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thefinalcinderella · 5 years ago

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Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 6-Door (Part 1)

We’re in the endgame now...

This chapter was surprisingly dramatic. Some people get trapped in an elevator, someone gets hospitalized, and someone declares to someone else that they will make a world without hitting or missing...this chapter took a while. Hopefully, I can finish the book before September ends.

Full list of translations here

Glossary here

Translation Notes

1. Nanao lists a bunch of dishes from all over Japan. Imoni is a type of taro and meat soup eaten in the Tohoku region. Beef tongue, or gyuutan, was a dish created in Sendai. Wappameshi is a dish cooked in wooden containers and a specialty of the Niigata prefecture. Zunda mochi is a Tohoku specialty where rice cakes are coated with soy bean paste. Ika ninjin is a pickled mixture of dried squid and carrots, which is a specialty in Fukushima.

2. The bull’s eye of a hoshi-mato is called a zuboshi in Japanese. Zuboshi o sasu (to guess exactly right) literally means pointing at the bull’s eye.

3. The word used here, geki (檄), can mean encouragement as well as manifesto.

4. This was a bit confusing for me, but I think it’s connected to the idea of seven mysteries (fushigi) (a common trope in manga set in high schools) and how meeting one of them would bring you bad luck.

5. This is a reference to Shutaro Mendo, a character from the famous manga Urusei Yatsura who is the heir to a rich family and has claustrophobia.

6. “Form is emptiness” and the Heart Sutra are kind of the same thing in Buddhism. I think it means that everything is dependent on their parts and causes, and that forms themselves are inherently empty of existence???? Buddhism is complicated

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Anvil clouds floated distinctly against the sky.

In order to participate in the Interscholastic Athletic Meet Kyudo Tournament, Minato and the others took a connecting bullet train up north. August, over four days. The start of a hot and passionate summer for high school archers.

In the train, Minato, Seiya, and Ryouhei sat in a three-seat row, Kaito and Nanao sat in a two-seat row next to them, and Masa-san and Tommy-sensei sat behind them. So that their bows would not hinder the people around them, they had them put in the gap between the seats and the wall at the back of the car.

Ryouhei and Nanao promptly opened the seals on their bags of sweets. They proceeded to barter across the aisle.

Kaito wrinkled his brow.

"I can't believe you guys can eat so many sweets so often. Just looking at them gives me heartburn."

"Huh? When I get on a vehicle, I get kinda hungry, you know? Imoni, beef tongue, wappameshi, zunda mochi, ika ninjin! (1) Aah, what to eat?"

"Don't eat so much. Eating too much for lunch and getting sleepy, then not feeling so good in the afternoon even though you felt fine in the morning, is a thing that happens."

"Are you not eating then, Kacchan? As in, local cuisine?"

"No, I am though."

"Right?"

Nanao and Ryouhei were energetic since morning, but Minato was flipping through the provided booklet and drinking tea, unable to settle down if he wasn’t doing something.

Seiya spoke.

"Minato, it’s still too early to be nervous. We’re scheduled to shoot at the practice hall today first, after all. Apparently, we can do a practice round of four shots at the actual venue."

"When we got on the train, I just thought, it's finally time."

"I'm excited. To be able to shoot on such a big stage is like a dream. We've done all that we can, so the rest is just managing our health over these four days, I guess."

"Yeah, that's right."

Minato leaned back deeply into his seat and closed his eyes.

They entered the first day.

Shajos for groups of ten people appeared in a wide arena that was used for championship ball game matches and other events. The green mat that resembled the lawn of a yamichi dazzled the eyes. The stands were filled in all directions, and there were many camera lenses pointed at the competitors for web broadcasts and photos. Unlike the semi-open-air kyudojos, sounds echoed, so if one shouted a yagoe, it seemed like it would rebound and pierce one’s own heart.

The competition event was short-distance shooting, divided into girls’ and boys’ divisions, and the categories were group competitions and individual competitions. The targets used were wooden-framed kasumi-mato with a diameter of thirty-six centimeters. Two shajos for groups of ten, the space between the archers were a hundred and eighty centimeters, and the shooting distance was twenty-eight meters.

Following the opening ceremony, the girls’ individual competition began. The preliminaries and semifinals would have four rounds of shooting, and those who had three or more hits would advance. The preliminaries were done in rissha, and from the semifinals on, the matches would be done in zasha.

Kazemai High School was only in the group tournament, but Kirisaki High School’s Shuu was in the boys’ individual competition. His presence that surpassed others could not fade under any circumstances. Even in the most crowded places, one could quickly find Shuu.

Ryouhei spoke to Minato.

"Shuu-kun's as cool as ever. You'd know that he's definitely skilled just from seeing his standing figure."

"Yeah, exactly."

Shuu and Nikaidou both had a four-shot kaichuu, and passed the preliminaries and semifinals.

The individual competition finals were an "izume" competition. The current tournament had twenty-seven competitors.

Each person shot an arrow, the ones who missed were eliminated, and those who hit carried out their next shot. The one who continued to hit to the end was the winner. However, in the event that everyone missed, they can shoot once more.

Shuu and Nikaidou smoothly continued to hit, and from the fifth round, their targets were switched to twenty-four centimeters hoshi-mato. Hoshi-mato were targets with a single black circle in the middle of a white background, and that black circle was called the "zuboshi" which was the origin of the phrase used often in everyday life, "zuboshi o sasu" (to guess exactly right). (2)

In the sixth round, five people, including Shuu and Nikaidou, were left.

In the seventh round, one person was out, and after the eighth round, it became a one-on-one battle between Shuu and Nikaidou.

Nine shots, then ten.

