Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part1 (1/2)
In this chapter: The kyudo club gets a new coach (guess who it is), we learn more about Nanao and Kaito, and get a first mention of the rival school.
Glossary is
Full list of translations
Translation Notes
1. Umanori hakama (lit. horse-riding hakama) is a type of hakama with divided legs like trousers. Kaku obi is the traditional obi that many j.a.panese martial artists wear.
2. Rankings in kyudo are tested for in examinations called s.h.i.+nsa. Ma.s.san holds the fifth dan rank, out of a total of ten. Think of it as similar to testing for a higher colored belt in karate. Read more about it on wikipedia
3. The sanjuu juumonji refer to the three crosses of the “three crosses of the spine and shoulders, the spine and waist, and the spine and the line of the feet on the ground“ ()
4. The original saying here is “ 一射絶命” (issha zetsumei), which literally means “one shot and expire”.
5. Kaichuu means. .h.i.tting the target every time.
6. Ryouhei kneels in the kiza position, which looks like .
7. The yazurindou is a wrapping above the bow grip that protects the wearing of the bow from the arrow
Could it be called a command of the G.o.ds?
Something occurred which might have been devised by someone else.
“Minato, Seiya, let’s go!”
“Okay.”
Ryouhei came for them after school, and Minato headed for the kyudojo.
From the hallway windows, they saw a paddy field reflecting the sky that was beginning to clear up. The treetops of the forest turned into new leaves and the wind grazed his cheeks, so he took in a deep breath to not let them get away. Both the faces of his friends by his side, and the profile of the archer seen in Yata no Mori, still seemed like dreams.
He was happy, but felt pained at same time.
By the time they were about to approach the new month, the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club had been left with five boys and three girls, a total of eight members. The club president and captain of the boys’ team was Seiya, and the captain of the girls’ team was Seo. Some people had already quit as they were not able to draw the bow very much, but for Minato, who mainly retrieved arrows and shouted out “Alright!” as his club activities during his first year in middle school, and was only able to draw a bow in front of the targets in his second year, he thought that the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club was blessed.
They used the waiting room to change clothes. The hakama used for kyudo was umanori hakama and the obi was kaku obi. (1) For kyudo girls, there was the impression that they wore “muneate” (breastplate) to protect their chests, but boys also used it when they were beginners and didn’t wear kyudogi. Personal accessories like wrist.w.a.tches, ribbons and piercings were prohibited for safety purposes.
Ryouhei wasn’t used to hakama yet, so the string was sticking out from his side. As Minato was helping him get his clothes straightened out, Nanao and the three girls came.
“Merha! Thanks for setting the targets up, Minato!”
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re so formal. Isn’t it good to be more cheerful and use words that only you use? ‘Pazhalooysta’ is how you say 'you’re welcome’ in Russian, so what do you think of saying 'Pazarinko’?”
“…Pah-what?”
When he was unable to respond to the meaningless words spoken by Nanao, Hanazawa and s.h.i.+ragiku spoke in his place.
“Narumiykun, it’s okay if you don’t talk to Kisaragi-kun,” Hanazawa said.
“There sure are a lot of tsundere kyudo girls. That’s still cute, though,” Nanao replied.
“That is absolutely wrong.”
“There is no one in this world greater than Seo,” s.h.i.+ragiku said.
“That’s right, Seo is cooler than any boy. The reason why there are only three girls left was because the people from the Nanao Fan Club were saying that we were getting a head start and barging in, so we had to stop that because we can’t have that. The boys were acting like boys and they seemed to have gotten spooked by Onogi-kun. Ah geez, even though Tomi-sensei was teaching so carefully and politely, it really is too pitiful!”
“Kacchan’s thing is having an appearance overflowing with intensity, so it can’t be helped, right? I am kind of a sinful man, after all!”
“Shut up, you meha pazarinko boy! Get burned in the fires of h.e.l.l!”
When Nanao talked, it became a little uncertain if this was a kyudo club or a chatting club, but everyone got along well even though it was a small number of people. It was probably also great that Seo from the girls’ team and Seiya from the boys’ team got the trust of each member. Minato was mostly greeted with a welcome mood, but there was one person who displayed their disapproval openly.
Kaito stopped near Minato, at a place where their shoulders were just barely touching.
“You’re just nonchalantly joining the club around this time…I don’t know what the h.e.l.l hayake is, but we don’t need guys with no motivation.”
“I feel regretful about joining the club so late. But, I do have motivation.”
“How much motivation would a guy who was invited by Seiya and Ryouhei and reluctantly joined the club have? And, you’re gonna do a tournament as soon as you joined? Are you guys messing with us? If you’re playing at being friends then do it with something else.”
“I don’t care what you say about me, but don’t talk bad about Seiya and Ryouhei.”
“…I don’t like that kind of thing… Listen, you used the excuse of hayake to run away from kyudo. I’m saying that I won’t acknowledge a guy like that as my comrade.”
“I’m not going to run away anymore. I don’t know when my hayake will start up again, but even so I’m ready to hold it together. How can I get you to acknowledge me as a comrade?”
“Hah, you, my comrade? Don’t make me laugh. That day will never come.”
“As a member of the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club, I want to take things on as the five of us.”
“Prattle on as much as you want.”
Kaito walked away with a sharp glint in his eyes.
When Seiya signalled them to gather, Tomi-sensei had a daring smile on his face.
“Golden Week is approaching, so the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club will be doing some secret training.”
“Secret training!? Awesome!”
Since Ryouhei was innocently excited about it, Tomi-sensei, looking satisfied, continued on.
“It would be good if I could demonstrate for you all, but unfortunately I cannot draw a bow due to back pain. On the other hand, if you just go to workshops and the like and be told this and that, you will not understand the priority of improvement, and it might become a situation where everything ends up half-done. So, I decided to invite our school’s specialist coach.”
