JSWGAS Chapter 35

35.

“…What exactly did you do?”

Mr. Tsurumi watched the Miyagi brothers leave in an awkward, synchronized manner, then turned to his grandson and asked.

Kokonoe Taka was bending down to pick up the snow shovel. He had deliberately kicked it over, and it had successfully tripped the Miyagi brothers. He straightened up and replied slowly, “They think I’m a ghost.” He completely omitted the cause and effect, and as he spoke, he even sighed meaningfully, “It’s really sad. I was just trying to make friends with them when I said hello.”

–If Oikawa Tōru were here, he would shout that he was lying again, while Iwaizumi Hajime would unhesitatingly use his fist to clear his head, which was full of bad ideas.

But Mr. Tsurumi believed him without hesitation: “Those twins are indeed mischievous sometimes.” He said, “Their names are Yu and Osamu… They are the children of that Mrs. Miyagi from before, and we’ve practically watched them grow up.”

“Then the Miyagi family must be very lively usually.”

He walked next to Mr. Tsurumi, and they walked together toward the Tsurumi house.

“Mrs. Miyagi has a real headache with them.” Mr. Tsurumi said, “I often hear her complaining that her sons are too energetic. Since she sent them to learn volleyball half a year ago, they haven’t been causing as much trouble… You seem to be involved in sports too?” As he said this, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and looked at Kokonoe Taka.

A bad premonition arose in Kokonoe Taka’s heart: “Grandfather…?”

Mr. Tsurumi suddenly realized something: “If you’re also involved in sports, you should be able to get along with those twins, right…?”

Kokonoe Taka: “…”

Not good, super not good! Kokonoe Taka tried to tactfully dispel his grandfather’s dangerous idea: “Actually, I don’t really want to.” He said, “I’m only staying here for a few days–”

He had only been in contact with the Miyagi brothers for such a short period of time, but he could already sense their inherent restlessness. Just now, there were too many sudden situations, and their heads couldn’t turn around quickly enough, which was why they left quietly. Maybe after they went back, they would come to their senses and come looking for trouble again.

Mr. Tsurumi had no idea what he was thinking: “Although it’s only for a few days, it would be boring for you to be alone, wouldn’t it?”

Kokonoe Taka: “…” I can hole up in my room and beat all the games.

Mr. Tsurumi opened the door and urged him to enter the house quickly: “You’re about the same age, so you’ll be able to talk about things more easily than your grandmother and I.” He closed the door, and the cold air was immediately blocked outside. He patted Kokonoe Taka’s shoulder, “We can’t always hold back your nature. Just think of it as coming to play, and relax a little more, okay?”

Having said that, Kokonoe Taka could only utter a vague response from his throat.

…

…………

Mrs. Miyagi opened the door and was surprised to see the dispirited Miyagi twins.

“Did you two shovel the snow properly?” She leaned against the doorframe and narrowed her eyes.

Miyagi Osamu, “…”

Miyagi Yu, “…”

After being driven out by their mother to shovel snow, they had actually been honest for a while.

But their mother’s authority only lasted for less than five minutes before disappearing on the ground covered with fine snow. Miyagi Osamu silently swung his small shovel like a whirlwind. Miyagi Yu listened to the sound and had no doubt that his brother was probably venting his emotions on the snow he was shoveling to pieces. –He was still brooding over the sweetfish simmered in soy sauce that had been snatched from him that afternoon.

But he didn’t care about that at all: What was there to care about? He thought, anyway, what Osamu has is also mine.

So Miyagi Yu threw down his shovel and squatted down to quietly gather the snow on the ground into a ball, trying his best to squeeze it into a ball. His fingers first felt cold, but when the snowball took shape, it actually felt a little warm.

Miyagi Osamu had no idea that his brother behind him was brewing sinister thoughts. He was thinking about finishing quickly, returning home, and shrinking into the warm kotatsu. It would be even better if his mother had calmed down and brought him caramel pudding.