In the midst of the enormous round of applause, the archer who kept hitting until the end slowly blinked his pale, thinly pigmented eyelashes.

The second day. The start of the group tournaments.

Teams were composed of one manager and six athletes, with five starting members. Up to three athlete substitutions were allowed. Each team had a total of twenty shots, and the top thirty-two teams with the most amount of hits would advance. The time limits were eight minutes for zasha and seven minutes for rissha. In the case of competitions that determine which team would advance past the preliminaries due to a tie, each person would shoot one arrow.

Minato’s team hung their ID cards from their necks, attached their numbers to their right hips, and put on their yellow-green headbands. The girls’ division took place in the morning, and the boys’ division would take place in the afternoon. Their parents, the girl members, and the elite members of the Nanao Fan Club, rushed to support them over a long and distant journey. The stands were divided into blocks of average people and competitors, and female staff members were patrolling around with plates that read "Please stay quiet during the competition.”

While waiting for their turn, the Kirisaki archers appeared before Minato. He readied himself to exchange sharp words with the twins, but their treatments of him were different.

Manji opened his mouth.

"I heard that the suggestion for me to shoot together with Shuu while standing behind him came from you and that coach of yours."

"Are you saying that I did something uncalled for?"

"Teams from the same prefecture would be separated into different blocks for the finals tournament. We’ll be waiting for you guys in the finals."

"Oh, yeah, wait for us," Minato answered.

Senichi and Manji stepped back, and then Shuu stepped forward between the two. His silhouette was bordered in gold, and it seemed like there was a blue-purple flame swaying upwards.

Shuu smiled brilliantly.

"Hey, Minato. I owe you for the other day."

"Congrats on winning the individual competition, Shuu. Your shooting was kinda like Saionji-sensei's."

"Fufu… Are you planning on pleasing me and make me turn into a fool? I will embody 'one shot and expire’ at this tournament."

"…One shot and expire?"

"That's right. A world where, other than drawing a bow and releasing an arrow, there are no such things as hitting and missing——. Minato, you follow me too."

Only informing Minato of that, Shuu left without waiting for a response.

What’s with Shuu?

Did he meant to do a Zen dialogue kind of thing here? I couldn’t even raise a question, much less answer him.

Tommy-sensei and Masa-san stood before the five boys.

"Thank you all for continuing to practice up to now. I have received all of your tenacity, for certain. Now, let’s start the mission!"

"Yes!"

Minato and others entered the third waiting room. When they were there, they felt like warriors taking on a battle. Beyond the partitioning white cloth was the shajo, and the moment one came out there, the immoveable enemy would be right before one's eyes.

They advanced to the second waiting room, and when they entered the shajo, they sat down in the chairs of the first waiting room.

At the signal to "start," they did their yuu bows and stepped forward to the shooting line, then they did ashibumi without squatting. They selected a pair of arrows from four.

First was to shoot was the oomae, Kaito. He carefully brought the tip of his arrow closer to the center of the target, and waited for the moment of release. After his arrow headed for the target along with a nimble yugaeri, there were shouts of "Alright!"

When Kaito was entering kai, the second archer, Ryouhei, raised his bow. His recent progress was amazing. He was so honest and straightforward that he absorbed what he learned as he was taught them. A lively matooto sounded.

The third archer, Seiya, was unusually relaxed. At the prefectural tournament, he was a bundle of nerves with a prim face on, but this time, the unity of the five was excellent, and he felt like they could win the championship like this. Of course, he hit.

It was then the fourth archer’s—Nanao’s—turn. The group with the yellow-green frog-shaped uchiwa fans in their hands pitched forward. While being aware of his tenouchi, Nanao carefully drew his bow. A circle appeared on the scoreboard, and the Nanao Fan Club elites sent out a big shout of support.

The fifth archer, the ochi, was Minato. The pain in his wrist was completely gone. He tensed his little finger, stretched his elbow, and stretched himself in all directions as much as possible. His arrow shot through the target with a ringing tsurune.

The five-person kaichuu was clinched, and a huge round of applause swelled from the venue. In the stands, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were doing fist pumps in their minds.

"They did it! The boys were incredible from the very beginning."

"So you've been enlightened or something?"

"Maybe."

In the second round, the five got a kaichuu once again, and the Kazemai High School cheering squad was unexpectedly enlivened.

However, in the third round, Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao missed.

In the fourth round, Kaito had one more shot to go for a kaichuu, but missed and exited the shajo. Minato got a four-shot kaichuu and there was a round of applause.

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

When all the teams finished shooting, the results were that Kirisaki High School and Tsujimine High School both had eighteen hits.

The three schools were in the top rankings and would advance.

The third day.

The finals tournament finally began.

This day was done in two matches, until it was whittled down to the best sixteen.

Their first match was with Iwakurisawa High School. They stood out quite a lot due to their buzz cuts and bright red headbands. When the person who appeared to be the captain commanded in a loud voice, "Form lines!", the athletes and cheering squad quickly formed five rows.

Their manager, with a similarly shaved head, issued a manifesto of encouragement. (3)

"All of you, things like losing to a school with only first-years are not needed!"

"Yes, sir."

"Too quiet!"

"Yes, sir!"

At that ferociousness that was more like something from the military than sports-oriented, the athletes from the other schools drew back a little. However, with the influence of their opponent’s manager, Minato’s team became calmer instead. They did rissha in the preliminaries, but from now on they would be doing zasha. From the stands, Masa-san watched Kazemai High School enter the first shajo and Iwakurisawa High School enter the second.

