Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Gekkou:Volume 1 Moonlight

2014-02-07T09:06:03Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* [Moonlight] */ Once again, for ease of reading.

==[Moonlight]==

It was night. I called her.

— I want to speak to you.

I made an appointment to meet her alone.

Since it was going to take some time, the meeting was set to Saturday after work. She suggested we meet at her home, but I rejected. I had no good memories there.

Hence, she suggested a park on a hill. It was the park where her mother had fallen. I responded right away.

— Got it.

Of course I was wary because she chose that park of all places, but my interest in the view from there won.

Come to think of it, she was not in the least surprised by my sudden request. She even accepted it readily.

I guess she had expected that day to come.

No, that wasn't quite right.

She had been waiting for it with anticipation.

That's what her cheerful voice sounded like—as if talking about a date.

It was a moonlit night.

A golden moon hung in the sky, reigning over the stars like their king, and lit the earth with light so strong one almost forgot what time it was.

The park was situated a few minutes' walk past Tsukimori's home.

By the time the viridian green fence of the park came into view, my breath was so wild and faint that I expected to faint at any moment.

I checked the time on my watch. It was just past eleven, which was reasonable because I had returned home once, taken a shower and put on a change of clothes.

Well, I had wanted to go to the park right after finishing work, but Tsukimori had stopped me.

She insisted on a neat appearance for our first date.

Leaving aside the essential fact that this wasn't a date, I had accepted her suggestion. And it had been the right thing to do.

I had needed some time to draw a line between me and my everyday life.

I reached the entrance of the park. It was nothing special; just a small space with some trees and playground equipment sparsely scattered about. The only object that stood out was a white wooden clock tower near the cliff.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Fresh air filled my lungs. I slowly exhaled, checked my left breast pocket for the last time, and entered the park.

"—I was about to get tired of waiting."

I squinted my eyes in the direction of the voice.

"But I ought to be thankful that you came properly, right?"

When I grasped her figure with my eyes, I couldn't help but hold my breath. A snow white Tsukimori was sitting on the top of the red jungle-gym.

"Wearing all black truly suits you, Nonomiya-kun."

Except for the white shirt I wore under my jacket, I was indeed clad all in black.

Tsukimori giggled, "But that is exactly what I expected, so I matched my clothes to yours and dressed myself all in white."

She wore a white dress and white pumps. She had also draped a semi-transparent white shawl around her shoulders and adorned her hair with a white ornament.

From my perspective, snow white Tsukimori was holding the moon on her shoulders.

"Shall we start our date, then?"

Youko Tsukimori crossed her legs and leaned on her elbow, her head slightly tilted. A lock of her beautiful black hair curled down to her mouth.

It was a dreamlike scene. I quickly shook my head to rid it of the impression.

"...the day after you asked me to go out with you, you said that it was necessary for both of us to deepen our mutual understanding, right?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"You also said that it was fine for me to make a decision after we had come to know each other better, right?"

"Yes," she squinted an eye.

"Unfortunately, I still don't understand you very well. We're still quite far from a date."

"What exactly do you want to know from me then?"

—"Everything," I almost answered. But judging by her confident smile, there was only one thing to say.

"You killed her, didn't you?"

The next moment, she leaped from the top of the jungle-gym into the dark blue sky.

Her shawl spread out to both her sides like the wings of a swan, then she landed softly like a feather that had fallen from those wings.

"What am I going to hear from you now?"

"Well, you could call it," I pretended to ponder and continued with my usual poker face, "the solution of the riddle called Youko Tsukimori."

Unperturbed, Tsukimori kept smiling like always.

"I see, that seems much more interesting than a date."

But that's how I wanted her to be; my worthy adversary.

At one time I had come to the conclusion that Tsukimori had not killed anyone because I was sure that she wouldn't do something that foolish.

However, the situation had made a sudden turn with the appearance of a man of outstanding perspicacity. It didn't take long until my theory was negated due to several doubtful aspects and contradictions brought to light by Konan one after another.

In a sense, it had been inevitable for my doubts to be revived, considering how well I knew her and that the murder recipe was in my hands.

One might ask why I had concluded that she was absolutely innocent in the first place.

It is true that I had had several clues that suggested that her mother was guilty, like the fact that the murder recipe had been written by her. However, at the same time I had also been aware that those clues did not necessarily prove Tsukimori's innocence.

I myself had been the decisive factor in my belief of her innocence.

Only now I realized that I had probably strongly wished that she wasn't a murderer back then. One could say that my imagination was steered that way because I didn't want to lose the person I was so interested in.

In other words, what made her innocent had been my own desire.

I sat down on a railing, while she got on a blue swing.

I started explaining to her one reason after another why I doubted her.

The suspiciously well-timed call from the cooking school, the fact that her mobile phone had been set to silent mode, her unnatural behavior when getting me a towel instead of starting the search for her mother, and the fact that the suicide note was written not by hand but on the computer. Furthermore, I told her about my hypothesis that she had wanted to make me the finder of that suicide note.

Tsukimori quietly listened to my explanation and nodded once in a while without denying or acknowledging anything.

When at last she had heard me out, she let her gaze wander in the night sky, seeming deep in thought, before she asked with certainty, "Did you borrow those theories from Konan-san?"

I nodded. As she had guessed, most of my arguments had appeared in the conversations with Konan.

"But I agree with them, so you can think of them as my own opinion."

Tsukimori put on a surprised expression.

"That's the sort of thing you spoke about in my absence?" she scowled at me and pursed her lips slightly. "How mean! Do both of you doubt me?"

"No," I shook my head. "Konan-san has nothing to do with it anymore. I'm the only one doubting you."

She gasped in admiration, "It is really surprising that Konan-san stopped doubting me despite seeming so tenacious. What magic did you use, Nonomiya-kun?"

"It's all thanks to the hint you gave me," I beat around the bush and saved myself from mentioning the "Love Recipe".

'If you want to know what he thinks, just think about what you would do in his case!'

As a matter of fact, if not for those words, I probably would have still been at a loss for what to do about Konan.

"Oh, did I happen to be a help?" smiled Tsukimori. Her soft glance resembled a gentle sister's who rejoiced over one of her little brother's accomplishments.

Which caused me to let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"...I see... so she ''did'' give me a hint," I thought to myself.

Considering how she had immediately realized that I was borrowing Konan's words, she had probably been perfectly aware of Konan and me doubting her all along.

With that in mind, she seemed like a truly cunning actress, reconsidering the evening when we were thrown out by Mirai-san; her blatantly offensive attitude towards me hadn't been normal at all, and the way she had brought up Konan had been rather unnatural as well.

I stopped counting, but as it seemed, she had been playing with me again. I had to admit it: she was a much better actor than I.

Because I was keeping quiet, she tilted her head slightly, "Mh?"

There had been no creaks in her smile from beginning to end. Despite me having labeled her a "murderer".

Her smile was something like a trademark. In the mind of everyone else, Youko Tsukimori was probably depicted as an ever-smiling holy woman.

That was, however, not the Youko Tsukimori I wanted to see. Right now I was brooding over how I might freeze that smile of hers.

My fingers automatically groped for my left breast pocket.

"...right, there's something I want to give you."

There was no way around using 'it' after all. I slid my hand into my jacket.

What I produced was a four times folded scrap of paper. "What's this?" Tsukimori asked while snatching it away from me.

I watched Tsukimori look down at the unfolded sheet.

With her gaze still cast down, she whispered, "...I am happy about anything you give me, but this is not exactly a thoughtful present."

"I can't help it: it's not a present, after all. I'm merely returning something to its owner," I didn't avert my gaze from her, "It's yours, isn't it?"

I stared her in the eyes, not daring to breath or even blink. It's fair to say that I had protected ''this'' solely for this very moment. By no means I wanted to miss her reaction to it.

She raised her head with a smile shaped like a crescent moon.

"Yes, it is!" she admitted surprisingly readily.

"Then let's now talk about this—'murder recipe'."

This was the trump card I had successfully protected from Konan.

She laughed dryly, "So there is no way around it after all, is there? Well, of course you would never miss out on such an 'intriguing subject', right?"

At first glance, Tsukimori was the same as always.

"Truth to be told, I would rather not, but I might be able to answer your expectations if that is your wish. But in return, promise me—"

But I asked myself: did she realize the slight change that had come over her?

"—that you won't hate me. Okay?"

She was smiling as usual, but her eyes were serious.

I was observing a side of Youko Tsukimori that nobody knew. It felt as though I had come a step closer to her. Of course, though, I was not at all satisfied with just that.

I wanted to see more of her unknown side.

But no need to rush things; there was more than enough time until sunrise.

"...You knew it all along, right?"

"What?"

"That the murder recipe had come into my hands."

I had always had a hunch. After all, she had suddenly asked me to go out with her even though we had not spoken to each other much, save for greetings. She had approached me shortly after I had obtained the murder recipe.

But it was only now that I was convinced. Her poor reaction proved that she was not surprised at all.

Tsukimori raised and lowered her brow multiple times in hesitation.

"I had noticed, yes," she nodded calmly at last. "Do you remember what happened in the classroom the morning after I lost the recipe?"

I recalled the morning in question to mind as she told me.

"That morning you addressed me, Nonomiya-kun. Much to my surprise. Therefore, I thought about the reason for that. It didn't take long until I found the answer."

"...So I dug my own grave, huh," I facepalmed automatically.

What a fool I had been for revealing myself! I had been unable to suppress my curiosity and addressed her that morning, but indeed, it was not normal for me to do so with our relationship at the time.

I shook my head fiercely to get rid of stray thoughts, took a deep breath and continued as composedly as I could manage.

"...When I first obtained the murder recipe," I proceeded with the subject as if to bury the mistake I had committed, "I thought that you had written it. I didn't even doubt that the owner was equivalent to the author. The word 'recipe', however, has been bothering me since then. Wouldn't it normally be a 'murder plan'?"

Only my voice resounded throughout the moonlit park.

"But when I learned that your mother was a teacher at a cooking school, I realized that the word 'recipe' was probably very common to her—and sure enough, your mother has written it. A handwritten note of hers, which I presumed to borrow from your home, matched the handwriting of the recipe."

"You never fail to live up to my expectations, Nonomiya-kun," she interjected and closed her mouth again.

A meaningful statement, to be sure, but no denial of what I had said.

"Anyway, for that matter I want to ask why your mother's recipe was in your possession?"

I leaned a little forward to sneak a peek at her expression.

"It was shortly after I started high school when I found her recipe purely by chance—"

It was calm and musing.

"—I realized right away who my mother meant to kill."

"Your father."

"Yes. By the way, this is not the only murder recipe; there are more of them. Perhaps, there are even some I haven't found yet."

"...I didn't expect that."

I was intrigued to read those as well.

"I think my mother didn't realize that I knew about those recipes until the very end. I kept it a secret from her."

"What were your thoughts about it? What did you intend to do after you had obtained the recipes?"

"Well..."

While gazing vacantly in the air, she brushed away her hair beside the ear with her finger. Probably, she was searching for the right words.

"...when I first read the recipe, I was surprised that she also had such an 'ugly' face."

I found myself staring at her.

"I knew her as a typical housewife. A woman who would always pay attention to her appearance and her behavior."

"...that's quite hard to imagine from the impression I got from her during the funeral ceremony."

The howling image of her broken mother soothed by a black-dressed Tsukimori flashed up in my mind. I was disturbed by how my fragile image of her crumbled to dust.

"I do not know what you imagined her to have been like, but you should not forget whose mother she was," Tsukimori put on a smile appropriate to adorn the cover of a fashion magazine, "She was ''my'' mother."

Like daughter, like mother? No, the proper order would be "Like mother, like daughter"? Either way, the moment I thought about it in that way, it was surprisingly easy to have a new image of her. By analogy, the same must have applied to her father as well.

"My mother worked as a teacher in a cooking school, the largest one in the area. She held classes for countless students everyday. Apparently, she even made appearances on a cooking show on local television from time to time, and she had published a few cookbooks. I heard she was quite famous in the cooking scene, as 'the beautiful culinary scientist'."

My image of her mother was being remodeled.

"Now imagine such a woman writing such a cheap thing. I was completely stunned," she shrugged slightly, expressing her amazement.

"''Cheap'', huh?" I repeated a certain meaningful word she had uttered.

