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thefinalcinderella · 6 years ago

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Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 4-Unsolicited Statement (Part 2)

The only thing worse than kyudo terminology...is Shinto and Buddhism terminology.

In other words, please enjoy this long-awaited continuation of the chapter, where the boys go to the Amatsu Star Festival in their fancy getup and we learn that Ren is actually Masaki’s stepbrother (not like the anime didn’t already spoil that for us). Also Nikaidou and Fuwa show up (not at the festival)

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. A sekitori is a sumo wrestler ranked in the top two professional divisions.

2. A multi-tenant building here ( 雑居ビル) is a building that houses a mixture of businesses, shops and residences

3. Aratama and nikitama are parts of the spirit (mitama) of a god in Shinto belief. The aratama is the rough and violent side of the god that must be appeased while the nikitama is its normal state. (Thanks yugioh wiki for leading me to the right place)

4. The jousou of a priest is worn at regular festivals. A kariginu is a traditional hunting robe worn by Heian nobles. Basically, what Masa-san is wearing here is what he wore in Episode 10 of the anime (when the boys visit the shrine) except it’s all white.

5. Issun-boshi is a Japanese folktale about a one sun (3cm) boy who kills an oni. It’s similar to Tom Thumb and you can read the gist of it here

6. Jaki (邪気) means maliciousness or evil spirits, and mujaki (無邪気, literally “no jaki”) means innocence.

7. So apparently tsumikegare is a complicated term. Tsumi is sin and kegare is impurity, but sometimes tsumikegare happens to you without you doing anything wrong. In any case it taints your energy and you have to cleanse yourself of it.

8. The ritual Masa-san’s mom is doing is the shubatsu, a purification ritual that takes place before a ceremony. Also, ooasa is more commonly known as onusa, apparently. See one here. The sakaki tree is an evergreen that’s sacred in Shinto and used in many rituals, as well as salt water (entou), which is rock salt dissolved in water.

9. The term kaji ( 加持) is used here. In Buddhism it corresponds to Adhiṣṭhāna, which refers to receiving blessings from the Buddha. On a side note I pretty much had to guess the translation of this passage lol

10. Joue ( 定慧) is two-thirds of the Threefold Training of Buddhism. 定 is “right mindfulness” and 慧 is wisdom. The third one is 戒, which is virtue.

11. Momote Shiki is a kyudo ceremony performed for those who are turning 20 and becoming adults. It is conducted by the Ogasawara-ryuu, who dress in formal kimonos and shoot two arrows at a target. You can read about one in more detail here

12. A naorai is a banquet during a festival where the offerings made to the gods are eaten. It marks the end of a ritual. Read more about it here

13. A goldfish with protruding eyes is called a telescope goldfish or demekin

14. Nanao makes up the word pazarinko in Chapter 3 of Book 1, where apparently it’s supposed to mean “you’re welcome” It’s the furigana for “了解” which means “got it”

15. Yo-yo scooping is a popular festival game where you fish for small balloons with a paper string and a hook. The balloons you get act like yo-yos I think?

16. Yakitori is skewered chicken that’s grilled over a charcoal fire.

17. A marebito is a word that refers to a divine spirit or being bringing gifts of luck and happiness from afar. They are usually welcomed with festivals. It’s lso the title of the next chapter

Previous | Next

Countermeasures against the heat were necessary for summer exercise. Kyudo was no exception.

Kazemai High School was located in a relatively cool region of Japan, and kyudo was blessed compared to outdoor sports, but it was still hot during daytime. Although there was a fan, the wind almost never reached them, and so the fan head desolately turned.

In summer, the kyudo equipment also changed due to the heat. Because it was easy for the bowstring to stretch and for the draw strength to weaken if it was a bamboo bow, one used different equipment for summer and winter. The heat had little effect on glass fibre bows, but one needed to be careful as they could deform if one left them inside a car under the blazing sun.

For kyudogi, there were ones used specially for summer in addition to year-round. As the kyudo uniform must not be directly worn on bare skin, an undershirt must be worn, and the style for the bottom was a hakama that completely covered the feet. It was difficult to say that it was a cool getup. People who sweated a lot and the like had their sweat dripping onto the floor during zasha.

