#saionji kazuyoshi

[ladies-of-fiction]

Ladies of Tsurune

Noa Shiragiku, Rika Seo, Yuna Hanazawa

Sae Fujiwara, Saionji Kazuyoshi

[x0401x]

What did you think of Tsurune S2 episode 6?

Okay, gotta start this as I always do: pointing out the positive and canon-complying elements first and foremost, because I love them.

First of all, Minato being a lovable little dumbass. We had scenes of him being clueless or distracted here and there, but in this episode we have him being the deadpan airhead that he is. That comes in the form of him doing things like saying funny shit without realizing how ridiculous it is (the unironic use of cute onomatopoeia is a classic for him in the novel and I’m so glad to see it making its way into the anime at last), or getting overexcited about kyudo-related stuff while his body language completely contradicts his straight face. Gotta love Seiya and Kaito giving him the Parent Look TM every single time.

I love that this season is very focused on all the minute details of kyudo. It's visible that the animators have dug deeper into this hole and done even more research on it. I specially appreciate the way they've been including the right breathing techniques into this season and we get a pretty good display of it whenever the camera zooms in on the characters when they're firing a shot.

On the topic of attention to detail, I almost screamed when we got to see Noa and Yuuna's houses. They got Rika's hair color wrong in one of the cuts of this scene but I couldn't care less. I loved it.

I love even more the tournament itself. The way that flower petals are used instead of tree leaves for the girls in order to showcase that their team has a different aura from the boys'. The flashbacks displaying their development and illustrating that it didn't come out of nowhere. The richness in their facial expressions and dialogues along the way.

I also like that they added a scene where Minato teams up with Seiya and Shuu for the first time. In the novel, we only ever get kind of an idea why these three were teamed in middle school, but we never got to see how this started or how they even knew they could work as a team in such a huge club like Kirisaki's. This also serves as a hint that they'd been doing kyudo outside of the club, which is a good explanation as to how they were able to nurture their skills given that Kirisaki's middle school kyudo club only allowed the third-years to actually do archery, while the juniors were stuck with other, more basic forms of practice and couldn't participate in tournaments.

Bonus points for it also being the first time Seiya realizes that Shuu is different around Minato, and that Minato has some sort of influence in him that other people don't. Plus, it gives us something that I missed a lot in S1 and that is being depicted beautifully in this one: Minato is a very charismatic kid. There's something about him that draws people in. His honesty, his innocence, his transparency - it all works to make people either love or resent him, and it's probably the most essential part of his character identity. After all, it's the eptome of Zen.

This scene was a very smart addition.

Speaking of his character identity, by the way, this episode was personality traits by the truckload. Minato's bow nerd-ness is at full power here. And also his impulsiveness being turned into productive, learning patience. He's on his way to being an even better archer and it all begins with the mindset.

Now, I wanna take a moment to appreciate Nanao being a little shit and Minato being embarrassed by it. Love me some in-character banter. And props to finally being shown that Minato's mom used to do archery and that she was his gateway to kyudo. I mean, we had seen that she was the person who taught him about tsurune, but she's also the first person who ever shared previous experience in kyudo with him, so it would've been unfair to just leave this fact out. Again, missed it in S1 and now we're making amends. Bless!

I'm almost in tears at the fact that the girls got themselves headbands too, as well as matching bow sleeves that have cute rabbit patterns to indicate that this is set in the year 2023. I'm also internally howling at the subtle, barely perceptible visual implications that Seiya is slowly migrating to Kaito's side. He's always right beside Kaito in every shot, and I almost didn't believe my eyes when he deliberately chose to sit next to Kaito instead of next to Minato to watch the tournament.

Now, for the things that aren't so positive. Luckily, there's actually very little negative stuff in this episode. It's been the most gratifying one to watch so far.

So, there's been a trend in this season ever since episode 4 where the storytelling ended up falling into the same territory as S1, in which we are getting a bunch of character arcs that culminate in a team arc instead of having a linear plot. It feels like we're checking boxes of character data and kyudo info that we were supposed to have had in S1, which isn't bad in itself, but the way it's being done strikes me as a bit inorganic. These arcs all serve a very specific purpose and are timed in order to fit exactly into the duration of each episode and it shows. It shows a little too much, I'd say, which makes them feel mechanic and somewhat artificial. Like, I know that I'm watching a fictional story, but that doesn't mean I wanna be aware of this fact.

