Chapter 46: The Girl Blowing the Trumpet Facing the Sunset

"Why does Yue have that expression?"

Matsumae Shinharu was troubled by this question for the entire class, so much so that he could not listen to the conversation between Fujii Itsuki and his classmates.

The get out of class was over and Mr. Fujii left.

When Matsumae Shinchun saw Jiuhuayue leaving the classroom, she wanted to chase after her immediately, but was interrupted by female classmates who came over to say hello.

"Is Matsumae-san really from the Saint Girl?"

"Why did Matsumae-san come to study in Tachibana Kita?"

"Matsumae-san hasn't joined any clubs yet, right? Would you like to join our Astronomy Department?"

Matsumae Shinharu was surrounded by everyone. While the girl maintained her composure and continued to respond to everyone, her fear gradually increased and her answers became more and more stiff.

"Are some of your questions difficult to answer, Matsumae-san?"

"Yeah, yeah," Matsumae Shinchun kept smiling, "a little bit."

Another girl said, "Matsumae-san just transferred here and hasn't adjusted to the new environment yet. Why are they all surrounding me and asking me questions?"

"Yes, yes, sorry to bother you, Matsumae-san."

"Agree."

"I'm sorry, Matsumae-san."

Matsumae Shinchun: "It's okay."

"Let's talk later."

"Ok."

"If you have a chance, you can have lunch."

"of course."

The girls in Class A were all extremely friendly. They didn't bother us any more and went back to their seats.

'call--'

Matsumae Shinharu placed her right hand on her chest to calm her pounding heart, then she let out a long sigh of relief and sat back in her seat.

She knew that everyone greeted her out of kindness.

But she always gets anxiety attacks in crowded places like this.

She could always recall her classmates in the Holy Lady Wind Band.

They also liked to gather around me happily like this, inviting me to play together, have lunch together, or go to the club together after school.

They all have good personalities and are very gentle. They make me feel just like my mother when I was a child, extremely kind.

It's just that everyone is like mother. All dead.

Matsumae Shinchun's face began to turn ugly. She closed her eyes and kept telling herself not to think about the scene at that time.

It’s all over. It’s all over.

It’s all over. It’s all over.

She felt the torment and fear in her heart, and this feeling of insecurity made her suddenly want to see Fujii Itsuki.

If I could hear the teacher, I could hear the teacher’s friendly voice sitting next to me and teaching me.

If, if, the teacher was right in front of me and chatting with me.

I must not feel so uncomfortable, right?
Mr. Fujii Mr. Fujii——

Matsumae Shinharu's breathing became rapid until someone gently poked her back twice from behind.

".!"

The girl's back straightened with fright, but she also recovered a little from her past memories.

who is it?

Matsumae Shinchun turned around, and the first thing he saw was short hair, and then two small hairpins that pinned the short hair aside to reveal a small section of the forehead.

She remembered that this was her classmate Hiiragi Rinka whom she met in the teacher's office that morning.

The girl's face is generally small, childish and cute. She lowered her head to avoid the other person's gaze.

But at the same time, she stretched out her right hand and opened her right palm towards Matsumae Shinchun.

Above is a candy in a twist-tie wrapper.

"What is this?" Matsumae Shinchun saw the candy.

"Here, for you."

As if she was afraid to talk to others, Hiiragi Rinhua spoke in a small and short voice: "Just now I saw that you seemed to be in a very uncomfortable state. Eat, eat some candy. Eat some candy and you will feel much better."

Matsumae Shinchun didn't react much to her sudden show of affection.

"No, don't worry, I still have plenty."

Hiiragi Rinka pulled open the pouch of her pleated skirt, wanting to show Matsumae Shinharu her candy collection, but accidentally all the candies spilled out, landing all over the floor.

And attracted the attention of classmates.

Hiiragi Rinka, who was already panicking, became even more panicked when her classmates looked at her like that. She hurriedly put her purse back into her pocket and bent down to pick it up.

Seeing this, Matsumae Shinchun became curious about her, so she got up from her seat and squatted down to help her pick it up.

Twist type, pillow type, folding type, roll type
There are many different kinds of candies, colorful and of all types.

Matsumae Shinchun picked up half of the candy for her and handed it back to her.

"Thank you, thank you." Hiiragi Rinka held her hands and held them against her chest.

"Hiiragi-san likes candy?"

"Yes, yes!" Hiiragi Rinka immediately raised her head, her eyes shining, "Matsumae, does Matsumae-san like it too?"

Matsumae Shinchun was surprised and smiled reservedly, "Not really."

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Hiiragi Rinka was like a withered flower, and she lowered her face instantly.

"Of course, it's not that I don't like candy. On the contrary, my mother always gave me candy when I was little, so I like it too—"

Matsumae Shinharu's words came to an abrupt halt when she was interrupted by a handful of candies in front of her.

