love theme from tiga

On the second day of training, the sun was even more intense than the day before.

When Feibiao left home, her mother put an extra sports drink in her schoolbag, saying, "It's too hot, drink more water."

She didn't refuse; she put the drink and the drumstick bag together, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and went out the door.

Around the corner, summer was already ending.

Wearing two hats, one black and one white, one in front and one behind, they walked towards school along the road they had walked countless times.

People arrived at the activity room earlier than yesterday.

The percussion group members had already started tuning their instruments and nodded when they saw Asuka come in.

Over in the woodwind section, several senior clarinet players were already auditioning. The clarinet player saw Xia Mo and greeted her.

Good morning, Summer End.

"morning."

Xia Mo nodded in response, walked to her seat, placed the oboe case next to the music stand, and began to soak the reed.

Mr. Tanaka entered the classroom on time.

He was wearing a dark blue short-sleeved polo shirt today, and looked a bit more energetic than yesterday. He was still carrying that bulging briefcase as he walked up to the command platform, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"There are two things to do today."

He stood on the conductor's platform and opened a stack of sheet music in his hand.

"First, the schedule for the second day of the training camp is the same as yesterday: practice by section in the morning, and the whole group will play together in the afternoon. Second—" He paused.

"The repertoire for next semester's performance has been adjusted."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

"The piece for the performance has been changed." Mr. Tanaka took out a stack of sheet music from his briefcase and distributed it to the students in the front row, passing it on to the back.

"LOVE Theme from TIGA. Raise your hand if you've heard it."

A few hands were raised sparsely in the classroom. The boy playing the clarinet raised his hand, as did the senior student who was in charge of the flute section.

Someone nearby whispered, "The Ultraman one?" with a hint of excitement in their voice.

"Composed by Tatsumi Yano, one of the theme songs for Ultraman Tiga." After the sheet music was distributed, Mr. Tanaka's gaze swept over everyone.

"The melody is beautiful, and it requires a high level of breath control from the wind instruments. This performance will be—" he paused, "a collaboration between the piano and the ensemble."

Piano and Ensemble Section.

As soon as the word was uttered, a buzz of discussion, like the chirping of cicadas in summer, emerged simultaneously from every corner.

"Piano? Who's playing?"

"The ensemble doesn't have a piano."

"Does Mr. Tanaka play it himself?"

Mr. Tanaka coughed and tapped the music stand twice with his baton, silencing the murmurs.

"The performance format has been adjusted this time," he said, trying to keep his tone calm, but some people below had already noticed that his expression was not quite right.

"It will no longer be a solo performance by the ensemble. A piano will join in, and the ensemble will complete the piece together."

Minister Mori peeked out from the crowd, his face displaying a sincere yet malicious expression.

"Tanaka-sensei, who's playing the piano? Doesn't the choir have a piano? Could it be—"

Mr. Tanaka's expression darkened even further.

"Ms. Mikami from the choir will be in charge of the piano part," he said, his voice a little lower than usual, "and she will also be participating in the performance."

The air in the activity room froze for half a second.

Then, someone uttered a drawn-out "Oh—", and immediately the whole classroom erupted in chaos.

"Mr. Mikami? The choir instructor?"

"Tanaka-sensei, are you—"

"Shut up!" Teacher Tanaka tapped the conductor's baton twice more, but his face was already red to the roots of his neck.

The boy playing the clarinet turned around and exchanged a glance with the person next to him, unable to suppress the smile on his lips.

The senior flute instructor pursed her lips, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Minister Mori couldn't pretend anymore and burst out laughing.

Asuka, watching this scene from the percussion section, couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. She glanced at Xia Mo—

Xia Mo was looking down at the sheet music, doing nothing strange, but Fei Biao noticed that he held the sheet music higher than usual, obscuring half of his face.

"Quiet." Teacher Tanaka took a few deep breaths, and his voice became serious again, but everyone could tell that the seriousness was forced.

"Mr. Mikami became interested in the tone of the oboe, so—"

"You've become interested in the oboe?" Minister Mori's voice came from behind, carrying a mysterious air of "I already know."

"Yes. Oboe." Mr. Tanaka nodded vigorously, as if to emphasize that this was the whole reason. "Because Natsume-kun's oboe playing left a deep impression on her, she wanted to collaborate with the ensemble."

All eyes turned to Xia Mo.

Xia Mo felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. She peeked out from behind the sheet music, blinked, and then withdrew her eyes.

Asuka looked at him, thinking of the song "Life's Melody" from yesterday.

When did Mikami-sensei hear it?

No, that's not right.

Mr. Tanaka said, "Mr. Mikami became interested in the tone of the oboe"—what does "became interested" mean?

