Dubian Che stopped making small talk and entered the music classroom.

Normally filled with chairs and music stands, the classroom was now empty.

In the center, three chairs, two desks, and a music stand had been set up.

The two desks were for Dubian Che and Kiyono Lin, and the music stand was for the auditioning members to place their music scores.

Kiyono Lin was already sitting at one of the desks, pencil in hand, writing something on a music score.

In the empty music classroom, the only sound was the scratching of her pencil on the paper.

"Good morning, Kiyono," Dubian Che walked over and sat beside her, a light and sweet fragrance in the air.

"Good morning."

"What are you writing?"

"The important cues for each instrument's performance."

"You're taking it so seriously even though you're just helping out."

Kiyono Lin didn't respond to him, sometimes musing, sometimes marking the music scores, writing names of instruments like "clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, oboe" between the notes.

Those must be the measures that the instruments were about to be assessed on.

If they had known about the audition content a month in advance, he wondered if she could have used it to make deals with the girls in the Wind Instrument Club to run errands and buy drinks.

As Dubian Che was lost in these pointless thoughts, the time for the auditions quickly approached.

The morning was for brass, the afternoon for woodwinds and percussion, and the first to audition was the tenor horn.

Since there were no third-year members left for the tenor horn, the first up was the second-year, Ichiki Aoi.

She entered nervously, settled uncomfortably in front of the two, and placed her wrinkled music score on the stand.

"Please state your grade, name, and the instrument you are responsible for," Kiyono Lin said.

Even though they were classmates, she followed the procedure meticulously.

Kiyono Lin would never show favoritism because they knew each other well, which made Ichiki Aoi introduce herself in a very respectful and subordinate manner.

"Tuning?" Kiyono Lin asked in a flat voice.

"It's already tuned!"

"Play from measure thirty-two of the designated piece until I say stop, start now."

"Yes!"

Ichiki Aoi took a couple of deep breaths, picked up the tenor horn resting on her pleated skirt, took a third deep breath, and then placed her lips on the mouthpiece.

The rich, full sound of the tenor horn vibrated through the early May air of the music classroom.

Dubian Che listened quietly.

Ichiki Aoi's tone was very similar to the early days of Mayi Asuka.

"That's enough," Kiyono Lin suddenly spoke.

Ichiki Aoi's mind went blank, she didn't even know what part she had played, and could only dumbly follow the direction to put down her instrument.

"The characteristic of the tenor horn is its soft tone that carries a profound echo. Ichiki, think about this more when you go back."

"Yes!" She responded instinctively, her face turning pale.

Had she been eliminated? Self-doubt crossed her face.

Seeing her expression, and because they were classmates after all, Dubian Che spoke up:

"Congratulations, Ichiki."

"...Eh?" Ichiki Aoi fixed her gaze on Dubian Che, then nervously looked at Kiyono Lin.

"The results will be announced at noon," Kiyono Lin said coolly. "Next one, please."

"Ah, yes!"

Ichiki Aoi gathered her music, walked unsteadily toward the classroom door.

"It's okay to tell her in advance, right?"

"How did you know she passed?"

"Don't I know you? You only elaborate on things you care about, like me getting scolded most by you."

"Don't get cocky, I scold you because you deserve it."

Listening to the conversation behind her, Ichiki Aoi finally felt the solid wood floor under her feet.

She had passed!

She clutched her instrument and music score, but her action to open the classroom door was very deliberate.

With the tenor horn auditions complete, there was a fifteen-minute break.

During such breaks, only Dubian Che, Kiyono Lin, and Ichiki Aoi, who knew she had passed, could truly rest.

The others, including those who had already auditioned on the tenor horn, were incredibly tense.

Dubian Che propped his chin on his hand, gazing out the window.

Faintly, he could hear shouts from the baseball and track and field clubs; everyone was cheering for a competition.

He turned his head, addressing Kiyono Lin, who was writing the list of those who had qualified:

"I heard that when you were a child, you won rock-paper-scissors for an afternoon, making Jiutiao Mei push you on the swing all afternoon?"

"She told you that?"

"Her mother."

Kiyono Lin nodded.

"Are you good at rock-paper-scissors?" Dubian Che continued.

"I've only ever played it with Jiutiao Mei, I don't know if I'm good or not."

Dubian Che, no longer supporting his head with his hand, formed a fist and stretched it between eux.

"Loser buys lunch today," he said

"Did you bring change?" Kiyono Lin set down her pen. "You still haven't paid me back the money I fronted on Valentine's Day."

"Quite confident, aren't you?" Dubian Che straightened up, rolling up his school uniform sleeves. "It's a shame that the person buying lunch will be you, you should be the one thinking if you brought change."

Sunlight streamed through gaps in the white curtains, falling gently on Kiyono Lin's face as Dubian Che faced the light.

After the first round.

"We could do best of three," Dubian Che gloated.

"No need," Kiyono Lin paused briefly, "Let's raise the stakes to dinner."

"I admire your courage to accept defeat."

"Hmph," Kiyono Lin scoffed coldly.

The second round, still Dubian Che's victory.

"Ah," The winner emitted a sad sigh.

"Another round."

"Tomorrow's lunch?"

"You didn't bring roses today, right? Win, and I'll forgive you."

"You really hold a grudge, I'll have to be more careful around you in the future."

"Knowing you, you've probably written 'always be wary of that woman Kiyono' on the first page of your diary."

"You guessed wrong, I wrote, 'be cautious of Ms. R, anytime, anywhere'."

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