Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Chapter 1 part2

Whassup everyone who's still keeping up with my translations? Here's a longer chapter part! Since the next part is a lot shorter, I should probably have it up by the time this year ends lol

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. Nightingale floors are floors that make a chirping sound when you step on them. They are used in some temples and palaces in Japan.

2. Ten tatami mats is about 16.5 square meters.

3. Nicotine is ニコチン or nicochin in Japanese, so Nico-chan's nickname comes from that basically

4. Yuki calls Nico-chan a nirou (二浪), which is someone who failed their university entrance exams two times.

5. Yuki's name has the character for "snow" (雪) in it

6. Nico-chan is referring to the classic anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps which was a World Masterpiece Theater anime. In Japanese, Heidi is ハイジ (Haiji), Clara is クララ (Kurara), and the goat is ヤギ (Yagi).

7. Six tatami mats is about 10 square meters.

The apartment was older than he thought it was going to be.

"…Haiji-san, is this the place?"

"Yeah, this is Chikusei-sou. We call it 'Aotake'."

Kiyose proudly looked up at the building. Kakeru was just stunned. It was his first time seeing such an old wooden building that wasn't even a cultural asset.

The cheaply built wooden two-story building looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. It was unbelievable that someone was living there. But what was particularly terrifying was that there were soft lights coming from several of the windows.

Chikusei-sou was right on the midpoint between the university and the public bath "Tsurunoyu".

When one passed through the alley, one would come to a neighborhood where new condos that were beginning to be built and traditional fields existed alongside each other. Chikusei-sou was built in that area, surrounded by lush green hedges. There was no gate, and one could see into the lot from gaps in the hedges.

There was a large front yard covered in gravel, and to the back of the left side, there was a one-story house that seemed to be where the landlord lived. The roof must had been retiled, as it shone slightly from repelling the starlight. The building on the right side was the Chikusei-sou in question.

"There're nine rooms altogether. Thanks to you, we're all full."

Kiyose led Kakeru to the front door of Chikusei-sou while stepping on the gravel. The door was a grated sliding door fitted with a thin pane of glass. The outside light was flickering restlessly within the long narrow door canopy where tiny insects were gathered. Relying on that sooty light, Kakeru tried to read the old wooden doorplate hanging next to the entrance somehow. There, written in manly cursive, seemed to be the characters for "Chikusei-sou."

Kiyose carelessly stopped his bike, carried the two wash basins on top of each other under his arm, and put his hand on the sliding door.

"I'll introduce the residents to you one-by-one. Everyone here's a Kansei student."

There's a bit of a trick to this, Kiyose said as he opened the poorly-fitted sliding door as if he was lifting it.

Immediately after entering, the ground became a dirt floor hardened with concrete, and there was a shoe cupboard with doors installed nearby. It also seemed to play the role of a mailbox. There were horizontal slots that could be opened on the doors, and room numbers scribbled on paper with ballpoint pen were affixed with cellophane tape. Every piece of paper was browned from the sun. A quick look at the cupboard showed that there were four rooms on the first floor and five on the second floor.

The stairs that led to the second floor was to the right of the entrance. Even without trying to ascend them, one could see that it was crooked and warped. Kakeru thought that it was a wonder that the building still hadn't collapsed yet.

Kiyose took off his orthopedic sandals on the dirt floor and prompted Kakeru, "Now, let's go upstairs." Kakeru put his sneakers into the cupboard labeled "103" as he was told.

"Haiji-san, welcome back!"

The voice came at that moment. Surprised, Kakeru looked around. There was no one there. Next to him, Kiyose was also knitting his brows together in suspicion.

"Up here!"

The overlapping voices called, and the two looked up at the ceiling. For some reason, there was a fist-sized hole on the ceiling of the entryway. It looked like there was someone trying to pressed their face through it. Someone's eye was peeking down from the hole, and it looked like they were laughing mischievously.

"Jouji…" Kiyose said in a low voice. "What's with the hole?"

"The floor got stepped through!"

"I'm going there now, so stay put."

