Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part1

In this chapter, Kazemai holds a training camp, the staple of all sports stories, we meet Ma.s.san’s family (please be in the anime Ren), a wild thot appears, and Kaito finally gets a little more dere???

I have decided to change the name of Yata’s Forest to Yata no Mori after doing a little research and learning that j.a.panese forests are generally called their j.a.panese name in their entirety. Still not sure what to do about Tomi-sensei’s (or is it Tomii-sensei or Tommy-sensei) name.

Glossary

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. The type of kimono Ma.s.san is wearing can be seen . The crest is usually the person’s family crest.

2. Minato is doing a sonkyo crouch, a formal crouch in martial arts, which looks like

3. This proverb, if you don’t remember from the first chapter, means “preparing yourself”.

4. The tenmonsuji is a line formed in the palm when folding the knuckles (this is in the glossary but I wanted to put it here for those who can’t switch between windows easily)

5. A temizuya is a “place for ritual cleansing of hands and mouth with water when visiting shrines​“ (jisho). Looks like

6. Tatami mats are used as a measurement for rooms in j.a.pan. Ten mats are about 18.2 meters or 21.8 yards long.

7. The “Little Old Man” (Chiisai Ojisan) is a j.a.panese urban legend, involving an 8-20 cm tall old man who is allegedly seen sticking to windows, in bathrooms, in photos and even at a shrine.

8. This line confused me but apparently it’s some kind of internet slang? It comes with kind of ascii art. Original: さすがのおれも引く (sasuga no ore mo hiku), meaning “Even I’m put off”

It was the first day of training camp. They were performing a yawatashi at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo.

Yawatashi referred to the organizer of a tournament or some other event shooting arrows at the beginning of the event. Ma.s.san served as the archer in place of the advisor Tomi-sensei, with Kaito as the first kaizoe who a.s.sisted the archer, and Minato as the second kaizoe who collected the arrows. The actions performed by the winner at the end of a tournament were called nousha.

After the three in traditional clothing finished exchanging greetings, the archer, second kaizoe and first kaizoe entered the dojo in that order.

On this day, Ma.s.san was wearing a black kimono with a crest (1) on it, and holding arrows with white feathers used in sharei (ceremonial shooting). This conveyed that the training camp was an important matter, and Minato focused himself.

Making an equilateral triangle with the archer Ma.s.san as the apex at the sadame no za, they performed a sitting bow. When they rose, Ma.s.san went to the honza, with the first kaizoe Kaito following and watching him strip to his waist, and the second kaizoe Minato exited the shajo and went to the azuchi. Every time Ma.s.san shot, Minato pulled out the arrows, and once he finished a hitote Minato returned to the shajo and gave the arrows to Kaito, who returned the arrows to Ma.s.san waiting at the honza. Yawatashi required the three people to work in sync, a custom that was occupied by conduct and etiquette.

In the time between Minato crouching (2) at the azuchi and the arrival of a single arrow, it was tough for him to keep on standing on his tiptoes, but he tried to not take his mind off of the archer for even a moment.

The arrows headed towards the target along with pleasant tsurune.

After leaving the shajo, Ryouhei ran up to them with sparkling eyes.

“Oohyoo, that was awesome! There sure a lot of things to kyudo other than compet.i.tions.”

“Then you have to see a sharei done by three people at a single target (hitotsumato sharei), it’s really amazing.”

“What about your kimono? Did you buy it yourself?”

“Ma.s.san lent it to me. Apparently he wore it when he was a student. It’s bad to get it dirty, so I’m going to change for practice.”

Near them, a late-coming Nanao showed up.

“Oops, I’m so sorry! I got caught by a bunch of girls when I went out. It’s super hard being a popular guy. Ooh, Kacchan and everyone else were doing it in kimono. I wanted to see that.”

“Your excuse is fine, so hurry up and go stretch your bow,” Kaito said huffily.

He went to the changing room to subst.i.tute with Ma.s.san, and Minato followed.

They did not speak to each other. Minato, who knew that the relationship between Seiya and Kaito was not good because of himself, thought about shortening the distance between him and Kaito, as well as showing his earnestness towards kyudo at the same time. In any case, he had to begin a conversation with him from here.