At break, Ryouhei and Nanao flapped the sides of their hakama.

“Ugh, it’s so humid since there’s no wind today.”

“The floor’s so steaming hot it’s like there’s indoor heating. My hakama’s getting stuck to my feet with all the sweat, you know.”

“Can you wash hakama?”

“The hakama and obi we wear for practice are made of synthetic fibers, so you can put them in a laundry bag and wash them with a washing machine. If you take them to a dry cleaner’s, it’ll be expensive since they’ll undergo the traditional clothing treatment. Though, the hakama Masa-san wears when he needs to wear kimono is probably made of silk or wool, so I don’t think he can use the washing machine for that.”

“My underglove is also really damp from all the sweat.”

“I hate having a sweaty yugake, so I’m going to air it out when I get home. Although when I say that, I’m just going to spread it out in my room and turn it over. Apparently, it’s also good to put a drying agent in it.”

The two replaced their undergloves that had become damp with sweat with new ones. In the case that one’s grip became slippery with palm sweat, one could also use rice chaff ashes, called fudeko, or one’s own white powder on the left hand.

Seiya handed Minato a towel and a water bottle. The ice made a cool, rattling sound, and the barley tea disappeared in an instant.

“Minato, if it’s not enough I can give you more.”

“Ah, thanks. I’ll have more later.”

“Are you suffering from heat fatigue? It looks like your dad has a lot of business trips lately, but are you eating properly?”

“Mm, I’m fine.”

Kaito, who was next to Minato and Seiya as they talked, knitted his brows.

“Are you mothering Narumiya again, Seiya? Leave him alone, he’s not a little kid.”

“Isn’t it fine? It’s not bothering anyone, and it’s my purpose in life.”

“So you finally got serious.”

“What? Do you want me to mother you too, Kaito?”

“Not a chance!”

“I also don’t want to take care of a child with such a bad expression.”

“I’m not a ‘child’ with a bad expression!”

Kaito finished his water bottle in one go.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo had on dumbfounded expressions that said, “Ah, here we go again.” They were completely used to seeing the sketch comedies that Kaito was associated with.

Tommy-sensei asked them to gather around.

“Were you all able to hydrate? Takigawa-san explained this the other day, but what is the method of breathing while shooting?”

Ryouhei answered.

“If you��re concerned about your breathing, it becomes more difficult for you to know how to shoot. Or rather, you can’t do both at the same time.”

“Exactly so. Since the way of dantian breathing used in kyudo is slightly different than the commonly stated dantian breathing, and it is difficult for those who hold the bow and still have a few years to go, it is good to store it as knowledge in a corner of your minds right now.”

“Yes.”

“If I have to be extreme, Japanese archery is lifting the bow up, parting it in both directions, and waiting to release the arrow—that is all it is. Even though just that should be good enough, people do unnecessary and pointless actions. First of all, let’s correct the major causes that produce difficulties for hitting the target. Because when you covet this-and-that, you will not be able to understand why.”

Ryouhei nodded deeply.

“Now then, it will be summer vacation soon and there will be a training camp, but before that, I will give everyone a mission. The gentlemen will be time warping back to the Heian era.”

“Heian era? Time warp? What does that mean?”

“For that, go there and enjoy what happens. The girls will be in charge of seeing that with their own eyes.”

Minato and the others blinked rapidly before Tommy-sensei, who was chuckling.

“Ah.”

Tsujimine High School’s Fuwa let out a sound without thinking.

The person before him was clicking their tongue.

Fuwa was at the bus stop in front of the hospital with his phone in one hand. A man with a muscular figure, on par with a sekitori (1), was in front of him in line, but he seemed to have decided something and left the line. Just when Fuwa was about to close up the gap and lifted his head, he saw Nikaidou right in front of him. They couldn’t see each other due to the large man hiding them.

Nikaidou opened his naturally large eyes even wider. Since their eyes met perfectly all the way here, his face that screamed, I didn’t know you were there at all, was extremely transparent.

He muttered to him, as though resigned to the situation,

“The bus is here. Let’s get on it, Fuwa.”

