Volume 1 - CH 4.1

4th Period: KOF King Of Farmers 2011

“…I’m back.”

When I returned to the dormitory with the chicken and eggs, I was greeted by Minori in an apron.

“Welcome back. That took awhile didn’t it? Was something wrong?”

“Yeah…well…”

“…”

I’m stuttering. Kinoshita-san is silent. Yoshida-san’s cutting remark made the situation very delicate. Kinoshita-san hasn’t said a single word since we were with her… with gigaboobs…

“Well yeah. We’ll be ready soon, after we go change. Do you know where your room is Kinoshita? The third room from the front of the third floor… shall we go together?”

“Yeah.” After saying that in a dismissive tone, Kinoshita-san quickly climbed the stairs by herself. Minori being left behind looked a little lonely.

“That girl… Does she hate me or something?”

“I don’t think so. She seems to have that attitude towards everyone.”

“Well that’s a problem…”

Yes it is.

“OK! Let’s liven up the welcome party here and make sure we get along with Kinoshita-san!”

“Yeah, let’s do our best!”

The two of us shout to get some energy in the room then I go to my room on the second floor.

The “Aota Dormitory” is a 3 story student dormitory on the school grounds. The second floor is the men’s rooms and the third floor is the women’s rooms. There used to be more than 200 students in these dorms, but now there are only 5 including Kinoshita-san. In fact because the residents have decreased so much, there no longer is a teacher that stays in the dorm. Instead Becky just pops in to say “How are you…” every so often.

Actually the decrease in students staying in dorms is a nationwide trend. There are even cases of these dorms being demolished, especially at half-scale agricultural high schools like ours.

Furthermore, in high schools in large snowy regions such as Tohoku and Hokkaido, first-year students are said to be forced to stay in dorms and sent out for on-duty practical training. These are totally prisons.

“Aaa, that sounds fun though.”, I say to myself while standing in front of my room. I open the door and then close it.

Huh? Did I go to the wrong room? Because…oh that’s funny. The wallpaper in my room can’t be seen behind my Yuka-tan posters, instead of curtains there should be a life-size Yuka-tan tapestry hanging over the windows, I had made my own Yuka-tan body pillow case, magazines, blu rays, and DVDs and they were gone.

“Hahaha, this is a dream. Right? Because my room… it shouldn’t be like this…”

I open the door again and stumble into the room. A piece of paper was placed in the middle of the empty room.

“I threw it all away. –Mother”

“Whhhhaaaaaattttt?!”

“Where did it go?

“#()@|}?**”

Minori rushes to appear at my room. Was it you?! Did you do it!?

“The Yuka Kusakabe stuff? Yeah I tossed all. Put it in the school incinerator and turned it on.”

“8*+&^%@$!”

“CDs? DVDs? BDs? Those things are going to be sold by Kei. Oh and the sales are going to fund tonight’s welcome part.”

“$$$)(*!#–/99513++++><><!!!!”

“Why aren’t you speaking Japanese?”

“How can you do such an inhuman act?”

“Because, what do you think would happen if Kinoshita-san saw that disgusting collection?”

“Is this all of me?” -> “Impressive…” -> “Let’s get married!”

“It’ll be like that!”

“Nonsense! She’ll be disgusted and then it’ll be over.”

“Well that is…”

“I’m sure she’ll be disgusted. If she saw a room like that you’d be disappointed. You Idol Otaku! That’s Becky level cringe!”

“Becky level!?”

That’s too cruel!

“Well Kosaku…” says Minori while putting her hand on my shoulder. “Kei and I did this for your sake, didn’t we?”

Huh?

“For… my sake?”

“Yeah. It was out of consideration for you, while you two were going through the school on a date.”

“A date in the school…?”

Oh oh oh, I see. I was on a date with Yuka-tan…

“You’re not just a fan anymore. You’re a friend who will spend every day with her. If you keep treating her like an idol you won’t be able to see her as an individual girl. Isn’t that your dream?”

“Minori!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, I involuntarily hugged my childhood friend in front of me.

“Wha!?” Minori makes a strange noise as I hug her.

“I’m… I’m so moved right now…”

“Oh… is that right? Good for you.”

“I will definitely become good friends with Yuka-tan. I’ll make my dreams come true.”

“That was a joke…”

“I’ll try my best. I’ll really try my best!”

