Track 6
Hotel – Room
Ahh, I’m beat…
I can’t believe we have to help out in the morning… they’re definitely taking advantage of us ‘cause we’re students…
Uu-chan, lying down right now is dangerous.
Ugh…
You should unpack your luggage first before you pass out.
Okay, I get it…
(I will take out my necessities and put the souvenirs I bought where there is space.)
(…This transceiver, too.)
You’re done already? You can shower first if you want, I’m gonna start unpacking.
I see, very well then. I will let you use the bathroom when you are done.
And since you are letting me shower first today, you can go first tomorrow.
Sure……
…Hey, did anything happen to you today?
Today?
(He has been asking me that a lot lately.)
Like, just tell me how your day went.
…Today was the start of our study tour. We all took a plane to Kagoshima together and then boarded a small propeller plane bound for the Tanegashima Cosmoport.1
First, we visited the Shihan-Mato Shooting Range at Gessoutei and tried out some shihan-mato.2 It was quite different from kyudo since we had to shoot while sitting in seiza on a tatami mat, so I found it rather difficult.
Though I do admit it was interesting. It felt especially nice yelling “sa-ikou!”3 when shooting.
Mhm…
After that, we moved to Hase Park where we saw the Tanegashima Space Centre launch pad from afar.
From there, we went inside the actual space centre, taking a bus tour visiting the various facilities, including the space museum. And for lunch, we enjoyed some rocket curry at the cafeteria inside.
After that came helping out with the Space Art Festival. I had my hands quite full familiarizing myself with the festival operations and running the food truck.
It was a tiring, but fulfilling experience. And that concludes my day.
…That’s all?
We were together the entire day, so our schedules should have been the same.
Okay, just making sure, nothing else, right? Like, even from yesterday, or the day before…
(…As expected of my childhood friend. He is worried because he feels something is off.)
Hm? Is there something else?
The matter has already been resolved, so there is no need to worry. However, thank you.
I will head to the shower now.
…’Kay.
…And you should remember to unpack and not just plop yourself on the bed.
Okay okay, I said I would. Hurry up and go!
…
Tanegashima – Space Centre
Kinugawa, do we have enough ingredients for opening?
Yeah… I restocked… everything yesterday… just to be, safe.
…Because Kurama’s… cream-filled, malasadas… were super, popular.
I see. Good work, Kinugawa, and you too, Uu-chan.
Muu-chan, Golem. Taste test for me.
But we have already acknowledged the taste of your malasadas. Would this not only deplete our current stock?
It’s just a taste test.
! …Could it be…a new, flavour?
Yuh. It’s my new Anno-Imo Cream-Filled Malasadas. So hurry up and try it already.
Very well then.
I’ll have, a bite…
!!!
The malasada… has that same, crispy yet fluffy… texture from yesterday…! And the cream, inside…
…Brings out the sweetness, of anno-imo…! It's so smooth… the cream’s melting, in my mouth…!
When the two, come together… it feels, like a supernova, is going off within me…! *boom*
…It’s good, right?
…Indeed. Out of all the desserts you have made over the many years I have known you, this one in particular is a masterpiece.
The deliciousness lingers far and beyond.
Yeah, it’s… really yummy…!
Tanegashima’s anno-imo is one of the best varieties of sweet potatoes out there. The guests who have come to enjoy the Space Art Light Festival will be thrilled to enjoy the local specialty prepared in such a delicious manner.
‘Kay, then let’s sell these today too. Golem, it doesn’t have to be crazy or anything, but can you make a sign for it?
Okay…!
Excuse me… You haven’t opened yet…?
Hm…?
Apologies, the food truck will start business in thirty minutes.
My sweet, beautiful malasada… Do I have to wait… 30 whole minutes… for my malasada…?
Excuse me!! The malasadas, do you have them!?
Wh-What the hell…?
I can’t forget the one I had yesterday! Please, it’s been haunting me forever!
Malasada… I need my malasada…
MALASADA!! I NEED MY MALASADA!!
…Wah! Hie… K-Kurama… Kaguya… A line’s already… forming…!
…You’re kidding?
Uu-chan, you sinful man. You have made the people of the remote island of Tanegashima addicted to your malasadas…
W-We’re, surrounded…!
Um, more importantly, we don’t have enough malasadas to go around! Should we limit how many each person can buy, cut the line once it’s sold out, distribute numbered tickets…?
If we don’t do something quick they’re gonna start calling us out for our poor management!
Wh… Wh-Wh-Wha… What should we, do…!?
The chief should be somewhere nearby. I will go call him over. Hold the line until I return.