Thanks to these arcs being a thing, we end up having another trend, which is that Minato's development is being delayed until his turn comes up. This ends up creating sort of a disconnect between him and his own habilities. In order to fit into his own arc while simultaneously serving as a proxy for the viewers who have no knowledge about kyudo, Minato literally seems to have forgotten everything. Ever since episode 1, we've seen Masaki do almost nothing but point out what Minato's been doing wrong in every single interaction they've had, so it's hard to ignore that Minato's been making a bunch of newbie mistakes.

This feels weird not just because Minato is the most experienced of the team, but also because he'd already received this exact kind of training at Yata Shrine during the beginning of the story, when he was getting back into archery and making up for the time he'd spent away from the dojo. He's already gone through this phase and was supposed to have overcome it. Besides, all of this stemming from just one fuck-up at a particular tournament is... a stretch, to say the least. Specially when said fuck-up was basically just a matter of teamwork-related mentality shift. It shouldn't mess up his entire form to a point where he has to almost relearn it from scratch, so we're left wondering what happened to his natural talent that everyone used to admire and how the hell he's managed to get to this point when he's literally sucking ass at the basics.

Speaking of Minato’s ordeal with getting back into practice, him using formal speech with Masaki during training is extremely uncomfortable to me. We do get the whole "awkward pupil who can't hold a candle to his mentor" vibe from him, but the formal treatment is pretty odd. In case anyone is wondering, Minato has dropped the formal speech since the second time he and Masaki met in the novel. So yes, this backtracking is something quite strange to witness.

Now, the thing that has me side-eyeing this character arc thing the most is that we seem to be wasting time with them. The show is using these arcs to flesh out the characters and make them likable because it failed to do this in S1, which is understandable, all right. However, I again would argue that having a linear plot would do the job better, not just because it'd feel more natural, but also because, while we're having these arcs, nearly nothing is accomplished except for working out non-canon, unnecessary problems that the anime has created... so that we could have these character arcs in the first place. And that's where I keep asking myself: why are we getting this instead of the source material's content? I mean, I do know the reason why. The original is too gay, we get it. But since I know what I'm missing out on, I at least want to see an on-screen justification for it. I want KyoAni to show us something that will make these changes worth it, because so far, it feels like they're dragging the story down in comparison to the novel.

I have already expressed this before but I still feel the need to voice my concern that this season is just as uneventful as the first. There’s just too little going on and therefore too little for the viewers to get invested in. The drama in the novel might feel exaggerated at times, but KyoAni doesn’t seem to have realized that it’s the only thing separating the series from... well, real life. Without that aspect, Tsurune is just a kyudo nerd-out galore with not much purpose. I’m of course not suggesting that they should suddenly insert into the anime the exact same amount of drama as the novels have, but that they could at least be a bit more daring than what we’ve seen so far and introduce some of it. Because I can't imagine how boring this series must be for anime-only’s.

I keep noticing, after every single episode, that I’m only enjoying this installment because I was already a fan of the original work. If I hadn’t read the novel and didn’t have it in me to read it, having the anime as my only form of contact with this series would’ve prompted me to drop it by S1. This season is way better than the previous one in every sense and it oozes good intentions, yet there’s still a palpable lack of excitement in it. The training at the inn, Shuu’s petty envy, the hotel shitstorm. So much stuff that isn't too far removed from the tone of the anime and that could be put to good use here, yet isn't.

KyoAni, I’m literally on my knees. I implore you to make this thing sell. Please make it sell.

But I want to end this one on a good note, so my last comment is gonna be on the later half of the episode. I adore Saionji's participation and the subtle, well-written explanations about what the boys' team is lacking. It was super refreshing to have the girls' team as the reason why they realized what they were missing in a different way from how the novel did it. Speaking of different way from how the novel did it, I like that we got to see Minato and Saionji's conversation about Shigeru. In the novel, we only had Minato telling Eisuke about it, so I'm happy that we got to actually see it. And gotta tip my hat to the scene where Masaki watches as Minato finally gets his form right once again. Pretty good punchline.

And of course, the last scene is a treasure. The girls being valued as important members of the team is my new favorite thing. Yuuna absolutely blasting Ren into outer space was a blessing. Minato being an unapologetic dork has watered my crops and cleared my skin. That nod to the one-eyed fish had me at the edge of my seat (yes, I still have hopes of it being at least referred to at some point, along with Masaki and Minato's scars). And finally, the Star Festival has been mentioned. Love the way that the dojo was decorated for it. Yata Shrine looks like a new world entirely, almost as if we've been transported to a feudal fantasy setting. I just don't get why it's gonna happen after the tournament. I guess this means we're not getting Ren and Minato's conversation and that honestly worries me, but as always, I'm just taking what I can get.

