061. Leaving Work, Then Picking Up the Daughter (Part 1)

The three of them walked forward together.

As they descended the stairs, Sakiko Togawa quickened her pace slightly, stepping out of the main teaching building first before waiting for Mutsu Wakaba and Ugetsu Nagumo to follow.

The space outside the teaching building was far more expansive than the interior.

Finally, the three of them did not need to wait for their positions as they had the first time, and they made their way directly toward the gates of Tsukinomori.

Tap, tap, tap.

Originally, Ugetsu Nagumo had been standing alongside Mutsu Wakaba, but after Sakiko Togawa joined, she naturally took her place next to Mutsu Wakaba as well.

Consequently, Mutsu Wakaba was pushed right into the middle.

At that moment, the formation of the trio was as follows:
Ugetsu Nagumo, Mutsu Wakaba, Sakiko Togawa.

Mutsu Wakaba looked to the left and then to the right, unsure of where to cast her gaze. In the end, she parted her lips slightly and chose to look straight ahead.

The three of them strolled along the campus path toward the school gates.

Many other students were heading in the same direction, walking in pairs or small groups, conversing and laughing merrily all the way.

Tomorrow was the school music festival, and preparations were already underway across the campus. Everywhere one looked, girls could be seen carrying their instruments toward the assembly hall.

"The music festival is quite a grand affair."

Along the way, taking in the surrounding atmosphere, Ugetsu Nagumo could not help but remark, "It seems I still underestimated Tsukinomori."

Just as he made this observation, he caught sight of Soyo Nagasaki not far away, walking side by side with a few other girls toward the interior of the school.

"Oh, right, she's a member of the brass band and has a performance tomorrow."

Ugetsu Nagumo recalled that Soyo Nagasaki played the contrabass in the brass band. Judging by the direction they were heading, they were likely going in for their final rehearsal that afternoon.

Soyo Nagasaki, naturally, had also noticed the three walking together.

To be honest, a trace of tension fluttered in her chest.

Within her "field of vision," three red "threads" were heading straight toward her, causing her heart to skip a beat.

She glanced in their direction, and her eyes happened to meet Ugetsu Nagumo's.

!

Soyo Nagasaki started inwardly.

Subconsciously, she halted her steps and offered a greeting:

"Ugetsu-kun."

Ugetsu Nagumo smiled in response, then continued on toward the school gates alongside Mutsu Wakaba and Sakiko Togawa.

Just as Soyo Nagasaki let out a sigh of relief, she heard her fellow brass band member giggle and ask:

"Soyo-san is so brave."
"Did you know each other before?"
"It's just because a teacher asked me to deliver some books to him earlier," Soyo Nagasaki replied, feigning nonchalance.

Her companion kept her previous playful expression, patted Soyo's shoulder, and they continued together toward the direction of the rehearsal rooms.

***

Meanwhile, Ugetsu Nagumo, Mutsu Wakaba, and Sakiko Togawa had just brushed past Soyo Nagasaki.

Both girls had seen Soyo Nagasaki greet Ugetsu Nagumo.

"Um... was that... Soyo Nagasaki-san?" Sakiko Togawa looked back at her retreating figure, asking with uncertainty.

Although the campus of Tsukinomori was quite spacious by local standards, the actual number of students in each grade was not very large. When distributed across individual classes, the number was even smaller.

Consequently, anyone who had spent a fair amount of time at Tsukinomori and participated in collective school activities would come to recognize many students from their own year and even other grades.

Sakiko Togawa had been studying at Tsukinomori all along, so she recognized quite a few of her grade-mates, even if they had never interacted directly.

That was why, upon seeing the figure who had greeted Ugetsu Nagumo just now, she was able to recall that the girl was in her grade.

Ugetsu Nagumo tilted his head, looking past Mutsu Wakaba to meet Sakiko Togawa's gaze.

"It's her."

"When I first transferred to Tsukinomori, I hadn't collected my textbooks yet, and Soyo-san ended up bringing them over from the faculty office for me."

