Tokage no Ou

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Rage_Ender
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Rage_Ender »

I still don't get it after reading this a few more times.
dun dun dun..>!!!!!!<
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Shadowys »

I guess you read the teaser a few threads back? LOL the original wordplay was SAO, or fishing rod(in japanese), for Sword Art Online
Winter's the time of the year,
when the cold chill the skin,
from the very within,
but you grasped my hand,
your eyes shedding a frozen tear.
Our eyes met,
and warmth filled the air.
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Rage_Ender »

I see.......
dun dun dun..>!!!!!!<
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by -kuro »

thanks for the translation
waiting for more xD
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by bestnumber?8721 »

The freaking manga had a super rushed end...

Anyway, can someone post the link to the LN? I can't find it...
Technically I'm an evil spirit.

Can edit stuff if need be, I've just been bored and busy... for the past 2 years
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by arczyx »

That very very long prologue finally ended? Maybe it's time for me to start reading it again.

What do you mean by link to the LN? If it's the translation in B-T (or anywhere), we don't have one, AFAIK. If it's the raw, search yourself...
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Cthaeh »

^^ Shadowys did translate a bit as a teaser in the first page of posts, if that's what you're looking for.
Shadowys wrote:Here is 70% of the first chapter(Volume 1; Prologue 1: The Gestalt of the Lizard and the Duck.)
viewtopic.php?p=174147#p174147
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Darklor »

Im surprised, that there isnt at least a teaser project by now for this translation...
Please don't mind my bad english since I'm german.

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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Shadowys »

Recent school work has been too busy for me. I have done 85 percent of the translation and was wondering if there was someone who could take over. I should be free from my exams only after November.
Winter's the time of the year,
when the cold chill the skin,
from the very within,
but you grasped my hand,
your eyes shedding a frozen tear.
Our eyes met,
and warmth filled the air.
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Kemm »

The long prologue of the manga... Ended up being just that, a long prologue. If some charitative soul would help Shadowys translate this, I think I'd be not the only one to be grateful.

As a prologue, the manga was certainly interesting, and I'm curious about what will Tokage do with his power now.
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Reverie »

85% of the whole volume is quite a lot. If Shadow means the first prologue there's still a long way to go...4 parts prologue and one chapter. If it's the whole volume i think it's better to wait for him to be free.
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by Darklor »

Shadowys wrote:Recent school work has been too busy for me. I have done 85 percent of the translation and was wondering if there was someone who could take over. I should be free from my exams only after November.
Hm, so would it be ok, if someone would create the teaser project for this series with your translation?
Please don't mind my bad english since I'm german.

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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by iamadooddood »

Reverie wrote:85% of the whole volume is quite a lot. If Shadow means the first prologue there's still a long way to go...4 parts prologue and one chapter. If it's the whole volume i think it's better to wait for him to be free.
I think he means 85% of the first chapter.

From what the manga adaptation of the prologue has shown us so far, the novel has a very dark premise. Certainly much darker than many other light novels... wait, it's a light novel, right?

Volume 5 has come out quite some time back btw (July 10). This LN comes out more slowly than most; only around 2 volumes a year on average.
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Tokage no Ou (teaser included)

Post by Darklor »

This is the feed back thread for Tokage no Ou.
Please tell us what you think of it.
Shadowys wrote:Here is 70% of the first chapter(Volume 1; Prologue 1: The Gestalt of the Lizard and the Duck.)
Spoiler! :
Volume 1 The Awakening of SDC
Prologue 1: The Gestalt of the Lizard and the Duck.

After opening the front door, a nude girl appeared.

Not only that, by some twisted luck, she also turned around at that time. Our eyes met.

I immediately shut the door while yelling something along the line like "AWAAAA!!" or "WAAWAWA!!", I don't really know which, and escaped to the corridor. Now I finally knew that too much embarrassment does turn into fear. My heart beat against my rib cage madly, feeling like someone was squeezing it hard. My eyeball seemed to change every beat. Just like in summer, sweat flowed down my cheeks, making me uncomfortable.

Hearing my scream, the teacher in the next class ran out to the corridor. Even though class was still in session there, the teacher felt suspicious that I was kneeling on the corridor and instantly rushed to my side. However I didn't even have the energy to care about that. What I saw in the classroom just now was seared into my eyes, blinding me. I don't even know where I am anymore.

The familiar forth year classroom; the hastily cleared blackboard, with the remains of equations from Math period; clouds like feathery wings spread over the azure sky, reflected on the glass windows; her buttocks, back, fair skin......hundreds of images whizzed past me, hurting my eyes.

