HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora - Volume 4 - Chapter 2




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

Chapter 2: Natsume Gorou's Triumphs and Defeats I[edit]

1[edit]

“Meh, that lecturer is exactly an imbecile. He’s just a small lecturer in cram school. How good is he? He joined some student movement when he was young, and now that’s he flaunts about all the time. It’s just going to show how much a failure he is.”

As I spit out these words, Sayoko giggled.

“Gorou, you look lively.”

“What? What are you trying to say?”

“Well, whenever you bad mouth someone, you look really happy.”

I fell silent.

This had always been the case.

Sayoko could always say something that thrusts into my chest like a sword with a normal, calmed face. She didn’t mean to criticise or trouble me. Well, she would do troubling stuff that normal people do (which I always do). She puts her true thoughts out.

So what she said was close to reality.

Sometimes they were things I didn’t want to see or hear about.

Almost like a mirror, my figure was clearly shown to myself.

“…”

I glanced at her. She was walking forward, smiling.

It was only the end of October, yet today was colder than ever. She wore a caramel duffle coat. It was perhaps a little big for her, for her hands, including her fingernails, were hidden in the sleeves. With her short height, that garment made her look entirely like a primary school kid. Adding to her baby face, her appearance was younger than her actual age by two to three years. I heard she was often treated by second year students at school as underclassman. For a while, we continued walking without talking. I puffed white smoke which subsequently vanished in the cold air.

We were in a big park. There was a Hanshu who ruled over this city with a castle before, so this park is now called the castle park, even though there aren’t anything ruins that could be said as a ‘castle’. At best there is a stone wall. During the Meiji Restoration, the Hanshu sent Sabakuha troops here to guard here and fought the Toubakuha until the very end. The castle that was once here had been devastated.

What a dumb Hanshu who knew nothing of tactics.

Everything would have been right if he had joined the winning party.

If I were him, I’d definitely do so.

Tall tress surrounded us as we passed through the pedestrian road. We were heading to the museum. Sayoko, despite being a high school student, liked pottery. She said she wanted to go to this museum that was exhibiting some pottery from the Azuchi-Momoyama period. I didn’t have any interest in pottery, but if Sayaoko liked it, I didn’t care whether it was pottery exhibition or book exhibition.

I was a bit hesitant to say this at first, but then I wanted to show off a bit.

“I didn’t want to badmouth them. This is just how it is.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Still smiling, Sayako nodded.

“I know what you mean, sir.”

What’s with that ‘sir’ thing? //original: why are you using teineigo (polite language)//

“I didn’t make it up.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“Anyway, there are just too many sloppy people in Japan! Even people who think this strange only gives out a hearty laugh and let it go. Well, I hate this. If it’s strange, you’ve got to say it. It’s not good to be quiet about it.”

What shit am I talking about? I’m getting shameful of myself for what I am saying. To hide my embarrassment, I continued my proposition with a half-joking tone. Sayako only continued smiling with her usual face.

When I continued my childish proposition…

“Hey, Gorou.”

Sayoko circled my arm very naturally.

“It’s tiring to live like that.”

“Tiring, uh?”

“Okay, okay. Don’t think about it too much. I don’t hate you for that. I don’t mean anything serious.”

She said, looking at me innocently.

“…”

I was stumped by just her few words.

I was thinking so much that I seemed like a comedian trying to play tricks while hiding his superficial self-esteem. At the end of the day, Sayako could easily speak what she was thinking and make it to the point. My fervent arguments were nothing against her skills: it wasn’t even a match to being with.

This is what you call ‘struck speechless’.

 

Sometimes I’d think it’s a wonder why I started dating Sayako.

Generally speaking, there were also three to four bright girls in a classroom that could bring up the mood and get everyone’s attention. Most of these girls already had their boyfriends…well, they were easy to talk to.

I liked these easy-to-understand girls. Playing fair with them was a part of my character, probably because I too was easy to understand.

In a nutshell, they were like a mirror.

Naturally, I pursued things that were same as me.

But Sayaok was different from them. She looked dumb, easily to be categorised as those several unattractive girls in the class. Neither a pretty girl or a cool girl. She speaks little. Sometimes you can’t figure out what she is thinking.

Whenever this happens, I become extremely uneasy.

Those easy-to-understand girls could be understood if I look into myself because they were just like mirrors.

But I couldn’t figure out how Sayako thinks.

She was different from me.

No matter how I look into myself, I couldn’t find an answer.

