Go For It!1
……
Hey, Kinugawa-kun. I wanted to check on you while I’m on break.
Ah…
I heard that the lantern wasn’t totally finished, so I wanted to ask what happened.
…It’s…up there.
Oh, that one? Woah…
……
……
(He’s not saying anything…)
(I guess Nanamegi thinks that my art is…)
So this lantern…
Ga… Gannosuke-san said…! Even…
(He said that even if it’s not finished, I could still…)
…Put…it up…!
Gannosuke-san said that even if it’s not finished, you could still put it up?
(H-He understood me…)
I see. I agree with him. It’s sad that it might get wet in the rain, but…
I really like it. It’s super unique and interesting. I’d even want it for myself. You were inspired by the egg, right?
…Huh…?
I like creepy-cute stuff like that.
…!
Alright, I’m gonna head back to work. See you later.
(He likes..it… He likes it…)
(But Nanamegi’s really popular, unlike Isotake… Maybe he just pretended to like it to be nice… Yeah, that’s it…)
(…And it’s not finished anyway.)
…But even if it’s not genuine…it doesn’t hurt…that much.
Welp, this ain’t good. The rain’s startin’ to come down.
It is? Well, guess they did show it comin’ in on the weather radar. We don’t got any of those fancy weather control units we can use.
We should make an announcement to call the festival off sooner rather than later. I’ll go get it ready.
*sigh*
Hey, Andy.
<Hello, Nanaki. What can I help you with?>
It’s raining.
<That is certainly a problem. Do you have an umbrella with you?>
I don’t need one, so you don’t have to order one for me… I just wanna ask you for some advice.
<Certainly, if it is something Andy can assist with.>
I wanted to show him the song I made…but now it’s raining. Why do things always have to end on a bitter note?
<It may be because you are in love. The bitter feeling is proof of that.>
Nononono! What are you saying? I’m not in love yet! …Right?
<No, you are.>
Nonono… What? There’s no way.
<You are in love.>
N-No…
<HEYHEYHEY! This is HQ! Reply immediately, Private Nanamegi!>
I’m surprised you can stay so upbeat in all this rain. What’s up?
<I’d like to ask of you a favor, good sir! I think they’re gonna make the announcement to call off the festival soon, so…>
<Hijack that thing! And put my voice on there! You can do that, right?>
Huh?! What are y—
<That is very improper, Akuta-san.>
Andy, please be quiet. I can’t do that. Well, I can do it, since I’m in charge of the sound equipment, but I won’t. I’m not doing it.
<Why not?! Just do it! Don’t you wanna be popular?! If the summer festival goes well, we’re all gonna turn into celebs overnight!>
……
<I’m gonna get SUPER popular and play tag on the moon! And there are gonna be bunnies there, and they’re gonna have mochi too!>
……
<Are you just gonna give up?>
!
<If you do, you’re gonna waste your summer. That kinda attitude makes life boring.>
<Listen up. As a certain egg-drinking boxer once said…>
<“It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward!”>2
Gh… But you can’t do the impossible! You can’t just make the rain go away by sheer will!
<You cubehead! Stupid! Goat!>
He hung up.
<I assume he meant “blockhead.”>
…See you later, Andy.
*sigh…*
……
(Hijacking an announcement? Seriously? Sounds like something a kid would think up.)
(It’s not realistic at all, and we might end up causing trouble for the chief. And it’s not like it’s gonna stop the festival from being canceled. The rain’s getting heavier.)
(Yeah, I don’t have to do anything. Just like Kurama said, there’s no point in struggling. It’s a waste of energy.)
……
I know. I know that, but…
(I feel like something inside me’s gonna die out if I keep sitting here…)
Aggghh! Dammit!! Akuta, you dumbass!
Well… We prepared all of this because you told us we had to, so…
I understand. Again, I apologize.
(Ugh, this is so annoying. Do you have to keep going on about it?)
It was your idea to sell baby castellas in the first place.
And you said that they wouldn’t be normal baby castellas because they’d have a specially-made syrup on them…
Yes, I’m very sorry about that once again.
I don’t think you have to worry about it so much. The sponge cake by itself tastes good enough.
(The stall’s gonna close soon because of the rain anyway.)
You need to learn a thing or two about taking responsibility for your words! Especially when you involve other people!
I know, that’s why I keep apologizing. What else can I do? I’m just a high schooler.
Excuse me.
Are you one of their instructors? Just what are you teaching these kids?!
I only caught wind of the conversation just now, but it seems that he has been quite rude to you all. I deeply apologize.
We’re all putting aside time in our busy lives to be here, you know.
Yes, I understand. Though we only arrived here a few days ago, we are aware how much effort the residents of this island put into this festival.
Our student here has been working hard in his own way in preparation for the event, but please direct your attention to this rain. He is not yet at the age where he is accustomed to these situations…
So may I ask of you madams to look upon him kindly with your hearts as deep and vast as the ocean?
Well, I suppose it is a shame that it’s raining when you’ve come here from so far away.
And since cities have weather control units, he’s probably not used to dealing with this.
(Hmph.)
*phone ringing*
Excuse me, that is my phone…
(It is the chief. How is he faring, I wonder…?)
<This is the executive committee. Due to rain, the Shodoshima summer festival will…>
I knew it. They’re just gonna cancel the whole thing.
*static*
<Nanaki, I can start talking, right? I’m good? Okay, okay! Check, one, two!>
<The festival will…NOT BE CANCELED!>
…What?
W-What is happening?! Was that Akuta-kun’s voice?!
…It’s…not…canceled?
H—
How the fuck am I supposed to know?!
……
Hello, Sakujiro-san? It’s me! I was able to borrow a weather control device from KOBE!
Long time no see, Sakujiro-san. Go ‘n’ tell Kafka that I paid off my debt with this!
Koharu-san’s with me right now! We’re in the middle of setting the device up…
Sorry for makin’ you borrow something so important, but I don’t think settin’ that up’s gonna do anything now.
Exactly, it feels like a waste of effort. Every shot from this thing costs a lotta money, don’t it?
Don’t worry ‘bout it. KOBE’s got your back, so go ‘head ‘n’ shoot.
(Yeah… They told me that they wanted to return a favor, so they just let me borrow this without asking why, even though it’s usually so expensive to operate that I wouldn’t consider it.)
Koharu-san, thank you so much!
I’m gonna head back to the festival grounds… Uh, Sakujiro-san, can you hear me? You haven’t said anything!
<Didja think it was gonna get canceled? Well, I wouldn’t mind if it did, but…>
(Hm? I can hear Akuta-kun’s voice… Sakujiro-san isn’t saying anything. What’s going on?)
<Alright, everyone ready?!>
<Ten seconds ‘til launch!>
Footnotes
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A reference to Go for It (1983). ↩
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A quote from Rocky Balboa (2006). ↩