Chapter 6
Uumyu… It kinda looks like a board, maybe~? Anzu anego, should I cut it a little bit more?
Looks good? Thanks!
Nn? Ahh, I tried sticking three sheets of cardboard together so it’d hold up better.
Is it really too heavy~? But shouldn’t that just mean it’s more stable?
All righty, I’m gonna trick it out with all the colors of a man among men~ ♪ I’ve been itching to show off my skills!
I’ve made some signboards before, so designing a snowboard should be a piece of cake ☆1
Sigh… Why am I playing around with cardboard when it’s one of my few days off… I wanna die…
Maybe I’d die if I bash my head in with the board…?
Wah—What is it, Anzu-san…?
Please don’t just wag your finger at me… You keep treating me like a little kid…2
If you’re gonna go saying disturbing things, obviously anego’s gonna tell you off~
You just dragged me into this… I’m not saying I need some kind of reward, but I can’t get through this without something to soothe me…
Eep?! What is it, Anzu-san…? Don’t shout all like “That’s it!” so suddenly. It freaked me out…
Huh? You wanna decorate my board? I mean, sure, but…
It’s fine if you’re just gonna draw cute things, but can you not put anything scary on it…?
…? Anego, why’re you opening your notebook?
Huh? Oh, you want me to draw one of these characters on Midori-kun’s board?
S–sure. Just gimme a sec.
……
I did it! What now, anego?
Um, you want me to read these lines while holding the board?
…! Y–you’re doing that thing! Anzu-san, are you seriously gonna bring Basket-Bon back to life for me?!3
Basket-Bon…? The heck’s that? Well whatever, I just gotta read this, right? U~mmm…
“Yoohoo~ Midori-kun! I’m Snow-Beau, sno ☆”4
Uwah, uwaaaaah ☆ It’s a snowboard, so he’s called Snow-Beau? Oh man, that’s cheap! But I’ll give it that it does have that yuruchara vibe… ♪
“I have come allll the way from Ski Slopia because I have a request for you, Midori-kun, sno.”5
You do…?
“I’m a cardboard fairy who longs to be a snowboard, sno.”
Oh, you’re even using the cardboard as part of the setting… Hmmm, so you want to become a real snowboard?
“Yes, so I formed a contract with the King of Ski Slopia, sno. If you use me to go snowboarding today, I’ll become a real snowboard, sno.”
“But… If we don’t do it today, I’ll be doomed to remain as cardboard for the rest of my life, sno.”
Ohh, is that how it is…? It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but as usual, Anzu-san goes hardcore with her backstories ♪
“So Midori-kun, I want you to help me, sno! Use me to go snowboarding, and help me fulfill my dreams, sno!”
I’ll do it, Snow-Beau. No, we’ll do it together… ♪
Uwah?! You just snatched that board right outta my hands! You freaked me out, Midori-kun. But you’ve gotten super pumped about this, huh?
That’s our anego for ya! Wow, have you played this kinda hype game with Midori-kun before?
Figures that baiting Midori-kun with yurucharas would be super effective~
How’re you doing, Shinkai-senpai, Aoba-senpai? You guys coming along?
I’m gonna start painting ASAP~!
Hnn~? What is Shinkai-kun going for with his board? It’s got a lot of somewhat strange components to it…
it is the King of Herrings ♪ this fluttery material here is its Ventral fin.
Won’t it have too much friction if you put stuff like that on it?
it is all right. it will help it swim down the Slope ♪ what are you doing with yours, Bluebird-san?
I used red as the base color~ The color red can raise your luck in competitions and even ward off evil spirits. Maybe you should use it too, Shinkai-kun?
my color is Blue. Red is chiaki’s color, so i will hold off on that.
Oh, I get it. Ryuseitai is balanced that way, isn’t it?
By the way, do you think the first years are finished with their boards…?
Done-zo! A sleek black body and the red streams of a shooting star! This baby’s gonna be called the Iron Tiger!
Fufufu, looks like they’ve just finished up.
I’m excited to play in the snow with everyone. It feels like I’m a kid again ♪
The original here is 『めっ』ってしないでください which is literally “please don’t say ‘meh.’” “Meh” is a sort of word that mothers use to scold their children (which is why Midori says Anzu’s treating him like a kid). In English-speaking cultures, the more iconic “motherly scolding” is more of a nagging finger waving in your face, so that’s what I chose to use here.
The name of this little guy is スノ坊 (sno-bou) which is the (shortened) word for “snow” and the word for “boy” (in some cases). It sounds very similar to スノーボード (sunooboodo, snowboard) so it’s punny!
Snow-Beau ends all his sentences with スノ, a verbal tick that’s reminiscent of basket-bon’s verbal tick “bon.” It’s a shortened version of スノー (snow) so I chopped off the “w” to fit that, and also to try and make it not look like it was an actual word that was part of the sentence.