From "standing" to the end of "nocking," the five people’s movements were matching each other’s as much as possible, but Iwakurisawa was all over the place, and it could be perceived that they didn’t even feel like getting it together. And conversely, the timing to stand for the first shooting round was said to be when the person in front stood and put their right fist on their hip, but the five people from Iwakurisawa stood up together and did ashibumi together. Although it was alright as long as one didn’t overtake the movements of the person in front of them, there was a sense of discomfort felt from looking at that.

After they began shooting, shouts of "Alright!" came for both teams in succession.

Iwakurisawa used a shooting method where they moved themselves towards the targets to the extent that they were tilting their bodies. They firmly pushed their left arms and released their arrows immediately with just their right hands. It was a unique way of shooting, but they hit very well with it. But there was one person who was being put into disorder. The arrows their ochi was releasing were scattering left and right, and their landing spots were in disarray.

On the other hand, the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club showcased their composed shooting. Their raised their bows with their right arms and passed the initiative to the left arms at daisan. Rolling the targets that could be seen around their left elbows to above their arms and moving it to their fists, they then moved their right hands to their shoulders and pointed their right elbows to their hips before parting their bows. When they entered kai, they quietly exhaled. They flicked their right thumbs and their arrows rushed towards the targets.

For the results, Iwakurisawa had four, three, three, four, and one hit for a total of fifteen hits. Kazemai, opposing them, had four, two, four, three, and three hits and won with a total of sixteen hits.

After the first match was over, Tommy-sensei praised them all. No matter how old one was, words of praise from one’s teacher were something to be happy about. Next to them, the Iwakurisawa manager was yelling at their ochi.

"If you missed the first shot, then shouldn’t you change your aim for the second shot!? Why did you miss three of them!?"

"I’m sorry…"

"Why aren't you able to do what I taught you!?"

"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry——!"

The ochi continued to apologize, but his manager did not stop rebuking him. The voice that was relentlessly criticizing someone who had already broken down into tears was painful for those who were listening to it as well.

When Minato took a step, he heard a loud fit of coughing.

"Kaaaaa—" Coughing sounds. "Ah, please excuse me. As one gets older, there would be more phlegm stuck in one’s throat." Another cough.

The sounds of the Iwakurisawa manager’s rebukes were drowned out by the incessant and violent coughing. Perhaps their interest was dampened, Iwakurisawa High School started to move in silence. If Minato and the others copied them, they could be adding fuel to the fire, and the people around them couldn’t close their open mouths at the feat only Tommy-sensei could do.

The second match began. Their opponent was Chikuten High School.

The Chikuten oomae was petite but the ace of his team, and was skilled enough to be in the top three of the individual competition. The other members’ standing postures were also good, and they looked quite dignified. When they stood at the shooting line, they took forward-bent postures. They raised their bows while keeping that tilt, firmly put in their shoulders and pushed open their bows. Their arrows headed towards their targets with a sharp release.

Of course, Minato’s team did not yield to them either. The five’s movements were perfectly overlapping from moving their bows to nocking, showing their amount of training. They drew their bows to the limit and waited for the moment to release their arrows.

At the end of the four rounds, Ryouhei and Nanao got kaichuu, and they got three, four, three, four, three hits for a total of seventeen hits.

At the end of the tie-breaking match, Kazemai won with four hits to three.

Minato, dressed in the casual outfit of a t-shirt and a jersey, was on the first floor of his hotel.

After the schedule for the third day was over, the manager and athletes went back to their hotel to rest their bodies. This hotel had twelve floors and was fully equipped with a large public bath, and Minato was returning to his room after having finished bathing a step before everyone else.

Tomorrow, the curtains would close on the high school generals. He wondered what kind of results would be waiting for them. If they went on winning at this rate, they would face Kirisaki High School, where Shuu was.

Drawing their bows at the same place, at the same time.

The secret, violent throbbing in his chest would not stop until the competition was over.

When Minato headed for the elevator landing, he saw someone he recognized there. It seemed like he had also just come out of the bath.

"Nikaidou-senpai."

"…Yo. I sure bump into you a lot, Minato-chan. I don’t even use the elevator normally, so this must be fate or something."

"Oh, I saw the notice on the way here. It seems that the stairs can’t be used due to a lighting failure. Nikaidou-senpai, you have a rule of not using the elevator or escalator as much as possible to train your legs, right?"

"That’s Minato-chan for ya. You even remember stuff that don’t even matter. Even though I was able to use the stairs on the way to the baths, but, well, things happen sometimes."

Staying in the same lodgings as Tsujimine High School again was unlucky. The desire to not meet each other as much as possible was probably mutual for the two of them. They waited for the elevator to come in silence, and then got in when the doors opened.

Nikaidou asked him a question.

"What floor?"

"Eighth floor, please."

"Got it."

He pressed the buttons for the seventh and eighth floors. The elevator rose with an indistinct sound.

Four, five, six…

They would finally be approaching the seventh floor soon.

Minato was at the back of the elevator, and Nikaidou stood before the doors as he was about to get off. But, the elevator stopped just a little bit before its destination.

"…The hell? The door’s not opening."

Nikaidou pressed several of the buttons, but nothing happened. Minato also tried pressing the buttons as a test, but the results were the same.

"Oi oi, is this for real…"

"Should I try pressing the call button?"

"Go ahead."

After Minato pressed the button, a voice could be heard from the speaker.

"What is the problem?"

"The elevator stopped and the doors aren’t opening."

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience. Which floor did the elevator stop near? Also, how many people are in the elevator?"

"We’re almost at the seventh floor. There are two people."

"Understood. We will now be sending people to your location, so please wait. They will arrive in about fifteen minutes."

The voice broke off.

That they were trapped in an elevator in a place like this was completely unexpected. It wasn’t like they didn’t feel like they could get out if they force the door open either, but for now they could only wait. It was fifteen minutes of endurance.