“…Right.”

They did not talk to each other even as they sat next to each other in the two-person seat. Fuwa still had his phone in hand, and Nikaidou was vacantly staring out the window. Neither of them said anything like, “What a coincidence,” or “What happened?”

The bus arrived at the nearest station fifteen minutes later.

Although Fuwa intended on naturally parting from him in this way, Nikaidou indicated his destination with his chin.

“Come.”

Without saying “What a pain,” he followed Nikaidou to the fast food restaurant on the first floor of the multi-tenant building. (2)

Nikaidou silently lined up at the register.

"Welcome. Will you be eating here today?"

"Yes."

"Then, may I take your order?"

"I'll have one of whatever is the most expensive thing in this store."

"Okay?"

The cashier was immediately bewildered.

As he was getting second-hand embarrassment from what he was seeing, Fuwa went to the second floor seats.

After a while, Nikaidou showed up carrying a tray. Apparently he couldn't carry it by himself, as employees were following him. The tray was piled high with food, so it did not look like it was for two people at all.

When the employees left, Nikaidou sat in his seat and spoke.

"Here, eat."

"Is that how you offer food to someone?"

"Just shut up and do it now!"

Forced by pressure, Fuwa reluctantly took a bite of a hamburger. He had actually snatched food in the hospital room he had visited, so he was not at all hungry. When Fuwa finished eating one, Nikaidou looked relieved. He himself finally took the food as well.

Ah, so this is hush money?

Fuwa guessed.

It probably meant that he was not allowed to reveal that they ran into each other at the hospital. He couldn't ask anything about this matter. Furthermore, he is telling him to infer all of that. What a self-centered guy, he thought, but he stopped pressing it. Having him be quiet with this signified that Nikaidou trusted him greatly.

Nikaidou was hiding the fact that his uncle Shigeyuki was in hospital from the club members. Perhaps Shigeyuki asked him not to tell anyone. And Fuwa knew that Nikaidou had been visiting him frequently. That kind of thing would be divulged by someone close to him, and that information source was Nikaidou's younger brother. Because he knew, he was careful not so that they would not meet, but they ended up doing that regardless. In that sense, this whole situation was Fuwa's mistake.

Fuwa had a certain special quality.

It was the ability to get information even without seeking it.

Even though he wasn't extending an antenna from himself and collecting information, the things the people around him hid or wanted to hide entered his ears. He noticed that when he received a piece of coloured paper from his homeroom teacher at his elementary school graduation ceremony.

It was a collection of messages for the graduation ceremony, but among the trite and hackneyed phrases like "I'll do my best even after I graduate," he was unable to take his eyes from the words written by one girl.

Fuwa-kun has long ears, so bad things about Fuwa-kun are the only things I was afraid to say—.

He couldn't believe his eyes when he first saw that. He had no interest in the conversations of girls, so he never strained his ears for them. And in the first place, saying that he had "long ears" was in itself a loose-tongued thing to do. It may have happened that he did not notice the girl was hiding something and inadvertently said it aloud.

From then on, he began to be careful about his speech and conduct. He avoided topics that seemed like they would infringe on privacy as much as possible, and did not left out anything that he heard. It felt like the number of people who one-sidedly talked to him excessively increased, perhaps because he devoted himself to the listener's role. There were many people who wanted to talk, even without him asking. They could not help but vomit out the words that they kept close to their chests.

In addition, there were also many times when he accidentally overheard and learned something. The other day, he learned why Nikaidou often wore a white hoodie. When he went to the school infirmary, there was a health report there forgotten by the nurse. It was written that Nikaidou Eisuke was hypersensitive to light, and that if he was exposed to ultraviolet rays for a long time, it would cause skin inflammation.

And, there was another thing. He knew Nikaidou's secret—.

Ootaguro had also vaguely perceived it, and only Nikaidou himself thought it had not been found out. Ootaguro was not as meatheaded as Nikaidou thought he was. Nikaidou was smart, but lacked objectivity. He couldn't see himself very well.

Fuwa stuffed his mouth with his last bite, then washed it down with coke.

"Alright, it's all eaten."