She looked at Mr. Tanaka. Mr. Tanaka was flipping through the sheet music, pretending nothing had happened, but he was flipping through the sheet music much faster than usual, and he wasn't really looking at it seriously.

"Anyway," Mr. Tanaka closed the sheet music, his voice a little lower than before, "Mr. Mikami said he wanted to collaborate with the ensemble, so I agreed."

"You agreed?" Department Head Mori's voice rose a half-octave. "Tanaka-sensei, how could you agree so easily? Did you just nod the moment someone asked you?"

Another low chuckle rang out in the classroom.

"It's not what you think," he said, his voice tinged with helplessness.

As the bird looked at the embarrassed teacher on the stage, a word suddenly came to mind.

She'd seen it in a comic book. The term was—not good at lying.

"That's because," Mr. Tanaka cleared his throat, "Ms. Mikami wasn't very familiar with the oboe's timbre before. She mainly teaches choir and doesn't know much about wind instruments. I told her that we have an oboe student in our ensemble who can play a solo after only one semester of study, and she didn't quite believe me."

"So you let her come to see?" Minister Mori pressed.

"I'll have her come and listen." There was a hint of smugness in Mr. Tanaka's tone that he himself didn't realize. "I'll tell her, if you don't believe me, come and listen."

Feiniao glanced at Xia Mo.

Xia Mo looked at Teacher Tanaka with a complex expression—a little amused, a little helpless, and a little bit of "I see."

"When she said she wanted to come and listen, I..." Ms. Tanaka's voice trailed off, and the last few words were almost inaudible.

"What?"

"...I told her that just listening isn't enough; she has to perform with the ensemble to truly understand the role of the oboe in an ensemble."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

Then, laughter burst forth like a dam breaking.

President Mori was laughing so hard he was practically lying on the music stand next to him, while the boy playing the clarinet covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

The senior flute instructor looked at Mr. Tanaka with pity in her eyes—the kind of pity one would give a man who's fallen into a pit but still clings to his pride.

Asuka didn't laugh. Looking at Mr. Tanaka's impotent rage, she suddenly found him rather endearing.

Even though he wanted to show off in front of his crush, he insisted on saying, "It's to help her understand the function of the oboe."

Mr. Tanaka coughed twice, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"In short, the format of this performance has been finalized." He opened the sheet music, his tone regaining its teacherly authority.

"The piano will be played in collaboration with the ensemble. Mr. Mikami will play the piano, while the wind and percussion sections of the ensemble will remain the same. I will send out the scores for each section as soon as possible."

Department Head Mori finally snapped out of his laughter, wiped his eyes, and raised his hand to ask, "Mr. Tanaka, are you going to rehearse with Ms. Mikami separately?"

"Of course," said Mr. Tanaka. "The coordination between the piano and the ensemble needs time to develop."

I meant when you were alone with her.

The classroom erupted again.

"Morimoto!!!"

Mr. Tanaka placed his baton on the music stand, finally giving up the struggle: "Practice. Hurry up and practice. Anyone who talks again will have today's practice extended by an hour."

The laughter gradually subsided, but Asuka noticed that several people were still whispering as they picked up their instruments.

Indeed, being a gossipmonger is a human instinct.

Mr. Tanaka turned around and began arranging the sheet music on the podium, no longer looking at the audience.

Asuka, holding the drumsticks, secretly glanced at Xia Mo behind the woodwind section.

He seemed to have figured something out, and finally put down the sheet music in his hand, and was soaking the reed in a glass of water.

After finishing organizing the sheet music, Mr. Tanaka turned around and glanced at everyone.

"Practice in separate parts."

The activity room gradually quieted down. The brass section was applying oil, the woodwind section was testing the sound, and the percussion section was checking the drumheads.

Fei Niao stepped on the pedal a few times, pressed his ear to the timpani, and tapped it one beat at a time, tuning it to the pitch he remembered.

Xia Mo stood at the back of the woodwind section, took out the soaked reed from the oboe box, assembled the tube, and applied cork varnish with swift and efficient movements.

Mr. Tanaka stepped down from the conductor's platform, walked around among the various sections, and paused briefly next to Natsume.

"Late summer."

Xia Mo looked up at him.

Mr. Tanaka was silent for a moment, as if he was considering how to start the conversation.

"The oboe part has a few melodies in the 'LOVE Theme'."

He finally spoke, his voice low, only audible to a few people nearby, "It's not a sustained note accompaniment, it's the main melody. If you could play that solo yesterday, these few lines shouldn't be a problem."

Xia Mo nodded.

Mr. Tanaka didn't leave immediately. He stood there for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Consider this the price for the extra practice I gave you during the summer vacation. Don't overthink it."