When the two left the elevator panel, the lights suddenly went out.

"Uwah!"

Nikaidou slammed his hand against the wall hard, and the impact caused the elevator to shake violently. That made the fact that they were in a hanging box right now feel all the more real.

"Are you okay, Nikaidou-senpai?"

"Shut up, I was just surprised!"

Nikaidou’s voice echoed in the cramped chamber. Minato could even hear the sound of him clicking his tongue. In the darkness, the two held their breaths, at a loss as to what to do.

They waited for the time to pass without stirring a muscle.

Footsteps could be heard from somewhere, passing by.

The lights came back on after a while, and they became able to maintain their sight. Minato rubbed his chest with a sigh of relief, but a strange change was happening in Nikaidou.

His complexion was bad, and there was cold sweat beading on his forehead. He was panting in quick, rough breaths, and then he bent at his waist and curled his back. Perhaps not being able to stand, he pushed his body against the wall and scrunched down.

"Shit, what the hell is this crap… I need to get out of here now. Pretty sure it’s been fifteen minutes a long time ago…"

During Minato’s hospitalization, he had had similar symptoms.

He reached out his hand to rub Nikaidou’s back.

"Don’t touch me!"

"Nikaidou-senpai, you are probably hyperventilating. You are breathing in too much oxygen. Please breathe more slowly."

"Shut up. Don’t order me around…"

"I am not. I think it will soothe you, so please try it."

"Shut the hell up! This is all because I’m riding the same elevator as someone like you. I need to get out of here, now!"

Beneath his pale face, his eyes shone with a tinge of bloodlust.

"…It’s all your fault. Heard that the Kazemai coach got injured protecting you, didn’t he? Misfortune befalls anyone involved with you…"

Minato felt like he had been struck with a blunt object. He couldn’t deny it and the core of his head was numb. Before his eyes was a person who was clearly in bad condition and becoming panicked, but since he was told that anyone who gets involved with him becomes unlucky, he wouldn’t be able to interfere with him. But, there should be some way calm him down.

Think, think.

Rack your brain.

Minato crouched down and matched Nikaidou’s gaze.

"Nikaidou-senpai, if you sleep here, a zashiki-warashi will come and draw whiskers on your face, you know?"

"…Hah?"

"If you say misfortune befalls anyone who gets involved with me, isn’t something unfamiliar approaching you also mysterious? (4) At the summer training camp, when one of our club members woke up, a zashiki-warashi drew whiskers on his face. And it was with permanent marker."

Are you serious, the graffiti artist wasn’t a zashiki-warashi, but unmistakably a human—was what Nikaidou wanted to retort, but he was already in a state where it was difficult for him to talk. There was buzzing in his ears and was barely keeping conscious with the dizziness and numbness throughout his whole body. In the first place, for a joke that was just waiting for a sarcastic retort, telling it with a serious face was just too scary.

Minato placed his hand on Nikaidou’s back arbitrarily.

"I told you not to touch me…"

"Please breathe slowly, like you’re entered kai. It’s your strong point, right, senpai? I will count. One…two…three. You’ll be alright. Let’s breathe slowly one more time."

Without any strength to disobey, and with the single-minded desire to escape from this pain, Nikaidou breathed out as he was told. In the meantime, Minato continued to rub his back.

How much time had passed? Nikaidou, whose breathing was now stable, raised his hand in indication that Minato no longer had to rub his back. There were people’s voices outside, but rescue still hadn’t come yet. Maybe the hallway was busy.

Nikaidou let fall a few words in a low voice.

"…My uncle asked Saionji-sensei to take him as a disciple. Although he begged him with the willing resolution to even change his school, he wasn’t accepted, and nowadays his body is ruined and he can’t even draw a bow. I always thought this. That if Saionji-sensei chose my uncle instead of you guys, then the future might have changed. Why was it an elementary schooler, and what’s more, someone like you who just passed by… Even now, you’re blessed with an advisor and coach. I can’t forgive you…"

Minato thought that meeting Saionji-sensei and Masa-san were events akin to miracles, so he truly was blessed. But, even if he could redo his life once again, he wouldn’t give up anything.

A beautiful tsurune that shot through his heart.

His encounter with the bow.

"Nikaidou-senpai, you're actually a kyudo nut. I didn’t realize that until now."

"…Hah? How did you get that?"

"And, I think you and I are both lucky. Tsujimine High School’s total number of hits in the preliminaries was eighteen, right? Even though you aren’t a powerhouse school, a school that had people with that high of a hitting rate gathered together surely means that your passion towards kyudo had drew comrades towards you. You can’t win group competitions even if just one person was skilled."

"…Quit it. That’s just a coincidence."

"Yeah. A lucky coincidence."

At that moment, the elevator slowly ascended, and the door opened. Right on the other side were several people, and a nostalgic face greeted Minato.

"Minato! Thank goodness. Here, drink some water."

"Did you and the others go to the bath?"

"We got out of it a long time ago. There was another elevator that was working normally."

"I see. I guess our elevator broke down by chance."

When he checked the time, he learned that they had been confined for forty-five minutes, but it felt like about two hours had passed.

Right after Nikaidou exited the elevator, he collapsed on the spot, and was caught by Fuwa and Ootaguro.

Ootaguro spoke.

"Here, I’ll lend you my shoulder."

"No, I’m fine…"

Fuwa also inserted his arm under Nikaidou’s armpit.

"If you try to be thoughtful in a situation like this, we won’t win tomorrow’s competition, right? Ootaguro and I both know that you have claustrophobia. You should really muzzle your brother. When you were little, you were accidentally locked into a cellar, right? You’re like a certain countryside rich boy." (5)

Nikaidou met his eyes. A nasty smile appeared on his face.

