Volume 4-2: Sasuke becomes a student at Kotono’s violin school.

When I met Kotono for the first time after the accident, I was struck by how much she had changed. The bitter sarcasm, mean-spiritedness, and self-centeredness that had made her stand out had completely disappeared, and she had become a quiet child.

　Even when she talked to me, she would only say “yes” and “I guess so,” and had no energy.

　Seeing Kotono like that made me feel sad. I thought, “This is not her, this is a mistake.”

　I wondered if I could do something to cheer Kotono up. I consulted with Mukaishima, and she came up with a strange idea.

　”-“Kotono-chan is a good violinist, so maybe Sasuke-kun should try to learn from her. My grandmother told me that teaching others makes you feel more alive.”

　Mukaishima’s grandmother is a hula dance teacher.

　She used to be a hula dancer as a hobby, but after the death of her husband (Mukaishima’s grandfather), she decided to start her own class. Surrounded by her students, Mukaishima’s grandmother, who had been struggling to recover from the sudden death of her partner, regained her energy.

　Hearing this, I became motivated. I thought that Kotono might return to her old self as she teaches me.

　In hindsight, it was an unnecessary act of kindness.

　Kotono was able to recover from the experience, but I hated the lesson so much that I never wanted to touch the violin again.

　Back at the villa…

　”I’d like to learn violin from Kotono-san.”

　I went back to the villa and told her parents that I wanted to learn violin from Kotono.

　They even arranged a violin for me to practice on (I didn’t find out how expensive it was until much later).

　Kotono, who had been reluctant at first, seemed to have taken an interest in teaching me. I was glad to see that she was becoming more and more like my former-self as she started to talk more and more when she taught me.

　Kotono is a genius, and she doesn’t understand my inability to do things. She gets frustrated when she can’t figure out why I can’t do something so easy.

　Teaching is about accommodating the other person, but she can’t tolerate that. Whenever I make even the slightest strange noise, she gets upset and nags me.

　”Oh, my God!　There!　Start over!”

　”Why can’t you even do this?”

　”Are you even trying?”

　I’m learning this because I want to cheer Kotono up, not because I want to be a musician. I don’t want to be a performer. And yet, she keep abusing me, and in the end…

　”That’s enough!　I’ll never learn from you again, you idiot!”

He shouted at her and they fought.

　The maids would hurriedly report it to the wife, and Ikuko, who had heard about it from the maids, would mediate between us, which became an everyday occurrence.

　Ikuko is a mild-mannered princess with Swedish noble blood in her veins, but she is quite strict with her daughter.

　In this case, she told her daughter that it was fine to be strict with me, but first she had to observe the minimum of politeness.

　She reluctantly calmed down for a while, but after a while, she was back to normal.

　–After more than a dozen fights and arbitrations, Ikuko came to the conclusion that Kotono was not suitable for teaching and should stop.

　That was the conclusion. Well, of course.

　Thus, Kotono’s violin school was forcibly closed.

　It was probably a good thing that she was able to regain her bitter and sarcastic personality, but it was a bad experience for me.

　The violin was thrown into the closet of the room I was given and buried in my collection of pornographic books and games for a long time after. It would never be used again, I thought.

　But then….

　Kotono’s violin school was miraculously revived.

　In other words, it was–.

＊　＊　＊　＊

　It was the first Saturday in June. It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon.

　I opened my closet and took out my violin case. I undid the clasp and opened it. The beautiful candy-colored curves of the case are artistically graceful. It even looks a little like a woman’s body.

　The violin took its present form around the 17th century, and there have been no major changes since then. Its four hundred year old form reminds me of a large snail lying in the ancient sea.

　I sighed. This isn’t something I deserve to have, really. I’d like to give it to someone who has the talent but not the money to buy a violin.

　Then I went through the collection in my closet to look for “textbooks”. Today was my first real lesson.