At this moment, he heard Miyagi Yu call him: “Osamu.”

Miyagi Osamu didn’t want to pay attention to him, and didn’t want to see that stupid face, which was identical to his own but was bruised and battered. In the ten years that Miyagi Osamu had been brothers with Miyagi Yu, he had known since he could remember that Miyagi Yu’s ability to make people angry was a real gift.

Perhaps in order to prevent him from suffering disaster one day because of that sharp tongue, Heaven had simply bestowed upon him a face that could win people’s favor and a knack for making people feel softhearted. This ability could fool others, but it couldn’t fool Miyagi Osamu–

But Miyagi Yu didn’t notice Miyagi Osamu’s silent refusal at all. Seeing that his brother was ignoring his call, he simply tossed the snowball and said, “Osamu! Dad brought us sweet bean paste buns from Nanatsumori-ya–”

If there was anyone in the world who understood Miyagi Yu the most, it would definitely be Miyagi Osamu, and conversely, the only person who understood Miyagi Osamu the most was Miyagi Yu. He knew that Miyagi Osamu had a sweet tooth, and Miyagi Yu even knew that this little trick wouldn’t fool Miyagi Osamu–Wouldn’t Mr. Miyagi greet his two sons when he came home and saw them shoveling snow? Wouldn’t Miyagi Osamu be clear about this?

But Miyagi Yu also knew that even so, Miyagi Osamu would still look up and ask–“Huh? Dad is…”

Miyagi Yu was waiting for the moment he looked up!

“Swish!”

The solidly kneaded snowball hit the bullseye, striking Miyagi Osamu’s face, which he saw in the mirror every day. If there was any difference between Osamu’s face and his own, it was that Osamu’s face had fewer injuries.

Miyagi Yu was satisfied: “Hahahahahaha! Stupid Osamu! Why do you believe everything I say!”

He laughed wildly, and even though it pulled at the wounds on his face, he refused to give up the opportunity to mock Miyagi Osamu.

Miyagi Osamu’s face was blank, and he blinked his eyes. It was true that no matter how hard Miyagi Yu tried to knead the snowball, it was just snow, and it wasn’t that big, but the coolness was real. This coolness failed to extinguish the fire in Miyagi Osamu’s heart, and instead added fuel to the fire like someone watching a lively show.

“You’re really inhuman.” Miyagi Osamu said sincerely, his face gloomy. He still had some reason left, knowing that if they fought again and were discovered by their mother, it wouldn’t just be a painless labor punishment.

But reason was one thing, and emotion was another.

Miyagi Osamu threw down the shovel, stepping on the snow-covered road with a squeaking sound, and ran almost instantly to Miyagi Yu’s front: He had truly won against Miyagi Yu in the fight that afternoon. The latter wanted to run, but the movement pulled at his wound, and he staggered a bit.

Just like the few seconds that Miyagi Osamu had failed to catch up with Miyagi Yu when the latter ran out of the sports goods store that afternoon, this time it was Miyagi Yu’s turn to be one step slower. Miyagi Osamu seized the opportunity, grabbed his brother’s collar, pressed him into the snow pile, and grabbed the nearby snow and threw it on his head.

The lethality of the broken snow was really small, and Miyagi Yu was not the kind of person who would obediently be suppressed. Before long, he broke free from his hand and rolled to the side, not caring about his image at all. When he got up, he had snow in his hand again: “A snowball fight isn’t about throwing snow!” he said eloquently, the fine frost on his head couldn’t hide the smugness on his face. “You can’t even make a snowball! Idiot Osamu!”

Miyagi Osamu deftly dodged the snowball thrown by Miyagi Yu, gritted his teeth and grabbed a handful of snow, kneading it fiercely, and then slammed it into the back of Miyagi Yu’s head. “Don’t be smug!” he shouted, “You can only hit me with sneak attacks!”