"What the hell … I really am the lamest…"

"Yeah, you're super uncool. It’s too late for you now."

"Shit… Fuwa, I’ll punch your lights out later."

"Can you even punch me when you’re so unsteady like this?"

Nikaidou stood with the support of Fuwa and Ootaguro. They slowly began to walk.

"Sorry about this, Kuro-chan."

"It’s nothing, since you’re so light!"

"…I can’t really be happy about that. Since I’m a boy."

Nikaidou’s brows lowered.

Afterwards, Minato got apologies and explanations from the person from the elevator company and the hotel manager, and then was finally released.

Tommy-sensei placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You must have had quite the scare. Go take a long rest for the rest of today."

"Yes, sir. I am sorry for all the trouble."

Minato was sharing a room with Seiya, but he climbed into bed first and fell asleep just like that. To not wake him up, Seiya passed the time in Kaito, Nanao, and Ryouhei’s room.

Before long, Seiya decided to go to bed and returned to his room, where he noticed that Minato was curled up in blankets that he had brought out from the closet, in addition to his comforter.

Seiya called out to him softly.

"Minato, what’s wrong? Aren’t you hot covered in so many blankets?"

"…I feel way too cold. And my body hurts all over…"

"Cold?"

It wasn’t like the air conditioning was too effective. His exposed skin was red, and he was covered in a faint sheen of sweat. When Seiya felt his forehead, he could feel that he was burning up without having to check his temperature. He could imagine that his body pains were muscle pains from a high fever. Seiya rubbed Minato’s arms, back, and feet.

"How do you feel? Do you feel a little better when I massage you?"

"…Yeah, I feel better. But, Seiya, you should stay away from me. I don’t think it’s the flu or anything like that since it’s summer, but it'd be bad if you caught a cold…"

As soon as he said that, Minato turned over. Frequently turning and tossing in bed happened when one trying to escape from pain or suffering, so he seemed to be in quite a lot of pain. Since muscles covered the entire body, the range of the pain was wide, and Seiya alone could not attend to all of them. Seiya contacted Tommy-sensei and Masa-san.

Thinking how suspicious that people kept entering and exiting the room, Kaito, Nanao, and Ryouhei also visited. Following Seiya, they also volunteered to care for Minato, but the sight of the four boys massaging Minato’s whole body was nothing but hilariously absurd to the point of view of an onlooker.

Masa-san stilled everyone’s hands, and then put the back of his hand to Minato’s cheek.

"He is certainly burning up. I think it’s something like a developmental fever, but let’s take him to the hospital."

He changed his sweaty clothes with the help of Tommy-sensei, and wrapped them in a blanket. They had decided to go to a night hospital, but Minato couldn’t stand up because of the pain all over his body.

Masa-san turned his back to him.

"I'm carrying you."

"…Sorry, Masa-san…"

When they were getting into the taxi, Masa-san spoke.

"Seiya, switch rooms with me. Move to Tommy-sensei’s room."

"But, it’s better that I stay with Minato."

"If you get a fever too and it affects tomorrow’s competition, then Minato would be the one who would feel the most depressed. I'm leaving this to you. Seiya, you are the club president. I’m counting on you to support everyone else."

"…I understand."

Seiya saw the taxi off.

After they reached the hospital, they waited for their turn for a medical examination in the waiting room. They came after they called ahead, but it seemed that it was unexpectedly busy and it would take a while.

The TV would be on during the day, but the screen was turned off at night. Other than this corner, the lights were turned off, and in the darkness, the underwater forest in the aqua terrarium looked like it was floating in the sky. Foam bubbles burst open at the water’s edge.

Masa-san wiped the sweat off Minato’s forehead with a towel. Minato then closed his eyes.

"Do you want to lie down?"

"No. But more importantly, Masa-san, you should keep a distance from me."

"I’ll be fine, since when my whole family had to stay in bed because of the flu, I was the only one who didn’t catch it."

Minato opened his half-closed eyes and smiled a little bit.

"…As expected of Masa-san."

"You can lean on me if you’re tired."

"…No, I’m okay."

Minato crossed his arms to hug himself tightly.

Even though he usually didn’t get fevers, what was he doing after having come such a long way here? Tomorrow was the last day, the day of the finals that he made a promise to Shuu and the others to be in. He even talked with Seiya about managing their health.

He felt like crying at his own feebleness.

Why am I so weak?

Names were called by order, and before long Minato and Masa-san were the only ones in the waiting room.

Minato muttered.

"With my condition like this, I might not be able to be in tomorrow’s match…"

"You went through the experience of being trapped in an elevator, so your body’s been through a shock. You’ll be cured when you take medicine and have a good night’s sleep.”

"It’s okay, you don’t have to comfort me."

"That’s pretty negative for you to say, Minato. I thought you said that you would be in the competition even if you had to crawl. If you weren’t there, then Kazemai would only have four people, you know?"

The jade-green colour of the aqua terrarium was reflected in Minato’s eyes.

"…Sorry. I was being timid just now. That wound on your forehead didn't disappear, Masa-san. Misfortune befalls those who get involved with me…"

"What’s with that chuunibyou-like thing you said? My wound is mostly gone, and even now you can’t see it because my bangs are covering it, right? Oh, did Nikaidou say something to you? He’s quite the talker."

"That’s not it…"

"Your face tells me otherwise. Then let me ask you, do I look unlucky to you?"

Minato shook his head.

"See? The only one who decides if I'm lucky or not is me. It’s not something to have other people decide for you. For me, what’s unlucky is not having that place."

Masa-san grinned.

