In this chapter: The aftermath of the accident and the beginning of the prefectural tournament

They sure are taking their sweet time on giving news about the anime, aren’t they?

Glossary

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. Word used here is ボケた, which can mean go senile or purposely joking/acting stupid

2. Kakipi is also a type of j.a.panese snack, made of a mix of peanuts and a type of rice cracker

3. This one took a long time to understand, but a tada yazuka is a yazuka without tsumeai or n.o.biai (a mental expansion to firm up the body). A hiku yazuka is the draw of a beginner archer who hasn’t really gotten tsumeai or n.o.biai yet, so they are just drawing their fingers. A hikanu yazuka is the draw of an archer who properly does tsumeai and n.o.biai, and draws the bow to their limit.

4. Motare is the opposite of hayake, where you take too long in kai and miss the chance for letting your arrow go.

5. A shrine bell (or suzu) is a bell that hangs over entrances to shrines, said to summon G.o.ds and spirits.

“Ma.s.san, Ma.s.san!?”

No matter how many times Minato called Ma.s.san’s name, there was no response. The face of Ma.s.san, who was pinned beneath the timber, was pale, and the blood that flowed from him dyed the ground red. When Minato looked around to try to ask for help, he saw that the scattered timber had blocked the road, damming up the flow of people.

He touched Ma.s.san with trembling hands.

“Minato!”

It was Seiya’s voice.

“I asked someone in the café to call an ambulance. Let’s move these timbers out of the way.”

“All, all right.”

As Minato and Seiya set to work on the timbers, Nanao, Ryouhei, and Kaito also came running over. The pa.s.sersby who had been standing still up until then from shock, and the café employees, also joined in to help. They lifted the timbers up one by one, and then set them in a corner of the road. A woman applied a handkerchief to Ma.s.san’s forehead, then checked his pulse on his wrist. People also ran towards the driver of the small truck who had caused the collapse of the load. He seemed to be a man in his seventies and wasn’t particularly injured.

When the ambulance and police car arrived, Ma.s.san was placed on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance. Prompted by an emergency worker in a light blue uniform to stay with him, Seiya gave instructions without a moment’s delay.

“Minato and I will be sticking by Ma.s.san, so Nanao and the rest will stay here and contact Tomi-sensei. Later, I will tell you the hospital he is taken to.”

“Got it. Leave everything here to us,” Nanao responded.

When Minato and Seiya got into the ambulance, the emergency worker spoke to them.

“For identification purposes, please tell me the victim’s name and other information once again.”

“Okay. Takigawa Masaki-san, twenty-three years old. His residence is…”

While Seiya answered calmly, the other emergency worker attached an instrument for measuring his pulse to Ma.s.san’s finger. The multiple strange-looking bulbs and the electronic beeping sounds coming from the small monitor fueled Minato’s anxiety. When they were transported to the hospital, Ma.s.san was immediately taken to the operating room, and the two waited in the hallway outside.

The white-walled hallway. The bench with sunken seats.

Minato wondered just how much of people’s thoughts and feelings did that bench accept. There was no sense of reality, as though he was watching a movie or a drama. Even though there were many people at the hospital and it was noisy with the people coming back and forth, he could only hear the sound of his heartbeat.

How heavy was that wood? One plank is three kilograms, no, maybe about ten kilograms? How many substantial kilograms of force would it be if a bunch of them fell so violently like that? Was it okay that there was so much blood coming out of his head?

If he doesn’t wake up like this——.

His thoughts quickly took a turn for the worse. As Minato rubbed his wrist, Seiya must had got up without him realizing and got drinks.

“Minato, drink up. I think it’ll calm you down a little.”

“…Okay.”

“Ma.s.san’s mother is going to her husband who is in the middle of a job transfer, and it seems that she will be returning home tomorrow. When Ren-san went to the café parking lot to pick up Ma.s.san’s car that’s still there, he picked up Nanao and the others and is driving them here. Minato, you should call home once too.”

“I know, I’ll call my dad. You really are amazing, Seiya. Even at this time you can act appropriately.”