Hiiragi Rinka was looking at her expectantly.

"Take it, take it. It's okay to give Matsumae two more candies!"

"."

"Which one do you want? Chocolate candy or hard candy? I recommend Morinaga's maple candy. It has a very fragrant maple flavor, just like the fragrance of you, Matsumae-san."

"Thank you."

Matsumae Shinharu felt a little embarrassed facing the suddenly enthusiastic Hiiragi Rinka, but she still accepted her gift, unwrapped it with her slender fingers, and put it into her mouth.

"How is it——" Hiiragi Rinka was looking forward to her reply.

"Yeah, it's delicious."

"You must be in a better mood now!"

"It's getting better."

It was not until Matsumae Shinharu finished answering that Hiiragi Rinka realized that she had offended him, and she blushed and lowered her gaze again.

"Sorry, I'm a little excited." Rinka Hiiragi held the candy in her arms.

"It's okay, Hiiragi-san, do you like collecting candies? There are so many varieties."

"Yeah, I like it. But," Hiiragi Rinka said in a small voice, "most of my classmates think that these small candies are only eaten by children. Although everyone will not refuse and speak to me very gently, they don't really like it."

Today's female high school students probably prefer to go to high-end dim sum restaurants like LeTAO.

"No, I think it's delicious."

"Really, really?"

"Mm, it tastes very good."

"Thank you, thank you."

At this time, the class bell rang and everyone started to sit back in their seats.

Matsumae Shinharu eats delicious maple-flavored candy and thinks Hiiragi Rinka is a little strange, but thinks she is a good child.

Teacher Fujii said that she had some communication problems, and now it seems to be true.

Do you want to try to get along with her?
Matsumae Shinharu wasn't so sure.

Xiaoyue didn't know why and pretended not to see me.

She had to find out why.

And now in this school, the only person I can rely on and trust is Mr. Fujii.

*
Throughout the morning, Matsumae Shinchun didn't find any chance to talk to Jiuhuayue. She would run out almost as soon as the get out of class was over, and come back when the bell rang, and no one knew what she was doing.

It's noon.

Because it was the third semester, classmates were all very familiar with each other and started going out to eat in groups of three or four.

Matsumae Shinchun was also invited by everyone, but she was wholeheartedly focused on Jiuhuayue, so she declined everyone's request.

But as soon as school was over at noon, Jiuhuayue walked out of the classroom alone.

Xiaoyue didn't look at herself the whole time.

Matsumae Shinchun was very sad.

Did I do something wrong to make Xiaoyue unhappy? Why is she so cold to me?

The two had clearly promised to be good friends for life.

Why is it so
Matsumae Shinharu sat in her seat dejectedly. She stood up blankly and wanted to go to the cafeteria alone, but she happened to find that Hiiragi Rinka behind her was also alone.

She was eating the lunch box she brought with her, and it didn't seem like any of her classmates came to invite her.

Thinking of the scene in the morning when she took the initiative to hand herself candy, the girl suddenly had an idea.

"Hiiragi-san."

"Ah?" Rinka Hiiragi had never expected that someone would call her at this time.

Matsumae Shinchun clasped her hands in front of her and gave her standard, ladylike smile:
"How about we go to the cafeteria and have a meal together?"

"."

Rinka Hiiragi stared blankly at her pretty face and her chopsticks dropped.

*
Jubei is not a school that is stingy with student welfare, and the cafeteria is built very large.

To make an analogy, it is similar to the snack street in a commercial center, with a wide variety of choices.

"What to eat?"

".All right."

"How about udon noodles? I want to eat that. You have a bento, so I'll buy you some tempura. It happens to be at the same counter."

"Is this okay?"

"It's okay. On the contrary, this is my return gift for the candy you gave me. After eating your candy this morning, I feel much better."

Hiiragi Rinka raised her head and was attracted by Matsumae Shinharu's gentle and graceful smile. She said in a weak voice: "Thank you. I am the first person to say that."

"That's a bit exaggerated. Well, calling me Matsumae-san seems a bit strange, why don't you just call me Kokoharu?"

Hiiragi Rinka's eyes sparkled, "Is that okay?" "Of course, I'll call you Rinka from now on, okay?"

"Yeah." Hiiragi Rinka was a little shy.

When she arrived at the cafeteria, Matsumae Shinchun did not forget to look for Jiuhuayue's shadow, but unfortunately she did not find her. Instead, she saw Fujii Itsuki eating and reading a book alone by the window.

As soon as she saw the teacher's back, most of her inner uneasiness was immediately dispelled.

While waiting in line for udon, she asked Rinka Hiiragi:
"I saw Mr. Fujii. How about we go sit next to Mr. Fujii later?"

"Does Matsu Shinharu know Mr. Fujii?"

Matsumae Shinchun was a little surprised, "How did Rinka know that?"

