Side Story 2, Earth 4 – Tooru – Counting Down the Steps
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Gumihou
Author (Kappa Alliance aka Tomo Aoi): I received an illustration at the bottom. Do be careful!
“Oh, there! There’s the Kappa!!”
“It’s a UMA!! UMA!!”
“An infinitely green Kappa!!”
Hello.
This is Tooru.
It was a little after 1 pm on the second day of the Cultural Festival, and there was a suspicious Kappa wandering around the school grounds.
“Um, so, the joint project for the ‘Do You Know Our Kappa?’ is being held at the old building. The Kappa Alliance is in great trouble as the Kappa we have secretly captured has escaped. To everyone enjoying the Cultural Festival, if you happen to see our Kappa, do bring it back to the Kappa Alliance Headquarters on the second floor of the old building. We are looking for brave individuals to join us in capturing this creature! Those who have successfully captured the Kappa will receive a special Kappa Rolled Cake as a reward!!”
This incredible announcement was broadcast all over the school through the Broadcasting Club members.
At the same time, customers were abuzz with excitement.
“Ah, there’s a Kappa looking at us from that spot!”
Whenever people caught even a glimpse of the Kappa’s shadow, they all showed some kind of reaction.
Whether they were actively chasing after the Kappa or not, no one could escape from the shadow of the Kappa. They could not help but think about it all the time.
This year’s Cultural Festival had essentially become a ‘Kappa Festival’.
Kuroki-senpai continues to make random appearances in his Kappa costume. However, not a single person was able to apprehend him yet, which made the Capture Kappa event even more exciting.
Eventually, a group of boys from another school worked together to corner the Kappa and capture it. They were presented with a special ‘Kappa Roll’ dessert made by the Home Economics Club. Everyone appeared to have a great time, even the people who trailed after the boys who escorted the ‘captured’ Kappa to the Alliance’s Headquarters.
The enterprising boys received cheers and applause from everyone for their successful capture.
“… …”
It was a pretty indescribable sight.
“I wonder. Maybe we could create a Kappa-themed amusement park in the future. All the customers would wander around the park with Kappa plates on their heads as they ride the roller coasters and things. Just like how people wear mouse ears at that Mouse-themed park…”
“Too bad we forgot about the Kappa plates…”
Indeed, I was surprised to find out that a dreamland ruled by mice truly exists around Chiba. Everyone who went there wore mouse ears as if they had been enchanted somehow.
That Mouseland phenomenon was pretty cool.
However, I highly doubt that a Kappaland would be just as well received…
“Oi, you guys!! It’s your turn next!” A sweaty Kuroki-senpai appeared. He had stripped his Kappa costume down to the waist and was gulping down a sports drink in the waiting room.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“Don’t underestimate the Art Club!!”
Uh, sure, whatever…
“Listen, the next club representative battle will start at 3 o’clock. That’s the Three-legged Obstacle Race. Also, the Vice-President will be entering the field personally, so it is a battle we cannot afford to lose!”
Kuroki-senpai placed a sweaty hand on our shoulders as he made this passionate declaration.
Maki and I exchanged glances and sighed.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
[1] “Hello everyone! We come to you live from the broadcasting booth. The main event of the day, the Three-legged Obstacle Race, is about to begin!! For this event, a male and female pair representing their clubs will face various obstacles set up in the gym and on the school grounds. This is a dangerous event in many ways!! A test of trust, strength and coordination! This year, the scale of the obstacle course has increased with many intricate obstacles that test one’s ability to the max!
[1] With us is the captured Kappa, or rather, Third Year Kuroki-kun! You may know Kuroki-kun for his participation in the earlier cross-dressing event, but did you know that he was also the Kappa that you’ve all been hunting all day? What great stamina, what great athleticism! To think that you wouldn’t be participating in this competition. Do tell us more.”
“Well, it’s better to let the younger folks work have a go at it… more importantly, if I were to participate, there would be no one to pilot the Kappa!”
Sounds like anyone could say whatever they like at the broadcasting booth.
Rather, what are you doing there, Kuroki-senpai?
“Hey, Tooru, could you stop daydreaming? We need to put this band around our legs.”
“Ah, oh, sure…”
We were at the starting line, wearing green Kappa T-shirts with the words ‘Do You Know Our Kappa?’ written on them.