I guess this might be a reason why she got me.

 

I first came across Syako in the cultural festival.

I was a bit late to the place.

“Oh, Natsume, you’re late.”

My friend Mori hit me up when I entered.

We were in a shop a bit close to the station. In the morning it is a cafe, but at night it becomes something like a pub. The shop owner was an alumnus called Takiguchi from our school. And in the celebration party after the festival, they would let us get away with some alcohol.

This was why Mori had already become seriously drunk.

“Hey, you’re already down,” I replied with a wry smile, “You really have this party going, executive.” I made a satirical remark.

The only one pumped here was Mori. The shop was so quiet no one would believe this was the celebration party. Normally, it was common to see one or two drunkards.

Mori sulked, “It’s all because I did this job well.”

“Too well, I say.”

“It’s not my problem. I dragged the S girls around, but I couldn’t believe they were just a bunch of boring tarts.”

S girls referred to the area’s best high school for girls, or princesses for that matter.

The school I was in was ‘The First High School’, or usually abbreviated as ‘First High’. Their girl school was different from ours. Our school should be categorised as a poor village school. Even though there were quite a few guys who performed great in academics, and this school being a recommendation for those who want to aim high, those who really want to do so would rather choose a private school. To conclude, those who study in our school are a bunch of jerks.

And I was one of them.

“You called those S girls?”

“Nah. Sakazaki’s girl is an S girl. So we’re able to call them here. They were flowers grown on high hills that we can’t reach usually. So I thought this would be a great chance to hit up on them.”

“So you called them right away? Do you have any integrity?”

“As if I cared about integrity.”

Mori shot the beer in his hand.

“Let’s have our own fun. Some girls are quite cute. Didn’t you just break up with Saki earlier? Find another one.”

I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Don’t mention her.”

“You bitch you can always two-time so calmly…”

“Stop bringing it up, can you?”

I wanted to escape…no, escaping the truth was futile, so I went further inside the shop but then stopped and said in a panic, “Don’t mention to those girls about Saki.”

Mori grinned.

“When you get a cute girl, that’s the first thing I’ll do.”

“Cut me some slack.”

I said, looking back into the shop.

Well, this place was really quiet. No one speaks loudly. Boys and girls speak docilely at their respective sides. There was no way to get people getting together in this situation.

While I was thinking, my eyes met with a girl sitting beside the passage. I cold tell she was an S girl right away. Giving a bet, I gave a smile to her. Perhaps I had contracted Mori’s despair that had me do this. Immediately the girl returned me a cold and uninterested smile.

Garbage, now I know why Mori shot so much alcohol.

“Hey, this isn’t going good.”

Anyway, I had a seat among some people I knew.

“This place is as cold as my fridge.”

I took a beer on the table and crashed it to my stomach. Oota complained, “Hey, that’s mine.”

“Let it go, man.”

“I don’t want to have an indirect kiss with you, buddy. This place is already cold. Don’t make it worse.”

“Hey, who’s up for the challenge first?”

The people sitting around me quickly furrowed their eyebrows.

“That’s suicide.”

“That’s going to be painful.”

“What a punishment game.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

Everyone responded in unison.

What a pile of cowards.

According to the rule that the one who suggests has to do it first, I naturally become the pioneer for this challenge. Be that as it may, I knew it was stupid to go up by myself, so I took Mori with me. Mori kept voicing his reluctance, but I of course forced him to go with me. Hey, you’re the one in charge here. Who else is going to take responsibility?

My hands on his shoulders, I chose a good spot for my ambush.

“Yo guys!”

“Yo guys!”

With a crude voice, we performed a perfect duet.

But we only hit the walls. The girls only gave us cold gazes…

We’d have to change our target now, and if that didn’t work, then another target.

“Stop fooling around, Natsume.”

Mori said with a crying voice.

But I still forced him to continue.

“Aren’t you the executive here? If you’re starting it, you the responsibility to heat it up. Okay, give me a good smile. We’re doing an even better duet this time.”

“Let me go. I’ve drunk too much. I’m getting sick now.”

“Okay, we’re starting now. One, two, three…”

As reluctant as he may sound, Mori let out a pretty good voice.

“Yo guys!”

“Yo guys”!

We made another impeccable duet.

Six girls around a table widened their eyes. Ah, damn, did we flunk it again? When this thought was in my head, the girl sitting front bursted into laughter at last.

Excellent. She responded! Now we can do it!

