#and like i said i probablyーno definitelyーmissed some people

[snuggerudsz]

HOW YOU GET THE GIRL l JH86

summary: it's jack's fault you're not together anymore, but he needs you back ー even if he has to go to your apartment in pouring rain at 2 am to beg for a second chance.

pairing: jack hughes x fem!reader

author’s note: hello!! after taylor announced 1989 TV i needed to write something based on a 1989 song and i still had to write something for jacky boy, so this came to life. likes and reblogs are always welcomed. i hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!!! <3333

The first time you’d seen Jack Hughes, you knew he was trouble. One look at the hockey player and you knew he was bound to break your heart. Still, you dove in head first, charmed by his enchanting blue eyes and troublesome smirk. You were aware Jack didn’t do relationships, he’d very much rather casual hookups. But then, when you appeared in his life, he couldn’t think straight, and for the first time in his life, he wanted one person and one person only.  And you were ecstatic. You would never have believed he’d give you an actual chance, let alone ask you to be his girlfriend. However, Jack didn’t know how to be in a relationship, and he let jealousy and miscommunication get in between the two of you until he couldn’t take it anymore and cut you off his life completely. Now, you were broken up, mourning what could have been of your relationship, both haunted by the what-ifs. Until he decided it was enough, he couldn’t let you be the one who got away. He couldn’t let himself ruin this. You deserved better and he wanted to be better, for you.

It was late when Jack decided he was tired of staring at his bedroom ceiling, probably too late but he didn’t care, it’s not like he was going to sleep anyway. Jack got up from his bed, making his way outside his apartment clad in only sweatpants and a devil’s hoodie, and went to his car. The drive was quiet, but his head was loud. He needs you to accept his apology. He needs you. 

Jack sat in his car, looking at your apartment building for what felt like centuries. He could barely see it with the heavy rain on the outside. There are only two types of people who would get out in such bad weather: Idiots and lovesick fools. And Jack definitely was not an idiot. 

“Fuck it,” he thought, getting out of the car and going into the building.

When you woke up to someone knocking on your door at two in the morning, you had imagined anything, anyone but a soaked Jack. But here he was, drenched on your doorstep. You looked at the hockey player, his piercing blue eyes so sad and lifeless staring at your sleepy ones.

“Jack?!” You say his name, with the same warmth of always still present. God, he missed your voice.

“It’s two in the fucking morning,” You scream whisper, not wanting to wake up your neighbors at this ungodly hour. “This is insanity, Jack. Are you crazy?”

“Crazy about you” He states, slyly.

For a moment, you stare at Jack, thinking if you want to slap him or kiss him, eventually just letting him inside, praying you won’t regret this.

Jack stands awkwardly, while you get him a towel and some clean clothes he left at yours and prepares a cup of warm tea. You might be furious at him right now, but that doesn’t mean you’ll let him die of hypothermia in your living room.

“What do you want here, Jack?” You asked bluntly after he’s changed and dry, tea sitting on the table in front of the both of you.

“(Y/N)” He starts, the confidence and playfulness of earlier both long gone, “I’m sorry. These were the longest six months of my life. I swear-”

“Jack, you broke my heart. You-” You take a deep breath, eyes already teary, “You left me. You stopped answering me, Jack. After everything you said, after everything we did, you cut me off. Do you understand how painful that was?” You look into his eyes, blurry vision with the tears you’re holding. “And, I-I tried so hard. Harder than you could ever imagine. I trusted you, I really did. I believed in you, Jack.” You say, face wet with tears and Jack’s heart hurts at the vision he wants to hold you and protect you from all of the pain, but it’s his fault. And he needs to make it right.

“I’m sorry. I can’t apologize enough, but if you let me, I’ll be making up for you for the rest of my life. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I hurt you and that was shitty and I’m so incredibly sorry. I don’t think I’ll regret anything as much as I regret hurting you. I never meant to ruin things, (Y/N). I never meant to ruin us. But please let me make it right. I know I broke your heart, let me put it back together.” Jack pleads, getting closer, his own eyes filled with tears, “I’ve made so many mistakes, (Y/N), so many. But you were never one of them. You were the first thing that felt right. And I know I don’t deserve it, but please, give me a second chance. Please.” He begs, holding your face between his hands, and wiping your tears away. “I want you, (Y/N).” The words escapes Jack's lips and he closed his eyes, not sure he wanted to watch your reaction to his admission. “I want to put your heart back together,” He continues, quieter. “I want us to be how we used to be. I want what we had.” He pleas, his voice stern as he continues “I'll never leave again, I promise. I want to be here for you, worse or for better, no matter what happens.”

The room went silent, the two sets of eyes staring into the other. Wordlessly, you bury your face into Jack’s chest and he feels like he can finally breathe for the first time in six months. The both of you stay there, holding each other for all the words they didn’t get to say, and all the apologies they can’t begin to put down onto words. And if heaven were a place on earth, they might stay that way, glued to one another for a lifetime. Jack kisses your forehead, pressing you harder against him, nothing else matters but the girl he has in his arms.

And that’s how it works.

That’s how Jack Hughes got the girl.

[mypoorfaves]

Positivity Post! :D

Okay so this here is a (freaking long) list of blogs and people that I love, both within my community and outside. Although I understand a lot of people in said community want to remain as anonymous as possible so I’m putting all of the more…um…niche blogs��under the cut! Please enjoy my contribution to this spread of positivity brought about by @wiseinnerwhispers!

@12thdoctorwhomst: You are a great friend. To say so is an understatement. You’re actually one of my best friends. Thanks for always being there :)

@berks-dragon-trainer: We don’t talk much but in see you in my notifs a lot. Also wanna say I’m proud of you for working hard and getting into shape! That takes serious dedication and I wish I could do that myself.

@sellsoulstome: Your space aesthetic is…well, aesthetic! Very calming and I love it so much! I’m sorry life sucks sometimes, but your space children always love and support you :)

@katsukipanya: You are one of my favourite blogs that I’ve had the pleasure of discovering! I can’t get over how CUTE of an idea you bakery AU is! It’s so original and I can’t wait until you get super popular because that WILL happen! I can feel it! I eagerly await each new post from you!

@alexadooodle: Your doodles are so freaking amazing and your content is so creative! I’m sorry idiots have to gall to steal your art. I would actually slap them across the face if I could, I stg. I love our talks and wish nothing but the best for you in life. Keep on fighting, I believe in you :)

@iruutciv: Your Victuuri kissing gifs and art are quite possibly one of the most beautiful things to ever bless this fandom! I love fangirling about yoi with you! Also thanks for introducing me to the beauty that is victuuri smut!

@makeroomfornyoom: Thank you for making my icon! I love it! I also love our chats on discord! I still need to get in Final Fantasy so we can fangirl/fanboy about it together!

@joey-wingster: Thanks for sending me asks, and also for posting that fanfic and gifting it to me! And also saying my writing style is cute! Just so much love for you! Thanks so much!

～～～

@feverflushed: My first and best tumblr friend, and also now my pen-pal! Thanks for being the first person to talk to me in this community. You really encouraged me to open up and talk to more people. My blog and life here on tumblr honestly wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for you. So thank you. I love our convos! Also thanks for always being my first set of eyes for all of my fics!

@whoareurl: Your writing is amazing! You are quite possibly my fave yoi sickfic writer. All of your descriptions are so vivid and perfect! So immersive, like you can really feel what the characters are feeling. I love seeing you on my dash!

@kittensnz / @kotyonoksnz: Your art is freaking amazing! We are blessed as a yoi fandom and especially as a sickblr fandom to have your talent among us. Also you’re just such a great person to talk to! I love seeing your art on my dash. I can’t even put it into words how skilled you are. Like it was either your sick Victor or your Yuuritto comics that originally led me to the sickblr community in the first place. So thank you so much for that. This community is honestly the best thing to have happened to me, and I have you to thank for helping me discover it.

@my-so-called-trash-blog: I love your yoi fics! I used to re-read them constantly while I was still a lurker lol. (I still do re-read them a lot now too!) Just amazing stuff!

@nnatto: Another blog I used to lurk on! I may not be into sneeze, but your yoi fics are still amazing! I am still not over You Know I Can’t Let That Happen. Thanks for always doing a great job on the drabble prompts I and everyone else send in, thanks for helping me out with that one sick Victor fic I wrote for sickdays 3.0, and thanks for many fun chats on discord! Also your tags when you reblog my fics always make me super duper happy! I look forward to running our contagion event together!

@graceless-fever: Oh man your prompt for fevered Yuuri crying when Yurio snaps at him in his usual Yurio way; I’m still so in love with that prompt. The fic that came from that scenario is by far my most popular fic so I have you to thank for helping bring the idea into existence. All of your prompts, and your fics, are all so good!

@dont-look-so-good: We don’t talk too much but I see you a lot on my dash. You’re a cool person! I’m sorry you had to deal with that drama and I hope it’s resolved now!

@illnessandinjury: Your blog is great, you’re such a sweet person and also hella cute! My poor bi heart can hardly handle it!

@ya-nurse: Another blog I don’t talk to much, but you draw SUCH CUTE DOODLES OMG! Also thanks for always congratulating me on my milestones!

@like-me-a-little-whump: Ayee you post such great whump stuff! Keep it up!

@hothedgie: Thanks for talking to me that one time forever ago when I couldn’t sleep. It meant (still does mean) the world to me. That aside, your prompts always wind up creating some of my fave fics so thanks for that!

@taylor-tut: Omg there’s so much to say. I’m not super into Voltron tbh but the influence you have on the Voltron whump community is astounding. You take such good care of your space-sewer-beef-lump-yeet children. You write such great fics and I love how you’re always willing to take birthday fics and always reblog people’s fics to boost them. Also I love the stories you share from work. You’re just an adorable and hella cute ball of sunshine and I’m so glad to be your friend!

@feverhalo: My lovely plant friend! One of my first tumblr friends! We bonded over plants and we screamed about yoi after I brought you over to the Gay Side. I’m still unspeakably flattered that me writing a fic managed to convince you to start watching!! It’s such an unbelievable honour and just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that my writing has that kind of influence. I’m so glad we’re friends!

@sitruksista: I love your yoi fics and I love our chats on the yoi whump discord! You’re awesome!

@docjamie: Thanks so much for all of the art you always draw! Especially my requests! Also thanks for talking to me that one time I couldn’t sleep. It means a lot. I enjoy our talks a lot! I’m looking forward to doing that collab-thing (whenever we get around to it lol)!

@fluffyllamas22: Yet another amazing friend who helped keep me sane when I couldn’t sleep. And from there we easily became such good friends! You’re such a ball of happiness and just so easy to talk to. Your writing is great and it keeps getting better, whether it’s yoi or voltron, or your oc’s! You just always seem so positive and I constantly see you in the inboxes of people on my dash (and also in my inbox too)! You’re just an absolute joy to consider a friend! Also I love our chats on discord!

@just-another-sickfic-blog: Another one of my first tumblr friends! Such a joy to talk to! Thanks for always beta-ing my stuff, and also for letting my beta some of your fics too! I know we have fallen a bit out of touch lately but I still consider you one of my closest friends on here and I hope you are doing well!

@the-whump-sidelines: Oh man we clicked instantly! Our talk, well talks, just discussing fevers. Absolutely perfect! You post some freaking amazing prompts and I’m so glad to hear you like my fics even if you haven’t seen yoi. If you ever wanna fanfgirl about fevers, my inbox is always open!

@sneezehq: Bunny you are so amazing! I love your posts about your horses and also just your life in general! I love your fics and I love how you are always in my notifs and always say the nicest things about the stuff you reblog! Keep being awesome!

@fevers-and-flus and flus: You have good prompts/fics and i see you in my notifs a lot, so thanks for that!

@bigbadsnez: Okay I don’t have a sneeze kink but your yoi fics are AMAZING! Like holy moly wow I’m in love!

@whumpapedia: Holy crap bless this blog and this incredible resource! For those of you who don’t know, this blog contains a database of all tv shows, video games, anime, music videos, etc that contain whump! It is far from complete, so if you lovely people have unlisted content, please let the mods know so they can add it!

@blessyoy-2u: Your art is amazing and thank you for the prompt that led to Gold is Cold! It’s one of my personal fave fics that I’ve written! Keep being awesome! Also I see you a lot in my notifs so thanks for that!

@snifflesnuff: YOU are amazing! A truly wonderful human being! I see you in my notifs ALL of the time! And you always scream in the tags when you reblog my stuff and it warms my heart in a way that I could not even begin to put into words, so thank you!!

@tsunderekushami: I love our chats and I love your oc’s! We need to talk more! I promise you won’t be bothering me if you message me! I’m just a mix of busy and forgetful lol.

@emeraldthread: I love talking to you! Your fics are great! And you always seem like such a ball of sunshine and positivity! Thanks for always liking and reblogging my stuff!

@siktornikiforov: Your yoi fics are great and I love your prompts and posts!

@sweetwhump: Okay I know you haven’t really set up your whump blog yet BUT SWEETV YOUR PROMPTS IN THE YOI WHUMP DISCORD END ME EACH AND EVERY TIME! AND I AM STILL NOT OVER YOUR FIC YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS! I look forward to interacting with your blog lots more!

@ambulancemcclain: You are freaking amazing! And I love it when you scream in the tags in response to my stuff. You are probably my most loud screamer lol. Thank you for that!

@wiseinnerwhispers: For the freaking amazing ficlet you submitted *fans self and tries not to faint from remembering* Also this amazing trend of positivity you’re spreading!

@toosicktoocare: We don’t talk but I really enjoy your stuff! Your fics in particular are great! Keep being awesome!

～

The following are people I don’t talk to much, but I see you lot in my inbox and/or notifs and it makes me super happy!

@nightswithoutcontrol, @totallyexhausted, @pie-for-everyone, @qbswhumpsideblog, @sniffleprincess, @seventeen-pennies, @babydollbucky, @katyaton, @thesassygrandmaster, @following-follower, @nightwalker6200, @kaycee003, @damenemo, @beloved-whumpage, @whump-dump, @tippysf

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Subaru Route ー Chapter 3

ー The scene starts on Glimmer Main Street

Subaru: Haah...What will that old geezer make us do next?

Yui: Based on what we had to do yesterday...I’m fairly sure today’s task will be a challenge as well.

ー An old lady walks past them

Yui: ( Hm...? )

Female Vampire E: Haah...This is bad...

Yui: ( That old lady looks troubled by something...? I wonder what happened? )

Selection

→ Reach out (☾)

Yui: Um, excuーー 

Subaru: Oi.

Yui: Subaru-kun...

Subaru: You’re not gonna talk to her, are you?

Yui: Eh? ...That was the plan though...

Subaru: You know the situation we’re in, right? We have somewhere to go, remember.

Yui: That’s true, but...I can’t just ignore it when there’s someone in need right before me...

Subaru: A person in need, you say...?

...

...Haah, fine. Be my guest.

...Seems like you’re still the literal definition of a kind soul.

→ Walk past her

Yui: ( I’d love to help but...We don’t really have the time for that right now... )

Subaru: Hm? Oi, what’s wrong? Let’s get going already.

Yui: Y-Yeah...

Female Vampire E: Haah...What am I going to do?

Yui: ( ...Uu... )

( I can’t just turn a blind eye to someone in need after all...! ) 

ー Yui runs over to the lady

Yui: Um...Is something the matter, Ma’am?

Female Vampire E: Aah...Miss. Well, I seem to have dropped my dear handkerchief...

Yui: I see. I’ll help you look for it!

Subaru: Geez...Guess I have no other choice...

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ( Looking for a handkerchief might be more tricky than I thought... )

Subaru: Oi, it’s not over here.

Yui: Yeah...I haven’t found it yet either.

( I wonder if it got blown away by the wind...? ーー Ah! )

Couldn’t it be the thing stuck on that bench over there!?

Female Vampire E: Oh dear! It is!

Subaru: Haah...You finally found it? Then hurry up and graーー 

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: Ah...!

( A bird...! )

Subaru: Hey! Wait!

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: ( It flew away with the handkerchief in its beak... )

Subaru: Che...It’s sittin’ on a rooftop... 

Yui: ...I’ll go look for a ladder...!

Subaru: Aah, wait. The idea of you using a ladder is way too risky, I don’t think I could handle it.

...Haah. I’ll go grab it, so just stay put here, ‘kay?

I don’t need a ladder to reach that high...It literally takes one second if I fly.

...There...

ー Subaru leaps up into the air

Yui: ...Ah, Subaru-kun...

*TIMESKIP*

*Thud*

Subaru: ...Here you go. This’ll do, right?

Yui: ( Ah, in Subaru-kun’s hand is...! )

Female Vampire E: Yes, this is it! Thank you so much, you two. 

This handkerchief truly means a lot to me...So you helped me out immensely. Thank you so much. 

Yui: ( She seems very happy. I’m glad I reached out for her! )

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: Ah...Sorry we got a bit sidetracked, Subaru-kun...But still, thanks.

Subaru: ...Haah. You baffle me every time with how much of a goodie-two-shoes you are...

...But well...If you don’t mind that, I won’t stop you either.

Yui: Sure...?

( Usually he’d call me out on that kind of behavior...I wonder what has gotten into him today? )

Subaru: Anyway, we’re done now, right? Let’s go.

ー The scene shifts to Rubien canal

Gondolier A: ーー Off we go!

Yui: ( ...Today’s task involves retrieving a certain crystal from an abandoned mine inside a volcano. )

( ...Sounds like quite the struggle... )

Subaru: Oi, what was your problem earlier?

Yui: Eh? What do you mean?

Subaru: You seemed surprised after I said ‘let’s go’, remember? I’m referrin’ to that.

Yui: Ah...

( When we were told we have to head to a volcano today... )

( I was sure Subaru-kun would protest, but he just immediately responded with ‘let’s go’... )

Ah...Right. Please don’t get mad when I say this but...

I figured you wouldn’t like the idea of having to go all the way to a volcano.

However, you immediately rolled with it, hence why I was a little surprised...

Subaru: ...Hmph.

...Everyone has different things they consider valuable, regardless of whether others feel the same way, right? 

I finally understood that.

Yui: ...?

Subaru: Take that clown mask the old geezer wanted, for example. 

Or the handkerchief that old lady was lookin’ for.

Yui: Subaru-kun...

Subaru: Also...I’m sure that from an outsider’s perspective...What you mean to me...

Would fall under that same category as well, right?

Yui: ...

( How sneaky of him to suddenly say such things... )

( It’s embarrassing but...I feel as if my love for him has only grown. )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the lake

Gondolier A: We’ve arrived at Tilkeys lake!

Yui: ( Phew...Seems like we’ve reached our destination. )

( Now we just have to head towards the volcano up ahead. )

Subaru: Haah...We’re finally here, huh...?

Yui: I thought you’d suggest we’d fly here instead of taking the gondola.

Subaru: Yeah...That thought crossed my mind as well, but I might need to save my energy for later, no?

Yui: ( Fufu...Seems like Subaru-kun is taking these tasks much more serious now. )

ー The two of them start walking

Yui: If I recall correctly, there should be a volcano on the other side of the water, right?

Subaru: That’s what the old geezer told us.

Yui: In that case, let’s just keep on walking straight aheaーー

ー The people around them grow restless

Yui: ...

Subaru: ...

Yui: ( It caught my attention earlier but there sure are a lot of couples around this lake... )

( I guess it can’t be helped since it seems to be a tourist attraction... )

T-There’s quite a few couples, huh...?

Subaru: Che...They’re annoyin’...

Yui: ( However, we can’t get to the volcano if we don’t go past them... )

Subaru: Oi, Yui.

ー Subaru suddenly pulls her close

*Rustle*

Yui: Wah...!

( He pulled me close...!? )

Subaru: We won’t stand out if we walk like this, right?

Yui: P-Probably not but...It’s embarrassing...!

Subaru: From their point of view, we’re...no different from them, you know.

Don’t let it bother you. Let’s go.

Yui: Y-Yeah...

ー The scene shifts to the entrance of the mine

Yui: Ah, seems like we can get inside through there.

Street vendor: ーー One second, you two.

Subaru: Ah?

Street vendor: You’re going inside?

Subaru: What if we are?

Street vendor: Oh no...But if you do, you better take one of these with you.

Yui: Are those...marshmallows...?

Um...Why do we need marshmallows to enter the volcano?

Street vendor: ...You see, there’s a certain tale being told around these parts...

Yui: A tale...

Monologue

ーー What we were told afterwards,

was the sad tale,

regarding this Smaragd volcano.

In the past...Due to the many mining resources,

available in this area,

mining for minerals flourished. 

On a fateful day, one of the miners,

fell in love with a Wraith (2),

who lived in the underground lake.

A Wraith and a Vampire,

made somewhat of an odd duo,

but to be able to live alongside her,

the man tricked a female Vampire,

and offered her body to the Wraith.

Why, you might ask? ...Per tradition,

Wraiths are not allowed to leave the place they were born,

unless they take control of the body of another being.

If they try and leave,

they will simply fade away.

Despite the many unfamiliarities which came with it,

 the two of them lived happily.

While living amongst Vampires,

the only thing the Wraith grew fond of...

were marshmallows. 

...However, 

their happiness was short-lived.

One day,

the original owner of the body she had possessed,

regained her consciousnessーー 

And killed the man.

Shaking with anger,

the Wraith killed the woman, who had been her vessel,

before vanishing herself.

To this day, the man’s spirit,

continues to look for the Wraith they once loved,

wandering around inside this volcano...

The fellow Wraiths,

as if they chose to carry on their lost comrade’s legacy,

have also taken a liking to marshmallows...

Yui: ...

( I had no idea this volcano is linked to such a sad story... )

Subaru: Hmph. In other words, if we run into one of those Wraiths, we just have to give them these as a snack?

I bet it’s just some urban legend, right? Ridiculous...

ー Subaru walks away

Yui: Ah, Subaru-kun, wait...!

( It might just be a made-up story but... )

Um...Excuse me? Could I get some marshmallows while I’m here, please?

Street vendor: Of course. I’ll pray you don’t run into any Wraiths. 

Yui: Thank you very much.

( Okay. I have to go after Subaru-kun...! )

ー The scene shifts to the inside of the mine

Yui: ( Where did he run off to...? )

( I don’t think he could be that far ahead... )

Subaru: ーー I knew it.

Yui: Wah! Subaru-kun!?

Geez...It gives me a heart attack when you appear out of nowhere like that...

Subaru: Knowing you, I bet you bought some marshmallows first before coming inside of here?

I figured that might be the case, so I waited for you here.

Yui: I-I see...

Subaru: You actually believe that story from earlier?

It’s just some obvious sales trick (3) to try and get us to buy his marshmallows, no?

Yui: It might be but...You know, better be safe than sorry...Right?

Subaru: ...Haah.

Whatever. Let’s just look for that crystal now.

Yui: He told us it glimmers and lights up, right?

Subaru: Yeah...According to the old geezer, we might find it by searching this rock surface.

Seems like they’ve conveniently got the mining tools all laid out for us.

*Rustle*

*Cling*

Subaru: I’ll use this to chip away at the wall so you look for the crystal.

Yui: Yeah, I’ll try my best!

*TIMESKIP*

*CLING*

Subaru: Haah...haah...

Yui: ( Hm...We’ve been searching for quite some time now... )

( But it doesn’t seem like we’ll find it any time soon... )

( On top of that... )

...Uu...

( Perhaps I’m paranoid after listening to that story from earlier but...For some reason, this place really gives me the creeps. )

*Rustle*

???: Fufu...Ufufufu...

Yui: ...Who’s there...?