What they did not hear until now was the sound of the river flowing in the forest of the aqua terrarium.

The clear murmuring of the stream reminded him of a scene from summer training camp. It was fun and pleasant to spend the time together with everyone, and he wished that it could continue on like that forever.

Memories of summer vacation.

His precious bow friends.

"This is often used in analogies, but there is a cup half-filled with water. The levels of happiness are completely different for the people who think it’s half-full, and the people who think it’s half-empty. The one who associates the matter of a cup half-filled with water with things like happy or sad, good or bad, is oneself—"I." The matter itself is not good or evil."

"'Form is emptiness’—it’s similar to the Heart Sutra. Saionji-sensei taught it to us as a breathing method in the past." (6)

"Buddhism preaches casting away worldly desires. That fixations and desires cause people inconvenience. When those limiters are removed, a person are able to perform at their best.”

"Masa-san, I want to ask you something."

"Hmm? What’s that?”

“I want to touch the wound on your forehead——”

The current me can’t be like this person, who has such a clear view of things. "if at that time, if I didn’t stay in that spot and acted with everyone else, Masa-san wouldn’t have been injured”—I can’t erase that regret.

In that case, I’ll accept it all properly. I will continue to bear the truths that I want to turn my eyes away from, that I want to pretend doesn’t exist.

"Go ahead."

Masa-san moved his face closer, presenting his forehead. His eyes, deep blue like the sea, were slowly blinking.

Minato ran his heat-tinged fingers through Masa-san’s bangs.

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#tsurune #tsurune translation

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maguneedsalife · 8 years ago

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Review time! 1/8 Mikazuki Munechika

holy swordboys, batman!

file this one under “figures i didn’t expect to ever own but then saw on extreme markdown and snagged”

picture-heavy review under the cut as usual!

So, I didn’t expect to own this figure. For a variety of reasons. I didn’t really like how the prototype pictures came out; stellar paint job notwithstanding. The pose is kind of bland. The Awakened version was announced around the same time this version came out, and I like the pose/potential shirtlessness on that better. I saw this one in person once in a display case at Kinokuniya, and that made me think “hm, maybe regular jiji wouldn’t be so bad,” but the $170 price tag didn’t convince me. I had honest to god been intending to wait for the Awakened version to come out.

Then i went on fucking mandarake and saw they had this one for 6k yen. Considering his retail price is to the tune of 15k yen, i decided to jump on it. I knew in my collector heart that I would probably never see that price on this figure again. At that deep of a markdown he ran the high chance of being defected or damaged, but all manda had to say about quality was “box damage” so i added him to my cart and crossed my fingers.

fast forward a week and he shows up. not only is the box PRISTINE except for where the previous owner cut the tape, jiji is completely, utterly perfect. This man had seen the outside of his box maybe once.

AND SO, now i will shut up and get to the review pictures, which is what you’re all here for

Honestly, he’s perfect. He’s so perfect that I could just post these pictures by themselves and let them do the talking. But that would be boring.

Here he is from the side. The pattern on his outfit really stands out here; i’m just consistently amazed that that’s actually sculpted on instead of a decal. His sword is also much longer than i expected; I guess its length isn’t entirely clear in the official illustration

From this angle you can sort of make out his body line under all his clothing. The sculpting of the fabric folds is just fantastic.

Here he is from the back. He looks like he’s leaning, but it’s just the odd way that the weight is distributed. He’s putting most of the weight on one leg, but surprisingly enough he can stand solidly without his base. From this angle, the sort of wistful tilt of his head is just lovely. He almost seems like he’s reminiscing about days long gone by...

Here he is from the other side. More fantastic work on the folds.

I feel like i’ve swindled mandarake out of a perfectly good swordboy. He’s breathtaking from just about every angle.

Up close.... aaaAAAA he’s so pretty, I’m dying scoob.

In hindsight, I wish I’d taken a closeup of his face straight on, because there’s actually a gap between some of his bangs that’s hard to see at this angle. The sculpting on his hair is so exact, i’m surprised they were able to mass produce it...

Closer in you can see that no detail was spared. Even the small crescents in his eyes have been faithfully included--though they’re nearly impossible to see in the official artwork.

Back when the prototype pictures were released there was a bit of uproar about his face, particularly his mouth. The prototype’s lips were parted slightly, to better match Mikazuki’s serene smile in the official art--but it wasn’t all that flattering. In fact the lips were one of the reasons I was kind of turned off the prototype haha.... Somewhere between the prototype and release, the face was fine-tuned and his mouth changed into a close-lipped smile. I’m glad they made the change; it looks much more natural.

The tassels on his head also look nice.

Closeup of his breastplate and crest. Kogitsunemaru’s armor stitches were decals, but Mikazuki’s are individually sculpted.

Closeup of his obi zone. The amount of detail in this figure is incredible, and here especially. You can even see the strap where his sword is attached.

All of the tassels on this figure (except the ones on his head) are made of a flexible plastic--which honestly is a godsend, bc if they weren’t i probably would have broken them all off by now. Kudos to Orange Rouge for their foresight.

while the patterned blue definitely draws the eye, there’s something to be said for Mikazuki’s hakama as well. The gold embellishments can be hard to see, but at certain angles they catch the light well.

Tan sandals, and a simple base. interesting to note, Kogits’ socks had a center seam, while Mikazuki’s have an edge seam. You can also see a bit of his underclothes in the reflection here, which I had no idea he had. Another detail that would probably escape notice!

close in on his hand and the handle of his sword. Looking up his sleeve, you can actually see another sleeve nestled in there. He’s not just a faithful reproduction of the illustration, he’s a reproduction of what the design would actually entail.