Kiyose was angry, but he went up the stairs without making any sounds. Kakeru was confused, but decided to follow after him. When he put his foot on the stairs, they creaked intensely, like they were nightingale floors. (1)

Kakeru climbed the dark and steep stairs and got a view of what the second floor was like. The ceiling was taller than he had expected. There were two doors that seemed to lead to the toilet and bathroom respectively next to the stairs, and next to them seemed to be two rooms. There were three more rooms on the other side of the corridor facing the stairs. All of the rooms were completely silent, but light was only leaking from the door with the plate that read "201" that was in the middle of the three rooms, directly opposite to the stairs.

Kiyose walked up to Room 201 without hesitating, then opened the door without knocking. Kakeru nervously peeked into the room from the doorway.

Room 201 was about ten tatami mats wide,(2) with a low tea table placed in the middle that served as the border between two sets of futons that were left out on the floor. It seemed that there were two people living in Room 201. Scattered messily around the futons were what seemed to be books and other junk that belonged to each person.

It was the residents of the room who caught one's attention the most. They were two men with the exact same face, looking towards them like they were entreating them. They were twins who were extremely identical. Kakeru, feeling like he was doing a spot-the-difference game, compared the faces of the two residents of Room 201.

"I'm pretty sure I told you guys to be careful. Which one of you did it?"

Kiyose said bluntly, putting his hands on his hips. The twins, who made sure to huddle together, began to talk at the same time.

"Nii-chan did it!"

"Jouji did it!"

"That's so mean, Nii-chan, pinning the blame on your little brother."

"Weren't you the one who made the hole bigger?"

"I only got stuck in the hole you made!"

Even the tones of their voices were exactly alike. Kiyose lightly raised his right hand and wordlessly commanded the twins to "Shut up."

"Did you pay attention to the fact that the space between the boards near the entrance was weak?"

Room 201 was tatami-matted, but only the place that was right above the entryway had a wooden floor. The twins nodded with the same timing to Kiyose's scolding.

"We were careful."

"We were walking normally. Normally. Then suddenly, snap!"

Kiyose hmphed.

"The boards will come loose if you walk normally. From now on, walk with great care. Okay?"

The twins nodded again. Kiyose cautiously put his knee to the boards and inspected the hole.

"Um, Haiji-san?"

One of the twins shyly called out to Kiyose.

"What?"

"Who's that?"

The twins' gazes were fixed on Kakeru, who was idly standing at the door.

"Oh!" Kiyose said like he just remembered and looked back at Kakeru. "That's Kurahara Kakeru. He's a first-year going to Kansei this spring like you guys. He'll be living here starting today."

Kakeru stepped into the room and stood next to the tea table, then lightly bowed his head.

"Please treat me well."

"Nice to meet you."

The twins said in unison.

"Kakeru, these are the Jou twins. The older brother is Jou Tarou and the younger one is Jou Jirou."

The twins nodded in the order they were introduced. If their positions were changed, one probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart anymore.

"Call me Jouji, and Nii-chan's Jouta." The one who was Jirou told him amiably. "Everyone calls us that."

"Wonder if that hole can be used for something, eh, Kakeru?"

The one was Tarou also brought up the topic in a familiar way. "Um…" Kakeru stammered. He was overwhelmed by the twins, who spoke in rapid succession.

Kiyose got up. "We gotta put magazines or something over it to cover it up." He said, looking down at the hole. "Did you guys hurt your feet when you stepped through the floor?"

"Nope, not at all."

The twins shook their heads at the same speed. Guessing that Kiyose wasn't angry anymore, their expressions were clearly relieved.

He scared those twins that much, Kakeru thought. Haiji-san seems to be a big person in Chikusei-sou. Thinking about his future living in a group in this old apartment, he sighed heavily. No matter where he went, it didn't seem like he could escape from cliques or pecking orders.

"I still haven't even showed Kakeru to his room yet. I'm begging you, don't destroy Aotake any more than this."

Kiyose said before quickly leaving Room 201. Jouta and Jouji saw Kakeru off at the door.

"The truth that this place is run-down got out as soon as you came."

"If you're really gonna live here, it's a nice and quiet place."

Kakeru said "Good night" to the twins who both talked in turn, and chased after Kiyose, who was beginning to go down the stairs.

