I was walking together with Sayo. I was kinda worried for a second so I decided to escort her.

I tried talking with her several time but she only gave some short response.

It's like her mind was not here.

Deciding that maybe she wanted to be leave alone, I walked beside her silently.

The sky started to become darker.

The star above illuminate our walk in the night.

Only the sound of our footsteps was heard.

I can see her guitar case that she brought with her.

She focused looking forward whereas I started to look above to appreciate the night sky.

Surprisingly after a few moment like that, she started to talk to me.

"Hey... Artel-san can I ask you something?"

Her gaze was not moving from the road ahead.

"hmm? Sure"

I replied to her question in a relaxed tone

"Why are you playing music?"

Question mark appeared above my head. I didn't understand why she was asking me that.

I thought about it for a moment and decided to answer her honestly

"My mother is actually a Violinist too... She is the one who taught me how to play it"

"Does that mean, you played music just to follow your mother footstep?"

"Hahaha... well that is at first, but..."

I started to remember my practice.

How I was taught by mother and how I practiced to meet her expectation.

At first, I was just happy to be praised for my skill by her.

Of course, It was easier because I have a skill to help me grow.

"I lik- No, I love it"

I stated my honest feeling to her.

"Maybe it started with a wish of a kid who wanted a praise...

"However after some time, holding a Violin was a normal thing for me"

"I like the sound that it make"

"I like to express my feeling with music"

"Well... This might sound like bragging but I am actually talented at it"

I tried to imagine what would happen If I didn't get the musical talent skill?

"However even if I didn't have this talent... I can still confidently said ... I love music"

Maybe I won't be as good as I am today, heck I might be quite bad at it.

Still If I persisted, I was sure that I will at least this level someday.

She was looking at me feeling surprised.

"....Loving music? I was quite surprised you can say that calmly like that"

"hahaha... I was told that a lot back home... Sorry about that"

"No... It was quite a new perspective for me"

She thought about it, the reason she started to play guitar.

Her sister who had more talent than her.

She didn't know when it started.

Hina always like to copy what she did.

Everything she did, Hina can surpass it with her sheer talent alone.

She hated that feeling. Seeing something that you worked hard to obtain just to be beaten easily by someone with the same face as you.

She already forgot when this feeling started.

Everything that Hina copied she would quit. Eventually, the only thing she had left was the guitar.

Still even then, Hina still found her way to this world.

I looked at her silently. I can't really relate her with the same girl from the archery club..

She looked so brittle that slight touch could make her crumble.

Still I decided to ask her back.

"Senpai why did you start playing music?"

The same question that she gave me was thrown back like a boomerang.

It was her turn to answer.

Feeling that it will be unfair if I was the only one answering she started to speak.

"It's not something good like yours... I just want something to call my own... I hoped at least this time, I won't be overshadowed by her"

It's not hard to guess who this her refer to.

"Then how do you feel about music?"

For a few moment only silence was surrounding us.

"I don't know... For me, music was a way to showcase my ability and I never saw instruments as anything other than a tool for improving my own ability... For me, having talent and producing results is everything."

She declared it in firm voice to convince herself.

She focused all of her time to improve her guitar skill, In order to become a world-class performer, she did everything she could.

Whether to put more time to practice or researching a way to improve her skills.

"For someone who confidently said he loves music...In your eyes, do you think someone like me is pathetic?"

She looked at me waiting for my answer.

"I don't think there are any right or wrong way to pursue music."

There were band that formed to have fun, there were also other who was formed just to stay together as a childhood friend.

No matter what the reason was, the musician feeling will still be conveyed through their music.

"Pursuing technical mastery is just a way to show your passion toward music"

"You know, I watched Roselia performance... Well not the live one"

All of their performance showed how much they put in their music. Even I can feel it, their will to reach the top.

"..."

"I like the sound that you make with your guitar... So please have more confidence in yourself Senpai"

She was silent hearing my words.

"Do you always talk like this with all of your female friend?"

"huh? yeah... is there something wrong?"

She sighed and spoke in her cold voice.

"You should stop it... It will cause a lot of misunderstanding"

"*chuckle*... Well that's just how I am... Did that made your heart skip a beat?"

I said teasingly while winking to her only to get a glare from here.

"W-well your kouhai here is just worried because you showed such a gloomy atmosphere since before senpai"

".... Its none of your business"

She walked hurriedly and I followed behind her.

"Why are you following me?"

"Well my house is this way too"

Huh you said that? why are you complaining now.

We both start to increase our walking face

"Then walk behind me... Why are you so persistent?"

"Isn't it too late to say that when we already walked together until now"

We were already doing a small run now.

"uhm...Senpai why are we running again?"

"Shut up"

Her face was red. I didn't know whether it was from the running or something else.

The conclusion? well, we were resting in the park now. She was sitting beside me out of breath and resting her body. It started to become a race in the middle there.

She was actually bringing her guitar, So her stamina depleted quickly.

I stood up and bought some drink from the vending machine.

"Here"

She just took it silently and started to drink it. We sat just like that enjoying the moment.

"You can stop following me... I know your house was in different direction since few moments ago"

"Eh how did you know?"

I asked her

"I helped the teacher with your transfer procedure... So I got a glimpse of your information"

"Nothing pass you huh senpai... Well I will be resting for a while here... I was tired from all of that running"

She looked at me with a gaze that said whose fault is this.

"Even though we just meet today, I really saw a lot of your side"

"..."

"I never thought that you will eat all of that fries though...It was contrasting with your personality, You really like it huh?

"I don't like fries"

"*chuckle*Well lets leave it at that... I don't want to chase you running again"

She glared angrily at me.

No one will believe her if they saw the amount she ate just now.

We just sat there silently deciding to conserve our energy. After some time, she stood up.

I guessed she will go now. She was showing her back to me.

Before she walked away, She spoke to me again.

"hey...."

"Hm?"

I sent her questioning look.

"Thank you for listening to my pointless rambling"

"Don't worry about it..."

I smiled at her even though both of us can't see each other expression.

It seemed she was already feeling better. With that in mind, we went our separate ways.