"Is there something on my face?"
After the last banquet, Sen Getsusa had prepared an explanation for Eriri, but after hearing it, the latter just replied with a wooden 'I see.'
In the following days, this girl often looked at her with a strange expression.
"Um, no, it's nothing." Eriri shook her head. "Tsukisa, have you decided on your program for the Cultural Festival yet?"
Speaking of which, this was all her own doing.
A few days ago, Hiratsuka Shizuka, as the advisor, had excitedly called the girl to her office.
'Hey, that song you sang for my grandma last time—could you do it again?'
This teacher didn't have a shred of professional dignity; she squatted on the sofa, rubbing her hands together while looking at Sen Getsusa.
Like a large, hyperactive female kangaroo.
She didn't treat Sen Getsusa like an outsider at all.
The girl refused immediately.
'Come on, you sing so beautifully. Who knows, maybe a talent scout will take an interest in Sha-chan.'
She mentioned a name.
It was a trendy new cultural company. Originally an obscure, tiny firm, it had launched one hit idol after another this year, making its name instantly sought after.
'Sorry, Teacher Hiratsuka, but my wealth is enough to buy that talent scout, and the company as well.' The wealthy Sen gave a cold refusal.
'Oh, come on, we did go through that supernatural incident together...'
So what exactly is your goal?
The Cultural Festival is a student-led activity; whether I sing or not doesn't benefit you at all, does it?
Hiratsuka Shizuka lit a cigarette with a'snap' and held it between her fingers.
'Sorry.' She stopped joking, pursed her lips, and hesitated for a long time.
'Actually... since that day, my grandma has been frequently mentioning her past in musicals.' The smoke swirled slowly as Hiratsuka Shizuka stared at it and murmured, 'I thought, if you stood on the stage and I could record the full excerpt...'
The woman gave a bitter smile. 'I know that hoping for her to recover or get better is just wishful thinking. But seeing how much Grandma liked it...'
'Even if it's just to fulfill her wish, I want to try and make her happy. Could I ask you to—'
Snuffing out the cigarette, Hiratsuka Shizuka knelt on the sofa and bowed deeply to Sen Getsusa!
'Please! Sen Getsusa! If you have any requests, I'll agree to anything!'
Sen Getsusa watched her for a while, then took a deep breath and exhaled.
'I need a professional music teacher.'
..."So, you agreed to Teacher Hiratsuka's request?"
Eriri said as she plucked the pencil from Sen Getsusa's mouth. The latter rolled her eyes and picked up a ballpoint pen to bite on instead.
"Well, I'm already good friends with Grandma Hiratsuka. Since it's no trouble, I might as well fulfill a friend's wish." The girl spoke nonchalantly; Sen Getsusa was always full of anticipation and curiosity for anything interesting or novel.
Like making friends with an old lady, or making friends with a Little Sprite.
"What about you? You're not really going to sell doujinshi with Tomiya, are you?"
"Hey!"
Eriri peeked around and pulled Sen Getsusa closer. "Don't mention that! Who would do something like that with him? I heard he's planning to project that on the big screen during the Cultural Festival..."
Sen Getsusa:...Isn't that going way too far?
'It's all for love! Love!'
Recalling Aki Tomoya's fanatical expression, Sen Getsusa covered her face. "I'd better go try to talk him out of it. If he really does that, he'll definitely become famous among the first-years..."
"Only the first-years?" Eriri didn't think so. "He'll suffer social death."
"It won't be social death. His blog has been blowing up lately, did you know that?" Sen Getsusa still had a high opinion of Tomiya's tireless persistence and passion.
TAKI, the Romanized abbreviation of Tomiya's name, was already a highly popular star blogger recognized by many.
At least for Sen Getsusa, she definitely wouldn't dislike someone who took their passion to the extreme—many people talk about having various hobbies.
But when it comes to taking it to the extreme, persisting, and staying consistent for years, few people can keep the conversation going.
Not to mention, many people who have entered society would probably look completely bewildered when hearing this question.
'Hobbies? I don't think I have any. Watching dramas or variety shows, does that count?'
'Lying down and scrolling through blogs, or resting and watching short videos?'
'What? I work all day, it's exhausting, okay? And you want me to drag my tired body to practice an instrument after work?'
'Money, making money! Asking an adult that kind of question is meaningless. My hobby is making money.'
Unfortunately, even those whose hobby is making money don't give it their all.
They're just getting by.
Sen Getsusa bit the end of her pen, her small white teeth grinding with a creak. "Tomiya-kun's blog is more impressive than I expected. Maybe we should just let him follow his own ideas and broadcast that anime at the Cultural Festival."
Eriri thought Sen Getsusa was acting up again. "Don't you dare lose your mind and do that with him."
"I mean, a musical sounds really difficult."
The topic returned to Sen Getsusa's Cultural Festival performance, which Eriri was quite looking forward to.
"Isn't there a new teacher at school lately?" Sen Getsusa thought for a moment. "Minagawa... Akane?"
"I heard she's a great teacher. I'm planning to go ask her for some advice."
Minagawa Akane?
Eriri suddenly remembered something. She pressed the back of her hand to her lips, her eyes shifting. "I heard... it's just a rumor."
"That teacher has some strange relationships with the boys in our grade."
Strange relationships?
Sen Getsusa turned her head toward the boys in the class, but the next moment, Eriri pushed her face back.
"Don't look over there immediately! Sigh... That's what they say. Apparently, a boy started the rumor. But two days later, he took it back, saying his slanders against Teacher Minagawa were just out of jealousy."
Eriri gossiped with Sen Getsusa with great interest. Regarding the new music teacher, Minagawa Akane, the students had only heard many rumors.
As for the woman herself, everyone who had met her was full of praise.
"Maybe she's just being envied because she has such a good personality and top-tier beauty?" Eriri muttered ambiguously, looking forward to Sen Getsusa's lesson. "Getting individual guidance from Teacher Minagawa Akane... I won't see her until next week's music class."
"She must be a very gentle person, right?"
Sen Getsusa shrugged. She just wanted to systematically train her vocalization and fix any gaps in the excerpt she was performing.
Recently, Nakajima Saki had been quite well-behaved. Since the last incident, the girl hadn't brought anyone else to harass Hayami Mari.
This saved Sen Getsusa a lot of trouble.
She had a very important matter to attend to recently.
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