KATANAGATARI 3

■　■

Following the battle in the Fifth Hall, Emonzaemon Soda zipped back to Owari─but the same could not be said for Togame the Schemer, who had pushed1 the Sword Hunt, and Shichika Yasuri, Seventh Master of the Kyotoryu, who stayed on, just like Nanami Yasuri, as special guests of Seiryoin Gokenji Temple.

After Nanami Yasuri had brazenly occupied this holy site, the temple shut its doors and sent all of the pilgrims packing─without offering those who protested2 any kind of explanation.

How could they possibly explain?

But as a result, Gokenji Temple had more vacancies than it knew what to do with. Its warrior monks, once numbering two hundred strong, had been decimated─at the hands of Nanami Yasuri.

Few of the survivors could fight.

All that was left were older monks and new arrivals3 who had just begun their training─in other words, only those who had declined to challenge Nanami had survived.

Their ranks had been essentially wiped out.

Those unfit for survival had been culled from the holy land.

Now dominated by a genius─the fittest.

After all, this was the holy land of swordsmen, and a swordsman lives to fight. Thanks to Nanami Yasuri, the place had become all the holier─and yet the bakufu could not simply look the other way.

In addition to pushing the Sword Hunt.

Togame was also responsible for having pulled the Kyotoryu, once banished to Haphazard Island, out of hiding─and thus she was obliged to act.

“…”

Now.

Faced with the grave facts of a tremendous gap in skill─Shichika Yasuri had been in a funk4 all week. Rising without enthusiasm, eating without tasting his food─he was going through the motions with a blank stare, in a daze.

He made no attempt to see his sister, who was under the same roof.

When Togame tried to talk to him, he barely even answered.5

Today, for instance─he had been laid out on his futon for the majority of the day.

Staring at the ceiling.

“…”

Last year.

After he fought Nanami for the first time, back home on the island.

Following the death of their father Mutsue─Sixth Master of the Kyotoryu.

─Was I this down?

Shichika wondered.

Yes─he’d been depressed back then, too. That match had ended without contest; Nanami brushed him off like a mosquito.

No.

He felt even worse.

Last year, he hadn’t expected to prevail.

But this time─he actually had.

He and Togame had deflected crisis after crisis6─he was sure they could deflect his sister’s gaze.7

Those eyes.

Nanami Yasuri’s─menacing eyes.

Thought he could easily evade them, huh?

In the heat of battle─he had made a total fool of himself.

In front of Togame.

And in front of her enemy.

His bumbling8 performance─was mortifying.

─Sis must think that I’m a total hack.9

And he thought she was proud─look where his pride had gotten him.

Had he learned nothing last month, when he lost to Konayuki Itezora?

The match had yet to be decided─

But Shichika had been defeated, no matter how he looked at it.

That had been nothing but defeat.

He was so weak, for Nanami─that she’d done no more than brush him off like a fly.

Why.

─Why’d I ever think I had a chance against her, when I had none at all?

What was I thinking─hoping to make life easier for her?

That’s how it was back on the island.

Sis.

She never needed any help from me. Who was I kidding?

Me, do something for her?

“…”

BAM.

While Shichika was lost in thought─or at a loss for what to think─someone in the hallway slid the paper door open with undue force.

Who else but Togame the Schemer.

Naturally, they were staying in the same room.

For the past week, Togame had shown Shichika an attentiveness that was unlike her. To the best of her ability, she was trying to be sweet towards her poor sword, who had been brushed off by his own sister.

Although Togame had something to see to─

When she had a chance, she went back to the room and tried to console Shichika.

You could even say she was devoted, as unlikely a descriptor as that may be for her.

Trouble is, it backfired on Shichika, who felt even more miserable─a classic case of cruel to be kind─but.

Right here, right now.

At this moment, at least─that wasn’t an issue.

Standing like a demoness in the open doorway─she looked furious.

That’s Togame for you.

This was a look─that felt familiar.

“T-Togame?”

She didn’t answer.

Just barging into the room, and lunging at sleepy Shichika─

“Cheeriohhh!”

She booted him in the face.

Because Shichika was something of a masochist─no, because he was so loyal to his owner, he never shied from these blows (or abuse).10 This particular foot strike,11 however, he probably couldn’t have dodged if he tried.

Her aim was true.

She gave him─everything she had.

“Hmph!”