“Onogi, thanks for today. It really is an honor to be a kaizoe for Ma.s.san.”

“…”

“Oi, a response would be nice at least?”

“Shut up! There’s no honor at all in being with you!”

“Since we’re going to be in team compet.i.tions, shouldn’t we aim for mutual understanding at least a little bit?”

“I don’t wanna be in team compet.i.tions! Even though I wanted to narrow it down to just individuals, because you joined the irritations just keep on increasing!”

Minato sighed at Kaito’s back that was turned to him.

After they stretched and chanted in unison, practice started. The Yata no Mori Kyudojo was dazzling with the green of the trees in daytime, and the chirps of little birds could be heard. Minato wondered if Fuu was resting somewhere.

The oomae was the teaching target where one got Ma.s.san to watch them, the others were self-practice targets, and Tomi-sensei watched over everything, including the makiwara. Minato watched Seiya, who went to the oomae, shoot.

Seiya’s shots were logical and well-reasoned, as though they represented the person himself. He a.n.a.lyzed the weaknesses from his arrows’ hits, and kept on fine-tuning them. At first he didn’t have a lot of hits, but he gradually improved. Even if he missed, his arrows didn’t fly in random directions at all.

Ma.s.san spoke.

“Mm, that’s good. For ‘torikake’ you hang the bowstring at the base of the thumb of your yugake, pinning your thumb down with your middle finger and adding your index finger, and making sure that your thumb springs up. Do not bend your wrist at this time. A point of 'yugamae’ is to lightly stretch your elbows as though you’re holding a big tree. Your elbow is a part of your upper arm, so stretch your upper arms and make them into a circle.”

When Seiya made another shot, the flight of his arrow had noticeably improved. With Ma.s.san’s accurate advice, they learned a lot by watching him (mitori geiko).

Next, Kaito went to Ma.s.san.

Kaito boasted a high hitting rate in the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club, and naturally shot aggressively. The spirit of not letting the prey he was aiming at escape drifted from his entire body. At daisan, the arrow tip faced the stands, and at kai, he aimed at the back of the target that was separated from the target instead of right in the middle. Without doing 'yugaeri,’ he memorized the spots for hitting and adjusted the timing for hanare.

Yugaeri referred to when the bowstring rotated to the outside of the forearm as a reaction to the arrow being released. The proverb “tegusune o hiku” (3) was derived from smearing kusune on one’s left hand in order to prevent yugaeri. If you did do it, you must return the string back to its original position and not draw too much. It was a method that was used in long-range archery and battles in order to make it possible to shoot rapidly, so it was natural that the shooting method differed when in front of a target.

Kaito was not satisfied with his own shots without yugaeri.

“Ma.s.san, I want to do yugaeri.”

“You’ll be able to do yugaeri naturally once you improve, so there’s no such thing as forcibly doing it. The compet.i.tion is coming soon as well, so just stay as you are, Kaito. Once you try to fix your 'tenouchi,’ you won’t be able to hit for a while. Tenouchi, meaning the way you hold your bow, is such an important technique that it is said that you can know someone’s ability just by seeing how they do it. It’ll take a long time for you to perfect your own tenouchi.”

“Isn’t this the fourth year that I’m doing kyudo? I can do it.”

“Alright. Then, there are two points. First, ranchuu (lit. inside egg)—gently holding something as though you are holding an egg. And, the fact that the thumb and middle finger on your left hand are lovers. Kaito, you separate them from time to time, but you must not do that. First start from there.”

“Okay.”

“Make your tenmonsuji (4) hit the left corner of the outer face (todake) of your bow, and move the bases of your thumb and little finger closer together. Add your little finger, ring finger and middle finger to the grip, put the pad of your fourth finger to the tip of your middle finger, and you will have a gap in your tenouchi big enough to put an arrow in. With this s.p.a.ce, your bow will rotate.”

“If I do shamen uchiokoshi, it’ll be easy for the tenouchi I tried so hard to do to fall apart when I move into daisan.”

“Pretend that you have a cup of wine and you are trying to carry it without spilling it. I’ll be sure to watch your tenouchi as much as possible, so do it lots of times.”

“Okay, thank you very much!”

Kaito was smiling broadly. Minato thought that he really did love kyudo.