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 1-Two People, Travelling Together (Part 2)

In this chapter: A bit of Kazemai, a lot of Kirisaki, a lot of exposition.

This part was long.

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Transation Notes

1. Tenugui Shibori=手ぬぐいしぼり (lit. hand towel squeezing). Hannen Hanjaku= 半捻半弱 (lit. half twist, half bind). This refers to the thing where the right hand twists a little inwards, and the left thumb presses into the right side of the bow as much as possible. (probably got this wrong but I can only stomach so much kyudo terminology)

2. Akahon (lit. red book) refers to a set of university entrance exam preparation workbooks published by Kyogakusha. They contain past exams and are extremely popular.

3. Four and a half tatami mats is about  2.73 m × 2.73 m.

4. A nigiri-guchi is the door to a tea hut. It looks more like a window than a door if you look at the images.

5. An andon lamp is one of those traditional paper-enclosed lanterns. See some here

6. Sen no Rikyu was a major figure in the development of the tea ceremony,  particularly its simplicity. 

7. A repechage is a practice in a competition that allows failed participants to have another chance to move onto the next round.

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The sky in the breaks of the rainy season was blue, and the chirps of little birds could be heard. The exhilaration from placing his hands on the kyudojo's door never disappeared no matter how many times he did it. A different dimension that suddenly appeared in the world of school. Minato liked that.

The Kazemai High School Kyudo Club was working hard at practicing for the regional tournament that was drawing near quickly.

Seiya changed into his hakama and took off his glasses. The hidden mole next to his right eye became exposed.

"I was surprised when you brought Shuu home with you yesterday, Minato. Did he call you after?"

"He said we should practice together once summer vacation starts. Will you come too?"

"Of course I will, but you know what he said when he saw my face? 'Why are you here?' What rudeness towards his former teammate. I'll punish him next time."

"That's because you couldn't stop talking about soccer. Shuu was really hungry, you know. He even fell asleep on the return bus. Didn't he often fall asleep on the bus on the way back from trips in middle school?"

"…He never slept even once when he sat next to me. Probably not just with me, but next to anyone."

"Was that how it was?"

"Shuu's a charismatic guy with a lot of pride. Everyone shrinks when they're in front of him, or rather, they humble themselves, so it might be that he can become plain around you."

"I just thought he was a normal guy except for being really good at kyudo."

"Your sense of normal is paralyzed."

Hearing their conversation from next to them, Ryouhei leaned on Minato as though he was about to ride on his shoulders.

"I wanna try talking to Fujiwara-kun too. He's super cool. I wanna shoot like that too."

"Ryouhei, you're too heavy. Why are all the guys with big bodies who are next to me randomly leaning on me? Alright, you come shoot with us too, Ryouhei."

"Really? Yes! Fujiwara-kun uses a yonsun-nobi bow (233cm) too, right?"

"Yeah, it's rare for a high schooler to be taller than a hundred and eighty centimeters. People with big physiques probably have their own troubles, so Shuu might be able to answer anything we don't know about."

Kaito, changing next to them, turned to them with a sharp gaze.

"You guys, don't get all friendly with the enemy. Don't relax just because Narumiya got a kaichuu at the prefectural finals."

"Even if you call him the enemy, he's still my bow friend, and even you would think that it's educational to watch a skilled person shoot, right, Onogi?"

"If you want a guy who's tall and shoots well, then don't we have a coach named Masa-san here?"

"Masa-san and Shuu shoot differently. You can't know who would suit Ryouhei better."

Kaito and Minato calling each other by their first names was for only a moment of that competition, and they had once again returned to addressing each other by their family names.

There, they heard the sound of "Merha!"

Nanao peered at Kaito's face while a big grin appeared on his face.

"Geez, Kacchan, you're so shy. Just honestly say, 'I'm also interested in Kirisaki's Fujiwara. Why don't you invite me too? Invite me, invite me!'"

"Na-na-o. Don't make stuff up."

Nanao stuck out his tongue.

The five finished preparations and began practicing in the competition format.

Kyudo was done in "close-distance" (kinteki) and "long-distance" (enteki), and what Minato and the others were doing was a close-distance competition. They were competing for the number of arrows that hit the kasumi-mato with diameters of thirty-six centimeters from a distance of twenty-eight meters. The regional tournament would have teams of five and four arrows to each person. They would be shooting a total of twenty arrows within a time limit.