*Rustle*

ー A strong gust of wind blows

Yui: ( There’s nobody... )

( Am I just hearing things...? But I could have sworn someone was there... )

Subaru: Oi, what’s wrong?

Ah...Subaru-kun...For some reason, this place has been creeping me out...

Subaru: ...Well, this isn’t the most fun place to be at.

Yui: Yeah...

Subaru: ...Let’s take a small break. You brought some food with you, right?

Yui: Ah...Yes! I got us some sandwiches on the way.

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ...Here, this one’s yours!

Subaru: Yeah...Thanks.

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: Phew...That hit the spot.

( While the location is somewhat unsettling, this feels like we’re having a picnic together, it’s honestly kind of fun...! )

...I should have brought dessert with me as well.

Subaru: Ah? But we do, don’t we?

Yui: Eh?

Subaru: You got them at the entrance earlier, didn’t you? ...Those marshmallows.

Yui: You’re going to eat those!? I think it’d be better if we have those on hand just in case a Wraith shows up...

Subaru: Oh come on, I’ve been tellin’ you that crap is just some urban legend, haven’t I?

Yui: You think so...?

( But well...I guess it’s better to eat them than to have to end up throwing them away... )

Hold on...

*Rustle rustle*

Huh...?

Subaru: Oi, what’s wrong?

Yui: I can’t seem to find them...

Subaru: Hm...Didn’t you drop them somewhere?

Yui: ...

( Don’t tell me...Did a Wraith actually take them...? )

( In that case, I’m glad I bought some just like that person advised us to... )

Subaru: ...What’s wrong? Did you want to eat marshmallows that badly?

Yui: Ah...No. That’s not it, but...

( I’ll just keep this to myself... )

( It’s not like I have concrete proof that they were taken by a Wraith... )

( If the story we were told is true, it might be best to just quietly let it pass. )

Subaru: ...? You weirdo. Whatever. We should get back to work soon.

*TIMESKIP*

*Cling*

Subaru: ...Haah...!

Yui: Subaru-kun, how are things looking on your end...?

Subaru: No luck...I did find this rare-looking gem instead though.

But it’s not the one that old geezer wants...

Here, it’s this one.

Yui: Waah, it’s so pretty.

( It changes color depending on the angle! Wow...! )

( But this isn’t what we’re looking for... )

Subaru: ...

Yui: ( Subaru-kun has been staring at the gem in his hand this whole time, it seems. )

...Fufu, I see no harm in taking it home with us to remember this day?

It doesn’t look like the type of gemstone you’d find every day!

Subaru: Y-Yeah...Good point.

*Rustle*

Yui: So...What are we going to do now...?

( We can’t just keep on aimlessly searching around forever... )

???: Fufu...Ufufufu...

Yui: ...!

( That voice just now...It’s the same one I heard earlier...! )

( Are there really Wraiths living here...? Oh no, we’re all out of marshmallows too... )

Subaru: ...What was that voice just now?

Yui: You noticed as well...?

Subaru: Yeah. I could hear it from behind us.

Yui: Yeah...Let’s try heading into that direction.

ー They follow the voice

Subaru: ...Around here, maybe...?

Now that you mention it, I did read this one fairytale from the Demon World when I was a kid...

In one of those stories, their dog barked to mark a location and they found a treasure buried underneath.

Does that ring a bell?

Yui: Eh? Y-Yeah...It’s a famous story after all... (4)

Subaru: This might just be...a similar case...!

...Let’s try diggin’ here.

*Cling*

Subaru: ...Ugh...!

*Cling*

*Crumble*

*THUD*

Yui: Ah! Subaru-kun, look!! Couldn’t it be that one over there...!?

Subaru: You’re right..It’s blue in color just like that old geezer said...

Yui: Waah! Thank god we were able to find it!

Subaru: Haah...Geez, finally...

But...Well, I guess it was worth goin’ through all the trouble...

Yui: Yes.

( Hm...? Then the Wraith’s voice from earlier...? Could she have been trying to thank us for the marshmallows...? )

Subaru: We were able to find the crystal, so I guess we should leave now.

Yui: Good idーー

*Flap flap*

Subaru: Aah...?

Yui: What was...that sound...?

*CAW*

*Flap flap*

Yui: Eh...An eagle...!?

Subaru: Haah!? Where did it come from!? ...Wait, fuck...It’s comin’ our way...!

*CAW*

Subaru: ...! Watch out...!!

*Thud*

Yui: Are you okay!?

( ...Did it target the gem in Subaru-kun’s hand just now...? )

Subaru: Oi oi...Are you after this gemstone perhaps...?

We went through hell and back to find it, so no way I’m handin’ it over!

Let’s make a run for it!

ー The two of them start running

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Subaru: Che...It’s comin’ after us again!

Yui: Ah, Subaru-kun! There’s a rail cart over there...!

Subaru: Guess we have to use that to get out of here...!

ー They head towards the rail cart.

Subaru: Oi, hold onto this crystal.

*Thud*

Yui: Yeah...!

( I’ll put it in my pocket so I don’t drop it... )

Subaru: Kuh...

Get...movin’...!

*Rattle rattle*

*Thud*

Subaru: Awesome, it’s runnin’!

Is that eagle still comin’ after us?

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Yui: Yeah...Seems like it set its sights on this gem after all...

*Flap flap*

Subaru: Che...That fuckin’ geezer! He didn’t mention this...!

*Flap flap*

Yui: Ah...! Subaru-kun, watch out...!

Subaru: Fuck...! Oi, you stay down. Don’t you dare raise your head!

*Rustle*

Yui: Y-Yeah...

*Flap flap*

*CAW*

Subaru: Che...You persistent pest! Buzz off!

*Cling*

Yui: Subaru-kun! Don’t push yourself too much...!

Subaru: Yeah, I know...! ...Uwoh...!? 

*Thud*

Yui: Eh...!?

( The eagle...Grabbed hold of him...!? )

Subaru: ...Kuh...Oi...Let go of me...!!

*CAW*

Subaru: ...Ugh!!

Yui: Ah...!!

Subaru: Yui...!!

Yui: No way...Subaru-kun!?

( Subaru-kun fell inside the ravine...!! I have to go save him...But what can I...? )

*Rumble rumble*

Yui: W-What now...!? The ground’s rumbling...?

*Creaaak*

Yui: Eh...!?

( The wagon’s tilted to the side...At this rate it’ll fall...!? )

...Kyaah...!?

ー She falls down

Yui: ( Oh no...At this rate, I won’t even live to get my heart back... )

( ... )

Subaru: ーー Yui!

Yui: ( Eh...? )

*Rustle*

Yui: ( My body is...floating...? )

Subaru...kun...?

Subaru: You’re fine now! Hang on tight!

Yui: Yeah...!

*Thud*

ー The scene shifts to a cave

Yui: Haah, haah...

We made it out...unharmed somehow...?

Subaru: Yeah...Seems like it.

Yui: ( But...Where are we? It looks like a cave of some sorts... )

...

( What’s happening...!? I can barely...breathe...!? ) 

Subaru: Che...Seems like we fell pretty far down...

We have to get out of here before you suffocate to death...!

ー The scene shifts to the underground lake

Subaru: Haah...Oi, are you okay...?

Yui: Just barely...!

( So there’s a lake underground... )

Subaru: Oi, you still have the gem on you, right?

*Rustle*

Yui: Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve got it.

Subaru: Perfect...Let’s get out of here at once then.

I don’t want to stay here any longer and run into trouble again.

Then afterwards...

...Don’t ever leave my side again, ‘kay? Who knows what waits ahead of us.

Yui: Yeah...!

*Rumble rumble*

Subaru: ...Hold up. Something’s...comin’...

Yui: ( This sound...Could it be the rumbling of the ground again...!? )

*SPLASH*

Subaru: ...Water...!?

Yui: Ah...The quakes from earlier might be what is causing the lake to flood...

Subaru: Che...It’s just one problem after the other...!

ー The water flows their way

Yui: Kyaah!?

( We’re being swept away..!? )

Subaru: Oi, hold onto me!!

*Rustle*

Subaru: Don’t you dare let go of my hand!

*Splash*

Yui: ( We...made it out alive...? )

Yui: Cough...cough...

Subaru: Oi...Are you alright?

Yui: Ah...Yes. I swallowed a little water, but I don’t seem to have any injuries.

I’m sure it’s because you protected me.

Subaru: H-Haah!? The fuck are you sayin’...!?

Yui: Eh? ...What do you mean? You proteーー

Subaru: Aah, shut up! Not another word!

Fuck...

Yui: ( Ah...Subaru-kun looked away... )

But it’s really all thanks to you that I was able to safely make it back out.

Thank you for saving me.

Subaru: ...

...Hmph.

Yui: ...We ran into several problems but...

It’s good we got out safe and sound, right?

Subaru: There’s nothin’ good ‘bout this shit. Honestly...We went through hell and back.

I don’t wanna go through that ever again.

Yui: Fufu...I agree.

*Thud*

Subaru: Anyway...Let’s go to the old geezer’s place already.

I’m gonna snap if he calls us out on takin’ too long again.

ー Subaru nearly trips

Subaru: ...

Yui: Ah, Subaru-kun, are you okay...!?

Subaru: I just felt a little shaky in my step. Don’t worry ‘bout it.

Don’t be worryin’ ‘bout someone else when you’re totally worn out yourself.

Yui: Y-Yeah...

( Even if he says that, I can’t help but be concerned... )

*TIMESKIP*

*Rustle*

Yui: ( Nn... )

ー Yui wakes up in the hotel room

Yui: ( Huh...? Where am I...? This isn’t...the anitque shop, right...? The hotel room...? )

( I remember heading from the lake towards the antique shop together with Subaru-kun... )

*Rustle*

Subaru: Nn...Ahー Fuck...My muscles sore...

Wait...Hah? Why are we at the hotel...!?

Yui: ( Thank god...Seems like Subaru-kun has woken up as well. )

Say, I wonder how we made it back here?

Subaru: Who knows...I can only remember up until the point we left for the old geezer’s place.

Yui: ( I guess Subaru-kun’s in the same boat, huh...? ...Hm? )

*Flip*

Yui: ( Oh? There’s a note on the bedside table... )

Subaru: What’s that? A note? Give me that for a sec.

ーー The requested gemstone has been successfully retrieved. 

Make sure to get plenty of rest today so you’re ready for the final task tomorrow.

...Furthermore, next time I find you two passed out in front of my store, I’m throwing you out on the sidewalk like that so you have been warned. 

...That’s what it says.

Yui: Ah...I see...We must have collapsed in front of the store.

Subaru: Geez...Who’s fault does he think that is!?

Fuck...! That older geezer needs to watch his words...!

Haah...I’m gonna sleep. You should rest up soon as well. Tomorrow’s the last day after all.

*Creaak*

Yui: Yeah, I will.

( Today sure was something else but...I had fun. )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) 話 or ‘hanashi’ is more of a general term which simply means ‘talk’ or ‘story’. However, given the contents of the story, I thought ‘tale’ was a fitting term in English. 

(2) A Wraith is a type of ghost or spirit, originally from Scottish Folklore. They are said to be the embodiment of souls who are either on the verge of death, or who have recently passed on.

(3) 子供騙し or ‘kodomo-damashi’ literally means a trick/trap only children would fall for.

(4) I did a quick google search and Subaru is mostly referring to the Japanese folklore tale: Hanasaka Jiji. 

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 2

→ PROCEED WITH MAIN STORY [CHAPTER 4]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #1 [W/ KANATO]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #2 [W/ RUKI]

→ SUB-SCENARIO #3 [W/SHIN]

[xiaomoxu]

LUCIEN - Taste Date

SPOILER ALERT!!

A date from CN server which hasn’t been released on EN server yet. Might contains some spoiler.

The projector in the living room flickered, and the music at the end of the movie was intertwined with the warm sunshine. In this space that belongs to me and Xu Mo, there is a warmth day after day.

I looked at the scrolling subtitles on the screen and yawned.

Xu Mo: Do you think the movie is boring?

Xu Mo turned his head and looked at me with a faint voice as always, but the smile in his eyes was a little bit more than usual.

MC: Nope. The movie is very interesting. I especially like narration, music and mirroring.

MC: It's the movie you picked.

As I said, I leaned against Xu Mo again, leaning my head on his shoulder.

MC: I just relax suddenly and feel like I'm lazy

MC: Obviously I did all kinds of imagination before the holiday, but when I could really rest, my brain went on strike, and I didn't even bother to think about the plan.

Xu Mo: However, if you don't plan well, this rest day will also slip away unknowingly.

MC: There is nothing wrong with this principle

MC: Then we will discuss how to spend a full and rich rest day tomorrow.

MC: But right now... just rest with nothing to do for one day, okay?

When I looked up at him, I was amused and blinked earnestly. Xu Mo seemed to squeeze my face helplessly.

Xu Mo: You...

Xu Mo: Do you want to watch another movie?

Before I had time to agree, Xu Mo's phone on the table rang untimely.

The caller is Aming.

Xu Mo pressed the hands-free button after answering the phone, got up and walked to the cabinet where the discs were stored.

Aming: Professor Xu, sorry to disturb you.

Xu Mo: what's happening?

Aming: Do you have any arrangements for today? The previous experiment has made some progress, I would like to trouble you to follow up.

Xu Mo paused when he picked the DVD.

Xu Mo: is it urgent?

Aming: It's not actually too late after the holidays.

Aming: However, there will be a few academic conferences and postgraduate papers that you need to check. Time will be a little tight.

Xu Mo: I know. Leave it until after the holidays.

Aming: Alright professor, take a good rest.

As the phone hung up, Xu Mo also chose the DVD. And I, who was listening silently beside him, suddenly had a thought.

MC: Xu Mo, I have a plan!

Xu Mo: Yes?

MC: Since it's a holiday now, there shouldn't be many people in the research right?

Xu Mo: Well, that's right.

MC: Then I will go to work with you!

As if shocked by my sudden suggestion, Xu Mo raised his eyebrows and said again to confirm.

Xu Mo: Go to work with me?

MC: Yes! This way you can spend the rest day with you without delaying your work.

MC: And it satisfies the condition of "fullness and richness" very well. Isn't it a great idea?

Xu Mo: I do not deny that this is a feasible method....

Xu Mo: But my work is probably not as interesting as you think

I shook my head vigorously.

MC: It is not an opportunity every day to see Professor Xu's work side up close.

MC: This holiday plan will definitely be the one I wanted to start a long time ago.

MC: "Professor Xu Mo's Ecological Observation" project adds an important record!

Although I have “sneaked in” here many times because I gave Xu Mo a lunch box or helped him take care of the plants in the office...

But walking into the office with him in this way and watching him sitting behind his desk up close is still a new experience.

MC: Xu Mo, you just treat me as if I'm not here, just do your usual work normally!

Seeing that I had quite taken out a notebook to record his daily momentum of work, Xu Mo gently tapped on my head.

Xu Mo: Well, now that producer MC is fully prepared, then I will cooperate well.

Xu Mo: But say it in advance, even if you feel boring, you can't run away.

MC: Pftー don't worry, I won't!

I hope our "cooperation" today will be turned well.

I held back a smile, sat pretentiously on the sofa in the corner of his office, and waved to him.

The so-called "Professor Xu Mo's Ecological Observation" project, only "observing Xu Mo" is my real purpose.

The person in front of me always seemed to be able to cooperate with my careful thoughts, and would not pierce easily.

For me, seeing Xu Mo's work in a rare way is already the most interesting thing for me.

Xu Mo sat behind his desk, his narrow eyes could not see emotions, only the light spots on his face swayed playfully with his breathing rate.

We didn't speak for a while, and typing sounds regularly echoed in the office where only the two of us were alone.

Xu Mo: Is it connected to the intranet?

Xu Mo didn't stop his hand movements and spoke naturally

MC: Yep, it's already connected.

MC: However, the network speed of the highest biotechnology institute is really fast

??: After all, we have a lot of data to process, and it will be troublesome if the network cannot keep up.

With a soft knock on the door, a familiar voice heard outside the door.

Researcher: Amin told me that the professor was not coming today, and he was probably going to accompany MC. I saw that the office light was on, and it was strange.

Researcher: Unexpectedly, you came together.

The other party was one of the researchers who followed Xu Mo as a researcher, and I had met Xu Mo several times before.

Xu Mo nodded lightly in response, and I also smiled politely at him.

MC: Do you have a job to talk about? Then I first

Researcher: No, no, I will go back to the lab now. Professor, you are busy, I won't bother you.

The researcher winked at us jokingly and waved away.

Xu Mo raised his eyes and looked at the direction the person was leaving, then smiled and said to me.

Xu Mo: It seems that when I didn't know, the researchers around me had a better relationship with you.

MC: Because everyone is very kind.

Xu Mo: A lot of things have been added to the office unknowingly.

Xu Mo smiled and pointed to the blanket on the sofa.

MC: Of course. My goal is to make it comfortable and easy to work with!

Xu Mo: Then I will wait and see.

In the next few hours, Xu Mo's typing sound never stopped.

Occasionally, a few researchers came in to submit materials, and because they were all familiar people, they directly handed me the documents that needed to be sorted out.

In this way, I also feel a little happy to be around Xu Mo and do something for him.

But....

Xu Mo: Ugh...

Hearing Xu Mo's sigh for many times today, I walked behind him and massaged his shoulders and neck.

You keep sighing, is your work today not going well?

Xu Mo: Is not. It's just that the efficiency is not as high as usual.

MC: Is it too tired?

MC: Xu Mo smiled and took my hand, leaned a little later, half leaning on me.

He took off his glasses and put them on the table. The eyes that looked at me were full of clarity, and there was no fatigue.

Xu Mo: If you are here, I will be distracted.

Xu Mo: Are you hungry, do you want to eat first?

The noon daylight gradually slanted, and the crisp keyboard tapping in my ears stopped.

Xu Mo stood up and moved his shoulder and neck slightly.

The work is more cumbersome than I thought, and it may take more time.

Xu Mo: Why not we have lunch together?

MC: It would be nice if Professor Xu Mo could eat as well as he did today in his usual work.

Xu Mo: With your strict supervision, I am getting healthier day by day.

Xu Mo got up and put on his coat, and naturally brought me a coat and hat.

Xu Mo: For the restaurants nearby.

Seeing Xu Mo's thinking, I interrupted him first.

MC: Today I am here to do "Professor Xu Mo's Ecological Observation", so just go to the place where you usually eat.

Xu Mo: But I usually.....

I can probably guess what he said subconsciously. I squinted at Xu Mo.

MC: Did you really eat well under my supervision?

Xu Mo: ....

Xu Mo: Compared to before, my life is indeed much healthier. Especially the love bento you sent, I ate them on time.

MC: Huh?

MC: What about when I didn't send it? Is it not on time?

I did not let Xu Mo go, but further "questioned" him.

Xu Mo: Overall.... it is on time.

Xu Mo turned his gaze away with a rare guilty conscience, and gave an ambiguous answer.

MC: Then take me to the place where you usually eat now.

MC: I have to supervise the cunning big fox Professor Xu!

Although I am always amused by him accidentally, I will never compromise in this kind of place.

Xu Mo: Alright, I get it.

Xu Mo: In the future, I will follow MC's requirements more strictly and try to ensure that I work and rest regularly.

Seeing that I couldn't help but Xu Mo could only sigh and surrender.

Xu Mo took me to a small restaurant near the research center.

Most of the diners who come and go in the store wear badges from the research center.

MC: It seems that this is still a popular meal of the research center.

Xu Mo and I stood at the end of the ordering queue, looking up at the short menu. The dishes were almost occupied by sandwiches, burgers and pizza.

MC: But the food does not seem to be too rich...

Xu Mo: Yes. After all, people usually think more about how to make eating time the most efficient than enjoying food.

Xu Mo: If you have not forgotten to eat, you will choose food that is portable and can be eaten as quickly as possible.

Xu Mo: So you can finish a meal while walking or working.

Xu Mo didn't look at the menu and ordered a sandwich when it was our turn.

It seems that he does come here often.

The clerk clearly placed the order and settled the bill. The smooth and streamlined movements are in line with efficiency aesthetics.

MC : I'm going the other way with you, and I will never give up any chance to enjoy food

MC: Occasionally, I ran for a cup of coffee during my lunch break.

MC: After all, eating is a very happy thing.

Xu Mo: Yes. Indeed it is.

MC: Xu Mo looked at me as if he missed and said with joy.

Xu Mo: I didn't think three meals a day were important or pleasant.

Xu Mo: But I found it now.

Xu Mo: This feeling is especially strong when you eat the rice cooked by this "Snail Girl".

Almost as soon as I was seated, the clerk had already delivered some nice sandwiches.

MC: Huh? Is this restaurant serving food so fast?

The sandwiches on the tray are very rich in content, some vegetables and meat, and it seems that there is an egg in it.

MC: Is this your usual lunch?

Xu Mo nodded and unpacked.

Xu Mo: The sandwiches in this shop are very popular in the research center.

MC: Is it because the nutrition is balanced and delicious?

Xu Mo: Would you like to taste it?

Xu Mo smiled and split off a corner of the sandwich and handed it to me.

While talking, other meals were also delivered over.

In such a comparison, I always feel that the sandwich in front of me looks very simple.

But as the saying goes, the food is not good.

MC: Well.... the nutrition seems to be very balanced.

I returned Xu Mo with a bright smile.

Xu Mo: Doesn't it taste good? It's better to say that it was just enough to swallow it just now.

MC: ....

MC: It must be that the ingredients used in the store are more particular, right? It can add rich nutrition.

Xu Mo: It's just ordinary ingredients.

Xu Mo: From a nutritional point of view, meat is somewhat insufficient, and the intake of carbohydrates and protein is definitely not enough.

I tried to maintain the smile on my face, somewhat worried whether the store would hear this straightforward conversation and swept us out.

Xu Mo: However, it has a unique advantage that it can become the favorite food in the hearts of researchers at the research center.

I opened my eyes slightly and listened carefully.

Xu Mo: High speed.

MC: What?

Xu Mo: The serving speed is very fast, if it is taken away, the speed is even faster.

MC: So that's all...

Xu Mo: Someone once did statistics...

Xu Mo: If you order this sandwich in this restaurant, you can save at least 13 minutes and 22 seconds even during peak dining periods.

As I listened to this so precise and unnecessary data, my brain gradually emptied.

Does the research scope of the research center cover this kind of place?!

Xu Mo: This statistical report covers all shops within a walking distance of 20 minutes, and the credibility is very high.

MC: That's it, everyone at the research center are so strictㅡ

Xu Mo was amused by my lack of emotional ups and downs, and he pushed my burger toward me.

Xu Mo: But the taste of other dishes should be normal and worth eating.

Sure enough, the beef Hamburg, which looked very tender and juicy, basically reached the standard of "delicious".

Compared with the tasteless sandwich just eaten, it can be called "delicious."

MC: So, do you usually eat this kind of food for lunch?

Xu Mo: Yes. This is considered to be one of the most optimal in all aspects

Xu Mo bit the sandwich in his hand and explained the facts calmly.

MC: Although time is important and this sentence is also very long-winded, I still think three meals a day are very important

MC: After serious work, it is worth rewarding yourself with delicious, nutritious and balanced food.

MC: Eating enough and sleeping well is not only a guarantee of life, but also a statement to myself: Today I am also living seriously.

Facing my serious "preaching" Xu Mo stretched out his fingers to smooth my frowning brows, and smiled a little happier than before.

Xu Mo: It is as expected.

Seeing me looking at him a little puzzled, Xu Mo smiled and fed me a piece of French fries, and continued to speak.

Xu Mo: Several times, when I ate sandwiches from this restaurant, I wondered how you would react if you came here and ate the same food as me.