The morning was fully used for shooting practice, and when the bell signifying noon sounded, they moved to Yata Shrine, where they would be staying.

Yata Shrine during the holidays was covered in white fringed irises, and bustling with visitors.

It had been evening when Minato visited it for the first time, and he had felt like ghosts would show up, but it was clear that this was a shrine loved by the locals. As one pa.s.sed through the torii, they were faced with the front shrine, the temizuya (5) on the left, and the shrine office on the right. Ma.s.san’s mother, who was also the female priest, greeted them at the office. She was a cheerful woman full of smiles.

“My, my, welcome. Though we cannot provide everything, please feel free to use whatever you like. The boys will have the reception hall, and the girls will have the back room, which is a little cramped but has a lock. Tomi-sensei, this way to the room that my father used.”

Tomi-sensei had a shocked look on his face.

“Thank you very much for helping with such a large number of people. I am truly grateful to receive the room of a great sensei.”

With Ma.s.san leading the way, they walked down the corridor leading from the office to the front shrine. The interior was larger than it looked outside, with the about ten-mat-wide (6) traditional j.a.panese rooms lined up in a row.

“Ma.s.san, since you’re working with us for our practice, will you be okay with your priest duties?”

“My older brother living in Tokyo had just came home so there’s no need to worry. Since I’m being asked for just a ground-breaking ceremony, we had him leave his post for that time. I don’t usually live here, by the way. My father’s in the middle of a job transfer and it’s dangerous for a woman to live alone, so for crime prevention, I’m also living here.”

“I see. We’ll have to thank your brother. Also, please say if there’s anything we can help you with.”

“Ah, thank you. Then on the last day, I’d like you all to help return the guest futons. We don’t have enough here, so we borrowed some from a parishioner. Ah, right after I say that, those guys… They’re borrowed so treat them carefully!”

They looked and saw Ryouhei and Nanao diving into the futons piled up in the reception hall.

From noon until four, they could not use the kyudojo because the Yata no Mori Kyudo a.s.sociation was using it to practice. After lunch, the girls prepared dinner while the boys swept and cleaned the back of the grounds. In the backyard, they spontaneously looked into a mysterious pond. The pads of the water lilies floated, and they could clearly see the stalks down at the pond bottom due to the high transparency. The lodging fees were free as it was Ma.s.san’s favor, so they cooked their own meals.

They ran for about thirty minutes with a break in between. In this area that became a training regimen limited to snowless seasons. Long training runs and other strenuous activities might not be thought of as necessary for kyudo, but it was effective for stamina and training one’s legs. Next was sectional training. They carried two one-liter plastic bottles in place of dumbbells, raised and lowered their shoulders, and raised them left and right in front of their faces, in order to carefully train their muscles from their trapezius muscles to their triceps brachii muscles. Completing with meditation, at dusk they went to the kyudojo again to practice shooting technique.

After dinner, Ma.s.san and Tomi-sensei each got out their cars and went on a nearby trip to the hot springs. It was a natural hot spring ran by an inn, so it was not just crowded with locals but also many tourists. Minato and the others found a relatively quiet open-air bath, and soaked in the springs to relieve their fatigue from the day.

When they returned from the springs, they gathered in the reception hall. There were those played games and those who ate sweets as they all relaxed as they liked. However, an old story told by Hanazawa completely changed the atmosphere in the room.

“This is a story from my second year of middle school, but when I was sleeping at night, I felt like someone was pulling at my hair. I thought it was strange and turned over to look behind me…and there was an old guy I didn’t know sleeping right next to me…”

“Hieeeee——! What!?”

Screams reverberated through the room, not just from the girls, but also from Ryouhei and Nanao.

“Was that the 'Little Old Man’ thing that was popular a long time ago?” (7)

“He wasn’t little! He was a huge old man!”

Minato and Seiya blinked, and Kaito, who was sitting in a corner of the room reading a book by himself, made a face.

“At first I wondered if I was having a dream, but he really was there. I was already sooo scared… I wanted to go and call my parents, but the door was on the other side of the old man… I finally got up the courage to step over him and go out of my room, but when I got my parents up and went back to my room…there was n.o.body there…”

“Scaaaaaaary!”

“Where did that old man gooooo!”