It was true that Chikusei-sou was engulfed in silence. Even though the twins had made such a fuss, he didn't see any of the other residents. Were they not in their rooms? He could only hear the rustling of the thickets of trees scattered around the building and occasionally the sounds of cars driving in the distance. From the front door that was left open, the spring night wind that was beginning to be lukewarm sprang up gently, carrying in the scent of the soil from the fields.

Kakeru picked up his sports bag that he left on the dirt floor. The overhead hole that was just created was already closed up with a magazine that had a woman in a swimsuit on the cover. There was no longer light coming from the twins' bedroom, so the entryway was dim.

Finally, Kakeru was able to get a good look at the first floor of Chikusei-sou. The layout wasn't much different from the second floor. They went down the hallway, heading directly from the entrance to the back.

On the left side of the hallway, by order from closest to the entrance was the kitchen, Room 101, and Room 102. Room 201 where the twins lived from just now was directly above the entryway and kitchen. Because of that, the second floor had one more room. Kiyose lived in Room 101, which seemed to be below Room 202. Based on that, Room 203 would be above Room 102.

The right side of the first floor hallway had the exact same layout as the second floor. Next to the stairs was the doors to the toilet and bathroom, and Rooms 103 and 104 were towards the back. They were below Rooms 204 and 205 respectively.

Guided by Kiyose, Kakeru was about to go down hallway when he stopped, startled. At the end of the first floor hallway, thick white smoke that definitely did not look trivial was rising.

"Haiji-san, isn't there a fire over there?"

But Kiyose, without looking perturbed, was about to explain something or other with an "Oh, that." At that moment, the door to Room 102 at the back of the left side opened vigorously. A figure flew out from inside. Thinking that they came out because they noticed the fire, Kakeru braced himself, but that person did not go to the entryway where Kakeru and Kiyose were, but instead violently knocked on the door of Room 104 across from them immediately.

"Senpai! Hey, Nico-chan-senpai!"

They continued to knock ten times, violently enough to rattle all the doors on the first floor. At last, the door to Room 104 opened.

"Shut up, Yuki."

It looked like a large figure lumbered out, but the smoke was so thick that Kakeru couldn't them well. The two did not seem to be aware of Kakeru and Kiyose, who were near the kitchen, and began to get into a fierce argument.

"Your cigarette smoke is getting into my room."

"Shouldn't you be happy you can get a whiff of it without spend money?"

"I don't smoke! Anyways, it's bothering me, so please stop it!"

Look, it's so smoky, the resident of Room 102 said, flapping their arm to clear the smoke. The white toxic substance drifted all the way to where Kakeru was. He agreed that it definitely was the smell of cigarettes. It was good that there wasn't a fire, but the two's argument was escalating.

"Your music is too loud too. Blasting that nonsense music all night long and making me listen to it. You're giving me nightmares!"

"I use headphones at night."

"Even so, I can still hear that awful nonsense!"

"This place is ancient, so there is no helping it."

"I don't want my smoke to leak out, you know. It's cuz the door's fit is bad…"

"Alright, that's enough."

Kiyose clapped his hands and drew the attention of the arguing duo. "Perfect timing. Let me introduce our newest resident."

When the sounds of the quarrel ceased, it became clear that the music from Room 102 that sounded like heavy bass and electronic noise entangled together, and the cigarette smoke from Room 104 that was pure white like dry ice, were both endlessly overflowing from the rooms. Kakeru did not want to go over there, but Kiyose walked to the back of the hallway where the two people were without minding it at all.

The residents of the back of the first floor, their momentum dampened with their fists raised and their mouths opened, waited for Kiyose and the newcomer Kakeru to approach.

"Senpai, Yuki, this is Kurahara Kakeru, who will be living in Room 103 from now on. He's a first-year sociology student. Kakeru, this is the old-timer of Chikusei-sou, Hirata Akihiro of Room 104. Everyone calls him Nico-chan-senpai."

"Cuz he's the nicotine demon king." (3)

The man called Yuki who was still not introduced yet, with his back to the loud music, said angrily.