Xu Mo: When you taste the taste, you will definitely hesitate to say it bluntly.

Xu Mo: You will definitely tell me after listening to my reasons for choosing it, to eat well and take care of yourself.

Xu Mo: My guess was not wrong.

MC: Hm....

MC: Why do you think of me at this time?

Xu Mo: When you encounter all kinds of things, you will always share with me

Xu Mo: Every time I receive a message from you and learn about every bit of your life, I am very happy.

Xu Mo: Of course I would want to do the same thing.

Xu Mo: Rather, it is the most normal thing to unconsciously think of the people you care about in every bit of your life.

Xu Mo's tone was light.

This is indeed an ordinary thing.

But this kind of thing, being said so bluntly and seriously by him, still makes my cheeks hot.

MC: You, why don't you hurry up and try other foods?

MC: This pizza looks delicious. Would you like to try it?

As if to conceal my feeling of making a fuss about "normal things", my body has already taken a step before my reaction.

(karma CG included)

I picked up the pizza just baked and handed it to Xu Mo.

MC: Is it a sweet pizza that you haven't tried before, try it?

Xu Mo didn't take the pizza I handed over, but just bent down and bit the tip of the pizza.

His snort rubbed my fingers, it was warm and a touch of humidity.

The reduced distance is like a switch that flashes a similar scene in my mind.

Xu Mo: is good?

Xu Mo who bit the pizza opened his eyes slightly.

MC: Is the pizza with cheese, blueberry and honey taste too weird?

I looked at Xu Mo's face and tried to find the answer in his expression.

Xu Mo moved closer to my side and bit off the cheese.

Probably the pizza that was just out of the oven was still a little hot, Xu Mo didn't speak immediately, but motioned for me to try it too.

MC: It is good!

On the first bite of the pizza, I also opened my eyes wide and nodded to Xu Mo frequently.

MC: it's nice!

MC: Unexpectedly, there is such a delicious thing hidden in a place so close to the research center!

The little beauty and surprise that I suddenly found, the joy that I shared with my favorite person the first time...

The scent of blueberries and the sweet taste of honey are intertwined, and the heart is full of satisfaction.

Xu Mo: It seems that I am too underestimated and I am too used to this restaurant.

MC: Coming with you today is really rewarding!

Xu Mo: Indeed it is.

As Xu Mo said, he picked up another slice of pizza and handed it to me, his eyes were softer than the lemon-colored sunlight outside the window.

Xu Mo: Even if I'm very familiar with the things I am used to, when I'm with you, it will always be different.

Xu Mo: It seems that as long as I look at you, I won't miss all the beautiful things.

Xu Mo's voice is still so faint, with some warmth and softness in the heart.

MC: In the future, I will continue to work hard to discover the little beauty in life.

MC: So Professor Xu will continue to rest assured with me.

He did not speak any more, just smile and stretch out his finger and wiped the corners of my mouth.

There have been many times when he used the same tone and tone to explain a certain theory and a certain truth for me.

Just now, he told me more facts about himself.

Small, ordinary facts have not been verified by large sections of papers, nor are they new discoveries that shock the world.

But it is absolutely correct and constant like any other law that constructs this world.

It was enough to make my heart beat faster than usual.

--- END ---

I’m sorry if there’s some mistranslation. Kindly tell me if you found some :) thank you for read it~ ^^

[youareiron-andyouarestrong]

39 + 87 + rebelcaptain

survival/wilderness + aroused by the sound of her voice 

always had high, high hopes 

It could be worse was the first thing Kay had said after the meeting that officially declared he had been put under Cassian’s jurisdiction. The one they got after Cassian had to convince Intelligence and the members of the Council that walking into the Rebel base with a reprogrammed Imperial enforcer droid was a good idea. 

It could be worse, Kay had said, they could’ve dismantled me down for parts and had you demoted. 

Intelligence agents don’t get demoted, Cassian had replied. We get burned. 

Oh. Kay had sounded like he was recalculating his formulas. Not much worse, then.

Since then, it became a kind of mantra Cassian had adopted. It could be worse. That was what he told himself when times became darker and harder. Things could be worse. He could be dead. It was always easier to feel a little better about your immediate situation when you weren’t irreversibly dead. 

After… well, everything, he had made the mistake of saying such around his team (his people, his network, his rogues). Then of course, inevitably, someone (Bodhi, Kay, Baze, Jyn) would start listing all the ways it could be worse. They could be stuck on a swamp planet. Bodhi could be missing another arm. Baze could lose all his guns, and the spare grenades. Jyn might miss the evening meal. The suggestions would become increasingly more and more ridiculous as time went by and they stretched their imaginations (which were truly considerable) to the limit.  It became a game, a slightly morbid one perhaps, but one that amused them at least, and allowed for them to gently tease Cassian out of his darker moods. Of course, someone would eventually trump them all with pointing out, We could all be dead on Scarif. And then game would end, at least until the next time someone said, It could be worse. 

Cassian was trying to remind himself of that now. Things could be worse. 

He and Jyn were on an uninhabited (hopefully) forest moon, true. They were laying low from the Imperials searching for them, that was nothing new.  Practically routine. It would be about seventy-two standard hours before their ship came into orbit and Kay and Bodhi could reach them. They had food and shelter and it wasn’t raining anything other than water outside their little cave. Frankly, Cassian had survived on less than that. 

If it wasn’t in a Force-be-damned cave, then he might’ve gone so far as to say he had definitely had worse. 

But it was a cave, and anything that wasn’t in the immediate city proper was outside of his experience and thus Cassian hated it. None of his training had covered wilderness survival. He had been placed solely in cities and military bases and maybe an outpost or two, if he was unlucky. He had never needed to learn to survive in anything other than outside the law and within the Empire, and that was hard enough by anyone’s standards. 

This was probably what kept Jyn from needling him too much about his (entirely deserved) grousing. When it was established that they were stuck here for the next seventy-two hours, Jyn had simply nodded, and said, “Time to find shelter.” In the time it took for Cassian to try to set up a transmitter and send Kay the needed coordinates, Jyn had found them a cave, wove a curtain of vines together to disguise the opening, found firewood and then headed out and returned with this particular moon’s species of fish. Somehow she’d gotten wet wood to catch flame and was now comfortably cooking what she’d neatly gutted and cleaned out of her catch. 

Cassian could only blink at her. 

Jyn raised her head, caught his bemused stare. “What?” she asked. “I learned with Saw. He was pretty empathetic about it, actually.” 

“I can see that,” Cassian said finally. “How did you get the fire to catch?”

“I keep a little bit of flint in my pack at all times,” Jyn replied. “Plus, I used your spare flimsy.”

Cassian’s head snapped up at that, only to see Jyn’s grin flash like silver in the gloom. “Very funny,” he said flatly, in much the same tone of voice he used when Kay was attempting to be comforting or encouraging. 

“I thought so,” Jyn replied comfortably, giving the fish a little tweak. “I only used my spare flimsy.” 

The fish was good. Better than good, though Cassian had privately wished he could have a little pepper, maybe some spices to season it. He had given Jyn some of his closely hoarded supply of coarse salt for the fish, a small packet he kept on his person at all times. Along with roasted in the embers an edible root Jyn had also found and brought back, it was, all in all, not the worst meal Cassian had ever had. 

“Are we starting the I’ve-had-it-worse game again?” Jyn asked as she smoored the fire. “You’ve got that look on.”

“I can think of other things to do,” Cassian said, mostly for the form of it.

“Mmm.” Jyn settled down comfortably. “Better string them out, if we’re here for the next seventy-two hours.”

“I have my datapad,” Cassian said, his eyes drifting closed. The sound of the rain was soothing, the smell of woodsmoke and fish comforting, and Jyn’s voice a pleasant hum in his ear. “I could get some coding done.”

A chuckle escaped Jyn. “With what signal?”

He opened his eyes then to give her a look, which just made her chuckle again. “City boy spy.”

“Civilized,” he grumbled, not with any real heat. 

“I can’t believe you never had any wilderness training,” Jyn said, stretching out in the heat of the fire like a lazy felid. “My next training for the Pathfinders is going to cover that.”

“Poor bastards,” Cassian murmured, just to hear Jyn’s chuckle again, a sound he valued more than the beep of a transmitting code, the whirr of a well-programmed droid, a whisper in the crowd, Fulcrum, freedom and rebellion一 “And I wasn’t stationed in the wilderness; there was no use for me there. I was more useful in the cities.” 

“Useful,” Jyn echoed, and then shook her head. “It was still short-sighted and ill-prepared. When you write the report for Draven, you can tell him I said so.”

“He’ll take it under due consideration,” Cassian replied and Jyn snorted. 

A companionable silence fell between them for a moment, until Jyn tilted her head back to glance outside. “We’re going to have to share body heat once nightfall comes.” Her profile was averted to him and her voice now dispassionate, which might explain why Cassian’s initial response was an absentminded “Hmm.” Then when what she said registered, he let out a startled, “Pardon?”

“Body heat,” Jyn repeated, now stubbornly facing away from him. Hiding a blush? The rich light of the fire made it hard to tell. “Plus the bedding. The ground’s not going to do your spine or leg any favors,” she added with a scowl in her voice. Any mention of his bad leg or back always made Jyn glare like she’d like to make the misbehaving tendons and bones work for him, or else.  “And I don’t know how much the temperature is going to drop between now and nightfall. Probably a few degrees, enough to make us uncomfortable. So it’s only practical.”

Cassian felt himself automatically move to wet his lips before checking that tic. Never mind she couldn’t see it.  “I’ll trust you then.”

Now Jyn did look at him, straight through the firelight and into his eyes. “I know.” The words vibrated with the seriousness of the statement, and how Jyn was going to follow through with it with every fiber of her being. The dim red gold light make her look gilded and shadowed, something wrought from gold and onyx and ivory. 

Cassian gave an involuntary head shake. This what came of being in caves. They stripped away all your common sense. 

*

The night came on, and Jyn’s prediction about the temperature came true. It was more than enough to make them uncomfortable and to break out the temperature conserving blankets. Jyn had layered their bedding as much as she could and rolled up their jackets to use as blankets and pillows, as needed. One thing they both knew all too well in this life of theirs was to sleep whenever it was offered to them. Jyn slept facing the fire, and Cassian’s back to the right wall of the cave so that they both faced the entrance. He ran warmer than Jyn, who always seemed to be a degree or two cooler than everyone else. There was some awkward fumblingーwhere to put his arm, where she could rest her head. But they managed it. Cassian could smell the woodsmoke clinging to her hair, the weave of her scarf under his head. He kept himself as still as possible behind her, resting on his good hip. 

It didn’t feel like his life, this part, this small island of quiet. His life was shadows and hard edges and smog filled skylines. It wasn’t the smell of rain and the warmth of a fire on his face and Jyn resting on his arm. 

This wasn’t his life. It was just a respite. 

*           

Cassian woke slowly, only to find that the fire must’ve died down at some point during the night. That would be the only plausible reason for why Jyn was currently so thoroughly entangled with him that he couldn’t tell his arms and legs from hers. 

It was either still dark or almost dawn. That strange, unreal, dreamlike time when the edges of the world were misty and indistinct. It could be worse, he tried to tell himself, registering Jyn’s warmth and her slow, steady breathing. The way her cheek rested on his arm. How relaxed and soft she was in sleep, such a contrast to her waking self.  Things could definitely be worse一

Jyn let out a sigh, a little sleepy sound of pure contentment, snuggled back into him, her rear fit so snugly against his hips that he almost choked. 

He did not want to think about any other time Jyn might make that noise. He absolutely did not want to imagine what other circumstances could possibly arise一

Shut up, Cassian told himself only somewhat frantically. Just shut. Up. He wasn’t some over eager teen falling all over himself over a member of the opposite sex--

Jyn rolled over in his arms, somehow one leg sliding between his, blowing all of Cassian’s rational thought to pieces. Another soft sigh, warm breath brushing against his neck, her left leg slung over his hips一who knew Jyn was a cuddler? Not him. He hadn’t even given himself permission to imagine what Jyn was like when she was asleep一

This is a dream, Cassian thought. It was arguably the worst (best) dream he’d had in awhile, so he might as well enjoy it while it lasted, and hoard the memory for the dark nights and shadowed days. 

Jyn sleeping peacefully in his arms, soft sighs in his ear, warmth against his skin, the sound of rain and a quiet place untouched by anything bad or hard and dark一 

Another sleepy sound, almost like a moan as she tried to get comfortable against him, tugging his arm to better adjust it for her head… 

Don’t let me wake up, Cassian thought. Please, ancestors, the Force, whoever is running this forsaken galaxy, don’t let me wake up. Let me keep this, I have asked for so little for all my life, and this isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, it’s probably the best, please let me keep it… 

Jyn sighed against his neck, shifted slowly and languorously, her lashes falling and rising against his skin. “Cass…?” her voice was a low, husky rasp, one that made his blood run hot and fierce and what time was it even? Was this still a dream somehow? 

In the dim light, he could see Jyn waking herself up, getting her bearings again. Her eyes flicked down to take in their entwined limbs and then back up to his face. Unconsciously his arms tightened around her, and then loosened again immediately. If she didn’t want to be there, then he wasn’t going to keep her there, he would never do anything against her express wishes if he could possibly help it.

“Cass,” she repeated in a whisper. If she wasn’t comfortable in this clench, there was no sign of it in her voice. But her eyes were watchful. “How’s your back?”

“I think it’s fine,” he whispered back. It felt too early to speak. 

Jyn was quiet for a second or two, her fingers flexing against him.  “You need to… do you have to go?” he asked still in a whisper. 

“No,” she whispered back. “Do you?”

Never, ever, they could kill me here and I would die content, only you’d never allow that一

“No,” he said. “I don’t.”

They lay there in the dim, the world a very great distance away. 

“We don’t have to go anywhere,” Jyn said softly. “We can just stay here… just for a little while.”

“Yes,” Cassian agreed. This was, after all, a very nice dream. “Let’s just stay here.”

The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile, a smile Cassian had once thought he would die to earn, and maybe still would. 

“You make for a very good pillow,” she murmured, her body utterly relaxed along the length of his. “Best sleep I’ve had in awhile.”

Cassian was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “Me too,” he said back, almost too low to hear. But she heard it. Of course she did.   

[andersunmenschlich]

Conversation in a Diner

「…なるほどぉ…それはなかなかたいへんですねー…」 "...I seee.... That's quite serious...."

ホット・ミルクをすすりつつ、ちっとみたいへんそうじゃない口調でゼロスはいづちをうつ。 Xellos said in a tone that didn't sound serious at all, sipping hot milk.

近くの村のちいさなメシ屋。 A little eating house in a nearby village.

かなり遅めの昼食をとりながら、あたしはこれまでのいきさつを、彼に説明したのだった。 While having a rather late lunch, I had explained the sequence of events to him.

時間がはずれているせいか、あたしたちのほかにはほとんど客もいない。 Possibly because the time was wrong, there were almost no customers other than us.

「けど、今ふと思ったりしたんですけど、呪文が封じられているなら、僕の呪符（タリスマン）を買ったところで無意味なんじゃないですか？」 "But—it's just occurred to me—if your spells are blocked, wasn't your purchase of my talismans pointless?"

「そうでもないわよ。一日一回術を唱えて様子を見てるんだけど、どーも封印が弱くなってきてるみたいなの。ほんのちょっとずつ、だけどね。封じられたその日は、『明り（ライティング）』を唱えたってなーんも起きなかったんだけど、きのう唱えてみたら、なんとかローソクくらいの明るさになったわ。…ま、それもすぐ消えちゃったし、攻撃呪文なんてそれこそ唱えるだけムダってもんでしょうけど…この呪符があればなんとか、初級の攻撃呪文くらいは扱えるんじゃないかなー、って」 "No, actually. I've been chanting one spell a day and watching the results, and it looks like the binding's getting weaker. Just a little bit at a time, though. The day of the binding, I recited the Lighting spell and nothing happened at all, but when I tried it yesterday I managed about a candle's worth of light. ...Well, it vanished almost instantly, and attack spells don't work at all, but... with these talismans I figured I might be able to pull off an elementary attack spell, maybe."

「なるほど…しかし、術の封印がゆるんで来ているとゆーのは…マゼンダさんの術が甘かったか、でなければ、あな���の魔力容量（キャパシティ）がケタ外れに大きいのか…」 "I see.... But if the seal is loosening, that means... either Ms. Mazenda's spell was lax, or (if that's not the case) your magical capacity is exceptionally large...."

「いずれにしろ、だましだましやりながら、まずはなんとかガウリイと会流しないと…」 "Either way, while using every trick in the book, first I have to run into Gourry somehow...."

あたしは空になった皿に目を落としたままでつぶやく。 I muttered, looking down into my now-empty plate.

「…まあ、ガウリイの方は、彼のことだから、なんとかやってると思うんだけど…それより心配なのはアメリアの方ね」 "...Actually, Gourry can probably take care of himself... Amelia's more worrying."

「大丈夫なんじゃないですか」 "Isn't it all right? / She's probably just fine."

「…どーゆー根拠でそーゆーのーてんきなセリフが吐けるのよ？」 "How can you say something so scatterbrained? / What basis do you have that makes you able to say such a heedless thing?"

「そりゃあまあ…ですねぇ…」 "Wellll... you seee...."

彼はホット・ミルクをひとくちこくんっ、と飲みくだし、 He took a deep drink of his hot milk, swallowed.

「えぇっと…さっきの状況なら、敵はそのアメリアさんを、その場で殺すこともできたはずですよね。ナイフか何かでひと突きすればすんだことなんですから。それをわざわざ、荷物になるのを承知の上で連れていったということは、何かに利用する、というつもりがあったからでしょう？」 "Mmm... based on the situation earlier, the enemy could have killed this Miss Amelia right there, yes? A single stab with a knife or some such thing would have done it. Despite knowing that she'd be a burden, they went out of their way to take her along with them, which suggests that they must have some use for her, right?"

「―つまり、あたしたちをおびき寄せるエサね」 "—In short, as bait to lure us in."

「そういうことです」 "That sort of thing,"

こっくるうなずくゼロスくん。 Xellos said, nodding.

あたしはため息をつきながら、 I sighed.

「…あのねぇ…それくらいはあたしだって読んでるわよ。あたしの心配してるのは、つまり…何とゆーか…命があったからって無事だとは限らない、ってことよ」 "...Now, look... I'd figured that much out myself. What I'm worried about is, well... how do I say this... just because somebody's alive doesn't mean they're all right."

ようやく運ばれてきた食後の香茶をすすりながらあたしは言う。 I took a sip of the after-meal tea that had finally arrived.

「それもだいじょーぶなんじゃないですか」 "That's probably just fine, too,"

またもやカルク彼は言う。 he said lightly (again).

「敵にマゼンダさんがいっらしゃる以上、そのアメリアさんの術を封じることもできますから、喉をつぶす、などという手段は取らないでしょう。それに、敵にしてみれば、アメリアさんを盾にして、あなたたちを倒したあとは、もちろん彼女を殺してしまうつもりでしょうが…どうせ殺すなら、儀式にでも使ったほうが合理的じゃあありませんか」 "Since Ms. Mazenda is among our enemies, this Miss Amelia's magic can be sealed, which means they probably won't crush her throat or anything like that. In addition, looking at it from their point of view, while they almost certainly intend to kill Miss Amelia after using her as a shield and defeating you (plural), wouldn't it be more rational to use her in, say, a ceremony or some such thing, since they're going to kill her anyway?"

「―儀式!?」 "—A ceremony!?"

香茶を持った手を止めて、あたしは思わず問い返。 I exclaimed, my tea-holding hand stopping.

「そうです。敵も一応宗教集団ですから。宗教に凝ったひとって、なぜか儀式とかが大好きなんですよね。ましてや敵は、魔王信仰などというシロモノ。となれば儀式として考えられるのは…」 "Yes. The enemy is also more or less part of a kind of religious group. For some reason, elaborately religious people love rituals and such-like. And our enemy worships a demon king, which means that when it comes to rituals...."

「生け贄!?」 "Live sacrifice!?"

思わず声を上げるあたし。 I blurted.

「そいうことです。生け贄は、なるべく清く美しいものというのがセオリーです。ならば彼らは、アメリアさんに無意味な迫害をしたりはしないでしょう。…しっかし…」 "That sort of thing, yes. The theory is that a live sacrifice should be as pure and beautiful as possible. That being the case, they shouldn't meaninglessly persecute Miss Amelia. ...Still...."

ゼロスくん、やや複雑な苦笑を浮かべ、 Displaying a wry smile with slightly mixed emotions, Xellos continued,

「あの連中、人間があがめたてまつったからって言って、魔族がよろこんで、何かしてくれるとでも思ってるんでしょうかねぇ…本気で」 "Do you suppose those people really think that just because they've reverently offered up a human, mazoku will be pleased and do something for them... seriously."

「ま、他力本願で自分勝手に生きよう、ってぇ奴は多いから」 "Well, there're a lot of people who want to rely on others so they can live however they want,"

ため息まじりにあたしは言う。 I sighed.

「神サマの方につぃたら、どうしたって『自分勝手』の方が実現できないから、なら魔王の方の力を借りよう、ってなもんじゃないの？」 "It's a 'since we can't get 'however I want' by going to God, let's borrow a demon king's power,' sort of thing, right?"

「…ま、そんなところですか…」 "...Well, something like that...."

醒めた表情で言うゼロス。 Xellos said with a jaded expression.

「―あ。けどさ。敵が、人質として使い終わったあとは生け贄にしよう、ってとこまで思いつかなかったら？」 "—Oh. But hey. What if they don't think of using her as a sacrifice after they're done using her as a hostage?"

「それはないでしょう。なにしろクロツさんは、徹底した合理主義者ですから」 "They almost certainly will. After all, Mr. Kurotsu is a complete pragmatist."

「…クロツ？」 "Kurotsu?"

どこかで聞いたことがあるよーな…？ I have the feeling I've heard that name somewhere before...?

「あのひとたちのボス…教祖様、って言うんですかね」 "Their boss... guru, I suppose."

あ。そーか。 Ah. I see.

確か三人で敵の集会所へ言った時、あのバルグモンとかいう男が言っていた名である。 If I'm remembering right, when we three went to the enemy's meeting place, that Bargumon guy said the name.

「それで―あんたの方は、いったい連中とどーゆーふーに関わってたわけ？」 "So—how are you mixed up with these guys?"

「いやぁ…実はライゼールの方で、彼らとあるものの取りあいやってたんですよ。ま、くわしく話せば長くなるので、かいつまんで話しますけど結局クロツさんたちが、まんまとそれを手に入れて、本拠地のここへ帰って来て、ということです」 "Welll.... The fact is, we were both trying to get the same thing in Raizel. Telling the whole thing would take a long time, so this is just a summary, but ultimately Kurotsu and his people successfully got hold of it and returned to their headquarters here."

「…思いっきりかいつまんで話したわね…ま、いいけど…それで、一体何なの？その『あるもの』ってぇのは？」 "...That's an extremely summarized summary, isn't it. ...Well, whatever. So, what is it? That 'thing' you were both after?"

「…いやぁ、はっ��っは。たいしたもんじゃありませんよ」 "...Ah, nooo, ha ha ha. It's [not an important/a trivial] object,"

言いながら、視線をそらし、ホット・ミルクをまたひと口。 he said, looking away and taking another drink of hot milk.

「あのねぇ…あんな連中やあんたみたいなのが争奪戦やってるよーなモノが、つまんないもんのはずないでしょーが。…正直に答えちゃいなさいよ」 "Now look... anything that that bunch and someone like you are fighting over couldn't possibly be boring, could it. ...Be honest/frank/straightforward."

