Chapter 30: Family Lineage

Kaori smiled at my compliment before sitting down on the floor.

"Thanks."

"So, about the competition..."

I didn't beat around the bush and directly went to the point.

"Yes!" Kaori was obviously very prepared for this as she immediately started talking about the plans she made.

"So on this date..."

"Wait, wait, wait." I stopped Kaori from rambling and said, "Do you know what song or songs we are supposed to play?"

Hearing my words, Kaori paused for a little before her head drooped.

"No..."

"Can't believe that you have actually forgotten about that. But it's fine. Let's check now."

Going online on her house's computer, we went to the website for the competition and closely checked the details.

The competition date was on the last day of the third week of the summer holidays, which means we had about two weeks to prepare the piece. This didn't bring a lot of time to prepare as we also needed to get their performance dress and suit.

I mean, I can't go on stage with my casual attire, right? I don't think I even have formal attire.

But I'll settle that issue later.

The next thing was the venue. It wasn't too far.

Towa Hall was a famous place in this prefecture as a performance hall, which held piano and violin competitions.

Seeing this place being held as the competition site also removed any doubt about the competition being a fake. You never know. Someone might just fake competition for some random reasons.

But nobody was brave enough to fake Towa Hall as the competition venue. It could be easily seen through.

Just half an hour of bus ride would be enough to reach there, and it wasn't a problem for us.

The final thing was the set-piece. 'Dream of Dreams' by Brian Crain. I was surprised that it wasn't some ancient song but a more recent song released in 2011.

I really thought the set-piece would be something from the 19th century, but it wasn't. Maybe it was because the competition was for children aged ten to twelve that a more recent song was chosen.

When practicing the olden classical songs made by Beethoven, Chopin, and more, I realized that most of the older songs were more challenging to play than the recent ones.

It wasn't a rule; more of a trend.

It wasn't the most effortless piece out there, but it wasn't the hardest either. With my grandmaster skills in piano and Kaori's natural violin talent, I'm confident that we would be able to take the first place.

There were four categories - Junior (11 years and below), Intermediate (15 years and below), Senior (21 years and below), and Artist (25 years and below).

Kaori and I were twelve this year, so we were considered the youngest competitor in the intermediate category.

I don't think anybody our age would be able to beat Kaori in violin skills despite her learning just barely two years ago.

I'm looking forward to seeing the judges' reaction when they see a children's duet come up on stage and performing.

And it also turned out that this wasn't some duet competition, but a violin competition. The violinists were supposed to bring their own piano accompanist; otherwise, they couldn't participate.

How sad...

I continued to scroll down the website as I wondered what other competitions were there, and it turned out there was.

On the fourth week of the summer holidays, there was a piano competition. They gave us two choices. The first was Beethoven Sonata Op 106 "Hammerklavier" Part 5 (movement 4).

[A/N: Search' Beethoven Sonata Op 106 "Hammerklavier" Part 5 (mov 4) Valentina Lisitsa' on youtube and try to listen for piano fans. ]

Honestly? I think the judges were high went they set the pieces. Beethoven's Hammerklavier is often considered to be Beethoven's most technically challenging piano composition.

It is also one of the most demanding solo works in all of classical music. The sonata was composed in 1817-1818 and was dedicated to Beethoven's patron, Archduke Rudolph.

So I have no idea what the judges were thinking when they set this piece as a choice for all four categories. I'm not going to mention the other option since I have already decided on the music I'm going to play.

[A/N: Honestly, I'm just too lazy to research more about Beethoven]

I wanted to make a bang in my entrance into the music world, so what better way to make an impact than to play the most challenging Beethoven piece on my first debut? Hopefully, I can fill up those proficiency points faster when playing in a competition.

It's really too hard to fill up the grandmaster proficiency when just practicing typically. Maybe some competition would help.

I didn't hide my thoughts from the two girls and shared them with them. They were impressed by my choice but wasn't too surprised.

It was partly my fault that they didn't feel surprised that I would play the more challenging piece in the competition. After all, I once played an entire symphony nonstop in the piano room as my practice, which was thirty minutes long.

Maybe that experience warped their common sense on what was supposed to be 'difficult' and 'challenging'? Who knows?

Definitely not me.

After finalizing everything that needed to be finalized, such as date and time for practice, where to meet up, what attire we should be wearing, and more, it was already evening.

My mother made me bring a fruit basket as a 'gift' for them. Honestly, I don't know why I must give a gift when we're just visiting, but I'm not going to further delve into that topic.

Since my mother gave me a fruit basket to give them, I did so. Although the adults were like 'Oh, you don't have to!' and 'You're too kind.', they still took my fruit basket without remorse.

Shameless adults, but as I was once an adult myself, I'm not going to complain.

Not wanting to disrupt them any further since we already had lunch together with them, we left after bidding farewell to Kaori's family and receiving a hug from Kaori.

On the way home, I continued holding Shouko's hand as we walked together. Shouko wasn't the type to initiate a conversation, to begin with, and I also didn't think we had much to talk about, so both of us remained silent.

I don't know why some people hate silence. Do they hate the loneliness they feel when it's silent?

But I didn't overthink it. I enjoyed the peaceful silence between us until we reached home.

After I cooked and ate dinner with the family, I went straight to my room and laid down on my bed while waiting for the bath.

Anyway, I thought about the difference between the two competitions I was going to participate in. Why was the standard so different?

"System, why is the standard between the two competitions so different?"

I asked inside my mind. Up till now, I never actually asked my system for anything, so I'm not sure whether my system would reply to my question. It was just supposed to be a Gacha and inventory, after all.

To my surprise, the system actually replied. However, the system's reply left me speechless.

[Plot.]

"F*ck you, plot."

The system didn't reply to me after that, so I continued thinking about my life until now.

That was when I realized something peculiar.

"Um...system? I noticed that since I was born, I have never gotten sick until now. Is there a reason for it?"

[Your body is unique.]

"Eh? So the 'body that can adapt to anything I come across' that God gave me included this? Adapting to any virus or bacteria?"

[No. The body that my creator gave you can only increase your resistance to sickness but not let you be immune to it. If it was solely based on the body my creator gave you, the probability of you not getting sick for twelve years straight is almost nil.]

"Oh? Then what are the other reasons?"

I thought of God's last message and remembered that he was going to give me a surprise. Is the other reason the surprise?

[Your family lineage.]

"Eh?"