A New Beginning

On the first day of April, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

The morning breeze carried the fragrance of flower petals, brushing against my face like a feather. The bird stood before the mirror, checking herself over and over again—

Her school uniform collar was turned up, her skirt was wrinkle-free, and her hair was tied up neither too high nor too low. She took a deep breath, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, and walked out of the house.

Today is the first day of school for fifth graders.

She wasn't actually particularly nervous. She had already discussed it several times with Huahua during her piano lessons during spring break, and she had also been chatting intermittently with Xiamo on her phone.

But the very act of "starting school" carries a certain inexplicable and ambiguous feeling—

New classrooms, new textbooks, new seating charts, and...

A new class.

Feiniao doesn't know which class she'll be assigned to this year.

In fourth grade, she and Xia Mo were in adjacent classes. They could see each other during breaks, eat lunch together, and walk home together after school, which was actually quite nice.

But what if... we could be in the same class?

She shook her head inwardly, dismissing the thought.

Turning that familiar corner, cherry blossom petals were fluttering down. Xia Mo was already standing there, her backpack slung over one shoulder, her other hand in her pocket.

A petal fell on his shoulder, but he didn't notice.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," said Asuka.

The two walked side by side towards the school. The cherry blossoms on both sides of the road were in full bloom, their pink and white petals almost transparent in the sunlight.

Feiniao glanced furtively at the petal on Xia Mo's shoulder, hesitated for a moment, and then didn't tell him.

There were twice as many people at the school gate as usual. The first-grade students, carrying brand-new schoolbags, were being led by their parents by the hand, their eyes filled with both nervousness and excitement.

The older students gathered in small groups, sharing their experiences during spring break.

Hua Hua—she's not here; she's in Bunkyo Ward, having her own opening ceremony.

Feiniao and Xiamo weaved through the crowd and entered the teaching building. The bulletin board at the end of the corridor was packed with people, a sea of ​​dark heads huddled together like a flock of chicks crowding around a feeding bowl.

"The class assignment results are out!" someone shouted.

Feiniao's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Xia Mo, who was also looking at the notice board.

"Let's go," Xia Mo said.

The two squeezed into the crowd and found their names amidst the chattering noise.

Class 2, Grade 5.

Feiniao's name was on the list for Class 5-2. She looked down one line—

Late summer.

Class 2, Grade 5.

Classmates.

The bird stared at the name for three seconds.

Then he looked away, turned around expressionlessly, and walked towards the classroom of Class 2, Grade 5.

She was afraid that if she kept watching, she wouldn't be able to hold back her jumping up.

She walked very fast, so fast that by the end of summer she almost couldn't keep up.

"Why are you walking so fast?" Xia Mo asked from behind.

"It's too crowded there," Asuka said.

Xia Mo hurried along, feeling helpless, and caught up. He saw it too; the two were in the same class this year.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, the two searched for each room one by one according to the room numbers.

The second classroom on the left side of the stairs has a sign that reads "Class 2, Grade 5".

When Fei Niao went inside, there were already quite a few people sitting there.

She glanced around and found an empty seat in the second-to-last row by the window.

Xia Mo sat down in the seat next to her on the aisle side.

The two people were separated by a narrow aisle.

"Natsumi, you're in the same class as Saito." The boy in the front row turned around; he was Natsumi's classmate from fourth grade.

Thanks to that earth-shattering battle in fourth grade, Xia Mo, who had previously had no interaction with her classmates, inexplicably grew closer to some of the boys in her class.

As a result, the name of the bird became widely known in their class.

Xia Mo nodded without saying anything more.

The school bell rang.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, and the last few students rushed into the classroom and took their seats.

The classroom fell silent as everyone waited for the new homeroom teacher.

The door was pushed open.

A young female teacher with a round face walked in, holding a stack of documents, and stood on the podium with a smile.

Asuka paused for a moment—it was Ms. Sasaki. Her fourth-grade homeroom teacher.