"Zasha" was the case of shooting after kneeling in the kiza position at the "shooting line" (shai), then turning to the wakishoumen, and then standing and doing ashibumi. The case of shooting by doing ashibumi while still standing at the shooting line was called "rissha." The left and right hands were called the "yunde and mete" or the "oshide and katte," and the eight-step process of shooting an arrow was also named. It was called the "Shahou Hassetsu."

The Shahou Hassetsu were as followed.

First, ashibumi: Spreading the feet, and making the correct posture for shooting.

Second, douzukuri: Placing the bow on the left thigh, and placing the right hand on the right hip. At this time, "tsurushirabe" and "noshirabe" are also carried out.

Third, yugamae: Taking the bowstring with the right hand ("torikake"), arranging the left hand ("tenouchi"), and viewing the target ("monomi").

Fourth, uchiokoshi: Raising both hands holding the bow and arrows upwards. There is "shoumen uchiokoshi" and "shamen uchiokoshi."

Fifth, hikiwake: Parting the raised bow evenly to the left and right. There are three ways to do this, one of which is "daisan."

Sixth, kai: The state of completing hikiwake.

Seventh, hanare: Releasing the arrow.

Eighth, zanshin: The position after releasing the arrow.

The first archer—the oomae—Kaito spread his feet widely.

He was holding two arrows, a "hitote." He nocked one of the arrows, and held the other one with the pinky and ring finger of his right hand.

Taking the string with his right hand and arranging his left hand, he then gently raised his two fists up to the same height. He pushed his bow, drew his string, and parted his bow left and right equally, and then made his arrowhead approach the center of the target. In order to not be defeated by the restoring force of the bow, he stretched vertically by stretching his spine and stretched horizontally by tensing his left and right arms. His arrow went towards the target along with a loud tsurune. "Alright!" The girls cheered.

Following Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao and the very last archer, the ochi, Minato each shot an arrow in that order, and the results after finishing with twenty shots were 4:2:3:3:3, a total of fifteen hits.

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

"Although you are all restless with the gap between the prefectural and regional tournaments is closing, keep this up."

"Yes, sir!"

Tommy-sensei's smile widened at Ryouhei's energetic response.

"Improving your shooting form is not about trying to not think about hitting. In order to make your arrow fly straight, it is less deviating to draw with your whole body rather than the tip of your hand. "

"Ooh, I see."

"The fundamental form of kyudo takes the form of the 'tateyoko juumonji,' which consists of a combination of the vertical axis made up of the feet, hips, backbone, and neck, and the horizontal axes made up of the shoulders, arms, elbows, and hands. I want you to think of the Shahou Hassetsu that explains the method to create the fundamental form, so to speak, as a routine for hitting turned into a law."

"By routine, do you mean like the series of movements a baseball player must always carry out in the batter's box, sir?"

"That's right. Many etiquettes and behaviors may have begun with someone's routine that others copied, made into laws and rules, and spread."

"As expected of Tommy-sensei, he knows everything."

"Oh no, I was actually only speaking irresponsibly."

"Irresponsibly? What do you mean?"

The kyudojo instantly calmed down at Ryouhei's spacey reply.

Tommy-sensei put effort into teaching Ryouhei. Kyudo's close-range competitions had a hitting system where points already gained from previous rounds counted, so a one-hit reversal could not be hoped for. There was no way of victory other than each person making sure to not miss.

Masa-san called Minato to the makiwara equipped with a mirror.

"You were sort of twisting your right elbow a lot today."

"Oh, I was just trying to imitate Shuu's shooting a little."

"'Shuu'?"

"Kirisaki High's Fujiwara Shuu, my former teammate. I met with him unexpectedly at Saionji-sensei's house the other day."

"Do you mean Saionji Kazuyoshi-sensei? Another big name appears. Do you know him well?"

"He's mine and Shuu's first kyudo teacher. Although he is elderly, he also said that if I was able to stand before the targets for club, it would be better to not have two teachers, though I was taught by him until the end of my first year of middle school."

"For five years, he's a legend who's never missed a shot in an official setting such as a competition or a ceremony. Now that you mention it, Fujiwara's shooting form might be similar to Saionji-sensei's. A skilled archer calls it a 'tenugui shibori' or 'hannen hanjaku,' where the left hand rotates clockwise, and the right hand adds a hineri contrarily to that." (1)

"I want to try doing that too. At prefecturals, I was told by a sensei from somewhere to try doing hineri a little bit."

"In your case, your right hand is stronger, and when I look at you from the side, your bow is not straight, but tilted backwards. Also, you're wearing a supporter, but does your left wrist still hurt?"

