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first chapter is DUN DA DONE!!!!! 22222 is a fanmade spinoff of 17776, featuring 4 brand new space probes and a whole lotta shenanigans to come......
i am a total html noob so the learning curve was very difficult but it's here and ready for updates!!!! there'll be videos in the style of the original series at the end of every relevant chapter ^_^
I found a clean, one owner, Aspen White, M2 Competition with less than 20,000km for sale at a local BMW dealership near Nishitokyo. I test drove it a couple of weeks ago and immediately fell in love. I sold my GR86 and bought this. I picked up today and already ripped up a few mountain roads. I plan on taking it to Tsukuba ASAP to see what kind of time I can put down. I've never driven a 400+ hp car on Tsukuba, only formula cars and lightweight, low-powered, sports cars. I'm pretty excited.
[Ten Views Of Shonan -Firefly-] - Hinode Route Short Story
Thank you @/phampiremagic on Twitter for helping proofread as always!
Sunday, August 12th.
It had been raining all day.
The housebeams and tatami mats were moist with humidity,
and the entire house was cast in shadow.
A man in a dark raincoat had come into the house,
trailing raindrops behind him.
He stood in the doorway and began to shill his pitch.
Swindler: “Madam!!!”
Landlady: “Y- Yes?”
Swindler: “If you keep reading in this sort of light,
your eyesight will worsen before you know it.
I bet your husband’s been squinting a lot lately, no?”
Landlady: “I don’t have a husband.”
Swindler: “Ah, forgive me for being presumptuous.
There just happens to be a number of umbrellas here,
so I figured you had a lively household.”
Landlady: “Those would belong to my renters.
I have two students and a working man here.”
Swindler: “Students!!!”
The man’s eyes glittered maliciously.
As if he’d been waiting for those very words,
he whipped out a lampstand from his enormous bag.
Swindler: “This fluorescent lamp is the very light of civilization!
Incandescence is a thing of the past!
Every student must have one!”
Landlady: “Oh my…”
Swindler: “Furthermore!
This lamp is ophthalmologist approved!”
Landlady: “My my…”
Swindler: “Just think of the students and their studies.
You and your sewing.
Your boarder and his…”
Oosaki: “That won’t be necessary.”
As I came down the stairs,
I decisively put an end to the man’s spiel.
Oosaki: “We have everything we need, so you can see yourself out.”
Swindler: “Oh, but Sir, you haven’t even given it a try.
See how the light compares!”
This wasn’t going anywhere.
As I went to kick him out,
the landlady tugged the lamp towards her.
Landlady: “I’ll take one!’
Swindler: “Yes, my lady! You have a fine eye!!!”
My mood soured as the man continued his negotiations with the landlady.
After quickly closing off the deal,
he darted into the rain and vanished.
Oosaki: “So…”
Landlady: “Why don’t we give it a try?
Oh, it’s so bright!”
Oosaki: “...”
Landlady: “Every train station and government building uses these now, right?
They say it’s the very light of civilization, I’ll have you know..”
Hinode-kun came down the stairs.
His footsteps were quiet as he peered at the door.
Oosaki: “That was a charlatan just now. He just left.”
Landlady: “Oh, don’t be like that. He was an honest salesman.
Ah, speaking of, Hinode-kun—
How would you like this lamp?”
Hinode: “?”
He blinked in surprise.
There was already an incandescent lamp in our room.
It was my old reading light.
Moving it out of the way,
the landlady installed the new fluorescent lamp in its place.
A bright light flooded the room.
At the landlady’s insistence, Hinode-kun opened his textbook.
Unexpectedly, the inky black words seemed to pop right off the page,
making them easy to read.
Landlady: “Now I don’t have to worry so much anymore.
It always troubled me how late you’d stay up studying.”
Hinode-kun smiled bashfully.
He lowered his eyes and began reading beneath the light of his new lamp.
It was a familiar sight to see.
Oosaki: “...I can pay you back later.”
Landlady: “Oh, it’s alright.
Consider it a late gift for our new student.”