"Ugh, I'm not gonna be eating hamburgers and fries for a long time."

When they exited the restaurant, Nikaidou pointed above his head.

"I'm gonna be stopping by the store up there."

"Oh, then see ya."

Nikaidou smiled, looking satisfied, and climbed the steps to the store.

Fuwa looked up at the sky.

The sound of a flute could be heard, and faint lights emerged.

At Yata Shrine, the summer festival called the Amatsu Star Festival was currently underway. Along the long stairs that stretched from the torii gate to the front shrine, bamboo tubes with the tops diagonally cut were arranged with lit candles inside them. The swaying flames were like whispers, enticing people to where the sounds were.

Sway, sway.

O marebito, o heretic gods.

Are you aratama tonight, or nikitama? (3)

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, dressed in yukata, stopped at the top of the steps.

"Wow, the stairs of light are so beautiful!"

"Look at the interior. It's still continuing."

"Let's go."

The lights flickered, as though beckoning them. They passed between the bamboo tubes and looked back, and saw a river of light.

"Are the boys going to be here soon?"

Hanazawa confirmed the time.

"I wonder if they successfully completed the time warp."

"The girls' mission is to see it with our own eyes, after all."

The three giggled as they headed for the front shrine.

The five boys of Kazemai High School were also visiting Yata Shrine, but they could not afford to enjoy the festival. They first thing they did in the morning was to do an ablution ceremony by bathing in cold water (misogi). They also refrained from eating meat and fish since yesterday.

On this day, Minato and the others were wearing colourful kimonos and hakama, looking just like Heian nobles. Masa-san was dressed all in white. The ordinary vestments (jousou) of a priest was a dyed and patterned kariginu, a hakama in a colour that corresponded to the priest's social position, a cap called a tateeboshi, a ritual baton (shaku), and shallow clogs (asagutsu), but the kimono was all white with only a little decoration at the cuffs. (4)

In actuality, Yata Shrine was reviving the ritual "matoi" (target shooting), which had died out, and the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club boys were serving the roles of the archers.

Minato moved awkwardly in the clothes he was unaccustomed to wearing. The weights of the pure silk kimono and the practice clothes he usually wore were different, and he took care not to make it dirty.

"Masa-san, are we really going to be okay? We're wearing these flashy kimonos and hakama, and shoes made of wood. We're doing rissha, aren't we?"

"The target is big, and you'll be fine if you move as you practiced this morning. Exposing your chest in summertime is troublesome since your kimono sticks to you with sweat, but it works as a natural cooler."

"In the first place, why is it that except for the one priest, everyone else are boys from ages twelve to eighteen?"

"In ancient times, Yata Shrine was a shrine thatwas connected to the practitioners of Shugendou, and the purpose of 'matoi' was to exorcise vengeful spirits. As you can see from folk tales like Momotarou and Issun-boushi (5), 'douji' (boys) are said to have the power to exorcise demons--evil spirits. And in the ancient documents left at Yata Shrine, it is written that the archers are chigo, that is, young trainee monks with unshaven heads at Buddhist temples. The discussion of wanting to revive it has been brought up by the parishioners for a long time, but I only got enthusiastic about it when I talked about it with Tommy-sensei."

"So 'innocence' is the opposite of 'vengeful spirits'. (6) But why would there be young monks at a Shinto shrine?"

"Before the Meiji era, there was the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, in other words, Shinto and Buddhism weren't distinctly separated. Apparently, it wasn't unusual for priests to double as monks."

"Oh, I see."

When the festival music (matsuri-bayashi) ended, the archers and parishioners, with Masa-san at the head, stood before the shelves that held rice, salt, water, sake, fish and other offerings to the gods. The parishioners were serving as the kaizoes. The target (oomato) was made of flattened reeds that were woven together, and a piece of paper put on top of it had the character for "demon" written on it.

They received a purification rite from Masa-san's mother, who was a priest, to purify their sins and impurities (tsumikegare) of their mind and body. (7) She shook the ooasa, a rod of plain wood with shide (zigzag paper streamers) attached to it, left and right and left again, and then a sprig of sakaki tree was dipped into entou (salt water) and sprinkled. (8)

Masa-san walked a few steps ahead of the line, and then knelt (kiza) with a bow and white-feathered arrow in hand.