Just as it did on the nendoroid, the gradient in his hair looks very nice.

More details on his back; normally this isn’t something you would ever see.

Closeup of the obi zone. The pattern on his sword belt is easier to see from behind.

Hidden within his sleeve is... another sleeve! The pattern on his sword is also very cool. I hadn’t noticed this until now, but each phase of the moon is represented on the scabbard.

more sleeve-within-sleeve i had no idea was there. He must be very warm.

And while we’re looking up things...

He has very feminine legs...

I couldn’t get close enough to really see but, thanks to MFC and twitter i know that Mikazuki is actually going commando. (link nsfw; anime boy butts ahead). Someone stop this old man

When I first took him out of the box I searched high and low for any kind of defect that would’ve caused a 60% markdown, but i honest to god couldn’t find any glaring mistakes. The only thing I found that might POSSIBLY have caused it was this near-invisible ding:

Joke’s on you, manda???

Here he is next to the now somewhat legendary nendoroid jiji. Truth be told, the nendoroid was what piqued my interest in Touken Ranbu in the first place--I’d literally never heard of it before goodsmile started making figures. (You can read my nendoroid review here and see the start of my descent into swordboy hell)

After all is said and done, I’m extremely glad I went out on a limb and snagged the nendoroid. Tourabu is my aesthetic in so many ways, and now i have a whole plethora of swordboys to love and throw my wallet away to. It’s nice to have a scale of my first swordboy crush, too. I think I’ll always be partial to the nendoroid--it was my first exposure to the series, after all--but the scale figure captures so much of Mikazuki’s elegance that the nendo is just too small for.

Together with my other swordboy love, Kogitsunemaru. (Of course my favs are the hardest swords to get) (I say, after getting them for free on tkrb pocket)

I bought kogits for my birthday last september (bc at that point i honestly liked his scale better/didn’t think i’d ever find a jiji in my budget) but ever since I’ve thought he looked kind of lonely. I’d wanted to get awakening jiji for him, but honestly I’m glad I got the default one. The two of them look natural together. Thanks to them both being 1/8 scale, their height difference is also accurate. It’s very slight, but it’s there!!

Is this what it feels like to own both Barbie and Ken?? my shipper heart is very satisfied with this purchase. I tried to make them kiss, but their swords got in the way. There’s an innuendo in here somewhere

The whole sword family! These boys are all lovely on their own, but.... ahhh, they look best when they’re together!!!

masato introduces us to the new boy

I was expecting them to be the same height, but masa is actually taller!

Of course, Ren is still the reigning champion (though it’s not fair since he’s 1/7)

Seeing how much taller Masato was made me think Souji might at least have a chance of being the same height as jiji. Nope. Sorry Sooj

Here’s where he’s living for now. I’d like them to be on the other side of each other, but Kogits is so tall that he blocks out ren and masato if he and jiji switch places. The black bases also look very nice on my desk.

god my desk is getting so full, and there’s only more to come... rip

All in all, while he was definitely an impulse splurge (i am not buying any more figures until my preorders start coming out, do not let me) and despite all my apprehension, Mikazuki has definitely earned his place in my collection. He’s absolutely stunning, and photos don’t always do him the justice he deserves. I’m excited to start working with him for real, and try bringing out even a fraction of the charm that he has in person.

While I still would have preferred a more lively pose, I now think this kind of thing is a fine start. Hell, it’s still better than nothing; I came into figure collecting when the prettyboy figure scene was preeeetty spotty. In the future--budget willing--I hope to show my support for touken ranbu figures with dynamic poses, so figure companies know that it’s a risk worth taking. (I guess that’s my one regret buying secondhand; OR isn’t going to see that money. whoops.) I’ve still got my eyes on awoken jiji, though if THIS jiji ran 15k a pop, lord knows what kind of hit my wallet would take on a fancier one....

Anyway, that just about wraps it up. Impulse control willing, my next review will be around April/May.

#touken ranbu #mikazuki munechika #anime toys #figure review

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pocketminstrel · 8 years ago

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twenty-sixteen, age 21+22

it’s quite beautiful that i can never predict the experiences that will stick to me as i finish each year and look forward to the next, even though i can always outline my commitments and the places i’ll be. as i look back on this past year, i think of a collection of singular memories and emotions that have all bled into each other and seeped into my soul and exploded into the mess i am today. currently, i feel that i’m the most confused i have ever been. and yet i feel the most aware and knowledgable about myself, the world, and what i can give and take from it. i guess basically what had happened in 2016 is that more and more question marks began to spring into my life than were being resolved, either because of new experiences or the sheer fact that i was finally motioned towards them.

i’m realizing that just sounds incredibly vague, so i’ll wrap this intro up and dive into details. but before i start, i would like to say that 2016 was another grand year of coming of age. but tiffany, you’re already 22, you already came of age. i’d like to think that life is just a long and stringy story of self-discovery, and that no matter how old we get, if we are properly living, we are constantly changing. which means there is always more to learn, especially when it comes to ourselves. The smart ass self-aware-tiff in me would like to disagree, but i wave my white flag to this truth.

i started this year off pretty secure. i had a great summer (facebook) and fall (berlin) lined up for me, so all there was left for me to do was to enjoy the present: my friends, family, boyfriend, school, and projects. my classes - collaborative innovation, modern lit, philosophy of mind, and social psychology - each represented and stimulated very important pillars of my identity. it was a very wholesome academic semester; lots of writing - i think i counted all the pages i wrote for social psych and it was around 70 or so - but i never dreaded any of it. i remember constantly walking out of my classes in awe and inspired. i was able to throw an art gallery and work in teams that encouraged me to learn about what role i take in them.