"I see."

Sakiko Togawa nodded. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she said, "I remember... the first time I went to the faculty office with you, it hadn't opened yet, so you didn't get your textbooks."

"That's right," Ugetsu Nagumo recalled, "Later on, Soyo-san happened to go to the faculty office for something, so she brought the books over on her way."

"Ohh." Sakiko Togawa finally understood.

She hadn't expected there to be such a connection behind it; no wonder Soyo-san had greeted Ugetsu Nagumo just then.

Sandwiched between the two, Mutsu Wakaba stopped looking straight ahead. Instead, she gently tilted her head to look at Ugetsu Nagumo, and then glanced at Sakiko Togawa.

A trace of puzzlement lingered in her heart:
When did they... go to the faculty office together?

Mutsu Wakaba searched her memory, finally finding the relevant fragment. It seemed that on Ugetsu Nagumo's very first day at Tsukinomori, he and Sakiko had briefly gone missing for an entire class period.

So they had gone to the faculty office then... Mutsu Wakaba thought to herself.

The three of them stepped out through the gates of Tsukinomori, and then, for some reason, came to a halt.

Sakiko Togawa looked at Ugetsu Nagumo:

"Ugetsu-kun... are you heading in this direction too?"

Unaware that Ugetsu Nagumo had already walked home with Mutsu Wakaba before, let alone that the two of them had played guitars together in the basement, Sakiko Togawa asked this question.

"Any direction is fine for me," Ugetsu Nagumo smiled, "No matter which way I go, it eventually leads to my place."

At the same time, he remembered where he had parked his motorcycle that morning, realizing the distance from here was rather subtle—neither too far nor too close, and he could reach that street from any direction.

Sakiko Togawa smiled brightly, "Perfect, let's walk together then."

***

The trio maintained their previous formation and walked toward a street not far from Tsukinomori.

Because Tsukinomori did not allow vehicles to park directly in front of the school gates, parents, drivers, and students arriving by car mostly parked their vehicles in that area.

As for the students taking the train, that street was not too far from the station either. Consequently, many Tsukinomori students would walk up to this point with their friends after school before parting ways.

Tap, tap, tap.

The three walked at a leisurely pace.

Sakiko Togawa seemed to be in much better spirits than before, and her smile had returned to her face.

Mutsu Wakaba stood in the middle. Since neither of the two beside her spoke, she simply remained silent and kept walking forward.

Along the street were various shops, and further away, residential buildings stood in neat rows.

Gazing even further into the distance, one could see taller commercial towers, their rooftop glass glistening white under the sunlight.

Other Tsukinomori students could be seen walking in the same direction around them, their cheerful laughter drifting over from time to time.

As Sakiko Togawa walked along, she happened to overhear a few girls—she wasn't sure which grade they were in—chatting and laughing ahead of them:

"So Sakurai-san is definitely joining our band then."
"Yup."
"That's wonderful! We didn't manage to register in time for this music festival, but for the next one, we absolutely have to perform on stage."
"Yeah."

A band...

Sakiko Togawa thought to herself.

Now that her emotions had settled, memories associated with the word "band" were suddenly stirred by the conversation overheard on her way home from school.

Forming a band could almost be considered part of Tsukinomori's campus culture, and the fact that most students played at least one musical instrument only served to foster this atmosphere.

Furthermore, for most students of this age, standing on a stage, bathed in the attention and applause of the audience, naturally held a strong appeal.

Not to mention, forming a band was also an emotional refuge for many, serving to help isolated peers and improve interpersonal communication skills, among other benefits.

And so, the thought resurfaced in Sakiko Togawa's mind.

"Generally speaking, a band needs about five members."
"I can play the piano... I could be the keyboardist..."
"Mutsu plays the guitar..."
"And..."

Just as she was pondering this, she suddenly heard someone calling her name from the roadside nearby:

"Sakiko!"

Sakiko Togawa was jolted back to reality. She looked toward the source of the voice and happened to see a Maybach parked there.