The teacher seemed to be saying something to me, but I can't hear them. But I'm still grateful to him for pulling me up. Just as the bald guy, Mr. Matsuda, who was the form teacher from the next class, stared at me and prepared to give a scolding, the girl who had put on her swimsuit walked out from the classroom.

The girl didn't use a towel to cover herself up, wearing her swimsuit for all to see. Her arrival made the teacher bewildered. She shifted her eyes between me and the teacher, tilting her head and having a "what happened?" expression on her face.

The white hat on her head wrote [4-3 Ryou Sugamo] in bright red letters. Now, I finally remembered that she had the surname "Sugamo". Sugamo gazed at me calmly.

"We're almost late. Come on."

She pulled my hand, wanting to leave the place. Before I even got the chance to say "We're already late anyway!", I was forcefully pulled away by her. The teacher seemed to take a great deal of interest in her swimsuit. It seemed that the rumors that he was a lolicon was true.

It was only until she pulled me to the staircase on the second floor before I was able to free my hand. Sugamo seemed nonchalant when I threw her hands off, adjusting the shoulder strap of her swimsuit. Just then, I saw her naked shoulder and the skin under my eyes started to burn again. As to why it felt as if it was burning hotter than summer, I'll never know, even to this day.

Ryou watched my eyes, like she was taking a visual tour of me. Being watched by her slender eyes made my spine crawl uncomfortably, like there was some scaly lizard crawling on my back.

I knew why she was watching my eyes, so I turned away.

"What......are you....doing!"

Something raspy spat out of my mouth. I didn't dare to look closely into Sugamo's face anymore. As for Sugamo, she walked barefoot, without a care for indoor slippers, up the staircase.

"I changed my clothes because I'm supposed to go for the swimming lesson."

"Oo....oh. I-is that so. You're right, the next class is PE."

Rather than saying the next period, it's actually this period. The sound of their frolicking in the pool far away could be heard from the window.

"What about Tokage-san? Why didn't you go to the pool?"

Being called by my first name directly made me a little disoriented. It's not like we're on a first-name relationship, and she's also a girl, so it feels a little awkward.

"I'm going to throw the trash......eer, never mind, anyway something happened so I was late."

Not wanting to say directly that I was playing truant, I simply made up an excuse. Anyway I'm not really intimate with Sugamo, and I even saw her nude body. Why the heck would she change her clothes in the classroom alone?

Just now, she faced against the door, just about to lift her leg, so I got a perfect view of her thighs and buttocks. Thinking this, my chest became painfully constricted again.

"Oh~I remembered that Tokage-san can't swim, and so you played truant to escape the pool, right?

Sugamo seemed to have seen through everything. Why the heck would she know that anyway?

"What about Sugamo? Why.....er, did you change your clothes now....yeah."

"Because it took me so long to find it."

"Eh? Find what?"

"My swimsuit."

Sugamo answered briskly and walked down the stairs. Stunned by her answer, my eyes lost their focus for a while before understanding her meaning.

Looking closely, Sugamo's swimsuit was tainted with stains and some traces of dirt.

"Er, did someone play a prank on you?"

"Because I'm rich."

Sugamo's plain answer seemed irrelevant to the question. However, I did hear the rumours that her family was extremely rich. Thinking that, the people who had bullied should be girls.

In any case, Sugamo was beautiful. Rather than "cute", she was much more suited with "beautiful". It's no wonder that she was hated by the other girls.

"Er, then.....are you alright?"

"Nn."

Sugamo continued to walked down the stairs, but I haven't even stepped on the first step. Watching her back and butt moving further away from me, I blushed, my heart was filled with the desire to jump down the stairs.

"Thinking about it is too troublesome, so I don't."

"What the hell?"

I don't understand what she was trying to say, but hearing that someone was being bullied and not saying anything, is this really right?

I really didn't want to put this on the "Scale of Justice".

But my eyes pleaded with me noisily: Don't ignore this.

"Say, Sugamo."

"What?"

"Just now, er......that happened."

"Nothing of that sort happened."

"No, that's not important. Anyway......."

Sugamo already walked to the corner. I lowered my head to see her silhouette. The heat on my face still there, I asked.

Even though I don't even though what I can help with.

"Do you need my help?"

"No."

She answered without a shred of hesitation.

Turning to look at me at the corner of the stairs, Sugamo slowly shook her head, her long hair also swinging back and forth.