She then turned and went briskly down the stairs.
It was now quiet in the room
save for the scratching of a pencil
and the sound of rain.
This was the start of my summer with Hinode-kun,
a boy whom I have no relation,
yet treat as my own blood.
The next day.
Monday, August 13th.
In a complete turn-around, it was sunny outside.
Folding up the futon and changing out of my pajamas,
I headed to the park to participate in the morning exercises.
Three people were eating breakfast.
Two people waved good-bye.
One person headed to work.
And so, daily life went on.
Shinkiba: “This brings me back.”
I was reading a book at work
when my boss, Shinkiba-san, noted the title in my hand.
Shinkiba: “Sei Shōnagon’s The Pillow Book.
So this is what they’re using in schools these days.”
Oosaki: “It’s the same version as Hinode-kun’s.
I’m studying up, so I can answer any questions he may have.”
Shinkiba: “It truly is just like the old days.”
Shinkiba-san once did the same for me.
However…
Oosaki: “...This is more difficult than I remember.”
The contents of the book were one thing,
but that wasn’t my only problem.
I meant to subtly ask Shinkiba-san for his advice,
but he simply laughed and took off for lunch.
Evening.
I was drinking coffee at a café.
Around 8 pm, Hinode-kun arrived.
He found me at my usual spot by the window,
and cheerfully sat down.
Oosaki: “Good work today.”
He nodded in acknowledgement
and began scanning through the menu.
Students who go to night school
don’t have a spring or summer vacation.
It was a habit for the two of us to get dinner together
after he returned from his evening commute.
I ordered the same thing every day: neapolitan spaghetti.
After some thinking,
Hinode-kun ordered omurice.
After we finished eating and got up,
I took out a hand mirror and held it to his face.
Oosaki: “You have something around your mouth.”
Hinode-kun fixed his bangs first,
before wiping his mouth clean.
When I looked at his lips, freshly rubbed red,
it called to mind the problem I was dwelling upon earlier.
Landlady: “Didn’t Hinode-kun used to live with his grandfather who was a doctor?”
Oosaki: “Yes, for about three years.”
Landlady: “For a middle schooler, he reads, writes, and speaks quite well, doesn’t he?”
Oosaki: “...Indeed.”
Landlady: “When he told me he used to study with the difficult books on his grandfather’s shelf, it all clicked.”
Oosaki: “...Hinode-kun, said that?”
Landlady: “Indeed, he did.
I wonder what he’ll be once he grows up.
Perhaps he’s aspiring to be a writer.
Or maybe he’ll follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become a doctor.
Oh, but he’s such a serious child, perhaps he’ll become a policeman instead~”
Oosaki: “Did Hinode-kun tell you that? With his voice?”
Landlady: “Well, of course.”
Oosaki: “How…?”
Landlady: “Like normal?”
Hinode-kun spoke… like normal.
As it seemed, he was only silent around me.
When we approached the brightly lit house,
there was an unfamiliar man at the doorway.
It was a police officer.
The landlady was listening to his story with a worried look on her face.
Landlandy: “Oosaki-san! Welcome back…”
Oosaki: “What happened?”
The policeman answered for her.
Policeman: “Recently, there’s been a string of burglaries in the area.
As a result, I’m making the rounds to patrol.”
The policeman glanced at the door.
Policeman: “Whenever you leave, make sure to firmly lock your doors.
Keep the porchlight on at night too—it’ll deter people from coming in.
Be well.”
Then, the officer left and made his way to the neighbor’s house.
Hinode-kun anxiously poked his head out.
At some point, he’d hidden behind me.
Landlady: “A burglar… How terrifying…”
Even though it was the midst of summer,
we all felt as if a cold draft had entered the house.
While I was preparing for bed,
Hinode-kun headed towards his desk.
It seemed he wanted to stay up late again to study.
However—the lamp wouldn’t turn on.
I could hear the clicking of the switch as he flicked it on and off.
The sounds of his frustration echoed through the room.
