Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Chapter 1 part3

The last chapter part for the year! Next chapter is the last part of Chapter 1…out of twelve chapters (plus prologue and epilogue)…out of a 590 page novel…haha

Full list of translations

Translation Notes

1. This is like the second time I made a note for this, but a tokonoma is an alcove where art of flowers are displayed.

The landlord, whose name was Tazaki Genichirou, was a hale and hearty old man.

Kiyose properly embellished and talked about Kakeru's situation, telling him that he wanted him to wait on rent for a while. The landlord nodded without his expression even changing. However, as soon as he heard Kakeru's name, the old man's face changed slightly.

"Kurahara Kakeru… Could you be Kurahara Kakeru from Sendai's Jousei High?"

He asked that in a hurried tone, and it was unclear if he was irritated or excited, like a person who was hit in the face by fine sea spray at the beach. Kakeru's whole body tensed at being before someone who seemed to know his past. At the same time, his misgivings about Kiyose taking him to Chikusei-sou filled his heart again, and he got a bad feeling. Kakeru wanted to be as unconnected as possible from the world of running for records and being manipulated and swayed by the jealousy and competitiveness of his teammates.

With a stiff expression, Kakeru cast his eyes down and stood at the front door of the main house. Perhaps there was think about in Kakeru's demeanour, but the landlord did not insistently keep at him.

"Well, get along with everyone. Don't destroy the apartment, okay."

Only saying that, he immediately withdrew to the living room where the TV was on. While thinking about how he had immediately saw a hole made in the floor, Kakeru looked back at Kiyose.

"Don't say anything," Kiyose said. "The landlord won't come to see the building unless it collapses."

The bathroom was at the very back of the main house. There was also a large washing machine in the dressing room. On the wall, there was a piece of paper with the words "Laundry can be done until 10 p.m. Prewash your underwear first" written with a brush, pinned in place with a thumb tack. They were written with a flourish, like those from a hanging scroll displayed in the tokonoma of an inn. (1) Kakeru was distracted by the difference between the written contents when the door of the dark bathroom suddenly opened from the inside. Along with steam, a black man came out into the dressing room. Kakeru shrank back from all the unexpected things happening one after another, and his butt bumped into washing machine behind him. The black man looked over at Kakeru and Kiyose with an "Oh?"

While wiping his body with a towel, he said, "Good evening, Haiji-san," greeting Kiyose without any hint of an accent. "Who is this?"

"This is our newest resident, Kurahara Kakeru. Kakeru, this is Musa Kamara, an exchange student. He lives in Room 203, and he's a second-year science and engineering student."

"Nice to meet you, Kakeru."

While completely naked, Musa held out his hand with a refined movement. Kakeru, who was not used to shaking hands, somewhat awkwardly gripped his hand.

Musa was about Kakeru's height, and he had thoughtful and calm eyes. Given that all the residents Kakeru had met up to now were noisy, he was a bit relieved at finally getting to know someone who was sensibly calm. However, there were also things he was curious about.

"Why did you get into the bath without turning on the lights?"

Musa flashed a bright smile at Kakeru's question.

"It is for training myself," he said. "Getting into the water in a dark place brings us great apprehension. However, by doing so on purpose, I endeavour to try and look at myself. How about you try this challenge, Kakeru?"

Contrary to expectations, Musa's Japanese did not falter, and as a spoken language, it sounded formal and there was an odd humor to it.

"I will try it."

While he answered that, Kakeru thought, there's a weird guy here too.

After Kiyose and Musa left the dressing room, Kakeru sighed from finally being alone.

He took off his clothes, turned on the bathroom lights and rubbed his body in the washing area. He hadn't gone to a public bath in a while either, so it had been a long time since he properly washed himself. After he finished washing his body, he made his mind to try turning off the lights.

It was just as Musa said. Going into a bath in the darkness was something that made one feel uneasy for some reason. Moreover, it was a bath in a house that Kakeru came to for the first time. He didn't know his surroundings and hit his shin against the step inside the bathtub. Because the landlord was elderly, it was probably set up as a footrest for him.

Kakeru groped around and settled down, stretching his feet in the bath that was getting close to becoming lukewarm. In the darkness, the water felt heavy. He felt like the sound of the water echoing in the bathroom every time he moved somehow sounded louder.

He closed his eyes. His fears and anxieties towards starting a new life were floating in the water with him. The faces of his parents, which were overflowing with disappointment as they offhandedly told him, "We'll transfer money to you, so do as you like." The rows of houses he could see from the elliptical track as he continued to run every single day. The sounds of the lockers his teammates, with open contempt on their faces, violently slammed shut. Those things crossing his mind, Kakeru sank into the water all the way up to the tip of his nose.

The clearer his position became, the harder his heart began to beat. Even when he covered his ears with wet hands, it resounded loudly throughout his body. Kakeru finally pushed his face out of the water and breathed in the air. At the same time, he opened his shut eyes.

From the window of the dim bathroom, he could faintly see Chikusei-sou next to the main house. There were more windows with lights in them than before. The lights casted gentle silhouettes in the darkened garden.

Maybe Mussan likes taking baths while looking at this scenery, Kakeru thought.

When he returned to his just-allocated Chikusei-sou room, Kiyose's blanket was placed there.

The house rattled everywhere in the room. The creaking near the ceiling was especially severe. The sound resembling dead branches snapping off was constant.

From now on, this is where I'll belong.

Kakeru covered himself in the blanket and laid down. He could feel the scent of the tatami at the tip of his nose. The house continued to rattle, but he felt more at ease than he had during the nights sleeping outside.

He closed his eyes, and sleep soon visited him.

Chapter end