Tea-brown hair.

Under the hair, with the same color of my pupils now.


Sugamo showed a rare happy smile and said to me, "But there will a day, when I want to return that favor."


Every time I opened my eyes, the world will be painted with a new brilliant colour.

Colors shifting, flowing around me, even shapes become blurry.

It was almost as if my pupils morphed into something else as I blinked. Did the world change? Or did my eyes change? To me, this question was not just simply a stupid naive question, but a deep question to find the true meaning of the world.

"Please~don't try to act cool around me and mumble to yourself alright?"

I, Tokage Ikagawa, have a special power.

The problem is, this "power", isn't what I really want from the very first.

"Anyway, this problem really gives me a headache."

I clenched my fist tightly. My friend, Narumi Shikagami, though, replied nonchalantly, "Yeeeaaaah....right?" Compared to her friend's eternal thorn in the flesh, she seemed to be more interested in the plot of her novel, her eyes glued to the book on her hands, sitting still as a rock. I bent down and took a glance at the cover. A familiar image entered my vision. Straightening my knees and shrugging my shoulders exaggeratedly, I snorted.

"You've just only started reading <<Index>> (T/L:referring to the light novel, Toaru Majutsu no Index) now? Could you be any slower to catch up?"

"But it's really very interesting."

"I don't need you to tell me that. I've already knew that a long time ago."

I puffed out my chest arrogantly, but Shikagami didn't bat an eye, her eyes fixed on the book. Seeing that her reaction was colder than normal, I silently returned to my seat on the swing.

It was a quiet July just after the summer plum rain season. The shrieking of cicadas has already invaded the entire town.

The park was empty save for us during this Sunday morning. Actually, this could not really be called a park, just a mini playground under the bridge with some playthings for the children. The whole park, shadowed by the overhead bridge, was quite dark. A sign saying, "Beware of Perverts" stood beside it.

Green netting stood along the road, preventing children from running over, but I've never seen children playing around this place. Anyways, there's a real park a few roads down the street so I think the chances that this park actually gets some attention from the world is very, very slim. In the shadows, I sat with Shikagami on the swing. There was a brown chair beside us, but it had gathered a thick layer of dust because of the poor airing here, so we didn't really want to use it.

"........"

I pretended to stretch out my right hand mysteriously. Opening and closing my fingers in front of my eyes, I peeked at Shikagami's reaction at the corner of my eye, but she didn't even glance at my direction. This girl must have failed the average intelligence test for highschoolers. Meh, such a pity.

It's our third year in middle school for me and Shikagami. Compared to my peers I'm quite tall, but my slanted shoulder just makes me feel strange. Standing in front of the mirror, I look as thin as a bamboo pole, very unreliable, making me quite unsatisfied. Not only that, paired with my caramel brown skin that sweats even under the cool shade, doesn't this make me a burdock? On the other hand, I'm proud of my natural dark brown hair that stands out among all the other black-heads.

There are some delinquents who bravely dyed their hair golden, so nobody cares about my hair, but my slanted shoulder actually brought me more attention. I'm not very happy with this, but I can't just go challenge the delinquents into a fight, can I? So I'll just have to resign to my fate of being laughed at.

Yes, "Now".

"Fufufu."

Repeating this again in my heart, I leaked out a natural smile. Even though Shikagami, uncaring, shows a face of disgust, her distaste towards me is just the same as what humans feels towards bugs. A natural development of disgust towards bugs grows as humans age. That's right, humans feel inferior to insects; even though they have small bodies, they command the sky and the earth.

So, it's natural that Shikagami fears my hidden power.

"Am I right?"

"Nn, seeing you speak like that seriously gives me the creeps."

This lass is really dishonest. Never mind about her now. I turned to the side, laughing, "Eheiehei".

Shikagami is not only my classmate, she also stays very near to my house. However, we never had any contact before middle school. Her aqua green hair with a few blue streaks in between matched her pale white skin perfectly, creating a deathly atmosphere in the shadows. There was nothing special about her features, except that they were quite flat, including her narrow lips; in other words, she's a woman of total flatness, including her breasts.

"It's not that I'm nagging, but if you just want to find me to speak your troubles, why do we have to go outside?" Shikagami continued to bury her head in her book while she started to complain. The old rusty metal swing chain started to creak.

"It's not like you don't know how much I hate my home." I stole a sideways glance at Shikagami. She also turned to gaze at me before sighing.

"Then let's go to my place. It's too hot out here."

