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DIVE!! (Light Novel) - Book 2 Chapter 8 - So I Envy You!
Book 2 Chapter 8 - So I Envy You!
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
“Your friends came.”
One afternoon, his mother called Kyouko’s house and told him that, so he ran for twenty minutes on the hill road and passed through the door of his house that was close to the sea. When he suddenly saw Tomoki and Youichi biting into watermelons on the garden’s porch, their sudden appearances weren’t the only things that Shibuki was shocked at seeing.
Until yesterday, the summer had only been woven with light and shadow. Why was it that as soon as their figures were added to it, the surrounding scenery suddenly started to come alive with vivid colours?
The sky was at its bluest.
The clouds were at their whitest.
The watermelon was at its sweetest.
All it took was for one or two unfamiliar foreign objects to arrive, and everything that was too familiar to him had been freshly revived, just like that.
Youichi said, “Yo” to Shibuki, who was standing stock still while reeling from those dizzying changes, as a black seed flew out of his mouth.
“We came back from Beijing the day before yesterday. We were completely exhausted from being drilled by Coach Sun. That’s why we’re taking a three-day vacation.”
Next to their backpacks that were stuffed with three days worth of luggage, the two were actually thin enough to clearly see that they had been training hard at the training camp. Youichi, who boasted perfect proportions, lost a bit of meat, and Tomoki’s cheekbones had also become very thin underneath.
“Sorry we came here on such short notice. But Youichi-kun said that it would be boring if we don’t suddenly come like this.” Tomoki said as though to make an excuse.
“Actually,” Youichi continued from the side. “I thought we’d stay somewhere cheap. But from what that auntie said earlier, there’s no accommodations around here. So, she said that we could stay here, but is that really okay?”
Before Shibuki could reply, his mother, Miyuki, said, “Please feel free to,” as she brought seconds of barley tea. “It must have been troublesome to come here all the way from Tokyo. If these rooms suit you, then please feel free to borrow them. Please don’t be afraid to take advantage of our hospitality.”
“Sorry for all the trouble,” Youichi said with a bold smile as he reached his hand out for a second helping of barley tea.
“For rooms, you can use the south guest room. The one next to Misaki’s and Minami’s (1) rooms would be too noisy, and the west guest room is humid…For the bath, you can go in whenever you like. I will call you when dinner is ready. That’s right, you should also call Kyouko, right?”
To Miyuki, who was talking briskly, Youichi grinned broadly with a “Sorry for the trouble” again, and Tomoki asked, “Who’s Kyouko?” with curious eyes, all before Shibuki even had a chance to get a word in. And thus, his three days with them began.
Shibuki did not protest this one-sided development, because he realized that somewhere deep inside, rather than wanting to protest, he was exhilarated.
He didn’t know what kind of feelings Tomoki and Youichi had when they came.
However, at any rate, their visit was certainly very sudden.
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Because it was already three in the afternoon, they took an early bath instead of going anywhere, and leisurely gathered around the dining table in the Okitsus’ tatami room.
The Okitsus ate dinner early. Preparation was completed at 5 PM, everything was completely eaten at 6 PM, and all the lights in the house were extinguished at 8 PM. This was also one of the reasons that kept Shibuki away from his home, but today his mother was preparing fresh fish that she procured from his uncle, and the dinner with a large number of people continued into 7 PM, something that was very rare. When Miyuki suddenly thought of it during the preparation, she made Jappa soup.
From the time he was little, Shibuki almost never talked about himself, and Miyuki often complained that “I don’t know what he’s thinking about.” But for Shibuki, as his mother rarely expressed emotions, he didn’t know what she was thinking either. She was a woman who disavowed Shiraha’s way of living, and in order to go through with that opposition she continued to support his stubborn father, who devoted himself to fishing. Although she had a main image of a devoted and patient person who lacked humour, however, today Miyuki was in an extremely good mood, and sometimes laughed like a young girl.
His two little sisters showed contrasting responses to the two young men. Misaki, a second-year in middle school, welcomed them in her best clothes, and frequently moved to change everyone’s dishes, but Minami, who was in fifth grade, was being shy and didn’t speak a word, occasionally whispering something secretly into only Kyouko’s ear.
