her bright red ears already betraying her inner turmoil. "Where I want to go is none of your business!"

"So what are you going to Aomori for?"

Saito Harutori said without backing down.

"Did you really go to pick apples? A pampered girl like you, do you really love to work? You probably don't even know how apples are grown!"

"Of course I know how to plant it!"

Nagase Tsukiyo was unusually breathless, her face flushed red. If Kitahara Hakuba were there, he would surely be captivated by her beautiful expression and the rise and fall of her chest.

"In short, wherever I go has nothing to do with Qingniao!"

"Hmm!"

Saito Haruka frowned, her skin creased, and said, "Tsukiyo, just keep being so elegant. In the end, you'll be the one crying, not me."

Nagase Tsukiyo didn't speak, but instead turned her gaze toward the steps.

Saito Harutori's gaze shifted to Kanzaki Eri, and she said in a low voice:

"Eri, why won't you speak up for me?"

Eri Kanzaki raised her head, smoothed a strand of hair to the side, and her cherry-colored lips parted slightly:

"Because he didn't say he wanted to play the tutti."

Saito Haruka clenched her small hand into a fist, as if looking at a naive child who didn't know how to be flexible:

"Adding an euphonium is nothing to him, right? Eri, you're always like this. You know it's just a matter of saying one sentence, but you just don't want to say it."

“Hmm

"

Eri Kanzaki lowered her head, her usually expressionless face now showing complex emotions.

Saito Harutori clutched the scarf fluttering in the cold wind at her chest, and gritted her teeth as she said:

"I just want to say that I care about both of you, but I hope you can take good care of me as well. As for Kitahara-sensei, I have emphasized more than once that we are not enemies and should be together. We'll talk about the rest later."

Our enemy is Teacher Shinomiya.

Her words flashed through Nagase Tsukiyo's mind again, and her wavering heart felt as if it were being soaked in cold water, which was quite unpleasant.

Eliminate them first, then fight amongst yourselves. Saito Harutori's words were as blunt as could be.

"Let's just leave it at that this time. Let's just leave the Christmas Dream Festival as it is."

Saito Haruka gripped her arm tightly with one hand, then looked up at her surroundings. Her center-parted brown bangs tilted slightly as she tilted her head.

"Where is Yuxiang? Didn't she come out with you?"

Ms. Shinomiya escorted her home.

Saito Haruka frowned and said, "You mean Shinomiya-sensei?"

"Why are you asking this?" Nagase Tsukiyo didn't like feeling interrogated like this.

"Because Yuka is stupid."

Saito Harutori glanced uneasily at the steps and whispered,

"If she tells anyone what we did for Kitahara-sensei, then everything will be over."

"Oh—" A hint of surprise flashed in Kanzaki Eri's eyes, and she suddenly looked up at her.

"Sunny Bird, what are you saying? What are you doing?"

"kindness?"

Saito Haruka tilted her head in confusion, then seemed to remember something.

"I'm sorry, I've only told Yueye about this, I haven't told you yet."

Then, she recounted in detail how she, along with Yuka Isomoto, had used their feet to help Hakuba Kitahara pass the time under the kotatsu table in front of Sakurako Yukawa, Sayaka Akamatsu, and Amemori.

Nagase Tsukiyo had known for a long time, but hearing her say it again still made her feel ashamed and indignant.

Eri Kanzaki was surrounded by a meticulously crafted yet lifeless pure beauty. The cold white light shone on her, but could not penetrate into her eyes.

"That's too much! Why would anyone do something so outrageous?"

Her voice was as soft and breathless as ever, but the corners of her mouth turned down slightly, revealing the silent resistance raging within her.

Nagase Tsukiyo could clearly sense that Eri was angry, but her gentle tone was completely at odds with that anger.

"Then I'll ask Eri, why don't I do it?" Saito Haruka asked. "What's wrong with me taking control of what I can control?"

“You can’t, you can’t blackmail him like that.”

Eri Kanzaki's words are light and airy, without any weight, carrying a soft, sticky tremolo, like snowmelt that has begun to melt before it even falls from the clouds.

"He's not being sincere, you can't do that."

How does Huili know he's not being sincere?

Saito Harutori swallowed, moistening her throat, which had become dry and sore from overbreathing.

“He made a 'whoosh' sound at my and Yu Xiang’s feet at that time, which is evidence of his sincerity.”

"Sunny Bird!"

Nagase Tsukiyo's face turned bright red. She had never imagined that she would hear such words from Saito Haruka's mouth.

"You can't, you can't"

.

Eri Kanzaki was a little angry, and her breathing became faster, but she couldn't say anything to curse; what came out was no different from a groan.

Saito Haruka's feet, encased in loafers, curled slightly at the toes, and she let out a soft sigh, saying:

Did Kitahara-sensei go along?

"Does it matter?" Nise Tsukiyo glared at her.

"Of course it's important. If Kitahara-sensei were here, Yuka probably wouldn't have continued talking about Shinomiya-sensei's topic, and we would be safe."

"That's you, not me."

Nagase Tsukiyo, with an expression of detachment, walked straight down the steps in front of the club building and said...

"Seeking reason, I'm leaving."

Kanzaki Riri, her hand gripping the leather handle of the instrument case, walked up to Saito Harutori and spoke softly.

"Qingniao, can you please not do that kind of thing? It has to be something he does willingly. Promise me, okay?"

"Jōri, let's go. She won't listen," Nise Tsukiyo said.

Saito Haruka didn't reply, but simply raised her hand and pinched the end of her hair.

“Hmm…” Kanzaki Junri lowered his head listlessly and walked down the steps.

Watching the two women leave, Saito Haruka sighed silently, went down a step, and sat down, covering her skirt.

If running wildly towards a place that can never be reached is called romance, then drifting leisurely towards a promised land is love.

Saito Harukori believed that she did not belong to the Housha family because Kitahara Hakuba did not love her at all.

The girl's legs were stretched out straight beneath her skirt, her hands resting on the cold tiles, and her eyes held a hint of confusion.