"I don't even know where do you live."

Going out to a girl's house is not really heard of among third year middle school boys.

"Oh. Really?" Shikagami tone was perfunctory. She bent her whole body forward, like some short-sighted old woman reading a book, planting her face into the book. She arced her back, showing a "Don't talk to me," attitude. I returned a "I have nothing to say to you," attitude and shut my mouth in a fit of anger, eyes boring straight into the road and the scenery in front of me.

Across the narrow one-way road was a small river. As there was never anyone to clean up here, wild grass ran rampant at both sides of the river, like a emerald blade slashing across the ground. Vines cover the protecting barrier but, probably because there wasn't enough water, the leaves started to wither.

There was not any trees under the bridge, but the sounds of crickets continue to reverberate around our presence. Noticing that there are dissimilarities between the cricket sounds here and the cricket sounds around my residential area, I looked up at the viaduct. There may be crickets hiding in the endless shadow spanning a wide distance above my head.

Just then, I noticed a moving object. It was a sloth-like little lizard stuck to the wall. I raised my fist high. Because of my name, I had an inexplicable intimacy with reptiles.

However, I hate my name very much. There had been times before when someone read it as 「Sekiryuuko」, and mistakenly took me as a girl. The heck? 「Sekiryuuko」? That sounded like some girl who has arms several times thicker than mine. (T/L: 石龙子 can be read as 'Tokage', meaning lizard, but also can be read as 「Sekiryuuko」, which sounds like some Japanese girls [--ko] name.)

"I wanted to ask you for a long time already. Why do you talk like some asshole every time(T/L:Original: 为什么你讲起话来都那么臭屁啊?) ?" Shikagami asked, while maintaining her posture. In the situation where both persons remain clammed up, I felt victorious as she broke the silence first. Yup, I personally enjoys victories the most.

No matter what the matter is, even life, victory is always more important than anything else.

I must continue to win. If I cannot obtain victory in something I'm fighting for, then there is no further reason for me to live.


Shikagami seemed to have turned to cricket kind, chirping away noisily.

I answered her question without taking my eyes of the lizard on the wall. "Because I'm receiving royal education."

"Shouldn't that be "Elite education"?

"No, it should be 'royal'. 'Honing one's ability' and 'Becoming a king' are completely different things, okay?"

Although I don't even understand what myself was saying, but I'll just start off my explanation with something bombastic first. However, Shikagami simply did not plan to accept my proposition humbly and coldly replied, "Acting someone you're not is so difficult."

"It's not just any character, you know."

I was not really intimate with Shikagami, and we share that mutual feeling. It's just that after she accidently knew of my "ability" one day that we started to get to know each other.

"Fufufu, since you know my secret, I will have to get rid of you one day."

Hearing my cruel declaration, Shikagami lifted her head off the book. She then proceeded to plaster her face to mine, staring straight into my pupils. Even if she was Shikagami, my heart still trembled when a girl did such a sudden act.

"What do you plan to use your ability for?"

"................................"

I could only choose to answer with silence.

I have a special ability.

Maybe, just maybe, it was really something out of this world, nothing like it existed.

"However......"

In reality, this ability is weaker than one expects it to be. It is just a special power so plain, so uselessly replacable; it's the kind of miracle where anyone a hundred meters away will never notice it.

It's a tiny miracle; nothing complicated about it.

I squinted, shutting my eyelids hard, mumbling, counting. One......two......

Then, wrenching my eyelids open again.

Almost like something amazing was going to happen, I shifted around mysteriously.

"No matter how many I see it, the moment when you open your eyes really leaves me dumbfounded. It's just so amazing."

Hearing Shikagami's thoughts, I propped my cheeks up and grunted. From her tone, she's completely unafraid of my ability.

This ability originally cannot strike fear into anybody anyway.

"Hey, your face and the color of your eyes don't match well."

"I know......" While grumbling, I took out a small handy mirror to check my results......Nn, today went well, like before.


My initially tea-brown pupils, under the influence of my ability, put on a blue color.

Of course, I'm not using those fancy colour contact lenses.

It was just as if my pupils got substituted somehow. Next, it turned green, yellow, orange. Everytime I close my eyes, the color of my pupils will change. After looking at it for sometime, just like what Shikagami said, it did not look natural, quite disgusting actually, so I changed them back to tea-brown again.

"Meh, this ability at most could be used to copy Lelouch." (T/L: referring to character Lelouch from the anime 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion')

"But I'm so jealous of you."

