Chapter 17: 7.1

7th Period: Mizutan ☆ Wars

I thought that peace would come to the dormitory after Ringo’s first practical training was over. That was wishful thinking.

“Hey Kosaku. Want to play a game after cleaning up dinner? It’s been awhile since we played a fighting game. C’mon.”

“Ah, sorry Minori. I promised to tutor Ringo again today.”

“I’m going to stab you.”

It is the dorm cafeteria after dinner.

Ringo, with her textbook and notebook in hand, was as expressionless as ever. Since overcoming the hurdle of her first training, this girl’s academic aspirations haven’t stopped. The teacher is giving supplementary lessons along with classroom lectures, but apart from that, she asks Kei and I questions about things she didn’t understand from class.

So recently, as soon as I finish my evening I have a study session with her. It seems that Minori is not interested.

“…If you want to study Kei can teach you…”

“He’s got a part-time job this week.”

It may come as a surprise to some, but Kei is a hard worker. Well, if it’s just a part-time job, it’ll be quick.

“Kosaku. Hurry up.”

“Ah, ok.”

With Ringo tugging as his sleeve, he opens his ‘Basics of Agricultural Sciences’ textbook on the table. Ringo sat next to him… and Minori sat on the other side of the table for some reason. I ignore it and start studying.

Then, “What is this ‘Continuous Crop Failure’?”

“Oh, that’s when…”

When you are studying with this kind of feeling you can get things done….

After about 5 minutes Minori starts talking to me.

“Hey hey, Kosaku. Are you hungry? Let’s make a snack.”

“I’m ok. I mean I just had dinner.”

“Ah…. Ok….”

Minori quiets down. I resume my studies.

After awhile Minori speaks up again.

“Ah, Kosaku. Your earwax is building up again, isn’t it?”

“No, I’ll take care of it myself. Keep quiet.”

“S..sorry…”

Minori quiets down. But she speaks again before too long.

“Have you gotten tired? Should I rub your shoulders? Or get you a cup of tea?”

“You know…” I look up from my textbook and see Minori. “We are studying. If you want to play with someone play with the Young Master.”

“…I want to play with Ko-tan…”

“Eh? What?”

“…..nothing…”

Depressed, Minori picked up the wallaby that was jumping in the corner of the dining room. Young Master, who was being held in her arms, was shining with expectation, “Minori-chan, will you give me a sweet potato?” Minori silently put the young master into the front pocket of her apron and sat down on a chair. She looked lonely.

Yeah. I feel…. a little sorry for her.

Should I play with you for a little while?

“Mino….”

“Kosaku. This this here right?”

“Huh? Where?”

I’ll help Ringo with her question then it’s back to studying. After all studying is more important.

“…Yeah. That’s right. That was quick wasn’t it Ringo?”

“I like how you teach Kosaku.”

“R..really?”

“Yeah.”

Studying continues in this good atmosphere. Ringo doesn’t usually have long conversations, but when she’s studying she is talkative and cheerful. It makes me happy and makes me want to tutor more.

Minori, who was staring at us with quizzical eyes, spoke to Ringo in an intertwining tone, “ …Hey Kinoshita-san.”

“What?”

“Why…. Are you sitting next to Kosaku? Don’t you usually sit across from him?”

“It’s easier to read the textbook from here.”

“…hmph.”

“Nakdashi-san.”

“IT’S NAKAZAWA!!”

“I see. Nakata-san, if you have time could you make me a cup of coffee?”

GRRRR

“I DON’T HAVE TIME!!”

Minori suddenly got up and left the dining room with Young Master still in the front pocket of her apron. Then she came back with something. It looks like a chunky book.

“Alright, let’s organize the album.”

So it’s an album.

Sitting in front of us he opened the cover while talking to Young Master in her pocket.

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“There’s a lot to do so please help me out Young Master!”

Young Master seemed to be seeing a photograph for the first time and asked, “What is this?” The person in the picture was me (approximately age 4).

“This is your childhood picture album?! Why is this in the dormitory?!”

“Hmmm. I thought I’d like to sort through a picture album, so I got it sent from my parent’s house.”

What…? Why would you do that…?

