The Heroines Want to Fall in Love 48
by TINY FAN FICTIONThe Heroines Want to Fall in Love 48
Edited by: Tiny Fan Fiction
Chapter 48 The Pianist at Sea
“Internships, how nostalgic.”
Yukinoshita-sama took a sip of his drink, wondering where he had interned back then.
Ah yes, it was at the place his wife had introduced him to, under his father-in-law.
If he hadn’t met his wife, his life would probably be more normal now.
For over 20 years, he had grown accustomed to living with the name Yukinoshita and had learned about political tactics.
Habits can be terrifying.
He had quit smoking when Haruno was born, but he couldn’t quit drinking, which was one of his few pleasures.
His wife didn’t seem to mind.
Perhaps his wife, as an oni, still had a kind side… it wasn’t wrong to call her cute, although she was more refined and beautiful, with a slightly cold demeanor.
His wife was cute, really…
Even in his youth, during high school, it was the same.
When he went to the mahjong parlor, she would scold him, and her spicy words and cold gaze were hard to forget… Haruno had inherited his wife’s gentleness and mischievous personality, while their second daughter, Yukino, had inherited her cold side, but was also warm at heart, making her the best daughter.
But thinking about their future, where they would fall into the arms of a stranger, was unbearable.
“Did you have an internship in high school, sir?”
Asakura Yu mixed Yuigahama-sama’s 8th cocktail while asking.
This Yuigahama-sama could hold his liquor, and it seemed he wasn’t drunk yet.
“Yes, even at Houtoku High School, we had internships.”
“…Houtoku High School?” Yuigahama-sama’s face was flushed from drinking, and he spoke without reserve: “The students there were all delinquents. I was even extorted back then. Damn it! Luckily, I was tough enough, and they didn’t succeed.”
“Not just that, Yuigahama-sama. The high school next to Houtoku, Nishi Kou, was also a school for delinquents. I was a gang leader back then, and we constantly clashed with the neighboring school. I met my wife because she was hit on by delinquents from Nishi Kou…”
Yukinoshita-sama seemed to be ready to reveal his entire delinquent history from high school.
However, he appeared to be drunk and not thinking clearly, as he suddenly changed the subject…
“Where’s the pianist for this store today?”
There was no piano music, only a vinyl record playing.
“Hic, I don’t know~” Yuigahama-sama leaned on the bar, burped, but was still somewhat sober.
Asakura Yu pushed the drink away, “Sir, I don’t recommend you drink any more.”
“Alright… alright, you’re as nagging as my wife.” Yuigahama-sama took the cocktail, and this time, he sipped it slowly, not gulping it down in 3 mouthfuls.
Asakura gently waved to Saki Kawasaki sitting beside him, and once she came closer, he asked:
“Wasn’t there a female pianist during my interview yesterday?”
“…I heard she arrives later at night. Our internship only goes until 11:30, so we wouldn’t have seen her,” Saki Kawasaki finished, leaning in close to him and concernedly whispered, “These 2 gentlemen are pretty drunk, be careful.”
If they get rowdy and break something in the bar, the bartender might also share some responsibility.
“Sir, the pianist arrives later at night.”
“Later at night?” Yuigahama-sama said with a dissatisfied tone, “Are guests in the early hours not guests either?”
This bar opens at 9 PM and continues until 4 AM the next day.
It’s divided into the early hours and the later hours.
“Yuigahama-sama, don’t be upset, the vinyl records aren’t bad either,”
Yukinoshita-sama, noticing that he seemed slightly intoxicated, quickly tried to dissuade him.
“But we are guests too! The rule of customer is king, this establishment doesn’t even understand that?” Yuigahama-sama said this verbally, but he just continued to take a swig of his drink.
“Anybody can, why don’t you play a tune?”
The rambling continued.
Yuigahama-sama’s gaze gradually drifted towards Asakura, “Bartender, why don’t you give it a try?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not very familiar with the piano.”
Just a little bit.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway, no one is using the piano.”
“Sir, are you feeling alright? Would you like me to call someone for you?” Saki Kawasaki stepped forward and asked.
“I don’t want to leave without listening to a piano piece.”
Hearing his childish tantrum, Saki Kawasaki sighed inwardly.
She’d worked here for a long time, but she wasn’t sure how to handle this situation.
So, she decided to call the manager.
A few minutes later.
Saki Kawasaki came over with a woman with burgundy curly hair, the store manager.
“Yuigahama-sama, are you in any trouble?”
”The piano in your store is empty, I think it’s annoying.”
“I’m very sorry.” The female store manager showed a charming smile and said with apologizing: “Then, I’ll give you the wine today. Do you think it’s okay?”
“No, just let this guy play a song.”
When the store manager heard this, he felt that this person was probably drunk and unconscious.
‘It’s already incredible that Asakura can do some bartending. She must have spent a lot of time studying and practicing in private, but you actually asked him to play the piano. Do the two have something in common?’
Are you obviously humiliating?
The female manager wasn’t sure if the conflict between Asakura Yu and this customer had caused the latter to cause trouble, but in the end, her newly hired employee had been attacked with sarcastic remarks.
There were a lot of customers, so offending one wasn’t a big deal, but the way the employee was treated… If she went along with the customer’s demands, the news would reach the other veteran employees, and if morale plummeted, the team would be hard to manage.
The female manager thought about it and decided to get rid of the customer…
“Customer, please calm down. This young man is still in high school, he’s just here for an internship…”
“You misunderstand, this young man is skilled at making cocktails,” Yuigahama-sama expressed her meaning: “Our customers in the first half of the night are also customers, and the money is the same. You can’t skimp on the service… We’re missing a pianist, and that piano is just an eyesore to me.”