"But you thought the same, didn't you? After reading it, I seriously wondered if she really intended to kill someone with it. It's not even close to a plan. Now, I think that she might have chosen the word 'recipe' because she was aware that it was too crude to be called a plan."

"Aah, I see."

I was entirely of the same mind.

"Indeed, for a murder plan, it's extremely unpolished and seems incomplete. You could consider yourself lucky if it succeeded once in a hundred times."

"Mm," she agreed at first, but my continuation made her raise her brow.

"But I think that this lack of polish is exactly what makes the recipe useful."

"What do you mean?"

I was seeing the amateurish content in a different light than Tsukimori. I had thought about it like that since the very beginning.

"Who would imagine such a luck-based murder plan could exist?"

Tsukimori was at a loss for words. Of course she was. A few moments before, she had stated that she could have never imagined her mother writing something like that.

"If hypothetically that plan worked out favorably, wouldn't it indeed look like a 'mishap'?"

"That is an amusing alternative way of thinking about it," she nodded in a impressed tone.

I continued, "I know of one incident that virtually proves my hypothesis—"

"—the accident of my father, right?" she answered before I could finish.

"...you admit it?"

I was a little startled at her unexpected reaction.

"What is there to deny? It is only natural that one would harbor doubts about that accident even having read the recipe only once."

She shook the sheet beside her head, holding it with her fingertips.

I finally noticed what it was that might have been bothering me about her.

"Until I found the recipes, I had no idea that my mother had a such an impetuous side. I suppose that her motive was jealousy — even though my parents didn't care about each other — because my father apparently had a mistress. Maybe she just couldn't accept it that he had a woman other than her. In that sense, women might generally be more jealous than men. You should be careful too, Nonomiya-kun."

Even though it was about her mother, about her family, I sensed a kind of distance in her indifferent tone. As if she wasn't concerned. As if she was talking about some rumors from the neighborhood.

My conviction deepened.

"I can't help but see you as the murderer of your parents," I said frankly, whereupon Tsukimori sneered at me.

"Even though I have no reason?"

She cocked her head while maintaining her smile.

"It's not like I'm paying no heed to your motive. I'm very interested actually. But if I look at it from a perspective that solely deals with whether it's possible or not — I have long since come to the conclusion that you ''could'' do it."

Tsukimori narrowed her eyes to a crescent moon-like form for a second.

"You have already admitted that what's written in the murder recipe rather closely resembles the traffic accident of your father. Now, if it was not an unlucky accident but a willfully committed incident, it couldn't possibly be carried out by someone who hadn't read the recipe, right?"

Tsukimori put her chin on her hand and probed me with her gaze.

"Or, put the other way round, it could only be carried out by someone who ''has'' read the recipe, right?"

I closed my eyes and took a breath.

"I know of exactly three persons who read the recipe before the accident of your father occurred. Firstly, the author of the recipe, your mother. Secondly, I, of course, because I obtained it by chance, and finally—"

I pointed at the report sheet she held in her hand.

"—the person who lost the recipe—Youko Tsukimori. You."

Tsukimori remained wordless.

"I am convinced that you, Youko Tsukimori, could have carried out such a plan, no matter how cheap and unrefined it was."

She broke her silence and motionlessness with a whisper.

"...do you know how I am feeling?"

"If I were able to understand your feelings so easily, I wouldn't be dancing to your tune all the time."

"I am really moved right now. I feel so much love from you because you understand me so much, though you are probably going to say I am wrong, with your usual cold tone."

"You're wrong."

I fulfilled her request with an extra large topping of coldness.

She really made no sense to me. Even though I had accused her of murder, she smiled without change, neither provoked nor alarmed. Her unaffected behavior almost made me think that she might not be hiding anything after all.

Was it absolute self-confidence that loomed behind that composure of hers? Was she confident to ward off any accusations I could throw at her?

''This isn't enough. Unless I delve deeper and break her shell from the inside, I will never see what I seek.''

"...something has been bothering me almost from the beginning," I began, "Aren't you entirely too objective toward your own parents? You're as calm as if you were talking about complete strangers."

Tsukimori put on a slightly doubtful expression.

"Do you think so? I'm seventeen and not of the age to be dependent on my parents anymore, am I not? Isn't the distance between parents and teenager quite similar in other households?"

I immediately objected strongly, "No, it isn't."

Tsukimori sealed her mouth and scowled at me.

"Oh come on, there's clearly something strange. I mean, your mother was drawing up a plan to kill your father! If you're a family, you'd normally try to stop her, wouldn't you?"

Tsukimori widened her eyes for an instant.

"Do you know why my first question was about your actions after finding the recipes? It's because I hoped you would say that you wanted to discourage her. But you only voiced your thoughts on the contents of the recipes—"

She opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something.

"—did you even once think about stopping her?"

The helpless expression Tsukimori showed that moment was a clearer answer than any words could have been.

She huddled up, embracing her slender legs.

"While you had a rather blank relationship with your parents without doubt, strangely enough there are no indications that you were on bad terms with them either."

Reconsidering the many reactions I had gotten from Tsukimori in the past, I found that she was ''not'' unconcerned about the loss of her "community", known as family. After losing her parents, she had seemed very fragile from time to time. I was convinced that she had by no means wished to lose her family.

"You found them uninteresting, didn't you?"

That's what I thus concluded.

If ''I'' was forced to talk about something that didn't interest me, I assume that I would speak with a certain distance as well.

"...rather than saying that I had no interest, it would be appropriate to say that there was no need for us to be interested in each other," she muttered. "I didn't hate my parents, you know? Honestly. It is just that the Tsukimori family was built around the idea of individualism. It was an unwritten rule that we stayed out of each others' business. In fact, it was only because of that rule that we were able to remain a harmonious family."

As if reminiscing, Tsukimori narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I was already able to do anything on my own when I was still young. My mother, too, would have had no problems living without my father. As for him, he merely sustained the budget to fulfill his role as the man of the house, but he didn't interfere in the household itself. Whether you believe it or not, when I was young I thought of him only as a kindhearted uncle who gave us money."

Her smile bent in self-deprecation.

"Just as you noted, I did not think about stopping my mother."

With a powerless smile, she cast her eyes down.

"I was able to accept the murder recipe without problems because I assumed that my mother had her own thoughts and her own life. But I suppose that I should have stopped her, just like you said."

She clenched her fist, her white fingers digging into her palm.

"If I had been raised in a different kind of family, I might have acted differently."

Tsukimori raised her face.

"But you know," she said with a vacant voice, "That's the way I have been brought up since the moment I was born."

Her eyes were breathtakingly clear. There was not a particle of regret in her honest and majestic appearance. In my opinion, Youko Tsukimori was strong.

But at the same time she was just as lonely.

During that moment of sublimity, she was beautiful and ephemeral like a mirage, setting butterflies in my stomach aflutter.

"Weren't you lonely?"

She promptly answered my question with a shake of her head. "Not at all," she smiled.

Relying on no one seemed like a lonely life to me. She herself, however, claimed she had not been.

"Even now?" I posed my denied question once more. "Are you still not lonely even now that your parents have passed away?"

I found that to be an awfully desolate way of life. Maybe I was just seeing things, but Tsukimori seemed lonely to me as she sat there wordlessly.

The next moment she put on a slightly awkward smile and looked up at the night sky. The moon reflected in her eyes gave them a golden shine.

When she returned her gaze to me, she declared, "I am not lonely—"

The teasing attitude she usually had toward me was absent.

"—because you are here for me now, Nonomiya-kun."

I saw that neither in her eyes nor on her lips was a smile. She was entirely serious.

This was the memorable moment in which I finally succeeded in freezing her smile.

The clock tower was about to strike twelve.

She had no strong motive to kill her parents. At least, I could find none.

Furthermore, my view that Youko Tsukimori was not a girl that would do something as foolish as murder had already become an unshakable fact for me.

And yet her parents were no more.

I whispered, "...I don't know how to describe this feeling."

Which words would be appropriate?

I stood up from the railing because I couldn't sit still anymore and strolled into the park on my own, leaving her behind.

While ordering my thoughts, I walked slowly and deliberately felt the earth under my feet with each step. My legs led me unconsciously towards the cliff with a good view over the town.

At last I reached the boundary between park and cliff.

The boundary was marked by a rusty, viridian green fence a little higher than my waist. I bent over it and looked down. I figured that it wouldn't take much to fall over it and down the steep slope.

I rested my crossed arms and my chin on the fence, which caused the entire fence bordering the park to bend towards one side a little. I looked down at the town.

The town filled my field of vision with all its shining lights. It was far from the stunning skyline of a metropolis at night, but I was still deeply moved when considering my hometown.

Despite its small size, there was always something going on. That night, too, there must have been a red sports-car driven by that man somewhere down there. Was the chocolate-addict still up? That little girl who resembled a pygmy marmoset was definitely already a resident of dreamland.

The faces of various people I knew crossed my mind like a slideshow.

"Isn't it captivating? This is what I meant to show you, Nonomiya-kun."

The person who flashed up last and by far most vividly was in sync with the person who was beholding the town right by my side.

A chilly gust ruffled her hair. She hugged herself because of the coldness.

That scene reminded me of that rainy day when she had been in her cold, wet uniform.

There was no way I could forget how in that night I had asked her why people killed others. Of course, I hadn't forgotten her answer, either.

The instant I recalled that answer, my body spontaneously started to tremble, followed by a chuckle of mine.

"...I found the answer at last. I finally realized what made you kill your parents!" I whispered.

She only commented calmly, "I see."

She was at the edge of my vision, and I was at the corner of hers, as I noticed then.

"Because you felt like it."

As I laughingly said it, she answered with the smile of a girl that had just received some candy, "You're great."

As she had told me that night, 'feeling like it' was the only way to explain an action devoid of reason.

I had laughed because it was such a silly answer. Who would believe such a thing?

The only ones able to comprehend it were me and — Youko Tsukimori.

Suddenly, she drew closer.

"...if all you say is true, then I am a horrible woman," she whispered softly into my ear, "Killed my parents, deceived everyone, tricked you and still living on without any worries."

Then—the semi-transparent shawl she had worn floated to the ground.

"But it cannot be denied: there are some rare cases of people that are not bound to the rules. People who are not restricted by anything, who are ridiculously free—"

I was taken aback. She had hopped on the fence without a moment's hesitation-causing it to slowly bend towards the abyss along with her.

"—Nonomiya-kun. You decide! If you don't punish me, the horrible woman Youko Tsukimori will remain at large."

Sitting on the fence, she did the unbelievable: she leaned backwards over the abyss. Her hair reached out toward the bottomless darkness. Only her white slender arms were sustaining her equally slender body now. The smooth curve of her snow white neck was exposed right in front of my eyes.

"Should you judge that I am not worthy to live... you understand, right?"

A slight push against her chest would be enough to send her down the cliff.

"...Are you out of your mind? Do you understand what you are saying?"

I doubted her sanity.

"Who knows? I consider myself to be in my right mind. Well, it is true though that I might be a little off in the head for liking an oddball like you."

As if enjoying the bath in the moonlight, she shut her eyes with a tranquil expression.

"I decided long ago to devote my all to my 'destined one'. You can believe me on that."

It appeared that "everything" included her life as well.

"...I absolutely fail to understand your current state of mind. What on earth is a destined person to you?"

Her reply was short and clear.

"My prince."

Her words were accompanied by a transcendentally blissful smile. Considering the utter absence of fear in her face, she was serious.

Suddenly, the final appearance of her mother, which Konan had described to me, flashed through my mind. A shiver ran down my spine. I had accidentally imagined a very special scene.

The stunningly beautiful scene of Youko Tsukimori's dead body surrounded by countless purple blooming azaleas — had been painted by my imagination.

I gulped. I flushed from the core. Before I knew it, my fingers had reached out to her chest.

My fingertips touched the bulge of her breasts. A short sigh escaped her and she stretched the toes of her white pumps.

My blood began to boil from the excitement that gripped me. Oh, what a sweet temptation it was! One mere finger of mine had the right to pass sentence on ''Youko Tsukimori's'' life.

Her neat snow-white dress looked like a burial shroud in my eyes at that moment.

She had no doubt made all necessary preparations. I suspected her intended scenario was along the lines of "heartbroken girl follows her parents into death".

In other words, nobody would punish me if I pushed her down.