"I don't know if there's a dull pain, or if it didn't get any worse but not healing at all."

"When you draw a bow, you hurt your left wrist when you bend it. Try watching your zanshin in a mirror. Do you see? Your wrist gets folded at the moment of hanare."

"I didn't notice that at all. Why do I do that?"

"I've told you a million times. When you miss, it's generally your left hand that is weak."

"Do you mean tensing my tenouchi's little finger? I was planning on doing that, though."

"Planning on doing it is no use; you don't do it at all. Don't add more tasks for yourself. Do what I tell you to do first. If you don't fix your habit, the more you shoot, the more you will hurt your wrist."

"Got it."

"Who's your kyudo master now?"

"Huh, …Tommy-sensei and you, Masa-san."

"That's right. Don't add anything extra from anyone else except for me."

What's with that? What's with that?

You didn't have to say it like that.

Recently, Masa-san was harsh. There was a frustration that couldn't be embodied, even though he understood it in his mind. A worthlessness.

Minato rubbed his left hand.

Tap, tap. Multiple matooto resounded.

"Alright!" The reverberating cheers indicated that Kirisaki High School was a powerhouse school.

However, Senichi's heart did not clear up. That was because Manji, who was always behind him, was not there. Manji was at the makiwara more than anyone else, doing nothing but practicing to prolong his kai.

A practice match participated in by the archers was being held on this day, and Kabashima occupied the third archer's position, replacing Manji who had been out of form in the prefectural tournament. After shooting four arrows in two sets, the match ended with thirty-two hits out of a total of forty shots.

Shuu and Senichi set down their bows and sat next to each other. Shuu took off the glove, "yugake," protecting his right hand, exposing from beneath a shitagake (underglove) with a purple pattern dyed onto a white background.

"Shuu, you changed your underglove? That's a nice pattern."

"Yeah, the dragonfly is said to be a winning insect, so it's a design preferred by warriors."

"Where'd you buy it?"

"I got it as a one-month late birthday present."

"Oh?"

The underglove, used for protecting the deerskin yugake from things like sweat, was mainly made of cotton, and there were many who were picky about thickness and shape of the cloth. White was recommended for examinations and the like, but there was an abundance of colours and patterns, and it was also an unseen enjoyment for archers.

On the advisor's signal, they dispersed and it was decided that they would stretch target paper over the frames (matohari). They removed the papers that were full of holes and repapered the frames with new target papers.

The club president, Motomura, spoke.

"After peeling the paper, please clean the frame with a scrubbing brush and water, then dry it."

"Motomura-senpai, Sase-senpai. The third-years should leave already, since we will be doing it afterwards."

"Thank you, Senichi-kun. But please allow me to repaper the targets I use, at least."

"Is that so? Then, please feel free to do it."

The target frames became chipped and cracked when arrows just barely hit the target, and were completely worn down.

While they waited for the washed frames to dry, they prepared the target papers and the under-papers. They cut Kraft paper into circles that were a size bigger than the frames, then made cuts at the edges with scissors. This same treatment of edges was applied to the target papers as well.

Motomura held a brush and coated the back of the papers with glue with practiced movements, and then other people quickly stuck them on the frames. They affixed the under-papers and target papers in that order, then arranged them so that they didn't overlap in order for them to dry. There would be wrinkles on them right after they finished sticking the papers, but after they dried for a while, the papers would automatically stretch and finish as neat-looking targets. The sight of the large number of targets lined up together was quite impressive, and it felt good to look out over the renewed targets.

Senichi, separating from everyone else to wash his hands, whispered to Manji.

"It's so amazing for Motomura-senpai and the others to do matohari, even though they're third-years. And, doesn't Shuu seem kinda down today?"

"That's cuz he lost the prefecturals even though he had by far the greatest number of hits, so it's impossible for him to cheer up right away. Even I, who rarely gets depressed, still can't break free from the hayake damage yet."

"It's not that, he's calmer than usual, or rather, mellower."

"I don't think he changed that much."

"So what was that urgent business of his yesterday?"

"Who knows? He'll tell us if we ask."

"We can't ask now. Aren't you frustrated? Someone who isn't us cheered Shuu up while we were unaware of it."

"Isn't that good? I thought that I haven't heard his voice a lot lately."

"Yeah, that's it. That's what I noticed too. I thought that Shuu seems to give advice to everyone, but he actually only answers questions, and he has never given advice of his own accord. Since no one, including me, asked Shuu questions lately, he doesn't need to talk."

