Chapter 72: Start of the Three-week-long Competition

"Uesugi? Who were you talking to?" Maruno asked me curiously once we got out of the colosseum and onto the bus back to the train station.

"No one. Just some old pervert who likes tall women with big asses."

"I-I see..." Maruno was speechless at my reply, "Oddly specific for a 'no one', don't you think?"

"Not really. It's hard for me to forget even about the tiniest details, so when it comes to particularly memorable things, like an old man screaming his fetishes out loud, it becomes even harder for me to forget. What a curse in disguise."

"I can't relate to you, but I can tell you this. Always appreciate what you have; it's only after you lose it for good that you know how important something is." Maruno wisely spoke as he nodded like a sage while rubbing my head.

"Stop treating me like a child." I replied as I took his hand away from my head, "And I already know that."

"Good. Now, let's enjoy the trip back to the hotel. We've got tons of stuff to prepare for tomorrow's performance."

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Tomorrow arrived so quickly, almost as if I had just experienced a time-skip. I had already prepared everything I needed for today's performance and placed it in a separate bag. My formal attire would obviously be placed in a garment bag. I wouldn't want it to be wrinkled and creased, right?

The organization that organized this competition also didn't give us any further instructions, telling us only to bring our formal attire, essentials, and ourselves to the designated place.

Unfortunately, Suzuki wasn't able to accompany me as he was not a participant.

RIP...

Thus, Maruno became the person in charge of making sure I don't get kidnapped somewhere. Honestly...I've already told them to stop treating me like a child, but they don't listen.

At the location, I quickly scanned my surroundings and realized that we were surrounded by many people. About thirty or so people were present around us, and about one-third were female.

I thought I would be the only young one on this stage, but I was wrong. So very wrong.

There were two other teenagers about the same age as me, give or take a year or two.

One of them was a male, and with his blond hair and arrogant look, I judged him to be the "young master type" that is spoiled and had gotten everything he wanted since he was young, probably because of his talent in the piano. He also seemed rich since the casual clothes he was currently wearing looked more expensive than anyone else's in the room. Not that I care about his money. Money can't help you win in this competition, though I am really interested in his skills. I wonder how good he is compared to the others in this room.

The second teenager was a female with pink hair, and it was also someone I recognized from two places. The daughter of the politician in Japan, Fujiwara Daichi, and the niece of the current Minister of the Right.

Fujiwara Chika. Chika is a cute fair-skinned young girl with shoulder-length light pink hair with a black bow in the middle of her square bangs, blue eyes. After her specialty, the black bow, her second most prominent feature was her chest. Despite being the same age as Shouko and Kaori (I think), her chest was much larger than both of my girlfriends'.

∞ At the Uesugi Household ∞

""Achoo!""

"Shou-chan? Kaori-chan? Are both of you okay?" Hanako asked in concern as her peaceful house was interrupted by simultaneous sneezes. One person sneezing might still be fine, but two people sneezing at the same time?

Fortunately, it wasn't that loud, and the twins, who were sleeping just beside them, did not wake up.

"Are both of you okay?" Hanako couldn't risk any of her children falling sick, not for any reason apart from the fact that she just didn't like seeing any of her children suffer. It was a lesson she learned when she saw Fuutarou overworking himself when trying to take care of her when she was pregnant with Raiha.

Hanako didn't know, but this wasn't the first time it happened, and both Shouko and Kaori were getting a déjà vu about this entire thing.

"I'm fine, Hanako-san," Kaori replied, and Shouko nodded at her words, agreeing with her.

"It's just a coincidence. Fuu-kun must be thinking about us again." Shouko spoke in a daze, and when the room turned silent, Shouko suddenly realized what she had just said.

Turning towards the older woman, Shouko couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as Hanako smiled at her cute daughter-in-law.

"Fuu-chan will be happy with both of you by his side. He might look and act mature and very unlike his age, but he has his cute points." Hanako turned towards the two girls, who continued blushing as they heard what Hanako said next, "Take care of my child in the future, alright?"

"H-Hai!"

"We will!"

"Fufufu...Kaori-chan. It's getting late already, and without Fuu-chan here to see you off, it's going to be dangerous for you to go home alone. Why don't you have a sleepover at our house for tonight?"

"Eh? Would I be troubling you?"

"Not at all! I'm sure that Shou-chan would love to have you as a company as well. Without Fuu-chan, she's going to be lonely. And if you're worried about your parents, I'll call them for you and tell them you're staying for the night."

"O-Okay then. Sorry for the inconvenience then."

"You and Shou-chan could sleep together in the same room," Hanako continued with a teasing smile, "Or would one of you rather sleep in Fuu-chan's bed?"

