Volume 1 Chapter 5 Part1 (1/2)

In this chapter: discord in the club, fis.h.i.+ng, and I officially give up on trying to make sense what all the kyudo stuff actually looks like.

Once again, sorry for the bad photo.

Glossary

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. The yumifutokoro is the s.p.a.ce formed by the rounded shape of the arms in yugamae

2. A Satokawa is a “River flowing through human settlements that is maintained through the appropriate use and conservation of the environment surrounding it.” ()

3. A point in fis.h.i.+ng is a “a location where the bottom is shallower than the surrounding area.” It is a good place to find fish. ()

4. Amanojaku is a j.a.panese demon. It can apparently see into people’s hearts and is a contrary demon.

Raise your voice.

I want to hear your voice.

After the prefectural tournament qualifiers, the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club was working hard at practice.

Tomi-sensei spoke.

”All of you have worked hard in the qualifiers. The other day, there was a gathering of tournament staff, and we received compliments from the judges on our wonderful taihai. Continue to work hard in this way. Today, Ma.s.san is taking a day off and I will also be away to take care of some business, but you must not shoot sloppily just because we aren’t here watching.”

“Yes, sir.”

After seeing Tomi-sensei off, Nanao brushed his slightly curly hair upwards.

“Even now when I remember it, it’s still amazing. Kirisaki’s Fujiwara Shuu being at the top in the individual compet.i.tion. And then continuing to get kaichuu on the second day. Is he a monster?”

Even though Nanao was expressing his honest impressions, everyone’s responses were slow because Kaito, who was in disarray at the qualifiers, was acting strange. Increasing his shooting count as though he was thirsty for blood, on that day as well he went straight to the targets without taking any notice of others.

Minato also felt impatient ever since he reunited with Shuu. There probably wasn’t any archer who didn’t feel anything when shown those kinds of shots. That overwhelming difference in power was carved into his eyes, ears, and skin.

Minato and Nanao went to stand in front of the targets side-by-side, but Nanao immediately left his spot right after he shot once.

“What’s wrong, Nanao?”

“I cut myself again. Minato, do you have a tissue?”

He looked and saw blood coming out of the first joint of Nanao’s thumb. He licked it to wipe off the blood, but because it did not stop, he had to suspend shooting. His kokou—the s.p.a.ce between his thumb and index finger—was also swollen red.

When Nanao finished sticking a bandage on his thumb, Minato took out something that looked like leather finger cot from his dragonfly-patterned pouch.

“Nanao, try using this.”

“Is that an os.h.i.+degake?”

“Yep, it’s a yugake for the left hand. This one is one-fingered, but I have a two-fingered one as well.”

“Well then, I’ll use it. I wonder why I’m cutting myself there.”

“I’ve heard that beginners cut themselves there because they’re grabbing the bow too tightly and pus.h.i.+ng too hard, but you’re not doing that at all.”

“I’ll try asking Tomi-sensei or Ma.s.san tomorrow.”

Hearing that, the three girls frowned.

“Would Tomi-sensei know the reason? Even though the finals are in less than a month, he’s still only talking about taihai, which is hardly advice for shooting, don’t you think?” Seo said.

“Oh yeah, I’ve also worried about that for a while. He said the judges praised our taihai, but I can only think that they were just being polite. Taihai isn’t something you can win a compet.i.tion with no matter how good it is,” Hanazawa said.

Then, s.h.i.+ragiku continued, “That does not only apply to taihai, but also shooting posture. No matter how good our shooting postures are, it is meaningless if we cannot hit. And Takigawsan, he was invited by Tomi-sensei, so he just seems like a hanger-on. I wonder if we can really defeat that Kirisaki like this…”

Hearing those words, Kaito could not keep himself from objecting.

“Oi, don’t talk about our sensei and coach like that.”