Shikagami finally found a topic to talk about, so I let my frown deepen a little more, scrunching up my face in the mirror.

"But using it once every week really bores me out." Using my hand to close my eyes, my eyes turned maroon after opening them.

"Like this?"

"If it hadn't just the left eye, then it would have been a perfect copy." (T/L: Referring to Lelouch. When he uses 'Geass', his left eye turns maroon.)

"I'm sorry, but I can't seem to make such fine adjustments......I, Tokage Shinagawa, orders you to borrow me the latest copy of 'Index'."(T/L: Lelouch's Geass power enables him to control minds of other people.)

"Your voice should be have more bass nya, your voice change is so slow~"

"You talk too much."

Hey, I specially did that for her, but what did she say? I'm quite hurt by this question too.

The color change of both eyes, this being one of the results after my intensive research.

I have also found something else during my research of this power-- despair.

The power that can change the color of my eyes.

The power that can only do this.

It's just some plain power that has no secret technique, no special trigger, nothing. Just a harmless special trick.

"Hey, anyway, this is just the first stage, wait for me to awaken the second, third stage of my ability......"

The more I spoke, the more underconfident I felt, so in the end I promptly shut up, unable to imagine the outcome.

Maybe I can shoot laser beams out of my eyes? Delicious food seemed to be the source of all great power. (T/L: referring to the manga 'Mister Ajikko' where Murata Genjiro exagarrated his reaction towards the delicious food prepared by Youichi )

"But you have proven that ability users do exist, right? That's cool enough for me!"

I puffed out my chest against the wind to Shikagami's fake and insincere praise and said,

"Hey, if you really think like that, you should call me 'Stone Dragon Children', you know?" (T/L: No idea where this came from.)

"......I have to ask, why is it in plural form?"

"Because it looks cooler that way!"

"It's too cool."

"Right, right?" (T/L: yes, he repeated twice.)

"Don't look at me with that self conceited face of yours. Looking at that chin of yours just boils me up."

The complete opposite of her emotions, Shikagami's attitude towards me was as cold as if I wore a suit completely made of ice.

"Aka SDC."

"That just sounds like those ancient idol bands."

Muu. She didn't seem to be teasing me, but this comment is not really nice.

"Nah, is there a name for the ability to change the colour of your eyes? Except 'Stonechild'."

"Hey, please don't just make up a strange name. Of course the ability itself has a name."

"And what's that?"

"Repaint。"

I said a word that I have not learnt in English class in school.

Repaint。

It means to put on a different colour. This is quite suited for my power, right?
(T/L:......the word pretty much explains itself...)

"Really." Shikagami did not have any special reaction and immediately changed the subject.

"Anyway, since even 'God' exists, who knows, maybe this power isn't even so rare after all."

Shikagami spoke unthoughtfully, making my gaze turn vicious instantly."God". This phrase managed to even permeate the mind of Shikagami, who was immune to everything, leaving me bitter.

In this world, there was now a "God" that everybody can see with their own eyes.

Rejecting the image of her in my memory, I stood up from the swing.

And proceeded to use my hand to call Shikagami, for a date.

"As your master, I'll treat you to lunch. Come on."

"And I was saying why you're such an arse. Seriously.

Even though she pouted, trying to protest, but Shikagami's movements turned agile the instant she heard that I was treating. Picking up a bookmark with cute characters with huge eyes, she sandwiched it into the book and left the swing. The swing shook and creaked because of Shikagami's small action.

Shadowed by the orchestra of cicadas, we left the viaduct.

Under the sun, my eyes hurt like hell, as if trying to tell me to spare them the heat.

Tokage Shinagawa firmly believes, it is impossible for his power to be just like that.

"This must be some kind of clue, or maybe it's a omen. This power sleeping inside me, this great power that can repaint the world, is just waiting bitterly for the chance to explode! No, it should be said that I'm the one who's waiting bitterly!"

"Slurp..."

Instead, the one that replied my anger, was oolong tea. It was the sound of Shikagami sipping the oolong tea with a straw. Her face, completely devoid of care, simply moistened her throat and proceeded to grab a french fry. Her cold attitude made me droop back to my seat gloomily.

Sitting down, a blast of cold air slapped my shoulder and I sneezed, groping around for the air condionioner control, trying to change the temperature setting. Of course, it was impossible for the remote control of the air conditioner to be in the hands of the guests.

Shikagami laughed at my antics. I tried to explain embarassedly.