　I’m sure the “tentacle” and “rape” books will be a turn-off, so I decide to go with a mild “lovey-dovey harem” book.

　I picked up a copy of an erotic novel.

A harem of childhood friends competing for my attention” Yeah, I’ll take that one.”

　As I left the room, I met Ikuko-sama in the hallway.

　She seemed to be waiting for me, and spoke to me with a worried expression and a furrowed brow.

“Sasuke-kun, please take care of Kotono for me.”

“Ah ,No problem. You’ve seen her, too.”

“Well, I just can’t believe she’s being so nice to you.”

“No, I think she must have thought a lot about what happened before.”

　I felt like my conscience was being scraped with a grater.

　Kotono’s nasty smile crept into my mind.

　”I’m sure mother will take a look at the classroom herself to see if I’m teaching you properly. I’ll have to give her a serious practice or two to make her trust me.”

　As Kotono had predicted, Ikuko learned that her daughter was going to teach me violin again, and she was watching the lesson from our side. Kotono was eerily smiling, kind and polite at that time.

　Even when I made a mistake and made a strange sound, she smiled and said

　”It’s okay, Sasuke, it’s natural to make mistakes. Don’t be nervous, let’s relax and practice more.”

　The lesson proceeded in a relaxed atmosphere throughout.

　Ikuko must have been very surprised. She may have even been moved by the change in her daughter’s appearance from eight years ago.

　After the second lesson, Kotono played her trump card with her mother.

　As she sipped the tea that Anna had made her, Kotono asked her mother about her plans for the coming lesson and casually said, “I’m having a lot of fun”

　”But when mother is watching, Sasuke seems to get nervous. He was talking kind of stiff. It’s okay now, So just leave it to the two of us next time.”

　At the end of the day, it was just the two of us for three hours straight from today’s lesson. Kotono strictly ordered her servants not to enter until she called them.

“I wonder if she’s growing from that, I hope so.”

　I’m sorry, but I can’t say that the other side of her is growing remarkably. I’m sure she’d be freaked out if she knew that I sprayed semen on Kotono’s face.

　In addition to the violin instructional book, the paper bag in my hand also contained a harem of childhood friends fighting over me. I don’t think she’ll find it, but I casually pull it closer to my body to hide it from Ikuko’s eyes.

“Hey Sasuke-kun, I know it’s strange for me to say this now, but…”

　Ikuko-san touched her hair near her ear. The gesture was so sexy that it made my heart flutter a little.

　As Kotono’s mother, she’s incredibly beautiful. She looks so young that I can’t believe she’s the same as my mother, and she always wears good makeup and beautiful clothes. Anyone who likes older mature women will fall in love with her within seconds.

“I’m very grateful to you, and so is my husband. So don’t be too formal about your work. If you fail, no one will blame you. So, you see?”

　I nodded silently. When Ikuko heard from Anna that I had sent Kotono’s clothes to the cleaners with my own money, she was very distressed.

　At any rate, Anna told me that she felt responsible for the stain I had accidentally caused by pouring tea on it.

　Anna also scolded me a little for this.

“I don’t like it if you break something too expensive, but I’ll have your clothes cleaned at the expense of this house. It’s good that you have a strong sense of responsibility, but please don’t do anything that will reduce your allowance.

“Yes.”

*Sasuke-Kun Inner Dialogue*

　Aaaah, I’m sorry!(Sumimasen)　I’m sorry!(Gomenasai)　I’m so sorry! (Another way of saying sorry)

　I get down on my knees in my heart to Ikuko-sama.

　if she appears out of the lake from the myths…

　–Is this the gold axe you dropped?

　If she had come out of the lake and asked me if it was this gold axe that you dropped, I would have answered immediately and honestly that it was something much more crude.

　But now I’ve deceived Ikuko, and I’m about to do something that she can’t even imagine.

　The ringleader is sitting on the couch in his room, waiting for me with a lascivious devil’s smile on her face.

　What the hell is this, violin practice?!

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