“Oh, but weren’t you in a bad condition because your tenouchi was tampered with during the training camp? Although it seemed to be fine because you pa.s.sed the qualifiers, as it is difficult to adjust a tenouchi in a short period of time, the coach is also responsible, since he did not stop you even though he knew that.”

“That was my request, so Ma.s.san’s not responsible. And didn’t Tomi-sensei entrust everything shooting technique-related to Ma.s.san? Isn’t that what they call a division of roles? Aren’t you just blaming other people for your own lack of results?”

“I wonder if the same could be said for you.”

“Huh? What are you——”

Before Kaito could finish saying everything, Nanao cut him off.

“Now now, let’s all have fun drawing our bows. As for me, I’m having lots of fun now drawing my bow.”

“…Nanao.”

Kaito pressed closer to Nanao.

“You might be doing kyudo just to get girls to go crazy for you, but I’m doing it seriously. If you just wanna have fun, then there’s no point in you doing official compet.i.tions!”

“Onogi, cut it out!”

When they realized, it was Minato who raised his voice.

“Narumiya, you got somethin’ to say?”

“Look at Nanao’s left hand. Isn’t that the hand of someone who practices a lot? It’s not a bad thing to have fun drawing a bow. Don’t take your anger out on Nanao.”

“You must’ve become so great if you’re lecturing me.”

“I am also to blame for you not doing well at the qualifiers. We were the ones who did something to upset you.”

“…Don’t talk like I’m some mentally weak guy… And what about you? Weren’t you all s.h.i.+vering and scared because of your hayake?”

“Okay, that’s enough!”

Seiya’s voice resounded.

“Because you’re all still tired from the compet.i.tion, your heads are not working properly. Let’s discuss this at another opportunity.”

Kaito gave a sidelong glare at Seiya, then left.

On the next day as well, Kaito was standing before the targets more than anyone else. The heels of his tabi socks became worn-out and tattered, but it seemed that he couldn’t afford to worry about his feet.

Tomi-sensei tapped his shoulder.

“Onogi-kun, you’ve been drawing too much recently. Your shots are also getting faster, and there’s no point in hurting your shoulders, so let’s slow down a little.”

“No, Tomi-sensei, I’m fine. I can still draw.”

“You don’t have to draw so much.”

“In my case, if I don’t draw a lot my tenouchi will go back to what it was before. ——I’m going to continue practicing.”

“Hmm.”

Minato felt that his own appearance when he was falling into hayake was mirrored in Kaito. Even now, his feelings of impatience for quickly wanting to be an archer worthy of Shuu, and his anxiety that his hayake might start up again, followed him around, like he was carrying a bomb.

The ambition to become better was also desire, if looked from another perspective. The act of asking for the impossible was named “longing.” Dreams encouraged people, made them s.h.i.+ne, and sometimes drove them to despair. Kyudo demanded strict self-control and emotional stability, all left to the person’s own willpower in the end. If you got too heated up, only you could cool yourself down, and you could not borrow anyone else’s help.

Minato and Nanao went to collect the arrows. When they were alone, Nanao lowered his brows and smiled.

“Minato, don’t get angry with Kacchan. He’s really happy about partic.i.p.ating in team compet.i.tions, so he’s really enthusiastic.”

“Huh? But Onogi said he doesn’t want to be in them.”

“Yep, he’s just unaware of it, but he really wants to take part in them. He longs to head towards a single goal with comrades. He’s pretty cheeky for a weakling, isn’t he?”

Nanao stuck out his tongue.

“Aren’t kyudo compet.i.tions surprisingly strict? In baseball, if you mess up at defense you’ll work hard at offense, so there might be a chance to recover, but in kyudo the game is decided by either hitting or missing, and the outcome is decided in the blink of an eye. You feel a lot of responsibility because your misses are directly connected to your team’s loss.”

“Oh, I really get that.”

“Since training camp, it seems like you and Kacchan are feeling impatient about being able to adjust your tenouchi.”

“I still can’t do it at all.”