"I feel like Shuu isn't very interested in other people. The only person he pays attention to is Narumiya from Kazemai High…"

Senichi and Manji first knew Shuu at the individual competition of the middle school prefectural tournament.

It was shocking. That there existed a boy the same age as them who was such a skilled archer.

The two boasted of having the highest hitting rates in their club, but the moment they saw Shuu shoot, they prostrated themselves before that overwhelming strength. For that reason, they asked an unreasonable favor of their parents and chose Kirisaki High School instead of a local high school. Unless they overcame Shuu, they were no match for the national finals. They thought that they would get close to him and steal his skills.

However, that intention vanished right after they enrolled.

Shuu was the Young Noble.

Without mentioning his good-looking appearance and a robust physique that surpassed those of others, someone who also had a sharp mind, an ancient and honorable pedigree, and a personality where he didn't self-deprecate as well as act conceited, was faultless and beyond reproach. As they continued to watch Shuu shooting from nearby, they were charmed by him more and more. How could he move his body so precisely? His shots were so unparalleled in their accuracy that one could think that there wasn't even one millimetre of deviation. It was worthy of being called a superhuman feat.

However, with Shuu missing the final shot at the prefectural tournament, they became aware of the pride and the heavy pressure of those who stood at the top. He missed, and yet his face did not crumble. Even now, he couldn't forget those empty eyes in his smiling face.

How embarrassing. The him who only stood next to Shuu and praised him. He was a cheap, insignificant existence.

Shuu was the "solitary" Young Noble.

There was no one here at Kirisaki who Shuu acknowledged, who stood next to him. There were no comrades for him.

"Sen-nii, you worship Shuu too much. Leaving that aside, keep me company for my hayake prevention training."

"Yeah, okay."

Manji wasn't as engrossed in Shuu as Senichi was. The brothers always spent the same amount of vigor and fire, but the time for separation might be approaching.

The two were going on their own paths.

"Manji."

"What is it, Sen-nii?"

"I'll move on from fast-shooting too. I'll definitely turn you back into a regular."

"…Yeah."

"I'll stop worshipping Shuu too."

"Yeah, that's good."

After they finished changing, they left the kyudojo.

There were almost no students left. Senichi and Manji returned to the dorms, but Shuu headed towards the bus stop by himself.

Senichi faced Shuu.

"Shuu, do you want to eat together after?"

"Sorry, my homework is piling up."

"Then, then, we'll see you off at the bus stop."

Senichi continued to talk as he walked.

"Hey, Shuu, do you have a brother?"

"What's with this all of a sudden? I have a sister who's a lot younger than me."

"What's your favorite food?"

"Takoyaki."

"Really? That's a bit surprising."

"To be precise, I like Japanese food in general."

"What about hobbies?"

"Open fires. When I watch a swaying flame, I strangely calm down."

"Calm down…"

He realized that Manji was panicking next to him, saying, "Sen-nii, Sen-nii, what are you doing!?"

This is hopeless. This is like a mixer or a marriage interview.

Senichi pulled himself together, and then revised the content of the conversation.

"Shuu, you could tell me and Manji apart from the very beginning, right? With which part do you usually do that?"

"Which part? I could tell immediately because your colours are different."

"Colours? No way, you can see the colours of people's auras?"

"I mean the personal characteristics, the features of something. The presence that exudes from a person, like facial expressions, mannerisms, thinking, actions, and so on. Well, before colours, you two have completely different faces. Sen looks more mature."

That's right. Shuu had never lumped us together as "the twins."

Even though we're twins, he recognizes us as separate people.

When the bus approached, Shuu turned away from them.

"Shuu. Will you watch my shooting tomorrow?"

"Okay, if you don't mind me doing it."

"I'll watch your shooting too. I'll immediately know the spots where you're different from usual. I watch you shoot every day, at any rate."

"…Yes, that's true."

Shuu turned around and placed his hand on Senichi's shoulder. This was the first time Shuu touched one of his teammates himself.

Shuu, wait for us.

We won't end up as just followers.

Senichi ran to the dorms, with Manji chasing behind him.

Kirisaki High School was not a boarding school, but there were many who lived in the dorms.

The Art Deco-style building was used as a vacation home and was remodelled, becoming a structure that was quite luxurious for a building that was intended for students.

Motomura's and Sase's room was the dorm leader's room, located in a corner of the top floor. The trees and high sky could be seen from the window, and there were not only writing desks and beds in the room, but also a sofa on which one could lie down. Of course, Sase's favourite idol, Noririn, smiled neatly and cleanly from atop his desk.

