Chapter 153 She Looked Ahead
The cultural festival enters its second day.

Because it is co-organized by two schools, this year's cultural festival is much more lively than previous years.

However, due to the sharp increase in the number of people on campus, the number of emergencies has also increased a lot.

Fortunately, with the mobilization of all members of the Cultural Festival Executive Committee, there is no need to worry about the large amount of food on the second day, as the side wings and leak-proof sides provide double protection.

As such, Shimizu Mi will also have to participate in the work of the Executive Committee throughout the day today.

Amid the crowded crowd, the main job of Shimizu Mi from the chores group was still to take photos of the cultural festival, leaving images of the activities exhibited by each class, the audience's reactions, etc., to record the grand occasion of this year's cultural festival.

Yesterday, Shimizu Mi had almost recorded all the activities or booths exhibited by each class, so he would be relatively free today.

I just wandered around the teaching building and took pictures of exciting class activities when I saw them. Compared with the work of other group executive committee members, it was indeed relatively simple and easy.

This was probably the thought that came to Qingshuijian's mind subconsciously when he saw the figure of that person appear in front of him.

Even in a crowd, you can easily recognize it at a glance.

Student Council President Ayase Kotone was taking her time to observe each classroom one by one.

Regardless of the process, the smooth progress of the cultural festival co-organized by the two schools this year is inseparable from the student union’s contribution. These are the results of the hard work of the student union members.

Ayase Kotone was patrolling everywhere, paying close attention to her surroundings.

Her eyes fell on a certain class.

"…The content of the class's activities does not match the application materials."

By the way, Qingshuijian didn't see the treasure-hunting stall from yesterday today. It seemed that it was closed by the Student Union because of some reasons such as inducing consumption.

It is actually rare for the application materials to not match the actual activities carried out, but the student union cannot sit idly by. Ayase Kotone immediately walked into the class to find the person in charge.

The student union is not easy...

Afterwards, Shimizu looked at Ayase Kotone who was patrolling each class carefully, took a picture of her back, and continued walking along the corridor.

……

The recording work is still going on.

Shimizu was walking while operating his camera to check photos. He wondered if it would be dangerous to do two things at once, but strangely enough, all the students in the corridor were walking in the same direction as him, so he didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone.

Going further ahead is the gymnasium. From here you can see that a lot of people have gathered inside the open door.

Shimizu could even hear the lively cheers from here, and was wondering what was happening in this place—

"Oh no, if we don't hurry up there will be no room..."

Several female students hurriedly ran past Qingshuijian and sprinted towards the gymnasium not far ahead.

Didn't their teacher teach them not to run in the corridor?

Out of curiosity, Shimizu Miyabi walked over and took a look at the notice posted outside the gymnasium.

It seems that a rehearsal for the last show before tomorrow's closing ceremony is taking place here.

Come to think of it, Shimizu remembered that the finale seemed to be a concert performance prepared by Sakurai Shio.

After learning about it, Shimizu originally planned to leave. However, while he was concentrating on reading the notice, a crowd gradually gathered behind him. The students pushed and shoved, and eventually pushed him into the gymnasium door inadvertently.

Although it was an unexpected incident, I thought that since I was already here, and since I wanted to record the entire cultural festival, a rehearsal of the finale program was naturally part of it.

So, Shimizu followed the crowd into the gymnasium.

The hall was pitch dark, and the noisy voices of students could be heard.

The dark curtain completely sealed the scene, leaving no gaps.

With the weak light from the mobile phone and the emergency exit lighting, at most you can illuminate the palm of your hand.

However, the venue was already full of spectators, there was no empty folding chairs to be found, and the back was also filled with a row of spectators standing to watch.

Judging from the current number of audience members in the venue, this show at tomorrow's party will surely be an unprecedented grand event.

However, Qingshuijian felt a little uneasy about tomorrow's party.

Before the performance began, Shimizu, who couldn't find a seat, moved to the end of the standing audience in the back row. When he reached the corner, he saw the audience getting agitated.

Looking forward, I saw girls wearing gorgeous dresses and carrying various musical instruments coming on stage one after another, and applause broke out from the audience.