Ryouhei’s and Nanao’s faces now resembled the one from The Scream, but Minato was listening with his body radiating disinterest. As he had misunderstood Ma.s.san to be a ghost in the past, this was an embarra.s.sing topic that he wanted to avoid. With Seiya putting an end to it by saying that this would be all for today as they had an early morning tomorrow as well, everyone went to their beds.

Early next morning, Minato woke up with an uncomfortable feeling. He could hear multiple sleeping breaths beneath the gradually lightening sky. But, something was different from before he went to sleep. There was someone right behind him.

Once again, someone’s hair was being pulled from behind.

It’s right after yesterday, so this must be someone playing a prank. If they do it again I’ll grab their wrist back. Thinking that, Minato readied himself in his futon, and then——.

“Got you!”

“Ooh, that’s a high school student for you, their reflexes are good.”

“…Huh?”

The person whose wrist Minato grabbed was an unfamiliar young man.

“Uwaaaaaah!?”

Withdrawing his hand as though he had touched something he shouldn’t have, he moved back and b.u.mped into Ryouhei, who was sleeping next to him.

“Owww… Minato, are you not up yet? Wah, wh-who’s that!? A burglar!?”

“Wha, what!?”

Ryouhei and Seiya jumped up and confronted the suspicious man. Kaito, sleeping in the furthest back of the room, narrowed his eyes, and just one person was sleeping like a log without noticing anything at all.

When Ma.s.san, who heard the disturbances, came running, he sighed with a look of amazement on his face.

“Ren, what are you doing… Wake them up normally…”

“The timing was bad yesterday and I didn’t get to meet them, so I thought that I had to give some kind of service.”

“Everyone, sorry for startling you all. This guy’s my brother.”

“Good morning. Are you Minato-kun? How was your waking up?”

“…Terrible.”

“That was impolite of me. I shall apologize to you in the kyudojo later.”

Because he looked like he was a mischievous boy during his school days, it was hard to imagine Ren to be brothers with Ma.s.san, but their adult-like composure and bewitching eyes made one feel that they were related.

They felt like their strength was sucked up by the noisy morning call, but after their morning run they attended the nikkusai. The nikkusai was an event where things like rice, wine, vegetables and fruits were offered to the G.o.ds and ritual prayers were offered up, and praying for the prosperity of the country.

Just as he had said, Ren was also there when they began practice at the Yata no Mori Kyudojo. Ren worked as an ill.u.s.trator, and apparently his hobby was taking pictures. It was decided that he would photograph the shooting postures of all the club members.

Tomi-sensei announced the lineup for the tournament.

“The boys’ order will be Onogi Kaito-kun as oomae, Yamanouchi Ryouhei-kun in second, Takebaya Seiykun in third, Kisaragi Nanao-kun in fourth, and Narumiya Minato-kun as ochi.”

That had been unexpected. It was a simple arrangement to have the ace as the “oomae,” and the team captain to be “ochi.” Incidentally, the third archer was called the “naka” and the fourth was called the “ochimae." Even though Tomi-sensei hadn’t readily announced it, everyone was automatically convinced that the ochi would be Seiya.

It was none other than Minato who objected.

"Tomi-sensei, I think the ochi should be Seiya, our captain.”

“I think so too. Someone who just joined the club cannot be made the ochi,” Kaito backed Minato.

In response, Ryouhei also expressed his opinion.

“I’m relieved to be in between Kaito and Seiya, and Minato is calm even when he’s facing a hornet, so I’m okay with this order. Right, Tomi-sensei?”

“Yamanouchi-kun said some good things. This order does have a meaning. Please consider all the reasons. Now, I can’t change it either way, so let’s go practice to prepare for the compet.i.tion.”

Minato and Kaito agreed that this was probably considerate in the sense that even if Minato’s hayake started up by some chance, it would not end up impacting someone who went after him, and so they began practicing in the compet.i.tion format.

“In individual compet.i.tions, the archers perform gyousha (series of movements when drawing the bow) in the intervals of the compet.i.tion, but team compet.i.tions have a time limit established ahead of time. As the facilitator gives the signal to start from the honza, from then on we must carry out the shooting within eight minutes, until the last tsurune of the ochi. The warning buzzer goes off at thirty seconds before the end. It’s alright to not go so fast, but it’s better to proceed with "uchiokoshi at kai” rather than “uchiokoshi at tsurune” in the intervals. The oomae has no choice but to judge with the tsurune, so they can raise their bow at the ochi’s tsurune.“

"Really?” Ryouhei said in astonishment.

