My first Senpai

Mizore, who walked out of the school quietly, moved her head right and left, searching for something before seeing him sitting quietly on the bench and in the middle of reading.

Mizuto was there, waiting for her at the place where they had made their appointment. 

Watching him, Mizore fell into silence and stared at him in a rivet. 

In her heart, there was someone else. Someone who had pulled her out of being a miserable and useless self, giving her something that could distract her from her pessimistic thoughts. However, last year, with what was happening, that person crushed her heart, and she closed her heart tightly, completely fell into her previous self, and just distracted herself with training after training. 

Yet, Mizuto suddenly appeared in her life. 

While she didn't know much about him and their conversation was frank, which was normal for her, as she hardly talked to anyone, it made her feel a change on her unchanging days. Moreover, she also felt worried about him. 

Yes, she was worried. 

This might be strange considering how amazing Mizuto was, but she knew that this guy didn't even know how to play the oboe, yet he was so confident that he could play it and even told Taki that he would get the oboe tonight. She wasn't sure where he could get that confidence, and she was quite jealous of it slightly, wishing to have some of it, yet in the end, she did something that was out of character by helping him to get the oboe. 

Frankly, even if she was quite pessimistic about herself and thought that she was inferior and had many other negative traits, she knew her skill in the oboe was relatively good. She didn't dare to think that she was good since her personality didn't allow her to confidently say that she was good. Yet, there was no doubt that it was something that she could only be proud of in her monochrome life. 

Still, when she wasn't sure how to greet him, Mizuto noticed her. He closed his book and then walked toward her. "Senpai."

"...um." Mizore nodded softly. 

"Should we go now?" 

"Yes." 

"So, where should we go?" Mizuto asked. 

"We're going to the station." 

"I am not sure where we are going to go, so I will follow you." 

"Okay." 

Frankly, there were many things that Mizore wanted to say, but she couldn't utter them from her lips and only gave him a short and soft answer. 

Nevertheless, Mizuto never hurried her and talked with her in a relaxed manner, waiting for her to talk patiently.

Still, even if Mizore might not be good at talking, it didn't mean that she was mute. She didn't hate to talk. It was just that she had never really had many people to talk to, and she also wasn't that active to begin with. She only let herself quietly drift along with the flow, yet even with such a nature, she hated to be alone and lonely, so his companion was a great thing to her. 

Mizuto also felt great talking about Mizore since he could feel that she had someone else in her heart, and he didn't need to worry that she would fall for him, causing more chaos in his life. 

Yet, he had to say, girls in high school were like this; their emotions were relatively chaotic, and they were emotionally unstable. 

Still, with how quiet this girl was, Mizuto was afraid that if someone forced her, she might not be able to fight and just give up, letting her body be devoured. 

"When did you start to learn oboe, Senpai?" 

"In middle school." 

"Why an oboe?" 

"Hmm... because no one plays it."

Frankly, even though Mizore knew that she entered the concert band club because of the person who had hurt her, she chose an oboe from among all the wind instruments because no one played the oboe, and that person told her to play it. 

"How about you?" 

Mizore looked at Mizuto, who sat by his side when they entered the train. Unlike in Tokyo, the train in Kyoto was relatively quiet, and it wasn't peak time, considering how they went to the train after the club. Still, as they had a conversation, she was also curious why he chose an oboe. 

"Didn't you hear my conversation with Taki-sensei before?" 

Mizuto's decision to choose an oboe should be clear to everyone. 

"But... it's hard." 

"Then, should I stop?" 

"....." 

Somehow, Mizore felt reluctant to let Mizuto go. After all, as an oboe player, she had always been alone. While she might be part of the Oboe and Bassoon (Double Reed), she was the only oboe player, and she hardly talked with the others. How long had it been since she talked so much like this?

His conversation with Mizuto was probably much more than the conversation she had with her classmates with whom she had spent a year. 

Yet, she couldn't say it since she knew how hard it was to learn the oboe and one more thing, it was expensive. 

Watching Mizore, who started to frown, Mizuto chuckled, causing her to look at him with doubt. 

"...why did you laugh?" 

"You don't seem to want me to stop." 

"I never say that..." Even if Mizore thought so, there was no way for her to say those words, and frankly, it was embarrassing! Moreover, this guy somehow teased her about it, which made her face blush. 

"You don't need to worry. I have decided to play an oboe, and I won't stop." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. At worst, if I really can't play, I will just skip the club." 

"...Taki-sensei will get angry at you." 

"Try to cover me, Senpai. Say that I am learning seriously in a different place." 

"...I won't." Mizore was a good girl, and she could not lie to her teacher. 

"Why not? I am your first junior, after all. You should take care of me." 

"...I don't want to have such a cheeky junior." 

"Then, it can't be helped. I will work hard to get better with the oboe," Mizuto said with a helpless sigh. 

Hearing those words, Mizore also smiled and said, "I will help you." 

"Really?" 

"Um." Mizore nodded. "Try to come early." 

"...how early?" 

"About an hour before school." While Mizore wanted to say that Mizuto should go two hours before school, she felt like she might scare him, so she tried to be lenient.

"...isn't that too early? Isn't the club after the class enough?" 

"If you want to get better, you should work harder." 

"You are right." 

Mizuto was helpless, but he knew that even if he had the "Musician" job, he had to work on his skill, or else he knew that he couldn't become better. Still, he believed that he should be better than Mizore in the future, and by then, let's see how he would teach others.

He somehow could imagine Mizore begging him to teach her, and by then... hahaha. 

"....." 

Nevertheless, due to his perfect expression manipulation, Mizore didn't know what this bastard was thinking. Her mind was simple, and she only thought that it was kind of nice... to have someone by her side. 

"By the way, Senpai, how about half an hour before school?" 

"..." Mizore thought that she needed to train him harder.