When Sase returned to his room, he first sat down on the right end of the sofa. That was because there was a window right next to it, and it was the best place for sunlight to shine in during the daytime, and moonlight during the night. For Motomura as well, the figure of his roommate there was strangely comforting.

Motomura took the position of dorm leader in his first year of high school. The dorm leader was chosen each spring from the residents by a majority vote. Usually, it was the oldest third-year who took the position, and was replaced every year, but the dorm leader at the time recommended and approved Motomura on a whim, and it continued on like that without him getting replaced. It seemed to be a very unusual situation.

And, the dorm leader was able to designate their roommate. The one he had always designated was Sase.

When Motomura first entered middle school, he had felt out of place in class. To give an example, he might have felt like a Japanese exchange student at a public school. Among his classmates who had to carefully think about how to treat a boy who was already brimming with refinement at a young age, Sase was the one who talked to him proactively. Sase loved idols, but he himself had idol-like qualities and a personality that was not bashful.

A young family head and a refreshing sportsman (who was an idol otaku on the inside). This slightly strange duo both chose the kyudo club for club activities, became friends, and that was how it was to this day.

Motomura sat next to Sase. He straightened his back and opened his notebook.

"Motomura, when's Kokutai?"

"October."

"It'll be a while, then. Even though you've been doing the qualifiers since January."

"That's right."

"Will you be okay? You have your parent-teacher meeting, so give your chores to me."

"Yes, I would have asked you even if you had not told me to."

Being a third-year in high school also meant preparing for university entrance exams. Many people retired from their clubs, not just the kyudo club after the prefectural tournament in June, went into exam preparation mode. There were not many who still continued their club activities, and they feel an anxiety all the same. The Interscholastic Athletic Meet, also known as the "National Tournament (High School Generals)" was in August, and the National Athletic Meet, also known as "Kokutai," was in October. It was not easy to sustain motivation.

Motomura and Sase were no exception. The two considered public universities and well-known difficult private universities—in other words, going to Tokyo. They had to decide their future course according to their situation from now on. A strong preparedness was needed to balance studying for exams and athletic activities.

Sase was said to be strong when it mattered, and he himself also thought that, but in fact it was different. As long as he was not someone who shot a hundred hits, he would have ups and downs. Sase was able to bring along with him the highest, best positions of those waves to when it mattered, in other words, to important days. Motomura watched Sase and learned to read his own waves and assemble a schedule.

"Motomura, rub my feet."

Sase threw his feet onto the sofa. With a "good grief" look on his face, Motomura pressed his thumb to the arches of his feet.

"Ooh, I'm in heaven. While you're at it, could I have you rub my calves too? Owww, your nails are cutting into me!"

"It's good that Senichi-kun and Manji-kun are working very hard, isn't it. I want to cheer them on."

"Those two are always glued to Fujiwara's sides. The former synchro twins are now the 'symmetrical twins.'"

"Don't you think Fujiwara-kun is such a waste? There should have been an invitation to enter the Kokutai qualifiers for him as well. You can participate Kokutai boys' division from the age of fifteen. They should not have ignored him, who was the champion for the overall individual competitions."

"He's still a first-year, so he doesn't have to rush, right?"

"We don't have a lot of time left. While knowing that we were getting busier and under a lot of pressure, we took on the tournament. I do not want to do things by halves."

"Right."

Sase put his feet back on the floor and patted Motomura's knee. Upon that, it was Motomura's turn to put his feet on the sofa. Massaging each other was a daily routine for the two of them.

Motomura was thinking.

That he might be pretending to devote himself to kyudo.

He would like to delay choosing his future course after high school, and if possible, he did not want to choose. Even though he had managed to discover such a comfortable place, why couldn't it stay like this?

In reality, even though he had lost to the younger Fujiwara for the individual competition, he had felt almost no feelings of frustration. Instead, he had even felt cheerful. He just loved shooting a bow and was indifferent to winning, so the feeling of guilt of whether or not he should be participating in the High School Generals and Kokutai was always in a corner of his mind.

As though he had seen through to Motomura's feelings, Sase stopped his hands.

Beneath the crescent moon, a cat with golden eyes smiled.

"Well then, shall we invite our cute kouhais?"

"We must give them a pep talk, don't we?"

The two brought their faces together and laughed.

Some time later, Shuu was invited to eat dinner at the dorm, and after eating, he, Senichi, and Manji were invited to the room on the dorm's top floor.

Sase spread his arms wide.

"Welcome, to Daigo's & Hiroki's room!"

"Ooh, so cool—. It's got a good view. Wah, there's so much workbooks. Hieeee!"