“Ironically enough, because this is the second time that I happened to be at the scene of an accident, when by some chance I encountered that kind of scene again, I was able to simulate acting like this for this time.”

“I see…”

About an hour pa.s.sed, and then the operating room’s doors opened. Ma.s.san’s eyes were still closed, and he had on an oxygen mask and the needle of an IV drip was stuck in his right arm. While they sat on the couch waiting for him to regain consciousness, Ren and the others arrived.

Minato stood up and bowed his head deeply.

“Ren-san, I’m so sorry, Ma.s.san protected me…”

“Lift your head up. It must have been very difficult for all of you. You guys did nothing wrong, and in fact you did more than enough. It’s all okay now, so be at ease.”

“Ren-san…”

“You’re tired, so you’d better go home for today. I will call you when he wakes up. That idiot won’t kick the bucket so easily like this.”

“No, please let me stay here a little more. When I called my dad earlier, I told him that I will stay with Ma.s.san if it would not bother anyone.”

“Well then, I wonder if I should accept your kind offer. When he wakes up, Masaki will probably be relieved to see you guys looking alright. But, don’t push yourselves.”

The sun went down, and Nanao, Ryouhei, and Kaito got up from their seats to get something to eat. When Minato put his hand on the door to get some fresh air, Ma.s.san regained consciousness.

His narrow eyes opened slowly.

“…Where am I?”

Ren moved his face closer to Ma.s.san’s.

“The hospital. Do you know who I am?”

“…Stupid Ren.”

“Looks like you’ve lost your memory.”

“What about Minato?”

“He’s safe. He’s right over there.”

“I see, thank goodness.”

After Ren and Seiya exchanged some words with Ma.s.san, they both left the room—Ren to call for a nurse, and Seiya to contact Tomi-sensei. Minato, left behind, sat on a chair by the bedside.

He heard from the doctor that Ma.s.san got nine st.i.tches on the upper right part of his forehead. It was painful to look at the bandage wrapped around his head upon the white bed.

He didn’t know what to say.

I’m so sorry that everything’s my fault?

Thank you for saving me?

——None of those are right.

When he hung his head and gripped the sheets at the end of the bed tightly, Ma.s.san spoke first.

“What’s wrong, Minato? You’re making such an ugly face. I’m perfectly alive.”

“…If Ma.s.san died, I shall follow after him.”

“Hey, hey, don’t say disturbing things like that.”

“I really mean it.”

“Good grief.”

Ma.s.san stretched out his right arm with the IV still in it, drew Minato’s head closer, and ruffled his hair.

I know the weight of this hand. And that it’s warm——.

Tears poured out of him endlessly, and he couldn’t stop them at all even though he wanted to.

I’m so glad that Ma.s.san is okay. Really, truly. The people who came running to us, the emergency workers, the doctors at the hospital, the nurses, G.o.d, and Buddha. I want to thank everyone. Thank you all for helping Ma.s.san.

Minato clung to the sheets and kept crying until Seiya and Ren returned to the room.

The next day when he went to school, the accident was a hot topic.

Someone saw Minato’s face at the entrance and came running over to him. It was a male student who was in the same cla.s.s as Minato, but had never talked much to him until now.

“Narumiya, I heard about it! There was a huge accident. They say that a bunch of iron pipes rolled down from a huge semi-trailer truck? It seemed that the surrounding shops also got messed up.”

“It was a small truck, not a semi-trailer, it wasn’t iron pipes, and no stores were destroyed.”

“Oh, is it? Aren’t they both pretty close, though? You sure are nitpicky.”

He didn’t feel like going along with verifying the answers to the game of telephone. Giving a sidelong glance to his cla.s.smate who was rudely continuing to talk, Minato changed his shoes and walked towards his cla.s.sroom. He wondered if the other boy would not go somewhere else soon, but because their cla.s.srooms were the same, he kept following him. Finally, he threw a question that was filled with bare sensationalism.

“That’s right, haven’t I heard that the person who saved you will get publicly acknowledged for it? Since he’s a hero of our town and all. Hey, hey, did you get a video? Or photos? Or did you not take any? What a waste.”

