Track 3

It seems your draw is a little slanted. Try shifting the tension in your elbow and turn the back of your drawing hand towards the ceiling more…¹

Nrrg…

(He still remembers the correct forms. Good job, Uu-chan.)

…Your shooting form is good. Calm your mind and release when you feel the time is right.

…

*exhales*…!

I did it…!

Martial arts begins and ends with respect. Do not relax your body until the very end.

Geez. It’s been a while since I’ve hit a bullseye, so just let me have my moment.

I recall you were the one saying how mannerism is important to kyudo when Chief and the others were here.

…Though I must admit, I was rather pleased seeing you remember how to hold a bow, so the words accidentally slipped out.

I’m sure it has been a while since you worked up a sweat. I have some tea in my thermos, so why don’t you join me for a break?

…Here. It is still hot, so be careful.

Thanks.

…Hey, Muu-chan. You think I’m also built for this?

(…Also. I suppose he is referring to his mother.)

(Finding it hard to specify his mother as the subject is typical of him.)

What’s wrong?

Mm, let me see.

(His mother was my mother's student. From what I have heard, her skills were almost good enough to enter a competition.)

I believe you are. If you trained diligently I am sure that talent of yours would come to fruition.

Hmm, okay.

…

…Uu-chan, do you…

…Still remember her voice?

Huh?

…Nevermind.

Apologies, I asked something insensitive. Forget I said anything.

…

(The voice is usually the first thing one forgets after parting ways.)

(Since I……)

So that’s what it is.

I figured that the voice recorded in that transceiver the princess was holding yesterday was your dad’s.

…

I see…

…One of my first memories as a child is receiving a mountainload of unknown communication devices.

However, among them, the only one my small and tender self was able to use was the transceiver my father had made.

…So it was handmade.

I do not remember what time of the year it was. I just remember that I was four years old, and the afternoon sunlight was spilling gently into the living room...

...That was the day I made my first successful transmission to my father.

Despite being a man who rarely showed any emotion, his voice at the time became full of excitement…

…Or so I imagine.

Mm.

(There is no longer a way for me to confirm the truth. The voice of my father in that toy is already…)

There has to be a way to recover the recording. Someone like Ooguro-san could probably do it.

……

…No, I think I have had enough of a break. You can keep on resting if you would like.

…You’re gonna practice more?

It is a hyaku-i contest after all.

Huh? You were actually doing it…?

This makes the ninety-seventh shot.

*inhales*…

(The last few were dead on, even though most of the ones before barely made the target.)

*exhales*…

(The bow is always able to reflect the state of my mind.)

(I was able to organize my thoughts after talking with Uu-chan.)

Uu-chan, do you know what this is?

Duh. That’s the diary you write in every night before bed.

I have been writing in this ever since I was five, and I’ve only made it halfway through recently.

However, I think I will stop writing in it…

…And buy a new one instead.

Huh…?

Ever since that night when my father was abducted in front of my eyes… My path has been on a different trajectory to the rest of the world.

In order to restore things to the way they were before and to ensure vindication for my father’s name, I have been diligently training to become an astronaut.

…It has been ten years, Uu-chan.

Ten years since that day.

…

(In that time, my mother has regained herself from her grief. She found peace with a kind man, and together, they brought my precious little sister into the world.)

(The gap between my trajectory and everyone else's just keeps growing bigger and bigger, almost as if it is already irreversible.)

(The regrets towards that day keep getting buried underneath my life and the things I have come to treasure along the way…)

(On top of that, I’ve found a compromise, an exception within the loathsome adults I once despised… and now, have found myself starting to understand them.)

…Without a doubt, I am slowly becoming an adult.

…That’s…

…

…

(Uu-chan’s feelings are still the same as before.)

(To our younger selves, the only time we could express our devastation from the insurmountable incidents that had happened were when we were with each other.)

(…My immature self was unable to accept the fact when I found out about our princess living inside my mother’s womb.)

(I was unable to give a proper congratulations to my mother. It is a dirty secret of mine that I could never share with her, a dark stain in my life.)

(He was the only one.)

(Uu-chan was the only one who could understand me. He was the only one who opposed everything alongside me, rejecting the harsh reality of things.)

(Countless times, I let those words embrace me from the discrepancies I couldn't swallow……)

…

Muu-chan?

Uu-chan, would you mind keeping this diary… this remnant of my past for me?

…Huh?

And when I depart from this world… please lay it to rest alongside my body in my coffin.

Huuh!?

Wh-What is this, an omen!? And talk about responsibilities! Is this cursed or something!?

Don’t be like that. It is only natural that I come to pass one day in the future.

Let me see, perhaps after a hundred years?

That’s way too far! I’ll be long dead before then!

Mm… You have a point. Your lifestyle habits have been negatively impacted by your otaku activities after all.

My habits are fine, thank you very much!

However, it would be inconvenient for you to leave me and my diary behind. Let us improve our lifestyles and live until one hundred together.

Give me a break… I can’t even tell if you’re joking.

I am not, I’m serious. I want you to hold onto this diary.

Even if you say that… that just makes things more complicated. And you’re the type to tune things out once you’ve set your mind up about something.

What if we decide this with a sumo match, winner’s say?

…Shall we do it? I will go get the paper sumos.

Aaaaargh geez. Alright alright, you win, ugh.

Which means?

You’re getting a new diary right? I’ll go shopping with you tomorrow after school.

Then this…

I just have to take it, right? But just saying, I can’t guarantee anything about keeping it until you pass or whatever!

Heh… Understood.

…Thank you, Uu-chan.

But like, I can’t believe you actually gave someone something so personal like a diary.

I do not mind if you read it. There is nothing in particular inside that you do not already know.

…Oh really?