"Hello students, I'm your fifth-grade homeroom teacher, Nozomi Sasaki." She turned around and wrote her name on the blackboard. "Thank you for your guidance this year."

Asuka breathed a sigh of relief. The teacher wasn't unfamiliar; she didn't need to readjust.

Ms. Sasaki first called roll, then read out the class rules—

Being late, leaving early, dress code, and cell phone use—the list is pretty much the same as last year.

The bird listened attentively and jotted down several notes in its notebook, writing neatly and legibly.

"...Finally, regarding club activities." Mr. Sasaki put down the materials in his hand and glanced at the whole class.

"School regulations stipulate that students in fifth grade and above must participate in at least one club. Of course, if you have special circumstances—such as living far away or needing to leave early—you can apply to the school for the 'Home Return Club.' But I hope you will seriously consider this, as club activities are a very important part of campus life."

She passed the club application forms from front to back, one for each student.

"The forms are due next week. You can visit and experience various clubs this week, and we'll finalize the details next week."

Asuka took the form and glanced at it. The club name section was blank, waiting for her to fill it in.

She lightly touched the paper with her pen, then put it down.

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. Mr. Sasaki walked out of the classroom, and the room erupted in chaos.

The girls in the front row were greeting each other, while the boys in the back row were discussing playing games during spring break.

Asuka sat in her seat, folded the club application form twice, and tucked it into her textbook.

"What are you going to report?" Xia Mo turned her head and asked her.

The bird thought for a moment, but did not answer directly.

"And you?" she asked in return.

"I used to be in the home-schooling class," Xia Mo said. "I'm in fifth grade now, and I'll probably still be in the home-schooling class. I have to practice piano when I get home."

The bird nodded.

She knew that Xia Mo would practice piano and cello for several hours every day after school, and joining clubs would indeed take up time.

"And you?" Xia Mo asked again.

Asuka hesitated for a moment.

"I joined a club when I was in fourth grade," she said.

Xia Mo glanced at her: "What club?"

"...Comedy Club".

Xia Mo paused for a moment.

"Comedy Club?" he repeated, his tone tinged with disbelief.

The bird blushed and turned its face away.

"I just want to... I want to change my personality. When I was in fourth grade, I felt that I was too introverted and always looked down when I talked to people, so I wanted to practice."

"Have you finished practicing?" Xia Mo asked.

Asuka was silent for two seconds, then said in a tone that said, "Isn't that obvious?"

"If I had practiced properly, I wouldn't be sitting here with you now—I should be standing on the stage performing stand-up comedy."

Just imagining Fei Niao's expression as he recited a stand-up comedy routine on stage, Xia Mo's lips quickly curled into a smile.

It then plummeted just in time before attracting the glares of birds.

Thankfully, I managed to hold it in.

"Then why did you leave the department?" he asked.

The bird rested its chin on the table, its voice muffled:

"They asked me to go on stage and perform. I stood on the stage, mouth open, but couldn't tell a single joke. I stood there for a full minute, then bowed and came down. I cried for a long time that night when I got home."

There was no laughter at the end of summer.

He looked at Fei Niao's profile, watching her rest her cheek on the table, her eyelashes drooping slightly, sunlight streaming in from the window and falling on her hair.

"What about this year?" he asked. "Do you still want to join a club?"

The bird sat up straight and thought for a moment.

"I do want to," she said, "but I don't want to join the comedy club anymore."

"What should I report?"

The bird turned to look at him, its eyes shining.

"Ensemble section," she said.

Xia Mo replied almost without hesitation, "Then I'll apply with you."

The bird paused for a moment.

"I can play the piano, right? You can play a little too, so we can play together. Then you won't have to go on stage to perform stand-up comedy."

Xia Mo spoke to herself, her face beaming as she spoke.

It's as if I can already imagine the wonderful scene of the two of them playing the piano together.

But they didn't notice at all that Asuka had already laughed so hard she was practically lying on the table.

She was laughing so hard that her whole face was glowing.