「…いや…まあ…その…」 "...No... well... that's...."

ゼロスくん、何やらもぐもぐ言いながら、やがてぽそりとつぶやくように、 Xellos, mumbling something, finally almost whispered,

「…ただの『写本』ですよ」 "...It’s just a manuscript."

「…写本…？」 "...A manuscript...?"

写本、って言ったって… Did he say 'a manuscript'....

―まさか!? —No way!?

「ちょっと待って！」 思わずいすから立ち上がるあたし。 Involuntarily, I stood. "Hold it right there!"

「リナさんっ！声が大きいですよっ！」 "Ms. Lina! You're being very loud!"

あわててなだめるゼロスのことばに、あたしはふたたびいすに腰かける。 Xellos said, hastily trying to get me to act normal again. I sat back down.

―店のおやじさんが、うさんくさそうな目でこちらを眺めているのを視界の片隅にとらえ、あたしは声を殺してゼロスに尋ねる。 I saw the shopkeeper staring at us suspiciously out of the corner of my eye. Suppressing my voice, I asked Xellos,

「…写本って、あの『写本』なの？」 "...When you say 'manuscript', do you mean that manuscript?"

「…たぶん…その写本です…」 "...It's... probably that manuscript...."

「―異界黙示録（クレアバイブル）―」 "—The Claire Bible (Otherworld Revelation)—"

あたしの小さなつぶやきに、彼はこっくりとうなずいた。 I whispered, and Xellos nodded.

異界黙示録。 The Claire Bible.

それは、魔道士の間に伝わる伝説だった。 It was a legend among magicians.

こことは別の世界の、魔族たちや、魔道の奥義が記されているという魔道書。 A book of magic telling the secrets of sorcery, and mazoku, from worlds other than this.

オリジナル一冊と、その部分的な、不完全な写本のいくつかのみが、どこかに存在するという。 The legend said that only the single complete original and a number of fragments, incomplete copies, exist... somewhere.

魔道士うちで、ただ『写本』と言う場合は、それ―異界黙示録、実在説が根強いが、確たる証拠があるわけでもなく、ただの伝説にすぎない、という者もいる。 Among mages, just saying "manuscript" means "Claire Bible manuscript"—the rumor of its existence is deep-seated, but there's no definite evidence and there are those who say it's nothing more than a legend.

しかし― However—

実在するのだ。異界黙示録は。 The Claire Bible does exist.

かつてあたしは、郷里（くに）の姉ちゃんといっしょに、ディルス王国へと行ったことがある。 Once, I visited the kingdom of Dirus with my older sister.

その王宮には、こんな話が伝わっていた。 In the royal palace, we heard this:

かつてここには『写本』が存在したのだが、かなり昔、何者かによって焼かれてしまった、と。 That once a manuscript existed here, but that it was burned by someone quite a long time ago.

しかし『写本』に書かれた内容は、代々王宮づきの賢者によって言い伝えられてきており、あたしは幸いそれを耳にすることができたのだが― But the contents of the manuscript had been passed down through generations by the sages attached to the royal palace, and happily I was able to hear it—

かなりうそくさい話ではあったが、あたしは面白半分に、その言い伝えをもとにして、ふたつの術を組み立てた。 It was a very untrue-sounding story, but just for the fun of it I used what I'd heard as the basis for constructing two magic spells.

そして、うちの一つは実際に発動したのだ。 And one of them actually worked.

―車破斬（ギガ・スレイブ）― —Giga Slave (Wheel Destroyer)—

魔王の中の魔王、『金色の魔王（ロード・オブ・ナイトメア）』の力を借りて、この世界に虚無を引き入れる術。 A magic that draws on the power of the demon lord of all demon lords, the Lord of Nightmare (the Golden Demon Lord), and brings nothingness itself into this world.

その破壊力は、人が使えるうちでもっとも強力と言われている、竜破斬（ドラグ・スレイブ）の力をかるく上回る。 Its destructive power can be said to be the strongest a person can wield, easily surpassing the power of the Dragon Slave.

もしもディルスの言い伝えが―いや、それよりもまず異界黙示録（クレアバイブル）とその写本の存在がでたらめならば、決して発動するはずのない術である。 If the things passed down in the kingdom of Dirus—no, if the idea that Claire Bible and its manuscripts exist were rubbish, that magic spell would never have worked.

それができてしまった、ということは、とりもなおさず、伝説の魔道書が実在することを意味していた。 The fact that it did means that the legendary book of magic truly exists.

しかし― However—

あたしはそのことを、魔道士協会には報告しなかった。 I didn't report that to the Mage's Association.

人が扱うには、あまりにも大きすぎる力のような気がしたのだ。 I had the feeling that it was far too much power for people to wield.

やりようによっては世界さえ、滅ぼしうるほどの力である。 It's a power that, depending on the way it's used, could destroy the world itself.

…とは言っても。 ...That said.

『写本』が実在する��らと言っても、ゼロスくんとあの連中が取りあいをしたモノが、本物だったとは限らないが。 So manuscripts really exist—that didn't mean the thing Xellos and the cult were fighting for was the real deal. 

「…でも…その『写本』って、本物なんでしょうね？」 "...But... is that 'manuscript' of yours genuine?"

あたしはわざと、疑いのまなざしをゼロスに向ける。 I purposely turned a doubtful look on Xellos.

「どっかの村が、村おこしか何かのために『写本がある』なんてふれまわった、なんてことかもしんないわよ」 "Some village somewhere might've spread the rumor that there was a manuscript there in order to revitalize the place or something like that."

「―ああ。よくあるそ―ですねぇ。そ―いう事件」 "—Yes, indeed. That's a common event."

カルい口調で答えるゼロス。 Xellos answered in a light tone.

「『伝説の魔道書』と称して、自分で書いた愚にもつかない本を、マニアに高く売りつけるとか… けど今回のこれは、そ―いうのとは違うはずです。 僕のカン、というのもむろんありますけど、何よりクロツさんが、教団の主力の大半をあの『写本』の奪取にふりわけ、自分自身も足を運んだ― そこまでやる以上、かなりの確信があったはずです。 その点から考えてみても、あれが本物だという可能性は高いと思いますよ」 "Selling a nonsensical, self-written book to enthusiasts for a high price, calling it the legendary book of magic and so on.... But this one is probably different. There is, of course, my intuition, but above all else, Mr. Kurotsu put over half the cult's main force into taking that manuscript, and even took a personal hand himself—to go that far, he must have been quite certain. Even if you consider that point, I believe the probability of it being genuine is high."

…なんか苦しいリクツのよ―な気がするが… ...I have the feeling that theory's pretty strained....

しかし『写本』が本物かどうか、ということよりも、重要なのは― But more important than whether the manuscript is real or not is—

「それで―」 "So—"

あたしは彼の瞳をじっと見すえて言った。 I spoke looking right into his eyes.

「その『写本』には一体何が書かれているの？いや、それよりあなた、その『写本』を手に入れて、一体何するつもり？」 "Exactly what's in that manuscript? No, more importantly: what do you intend to do once you've gotten your hands on it?"

「…う―ん…」 "...Mmm...."

ゼロスはしばし、困ったような顔をして、 Xellos looked uncomfortable for a little while, then:

「…僕の方にもいろいろと事情がありまして…言えることと言えないことがあるんです。 ただ―これだけはお約束します。 絶対に、『写本』を悪用したりはしませんから」 "...I have various circumstances myself... there are things I can and can't say. However—I promise you this: I absolutely will not misuse the manuscript."

むろん― Naturally—

そうと言われて、はいそ―ですか、と信じるほど、あたしはお���好しじゃない。 I'm not good-natured enough to say "oh, okay" and believe someone just because they've said that.

しかしともあれ、彼がその、クロツたちと対立していることだけは、どうやら確かなようである。 But whatever the case, at least the fact that he and Kurotsu's bunch were opposed seemed certain.

ガウリイの行方もわからず、あたしの魔術もたよりにならない今となっては、たとえ一時的なものにせよ、味方がほしいところである。 At this moment I didn't know where Gourry was, couldn't rely on my magic, and wanted an ally even if only a temporary one.

「―わかったわ。それじゃあそのことについては聞かない。 …けど、連中の方は『写本』を使って一体何をするつもりなの？」 "—All right. In that case I won't ask about that. ...But what do that bunch plan to do with the manuscript?"

あたしの問いに、ゼロスは苦笑を浮かべつつ、 In response to my question, Xellos smiled wryly and said,

「…そりゃあ…僕に聞かれたって困りますけど…まあ、あ―いった人たちですから、すべての人が幸せになりますように、なんて目的でないことは確かでしょうね」 "That's... a little troubling, being asked that question... well, since they're the kind of people they are, it's probably certain that they're not going to wish for everyone's happiness or anything like that."

「なるほどね―ね、ひとつ提案があるんだけど―」 "Yeah. Say, I have a proposal—"

「一時手を組まないか―でしょ？」 "Shall we work together temporarily—right?"

「あたり。敵の本拠はわかんないけど、近くにあった集会所までなら案内してあげられるし、あたしとしても、味方がいた方が心強い」 "Bullseye. I don't know where the enemy's headquarters is, but I can guide you to a meeting place near here, and even I feel better having an ally."

「―いいですよ。それに、敵にマゼンダさんがいる以上、ほうっとくわけにもいきませんからね」 "—All right. Besides, since Ms. Mazenda's here, I can hardly leave things as they are, can I."

「…わけありね」 "...Because reasons, I'm guessing."

「秘密です」 "It's secret."

言ってゼロスは、人さし指を、自分の口に押しあてた。 Xellos said, and touched his index finger to his mouth.

―かくて。 —Thus.

あたしとゼロスとのにわかコンビは結成されたのだった。 The impromptu Lina-Xellos combo was formed.

[bpro-cardstories]

Tatsuhiro Nome SR

2019 ー Emergency [緊急事態]

“Mister, miss! Trick or Treat!!“

『 Event: Trick or Party!? Halloween Sweets Night (25th October - 01st November 2019) 』

Part 1

Tsubasa: ‘Nome-san, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting! I think, the taxi will come soon, therefore can I ask you to wait outside?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Yeah. Thanks, Sumisora. Will we make it in time?’

Tsubasa: ‘No, I just got in touch with them… They are pressing for time a bit, it seems. This recording always has a high degree of difficulty.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Right. To be honest, me too, I’m still anxious about it but I have no choice other than to go the trial-and-error method right there, I thinkーー’ _______________

Tsubasa: ‘In case you are arriving, and when there is still some time left, shall we stop at a nearby studio for practice?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Thanks, that helps me a lot. Some people will record after me. In some cases it might be easier to change the meeting place there.’

Tsubasa: ‘That’s right. I am confirming the online reservations at the momentーー’

Boy: ‘Waah, it’s a cookieー! It looks so yummyー!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Hm? … What’s that? The children are wearing sheets and are…. dancing?’

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, could it be ghost costumes? How cute.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Costume? ….Oh, a witch with a bumpkin on her head… I see, it’s because it’s Halloween soon. They are also doing it in our neighborhood.’

Tsubasa: ‘You are right. Even so… In the last few years, the number of people who dress up and enjoy Halloween has increased…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Indeed. It seems even the adults get excited by the event itself. Because Hikaru has been talking about Halloween since a month ago.’

Tsubasa: ‘One month ago!?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Yeah. Come to think of it, he hasn’t said anything about it recently but… Maybe, it’s something like forgetting it when you talked too much about it.’

Tsubasa: ‘That is… Fufu, I don’t know if I should laugh about it but somehow it is very like Hikaru-kun.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Definitely. He even went out of his way with putting a futon on his head, and knocked at the room door… Haha, he is too busy with our Halloween party that he probably forgot. Before Halloween ends, he doesn’t have to think about it. Probably will make him pout later.’

Tsubasa: ‘Then, please tell him, I will prepare sweets beforehand.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Thanks. He surely will be pleasーー’

Girl 1: ‘Ah…. Adults, sighted!’

Boy 1: ‘Alright, everyone, attackー! Let’s go!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘W-What? It seems those kids are running here.’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh, w-why…!’

Children: ‘Mister, miss! Trick or Treat!!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘....!’

Part 2

Tsubasa: ‘E-Ehm…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Trick or Treat… they said, that’s too sudden.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘I prepared protein and water to drink during the recording break but sorry, I don’t have sweets with me. Sumisora, did you bring something with you?’

Tsubasa: ‘Uhm, let me see… Ah, I have chewing gum! It has a sweet fruit flavour so if it’s this I think, the children can it too. Everyone, how do you like this?’

Boy 1: Eeh, no wayー. I want chocolate ~!’

Girl 1: ‘Me tooー! I want to eat sweet chocolate!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘You…. The gum surely tastes good. And if you chew it well, your teeth will become strong.’

Girl 2: ‘My teeth are stroーng! Chocolate! Chocolate is fine~!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Even if you say so… Oh, look. I have a protein bar.’

Girl 2: ‘That’s what papa eats! Those aren’t yummy!!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘No, this one’s the most delicious amongst the protein barsーー’

Boy 2: ‘Is there nothing else? Then… it’s punishment time!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘What?’

Children: ‘Hit them with the water gun~!!’

Tsubasa: ‘....!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Sumisora!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘You brats! Suddenly pointing a gun at someone…’

Boy 1: ‘Ok, let’s go to the next one~! We’re heading for Yamamori’s Sweets~!’

Children: ‘Yeah~!!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Hey!!’

The children are not listening anymore and disappear as fast they appeared.

Tatsuhiro: ‘....They just stormed away. What was that even, geez…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘You alright, Sumisora?’

Tsubasa: ‘Uhm… I…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘You don’t seem so. Your jacket got wet, huh.’

Tsubasa: ‘Amazing… It is probably the first time that I came across children that really put the punishment into action….’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Hey, don’t be so impressed by it.’

Tsubasa: ‘I-I am sorry. It was just…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Heh, you sure are spacing out sometimes.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Also, my bad. If I only had reacted faster, you wouldn’t have gotten wet.’

Tsubasa: ‘That is not true! Rather, even though I was covered, Nome-san got hit with water…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Don’t worry about it. But, we can’t get in the car like this… Should we go back for a bit.’

Tsubasa: ‘You are right. Let me contact the taxi…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Yeah. Well then, let’s go back for now.’

Part 3

Tatsuhiro: ‘It’s not cold yet but if you catch a cold, it will be difficult. It’s better to quickly change.’

Tsubasa: ‘I am terribly sorry. To cause such trouble before work…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Don’t be. It’s more like, I was lucky when I knew the recording was pushing. First, I will give you a towel when we get inーー’

Tatsuhiro: ‘.....’

Tsubasa: ‘....? Nome-san?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Sumisora.’

Tsubasa: ‘Y-Yes.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Wait here for a bit.’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh?’

Right then, Tatsuhiro quickly goes in and leaves her back with a big question mark.

Tsubasa: ‘W-What’s wrong… Is it alright if I wait here?’ _______________

Tsubasa: ‘Oh….’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Sorry, I made you wait.’

Tsubasa: ‘It’s fine… Uhm, what happened?’

Tatsuhiro: ‘No…. I left a towel on the living room table. And, it’s a man’s one but I also put out a shirt. If you can wear it, use it.’

Tsubasa: ‘Thank you very much….! I see, so you went out of your way to prepare this.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘Aah, well…. Anyways, go. I’m waiting here.’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh… But, to enter everyone’s room without permission feels not right. Changing might take up some time, Nome-san should come in as wellーー’

Tatsuhiro: ‘I’m fine.’

Tsubasa: ‘B-But…’

Tatsuhiro: ‘It’s ok.’

Tsubasa: ‘....Nome-san?’

In that moment, his cheeks turn visibly red.

Tatsuhiro: ‘Haa... You see.’

Tatsuhiro: ‘....Right now, there’s no one else in there. It will be just us two…. It’s awkward, right.’

Tsubasa: ‘....!’

Tatsuhiro: ‘A-Anyways, quickly go change! We’ll be late.’

Tsubasa: ‘Y-Yes…!’

When she goes in he has time to calm down. But just thinking about the situation makes him blush again.

Tatsuhiro: ‘Haa…. The guy who popularized Halloween in Japan, I can’t forgive you…’

END

[092219archive]

untitled (12/18)

summary: i go write a thing with the “No, I’m not letting you go. It’s too early to get out of bed.” prompt from this post. i get flustered.

pairing: reno/eren (ff7)

word count: 1625

from the author: no beta readers or anything, but i looked it over Once. some quick mentions of before crisis, but no major spoilers.

ー

Preceding the events of AVALANCHE, the halls of Shinra only got busier for the employees. The Turks were hit the hardest, and had it not been for Rufus’ intervention, their circumstances would've taken a turn for the worst. The remaining Turks; Tseng, Reno, Rude, Eren, and Elena; had their work cut out for them. Yet, despite the severe loss in members, their pride as Turks and loyalty to Shinra gave them the determination to continue their line of work. After all, there was no other person who could perform their jobs as well as they did. Tseng spent much of his time gathering highly confidential information for Shinra and the Turks. The Turks assisted in the gathering of intelligence, but also performed tasks that required more intensive physical labor.

With the uprising of AVALANCHE’s second rebellion against Shinra, the Turks became significantly more busier. They had to interfere with Cloud and his group, and that proved to be no small feat. Tseng was dealing with Shinra’s executives while Reno, Rude, and Elena were tasked to deal with Cloud. With the death of President Shinra and the sudden arrival of Rufus alongside their current situation, Eren was tasked with protecting Rufus, becoming something like a bodyguard. When they were able to, Tseng and Eren assist help the other Turks with their work; their sharpshooting skills and practicality were always appreciated.

Really, it was a miracle that the Turks were allowed a vacation in the first place. They didn’t expect it, especially with Cloud and his group still active and running. Elena was the one to decide that everyone should plan a trip outside of Shinra headquarters, wanting to enjoy the day rather than be behind an office desk..

It was late, the night before their day off. Eren had already finished preparations and there was no work left to do until the day after their vacation. It had been a while since they left the young President’s side for such a long period of time. In fact, it had been such a long time since they were given a break from work. The realization left them with an odd feeling they couldn’t put into words, and they quietly sighed. The moment they finished packing their bare necessities, Eren flopped onto the bed, lying down and facing the bland wall. They flipped open their phone, staring at the bright screen as if they had been expecting something. A feeling of disappointment overcame them as they realized there was nothing new besides newsletters and other updates from the company, all of them irrelevant to Eren.

While lost in thought, Eren hadn’t realized that someone had entered their room. The sound of the door opening and the visitor walking in as if this place had belonged to them definitely should’ve snapped them out of their trance, but the fact that it didn’t only made their arrival much more surprising.

“What’re you holed up into the corner for?” They jumped in response to the voice, like a criminal who had been unexpectedly caught by the authorities.

“Nothing that concerns you,” was Eren’s response after they finally registered who it was. “What do you want, Reno?”

When they looked over their shoulders, said redhead looked extremely pleased for some reason. It was probably because he was able to catch them off guard earlier, which made them irritated. They made no effort to hide it, either.

“Miss ya’, too.” Eren rolled their eyes in response and turned back to the wall. “It’s been a while, ya’ know.”

Due to Eren’s occupation of staying by Rufus’ side and Reno’s duties outside of headquarters, the two weren’t able to see each other often. Reno suggested that they use their phones to talk to each other, but the idea of someone listening to the line and hearing whatever he had to say, or reading whatever texts he could send to Eren resulted in a strong “no.” The phones were meant for handling professional matters anyhow.

“Did you knock your head on something? We’re gonna see each other tomorrow.” They felt the bed shift as Reno took a seat on the other side, causing them to readjust their posture. The bed was not big enough for one person, much less two people.

“Plan on sleeping for the whole day,” he replied, putting his arms behind his head as he leaned against the backboard. “Maybe I’ll grab some drinks with the other two.”

“I should’ve expected that you plan on lazing around.”

“I’m a hard worker, ya’ know,” he said, but he was grinning. Eren didn’t have to turn around to know that he was. “I’d sleep the whole day if Tseng would let me.”

“You know he wouldn’t let you,” they said in response. “He needs them more than you do.”

Reno laughed and agreed, seeing how Tseng was always seen behind stacks of documents or speaking to one of the many higher ups. Their boss never can get a break. Elena wanted for Tseng to come along, but unfortunately, she was rejected.

And with that, silence made its way into their conversation. Not wanting to delay Reno’s surprise visit, they put their phone off to the side.

“It’s late. Go to bed already.” It was abrupt, but got the point across. Eren hardly took the time to sugarcoat their words, which many were already aware of. After they said that, though, a cunning smile made its way on Reno’s face. Oh, that’s something they didn’t like to see.

“If you say so.” Quickly registering the tone of his voice, Eren came to the conclusion that they should’ve left the scene a while ago to prevent whatever was going to happen afterwards, but there was no reason to until then.

Reno shifted from his position and moved to snake an arm around Eren’s waist. They grabbed his forearm, turning to him with furrowed brows.

“Reno,” they spoke sternly. “Your bed.”

He was being extremely sly, which was always something that bothered them. Eren’s words out of context could definitely be misinterpreted, but they only took notice of that after they saw his smile. They should have chosen their words more… carefully, but it was a little too late for that. A faint red blush made its way to their cheeks.

“Ain’t worth the trouble to go back to my room.” Their grip on him was loosened after a moment of hesitation, and he continued what he was doing. “I’m comfortable here.”

“This bed is meant for one person...” They trail off as they feel themselves being pulled closer to the man whose laziness knew no bounds. But besides the small protest, Eren made no effort to fight against Reno. Even if they did send him back to his room somehow, Reno would have found a way around it. Improvisation was one of his many strong suits, and it was both a good and a bad quality.

“Doesn’t bother me.”

Eren sighed again, knowing it was pointless to argue any further. He wrapped his other arm around them, and they found themselves being pressed against his body. He pulled the blanket over them both before burying his face into the black mess that is Eren’s hair. The usually composed sniper felt blood rushing to their cheeks, and they hesitated in bringing their hands over his. They chose not to, thinking about how they would find a way to sleep in this small space, next to a man they “despised” so much.

“Goodnight.” His greeting had good intentions, but they almost felt like they were being mocked for their compromised situation. They muttered it back, which resulted in them being pulled a little closer to him and his hold a little tighter. Dang it.

Eren forced themselves to think about anything else in an attempt to sleep, but their last thoughts for the day were about how much warmer Reno was compared to their colder self.

ー

By the time Eren awoke, it was early morning. Because this was their only day off in several months, their biological clock was accustomed to getting ready at his hour. They nearly got ready to see the President until they remembered that there was another person present. Their sudden movement caused him to stir in his sleep, his arms strengthening their hold onto the smaller Turk compared to the looser hold they had when Eren woke up. The both of them were still groggy, but Eren wanted to get some of their work done before the day really started. There were still a few hours left before the group would leave to their destination, wherever they would be heading.

“Reno…” they called, turned their head back. He didn’t open his eyes, but the way he pressed his face into the side of theirs was confirmation that he was awake and he did hear them.

“... Hm…” It was quiet acknowledgement but because of how close he was, they were able to pick it up. His voice was a little husky, and Eren desperately wanted to rip themselves out of his arms to cool off in the restroom. The early morning weather was not usually this hot.

“Lemme do some work.” They struggled, but he kept his hold around them. What a predicament.

“Not letting you go,” he muttered. “‘Sides, it’s too early to get out of bed...”

Once again realizing how futile their efforts would be, they gave in. They had to think about it for a bit before they turned their body to face Reno and, very slowly and cautiously, wrapped their arms around him. He seemed to have liked that, a satisfied hum coming from his throat.