Togame spun off of her kick and clipped12 Shichika another, square in the face. With the ball of her heel, as if to seal his lips. Not what you might expect from the Schemer, who shunned both weaponry and martial artistry on principle, but there it was: a marvelous flurry of attacks. This being Togame, who had no muscle, against Shichika, whose muscle was over the top, the result was no disaster─but under normal circumstances, kicks like that were liable to knock your teeth out.

“You’ve gotta be…kidding me!”

“? ? ? ?”

Shichika had no idea what hit him, no idea what was happening─Togame roared, foot planted on his face.

“Who are you to take advantage of a random act of kindness… You think you can just mope around this place forever? Imbecile!”

“H-H-Huh?”

“Lose once or twice and you start acting like it’s the end of the world! Do you realize how many days you’ve been like this? Shichika! Eyes on me.”

Togame pointed at herself with her thumb─and struck a pose.

“Do you have any idea how many failures I have under my belt? Not like I’m proud about it, but the number’s nothing close to one or two. More like hundreds, thousands! And I’ve never wallowed in despair like this! Know why? Because I always beat them in the end!”

You should be ashamed of yourself!

Togame dug her foot─into his face.

He was ashamed alright.

Embarrassed.

But only─because he lost against Nanami─not because he was depressed.

Look at him, though.

Feigning remorse, feigning regret.

How embarrassing was he?

“Get up!” shouted Togame─finally lifting her foot from his face.

Rattled by her intimidating demeanor, Shichika sprang to his feet.

Whereupon Togame cuffed him upside the head.

Short as she was, she had to hop off of her tiptoes, which seriously compromised the form and efficacy of the hit.

Besides, she botched her landing.

Although she fell down on her butt, she stood right up again.

“Just once!” she said. “I’m only going to ask you once─and no matter how you answer, I won’t hold it against you.13 This one time, I pledge not to twist your arm.14 Just answer me!”

Togame asked him:

“Shichika─Are you prepared to fight Nanami again?”

“…”

It would have been a lie to answer yes.

This was nothing like his rematch against Konayuki Itezora.

The first time he lost to Konayuki, Shichika was dying for another chance─but the circumstances with Nanami were incomparable.

Losing to her was categorically dissimilar from any other loss.

They’d postponed resolving their match, but why fight her again?

He was sure to be defeated.

This time, he might even wind up dead.

To pretend that the postponement changed anything was cruel enough to be abusive─and yet.

Togame.

If Togame the Schemer could face this cruel suggestion without giving up hope…

“Yes,” Shichika answered, as clear as day.

Minutes earlier, he probably would have given her a flat-out no─but even if his answer was a lie, at this point he could see no way around it.

Lying─was by now one of his moves.

“Good,” said Togame.

Not beating around the bush.

That was Togame for you.

Acting like herself again.

“In that case, I’ll set about hatching us a scheme─a genius scheme, fit for that genius sister of yours… For starters, your Last Fatal Orchid─Shichika Hachiretsu─has a weakness.”

■　■

Fatal Orchid Two: Kacho Fugetsu

Fatal Orchid Three: Hyakka Ryoran

Fatal Orchid Four: Ryuryoku Kako

Fatal Orchid Five: Hika Rakuyo

Fatal Orchid Six: Kinjo Tenka

Fatal Orchid Seven: Rakka Rozeki

And the Last Fatal Orchid, Shichika Hachiretsu, unleashing the other seven at the same time─but for the record, the only foe this secret move had ever felled was the first of the saga, Komori Maniwa.

Other than that, Shichika had only tried the move out at a dojo in the Capital, to show Togame.

It had barely seen the light of day.

“So you needn’t feel down just because its weakness has been revealed, let me assure you,” said Togame. “Someone was bound to discover its weakness sooner or later, even if it wasn’t Nanami.”

For the first time in days, Shichika rolled up his futon and stuffed it in the closet. Then he and Togame laid out cushions and sat across from one another.

“I thought…it was unbeatable.”

“How can I put this, Shichika… You only thought this secret move up half a year ago… No wonder it’s still rough around the edges.”

“Well, when you put it that way, sure.”

Shichika scratched his head.

Now that he had been tasked with the rematch, the gears inside his head were slick with instinct─in this respect, he was a model of the simple man who lives to get the job done.

“So, what’s the deal with this weakness?”

“Under ordinary circumstances I would second what Nanami said and say figure it out yourself, but this time I’ll make an exception. I’m going to be straight up15 with you─Fatal Orchid Four, Ryuryoku Kako, is getting in the way.”

“Th-The way?”

Togame had been straight up alright, but she was so direct he missed the point.

“What part of─how is Ryuryoku Kako getting in the way?”