“Great, uh? We’re First High’s Duet Team. I’m Natsume, and this guy’s…”

“I’m Mori.”

Mori’s doing good now.

Gaining recognition for his performance, he transformed into a completely different guy, his face all smiles.

“This party is too cold. So we’re going to heat it up!”

“We’re the ‘heaters’!”


The girls in this area were the frivolous ones, as they laughed to our shitty jokes.

After that, they even invited us to sit beside them.

When this happened, they had become our possessions.

There were frivolous girls among S girls. These girls attract attention, and boy, talking with them lifts the atmosphere, heats up the party, and brings everyone into high spirits. Gradually the boys and girls seat together and the suitable atmosphere of a celebration party were slowly being formed.

I got up halfway in the party.

“Hey, Mori. I’m going to the toilet.”

“Hahaha. You sure? I’m going to take Takako away.”

The Takako he said was the cutest girl in this area, even though she seemed like the most frivolous girl. In other words, she suited my taste. It also meant she suited Mori’s taste. Not long after we changed seats, we had commenced a battle to get her attention with our mouths and attitudes.

“Try if you can.”

Throwing a line of confidence, I left my seat.

Acting against my words, I ran to the toilet as fast as I could, even though I knew he couldn’t manage to get her with the time given. After I came out of the toilet, my eyes fell on a girl.

The girl was sitting at the counter alone.

In the noisy shop, her lonely figure made a strong impression.

Perhaps what caught me was her long and soft hair. It was my favourite type.

I didn’t know why, really, why I went to her.

“Are you by yourself?”

When I spoke to her, she looked at my face and smiled.

“Yes.”

She nodded like a kid.

Something caused a ripple.

Takako and that party there was in an instant flown away from my mind.

“Hey, Gorou.”

Inside the counter, the store owner Takiguchi spoke to me.

“Help me keep Sayoko company. I’m getting a bit busy here.”

“Oh, okay.”

Takiguchi had seen all the bad stuff I did. I could only nod in front of him to hide my guilt. He gestured to me to come to him. As I went into the counter, approached him, he said softly, “She’s the daughter of my friend.”

“I see.”

“She’s never come to these kind of drinking parties. Help me keep her company, okay? I’m counting on you.”

“Sure.”

“Promise me don’t do anything bad to her.”

“What’s anything bad?”

As I played dumb, he gave me a light kick.

“She’s really a serious kid. She’s not the type you can tame by trying hard in some way. Maybe, she’s not even a girl you can take care of.”

At that time, I didn’t grasp what he said. What did he mean I couldn’t tame this serious girl? But truth is Sayako really wasn’t someone I could take control, not even by trying hard. She had something that surpassed me. It’s a bit shameful to say what it was, so I won’t say it.

“So I’m counting on you.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

After Takiguchi had left, I left the counter and sat beside the girl.

“Is your name Sayako?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, giving me another meek smile.

“Sayako Higuchi.”

“Oh, I’m Natsume. Gorou Natsume.”

That was how it started.

Even when I think about it now, I have no idea of why I fell for her so quickly. Still, whenever I see her childish smile, everything in my mind is blown away. Takako’s energetic voice, her frivolous attitude, even her laughter that seemed to ring from her stomach, everything vanished.

I talked with Sayako until the party ended.

Around the end of the party, I had fallen deep in love with her.

“Well, can you give me your contact?”

Feeling a bit nervous, I said.

I had always asked for contacts a lot of times, and those who weren’t willing to give their contacts were, I had believed, the best girls. Only this time I was very nervous about this.

When I think about what would happen if I fail, my legs trembled.

Sayako gave it a little thought.

“Okay.”

She answered, smiling.

Sayako wrote her number on the underside of a coaster in the shop. I had treasured that coaster ever since.

It was really a treasure to me.

It’s the first…no, second most thing I treasure in my life.

The first thing I treasure?

The person who gave me the coaster, of course.

 

As an announcement saying it was already five sounded, we were chased out of the museum.

Truth be told, we had spent almost half the day in the museum.

It was only a city museum, and the exhibitions were not really that many, but Sayako gave eace pot, each plate a good look before going to the next one. There was that Karatsu porcelain that looked nothing more than your average plate, but she spent more than ten minutes examining it.

After we left the museum, it had already been dark outside. The trees looked like abandoned kids. The street lamps shone with a melting hue. Passing through the street lamps, our long shadows stretched before us.

“Cold! Cold!”

“Okay…”

This was the best excuse.

