Volume 1 Chapter 5 Part2 (1/2)
In this chapter: …s.h.i.+t.
In other news, beware the one-eyed fish.
Glossary
Full list of translations
Translation Notes
1. A rens.h.i.+ is a martial arts rank. Someone with this t.i.tle is at least a fifth dan and has the ability to instruct in kyudo.
2. Yurumibanare is when either the left or right hand or both hands s.h.i.+ft forward over the line connecting both shoulders at hanare. Considered to be as difficult to fix as hayake.
3. The characters used here are the same as tenouchi, but it’s read as “te no naka”, which means “in the hand”.
4. The urazori is the inward curvature or recurve of an unstrung bow. ()
5. A hans.h.i.+ “exemplifies the highest degree of conduct, dignity, and perfection of ability, together with the highest quality of discernment.” ()
6. The Ogasawarryuu is a mounted archery school of kyudo. They seem to wear different, more ceremonial looking clothing for kyudo, clothes that resemble what Minato and the others are wearing in book 2 (from what I’ve seen)
7. The word used here is Satoyama, which was difficult to understand for me, but according to Wikipedia it refers to the area between foothills and farming land. Similar to satokawa from the last part except with mountains.
At Kazemai High School, the ball game tournament between cla.s.ses was being held for each grade.
Minato and Seiya were wearing t-s.h.i.+rts and headbands in their cla.s.s color of blue. There were ten first-year cla.s.ses, and a single compet.i.tion took forty minutes for all the games in the tournament method. The two were partic.i.p.ating in the softball game, with Seiya on first base and Minato defending the shortstop.
When they were decorated with the star of victory for the first match, they went to the sports ground for the second match, where they encountered Kaito in an imposing stance, with his red headband swaying in the wind and his arms crossed. He was just standing there silently, but he looked angry to those who did not know him.
He unfolded his arms when he saw Seiya and Minato.
“You guys are doing softball too?”
“Kaito, I’m pretty sure the soccer field isn’t here?”
“Seiyaaaa, not you too. Sheesh, it must be Nanao’s influence.”
“Where are Ryouhei and Nanao?”
“They’re doing basketball. I wish they’d do softball and then soccer like us. It would be bad if they sprained their fingers. To begin with, any club would be using this period to prepare for the prefectural tournament, so what’s with this school to have a ball game tournament right now?”
“There are a lot of schools that have their sports festivals in May. Ryouhei and Nanao will be fine since they have good reflexes.”
“You guys should also be careful about injuries, at least. I want to avoid not being able to take part in the tournament because of injuries.”
“Ah. We won’t overdo it.”
At the convening signal, the three took their positions. The red team was batting first, and the first batter was Kaito. When the outfielders shouted, “We’re ready!”, Minato lowered his hips.
The first pitch was let go, and the second pitch was swung at and missed. The spectators jeered. Kaito narrowed his eyes and readied his bat again. And then he swung—and hit. He ran to first base, and turned to the baseman Seiya with a “How was that?” look on his face.
After the second and third batters ended up hitting comebackers, it was the fourth batter’s turn. The batted ball drew a huge parabola between the second and third bases as it flew, and Minato raised his glove high above his head and caught it.
Next, it was Minato’s blue team on offense. His teammate enthusiastically entered the batter’s box, and then the ball thrown into the air from an underhanded throw was cleanly sucked into the catcher’s mitt.
Both teams ended two innings with three batters out, and then at the bottom of the third inning, the batting order came to Minato. He put the helmet on and went to the batter’s box, and there was Kaito in the left field.
The first pitch fell outside the strike zone. It had speed, and it felt like it was going right towards him, making it difficult to hit. Minato held his bat a little shorter, and resolved himself to hit it rather than making it fly. For the second ball he also carefully adjusted his eyes on the ball’s course.
But, the third ball. The ball the pitcher threw went towards an unexpected direction—towards Minato’s left flank.
In the cloud of dust, Minato was kneeling on the ground. Seiya quickly rushed over.
“Minato, are you okay!? Where did you get hit!?”
Minato, seemingly embarra.s.sed, got up.
