Short Program 12

Short Program, Volume 2, Chapter 12 (pp. 71~100)


<71>
Stopover

=Allow me to introduce myself.
HONK

=Wataru Matsumura, age 16—
[x2]TH-THUCK

=I can't bend spoons by rubbing them//And I don't have a special one-hit kill, either.

=And of course, I've never thrown a wicked fastball.
=I'm not really sure what's so normal about all this, but,
[x2]TH-THUCK

=—Well, anyways, you can think of me as a normal 1st-year high schooler you could find just about anywhere.

=Hey,//It's the ocean.


<72&73>
Stopover

=HOOO—NK

=Kimihama, Kimihama.

=—And if I look like an ordinary 1st-year high schooler taking a trip to the beach during his summer vacation,
=I'm not.


<74>
=My destination lies further ahead.

=Where the classmate who moved away during 1st-year junior-high lives,

=My—

DASH

=My bag!

ZZ..

ZWUSH


<75>
=Allow me to repeat myself.

=I'm not taking a trip to the beach during my summer vacation.

=My destination lies further ahead.

CHING

THUD


<76>
=Oops,//Sorry.
[x2]=Whoa!

=Matsumura?

=Komiya?

=What in the world are you doing here?
=You too.

=Oh,//Money, money.
[x2]ZWUSH

=How much was it?
=Huh?


<77>
=Uhh...

[sign above]Yakisoba Lunch//800 yen
[sign below]Okonomiyaki

=One more 500 yen coin...//'Round here by any chance?

=Oh—//Here it is.
=HUH//Really!?

=What're you doin'?
=You found everything you dropped, right?
[x2]ZWUSH

=Oh,//Right.


<78>
=Bag got stolen?
[sign]Albatross

=Hah-hah-hah.
=What's so funny about that!

=You were probably staring off into space, as usual.
=Keiko Komiya—//We went to the same elementary and junior-high, but were only in the same class together once.

=Whaddya mean "as usual."//You don't even know me that well.
=Did you tell the police?

=Yeah.
=Your house?

=There's no one there right now.
=Everyone's on a family vacation to Hokkaido. I got my share of the money and—

=Came to swim at the beach by yourself?
=Listen—//I wasn't planning on getting off here, okay!


<79>
=Where were you headed?

ZUP..

=None of your business.

=—So,//How're you gonna get home with no money?
=Oh,//Yeah.

=I was gonna borrow some from the police,//But they don't really buy the whole story about not being able to contact my parents!

=You know I'm not the type of guy that would try and gyp anybody, right?
=Thought you just said I don't even know you that well.

=Please! Lend me some money.//20,000—No wait, 15,000.
=I wouldn't be working here if I had that much money to lend.


<80>
=Okay.
=Then,//Here's the deal.

=Hey kiddo.

=That's you.
CONK
=Ah.

=Kakigouri//Strawberry and lemon, okay?

=—So the deal is,//This is a beach house operated by Keiko Komiya's aunt.
ZZZT...


<81>
=One day's work would suffice to buy a ticket to head back home, but...
=I've come this far, and I can't turn back.

=My destination is—
=Wonder if Sakura-san's doing well.

=Huh?

=You know, the pretty girl who moved away during junior-high.

=O-Oh, Asami Sakura, right?
=The first girl I ever fell in love with.
WUUSH—

=Didn't she move somewhere 'round here?
=Oh,//That right?
WUUSH—

=Hey guys, you can take a break now.
=Oka—y.


<82>
[x2]SWUSH//SWUSH

=What're you lookin' at?

=There's a butterfly caught in a spider's web.

=Scared of spiders?
=Nope.

=Okay, then set it free.
=Why?

='Cause it's sad.
=You think so?

=The spider could've been waiting on a meal for days, and finally caught something to eat.

=Don't girls usual root for the butterfly?
=You think so?


<83>
=Poor thing! You've got to help it, Matsumura-kun!

=Okay, then what if it got caught while it was still a caterpillar?
=Hum?

=...Might have some second thoughts.

=So they're all born the same, but you're only gonna help it once its beautiful.

=Normal people don't think about that kinda stuff.

=Hey—

=It's your fault if the spider starves to death.
=Yeah yeah.

ZZT..


<84>
=Let's take a swim.
=In these clothes?

=Oh yeah—//What're you gonna do about clothes?

=Whaddya mean. Every last piece of my underwear was stolen.
=I gotta stay this way till I get my paycheck.
=Hey hey.

=How do I look?
=You'd better pay me back.


<85>
=That scar,//Is it from Rinkan Academy...?
=Yeah.

=I was alone playing in the woods and a sharp branch went straight into my leg.//Man, it hurt! Lotta blood, too.