She had called me her prince. If I really was a prince, my designated role would probably be freeing the princess who was being held captive in the castle.

''...Tsukimori. I am sorry for belying your expectations, but I'm afraid I'm not a prince. I am and will only ever be Villager A. That's the role that suits me best.''

My heart pounded against my chest. My wild breath urged me to run free. After taking a deep breath and firmly clenching my teeth, I slowly reached out for the girl in burial cloth — slid my arm around her delicate back and pulled her towards me with all my might.

The excessive momentum caused me to fall backward with her in my arms. While I was still struggling with the pain in my back, she sat up astride me.

"...please don't forget," she began as she laid one hand on her chest, "that this is the life you have saved."

You have picked up that puppy, so bear responsibility and look after it yourself—remembering words my mother had said ages ago, my spirits hit rock bottom. Since when had I become such a nice guy?

"...did you test me?"

"Don't worry, I am confident in myself. You will definitely not regret that you have saved me."

She optimistically clenched her fist in front of her. That almost provokingly lovely smile she showed me gave me the conviction that she had foreseen this turn of events from the very beginning.

I sneered.

"I've long regretted —"

—that I met you.

"Sorry, but could you get off me?"

She was boldly sitting on my pelvis For now, I just wanted to do something about her lack of manners.

Unfortunately though, she apparently didn't intend to get off. She went on her knees, bent over me while putting her hands left and right of my head and started talking from right above me, with her eyes staring into mine. "What are you going to do? What do you want to do? Do you want to tell the police about the recipe and the things I have told you just now?"

As her charming lips formed words, my hair was softly stroked by her ticklish breath.

"I won't stop you if that is what you want to do!"

Apparently, she was not specifically provoking me; while her expression ''was'' mild as always, her voice had taken on an earnest tone.

"You're quite daring, aren't you?"

I scowled at her from below.

"Is it because you are confident that you can trick the police? Or is it because you are belittling me?"

"Wrong on both counts!" she shook her hair smoothly. "I just know more than anyone else that I am innocent."

She was composed.

"Let us do a little test... if there was an incident that most clearly implied murder and I told you it was just an accident that happened because of a chain of unfortunate coincidences, would you believe me?"

The hair that fell down from right above swayed in a nightly breeze and tickled the tip of my nose.

"...of course not!"

Because Tsukimori maintained perfect composure, I hesitated for a moment.

"Right? You don't believe me anyway, so I just let you do whatever you want."

The next moment, she formed a soft smile, accompanied by dancing feathers in my imagination.

"But please remember that there is only one truth for me."

Can someone who laughs so purely be a liar?

I honestly did not know.

"Besides, you are the one I chose. So there should be nothing strange about respecting your decision, even if it differs from the answer I would wish for."

"Chose?" I repeated suspiciously.

The sound was different from the "destined one" sort of "chose" that she had used before. I estimated the nuance to be something along the lines of "entrusted".

"There is one thing you have gotten wrong, Nonomiya-kun."

"What do you mean?"

"It is not at all a coincidence that you have the murder recipe."

".........eh?"

I raised a voice of surprise.

"Please recall the day when you found the murder recipe."

It was still vividly in my mind. It had happened after school. I had found the murder recipe in her notebook, which she had dropped on the ground.

She suddenly giggled.

"I am a very capable person, if I say so myself, am I not? Do you think that someone like me—"

The face she showed me then was going to remain clear in my memory for a long time. Her face looked staggeringly cruel and yet so beautiful.

"—would lose something as important as the murder recipe?"

No way. Such a mistake was unthinkable if it was for her, for she was the only absolutely perfect human in the world I knew of.

On that day back then I had participated in a meeting — the regular meeting of the class officers. The male class officer of our class was me. So, who was the female one?

It was the person before my very eyes.

''Now that I think about it, she hurried back to the classroom right after the meeting had finished. I figure that she did that in order to buy time, so she could make sure the murder recipe would fall into my hands "by chance".''

How could I overlook such a basic thing? That she had been searching for the recipe the following morning was most likely just an act to make me believe she had lost it "by chance", too.

It looked like I had been dancing to her tune since the very beginning. That humiliating fact numbed my limbs and even brought terror upon me. Not a groan could be heard from me in this shocked state.

Tsukimori got off me while giggling.

"There is not one thing that didn't work out the way I wanted. There is not one thing that I couldn't have obtained if I wanted. My wishes define how matters settle."

Normally, those statements would have been extremely haughty, but they sounded like logical facts when it was Youko Tsukimori speaking.

"But don't you think that such a life is incredibly boring and listless? Is there a point in leading such a life?"

She walked towards her shawl on the ground.

"You cannot be excited about a present when you already know what is inside," she slouched her shoulders slightly. "Nevertheless, I did not decide against being the Youko Tsukimori everyone desired, because it is simple to play the model student and it did not feel bad to live up to their expectations."

After picking it up, she draped the shawl around her shoulders again, skipped towards me with light steps reminiscent of a ballerina and landed right beside my head. Then a thick shadow covered my field of vision entirely, so that I was almost left with the belief that the moon had been covered by dark clouds. In fact, she had bent right over me with her hands at her hips.

"Do you want to know why I entrusted you with the recipe, Nonomiya-kun?"

It was already an almost annoyingly definite fact to me that when she put on such a scheming expression, the answer could not be any good.

"It is because you looked more bored with your life than anyone else I have ever met!" she said as if she had found something dear.

I averted my gaze.

Bullseye.

As she had guessed, I had always lamented over how boring the world seemed to me. My imagination used to be my haven to heal me from the boredom of my daily life.

I picked up the murder recipe and stood up.

"You exceeded all my expectations. Talking with you turned out to be exciting, Nonomiya-kun. Every day became thrilling as soon as you entered my life. My heart throbbed more than in anyone else's company. I realized right away that you were my 'destined one'. Thus, it was easy to become crazy about you."

Then everything had gone according to her plan and I, as foolish as I had been, readily took the compelling bait, the murder recipe.

With heavy steps I walked back to the fence as if drawn to it. By the sound of her steps I noticed that she hurried after me.

"...Ah!"

The fence creaked. She had strongly gripped it and was looking down the black clear space right at my side, leaning over. She quickly realized that there was nothing she could do about it anymore, straightened up again and turned to me.

"...won't you regret that?"

My right arm was fully stretched out over the fence.

A white paper plane was drawing circles in the air as it slowly descended into the bottomless darkness. The plane was probably going to get caught somewhere on the cliff, be exposed to weather for months and finally return to dust.

"It's okay. There's no need for it anymore."

I was the same. I, too, hadn't searched for the truth behind the murder recipe because of a sense of justice.

"Ah, will you at last believe me that I am innocent?"

I turned towards her smiling face and declared coldly, "Do you have sawdust between your ears? Of course I'm still doubting you!"

She narrowed her eyes in doubt.

"You don't make sense. Why did you throw away the murder recipe then?"

"Who would buy such an absurd story? I mean, how should I answer the police if they asked me for the reason why you killed your parents? Do you think I would get through with 'Oh, it looks like she felt like it'?"

Without knowing her well, understanding her motive would be very difficult. Having seen Youko Tsukimori's true face, I was the only who could ever nod, facing such a claim.

"But do you have another choice? It is the answer you have worked out after all. Leaving aside whether they believe you or not," she said in a playful tone.

"That's stupid. I would only embarrass myself," answered as I shook my head.

The magic had been lost since the second I had thrust the murder recipe, my trump card, before her and revealed its contents.

I had realized that, in the end, the murder recipe was nothing more than "just a scrap of paper".

She had taught me that it was not the recipe itself that was of value, though I had cherished it like life itself, but the fact that it was "Youko Tsukimori's" murder recipe.

At that moment, after recovering from the shock of having been led by the nose by her all the time, a different emotion overcame me.

As much as it didn't match my character, that emotion could be described as the protective instinct.

By her own admission, she had entrusted the recipe to me because I had looked more bored with my life than anyone else. Because she had concluded that I would no doubt show interest in the thrill the murder recipe offered.

Definitely unintended, but I had undeniably provided considerable entertainment.

In short, she had been seeking for some kind of thrill for her boring daily life as well. In this sense, our interests had complemented each other without my knowledge.

However, the thing is that I unfortunately came up with another interpretation.

—It happened to me that she may have been overwhelmed by the murder recipe.

She was shaken. The discovery of the murder recipe, and a completely unexpected side of her mother along with it, disturbed her more than she could have imagined. Subconsciously she kept looking for a way to do something about that state of things and in the end entrusted me, whom she had found after long searching, with the murder recipe.

That signal was not strong enough to be called an SOS. Probably, she merely wanted to share the information. Maybe she just wanted someone to know.

The burden was indeed a bit too heavy to carry alone.

Maybe I was simply reading too much into it, but I couldn't do anything about it, since that was the impression I got. My vexation was cleared away in a split second.

The thought that ''Youko Tsukimori'', the only person that could pride herself on being perfect, was shaken like a helpless girl and relied on me caused my heart to beat faster than ever.

''Now aren't we lovely'', it throbbed.

My gaze fell on the number that was indicated on the clock tower behind her.

"Already past midnight?"

When I whispered so, she turned around with vim and vigor, spinning the skirt-part of her dress like a parasol. The clock hand had long since passed midnight.

"I'm shocked. How could I have mistimed such an important event?"

Something rare happened: she was discouraged.

"Actually, today is my birthday! Oh what happened to my plan of pleading for all kinds of things as soon as the hour would strike twelve..."

"Congratulations," I wished her before she could blurt out any bothersome things.

After she had polished her look, arranging her hair and adjusting her dress, she turned around to me with a smile all over her face. "Nonomiya-kun, you know, the date has changed, so it's my birthday..."

"I just offered you my congratulations. Didn't you listen?"

"I did listen, so I'll give you some belated thanks. But you see, personally I would prefer it if it was not just words, but—"

"No."

"I'm not done yet, Nonomiya-kun. You should hear out what others have to say."

"Remember one thing, Tsukimori. I'm not as good-natured as to hear out something that I know won't be any good."

"Don't worry! I am not going to plead for an expensive present. Well, it is a present, but it's more like a memory or a memento," she said and while doing so, she took out a mobile phone from her dress and thrust it before my nose. "I want a photograph of us."

"...you ask for that while knowing that I don't like photos?"

"You don't?"

She heedlessly feigned ignorance. In the café Usami had once asked for a photograph of me. There was no way Tsukimori didn't know that.

"Please. I won't ask for anything else if you grant me just that one wish. This day is only once in a year, so please!"

In contrast to the begging tone in her voice, she constrained me by grabbing my wrist with both her hands. She was going to have it her way.

"...Okay! But only one, hear me?"

I gave in quickly because I had already learned that the labor required to break through her obstinacy wasn't worth it.

"Thank you so much!" she rejoiced while clapping her hands. "Let's take it in front of the clock tower!" she said and walked off right away, pulling my arm along.

Said tower was three times our size and thickly coated in white paint.

"Mh, which place works best...?" she couldn't decide where she should take the photograph. When I said that it didn't matter, she rebuked me, saying she had only one chance.

As she then asked whether I would let her take several photographs in that case, I had to seal my mouth, leaned against the wall and had no choice but to wait until she decided on a spot.

I had not the slightest idea how that place was different from any other, but she claimed contentedly, "Yes, here it is. It looks like this is the best place for it after all."

"Come here," she waved me over. I positioned myself next to her.

Then she drew close to me like never before. Along with the material of her thin dress, I also felt other, different things that had nothing to do with her clothes.

"If I don't do this, we won't fit in the frame," she claimed with the arm in which she held her mobile phone fully stretched out, before I could object. Thinking that I was supposed to take the photograph because my arm was longer than hers, I snatched her phone. When I confirmed which button I had to press, she told me to wait for a second and took her shawl from her shoulders.

I gazed at her with my arm stretched out, asking myself what she was doing, while she was pulling it over her head and pinning it with a white flower that she had been using as a hair ornament.

"Alright," she said and, probably because I was looking suspiciously at her, added, "Isn't it cute and kind of princess-like?"

Indeed, it suited her so well I forgot to deny it.

I pushed the button on her signal, whereupon a mechanical shutter sound resounded from the phone. Unable to wait, she snatched the mobile phone away from me to take a look at the photo.

While viewing the picture with a satisfied expression, she nodded slightly, "Yes, exactly as I have pictured it."