Minato stopped and glared at the other boy.

“Wh-what? What’s wrong?”

When he thought about Ma.s.san with a bandage wrapped around his head, he could not help but feel pained. Don’t call someone a hero when they protected me and got wounded——. When he tried to respond with that, someone joined shoulders with him from behind. He looked and saw two familiar faces over his shoulder.

“Merha, you’re looking cool today as well. But you still lose to me, though,” Nanao said.

Ryouhei lowered his brows.

“Minatooo, we have a math quiz today, but I don’t get anything at all. Teach me, teach me!”

“Okay, but I think you’d be more certain if you asked Seiya.”

“Alright, let’s go to my cla.s.sroom. I’ll call Seiya, too.”

Ryouhei and Nanao pinned Minato between them and left to steal him away from his gossip-loving cla.s.smate.

After school, Minato and Seiya went to the kyudojo, where Tomi-sensei waited for them at the entrance. He stretched himself up and hugged the two of them tightly together.

“Oh, it must have been so terrible for you. What’s most important is that everyone is safe. If you have any troubles, do not hesitate to come to me. I am the mission commander after all.”

“…Tomi-sensei.”

Minato almost cried again in spite of himself at Tomi-sensei trying his hardest to console them. It felt like Ma.s.san would have laughed at him for being hugged by the grandplike teacher and looking like he was crying, but his tear glands were becoming loose despite his best efforts. And even though Seiya usually absolutely hated being hugged, he quietly stayed in it.

When all the other club members came and sat in a circle, Kaito spoke with a strong tone.

“Narumiya, if you’re thinking that ‘it was my fault that Ma.s.san got injured,’ then you ain’t worth being saved by him. Be grateful and stand up straight. I’m repeating myself, but this accident wasn’t your fault.”

“…Yeah, got it.” Minato answered.

Kaito looked at Seiya for only a moment, then turned his face towards everyone.

“We have a week until the prefectural tournament. In order to not waste what Ma.s.san had taught us until now, we will continue practicing like before. Is that okay with everyone? Is it okay with you too, Tomi-sensei?”

They all nodded.

“It would be an inconvenience if a crowd of people barge in to visit Ma.s.san, so Tomi-sensei and all the boys will go first. The girls will go after tomorrow. No one is forced to go.”

After that, the girls all stood up, and Hanazawa gave Minato and Seiya two large and small paper bags.

“Takehaykun’s bag has get-well presents from all the girls, so please give it to Takigawsan. Narumiykun’s bag has sweets that we made ourselves, so please eat them. You will be filled with strength if you eat them. Accept them gratefully, okay?”

“…Thank you.”

He opened the bag on the spot, and everyone ate the cookies. They were modestly sweet and tasty. Minato thought that everyone’s consideration was kind and thoughtful, that he was really glad that he was able to join the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club, and that he wanted to be everyone’s strength one day.

After finis.h.i.+ng up practice earlier than usual, Tomi-sensei and the five boys went to the hospital where Ma.s.san was admitted.

When they went to his room after signing in at reception, they saw a crowd in the corridor in front of the room. Minato looked at them closely, wondering what was going on, and saw four faces he knew.

They were Ren, Seiya’s and Ryouhei’s mothers, and Minato’s father.

“h.e.l.lo, everyone.”

“h.e.l.lo, Minato-kun.”

“Dad, you came to see him!”

“Don’t you think a father shouldn’t do such an ungrateful thing like not visiting his son’s savior in the hospital?”

“That’s true. Thank you, Dad.”

The two faces that he was seeing for the first time were Kaito’s and Nanao’s mothers, so there was exactly one person from each family, a total of five parents gathered. Kaito’s and Nanao’s mothers were sisters, and their faces looked exactly alike. They said that they will start up the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club support a.s.sociation.

“Until now, it’s all been left to the manager and coach, but from now on we parents will also help. We are indebted to Yata Shrine as well for the training camp, so we were talking about visiting there at least once to properly thank them. On the day of the prefectural tournament, the support a.s.sociation will also arrange cars to drop off and pick up the manager and athletes. Tomi-sensei, we look forward to working with you.”