Other club members were there as well, most of them were from sports clubs. We, the Cultural Club members, stand out as the minority.
Maki had tied her long red hair into a ponytail and looked surprisingly energetic.
“You seem surprisingly motivated, Maki.”
“I heard that I could finally put my athletic abilities to use after a long time.”
She clenched her fist, her eyes sparkling as she declared, ‘Let’s do our best!’
I think she was aiming at the bread-eating bit, which happened to be part of the challenge in the obstacle race.
The Vice-President appeared with her partner, causing quite a stir among the audience.
Her partner is a nationwide famous track and field star, with herself being part of the track and field team back in middle school. All this, coupled with her popularity, meant that these two people were the winning favourites.
“Uwah, they look like they’d be really fast.”
“They have the track and field athlete look. [2] It makes sense for them to send out the big guns for the event that they are more likely to win. Especially after they lost the first one to us.”
[2] That’s right, this was essentially an athletic event. As Cultural Club members, we are basically ordinary people against known athletes.
Maki and I are both pretty athletic. However, neither of us was a trained athlete, so it was still uncertain whether we could win against the other team.
“There’s also the height difference. You should have drunk more milk.”
“You’re just unnecessarily tall!” she retorted. “I’m almost 160cm, you know?”
“Almost?”
“With… 3cm, more or less.”
[2] “I don’t know about more, but less is…hmm…” I patted Maki on the head, annoying her to the point that she hit me with a knife strike to the stomach.
Ooof.
“Excuse me~ You guys are the first-years representing the Cultural Clubs, right~?”
We were suddenly approached by the Vice-President. She had a male student [2] wearing the typical track and field outfit, but his face was so generic that he might as well be invisible to me.
“This morning’s event was pretty amazing, hmm~ I really thought we would win the Cross-dressing Contest, but we lost in the end. Well, that guy looked really cute in drag~” said the senior with a winsome smile. As expected of a girl who models part-time. She is really sweet-looking.
“Saiga-kun, right? You’re famous even among us second-years. The coolest kid among the first years.”
“Haah…” I said, for the lack of anything else to say.
The Vice-President looked me up and down and smiled. She certainly looks good in her sporting outfit with her long, slender legs and graceful body lines. [2] It was no wonder she was snapped up as a model.
She also has a rather refreshing vibe to her. While Maki has a nice figure, there was something about her that-
“Ouch!”
Maki had just struck me on the side again. Her serious face was really scary.
“What is it that you wish to say, senpai? Make excuses for your loss? Offer us encouragement? Declare war?” Maki said with a terrifying smile on her face. [3]
[3] The Vice-President twisted her body slightly. However, her gaze remained unreadable. It was hard to tell what she was speaking about. She had been smiling earlier, but her gaze right now was…
“Hahaha. Oda-san… yes? If you’re a little taller, you could have been taller? You’re not bad-looking yourself,” [3] she said with a sudden laugh.
“Ye-es?” Maki frowned slightly.
“The Cultural Clubs are at a disadvantage in this event… [2] but, that can’t be helped, right~? After all, one can’t be gifted in all things. Still, don’t worry about it. The most important thing is to have fun! Let us both do our best~☆” the Vice-President said with a sparkling smile and a wink~☆ before returning to the starting position with her mob-faced partner.
Maki remained silent.
[4] “Well, well, Vice-President is pretty amazing in all kinds of ways. She certainly has quite the presence…”
“Um, Makiko-san?” I said a little hesitantly.
Maki remained silent, her hands clenched into fists as a mysterious fighting spirit enveloped her.
“As the Vice-President had kindly reminded us, the Cultural Clubs are at a disadvantage~☆ in this event. Still, what of it? The competition hasn’t even started yet.”
“Oi, are you feeling upset about being made fun of?”
“Naturally~ As for you, what’s with your lovesick expression just now? How annoying?” Maki [3] kicked the sand with the leg that was not bound to mine.
She must have been really upset.
[2] “Alrighty~! Time for the next event! This battle would undoubtedly determine the number of visitors to their respective exhibits tomorrow, so fight on!!”
All the club members stepped up to the starting line.
A gunshot rang out, and everyone rushed forward.
Maki was pacing ahead as quickly as she could. As for me, I did my best to synchronise our breathing and match her pace. We were actually off to a good start, but it was clear that the Vice-President’s team was making good time too. They were two lanes away from us, and I could see them pulling ahead.