From time to time she even giggled out. Good for her that the present was to her liking.

"Thank you for letting me take this photograph. I'll treasure it."

"Yeah, treasure it so much that nobody will ever see it and I'll keep my peace of mind."

I didn't even want to imagine what would happen on the day the guys at school found out about this photograph, and I was really fed up with the fact that Kamogawa's visage was the first thing that came to mind.

"What a pity. I already planned on using this valuable picture of you to brag in front of Mirai-san and Chizuru..."

Thank god I forbade her to do so.

"...oh well, I'll enjoy it all alone then. Viewing it as the wallpaper of my mobile phone during classes with a broad smile on my face. Giving it a good-night kiss before going to sleep."

"Should I delete that picture right now?"

"I'm joking, really," she laughed mischievously.

That's how it feels when someone has the better of you.

"Do you want to take a look, too?"

"With pleasure."

As it was the photo of me she was going to hold on to from now on, I felt obliged to check how I looked on it.

I approached my face to the screen of her phone, which she held before her chest, while bending my knees a little. Her next words reached me just when my ear was somewhere near her lips.

[[Image:Gekkou-319.jpg|thumb]]

After waiting that I had seen the picture, she whispered,

"Did you see? We look like bride and bridegroom at a private wedding à deux in front of a church, don't we?"

I stared at the screen. Depicted was a black-dressed man and a white-dressed woman who happily clung to each other.

With only a little imagination, the shawl on the head of the woman looked like a bride's wedding veil. And mysteriously, as soon as I viewed the woman like that, the man, too, looked as though he wore a dress suit.

Imprinting is a really dreadful phenomenon: I noticed that the clock tower looked like part of a church. If the bride had held a bouquet, it would have been a wedding ceremony no matter the way you looked at it.

I reflexively reached out to steal it out of her hands, but she evaded me, turning around like a dancing petal.

"Give me that phone."

"No! I am sure you would delete the picture if I gave it to you."

"Of course I would!"

I reached out to her again. However, she sped away like a tiny, winged fairy dancing with her toes over a water surface, so that the distance between us grew and grew. She then climbed on a slide.

"Nonomiya-kun, I am here!" she waved innocently from above, almost like a child.

Youko Tsukimori was wild and free when she revealed her true colors. Way too much to handle for a spiritless person like me.

"I'm leaving."

This night had tired me.

"Wait!" she shouted from above when I went past the slide to leave the park. I only turned my head and looked up at her.

"Why did you come alone tonight?"

Lit by the moonlight and shrouded in a veil, snow-white Tsukimori looked majestic as Jeanne D'Arc must have been.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about the murder recipe? There were more than enough opportunities, right? Just take Konan for an example... don't you think he would have been able to make people lend an ear even to your absurd story?" she asked in a slightly gloomy voice.

The only thing that was in her eyes as she looked down at me in the pointed silence without moving a muscle was I.

I accidentally bent over laughing.

Why? Because I immediately realized how easily I could answer her question. To think that I hadn't even known myself properly until recently despite being so cautious about anyone else, I really was a fool.

Now my answer was clear.

Whether she had killed her parents or someone else, whether she was guilty or innocent, even if there was to be an incident that most clearly implied murder in spite of being just an accident that happened because of a chain of unfortunate coincidences—those questions didn't matter.

She raised her brow at the edge of my field of vision.

"That's a simple question—" I spoke towards the night sky.

"—I am the only one in the world who has the right to doubt you."

We didn't need any others. It was more than enough if only I knew the real Youko Tsukimori.

At last, the cold night wind carried a heated whisper to me.

"...Mm, I'm not lonely after all."

My eyes must have been wide open when I turned them to the slide that was lit by the silver spotlight.

She was smiling with tears in her eyes, almost weeping with joy.

As I didn't know what I should reply, I closed my mouth and burned the appearance of an unknown Youko Tsukimori into my memory.

Suddenly, she cowered down. Then she slid down without even caring about her clothes or exposition of her skirt, started to run and jumped straight onto my back, upon which she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

While burying her face in my back, she said with a somewhat muffled voice,

"—You are the only one in the world to whom I grant the right to doubt me."

She sounded joyous.

I am not so tolerant as to let someone cling to me without permission, but her arms were so tight around me that I couldn't shake her off. She was like a shackle chaining me, which represented our current relationship ridiculously well.

I gave up resisting and looked up at the night sky along with a sigh.

The fine silver light from the moon shone down on the earth like silk threads, which were absorbed by the earth. Without a break, as if the moon was trying to dye all the creatures on earth in its white light.

Compared to the moonlight, any other type of light seemed ever so weak. No matter how bright the stars twinkled, no matter how much light the streets of the town emitted, nothing could match the all-enveloping moonlight.

Without noticing, I reached out for the moon—while knowing that I would definitely not reach it.

The decision I made that night might have been wrong. Perhaps I was going to regret it for a long time.

No, perhaps I would not even have the opportunity to regret.

Because I had come to know Youko Tsukimori.

I closed my eyes without moving my head away.

The moon that night was very soft and warm.

<noinclude>
{{GekkouNavbar
| [[Gekkou:Volume 1 Bye-Bye|Bye-Bye]]
| [[Gekkou:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
}}
</noinclude>

[[Category:Gekkou]]

User talk:RikiNutcase

2014-02-07T08:59:05Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Absolute Duo-Editor */

==High School DxD edits==
Hey, is it ok to let me do a quick first edit of High School DxD chapters before you begin editing. I can make 1st run edits, while you can go over it once i'm done and make any other changes.
Thought I should ask so our edits don't conflict.
I should begin editing the chapter within 10-20 mins of it being uploaded, If I haven't edited after that, just begin editing your self, as I may not be able to edit for a few hours.
Thanks --- [[User:Ff7 freak|ff7_freak]]

OK
------
Is it alright if I list you as retired editor over Highschool DxD's page? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 18:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

sure~ since the only thing i do know is spelling--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh nono, as long as you are regularly doing something I guess it's alright to keep you on the active list. I was just asking since you listed yourself as retired on your user page, I kinda have been taking it easier as well these days lol. Thanks for all your edits as of now, we'll see in a couple of months if we mess up a bit with the editors list. [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 23:02, 16 August 2012 (CDT)

nah~ just put me in the retired list~ ill be focusing on translating now--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 03:39, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

I'll proceed then, thanks for all your contributions. Who knows I might end up editing some of your translations too, good luck. Would you recommend Seirei Tsukai? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 04:07, 17 August 2012 (CDT) Edit: forgot to sign lol, even if it might be obvious...

hmmm im focusing on Date A live now sooo~ seirei maybe next time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 04:41, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

== Talk:Seirei-Tsukai no Blade Dance Vol 3 Prologue ==

Need some help with a few kanji i never heard seen or Found before in the dictionary 背負=Knapsack Lol?(=.=)--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Some queries from the translations:

<pre>With a mesmerizing blue colored ponytailed hair that would make anyone recognize her as a cute and lovely beautiful girl,
but there wasn't a sense of a sweet/naïve emotion from her.</pre>

Doesn't "naive" means stupidity/ignorant? It kinda feels like a mismatch.

<pre>If you touch her you will get a cut kind of feeling omitted out of her body, just like a sword.</pre>

Can we use "slash" instead of "cut" and is it really "omitted" or rather should be "emitted"?

背負= knapsack or a midget from Rikaichan (can help better if given some insight abt the previous statement in the txt)

Thanks for the translations :) --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] 11:41, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

Im guessing you can switch to Lovely/sweet since its "amai" Lol. oh opps guess i got spelling errors. Using slash seems kinda exaggerated so stick with cut. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

yea better stick with cut rather than slash cuz its kinda deeper than meaning of cut. Maybe i'll suggest the word 'omitted' can be be change to simpler ones like 'released' or 'came out' instead. --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 11.50am, 20 April 2012(UTC)

You all can change anything that suit's the sentence, ill just focus on translating for now~Good luck y'all --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Ok :) at least it doen't affect the meaning of the sentence. Best luck to u too dude.dying to read the next one :) --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 12.18am, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Good try, look [[Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance:Names_and_Terminology_Guidelines|here]] for the standardized terms. And, this is up you to but it'll be nice if you follow the paragraphing(the double enter in wiki) of the novel. I'll review it when I'm done with v2c2 and give you some feedback.

About the kanji you mentioned, where is in from? Is it part of the verb 背負う? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 10:52, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Page 11 2nd sentence Lowere part. Thanks for the support --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

It's the verb 背負う, are you familiar with verb conjugations? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:14, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

いずれおまえも帝国の威信を'''背負'''い.....Thats the sentence i dunno if i need to put "Carry the empire dignity on your back" or what....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

背負う = 背負い = (v5u,vt) (1) to be burdened with; to take responsibility for; to carry on back or shoulder; (2) to have (something) in the background; to be in front (of something); (P); ED

So the whole line would be like, "Because, eventually, you'll also be shouldering the dignity of the empire and fighting in the blade dance." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:38, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Hmm well meaning my translation was correct Thanks Senpai XD --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Hi, I've made some changes yesterday of page 1, so if there's anything you're not sure about the changes, feel free to ask. Btw I noticed you gave some word [ ] or capitalization, which aren't needed. Some of the words you chose to use are a little too different from the original. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 23:23, 23 April 2012 (CDT)

裾に大きな切れ目の人<---- someone help translate this its a very weird sentence...--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

裾: (trouser) cuff; (skirt) hem
切れ目: break; pause; gap; end;...

So, "A person with a large gap between her (trouser) cuffs." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 17:54, 18 May 2012 (CDT)

奉納する最高位の神楽=the greatest offering of (kagura)?<---- need someone clarify? --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

split it like this: 奉納する | 最高位の神楽

The greatest Kugura offered --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 22:06, 25 May 2012 (CDT)

Thank you very much. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

ハット=> this word is usually used as? there is sooo many cases for this......--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

okay.....done with the prologue whats left is kuroihikari to give the finishing touches and double check....sorry for the problems~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

== volume 4's titles ==

Hmm, I guess that will depend on what the chapter is about, but I haven't read till there yet. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 05:07, 11 May 2012 (CDT)

==Date.A.Live ==
this series has one hell of a kanji festival (=.=) just the prolouge i think there's more than a few hundred.....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

I've made some major edits, and some parts I simply took what the Chinese version said. Could you look at them? [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 10:28, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Took a few looks at it and found some mistakes TY~ thanks for the fix oh heres a small thing when, Tohka makes a dialogue she uses "shido". the MC name is Shidou maybe she might have problems with kanji since it is written in katakana.oh and how do you put a nav bar and a Terminology page???--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:40, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh. IIRC, Tohka doesn't know how his name is written, so when she calls Shidou, it's written with katakanas. For the nav bar, do you want the simple one or the template? As fo the terminology page, you just have to create a wiki link, though I can do that for you as soon as I am in front of my computer. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 11:14, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

the nav bar something like seirei's since it is easier to check between pages. and for the terminology you can take your time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:39, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai, I'm a new translator(self proclaimed) for Kurumi Killer. I've taken the liberty of translating the prologue, please give me some pointers! Oh and do you mind if I try translating the whole novel by myself? Its going to be tough since I don't have the original text and I'm just going by chinese to english, but I really hope that I can do this! Here's some virtual soba and I'll be in your care! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:50, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

*eats soba while talking* go ahead and if you have any problems just tell us *slurpp* good luck--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:58, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

I don't know how to say this properly, but I found just too many mistakes while reading through the chapter. ( vol 2 ch 1). --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 00:40, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

then i guess you can fix em?is it grammatical error or TL error? and can you tell me where exactly?--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 01:39, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

Its grammatical errors. Translation errors are not my forte ( and I personally don't think there are any. I am able to follow the translation flow.). As to the places....near about everywhere. My main confusion is regarding the tense. There's a continuous change between past and present tense (leaving aside the dialogue). Also, there are errors for punctuations...and many more. For now, just take care of starting a sentence in caps. :P --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 03:56, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

oh.....i guess i'll get a editor to do it XD good luck on your seirei TL--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:01, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

I made some large edits to vol2 chapter 1, part 1 without consulting you first:

*In between the two of the girls for the time being, the ordinary Shidou couldn’t help but enter and divide them. Originally his body's fatigue was accumulated from unusual amount of mental stress.

changed to

*Acting as the the divide between these two girls for the time being, Shidou's body was accumulating fatigue from unusual amount of mental stress.

was a particular large one, hopefully it hasn't drifted to far from what you originally wanted it to say.

