CHAPTER 339: CHAPTER 258 TOKYO UNIVERSITY MAY FESTIVAL (4)_2

Saying it is easy, but executing it is extremely hard.

Who can keep being grateful to someone all the time?

"A girl like Hanabi is very rare," Mrs. Uesugi sighed.

Mrs. Hanamaru smiled lightly, "That’s why you should thank me, Nobuko."

Mrs. Uesugi laughed playfully, "Yes, I thank you on behalf of Sakura!"

Mrs. Hanamaru shook her younger daughter’s hand, continuing to amuse her.

Compared to Hanabi, Hanami is harder to raise.

"Alright, let’s not talk about these things, love will always be something the kids develop between themselves."

"But," Mrs. Uesugi lamented, "I think Sakura can’t live without Hanabi anymore."

Mrs. Hanamaru laughed, "That means my Hanabi has her charms."

After a long pause since the last performance, the audience’s lively discussion suddenly quieted, including those still immersed in the female dance performance by the Tokyo University Engineering Department, unable to regain their composure.

Their gazes all turned to the five people slowly walking onto the stage.

Older students from Tokyo University, seeing the few girls on stage, began to whisper among themselves, puzzled.

"Which department are they from?"

"Never seen them."

"You’re overlooking one question, does Tokyo University even have such beautiful girls!?"

"Why not, haven’t you seen Kamiya Meisa?"

"Then who do you think is cuter, Senior Sister Kamiya or the girl in front of us?"

Everyone fell silent.

The girls were all unrecognized, but a few classmates from Liberal Arts Class 7 Group 3 recognized their classmate, Uesugi Sakura.

Todaka Keichiro was also among those guys.

"Isn’t that Uesugi? Never heard he was joining a stage performance. Todaka, you’re close to him, do you know what’s going on?"

Todaka Keichiro knew exactly what these guys were after – they just wanted to learn more about the pretty girls.

These guys were so eager in April when they joined, wanting to learn everything, never missing a single class, and taking all electives.

By May... they all slacked off.

Every day was basically university mixers.

Being a Tokyo University student was very advantageous, it gave a sense of being held in high regard.

"Todaka! If you won’t tell me, I’ll ask Uesugi myself. It’s rare to see some pretty female classmates, and I need to cleanse my eyes contaminated by the Engineering Department’s cross-dressing dance!"

Many male students from the Engineering Department loved cosplay, and their courage was, of course, commendable.

But their looks and dance... plus cross-dressing... were really not that praiseworthy.

Todaka Keichiro glanced at him, "Didn’t you notice she’s not from our campus? Doesn’t the school have a beautiful girl ranking every year? Such a good-looking girl from Tokyo University, the guys from the love research club wouldn’t let her slip by."

"I know, but there are only a few girls on our campus, never seen her before. Is she from the Komaba campus?"

Todaka Keichiro pointed to Hanamaru Hanabi on the stage wearing a white ceremonial dress. She looked a bit nervous but irresistibly cute, and it felt like whatever she did was forgivable.

"She’s Uesugi’s fiancée."

After a long silence, the counterpart seemed not so surprised, only somewhat dejected.

"...Beautiful girls are always someone else’s," he mumbled, then continued to ask, "What about the ones behind?"

"I don’t know them, they must be her classmates," Todaka Keichiro suddenly remembered he didn’t know Uesugi Sakura’s fiancée’s name either.

The other party seemed unwilling to give up.

"Todaka, why is it that, despite us both being Tokyo University students, the gap is this wide? Uesugi is a national bow champion, has appeared on NHK (equivalent to CCTV), is both popular and handsome. You have no idea how many girls inside and outside of school have secretly slipped love letters under his desk."

Todaka Keichiro patted his shoulder, suggesting he shouldn’t lose heart, "You and a beggar from Africa Liberia are both humans, isn’t the gap just as wide?"

*

The first time on stage, being looked at from above, it’s natural to feel nervous.

Because with all those eyes watching, it brings an expectation kind of emotion.

Uesugi Sakura sat not far behind Hanamaru Hanabi, holding the guitar.

He wasn’t that nervous; maybe because he’s thick-skinned, his endurance capacity is high.

It didn’t matter if people were looking or not, just as long as he played sincerely.

But Hanamaru Hanabi wasn’t like that. She stood at the very front among the five, and because of her beautiful appearance and cute outfit, she attracted even more attention.

More and more gaze pressure inevitably led her to feel nervous.

Hanamaru Hanabi clasped her hands in front of her skirt hem, her gaze slightly downcast and wandering. While lovable, it clearly showed the audience she wasn’t comfortable.

Holding the guitar, Uesugi Sakura softly encouraged her from behind, "Don’t worry, Hanabi, I’ve got your back."

However, influenced by her emotions, Hanabi’s actions also became stiff, and she could only respond cautiously with a faint, "Yeah."

Kyujuu Rika and Uesugi Sakura exchanged a glance, both understanding that Hanabi was currently out of state.

If the lead singer isn’t in state, then the backbone of a song is shaky too.

Is now the time to step forward and run to Hanabi to tell her not to be nervous?

With so many people watching from below, doing that would only make her more flustered.

"Hanabi."

Uesugi Sakura called to her back, "Everyone is behind you; remember how you passed every practice in one try. You’re amazing, don’t lose heart, keep up the good work."

"But... Sakura..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s timid and small voice was only heard between them.

"Hanabi, your current state is like when you learned to swim; you gave up focusing on yourself because you were too concerned about external feedback."

The silhouette of Hanamaru Hanabi’s back, under the swaying ginkgo leaves ahead, was as gracefully moving as spring breeze.

In everyone’s eyes, she was incredibly beautiful, but she rarely gave herself the confidence she should have.

"Stop thinking about how bad it will be if you don’t sing well, try to recall the song’s lines, take a few deep breaths, and you can also close your eyes. Just slowly sing out the lyrics you’ve memorized."

Uesugi Sakura quietly said,

"Just sing it out; the four of us will accompany your singing, no matter whether it matches the original track or not, we’ll follow you."

"Remember, just singing out is enough."

Uesugi Sakura watched her back, then quickly returned his gaze to his own guitar strings.

He memorized the sheet music; the melodies in the song were constantly imbued with cheerful and joyful colors.

But the lyrics were filled with a sorrowful tone, as if searching for past memories on an ancient street.

He knew Hanabi really liked this song.

Hanamaru Hanabi took several deep breaths, holding back from caring about the gazes of others in the audience. When her gaze lowered, she saw two ladies waving at her with two little ones.

Words seemed to leap out from the ladies’ smiling faces, turning very encouraging.

Hanamaru Hanabi tried to encourage herself: just like Sakura said, just do as he said.

Simply sing out, that’s all.

The bright microphone in front, under the gaze of hundreds, would make one so nervous that even the beat of the carotid artery could be felt clearly.

However, Uesugi Sakura understood she was roughly ready and glanced at Kyujuu Rika by the piano, signaling to start.

Finally, the people below the stage began to look forward to the song’s prelude; the screen started to alternate with images as the sounds of people’s conversations quieted down.

Uesugi Sakura focused his attention on the guitar, and Kyujuu Rika placed her hands on the ivory piano keys.

Fingers strummed the guitar strings, slender fingers flew across the ivory keys, the catchy guitar, the crisp piano, the brilliance seemed to quietly bloom in the hidden darkness, like the first ray of light after a rain clearing the skies, brightening the earth, refreshing those who were long suffocated.

The prelude was as fresh and melodious as the babbling brook in summer.

Very nice indeed!

This was the first exclamation that came from the deep corners of everyone’s hearts.