This was supposed to be up a lot sooner but I went on vacation so…yeah.

In this chapter, we finally meet the rivals of Kazemai High, Kirisaki, as well as Shuu, who is super extra and thinks his yugake can talk to him. (Sorry for the really bad photo, I will probably replace all of them once I get a scanner)

Glossary

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. A tachi is a group of archers, usually five people.

2. The original j.a.panese for this kyudo saying in the book is “正射正中” (seisha seichuu).This seems to be a variant of “正射必中“ (seisha hitchuu) which basically means the same thing. Edit 8/14/18: Actually, seisha hitchuu means “correct shooting makes for true hitting”, which has a different meaning, I think, since it implies that you will inevitably hit the target if you shoot correctly.

3. Hakiya is an arrow that sc.r.a.pes along the ground before hitting the target.

4. are what Inverness capes look like. I hope they show up in the anime as well because they look pretty neat.

5. In the edition I have (first) Kabas.h.i.+ma is called a third-year, but according to this on the book’s website, Kabas.h.i.+ma is actually supposed to be a second-year, and is referred to as such in the second book, and is changed in later editions. This makes the whole conversation between him and Shuu pretty strange then. I don’t know if it’s changed in later editions, but since I don’t live in j.a.pan it’s hard to check easily.

6. No idea what Sase is saying after this (”ごひほーはん”) so I had to leave it out. I think he’s slurring with the food in his mouth though. Full sentence is “ひゃあ、美味ひね。 ごひほーはん”) Edit 11/09/2018: So he’s actually saying “gochisousan” which means thank you for the meal! Thanks to @parentingmoments​ for helping me out!

7. The j.a.panese Imperial Guard protects the Emperor and his family, as well as the palaces and other imperial complexes.

8. A kaizoe is a helper to an archer who is performing ceremonial shooting.

Kirisaki High School was a private integrated middle and high school.

Advocating for accomplishment in both the literary and martial arts, the school building was divided into the integrated section and the high school section, but the student council and club activities were done jointly. Sports facilities such as the gymnasium and the sports grounds were boasted as the best in the prefecture, and among them the kyudojo deserved a special mention. In addition to its width, which could accommodate a tachi (1) of ten people, it was fully furnished with things like window shutters for snow acc.u.mulation in winter, so that it could be comfortably used throughout the year.

There were about ninety boys and girls in the kyudo club. The first years were divided into beginners and experienced people, the former mainly collecting arrows until the third years retired in the summer, and they did not stand before the targets. Every day the results were recorded, and the names of the top-ten for boys and girls separately were put up on the dojo’s wall each month. For the oomae, a video camera was set up so that they could check their shooting posture after they finished shooting.

In the midst of a bustling crowd, there was a boy with a distinctive appearance. He was a first year, with a tall, slender build and long limbs. His un-j.a.panese, finely chiseled features and elegant appearance brought forth an air of exoticism, as though he was a young n.o.ble lord.

In spite of how much attention from people he gathered, Fujiwara Shuu was calm.

The gazes from others were natural for him, and he had no strong feelings for those who were only interested in his appearance. He could not be satisfied with what was given to him by nature and felt joy at showing off what he had acquired in life.

Kyudo was the best gift for him to fill the j.a.panese-styled piece missing within him. The bow itself was undeniably beautiful. Shuu thought that the unfolding act of the bow and person becoming one was an art worthy of offering up to the G.o.ds. For that reason, he pondered on the ideal shot in his mind, and spared no effort on realizing it until he reached the limits of his body. Thus, he himself did not call it effort.

It was the duty of those beloved by the G.o.d of the bow.

Shuu’s movements had a style that was uncharacteristic of a high school student. Lucky shots could happen to anyone, but the quality of shooting (shakaku) was only born through daily practicing. By repeating the same things, the skills were polished and the depth was increased.

He lifted his bow like he was holding up his beloved. The lawn that spread out before his eyes, and the small target beyond that. He handed over initiative from his right hand to his left, spreading his chest. What he heard was the whisper of his yugake. He listened carefully and waited for the moment to let go. The arrows, released from the readied bow, was sucked into the target. A sigh enveloped the dojo.

Meanwhile, there were other people who stood out in a different way than Shuu.