He chanted with a resonant voice.

Upon careful consideration, what one would call a treasured bow of divine empowerment (9), is something that strenuously exerts the virtues of joue (10), clears away the mob of hindrances,

And defeats the evil forces that block the way to samsara. Indeed, there is nothing that surpasses a divine bow and secret arrow for a vessel of expelling evil forces.

Now, the five great dragon kings have descended upon this dojo and will establish barriers that will block these evil spirits…

When he stood up, he had his bow and arrow in his right hand, and exposed his chest by slipping his kimono from his left shoulder. With both hands, he reverently held the bow parallel to the ground and then pointed it towards the target (mato-tsuki). He gripped the bow in a slanted position and drew it back to its limit, and then released the arrow.

His next arrow also hit the center of the target.

When Kaito, the oomae, lifted his bow, Ryouhei also lifted his own bow without missing a beat. After him, Seiya, Nanao, Minato and Masa-san imitated Kaito’s movements.

Kaito slowly brought the head of his arrow close to the target.

“Aiiiiiie!” After he shouted his yagoe, his arrow flew towards the target.

After him, Ryouhei also released his arrow with a “Yah”, and Seiya, Nanao, Minato and Masa-san followed.

Aiiiiiie, yah!

The yagoes crawled along the ground, the sounds that violently cut through the wind being linked together.

When the six shootings were over, there was a big round of applause from the spectators.

“What was that? Were those Kazemai students who were shooting?”

“Holy crap, that was amazing! We can take pictures, right?”

The female high school students who were watching as a way to kill time were in high spirits. Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, who were watching over them, were also leaning forward in excitement.

“Since they called it a ritual, I was wondering what they were going to do, but wasn’t it pretty cool?”

“It really did feel like we time-warped back to the Heian era.”

“They were moving similar to the Momote Shiki of the Ogasawara-ryuu school.” (11)

While the worshippers were chattering noisily, Kaito drew his bow tightly once again. There was a dignified air surrounding him.

The yagoes were shouted one after the other.

Six voices.

When the last shot brought down the demon, a thunderous round of applause arose.

After they finished their greetings, Minato and the others changed into their regular clothes.

Tommy-sensei met them with a smile.

“You’ve all worked hard on your mission. Congratulations to everyone for safely returning to present-day. You all looked very handsome.”

The parishioners also gave them words of appreciation and gratitude.

“What a mystical ceremony it was, as though we became lost in an older world. Many of us parishioners are getting on in years, but the ones who will create the future are you young people after all. Now, now, eat up.”

“Then, itadakimasu.”

They took the food before them. At the naorai (12), Ren was also there along with the parishioners, going around pouring alcohol for each person. A naorai also had the meaning of cleansing the body obtaining the offerings to the goods through eating and drinking the offerings and sake at the end of the ritual, but at Yata Shrine it had a strong sense of a party given in recognition of a person’s services.

It was a long-awaited and precious festival. They also wanted to go around to see all the stalls.

After talking for a while, the boys stood from their seats, leaving the adults who were drinking.

It was a complete transformation from that refined world, and they flocked to the area lined with red lanterns. The scents of sauces and sugary things mingled together. Nanao was called out to by girls as they passed by him, and he answered them with smiles. They went halfway down the row of stalls, when Minato and Ryouhei decided to take on the target shooting stall.

“I think I’ll aim for the sweets on the right. What about you, Ryouhei?”

“I see. I’ll be aiming for that mascot ‘Reclining Kaehru-kun.’”

“Alright, then, it’s a match.”

The two carefully aimed and pulled their triggers. Despite Minato bombarding it with bullets, the small box of sweets did not fall down. He persistently continued to shoot, and when he thought that it finally fell, he was disappointed when he was told that “it doesn’t count if it doesn’t fall behind the shelf.” As Ryouhei declared, he got the “Reclining Kaehru-kun,” and handed it to Nanao.

“Oooooh, this is amazing! Thanks, Ryouhei. Let’s go over there next.”