"Hey, I'm afraid of the cold."

"You're really what your name is, little lizard~"

Shikagami's shoulders shook happily as she laughed heartily.

Half of the The MOS burger stall in front of the station was taken over by families. There was not a sight of fathers anywhere, but simply mothers with their kids during the summer vacation. Students like me and Shikagami were also quite familiar around here. All in all, the shop was extremely noisy, compared to a normal restaurant, bustling children made it hard for one to calm down.

Among all this, the loudest, and most uncouth man took a fry from a french fry pile on the tray and complained to Shikagami in front of him. While using fingers to rustle mys hair, I cradled my head.

"Problem is, this name looks cool, but without true awakening, it's just like some scam!"

"What are you basing that on~"

Singing her funny answer (T/L: eh?), Shikagami stared into my eyes again. I shielded my eyes with my hand and changed their color behind it. Nothing happened the instant they changed, no temperature change, no pain, nothing, making one worry if they have changed at all.

"Go protest to your dad and mom who gave you that name then."

"No way I'm talking to them."

I spit out the denial like some memorised equation by heart. I then let go of the fingers blocking my eyes, making Shikagami gasp in surprise. I wonder what colour are they now?

Is it red, of hatred?

Or maybe blue, or sorrow?

"No, it should be the other way around, they didn't even want to hear me out."

I humphed and leant back on the chair, temporarily gazing at the pure white ceiling, letting the cold air moisten my lips.

My distorted relationship with my family is also related to this ability of mine.

With bitterness in my heart, I slowly rewinded my memories.

Unconsciously, the french fries in the tray is almost completely finished.

"Hey, didn't we say it's fifty-fifty?"

"Fuwhahaha, I'm also a person who doesn't understand human languages, so I ate them all~" Shikagami said monotonously, without even an inkling of guilt, while sending the remaining fries into her mouth.

"......Damn. Never mind. I'm not a man, who would care about such trivial things."

"But your right hand is still trembling."

"That's because my emotion surge hasn't stopped yet. It's something like when one senses the presence of the enemy, I guess."

Hiding my hands under the table, I waited for Shikagami to finish the stuff. Until she drank up her oolong tea, I said, "Where are we going next?"

"Home. I want to take a nap." Shikagami answered while streching her back.

I arced my back and scolded, "Hey, you ingrate, are you leaving after eating everything?"

My tone was carefree, the opposite of what I said.

Shikagami simply bored the brunt of my scolding and replied coldly, "You just don't want to go home, do you?"

I ignored her tease, got up and left the store by myself. She was right.

"For someone trying to change the world, that is sure a trivial problem~"

"Shut up."

Among my classmates, I have only spilt the beans on my family problems to Shikagami. Even I slightly regretted saying it out, but still I felt that having someone to hear my woes makes me much relaxed. But I will never thank her honestly. This is for sure.

Someone who is too honest will never be able to lie.

Because he does not know how to hide.

Without creating confusion among people, the "coup de grace" of my ability will be seen through in an instant.

Outside the store, completely exposed to the scorching sun, my eyelids seemed to be held down by the heavy light, even opening them was tough. As though I was trying to pry off the heat and light, I waved my hands in the air, stepping on the pavement. The thought of swimming in the light shot through my brain, enjoying it as though it was one of my lewd fantasies. (T/L: I have no idea how this relates to lewd.) But my fantasy was quickly interrupted by the traffic light in front of the zebra crossing.

Then I glanced at the pavement on the other side of the road, noticing a familiar pair, like everybody else, sunlight on their faces, squinting their eyes waiting for the traffic light. Uwah, my face instantly scrunched up, showing an emotion that was the opposite of welcome.

"Er, isn't that the delinquent couple of our class?"

"Oh? It's really is them. They already pierced their ears and mouths at the starting of the summer vacation~they're really enjoying summer~"

Shikagami was also watching Sugamo and Umishima. The delinquent boy Umishima Tatsuhiko was wearing silver rings. It was the start of the summer vacation and they celebrated freedom from teachers on their faces. Their hair were also dyed gold, or more correctly, near yellowish. However, this was te same as usual. Their heads seemed to be chucked full of pollen, but saying that in their faces would probably get me killed.

"Can you change your eyes to that colour?"

Under Shikagami's prodding, i changed the color of my eyes instantly. My eyeball showed the same brilliance as Umishima's. Thinking calmly again, why do I even want to be on the same level as Umishima? However, I have already lost myself in my glee.