“I truly appreciate it. It is I who should thank you for supporting us. I am honored to be able to accept the help of such beautiful ladies.”

“Oh my, Tomi-sensei. You are so straightforward.”

While Tomi-sensei and the mothers were talking, Nanao whispered into Kaito’s ear.

“Tomi-sensei went senile…(1) Do you think our moms are so motivated because Ma.s.san and Ren-san are good-looking?”

“Maybe.”

At their mothers and Tomi-sensei who were laughing loudly, the sons trembled with fear. A nurse warned them to keep quiet as their loud voices could be overheard in the hospital rooms. As the adults were continuing their conversation, Minato and the others left Tomi-sensei in the hallway and went into the room.

At the end of their line of sight was Ma.s.san, who was smiling, as expected.

“It sure is lively outside. I felt like I heard Tomi-sensei’s voice, too.”

“He got caught by our parents. Well, I don’t think they’ll let him escape for some time,” Nanao said.

Seiya handed over the get-well gifts entrusted to him by the girls, and when he looked inside he saw homemade cookies and plenty of shoujo manga.

“'Kakipi (2) and the Heartthrob Prince'… This seems to be opening up a new frontier for me.”

“Oh, I think I know that one. I was also recommended to read it, but it really does make your heart throb.”

“I really don’t get how you think,” Kaito said, and scratched the back of his head.

After chatting for a while, Ma.s.san started to talk about the final adjustments for the prefectural tournament.

“After entering the dojo for the finals, you will sit down in a chair and wait rather than being in kiza. Practice by visualizing the actual performance and using chairs. All of you have beautiful shooting postures for each stage as high school students. You can have confidence in yourselves. The rest is just tsumeai at 'kai’ and n.o.biai in all directions.”

“I’ve often heard the words 'tsumeai’ and 'n.o.biai,’ but what do they mean?”

“Oh, that’s right, Ryouhei started doing kyudo seriously in high school. I forgot about that because you were so skilled.”

“Heh heh, really?”

“Tsumeai is filling every important point in order to compose the shape of the tateyoko juumonji, or in other words, to make it so that there is no slack in any part of the body. As mentioned before, the vertical line is composed from the sanjuu juumonji—the soles, the hips and the shoulders. With that vertical line, the horizontal lines that are the arms and elbows can move freely.”

“So in order to do n.o.biai, if I don’t do tsumeai properly, then it’s no good?”

“Exactly. There’s an old school song that goes, 'hiku yazuka and hikanu yazuka and tada yazuka, release and hanare and being released.’ 'Hiku yazuka’ means shooting with only the fingers, ’hikanu yazuka’ means shooting with a fullness of energy, and 'tada yazuka’ means shooting that is only maintaining at kai. In order to acquire ’hikanu yazuka,' you must keep doing n.o.biai. Especially you, Minato.” (3)

Ma.s.san turned his face towards him.

“Enjoy the state of kai. If you keep stretching to open left and right from the center line of your body, your arrow will naturally be released along with the triggering of your spirit. That is 'hanare.' Drive hayake and motare away.” (4)

“Okay, Ma.s.san.”

Afterwards, Minato declined Ma.s.san’s offer of not having to visit him anymore, and went to see him every day. At school, he did rubber bow practice during lunch break in addition to morning practice, and set aside all of his free time for kyudo practice.

The day before the compet.i.tion, after Minato finished visiting his mother’s grave with his father, he went to Yata Shrine by himself.

Under the evening sky, the cherry trees in front of the front shrine were covered in dark leaves, a completely different scenery from when he first met Ma.s.san. The seasons did not change backwards. The next spring would look similar, but it would still be another spring.

He rang the bell (5) and put his hands together.

I wish that everyone can use up all of the strength they have to do their best.

Please let Ma.s.san recover as soon as possible——.

Originally, he would have prayed for certain victory, but because Tomi-sensei had said that G.o.ds approaches those without greed, he stopped wis.h.i.+ng for himself. Now, rather than victory or defeat, he wanted his goal to be being able to shoot like usual.