She is said to be a girl, but in fact she is a big sister who is older than these high school students.

They should all be senior students who graduated before.

And the one walking at the end and appearing leisurely was none other than Sakurai Shio.

Under the bright spotlight, the narrow long dress she wore sculpted out her body curves. With every step she took, the dark clothes at her feet fluttered, and all the viewers were captivated.

From a distance, the handmade black roses on her chest and hair looked very gorgeous, and the pearls and sequins on them made her more dazzling.

Sakurai Shio lifted her skirt slightly and bowed gracefully to the audience.

She walked up to the podium in high heels, gently raised the band's baton and held it in the air.

The manners were so elegant that the audience couldn't bear to move even a little.

Finally, she swung it down with all her might as if she was holding a rapier.

Instantly, the melody flowed out.

Qingshuijian seemed to be led by magic. He could see the brass instruments shining brightly under the spotlight, the invisible air flow gushing out from the trumpets, the vibrating strings pulling out sharp arrow-like tones, and the melody of the woodwind instruments floating into his ears, like the slightly trembling evening breeze.

Sakurai Shio was like a magician, using the baton in her hand to cut through the space in front of her.

Several female violinists stood up together and played the strings with full emotion.

Afterwards, players of flute, piccolo, oboe and other instruments stood up and joined in playing the lively melody.

Then the clarinet was replaced, and the bassoon stood up, holding the instrument high and playing.

The trumpet and trombone were equally impressive, raising their heads and using their timbre to add momentum to the music.

The double bass player spun his instrument like a top, and the timpanist followed suit with a magnificent turn.

The prelude alone has already demonstrated the extraordinary momentum of this concert.

All the audience were shocked, as if they had been slapped in the face.

Shimizu thought that the band that Sakurai Shio mentioned was just a group of students who had come together because of the same interests during their school days. But after watching this performance, it seemed more like a professional band.

At this moment, Sakurai Shio suddenly raised her hands high and swung them vigorously to both sides.

That movement seemed particularly unusual amid the harmonious performance of the orchestra.

Sakurai Shio counted a few beats with her slender fingers, and the audience's attention was all focused on her hands.

Judging from the performance level of these people on stage, it is hard to imagine that they have been away from the band for some time.

The same was true for Sakurai Shio. Under her direction, the alumni who had retired from the front line each brought out their best skills and presented the most lively performances to the audience. The liveliness of the scene was no less than that of a dance hall or concert.

Everyone present was infected by the lively atmosphere and half-forced to become fans of the performers.

One reason why the scene could be so crazy was due to the strength of the band itself, and the other reason was due to the conductor Sakurai Shio.

Because Shimizu was standing in the farthest corner of the gymnasium, he was able to enjoy the performance calmly.

If he was squeezed together with the audience in the front row, he would probably ignore those excited audience members who stood up and continue to sit on his chair alone, thus being looked down upon by the audience next to him.

The orchestral music continued to gallop forward, heading straight to the last section of the music.

"……sister."

Under the astonishingly powerful performance, Qingshuijian almost missed the faint voices coming from next door.

"..."

A suspicious figure standing in the corner like him caught Shimizu's attention.

Although wearing a white mask is reasonable in such a crowded environment, considering that the gymnasium is almost blocked from all sunlight in order to create an atmosphere, he still wears sunglasses, a black baseball cap, and even a black coat to wrap himself tightly.

It's hard not to arouse suspicion when you dress this way.

However, Shimizu did not sound the alarm. Instead, he approached the man and gently placed his right hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing in a place like this?"

A few strands of short golden hair were quietly revealed from under the black hat brim, and at the same time a familiar faint fragrance drifted into Qingshui Jian's nostrils.

“…Ah, see you!?”

The other person turned around and saw Shimizu who had approached him at some point, and made a slightly surprised sound.

"There's no bank or safe with classified documents you can break into."

Shimizu reached out and took off the sunglasses and mask on the other person's face. As expected, Sakurai Haruka's delicate face came into view.

"…Even though he's disguised like this, I can still recognize him."

Under the dim lights on the stage, Sakurai Haruka's cheeks flushed slightly.