Also it might be annoying, but could you have a glance over the Names and Terminology Guidelines? In particularly the translators need to get together and settle on how you guys want to present Shidou in katakana form presented across volumes --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 08:42, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

that is okay no meaning changed i guess..and ill take a look at the N&T page, but the katakana/hiragana problems is usually from Tohka. john prefers shidou instead of Shidou or Shido.....i'll disscuss with him
thanks for the edits and help--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:46, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

I am sorry I am writing it there only so late. I sometimes edit your work. If you have any problems with my changes (I know that sometimes I am doing quite drastic changes to the sentences without consulting it first) just tell me and I will try not to do similar mistakes again, or if you are too displeased with my changes, just tell me to not edit your work and I won´t.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 08:41, 6 November 2012 (CST)

don't worry about it i wont burst out of anger from edits(though i do get heated up by random ppl asking the delays for vol 1).....but anywats do what Drowzy is doing, if you have sentence changes you can ask me...no you have to ask me LOL just type the sentence here and ill check.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

So I added some suggestions and comments. Did zou mean it like this?--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:36, 6 November 2012 (CST)

you can use the talk page or come here and post the question of the edit good luck~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 09:39, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Well if you don´t exactly mind I would rather do it in this style, it is faster than using two windows (and I am incredibly lazy person). You can reply to me there or just use the things in comments.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Geez now I noticed that while I was editing my keyboard switched into another language and the comments ended being quite a mess. I won´t edit my own comments since it isn´t so important, but anyway, I am sorry.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:48, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Most of the edits have been minor and towards changing things like "is" to "was", making things plural/singular of that sort of nature, trying to make things a bit more uniform looking in terms of numbers of [......],etc. Even more head scratching since I've encountered Yoshino's speech, LOL so I just left them how they were. The more dramatic changes I tried leaving TLC tags as hidden notes directly in the text, which you've removed so I assume they weren't too bad.

Ideally, like the latest edits, we'll just discuss them in the relevant discussion pages (There are few scenes that that I changed from the earlier chapter 1 edits that I'll pull out to discussion pages to go through later). But reading through it hasn't been too bad, there have only been 1-2 lines at most that in each chapter have been really confusing. Usually in the narrative bits of the text where some sequences seem a bit jumbled. The dialog has been fine. Thanks for the translations. :) --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 09:54, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Hi Riki-kun. Erm, yeah...I just wanted to point out a few things about your Date A Live translations. To begin with, your English is confusing to the point of being incomprehensible. I guess the Editors can fix that...but the meanings might end up getting distorted. Also your translations aren't very accurate and you seem to be skipping some parts...If you don't understand stuff you can always post it in the Lingua Franca Lexicon forum. So, yeah maybe you should get someone to TLC everything or retranslate the volume afterwards...(-_-;) [[User:Stellarroze|Stellarroze]] 07:47, 11 November 2012 (CST)

i check the mistakes when editors change it. and im not that good in jp>eng. and ....seriously i skipped some parts? mind pointing where? and whoa its that bad huh......guess ill take it down from B-T since it needs retranslation--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:50, 11 November 2012 (CST)

BT's never had minimum requirements for quality, and I don't think that it's a good idea to set such a precedent for it. Though it is a little troubling when translations are wrong, I think readers would be much happier to hear that you continued rather than giving up. I think that all stella meant to say was that you should feel free to ask for help when you think that there's something that you're not completely understanding. Besides, if you just take care when translating, skipping lines won't be a problem at all. There's nothing wrong with taking a little more time to translate~ - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 08:26, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Pls don't make quick decisions :teary eyes 
I enjoy this series very much. And you have editors to take care of the errors --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 08:37, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩が”おまえが下手糞”に言われて何か傷つく過ぎて、涙が血に成ってしまった。hahaha........--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:46, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩におまえが下手糞と言われて何だか傷つき過ぎ、涙が血に成ってしまった - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 12:32, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Congrats on completing Volume 2, I see you're starting on Volume 5 already, just curious to know why don't you start on Vol 4? (Don't do it though *pleading*, I have my eyes on that volume) [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:43, 28 November 2012 (CST)

you said you wanted to do the Kurumi's chapter...Vol 4 includes that and.....Vol 3 is not done lol--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:51, 28 November 2012 (CST)

Waii~!Thank you! But Volume 4's gonna be hella slow since my country doesn't have the chinese raws yet......Are you translating any other projects other than DAL?

planning either seirei tsukai , Gakuen Toshi Asterick or Gin Cross draculia. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:10, 28 November 2012 (CST)

hey Riki, i am a huge fan of you and admirer as well :) and thanks for translations. Well just wondering since rozenbach can't translate from Japanese and chinese raws are not available yet, but you can translate from japanese, then won't you translate volume 4 :) Hey please don't be offended because of this i am just curious please.
thanks

Rozenbach will translate Vol 4 until either to the end of the Chinese translation or he decides to stop. if he wants help he can contact me or john--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:13, 2 December 2012 (CST)

For Tohka's pronunciation of Shidou's name, what should it be? shido, shidou, or Shido? Should it be capitalized? In the terminology page, the reference usedis "shidou", should I go with the names from the terminology page when editing?

use shidou, since John set the rules of it in Vol 1.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 06:24, 7 December 2012 (CST)

Nyahahahaha~ I got busted huh....Well I originally used "Voting competition Chapter" for the url link. Then I thought that Web chapter was more fitting, then when I edited it, the entire chapter disappeared, in a panic I made a new chapter. I'll take the first chapter down once all the hype is gone. orz sorry for any trouble caused! Oh and I'm already done with chapter 6, I can't translate any more unless chinese raws are out, I'll have to leave the rest to you and John then. Just pleading but LEAVE any chapters with Kurumi to me!!! hahaha, I'm obsessed. Oh btw, do you have the raws to volume 6? [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Muhahaha, I only know that Kurumi comes out on Vol 6's end chapter. What happened to John-san? is he not translating anymore? The frigging chinese translators decided to skip volume 4 and went straight into volume 5, now I can't even translate even if I wanted to... DX< I'll probably be doing other projects first until the chinese volume comes out orz. But that doesn't mean I'll be inactive!!! my eyes will be out for any more stories. Oh and what's that about a Kotori's birthday chapter? I didn't know about that! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Well I finally found chapter 7 and 8 just now, so it looks like you're stuck with me for a little longer. Translation IS going to be slower than ever since I have to go back into training soon, but I should be able to churn out one chapter every two weeks. I'll keep searching as I translate! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Hmm... Sorry, right in the beginning of the vol5 ch3 "Tohka placed his hand on the wall" I was gonna change it to her hand but from the context it seems to be Shidou. Can you check that over? [[User:Keisanichi]] ([[User talk:Keisanichi#top|talk]])

Firstly,I would like to apologize for changing 'Shidou' to 'shidou' without permission in chapter 3 of volume 5(line 1064) m_m . Secondly,in the same chapter(line 1085), '..share a bed that girl" it sounds a bit weird. Perhaps you can check it again. I hope I won't offend you in anyway. Oh,and thanks for your translations. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 00:23, 19 January 2013 (CST)

'...a Queen swinging a whip down and the boys was, a naked man on all four with his but facing her.' Anone Riki,did you mean 'butt/back' instead of 'but'? Oh,and thanks a lot for your translations. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 01:55, 18 February 2013 (CST)

"And, at that moment a sound-like noise shook his right eardrums and following with that, he heard a sleepy voice coming from it."
Hello Riki ^^, I was doing some major editing of Volume 5 and on chapter 2 I don't know what sound shidou was trying to describe there, I'm Gonna put something like High-Pitched for now. BTW I'd like to talk to you on some translations of the sentences later once I get a copy of the Raws. --[[User:Daylighter|Daylighter]]([[User talk:Daylighter|talk]]) 20:48, 6 March 2013 (GMT+8:00)

I'm gonna be VERY shameless here, can i take volume7? I'm saying this even though I haven't finished Vol 4 yet...OTL Just asking thanks. [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 08:11, 6 April 2013 (CDT)

Thx for update [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 21:27, 22 April 2013 (CDT)

Congrats for vol 5 completion. Just curious, will you do the next volume too? [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 22:28, 4 May 2013 (CDT)

Ano riki~ on chapter 5 of vol.5 "He tried multiple times but, the results were the same. <Sandalphon> was only cutting the air around the radius of its blade, would not show its absolute authority '''''(I think it'll be better if you add comparison here e.g 'similar　to/just like' cause it sounds weird.)''''' when Tohka handles it." and "While both of them were in a haori[5E 1]-like state, on Shidou’s hand which was gripping onto <Sandalphon>’s handle, she '''''(I believe it should be "gently accompanied..." instead. Btw doesn't "gently joined her hands.." sounds better? Though I have no idea whether that's how it is written in the original japanese text or not)'''''gentle accompanied her hands together with his." All in all,it's only my small opinion. Don't bite me #__#. Thank you for translating this. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 09:35, 7 May 2013 (CDT)

What about 'gently accompanied'? 'Gentle accompanied' doesn't really make sense imo. m__m Sorry for being fussy. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 02:45, 8 May 2013 (CDT)

Vol 6 chapter 2 doesn't has lost its registered translator. Would you mind translating the missing parts once you are done with chapter 4?--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 15:52, 1 August 2013 (CDT)

Riki, not my fault. For volume 7's epilogue I followed the Chinese translations and they did say that Shido kissed Miku after having sealed her powers. If it was an error, not one Chinese reader caught it. [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:03, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

Pointed what out? The discrepancy between the original Japanese text and the online Chinese translation? [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:29, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

(I am new at this.) Is the reason you deleted my edit because I'm not registered? If so then sorry, won't do it again. But seriously, at least put periods and commas at the end of dialogue. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:25, 23 August 2013 (CDT)

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Sorry about that, I'm used to editing with less restrictions. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:58, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

I'm going to put the punctuation back in. Is it OK if I fix the tenses as well? (Line 744)[[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 07:08, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

Just want to say thank you for translating DAL. I have to say, the nuance of how you translate improved greatly from Vol 2 to Vol 5. Amazing, I love it. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 08:06, 25 September 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I saw that DAL's volume 8 illustrations were uploaded with IMG_??.JPG patern. When I got home I will rename the images with the right name and numbers. Anything against it?

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 08:56, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

go ahead but remember to change the pictures in the chapters too--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:59, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Thanks fr the fast answer. I will take good care of the images on the chapters. :D

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 09:04, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Just asking here: why jumped to vol 8 and skipping vol 7? I dont see anyone registered themselves on vol 7. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 06:44, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

He already answered this question in the forum, go take a look: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4694&p=210335#p210335 here] 
[[User:Devenk83|Devenk83]] ([[User talk:Devenk83|talk]]) 06:55, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I think and only if you got the time and what not, help translate Volume 7. As Tsuchiura is probably overwhelm atm with stuff, and iamadooddood is m.i.a for at least a few years or so. I don't mind editing whole volumes (will edit DAL volume 8 when fully completed) and I plan to help edit Absolute Duo to help you out. [[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]])

Sweet jesus your TL speed is out of space! Nice going! [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 06:04, 25 November 2013 (CST)

== Image TL req ==
DAL_v01_000e.jpg , that is Vol 1 with kotori sitting on the chair. Could you TL what's in the left bottom part of it? There's TL for the other part, but someone didn't notice that text :p. --[[User:Krytyk|Krytyk]] ([[User talk:Krytyk|talk]]) 09:58, 29 January 2013 (CST)

== Absolute Duo-Editor ==

Dear riki,

I would like to have permission to revert my previous edits on Absolute Duo for the following reasons:
1. With my edits the flow of the sentences is easier to understand. Ex:

'“……………why don’t we try buying as much gelato as you can eat for now? If you cannot finish then I will eat the leftovers.”

Because of me forgetting, her disappointed look was really pitiful and after I brought up an idea-------

“That is a good idea.”'

Logically, wouldn't Tooru FIRST think of the idea THEN state it? The current organization makes it seem as if Tooru said something THEN thought of it. The reason I swapped sentences was to improve sentence flow and logic. As a result of my changes, the chapter was easier to understand and read. Thus, I believe my sentence swapping was the correct method of approach.

