[Transl] KKM 9 Ch. 1 Part 2
KKM vol.9 Ch. 1
Disclaimers: Maruma Series belongs to Tomo Takabayashi and Kadokawa Beans Bunko. This is a non-profit fan translation, over which I wield no rights. If asked I will take them down.
Reminders: Translation from K->E with referencing from original Japanese text. This translator does not speak English as her first language, do keep in mind. Read at your own risk.
Warning: Plese do not re-post translations :)
Translators Note: lrenne has graciously agreed to proofread and correct the translations! Much thanks!
Please let me know if you notice grammer mistakes, phrases or expressions that don't sound natural, I will see to fixing them :D.
Chapter 01 - Part 2 cont.
As expected there was no one at the autumn pool.
All the students and visitors seemed to have gathered at the auditorium for the Miss Contest.
There was no sight of anyone anywhere in the school yard.
We passed through the open gate and walked up the dry concrete steps.
Withered brown ginko leaves were scattered over the chipped tiles.
"It's not so much the matter of place though..."
"Then what is it? Tell me, you are the Great Sage after all."
Murata genially shrugged with his shoulders.
"Weeell, let's give it a go. If it makes you happy."
"Ri~ght, I'll do that now, I'm getting to it... Wow, this is great! There's still clean water here. Ah, prep academy, your school's rich-- Eh? Murata, there's something posted here."
About 10 sheets of paper were plastered on the fence encircling the water filled pool.
The notice was written with brush in light water-color, in a commanding style.
"Water, swimming, men, synchroni... This isn't a poems contest... Ah this word here is in hiragana. Water0Boys... Water0Boys, what is this?”
"Seems to me like a poster - Oh!"
Murata - being a student of this school - seemed to have remembered something.
Suddenly, a loud booming siren rang - followed by a background music for sports - from the speakers.
The volume was turned up so loud that the high notes crackled.
"Wha- what's happening? Earthquakes, thunder and bearded old men?!!!"
"Shibuya, you're afraid of beards?"(7)
(7) It is said that the three things Japanese fear most are earthquakes, thunders and old men.
As we stood there flabbergasted, a swimming team appeared sans socks on cue to the music. A half nude trio who held their heads high, plus a coach clad in track suit.
The team consisted of one very thin, one very large and one medium built person, strangely well balanced.
If there was one thing unusual, it was the fact that... the team members were all old men.
"Er.."
"Damn it. I didn't think this event would be taking place now."
Their eyes trained on a confused me and a disgruntled Murata, the men lined up on the other side.
As the tracksuit-clad coach blew the whistle, the three twisted their old bodies to form a pose of the katakana [ク](ku).
"We are the lively Old Boys!!!"
"Principal."
"School master."
"Vice-principal."
So they aren’t the Kishimashi Grandpas. (8)
(8) Kishimasi Musume - a comedy trio consisting of three very old ladies.
That ‘0’, wasn't a zero but an 'O'.
Red swim caps and red swimming shorts.
Wait a sec, I thought the outline of the shorts was a little too clearly defined, yet it was neither a bikini nor a thong, but a swimming fundoshi from the old days!!!???(9)
(9) Fundoshi is undergarment used in pre-modern Japan.
Feeling the cold concrete beneath the soles of my feet, I whispered to Murata.
"Still, why are they doing this Water-fundoshi-Boys thing now? Spring's long since ended."
"The chairman of the board is from a school where Men's synchronized swimming began, that's why. But since no one joins the swimming club in a prep school like ours, this is the end result of attempting to keep up the show through willpower.”
"Yeeees--- Visitors, are you enjoying yourself today?"
You're reading it off the scripts.
A bleary script reading for the two of us, who’ve by an unfortunate turn of things, have become involuntary observers.
As they began their repertoire, the music changed to an up-beat tune, and the principal-school master-vice principal trio hurled themselves into the water.
There is no warm-up, even though it’s this cold.
In time to the dreary whistling of the coach, they lifted their muscled legs or floated their chubby stomach.
Something red - either the fundoshi or the swim cap - moved, displaying quite the eroticism of the event.
"I don't know why, but Murata, tears are clouding my vision."
"Me too. Aahh, it's [Inugami Ichizoku]." (10)
(10) Inugami Ichizoku - a mystery novel, in which a victim is found dead submerged in the water, with only his feet sticking upwards.
It was after the three had performed a few synchronized moves, and had dived under water together.
On both sides, the heads of the guy who was too thin and the prodigious man broke the water surface right away, but the middle-height, middle-sized man in the middle of the 50m pool did not rise, even after a count of ten.
"School master, the vice principal hasn't come up?!!"
"What did you say, Principal?!! The vice *fshoot-* puwincipwual 'az-"
He was speaking funny.
His dentures must have fallen out with that shooting sound.
"Vice principal!!!"
"Uwaahhh!!"
"Pi--- Pi--- Pu------!!!"
The last sound was a whistle.
Thrashing their arms and legs, the principal and school master struggled in an attempt to reach their sinking fellow.
But because of their age, they didn't quite manage.
They were wailing about swallowing water, and getting cramps in their legs.
The coach by the pool had turned white and stumbled to the floor, whistle still in his mouth.
"What do we do Murata?! This is an emergency! They should have followed the normal routine! This is what happens when you swim without warming up!"
I threw away my uniform jacket, and kicked off the diving board.
The target is a fragile old man. If he's not rescued in time, his life will be in danger.
I completely forgot the things like the cold and chill, or the fact that I hadn't done any warm-up myself.
Diving into this light blue world, holding my breath, I saw a flailing medium built man near the bottom. He was gurgling foam from his mouth.
It's not too late. In two strokes I reached the vice-principal.
Was I this good at swimming?
Weaving my arms around the thrashing body, I anchored my hands under his armpit and laboriously hauled him upwards.
I felt the tension of the surface, and the vice-principal burst out into the open.
"Yeeeeesss!!! Lift accomplished!!!"
This ain’t a lift!
The team mates, who'd managed to walk over to us, caught the vice-principal's shoulders.
What the- you can stand in this pool?!!
In order to give them a piece of my mind, I attempted to stand up on my heels.
But.
"Ack"
The bottom of the pool had vanished under my feet.
The rough light blue tiles were gone.
Not only that, but my whole body is pulled under as if there was a suction pipe below.
My resisting ankles were being dragged away by a strong chilling force.
As I panicked, I accidentally swallowed water.
But then, I realized.
Maybe - no, not maybe, but finally - my chance had come?
At the end of all hope, hanging on that one last possibility, I have succeeded in finding the one thing I needed the most.
Sinking into the chlorine-smelling water, I noticed Murata shouting something.
Oh- he wanted me to recuperate.
But I can't, they're calling me. And I wanted to return, as soon as I could.
I'll rest, I promise.
The next time I return, I'll do that for sure.
It's all right, I'm confident in my stamina, and rather than agonizing over something in my head, I prefer facing things head on.
Meeting difficulties face-to-face doesn't mean that I'll break.
Feeling like striking a pose of victory, I was sucked into that world overflowing with white and blue.
Next up is the long awaited Star Tours.
No doubt, I'll get to where they are.
End of Chapter 01