From their steady pace, [3] I could tell that they must have been practising.
“Hey, Tooru! We’re falling behind!!”
“I know.”
We nodded at each other and paced on, smoothly stepping through the first obstacle. The Net.
Normally, most people would do their best to walk steadily in a three-legged race, especially if they had to navigate obstacles.
Not us. [3] We are perfectly aware of each other’s movements and pass through The Net without any problem.
“Uwoooohhhhh!!! First-year duo Saiga and Oda cleared The Net in perfect sync! How mysterious! They are pulling up to the Vice-President’s team just ahead!!”
“As expected of the stars of the Cultural Club!”
The broadcasting booth was abuzz with excitement. Well, looks like we have a chance of winning.
“What’s next?!” Maki asked.
“The Spoon Ferry. [3] It’s a pretty regular obstacle.”
“Right.” [3]
[3] We were each given a spoon with a ping-pong ball in the scoop. I briefly wondered whether athletes and sports club members have a natural skill with this kind of challenge.
The Vice-President [3] and her teammate steadily held their spoons of ping pong balls steadily at a decent speed.
As for us…
“Aaahhh!! This is kind of troublesome-”
“You’re too clumsy.”
[3] Makia dropped her ping pong ball. In her excitement to catch it, she forgot about our tied-up legs, and I was dragged down with her.
“Oops! It looks like the Kappa Alliance is struggling a bit on this course! They are being overtaken by other groups!”
“Get up! Get up, Confession Club members!!”
We managed to get to our feet, covered in sand.
“Aaaahhhh, sorry Tooru!!”
“It’s fine, this is just the beginning. Listen, we must synchronise our steps. The next obstacle is your favourite. The Bread Snatching.”
“O-Okay!”
We cannot stop now.
One, two, one, two… we gradually increased our speed, trying to make up the delay from that fall.
The next obstacle was two buns hung on different lengths of rope for men and women.
Other competitors were stumped by this obstacle and were either hopping or doing their best to stretch up for the bread [5] without actually touching it with their hands.
As for our team?
We did not stop.
I have absolute faith in Makia for this.
I eyed the distance to the obstacle and counted 10 final steps.
“10!”
[4] Maki looked a little surprised by my sudden shout, but soon caught on when I called out, ‘9’.
The countdown had begun.
“3, 2, 1…”
At ‘zero!’ we both jumped and snatched the two pieces of bread and kept on gunning for it.
“They did it! The Kappa did it!! What a sight to behold! Look at the way they devour that obstacle without the slightest hesitation and hit the ground running!”
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd.
It did not seem to bother Maki, as she had been focusing on the bread since earlier. It was quite amazing to see her eat while running. Meanwhile, I was just holding my bun in my mouth.
“Tooru!”
[3] “Hrm?”
“Gimme that!”
“… …” this hopeless person… [3] Still, considering our dirty hands from the fall earlier, I lowered my head and passed the bread to her. Which she quickly devoured in no time at all.
“He gave iiiittt!!! First year Saiga-kun gave his bread to Oda-san!!!”
“He really gave it?”
“Mouth to mouth~! Mouth to mouth~!”
[3] The excited screams were endless, especially shrieks from the girls. We happened to pass by the broadcasting booth, and I could see Kuroki-senpai wriggling with excitement.
“Coming up next is the Gunny Sack Race!” [3] I said loudly, reminding Maki who was still thinking about the bread she had just devoured.
“Huh? Oh,”
Fortunately, the two buns had perked her up a little.
Good, this is just the beginning of our arduous battle.
We still have many other obstacles to get through.
[Gumihou: It was kind of tricky to balance out the excitement vs melodrama]
[1] I redid the broadcasting speech to make it more exciting
[2] Redid speech to avoid repetitions.
[3] Adjusted details and dialogues to fit Tooru’s personality
[4] Adjusted dialogues to fit Maki’s personality.
[5] Just in case you’ve never seen a bread-related obstacle race, you’re supposed to catch the bread with your mouth, not your hands. It is also known as the ‘Bread Snatching Contest’
https://www.hiro-seishin.ed.jp/wp/nds/nds_diary/13746/
https://bandori.fandom.com/wiki/Bread-Carrying_Race!
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