Volume 1 Chapter 6 Part2 (1/2)

In this chapter: We find out who wins the compet.i.tion (which is already spoiled by the second volume summary)

Here we have the very last chapter of Tsurune 1, but there’s still an afterword left!

Glossary

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. j.a.panese puns, my old friend! Ataranai can mean “not hitting” but it can also mean “not spoiling/going bad”.

2. I’m not really sure what matohari means. It appears to be the act of stretching the target paper over a frame, but apparently it also means tidying up the kyudojo??

3. The words used here describe brush strokes used in calligraphy.

4. The kanji for eshajouri are 会者定離.

5. A kagura is a s.h.i.+nto ritual of song and dance. You can read more about it on Wikipedia

The tiebreaking match for the team compet.i.tion was “ippon kyousha” (one arrow shooting compet.i.tion). Each person shot one arrow, and the team with the most total hits would receive the higher rank. In the case where it wasn’t decided by one round, it would be repeated until the rankings were decided.

Kubo Commercial High School entered the first shajo, and Kazemai High School entered the second. The compet.i.tors held one arrow in their hands, their remaining three entrusted to their managers and lined up at the entrance.

The oomae Kaito turned around and scolded them all.

“Did you all wipe your wet arrows properly? I’ll hit first, so all of you need to follow my lead.”

Even though Ryouhei answered with, “Okay,” Minato could not hide his anxiety. Kirisaki High School had advanced to the finals tournament with the high result of thirty-three hits total. Was Shuu watching the progress of this match from somewhere?

Minato had never done an ippon kyousha in a compet.i.tion even once until now, but when he thought about it now, that was all thanks to Shuu. There was Seiya right behind him, and the ochi was Shuu. Because he was there, he was able to draw with his mind at ease. And because his mind was at ease, he could hit.

Was that the responsibility of the ochi? It was a position where one needed ability and strength just to make one’s comrades feel secure. He thought that the burden was too heavy on him. Even if they successfully won this match and advanced to the finals, would he be able to withstand this pressure until the end?

He waited for his own turn. He waited for the right time to arise.

It was said that waiting was also a type of training, which certainly might be true. From the very back of the line, Minato once again watched his teammate’s backs.

The oomaes began uchiokos.h.i.+. Both Kubo and Kazemai hit their targets, and then the compet.i.tors changed their directions from the targets, faced backwards towards the honza and sat down. Excepting the cases where there were many teams in a tie, no one can leave the shajo until compet.i.tion results were decided. Ryouhei and the second archer from Kubo missed, and the third, fourth and fifth hit. They got the exact same scores, so they entered a second round.

Minato returned to honza briefly, got an arrow and then went to the shooting line again.

When Kaito and Ryouhei both hit, the cheering party from Kazemai cheered, “Alright!” It appeared that hitting had returned to Ryouhei. But unexpectedly, here was where Seiya missed. His steps as he retreated to the honza were heavy. When Minato confirmed that out of the corner of his eye, he felt his heart beat faster.

Then, Nanao hit, and because the fourth archer from Kubo missed, the outcome of the match was carried over to the fifth archer.

It was a one-on-one battle between “ochi.”

Suddenly, Minato had a flashback to the scene when his hayake started up.

——The sound of my heartbeat is thumping at a horribly quick speed. I feel so suffocated that I wonder if it is only the air around me that turned thin. Even though I try to do yugamae, my hands slip with sweat and I can’t grip my bow well. What’s wrong with me. Why am I releasing the arrows even though I wasn’t thinking about doing that. I can’t do “kai.” My body isn’t listening to what I’m telling it. Somebody stop this course of events——

Because the preliminaries were over for everyone except these two teams, the venue was noisy and the laughing of people joking around sounded. The shooting range (yamichi) was covered by a white mist, and the targets that were dimly floating to the surface were provoking the archers.

Minato took in a deep breath. When he closed his eyes and changed the noise of the people into the sounds of rain, the scent of the gra.s.s and dirt grazed against his nose. While wrapped in that nostalgic smell, he slowly lifted his bow. He spread his chest wide and placed himself in the middle of his bow. He began to count.