"Uwah~that's so disgusting~it's almost like you had marbles for eyes!"

"Watch me stuff marbles into your nose you forked tongue woman."

I immediately changed back the color of my eyes, checking with a mirror, it really has returned to tea-brown. Normally I set my eyes to this color, until the day of true awakening, the hidden ability inside me should not be lightly released to the public. Even though I seemed to have changed the color of my eyes so many times already, that must have been a delusion, so I didn't care about it. (T/L: The heck?)

In any case, unless it was a range of several meters, people normally don't take note of the color of the eyes. No, it should be unless it was a range of a few centimeters, nobody would have notice the miracle of my eyes.

......But I digress.

Standing beside Umishima, the lass, Sugamo, her hair was also tea-brown. Her outfit was not so punk like Umishima's but instead she looked like some rich princess from some castle. If it was a matter of beauty or ugly, she should be categorised as beautiful.

"I heard Sugamo's family is very rich."

"I'm so envious of her."

"Yeah."

The both of us talked to each other with a unique rhythm, nodding to each other. As opposed to "heard", actually she really comes from a rich family. I was once invited to her bungalow before.

Envy is still just envy, but I really don't know how to manage Sugamo.

Sugamo is a beauty, this is out of the discussion. Even though she was the same age as me, maybe it was her excellent upbringing, her steady and calm aura was just like a girl a year older than me. Her eyes, nose, lips were also undeniably well sculpted. Sugamo, was perfect, no matter from which angle, without a single extra meat.

Simple, succint, neat, and thus beautiful.

It was the holidays but she was wearing her uniform, even though it matches her straight hair, giving her the pure look, it does not match her deliquent indentity at all. The fact that she was wearing her unifrom made me a little disappointed, since I was always ogling her in school and that made me feel a little too familiar of her in uniform. Ah, no, this sentence was simply a product of my imagination......I guess.

However, ever since that incident in primary school, I was excessively concerned about Sugamo. With the passing of time, this feeling has slowly morphed into another kind of feeling that I simply cannot manage her.

More importantly, I heard that her father was one of the inner echelons of the "Church", and this was one of my sensitive spots. Even though they probably did not even care of my existence.

These two were also viewed as troublesome students by the school authorities. Even though at the outside, Sugamo looked more like a model student than a delinquent, but she often play truant. Not only that, even though she has always been punctual to school, unknowingly, she left the school without a trail.

However, recently she seemed to have some connections with the delinquents so I guess that makes her one too.

Among the students there are quite a few who had had issues with her delinquent behaviour, but nobody would say it into her face, so she always does as she please. The culture around my school was quite plain so the delinquents really stood out from norm, thus gaining extra attention. The teachers were very attentive of the critics of the society, but they don't take it to heart.

"Is it painful to wear a earring?"

"Of course it does, you need to drill a hole you know."

My tone was certain, but I didn't really know if it hurt.

"However, the human ear and nose already have holes and they don't hurt."

"I really don't understand what is your mode of asking and explaining."

Seeing that the traffic light changed to yellow, Shikagami changed the subject again.

"What do you plan to do next?"

Shikagami asked me uninterestedly. I snorted, paused, played cool and answered, "Obviously, I'm going to my daily training next. Just waiting won't change anything."

I said while punching my fist to the front.

"The fact that delinquent A and B of our class are going out for a date and that you're going to training your ability is so pathetic that it hurts."

"Shut up."

I have never heard of them being together before.

......Never mind, Sugamo can go out with anyone she like. This has nothing to do with me, I guess.....Ah, no, there can be nothing to do with me. Even though I did not want to accept reality, I'm still hypnotising myself with this. This was one of my forte.

As traffic light at the zebra crossing turned green, I suddenly turned back to the crowd.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Shikagami, who has already stepped a large step forward, hit the brakes immediately and turned to ask me, while maintaining that pose.

"I'm going the other way so I won't run into Umishima."

"Wow~A few days into summer and I've already heard the most pathetic thing of summer this year~"

"Haven't you heard of the saying , ' a wise man avoids danger'? This is called a tactical retreat."

"Right you are~Even if you go head on on a one-on-one with Umishima you will never beat him anyway, because you're just a thin bamboo." Shikagami touched my shoulder again.

She hit my inferiority weak spot. I replied unhappily, "If it was a head on battle of course I won't win. However, there are plenty of other ways to win."

"Like?"

"Throwing stone for afar will do."

"What if he got close to you?"

"Stones are simply bait, I've already anticipated this move and prepared a trap for him."