Sugawara Senichi and Manji—twin brothers.

For most people, they were so similar it was hard to tell which one was which, and the only way to tell was that Senichi was the one with his bangs parted to the left, and Manji was the one with his bangs to the right.

Like Shuu, they were also first years. Shuu was from the group that moved up from the middle school section, but the twins enrolled into the high school section directly. Kirisaki’s school of shooting was the minority bushakei (traditional shooting). If Shuu could be likened to a n.o.ble with a proper pedigree, then the twins were sons of a merchant who build up his fortune in one generation. Although they seemed like well-behaved young men if they kept silent, there were many who doubted their own eyes when faced with their speech and conduct.

In front of their targets, Senichi and Manji were standing side-by-side, but the arrow Manji shot pierced into Senichi’s target.

“Oops, my bad.”

“Heeey, Manji, don’t aim at my target.”

“My hands just slipped.”

And then, for his next shot, Senichi hit Manji’s target.

“Ah, Sen-nii. You hit my target.”

“That’s weird, I wonder if I pushed my left hand too hard.”

“No waaaay, that’s definitely not it.”

Whispering before the targets was prohibited. Of course, acts such as intentionally hitting each other’s targets were inexcusable, and the seniors could not let that pa.s.s by.

“You there, twins! Stop messing around! If you do it again next time you won’t be allowed to stand in front of the targets!”

“Okaay, we’re soooorry. We’ll be more caaaaareful.”

When they finished exiting the dojo, they poked each other with their elbows.

“Hey, wasn’t it your fault, Sen-nii, that we got yelled at?”

“Weren’t you the one who did it first, Manji? Putting that aside, did you see that senpai’s face?”

“Like a red hippo.”

They covered their mouths with their hands and giggled at the exact same time.

In kyudo, where etiquette was esteemed, the existence of those two was obviously out of place. The reason why the advisor did not warn them strictly was because their hitting rates were high. Hitting targets other than one’s own was a technique that couldn’t be had unless one was skilled.

The shooting of the Sugawara brothers was exactly like as one would expect from twins. Although it was said that about forty-five degrees was the best angle for uchiokos.h.i.+, they raised their bows slightly higher, fixed their left hands and shot their arrows all at once.

And then, in the end their movements were quick. From daisan to hikiwake was a matter of course, and even kai was short. It wasn’t a zero-second kai like with hayake, but it was about two seconds long. Because the two of them finished quickly even though everyone stood at the shai at the same time, it left a feeling like one had to draw quickly. Even for their opponents in compet.i.tions, they were archers who were the hard-to-handle type once they stood somewhere that entered their field of vision.

The deadline for the prefectural tournament applications was the approaching holiday.

For the Kirisaki High School Kyudo Club, the school’s selections for the partic.i.p.ating team would take place.

The team compet.i.tions had seven boys and seven girls, of which five were starting members. In actual compet.i.tions it was four shots in two sets for a total of eight shots, but here at Kirisaki High School, they adopted their own customary selection method.

“Excluding the beginners, everyone will be shooting ten times. The way this will happen is that we will have five people at a time, shooting a hitote in zasha, with this compet.i.tion method—raise your bow at the tsurune of the person before you, and the oomae will ready their second arrow when the ochi’s tsurune sounds. Next, shooting four arrows in rissha in two sets. Here you may shorten the breaks between each shot as long as you do not disturb the jundachi (shooting order). Regardless of grade level, the seven with the most hits will be chosen by gender, and these results will be referenced when making decisions regarding the individual compet.i.tions. I want people who will win the compet.i.tion. We don’t need unskilled or unlucky people.”

The advisor’s words took the gathered club members’ breaths away.

As there were many people who started kyudo in high school, unless it was a new club, it was extremely rare for first-years to take part in the prefecturals, which were the preliminaries for Inter-High. And from a career perspective, there was also the fact that first-years were not likely to win. Choosing based on ability might seem like how a powerhouse school did things, but there was the opinion that if one was unskilled, that would make the upper-years lose face, which for martial arts might be something that was impolite and decorum-lacking.

Shuu’s advisor in middle school was the type to esteem decorum and gave priority to those who were older rather than basing it on hitting rates. However, his current advisor paid no consideration to things like age and etiquette, valuing hits over everything else. Although it was said that being moderate rather than being at both extremes was better, it was natural that teaching differed depending on the kyudo school and the teacher, and there were only the means that either did or did not suit oneself.

