Even though Ami Koishi often ate fried foods, exercising afterward allowed her to keep a good figure. Still, lately Momoka Mito often poked her little belly, teasing: "Gained some chub, huh~"
Hearing that from her own student—and girlfriend—left Ami so annoyed that this week she only let herself have KFC once.
After hearing Kotomi Izumi play guitar several times…
Ami really wanted to use her new high heels to give Kotomi a hard kick, to properly teach her a lesson!
Kotomi had recently noticed that every time Ami looked at her, it was with a resentful expression. Sometimes Ami even stood outside the second music room, peeking in at their rehearsals—her eyes always fixed on Kotomi, the guitarist. It left Kotomi puzzled.
She later learned from upperclassman Momoka that Ami had once loved playing guitar in school. But her music teacher, after evaluating her talent, told her she was average at best with guitar. Without having practiced since childhood, she had no real foundation.
Rather than struggle with something she wasn't good at, she was advised to focus on her strength—bel canto.
That advice turned out to be right. With her bel canto performance of Nessun Dorma, Ami successfully passed the arts exam, gaining admission to the dream school of countless students—the Tokyo University of the Arts.
Her closest friend in high school, who also prepared for the arts exam with her, was a girl with a short ponytail. When she heard Ami had gotten in, she hugged her tightly, crying and congratulating her at the same time.
After that day, they never met again, nor did they stay in contact. The short-ponytailed girl had failed her exam and repeated a year, eventually entering a university through the regular entrance exam route.
Ami's dream of learning guitar was shelved. And somewhere along the way, she also "lost" her closest friend. Whenever she heard someone play guitar, her nose would sting, remembering the promise they once made—to take the arts exam together, to enter a good university together.
Ami got into the school everyone envied, but at the price of giving up her beloved guitar and her dearest friend.
...
When Yukino Yukinoshita was teaching Yui Yuigahama to sing, Kotomi took every chance to slack off. She set her guitar aside and sat back in her chair, sipping Pepsi one mouthful at a time.
"No, no, not like that. How many times do I have to remind you before you get it right?"
Yukino sighed heavily. She realized Yui's singing really depended on her condition. When she was in good form, her voice could dazzle, making one sit up eagerly, anticipating every note.
But when Yui was off, though her voice was still pleasant, it always seemed to lack something.
After hearing Yui's best, Yukino's standards rose sharply. She felt that when Yui sang at her best, her voice was no less than that of a real professional singer.
At the same time, she still couldn't shake the faint, indescribable resistance she felt toward their duo becoming a trio.
She always thought: If it were just me and Kotomi in the band, our stage performance would be flawless.
Her strictness toward Yui was more than anything an effort to ensure their upcoming performance would live up to her image of that perfect duet with Kotomi.
Kotomi thought the trio's ensemble was perfect.
But Yukino believed only a duet with Kotomi was truly perfect.
Kotomi had already noticed this difference. That was why, during rehearsals, she always acted as the middle ground, smoothing things over.
"I'm sorry…" Yui lowered her head under Yukino's scolding, looking disheartened. Inside, she blamed herself for dragging Kotomi and Yukino down.
"I'll demonstrate it again."
Though Yukino Yukinoshita harbored dissatisfaction in her heart, she still responsibly guided Yui Yuigahama's singing. Her personality seemed cold and unapproachable, yet when she was teaching Yui, she poured her whole heart into it, as if determined to pass on every bit of vocal technique she knew.
Yukino acknowledged Yui's talent for singing, which was why she pushed her so hard to improve.
But…
Kotomi furrowed her pretty brows slightly. Yukino was too overbearing, while Yui always accepted it submissively.
Even when Yukino's tone turned harsh, Yui would only feel hurt inside and apologize out loud instead of resisting.
When Yui finished singing again, Yukino was still dissatisfied. Just as she was about to get angry, she suddenly froze.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over her—the way she had just scolded Yui, the tone, the words she was about to say even more harshly…
Suddenly, memories rushed back. Wasn't this exactly like her childhood? Forced to sit at the piano, eyes brimming with tears as she played cautiously, while her mother's strict voice scolded and berated her without mercy?
Whenever she made a mistake, little Yukino's hands would be struck across the back—without holding back in the slightest, leaving her hands red and swollen.
Every time she practiced piano, she played as if walking on thin ice, cautious to the extreme. But the more careful she was, the more mistakes she made, and the harsher her mother became.
Her daily practice sessions were filled with her mother's scolding and the pain of her hands being struck. And if she couldn't hold back her tears, the blows would only come harder.
Once, when she was trying to learn a particularly difficult piece, mistakes piled up. The scolding and hand-strikes came endlessly, and she was forced to practice until ten at night.
Her father had come to persuade her mother to be more patient, and to take Yukino out for dinner. But her mother had mercilessly shouted him out of the piano room.
In most families, such a situation would have led to inevitable arguments over the child's education.
But in the Yukinoshita family, her mother had always been in control. Even if her father pitied his daughter, he could not oppose his strong-willed wife.
That night, at the dinner table, Yukino's hands were so swollen from the beatings that she couldn't even hold a spoon.
Even when she tried to lift a bowl to sip some miso soup, her grip slipped. The bowl crashed to the floor, spilling soup everywhere, soaking her clothes.
Through it all, her mother, sitting opposite, never intervened. She didn't ask about her daughter's injuries, didn't care if she'd been burned. She simply finished her meal, stood, and left the dining room.
In the end, it was only with the maid's help that little Yukino managed to eat dinner.
Her childhood mother was a figure of fear.
Now, recalling her own harsh tone moments ago, Yukino felt a wave of guilt. She took a deep breath, then bowed low to Yui Yuigahama, holding the bow and refusing to rise:
"Yui, I'm sorry. The words I said just now, and the way I said them, were far too unpleasant. Please… hit me."
Yui stared blankly at Yukino in shock.
Kotomi Izumi, sitting on a chair nearby, was also stunned. Just a moment ago, Yukino had been so imposing—yet now she was bowing in apology, even asking Yui to hit her?
—
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