Kiyose reined him in. "Nico-chan-senpai will be a third-year science and engineering student this spring. He was my senpai when I first arrived here, but before I knew it, he became a year lower than me." He continued.

Nico-chan, who had a strong physique like a bear's, nodded to Kakeru without smiling.

"So you're gonna be my neighbor. Nice to meet you."

Nico-chan, who had stubble growing on his impudent-looking face, really did not seem like a student. Kakeru secretly asked Kiyose, "Um, how many years can you stay in university for?"

"Eight years."

Nico-chan added to Kiyose's answer.

"This is still my fifth year."

"By the way, he failed his entrance exams twice." Yuki, whose real name was still unknown, impatiently interrupted. (4)

So that means he's twenty-five years old this year? Kakeru quickly calculated and looked at Nico-chan, who was still dignified despite all of that. He did not cut in with any jokes or get angry, never breaking his composed demeanour. Part of him wanted to avoid damage from smoke pollution, but he didn't seem like a person who was hard to deal with.

Kiyose finally introduced the other person.

"Kakeru, this is Iwakura Yukihiro. He's a law student and a fourth-year like me. We call him Yuki. He may not look it, but he's passed the bar."

"Hello."

Yuki curtly greeted him. Just like his name, his skin was an unhealthy-looking bluish-white. (5) He was lanky and wore glasses, and had a very high-strung, fussy-looking face. I should avoid anything that would make this person complain as much as possible, Kakeru thought.

Nico-chan took out a cigarette from his pocket. Acting like he didn't feel Yuki's condemning gaze, he lit it.

"Yo, Haiji. There seemed to be some kind of noise upstairs just now. What was that about?"

"The twins, as expected, stepped through a floorboard."

"Did they do that right away?" Yuki-chan laughed.

"Those two are idiots."

Yuki's cheek spasmed. "Even though they were specially assigned the biggest room in Aotake, isn't it meaningless if they stepped through that floorboard?"

"The upstairs room near the entryway had always been dangerous. I have to think of a way to reinforce it somehow."

Kiyose said, and Yuki frowned.

"I think it's Prince's fault though."

While Kiyose and Yuki were deep in talk, Kakeru was silently standing around with Nico-chan. Nico-chan had an astounding lung capacity, and his cigarette quickly turned to ash all the way close to the filter. He stubbed it out on the door to his room.

"Oi, Kakeru."

As expected, Nico-chan also suddenly called him by his given name without honorifics. "I realized something incredible just now."

"What is it?"

"You three have the same names as characters as that Masterpiece anime!"

"Hah…"

Kakeru knew little about anime, so he could only respond dully. Nico-chan, with his second cigarette between his fingers, pointed at Kiyose, Kakeru, and Yuki in that order.

"Haiji's obvious. Kakeru is Kurahara, so he's Clara. And finally, Yuki-chan's the goat. See?" (6)

"Please do not arbitrarily make a person into a goat."

"I'm Peter, and…"

Nico-chan said, ignoring him, and forcefully closed the door to Room 104 behind him. Yuki, burning with rage, spun on his heel and shut himself inside his room just like that. The door to Room 102 was also closed violently, and only the remnants of smoke and music drifted in the dark hallway.

"Umm…"

A bewildered Kakeru spoke up, but Kiyose lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry about it. They're always like that. They both seem to like you, so it's all good."

They like me? Really? Kakeru's bewilderment deepened more and more, but he stayed silent and walked a short distance back up the hallway, and watched Kiyose opened the door to Room 103.

"Well then, this is your room, Kakeru. Here's the key."

Kiyose pointed to a brass key with a round head hanging from the interior side of the room's door. "If you want to lock it from the inside, you have to put the key in the inside keyhole, and you do the same thing when you lock it from the outside. That's too annoying, so almost everyone keeps it unlocked when they're in their rooms."

Kakeru took the dull gold key. It had a retro shape, like it was for opening a magic door. The plating was worn off in places, and it had a warm roundness due to being in the hands of generations of the room's owners.

Kiyose took the lead and opened Room 103's window, letting in the wind. The room was six tatami mats wide (7), and there was also a closet. Kakeru tried opening the closet's sliding screen just to be sure. There were no bloodstains there like he was worried about, and the interior of the room was old but kept clean.