When he saw where Tomi-sensei was looking, Minato’s mouth hung half-open.
“——Ma.s.san!?”
Someone else’s voice overlapped his.
When he looked for the owner of the voice, his eyes met Kaito’s. Why does Kaito know Ma.s.san? The other person was having the same thoughts as he looked at Minato.
“Oh, do you two know him? This is the priest of Yata Shrine, Takigawa Masaki-san of the fifth dan. (2) He is really amazing. He’s been holding a bow since he was three and has a kyudo experience of twenty years at this young age, and furthermore, his. .h.i.tting rate is ninety-six percent. Because of that, you can absolutely expect to get better.”
“You are somewhat raising the bar for me. I’m Takigawa, nice to meet you all.”
Ma.s.san had shorter hair than when he had saw him at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo. As Minato stared at him wondering if this was a dream, their eyes met and he grinned. That made his cheeks relax, and he restrained his confused mouth.
When the introductions were over, Kaito was the first to run up to Ma.s.san.
“You being our sensei is really unexpected, Ma.s.san. You told me that you were going to take a break from the bow for a while.”
“Oh, Kaito. You really did join the kyudo club in high school.”
“Of course. This time I’ll definitely win first place in individuals.”
“Is this Nanao?”
Nanao bowed his head slightly.
“Hey, nice to meet you. I heard about you from Kacchan, Ma.s.san.”
“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me Kacchan?”
“Ehh, but isn’t Kacchan Kacchan? Ma.s.san, don’t you think so as well?”
Ma.s.san smiled meaningfully after seeing Kaito.
“That’s right, shall I’ll call you Kacchan from now on too?”
“Stop, Ma.s.san! I’ll kick you flying!”
“Heh, are you going to try it?”
Kaito recoiled.
Seeing Kaito of all people acting so obedient and familiar with Ma.s.san made Minato feel mixed feelings. And then, Seiya went to Ma.s.san with an excessively polite greeting.
“Pleased to meet you, I am the club president, Takehaya Seiya. Thank you very much for agreeing to be our coach at this time. I am sorry for this sudden rude question, but are you keeping a pet bird, Takigawsensei?”
What is he asking? Minato turned pale in his mind. Was it unwise to hide Ma.s.san from Seiya?
Ma.s.san answered him in his usual easygoing manner.
“No? I don’t have one. And, if possible I would like to keep things simple when addressing me. You can call me anything other than 'sensei’ like Taki-san or Ma.s.san.”
“Then, may I call you Ma.s.san like Minato?”
“Oh, that’s fine, Seiya.”
Although the two of them were smiling, Minato felt like running away and quickly left that situation.
Ma.s.san watched everyone’s shooting briefly, then went to stand by Ryouhei’s side. Ma.s.san was even taller than Ryouhei, so when they stood in a line it created an illusion that one had shrunk.
Ryouhei had the best physique among the club members, and his bow and arrows made longer and more dynamic shots than anyone else’s. If he hit he would break into a sequence of hits, but on days he didn’t hit he would never get one. He often hit the curtain. At the beginning he drew his arrows with enough force to cause the shafts to bend, and the arrows he shot into the makiwara broke. No one was ever heard to have broken as much makiwara arrows as Ryouhei had.
Ma.s.san gently pushed Ryouhei’s elbow as he was in the midst of drawing, moving it around to a back position.
“You’re breaking the vertical line because your right hand is too strong. Stretch your knees and try to make your center of gravity stand a little closer to the front. Also, where do you think the root of your arms are?”
“Um, the shoulders?”
“Actually, it’s more behind, at the shoulder blades. That’s why it’s said that the bow is drawn with the back. Try thinking that the arms are growing from the shoulder blades and drawing.”
“Okay, thank you very much!”
Ryouhei’s eyes were teary. He felt like he understood it with his body.
Nanao himself requested guidance.
Nanao’s shots were very light. They were shots that seemed to appeal, “Look at me, look!”, the direct opposite of fighting spirit and being awe-inspiring. Because his arrows flew without much momentum, the duration of his shots felt much longer than other people’s.
“I guess it’s because I don’t have a bow as strong as a thirteen-kilogram one, that my arrows easily go downwards. But on the other hand, s.h.i.+ragiku-san’s bow is ten-kilograms, and she can hit properly.”
“That’s right, everyone should come and watch as well. Ryouhei, who has a large body and powerful shots, and Nanao, who shoots more gently compared to him. In fact, these two have a common point that they should fix. Nanao, try and do 'douzukuri.’”
Asked to do it, Nanao placed the lower part of his bow on his left knee and placed his right hand around his right hip. And then, he was completely pushed from behind. He stumbled forwards a little.
“He wasn’t following the vertical line. Ryouhei’s body was tilting to the right, and Nanao’s center of gravity was on his heels. Then, how do you place the center of gravity of your whole body into the center of your back? Your popliteal s.p.a.ce—the back of your knee joints, which you stretch and stabilize your two feet, making the 'sanjuu juumonji.’” (3)
“The sanjuu juumonji is where the soles and back and shoulders are overlapping on top of each other when seen from above, right?”
“Correct. Nanao, you’re really studying hard, aren’t you?”
“Heh heh, just leave it to me.”
“The sanjuu juumonji is a vertical axis required to configure the shape of the tateyoko juumonji. Stretch your spine and nape straight and while exhaling, lower your shoulder blades and gather your mentality to the 'dantian’ in the center of your belly, below your navel. Try that.”
Once again, he was pushed on his back area from behind, but this time he didn’t wobble. Nanao had a completely triumphant look on his face.