Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 29: Street Piano

“There’s a place I want to stop by.”

Nanase said as soon as we left the department store.

Come to think of it, before getting on the bullet train, Nanase seemed to have some attachment to Hamamatsu. I easily thought that the place she wanted to stop by would be related to that.

“Sure, let’s go.”

Led by Nanase, we headed to Hamamatsu Station. And then she started to go through the bullet train ticket gate, which surprised me.

“Wait, hold on a second.”

“What?”

“No, I mean, are we done with Hamamatsu?”

“Ah… no, it’s not like we’re getting on it now”

“…What do you mean?”

“Just follow me.”

As I tilted my head and obediently followed her, a pleasant melody entered my ears.

As expected of the city of music, Hamamatsu. Even inside the station, I could hear the sound of a piano, and as I leisurely thought about that, the melody gradually grew louder. After a while, we encountered a crowd of people.

There, Nanase stopped. At first glance, it was just a normal corridor, but a larger space had been carved out next to it, where an obviously expensive grand piano was on display. A young man was skillfully playing the piano.

“Amazing…”

Even to an amateur’s eyes, I could tell the melody the young man was weaving was of a high level. Parents with children, a middle-aged cleaning staff, and office ladies in suits, regardless of gender or age, everyone was listening to his performance with a captivated expression.

Nanase too, was watching the performance with a somewhat reminiscent expression.

“Is this some kind of concert?”

“It’s called a street piano. Anyone can play it.”

“Ah, I remember now. I think there’s one on the observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building too.”

(T/N: Here)

“You know a lot about it.”

“Sometimes, it pops up in related videos on YouTube. Like when professional musicians start guerrilla live performances.”

“Heh, YouTube can be useful sometimes.”

“YouTube is actually useful in various situations.”

See, you can even make money if you try hard enough. While having such a conversation, the performance ended.

The young man stood up and bowed, and the venue was filled with applause.

“That was a semi-professional level.”

As the young man left and the audience dispersed, Nanase commented.

“You can tell?”

“Despite appearances, I have a long history with the piano.”

Come to think of it, she did say she used to play.

“So, why are we here?”

“There’s a little memory associated with this place.”

“A memory?”

When I asked, Nanase hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“It’s a story from when I was in elementary school…”

“Ouch!”

“Kyaa!”

As Nanase started to speak, a short scream could be heard from somewhere.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s my fault for being so absent-minded.”

It seemed that one of the audience members, an office lady in a black suit, had bumped into an older man rushing to the platform. The man bowed his head repeatedly as he left.

After taking a breath, the office lady looked back at the piano.

“Wait here for a moment.”

Nanase seemed to notice something and approached the office lady. She squatted down and picked up something that looked like a document, then handed it to the office lady.

“You dropped this.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

The office lady bowed gracefully. The office lady was tall and slender, with a well-proportioned face and a neatly fitting suit. Her hair, tied back so as not to get in the way, and red-framed glasses suited her well. She had the look of a true career woman, quite the opposite of the repeat-year girl we met in Atami. This one seemed much more like an Onee-san.

“Aren’t you going to play?”

Nanase asked the office lady, who had been staring at the piano for a while. Slowly, the office lady turned to face Nanase. Her expression showed a faint surprise.

“Do I look like I want to play?”

“You seem hesitant.”

“…That’s true.”

The office lady had a wistful expression for a moment, but it didn’t last long. With an easy-to-understand business smile, she said,

“It’s fine, really. I haven’t played in years, and I’ve forgotten the rhythm… Besides, I have a business meeting soon, so I don’t have time.”

Her tone was as if she was trying to convince herself.

“Well then.”

With that, the office lady walked away, the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor.