Ultramarine Cherry Blossom, A Petal
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Chapter 1
… Woof, I’m so ner~vous. Kanzaki-dono, do you think our strategy will succeed?
Whether success finds us or failure does depends on us. Isn’t setting up an ambush your specialty, Sengoku? You are a ninja after all.
You really hit where it hurts… Uuu~... Even for me, standing before enemy lines is enough to stress me out!
… Agh! That was a figure of speech just now! It’s just that it’s a different agency, so that’s why I called them “enemy lines”, I don’t actually see them as the enemy or anything!
I’m not a suspicious person at all! Please don’t report me~!
Calm down. Look, those in NEWDI have been gazing at us warmly. … Although I’m not so sure what they’d think if they knew that the reason we were here was to ambush someone.
Anyways, we have a valid reason to be here. We should carry ourselves with confidence.
Kanzaki-dono…
Alright! Confidence, then!
… Hm, I feel some kind of presence… Kanzaki-dono?
Mhm. Let us proceed, Sengoku!
Understood! Shutatata…
Coming all the way to pick me up at the airport… You sure do have a lot of free time, don’t you, Anzu?
Mnm, “I had a job nearby so I figured I’d stop by?”
Hey, you’re supposed to lie and give a nice reason, y’know?
Jeez, you’re honest to a fault…
Pardon us!
Pardon us!
Whoa, you scared me! Where the hell did you guys just come from?
There is something we wish to ask of you, Sena-dono, so we have been lying in wait here for the past hour.
The past hour? You could’ve just messaged me on HoldHands, you know.
Nay. This is something that should be discussed in person.
Huh~? Look, I just got back to Japan, so I’d really rather avoid any heavy conversations… What is it?
The truth is, we were planning an overnight stay at AOUMI Aquarium for OCEANS to have.
We know you just got back home for work, so it might be a little hard for you to do, but… We just thought we don’t get this chance very often. We want you to participate too, Sena-dono!
Hm~mn… So that’s what that was about, huh?
What “what” was about?
I got a message from Kao-kun about three days ago. He told me to keep my weekend open.
I guess it’s a good thing Kao-kun laid some groundwork ahead of time, but like I just said, you guys should’ve just messaged me on HoldHands.
You guys wouldn’t want someone to invite you to go somewhere last minute, would you?
Hm. You do have a point…
Duh. So it was an invite for a circle activity, huh? Couldn’t have guessed. I need to talk to Kao-kun about being more clear with his wording.
So... What? You said something about staying overnight?
That is right. We will set up camp in our favorite areas and sleep with sleeping bags.
So we get the whole aquarium to ourselves for the night? Not a bad deal, huh…? ♪
Anzu-dono, what is it? … "Feature Live"?
Hm… You want to take pictures of me at the aquarium to use for the “pam-furetto”1 for my “Feature Raibu”?
Well, we do get the next morning to do whatever we like, so let us meet then.
If you’d like, you can use the pictures I will be taking in the middle of our sleepover? I have been learning the art of the selfie myself…♪
I’ll help too then. I’ll act in your stead, Anzu-dono, and take all kinds of pictures of the goings-on at the sleepover!
Heheheh, I’m so excited for this weekend…♪
Mhm. Let us enjoy the sleepover to the fullest, for Anzu-dono and for the “pam-furetto” as well.
— alright now, everyone. please take your assigned [cleaning] stations.
Huh~? Who said anything about cleaning…? I thought we just came for the sleepover?
this is part of our [club activities]. there are many things you cannot understand if you simply look at them through the [glass].
you can come to get to know the creatures of the sea. we will learn things like what they eat, or what they do during the night ♪
I feel like you’re just using us for free labor, but… Well, whatever. Can’t go home now, I guess.
Ahaha. You have your fair share of complaints, and yet you’re pretty easy to get on board with stuff, huh~?
Anyways, Souma-kun, you’ve been taking selfies for a long while now, haven’t you? That doesn’t seem like a very you thing to do.
They are for Anzu-dono.
Mn~nn… Wait, what for?
What for…? I don’t know why you are so alarmed, but I promised here that I would take pictures for my Feature “Raibu” work.
… It is very rare to get the chance to be in the aquarium after-hours like this, though it would have been nice for Anzu-dono to be here with us too.
No way, that’s a little…
Right. Anzu-dono is not a member of “O-shan-zu”, so it would not be proper for her to stay the night in a room with only men.
Mn~nn… Well, let’s just leave it there.
If that’s what you’re up to, I can show you how to take good selfies if you want? Not to toot my own horn, but I know a thing or two about taking them~
Hmph. I can do it plenty fine on my own. … However, if your assistance will mean that they turn out better, then I invite it.
souma~ kaoru~ it is wonderful that you two are getting along, but do not forget your chores, okay?
Mhm!
Yes~sir.
Shutatata… Click-click ☆
Heh-heh. That was yet another wonderful picture ♪
Chapter 2
Phew, I’m beat~
With all the picture-taking and cleaning, you must be quite tired. Thank you very much for your hard work today.
