Card Story: When days of our past and present meet | CH3
HEATHCLIFF — …Right. I do want to go in it again.
SHINO — Then let’s go in. Here, go first.
With that, Shino pushed Heathcliff’s back, vigorously pressing him into the hole.
HEATHCLIFF — Ow! Hey, don’t push me!
SHINO — Quit rambling, breathe out and tuck in your stomach more.
HEATHCLIFF — There’s no way I could get in by doing that though!
AKIRA — (Is–is this gonna be ok…)
I nervously watched their situation. Shino was forcefully pushing Heathcliff into the hole that seemed like it could barely fit a single adult.
SHINO — …Ah. Oh no, we can’t come back out.
HEATHCLIFF — This is why I told you to not push! It’s all because you tried to force us into it….
SHINO — That’s because your shoulders are wider than….² Hey, Sage. Don’t just stand there, pull my arm.
AKIRA — Huh, me!? A–Alright, there I go! …One, two!
With a pop, the two of them rolled out of the hole with great momentum.
SHINO — Whew, we’re free.³ Sage, you’re stronger than you look.
HEATHCLIFF — h…! Master Sage! I’m so sorry we made you lift heavy weights…!⁴
AKIRA — It’s–it’s alright! Is either of you hurt?
HEATHCLIFF — We’re fine. But….
Heathcliff stared down at the now empty large hole while brushing off the dirt from his arm.
HEATHCLIFF — To think that it’s become this hard to go in it….
We’ve really grown bigger.
SHINO — Yeah. But we can still grow. Especially me.
HEATHCLIFF — Ahaha. …Yeah, you’re right.
Heathcliff’s eyes narrowed gently from how dazzling Shino puffing his chest in pride was. And….
He shrugged, a little fond and a little exasperated.⁵
HEATHCLIFF — That being said, you should think more about how we can get in before pushing us in.
SHINO — …Don’t start grumbling like Faust.
HEATHCLIFF — Don’t call Mr. Faust’s teachings grumbling. In the first place, you’re always….⁶
AKIRA — (Ah–ah, they started quarelling again…)
The two of them kept quarreling like children in front of the hidden house that’s certainly become smaller.
Nonetheless, something about them was livelier than usual….
AKIRA — (They are surely going to butt heads a lot from on as well, but they’ll surely stay together all the same.)
I imagined them in a distant future, and smiled as I stepped closer to the two of them.
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Mahoyaku Tanabata 2026, Heathcliff SSR card story
² the original says "it's because your shoulders' width compared to the past is---", but since this obviously doesn't flow well in english I reworked the sentence
³ 『助かった』 (read: tasukatta), literally "we're saved", but i feel like "we're free" fits more in this situation.
⁴ the original says "i'm sorry we made you work heavy labor", using 『重労働』, but this. does not sound natural in english. it still doesn't, but it's the best compromise i can make while keeping close to the original material's wording. i did not have enough braincells for this at ungodly 2AM
⁵ 『呆れるように肩を竦める』 , "he shrugged, exasperated", but I wanted a way to convey that it was also very fond. because 『呆れる』 (read: akireru) in Japanese can easily also mean it in a fond way, but "exasperation" feels like a stronger word with more of a negative connotation.
⁶ changed "sensei" to "Mr. Faust" for better flow in English.
thank you to my friends @phantomsstar for the title translation and emil for your assistance
shino my baby is SO FUNNY look at my silly treating his lord like he's made of glass but then shoving him into a tree hole...........
and also akira just suddenly remembering they're thirdwheeling and not just a wall like "oh what? who? me???" made my week
