Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 37: Drinking with Kanade-san

We toast again after receiving a new bottle of sake.

As we continued our Tokyo talk, a common topic among us, I couldn’t help but acknowledge that Kanade-san was incredibly intelligent.

The sheer volume of topics she brought up during our talk was amazing, and her ability to explain things clearly according to her listener’s knowledge level was a trait of someone with a brilliant mind.

Moreover, even though she was a generation older than us, she treated us with a casual, friendly demeanor like that of a super laid-back teacher you’d occasionally see at school, so I quickly let my guard down around Kanade-san.

Nanase, too, was unusually engaged in conversation with Kanade-san. Their conversation seemed to have good chemistry, as it was incredibly logical.

“You also played the piano, right?”

I’m not sure how the conversation flowed to this point, but Nanase asked.

Kanade-san stops pouring sake from the tokkuri in her hand.

“Come to think of it, we first met at the street piano.”

Saying it was a strange connection, Kanade-san takes a sip from the tokkuri.

“You also played you say, meaning you did too, Riho-chan?”

“I played from first to third grade in elementary school.”

“Then I played from my first to third year in high school.”

Kanade-san narrowed her eyes as if recalling nostalgic memories.

The nostalgic expression on her sharp, beautiful face would undoubtedly suit wine more than sake.

“Although I live in Tokyo now, I was actually born and raised in Hamamatsu until I finished high school. I started playing the piano from kindergarten due to my parents’ influence, as they worked at a company related to musical instruments.”

“Heh, so you’re a local. I never would’ve guessed.”

“Oh, do I look like a city girl?”

“At least when we met during the day, you seemed like a career woman from Marunouchi.”

(T/N: Marunouchi is a district in central Tokyo known for its high-end office buildings and the presence of many large companies and financial institutions.)

“And now?”

“A drunkard from the countryside.”

Kanade-san laughed happily.

“Nice, nice, let’s keep them coming.”

Kanade-san happily refueled with sake before continuing.

“Back then, I enjoyed playing the piano so much that I played every day… I never doubted that I’d make a living through music in the future.”

She drinks the sake with incredible vigor.

“But now, look at me!”

She emptied the tokkuri.

It seems like she’s drinking it like a sports drink after exercising, but is she really okay?

“Seriously, I can’t take it anymore…”

Kanade-san rests her upper body on the table and traces the rim of the empty tokkuri.

Graduating from the University of Tokyo, joining a top-tier company, working as an excellent salesman, and living in Roppongi. Just looking at the facts, it seems like she’s enjoying a successful life, but from the looks of her right now, it doesn’t seem that way at all. Upon closer inspection, her eyes were marked with dark circles that her makeup couldn’t completely hide, and she exuded an intense sense of fatigue.

There was no sign of dreams, hopes, or fulfillment – only a sense of emptiness and despair towards reality.

“Why did you stop playing the piano?”

Nanase asked

Having learned about Nanase’s history with the piano at the Museum of Musical Instruments, I thought her question contained more than just curiosity.

“There were various reasons.”

With her cheek resting on the table, Kanade-san said.