=I walked outta the woods all hazy, and just happened to see Asami Sakura.//And then I just fainted.
=When I woke up, I was on the hospital bed and Sakura was looking at me all worried.

=I asked the doctor later and he said it was a good thing I got help immediately.//She totally saved my life—

=Your life... Huh.
=I'm serious!//None of the teachers were nearby, and I heard it took a pretty long time to get to the hospital.

=...But,//Thanks to this thing, I got pretty friendly with Sakura and—
[bubble]COUGH
=Then she moved away.//Tough luck.


<86>
=Moron,//That was in elementary school.
=Tough luck indeed.

=—I thought I'd forget as time went by.

=—But my memories of Sakura never went away, just like the scar on my leg never went away.

=I just had to see her again.//Even if it meant skipping the trip to Hokkaido.
=Even—If my stuff got stolen and I had to work to get back.

=That's first love for a normal 1st-year high schooler you can find just about anywhere, isn't it?


<87>
ZZT..

=AHHHHH—

=Hey, what's wrong?
=I'm bleeding—!

=Oh my.//That's nothing, just disinfect it with some salt water.
=EEK—
[x2]SPLASH

MOMMYYY—

=That was pretty mean.

=He's fine if he's got the energy to run that quickly.


<88>
=Oh yeah, wasn't your dad a doctor or something?

=They're too nice to make a lotta money from it, though.

=What're you lookin' at, pervert!
SPLASH

=Hey,//Idiot, I wasn't looking!
=I was just like, wow—You have a mole there, huh?

=Everybody's got a mole or two, don't they.


<89>
[x2]SWUSH//SWUSH

[sign]Let's beware!//Dark alleys and editors!


<90>
=Komiya—!

=Look! That spider's still alive.


<91>
MOMMY—


<92>
=Here,//Underwear money and bathing suit money.
=Makes me not wanna touch it when you say it like that.

=Fine,//I'll keep it.
SWAP
=Yup, underwear money.//Thanks!

=I'll walk you over to the station.
=Why thank you.

[x4]SWUSH


<93>
[x2]SWUSH

[poster]Mr. Matsumura who was robbed at the train station on August 10th. Your bag has been returned//(The wallet, too)

=Sorry.
='Bout what?

=I knew.//They already had the bag.

=Huh?


<94>
=It was fun hangin' out,//...So I didn't tell you.

=Sorry.

=Oh, no problem...//Actually made some money.

=I'll be praying for it to work out.

='Bout what?

=Seeya.

BEE—P


<95>
[x2]TH-THUNK

SNORE—

=Hatta!?

=Huh?

=Matsumura?//What're you doing here?
=You too!

=Hey—!//You're going to see Asami Sakura, aren't you!?
=Sakura?

=Oh yeah, you got notes and stuff from Sakura when you were out with appendicitis,//She was nice to you, so you're trying to—
=Hey, wait a sec!


<96>
=Keiko Komiya was the one who took notes for me.
=Huh?

=You think Asami Sakura's nice!?
=Yeah right! That girl's a total faker.

=She goes "I'll do it" in front of the teacher,//But then afterwards she's like "Komiya-san has better handwriting so I asked her—"
=She's always been like that.

=Even in elementary school, she went and picked up a stray puppy and was like "Poor thing, we should all take care of it—"//She totally forgets about it, and once it grew up, she wouldn't go near it 'cause its "Scary—"
TH-THUNK

=She pretty much fainted when it bit her on the finger and she started bleeding a little.

Lotta blood, too.


<97>
=That time—There was one other...

=Sit tight, Matsumura.

=She was pretty-looking so I guess all the guys liked her,//But I heard all the girls hated her.
=Komiya had a lotta friends, so if she hadn't hung out with her, Sakura would've just been a total outcast.


<98>
=We haven't gotten to a station called Kimihama yet, have we?
=Huh?

=Well,//I was just having a little nap, so...

=Heard Komiya's working at a beach house 'round there.
=I just had to see her again.//So I skipped out on the family trip to Okinawa, and I'm goin' there to ask her out.

=Hmm—

=So, this Kimihama station—
=Ah.
=Two more stops.//I think—

=Mikami, Mikami.

=Where you goin'?
=Just the bathroom.


<99>
=Please stand clear of the closing doors.//Next stop, Lower Mikami, Lower Mikami.
HONK

GATHUNK

[x3]TH-THUNK


<100>
=Keiko Komiya.//We went to the same elementary and junior-high, but were only in the same class together once—

=The scar on my leg always reminds me,

=She's the first girl I ever fell in love with.
HONK

=Is Kimihama Station coming soon, granny?
=Yes yes,//It's very good weather today, isn't it—
[x2]TH-THUNK

Stopover (END)