Hiiragi Rinka was shy because of the girl's address: "Because I saw you, Kokoharu, and Teacher Fujii came together this morning."

"Yes," Matsumae Shinchun admitted without hiding anything, "I knew Mr. Fujii before school started, and it was because of Mr. Fujii that I came to Tachibana Kita."

"Teacher Fujii, is he particularly important to Xinchun?"

"Yes, it's very important that the teacher is the only one who can understand me and the only one who can chat with me happily." While waiting in line, Matsumae Shinchun looked at the back of Fujii Itsuki at the other end.

"Is it."

At this moment, Rinka Hiiragi noticed that there was a different emotion in Matsumae Shinharu's eyes.

The queue was fast.

It was Matsumae's turn in a few seconds.

Three minutes later, she got the udon noodles and six tempura shrimps, and brought Rinka Hiiragi to sit in front of Fujii Itsuki.

"Hmm? It's Matsumae."

"Teacher Fujii——"

Seeing Fujii Itsuki's natural smile, Matsumae Shinchun felt like crying.

The uneasiness in my heart caused by the unfamiliar environment disappeared instantly.

Hiiragi Rinka noticed this detail again.

Fujii Itsuki smiled and said, "I originally said that I would ask you to come to my office at noon to ask about your situation in class. How is your class? Is everyone in the class friendly?"

"Yeah! Everyone is very enthusiastic."

"What do you think of school? Are you afraid or anything? Do you have anxiety attacks?"

“Well, there are still some.”

"That's normal. It's very difficult to get you over it in such a short period of time. Matsumae has done a pretty good job. If you feel uncomfortable at all, you can come to my office and I'll take you out to relax or take you home directly."

"Teacher Fujii"

"Do you know where my office is?"

"know."

"That's good. Of course, what I just said also applies to you, Hiiragi-san. Your mother called me and asked me to take care of you."

Hiiragi Rinka blushed slightly as she was the focus of attention.

When Fujii Itsuki saw this scene, he couldn't help but think that the girls in his hometown were indeed cuter, while the girls in Tokyo knew too much and were too sophisticated.

Someone has done statistics and found that among high school girls in Tokyo, less than 51% are still chaste.

Fujii Itsuki noticed that they came to the cafeteria together, "Are you friends now?"

friend
When Mr. Fujii asked this question, Rinka Hiiragi subconsciously looked at Matsumae Shinharu's profile.

The girl thought that since they had just met, they couldn’t be called friends at all, right?

Matsumae-san, how would you answer?

You will definitely say, "We are just classmates, right?"

"Yes, Rinka is a friend I just made."

As Matsumae Shinharu said this, she held up Hiiragi Rinka's hand and showed it to Fujii Itsuki.

Song, Songqian--

Hiiragi Rinka suddenly felt like crying. She wanted to give her her candy, two more. No, even if she had ten, it would be fine!
Fujii Itsuki smiled faintly. As expected of Matsumae, he made friends quickly, which was completely different from Jiuhua, who was cold, arrogant and prickly on the outside.

"That's good. I originally thought that you two would have greater communication barriers, but now it seems that your situations are similar. The opposite has a positive effect, and your relationship is getting better quickly."

"Hiiragi-san."

".Here! Here, Mr. Fujii!"

"Get along well with Matsumae in the future. She is a very easy-to-talk-to person. In addition, she is a shrine maiden of Matsumae Shrine. She usually dresses very beautifully. If you are interested in her, you can go to Matsumae Shrine in Sapporo to visit her during your holidays."

Xinchun is still a witch
Matsumae Shinharu is already very beautiful, and Hiiragi Rinka can't even imagine how beautiful Shinharu would be in a shrine maiden's costume.

"Remember, remember."

When having dinner with his female student, Fujii Itsuki naturally knew that he had to keep his distance, so he didn't chat with Matsumae as much as usual.

But what he was reading now was her mother's novel.

Both of them have a very deep understanding of the novel, so when talking about the novel, the past, and her mother when she was in college, Matsumae Shinchun often couldn't help but cover her face and smile.

The girl often thought, "As expected, chatting with Mr. Fujii is more fun than going to school."

It would be nice if I could stay with the teacher all day at school.
"By the way, how are you and Jiuhua doing?"

"."

"Matsumae?"

".Very good, Mr. Fujii, don't worry." Matsumae Shinchun tilted her head slightly and smiled elegantly.

Fujii Itsuki was relieved, "Well, Jiuhua is always talking about friends. I guess since you two are getting to know each other again, she would be happy to agree to let you be friends. I've finished my meal, and it's not good to sit here for a long time. I have work to do at the beginning of the new semester, so I'll go back to the office first."

"Good teacher."

Fujii Itsuki picked up the plate, stood up and left.