A path was something made to be traveled along by humans and beasts. Whether you walked on the path of “shooting to win” or “shooting to pursue true beauty,” Shuu believed that the point that one arrived at in the end was “correct shooting, correct hitting.” (2)

He, who walked both paths, was someone who walked at the head of those in his generation. Everyone was enchanted by his shooting, and everyone wanted his words.

“Hey, hey, Shuu. How were my shots in front of the makiwara? My hits were a bit too up.”

“Sen, your arrows were a bit lower than kuchiwari. There’s no problem if it’s slightly higher, but it’s easier for the arrow to go up if it’s lower. Man might have the same tendency as well.”

Kuchiwari referred to the shaft of the arrow coming to the seam of the mouth when one finished drawing the bow at kai.

“I seeeee.”

“Next time, you should ask Sensei to come and watch you.”

“Huuuuuh? Your advice is easier to understand than being taught by Sensei. We wanna shoot like you, Shuu.”

“Do you two like going against Sensei’s coaching?”

“It’s not like that. We just do what we want to do.”

“Oh, I see.”

Listening next to them, Manji interjected.

“Shuu will definitely get kaichuu.”

“That’ll be nice, I can’t stand the upper-years kicking the first-years around.” Shuu answered the twins, who argued vehemently whenever they pleased, with a smile.

The in-school selections began.

There was a total of fifty-nine partic.i.p.ants, thirty boys and twenty-nine girls. Separated into two shajos, the zasha shooting was carried out. In the beginning there were many misses, perhaps from nerves, but when someone landed a hit there were shouts of “Alright!” from the stands. Cheering in kyudo was not allowed except for uttering “Alright!” and clapping, and instructions on shooting technique were prohibited.

On the bulletin board next to the target-viewing area, displayed marks indicating hits and misses, and the record keeper copied them down on doc.u.ment paper. A red flag was put out when the shootings in the first and second shajo were over. The person in charge of target-viewing went to the azuchi and got into the work of confirming and checking everything. Hakiya (3) that bounced once before hitting the target, and arrows that pierced through to the inside of the target frame from the outside of it were counted as “misses.”

The target checker read out the results.

“For the first shajo, one hit for the first target, none for the second, two hits for the third, one hit for the fourth, and none for the fifth.” In response to those words, they all went to collect their arrows at once. The next group waited for their turn in the kiza position at the honza (preparation line), bowed a yuu bow and stood up at the last tsurune of the previous group, and were already progressing to shoot at the shai. They shot in this way so as to not drag it out.

The first round was over. There were twelve who had no misses, five girls and seven boys. And, there was a total of ten boys and girls who did not hit at all.

The second round was the four arrow rissha shooting.

Shuu was the oomae, and he along with Senichi, Manji, and two others entered the shajo at the second tsurune of the fourth shooting and waited one step before the honza. They proceeded to the honza at the last tsurune of the previous group and bowed a yuu bow all together before going to the shai. They placed their four arrows at their feet, and then took their two arrows.

Shuu did “tsurus.h.i.+rabe” (string checking) and “nos.h.i.+rabe” (arrow checking) during yugamae. He pa.s.sed his gaze over from the nock of his arrow to up and down his bowstring, and then over to the shaft of his arrow and to the target, before returning to the nock again.

After finis.h.i.+ng yugamae, he slowly raised his bow.

Coupled with his un-j.a.panese appearance was his gorgeous shooting. The Kyudo Textbook had a description of the manner of performing a shooting: “Men are properly dignified, unaffected and sincere with fort.i.tude and vigor, and have a composed elegance.” Shuu’s shooting seemed perfectly composed and elegant. It had a calm stability, as well as a refined grace.

The twins’ shots that followed were those of a schemer. They shot their arrows with a vigor like they were launching a surprise attack in a battle. Manji went after his brother Senichi, and he set a time difference attack in order to imitate his movements.

The boys who completed six shots of the first half by hitting with all their arrows were a total of ten, with four third-years, three second-years, and the first-years Shuu, Senichi and Manji.

At break time, they had lunch in the school’s courtyard.