The group went to the goldfish scooping stall next.

Nanao and Seiya, with Kaito between them, were standing by.

“Seiya, Kacchan is a master at goldfish scooping.”

“Oh really? Show me what you got.”

Kaito’s eyes glinted. A daring smile appeared on his lips.

He readied his scoop in his right hand and the bowl for the goldfish in his right, and then passed his scoop under the water. He quickly slid it sideways and got one fish at the start. He then got a second one, a third one, a fourth one, and then the bowl was filled with goldfish before they knew it.

“Good job, Kaito. Alright, I’ll try too.”

Seiya gently put his scoop in the water and chased the swimming goldfish, but the fish escaped before he could put them in the bowl.

“Aaah, it got torn.”

“Seiya is surprisingly crap at this.”

“Sir, one more turn.”

Seiya paid the fee.

“Kaito, teach me your secret.”

“Watch closely, okay? First, you gotta put the whole scoop into the water. You should scoop by aiming for the fish at the surface and moving horizontally as much as possible, and making sure that the tail is getting on the paper.”

As he was saying that, he caught another one. Even the man at the stall said, “Give it a rest, kid,” with a wry smile. Perhaps because he listened to Kaito’s advice, Seiya got two fish this time.

Nanao kept aiming for the bigger fish, but at the end he did not catch a single fish. He returned his torn scoop to the man and pointed at one spot where the goldfish were crowding together.

“Kacchan, get that black fish with the stuck-out eyes buried under those red goldfish.” (13)

“Hmm, it’s big, and that location is ugh.”

“You can still do it, can’t you? Get it, get it!”

“Can’t be helped.”

Badgered by Nanao, he reluctantly attempted it, but his paper scoop got torn when he got close to the fish.

“Ooh, what a shame, kid,” the man at the stall said with a pleased face. They decided to bring back only three fish, and Nanao chose a fish to his liking. In the meantime, Minato and Ryouhei went to take a look at the neighbouring stall.

After they received their goldfish, Kaito looked around.

“Narumiya and Ryouhei aren’t at the stall next door at all?”

“Aah…, this happened a lot back then. Whenever those two are at a festival, they really get into it and disappear before you know it. Well, it’s fine.”

“Huh, it’s really ok? You not clinging to Narumiya, I mean.”

“Yep. Today, I’m sticking close to your side.”

Kaito recoiled from Seiya, who was smiling with his eyes narrowed.

“Hah? Why’s that?”

“In this kind of place, the possibility of you rather than Minato getting caught up in trouble is much higher. And you have even less self control when it comes to Nanao. As you wished, I shall specially take care of you today.”

“When did I wish for that!?”

Next to Kaito, who was scratching his head, Seiya was ready to burst into laughter.

“Okay, I texted Minato and Ryouhei our meeting location and time, so let’s walk around together.”

Nanao responded, “’Kay, pazarinko (14). Where should we go next? The turtle scooping stall?”

“Turtles, huh…those things get huge in the future. We can’t bring them back with us.”

“I wanna get big too.”

“Then, milk scooping?”

“Ooh, maybe! Moo-moo scooping~.”

“That’s not even a thing! If you’re talking about scooping, there’s yo-yos and gemstones.” Kaito answered, getting worked up and taking the joke seriously. (15)

The three disappeared into the crowd while jostling.

At the same time, Minato and Ryouhei had also noticed that they had lost sight of their friends, and looked at their phones.

"So we're meeting in front of the shrine office. There's still time until then. What do you want to do, Ryouhei?"

" I wanna eat yakitori. (16) You mind if I line up at that stand over there?"

"It's cool. I'll wait under this tree."

Minato left the lively avenue lined with stands, heading for the zelkova tree.

The rhythm of the festival music could be heard in the distance. Since from the morning he had been busy with the setup of the oomato and learning how to strip during a rissha ceremonial shooting, observing the festival from a little further away also wasn't bad at all. The flickering of the river of light pierced his eyes.

Just when he was about to twist off the cap of the plastic bottle in his hand, someone with their hand raised approached him from the front. At first he couldn't recognize their face since it was lit from behind, but it turned out to be Ren.