“You’re right,” the female manager bent down and apologized: “I’ll go get the pianist right away.”
Many of the customers noticed the commotion at the bar and looked over with curiosity.
“Manager, do you need help?” Asakura Yu felt that Yuigahama-sama’s outburst was partly his fault.
He should have stopped her sooner, he had had too much to drink.
The manager understood: “Asakura-kun… can you play the piano?”
“I’ve learned a bit, but I’m not very skilled.”
“Don’t bother you, I’ll get someone else.”
The female manager didn’t want him to go up there, what if something went wrong, it would be even harder to fix.
Well, all the customers had stopped drinking and chatting, their eyes were fixed on her, waiting to see how she would handle the situation.
If she didn’t give a satisfactory answer, it wouldn’t look good if it spread.
“Let him go up, otherwise by the time you say the pianist arrives, I’ll have finished my drink and gone home to sleep.”
Yuigahama-sama finished her last drink in one gulp.
Then, he slammed the wine glass down on the table with a bit of force.
Yukinoshita-sama spoke up at this time:
“It doesn’t matter if it sounds bad, Yuigahama-sama just wants an explanation.”
The female store owner stared at the face of this county councilor for a few seconds, finally casting a helpless glance at Asakura Yu……
“Asakura-kun, do your best.”
“I’ll do my best.” Asakura Yu nodded.
Under the gaze of many guests.
The handsome young bartender slowly sat down in front of the piano, his suit immaculate, his posture elegant, his long fingers gently lifting and placing on the keys.
He first symbolically tested the sound.
‘The feel is not bad.’
Asakura Yu thought to himself.
Even though this was his first time playing the piano, he knew that this piano was very valuable.
Then Asakura Yu thought about what piece to play.
After a few seconds, he had an idea.
“Playing Love”, the insert song from “The Pianist”, Asakura Yu had been deeply impressed by it when he watched the movie.
The main character, a pianist born on a ship, composed this piece for the girl he fell in love with at first sight.
Most importantly, its difficulty level was not high.
…………
At this moment, the many guests in the bar turned their heads, diverting their attention as they waited for the young pianist to play his piece.
Among them were those who were expecting him to shine, expecting him to make a fool of himself, adding a touch of joy to the bar tonight.
But.
“Dong~”
After pressing down on a few keys.
Many guests put down their wine glasses, stopped drinking, because they discovered that this young man seemed to have some skill?
Immediately after.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!..”
The fast and somewhat rushed melody made the guests on the scene frown to some extent……
It was too fast, too rushed, the technique was great, but this was completely showing off.
Like a practice piece to show off skills, an elegant piano master was doing his daily practice in front of them, dry, dull, and without emotion.
But soon.
Emotions were infused into the dull practice piece.
The melody became more soothing.
Like the warm sunshine of spring, the gentle breeze of autumn…
Yes, this was the piano piece, although it was a bit standard and lacking in originality, but this was the kind of piece that met their expectations.
Fingertips danced on the keys, the beautiful music was endless.
Time passed slowly.
Just as the many guests were indulging in the melody, the piano sound stopped abruptly like a broken string…
In this instant, the guests’ hearts were touched, what had happened to make the pianist stop playing?
The silence continued, the night air seemed to have an extra bit of tension, and even a few guests whispered a few words.
But, the moment Asakura Yu pressed the piano keys again…
The entire world was left with a melody tinged with a faint melancholy.
What caused this grief to the piano master?
It turned out to be a girl with a graceful figure…
He fell in love with her at first glance, her beauty stirred his heart, yet he dared not approach.
You can only peek at her from a single window.
Like a frog at the bottom of a well, using those humble eyes, a narrow view, to spy on her hazy beauty.
The piano keys were pressed repeatedly!
His fingertips danced!
The sorrow was washed away, the melody became cheerful.
The numerous guests present had their hearts beating violently, their eardrums trembling!
In a daze, a vast sky appeared before their eyes, the frog leapt out of the narrow well, it flew higher and higher, gradually growing wings, transforming into a bird soaring through the air.
Getting higher and higher, like the foolish Icarus, the false wings burned by the sun gradually fell off.
It’s only a path of death if it continues like this.
Should he persevere?
Should he persevere?
The rhythm became hurried again…
The bird let out an arrogant and imperious cry, flames ignited on its body, its white wings stained crimson, gradually…
Burning to ashes.
Asakura Yu’s fingers lifted from the piano keys.
Thus, the piece ended.
The guests fell silent, their throats bobbing but no sound escaped.
In this hall, only Yui had a record player still emitting a beautiful sound.
But compared to the previous performance, it paled in comparison.
…………
The performance was over.
The female manager watched Yuigahama-sama’s departing figure, and patted Asakura Yu’s shoulder.
“Good job, Asakura-kun, you helped out big time this time.”
She recalled the piece just now, and asked in confusion, “But, why did you play ‘playing love’ at the beginning, and then suddenly changed the tune in the middle…”
As an insert song in the movie “The Piano Player on the Sea”, the difficulty of playing “Love” is not high, but it’s emotionally charged. The first half and even the middle segment played by Asakura Yuu can be considered perfect.
As for the second half, it should have been changed by himself.
“…I don’t like this if I dream about a woman and give up peeping into the wider world.”
Even if it is burned to ashes, it must be close to the sun.
This is what Asakura Yu thinks.
He has always done this.
0 Comments