“I didn’t get hit anywhere. I just fell over when I was dodging the ball.”
“Thank goodness… It looks like we need a pinch hitter.”
“I said I’m fine, no need to go that overboard.”
Minato raised his hand to the pitcher, and the pitcher bowed his head. Kaito, who was watching from outfield, also felt relieved. In the end, Minato withdrew to the bench without going out to the bases.
The game continued thereafter, and the victory ended up going to the red team with a score of three to two. Because it was a tournament match, the partic.i.p.ation of the defeated blue team ended there. Minato and Seiya headed to the gym to cheer on the basketball game.
In the gym, Nanao’s pink-headbanded team and Ryouhei’s yellow-headbanded team were facing off. Ryouhei made use of his height and defended his basket, while Nanao dodged his opponents with his brisk dribbling. When he made his shot, the line of girls in the Nanao Fan Club cheered in unison.
Minato put his hand on his left flank.
“Nanao is really popular. If that cheering squad came to kyudo compet.i.tions, I’d probably freeze up.”
“Leaving that aside, Minato, are you sure you didn’t get hit by that ball? Did it graze you even a little?”
“I really didn’t get hit at all. I don’t even know why I put my hand on my wound just now.”
“By the way, do you go to your regular checkups? You went to them around this time every year, right?”
“Oh, I forgot about it. But, it’s already been four years, so it might be okay if I didn’t go.”
“Don’t do that!”
Because Seiya raised his voice, Minato was thrown off-guard and his body trembled.
“Even though you think you’re in good condition, doesn’t it still hurt sometimes? Please go to your checkup. If you like, I can ask my parents to drive you.”
“No, I didn’t ask you to go that far.”
“If you don’t like waiting, then shall I come with you as someone to kill time with?”
Minato felt uncomfortable with Seiya’s insistent suggestions.
“Didn’t I tell you that I’m fine? Why are you worrying about me so much? I’m already in high school. It’s different from when I was in elementary school.”
“I have a responsibility to worry about your health.”
“What do you mean, ‘responsibility?’ It kinda sounds like you’re feeling guilty about something, doesn’t it?”
Seiya was silenced for a moment.
Minato meant it as a joke, but his heart was beating quickly.
“…Seiya?”
“It’s my responsibility as the president of the kyudo club. The hospital is a place that you should properly go to. Understood?”
With that, Seiya moved his gaze to the basketball court.
The game ended with Ryouhei’s yellow team winning, and at the end of the tournament, the teams without the kyudo club members won the overall champions.h.i.+ps in both softball and basketball.
After the ball game tournament, Minato finished club activities earlier than usual and went to visit Yata Shrine.
The front shrine was dyed in amber, but the sky was still blue. After he finished praying, he went to the back of the shrine grounds. After a while he arrived at the pond whose surroundings they had swept clean during the training camp. The water was clear, and he could see the stems of the water lilies extending from the sandy soil as well as the colored carp swimming between the gaps as though weaving them together.
As he chased the carps with his eyes, he thought, Why did I say that?
Perhaps he was hoping for the words, “What are you talking about?”
Seiya’s concern for Minato was unnatural in some respects, and something about it couldn’t be cleared up by the word “meddling.” In the beginning he thought it was just his imagination, but he was afraid because it was looking more and more likely by the day. He wanted someone to deny those foolish delusions, to laugh them away, but he wondered who on earth he could talk about these things with.
He sat on a rock at the edge of the pond and was looking at the birds flying in the sky, when suddenly a voice called out to him.
It was Ma.s.san’s brother, Ren.
“Well, if it isn’t Minato-kun. I haven’t seen you since the training camp.”
“Ren-san, long time no see. I see that you are still staying here.”
“Don’t drive me away like that. Right now, I have a break between jobs, so I felt like relaxing.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that. I’m so sorry!”
Ren chuckled.
“You’re so serious. Do you need Masaki for something?”
“No, I was just stopping by. Ma.s.san was absent for club activities today because of business, and I heard that he doesn’t live at Yata Shrine.”
“Oh, that’s right. Masaki is going to his renseikai right now.”
“Renseikai?”
