stonecrandall Page 172
Page 172
All the musical instruments were packed up and loaded onto the truck, and the students boarded the bus.
Unlike when they arrived, some members who were not selected for the A-level program were too embarrassed to get on the bus that Kitahara Hakuma was on, and instead went to Shinomiya Haruka's bus.
The seats next to Kitahara Hakuba were the same as when he arrived, still dominated by the brass band executives.
"Hmm... I feel like this audition almost burned out completely."
"And there is the All-Round Assembly, please do not burn it all up."
"And the auditions for the national competition and the national competition itself, please don't burn out completely."
"Hahaha—On the bus, which was almost entirely made up of A-section staff, bursts of cheerful laughter could be heard from time to time."
Kitahara Hakuba sat in his seat, looking at the official website of Asahikawa High School Brass Band.
The website contains CDs and DVDs of the school's competitions over the past few years, but all of them are paid content.
A single game CD costs 1,000 bar, and DVDs are even more expensive, with the standard version costing 6,000 bar and the Blu-ray version costing 9,000 bar.
It's perfectly normal for a brass band to sell recordings of their concerts.
Even the Shin-Asahi High School brass band sells audio-visual products, but at a lower price compared to other top schools.
The concert CD for this Hakodate regional convention sells 600 copies, and 26 copies have already been sold.
The standard DVD edition has only five discs, while the Blu-ray edition has none.
These are usually purchased by instructors from other schools, since as teachers, they also need to understand the playing abilities of other schools.
Kitahara Hakuba also bought audio and video recordings of the winning schools from other regional competitions. During this Obon holiday, he plans to stay at home and listen to all of these recordings.
"Is Kitahara-sensei buying audio-visual products?" Sakurako Yukawa asked, sitting next to him.
"Yes, from Asahikawa High School."
Kitahara Hakuba nodded and said,
"It's quite popular; we've already sold over a hundred copies of the CDs."
"After all, they're a strong school that went to the national competition and even won a silver medal," Akamatsu Sayaka said from behind.
Suzuki Kaori raised her delicate eyebrows and said:
"Just the regional conference CDs alone have over a hundred copies? That's over a hundred thousand!"
"Yeah, the members over there are having a blast, they can save a lot on their club expenses."
Sayaka Akamatsu rested her chin on the back of Hakuba Kitahara's chair and said:
"By the way, how many CDs have we sold so far?"
"Twenty-six portions."
"How miserable!"
Sakurako raised her hand and "pushed" her head down:
"That's too dangerous for you. What if there's a sudden stop? Sit still and buckle up."
Akamatsu Sayaka obediently sat down as she was told, but suddenly sat on a "lump", which startled her so much that she quickly got up.
Looking down, she realized that Suzuki Yoshie had played a prank by placing her fist underneath her, and her hip bone was a little sore.
"Hehehe." Suzuki Yoshie grinned mischievously from the side.
"Oh, you're something else!"
The two started pinching each other again, but this time Akamatsu Sayaka twisted even harder.
Kitahara Hakuba said with absolute certainty:
"If we get a spot to go to the national conference this time, selling 500 CDs won't be a problem, and the price can be increased a bit. We'll also make some revenue from DVDs."
Sakurako Yukawa wore an awkward smile; she felt that Kitahara-sensei was a bit too confident.
However, she still longed for it. If she really got a spot in the national competition, the Shenxu Brass Band's external activities would only increase, not decrease.
This is a huge benefit, both for the training of the members and for the department's funds.
"Five hundred copies... if sold at one thousand each, that's over five hundred thousand..."
As for DVDs, Sakurako Yukawa didn't even dare to dream of them.
Just as Kitahara Hakuba was about to buy the Asahikawa High School DVDs, a message suddenly popped up above his head—it was from Kuno Tachibana.
Kitahara Hakuba was taken aback, then tapped the screen.
Kuno Tachibana:
"Teacher Kitahara, I've thought about this for a long time. I really like you and have always admired your abilities."
Kuno Tachibana:
"At the same time, your arrangement for selecting people is also very..."
Kuno Tachibana:
"Okay, okay! Actually, I care a lot! I'm not convinced! I want to go through the audition again tomorrow! I'm really upset, and you didn't even come to comfort me, so I have to comfort myself!"
Kuno Tachibana:
"I just want you to hear it again. I'm definitely no weaker than Nagase."
