Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 30: How Many Points Of Happiness?

“I think she used to be quite a skilled pianist,” Nanase said.

“You’ve understood that well since a while ago.”

As we watched the retreating figure of the OL, Nanase spoke. I was amazed at her usual keen insight.

“I’ve seen my fair share of performers, so I can somewhat tell.”

“I see.”

“Nanase, did you go pretty far in competitions and such?”

“In elementary school, I won the national championship.”

“Wow, national champion…HUH?!”

My reaction was late because she said it so casually.

“You won the top prize, that’s seriously amazing!”

“I couldn’t be anything but the winner. I played desperately.”

──In tests, races, piano, art presentations, and anything that involved competing with others, my parents never allowed me any compromises.

Suddenly, Nanase’s words from yesterday came back to me. Speaking of which, someone mentioned that Nanase had never placed anything but first in the grade-wide tests.

Nanase might be the embodiment of the saying, “a genius who worked incredibly hard.”

“You’re amazing, Nanase.”

For some reason, I felt like praising Nanase to the skies.

I wanted to comfort her.

“I can’t help but admire you for being so outstanding, it’s truly amazing.”

“What’s with you all of a sudden, it’s creepy.”

“Normally, people would think it’s amazing if you achieved something that not everyone can do.”

“An achievement that not everyone can do is an exaggeration.”

“What else would you call being number one in piano nationally and in grade-wide tests?”

“Just to correct you, I’m number one in the tests nationally too.”

“That’s Nobel Prize-worthy.”

“The Nobel Prize has become cheap, hasn’t it?”

“No, but it’s even more amazing; ‘amazing’ is all I can say.”

“Don’t praise me too much, please.”

Nanase, with her cheeks slightly reddened, fidgeted with her hair, not knowing what to do.

“I don’t know what kind of reaction I should give.”

“I think you should be happy.”

“You’re saying something difficult.”

“It should be easy if you’re a national champion.”

“Even as a national champion, there are infinite problems I can’t solve.”

“This is a problem you can answer immediately, right?”

“To you, Takahashi-kun, it might be a simple true/false question worth one point, but for me, it’s a difficult descriptive question worth 100 points.”

“That’s an insanely difficult question.”

A 100-point descriptive question, what kind of entrance exam scoring is that?

“But, well…”

Taking a deep breath, she moved her facial muscles with her fingers.

Facing me, Nanase said,

“Thank you, I’m happy.”

Her joyous expression was overflowing, like a smile you’d want to capture in a painting. Unconsciously, I held my breath and was captivated by her expression.

“How many points?”

“Huh?”

“How many points out of 100 is your happiness right now?”

“Umm… 60 points?”

With a quick motion, Nanase returned her expression to normal.

“This problem is difficult after all, isn’t it?”

“I felt that the expression was a bit stiff and… it’s simply not something you do intentionally.”

“What do you mean?”

“Emotions aren’t created intentionally; they come out naturally.”

“I guess this kind of problem is a bad match for me.”

“I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

Looking back on these past few days, I think Nanase has shown plenty of emotions.

Is it just that she’s not aware of it? Or perhaps…

“Shall we get going?”

“Ah, yeah. Oh.”

“What’s the matter? Let’s go.”

As Nanase tilted her head, I hesitantly expressed my fleeting desire.

“Well, since there’s a piano here that anyone can play, I thought I’d like to hear the skills of a national champion.”

“No.”

Rejection.

Her icy voice made me feel as if a knife had been thrust into my back. At the same time, Nanase’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I’m just not in the mood for it right now.”

She added, as if it were an afterthought.

“…Ah, I see. Okay.”

Sensing that there was more to it than just her mood, I decided not to push the issue any further. There must be some other reasons, some circumstances behind it. …Maybe it’s time to start probing into the reason why Nanase tried to throw herself off the platform at Tabata Station.

But, as I thought that, I also understood that now was not the right time.

“Shall we go, then?”

“Yes.”

Nanase and I started walking towards the exit. Along the way, I remembered that we hadn’t finished talking about why Nanase had come here. Though it piqued my curiosity, I decided to ask at a different time.