CH 40

After receiving the location of the club, I headed to the room where Ko-chan was waiting for me.

Behind me, I heard a woman’s angry voice. It seems as if someone had come to Kazuya, Yoichiro and the others. I was already quite far away, so I didn’t pay attention to them and continued on my way.

In front of me was a four-story building called the club building. It seemed that this area wasn’t a place for hanging out or talking, as there was no one around.

But still… a club building. Private schools must have a lot of money… I envy them. 

I checked the information board at the entrance of the building. The baseball team is on the… third floor? Is the brass band and orchestra on the same floor too? It seems like the larger the club was, the more space they took up.

The orchestral club… or was it the orchestra? My parents used to play in the orchestra, and it brought back memories… for the time being, let’s head to the third floor.

The room of the baseball club was at the far end of the floor. As I approached it, I noticed a room that seemed to be for the orchestra club. The door to the room was opened wide, and I thought, “That’s unwise,” and went to close the door, but then… something caught my eye.

There was a piano… I didn’t see anyone inside… I still have some time before my meeting with Ko-chan… maybe I could try to play a little…

I sat down in front of the piano and touched the keys… I played an electronic piano at home, but I hadn’t touched it in seven years…

The sounds of the notes I hadn’t heard in a long time were resonating.

The songs I practiced with my dad…

It’s still fun…

I was playing while reminiscing about the past.

Oh… I still make mistakes in the same places…

Dad… I’m sorry for not playing the piano… but I’ll resume when my mom is okay, so please wait until then…

I have to get to the club room soon… it’s almost time for the meeting…

I left the orchestra room, closed the door, and called Ko-chan.

‘I’m already in front of the baseball team room.’

‘I’m going outside now.’

Ko-chan came out of the club room and looked at me with a strange expression.

“Where’s Morshita? He said he was going to meet me at the front gate, so I asked him to show you around.” (Saito)

“There are four other people walking with him, so I just asked them for directions to the clubroom and came over here. I asked Kazuya to guide them.” (Hiroto)

“Well, please come inside. Everyone’s waiting for you.” (Saito)

I went into the club room with Ko-chan. I felt a bit nervous because this was the first time I’ve been in the clubroom of another school.

Along with the third-year students, the new captains of the second-year team came to see me in between class practice. They asked me about my legs and why I didn’t come to Toko High.

When everyone had returned to class, their coach showed up. He was someone I had talked to when we were deciding where to go to school. As I expected, the coach was disappointed that I had to gone to Saijo. I asked him about the practice game, and he replied, “By all means, please.

After spending around 30 minutes in the clubroom, I left and Ko-chan stayed in the club room saying, “I have to ask the coach something.” I thanked them and left the clubroom.

As I was walking toward the stairs, I noticed that the door to the orchestra club room, which I thought was closed, was slightly open.

Didn’t I close it…?

Did I forget? I was about to close the door when I saw someone inside.

Is that… Aizawa-san? What’s she doing there? Shall I call out to her?

“Excuse me, Aizawa-san.” (Hiroto)

“Eh? Yoshizumi-kun… what are you doing here?” (Haruka)

“I was in the baseball clubroom just now. The door to the orchestra room was slightly open and I was trying to close it. Then I saw Aizawa-san…” (Hiroto)

I thought maybe I had forgotten to close it, but I guess that wasn’t the case. She said she was going to be a waitress at the cafe… it’s a mature-looking dress, but it was cute with the frills on it. 

It suits her well…

“So you got the ticket from a member of the baseball team… Yoshizumi-kun, I have a question for you… did you see anyone when you passed by here?” (Haruka)

“No? Aizawa-san is the first person I saw while walking back.” (Hiroto)

“I see… thank you.” (Haruka)

Was there something wrong? No one was here… maybe I broke something earlier when I came in?

“Aizawa-san, did anything get broken or stolen? It seems like there are a lot of people from other schools at the festival, did something happen?” (Hiroto)

“No… nothing happened… the clubroom is fine…” (Hiroto)

“That’s good. I was just concerned because you seemed a little different from usual.” (Hiroto)

“I was just a bit nervous… are you done with your errands, Yoshizumi-kun?” (Haruka)

“It’s over. I’m going to call my clubmates and Morishita to join them.” (Hiroto)

“Morishita-kun? From the baseball team?” (Haruka)

“Do you know him? (Hiroto)

“Yes, we’re in the same class. I see… I was looking for Morishita-kun and the others with Aya and… at that time, there were boys from other schools with them… so they must have been friends of Yoshizumi-kun.” (Haruka)

“You met them? They were a noisy bunch, weren’t they?” (Hiroto)

“Fufufu… that’s right! I’ve met them during the Summer… I heard they were visiting Yoshizumi-kun at that time. I have to go back to the cafe now, do you want to come?” (Haruka)

“I’ll have to ask for you to show me the way. By the way, you look good in that outfit.” (Hiroto)

“I told them I didn’t want to wear it because it was embarrassing… but Aya forced me to… Oh, I mean Nishikawa-chan.” (Haruka)

“It’s the girl I met at the station, right? Oh! Here’s your birthday present.” (Hiroto)

I carefully handed over the small wrapped box to Aizawa-san.

It was convenient because I was waiting for a chance to give it to her today. After thinking about it… it’s hard to find alone time with someone in a crowded area…

“Wow! Thanks, I’d love to open it, but I don’t have time, so I’ll open it later. I’m looking forward to it… well then, let’s go!” (Haruka)

I left the club building with Aizawa-san and headed to the classroom where the coffee shop was located.

But Aizawa-san… you were in the orchestra room. What instrument were you playing?