Kuno Tachibana:
"Cat boxing.JPG"
Chapter 151, Section 150: The desire to be closer is even stronger (4K)
Kitahara Hakuba stared at the information on the screen, his finger hovering in mid-air.
The sunlight carried a slight warmth, and the sea breeze a touch of coolness, making one feel that the bus could always forge ahead along the coastline.
Kitahara Hakuba didn't particularly dislike Kuno Tatsuka's approach. Although he had previously stated that no objections were allowed to his personnel arrangements, he would never disregard Kuno Tatsuka's request for a PK round.
What he feared more was a girl like Kirishima Mai, who had no goals in the brass band and maintained an indifferent attitude towards the A-grade solo.
I won't get angry, impatient, dissatisfied, or resentful.
The bus drove along the coastline, which was dazzlingly bright under the sun. The almost savage reflection of the sea made Kitahara Hakuba squint.
He lowered his head and sent a single word:
"it is good".
Having received no response from Kuno Tachibana, one can only imagine how she felt at that moment.
Around 6 p.m., the bus carrying the students arrived at Shenxu High School, marking the end of the four-day, three-night training camp.
It was already past seven o'clock after the instruments were moved. Since they hadn't eaten dinner, Kitahara Hakuba didn't ask them to stay and continue practicing, but let them go directly.
Kitahara Hakuba led Shinomiya Haruka to the Dean of Students' office. For some reason, he felt that the Chief Inspector Watari's gaze was strange, but he still took Shinomiya Haruka to the Personnel Department.
No? You think I forced your niece to do this? It was your niece who kept pestering me.
While she was processing the personnel forms, Kitahara Hakuba returned to the staff office, first dealing with the expense reimbursements for the past few days, and then...
Waiting downstairs for Shinomiya Haruka to come out.
Soft laughter came from nearby; it was some members who had just finished setting up their instruments and were jogging out of the club building.
How many days off are we getting for the Ghost Festival the day after tomorrow?
"Teacher Kitahara said we'd have three days off!"
"My God! In a summer vacation of more than fifty days, we actually have three days of vacation that we can use at our own expense!"
"Hahaha!"
Five or six girls burst into laughter at the same time. A moment later, one of them quickly straightened her face and patted the shoulder of another girl who had been teasing her.
She had just said "What's up?" when she spotted Kitahara Hakuba standing downstairs.
They immediately straightened their backs and walked obediently, quietly greeting Kitahara Hakuba.
Kitahara Hakuba nodded in response, watching the girls hurriedly chuckle and run away.
The members of the wind band are indeed very tired, but you won't get anything in return if you don't put in the effort for the competition.
"Ugh, the salary for the temporary assistant advisor is so low. Is this really what a private school should pay?" came the voice of Shinomiya Haruka from behind.
Kitahara Hakuba turned her head, and it was rare to see her with such a worried look. It seemed that, apart from brothers, only reality could defeat such a beautiful woman.
"How many were opened?" he asked.
Shinomiya Haruka stood beside him, raised her slender white fingers to rub her temples, and said:
"Eight thousand a day, not including road allowance."
"..." Kitahara Hakuba said, quite annoyed, "Your monthly salary is about the same as mine..."
Shinomiya Haruka blinked in surprise and asked, "Hmm? How much are you now?"
“I only make about 250,000 a month, but if you calculate it over 31 days, it’s still close to 250,000,” Kitahara Hakuba sighed.
First, leaders of Shenxu, is this normal?
Winning the Hakodate regional tournament didn't raise his salary, while an assistant advisor earned about the same.
Shinomiya Haruka raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes smiling like crescent moons:
"Oh my, is this the salary level of the brass band instructors?"
Kitahara Hakuba gritted his teeth, but then he thought about Shinomiya Haruka's special relationship with Shinjiro High School and could only sigh at the complexities of a society based on personal connections.
“I’ll give you some more money privately,” he said to Shinomiya Haruka.
Shinomiya Haruka stared dumbfounded at Kitahara Hakuba, who had uttered those words, raised her hand and pressed it against Kitahara's forehead, then touched her own forehead.
The gesture was so ancient that Kitahara Hakuba immediately knew she was implying there was something wrong with what he was saying.
"I am serious."
Kitahara Hakuba began to explain.
“You came here entirely to help me, and I’d be willing to give you half of my salary.”
Looking at the handsome face before her, Shinomiya Haruka was quite surprised. Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled gently, touching his cheek as she said: