After the school trip ended, Suzuki Yuu, just as usual, arrived at the student council room in the early hours of the morning.
He yawned and looked at the time on his watch, feeling extremely out of sorts.
Although that school trip couldn’t exactly be called pleasant, at least he managed to get some decent sleep.
At school, catching up on sleep could only be done during class.
Of course, the student council only gets busy when there are activities; most of the other times are just spent dealing with trivial odds and ends.
During those stretches, he could even find time to read a book.
But this morning, things seemed a little different.
Just as he reached the door of the student council room, he heard the melodious sound of a piano drifting to his ears—once again, the tune of “Canon”.
This surprised him somewhat. He hardly ever saw the President in such a relaxed mood.
Suzuki Yuu gently pushed the door open, and before long, he caught sight of that familiar figure.
The faint morning light seeped in through the gaps in the blinds, outlining her perfect profile and the black piano.
This piano was a recent addition, and from its tone alone, one could tell it was by no means cheap.
At least for Suzuki Yuu at this point, it was an astronomical figure.
The other party’s playing didn’t stop at his arrival; on the contrary, it happened to reach its climax.
He didn’t say a word, just took his seat and quietly listened until the music finally ceased, then he spoke:
“This is the first time I’ve heard you play, President.”
At that moment, Jinguuin Amane wore a gentle smile, seeming to truly enjoy herself.
She looked up at Suzuki Yuu and replied:
“You’ll probably be hearing it often from now on, since I plan to start practicing again.”
Hearing this, Suzuki Yuu understood at once: Jinguuin Amane was preparing for the upcoming chamber music competition.
If he recalled correctly, she hadn’t participated last year. Was she joining this time because she was sure he could persuade Senior Hasegawa to join?
She certainly had a lot of faith in him…
With that thought, Suzuki Yuu looked at her again and asked,
“Are you planning to play the piano, President?”
“It’s one of the options. The specifics depend on how well I coordinate with my partner.”
“Partner?” Suzuki Yuu’s curiosity was piqued.
Anyone who could partner with Jinguuin Amane must be truly impressive as well.
“President, could you give me a hint who it is? That way, I can try to learn from them too.” He asked, half-joking and half-testing.
“She’s a friend from another school, and also my partner from middle school. She didn’t move up with us, though—instead, she went to a more promising music school.”
“Someone from another school? Are they allowed to enter our academy’s competition?”
“Of course. As long as one of the performers is a student at our school, it’s fine. Ever since our music club declined, this competition has been left half-abandoned. The more capable students prefer to prepare for the wind instrument contest, or else form their own bands.”
Suzuki Yuu’s mouth twisted at that. He thought again of Hasegawa Aoi. Even though the club’s decline wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t exactly escape responsibility for its half-paralyzed state either.
Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be better to recruit some members after all?
Still, since this isn’t a school focused on music, and with the overall student population being small, hobbies that require heavy investment from a young age are still hard to develop.
With this in mind, Suzuki Yuu turned his gaze to Jinguuin Amane, and the topic returned to her partner:
“So the person who can be your partner must be pretty amazing, right?”
“Hmm… she’s all right, I suppose. Last year, she won first prize at the national competition.”
First prize…
Suzuki Yuu’s smile froze on his face, then instantly collapsed.
Can they win?
Just thinking about it made him realize how difficult it would be.
At that moment, Jinguuin Amane added,
“If nothing unexpected happens, you should see her at this year’s interschool sports festival.”
“The interschool sports festival?”
That line snapped Suzuki Yuu’s attention back. He had heard about this event from Shiraishi Ayaha quite some time ago.
The student council had also planned for it, and Suzuki Yuu had even read the proposal.
This sports festival was an enormous event, accumulated from the experience of past years, growing ever larger. The events were incredibly diverse—ranging from traditional track and field, to equestrian and even archery. As long as it was a summer-appropriate sport, it was included.
Each participating school contributed a venue, and Aoyama Sacred Academy covered almost all the traditional sports.
Naturally, a lot of people would attend. It would be lively for sure.
“So she’s only coming for that? I thought she’d be training with you at school, President.”
“We’ll practice a little after school. Normally, though, I don’t have that much time to devote to it.”
“Eh, I thought you’d go all out for Senior Hasegawa.”
“I’d love to, but my schedule is really tight.”
Jinguuin Amane spoke, then added,
“Back in middle school, I did just that—threw myself completely into music, and because of that, my performance in other areas dropped off.”
“Dropped off? Like grades and such?”
“That too, but mainly because I was chosen to represent the school at the national middle school competition. I barely had time for anything else.”
“I see…”
Hearing this, Suzuki Yuu was at a loss for words for a moment. He knew her history.
If he remembered right, she had also been a first-prize winner at nationals.
Just thinking about facing such hardworking geniuses made his head ache.
At least Jinguuin Amane’s words suggested she wouldn’t be able to prepare too seriously.
After all, as student council president, she had plenty of other things to handle every day.
While he was pondering all this, she spoke up again:
“By the way, Suzuki, have you figured out how to persuade Aoi?”
“Not yet. Senior Hasegawa’s trauma still seems way too deep—I have no idea how to even bring it up.” Suzuki Yuu answered honestly.
Ever since the performance ended, Hasegawa Aoi seemed to have drifted back into her old state, which left him feeling helpless.
The only change was that she was still willing to teach him.
Of course, since Suzuki Yuu had already mastered all the music theory, what remained was mostly self-training, so Hasegawa Aoi often ended up playing games after accompanying him for a short while.
Jinguuin Amane didn’t seem surprised to hear this:
“Given what happened back then… getting Aoi to compete really is difficult. But let’s do our best. If it comes to it…”
Here, Jinguuin Amane paused:
“I’ll just have to write her name on the entry form myself, then have Morikawa spread the word.”
That really was her usual style. Suzuki Yuu could only sigh at that:
“That won’t work, President. She’s dead set against participating this time. Instead of doing that, why not just tell me what really happened back then? That way, I can try to address it directly.”
He looked at Jinguuin Amane, waiting for her answer.
But Jinguuin Amane just lowered her head, thought for a while, and finally looked up to say:
“Hmm… actually, that girl should be coming to this sports festival too. When the time comes, you should be able to find out what happened.”
“That girl?” Suzuki Yuu was puzzled, all sorts of guesses popping into his mind.
But before his thoughts could wander further, Jinguuin Amane added:
“She was Aoi’s ensemble partner in middle school.”