The five lined up at the entrance. However, at once their steps were uneven.

“Ryouhei, you’re too slow,” Seiya said.

“Sorry, can we start over from the entrance?”

“Isn’t Kaito’s tempo too fast?”

“What did you say?”

Even when they started over, Ryouhei was too slow again. Their first forward steps after their yuu bows were not in sync. Even at the shai, their movements of standing their bows up and changing directions toppled like dominoes, their breathing not matching at all. As Ren aimed his lens at them, he had an “oh goodness” look on his face.

Tomi-sensei, no longer able to just watch, spoke.

“It’s good that the oomae has momentum, but you must make sure that everyone behind you is following along. Before you begin the next action, leave some "s.p.a.ce.” Wait for just a little bit.“

Because they couldn’t only do taihai, it became an unresolved problem for until the end of the training camp. Afterwards, the three girls’ group shooting went well, and Ren skillfully finished photographing as well.

They decided to have barbecue at the river for lunch.

They changed into plain clothes and cheerfully carried all the supplies. There was a mountain stream about fifteen minutes from Yata Shrine. It was crammed with rocks so big that a person could lie down on one, and part of it was like a waterfall. They found a relatively flat spot to set up the barbecue stand. They used withered cedar leaves as kindling and lit them with a lighter, then threw charcoal on them when the flames rose. When the charcoal was uniformly red, they lined up cut-up foodstuff on top of the netting. The plastic drink bottles couldn’t fit into the cooler box, so they were immersed in the river water.

"Meat, is the meat done yet??”

“Settle down, it’ll be done soon.”

Seiya chided the impatient boys, but the savory smells of the meat and vegetables were stirring their appet.i.tes up more and more. When the drinks they had been subsisting on for a while ran out, Minato and Nanao went to the river to go get some more.

Nanao was wearing a cap that seemed better suited for the city than the mountains. He descended from the rocks while clamping his hand down on it so it would not get blown away by the wind, followed by Minato. Although it was a blind spot from where the barbecue was, the bottles were in a net bag tied to a rock by the riverside.

Nanao moved his gaze towards upstream.

“Can I walk along the river for a little bit?”

“Sure.”

Minato sat down on the rocks for a little break as well. As he closed his eyes and immersed himself within the sounds of the flowing river, he felt comfortable and became drowsy. However, he returned to himself when he heard voices mixed in with the river sounds.

They were the voices of Nanao and an unfamiliar girl.

“If you’re barging in on us all the way out here, then even I’m going to be creeped out, right?” (8)

“You say you’re doing club activities, but aren’t you having a fun barbecue with other girls?”

“I’ve said that they’re the girls in my club. It’s also a friendship BBQ!”

“Nanao-kun, you’ve been so cold lately… What’s so fun about kyudo? Even though you don’t need team play like in soccer and volleyball, what do you need friendship for? It doesn’t matter who you do it with, right?”

“There’s no way you can do it with just anyone? In kyudo, you’re not supposed to stand behind the sensei, but that’s because that carries the implication of 'I can defeat you if it’s from behind’ or 'I will stab you from behind.’ Showing your back is a sign of trust, and for those who stand behind you, they have the responsibility of looking after the back of the one in front of them. I cannot team up with someone who I can’t entrust my back to.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand it at all.”

“I turned cold to you all at once.”

At Nanao’s words, the girl grabbed his cap and threw it in the river’s direction, then ran away from the spot.

The cap quickly got swept away, then got stuck in the boundary between rocks in the middle of the river.

“Aah, don’t do such a cruel thing…”

Nanao’s profile, as he stared at the river surface at a complete loss for what to do, was something that could never have been imagined to come from the usual Nanao. As it was, it was just a matter of time before the cap floated downstream.

Minato rushed into the river.

The river water was cold enough to sting his skin. Although Nanao seemed to be saying something, there was no time to think about it. Minato’s shoes were for trekking, so it was more difficult to slip in them than regular ones, but the algae clinging to the rocks on the riverbed made it easy to slip. Because the flow of the river was quicker than it looked, he carefully stepped forward on the riverbed, finally reaching the cap that was stuck in the rocks. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he lost his balance and almost fell. He clung onto a rock next to him right away.