Oosaki: “We can head to the appliance store tomorrow before I go to work.”
Hinode-kun nodded.
Oosaki: “You should take a break from studying for today.”
Hinode-kun nodded again.
When I turned off the light in the room, moonlight flooded in.
There was one futon
with multiple pillows
and multiple blankets.
In winter, the two of us would cover ourselves with a large feather duvet.
However, in summer, the space between us naturally grew apart.
Oosaki: “Good night, Hinode-kun.”
Hinode-kun’s eyes fluttered open.
He returned my gaze,
but as expected, made no reply.
Rolling over, I went to sleep.
The next day.
Tuesday, August 14th.
We brought the fluorescent lamp to an appliance store.
Shopkeeper: “Hmm, it looks like a faulty product.”
Oosaki: “We bought it for cheap from a door-to-door salesman.”
Shopkeeper: “This is one of the many junk pieces that come off the manufacturing line.
These things cost almost nothing to make.”
Oosaki: “Is the entire lamp useless then?”
Shopkeeper: “Yep. Replacing the bulb won’t do anything.”
Suddenly, the shopkeeper glanced towards the front of the store.
Hinode-kun was outside, looking at the toys in the window display.
However, it didn’t seem like he wanted one.
Rather, from the way he was pacing back-and-forth, it seemed like he was bored.
Shopkeeper: “You know that kid?”
Oosaki: “He’s a relative.”
Shopkeeper: “Really? The two of you were so awkward, I thought he was someone else’s.”
The sunlight intensified.
I met Hinode-kun’s eyes through the windowpane,
and shook my head in defeat.
He looked neither disappointed nor surprised.
Thus, after less than two days, the fluorescent lamp was sacked from its job.
Reduced to an overpriced paperweight,
we shoved it into the back of a closet—
Nighttime.
Since work had piled up, I left the office an hour later than usual.
When I pushed open the café door,
the store owner was already brewing a coffee for me.
I knew exactly where to sit and what to order.
The moment the coffee touched my lips,
I could feel the stress escape my nostrils.
It was the same routine as always.
My breathing calmed down.
Just a year ago, I could’ve never imagined having this kind of familiar regularity.
I absentmindedly opened my bag to pull out my book when suddenly,
my fingers froze.
Beside my book was a second copy with the same cover.
One I had thumbed through front-to-back,
and the other, was Hinode-kun’s.
In the early morning rush,
I must’ve accidentally taken it with me.
Shooting out of my seat, I headed towards the school.
During the evenings, only the lights that are strictly necessary are on at school.
This includes the hallway, the staff room,
and a singular classroom.
When I peered into the little window, I could see class going on.
Written on the blackboard
were vocabulary words from the very book in my hand.
However.
Hinode-kun was nowhere to be seen.
There were only a few teachers in the staff room.
As I searched in vain for the head teacher,
I heard someone call out to me in the hall.
Head Teacher: “Are you Hinode-kun’s brother? Good evening.
Is something the matter?”
Oosaki: “Good evening.
Hinode-kun left his book at home, so I came to bring it to him…”
Head Teacher: “Oh, he’ll certainly need that.
However, isn’t he supposed to be at home today?”
My heart stopped.
Oosaki: “What do you mean?”
Head Teacher: “Didn’t you contact the school to let us know?”
Oosaki: “...That he’d be absent today?”
Head Teacher: “Yes. He was to be out yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after.
We were told you had plans to return home for the four days of Obon.” [1]
The head teacher narrowed his eyes in confusion.
However, I didn’t have anything else to say,
and left the school as quickly as I came.
Walking along the darkened road,
I rotated this new information in my head.
Absent.
For four days.
He was planning to be out tomorrow and the day after as well.
But why?
And where was he now?
With nowhere else to go,
my mind unexpectedly calmed down.
Only the second hand on the wall clock continued to move.
The steam from my coffee had dissipated, and the color of the liquid darkened.
Around 8 pm, Hinode-kun arrived.
I had put the two books on the table.
Oosaki: “My apologies.