I took her hand and brought it into my pocket along the flow. Our hands intertwined. Her hand was small.

“Hey, it feels great when you’re with me.”

I said, with strong feeling gushing into me.

Like a cat, Sayako rubbed against my shoulder with her cheeks.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean it, “I said, being serious, “I don’t lie like that.”

“Yeah, I know, but…”

“But?”

“You’re an ambitious person.”

She showed another smile and spoke the truth calmly.

True, I wanted to be successful in the society. No, I planned to. I had the brains. I could also work my ass off. I was the type who thought that the teachers at school were all stupid. I had that potential.

I wanted to have everything.

I didn’t plan to waste my life here in the countryside. Not even a bit.

“Is being ambitious bad?”

“Well it’s good.”

“Well…?”

“Well, it’s fine what you’ll become. Even if you become a failure in the society…”

I frowned and interrupted her, “Please don’t say these ominous stuff.”

“But these things happen quite often. Hey, Gorou, our world is harsh. We aren’t kids, you know? I know there good things happen. But so do bad things. Not everything can be done by hard work. Of course, hard work is appreciated, but that doesn’t guarantee a good outcome. Well, I mean…”

Sayako looked troubled. She spoke of this and that and got herself messed up about what she was trying to convey.

I decided to help her pinpoint it.

“So you’re saying not everything will be as you wish? No matter what you’re capable? No matter how hard you work?”

“Yeah, that!”

Cool, Sayako was now holding my empty hand tightly.

“Gorou, you’re smart! No wonder you’re aiming for a medical degree in K university! A scholar!”

“Haha.”

I just laughed. It bit me about describing me as a scholar. Right, I was no genius. I worked up the ladder bit by bit. I had certain potential in studying, so I thought I was talented and went to a difficult cram school. But there I met some really clever guys on some heights I could never reach.

My confidence was drained away very soon.

My inflated ego and conceitedness were all pulverised. Then I realised I might just be another guy, tasting the scary feeling that I possessed no special talent: all I did was improving myself bit by bit, and these bits made what I was. My grades were good, but they were basically a reflection of the usual scholar.

“So I don’t mind whether you succeed or fail, Gorou. Because this depends half on hard work but the other half on luck. Gorou, you can work hard, and I know you thrive, but we’re powerless against luck.”

“No problem,” I said. “because I’m a lucky guy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Believe me.”

I swallowed what I was going to say because of embarrassment.

Because I have you. I think it’s great to go out with you. I know a ton of girls more beautiful or cooler than you. Well, a ton, I guess. Even those who are smarter than you are beyond my count. But there are not many girls that are like you. I’m now going out with you. Man, my luck couldn’t be better.

I pondered whether I should tell her that.

I should tell her what I feel.

“…”

But I couldn’t say it bluntly. Besides, when I see her smiling beside me, I would think it didn’t really matter if I said it or not. Maybe, she knew what I was thinking. She looked dumb, but her intuition was always right. She could easily grasp the integral parts of this world.

“Hey, Gorou.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t change too much. What are you now is good enough. It doesn’t matter whether you become a great doctor or a failure in society.”

“…yeah.”

I wanted to be honest about what I was thinking, but in the end I kept it to myself. Sayako must have been able to say what I wanted to say with ease. She could say what she thought. She had that confidence. On the other hand, biased and ego-blinded, I couldn’t do it. Once I say it, I feel my words would be contaminated with lies and falsities.

So I decided not to say it, but convey it in another way.

“Ah, you’re planning something dirty, aren’t you?”

Woah, how did she know?

Nervous, I summoned my courage.

“Be quiet.”

“You look serious.”

“Please don’t joke now.”

She was especially embarrassed about this, so I had to force her to quiet down.

Well, whenever I do this, I would also naturally quiet down.

Sayako and I were still eighteen. Let alone what would happen ten years later, we didn’t even have an idea of what would happen half a year later. Universities, faculties, entrance exams, exam preparation tactics…these trivial stuff had made me dizzy enough. But now at this moment when I held sayako, everything was so certain. The cold wind blowing against me made me more certain of the warmth I felt from her.

Perfect. I really had everything I wanted.

“They’d see us.”

When she could speak again, Sayako said.

Her cheeks were flushed.

While I indulged myself in the happiness in seeing Sayako’s face, I howled with all my might, “As if I’d care.”

I wanted the whole world to see us.

I want to boast about the most precious jewel I had acquired.

She was right. I was rather ambitious.



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login