“Let’s walk through this step by step. What’s the basic premise of Fatal Orchid Four?”

Two months ago, in Satsuma.

This was the move Shichika had used against Kanara Azekura, in their battle at the Basket─the armor-piercing Fatal Orchid of the Kyotoryu.

Among the Seven Forms of the Kyotoryu, it was the only time he made a fist─launching from Form Four, the Asagao, this blow bypasses16 the surface.

No buckler or block can shield you from its impact, which demolishes your insides but leaves your skin unscathed─theoretically, the move could blast someone on the other side of the planet.

“I mean, I guess it didn’t work against Kanara Azekura and Zokuto, with his unparalleled armor class. Still, though, it has to be one of the most useful moves in all the Kyotoryu. ’Course, it’s for specific situations… Of all the moves to wind up getting in the way─”

“I’m not debating pros and cons17 here, Shichika. Why don’t you show me Ryuryoku Kako─go ahead, let’s see it.”

“…?”

Shichika looked plenty skeptical, but he had no good reason not to do the move. To begin, he stood up from his cushion and assumed Form Four, the Asagao.

Feet parallel and sideways─Shichika bent deep at the knees, to lower his enormous body.

Torso twisted as far as it would go.

So that he nearly turned his back on Togame.

One hand made a fist, which he covered with the other, open hand─

“Okay, from here─I snap back─and drive my fist!”

Fatal Orchid Four─Ryuryoku Kako.

His body spun back from the impact─but the fist remained stuck to its target.

Although in this case, he was shadow-boxing,18 so the fist wasn’t stuck to anything─

“…Well, how’s that? Pretty cool move, if you ask me.”

“Don’t talk back to me.19 No one is taking jabs at Ryuryoku Kako. It’s a fine move, one of your best. But can’t you see─it’s different from the other six Fatal Orchids. You just showed me yourself…it forces you to pause.”

“…?”

Pause.

Twist your body to an unnatural degree─and pause in that unnatural pose.

The move required preparation.20

“Oh…”

“See it now?”

Once Togame saw that Shichika had understood, she had him take a seat and went on, speaking patiently.

“Look, I’m not saying that the prep work, in and of itself, ruins the move─even if Ryuryoku Kako didn’t work against Kanara Azekura, your execution was flawless. It’s just that mixed up with all the other moves─things get messy.”

Fatal Orchids one through seven.

Combined and synchronized─Shichika Hachiretsu.

But the pause inherent to Ryuryoku Kako tripped up the synchronicity.21

The pause meant there was an opening.22

It was that simple.

All that Nanami had done─was take advantage of the opening in Fatal Orchid Four, Ryuryoku Kako─and use the monstrous strength of the Itezoras to heave his body up into the ceiling of the dojo.

That was the whole shebang.23

“Right…I know I said all at the same time…but Shichika Hachiretsu has seven separate moves, and I only have so many arms and legs, so strictly speaking, they aren’t really hitting at the same time. It might not be, strictly speaking, a consecutive strike, but it’s like a medley of attacks─”

“Which is why Nanami countered with a medley of her own.”

The Kyotoryu─

A medley of moves, from the Hinageshi to the Jinchoge.

Two hundred and seventy-two hits in a row.

“Regardless, that sister of yours totally babies you. She may have told you to think for yourself, but then she practically handed you the answer.”

Not the sort of thing Nanami would have been glad to hear, considering Togame gave Shichika no chance to think before she spelled it out─but anyway, she had a point.

The merits of Fatal Orchid Four Ryuryoku Kako aside, the move was no good mixed with all the others. Anyone with a mind to catch him with his guard down would find a chance in the split-second that he made the necessary pause.

“How big is it?” asked Shichika.

“Huh?”

“I mean the opening─you think this break in Shichika Hachiretsu is big enough that anyone could get a hit in?”

“Hard to say─far be it for me to judge, having no proficiency in the martial arts to speak of, but if I had to guess, it’s not like you’re wide open. Apparently it worked on Komori Maniwa. And you made a show of it at the dojo in the Capital. Apart from Nanami─I dare say that the likes of Hakuhei Sabi could make it through.”

“Yeah… Good thing I didn’t try it, when we fought on Ganryu Island.”

By the way, the move he used to take down Hakuhei Sabi had been Fatal Orchid Three, Hyakka Ryoran,24 playing off Form Three, the Tsutsuji.

“Alright─so Shichika Hachiretsu won’t cut it as a Fatal Orchid. Not with a glaring weakness like that.”

Shichika made no attempt to hide his disappointment.