Because it was still a bit chilly even though it was April, Shuu, Senichi and Manji put on their Inverness capes (4) and sat at the back. It was also because the Kirisaki High building was made of red brick, but the three of them being there made it look like a scene from a film overflowing with Taisho-era romanticism. With full-blooming flowers in the background, the gentlemen were having an elegant afternoon.

As the twins were downing their pork-cutlet sandwiches and were about to eat dessert, two male students approached them. One of them was the second-year (5) Kabas.h.i.+ma, who had given the twins the warning the other day.

“Do you guys have a minute?”

“Yes? What do you need?”

Shuu curtly answered the other person, who had been talking with his chin raised.

“You guys don’t seem to know the meaning of the word ‘tact.’”

“Do you want us to eat more in the corner?”

“I’m talking that match just now. For the third-years, their last official high school tournament is hanging in the balance. Can’t you just be a little more tactful?”

“Are you telling us to take that into consideration? Wouldn’t that actually be rude to our senpais instead?”

“First-years who just joined should not give advice to third-years! Aren’t you guys getting c.o.c.ky in the first place? You there, listen when people talk!”

Getting angry at the twins who were continuing to eat as though this had nothing to them, Kabas.h.i.+ma grabbed Manji’s shoulder. That momentum caused the fruit that he was about to eat to tumble down to the ground.

“Aaaaaah! My precious strawberry has fallen down!”

“Hmph.”

“Apologize, red hippo!”

“It’s Kabas.h.i.+ma! You two are as rude as ever.”

Kabas.h.i.+ma scowled at the twins.

“All you twins do is just fooling around! You’re probably the shame of Kirisaki High School. Fujiwara, you too. Giving advice to guys like this. If you’d just ignore these twins then they would have been gone long time ago!”

Before the red-faced Kabas.h.i.+ma, Shuu sighed and stood up.

“Certainly, those two cannot be said to have excellent behavior. However, they have never skipped club activities, and they do things like preparations properly. For me, I think that senpais who encourage something akin to match-fixing not only lower the dignity of Kirisaki High School, but of kyudo as well.”

“Anyways, in the future, don’t disregard your sensei and senpais and give advice to others! It’s impudent, got it!”

Seeming to have finished saying what they wanted to say, Kabas.h.i.+ma and his companion went back to the kyudojo. Senichi spoke as he watched them go.

“What was that all about?”

“He’s just venting his anger. So far Kabas.h.i.+msenpai has missed one shot.”

Shuu thought that those who disrupted their presence of mind themselves, even though the compet.i.tion was still ongoing, were vulgar. He worried about this within himself. But, he quickly switched heads. There was also the possibility that this was a psychological warfare tactic from his opponent before the compet.i.tion. There was no need to get taken in by the schemes of his rivals.

The second half began. Because victory or defeat was decided by the remaining four shots, everyone waited for their turn with a tense face.

Because they were first-years, Shuu and the twins were early in the shooting order. Not intending on missing the group of three, who were expected to hit all ten of their targets, the club members in the stands leaned forward.  

Shuu, in order to make the second arrow he held between the fingers of his left hand parallel to his nocked first arrow, finished drawing out the second arrow with his right ring and pinky fingers (toriya), and then performed yugamae. After raising his bow up, he carefully followed the Shahou Ha.s.setsu. Hikiwake, kai, hanare, zans.h.i.+n—. Shouts of “Yes!” came at the same time as the matooto.

His next two shots also hit the target. They were so flawlessly accurate that if images of the first and second shots were overlapped on top of each other, they would be perfectly aligned. Meanwhile, the twins were also fighting bravely, and similarly they also landed their two arrows on the target. When Shuu finished his pair of arrows, he took the two arrows placed at his feet and went through with douzukuri again.

He also hit for his third shot, not having missed so far. Even the club members who were watching this trend felt that their palms were sweating. Watching the moment where a kaichuu might happen was also nerve-wracking.

For Shuu, the more attention he had on him, the more mentally alone he became. Once one stood at the shai, one could not turn back nor get advice.

There was only one enemy—himself. He will defeat himself.

From uchiokos.h.i.+ to daisan, he followed the exact tsurumichi. What he could hear was the sound of his yugake.