Xia Mo felt a little uneasy at her laughter and touched her ear: "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing." Asuka couldn't stop laughing. She covered half her face with her textbook, only revealing her crescent-shaped eyes. Her voice came out muffledly from behind the book.

"I just thought it would be hilarious to see you playing the piano in the ensemble."

"What's so funny about playing the piano?" Xia Mo asked, looking completely bewildered.

Asuka peeked half her face out from behind the book, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "Are you sure? Are you sure the ensemble has a piano?"

Xia Mo paused for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly, as if she were seriously considering the question.

"What do you mean, no? Isn't an ensemble performance just everyone playing together? The piano is a musical instrument too."

Feiniao finally couldn't hold back any longer, slammed his textbook on the table, and laughed so hard he almost fell over.

Her laughter was so clear and crisp, like someone throwing a handful of bells into the air, that it made all the girls in the front row turn around to look at her.

The bird quickly covered its mouth, but its shoulders continued to tremble.

"What are you laughing at?" Xia Mo felt like she was being targeted, but had no idea why.

Asuka wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, looking at him with an expression that said, "How come you don't even know this?": "Why don't you just look it up online?"

With a hint of disbelief, Xia Mo took out her phone from her pocket and typed a few words into the search bar.

Feiniao leaned closer to look at his phone screen.

The two of them were almost head to head, staring at the small screen.

The search results are in.

Xia Mo stared for a few seconds, her expression shifting from confusion to bewilderment, from bewilderment to surprise, and from surprise to—

"No way?" he said.

The bird could finally laugh, and laugh openly and honestly: "Yes."

As summer drew to a close, he turned a few more pages, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

The phone screen shows that the main body of the ensemble usually consists of instruments such as the recorder and melodica, and after junior high school, it will be further expanded to more complex combinations such as woodwind instruments and brass instruments.

A piano that is expensive and difficult to move is not common in the ensemble.

Well, there won't be a cello either.

Xia Mo put her phone on the table, leaned back in her chair, stared at the ceiling, and remained silent for a long time.

Asuka suppressed a laugh and nudged him with her elbow: "What, not going to report it?"

Xia Mo was silent for a few seconds.

Report.

Now it was Asuka's turn to be surprised. She thought that Natsume would back out after learning that the ensemble didn't have a piano—

After all, he practices the piano for several hours every day after school, so joining a club that doesn't utilize his skills doesn't seem like a good deal.

"Are you sure?" Asuka's smile faded as she looked into his eyes. "Even if you go, you won't be able to play the piano, and you probably won't need the cello either."

"I know," Xia Mo said.

"Then why did you report it?"

Xia Mo looked at her. Patches of sunlight from the cherry blossoms shone through the curtains onto his face, flickering in and out of focus.

"What if you go alone and it happens again like that time with the comedy club?" he said.

"When you're standing on the stage with your mouth open but unable to speak, at least there will be someone by your side."

The bird opened its mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

A gust of wind blew the cherry blossoms down.

Cherry blossom petals fell one by one, landing on the bench by the playground, on the first-year student's brand-new schoolbag, and on the form in front of her that already had the words "Ensemble Club" written on it.

She tapped the form twice with her finger.

"Whatever you want," she said.

The sound was very soft and muffled, as if it were being hummed through the nose.

But her ears turned red, as red as the first ripe strawberry of spring under the April sun.

Xia Mo didn't say anything more.

He pulled his club application form out of his textbook and wrote "Ensemble" in the "Club Name" column.

Asuka glanced at his handwriting furtively.

Each stroke was deliberate and deliberate.

The school bell rang again.

Outside the window, cherry blossom petals were blown by the wind, drifting in through the window and landing on Fei Niao's textbook.

She picked up the petals and placed them in the corner of her desk, not throwing them away again.

She didn't know if the ensemble was really right for her.

But she knew that the person next to her would stand on the stage with her.

Even if he could only stand next to her, he wouldn't bring any musical instruments.

In that case, it doesn't seem so scary anymore.