Actually, since the accident, he had an uncomfortable feeling in his left wrist. Usually he felt nothing, but when he bent his wrist to make his hand flat, there was a dull pain, so he put a wet cloth on it only when he slept. He had no difficulties drawing a bow, but overdoing it was bad.

When he heard the hooting of an owl in the distance, Minato smiled and left the shrine.

In early June, the National High School Kyudo Tournament Prefectural Qualifiers, also known as the prefectural tournament, was held.

The green of the lawns and the oxidized silver of the tiled roof were more p.r.o.nounced due to the rain. The thick clouds, like spilled ink, spread, but the weather report announced that there would be clear skies in the afternoon.

The compet.i.tion event was a kinteki compet.i.tion, where kasumi-mato with thirty-six-centimeter wooden frames were used, and a shooting distance of twenty-eight meters. For the individual compet.i.tions on the first day, Shuu won the boys’ division with a kaichuu. Seo represented Kazemai High School in the girls’ division, but she was regrettably eliminated in the preliminaries. The second day was the team compet.i.tion. The compet.i.tion method was a team of five people, in zasha, each shooting four shots, and a time limit of eight minutes. There were forty-two schools taking part in the boys’ team compet.i.tion, and the top eight teams with the most hits in two rounds would advance to the finals tournament.

Tomi-sensei opened his mouth wide.

“Now, it’s finally the start of the prefecturals. Everyone, I wish you all good luck!”

“All right!”

After they finished signing in, Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao and Minato put their numbers on their right hips.

Despite the unfortunate weather, the parents of support a.s.sociation, their friends, and of course the Nanao Fan Club all came out to cheer them on. A banner with the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club’s name on it hung from the stands.

Because people were gathering indoors to keep out of the rain, the venue was more crowded than usual. It felt like one would get sick just from being inside the humid indoors. The people who were dressed in hakama all seemed to exude confidence.

Minato went outside to breathe some fresh air. Then, some people approached him. They were a boy who looked like a young lord, and a pair of identical twins—Kirisaki High School’s Fujiwara Shuu and Sugawara Senichi and Manji.

“Minato, it’s been a while. How are you feeling today?”

“Not bad at all, Shuu. There’s a lot of cheering squads who came for us today, so I’m fired up.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say such a thing. You said before that you weren’t drawing to have other people watch you. You thought spectators were annoying.”

“Now I’m honestly happy to be supported. Besides, I’ve just always loved doing kyudo, whether before or now. So why is someone like you drawing a bow, Shuu? Aren’t you doing it for the same reasons as me?”

Instead of replying, Shuu smiled brilliantly.

The twins Senichi and Manji didn’t seem pleased with Minato’s and Shuu’s conversation.

“Shuu, shouldn’t we go soon? Even though he’s your old teammate, I don’t get why you care about him so much. Because he has hayake? Even that other day, it wasn’t that big a deal.”

The twins were provoking Minato. The shake up before the compet.i.tion had already begun. Minato did not get taken in, but instead spoke with reflection from his own experience.

“Sugawarkuns, if you continue to shoot like that, you will get hayake. You can still prevent it now.”

“What was that? You feel like giving us advice? You sure are a sore loser, Hayake-kun.”

“Uh-huh, that’s right, whatever Hayake-kun says is a load of c.r.a.p. Oh, it’s former Hayake-kun, please excuse me!”

Shuu calmed the twins down.

“Hey, hey, let’s go back to the venue now. Sorry about that, Minato.”

“Tch, don’t apologize, Shuu,” Manji said, pouting.

The twins looked like they still had more to say, but they went back to the venue with Shuu.

Following the opening ceremony, the yawatas.h.i.+ was performed. The summons for the preliminaries sounded, and Minato’s team headed for the third waiting area with Tomi-sensei leading the way. In compet.i.tions, the time of waiting at those places were the most nerve-wracking. They proceeded towards the second waiting area, and sat down in the chairs when they entered the shajo for the first waiting area.