"You'll do these Akahon when you're graduating." (2)

"No, I'll have to pass on them."

The five freely sat on the floor.

Even though it was after dinner, they arranged the drinks and sweets that they had brought with them and stuffed their mouths with them all at once. Perhaps to be polite, no one sat on the sofa, which had room for three people.

After he satisfied his appetite for a while, Manji looked around the room.

"Motomura-senpai, you said something like how this room is a bit different than the others, but there's nothing really different about it? It just has a wider layout and a sofa."

"Haven't you noticed? There is not enough of what can be said to be a characteristic of a corner room here."

"Not enough?"

Senichi and Manji examined their surroundings once more. They looked under the beds and opened the closets. They were about to put their hands on the drawers, but because it was quite possible that they were going to search the entire room, Sase told them the answer.

"The characteristic of a corner room is having a lot of windows. There are many cases where there are windows not only in one direction, but also on the side. But somehow this room only has a wall there."

"Wall…so there is a dead body buried in it after all…"

Ignoring Senichi and Manji, who were making faces, Motomura and Sase moved the sofa in front of the wall. After they had done that, a small sliding door, big enough to allow one person to go through, appeared at the bottom of the wall.

"Please come in," Sase said, indicating with his palm.

While the twins were deciding who was going to enter first, Shuu got on his knees on the floor, crawled and entered inside. Behind him, Senichi, Manji, Motomura, and Sase followed.

What Shuu saw was a tatami-matted floor, a tokonoma, and mud walls. The size of the room was only about four and a half tatami mats. (3)

"This is…could this be a tea room?"

"Yes. That door was a 'nijiri-guchi.' (4) This dorm was originally used as a vacation home by a British couple, so I think they likely built it by imitation. This tea room is probably the playful spirit and imagination of that couple. Although it was turned into a storeroom, Sase and I moved everything out and tried to restore it."

Regarding Motomura as the host, the five sat.

The flickering light of the andon lamp. (5)

Moonlight poured down from the high window.

"Today, we have something important we want to talk to everyone about, so we invited you here. This summer, I want all the members here to take part in the national tournament."

"…Huh?"

Senichi's and Manji's voices overlapped. The shadows on their faces darkened, and the tatami mats creaked.

"Motomura-senpai, what are you saying? We lost at the prefectural tournament. We lost…"

Manji grit his teeth, and even Shuu was infected by that pain.

It was unnecessary to search for a cause of defeat in kyudo.

They lost because Manji and Shuu missed.

The Kirisaki High School Kyudo Club's "summer" had already ended before they could greet summer.

"The name of the door that we went through, 'nijiri-guchi,' means the shuffling door. Just as that suggests, you cannot enter inside without bending to your knees and shuffling your feet. It is probably the embodiment of Sen no Rikyu's (6) ideology to favor neither those of high social status nor low, but for us, it is the door to another world. Only when you are on your knees and hanging your head can you see through to the other side."

Shuu clenched his hand.

What do our senpais want to say?

No way——.

Senichi, thinking of Manji's and Shuu's positions, raised his voice.

"I'm really sorry, senpais, but we have already moved on. Kirisaki High School will win the kyudo selections in the fall and next year's nationals, and we will report that to you."

"Aaah, so they don't get it."

"It seems so."

Sase and Motomura said, seemingly enjoying themselves.

"It was bad of Sensei to not explain it properly as well, but none of you seemed to have read the tournament main points properly. Kyudo selections in the fall? Next year? So you've set the goal of being national champions a long time ahead. Don't you have to win the regional tournament that's right before your eyes?"

"Of course we want to win. But, even if we win the regional tournament, we can't advance to nationals. Only the schools that won the prefectural tournaments can take part in the national tournament."

"That's true usually. However, this year's Inter-High is a once-a-decade commemoration tournament. In the year of a commemoration tournament, the number of participating schools will be increased, but the condition is 'regional tournament champion school.'"

Someone made a gulping sound.

"If we win the regional tournament, we can go to nationals?"

"——Yes, it's a repechage." (7)

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[msyuksanh]

KENN, Umehara Yuichiro, Eguchi Takuya, Kimura Ryohei & Takeuchi Shunsuke give various interviews for their respective drama CDs:

Otodoke Kareshi ―Extra Memories― drama typeⅠ＆Ⅱ

Koiiro Shihyou Sweet Days FILM.3

Oresama Residence - Arisugawa VS Saionji - Arisugawa Kazuyoshi

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(These photos look like they were taken years ago!)