Hurry up, okay!?
Elsewhere at the venue
—HUUUH!? The food truck is surrounded by a bunch of malasada addicts…!?
The situation is very dire. We are in desperate need of your assistance, since it is beyond what we can handle.
Alright, I’ll head there right away!
Meanwhile, I will gather reinforcements. I leave the situation with you, Chief.
Oh, Sakujiro-san’s right around the corner, so I’ll bring him along!
Can you go find someone from the Noon Team who’s on a break?
Understood.
(Nanamegi was requested to help sort out the sound system at the main broadcasting centre.)
(Which means, the only person on break is Isotake. I believe he was drafting his movie…)
*looks around*
…And then, a mysterious message will suddenly play~ to foreshadow the upcoming scene~…
(A mysterious… message.)
…Isotake.
Are you writing down the plot of your new movie?
Yar! I got mad inspiration from the space centre, like my genius is almost frightening?
The ideas won’t stop coming! I literally have a big bang happening in my head!
I… am intrigued.
(…It should be alright if we talk for a bit since Chief is already heading over to the food truck.)
You said you were shooting a space movie? Would it be alright if you shared some of your current ideas with me?
Of course!
So to start, it’s gonna be set in a remote island kinda like Tanegashima. An alien coming to invade Earth disguises itself as a deer waiting for the right opportunity and ends up boarding a rocket for some space experiment.
The rocket takes off without a hitch and the astronauts do their best to make it to the space station… BUT THEN!
Everything suddenly spirals out of control…!
And it’s all because, drumroll please! The deer alien suddenly decides to seize control of the rocket!
All sorts of intergalactic problems start to occur as the deer closes in on them in the secluded spaceship!
And eventually, the originally wholesome spaceship turns into a tragic bloodbath!
What do you think? Isn't the thrilling and suspenseful development super dope!?
Indeed it is.
As the sika deer are native to Tanegashima, it would not be far-fetched to have both deer and space included in your work.
Muneuji, you get it~. I’m feeling more deer instead of shark this time.
What about that so-called mysterious message you were muttering about earlier?
Oh that! Y’see, there’s this cool thing I saw in a movie recently…
It’s like, this spine-chilling stunt where this astronaut flew the spaceship into a blackhole when he knew he couldn’t return back to Earth…
And then contacted himself from the past before he took off from the planet!5
And I thought I’d like, work that into my story somehow so that it’s not just a fight to the death with the deer, but like… um, how do I say this?
Right, so I can make a big banger plot twist that just completely blows the viewers away!
…I see.
According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, depending on the distortions in spacetime, the environment caused by gravity and energy, time can actually extend and contract.
Theory of general relatives…???
Even the passage of time on a skyscraper and the ground is different, and this was confirmed in an experiment where a high-precision timekeeping device measured a difference of roughly four nanoseconds per day between the two locations.
As for a black hole, it is a space with such strong gravitational pull that nothing, not even light, can escape it.
Therefore, contacting yourself in the past like in your movie, or time travel in general, may not exactly be a fantastical dream.
…
…That was so big brained just now~!! Run it by me again, one more time please!!
You think I could include the relative general theory in my movie too? I kinda want the characters to recite something cool like that!
Understood, then once again…
Ding-dong, bing-bong ♪ May I have your attention, visitors of the Space Art Light Festival? We have a lost child announcement to make.
Huh? Isn’t this… Mr. K?
Perhaps he is lending a hand at the customer service counter?
To the lost children, Muneuji Kaguya-kun and Akuta Isotake-kun. The chief, I, Sakujiro, and the entire Noon Team are currently awaiting your arrival at the food truck with great anticipation.
Huh?
…Oh.
Youth is a series of fleeting moments that pass by before you realize it. My desire to see each of you treasure those moments remains unchanged. Thus, I shall not chastise you. However…
When a friend is in trouble, one must rush to their side, no matter what! It is my wish to witness the beauty of an unwavering bond for myself…!
Wh-What’s he talking about? Wait, hold on, lost!? Us!? And what’s up with the trouble, or whatever!?
It slipped my mind. Uu-chan and Kinugawa are in trouble. We must hurry, Isotake, for the sake of our beautiful bond…!
Hu—WHAT’S GOING ON~~~!?
Shihan-Mato is a Japanese style of archery prominent in the southern islands of Kyushu. It differs from kyudo as you shoot arrows from a seated position. The bow and shooting distance is also much shorter compared to kyudo.
A traditional cheer one does during shihan mato. sa-ikou is derived from the Japanese phrase さぁ、行こう (Saa, ikou) which means "let's go".