I grabbed your book by mistake this morning, but I hope class went alright without it.”
He nodded.
It was such a smooth motion
that I could sense nothing off about it whatsoever.
If I hadn't known better,
I would’ve fully believed Hinode-kun went to school as usual
and managed to do without his forgotten book.
I ordered the neapolitan spaghetti.
Hinode-kun ordered a sandwich for today.
It was completely dark by the time we walked home.
As usual, neither of us spoke.
Only the sounds of my footsteps,
Hinode-kun’s footsteps,
and the cane he carried with him broke the silence.
I wanted to respect his muteness as always.
However, the heavy knowledge I bore
turned the silence oppressive.
As soon as I could see the light in the house,
I noticed something was off.
There were two large shadows standing beside the landlady.
Policemen.
A third officer was inside the house,
sweeping the floor with a flashlight.
Landlady: “Oosaki-san!”
Oosaki: “What’s happened?”
Landlady: “It was, it was only a short while.
I had left the house to restock on soy sauce,
and when I returned to put away my wallet, the, the—”
Oosaki: “Please calm down. Tell me what happened.”
The policeman answered for the trembling woman.
Policeman: “There was a burglary.
In that short time, her safe was taken.”
Oosaki: “!”
Landlady: “Oh, I haven’t even thought to check your room, Oosaki-san!”
In a panic, she rushed up the stairs.
When I pulled open the drawers, my safe was still there.
…It was completely untouched.
Landlady: “Wait, Oosaki-san!
We should open it to make sure!”
Oosaki: “I never locked it to begin with.”
Landlady: “Wouldn’t that make this a regular box…?”
She was right. I was being too careless.
The safe not only contained my belongings,
but Hinode-kun’s seal and bankbook as well.
A chill ran down my spine at the thought of them being stolen.
The policemen scoured the room for traces of the thief.
After concluding their sweep, they left.
The landlady shut the door firmly behind them.
Her eyes were shaky with fear
as she clung onto me.
Landlady: “Oosaki-san. No, Detective-san. Please catch the culprit for me.”
I lowered my eyes
and tried to retrace the criminal’s steps.
From the footprints, there was only one thief.
They had boldly entered through the front door.
It seemed the landlady had forgotten to lock it.
Landlady: “I thought I’d be back within 10 minutes.
It was only 10 minutes…”
The criminal’s footprints were all on the first floor.
There were no signs of a break-in on the second.
From this information, the criminal had to be—
Oosaki: “Someone who knows
where the money is
and when the occupants are in and out of the house.”
Hiding your face
was as good as revealing it.
Midnight.
I was wide awake in my futon.
My detective brain was whirring,
reanalyzing my situation from a clearer perspective.
…Although the matter itself was personal,
perhaps it was time to put my detective skills to work.
The next day.
Wednesday, August 15th.
I pretended to go to work.
Hidden behind a fence, I began to stake out the house.
Normally, it would’ve been suspicious for a man to just stand on the street corner,
but since I was a local, I simply greeted anyone who passed by.
The first person to leave the house was the college student rooming next door.
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if he was a college student or roninsei. [2]
Next, I heard the landlady’s laughter.
It seemed she was hanging the laundry in the garden.
She must’ve been talking to Hinode-kun.
However, I couldn’t hear his voice nor what they were saying.
Midday.
It was the quietest time of the year.
When I looked up,
there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.
Power lines criss-crossed overhead.
The chirping of cicadas could be heard between them.
Everything felt like a daydream.
After the war, I was lucky enough to be saved by Shinkiba-san.
He enrolled me in night school where I didn’t miss a single day.
Whenever I didn’t understand something,
I would turn to Shinkiba-san.
Shinkiba-san—my father—would read ahead in my textbooks and leave furigana for me. [3]
He was an amazing father.
However,
could I become an amazing brother for Hinode-kun, too?
Hinode-kun never asked questions.
He never ordered the same neapolitan spaghetti as me.
Whenever he looked in the mirror, he would fix his appearance himself.
It was like we were complete strangers.