“Minatoooo, that’s enoooough!”

He heard Nanao’s yells, but it was only a little more. He desperately stretched out his arm and grabbed the cap. When he returned to the riverside, Nanao pulled him out of the water.

“Minato, you idiot! If you slipped, you would be the one getting swept away! I wish I’d never made you go and pick up that shabby old hat.”

“Is that so? It seemed important to you.”

Nanao’s eyes wetted, and he bit his lip.

“…Yeah, thank you, Minato. You got completely soaked, so won’t you catch a cold like that? Let’s go back quickly so you can change.”

Taking the bag filled with bottles, the two returned on the same path they came there on.

“Nanao, let’s keep that girl’s visit a secret from everyone. If we talk about her, then the girls are probably going to say all sorts of stuff again. I think she didn’t mean to throw your hat and get it stuck in the river. Oh, and I heard your conversation, sorry.”

“Eh, you’re completely okay with all that?”

“You understand the reason for why we cannot stand behind the sensei really well.”

“Oh, that? In the past, when I went to the prefectural budokan to do kyudo by myself, a judge’s teacher came. I asked him a lot of questions, and then we had that conversation by chance.”

“You went all the way to the budokan to practice by yourself? Nanao, you actually studied a lot about kyudo. The sanjuu juumonji seem like words that would appear in an exam for judges, but you answered it immediately.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint my fangirls. I have to shine all the time. I like your shots, Minato. As they are, they look clear and vivid, and they shouldn’t betray anyone’s expectations. When I look at your shots, I feel like that I can’t lose, that I want to draw the bow more.”

“I heard from Seiya that you were the one who paid for my kyudo clothes with the school’s name on them. What were you going to do if I didn’t join the club?”

“I believed that you would join. I have good intuition.”

“I was a little bit happy about that. I get why you’re so popular with girls now.”

“Really?”

Nanao blew his nose.

When they returned to the barbecue spot, Ryouhei was there with his mouth wide open.

“Wah, what happened, Minato? You’re soaking wet!”

“I tripped and fell into the river.”

“Really? You’re a lot clumsier than you look.”

Seiya turned pale and rushed over to them, and Ma.s.san gave the clothes he was wearing to Minato.

“Are you hurt? Wear this for now.”

Leaving behind Seiya and Nanao, who were saying that they wanted to come with them, Minato and Ma.s.san headed to Yata Shrine to change clothes.

When they entered the room, Ma.s.san gave Minato a bath towel.

“I’m so sorry, Ma.s.san. I’ll go back to the barbecue immediately after I change.”

“Go take a bath now and get yourself warmed up.”

“It’s okay. They would probably get worried if I don’t return soon.”

“Who?”

“Mainly Seiya.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll be packing up soon. Do you have clothes to change into?”

“They’re in my bag.”

“I’ll bring them to the bathroom while you’re taking your bath. After you change, come to the dining room.”

Following what he said, Minato visited the dining room after getting out of his bath. Even though it was within a shrine, it was no different than one from an ordinary home, containing a table for four and chairs. The old j.a.panese-style house and dark-styled furniture combined together, creating a j.a.panese-style modern atmosphere. As he usually only saw Ma.s.san in hakama, it was fresh to see what looked like a glimpse into his unknown everyday life.

“Oh, Minato, you finished. Sit wherever you like. Do you want hot coffee or iced?”

“Hot.”

Ma.s.san poured hot water into the coffee dripper. The fragrance of the freshly-ground beans tickled his nose. After pouring the liquid acc.u.mulated in the pot into two cups, Ma.s.san sat down on Minato’s left side.

“Ooh, this is tasty.”

“Well, you left it to me.”

Ma.s.san smiled his usual grin. It might not only be the effect of the warm drink that made him feel a little relieved. He even relaxed his usually tightly-bound feelings.

“Haa, it’s not going well at all. Maybe I’m just being a bother.”

“It’s fine since we’re all in the same boat. You seemed concerned about Seiya a while ago, but if you feel like you’re being a bother, next time you should help someone else somewhere. You don’t have to do anything like repaying them either. You guys are way too worried about each other in the first place.”