One, two, three, four, five…

He recalled the no-shoot shooting method he practiced many times. The sound of the rain played a background chorus. He continued to exhale, persisting to never let go even if he collapsed from lack of oxygen, and waited for that moment. He calmly released his arrow along with the sounds of the raindrops falling.

There was a hitting sound, but it could not be determined from the shajo whether the arrow hit the target or it only struck the target frame from outside. There was no decision and a “?” was displayed. At that moment, the ochi from Kubo missed.

The red flag was displayed, and after the target watchers approached and confirmed, a “〇” was shown.

A lovely “Alright!” came from the group with the frog-shaped uchiwa fans, and the other spectators also applauded. Minato let out a deep breath.

Having fought through the tiebreaking match, Kazemai High School obtained their next ticket.

At their lunch break, they joined the girl members who were in the stands and took lunch in the building.

Seiya spread open the program next to Kaito.

“The finals tournament’s match-ups were published. Kirisaki High School is a border that we can’t touch unless we make it to the final round.”

“It’s too bad that we can’t match them readily, but it can also be said that we are lucky.”

“We are lucky, there’s no doubt about that. There’s a method to how we exit the shajo after the finals, but it’s just like in the ippon kyousha: we return to honza after finis.h.i.+ng our four shots and wait, receive the decision for the compet.i.tion results and empty out.”

“Got it.”

As the two were confirming the gyousha procedure, Ryouhei stuffed his mouth with onigiri and spat out the pits of the umebos.h.i.+ plums. Upon seeing that, Hanazawa made an “ah” face.

“Yamanouchi-kun, the reason why you haven’t been doing well might be because of that.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Umebos.h.i.+ don’t spoil easily so they don’t cause diarrhea. In other words, it won’t hit.” (1)

“Isn’t that just a bad pun?”

“I was told that a long time ago. Or rather, it’s a jinx.”

“We have umebos.h.i.+ too.”

When Nanao said that, Minato, Seiya, and even Kaito raised their onigiri. Nanao and Ryouhei cheered, “Yay!”, gestured with their onigiri like they were going to make a toast, and giggled. “Umebos.h.i.+, nooooo hit. Pollack roe, maaaaybe hit,” they chanted, in high spirits.

After Minato finished lunch, he went to the lobby alone. When he looked outside, he saw that even though there was no sunlight, the rain had stopped, so the weather report seemed to have been correct. Thanks to Ryouhei and the others, he was considerably distracted from his emotions, but for Minato, the “prefectural tournament” was a demon. How could he appease it, when he didn’t know when it would bare its fangs? That thing which inhabited him, the demon named weakness.

Minato saw something and went towards it as though drawn to it.

Various types of canned coffee were lined up in the vending machine corner. He put in a coin and pressed two types of b.u.t.tons at the same time. He twisted the tab off and vigorously gulped down the contents. His eyes became alert with the moderate bitterness. When he finished drinking, he went to the other side of the vending machine to throw away the can. The vending machine there was installed with a thick pillar behind it, and there were also machines lined up on the nearby wall.

When he threw his can in the empty recycling bin alongside the wall, he looked back and saw a tall man with a cap jammed deeply on his head standing in the shadow of the pillar. He was drinking the same brand of coffee as Minato had drunk. Feeling something like dejvu, he stealthily peeked at the man’s face. Upon that, they met eyes.

“——Ma.s.san!?”

“‘Sup, Minato.”

“Don’t you ’'sup’ me!? Why are you here? Today’s not the day when you’ll be released from the hospital, right?”

Ma.s.san put his index finger to his mouth, making a “shh” gesture.

“I escaped from the hospital. It’d be a bother if Tomi-sensei and the others hear about this, so keep quiet.”

“Keep quiet, he says…”

“Yeah yeah, you hide too, Minato.”

Ma.s.san pushed Minato to the shadow of the pillar.

“Even though you were injured, is it okay to push yourself like this? You escaped from the hospital pretty easily, huh.”

“That’s because Ren helped me. Right now he’s reading manga in bed. I want to see how my cute students are shooting in the compet.i.tion, you know?”

“We said we’ll record it for you.”

“You can’t see details in a video. I couldn’t watch the two preliminary rounds, but during the ippon kyousha, you forgot to lightly tighten your left pinky at kai. Squeezing that rubber dormouse doll was so that you would be able to control the muscles used there. Were you distressed by something again?”