"I didn't think much about it," Xia Mo said calmly.

Mr. Tanaka glanced at him, his lips twitched slightly as if he was holding back something, and then he turned and walked back to the command post.

Well, when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.

Practice has begun.

The brass section played sustained notes on the left, the woodwind section ran scales on the right, and the percussion section played rhythms from behind. The various sounds intertwined, seemingly chaotic yet orderly, like a pot of soup slowly simmering.

At the end of summer, a person stood alone in front of the music stand in the corner of the classroom, with newly issued scores spread out in front of them.

The oboe part in "LOVE Theme from TIGA" is more complex than the pieces we practiced before, with several legato sixteenth notes and an octave leap.

He played those few measures over and over again. A long note, he played it for fifteen seconds, took a breath, and then played it again. A musical phrase, he played it all in one breath, paused briefly, and then played it again.

Feiniao was playing the timpani in the percussion area, occasionally glancing up at the corner of the classroom.

Summer's lips are redder than yesterday—probably because the reed I gave myself is harder, causing more friction.

But she noticed that his fingers were steadyer than yesterday. The first time he played that octave leap, the pitch was noticeably low, but by the fifth time he was in tune.

An hour later, it was lunchtime.

Asuka stood up from the percussion section, rubbing her sore wrists. She picked up her drumstick bag, walked over to the woodwind section, sat down on the chair next to Natsume, and took out a lunchbox from her bag.

"The piece we played today," Asuka said, picking up a piece of omelet with her chopsticks and chewing it twice, "Tanaka-sensei said it was because of the piece you chose."

"I don't know." Xia Mo put the oboe back in its case and took out her own lunchbox. "It has nothing to do with me."

"How could it not have anything to do with you?" Asuka looked at him, lowering her voice. "Tanaka-sensei said that Mikami-sensei has become interested in the oboe's tone. You're the only one in the entire ensemble who plays the oboe; if it's not because of you, who else could it be?"

Xia Mo ate a mouthful of rice without saying a word.

"So, Mr. Tanaka is using you as promotional material," Asuka concluded.

Xia Mo glanced at her: "Promotional material?"

"It's just for showing off to Mr. Mikami."

Xia Mo swallowed her food and remained silent for a moment.

"……I know."

The bird looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Aren't you angry? You've been used by him," Asuka said with a wicked grin.

"What's there to be angry about?" Xia Mo said. "Anyway, I already promised Hua Hua, so having one more person listen makes no difference."

The bird withdrew its laughter.

Oh, anyway, it's all for Hua Hua to hear.

She shifted her gaze back to her lunchbox, poked at the rice with her chopsticks, and said nothing.

Xia Mo seemed oblivious to the change in her expression and continued eating with her head down.

The afternoon practice began.

Mr. Tanaka stood on the control platform and clapped his hands.

"Before the whole ensemble plays, let's go through the new piece first." He opened the sheet music. "I'll have the choir send over the piano part. For the ensemble, the wind and percussion sections should go through the melody first."

The bird grips the drumsticks, waiting for the next measure.

The flute begins, its melody gentle and affectionate, like someone taking a stroll at dusk who occasionally pauses.

The clarinet follows, the saxophone joins in, and the brass instruments spread out behind.

The various sounds intertwined, flowing like a wide river through the activity room.

The oboe, which was playing at the end of summer, hadn't joined in yet. His part only started after the main melody began, in the phrase that required an octave leap.

As the bird tapped out the drumbeats, it silently counted the measures in its head.

We've arrived. The oboe, heralding the end of summer, begins to play.

The first note, clear and steady, breaks free from the tube and passes through the entire ensemble's base.

At the octave intervals, his fingers moved swiftly and steadily across the keys. The notes leaped out one by one, not fast, but each one in its proper place.

Where the notes fall, it's like a carousel slowly turning, gently circling once, then tenderly circling once more.

Mr. Tanaka did not call a halt.

The ensemble continued until the last note of the score faded into the air.

The activity room was quiet for a moment, then Mr. Tanaka put down his baton and nodded.

"Oboe, in the octave leap, make the tone a little firmer."

Xia Mo nodded.

"For the other parts, make the contrast between loud and soft more obvious. Be softer at the beginning of the flute part."

After giving his comments, Mr. Tanaka turned to the next page of the sheet music.

"Let's do it one more time."

Inside the activity room, the ensemble music began again. The chirping of cicadas outside the window had subsided at some point, as if they were listening.

The timpani of the birds rolled steadily behind, while the oboe of late summer drifted out from the corner. Because it was unfamiliar with the new piece, it sounded thin and rustling, as if through a veil.

But this layer of gauze is much thinner than it was a month ago.