“It’s a study meeting sponsored by the prefectural party chapter for those who are taking the rens.h.i.+ (1) examinations. He announced that he must study more in order to teach others. When he stopped drawing the bow in Grandpa’s territory, he had been going to a famous teacher outside the prefecture to ask for teaching without even joining the kyudo club in university, so what changed his mind?”
Ren put his hand on his chin and raised a corner of his mouth. The suspicious sensuality of an adult man drifted in the air. Ma.s.san was also a full-fledged adult, but when compared with Ren he still had a bit of childishness left in him, and his manners were gentler as well.
“Minato-kun, have you heard any stories about this pond?”
“No, I haven’t.”
Ren removed his hand from his chin and dropped his gaze to the pond.
“It is said that a one-eyed fish lives in this pond. In a certain era, the girl selected as a sacrifice to be given to the G.o.ds was so beautiful that the villagers regretted presenting her and hid her in the forest. But, that incurred the wrath of the G.o.ds and the girl was turned into a fish wounded in one eye, and the village was. .h.i.t with famine that year. After that, it appeared that those who saw the one-eyed fish in the pond would have unexpected accidents one after the other. The ones who saw the one-eyed fish would be entranced by it, so you must never look into the pond—that’s how the legend goes. Well, there’s no one in my family who actually saw the one-eyed fish.”
“That legend is a little scary.”
“A long time ago in this area, there was a custom of wounding the special thing that was given to the G.o.ds in order to separate it from others. Perhaps you have a wound on a part of your body as well?”
The trees rustled against the borrowed background of darkening sky.
There was a long shadow at his feet.
Minato frantically resisted the urge to press the scar on his left flank.
“Ren-san, please don’t scare me. I’m just a high school student who loves kyudo.”
“Fufu, sorry. Well, I suppose I should be heading back to the office. You must not stay out late either. Take care.”
After watching Ren go, Minato cautiously peeked into the pond.
There were ripples on the surface of the pond. The sunset was being reflected, making it difficult to see the bottom, but with the exception of its high transparency, it was an extremely normal pond. However, when he spotted multiple outlines of fish, Minato’s heart thudded. It’s just carp. I must not look, I must not look, he thought without looking away, and then a milky white carp slowly appeared from the bottom, with one of its eyes crushed.
“Minato.”
Minato was frozen stiff at the sudden voice that jumped into his ears. When he looked to see where he had heard the voice from, he saw a familiar face there.
“…Ma.s.san.”
“You’ll fall in if you look into the pond that far. So, I heard from Ren that you came here. Do you need me for something?”
“No, not in particular. Ma.s.san, you were at a renseikai today…”
“It ended, so I came back now. I thought about reviewing what I was taught before I forgot it, so I stopped by for a little bit.”
“If you’re going to draw your bow, then can you let me observe for a little bit as well?”
“Ah, by all means.”
Minato followed Ma.s.san and they headed towards the Yata no Mori Kyudojo.
After he finished preparations, Ma.s.san stood at the shooting line, and Minato sat in seiza next to the judge’s seats.
“I tried asking about hayake at the renseikai. I was told that if the right elbow is before the body, then it would be easier to get hayake or yurumibanare.” (2)
While explaining, Ma.s.san parted the bow widely. His arrow went towards the target with a sharp hanare.
Once he finished his brief practice, Ma.s.san rummaged around in his bag and took out a can of coffee written with the meaning of “wonderful.”
“Here you go.”
“Thanks. You really do love coffee, don’t you, Ma.s.san.”
“Yep. It’s all delicious, whether it’s drip coffee or canned.”
While Minato drank the coffee, he stared at Ma.s.san’s hands. Those long fingers hid the technique to create a beautiful tsurune.
Drawing the bow, and releasing the arrow. There was no gap for the intervention of strategy and tactics there. What was there was the bow and person exchanging a few words. Exactly how much time was needed to gain the skill of picking up the sounds the yugake expressed, and sublimate that into tsurune? It was said that “the style is the man himself,” but his shooting also represented him. Ma.s.san’s shooting was like a tree in a forest. It combined generosity and strength.