during spring break, i went to japan. ironically, i’m actually here again writing this right now. but being in an asian country for the first time in 8 years had a profound effect on me. i have vivid memories of struggling to find the airbnb near the skytree and falling dizzily in love with the tiny streets (finally my size!!), delicate greenery, and colors of the streets - pink, yellow, and green, talking fulfillment with jasmine and monica at commune 246, filling up a whole bar every night out with the sep group, bright green calpico/sake drinks, biking down arashiyama forest and getting lost in the cold, walking out of the station in kyoto to be surprised by the fushimi inari temple, gawking at the box-like architecture in harajuku, and so much more. i remember on the train to kyoto, i thought to myself, it feels really damn good to be asian here.

when i came back to berkeley from japan, my boyfriend at the time told me that he loved me. i didn’t think i was the type - to put so much weight into words of affirmation - but strangely, this changed a lot of things for me. i was trying very hard to kid myself of the very strong feelings that i had for him in fear of pain; but hearing those words from him yanked that delusion immediately out of me. i was in love, i had a very special person in my life who made me stupidly happy, and there was no turning back.

much of the way i organize time for the most of this year is marked by where i was in my relationship. i think in general, relationships tend to do that to you, but i think my case is a little different because our relationship was a slave to time. man, is time a bitch. but time also heals, time sheds light, and time gives you wisdom. my prolonged post-breakup reflection forced me to stare at some huge huge faults about and what i need/what i can improve on about myself in regards to the ways i receive and give love.

in may, i started my internship at facebook. i was working on a tool with immense social impact. i woke up every day to the rewarding and intimidating reality that i could help millions and millions of lives. but 90% of the time my manager was stressing balls because of the nature of our product, and i felt that i didn’t get as much mentorship as i deserved. and being me, i didn’t ask for it, thinking it would all be okay and i could handle it all by myself just fine. and sometime halfway, i realized that my creative process is not where i want it to be, and that being at facebook could not realize that for me, at least not immediately. i knew i had to be somewhere else. also around the same time, i could not shake facebook’s eerie life-hand-holding and empathy vacuum when it came to social media’s effect on the youth psyche.

outside of work and all, i had a vibrant social life filled with tons of new and old friendships. i think of the talks i had with ashley in my room, which brought me so much clarity i nearly melted into tears every time we hung out, shuttle rides and “exploring” sunnyvale with luke, nights in the city with zai and maheen, talking ideas and creativity with kevin, eating noodles with kelsey every day, and weekends with angela in berkeley or union square. sometime in the summer, i dyed my hair blue. it was a huge mistake and i hated it, but i guess it was something to cross off my bucket list.

in 2016, i also went to way too many concerts to count. some shows that come to mind immediately are sophie, ben UFO, Nao, Mura Masa, robert glasper, honne, gold panda, the pc music label, and my god everyone at the clubs in berlin - i got to see anthony naples at berghain, even, the man who got me into house music in the first place.

i went to two music festivals, too: osl and fyf. at osl, i was nearly moved to tears at “elegy to the void” during beach house’s set - it was the first time i heard that song; i never really gave “thank your lucky stars” a chance. at fyf, i danced my heart out to gerd janson, bicep, black madonna, and hot chip. gerd janson in an act i’ll particularly remember - it was as i was getting a warm, personal goodbye for berlin.

the week of fyf was one of the most interesting crossroads of time in my life. it was the last week i had in california before moving to berlin. it was the week of ending facebook and having loads of clarity with what i needed in my career. it was when i held my mom’s hand during a PET scan. it was the first time i could play with my four month old baby nephew whom i love so very much. it was when i dyed my hair back to a normal color. it was when i learned to really love and appreciate daniel and elaine. and it was the first time i would see my ex in months. needless to say, a lot of anticipation went into that ^ meetup, and i hold that memory near and dear to my heart. the conversation we had in the yellowish park in dtla next to the jewelry district meant a lot to me. sparks flew and they flew.

and then there was berlin. i’m a bit scared to write this part actually. a lot was going on for me internally (see above) immediately before leaving, and for the majority of my time abroad, i was so lost. i didn’t know what i was doing there, feeling like i was just wasting my time and escaping responsibility. at times, i felt so alone. i convinced myself for a bit that i thought about everything so ceaselessly already that i didn’t need a new environment to learn about myself and be challenged to open my eyes up to the world. but in berlin, i found experiences that could not have happened to me anywhere else or could have hit home at any other time in my life. in berlin, i found muses. i found friends that inspired me with their individuality: yacha, jenn, vartan, kyra. i found club culture. i found the bullshit of aesthetic photography. i found the importance of pursuing what feels right. i found the importance of being my authentic self, even though it can feel isolating at times. i found an outlet in philosophy and art history, escaping into the aura of some of the greatest museums in the world, especially the moderna museet in stockholm and the ai wei wei exhibition in florence. it was a time of finding comfort in facebook chats with peter, jimmy, and jason. it was a time of living an alternate life with a completely unfamiliar routine of life and culture.

however, i think the contrast of returning back home was where i learned the most about the whole experience. they call it reverse culture shock. you really do see the juxtaposition of your current self and a previous self when you go back home. though while home i was fighting a bacterial sinus infection and rhinitis, i had never been so happpy to be with my family. it was the first time being back home where i didn’t even want to see my friends; i just wanted to be at home and be surrounded by my passionate, hilarious, loving parents, siblings, and nephew. man, are we explosive group of seven but equally explosive in support and love. i am almost tearing up writing this.

there’s much more to say, and probably tens of other experiences i should mention in here, but this post is getting too long and i should stop being a hermit crab.

2017 is going to be an amazing year. i can feel it.

#myposts

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