Chapter 33:

Round 2, Match 4: Supersession vs Gilgameshuu. Gilgameshuu:

Community Sudden Fiction Tournament Arc


Round 2, Match 4: Supersession vs Gilgameshuu.

Prompt: There is beauty in the mundane

Participant: Gilgameshuu (https://www.honeyfeed.fm/u/5218)

1

“Sawada-san, are you sure about this? You were given the opportunity to study at Tokyo University. Are you sure you’re willing to throw that all away?”

I sat on one of the couches inside the teacher’s room of my High School. In front of me was my homeroom teacher, Watanabe Hideyo.

“I’ve already made up my mind. Watanabe-senpai, thank you for everything you taught me until now, but I can’t.”

While it was a rare chance given only to the talented few, I was never the person who wished to be successful.

“I see. There’s nothing we can do about that then.”

He sighed and gave a smile. He gestured for me that I was free to leave.

“Thank you for today, sensei.”

“It’s nothing. I wish you good luck in your future endeavors.”

I bowed, and I made my way out of the room.

If you were to ask me if it was a decision I’d regret, then my only answer would be no.

2

I began to make my way home.

“Ah, that’s right, Mom asked me to buy some groceries...”

I scratched my hair then took out my wallet.

A measly 1000-yen bill, a 500-yen coin, and a bunch of other things.

3

“Thank you, please come again.”

The combini employee said as I left the store. I looked inside the plastic bag I was holding. Cup noodles, eggs, and milk. That’s everything she asked for me right?

Well no matter...

I sighed and continued back home.

Sweat trickled down my face. It was hot.

“Winter just ended, but it’s still really dang hot.” I wiped the sweat off as the midday heat sapped away my energy bit by bit.

I must have gone through this road more than a thousand times already. Yet, I can’t seem to get tired of it.

I looked to my right. I saw the familiar sight of the rice fields I grew up in.

To my left was the neighborhood area, filled with old minka houses.

Kids playing together in the dirt, adults chatting away.

It was about to be summer again, no doubt it would be hot as hell, not to mention the cicadas would be annoying to deal with.

I remembered the time when I slipped and fell into the rice fields and fracturing my leg.

The times me and my friends would play hide and seek and I would always hide in the grass.

They were memories I cherished.

“Takeru-kun!”

As I reminisced of past times, I heard someone call me from behind. Then, I felt a sudden wait on my back.

“Hahaha, Takeru-kun, good day today huh?”

It was my friend and classmate, Hikari Tachibana.

“Oi, get off me! If I trip, the eggs are gonna break!” I yelled. She was always a clingy person, more so to me. I understood why though.

“Eggs you say uuuuh? What eggs are you talking about, I wonder?” she teased. 

“Not that kind of eggs you pervert! Now get off!” I nagged at her.

“Sorry, sorry. Roger.”

She finally got down from my back. She only gave an innocent smile at her dangerous actions. A grinning child as if she thought she didn’t do anything wrong, it was hard to believe this girl was the same age as me.

“Be more careful Hikaru, what if you got hurt?”

“H-hurt? You’re worried about me?”

“Of course I am.”

“Huh?! What does that supposed to mean, Takeru-kun?” she pouted and averted her gaze away from me. What a hopeless tsundere.

“If you’ve got nothing better to say, I’ll just go on ahead.” I proceeded to continue walking, leaving her behind.

“Ah, w-wait!”

As I thought, she was gonna follow me back home like always. From there, we walked together back to my house.

“Hey, Takeru-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to study in Tokyo?” she asked.

I remained silent for a moment before giving my response. “Try to guess.”

“Stop teasing me! Just say it!”

I simply sighed.

“I’m not, I’ll be staying here. So you can rest assured.”

“Ah, I-I see... that’s good...” she stammered awkwardly.

Jeez. What a truly hopeless girl.

4

We arrived back home. Our house wasn’t big or anything, it was a decently-sized traditional minka home.

“I’m home!” I said as I opened the front door. My Mom greeted me on the other side. 

“Ah, Takeru, welcome home, and you have Hikari-chan with you?” she said.

“Good afternoon, Sawada-san,” Hikari said and bowed.

“Come in, come in! Make yourself at home, Hikari-chan.”

“Thank you very much.”

We removed our shoes and went inside.

“I’ve got the groceries you asked me to buy.”

“Ah, thank you so much, Takeru.”

I asked Hikari to stay inside the living room as I went to my room to get changed.

5

“Are you staying for dinner, Hikari-chan?”

“If it won’t be a bother, then I will.”

I was in the living room watching TV together with Hikari.

“Onii-chan! Onii-chan!” Suddenly, my little brother called out. He came out from the next room and lunged at me.

“Hello, Kaoru-kun.” Hikaru went up to him and patted his head. “Onee-san! It’s onee-san!”

“Yes, yes, it’s me. Hikari Onee-san.” Kaoru immediately went up to Hikaru and hugged her, Hikaru carried him and they began playing together.

“Mama! Mama! Dinner! Dinner!” Kaoru yelled. “It’ll be done in a second, please be patient.” “Yes!”

We continued to play together, and after a few minutes, dinner was ready. “Mom, isn’t this just an egg feast?!” I asked as I looked down at the table. Tamagoyaki, Omurice, Oyakodon. It was all eggs!
“Come on, come on, let’s eat! Right Kaoru and Hikaru-chan?”

“Yes!!” They both eagerly replied.

I sighed and we began to dig in.

“Itadakimasu!”

This was how my everyday life was. These simple, and mundane moments are what I held dear.

Spending time with the people you care for, there was no better gift. If everyday was like this, I would never grow tired of it. 

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Judge's Feedback

znf: A bit of a generic application of the prompt and the ending is a bit too transparent for my tastes. Has some cute redeeming moments, but it definitely just reads like going through the motions and gets a bit dry rather quickly.

OscarHM: You’ve gone for a kind of mundanity here but it’s turned out pretty boring for my tastes. Feel like this is the sort of think anyone could write given this prompt. The animeisms are a bit unwelcome. Referring to the girl as a tsundere sort of ruins the mundane country vibe for me, joke about the eggs was weird. The syntax is weird on occasion. Sometimes it’s just that the sentence doesn’t sound right but sometimes it’s the way you try to incorporate romaji words and honorifics into English. Feel like I could’ve gotten something for unique given your last submission.

otkrlj: not badly written, just really boring. like I know thats the prompt, but I feel like he could have made it a bit more interesting to read.