This was understandable, since he himself had devised the Fatal Orchid. Worse, if Shichika Hachiretsu was off the table, he couldn’t use his catchphrase, or whatever you might call it. Right when he was finally warming up to it.

“If I cut out Ryuryoku Kako and make it just the other six─that throws the balance off entirely. I’d have to call it Mutsuka Shichiretsu,25 which doesn’t have the same ring26 to it.”

“Easy, Shichika,” Togame said. “I found a way for you to overcome this weakness.”

“Huh? You did?”

“Of course I did─I’m Togame the Schemer! I’ve got it all figured out. Why else would I sound so high and mighty?”

“Because you’re always high and mighty?”

“Cheerio!”

Another kick.

Shichika let her hit him.

The conversation went on as if nothing had happened.

“Don’t you think you’ve been a little careless27 about the order of the seven moves? What should I expect, when the whole point is that you do them at once─but from what I gather, you’re just doing them whatever way feels most convenient at the time.”

“Hmm…I guess I hadn’t thought about the order much.”

Take, for example, the time he used the move against Komori Maniwa on Haphazard Island─since he was already in Form Two, the Suisen, he started off with Fatal Orchid Two: Kacho Fugetsu, and went on down the line, through Fatal Orchid Three: Hyakka Ryoran, Fatal Orchid Four: Ryuryoku Kako, Fatal Orchid Five: Hika Rakuyo, Fatal Orchid Six: Kinjo Tenka, and Fatal Orchid Seven: Rakka Rozeki, finishing up with Fatal Orchid One: Kyoka Suigetsu.

But nothing was holding him to that exact order.28

The move was flexible on principle.

He could mix and match the Seven Fatal Orchids─in five thousand and forty different ways!

And every one was Shichika Hachiretsu.

He thought that any combination would be fine─and that the order didn’t matter.

“It’s just like you to see this so simplistically29─but you need to change your way of thinking. Shichika Hachiretsu showcases all seven of your best attacks at once. The move has fabulous potential─it just needs some tightening up.”

“Alright, so what should I do?”

“It’s obvious. If you put Fatal Orchid Four, Ryuryoku Kako, at the beginning, it all works out.”

“…”

“Stopping halfway through the sequence is the problem─so just do Ryuryoku Kako first, before your wheels are spinning.”

“Oh…good idea. Then I can blow through the other six─no problem.”

It was an elementary solution─but it made perfect sense.

As a result, he would always have to begin Shichika Hachiretsu with Form Four, the Asagao, which nixed the marvelous convenience of being able to unleash the move from any stance─but also the Last Fatal Orchid’s weakness.

From five thousand and forty different ways─to seven hundred and twenty.

But no worse than that.

“It sounds─easy.”

“Because it is.”

However.

Togame may have seen beyond the weakness and proposed a workable solution─but her face was far from cheerful.30

“It also means─we can be sure Nanami sees it coming.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

The eyes─of Nanami Yasuri.

She could pick up any move just by watching it in action and see through any weakness.

In which case─it would come as no surprise if she saw through their countermeasure.

In fact, it would be much more of a surprise if she missed it.

That sister of his.

“At the end of the day, I’m never beating sis unless we find a way to counter her eyes─but if we could, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in. There’s no use trying to blind her or use a smoke bomb or something. She’d see us coming a mile away.”

“Her eyes, huh?”

Togame snorted.

“As a matter of fact─I’ve hatched a scheme for that as well.”

“What? You have?”

“While you were down in the dumps, I was working my butt off.31 When I wasn’t caring for my poor little sword.”

Her voice rang with irony.

But irony was lost on Shichika.

He took Togame at face value: it put him in good spirits knowing she was confident enough that he would bounce back to devote herself to working out a scheme.

That helped explain why she had been so angry.

Seriously─how much longer was I planning on just moping around?

When Togame really does believe in me.

“Ugh, lose the creepy smile. Who cheers up when they’ve been insulted? What kink32 is this now…”

Togame could not read his mind.33 Without getting up, she used her knees to scoot back.

The heart of a sword cannot be fathomed by its owner.

“So, Togame─you already have a plan for beating sis?”

“Well, with everything I heard about Nanami’s eyes on our way here, I figured I should get one started. There’s a million ways to blind a person, but this is Nanami we’re talking─we can assume that she’s prepared for almost anything.”

“Prepared? That’s not the way it works, Togame. She doesn’t have to see it coming. Once she sees me─she’ll know exactly what we’re up to. We can’t use any strategy without giving it away.”