"Tomorrow, I'll teach you where the rental futon place is. Bear with my blanket for tonight. I'll bring it later."

"I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"There's a toilet and washroom on each floor. The job rotations for cleaning are posted in the kitchen every month. Since you just came, you can start in April. I make the meals in the morning and at night."

"You are? By yourself?"

"Just simple stuff. Each person supplies their own lunch. If you don't need breakfast or dinner, tell me the day before."

Kiyose stated the rules of Chikusei-sou without faltering. "For baths, you can go to Tsuru no yu a little ways from here, or you can also borrow the bath in the landlord's house. In that case, you have to do it between eight to eleven p.m. There is no need for advance reservations or cleaning the bath. Cleaning the bath is a hobby of the landlord's."

"Got it."

In order to hammer it all into his head, Kakeru concentrated and listened carefully to Kiyose's words.

"There's no curfew whatsoever. If there's anything unclear, just ask."

"What about mealtimes?"

"The times are different depending on the lectures, so everyone eats warmly. Most of the time it's around eight-thirty in the morning and seven-thirty at night."

"Got it."

Kakeru nodded and bowed his head again. "Please take care of me."

Kiyose once again smiled. Kakeru had been suspicious that he had some sort of ulterior motive for taking him to Chikusei-sou, but now that he met half of the residents of this apartment, it was difficult to continue to hold such suspicions. Kiyose and the residents he came across up until now were a bit strange, but they had accepted Kakeru immediately. Kiyose's smile was extremely modest and mild-mannered, without any hint of pushiness.

From the kitchen, the sound of the wall clock striking could be heard.

"Is it ten-thirty?"

As though he just recalled something, Kiyose's eyes moved to the wash basins he had left at the entrance.

"You can still use the landlord's bath. If you're not tired, do you want to go greet the main house?"

The two went out the entrance again. Kiyose encouraged Kakeru to wear orthopedic sandals, as it would be a pain to get out the shoes one by one. It seemed that everyone at Chikusei-sou favored wearing sandals whenever they walked in the neighborhood. There were several pairs of sandals that were taken off at the edge of the entrance.

They stepped on the gravel, crossed the garden, and headed for the one-story wooden house, which was the main house. Although called a garden, there were only a few large trees suitable for making shade, and they grew naturally alongside the hedges, and the rest were short and blunt. The simple appearance was almost like it was a garden in progress, and there was a large white station wagon parked there. It felt like it was only parked where the driver felt like, not that it was a fixed parking space.

Even though this was within Tokyo, it was a way to use a very luxurious piece of land. Perhaps because he could afford to do that now from settling where he was going to live, but for the first time, Kakeru was able to feel an affection for the area where his university is.

He had thought Tokyo was just a squalid and restless place. Kakeru breathed in the night air deeply. Surprisingly, that was also not the case. Here as well, people were diligently living. It was no different than the town he was born and raised in. There was someone's livelihood here, seeking comfort by planting hedges and creating a garden.

Perhaps because it heard the two's footsteps, the breathing of a creature that was strangely excited was heard in the darkness. When he looked closely, he saw a light brown mixed breed dog come out from beneath the porch of the main house, coming towards them while energetically wagging its tail.

"I forgot about this important resident."

Kiyose crouched down and stroked the dog's head. "This is the landlord's dog, Nira."

"That's a weird name."

Kakeru crouched down besides him and looked into the dog's deep black and wet eyes.

"A senpai who lived at Aotake before found him," Kiyose said, while raising up Nira's drooping ears by his fingers. "Apparently, in Okinawa, bliss is nira something…what was it? Anyways, it became his name after that."

"Heh, bliss?"

He certainly was a dog with a charming face free of any worries. It seemed like the perfect name for him.

"He's a dumb dog who loves everyone, but he's cute."

For a short while, Kiyose toyed with his ears and stretched his rounded tail, but Nira still showed his deep affection towards the two of them. Kakeru also stroked him on the head as substitute for a greeting. Nira was not chained and had a beautiful red leather collar around his neck. "It suits you," Kakeru whispered to the dog.

Chapter end