A Sun in the Palm of Your Hand | Chapter 4

[healingbonds]

Chapter 3 << | index | >> Chapter 5


Location: Dojo


Tetora: Doryaaaaaaah....!

Da! Oryah! Teryaaaaah....!


Kuro: Don’t shout too much, Tetsu. You’re gonna hurt your throat; this isn’t a tokusatsu program, you know.....

It’s dangerous to strain yourself; you might also hurt your opponent

The punches and kicks of a well-trained karateka are the same as weapons. It’s enough to calmly and accurately stab the vital spots


Tetora: Ossu! Taishou’s teachings are always significant....☆


Kuro: It’s secondhand from my dad. He was a black belt, my dad

I was the opposite of you, and always stayed silent, so he’d actually tell me, “Raise your voice, and intimidate the opponent~”


Tetora: Oh? Taishou was always a silent and cool person, huh ♪


Kuro: I’m just a poor speaker. That’s why I can’t smooth talk my way out of problems, and get into fights

Anyhow. I don’t mind if it’s while we fight, but let’s talk. Tetsu, how much do you know about the “Ryuuousen”?


Tetora: Huh? Uh, it’s a battle backed by tradition that the martial arts clubs have hosted for years, right?

It’s famed as the most violent DreamFes at Yumenosaki Academy~!

That’s why it’s not recognized as an official DreamFes, and was hosted as a “B1” around the spring... right?


Kuro: Don’t talk about it as if it’s someone else’s business. You hosted it, Tetsu


Tetora: That’s true, but. I just reenacted it using the records I found in the Karate club

A book with Japanese-style binding¹ was lying around, so I wondered if it had any secret techniques written in it~


Kuro: I should’ve gotten rid of that thing. You got all infatuated with it after seeing it, and planned and hosted the “Ryuuousen,” didn’t you

I was startled. Back then, you were more meek, or should I say....

You were depressed, because all sorts of things had happened, so I didn’t think you’d show such surprising initiative


Tetora: Ahaha~. Rather than being depressed, I was frustrated because nothing was going the way I wanted

I was burning low, but when I found the “Ryuuousen” records, I thought, “this is it!”

A showy and savage event where I could release my passion without holding back......

I wanted to blow away the “gloomy feeling” in my chest by devoting all my energy to that

In the end, the Student Council interfered, because they don’t approve of “B1,” and.... The “Ryuuousen” was cancelled, and I ended up even more stressed because of that


Kuro: You had just entered the school, after all; you weren’t aware of how this Yumenosaki Academy operates

That’s probably why you hosted something like the “Ryuuousen” without thinking


Tetora: I’m still dissatisfied. What was wrong with it—it’s a DreamFes backed by tradition, passed down through the Karate Club, right?

Tossing that aside as if it “never existed,” because we have to follow the rules that the Student Council made on their own—I can’t be satisfied with that

I do think I sound like a selfish little kid~, but

“Akatsuki” is a “unit” that values tradition, right? Then, why’d they do something to ruin that?


Kuro: Tetsu. The history of the “Ryuuousen” is shorter than you imagine. It’s really not something to be celebrated as a tradition

It’s glorified as something that existed since long ago, but... In truth, it started in my generation


Tetora: Eh, is that so....? But in the records of the “Ryuuousen,” it said something like, it existed since the establishment of Yumenosaki Academy?


Kuro: If everything written in books were true, we’d be living in a futuristic city with flying cars

It’s good that you’re straightforward, but approach everything with a more doubtful eye

Not every person in this world is virtuous—never lying, never deceiving others—and soft-hearted

You need more than brute strength to hold down malice and deception

Well, I was in no position to lecture you, though, Tetsu. Since I was a ruffian whose only merit was brute strength

No, I was a delinquent—a violent good-for-nothing

I was pretty well-known around this region, too. Everyone was scared of me; before I joined “Akatsuki,” nobody would approach me

Yumenosaki Academy is an idol training school, and because of its locality, it’s full of pampered rich kids, so

Thugs like me really stood out

But there was someone who came up with a way to utilize me. So, well, I was used pretty conveniently

You remember the rules of the “Ryuuousen,” right, Tetsu

Basically, it’s a one-on-one live battle. However, you can interrupt your opponent during the performance... violent acts are allowed

Didn’t you ever wonder why such a ridiculous rule exists?

It’s called a live “battle,” but if we’re idols, don’t you think we should compete with songs and dance?

Things like violence are banned from regular lives; you can’t complain if they force you to exit the stage [for getting violent], right?

But the rules of the “Ryuuousen” permit that

Didn’t you ever wonder, even just a little, why that’s the case?


Tetora: Um... I thought it was a courageous rule that allows men to compete for supremacy


Kuro: That’s what it looks like, right? Well, that’s how it’s staged, and the records are exaggerated and decorated, after all

But in reality, there was a vulgar intention behind it all, one without a shred of manliness

Chapter 3 << | index | >> Chapter 5



1. Japanese-style binding, like this