"What if he has already stepped over the trap?"

"In this case, my ability will, of course, truly awaken."

And so everything is solved! Da-dee-da-dee-da-da.

I stretched out my right hand horizontally and replied comically. Shikagami stared my face, her face cold and uncaring.

"Well then, why don't you just cut to the chase and just face him head on?"

"You're really have deadly lack of romatism, you know, why don't you try to pick it up during the summer holidays?"

"I'm already reading 'Index', right?"

"That's not enough, go read 'SAO' too." (T/L: 'SAO' refers to 'Sword Art Online', but you already knew that right..."

"S-ah-oh? Read as 'sow'? Is it a fishing manga?" (T/L: In Japanese, fishing rod, 钓竿, can be read as 'sao', or 'sow')

If I were to continue this conversation it would soon become the most meaningless period in my life, so I ignored Shikagami's confusion.

"......Nn?"

Feeling that someone was watching me from behind, I turned, but to find the source of the gaze in a crowd is quite a difficult task. Anyhow, normally I always get the strange feeling anyway, about five times a day.

Like walking out of the noisy classroom to the serene surroundings at the stairs illuminated by sunlight, I always have that strange feeling.

Moving past the MOS burger shop, I targeted the alley between the skyscrapers. Looking at alley sandwiched between scattered izakayas(T/L: Small Japanese stalls seeling wine and food), with their unlit lanterns, and miscellaneous buildings, I walked to it. Shikagami followed behind me.

"Also......"

Pausing mysteriously, I tried to give an additional explanation for my escape. I pondered if it was neccessary to say it, but if I don't, I'll porbably get labeled by Shikagami as a coward. Even though that was the objective truth.

"Also?"

"There will be misunderstandings if we're seen together, right?"

Glancing at Shikagami, I spat it out. I stared in front me, hearing laughter explode behind me.

"What misunderstanding? Our relationship? hahaha."

Putting aside the meaning of her laughter, I continued. "Weren't you also afraid of running into Umishima too? There's no thinking what he'll do to you."

"Oh yeah. He might flip my skirt or something."

"Really? So, actually Umishima graduated from Shameless School? This has got to be first time I heard this."(T/L: referring to the manga 'Haruchi Gakuen', which also caused a trend of peeping toms flipping girls skirts for a while......) I joked half-heartedly.

Then, a shadow flitted into the alley that I was just going to enter.

Seeing the teenager in front of me, I held back a gasp.

He was white all over.

He was completely enveloped in fluffy, pure, white. It was not only his clothes, but also the aura around him. His hair dyed white, covered by a headscarf as white as snow. He wore a loose white full body garb. Also, just to complete the set, even his phone was white. His pupils flashed red for an instant, shocking me, it might be a trick of light, as they changed back to brown the next second. Unfortunately, it was not just him rolling his eyes.

There was a strangely gentle smile etcd on his face while he spoke on the phone. Maybe he noticed my gaze, as he took a fleeting glance at me before returning his attention to the phone, walking past me.

"Saint."

That adjective, completely suited to his appearance, popped up in my heart. Another followed. "Unpleasant."

The aura around the teen made me think of someone else. Yes, it's that disgusting "God."

"Hey, why did you stop? Were you jealous of the pretty boy just now?" Shikagami said while staring into my face. Trying to escape her gaze, I shook my head and took another step forward.

Just as I stepped into the alley.

Splatter.

Liquid splashed onto the top of the my eyes.

The impact and sound reminds me of someone quickly slapping my forehead lightly repeatedly.

"Uwaaa, iyaaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

Something heavier than raindrops suddenly rained on my head, making me yell exagerratedly, jumping like I was dancing. Goosebumps covered my entire back as I shivered. When that warm, vicious liquid dripped down from my hair to my face, I shuddered even more exagerratedly.

Shikagami also stepped back, her eyes wide and round.

"What was that? Paint?"

In this dark alley, Shikagami was unable to discern the color of the liquid dripping from my head. Even I was unable to discern what it was. It had a peculiar stench, so I thought maybe it was mass bird droppings. But bird droppings should have something solid right--somewhere in my heart commented.
It's gonna be a long long prologue though. :P
Though because of the Chinese New Year,translations will be slow these days.

Note: Edited after translating to 70%
Edited by EastN3
Please don't mind my bad english since I'm german.

Darklor

Out of the dark, into the dark.
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-kuro
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Re: Tokage no Ou

Post by -kuro »

So, no translation yet?
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