I should say the same to you, Kanzaki-dono. You were a huge help, it was all thanks to you giving me tips on how to clean and maintain fish tanks that I could do a good job.
That’s the president of the Marine Life Club alright, you’re a walking encyclopedia~♪
Heheh. It is entirely thanks to the loving upbringing I received from Shinkai-dono.
… And Hakaze-dono too, I suppose.
Heheh. I feel like you were reluctant to tack that on at the end, huh?
That man’s frivolousness was stand-out while he attended Yumenosaki Academy, but…
It seems that even after he graduated, his fondness for the Marine Life Club persisted so much that he would come back and help take care of the water tanks. One should evaluate people by objective reality without being stubborn.
… I do not see any of the others. Where did they decide to sleep for the night?
Hakaze-dono has set up his sleeping bag near the coral section, and Sena-dono has set his up near the jellyfish tanks. And Shinkai-dono is—
you called~?
Ohh. You have your sleeping bag with you, so does that mean you intend to sleep here?
yes, the [schools of fish] here are pretty, after all.
did the two of you take good pictures?
Indeed. I was able to unwind, so we took many pictures. I am deeply grateful to have received your permission to do so here.
not at all~ i am certain that the [sea creatures] were happy to have their pictures taken too.
Snzz… Snzz…
… Mn, morning already?
? Shinkai-dono isn’t here…
I wonder where he’s gone off to. Well, Shinkai-dono does just wander where the wind takes him.
…
… Well, I am awake to where I cannot fall asleep. I may as well go for a walk.
… Somehow, the aquarium has a mystical feeling to it without the people around.
… Hm? That sound… Could it be…?
Ah, so it was the dolphin show after all?
hm? souma? you are up already?
I could ask you the same thing, Shinkai-dono. You are training dolphins at this hour?
as you know, today is the first time in a long time there will be a [dolphin show], so both me and the children are raring to go.
thanks to you and everyone else being so careful cleaning and maintaining the tanks, everyone is in high spirits.
everyone~ let us all greet souma.
They are all chirping, “peep peep." How adorable…♪
… Oh, that's right.
why are you taking out your cellphone?
… ahhh, you are going to take a selfie, hm?
Mhm. I want to send Anzu-dono a picture of me and the dolphins, but…
Mmngh. I cannot really get them all to fit into the picture.
that would probably be because i am letting them swim around right now~
mr. dolphins, please go behind souma~♪ smile nice and big~! alright, say “peace”… ☆
Hm? The dolphins are making peace signs?
heh heh heh (Snickering) i was talking to you just now, souma~? alright, say “peace”...☆
I see. Well then, alright, “peace” ☆
… Anzu-dono, sorry to have kept you waiting. I am grateful that despite me asking you on such short notice, you came earlier than the time we planned.
The featured dolphin show is being held for the first time in a long time, so all tickets have already been sold, but...
Because we are already here, they have allowed the members of “O-shan-zu” to watch a special “re-haa-saru”.
Hm? What about Sengoku?
… I see. So he had sent you a great deal of photographs already a little while ago?
I had thought of sending you mine after, but I had taken quite a bunch of them as well. Look, see? ♪
… You think that these might be enough that you will not have to take any? Hmm…
Nay. The more choices we have to pick from, the better. I want you to take my pictures too, just like you did for the others. And if we could look over them and select them together, I would consider it a great godsend.
The entrance for staff is this way. Now, let us embark ♪
“alright everybody! say [thank you for coming]...!”
Whoaa!
M-Mnmnh. This amount of water is but a drop in the bucket compared to the waterfall mediations I do.2
Heheh, you got just as wet as I did, did you not, Anzu-dono?
Shinkai-dono said that the dolphins would splash a lot more water on us during “re-haa-saru” than during the actual show, but… I did not think it would be this much.
Please rest easy. I had prepared “tow-o-ru”s before hand, and it seems we can request to use a “hair do-ria”, as well.
Oh, it seems another deluge is coming. Steel yourself, Anzu-dono!
Whoa. You guys got super wet, huh.
Ahaha, and yet they can’t stop smiling. That’s youth, huh~
This is gonna be a huge pain to deal with later, but here you are laughing like kids.
Heheh… Yes, I am still an inexperienced child. I hope to grow everyday, but I still have a long way to go.
So please, take a picture and capture this moment, so I can look back one day and reminisce on such fond times.
Take good care of me, Anzu-dono…♪
Translation Notes
- ↑ In Japanese, words from other languages (such as English) are typically rendered in katakana. However, when Souma uses katakana words, they are all written in hiragana instead, likely to emphasize how he struggles with foreign words. These words are kept as written in hiragana, and put in "quotes".
- ↑ Takigyo (滝行; waterfall training) is also known as waterfall meditation, where one stands underneath a rushing waterfall and bolsters their minds. This was common for samurai, Buddhists and Shintoists.