Both girls didn't reply as their faces turned even redder. Indeed, an older woman's teasing could not be stopped by two girls who just entered their junior high.

Running up towards Shouko's room, Hanako watched the two girls with a smile before turning that gentle gaze towards the twins lying in her arms.

She was glad that she survived and recovered after Raiha's birth. Otherwise, she would have missed out on so much of Fuutarou's life, and she would regret it so much.

∞ Back to Rome, Italy ∞

Yep. That air-headed look as Chika turned around in shyness and fear, worried about her being alone in a place filled with unknown people.

I couldn't blame her; if it weren't for my adult mindset and knowing at least one person here, I would have been scared of being alone in a foreign place as well.

The place we were in wasn't too big nor too small, just the suitable space to fit the thirty or so of us. If we continued walking straight in front of the door we entered from, a stage could be found. This place looked like a hall, a prestigious one, seeing the various tall tables that contained fruit punch that we were encouraged to have.

However, none of us touched those and waited for a person, any person, to come and speak to us. We had varied reactions to the wait.

While the older ones tend to be more patient and promptly found themselves a seat to be comfortable, some of the more...impatient young ones started complaining in their own native languages.

The other boy my age was speaking (complaining) in English, the language the majority of the people here are speaking. There were some odd exceptions, like a Chinese-looking dude who spoke Chinese and some phrases of very broken English.

Surprisingly, Chika was also speaking English, almost so fluently I had forgotten she came from Japan. I guess that's what Chika's mother's, a diplomat, daughter was capable of.

Even by just being here, it was apparent that the average level here was much higher, and it wasn't just about their respective skills.

No one was looking particularly nervous; even Chika started to open up to various younger-looking adults and older ones, using her connection as a daughter of a diplomat to secure a relationship.

Everyone was just relaxing and waiting around, initiating friendly conversation with the people around them. After all, even if they couldn't be friends, it wouldn't hurt to have some of the top piano players in the world as their connections. Everyone here was just that talented and skilled.

As for me, I have regained my calm. I have always thought that I would be the only 13-year-old about, but reality slapped me hard in the face. Guess I shouldn't really be that proud, judging from the fact that two people my age are on the same level as me, or even higher, without the help of a system.

Sigh...talents, talents...

Anyway! We waited for about five minutes, which was neither long nor short enough to do anything useful at all before a female walked onto the stage.

I could hear a few whistles here and there as we all appreciated the sight before our eyes. The female wasn't dressed in anything skimpy, nor did she behaved sensually. Yet, it was as though magic had been used on everyone present, causing them to be unable to look away from her.

Of course, with me as an exception. I think the system might have played a part in strengthening my mind, constantly forcing me to collect back my thoughts in the shortest time possible. It has its pros and cons, but I'm not going to explain it now.

The lady had hair as dark as night and sharp contrast of clothing of pure snow white. She wore a cheongsam that revealed little of her long legs and a white scarf around her neck, further emphasizing her glossy black hair that reached her lower back and luscious red lips.

She was truly beautiful, but the people didn't just stare at her because of her appearance. A microphone in front of her, her emotionless expression maintained as she spoke.

"Good morning, distinguished pianists from all over the world. My name is Kachi Shirokusa, and I'll be your main judge and host for the next two weeks." Shirokusa introduced herself in English before pausing for a while, allowing a translator for each person who couldn't understand English.

I got to say, this competition is very lavish. They even had the money to hire individual translators for all of us. Even I had one beside me, a young girl who seemed to have just started the job, a newbie, so to speak.

The hall remained a pin-drop silence as Shirokura continued with her speech after ensuring everyone knew what she had just spoken, "Now, I'll be introducing the schedule for the next two weeks and what all of you would be doing."

A piece of paper was given out to each of us in our respective native languages for convenience's sake, showing everything from the sleeping schedule to the various parties we would be forced to attend to the actual competition date. Everything was written to the tee; not a single second was spared off the schedule.

"Wow, this is certainly specific," Maruno commented as he looked at the schedule. It wasn't as though it was rigorous and harsh; there was plenty of leeways to go about, though seeing the packed schedule still sent a message across everyone about how serious the organization is about this competition.

"Yep. Though, we have a lot of time to do each activity, don't we?"

"I assume all of you will have roughly looked through your schedules by now. Everyone's schedule is almost the same, with some minor changes here and there depending on your needs, religion, race, and anything else. Today is Monday, I declare the first day of the two-week-long event, to begin!"

After the introduction, everyone gave a round of polite applause as we saw Shirokusa leave the stage.

And this was how my two-week luxurious "camp" began, with a small banquet to welcome us into this hall.

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A/N: For some reason, I couldn't get much writing done this week...I barely wrote half a chapter