Sc.r.a.pe, sc.r.a.pe…

After kai was entered, the yugake stopped making sounds. It closed its mouth.

Well then, I shall speak in your place——.

Shuu’s tsurune dashed through the earth.

When he finished lowering his bow, he was engulfed in thunderous applause. After leaving the shajo he got praise from everyone, and he thanked them all.

Senichi, who left the shajo after Shuu, shook his shoulder.

“Shuu, I knew you were incredible! At the end, you hit it right in the center!”

“Rather than talking about me, what about you and Man?”

“I had nine hits, and Man got eight. After that, depending on how much the second- and third-years would increase their scores, whether or not we’ll be on the team will be decided. I wonder if we will be on it…”

The always confident Senichi seemed uncertain, perhaps because he didn’t know how his brother Manji would do.

The second- and third-years also couldn’t keep from being defeated. As Kabas.h.i.+ma also said, what was at stake for the third-years was whether or not they will be able to go out to the prefectural tournament, their last high school compet.i.tion.

However, the G.o.ddess of victory was unfeeling. The results for the boys were as followed.

The first-year Shuu and third-years Motomura and Sase got ten hits.

The second-year Kabas.h.i.+ma and the first-year Senichi got nine hits.

The second-year Yus.h.i.+ma and the first-year Manji got eight hits.

With these results, the seven who will take part in the prefecturals preliminaries were decided.

Shuu and the twins were invited by the club president Motomura Hiroki and the vice president Sase Daigo to take dinner together. They were at a restaurant purveyed by generations of kyudo club members, the interior filled with items such as Art Nouveau-style furniture and dome lamps. It was also supposed to be a friendly get-together for the representative archers, but the second-years Kabas.h.i.+ma and Yus.h.i.+ma did not join them.

Sase looked around at the arranged dishes and s.n.a.t.c.hed a piece from Senichi’s ordered dish.

“Hyah, so tasty. Thanks for the food.” (6)

“Sase-senpai! I was going to save that for laaaaaast. You’re so cruuuuuel. President Motomura, please say something to him.”

Motomura took his hand away from his gla.s.ses frames and answered with a smile.

“Sase, it’s impolite to grab food with your hands.”

“Okaaaay.”

“No, no, more than impolite, isn’t it bad to eat other people’s food without permission? Wouldn’t Noririn hate that?”

Hearing the name Noririn, Sase bent forward.

“That’s impossible. Noririn will forgive me. Noririn is G.o.d!”

As he had completely entered his own world, everyone got a distant look in their eyes.

Even though Sase looked like a refres.h.i.+ng athlete at first glance, it was well-known within the club that he was actually an idol otaku. Girls called him “disappointingly handsome,” but he himself did not care at all.

Sase continued the conversation.

“Even though it was just an in-school compet.i.tion, you twins are shooting too quickly. If you’re too fast, the guys behind you won’t be able to keep up. I think Sensei will decide the shooting order from now on, but if Kabas.h.i.+ma ended up going after you guys, he’ll get really p.i.s.sed off.”

“If we do it slowly, we won’t be able to hit,” Senichi said.

“I just copy what Sen-nii does,” Manji said.

“Since it’s a habit it might not be fixed soon, but that’s one step short of hayake. Are you two the types where the difference between your good and bad conditions appears obvious?”

“If you say such a thing, then doesn’t that apply to you as well, Sase-senpai? You’re not like that during practice, but at compet.i.tions you shoot like crazy. That’s so sneaky.”

“It’s bad to not hit during practice.”

Sase was the type who was strong during tournaments, someone who for some reason hits frequently when it was compet.i.tion time. When their advisor was talking about “we don’t need unlucky people,” from another perspective he meant “We will use very lucky people,” which was referring to Sase.

On the other hand, the president Motomura was a young man who normally boasted a high hitting rate to rival that of Shuu’s, and spoke politely even to his juniors. Everyone loved him because he was always smiling gently. Sase, who spoke pa.s.sionately about idols, and Motomura, who listened to him mellowly, had the air of close friends who were inseparably stuck together, and in this way they were the specialty of the Kirisaki High School Kyudo Club.

“When three first-years go out to a compet.i.tion, they will be resented by the other club members. I will also back you all up, so let’s strive to practice harder than ever before.”