“... Only a couple more hours.”

“I’m not moving ‘till I feel like it.”

“Reno.”

[jeidafei]

D.Gray-Man Vol.26: Komui’s Lounge (Extended) 4/5

>> Part 1 <<

>> Part 2 <<

>> Part 3 <<

Question 20: How many types of headphones does Marie have? And do they function differently?

Marie: Now I only have the latest model the Science Division developed for me. I keep it on at all times except when I go to bed.

Bak: I’ve contributed to the design as well. (ahem)

Marie: Did you? Thank you, Supervisor. 

Lavi: But you’ll hear countless noises and voices from a considerable range all the time, right? Isn’t that exhausting? 

Wisely: What!? You’re able to hear that much!? Where’s the respect for privacy?

Allen: Shut up about privacy, you.

Marie: Well, it was rough before I got used to it. I trained myself to listen for only important sounds from among countless noises. I’ve come to the point where everyday noises from people doing their chores and talking mostly just flow right by me, and since then I haven’t been “listening in” on anyone. 

Link: Aha. You really are a true man of character, Noise Marie. You’d better take notes, Walker.

Allen: How did this come to me?

Link: Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how you threatened me with Timcanpy’s recordings.

(T/N: I don’t remember where the omake in which this happened is, but it was the recording of Link when Timothy possessed him on the Louvre’s roof and made all those funny faces and slobbering in the Phantom Thief G arc.)

Question 21: I’m curious about the length of time Krory can maintain his enhanced capabilities and the amount of Akuma blood needed. And also whether it is possible to extend his activation time by training, etc.

Bak: As of now he can drink blood from Akuma up to Level Three, and can stay activated for 10 minutes with 250ml of blood. Looks like he’s also experimenting to extend that time with support from the Science Division. 

Lavi: Wouldn’t drinking more blood extend the activation time?

Bak: No, it wouldn’t. On the other hand, drinking less than 250ml will shorten the activation time to around 3 minutes.

Marie: When you said he can drink blood from Akuma up to Level Three, is it because he hasn’t experimented with blood from a Level Four yet?

Bak: Well, since obtaining blood from a Level Four is next to impossible...

Wisely: Ho ho ho. Indeed, indeed ♪.

Allen: Seeing Krory enjoying Akuma blood that much really does make you wonder whether it really is delicious, after all.

Link: Don’t try it out, Walker.

Question 22: Does Miranda always carry sweets with her while on a mission? And does she have a favorite flavor?

Link: I’ve heard that since her Innocence requires stamina, she’s come to carrying sweets at all times to supplement her calories, but about the flavor...

Marie: Miranda said she likes minty flavors.

Allen: Are you sure? Miss Miranda always gives me sweets whenever my stomach starts growling, and they’re always fruity flavors like strawberry or pineapple.

Lavi: That’s just coz you like fruit-flavored candies, isn’t it, Allen?

Marie: Haha. So she’s packing fruity candies just for you as well, huh.

Allen: Eh!? Is that so!?

Bak: By the way, whenever Lou Fa learns you’re coming to our branch, she’d always prepare Mitarashi dumplings, Walker.

Allen: Eh!? Now that you mention it, there really did seem to be Mitarashi dumplings around whenever I go to the Asian Branch.

Wisely: What!? If you really loved eating that much, then why didn’t you accept Tikky’s invitation to feast back then?

Allen: It’s not feasting that I have a problem with; it’s that Curly-Head. He’s the very man who tore a hole in my heart, have you forgotten? Do you expect me to enjoy a meal with such a groping pervert?

(T/N: Er, Allen...I think your point is a little off here...)

Link: So you won’t let your appetite win in that case, Walker?

Allen: Yes?

Link: Nothing. That’s a relief. 

Question 23: So before Lavi became an Exorcist, he fought with a dagger?

Lavi: Eh? What’s this?

Wisely: They’re probably talking about that time back in the Ark. When you were in Road’s dream, remember?

Lavi: Ohhhh, so that was it. Wait, how come you know about that?

Wisely: La-de-dah♪

Marie: Lavi’s an all-rounder, like Bookman, right?

Allen: What on earth is that?

Marie: Those who can make use of any weapon depending on the situation.

Lavi: That’s because as Bookmen, virtually all our logs are of war zones. So Gramps trained me to be capable of handling any situation, and that training also includes martial arts.

Link: What are you most skilled with?

Lavi: Hmmmm. I like cudgels best, I guess.

Allen: You’re always fooling about whenever we duel-train, Lavi, and I’ve been thinking perhaps you’re no good. Kanda beats you in a blink, you see. 

Lavi: Aaaawwww. Come on! It’s such a pain to fight seriously!

Bak: But back then, when you were dueling with Fō, you seemed quite serious, though.

Lavi: I wouldn’t call that a duel; Fō was coming at me like she’s dying to kill me, damn her. How could I not take it seriously!?

Allen: Yeah, Fō does mean it when she fights, doesn’t she. 

Bak: She’s more a berserker than a guardian deity, that one.

Link: I see. You will not get serious unless it poses a certain level of threat to your life. 

Question 24: Are Nea and the 14th the same individual?

Wisely: My my. Is this reader mistaking something here? “The 14th” is just the alias the previous generation of Noah bestowed upon Nea. There is only one Nea. 

Link: Though Nea himself doesn’t seem fond of it; he’s said it is “a nickname given out of distaste”. Guess I’d have to be careful from now...

Allen: Huh? Careful of what?

Link: Would you like some mango juice, Walker?

Allen: WEE-HEE!

Bak: I’ve been wondering. Why isn’t he called “The 14th disciple” like the other Noahs but simply “The 14th”?

Wisely: Perhaps that is the distaste Nea was talking about. As has already been revealed in the Gray Log Fanbook, Nea has no Noah Memory, and for that very reason, the other Noahs may have treated him as the black sheep of the family. Well, I guess I’ll leave you here with a cliffhanger until the boy uncovers Nea’s secrets in the main narrative. 

Marie: He has no Noah Memory, so he couldn’t reincarnate like the other Noahs, and that is why he implanted his memories within Allen?

Link: Exactly when did he implant them within you? Do you really have no idea, Walker?

Allen: Told you; I really don’t know! It’s said to be around 35 years ago! I’m sixteen, remember? I didn’t even exist then!

Wisely: ..............

Lavi: What the heck are you grinning about, Three-Eyes?

Wisely: Nuffink.

(T/N: OMG OMG OMG OMG OH MY FREAKING GAWD WISELY DID YOU JUST FREAKING CONFIRM THE PAST!ALLEN THEORY WITHOUT SAYING A SINGLE WORD???!!!)

Question 25: Allen’s left eye should have become able to project the image of the Akuma souls to others, but it seems nobody apart from Lavi has seen it. Is it deciding itself whether to let other people see the souls within the Akuma?

Lavi: Ah, that...Just remembering it still gives me the creeps even now.

Allen: Back then when Lavi and Krory said they could see the Akuma’s soul, at first I was definitely sure the curse has strengthened in power, and from now people other than me will be able to see the souls, too. But after that, nobody ever saw it again. Looks like it’s just a one-time thing, after all.

Lavi: It was right after your damaged eye resurrected with the curse’s power, right? With your eye being in an unusual state like that, anything can happen. Me and Krorykins were just unfortunately caught up in the curse’s rampage. 

Allen: Well, it’s a relief, anyway. After all, it’s not a pleasant sight to behold. If it ends with you not having to see it anymore, I’d say it’s for the best.

Bak: I’m interested, though. As part of the Science Division, we welcome any information on the Akuma.

Wisely: So am I. For even my Demon Eye cannot see souls. In what state are they, the souls within Akuma?

Link: How could you say these things like it doesn’t concern you when you’re on the very side creating Akuma?

Marie: Must have been hard getting used to seeing those souls, huh, Allen?

Allen: When I first saw one, I was so scared I couldn’t even bear to look. But Master was patientーWell, for him. “Those things aren’t scary”, he’d scold me; they were once living humans just like us, and they’re just screaming for me to save them, after all. It took a long time, but just like that, little by little I became able to look at them. 

Question 26: What do Kanda, Allen, Lenalee and Lavi smell of? Lenalee would probably smell very nice. Well, she’s a girl after all; she’s definitely using perfume and the like, right?

Marie: Hmmmm. Kanda’s scent? Soap is the closest bet, I’d say.

(T/N: Sensei, considering the general negative image of D.Gray-Man as a Yaoi manga may I say this is not a wise move? *laffs*)

Allen: And me, Marie? What about me?

Marie: You usually have a sugary smell about you, Allen. Like dessert.

Lavi: Because there’s always crumbs all over your clothes, Allen.

Allen: Lavi’s eyepatch gives out whiffs of Fabreeze.

(T/N: the popular Japanese brand of air-freshener/deodorant spray.)

Lavi: Oi! Don’t say stuff from the old Instagram page! Some readers won’t get it!

(T/N: In Hoshino’s old Instagram there’s a drawing of Allen spraying Fabreeze at Lavi’s face for some reason. I don’t remember the caption. She’s also reposted it on her new Instagram just to clarify this joke. Maybe it’s just that he never/rarely takes off his eyepatch for cleaning and it’s moldy and sweaty...?)

Marie: Hmmmm...as for Lavi...he smells of tobacco a bit. 

Allen: Yeah! Just like Master’s scent.

Lavi: Ah, Gramps’ cigarettes, huh? I’m aware of that. 

Wisely: Bookman is a heavy smoker as ever. A wonder his lungs are still holding out even at his age.

Marie: I think Lenalee usually has a flowery scent, though.

Bak: Yes, she does! Lenalee-san smells like sweet flowers!

Allen: Bak-san, keep your voice down! If Komui-san hears you, we’d be in for big trouble!

Lavi: Lenalee doesn’t use perfume, and still she smells so nice.

Allen: There’s this thing she uses. You see, a while back I was talking to Lenalee about having more scars or something, and she said; “This works wonders, you know.” and gave me some of this thingーkinda like Body Oil? Could it have been that oil’s scent? The scars would fade if you keep rubbing this oil on them, from the looks of it. It smells wonderful when she’s putting it on me.

Bak: SHE WAS PUTTING IT ON YOU, WALKEEEEEEER!? (snaps)

(T/N: Trust me I had a really hard time keeping this one from becoming Fifty Shades of (D.) Gray or Silence of the Lambs for that matter...)

Allen: NO ULTERIOR MOTIVE! REALLY!

Lavi: Body oil, huh...ah, my heart’s gettin’ all weird just hearing that.

Link: What’s with that dirty look on your face, Bookman Jr?

>> Part 5 <<

[solartranslations]

Liberta: Beginning of a Day/End of a Day (Random)

…Who will she meet with

Beginning of a Day

~*Scene: Felicita's Room*~

(チャオ、お嬢！！そろそろ起きる時間だろ)

Liberta: Ciao, Ojou!! It’s about time to wake up

Liberta: Oh yeah…bring an umbrella when you go outside. It looks like it might rain

Liberta: Um, like…the umbrella I gave you during La Primavera…or something

(チャオ、お嬢！そろそろ起きる時間だろ。早くしないと朝飯食べ損ねるぞ)

Liberta: Ciao, Ojou! It’s about time to wake up. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss breakfast

Fukurota: Hoot!

Liberta: See, Fukurota says to get up too, right?

Liberta: You finally got up. Good morning, Ojou!

(チャオ！お嬢)

Liberta: Ciao! Ojou

Liberta: Intelligence is on break today. So, I’m going out to eat with the Intelligence guys after this

Liberta: Come with us if you can! I think everyone would be happy!

(チャオ、お嬢！)

Liberta: Ciao, Ojou!

Liberta: Hey, Ojou. Can you ask Luca to make the sweets I like today?

Liberta: He listens to anything you say, right? So, please~

(おっはよー！ お嬢)

Liberta: Morning! Ojou

Liberta: The humidity seems high today, so my bed head is pretty bad…

Liberta: Huh? There’s no difference and it looks normal…, thanks a lot, Ojou…

(チャオ！お嬢！起きてるか？……ん？オレのかっこうがいつもと違う？)

Liberta: Ciao! Ojou! Are you awake? …Hm? I look different than usual?

Liberta: Oh, we’re meeting some important people today so Dante said to clean up properly

Liberta: How is it? Do I look good? Nothing looks weird?

(おはよう！お嬢。……ん？いつもより呼びに来るのが早いって？)

Liberta: Morning, Ojou! …Hm? I came to wake you earlier than usual?

Liberta: Well, Mama asked me to help carry some fertilizer…

Liberta: Actually, it’s rare for Mama to ask me instead of Nova. Nova must be sulking right now

(チャオ、お嬢！ 一緒に朝飯食べに行こうぜ)

Liberta: Ciao, Ojou! Let’s go eat breakfast together

Liberta: Actually, Luca said he was going to make breakfast today…

Liberta: It might be my imagination, but the arrangement of food on your plate looks especially pretty

(ふわぁ……おはよう……お嬢……)

Liberta: *yawn*…Morning…Ojou…

Liberta: Oh, do I look sleepy? Yeah, Dante said I should learn etiquette and taught me how to dance…

Liberta: He made me practice all night…*sigh*…I’m fine with not being able to dance. So, I just want to go to bed right now…

~*Scene: Hallway*~

(ふわぁ……眩しいなぁ 今日もいい天気になりそうだー)

Liberta: *yawn*…it’s so bright. It looks like we’ll have good weather again today

Liberta: These kind of days…make me feel…drowsy…ah…

Liberta: …Ah…I can’t, was I sleeping? Ahh! I’ve got to go to work soon! See you, Ojou!

End of a Day

~*Scene: Felicita's Room*~

(ああー……またダンテに叱られちまった……)

Liberta: Ugh…I got scolded by Dante again…

Liberta: Even if he says to concentrate more…how would I do that?

Liberta: Oh, sorry! I’ll stop complaining. Okay, see you tomorrow. Good night, Ojou!

(お嬢……ああ えっと……その……)

Liberta: Ojou…uh, um…I…

Liberta: A-actually, I got some flowers from Mama, but I would just make them shrivel up, so here!

(*smile) Liberta: Th-they’re pretty, right? …Uh, well, I’ll get going now! Good night, Ojou

~*Scene: Hallway*~

(オレは毎晩、カットラスの手入れしてから寝てるんだ)

Liberta: I take care of my cutlass every night before I sleep

(*shing) Liberta: Maintenance is important. If I don’t, rust will form pretty quickly.

Liberta: Caring for your knives is also important. Well, good night, Ojou

(お嬢か。今日も１日お疲れ。明日も頑張ろうな)

Liberta: Oh, Ojou. Good job today. Do you best tomorrow too

Liberta: Even so, it’s really cloudy…it’s definitely going to rain a lot tomorrow…

Liberta: I might not feel like getting up if the weather is bad though… Oh, whatever. Well, see you, Ojou

(なぁお嬢、オレってそんなに小さいか？)

Liberta: Hey Ojou, am I really that small?

Liberta: I was with Nova, and then Jolly appeared and said “*chuckle*…you two are small”!

Liberta: I’m going to keep growing! I definitely won’t lose! See you, Ojou

(さぁて、今日調べたことをメモって……ああ、なんだったっけなぁ……)

Liberta: Now, I’ll write the things I learned today in the Memo…uh, what was it again…

Liberta: …Hmm? Oh, Ojou! Say something if you’re there!

Liberta: What am I doing? N-nothing, this is…a secret!

(お嬢ー！ いいところに！聞いてくれよ……今日の仕事バッチリうまくいったんだ！)

Liberta: Ojou! Nice timing! Listen…work went perfectly today!

Liberta: Dante even said he could let me do more work in the ship

Liberta: Haha, today was a good day. Oh, sorry for stopping you. Thanks for listening!

(……ああ、お嬢)

Liberta: …Oh, Ojou

Liberta: Ah, sorry. Look at Fukurota, I was thinking it would be nice. I like animals too

Liberta: I would probably pick a dog! It would be nice to run around a park together with a large dog

(パーパっておっきいよなぁ……ダンテもおっきいし……)

Liberta: Papa’s really big…and so is Dante…

Liberta: Ah, when I get older, I wonder if I can grow that big too

Liberta: Actually, Mama said that kids grow when they sleep. ……Okay! I’m going to sleep right now! See you, Ojou!

(くっそーっ、ノヴァのヤツ……)

Liberta: Damn that Nova…

Liberta: Oh, Ojou, listen to this. I was taking a document to the Chalices by chance and he said he “couldn’t accept such a vague document”

Liberta: He’s so annoying! Ahh, sleeping is the only thing I can do to forget things like this! See you, Ojou!

(Back to Directory)

[astromechas]

(SPOILERS FOR Q2)

Anon, that is my biggest mood yet. Love my boy, Ryoji and I miss him dearly.

But yes! There are some Shinjiro/FeMC moments! Not many since I’m sure the devs wanted to keep some level of ambiguity when it comes to protagonists’ love interests (not just FeMC) since technically they can date almost anyone of the opposite gender. But there are a few that I thought were super cute.

First, I do want to point out that FeMC does refer to Shinjiro as Aragaki-senpai ( 荒垣先輩) since I think that was a huge thing that got messed up in the localization of P3P-- how the characters called each other.

(under the cut ‘cause LONG)

The first moment was when Shinjiro was first introducing himself to the others. Everyone was kinda taken aback by his very to the point way of speaking. Basically he said:

「俺は荒垣真次郎。－応、高３、ってことなるか。よろしく頼む。あー…以上だ。」

“Aragaki Shinjiro. 3rd year. Hope we get along. Uh... that’s it.”

Basically, the most awkward introduction I’ve ever seen in my life! Super choppy and he cuts himself off, especially since 以上だ is kinda like saying “I’m done now” at the end of a sentence.

So everyone is a bit weirded out by this hulking man and his rough way of speaking. Yosuke asks him if that’s all, to which Shinjiro responds that he doesn’t have anything in particular that’s worth mentioning.

But then here comes FeMC to the rescue! She tells everyone that even though Shinjiro is big and scary looking, he’s actually one of the nicest people she knows 優しい (yasashii) can be interpreted as kind, gentle, sweet, etc, but the general vibe is the same.

She goes on to say that his cooking is comparable to a mother’s cooking (オカン (okan) is a pretty funny way of saying mom) and that Shinjiro always makes food for the others too and makes sure that they eat properly. This is likely a nod to Shinjiro’s Moon social link, only available to FeMC in P3P.

This embarrasses him a lot (probably ‘cause she just compared him to a mother). FeMC pulls back and apologizes for her words, but then asks if the Shinjiro here is different from the one that she knows. Junpei jumps in and tells her that she’s exactly right, and that Shinjiro possesses the abilities of an okan, which shifts Shinjiro’s embarrassed rage towards him, lol.

A second good moment was during the AIGIS Labyrinth before they rescue Aigis and MC. While taking a break, the groups begin discussing the idea of code names. Everyone’s pretty intrigued since while in the labyrinths, they call members of the Phantom Thieves by their code names.

Anyway, FeMC comes up to Shinjiro and gives it a moment of thought before suggesting “Gakigorou-san”. This name is written in katakana, so it doesn’t really mean anything in particular, but ガキ (gaki) is kind of a slangish way to say ‘kid’, while ゴロウ (gorou) is just a name (It’s also possible she might be getting gaki from Aragaki as well)

Shinjiro is kinda surprised at hearing her suggest a code name (especially one that insinuates him being childish). FeMC justifies her choice by saying she thought it would fit because Shinjiro often dotes on Koromaru (the exact word she uses is 可愛がる, which is used often in reference to how mothers treat their children/with affection/love). Shinjiro is super embarrassed by this assessment.

Before he can explain himself, Koromaru appears, expressing his agreement. Shinjiro almost calls him Koro-chan before quickly correcting himself, telling Koromaru not to agree so quickly.

Then they continue trading off codenames!

---

These are the two moments that I think shone through the most.

It definitely feels like out of all FeMC’s possible LIs, Shinjiro is getting a bit more attention than the others, but I’m not complaining since they’re pretty cute!

[weight-in-coal]

I have decided to write a (rather dark) story for a philosophy project. We were given a list of philosophical concepts and had to use one as a sort of basis for this story. I decided to use game theory, which I will briefly explain.

Game theory is actually sort of a mathematical concept which is why I gravitated towards it. It analyzes our decisions when it’s codependent on other people’s decisions. Games that apply this include poker, chess and checkers. We try to estimate our opponent’s moves and our strategy is based on the other’s response to our moves.

The aspect of game theory that I decided to apply in my story is actually based on a type of auction, where both the highest and second highest bidder’s money is taken away but only the highest bidder is given the object. Bidders will turn their attention away from the value of the object and instead, pay attention to getting the object, often causing the bidder to get ripped off. If anyone watched crazy rich asians, it’s summarized through the phrase, “ playing to not lose as opposed to playing to win”. The bidders try not to lose to each other, instead of winning, which is in this case, getting their money’s worth.

So my story is basically an extended metaphor of that auction. I am posting it here because it would mean the world to me if you guys could read through it and give me constructive criticism.

Sorry for the long explanation/rant. Story’s below if anyone’s still interested.

Until I Reach the Light

It's impossible.

That’s what I was told by the dejected, old man sitting in the corner of the cell. At least, that’s all he ever said. The rest of us can only assume that he’s referring to escape.

We still tried though. We had to. Some of us missed our family, others just wanted fresh air. Either way, we all knew that we didn’t want to rot away in this cell. Of course, we had to plan our escape. Necessary information was slowly gained through painfully long interrogations with the old man.

This is everything we managed to get him to reveal:

We have to fight each other to the death.

This wasn’t a problem. I simply woke up in this room with my new roommates. We couldn’t figure out our similarities and even though we tried to be civil with each other, we never became friends so there was never a sense of loyalty. I was sure I was not the strongest, smartest or luckiest, but there weren’t any rules so I was sure there were ways to work through my weaknesses.

2. We have to fight the solitary guard at the door of this prison and it’s impossible to win against him in one on one combat.

Our collective thought was there’s only one? What kind of monster- But we were desperate so we convinced ourselves that the old man had probably gone mad and that the prowess of this guard was probably overestimated. After all, there was more than one of us in this cell. We believed we could beat him.

3. Only one of us is getting out.

We repressed this information. We didn’t think it was important. More importantly, we thought it didn’t make sense. There was definitely another way.

Once we couldn’t get anymore information from the old man, we headed out. It was comically easy. Some higher entity simply knew we were ready and a wall opened.

The new room which appeared to us looked more like a grave than an arena. Roughly 10m long and wide, it was completely empty safe the writing on the wall: “The door opens when the ground is covered in blood.”

“Let’s not fight”. A voice came from the left of me. We all turned to face them. “Let’s just … cut ourselves with some small wounds and try to cover the ground. Blood’s liquid, there’s a lot of us, we can do it”. So we got to work.

…

It was not enough, far from enough. When the realization hit us in our light-headed state, a voice appeared in the back of our mind. Fight it said and it kept getting louder and louder and louder- then one of us punched another and it all broke down into chaos. Hands flew, blood spilled and the chanting kept getting louder and louder until it was not just in our mind anymore. At some point, the words morphed into kill, kill, kill, kill and we could not help but obey. Blood was everywhere, it covered the groundーwait, it covered the ground. The realization rung cold and clear as the chanting suddenly stopped and the surviving few backed away from the pile of bodies.

There were three of us. One was so weak, they tripped over another body, fell to the ground and an echoing crack was heard.