Minami wasn’t the only one who was tense. Youichi, who was suddenly greeted by three young girls who led him to the tatami room, was also slightly awkward, but on the contrary Tomoki quickly made himself at home, and even though he didn’t even drink alcohol, he talked on and on about his heartbreak for an hour.
The other women, including Miyuki, all had the same opinion.
“It’s only natural if you turn her down on dates and phone calls.”
“Even I would side with the brother.”
“Even though she tried to two-time you for the time being, and there was a way to choose the one who was better, she was still honest as she cleanly moved onto your brother.”
That last opinion was from Kyouko, and though Shibuki was used to it, Miyuki looked like she had mixed feelings.
Past seven in the evening, a pleasant breeze blew in through the window, and dim lights drifted warmly between the bushes that shook the white outline on the other side. Tomoki, who had been making a big fuss over seeing fireflies for the first time in his life, seemed dumbfounded by the shrill cries of the cicadas. The sound of the waves, the sound of the wind chimes and the noise from the trees, absolutely everything was swallowed up and painted over in one color by the loud sounds of the cicadas. On the way to the guest room where Miyuki had laid down a futon, Tomoki discovered a singing cicada clinging to a pillar in the hallway, and once he was aware that just one of them was the offender that split his eardrums, he was amazed, saying things like, “It’s just you…?” and so on.
Kyouko made the tactful move to return home by herself, and when the three boys remained in the guest room with the futons lined up, they thought of the same thing at the same time. It was almost like the night of a school trip. Naturally, they definitely weren’t going to bed anytime soon, so the three of them continued to talk in murmurs as they laid upon the futon.
Initially, the topic was exclusively focused on Kyouko.
“When and where did you meet?”
“How far did you guys go?”
“Are you going to marry each other in the future?”
Tomoki and Youichi barraged Shibuki with questions, but Shibuki wasn’t willing to separate Kyouko from their own little world and expose her to the public eye for just that reason, and as he was being embarrassed and ambiguously dodged the questions, the enthusiasm in the room died down, and when Tomoki looked like he was going to start again about his heartbreak story when he said “But Miu and my brother…” Youichi changed the topic quickly.
“At any rate, I’m beat. That’s China for you, it makes you feel awed.”
Deep down, Shibuki cared most about the topic of the Asia Joint Training Camp.
“The world is different, after all. That really hit me when I went to this training camp. I mean, I was pretty overwhelmed.”
Maybe they aren’t going to talk about the joint training camp…
Shibuki secretly held those worries, but Youichi began his story quite naturally.
“The Chinese athletes were especially different. After all, their sense of stability in competitions is the work of the strength and flexibility that they thoroughly trained for. What their practice consisted of was completely different in the first place. When we were in the training camp, while we vomited so many times while trying to finish that regimen and feeling like we were going to die, that regimen was just the bare minimum that they finished every day. Well, for flexibility, the people with the best qualities were chosen from the start.”
That was right. The system of diver training in China was thorough. First, coaches from elementary-level sports clubs scout for children with promise among artistic gymnasts and other athletes, and then welcome only those who show true potential at the tests. After that, they were screened by intense special training, and only those who survived it were allowed to belong to regional teams all over the country. Those athletes from the regional teams enter the dorms, doing dryland training from dawn, school in the morning and the pool in the afternoon…everyday was devoted to diving, but the dorm also had things like a cafeteria dedicated to athletes and a special infirmary, which were all perfectly equipped facilities. But still, only those who were selected for the national team, where only excellent elite athletes from the regional teams were gathered, could participate in international meets.
“Well, you become stronger whether you like it or not. You know, even though we’re all Asians, the Thai and Indonesian athletes were giddier compared to the others, but the Chinese and South Korean athletes, how should I put it, even their stern faces were different. They moved like machines according to the coach’s instructions, so it was a little bit creepy.”