The team before them finished. They stood up from their chairs (kiritsu) and went towards honza, made their yuu bows at the “start” signal, proceeded towards the shooting line and sat down in kiza. They placed their four arrows on the floor and picked two.

First to go was the oomae, Kaito. Originally, he shot with offensive shots that were full of vigor, but now there was a glimpse of calmness there. At the end of the careful progress of the arrow, when the matooto sounded, a cheer of “Alright” rose. It was an auspicious start.

When Kaito had entered kai, the second archer Ryouhei began to raise his bow. He freely made use of his large body of 182cm and drew his bow dynamically. However, it seemed that he put too much force into his right hand. His arrow landed to the right of the target.

The third archer, Seiya, shot with a feeling of logic. He released his arrow like a mathematician who deduced the correct answer with proper reasoning—and hit.

When the fourth archer Nanao raised his bow, some of the girls in the stands leaned forward. Holding matching yellow-green frog-shaped uchiwa fans, they cheered in perfect coordination when Nanao hit the target. It was as though one had completely gotten lost in an idol concert venue.

The fifth archer—the ochi—was Minato. Minato’s shooting was the flow of a cool and clear river. It refused to be confined, and the piercing coldness gave rise to a refres.h.i.+ng wind.

In the stands, Hanazawa, s.h.i.+ragiku, and Seo sighed.

“Narumiykun’s shooting is really beautiful. Or rather, it has a sense of transparency to it.”

“You fix your eyes upon it without thinking. I can be convinced that he had teamed up with the Young Lord of Kirisaki.”

“Yeah, everyone got really good.”

In the meantime, Minato made his shooting proceed and hit the target.

In the second shooting, the first three missed in succession, creating an unpleasant course of events. Nanao stopped that course, and Minato also hit.

In the third shooting, Kaito and Ryouhei missed. Kaito still hadn’t established his new tenouchi yet, so deviations arose at the beginning of the draw especially. Seiya and Nanao hit after them, but here was where Minato missed.

“Aah, so is Kisaragi-kun the only who has a possibility of getting kaichuu now?”

The three girls were frustrated.

In the fourth shooting, Nanao unfortunately missed and lost his chance at a kaichuu. The other four hit, and the results were two, one, three, three, three—a total of twelve hits.

After the arrows were collected, Minato and the others inspected their equipment again. Seiya lightly drew his string, and the bow quickly rotated in his hand. Next to him, Ryouhei knitted his brows together.

“c.r.a.p, I only hit once again. What do I do…”

Minato answered with a smile.

“When it’s raining, the people with umbrellas enter your sight, and you feel a little like going forward. But, you were able to make your left hand lead for your fourth shot. You’ll do fine if you preserve that feeling.”

“Really?”

“I’m saying that as someone who was watching you from behind, so there’s no mistake.”

“I see, all right, I’ll do my best.”

Ryouhei was reinvigorated.

The second round began.

There was no indication that the rain would stop at all. The blown-in rain made the floor wet, and their as.h.i.+b.u.mi did not always go as they would like because they did not want to slip in their tabi. Even so, they shot one arrow after the other. Once they stood there, they could not leave until those four arrows were all gone.

Kaito got kaichuu, and left the shajo while bathed in a big round of applause. Minato also applauded him in his heart. He went into yugamae, checking each step one by one, and then slowly lifted his bow.

The results were four, three, two, two, three—a total of fourteen hits.

The total number of hits for the two rounds were twenty-six hits out of forty shots.

Kaito: 〇××〇　〇〇〇〇 6

Ryouhei: ×××〇　〇〇×〇 4

Seiya: 〇×〇〇　××〇〇 5

Nanao: 〇〇〇×　〇×〇× 5

Minato: 〇〇×〇　〇×〇〇 6

Minato and the others nervously waited for the results of all the teams to come out.

“Right now, we’re in exactly eighth place.”

Kaito murmured as he looked at the table posted on the indoor bulletin board.

However, because another team with twenty-six hits appeared, it was decided that a tiebreaking match (douchuu kyousha) will be held to decide the last slot for advancing towards the finals tournament.