2. The revision of the sentences makes them less clumsy and overall, easier to grasp the underlying meaning. My edits never changed the intention, nor the tone of the sentence. These sections were so painfully written, there is no other option than a complete overhaul of said section. Ex:

"Looking at the pile of clothes she tried on, as they started entering the list of purchase, I thought she bought too many as expected and if I did not tell her it’s about
time we should head to other shops then I would have no idea what would have happened."

There is no possible way to rearrange words in order to turn this into a grammatically correct sentence. My edit to it is drastically easier to understand while retaining the original tone and meaning:

"Looking at the pile of clothes at the cash register, Yurie bought too many clothes (as expected). If I hadn't told Yurie it was time to go to other shops, I have no idea
how many clothes she would have bought."

There are many other sentences where shifting around words are impossible. Ex:

"I gave up denying since anything I do will be useless and made a nod mixed with a wry smile."

This is a blatant run-on sentence. Once again, my edit retained the original meaning and tone while correcting the grammar of the sentence while making it easier to understand.

"I gave up on correcting the misunderstanding. I nodded while giving a wry smile."

There are many more cases such as these that my edits corrected. Once again, this improved the flow of the chapter while making it easier to read.

3. You mentioned to me that the periods indicated the amount of time the characters thought. I believe that changing the "..................." into "..." like I did was correct for two reasons. 1. It's grammatically correct. 2. It makes reading the chapter easier on the eyes, thereby making the chapter easier to read.

I apologize for not informing you before I made these edits (I'm new around here), and during the time of edit, I hadn't read the guidelines for editing yet. However, I do not believe this puts me in wrong (involving the changes I made with my edits), as my edits made reading drastically easier. Thus, I would like your permission to put my edits back into effect.

tl;dr My edits improved grammar, sentence flow, and ease of reading

[[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]] ([[User talk:NoodleShopRampage|talk]]) 02:59, 7 February 2014 (CST)

I apologize about my mistakes with chapter 3 of Absolute Duo. I just felt that so many things were out of place.

Apologies,

NoodleShopRampage

I'm interested in becoming an editor for this project. I did not know if I needed to contact you or Code-Zero, so I decided to write both of you. I'm a native English speaker and I'm quite proficient with the spoken and written forms of the language. If you will accept me,then I'm more then happy to help. I'm currently in college and will have to edit between assignments but I enjoy reading and writing so doing this type of work during my free time is not a problem.

Thanks,

Jesse

Hi Riki!! Regarding my recent edit, you reverted the 'blonde' to ' gold'. My assumption was from the vol cover page showing the blonde girl. It will be helpful if you can tell what 'gold' means for this case. I am just curious abt it. Thanks. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

Thanks Riki. Will keep in mind about the same while reading. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

==Gratitude==
thank you for translating Absolute Due! --[[User:Kai Ran|Kai Ran]] ([[User talk:Kai Ran|talk]]) 06:24, 18 January 2014 (CST)

Gekkou:Volume 1 Moonlight

2014-02-07T03:30:20Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* [Moonlight] */ Changed "my breath was so wild and faint that I expected to really faint any moment." to "my breath was so wild and faint that I expected to really faint at any moment." Seems less awkward now.

==[Moonlight]==

It was night. I called her.

— I want to speak to you.

I made an appointment to meet her alone.

Since it was going to take some time, the meeting was set to Saturday after work. She suggested we meet at her home, but I rejected. I had no good memories there.

Hence, she suggested a park on a hill. It was the park where her mother had fallen. I responded right away.

— Got it.

Of course I was wary because she chose that park of all places, but my interest in the view from there won.

Come to think of it, she was not in the least surprised by my sudden request. She even accepted it readily.

I guess she had expected that day to come.

No, that wasn't quite right.

She had been waiting for it with anticipation.

That's what her cheerful voice sounded like—as if talking about a date.

It was a moonlit night.

A golden moon hung in the sky, reigning over the stars like their king, and lit the earth with light so strong one almost forgot what time it was.

The park was situated a few minutes' walk past Tsukimori's home.

By the time the viridian green fence of the park came into view, my breath was so wild and faint that I expected to really faint at any moment.

I checked the time on my watch. It was just past eleven, which was reasonable because I had returned home once, taken a shower and put on a change of clothes.

Well, I had wanted to go to the park right after finishing work, but Tsukimori had stopped me.

She insisted on a neat appearance for our first date.

Leaving aside the essential fact that this wasn't a date, I had accepted her suggestion. And it had been the right thing to do.

I had needed some time to draw a line between me and my everyday life.

I reached the entrance of the park. It was nothing special; just a small space with some trees and playground equipment sparsely scattered about. The only object that stood out was a white wooden clock tower near the cliff.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Fresh air filled my lungs. I slowly exhaled, checked my left breast pocket for the last time, and entered the park.

"—I was about to get tired of waiting."

I squinted my eyes in the direction of the voice.

"But I ought to be thankful that you came properly, right?"

When I grasped her figure with my eyes, I couldn't help but hold my breath. A snow white Tsukimori was sitting on the top of the red jungle-gym.

"Wearing all black truly suits you, Nonomiya-kun."

Except for the white shirt I wore under my jacket, I was indeed clad all in black.

Tsukimori giggled, "But that is exactly what I expected, so I matched my clothes to yours and dressed myself all in white."

She wore a white dress and white pumps. She had also draped a semi-transparent white shawl around her shoulders and adorned her hair with a white ornament.

From my perspective, snow white Tsukimori was holding the moon on her shoulders.

"Shall we start our date, then?"

Youko Tsukimori crossed her legs and leaned on her elbow, her head slightly tilted. A lock of her beautiful black hair curled down to her mouth.

It was a dreamlike scene. I quickly shook my head to rid it of the impression.

"...the day after you asked me to go out with you, you said that it was necessary for both of us to deepen our mutual understanding, right?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"You also said that it was fine for me to make a decision after we had come to know each other better, right?"

"Yes," she squinted an eye.

"Unfortunately, I still don't understand you very well. We're still quite far from a date."

"What exactly do you want to know from me then?"

—"Everything," I almost answered. But judging by her confident smile, there was only one thing to say.

"You killed her, didn't you?"

The next moment, she leaped from the top of the jungle-gym into the dark blue sky.

Her shawl spread out to both her sides like the wings of a swan, then she landed softly like a feather that had fallen from those wings.

"What am I going to hear from you now?"

"Well, you could call it," I pretended to ponder and continued with my usual poker face, "the solution of the riddle called Youko Tsukimori."

Unperturbed, Tsukimori kept smiling like always.

"I see, that seems much more interesting than a date."

But that's how I wanted her to be; my worthy adversary.

At one time I had come to the conclusion that Tsukimori had not killed anyone because I was sure that she wouldn't do something that foolish.

However, the situation had made a sudden turn with the appearance of a man of outstanding perspicacity. It didn't take long until my theory was negated due to several doubtful aspects and contradictions brought to light by Konan one after another.

In a sense, it had been inevitable for my doubts to be revived, considering how well I knew her and that the murder recipe was in my hands.

One might ask why I had concluded that she was absolutely innocent in the first place.

It is true that I had had several clues that suggested that her mother was guilty, like the fact that the murder recipe had been written by her. However, at the same time I had also been aware that those clues did not necessarily prove Tsukimori's innocence.

I myself had been the decisive factor in my belief of her innocence.

Only now I realized that I had probably strongly wished that she wasn't a murderer back then. One could say that my imagination was steered that way because I didn't want to lose the person I was so interested in.

In other words, what made her innocent had been my own desire.

I sat down on a railing, while she got on a blue swing.

I started explaining to her one reason after another why I doubted her.

The suspiciously well-timed call from the cooking school, the fact that her mobile phone had been set to silent mode, her unnatural behavior when getting me a towel instead of starting the search for her mother, and the fact that the suicide note was written not by hand but on the computer. Furthermore, I told her about my hypothesis that she had wanted to make me the finder of that suicide note.

Tsukimori quietly listened to my explanation and nodded once in a while without denying or acknowledging anything.

When at last she had heard me out, she let her gaze wander in the night sky, seeming deep in thought, before she asked with certainty, "Did you borrow those theories from Konan-san?"

I nodded. As she had guessed, most of my arguments had appeared in the conversations with Konan.

"But I agree with them, so you can think of them as my own opinion."

Tsukimori put on a surprised expression.

"That's the sort of thing you spoke about in my absence?" she scowled at me and pursed her lips slightly. "How mean! Do both of you doubt me?"

"No," I shook my head. "Konan-san has nothing to do with it anymore. I'm the only one doubting you."

She gasped in admiration, "It is really surprising that Konan-san stopped doubting me despite seeming so tenacious. What magic did you use, Nonomiya-kun?"

"It's all thanks to the hint you gave me," I beat around the bush and saved myself from mentioning the "Love Recipe".

'If you want to know what he thinks, just think about what you would do in his case!'

As a matter of fact, if not for those words, I probably would have still been at a loss for what to do about Konan.

"Oh, did I happen to be a help?" smiled Tsukimori. Her soft glance resembled a gentle sister's who rejoiced over one of her little brother's accomplishments.

Which caused me to let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"...I see... so she ''did'' give me a hint," I thought to myself.

Considering how she had immediately realized that I was borrowing Konan's words, she had probably been perfectly aware of Konan and me doubting her all along.

With that in mind, she seemed like a truly cunning actress, reconsidering the evening when we were thrown out by Mirai-san; her blatantly offensive attitude towards me hadn't been normal at all, and the way she had brought up Konan had been rather unnatural as well.

I stopped counting, but as it seemed, she had been playing with me again. I had to admit it: she was a much better actor than I.

Because I was keeping quiet, she tilted her head slightly, "Mh?"

There had been no creaks in her smile from beginning to end. Despite me having labeled her a "murderer".

Her smile was something like a trademark. In the mind of everyone else, Youko Tsukimori was probably depicted as an ever-smiling holy woman.

That was, however, not the Youko Tsukimori I wanted to see. Right now I was brooding over how I might freeze that smile of hers.

My fingers automatically groped for my left breast pocket.

"...right, there's something I want to give you."

There was no way around using 'it' after all. I slid my hand into my jacket.

What I produced was a four times folded scrap of paper. "What's this?" Tsukimori asked while snatching it away from me.

I watched Tsukimori look down at the unfolded sheet.

With her gaze still cast down, she whispered, "...I am happy about anything you give me, but this is not exactly a thoughtful present."

"I can't help it: it's not a present, after all. I'm merely returning something to its owner," I didn't avert my gaze from her, "It's yours, isn't it?"

I stared her in the eyes, not daring to breath or even blink. It's fair to say that I had protected ''this'' solely for this very moment. By no means I wanted to miss her reaction to it.

She raised her head with a smile shaped like a crescent moon.

"Yes, it is!" she admitted surprisingly readily.

"Then let's now talk about this—'murder recipe'."

This was the trump card I had successfully protected from Konan.

She laughed dryly, "So there is no way around it after all, is there? Well, of course you would never miss out on such an 'intriguing subject', right?"

At first glance, Tsukimori was the same as always.

"Truth to be told, I would rather not, but I might be able to answer your expectations if that is your wish. But in return, promise me—"

But I asked myself: did she realize the slight change that had come over her?

"—that you won't hate me. Okay?"

She was smiling as usual, but her eyes were serious.

I was observing a side of Youko Tsukimori that nobody knew. It felt as though I had come a step closer to her. Of course, though, I was not at all satisfied with just that.

I wanted to see more of her unknown side.

But no need to rush things; there was more than enough time until sunrise.

"...You knew it all along, right?"

"What?"

"That the murder recipe had come into my hands."

I had always had a hunch. After all, she had suddenly asked me to go out with her even though we had not spoken to each other much, save for greetings. She had approached me shortly after I had obtained the murder recipe.

But it was only now that I was convinced. Her poor reaction proved that she was not surprised at all.

Tsukimori raised and lowered her brow multiple times in hesitation.

"I had noticed, yes," she nodded calmly at last. "Do you remember what happened in the classroom the morning after I lost the recipe?"

I recalled the morning in question to mind as she told me.

"That morning you addressed me, Nonomiya-kun. Much to my surprise. Therefore, I thought about the reason for that. It didn't take long until I found the answer."

"...So I dug my own grave, huh," I facepalmed automatically.