Now there was two. Another wall opened behind me and natural light streamed down from a hole at the top. There was no guard in sight. We both walked closer and we peered up at the sole source of natural light. It was about 3 metres up and it became clear what the old man meant by only one person getting out. One person had to use the other to get out, leaving the one at the bottom trapped in the dungeon. Of course, maybe the person that made it out can find civilization, or rope, and free the trapped person, assuming-

I didn’t get an opportunity to finish my thoughts. Instead, the person beside me lunged at my throat and I got tackled to the ground.

“Stop, stop-” I tried to halt their assault so we could discuss the logistics of both of us leaving but they clamped a hand over my mouth and pressed down on my throat. I’m not going to die, not like this I decided before a surge of adrenaline raced through me and I kicked them off. As they rolled off me, I noticed just how much they were bleeding. They fell on their back, eyes glazed over and never got up.

…

I tried to pile up the corpses so I could climb up to get out but there weren’t enough bodies to form a high enough hill. All I could do was sit at the base and ponder at what could have been my escape.

Thoughts ran through me at the speed of light. Where’s the guard? Technically, if more than two of us made it into the last room, wouldn’t more than 1 person be able to escape? What’s the point of making us fight?Who put us through all this?

At the same speed, answers flooded in. If more than one of us made it into the last room, we would’ve came to the same conclusion that one person wouldn’t have made it out. We would’ve fought to not be that person except that every person who died fighting would be one less person who can stand at the bottom. There would’ve been only one left anyways.

As for the guard, at first I thought that it must have found us so weak and impulsive that it let us duel it out amongst ourselves instead of getting involved. I realized a moment later that maybe the guard wasn’t a physical thing at all. Maybe the one thing that was guarding us from making it out was just human impulsiveness . We would’ve fought until there was no more chance of survival instead of letting at least one person see their family again. Maybe, they could’ve even saved the other eventually. At the very least, they could’ve told the other family their farewells. If there was just one of us left, well, there would’ve been no impulse to act upon, but there would’ve been no chance of escaping.

As I stared at the top corpse, the one of the second last survivor, I concluded that I would’ve been the bottom person if they just allowed me to speak. Alas, they didn’t give me that chance and I might not have felt as merciful at that particular moment. Plus, all these what-ifs and would-haves are futile now.

And the mastermind behind all this? Well, was it important? Wasn’t the bigger problem that we didn’t realize that it was us, the prisoners, verses that mastermind and not us against each other?

The old man’s corpse was at the bottom of the pile; I don’t know when he died. His words ring in my ears: It’s impossible. Was escaping actually impossible or was this just his conclusion from past experience? Was he the one survivor from the last time?

Anyways, I have until the end of my time to reflect.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers VANDEAD CARNIVAL ;; Laito Route ー Chapter 4

ー The scene starts on the Carnival’s venue

Male Vampire A: Oi, we have to hurry or we won’t make it on time for the Carnival’s finale, you know?

Female Vampire A: Let’s hurry! This doesn’t happen every day, so I want to watch it from a good angle!

Laito: ...You heard them?

Yui: The Carnival’s finale...

Which means the Carnival is almost over?

In that case, even though I don’t know what exactly happens during the finale,

we should probably hurry up and head back to the castle as well, huh...?

Laito: Eeh~? What are you saying?

If the Carnival is going the end, we definitely shouldn’t be returning to the castle right now!

Yui: Eh...!? What do you mean...?

Laito: In~ other~ words~! While the Carnival is still ongoing...

We have to make sure to enjoy it to the fullest!

That being said, come on! Let’s go over there! Right there! I bet we’ll have a blast!

Yui: Eeh!? B-But...Can we just act of our own accord?

Laito: Of course we can! As long as the Queen has a good time. Nfu~

Come on, hurry~

*Thud*

Yui: Wait, Laito-kun! Don’t push me so strongly...!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Saint Nore Park’s venue

Yui: ( Laito-kun dragged me over here but...Where are we...? )

Laito: Nfu~ This is Saint Nore Park. By human standards, I suppose you would call this an amusement park?

As to be expected of the Carnival, this place is bustling with energy as well.

Well then, Bitch-chan, since we’re here now, why don’t we try out one of the rides?

Come on, take a look. It seems like all attractions have granted the customers special entrance for the Carnival.

Which one should we pick...? They all look fun, it really makes it hard to choose, huh?

Yui: Uhm...

( He said ‘fun’ but...As to be expected of the Demon World, all of them seem kind of creepy in one way or another... )

Laito: Ah! Hey, how about that one? ‘Berawecka’s castle’. 

Looks like it’s similar to what would be called a haunted house in the human world!

Yui: H-Haunted house? They have those here in the Demon World too...?

Laito: Of course. But you know, they’re on a totally different level from the boring (1) haunted houses made by humans...

I’m sure the two of us will be able to enjoy it. ...In various ways, you see? Nfu~

Yui: ( A haunted house, huh...? )

Selection

→ Seems fun! (☾)

Yui: A haunted house from the Demon World sounds like a blast!

Laito: Right~? As to be expected of Bitch-chan! I knew you’d say that!

→ I’ll pass

Yui: I-I’ll pass on that!

( It screams danger! ...Laito-kun more so than the ghosts themselves. )

Laito: Eeeh~? Geez, Bitch-chan, you’re such a scaredy cat...

And here I was thinking of comforting you after you got frightened by the haunted house, you see?

Yui: ( ...Seems like I was spot on. )

Magician A: Excuse me. If you have a spare minute, would you like to see a magic trick?

Clown A: Oi oi. A Vampire should have plenty of time on hands, right? Wait...Huh...?

...Seems like this young lady over here isn’t a Vampire.

Yui: ...

Clown A: But rest assured!

We will show you a magic trick so amazing, you will not regret using some of your limited time on it!

...What do you say? Hihi~

Yui: ( ...! This Clown...He looks normal at first glance, but he’s kind of spooky... )

*Rustle*

Laito: Excuse me, Mr. Clown? Could I ask you to kindly refrain from getting too close to my Queen Bitch?

Magician A: Queen? Then, could this human lady possibly be...?

Laito: Exactly. She’s the star of this year’s Carnival! So you better not make any mistakes!

Magician A: I see. In that case, I have even more reason to give you a spectacular showing!

Well then, let us start with this steel case...Go ahead, Clown, get inside.

*THUD*

Magician A: There, why don’t we stab the case with this sword repeatedly?

Yui: ( S-Stab repeatedly...? )

*Cling*

Clown A: Eeeeek~! Save me~! Hihi~ 

*STAB*

Clown A: Gyaaaah~! He got me~!

*STAB*

Clown A: I’m gonna die~!

Laito: Eeh~? Is this a magic trick? If you’re a Vampire, you won’t die when stabbed anyway.

Magician A: Mister, why don’t you try and stab him right through the heart through that hole over there?

Laito: I don’t usually make it a habit to mess with a random clown I don’t know though...There!

*STAB*

Clown A: Gyaaaaah!

Yui: ...!?

Magician A: Well then, let us set the steel case on fire next! There!

ー The case is set on fire

Laito: Eeh? You’re gonna burn him on top of stabbing him through the heart?

Ahaha! This is amazing! Demon or not, one wrong move and he might actually die!

Yui: This isn’t a laughing matter!

Magician A: Well then, what could have possibly become of the Clown? Behold...

ー He opens the case

*Creaaak*

Laito: Oh dear~? It’s empty. Did he burn up?

Yui: N-No way!

Magician A: Fufu. No need to worry, Miss. Oh dear? Who could that be standing behind you...?

Clown A: Look here, the Clown has come to haunt you~!

Yui: Kyaah!

Clown A: Just kidding~ Hihi~

Laito: Heeh~! Amazing! When did you get out of there?

Magician A: I hope you are convinced of our skill now? Well then, while we’re at it...

Miss, would you be willing to help out with our next act?

Yui: Eh? ...Me?

Magician A: Yes. You won’t be asked to do anything difficult. All you have to do is step inside that black coffin over there.

Laito: Hmm~ Why not? Give it your best shot, Bitch-chan!

Yui: If that’s all I have to do. ...Okay then.

Magician A: Thank you very much. Well then, Miss, this way, please.

*Rustle*

*THUD*

ー The screen fades to black

Yui: ( Uwah, everything turned pitch black the moment he shut me inside... )

( I wonder what kind of magic trick he’ll do...? )

???: ーー I’ve been waiting.

Yui: ...!? I-Is somebody there?

( ...? ...What’s happening? ...I suddenly feel drowsy...Laito-kun, save me... )

ー Yui collapses

Magician A: Well then, we shall have her disappear into thin air now. Take a look! There!

ー The coffin opens again

Laito: ...! Bitch-chan is!?

Clown A: Oh dear! What a surprise! Who would have guessed the young lady would turn into a stuffed rabbit!? Hihi~

Magician A: As you can see, she is nowhere to be seen!

Laito: Amazing! Bitch-chan actually disappeared! How did you do that?

It doesn’t seem like this cute little bunny is actually Bitch-chan...

Magician A: Oh no, I am extremely glad all of you enjoyed it. Well then, this marks the end of our magic show.

Laito: ...Eh? The end? What about Bitch-chan...?

Clown A: Who knows~ Hihi~

*Flap flap flap*

Laito: Wha...!? Familiars!? They were just posing as a magician and a clown!? What is going on...!?

*Flap flap flap*

Laito: Wait, hold it! Who is behind this!?

*Flip*

Laito: Hm...? What’s this...? A letter...? ‘To the King of the Carnival’ it says...

*Flip*

Laito: ...! No wonder I thought something was fishy about all of this...!

I have to hurry! Bitch-chan will...!

ー Laito runs off

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ...Uu...Nn...Where am I...?

Maid A: Miss, we have been awaiting your arrival. Someone unexpectedly got in the way the last time after all.

Yui: Huh...? You’re that person from before...

( She’s the kind maid who promised to show me the way to the castle...Right? )

Maid A: Fufu. I am grateful you remember me.

I wanted to sit down and enjoy a chat with you like this.

With you, who is the Queen of the Carnival...

And the beloved of that man who used me...to his heart’s content!

ー She suddenly lunges towards Yui

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyaah! W-What!? Let me go!

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ( What is she talking about...? )

Maid A: ...Stop struggling!

I was able to give up on him because he said he would never truly love someone...However...

You are loved by him...I can’t allow that...

I definitely won’t!

ー The maid tries to cut Yui with a knife

*Swoosh*

Yui: Kyah!

*Rustle*

Yui: ( ...Was that...a knife just now...? )

( E-Either way, I have to get out of here... )

Maid A: Hold it!

Yui: No!

( Laito-kun, save me...! )

ー Yui runs away towards the ballroom

Yui: W-Where am I...!? ...Kyaah!

*Swoosh*

Maid A: Haah...You’re quick to flee, aren’t you? However, you’ve reached a dead end.

On top of that, this is the Demon World...Who in their right mind would take the side of a human!?

Give up already! Ahaha!

*Swoosh*

Yui: No! Save me! ...Laito-kun!!

ー Laito comes running as if on cue

Laito: Hey! Stay away from her!

Yui: !?

Yui: L-Laito-kun!

( He actually came to my rescue! )

Laito: Say, Miss Maid. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but she’s not the one you bear a grudge against. I am, no?

Maid A: ...Laito-sama...!

Laito: If I did something to you, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, okay? So please,spare her! 

Or is just an apology not enough? What do I need to do for you to forgive me?

Maid A: ...I never thought I’d hear Laito-sama apologize to me...!

Is she...

...really that important to you!?

Laito: Of course! She is my precious Bitch-chan after all! There is nobody who could ever replace her.

Yui: ( Laito-kun...! )

Laito: However, she is a human, you see. Unlike us Vampires, she dies so very easily.

So please, could you put away that dangerous thing you’re holding in your hand right now?

Maid A: ...

Laito: I’m begging you. Also, please stop making that scary face? 

Tonight we’re celebrating the once-a-year carnival after all...Okay?

Maid A: ...As to be expected, Laito-sama.

Yui: ( Amazing...! Laito-kun actually managed to convince her... )

*Clap clap clap*

Yui: Eh...? The people around us...What suddenly got into everyone?

Laito: ...Haah, I see. So I was right after all. I thought something smelled fishy.

Shuu: Haah...Try and put yourself in our position, being forced to play along with this ridiculous farce.

Yui: Shuu-san!? And...The others too!

Laito: We’re the ones who suffered the most! You guys knew everything but didn’t say a thing? Why?

Shuu: ...Like I know. Here, this is a letter from Father.

Yui: Hold on...! I have no idea what is going on!?

Laito: Let’s see...? ‘I planned the Carnival wanting to celebrate Adam and Eve.’

‘However, a regular Carnival would be far too dull, so I set up a few shenanigans.’

‘You two are the stars of tonight. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.’ ...It reads. 

In short...This is another example of one of his little ‘games’ going too far?

Yui: Eeh!? In that case...Everything down to me getting kidnapped...

Ruki: Exactly. Everything is the result of the plan that man set up for you two.

Laito: Haah, he really is such a pain in the ass. Even though he’s supposed to be the Vampire King, you know?

ー The maid walks up to Yui

Maid A: ...Eve.

I am truly sorry for scaring you earlier.

Yui: Eh!? Uhm...

Maid A: Like the others explained right now, I acted entirely according to Karlheinz’ orders...

The part about me being tossed aside by Laito-sama was all just made up as well. Please rest assured.

Well, it seems like Laito-sama himself had long seen through my lies.

Yui: ...Really?

Laito: Pretty much~ Even someone like me can at least remember the faces of the people I have messed around with or not.

Besides, I noticed way back that this maid was working for that person.

Maid A: ...!

You realized that much?

Laito: I realized when we first saw you in town. You somehow seemed familiar to me~

That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t quite sure what he had planned, but I knew that man had something in store for us.

Yui: ( I see...Everything was an act thought out by Laito-kun’s Father... )

Haah...I’m glad...

Laito: Aah, Bitch-chan. But don’t get the wrong idea, okay?

All of this might have been nothing but an act put together by that man.

But the things I said to that Maid just now...Those were all my true feelings.

Yui: Eh?

Laito: Eeh~? Don’t tell me you weren’t listening? Guess it can’t be helped...

ー He moves closer

*Rustle*

Laito: You are my oh-so precious Bitch-chan, remember?

Yui: ...Laito-kun...

Reiji: ...Well then. Raise your glass. The party has yet to begin.

Kou: Exactly! Congratulations, M-neko-chan! Oh, you too I guess, Laito-kun.

Laito: Haah~? ‘I guess’? (2) How rude, you’re talking to the King of the Carnival, you know?

Laito: Well then, Bitch-chan. Why don’t we use this opportunity to enjoy the banquet as well?

Yui: Yeah!

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) ぬるい or ‘nurui’ means ‘lukewarm’, but in this context, Laito is mocking haunted houses in the human world for being not all that scary. 

(2) Kou actually uses the expression ついでに or ‘tsuide ni’, which means ‘to do something on the side’. However, I couldn’t find a way to translate the first sentence using a literal translation of the expression, so I altered it a little. 

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 3

→ PROCEED TO FINALE ENDING

→ PROCEED TO NORMAL ENDING

[efurutravel]

Translation 3

Finally I have translation three done! Summer is so much more busier than I thought! Also, this one was a bit more difficult because she talks very casually which I think leaves more up to context and interpretation. The others I did in one sitting, but this one I took breaks because I was just like もういいぃぃ! A little annoyed lol. I didn’t try to “translate” her way of talking because I don’t know. I don’t want to put a personality on her.  So this is story 2 of the Hafu article that can be found here. I was requested to provide the Japanese as well, so, excuse the length, but enjoy the read! 

|Even if you hear about my roots, you’ll say it’s a tan|

Regina was born in the Tokyo area of Fussa City to her father, a military officer at a local base, and her Japanese mother. She attended an elementary school located at the Yokota military base and joined the Fussa City schools for junior high school. I asked of her story at her usual workplace, the Yokota Base.

ルーツを聞かれても「日サロだよ」って

レジーナさんは東京都福生市で米空軍所属の父と日本人の母とのもとに生まれた。小学校は米軍横田基地の中にある小学校に、中学校は福生市の中学校に通っていた。レジーナさんが普段働く横田基地の中でお話を伺った。

Do you have any recollections of your father?

My mom and dad split up. As soon as I was born, my dad immediately returned to America and I lived life here with my mom.

I don’t really remember my dad much. My friends have asked “What if you look for your dad?” so I searched names like his and found an address/addresses. So, I went to America, but I never saw him or got to meet him. In the end, we never got to meet and he passed away. Maybe there are a lot of children in this kind of situation who have parents from a military base.

――お父さんの記憶はありますか？

お母さんとお父さんは別れていて。お父さんは、私が生まれてすぐにアメリカに帰って、わたしはお母さんとこっちで生活してます。

お父さんの記憶はほとんどなくて。友達から「お父さん探してみたら？」って言われて、人探しサイトから似た名前を探して住所を見つけたんです。それでアメリカに行ったんだけど結局すれ違っちゃって、会えなくて。結局会えないまま、他界しちゃいました。親が基地関係で出会った場合、こういう境遇の子どもも多かったんじゃないかな

Could you tell us a bit about your childhood?

I of course thought that there weren’t many children like me at my nursery school (maybe it’s same as pre-school in the states). They often said things like “go away” a lot. And of course they had a lot to say about the difference in my skin color.

My mother was already worried about this, so she placed me in the elementary school at the base. But, even at that school, there weren’t many mixed roots children who went. As expected, I had to recognize they made up the majority (The verb is interesting here: 一目置かれるmeaning ‘to acknowledge one’s superiority’. How crazy.) So, even if I’m in Japan, or at an American establishment, there is always this gray area of uncertainty. (Not really sure of the subject here. Maybe she means gray area of how she will be treated, of how people react…)

Around the time I was in high school, having a tan was kind of the fad around the world. Because everyone around me were getting tans, even if they heard about my racial background, they would just say “Oh, it’s a tan!” I could understand that kind of thinking given the situation (laughs). I kind of thought like, “Oh, finally people won’t take much notice of my skin.” But, now I think that in itself was a bit different.

――子どもの頃のことを教えてもらえますか？

保育園では私みたいな人が少なかったと思うんですよね。物珍しかったのか「あっち行け」とか言われることがすごくあって。私の場合はやっぱり肌の色のことで強く言われることがありました。

そういうことを心配した母親が、小学校は米軍基地の中の学校に入れたんですよ。でも基地の学校でも自分のようなミックスのルーツの子どもは少なかったから、やっぱりそこでも一目置かれるというのがありました。だから、日本にいても、アメリカ社会にいてもどっちつかずっていうのはあった。

私は高校生ぐらいの頃に日焼けするのが世の中で流行ってきた世代で。私の周りもみんな焼いてたから、自分がルーツを聞かれても「日サロだよ」って。それで納得されたこともありましたよ（笑）。「ああ、やっとこれで自分の肌の色を気にしないでいられる」って思ったかな。でも、そうやって思うこと自体がちょっと違うのかなって今は思ったりもする。

Did you have any troubles or worries around adolescence?

Yeah. In all honesty, there was always this complex feeling (I think it’s not complex, like difficult, but you know psych type). I’m a pretty careless person, so it may be thought “oh there are no worries here”, but… Even now there is still that complex in me.

For example, even when I was pregnant before, I honestly thought, “It would be bad if this child lives a life like mine.” (as in having to deal with the complex, bullying, and other things that comes with having darker skin and being half) From this, I of course think I still have some sort of complex.

Of course there are some Hafu who are raised without this type of experience. But, as for me, because of my skin, a lot of things were said about my skin in my childhood. Even if something was said, I couldn’t say anything back. I can’t say I was so extreme as to bleach my skin, but I definitely though, “I wish my skin was white”. I don’t really think that anymore, but when I get the stares from those around me, sometimes I do.

You can say “It’s okay if you don’t worry about it,” but, of course, when some bad experiences come up, I begin to worry about it.

――思春期の頃は自分のアイデンティティに悩んだり…？

うん、常にコンプレックスの塊というのが正直なところで。私自身はこうやっておちゃらける人だから「悩みとかなさそう」って思われるみたいなんだけど。でもやっぱりコンプレックスはいまだに自分の中にありますね。

例えばこの前子どもを妊娠したときも、「またこの子が自分とおんなじ思いをしたらいやだな」って正直思ったんですよね。でも、そうやって思っちゃう自分ってやっぱりまだコンプレックスが抜けてないのかなって。

もちろんこういう経験をせずに育ったハーフもいると思う。でも私の場合は、子どもの頃は本当に肌のことで色々言われてきたから、本当にそれが嫌で。何か言われても反論できなかった。極端に言ったら漂白じゃないけど、色を白くしたいって思ってて。今はそう��思わなくはなったんだけど、周りからの目線が気になるときはある。

「気にしなきゃいいよ」っていわれたらそこまでなんだけど、でもやっぱりそれで嫌な思いしてきた私にとってはやっぱり気になっちゃうよね。

Do you feel/experience this in your everyday life?

In my daily life, I’m asked “What’s your nationality?”. When I go to make things like my passport, drivers license, bankbook, or ID, I get asked like “Your nationality is…. Japanese, right..?”. Even when I get a car loan. I think, “of course I am seen as a foreigner.”

I can understand when people are talking about me. At a store, some people sitting next to me think I can’t speak Japanese and say things like, “American people are increasing here, hey” or “Oh, must be an American”. So I think, “Because I’m here, they’re having this kind of conversation?”. It could just be a persecution complex as well though.

There are times when I though to say, “I can understand what you’re saying.” (Not confident in this). When I start talking with my friends in, as usual, Japanese, it’s a dead silence from the those having the conversations earlier.

――普段の生活で感じることはありますか？

普通に生活していて「国籍はどちらですか？」って聞かれますね。パスポート、免許証、銀行の通帳、自分のIDになるものを作るときには必ず、「国籍は、日本ですよね…？」みたいな感じで聞かれます。車のローンを組む時も。「ああ、やっぱり私は外国人として見られてるのね」って。

あと周りの人たちが私のことを話してるときはわかりますね。私が日本語を話せないと思って、お店で隣に座った人が「最近アメリカの人増えたね」とか、「アメリカってこうだよね」とかって話し始めたりすることがある。「私がここにいるからそういう会話になったの？」って思ってしまうんですよ。被害妄想だよって言われたらそこまでなんですけど。

「私、話していることわかりますよ」って思って横で聞いてたりすることがあって。私が友達と普通に日本語で話し始めると、さっきまで話してたのに一気にしーんとなるんですよね。

In regard to Japanese companies, what do you think about how they see “Hafu”?

Many people mention how most Hafu are usually the mix of white and Japanese. Like me, it feels like Black and Japanese mixed Hafu children are viewed apathetically from the back.

Finally, groups like J Soul Brothers of three generations have become popular recently. But, of course, there aren’t many girls to come out. Just, like, sports player, Osaka Naomi. There are some models like JJ and ViVi, but, as expected, a model mixed with white is more common.

The most shocking thing was when Miss Universe, Miyamoto Eriana, came out and a TV report made the comment, “She doesn’t appear very Japanese.” I thought, “Whaaat?!” But, of course, there is that kind of closeminded thinking.

It’s kind of strange… Sometimes I think that there is this common idea in Japan that people mixed with Black can’t do anything outside of the sports, dance, or singing industries. For girls who want to become models or something, there aren’t chances to see them in the media (Sorry, not too confident here). If discrimination can move away from these kinds of things, I wonder if Japan can also change a little bit.