Girls must have a habit of wanting to organize photo albums on a regular basis…

“Hey hey, Kosaku! Look at this! We were taking a bath together in this one. So cuuuute. 

“S..stop it, you idiot! This photo is embarrassing!”

I snatch the photo from Minori’s hand.

“S…sorry Ringo. This is getting in the way of your studying…”

“….”

S S S S S S S S…!

I’m really sorry.

I almost was involuntarily shouting, because Ringo emitted a frightening atmosphere that made me feel like I needed to hit my head on the ground in a dogeza apology. I can see ‘KAGEROU’ on my back…

“L…let’s see…”

Trying to change the atmosphere somehow, I tried changing the subject.

“C..come to think of it, we decided to plant rice on Saturday!”

“….plant rice?”

“Yeah. Because the rice fields are ready.”

Just like a crop field, it’s not enough to simply fill the ground with water. It needs some preparation. More specifically, it needs the processes of plowing the soil and leveling the ground. I did this because I can drive a tractor. In addition, the seedlings to be planted in the rice paddies need to be grown separately. This is called ‘seedling cultivation’, and this one was done by Kei.

“That’s why we’re planting this Saturday. So be prepared to get wet.”

“…..”

“Are you two okay? Did you hear me?”

“We hear you”, we both nod as we respond.

“Can you look good even while wet?”

At the time, I had no idea that these words would spark a new conflict…

********

And so it’s Saturday.

Kei, Minori, Ringo, and I (along with Becky-san who was there to supervise) were standing side by side on a raised platform under a clear blue sky. We gazed out at the glistening paddy fields. To our side are young seedlings in nursery boxes. There is also lunch for five people in a basket.

The rice field in front of me is about 1 tan. (about 1,000 square meters) Even with this number of people, it would probably take five to six hours to plant by hand while teaching Ringo who was an amateur. That’s a half-day’s work. It truly is a half-day job. I couldn’t spare that much time on a weekday, so I planned it for the weekend.

“OK! Shall we get started?”

“YEAH!!” Everyone responds cheerfully to my rallying cry.

But…

“Before we go any further… I’d like to go over a few things with you.”

As I said, the four of them were standing in a row on the platform.

“… I did say to ‘come in cloths that you don’t mind getting wet’ right? But, I mean… everyone is a bit… THIS IS CRAZY!”

“Was this… was a mistake?”

I smile at RIngo-chan who asks anxiously.

“You are fine Ringo. You came here in your jersey.”

When it comes to rice planting in class, most people wear their jerseys and gym cloths. Fold the hem of your jersey up to your knees and walk barefoot into the mud and you are fine. That’s why I came in my jersey, and so did Ringo. This is what a normal person would do. But the other three were different.

“Hey, glasses!”

“What is it?”

“Don’t ask ‘What’s wrong?’ Explain what happened to you!” I thrust my finger at Kei. “What made you think of planting rice in THONG PANTS?!”

Yes. Under the blazing sun, Kei has exposed a generous amount of his body. Only green thong cut pants, cut at racy angles, envelop his muscular lower body. (Which has been trained through harsh farm work for six hours a day!)

“This is something you can wear that’s ok if it gets wet. It’s pants. But in another sense, it’s totally not ok is it?!?! Why did you decide to plant rice with just a thong swimsuit?! I mean how do those things even stay on you?”

“I had  a part-time job this week right?”

“? Yeah? So what?”

“This is the uniform.”

“THAT?! What kind of place were you working part time at?!”

“Let’s just say it’s a job related to water.”

“It’s a water work isn’t it? It’s water work!?”

“Just club activities…”

“Club activities? Oh! A host club!?”

“The name of our shop is ‘Arc de Triomphe’”

It specializes in guys. Damn… that’s actually a good name…!

“B..but still… I think that look is a bit out of place here. Look. It’d be find if it was just us boys, but I have Ringo with me today, so I don’t want you to wear cloths that are too stimulating.”

“Abs and thighs!”

“Listen to me!”

My words can no longer reach Kei. He puts his hands behind his head like a bodybuilder, flexing his abs and thighs. I’m depressed as I look and see the gap between the ideal body and my reality.

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