“Ugh, yes, that’s right.”

“But, you shot well. It’s enough if you can do n.o.biai to that extent. It’s fine to be nervous, and it’s also fine to not hit.”

After saying that, Ma.s.san took another sip from his coffee with relish.

Minato was truly astonished.

Why was Ma.s.san just carefreely drinking coffee in this place? He was seriously injured and on a hospital bed just the other day. Compared to that, at most me being so nervous about the prefectural tournament and seeming like I’m going to get hayake, so I’m anxious and trembling—it really does seem foolish.

Ma.s.san told him that he would immediately disappear after the finals and left. While trying to hold back a smile, Minato returned to his comrades.

The finals tournament started.

Their opponent in the first round was Wakura High School. All the compet.i.tors from this school had strong builds like rugby players. Their tanned skins were s.h.i.+ning glossily.

While waiting for their turn, Nanao whispered to Seiya.

“We would definitely lose if we tried to grapple with them. Their bodies are too strong, you know.”

“Wakura High School is famous for their power matches. Nanao, you should prove that kyudo isn’t about brute strength.”

“Understood.”

As expected, Wakura High School hit the target consecutively. They freely made use of their long and thick bows, and stirringly released their arrows. Because their draw weights were strong, there was an obvious force and momentum to the flights of their arrows. But, Kazemai High School was also not defeated.

The aggressive Kaito.

The lively Ryouhei.

The intelligent Seiya.

The sparkling Nanao.

The cool and clear Minato.

Everyone showcased their shots that exuded their individual characteristics.

Because Kazemai High School was in the front, they had no way of perceiving the state of Wakura High School, who was behind them. Turning around and looking wasn’t kyudo. Once you entered the shajo, you only felt the breathing of your teammates, and focused on the movements of those right in front of you. On this day, Minato accomplished his first kaichuu.

For Wakura High school, the results were four, two, two, three, four—a total of fifteen hits.

Opposing them, Kazemai High School’s results were four, three, three, three, four—a total of seventeen hits, so they were the winners.

The Wakura High School compet.i.tors were irritated at losing to first year students. They blocked Minato’s team when they were trying to collect their arrows.

“You guys are in the way. Move.”

Minato was pushed by a Wakura compet.i.tor, the momentum causing him to hit his left hand against the wall. In that moment, a sharp pain ran through his wrist. Kaito scowled at the back of the Wakura compet.i.tor who shook his body and left.

“What’s with those guys? And you, you should have avoided that, at least.”

“More importantly, let’s collect our arrows quickly.”

Minato stealthily hid his left wrist behind his body. The pain would probably subside after a while. Thinking so, he left the spot quickly.

Their opponent for the second round was Matsuyuki High School. They also had a team of only third-years, their arrow shafts were blue, and they all had matching arrows. Their ochi turned towards Minato with a big smile and began talking to him rapidly.

“Are you all a new club since you only have first-years?”

“Well, that’s the case.”

“That’s nice, we have a lot of members in our club, so we can’t draw in front of targets very much. Thanks to that, about the only things we won’t lose to anyone in are the speed and beauty of our matohari. (2) Do you want to compete against our club next time?”

“Ha, a matohari compet.i.tion?”

Disregarding his opponent’s reaction, he rapidly continued the conversation. While Minato vaguely nodded along in the right places, he handed over his spare string to an official.

When he went into the basic bow-holding posture (toriyumi no s.h.i.+sei) at the shajo entrance, he felt a dull pain his left wrist. ——He had a bad feeling.

After Matsuyuki’s oomae hit, there was a great cheer. Because the venue was local, they brought along many cheering parties. It seemed like he was being swallowed up in an away game-like atmosphere, but the oomae Kaito shot at the target without minding it. It was rea.s.suring when the oomae hit.

Following him was the second archer. Ryouhei had also recovered his normal condition in the afternoon. He raised his arms without breaking the vertical line—something that took about a month of special training—and he looked truly impressive.

The third archer Seiya continued to shoot calmly and accurately. Just like writing in the regular script in calligraphy, he precisely stopped, turned upward, and swept. (3)

The fourth archer Nanao went at his own pace at all times. He was so tender and dazzling that he seemed to have completely forgotten that kyudo was a martial art, and his arrow drew an arc and landed on the target with a thump.