“When it comes to me, Seiya gets all worked up, or rather, he acts as though he’s a meddling family member. In kyudo as well, it’s like he wants me to become better rather than himself… I thought that I had to work really hard in order to meet his expectations, but what I think would not worry him often has the opposite effect.”

“When did he start acting like that?”

“I think it might be four years ago in sixth grade, when my mom and I got into a traffic accident. I lost consciousness and didn’t remember it, but Seiya witnessed it.”

“Can I ask how that accident happened?”

“Mom and I were going out shopping. On the way, I heard a loud sound and my body got flung away at the same time… When I woke up I was on a hospital bed, and Mom had died… It was an accident where we were walking on the sidewalk, and then a car suddenly crashed into us.”

“Seiya might have thought that he had to protect you after witnessing that…”

Is it really just that? Minato thought.

——It was likely that Seiya thought that the accident was his fault.

He didn’t know the reason, but he strongly felt that way. There had to be a reason that Seiya’s parents had no choice but to accept him quitting the private school for which he even had to take middle school entrance exams to enroll in, in order to go to the same prefectural high school as Minato. But he could never, ever ask him about such a thing. If he said it aloud, then delusions would become reality.

Minato gripped his own hands tightly, so as to block the terrifying delusions that were breaking out.

“…I kinda feel like repenting.”

“Repenting? I’m a Shinto priest, not Christian. I can do exorcism rites and blessings, though.”

“Eeeh, you don’t seem very holy, Ma.s.san.”

“What did you say? Well, do you want to ask Ren? Unlike me, he has some kind of ability to sense the supernatural, and he has a priest’s certification anyhow. However, as there may be surprises, people with weak hearts should take caution.”

The two looked at each other and laughed.

“That’s right, there was something I wanted to ask you. Could you explain the tenouchi to me like you did with Onogi a while ago? I was also told not to grip the bow in the past, but even now I still don’t know how tightly I should hold it.”

“Oh, the tenouchi? Take your arm out.”

“Okay?”

“——This much. I was taught this way by my master as well.”

Ma.s.san held Minato’s arm so lightly that he almost wasn’t touching him at all. His faintly transmitted body temperature was warm. And then, he let go of his arm just as gently as when he touched it. Minato desperately chased after the feeling left on his skin so he wouldn’t forget it.

“You don’t grip the bow, you wrap it. Just accept it. It might be similar to the sense of distance with another person. You don’t grip it tightly and restrain it, but on the other hand you don’t let it go completely either. That perfect strength adjustment is something you cultivate over a long time. There are many senior citizens who do kyudo, so for them, when they see me, even I’m treated like a boy, and a high schooler would still be like a baby. Isn’t it good to learn how to eat well, sleep well, and enjoy yourself?”

“…Yeah.”

“Why do you think you’re the ochi for this time’s shooting order?”

“To watch my teammates’ backs?”

“You’re on the right track; that’s half-correct. You have to protect Seiya’s back especially.”

“Me to Seiya?”

“It’s a role that only you can do. I’m happy as well to pa.s.s on the teachings that my master left to me. I cannot convey the feeling of his palm with things like words and pictures. Thank you, Minato.”

Minato was speechless.

The etymology of the word “communication” came from the Latin communis—which meant “shared.”

One day, I too will cannot help but wish for the day to come when I would pa.s.s it onto the people who share their wishes and ambitions with me.

The warmth of this hand.

It was the last day of the training camp.

At the kyudojo, they were about to finish their shooting. Minato chose his own arrows from the yatatebako (arrow rack). Before he knew it, Kaito was next to him.

“I heard the reason for why you went into the river from Nanao. That hat was a birthday present from me and my sisters.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I just wanted to thank you for that. …Don’t drag your feet at the team compet.i.tion.”

Kaito said that without waiting for a response, then quickly went to go line up by the shajo entrance.

Minato spoke in the direction of his back.

“Yeah, …thanks.”

On that day, the five were able to receive compliments from Tomi-sensei for their taihai.

A fragrant wind shook their hair.

On their way home after the training camp finished, the photo that Ren gave them was a picture of the five of them talking he had taken without them noticing.