What a fool I had been for revealing myself! I had been unable to suppress my curiosity and addressed her that morning, but indeed, it was not normal for me to do so with our relationship at the time.

I shook my head fiercely to get rid of stray thoughts, took a deep breath and continued as composedly as I could manage.

"...When I first obtained the murder recipe," I proceeded with the subject as if to bury the mistake I had committed, "I thought that you had written it. I didn't even doubt that the owner was equivalent to the author. The word 'recipe', however, has been bothering me since then. Wouldn't it normally be a 'murder plan'?"

Only my voice resounded throughout the moonlit park.

"But when I learned that your mother was a teacher at a cooking school, I realized that the word 'recipe' was probably very common to her—and sure enough, your mother has written it. A handwritten note of hers, which I presumed to borrow from your home, matched the handwriting of the recipe."

"You never fail to live up to my expectations, Nonomiya-kun," she interjected and closed her mouth again.

A meaningful statement, to be sure, but no denial of what I had said.

"Anyway, for that matter I want to ask why your mother's recipe was in your possession?"

I leaned a little forward to sneak a peek at her expression.

"It was shortly after I started high school when I found her recipe purely by chance—"

It was calm and musing.

"—I realized right away who my mother meant to kill."

"Your father."

"Yes. By the way, this is not the only murder recipe; there are more of them. Perhaps, there are even some I haven't found yet."

"...I didn't expect that."

I was intrigued to read those as well.

"I think my mother didn't realize that I knew about those recipes until the very end. I kept it a secret from her."

"What were your thoughts about it? What did you intend to do after you had obtained the recipes?"

"Well..."

While gazing vacantly in the air, she brushed away her hair beside the ear with her finger. Probably, she was searching for the right words.

"...when I first read the recipe, I was surprised that she also had such an 'ugly' face."

I found myself staring at her.

"I knew her as a typical housewife. A woman who would always pay attention to her appearance and her behavior."

"...that's quite hard to imagine from the impression I got from her during the funeral ceremony."

The howling image of her broken mother soothed by a black-dressed Tsukimori flashed up in my mind. I was disturbed by how my fragile image of her crumbled to dust.

"I do not know what you imagined her to have been like, but you should not forget whose mother she was," Tsukimori put on a smile appropriate to adorn the cover of a fashion magazine, "She was ''my'' mother."

Like daughter, like mother? No, the proper order would be "Like mother, like daughter"? Either way, the moment I thought about it in that way, it was surprisingly easy to have a new image of her. By analogy, the same must have applied to her father as well.

"My mother worked as a teacher in a cooking school, the largest one in the area. She held classes for countless students everyday. Apparently, she even made appearances on a cooking show on local television from time to time, and she had published a few cookbooks. I heard she was quite famous in the cooking scene, as 'the beautiful culinary scientist'."

My image of her mother was being remodeled.

"Now imagine such a woman writing such a cheap thing. I was completely stunned," she shrugged slightly, expressing her amazement.

"''Cheap'', huh?" I repeated a certain meaningful word she had uttered.

"But you thought the same, didn't you? After reading it, I seriously wondered if she really intended to kill someone with it. It's not even close to a plan. Now, I think that she might have chosen the word 'recipe' because she was aware that it was too crude to be called a plan."

"Aah, I see."

I was entirely of the same mind.

"Indeed, for a murder plan, it's extremely unpolished and seems incomplete. You could consider yourself lucky if it succeeded once in a hundred times."

"Mm," she agreed at first, but my continuation made her raise her brow.

"But I think that this lack of polish is exactly what makes the recipe useful."

"What do you mean?"

I was seeing the amateurish content in a different light than Tsukimori. I had thought about it like that since the very beginning.

"Who would imagine such a luck-based murder plan could exist?"

Tsukimori was at a loss for words. Of course she was. A few moments before, she had stated that she could have never imagined her mother writing something like that.

"If hypothetically that plan worked out favorably, wouldn't it indeed look like a 'mishap'?"

"That is an amusing alternative way of thinking about it," she nodded in a impressed tone.

I continued, "I know of one incident that virtually proves my hypothesis—"

"—the accident of my father, right?" she answered before I could finish.

"...you admit it?"

I was a little startled at her unexpected reaction.

"What is there to deny? It is only natural that one would harbor doubts about that accident even having read the recipe only once."

She shook the sheet beside her head, holding it with her fingertips.

I finally noticed what it was that might have been bothering me about her.

"Until I found the recipes, I had no idea that my mother had a such an impetuous side. I suppose that her motive was jealousy — even though my parents didn't care about each other — because my father apparently had a mistress. Maybe she just couldn't accept it that he had a woman other than her. In that sense, women might generally be more jealous than men. You should be careful too, Nonomiya-kun."

Even though it was about her mother, about her family, I sensed a kind of distance in her indifferent tone. As if she wasn't concerned. As if she was talking about some rumors from the neighborhood.

My conviction deepened.

"I can't help but see you as the murderer of your parents," I said frankly, whereupon Tsukimori sneered at me.

"Even though I have no reason?"

She cocked her head while maintaining her smile.

"It's not like I'm paying no heed to your motive. I'm very interested actually. But if I look at it from a perspective that solely deals with whether it's possible or not — I have long since come to the conclusion that you ''could'' do it."

Tsukimori narrowed her eyes to a crescent moon-like form for a second.

"You have already admitted that what's written in the murder recipe rather closely resembles the traffic accident of your father. Now, if it was not an unlucky accident but a willfully committed incident, it couldn't possibly be carried out by someone who hadn't read the recipe, right?"

Tsukimori put her chin on her hand and probed me with her gaze.

"Or, put the other way round, it could only be carried out by someone who ''has'' read the recipe, right?"

I closed my eyes and took a breath.

"I know of exactly three persons who read the recipe before the accident of your father occurred. Firstly, the author of the recipe, your mother. Secondly, I, of course, because I obtained it by chance, and finally—"

I pointed at the report sheet she held in her hand.

"—the person who lost the recipe—Youko Tsukimori. You."

Tsukimori remained wordless.

"I am convinced that you, Youko Tsukimori, could have carried out such a plan, no matter how cheap and unrefined it was."

She broke her silence and motionlessness with a whisper.

"...do you know how I am feeling?"

"If I were able to understand your feelings so easily, I wouldn't be dancing to your tune all the time."

"I am really moved right now. I feel so much love from you because you understand me so much, though you are probably going to say I am wrong, with your usual cold tone."

"You're wrong."

I fulfilled her request with an extra large topping of coldness.

She really made no sense to me. Even though I had accused her of murder, she smiled without change, neither provoked nor alarmed. Her unaffected behavior almost made me think that she might not be hiding anything after all.

Was it absolute self-confidence that loomed behind that composure of hers? Was she confident to ward off any accusations I could throw at her?

''This isn't enough. Unless I delve deeper and break her shell from the inside, I will never see what I seek.''

"...something has been bothering me almost from the beginning," I began, "Aren't you entirely too objective toward your own parents? You're as calm as if you were talking about complete strangers."

Tsukimori put on a slightly doubtful expression.

"Do you think so? I'm seventeen and not of the age to be dependent on my parents anymore, am I not? Isn't the distance between parents and teenager quite similar in other households?"

I immediately objected strongly, "No, it isn't."

Tsukimori sealed her mouth and scowled at me.

"Oh come on, there's clearly something strange. I mean, your mother was drawing up a plan to kill your father! If you're a family, you'd normally try to stop her, wouldn't you?"

Tsukimori widened her eyes for an instant.

"Do you know why my first question was about your actions after finding the recipes? It's because I hoped you would say that you wanted to discourage her. But you only voiced your thoughts on the contents of the recipes—"

She opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something.

"—did you even once think about stopping her?"

The helpless expression Tsukimori showed that moment was a clearer answer than any words could have been.

She huddled up, embracing her slender legs.

"While you had a rather blank relationship with your parents without doubt, strangely enough there are no indications that you were on bad terms with them either."

Reconsidering the many reactions I had gotten from Tsukimori in the past, I found that she was ''not'' unconcerned about the loss of her "community", known as family. After losing her parents, she had seemed very fragile from time to time. I was convinced that she had by no means wished to lose her family.

"You found them uninteresting, didn't you?"

That's what I thus concluded.

If ''I'' was forced to talk about something that didn't interest me, I assume that I would speak with a certain distance as well.

"...rather than saying that I had no interest, it would be appropriate to say that there was no need for us to be interested in each other," she muttered. "I didn't hate my parents, you know? Honestly. It is just that the Tsukimori family was built around the idea of individualism. It was an unwritten rule that we stayed out of each others' business. In fact, it was only because of that rule that we were able to remain a harmonious family."

As if reminiscing, Tsukimori narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I was already able to do anything on my own when I was still young. My mother, too, would have had no problems living without my father. As for him, he merely sustained the budget to fulfill his role as the man of the house, but he didn't interfere in the household itself. Whether you believe it or not, when I was young I thought of him only as a kindhearted uncle who gave us money."

Her smile bent in self-deprecation.

"Just as you noted, I did not think about stopping my mother."

With a powerless smile, she cast her eyes down.

"I was able to accept the murder recipe without problems because I assumed that my mother had her own thoughts and her own life. But I suppose that I should have stopped her, just like you said."

She clenched her fist, her white fingers digging into her palm.

"If I had been raised in a different kind of family, I might have acted differently."

Tsukimori raised her face.

"But you know," she said with a vacant voice, "That's the way I have been brought up since the moment I was born."

Her eyes were breathtakingly clear. There was not a particle of regret in her honest and majestic appearance. In my opinion, Youko Tsukimori was strong.

But at the same time she was just as lonely.

During that moment of sublimity, she was beautiful and ephemeral like a mirage, setting butterflies in my stomach aflutter.

"Weren't you lonely?"

She promptly answered my question with a shake of her head. "Not at all," she smiled.

Relying on no one seemed like a lonely life to me. She herself, however, claimed she had not been.

"Even now?" I posed my denied question once more. "Are you still not lonely even now that your parents have passed away?"

I found that to be an awfully desolate way of life. Maybe I was just seeing things, but Tsukimori seemed lonely to me as she sat there wordlessly.

The next moment she put on a slightly awkward smile and looked up at the night sky. The moon reflected in her eyes gave them a golden shine.

When she returned her gaze to me, she declared, "I am not lonely—"

The teasing attitude she usually had toward me was absent.

"—because you are here for me now, Nonomiya-kun."

I saw that neither in her eyes nor on her lips was a smile. She was entirely serious.

This was the memorable moment in which I finally succeeded in freezing her smile.

The clock tower was about to strike twelve.

She had no strong motive to kill her parents. At least, I could find none.

Furthermore, my view that Youko Tsukimori was not a girl that would do something as foolish as murder had already become an unshakable fact for me.

And yet her parents were no more.

I whispered, "...I don't know how to describe this feeling."

Which words would be appropriate?

I stood up from the railing because I couldn't sit still anymore and strolled into the park on my own, leaving her behind.

While ordering my thoughts, I walked slowly and deliberately felt the earth under my feet with each step. My legs led me unconsciously towards the cliff with a good view over the town.

At last I reached the boundary between park and cliff.

The boundary was marked by a rusty, viridian green fence a little higher than my waist. I bent over it and looked down. I figured that it wouldn't take much to fall over it and down the steep slope.

I rested my crossed arms and my chin on the fence, which caused the entire fence bordering the park to bend towards one side a little. I looked down at the town.

The town filled my field of vision with all its shining lights. It was far from the stunning skyline of a metropolis at night, but I was still deeply moved when considering my hometown.

Despite its small size, there was always something going on. That night, too, there must have been a red sports-car driven by that man somewhere down there. Was the chocolate-addict still up? That little girl who resembled a pygmy marmoset was definitely already a resident of dreamland.

The faces of various people I knew crossed my mind like a slideshow.

"Isn't it captivating? This is what I meant to show you, Nonomiya-kun."

The person who flashed up last and by far most vividly was in sync with the person who was beholding the town right by my side.

A chilly gust ruffled her hair. She hugged herself because of the coldness.

That scene reminded me of that rainy day when she had been in her cold, wet uniform.

There was no way I could forget how in that night I had asked her why people killed others. Of course, I hadn't forgotten her answer, either.

The instant I recalled that answer, my body spontaneously started to tremble, followed by a chuckle of mine.

