By A Slight Mistake

As the student council elections came to an end, the once clamorous school grounds have now fallen silent.

The transition from the current student council to the new student council is being carried out swiftly.

Once the transition has finally been completed, the current student council will retire, marking December’s beginning.

Blank

Space

Speaking of December, the events held in it are the final exams and Christmas.

This year, because the student council elections became such a heated event, many people could be seen lamenting that their rank fell due to the fact they neglected to allocate enough time to study.

Classes are now required to reserve a portion of their time to allow us to memorize hymnal songs.

Although Shinonome Academy is not a Christian school for some reason, it has a chapel on its grounds.

The building itself appears to be quite archaic; perhaps it has been here even before the school’s construction.

The chapel’s beautiful stained glass rose windows are an impressive sight to behold; its intricate glasswork is a testament to its history.

What I can’t come to understand is that even though we’re not a Christian school every Christmas, we come to the chapel to sing Christmas hymns.

It seems other than the annual Christmas hymnal quire and occasional weddings, the chapel is rarely ever used.

That’s right, speaking of weddings.

Sometimes the alumni of Shinonome Academy hold their wedding ceremony in this chapel.

The light filtering through the stained glass windows creates such a picturesque scene captivating anyone who looks upon it; thus, some alumni request if they can hold their wedding ceremony in the chapel.

Permission is granted only when there are no students present.

So that means there is usually someone on stand by guarding the chapel.

Every time I visited, it was always unattended, so I assumed there was no one present.

The hall’s acoustics are reasonably good, as the pipe organ is set up in the wall’s corner.

When we practice singing, the organ could be heard no matter where you stand.

It seems that singing hymns are not enough anymore.

Now we’re to classify our voice type and sing the parts associated with it.

When I was in elementary school, we just sang it, but we’re to sing in harmony in high school.

Incidentally, in my first year of middle school, I was hospitalized; in the second year, I couldn’t sing since my physique was unstable, as, for my third year, I was too busy preparing for the event as a member of the student council hence I couldn’t participate, so I spent a lonely Christmas.

This year, I’m looking forward to finally being able to participate in this year’s event.

However, there is a problem here.

I’m not that good of a singer.

Nor is my voice all that great either.

I’m well aware my voice is far from being beautiful.

Although I speak in an alto, my voice range seems slightly higher when I sing.

I was told I was a mezzo-soprano during parting, so it must be true.

The looks of astonishment hurt my heart when they noticed I was placed in the mezzo-soprano group.

They’ve must of all thought that my voice was an alto, didn’t they?

“I thought Mizuki-sama would’ve done well as a tenor.”

It almost broke my heart when I was told that.

As expected, my pitch isn’t low enough.

“The parts that are sung by others keep dragging me out of tune. What should I do to fix this?”

I ask, dejected that I’m always worried about others’ notes that I can’t help but miss my parts.

“Isn’t it because you’re following the notes by ear?”

That was surprising to hear.

“Aren’t we supposed to pick up sound with our ears?”

“Sound is something you learn with your body.”

Huh? Is that so!?

While blinking repeatedly, I tilt my head.

“How does one learn sound through one’s body?”

Everyone appeared to gather after I finished asking.

“This is all……quite hard to explain with words.”

“I see. I’m also having trouble memorizing the correct tones since what I’m projecting isn’t what I want to sing, leaving me frustrated.”

“Mizuki-sama, you have an excellent pair of ears.”

“I’m sure you’ll do better playing an instrument than to be in the choir.”

“An instrument, you say? But, my knowledge of instruments is only the piano, for that’s all I’ve learned.”

Even then, I only took a few lessons back in kindergarten since my mother said it was a way to socialize.

Unlike a regular household where you’d have to go to school to learn, the instructor would visit the house; instead, their teaching methodology was mostly the same, but the material thought was the same.

To start with, I was taught to form my fingers as if I was lightly grasping an egg, then turn them around afterward; I would play a musical scale guessing game.

It was fun during those times, but when I started to play the piano, I began to get irritated because the sound on the CD and the sound I was playing was too different; one-day my brother Sohou while playing, lost himself in a frenzy and ended up destroying the piano room, So I quit.

My brother, who is precisely ten years older than me at that time, rampaged through the piano room with a wooden sword since the space is soundproof; his attendants were delighted that the noise commotion wasn’t able to leak out.

I was astonished to find the piano seriously damaged the next day, but secretly I was happy that I no longer had to learn it anymore.

“The piano is the king of musical instruments, and if you have a solid foundation, with enough practice, there isn’t any song you can’t play.”

While smiling brightly and being encouraged before I knew it, I was transferred from being a mezzo-soprano to filling the role of being a lead instrumentalist.

Not again!

I won’t be able to participate again this year as well!!

Oh well, unlike last year, I’ll be able to listen from a special seat.

When Hayate and the others noticed me sitting idly on a chair listening to the choir practice without participating, they asked me what was wrong; when I explained the circumstances, they began to laugh out loud.

It’s not like I was removed for being too tone deaf!

I pray that’s probably the case.

Since the end of November, the temperature has been dropping rapidly.

Usually, the temperature change is not this drastic, but this year’s temperature change is excessive.