“Even so, don’t you do a beautiful yugaeri? When someone skilled is close by, of course people are going to compare themselves with them. Even I want to get a beautiful shooting posture that wouldn’t lose to yours.”

Although Nanao seemed flighty and superficial at first glance, Minato felt that he was actually the most grown-up among the five of them. Those who maintained their usual self without going through an emotional roller coaster about things were strong.

Minato put his arm around Nanao’s shoulders. He felt like he somehow understood Ryouhei’s state of mind when he puts his arm around people’s shoulders. It was a feeling of I’m so happy to meet you today.

It was a cheer of encouragement.

“Nanao, let’s go ask Ma.s.san about the thing from yesterday.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

After returning the arrows, Nanao called Ma.s.san over.

“Ma.s.san, why am I skinning my thumb? I know that I’m sc.r.a.ping it against the arrow feathers.”

“The position of your nock a little bit too low. Try raising it a few millimeters.”

Nanao blinked rapidly. It was an unexpected answer.

“Really? That’s all?”

“Yep. Because the grip of the bow is low, your string might have stretched. Your kokou might have swollen red because you’re putting too much force on it.”

Everyone gathered as Ma.s.san showed an example.

“After you adjust your tenouchi, gently tighten your elbows and spread both shoulders in order to keep your yumifutokoro (1) wide. Then, pull the feathers slightly so as to not let them hang on the bow. This is called ‘habiki,’ and it’s brought up all the way to kai which is when this opening is expanded. After that, properly turn your head towards the target and gaze at it steadily. This is called 'monomi o sadameru’ (fixing your eyes on the target).”

Ma.s.san gently raised both his hands to the same height.

“'Uchiokos.h.i.+’ is raising your hands slightly above your forehead as though you’re scooping something up. The arrow is almost always horizontal and parallel to the body, so that both shoulders sink. Next is 'hikiwake.’ Use your pectorals and back muscles to open the bow to left and right.”

Ma.s.san pulled to about half the arrow’s length, then stopped.

“This form is called ’daisan,’ where you stretch the inside of your right elbow so that your right fist is in front of your forehead and one fist away from it. Daisan comes from the phrase os.h.i.+ dai moku hike sanbuichi (push big and pull one-third). By prioritizing the bow pus.h.i.+ng force and pulling with a third of that strength, the bow is evenly parted to the left and right.”

When he finished talking, he drew his bow to the limit and released the arrow. A sigh escaped from the surroundings at the sharp arrow’s flight.

“Do you know where the ’tsunomi’ is?”

Nanao touched the base of his thumb between his index finger and thumb.

“By using the tsunomi and lightly tensing the little finger, the arrow will fly to where you are aiming at. You lightly tense the little finger in order to make use of the trapezius brachii muscles, so that the lower part of the trapezius muscles will also work because of that. From the outside, ’daisan’ seems like you’re coming to a stop, but it is a form that takes into consideration the workings and tension of the entire body.”

“In other words, it’s no good if you only try to fix your tenouchi?”

“Well, I wonder if it’ll come to that. Kaito, bring your arrow here for a bit.”

Ma.s.san stood Kaito in front of a target.

“Do you remember the relations.h.i.+p between the thumb and middle finger on the left hand?”

“…They are lovers.”

“That’s right. In order to not let those two separate, the cooperation of another person is necessary.”

“Another person?”

“The index finger. The trick to not let the index and middle fingers separate is to slightly raise the base of the index finger up. So that the thumb springs up without bending at the joint. Try it.”

Kaito released his arrow as Ma.s.san supervised, and his bow quickly rotated in his hand. The muddiness in Kaito’s eyes disappeared with the matooto.

“That was a beautiful yugaeri—a good shot. After daisan, make the back of your hand face upwards so that your right wrist doesn’t bend. Like 'Oh, that’s Mount Fuji,’ like you’re getting a view of Mount Fuji.”