“…yeeeah. Do your best Ko-tan…”, she whispers while gently hugging me back. She gently strokes me on the back like a mother would to her son.

“…What are you guys doing in the hallway?”

“Hwhaaa!?”

When Kei returned and saw us we broke it up quickly. That was embarrassing.

******

The party has started.

“OK. Now why don’t we poor some drinks?”, says Minori as she uncorks and pours some drinks.

“Now now. Here Kinoshita-san.” With a smile on my face I pour the slimy cloudy liquid into Kinoshita-san’s glass.

“…what’s this?”

“’Nyupis’. It’s a lactic acid drink that Yamagata Prefecture’s Shonai Agricultural High School (Udo Suzuki’s alma mater) started making half a century ago. Nowadays agricultural schools are all making this drink and selling it in their direct sales store.”

“What does it taste like?”

“Karupis right?” (TN Note: Karupis is a milky drink that eventually got renamed Calpico in America because Karupis sounds like ‘Cow Piss’)

“Yeah Karupis”

“Definitely Karupis”

How about reading the room more Kei-kun.

Everyone got a glass of Nyupis and had a toast.

“Well then a toast! Dormitory manager Kosaku-kun should give the welcome!”

“Nice to meet you, I’m the dormitory manager Kosaku Hata. Today we want to welcome Kinoshita Ringo-san. Everyone here today and even those who aren’t here are all happy to have you here.”

“Kampai!”

Listen.

“Eat eat! I can’t offer much hospitality in a place like this, but I can offer you all the food you can eat!”, says Minori while handing Kinoshita-san a small saucer of vinegar and soy sauce.

All the dishes are arranged on the table in this masterpiece that Minori made. There is an especially eye-catching chicken dish in the center, which can only be described as luxurious using a whole free-range chicken.

There are various chicken dishes made including a hot pot, sashimi, fried chicken wings, and drum sticks. Kinoshita-san can’t seem to decide which one to pick up with her chopsticks.

“If you like, you can drizzle the hot pot with ponzu sauce and eat the sashimi with soy sauce and vinegar.”

“Hey Hata.” As I’m called I bring out the wasabi as if I’d been waiting to be asked for it.

Of course this isn’t just some commercially available wasabi in a tube. I am an agricultural high school student. Even the wasabi is home made. It’s been grown for 4 years and just harvested. It’s a masterpiece that can be said to be the main show at the welcome party. It’s grown so much that it looks like a mandragora. It was so magnificent even Kinoshita-san let out sounds of admiration.

“It’s so big…”

“Isn’t it!? This wasabi is grown with clean spring water, so it’s not only spicy but also sweet and delicious!”

There was nothing else special about it, but it’s grown in Gifu prefecture where the water and air are clean. The flowers that bloom from them in early spring are delicious when eaten in tempura or boiled.

“Look, I’ll put it on for you. Just say when.”

“Uh…”

“Do you still want more?  You want more? OK keep it coming. Heeeeere!”

When a bright green hill had formed on the small saucer of vinegar and soy sauce Kinoshita-san said, “…I don’t like wasabi.”

Huh?

“You don’t like…”

Super computer!

I was smacked on the back of the head by Kei and Minori at the same time.

“Sorry Kinoshita-san? Kosaku is an idiot that puts wasabi in a vinegar/soy sauce mix. You just want plain wasabi right?”

“…”

Minori quickly makes this excuse for her but Kinoshita-san remains silent. Ugh… I’m sorry… Kei and Minori are so busy trying to make Kinoshita-san feel better that I’m left crying and eating the wasabi.

“Hey Kinoshita, It looks like the nabe will be ready to eat soon right?”

“Kinoshita-san, the bang bang chicken is almost ready. Oh and the sashimi too! Have you ever had chicken wings? Do you know how to eat wings? Oh, people from Tokyo may not know how to eat wings. This is kind of hard to each actually… Hey Minori!”

“Ahh. I’ll cut it into smaller pieces that are easier to eat.”

“Hey, the eggs! I’ve made some egg dishes from local chickens and spring water. They are also excellent.”

“…I can’t eat that much.”

“Oh.. yeah. Sorry. We are being a little overbearing aren’t we… ahaha.”

“S..sorry. Please eat at your leisure.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Minori, can you pass the soy sauce?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“This is delicious… This meat…”

“Yeah. It’s local chicken.”

“Is that so…”

“Yeah…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

This goes on for awhile.