🎳 "Physical Night" 🕺🎶 Chapter 1

1982, Shirotori Town, Kagawa Prefecture. Neon tubes flicker at the entrance of Shirotori Nissho Bowl, and a faint sea breeze drifts all the way to the back of the lanes.

It is 6:00 PM on a summer Saturday, with the sun still lingering. The rhythm of a Western song that makes everyone tilt their heads slightly flows from the jukebox—Olivia Newton-John's "Physical." I barely understand the English lyrics, but the sense of anticipation that something is about to begin comes through.

Ryo is 19, having just graduated from the local high school. With his hair parted 7:3, he has styled his bangs upward with mousse for the first time. The familiar Shirotori Town looks a bit like America tonight... or so he feels.

The moment he stands on the lane with his ball, the chorus of "Let’s get physical, physical♪" fills the room.

In the next lane, Saki, who is back home from Tokyo, is laughing. A month ago, Ryo gathered the courage to talk to her. She was surprised for a moment, but said, "See you at this bowling alley again," before returning to Tokyo.

"It has to be today," Ryo thought. As he releases the ball in time with the music, the pins fly away all at once. A strike. It was his first one.

Saki approaches him.

"Do you know that song? It was playing at a disco in Tokyo. I never thought I'd hear it in Kagawa."

Ryo, feeling a bit shy, replied, "I don't really know what it means, but it's got energy."

The jukebox finishes the song, and the sound of the cassette spinning can be heard quietly. Outside, the cicadas begin to chirp.

From then on, the two met at the bowling alley many times, and "Physical" became their secret code. Entrusting something precious to a song that crossed generations and oceans.

Shirotori Nissho Bowl eventually closed down, but it seems the jukebox is still sleeping in someone's warehouse.