As the realization hit me,
it occurred to me
that I wanted to become someone he could rely on—
Evening.
It was time for class.
Hinode-kun left the house.
However, he began to head in the opposite direction of the school.
He didn’t look at anyone passing by
nor at any of the stars in the sky.
Although he kept his head down,
he moved without the slightest hesitation.
Eventually, we left the town behind and arrived at the embankment of the river.
Before him with the great black expanse of the Sagami River.
The water was still and unperturbed by the wind,
its glassy surface reflecting the train lights running overhead.
Hinode-kun stared into its depths.
The water seemed like it could suck his shadow right in—
Oosaki: “Hinode-kun.”
I called out to him.
He quickly turned around.
I thought he might be shocked to find I was following him,
but he looked neither disappointed nor surprised.
His expression was the same as it was at the appliance store.
It was a look of knowing.
Oosaki: “Work ended early, so I decided to take a walk.”
Hinode: “...”
Oosaki: “What are you doing here?
What about school?”
Hinode: “...”
Oosaki: “Do you not like it there?”
He shook his head before I finished speaking
and returned to looking at the water.
It wasn’t that he was avoiding me, but more like he was searching for something.
I cautiously approached him and held out my arm.
If he didn’t want to speak, he could write it instead.
To my surprise, he began to trace letters with his finger.
Oosaki: “—Fire…fly?
Are you looking for fireflies?”
He nodded with a nervous expression on his face.
Oosaki: “Fireflies are most active in July.
It’s rare for them to live through mid-August.”
It was incredibly unfortunate.
For the past two days,
Hinode-kun had skipped school to search of fireflies.
Oosaki: “If you wanted to see fireflies, you could’ve told me sooner—”
Hinode: “!”
He shook his head vigorously.
It seemed he had a reason for his search.
Oosaki: “There won’t be many fireflies here.
This is the mouth of the river where its currents meet the sea.
Fireflies can’t survive in brackish water.”
Hinode: “??”
Oosaki: “Rivers appear to flow one way because the ocean pushes them inward.”
I made sure to explain everything step by step for him.
As I expected, Hinode-kun seemed dejected,
but I already had a back-up plan prepared.
Oosaki: “There’s a better chance of finding them at the Hanamizu River.”
Hinode: “...?”
Oosaki: “Hiratsuka has more than one river.”
It would take a while to get there.
The two of us returned home
and borrowed the college student’s bicycle.
With Hinode-kun sitting behind me, we sped through the city’s nightscape.
The silence dispersed into the wind.
Each pedal of the bike
seemed to take me further away from my troubles, giving me a sense of calm.
I felt like I could finally fill the space between us.
Oosaki: “It was bold of you to lie to me about skipping school.
I didn’t expect it.”
Hinode: “...”
Oosaki: “You got bored because it was too easy for you, right?
I should’ve known from your notes.”
Hinode-kun nervously fiddled with his shirt.
Even though he didn’t say anything, I could sense his silent apology.
Oosaki: "Don’t worry. I’m not angry with you.
In spring, the dawn. In summers, the nights. Thus—” [4]
We arrived at the Hanamizu River.
Here, the waters were shallow
and thick with the smell of grass.
We got off the bike near the water’s edge.
At first, there was nothing to see
but the darkness before us.
Then, a single light flitted past.
Then a second, and third appeared.
As I had thought, the fireflies were here.
However, there were so few that I had to strain my eyes to see them.
If we hadn’t been looking for them, we would’ve never found their light.
Oosaki: “Even though we’re still by the ocean, it’s more difficult for the saltwater to mix here due to the river’s twists and turns.
Shall we go upstream? There might be more fireflies in a quieter place—”
Hinode-kun shook his head.
Then, he crouched down and stared intently at the firefly before him.
He made no move to touch it.
He made no move to capture it.
He simply looked at it in silence.
Oosaki: “...I see.”
I finally understood what was going through his head.
With the same feeling in my heart, I watched the firefly breath.
Oosaki: “Surely, Rouren-san is somewhere in that light.”