“Exactly,” said Togame. “We just won’t give ourselves way.”

“…”

“Not even Nanami can cope with an invisible scheme. If she can’t watch it─she can’t learn it, and she can’t see through its faults… But we’ll only have one chance.”

It was that kind of a setup.

“If you screw it up, we can’t try it again─or anything else, for that matter.”

“…So everything’s ready?”

That was why.

Togame had booted him─to help him snap out of his funk.

Her patience had been wearing thin.

But on the flip side─that usually meant she was ready to go.

“Nope.” Togame shook her head. “I still need to work out the ending34─before I can set this scheme in motion, Nanami and I have some negotiating to do.”

“Y-You’re going to negotiate with sis?”

He remembered.

The two of them had talked back on Haphazard Island, half a year ago─

It was a match made in hell.

“Whoa, don’t remind me…”

Shichika had been in a pickle.35

Back then, he had mostly brushed it off, but now that he had a capacity for feeling, he wasn’t looking forward to a second confrontation.

“I can see why you’re concerned─but this is the moment of truth.36 I’ll ride it out somehow─after all, negotiation is my specialty.”

On that note, Togame stood.

“We mustn’t tarry─by now Emonzaemon has made it to Owari. If I had it my way, the rematch would already be over. How soon can you fight?”

“How soon?” asked Shichika. “If you want me to─tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, I made it out alive, without a scratch─I’m ready to go basically anytime. I mean, after spending most of the week in bed, my body feels a little crunchy, so I’d like to stretch a little first. Fighting this second might be tough.”

“That’s fine─I’m not ready for you to fight this second either. Well then, let’s plan on doing it tonight. As long as Nanami is cooperative… I’ll break down the particulars after the negotiations, but let me just say, Shichika─if you want to beat Nanami, then at the very least, you’ll need to retrieve Akuto the Eel from her breast.”

Needless to say.

“That sword invests her genius, harrowing on its own, with endless supplemental energy─Akuto the Eel’s powers are quite fiendish. An atrocity.37 Bear this in mind, as you work out your battleplan.”

“Right… Happy as I am to see sis feeling better─it isn’t exactly healthy. First off…”

Shichika paused.

This had been on his mind, under the muck of his depression.

For the past week.

“I gotta say─the Eel’s not right for Nanami.”

“What do you mean? What better weapon for a sickly genius like Nanami? Talk about a sword picking its owner. Exemplary, really─it isn’t one of the Mutant Blades of Kiki Shikizaki for nothing. Or is this about the Kyotoryu? Are you saying that it’s wrong for her to use a sword?”

“No─that’s not what I meant. It’s way more personal38…I meant it’s not like her. Is that thing really boosting her energy?”

“I won’t pretend to understand what’s just a feeling on your part. All I can say for sure is that you have no chance of winning, so long as Akuto the Eel remains a factor. That and Nanami’s eyes─we need to focus all our resources on cutting these two out of the equation…. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Huh?”

Having said all she had to say, Togame slid open the door, to Shichika’s stupefaction.

“Y-You’re leaving now? To go see sis?”

“I need to see her now, if the rematch is tonight.”

“Oh─right, that makes sense.”

“Shichika,” Togame said, standing in the hallway. “I had thought it best to hold my tongue, but this is for your own good. What made you hide from me that Nanami was stronger than you?”

“Well.”

She’d sprung the question on him out of nowhere.

But after an unamicable39 silence─he responded.

“Sis isn’t one to show off. She doesn’t even think she’s strong─to her, it’s more like everyone else is weak.”

“I’m not asking about Nanami. I’m asking about you.”

“Fine.”

Shichika turned away.

Averting his eyes from Togame─

“I just wanted to be your sword, okay?”

“…”

“If you’d known sis was stronger─why wouldn’t you have chosen her?”

“…Fool,” Togame muttered.

Then she laughed, ever so slightly.

“I’m only gonna say this once, so listen up. Who knows how I would’ve felt six months ago─but at this point, you’re the only sword for me. One or two defeats can’t change that. Do I have to spell everything out for you?”

Togame closed the door.

Leaving Shichika to bask in a strange feeling─some of which he let out with a little tumble.40

After which he spread his arms and legs41 and thought things over.

Thinking through─his battleplan.

On the assumption that Togame would succeed in her negotiations.

■　■

Dragging the hem of her brash, brilliant kimono on the floor, Togame headed for Nanami’s chamber, each footstep resolute.

Once Togame had decided on a strategy, it was firm.