――日本社会における「ハーフ」へのまなざしについてはどう思いますか？

みんなが言う「ハーフ」って結局白人と日本人とのハーフが多くて。私みたいに、黒人と日本人とのハーフの子たちとかは後ろの方からしらーっと見ている感じ。

ようやく最近だよね、三代目J Soul Brothersとかが出てくるようになってきたの。でもやっぱり女の子はあんまり出てこないよね。スポーツ選手だと大坂なおみちゃんぐらいで。『JJ』とか『ViVi』とか結構ハーフのモデル使ってるけど、やっぱり白人系の子が多いよね。

一番衝撃的だったのがミスユニバースに宮本エリアナさんが出てきたときに、テレビのコメンテーターが「彼女は日本人らしくない」ってコメントをしていたこと。「はー！？」と思った。やっぱりこういうところで狭い考えしちゃうんだなって。

変な話、黒人のミックスの子はもうスポーツとかダンス、歌の業界くらいでしか活躍できないんじゃないか、そういう雰囲気が日本では横行しているんじゃないかなって思うときもある。女の子にとっての憧れになるモデルだったり、華やかな場所に出てくることはないというか。そういうところが分け隔てなくなってきたら日本ももう少し変わるのかなって思うけど。

*Under pic*

Regina started our talk with saying, “Of course there hasn’t been this kind of chance since this isn’t a usual topic of conversation. Even we talk, people can’t really understand (my story/experience). “ I thought I could offer a glimpse into not having been able to share my experiences up until now, and, at the same time, being able to share my experience but still not being about to come to grips with these two realities. Someone wanting to understand another experience probably needs some background knowledge. But, what’s more to ask for is for people to listen to different ideas and experiences. (not too confident in this either).

レジーナさんは「やっぱりこういう機会じゃないと普段話せないことがあるから。話してもわかってもらえないことがあるから」と言って話し始めてくれた。これまで周囲に自分の経験を伝えてこなかったわけではないこと、同時に伝えてもなかなか受け止められなかった現実の両方が垣間見えたような気がした。誰かの経験を理解するうえで多少の予備知識は必要かもしれない。けれど、それ以上に求められるのは異なる考えや経験に耳を傾ける想像力ではないだろうか。

[yaboylevi]

hey! so moving forward, are you going to be keeping up with the weekly episodes for snk's 3rd season again? i remember you saying that you wouldn't watch season 3 anymore due to how the uprising arc was ultimately handled, but since it seems that they are now adapting each episode at the pace they have done in previous seasons, i was curious about where you stand currently. will you be checking out certain episodes here or there or will you be watching snk when season 4 comes around?

aside from my previous ask, just wanted to stop by to say hey at least once! i like checking your blog every now & then. you’re very passionate about snk so it was heartbreaking to see ur reaction to the 1st few eps of season 3. i also remember u mentioning that the uprising arc is your favorite so it’s totally understandable as to why u felt that you just couldn’t keep watching ur fave arc be ruined. i would say give it a 2nd chance, then again it’s up to you if you want to continue.

even if you don’t answer everything else i said, thanks for at least reading it. have a great day.

Hello, hi! I am not sure if it’s okay for me to publish this or not, so definitely let me know if it wasn’t the case!

First of all, I want to thank you with all of my heart, because it’s heartwarming to see people being so understanding and genuinely kind to someone they don’t personally know. I know this sounds cliche, but it means a lot to me right now, as me not riding the hype train with everybody else has led to…me taking some distance from shingeki and people taking their distance from me. Real life hasn’t been nice to me lately, too, so I think I’ve been even more sensitive to the anime mishap and fandom shenanigans, which have just become unbearable for me. Add to that my feeling like I'm not welcome anymore, maybe because I myself don't like being negative in public...? Anyway, I am still doing my things on my own or with close friends until things calm down, if I'm not as active as I was in the past, it's not just because I don't like the anime adaptation; I'm recharging my positive energies atm.

So that being said, really, thank you for telling me all this. It helps. My heart physically hurt when you said you understand why I might have wanted to distance myself from something that disappointed me, as I’ve mostly received scorn or hate for that. And it hurt when you said it’s been heartbreaking to witness my tiny meltdowns (they were a lot worse in private lol)…it’s been heartbreaking for me, too, and I’m sorry if I made you feel negative emotions. But also thank you for sticking around, I appreciate you.

As for your questions…I’ve watched, out of curiosity, some of the recent episodes and they just made my blood boil, rip. I wasn’t going to watch the latest one but then I saw they had animated one of my favorite scenes so heck, I watched it and I can say I’ve enjoyed 99% of it and it reminded me of how S1 and S2 used to be for me ー all hype and feelings; I miss that. Maybe I had too many expectations for S3, as S2 imo was perfect (aside from a couple of things), to the point that it made me love an arc ー Clash of the Titans ー I didn’t really care much about in the manga. Now I’m still at a point that whenever I see something from Uprising I get so bitter, it’s almost like the anime ruined the arc for me as a whole (I know, sounds dramatic lol). BUT I GUESS I need time and respite before I can try watching past episodes. As of now, it’s not really something I want to do, but I appreciate your thoughts. And of course, I hope you’re enjoying the season!

However! I am currently excited about the next episode because of Zeke. My monkey boy is gonna be moving and he’s gonna talk omg I can't believe this so I’ll watch the part where he appears. Ok, probably the whole episode, as it features one of my favorite side-stories, I hope it's gonna be as emotional as the manga was. Also, I'm gonna definitely watch the following one because I need to see Carla and baby Eren and Shadis.

If by S4 you meant Return to Shiganshina…well…I really dislike that manga arc aside from the Grisha files and the Zeke-Levi’s fight, so I’ll probably only check those episodes out! I just want to say that even before all of this, I was still not going to watch RtS! If you meant Marley...I'll watch it for Zeke, ofc, and I'll be fine with cuts because there is nothing in that arc that really stuck to me or that I especially want to see animated aside from Zeke saying "eldian asses".

I hope you have a nice day, week, month!

[kaialone]

Yokai Watch 3 ver. 4.0 Translation

(Masterpost for my Yokai Watch translations can be found here)

This will contain spoilers for a sidequest of Yokai Watch 3 (ver. 4.0), so proceed with caution.

With that being said, this will be a translation of the entire “Yūka and the Mysterious Blue Cat” (“ユウカと不思議な青いネコ”) sidequest.

This was a pretty fun translation to do, because we get to see a lot of different characters, and Neko II is pretty cute most of the time.

Before we get to the actual translations, I want to go over a few points that are too long to just be explained via my usual notes.

If you don't care about translation details and just want the basic gist of the quest's story, I suppose you can skip these because they're so long. But I'd still recommend reading them, personally.

First of all, in this mission we are introduced to the yokai Neko II. Just so you know, in Japanese he is a called ネコ２世/Neko-nisei which translates to "Neko the Second", and I like to spell that as "Neko II" for space, and to make the reference to Necho II clear.

Now, there is various aspects to the way Neko II speaks in Japanese that don't translate well into English, so I want to talk about them here, and explain how I am personally going to adapt them.

Overall, from what I can tell, Neko II technically has a formal way of speaking, being royalty and all. However, he also pronounces certain words in a stereotypical "baby" accent, highlighting that he is still, well, a baby. It's a sort of humorous thing, he says these big words, but also sometimes pronounces words in a baby way.

Most notably is him pronouncing "-desu" as "-dechu" and the second person pronoun "kisama" as "kichama". Swapping "s sounds" with "ch sounds" like that is a typical way to portray baby/childish speech in Japanese, but note that Neko II doesn't do this with every word. Note that him talking like this could also be a result of him talking with a pacifier in his mouth though. Both “chuchu” and “chupachupa” are onomatopoeia that can refer to sucking on a pacifier, and Neko II frequently makes those noises, at least in his audio clips.

I decided to adapt this as him sometimes replacing "r" or "l" with "w", you know, "hewwo fwiend"-style, but to stay true to how it's in Japanese, I don't have him do it with all words.

Another thing is that in Japanese there is more than one first person pronoun, and Neko II uses the first person pronoun "nekocchi" to refer to himself. However, this is actually not a pre-existing pronoun, but one made up for Neko II. It is a combination of "orecchi", an informal and masculine pronoun used by Jibanyan, and "neko", which both means "cat" and is in reference to Neko II's name.

There really is no true way to translate this into English, but note that in Japanese using one's own name as a first person pronoun, or one based on your name I suppose, is basically considered cutesy, but childish. Aside from actual children, you will mostly see young women do this, but it's kinda hit or miss when it comes to how people will take it. In Neko II's case it's likely meant to be cutesy, because he is a baby AND a cute cat.

I decided to adapt this by having Neko II refer to himself as "neko" in my translation, because it didn't feel right to just leave it out altogether.

Note though that in Japanese, people use first person pronouns a lot less, because basically, the Japanese language usually omits the subject of a sentence if it is obvious based on the context. So while he does refer to himself as “nekocchi” you won’t actually hear him say it THAT often. As a result he might possibly come across as even more childish in my translation, just keep that in mind.

Second point I want to go over is the fact that this quest features all girls of Inaho's class. And well, a detail about the protagonists' classmates in the Japanese versions of these games is that we see how the protagonists refer to them, which honorifics they use, first name or last name basis, and so on. All details that, in Japanese, give us hints of how close they are to one another.

Now, when I translate Japanese into English, I usually don't include Japanese honorifics, unless they're part of a yokai's name or something. Note that I don't believe including them is inherently bad, in fact, when it comes to subs, I usually prefer having them included, but it's just something I decided to do for my personal translations, cause they don't sound natural in English, and I do try to sound natural, to some extent.

But I can't help that if I were to not mention them at all, we kinda lose information that is being conveyed to us in Japanese, therefore I usually try to point out at least some honorifics in my translation notes.

So for this translation I will point out all honorifics and the like in my translation notes, but there is one specific detail I want to point out here. Inaho refers to all girls in her class either with the cutesy/familiar honorific "-chan" or some other form of nickname. Even those that don't do the same for her. To me this signifies how Inaho is just kinda really friendly, maybe overly so, with everyone, even if they aren't really that close.

With that, onto the translation.

I go through these scene by scene. (There will be links to watch the scenes on youtube, too.)

Bolded is the original Japanese; for reference and in case someone who is better at Japanese than I reads this, and feels like correcting something.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

(Number) Indicates I got a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

Please keep in mind that I’m a beginner when it comes to Japanese, so it’s possible that I make mistakes, too.

Accepting the Request:

Mission Description: 石ノ森ユウカさんからの依頼です。 捨てられた子ネコの 飼い主を 見つけてきてほしいとのこと。 一番のおともだちの依頼ですよ！ It is a request from Miss Ishinomori Yūka. She wants you to find the owner of an abandoned kitten. A request from your best friend! (1)

Haku: 今回の依頼人は イナホさんの クラスメイトのユウカさんですね。 Our current client is Miss Yūka, Miss Inaho's classmate. (2)

Inaho: わわっ ようこそユウカちゃん！ イナウサ不思議探偵社へ！！ Woo, welcome, Yūka! To the InaUSA Mystery Detective Agency!! (3)

Yūka: イナホ！ ほんとに探偵やってんだね〜！ Inaho! So you're really being a detective! (4)

Inaho: えーっと 依頼内容は… Umm, your request was about...

Inaho: 捨てネコの飼い主になてくれる人を さがしてほしい…？ You, wanting us to look for someone who can become the owner of an abandoned kitten...?

Yūka: うん ちっちゃい子ネコなんだけどね… たぶんうちで飼えないから…。 Yes, it's a very small kitten, but... I probably can't keep it at home...

Yūka: イナホが 探偵やってるって 聞いたから きてみたんだ。 Since you're a detective, I thought I could ask you, Inaho.

Yūka: 不思議な依頼ってワケでもないんだけど… 大丈夫だった…？ It's not really a mysterious request though... Is that okay...?

Inaho: もちろんもちろん！ ユウカちゃんの依頼なら！ Oh, of course it is! It's for you, after all!

USApyon: ていうか元々うちは どんな依頼でも受けてるダニ。 And I mean, we accept pretty much any quest anyway, dani.

Inaho: で！ その子ネコは どこにいるの？ So! Where is this kitten?

Yūka: うちマンションの 地下駐車場にいるの。 In the basement parking lot of our apartment building.

Inaho: ユウカちゃんちは そよ風ヒルズの リリィガーデンってことだよね。 Your place is in Breezy Hills' Lilly Garden, right? (5)

Yūka: そうそう！ That's right!

Yūka: あっ！ また おなかすかせて 鳴いてるかもしれない…！ Ah! It might be hungry and crying again...!

Yūka: ごめんイナホ！ わたし 先に行って待ってるね！ Sorry, Inaho! I will go ahead and wait for you there!

USApyon: ミーたちも向かうダニ！ We'll head over there too, dani!

Notes:

石ノ森ユウカ/Ishinomori Yūka is known as Jessica Stonewood in English.

ハク/Haku is known as Whapir in English. In Japanese, she refers to Inaho and Yūka with the respectful honorific さん/-san.

In Japanese, Inaho refers to Yūka with the familiar/cutesy honorific ちゃん/-chan.

In Japanese, Yūka refers to Inaho without adding an honorific, which is considered very rude, unless you are close friends.

The apartment building リリィガーデン/Lilly Garden is called Wisteria Gardens in English.

--

At the Parking Lot:

Yūka: ほら イナホ！ この子が 例の子ネコだよ！ Look, Inaho! This little guy is the kitten I talked about!

???: よく来たでチュね！ Pweased to meet you!

Inaho: しゃべってるし 二足歩行だし おしゃぶりもしてるよ…。 It's talking, standing on two legs, and also has a pacifier...

USApyon: どう見ても妖怪ダニね。 No matter how you look at it, that's definitely a yōkai, dani.

Yūka: イナホ… なに言ってるの？ Inaho... what are you talking about?

Inaho: へ！？ Huh!?

USApyon: コイツ ふつうのネコに化けてるんダニ。 This guy has taken on the form of a regular cat, dani. (1)

USApyon: ふつうの人間には ただのネコにしか見えないダニよ。 To regular humans, he just looks like a normal cat.

Inaho: マジっすか…。 Seriously...

Yūka: それじゃあ イナホ！ Anyway, Inaho!

Yūka: 私はこれから習い事があるから お願いできる…？ I have a lesson now, so could you...?

Inaho: う… うん！ まかせて ユウカちゃん！ Y... yeah! Leave it to me, Yūka!

Yūka: ありがとう イナホ！ それじゃあ よろしくね！ Thank you, Inaho! Well then, I'm couning on you!

Inaho: …で アオニャン！ 君はいったい何者なの？！ ...So, Aonyan! Who the heck are you!? (2)

???: そんな一般ネコ妖怪みたいな 名前つけるなでチュ！ Do not refer to neko with such a common cat yōkai name!

Neko II: ネコっちは 妖怪ネコ2世！ とある王国の王子ネコでチュよ！ Neko is the yōkai Neko II! The pwince cat of a certain kingdom!

USApyon: 王子ダニ？ 王子が なんでこんなとこにいるダニ？ A prince, dani? Why is a prince in a place like this, dani?

Neko II: 立派な王になるため試練として 人間界にきてみたっチュが… Neko has come to the human world as a twial for becoming a fine king...

Neko II: とある施設に ブチこまれて 命からがら逃げてきたんでチュニャン！ Neko was sent to a certain institution, and bawely escaped with neko's life, nyan!

USApyon: …それで これから いったい どうしたいんダニ？ ...In that case, what are you going to do now, dani?

Neko II: ネコっちを かくまってくれる 人間が欲しいんでチュ！ Neko wishes for a human who can hide neko!

Inaho: えっと だからつまり 飼い主をさがせばいいんでしょ？ Um, so basically, it's okay if we find an owner for you?

Neko II: 飼い主じゃないでチュ！ ネコっちの 「お世話係」でチュ！！ Not an owner! An "attendant" for neko!!

Neko II: そうでチュね… ネコっちの希望としては… That’s wight... neko hopes for...

Neko II: ネコっちを 思いっきりかわいがってくれて 甘やかしてくれそうな人で… ...Someone who wuvs and pampers neko with all her heart and...

Neko II: そして 何より キュートな女子がいいでチュね〜♡ Above all, neko would want it to be a cute girl ~♡

Inaho: 注文多っ！ えらそーだなぁ〜。 So many orders! What a bossy fellow.

Neko II: この無礼もニャーー！ えらそうじゃなくて えらいんでチュ！ Such impertinyance! Neko is not bossy, neko is the boss! (3,4)

Inaho: あー はいはいはい…。 Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah...

Inaho: まあ 女子がいいなら まずはクラスのみんなにきいてみよーっと！ Well, if you want girls, let's ask everyone from my class first!

Neko II: あっ ひとつだけ 大事なポイントがあったでチュ！ Ah, there is one impowtant point!

Neko II: 「だっこ」が うまい子がいいでチュ！ これだけは はずせないでチュ！ Neko wants a girl that can "hug" neko well! On that alone, neko will not budge! (5)

Neko II: 「だかれごこち」をチェックして 一番うまい子にするでチュ♡ Neko will pick the girl that does the best at a "hugging-sensation" test ♡

USApyon: 飼ってもらうのに 生意気すぎるダニ…。 He's too conceited to keep him, dani...

Inaho: ま それじゃ ５年１組の女子に かったぱしから だっこしてもらいますか！ Well then, let's try and have the girls of class 5-1 hug you, one after another!

USApyon: でも 他の依頼を頼んでる子は やめておいたほうがいいダニよ。 But, you shouldn't ask girls that have other requests right now, dani. 

Inaho: あー なんかアヤシまれそうだしな〜。 じゃあ ヒマそうな女子にたのも〜っと！ Ah, yeah, that'd seem suspicious. So then, let's just ask those who seem to free right now!

Notes:

The verb I translated as “taking on the form of” is 化ける/bakeru in Japanese, which can also be translated as “transforming” or “disguising”, and is often used to refer to yokai’s or similar beings’ ability to conceal their true form.

This name Inaho gives Neko II on the spot is derived from 青い/aoi, which means “blue”. So in English it’d be like she called him “Bluenyan” or something.

Neko II’s catchphrase is この無礼もニャ!/kono bureimonya!, with 無礼者/bureimono meaning “rude/disrepectful person/people”, and of course “nya” being added. So I decided to adapt it as “ Such impertinyance!“, in order to retain both the “nya” part and the fact that he calls them rude/disrespectful.

This is a bit of a pun. Inaho refers to Neko II as えらそう/erasō (”bossy” or “arrogant”), and he gets angry, saying he isn’t that, he is えらい/erai (”important” or “great”).

What I translated as “hug” here is だっこ/dakko in Japanese, which can be translated as “hug”, but it also refers to picking up and holding someone, especially babies, or in this case a cat.

--

Aside from herself and Yūka, there are 10 girls in Inaho’s class, and at this point you have to go to them and try them out, so to speak.

Note that you can talk to them in any order you want, but, as USApyon implies, I believe you can’t try ones that are involved with on-going quests.

--

Talking to Minami:

Minami: ヤッホー イナホちゃん！ Yahoo, Inaho! (1)

Inaho: これはこれは… 運動神経バツグンの スポーツ少女 みなみちゃん！ Well, well... It's the outstandingly athletic sports girl, Minami! (2)

Minami: ��っ 子ネコじゃん！ かわいいー！ Ah, it’s a kitten! So cute!

Inaho: ねぇねぇ みなみちゃん！ この子ネコ だっこしてみてくれない？ Hey, Minami! You wanna try hugging this kitten?

Minami: よーし！ 任せて！ ギューッてしてあげるよ！ Alright! Leave it to me! I'll hug it tight!

Minami: ふふっ やっぱ動物っていいね！！ Hehe, animals are really great!!

Neko II: スポーツ少女だけに ちょっと豪快な抱き方でチュね…。 It’s a somewhat lively way of hugging, like one would expect fwom a sports girl...

Neko II: いつかボールみたいに 投げられそうで怖いでチュ…。 Neko's wowwied she might throw neko like a ball one day...

Inaho: あはは！ さすがにそれはないっしょ！ Ahaha! She wouldn't!

Notes:

In Japanese, Minami uses ちゃん/-chan when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese Inaho refers to her as みなみちゃん/Minami-chan. Her full name is 桐谷みなみ/Kiritani Minami.

--

Talking to Akira:

Akira: あー！ イナホちゃん！ Ah! Inaho! (1)

Inaho: クラスの男子にも負けないくらい 元気なおてんば少女 あきらちゃん！ The energetic tomboy that can't be beaten, even by the boys of the class, Akira! (2)

Akira: …って あれ！？？ ネコだ！ なんでなんで！？ ...wait, what!?? It's a cat! Why's that!?

Inaho: あきらちゃん ワケは聞かずに この子を だっこしてあげてくんない！？ Akira, don't ask why, but how about you try hugging it!?

Akira: えっ！ いいの！？ やったぁー！！ What? Can I!? Hooray!!

Akira: はー！ ネコってあったかいんだね！ Hah! It's warm!

Neko II: う〜ん だきかたが ちょっと雑でチュねぇ…。 Hmmm, that hugging method was somewhat sloppy...

Neko II: 元気があるのはいいことでチュが 女の子らしさも みがいてほしいでチュね。 It is a good that she’s enewgetic, but neko would want her to refine her girliness as well.

USApyon: イナホにも 言ってやってほしいダニ。 I'd like you to say that to Inaho as well, dani.

Notes:

In Japanese, Akira uses ちゃん/-chan when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese Inaho refers to her as あきらちゃん/Akira-chan. Her full name is 三浦あきら/Miura Akira.

--

Talking to Koyomi:

Koyomi: こんにちは イナホちゃん。 Good afternoon, Inaho. (1)

Inaho: 「５年１組の母」こと 占いが得意なこよみちゃん！！ The "mother of class 5-1", and a skilled fortune teller, Koyomi!! (2)

Koyomi: あら… この子ネコ… 大変だったわね… Oh... this kitten... it had it rough, no...?

USApyon: なっ なんかもう いろいろ見抜かれちゃってるダニ！？ S-Somehow she already figured out a lot, dani!?

Inaho: でも ちょうどいいや！ この子のこと だっこしてもらえる？ But that's perfect! Could you hug it?

Koyomi: ええ もちろん。 Yes, of course.

Koyomi: 抱いてあげる ほらおいで。 こわがらないで。 Come here, I'll hug you. There, there, don't be scared.

Koyomi: うんうん なるほどね…。 Ah yes, I see...

Neko II: ふんふん… なかなか やさしいだっこでチュね。 Hmmm... This was quite a gentle hug.

Neko II: ただ 何もかも見透かされそうで ちょっと こわいでチュ…。 However, the way she seems to see though everything is a bit scawy...

Inaho: げっ もしかしてワタシも なんか見透かされてたりする！？ Ack, maybe she's seeing through something about me too!?

Notes:

In Japanese, Koyomi uses ちゃん/-chan when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese Inaho refers to her as こよみちゃん/Koyomi-chan. Her full name is 占部こよみ/Urabe Koyomi.

--

Talking to Yōko:

Yōko: あ〜 イナホちゃんだ〜。 Ah, it's Inaho~ (1)

Inaho: この子は 癒し系少女で 超絶ドジっ子の ようこちゃん！ This is the soothing girl, the transcendant ditz, Yōko! (2)

Yōko: うわぁ〜 にゃんこだぁ〜。 Uwahhh, it's a kitty~

Inaho: ようこちゃん！ よかったら だっこしてあげてよ！ Yōko! You can hug it if you want!

Yōko: わぁ いいのぉ〜？ おいでおいで〜。 Whoa, really~? Come here, come here~

Yōko: にゃ〜ん。 ふふふ〜 にゃ〜。 Meoooow. Hehehe~ Meow~

Neko II: なかなか こなれてるでチュね。 この子は ネコ好きにちがいないでチュ。 Vewy effowtlessly. This girl must love cats.