“Even so Youichi-kun was still amazing, and Coach Sun favored him and said crazy things like, ‘Won’t you become a Chinese citizen?’” From next to the grumbling Youichi, Tomoki added in even more complaints. “On the last day of camp, everyone performed in a competition, and Youichi-kun got third place! He was third out of forty people. Although I was worthless in thirty-third place.”
“It’s enough to perform without worries only at your first international meet. I was in third place to begin with, and it’s a rank restricted to the young people of Asia. And there’s rumors that China is still hiding truly great athletes.”
“But, Youichi-kun, you couldn’t stop talking in English. During practice, Coach Sun got Chinese and English mixed up, and even when I was being yelled at, I didn’t know what he was saying, and I could only say “What? What?” (3) I was so embarrassed when I was given nicknames like ‘Mr. What’. If Youichi-kun hadn’t translated for me, I think I would have cried.”
“I had been studying English extra hard with my tutor. It was so that I could join the American training camps, but if I couldn’t understand my rivals’ words in international competitions, I’d look weak. Even this time, thanks to words, I got a lot closer to the unreachable Coach Sun…He was complaining about the unappetizing meals in the training camp, and it made him seem a lot more human.”
“Aah, I will also work harder. In English and in diving.”
“For diving, since you were always surrounded by the big-shots, you haven’t noticed how much you have grown. Trying soaring in a Japanese pool. You’ll almost certainly be surprised.”
“You really think so?”
“Really, I do. Even I was nearly overwhelmed by your strength. When I was too tired to even stand anymore, you kept saying things like going to see the pandas.”
While the two were dragging out the remaining heat of the training camp as they talked excitedly, Shibuki kept silent and strained his ears, his face stiffening slightly. It wasn’t jealousy. If he was jealous of them, it wasn’t for being able to participate in the training camp, but for their passion for diving, which they could give forth without any hesitations. That one moment. When he remembered that thrill in that one competition, to tell the truth, even now Shibuki wanted to climb onto the dragon’s back. What am I doing here? he wondered.
Before long they noticed Shibuki’s silence and became surprised. Tomoki, with his open face, immediately kept his mouth shut, but Youichi’s expression didn’t change as he stared at Shibuki.
“Matsuno, who went with us, didn’t make it until the end of camp. While he was there his shoulder was injured so he had to return. Of course, there was medical staff there, and even though every night he received ultrasound treatment, his amount of practice was not cut in any way. There were some athletes from the other countries who left because of injuries. To be honest, I think that it was good that you didn’t go.”
Shibuki tilted his head, making a gesture that couldn’t really be said to be nodding.
“Okitsu, did you dive into the sea yet?”
“No…a lot of stuff came up, so I had to put it off.”
“A lot of stuff, huh.”
“I was too busy having sex with a woman.”
“If that’s the case then you had a great summer.”
As the three faced each other silently, a strange vortex drawn by the smoke from the mosquito-repelling incense sticks grazed against their noses. They sniffed the smell together, but after a few seconds Tomoki couldn’t stand it.
“I mean, I’m too jealous of you.”
After he spoke that honest comment, like he was tearing off an iron mask, Shibuki bared his teeth and vented all at once.
“Honestly, I also acted like an idiot. Are you sleeping anytime soon?”
“Uh-huh.”
Entering the futon while laughing, he turned off the lights in the room.
“It’s really dark in here.”
Just like when he met the fireflies and the cicadas, Tomoki was also impressed by the darkness.
“Why is it so dark?”
“Because it’s night. Good night.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
When only the sound of the waves started to dominate the room, Shibuki wondered what Kyouko was doing right about now. Good night, he murmured again in his heart. It was always a strange feeling not having the person you always lied down next to there, and he felt sorry when he thought that Kyouko might be feeling lonely, and even more sorry when he was able to sleep better than usual that night.
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Translation Notes
1. More sea-themed Okitsu names. Misaki (岬) means “cape” (as in on a coast) and Minami (美波) means “beautiful wave)
2. Jappa soup is miso soup that uses the leftovers after filleting cod. It’s an Aomori specialty.
3. Tomoki is saying “what” in English here.