She had fanned the flames42 of Shichika’s heart.

The only thing left undecided─was the winner.

“…”

However─there was something Togame failed to comprehend.

“What on earth…is that Nanami Yasuri thinking?”

Her question─

Mirrored what was on the mind of her archnemesis,43 Princess Negative, back in Owari, who asked herself, at almost the same time:

“If she showed up just to warn him of his weakness, why not spit it out? I don’t see any need to be so tedious… She had to pick up Akuto the Eel, of all the Twelve Possessed! Why make her brother fight her when he has no chance of winning, after having babied him? Don’t tell me she actually believes that two swordsmen, chancing upon each other, have no reason not to fight─”

1 名目 MEIMOKU (ostensible) reason; pretext

2 いぶかしむ IBUKASHIMU to doubt

3 小坊主 KOBŌZU “little monk” aspiring acolytes who are still children

4 落ち込んでいた OCHIKONDE ITA felt depressed 落ち込む OCHIKOMU to fall into

5 生返事 NAMA HENJI “raw response” vague reaction

6 死線を越え SHISEN WO KOE “cross the line of death” to undergo a harrowing experience or lethal trial

7 視線をも、越え SHISEN WO MO, KOE “cross, too, the line of sight” pun on the above idiom

8 無様 BUZAMA “no style” clumsy, unsightly

9 見下げ果てられて MISAGE HATERARETE “looked down upon in the extreme”

10 攻撃（暴力） KŌGEKI (BŌRYOKU) attack (violence)

11 蹴撃 SHŪGEKI kick neologism in lieu of 襲撃 SHŪGEKI assault

12 叩きつける TATAKI TSUKERU smack against

13 咎める TOGAMERU scold despite echoing the speaker’s name

14 無理強い MURIJI’I force unreasonably/impossibly

15 単刀直入 TANTŌ CHOKUNYŪ “plain sword, simple entry” to the point

16 打撃透徹 DAGEKI TŌTETSU “penetrating hit”

17 有用無用 YŪYŌ MUYŌ “useful useless”

18 空振り KARABURI “swinging at the air” in baseball and other sports: a swing and a miss

19 噛みつく KAMITSUKU snap (your jaws); bite

20 下準備 SHITAJUNBI preliminary steps 下 SHITA under/below 準備 JUNBI prepare

21 同時性 DŌJISEI simultaneity 同じ ONAJI same 時 TOKI time 性 SHŌ disposition

22 隙 SUKI gap; imperfection common term and concept in martial arts

23 それだけのこと SOREDAKE NO KOTO that and nothing more

24 百花繚乱 HYAKKA RYŌRAN “Splendor of a Hundred Flowers”

25 六花七裂 MUTSUKA SHICHIRETSU subtracts one from each of the number characters in 七花八裂 SHICHIKA HACHIRETSU also echoes 難しい MUTSUKASHII difficult

26 語呂が悪い GORO GA WARUI words that don’t sound good together

27 無頓着 MUTONCHAKU unconcerned

28 型 KATA form; fixed sequence (in martial arts)

29 大雑把 ŌZAPPA overlooking details 大 DAI big 雑 ZATSU miscellaneous 把 TABA bundle

30 晴れやか HAREYAKA radiant 晴れ HARE clear skies, sunny

31 一生懸命 ISSHŌ KENMEI as if one’s life depended upon it

32 特殊な性癖 TOKUSHU NA SEIHEKI special (sexual) proclivity

33 心中 SHINCHŪ innermost thoughts vs. 心中 SHINJŪ “suicide pact between lovers,” spelled the same but pronounced differently

34 最後の詰め SAIGO NO TSUME endgame 最後 SAIGO very last 詰み TSUMI checkmate

35 板ばさみ ITABASAMI “squeezed between boards”

36 正念場 SHŌNENBA crucial stage (in kabuki etc.) 正念 SHŌNEN (Buddhist) right mindfulness

37 鬼に金棒 ONI NI KANABŌ “demon with a staff of iron” double threat

38 根本的 KONPONTEKI at the root; basic

39 不貞腐れた FUTE KUSARETA sulky 不貞 FUTEI unchaste, faithless 腐る KUSARU to go bad, rot

40 でんぐり返し DENGURI GAESHI forward or backward roll

41 大の字になって DAI NO JI NI NATTE stretch out one’s limbs, like the character 大 DAI big

42 焚きつけた TAKITSUKETA stoked 焚く TAKU burn; kindle; light (木 KI tree 火 HI fire)

43 忌み嫌う IMIKIRAU detest