Neko II: ただ ドジっ子みたいでチュから だっこ中に転ばないか不安でチュね。 However, since she seems ditzy, neko wowwies she might fall over while hugging neko.

Inaho: まぁそれは… あるかも。 Well, that... might happen.

Notes:

In Japanese, Yōko uses ちゃん/-chan when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese Inaho refers to her as ようこちゃん/Yōko-chan. Her full name is 森野葉子/Morino Yōko.

--

Talking to Chinamin (1):

Chinamin: あら イナホさん。 そちらの子ネコは でょうしたの？ Oh, Inaho. What's with that kitten? (2)

Inaho: まぁまぁ くわしい話は置いといて… お願い！ この子をだっこしてあげて！ Well, let's just leave the details aside... Please! Hug this kitten!

Chinamin: だっこ… ですって？ Did you say... hug it?

Chinamin: ふふ ネコの正しい抱き方情報も ばっちり調べてあるわ！ Hehe, I've intensively studied the correct way to hug a cat, too!

Chinamin: まかせてちょうだい！ Just leave it to me!

Chinamin: ふふ 手慣れてるでしょ？ ほら子ネコもこんなに喜んでる！ Hehe, quite skillful, no? Look, the kitten is so happy, too!

Neko II: う〜ん この子 口は達者でチュが イマイチな だっこでチュねぇ…。 Hmm, this girl has a way with words, but her hug is not quite good enough...

Neko II: まだまだ お子チャマの ちんちくりんでチュ。 She is still pwetty short, just like a child.

USApyon: イナホみたいなもんダニね。 Just like Inaho, dani.

Notes:

In Japanese Inaho refers to her with the nickname ちなみん/Chinanim. Her full name is 堀田ちなみ/Horido Chinami.

In Japanese, she uses さん/-san when referring to Inaho.

--

After trying 5 Girls:

Inaho: はぁ〜 まだ誰にするか 決めらんないのぉ〜？ *Sigh* You still can't decide on anyone?

Inaho: …ていうか理想 高すぎない？ ...I mean, aren't you setting the bar too high?

USApyon: 文句ばっか言ってるダニ。 All you do is complain, dani.

Neko II: 当たり前でチュニャン！ ネコっちは 王様でチュから！ Of couwse, nyan! Neko is a king, after all!

Inaho: うちのクラスの女子は あと５人いるけど… どうしようっか？ There's still 5 more girls in my class, but... what now?

USApyon: もう このへんで やめてもいいんじゃないダニ？ Can't we just stop here already, dani?

Neko II: な… 何言ってるんでチュか！？？ Wha... What are you saying!??

Inaho: う〜ん… そうだね〜 飽きたらユウカちゃんとこにもどろっと！ Hmmm... Yeah, you're right. Let's go back to Yūka if we get tired!

USApyon: そよ風ヒルズの リリィガーデンだったダニね。 She was at Lilly Garden in Breezy Hills right, dani?

USApyon: どうせ誰でも文句つけるだけダニ。 いいタイミングで きりあげるダニ。 He complains about everyone anyway, dani. It's good timing for finishing this up, dani.

Neko II: この無礼もニャー！！ もっとマジメにやるでチュ！！ Such impertinyance!! Take this more sewiously!!

--

At this point, you can return to Yūka at any point if you wish, or continue to try out the remaining girls, if you want to see the interactions with them.

--

Talking to Anna:

Anna: あれ イナホちゃんじゃん。 Oh, it's Inaho. (1)

Inaho: ５年１組のギャル代表！ アネゴ肌の アンナちゃん！！ Class 5-1's Gyaru representative! The dependable big sis, Anna!! (2, 3)

Anna: その子ネコ どうしたの？ What's with that kitten?

Inaho: アンナちゃん！ 何も言わず この子をだっこして！ Anna! Don't ask any questions and hug this kitten!

Anna: えっ？？ うん まぁいいけど…。 Huh?? Well, okay, I guess...

Anna: ふふ かわいいじゃん。 Hehe, what a cutie.

Neko II: ギャルっぽかったから警戒したでチュが 以外に上手でチュね。 Neko was wawy because she is gyaru-like, but she is supwisingly good.

Neko II: でも見た目は やっぱり ちょっと警戒しちゃうでチュ。 But her look still makes neko slightly wawy.

Inaho: えー！ アンナちゃんになら ワタシが飼われたいくらいだよ！ What!? If it were me, I'd like to be kept by Anna!

Notes:

In Japanese, Anna uses ちゃん/-chan when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese, Inaho refers to her as アンナちゃん/Anna-chan. Her full name is 渋谷アンナ/Shibuya Anna.

I’m no expert, but “Gyaru” is a Japanese subculture/fashion movement with many variants. The most unifying factor among them are eccentric fashionable clothes, heavy use of make-up, and hair that’s usually dyed/bleached brown or blonde.

--

Talking to Kanacchi:

Kanacchi: わっ…！ きゃわ……！ Ahh...! Cute...!

Inaho: おや！ カナっち どしたの？ Oh? What's wrong, Kanacchi? (1)

Kanacchi: べ… べつに…。 It... It's nothing...

Inaho: あのさ！ 当然なんだけど この子ネコ だっこしてあげてくれない？ Say! Long story short, do you want to hug this kitten?

Kanacchi: いいの！？？ Can I!??

Kanacchi: …じゃなくて べつに いいけど。 ... I mean, I don't care either way.

Kanacchi: はぁ……。 Haah...

Neko II: クールな子かと思ってたら なんかギュッと強くだきしめられたでチュよ。 Just as neko thought she was a cool girl, she hugged neko vewy tightly.

Neko II: それに… 妙に目輝かせてるでチュ… 身の危険を感じるでチュ…！ Moreover... There is a stwange glow in her eyes... Neko fears for neko's well-being...!

USApyon: たしかに かなり視線が熱いダニね…。 It is a rather passionate gaze, dani...

Note:

In Japanese, Inaho refers to her with the nickname カナっち/Kanacchi. Her full name is 大山可南子/Ōyama Kanako.

--

Talking to Jun (1):

Jun: あら？ イナホさんじゃない！ Oh? Well, if it isn't Inaho! (2)

Jun: 私に 何の用かしら？ Do you need something from me?

Inaho: え〜っと… 突然なんだけど… Uhhh... This is kinda sudden, but...

Inaho: この子ネコを だっこしてみてくれたりしない？ Would you try hugging this kitten?

Jun: だっこ…？ Hug it...?

Jun: いいけど… 服が汚れたら 弁償してもらいますからね！ Very well, but... should my clothes get dirty I will have you compensate for it!

Jun: この服 あなたが行くような 庶民のお店のものじゃないんだから。 I'll have you know, these clothes are not from common people stores like you go to. (3)

Jun: ふん お洋服が汚れなくてよかったわ。 Hmph, I'm glad my clothes didn't get dirty.

Neko II: フツーなだっこでチュ。 とっても庶民的でチュね。 An average hug. Much like a commoner.

Neko II: こんな無理してる庶民は ネコっちに 似合わないでチュ。 Such an twyhawd commoner does not suit neko. (4)

USApyon: たしかに かなり無理してそうダニ…。 Well, it's true that she's a tryhard, dani...

Notes:

In Japanese, Inaho refers to her with the nickname じゅんちゃん/Jun-chan. Her full name is 羽沢順子/Hazawa Junko.

In Japanese, she uses さん/-san when referring to Inaho.

What I translated as “common people” here is 庶民/shomin in Japanese, which can be translated as “commoners”, “ordinary people”, or “the general public” and the like.

--

Talking to Mā:

Mā: あら イナホさん。 Oh, Inaho. (1)

Mā: …って あなた！ ここは 博物館ですわよ！？ ...Hang on, you! This is a museum!?

Mā: ペットは禁止よ 禁止！ まったくこれだから庶民は！ Pets are not allowed here, got it? Not allowed! Seriously, that is just so typical of common people!

Inaho: あはは… ごめんごめん！ 一瞬で終わるから！ Ahaha... sorry 'bout that! I'll be gone in a minute!

Inaho: まーちゃん！ この子ネコ だっこして！ Mā! Hug this kitten! (2)

Mā: いきなり なんですの！？ What's this now, all of a sudden!?

Mā: ま… まぁ べつに いいですけど…。 W... Well, it's alright, I guess...

Mā: はい だっこしたわよ。 これで満足かしら？ There, I hugged it. Are you happy now?

Neko II: …この子 なんでこんなに へんな見栄張ってるんでチュか？ ...Why is this girl such a weiwd show-off?

Neko II: 庶民なだっこでチュね。 ネコっちにはふさわしくないでチュ。 It was a common people-hug. She does not suit neko.

Inaho: 「庶民なだっこ」って何！？ What's a "common people-hug"!?

Note:

In Japanese, she uses さん/-san when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese, Inaho refers to her with the nickname まーちゃん/Mā-chan. Her full name is 百舌昌子/Mozu Masako.

--

Talking to Kirara:

Kirara: あ イナホさん！ Ah, Inaho! (1)

Kirara: あら かわいい子ネコ！ イナホさんのおうちの子なの？ Oh my, what a cute kitten! Is it from your house, Inaho?

Inaho: えーっと 話すと長くなるんだけど… とりあえず… Uhh, it's a long story... Anway...

Inaho: キララちゃん お願い！ この子を だっこしてみてくれない？ Please, Kirara! Could you try hugging it? (2)

Kirara: ええ よろこんで！ Yes, I'd be happy to!

Kirara: だけど私… だっこなんてしたことないから うまくできるかしら…？ Though... I've never done this before, so I don't know if I'll do it right...?

Kirara: ふふ かわいい子ネコ。 だっこさせてくれて ありがとう！ Hehe, such a cute kitten. Thank you for letting me hug it!

Neko II: パーフェクトでチュ！ She's pewfect!

Neko II: 超絶セレブの お嬢様なんて ネコっちにピッタリでチュ！ An outstanding, wealthy young lady like this is just pewfect for neko!

Neko II: だっこが 超絶ヘタクソなのを除けば パーフェクトでチュ！ 超絶おしいでチュ！ She is pewfect, save for that absolutely crappy hug of hers! An outstanding shame!

Inaho: キララちゃんもダメなの〜？ これ以上リッチな子はいないよ！？ Kirara is no good either? But there's no richer girls than her!?

Notes:

In Japanese, Kirara uses さん/-san when referring to Inaho.

In Japanese, Inaho refers to her as キララちゃん/Kirara-chan. Her full name is 星風キララ/Hoshikaze Kirara. In English, she is known as Crystal Starr.

--

After Having tried all 10 Girls:

Inaho: これで ５年１組の女子全員に だっこされたワケですが… Now all girls of Class 5-1 have hugged you, but...

Inaho: …いかがでした？ ...How were they?

Neko II: うーーーん… ビミョーでチュね。 Hmmmmm... Not that gweat.

Neko II: 惜しい子は いたんでチュが… どうも しっくりこないでチュ。 Some girls were close... but none of them matched.

USApyon: ぜいたくなやつダニ…。 What an extravagant guy, dani...

Inaho: あ じゃあさ！ ワタシもだっこしてみよっか？ Ah, in that case! Should I try hugging you, too?

USApyon: ダニ!? Dani!?

Neko II: いや 遠慮しとくでチュ。 それだけは ないでチュ。 No, neko would rather not. Anything but that.

Inaho: ちょっ…！！ まだ だっこしてないんだけど！？ Hang on...!! I haven't even hugged you yet!?

Neko II: ないでチュ。 Anything but.

Inaho: ま… まぁいったんユウカちゃんに話して 作戦ねりなおしかなー。 W... Well, let's go talk to Yūka and restrategize, I guess.

USApyon: あの子の家は リリィガーデンだったダニね。 Her house was at Lilly Garden, dani.

USApyon: 行ってみるダニ！ Let's go, dani!

--

Back at Yūka's place:

Yūka: あっ イナホ！ 飼い主ん もう見つかった…？ Ah, Inaho! Have you found an owner yet...?

Inaho: あ それが まだなんだよね〜 これから誰にしようかな〜 なんて…。 Ah, no, not yet. Figuring out who we should pick is kinda...

Yūka: ほっ… よかった〜……。 Oh... That's a relief...

Inaho: …ほっ？ ...Oh?

Yūka: あのね やっぱり… どうしてもきになっちゃって……。 Well, you see... I just couldn't get it off my mind after all...

Yūka: 私 お母さんにお願いして 飼わせてもらおうと思うの…！ I think I will ask my mother if I can keep it...!

Inaho: えっ！ で でも飼い主には「条件」が…。 What? B-but... there are "requirements" for the owner...

Yūka: 条件？ Requirements?

Inaho: えーっと一回 この子ネコ だっこしてみてほしいんだけど… Umm, I'd like you to try hugging the kitten, but...

Yūka: …え？ うん わかった。 ...What? Alright, sure.

Neko II: この「だかれごこち」…！！ これでチュよ！ 求めていたのは！！ This "hugging-sensation"...!! This is it! This is what neko was looking for!!

Neko II: それに この人間… そんなに ネコっちのことを慕って…… Moreover, this human... yearned for neko so vewy much...

Neko II: この想い… 王族ならば こたえてやらないといけないでチュ！！ Those feelings... As royalty, neko has to answer to them!!

Neko II: 運命の相手は 最初から近くにいたんでチュね…。 Neko's fated other was this close fwom the vewy beginning...

Inaho: ええっ！ ワタシの苦労は！？ Whaaat!? Then what about my hard work!?

Yūka: じゃあ 私 お母さんに話してくる！ Alright, I'll go talk to my mother, then!

Nyanpachi-sensei: 王子！ ようやく見つけたですニャン！ Prince! I've finally found you, nyan! (1)

Neko II: せ… 先生でチュか！？ S... Sensei!?

USApyon: 先生… ダニ？ Sensei...dani?

Nyanpachi-sensei: ネコ２世くんは 立派な王様になるために 私のクラスで お勉強してたんですニャン。 Neko II has been studying in my class in order to become a fine king, nyan. (2)

Inaho: ええっ！ 「とある施設」って ニャンパチ先生のクラスのこと！？ Whaaat!?  So, that "certain institution" was Nyanpachi-sensei's class!?

Nyanpachi-sensei: 勉強は 立派な王様になるためには かかせないことですニャン。 If you are to become a fine king, studying is indispensable, nyan.

Nyanpachi-sensei: わかったら 教室にもどりますニャン。 もう逃げださないことニャンよ！ If you understand this, return to the classroom, nyan. Please do nyot run away again, nyan!

Neko II: せ 先生！ 聞いてほしいでチュ！ S-sensei! Pwease listen to neko!

Neko II: ネコっち どうしても 一緒にいたい人間ができたでチュ… Neko has found a human whom neko wants to live together with, no matter what...

Neko II: この子のところで お世話になりたいんでチュ…！！ Neko wants to be taken care of by this girl...!!

Nyanpachi-sensei: どうしても 戻れないというんですニャン…？ You absolutely do nyot wish to go back, nyan...?

Nyanpachi-sensei: …よろしい！ ニャらば「卒業試験」ですニャン！！ ...Very well! In that case, this will be your "Graduation Exam", nyan!!

Nyanpachi-sensei: ちょうど この人間は 先生の知り合いですニャン。 This human happens to be an acquaintance of mine, nyan.

Nyanpachi-sensei: この人間が連れている妖怪たちと 戦うですニャン！！ Fight with the yōkai that are lead by this human, nyan!

Inaho: なんですと！？ Excuse me!?

Neko II: 覚悟するでチュ！！ Pwepawe yourself!!

Note:

Nyanpachi-sensei is known as Mr. Crabbycat in English.

Nyanpachi-sensei uses the honorific くん/-kun when referring to Neko II. It is common for teachers to use this when referring to their students, mostly the male ones.

--

After the Battle:

Nyanpachi-sensei: なるほどですニャン…。 I see, nyan...

Nyanpachi-sensei: ネコ２世くんは たしかに 何か見つけたようですニャン。 It does seem like Neko II has found something, nyan.

Nyanpachi-sensei: ネコ２世くん… 卒業おめでとう！ Neko II... Congratulations on your graduation!

Neko II: チュチュ…！？ いいんでチュニャン！？ Chuchu...!? Is that alwight, nyan!?  (1)

Nyanpachi-sensei: ええ… これからのことは 人間が教えてくれるはずですニャン。 Yes... From now on, the human should teach you, nyan. (2)

Nyanpachi-sensei: 卒業おめでとう！ Congratulations on your graduation!

Inaho: おめでとう！ Congratulations!

USApyon: おめでとうダニ！ Congratulations, dani!

Nyanpachi-sensei: それでは さようなら！ 元気でいるんですニャンよ！ Goodybe then! I hope you will do well, nyan!

Yūka: イナホ聞いて！ 飼ってもいいって！！ Listen, Inaho! I can keep it!!

Inaho: ええ！？ ほんとに！？ Huh!? Really!?

Yūka: うん…！！ ちゃんとお世話するって約束したの！ Yes...!! I promised to take good care of it!

Inaho: そっか！ よかったね！！ I see! I'm glad!!

Yūka: ふふっ それじゃあさっそく この子の名前つけないとね！ Hehe, now I have to give him a name right away! (3)

Inaho: あー この子 実はもう 「立派な名前」あるんだよね〜。 Ah, actually, he already has a "fine name", you know.

Inaho: ネコ２世っていうんだけど… It's Neko II...

Yūka: えぇ〜… イナホがつけたの？ なんかペットの名前じゃないよ〜。 What...? Did you name him, Inaho? It's not really a name for a pet, though.

Yūka: きめた！ 「アオすけ」ってどう？ I got it! How does "Aosuke" sound? (4)

Inaho: イヤイヤ そんな一般ネコみたいな 名前はさすがに イヤがると… Oh, no, no, no, he wouldn't like a common cat name like that...

Neko II: チュチュ〜♡ (わかったでチュ〜♡) Chuchu〜♡ (Alwight〜♡)

Inaho: なんですと！!？ Excuse me!!?

Notes:

Like I mentioned, “chuchu” is onomatopoeia that can refer to sucking on a pacifier.

Because the Japanese language lacks a true plural, this line could alternatively be translated as “From now on, humans should teach you.”, and I can’t say for sure which it is.

Because the Japanese language uses third-person pronouns a lot less than English, I basically had to presume what kind of pronouns the characters would use to refer to Neko II. He is male, so normally I’d just go for “he”, but I feel people who’d talk about him like a regular stray cat would probably refer to him as “it”? I don’t know, just be aware of this detail.

Aosuke is derived from 青い/aoi, still meaning “blue”, and すけ/-suke, a masculine name ending.

--

Talking to Yūka after the Quest:

Yūka: ねぇ イナホ！ アオすけに会いにこない？ Hey, Inaho! Do you want to visit Aosuke?

Yūka: 元気が あり余ってるみたいだから 遊んであげてほしいんだ〜。 He seems to have lots of energy, so I'd like you to play with him.

Inaho: それじゃ 会いにいきますかな！！ Let's go see him, then!!

Yūka: うんうん おいでー。 アオすけも きっと喜ぶよ！ Yeah, come visit. I'm sure Aosuke will be happy, too!

--

Talking to Yūka in her Home:

Yūka: ふふ アオすけ元気でしょ？ Hehe, Aosuke sure is energetic, no?

Yūka: この子 すっごい甘えんぼで 家の中では どこ行ってもいっしょなの！ He's such a baby, he follows me, no matter where I go in the house!

Yūka: あっ いまは私とアオすけで お留守番だし イナホもゆっくりしていってね！ Ah, me and Aosuke are watching the house right now, so make yourself at home, too!

--

Talking to Neko II at Yūka's place:

Neko II: キチャマ！ よくきたでチュ！ ネコっちとバトルするでチュ！ You! Welcome! Now battle with neko!

Inaho: およっ！ またまたなんで？ Oho? Why this again?

Neko II: この家は 快適でチュが 刺激が足りないのも事実でチュ…。 This house is comfowtable, but there's also not enough stimulation...

Neko II: だから 刺激を求めて バトルしたくなったでチュ。 So, seeking stimulation, neko wishes to battle.

USApyon: 妖怪として遊べる相手が ミーたちしかいないダニね…。 I suppose there aren't any yōkai who can play with you, besides us, dani...

Neko II: は… はやく戦うでチュよ！ チュパチュパチュパ！ H... Huwwy and battle neko alweady! Chupa chupa chupa! (1)

Neko II: ふ〜ん キチァマも けっこうヒマなんでチュね。 Hmmm, you must have a lot of fwee time, too.

Neko II: じゃあ いくでチュニャン！ Now, here we go, nyan!

Note:

“Chupa chupa” is also onomatopoeia that can refer to sucking on a pacifier.

--

Beating Neko II Without Befriending Him:

Neko II: けっこう楽しかったでチュ！ でも まだ遊びたりないでチュ。 That was pwetty fun! But, neko wants to play more.

Neko II: むにゃ… 運動したから 眠くなってきたでチュ…。 Mmmm... Neko is getting sleepy from the exewcise...

Neko II: ちょっと お昼寝してから またバトルするでチュ！ We will battle again, after neko takes a quick nap!

--

Befriending Neko II:

Neko II: ネコっちに勝つなんて 無礼もニャ���っ！ おわびとして ネコっちをつれてくでチュ！ How impertinyant of you, beating neko like that! Take neko with you as an apology!

-

Neko II: ふ〜 満足したでチュ！ ほめてつかわすでチュ！ Hahh, neko is satisfied! You have neko's pwaise!

USApyon: もういいダニ〜？ 遊び続けるのは つかれるダニ…。 Are we done, dani? I'm tired of playing, dani...

Neko II: ちょっと待つでチュ！ お散歩にも つれてくでチュ〜！ Now wait a moment! Take neko for a walk, too!

Inaho: なんですとー！ Excuse me?!

Neko II: ユウカと散歩するときは ネコ友にしか会いえないんでチュ。 When Neko goes on walks with Yūka, neko can only meet cat fwiends.

Inaho: そういや ユウカちゃんの前では 普通のネコに化けてるんだった…！ Oh right, in front of Yūka, you take on the form of a regular cat...!

Neko II: 家にも またくるでチュ。 ヒマなら遊んでやるでチュよ。 Neko will go back home, too. Neko has fwee time, so neko is going to play.

USApyon: やっぱり上から目線ダニ…。 He really is just full of himself, dani...

--

Talking to Neko II after Battling Him:

Neko II: んん… むにゃむにゃ… 眠くなってきたでチュ…。 Hmm... *mumble mumble* Neko is so sleepy...

Neko II: バトルは また今度でチュ。 We will battle next time...

--

I am unsure, but I believe this is dialouge for when you talk to Neko II when playing a version in which you can't fight and befriend him?

Neko II: よくきたでチュ〜！ ゆっくりしていけでチュ。 Welcome! Pwease make yourself at home.

Neko II: ネコっちには まだまだ庶民的でチュが なかなか快適な家でチュよ〜。 It's a still a commoner house to neko, but it is also quite comfowtable.

--

Optional Dialouge if you talk to Yūka as Nate:

Yūka: キミのおうちにも ネコがいるんだよね。 イナホから聞いたんだ〜。 You have a cat at home too, right? Inaho told me.

Yūka: うちも最近 飼いだしたんだ。 いつか合わせてみたいね〜。 I got one just recently, too. I'd like to put them together someday.

--

Mission End Description:

結局、ユウカに飼われることになったネコ2世。 立派な王になるという目的は、どうなった…？ Ultimately, Yūka ended up keeping Neko II. What happened to his goal of becoming a fine king...?

--