Matsumae Shinharu watched his back disappear into the cafeteria, and felt a little lonely again.

In the past, at home, Mr. Fujii could talk to me all day long, and if I had any questions, I could just ask the teacher across from me.

".Xinchun, did you lie just now?"

Hiiragi Rinka was silent for several minutes, and finally, she said this sentence hesitantly, and added, "About Jiuhua-san..."

Matsumae Shinchun turned her attention back to the new friend beside her. From her eyes, she could tell that she cared about her.

The girl nodded with a heavy heart:

"Well, Yue is my childhood sweetheart, we grew up together. We haven't seen each other for many years. This time I came to Tachibana Kita, in addition to the most fundamental reason, Mr. Fujii, I also wanted to see her."

"But Jiuhua-san doesn't seem to want to talk to Xinchun."

Hiiragi Rinka seemed to have suddenly seen something and looked diagonally across.

Matsumae Shinchun also followed her gaze and looked in that direction.

She actually saw Jiu Huayue sitting and eating with a girl with short hair and a red hair band tied around her ears.

The two were still chatting and seemed to be in a good relationship.

how come.
Matsumae Shinharu felt heartbroken, and inexplicably thought of the days when they were childhood sweethearts and held hands every day.

Is it because Xiaoyue has new friends that she ignores me?

Who is the person next to her?
Hiiragi Rinka recognized him and answered Matsumae Shinharu in a voice as thin as a mosquito, "It's Yang Kui from Class B, a first-year member of the wind instrument club."

Wind band?

Music club?
Could it be that the Kasuga Shadow that Xiaoyue practiced so hard for was not for herself, but for this classmate named Yang Kui?
They are good friends now.
Hiiragi Rinka noticed Matsumae Shinchun's complicated expression and she was very concerned:

"Would you like to try and strike up a conversation?"

Matsumae Shinchun was immersed in loss, remembering the cold look in Jiuhuayue's eyes when she glanced at her in the morning.

"No, no need"

*
The unhappy mood lasted all day.

Although Matsumae Shinchun noticed that Jiuhuayue occasionally glanced at her, she never chose to come up and talk to her.

The girl said nothing, she just remained silent, feeling lonely.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, the club time after school.

Since Matsumae Shinharu has not joined any club yet, she contacted the housekeeper Sakurahaku in advance. After saying goodbye to Mr. Fujii, she prepared to take the bus home.

The setting sun was brilliant, and the white snow was dyed with a touch of orange.

The silvery moonlight on the Big Ben of the Moon Tower indicates the dazzling light of the setting sun in the evening.

The girl, with her schoolbag in her hands, walked towards the school gate along the edge of the Moon Building in a daze.

The sounds of the baseball and handball clubs jogging could be heard on the playground; members of the track and field club began practicing on the first day, and both boys and girls were sweating profusely.

Because she was too focused on Xiaoyue making new friends, Matsumae Shinchun didn't notice that she was going in the wrong direction.

What brought her back to her senses was a radical passage of music.

——It’s a small one!

It has a loud, clear and high-pitched timbre that is unique among wind instruments.

Matsumae Shinchun, who had been in the Saint's Wind Band, immediately recognized the instrument to which the music belonged.

This music, um, is good for practice.

Matsumae Shinchun's attention was attracted by the sound from the platform. She followed the stairs leading to the backyard of Tachibana Kita and looked towards that place.

I saw a short-haired girl with a red hair bun standing in a high place, facing the entire Jubei College.

The music stopped for a moment.

The girl on the platform sent a sharp breath into her mouth. She moved her fingers, switching the syllables, and the heavy tone of eight scales flew out passionately, as if to hit the momentum of breaking through the door into her ears. The high-pitched emotion made her head ache slightly, but also made her chest rise and fall, and her brain felt comfortable as if it was pierced through.

Matsumae Shinchun was instantly attracted to the girl.

You can tell his technique is pretty good, he must have practiced for several years at least.

And isn’t that the short-haired girl who had lunch with Yue at noon?

Should I try to talk to her because of Yue?

The girl is not sure.

Matsumae Shinchun quietly raised her head and peeked at the girl practicing through the green trees stained with snow.

She listened with a sense of sympathy and appreciation.

But the performance suddenly stopped.

The short-haired girl above put down the trumpet in her hand and looked over here, meeting her eyes.

The short-haired girl smiled softly, her navy sailor skirt and white bow tie fluttering in the wind.

This smile was truly impressive, like suddenly not being able to hear any sounds around you and seeing the sun in midsummer. Instantly, the surrounding snow and drifting ice were melted by the warmth and sunshine.

Matsumae Shinchun had never seen a girl who could smile so brightly.

"You've been eavesdropping for a long time, aren't you going to come up?"

"."

This sentence came from above, and Matsumae Shinchun knew that she had no choice but to go up and talk.

(End of this chapter)