“Yes, President. We are in your hands!”

“We are!”

After the twins responded energetically, Motomura turned his face to Shuu.

“Fujiwarkun, as you are now you are far from having any problems, and even I want to follow your example. You started kyudo in middle school, correct?”

“No, since I was in fifth grade. I fell in love at first sight with kyudo when I saw it at the prefectural budokan. Since elementary schoolers could not join kyudo cla.s.ses, my father asked a favor for me, and so I received personal instruction from a kyudo teacher for the Imperial Guards who was also a former Imperial Guard (7) . As he was elderly, it was for three years.”

Shuu suddenly felt nostalgic.

When they were borrowing a munic.i.p.al kyudojo for private coaching, a boy the same age as him often came to peek. That annoyance, when during sixth grade he unexpectedly stopped showing up after a certain day, even though they were being taught together while keeping it a secret from his father and others, and then meeting again in middle school. Who are you to do things like irritating me? What are you doing now?

——There is another man loved by the G.o.d of the bow.

Without noticing the subdued flames dwelling in Shuu’s eyes, Motomura spoke, seeming to be impressed.

“It’s no wonder your shooting is so elegant. That must be the reason why you are so skilled, Fujiwarkun.”

“No, not at all. Perhaps the biggest reason for why I improve my shooting skills is that—there is someone who wants to shoot through my heart.”

The twins whistled.

“So mysterious~. Does that mean there’s someone who was charmed by you that much? No way, could it be that whole 'the greatest hate springs from the greatest love’ thing?”

“Well, I wonder.”

Shuu smiled daringly.

At the Kazemai High School kyudojo, Seiya was holding a huge package.

Within the cardboard box was a total of ten pieces of white kyudogi for the eight club members plus the advisor and coach. The words “Kazemai High School Kyudo Club” was embroidered on one sleeve of the kyudogi. He took them out of the box and handed them out to everyone.

“Okay, here’s Minato’s.”

“Eh, I get one too? Even though I just joined?”

On both sides of Minato, Ryouhei and Nanao squished him between them.

“Of course? I, Nanao-sama, made the smart move of ordering it for you. With this, you can’t quit the club anymore. Right, Ryouhei?”

“That’s right, you can’t escape. We five will be going to the compet.i.tion. Look, this is so awesome! Hey hey, don’t we get a headband or anything?”

“Oh, good idea. I want to make matching headbands too. Minato, do you want to as well?”

“Eh, yeah, sure.”

“Right? We shouldn’t have the same colors as the other schools.”

Minato was being pushed from both sides, not being able to move with his body squeezed. As usual he wasn’t able to keep up with Nanao’s and Ryouhei’s energy, but he was oddly happy with his kyudogi with the school’s name on it, and his face unconsciously softened.

With a sidelong glance towards his enlivened fellow club member, Kaito approached Seiya.

“Seiya, you really didn’t enter the individual tournaments. Why would you do such a wasteful thing? I guess it’s because you won’t be able to match with Narumiya, huh.”

Seiya ignored Kaito’s words and went to the waiting room after handing out the clothes. Kaito threw what he had received into a corner of the dojo.

Minato had accidentally witnessed their exchange, and Kaito, aware of his gaze, turned his sharp eyes to him.

“Oi, Narumiya, don’t just stand there and stare. Shouldn’t you be collecting the arrows? You’re the newest person here. Rookies should take initiative and go collect the arrows.”

“I don’t remember skipping arrow-collecting.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Kaito and Minato sat at a distance from each other and put on their yugake in silence. With their bows and arrows in hand, they stood in front of the targets. After that, Ma.s.san came and coached each person one-by-one.

When practice was over, Ma.s.san spoke.

“Is there anyone here who has done kaizoe (8) work before?”

Seo, Seiya, Minato and Kaito raised their hands.

“Since the two captains have other jobs as well, I’ll ask Minato and Kaito.”

Kaito looked dissatisfied.

“Ma.s.san, I did it, but I might not remember it properly.”

“Sorry, Ma.s.san, but me too.”

“Well then, can the two of you come an hour before the meeting time? Let’s practice it a little.”

“What!?”

“Wow, you guys harmonized together perfectly. The archer is me, I’m counting on you guys.”

The spring training camp started tomorrow.