Miyagi Yu immediately refused to let it go, hiding behind the bunker and quickly kneading snowballs, then aiming at Miyagi Osamu and throwing them over. The two fought in a daze, completely forgetting the condensed atmosphere before, and instead began to quarrel over who had hit the other more times.

“I hit more!” This was Miyagi Yu.

“Yeah right, your snowball fell to the ground before it even hit me.” This was Miyagi Osamu.

Each insisted on his own point of view, so they had no choice but to continue the overtime game. The snow near the house was not suitable for snowball fights, so Miyagi Yu said, let’s go to the place over there that hasn’t been shoveled yet. Miyagi Osamu agreed, and the two simply used the after-dinner dessert made by their mother as a bet: whoever won would get the other’s share.

Although Miyagi Yu made snowballs round and large, he couldn’t hit the agile Miyagi Osamu; although Miyagi Osamu was stronger in strength and speed than Miyagi Yu, the snowballs he made always scattered and fell to the ground halfway.

Finally, they couldn’t determine the winner even when the street lights came on, and instead ran further and further away like wild horses—it was at this time that Miyagi Yu hit an innocent passerby.

Maybe not so innocent… He just accidentally hit him! That guy turned around and scared them almost to death! Too much!

Miyagi Yu thought absentmindedly.

Mrs. Miyagi called again twice. Miyagi Osamu shrank behind and said nothing, obviously pushing all the burden to Miyagi Yu again. Miyagi Yu had no choice but to be the one to answer the question: “We shoveled it properly.”

He said it with confidence and sincerity, as if they had really earnestly completed the task assigned by Mrs. Miyagi, and no one could guess that they had only been honest for five minutes in reality.

“Is that so?” Mrs. Miyagi was unmoved and blocked her two sons at the door. “Then where’s the shovel?”

“Ah?”

“The shovel, the snow shovel.” Mrs. Miyagi sneered, “I didn’t know that shoveling snow could make you forget your tools outside—unless those two people didn’t do it at all, and ran off to play somewhere else halfway.”

Miyagi Yu tried his best to give Miyagi Osamu a wink in a place where his mother couldn’t see: Where’s the shovel?! Why didn’t you bring it back!

Miyagi Osamu also answered with his eyes: How would I know! It’s your fault for starting to play first!

Miyagi Yu: But you were having a lot of fun in the end too, weren’t you!

Seeing that the two were bowing their heads and saying nothing, Mrs. Miyagi understood most of it. But she looked at her sons, who looked like they had rolled in the snow pile, and could see that they had tried very hard to pat the snow off. But tiny crystals hidden in their hair betrayed them.

She sighed slightly and stopped pursuing the matter: “Did you fight again?”

Miyagi Yu, Miyagi Osamu: “…No.”

They immediately looked up at her with eager eyes.

Miyagi Osamu covered his stomach, pouted slightly: “Mom, I’m so hungry…” He looked pitiful, “I smell tempura…”

Miyagi Yu looked up, blinked at her cutely: “I really want to eat Mom’s food—I really want to eat it! I want to eat it so bad—”

Miyagi Osamu: “Then go die.”

Miyagi Yu: “Huh? How could that be any of your business! Your stomach is growling louder than mine!”

They indeed had no new wounds on their bodies. Mrs. Miyagi lightly patted Miyagi Osamu’s head, “Don’t say that to Yu.”

Then she patted Miyagi Yu again, “Then why is Osamu’s stomach growling louder than Yu’s? Is it because Yu snatched Osamu’s food this afternoon?”

Mrs. Miyagi took the hands of her two children, and as expected, they were all icy cold, and there was snow melting in their sleeves. She squatted down, cleaned up the snow, and put their hands together, “Both of you are at fault, so both of you must apologize.”

The brothers looked at each other, neither willing to give in first. Mrs. Miyagi was even used to these two getting angry at each other, so she didn’t force them anymore, and let go of their hands. “Now go find the snow shovel and then come back to eat, okay?”

“…”

“Answer me?”

Miyagi Yu, Miyagi Osamu: “…Okay, Mom.”!