“Uggh!!”

I couldn’t help but shout out in response to the sharp pain.

“Mizuki!?”

“It’s okay. I’m fine, no need to worry.”

I replied to Hayate, who is visibly worried over me.

The scars that would ache during the rainy season now feel like sharp knives cutting into my skin.

It appears my body can’t keep up with the sudden coldness.

My right leg still aches, but it’s not as bad as it was during the summer.

However, my body, fearing the pain in a desire to protect it, wants me to slowly move my body.

“It’s just slightly chilly.”

“It seems that the cold is your greatest rival. Next time you should wear a warmer coat.”

After saying that, Hayate removed his coat and placed it over my shoulders.

“Hayate, it’s cold! Please put wear your coat properly.”

“It’s not cold. If I do get cold, all I have to do is my body around.”

“That’s no good! You’ll catch a cold.”

“No, I won’t. I’ve been taking good care of my health recently so that I won’t ever catch a cold again.”

Ever since the incident that I encountered while he was absent from school due to catching a cold that later became pneumonia, Hayate has been managing his health very carefully.

He maintains a perfect physical condition to always remain by my side.

“If Hayate were ever to catch a cold, I would nurse you back to health.”

“Absolutely not!!”

Hayate refused with a startled expression.

You didn’t have to hate the thought of it that much, you know.

Still, his strong rejection slightly hurt my feelings.
(TN:ぎょっとしたような表情で、疾風が拒否する。

　そこまで嫌がらなくてもいいじゃないか。

　いくら私でも傷つくぞ。 I know I’m so wrong)

“A coat …… wearing a down one is probably too early.”

“Isn’t it fine? It’s not violating any school regulations.”

“…… Shinonome is lenient when it comes to coats.”

“Yeah. That does save me the trouble of getting permission.”

The school building is entirely heated and kept at a comfortable temperature, but when it comes to commuting to school, how one stays warm is up to the individual, so there aren’t many details specified for winter coats.

The colors allowed are black, ash, white, beige, brown, and other subdued colors.

As long as it’s not made of fur or any other material unbecoming of a student, you won’t be blindsided that much.

Right now, I’m currently wearing a gray half coat.

If I had chosen to wear a long one, my legs wouldn’t be hurting. I made a mistake in my choice.

Hayate, on the other hand, is wearing a bench coat.

Hayate claims he doesn’t feel the cold that much since he has a high body temperature, so he doesn’t do much to protect himself from the cold during winter.

With a nonchalant face, he says that all he needs to wear is a muffler.

Since Hayate took the trouble to bring a bench coat, it was probably intended for me.

How troublesome.

Hayate’s overprotectiveness has become too much for me.

He worries too much over me.

“Once Christmas is over, New Year’s will be right around the corner.”

“There are numerous events towards the end of the year. That I won’t be able to accept the invitations of Ariwara and the others.”

I want to change subjects, so my gloomy expression doesn’t return.

“It’s better than being a family of the Divine clan, isn’t it?”

Even in this cold weather, they hold the practice of misogi, a purification ritual where one must wash their bodies in cold water.

When I heard that, I was delighted I wasn’t born into a house belonging to the Divine clan.

If I needed to purify myself, I would probably consider using salt to do so; isn’t that enough.

While the Heavenly clan says, they submerge themselves in the ocean.

I would earnestly tell them that I didn’t want to raise their chances of a heart attack; they would reply with a radiant smile that only the men do it, so I shouldn’t worry.

Apparently, there is a slight difference between families that emphasize shrine maidens and those that emphasize Shinto priests.

I was slightly relieved to know that my classmates were not in such a harsh situation.

By the way, in my family, the men are charge of doing the year-end cleaning, while the women devote themselves to making osechi dishes.

It’s not just the osechi we’re making.

In addition to the variety of dishes, the number of people to cook for is not insignificant.

At a minimum, there must be at least 300 people to cook for.

We do this to entertain the people related to our companies, the Okabe’s, the branch families, and the other families that were once our vessels that come to greet us.

Some may think we should just get a caterer.

It would be easy to assemble a group of chefs from the hotels we own to cook for us.

However, for generations, the head of the family has said this is a way for us to express our gratitude to the people who serve our family; thus, the job has been left to the women.

Until last year, I wasn’t allowed to help, but starting this year, I am a helper, albeit a lowly one.

Thanks to everybody’s assistance, I’ve been able to grow so much as a person, so I want them to enjoy the day to the fullest. And since I’m asking for their help another year, there will be no housekeepers to help me.

“Don’t cut your fingers with the kitchen knife now.”

Hayate said teasingly.

“Don’t worry; I won’t be using a knife.”

“What are you doing then?”

“Hmm? I’m going to be grinding chestnuts…… my arms are going to be sore the next day.”

Young men are assigned jobs that require physical strength as well as stamina.

They were also asked to do other things like scrubbing the back of the yams.

“……After Christmas, I don’t mind starting the 3rd semester the next day.”

“Yeah.”

Hayate agrees with the unusual dread that soon follows.

This year there are many more people to give Christmas presents to, so it gets difficult to pick what to give.

But even so, it’s still fun to choose.

With that in mind, the two of us walked slowly, shoulder to shoulder.