"Hey, Minato-kun. We sure do meet a lot."

"Ren-san, is it okay for you to be here?"

"Trying to drive me off, eh?"

"Ah, no, I was just wondering if it's okay for you to not be at the naorai."

"Oh, it's already in the final stage, so they probably wouldn't know if just one person is missing."

Ren stood next to Minato and similarly twisted the cap off his plastic bottle.

"How's it going with kyudo practice?"

"Thanks to having Masa-san teach us, I think everyone improved, as well as me."

"I heard that you were taught by a sensei who is famous in the kyudo world. Aren't you unsatisfied with Masaki?"

"That absolutely isn't true! Saionji-sensei and Masa-san are both my precious teachers. If I never met them both, I might not be shooting a bow today."

Ren suddenly laughed, but there was something cold about the way he did it.

"Really, that's good to hear. Masaki had been worried for a while. He told you that 'If you don't fix that bad habit, the more you shoot, the more it will hurt,' but he worried that he should have said, 'Once you fix that bad habit, you will get even better,' and that he made a mistake in how he should have said it. Thinking that there’s nothing good about a coach who lowers his athlete's motivation."

"Eh, he was?"

"Even for those who teach, there's actually a real anxiety about whether or not what they are doing is really okay. Masaki did kyudo for many years, but as a teacher, he's a beginner. Everyone's an amateur for the first time they're doing anything. Studying, exercise, the arts, work, raising children—everything has a first time."

"—That's true."

People wavered whenever they are doing something. Even if they weren't aware of it, even if they weren’t in pain or suffering, they were always making choices. Even after the time of the initial resolution, in the end they still didn't know what was the correct answer. One could only cast away doubts such as if there was another choice, and go the way one believed in.

Minato asked something he had always been curious about.

"Ren-san, you don't do kyudo?"

"Yeah, I don't. There was a time when I thought I'd try it, but I missed the timing."

"So Yasaka-sensei didn't encourage you to do kyudo."

"Uh huh. I was already a full-fledged adult, and I was the child of his daughter's second marriage partner, so he probably refrained from doing that."

"...What?"

"You know Masaki's mother remarried, don't you? I'm the kid from my dad's previous marriage. I'm not related to Mom and Masaki by blood."

The wind blew, and the flames swayed all at once.

The leaves rustled and wriggled.

Minato groped for something to follow up with.

"Ren-san, are you trying to surprise me again? Even I won't fall for it anymore."

"Oh, so Masaki didn't tell you. Well, maybe he didn’t bother telling his student about it. It's about unrelated people after all."

Minato very much remembered his thirst. The scar on his left flank ached.

Ren always spoke like there was a hidden meaning in his words, but he really couldn't see his true meaning this time.

"Minato-kun, I actually hate you a little bit. I thought that when Masaki finished his ten-thousand shots, he could be freed from our grandfather's binding spell, but he relapsed back into being bow-crazy. He was about to go on the same path as the grandfather he avoided so much."

"Is it bad to love kyudo?"

"I don't think it's bad, but I do think it's constricting and uncomfortable."

Minato wanted to refute him. No, you're wrong.

Masa-san, Shuu, and Minato were certainly struggling, and might be suffering, but those shouldn’t be all that there was.

"Masa-san's tsurune is really beautiful. I don't believe it's the sound of someone who is shooting in suffering. I enjoy shooting a bow. It's frustrating to not be able to do things as they go in my mind and not getting considerably better, but even so, I love kyudo."

Ren's eyes stayed the same, with only his mouth smiling.

"It is said that Yata Shrine's Amatsu Star Festival is perhaps for appeasing Amatsu-Mikaboshi, who is branded as a malevolent god. For my home, you are a marebito—a guest. Nobody knows if you are a good spirit or an evil spirit." (17)

"Ren-san..."

"Fufu, you are too amusing... It's a joke, I'll be leaving my little brother in your care."

Ren lifted a hand and left.

Ryouhei showed up in his place, bringing along Seiya, Kaito and Nanao.

Minato blinked his eyes from the dazzling, diffusely reflected light.

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#tsurune #tsurune translation

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