The ochi was Minato. He raised his bow while watching the state of his left wrist, trying to avoid putting force on it as much as he could. However, he had no choice but to bend his wrist outwards until daisan. When he parted his bow, it hurt sharply.

The matooto sounded. With that, all members. .h.i.t their first shot.

At the second shot, Kazemai and Matsuyuki captured the targets one after another. Cheers erupted from the stands many times. While the venue was engulfed in a feeling of exhilaration, Minato felt like he was the only one getting cold. His left wrist felt heavy, as though someone was pinning it down, so he couldn’t do hikiwake the way he wanted to. The arrow Minato released landed in the azuchi with a dull sound, and he could hear a sigh come from somewhere.

Even at the third shot, the undulating pain continued. When he went up to daisan, his arrow fell to the floor with a clatter—a hazukobore. Since an arrow that had fallen to the floor could not be reshot, it was counted as a miss.

When he fearfully looked at his hand, there he saw his familiar arrow. He had fallen into the delusion that he had been the one to drop an arrow, when in reality it was the opposing team. After he confirmed it, he parted his bow again, but before he could settle into kai his arrow flew out, greatly missing the target.

Afterwards, the pain did not disappear, and in order to prioritize getting a hit for his last shot, he stole a hit with a shot that could only be described as hayake and finished.

Matsuyuki High School had three, four, four, two, two—a total of fifteen hits.

Kazemai High School had four, three, three, four, two—a total of sixteen hits.

Thanks to the opposing team getting thrown off balance from the hazukobore, they just barely took the lead.

When he looked up at the sky, he saw a flock of birds flying in a black ma.s.s. He wondered if the bird that was flying behind would catch up with its companions.

Minato gripped his left wrist, when Kaito approached him.

“Narumiya, you were drawing kinda strangely. What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

“It ain’t nothing at all, right? After leaving the shajo, you were rubbing your left wrist. Did you hurt it when that Wakura a.s.shole pushed you?”

“There really is nothing wrong.”

“Shut up, get your hand out now!”

Kaito forcibly took Minato’s left hand. He bent his wrist in the direction that didn’t hurt—inwards, and they saw a peshaped lump on the back of his hand.

“…What is that. Tomi-sensei!”

Kaito called over Tomi-sensei to examine them, but even he did not know what they were.

“Does it hurt? Should we go to the infirmary?”

Seiya, who returned from arrow collecting, peered in.

“Minato hates doctors, so don’t go. Oh, that might be ganglion.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a benign tumor, a lump of fat made of the acc.u.mulation of a jelly-like fluid. Judging by that size, I think it wasn’t made today or yesterday, but since some time ago, and yet, you didn’t notice it. We won’t know without examining the cause of the pain, but let’s cool it for the time being and secure it later.”

When Seiya took out coolant and medical tape from his bag, Kaito was taken aback.

“Why are you carrying those things around?”

“Don’t underestimate the son of orthopedic surgeons, who played with medical tape in place of building blocks.”

Ryouhei and Nanao watched Seiya skillfully tape up Minato’s wrist, impressed.

“This will do fine. How do you feel, Minato?”

“Yeah, it’s really comfortable. It doesn’t hurt with this.”

Seiya was satisfied, but Kaito kept frowning.

“s.h.i.+t, you really are…”

“Sorry that this happened right before an important compet.i.tion… It was because I was careless that I got hurt.”

“Aah, you’re so freaking annoying. You don’t seem to know why I’m p.i.s.sed off.”

“You’re angry because I messed up?”

“Wrong! This is why I said I wanted to focus on only the individual compet.i.tions. You tried to hide that injury from us earlier. You think you can compete in a team like that? In the end, you just don’t acknowledge us. All you do is keep secrets!”

One-sidedly condemned, Minato could not stop himself from spitting out the words he had thought he would not say.

“I just didn’t want to worry everyone! What, don’t you have a secret too, Onogi!? You said you want to focus on the individual compet.i.tions, even though you actually couldn’t help but want to be in team compet.i.tions!”

“Wha, there ain’t no way that’s true!”

“I heard it from Nanao!”

Kaito narrowed his eyes and slowly moved his head.

“Nno…”