"Is it strange to recognize it?"

Shimizu used his index finger to gently hook and entwine her silky blonde hair, and more of the fragrance brushed against his nose.

"Growing up, people around me always couldn't tell me apart from my sister..."

Something seemed to be flickering in Sakurai Haruka's dim eyes.

"is it?"

Shimizumi responded softly, sniffing the strand of blonde hair wrapped around her index finger.

She seems to have changed her shampoo, and it seems to be the same one as Sakurai Shio? I always feel that this elegant and refreshing fragrance is a bit similar to Sakurai Shio.

"There are lots of other blonde girls in school..."

Indeed, there were many other girls in the school with over a thousand students, and it was a bit far-fetched to identify a specific person just by a few strands of exposed blonde hair.

But even though Sakurai Haruka stared at Shimizu Mi with a look that asked, "How on earth did you recognize me?", Shimizu Mi couldn't answer immediately.

After all, when he saw that figure, the first name that came to his mind was Sakurai Haruka's.

To be honest, even Qingshui himself didn't quite understand it. If he had to explain it, maybe it was more based on intuition.

However, even if I told Haruka Sakurai about something as mysterious as intuition, she probably still wouldn't be able to understand it.

"How is your health?"

"Health? What health? Ah, I took a day off yesterday and I feel much better now."

Although her face was a little red, Sakurai Haruka didn't look sick, so probably as Sakurai Shio said yesterday, Sakurai Haruka was pretending to be sick to avoid the person she didn't want to see.

"You didn't come to school yesterday. Don't you have to participate in class activities?"

"…I'd rather stay home than participate in something like that."

Sakurai Haruka turned around and answered with an unhappy look on her face.

By the way, in Shimizu's impression, the third-grade Class A where Sakurai Haruka was located launched a fashion show.

It seems that the proportion of female students in their class is as high as 70%. If they want to easily attract a large number of customers, they just need to play the beauty card.

Normal people would not be used to being stared at by so many audiences. People like Sakurai Shio on the stage right now are just exceptions among exceptions.

However, Shimizu Mi would really like to see Sakurai Haruka reluctantly putting on bright and colorful clothes like Sakurai Shio and being pushed onto the stage with a sour face.

"I thought you wouldn't come today either."

Because they didn't know when that person would come, and since they had already planned to pretend to be sick to avoid her, Shimizu Mi thought that Sakurai Haruka would take three consecutive days off and avoid this cultural festival.

Because we are in the midst of a cultural festival, even if you take all three days off and don't participate in the event, it won't be counted as skipping classes.

"It's because I saw you doing something bad..."

Sakurai Haruka pouted one corner of her mouth and looked over with a slightly complaining look.

"What do you mean?"

"Because you haven't replied to my messages or answered my calls in the past two days..."

Sakurai Haruka's eyes and voice gradually became weaker.

"I wanted to see you, so I came..."

Regardless of the occasion, she leaned gently on Qing Shuijian's arm amidst the crowd and darkness.

However, Shimizu Mi didn't mean to be cold, he was just really busy lately so he didn't check his phone much.

Feeling the weight coming from his shoulders, Shimizu silently looked at the seniors who were about to leave the stage. Finally, he couldn't help but lean his head over and asked softly:
"Yao, I heard your father is coming..."

It was as if Sakurai Haruka had anticipated that Shimizu would ask this. When Shimizu was halfway through speaking, an index finger as slender as Sakurai Shio's had already lightly tapped his lips, interrupting him from continuing.

Because his lips were pressed by fingers, Qingshuijian couldn't open his mouth properly and could only make unclear sounds, but he believed that his meaning had been clearly conveyed.

However, Sakurai Haruka did not react at all, as if pretending not to hear it.

He just turned his gaze towards the stage in front of the stadium, looking at the elegant figure, as if looking for some answer.

By the way, could it be that Sakurai Shio wore some extra basic equipment on the stage today? The area on her chest was so swollen that it was impossible to hide it.

On the contrary, it was Sakurai Haruka who was leaning against him. Maybe because she was wearing a loose coat, she looked like Sakurai Shio...

(End of this chapter)