Obon was the season when spirits returned from the dead.
To my shame, I had been far too focused on work this year.
For next year and the year after, the two of us ought to come back.
To find the ones we loved within nature.
Sunday.
The thief was caught.
The landlady received her safe back.
Under the policeman’s watchful eye,
she nervously opened its door.
A bankbook.
A brooch.
A necklace.
And a portrait—
The landlady lovingly stroked her dearest possession—a photo of her deceased husband.
Policeman: “It appears the thief was unable to unlock the safe.
Luckily, we were able to retrieve it before he broke in.”
Oosaki: “Who was the culprit?”
Policeman: “Oosaki-san.
It was exactly whom you described.”
I knew it.
Policeman: “The thief would disguise himself as a door-to-door salesman to acquire information about various households.
His latest gimmick involved selling fluorescent lamps.”
Landlady: “Him! I can’t believe I bought a lamp from him!
Oh, I did tell him quite a bit that day…”
The thief would inquire about the household’s residents, then strike while they were away.
While selling his products, he would also note the path the house owner took to retrieve their money and pay.
Thus, he was able to break in-and-out as swiftly and efficiently as possible.
Then, the policeman turned and looked at Hinode-kun.
Policeman: “That was some mighty fine work, son.”
Hinode-kun was sitting at the foot of the stairs.
Policeman: “On the night of the 14th, Oosaki-san came by the station to tip us off on the suspect.
On the afternoon of the 15th, we received a call from this youngster here.”
Oosaki: “Hinode-kun called you…?”
Policeman: “He was able to clearly describe the thief’s mannerism and M.O. for us.”
Oosaki: “Clearly…”
Policeman: “In fact, he even correctly hypothesized where the culprit would strike next.
As a result, we were able to arrest the thief at the scene of the crime.”
Despite being the center of the conversation,
Hinode-kun quickly rushed up the stairs.
Policeman: “Make sure to give that boy his laurels.”
When I returned to our room,
Hinode-kun was sitting at his desk.
My old incandescent lamp had returned to the spot
where the fluorescent lamp used to be.
As per usual,
Hinode-kun was scribbling away in his manuscript.
Oosaki: “That was quite brave of you.”
Hinode: “...”
Oosaki: “It was brilliant work.”
Hinode: “......”
Oosaki: “However, this time, I’m still one step ahead.”
Hinode: “.........”
Oosaki: “You worked hard to retrieve that safe.”
Hinode-kun didn’t track down the culprit just for the sake of it.
Rather, he simply wanted to return the landlady’s safe.
Hinode-kun glanced back.
His lips were pursed, his nose upturned, and his face had flushed completely red.
Hinode: “The matter was so simple that I’d hardly call it work.”
He had the haughty expression of a boy full of complexities yet childish all the same.
He voiced his embarrassment so eloquently
that I couldn’t help but laugh at this newfound side of him.
Kanagawa Prefecture, Hiratsuka City.
A widowed landlady,
a shy college student,
a piddling detective,
and an aspiring detective novelist,
still had their entire summer ahead of them—
[Ten Views of Shonan -Firefly-] 1956.Hinode Route [5]
Translation Notes
[1] Obon is a Japanese festival meant to honor the deceased. During this time, it's said the spirits of the dead can temporarily return to visit their loved ones. It typically occurs from August 13th-16th.
[2] Roninsei: a person who failed to passed their university entrance exam and is studying to retake it the next year.
[3] Furigana: a pronunciation guide to help read difficult characters.
[4] A quote from the opening passage of The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, the text Hinode has been reading for class. In full, the lines read, "In spring, it is the dawn that is most beautiful… In summer, the nights. Not only when the moon shines, but on dark nights too, as the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains how beautiful it is!" (Morris 16).
[5] As a fun fact, the Japanese word for "fluorescent lamp" (蛍光灯) literally translates to "firefly light."
Bibliography
Morris, Ivan, translator. The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon. By Sei Shōnagon, Penguin Books, 1971.
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