After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Music has the power to heal hearts, a medium that can transcend race, nationality, gender, and even species to understand emotions.

The history of music is the history of humanity.

The earliest ancient humans accompanied their music with the sound of rain and created melodies by striking stones.

Modern humans use man-made instruments like guitars, violins, and pianos to produce more complex sounds.

Music is something that will never be phased out, as it has always been in demand from ancient times to the present, unless humans become extinct or future generations lose the ability to recognize melodies.

From this perspective, being a musician seems to be quite a secure job.

Unfortunately, reality is not that simple. Only a very small part of people can gain benefits beyond their efforts, and most who study music either give up, become teachers, or sell musical instruments.

All this can be attributed to one concept—talent. There are too many people studying music and too few truly talented ones.

Some people start learning from a young age and grow up to become "hardworking geniuses."

Some need much less practice than others to achieve the same results, these are "born geniuses."

In Kagura Hikaru's eyes, Ruzaki Mami was the former.

Honestly, for her age, her piano skills were already very strong.

But Kagura Hikaru could see and hear that her music lacked that crucial touch of spirituality.

People distinguish between 'muggles' and 'geniuses' through the spirituality of a work.

Works that dazzle, and those that blend into the crowd, can easily be differentiated by someone familiar with the subject matter.

However, spirituality can be attained through effort, so Kagura Hikaru was not worried about Ruzaki Mami.

Spirituality is not the exclusive property of geniuses; anyone who thinks so surely misunderstands what a 'genius' really is.
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A genius is essentially a learning ability and a unique mode of thinking; they always find the most beneficial direction to work in and learn skills in the smartest, fastest ways.

Even the ability to endure boredom and willing to practice day after day for years is a talent—the talent for hard work.

Ruzaki Mami had her mother to supervise her and even had access to fame channels and music circles that most people don't have, so as long as she persisted, she would succeed.

A future that was already arranged with no need for worry.

"Okay, repeat this section, a bit faster."

Kagura Hikaru sat next to the piano, watching Ruzaki Mami repeat the musical passage as instructed, accelerating the tempo.

After she successfully finished, she looked over, her eyes watery like a baby asking for a reward.

Kagura Hikaru remained unmoved, "Continue, play through the whole piece."

Ruzaki Mami pouted in disappointment but knew this was just how Kagura Hikaru was, and started playing from the beginning again.

Her playing was not very powerful, probably because she was used to a lighter touch on the keys, something that would need improvement later.

Kagura Hikaru silently noted the teaching points, and with intermittent guidance, the two-hour session quickly passed.

After all, he was just a student and didn't have much time, so from the beginning, he and Ruzaki's mother had agreed to work only three times a week, two hours each time.

Ruzaki's mother also paid him ten times the market rate, treating him like a private tutor.

Theory wasn't something Kagura Hikaru needed to teach, as Ruzaki Mami already knew it, so he only directed her actual performance.

This was easy to teach, as long as he pointed out Ruzaki Mami's bad habits and mistakes and then taught her more difficult pieces for practice.

Ruzaki Mami was a good student, who spoke little but did much and was obedient and non-rebellious. Kagura Hikaru had no experience teaching students, but he was sure that even if he became a teacher in the future, it would be hard to find another student as compliant as her.

After practicing for two hours, and during their break, they sat back on the living room sofa to snack and chat.

"Good work," Ai Cheng Hua Lian smiled as she handed juice drinks to him and Ruzaki Mami.

She had been sitting in the back watching them play the piano.

Perhaps afraid of disturbing them, she didn't even turn on the television.

"Thanks," Kagura Hikaru took the two drinks, handed one to Ruzaki Mami, sat next to Ai Cheng Hua Lian, and casually asked, "Speaking of which, Ai Cheng, why are you here at Ruzaki's house so early in the morning and still in your pajamas? Did you spend the night here?"

"Yeah, we had a pajama party with a few girls and it got very late, so we stayed over,"

"Where are the others then?" Kagura Hikaru asked.

He thought he arrived quite early, but he didn't see the other two girls from the Red Pepper Band.

Ruzaki Mami answered awkwardly, "They... are still upstairs, haven't gotten up yet."

"Probably stayed up too late last night," Ai Cheng Karen replied with an uncomfortable laugh, trying to save face for her friend.

Kagura Hikaru: "... I understand."

Ruzaki Mami turned on the TV in the living room, and the three of them chatted about recent international situations, odd incidents involving American singers and a new action game—the topics varied widely.

Seeing it was about time, Kagura Hikaru suggested that he should leave.

"I'll head off first, you guys take your time," he said as he stood up from the couch and nodded to Ai Cheng Karen and Ruzaki Mami.

Before he left, Kiryu Hina was still complaining that he was leaving too early; she wondered what she'd be scolded for if she went back later and she also needed to leave time to buy 'souvenirs'.

Kagura Hikaru knew that was her joking, so the souvenir wasn't for her; it was for his mother and Kiryu Masaki, and Kagura Hikaru planned to buy a gift to give at the wedding as a wedding memento.

As for Kiryu Hina, just buying a random banana to appease her would suffice.

Seeing that Kagura Hikaru was about to go, Ai Cheng Karen hurriedly gave her best friend a look.

Ruzaki Mami got the hint and stood up, saying, "Let me walk you to the door, Mr. Kagura."

"Okay."

Ruzaki Mami led Kagura Hikaru toward the door, possibly because she was uneasy; she looked back at Ai Cheng Karen unconsciously.

She stood there looking back at her with a smile.

But for some reason, Ruzaki Mami suddenly felt incredibly sad, even regretful.

Maybe it was her eyes, that heavy blessing.

The two passed through the mansion's main door and the outdoor gate fence, arriving outside.

"That's far enough, see you at the company tomorrow." Kagura Hikaru said, then he was about to leave.

With a multitude of conflicts flashing across her face, Ruzaki Mami clutched at her collar and blurted out, "Wait, wait a minute, Mr. Kagura!"

"Hmm?" Kagura Hikaru turned his head back, "Is there something else?"

"This, that..."

Even though the weather was cool, Ruzaki Mami felt her back was covered in sweat.

The warmth of Ai Cheng Karen holding her in bed last night, the look she gave her when she was leaving, was still echoing in her mind, impossible to forget.

She was silent for a long time.

Kagura Hikaru's puzzled gaze lingered: "Ruzaki?"

".....Mr. Kagura."

Ruzaki Mami raised her head and clutched at her chest, her face serious. She took a deep breath and said loudly:

"I'm sorry, I think I like Karen-chan more than you!!"

"What?"

"Ah, eh, um, that…"

Ruzaki Mami, in a panic, wildly gestured with her hands and feet and ran back: "Just, just that, see you, see you tomorrow, see you in the morning!"

"???"

Kagura Hikaru watched her run back into the house, bewildered.

Was that... a declaration of cheating?

But why did she say that to him?

...Eh?

Kagura Hikaru returned home with astonishment, only to realize when he stepped inside that he not only went to the wrong house but also forgot to buy the souvenirs.

Ashamed, he locked the door and fled.