"...I found the answer at last. I finally realized what made you kill your parents!" I whispered.

She only commented calmly, "I see."

She was at the edge of my vision, and I was at the corner of hers, as I noticed then.

"Because you felt like it."

As I laughingly said it, she answered with the smile of a girl that had just received some candy, "You're great."

As she had told me that night, 'feeling like it' was the only way to explain an action devoid of reason.

I had laughed because it was such a silly answer. Who would believe such a thing?

The only ones able to comprehend it were me and — Youko Tsukimori.

Suddenly, she drew closer.

"...if all you say is true, then I am a horrible woman," she whispered softly into my ear, "Killed my parents, deceived everyone, tricked you and still living on without any worries."

Then—the semi-transparent shawl she had worn floated to the ground.

"But it cannot be denied: there are some rare cases of people that are not bound to the rules. People who are not restricted by anything, who are ridiculously free—"

I was taken aback. She had hopped on the fence without a moment's hesitation-causing it to slowly bend towards the abyss along with her.

"—Nonomiya-kun. You decide! If you don't punish me, the horrible woman Youko Tsukimori will remain at large."

Sitting on the fence, she did the unbelievable: she leaned backwards over the abyss. Her hair reached out toward the bottomless darkness. Only her white slender arms were sustaining her equally slender body now. The smooth curve of her snow white neck was exposed right in front of my eyes.

"Should you judge that I am not worthy to live... you understand, right?"

A slight push against her chest would be enough to send her down the cliff.

"...Are you out of your mind? Do you understand what you are saying?"

I doubted her sanity.

"Who knows? I consider myself to be in my right mind. Well, it is true though that I might be a little off in the head for liking an oddball like you."

As if enjoying the bath in the moonlight, she shut her eyes with a tranquil expression.

"I decided long ago to devote my all to my 'destined one'. You can believe me on that."

It appeared that "everything" included her life as well.

"...I absolutely fail to understand your current state of mind. What on earth is a destined person to you?"

Her reply was short and clear.

"My prince."

Her words were accompanied by a transcendentally blissful smile. Considering the utter absence of fear in her face, she was serious.

Suddenly, the final appearance of her mother, which Konan had described to me, flashed through my mind. A shiver ran down my spine. I had accidentally imagined a very special scene.

The stunningly beautiful scene of Youko Tsukimori's dead body surrounded by countless purple blooming azaleas — had been painted by my imagination.

I gulped. I flushed from the core. Before I knew it, my fingers had reached out to her chest.

My fingertips touched the bulge of her breasts. A short sigh escaped her and she stretched the toes of her white pumps.

My blood began to boil from the excitement that gripped me. Oh, what a sweet temptation it was! One mere finger of mine had the right to pass sentence on ''Youko Tsukimori's'' life.

Her neat snow-white dress looked like a burial shroud in my eyes at that moment.

She had no doubt made all necessary preparations. I suspected her intended scenario was along the lines of "heartbroken girl follows her parents into death".

In other words, nobody would punish me if I pushed her down.

She had called me her prince. If I really was a prince, my designated role would probably be freeing the princess who was being held captive in the castle.

''...Tsukimori. I am sorry for belying your expectations, but I'm afraid I'm not a prince. I am and will only ever be Villager A. That's the role that suits me best.''

My heart pounded against my chest. My wild breath urged me to run free. After taking a deep breath and firmly clenching my teeth, I slowly reached out for the girl in burial cloth — slid my arm around her delicate back and pulled her towards me with all my might.

The excessive momentum caused me to fall backward with her in my arms. While I was still struggling with the pain in my back, she sat up astride me.

"...please don't forget," she began as she laid one hand on her chest, "that this is the life you have saved."

You have picked up that puppy, so bear responsibility and look after it yourself—remembering words my mother had said ages ago, my spirits hit rock bottom. Since when had I become such a nice guy?

"...did you test me?"

"Don't worry, I am confident in myself. You will definitely not regret that you have saved me."

She optimistically clenched her fist in front of her. That almost provokingly lovely smile she showed me gave me the conviction that she had foreseen this turn of events from the very beginning.

I sneered.

"I've long regretted —"

—that I met you.

"Sorry, but could you get off me?"

She was boldly sitting on my pelvis For now, I just wanted to do something about her lack of manners.

Unfortunately though, she apparently didn't intend to get off. She went on her knees, bent over me while putting her hands left and right of my head and started talking from right above me, with her eyes staring into mine. "What are you going to do? What do you want to do? Do you want to tell the police about the recipe and the things I have told you just now?"

As her charming lips formed words, my hair was softly stroked by her ticklish breath.

"I won't stop you if that is what you want to do!"

Apparently, she was not specifically provoking me; while her expression ''was'' mild as always, her voice had taken on an earnest tone.

"You're quite daring, aren't you?"

I scowled at her from below.

"Is it because you are confident that you can trick the police? Or is it because you are belittling me?"

"Wrong on both counts!" she shook her hair smoothly. "I just know more than anyone else that I am innocent."

She was composed.

"Let us do a little test... if there was an incident that most clearly implied murder and I told you it was just an accident that happened because of a chain of unfortunate coincidences, would you believe me?"

The hair that fell down from right above swayed in a nightly breeze and tickled the tip of my nose.

"...of course not!"

Because Tsukimori maintained perfect composure, I hesitated for a moment.

"Right? You don't believe me anyway, so I just let you do whatever you want."

The next moment, she formed a soft smile, accompanied by dancing feathers in my imagination.

"But please remember that there is only one truth for me."

Can someone who laughs so purely be a liar?

I honestly did not know.

"Besides, you are the one I chose. So there should be nothing strange about respecting your decision, even if it differs from the answer I would wish for."

"Chose?" I repeated suspiciously.

The sound was different from the "destined one" sort of "chose" that she had used before. I estimated the nuance to be something along the lines of "entrusted".

"There is one thing you have gotten wrong, Nonomiya-kun."

"What do you mean?"

"It is not at all a coincidence that you have the murder recipe."

".........eh?"

I raised a voice of surprise.

"Please recall the day when you found the murder recipe."

It was still vividly in my mind. It had happened after school. I had found the murder recipe in her notebook, which she had dropped on the ground.

She suddenly giggled.

"I am a very capable person, if I say so myself, am I not? Do you think that someone like me—"

The face she showed me then was going to remain clear in my memory for a long time. Her face looked staggeringly cruel and yet so beautiful.

"—would lose something as important as the murder recipe?"

No way. Such a mistake was unthinkable if it was for her, for she was the only absolutely perfect human in the world I knew of.

On that day back then I had participated in a meeting — the regular meeting of the class officers. The male class officer of our class was me. So, who was the female one?

It was the person before my very eyes.

''Now that I think about it, she hurried back to the classroom right after the meeting had finished. I figure that she did that in order to buy time, so she could make sure the murder recipe would fall into my hands "by chance".''

How could I overlook such a basic thing? That she had been searching for the recipe the following morning was most likely just an act to make me believe she had lost it "by chance", too.

It looked like I had been dancing to her tune since the very beginning. That humiliating fact numbed my limbs and even brought terror upon me. Not a groan could be heard from me in this shocked state.

Tsukimori got off me while giggling.

"There is not one thing that didn't work out the way I wanted. There is not one thing that I couldn't have obtained if I wanted. My wishes define how matters settle."

Normally, those statements would have been extremely haughty, but they sounded like logical facts when it was Youko Tsukimori speaking.

"But don't you think that such a life is incredibly boring and listless? Is there a point in leading such a life?"

She walked towards her shawl on the ground.

"You cannot be excited about a present when you already know what is inside," she slouched her shoulders slightly. "Nevertheless, I did not decide against being the Youko Tsukimori everyone desired, because it is simple to play the model student and it did not feel bad to live up to their expectations."

After picking it up, she draped the shawl around her shoulders again, skipped towards me with light steps reminiscent of a ballerina and landed right beside my head. Then a thick shadow covered my field of vision entirely, so that I was almost left with the belief that the moon had been covered by dark clouds. In fact, she had bent right over me with her hands at her hips.

"Do you want to know why I entrusted you with the recipe, Nonomiya-kun?"

It was already an almost annoyingly definite fact to me that when she put on such a scheming expression, the answer could not be any good.

"It is because you looked more bored with your life than anyone else I have ever met!" she said as if she had found something dear.

I averted my gaze.

Bullseye.

As she had guessed, I had always lamented over how boring the world seemed to me. My imagination used to be my haven to heal me from the boredom of my daily life.

I picked up the murder recipe and stood up.

"You exceeded all my expectations. Talking with you turned out to be exciting, Nonomiya-kun. Every day became thrilling as soon as you entered my life. My heart throbbed more than in anyone else's company. I realized right away that you were my 'destined one'. Thus, it was easy to become crazy about you."

Then everything had gone according to her plan and I, as foolish as I had been, readily took the compelling bait, the murder recipe.

With heavy steps I walked back to the fence as if drawn to it. By the sound of her steps I noticed that she hurried after me.

"...Ah!"

The fence creaked. She had strongly gripped it and was looking down the black clear space right at my side, leaning over. She quickly realized that there was nothing she could do about it anymore, straightened up again and turned to me.

"...won't you regret that?"

My right arm was fully stretched out over the fence.

A white paper plane was drawing circles in the air as it slowly descended into the bottomless darkness. The plane was probably going to get caught somewhere on the cliff, be exposed to weather for months and finally return to dust.

"It's okay. There's no need for it anymore."

I was the same. I, too, hadn't searched for the truth behind the murder recipe because of a sense of justice.

"Ah, will you at last believe me that I am innocent?"

I turned towards her smiling face and declared coldly, "Do you have sawdust between your ears? Of course I'm still doubting you!"

She narrowed her eyes in doubt.

"You don't make sense. Why did you throw away the murder recipe then?"

"Who would buy such an absurd story? I mean, how should I answer the police if they asked me for the reason why you killed your parents? Do you think I would get through with 'Oh, it looks like she felt like it'?"

Without knowing her well, understanding her motive would be very difficult. Having seen Youko Tsukimori's true face, I was the only who could ever nod, facing such a claim.

"But do you have another choice? It is the answer you have worked out after all. Leaving aside whether they believe you or not," she said in a playful tone.

"That's stupid. I would only embarrass myself," answered as I shook my head.

The magic had been lost since the second I had thrust the murder recipe, my trump card, before her and revealed its contents.

I had realized that, in the end, the murder recipe was nothing more than "just a scrap of paper".

She had taught me that it was not the recipe itself that was of value, though I had cherished it like life itself, but the fact that it was "Youko Tsukimori's" murder recipe.

At that moment, after recovering from the shock of having been led by the nose by her all the time, a different emotion overcame me.

As much as it didn't match my character, that emotion could be described as the protective instinct.

By her own admission, she had entrusted the recipe to me because I had looked more bored with my life than anyone else. Because she had concluded that I would no doubt show interest in the thrill the murder recipe offered.

Definitely unintended, but I had undeniably provided considerable entertainment.

In short, she had been seeking for some kind of thrill for her boring daily life as well. In this sense, our interests had complemented each other without my knowledge.

However, the thing is that I unfortunately came up with another interpretation.

—It happened to me that she may have been overwhelmed by the murder recipe.

She was shaken. The discovery of the murder recipe, and a completely unexpected side of her mother along with it, disturbed her more than she could have imagined. Subconsciously she kept looking for a way to do something about that state of things and in the end entrusted me, whom she had found after long searching, with the murder recipe.

That signal was not strong enough to be called an SOS. Probably, she merely wanted to share the information. Maybe she just wanted someone to know.

The burden was indeed a bit too heavy to carry alone.

Maybe I was simply reading too much into it, but I couldn't do anything about it, since that was the impression I got. My vexation was cleared away in a split second.

The thought that ''Youko Tsukimori'', the only person that could pride herself on being perfect, was shaken like a helpless girl and relied on me caused my heart to beat faster than ever.

''Now aren't we lovely'', it throbbed.

My gaze fell on the number that was indicated on the clock tower behind her.

"Already past midnight?"

When I whispered so, she turned around with vim and vigor, spinning the skirt-part of her dress like a parasol. The clock hand had long since passed midnight.

"I'm shocked. How could I have mistimed such an important event?"

Something rare happened: she was discouraged.

"Actually, today is my birthday! Oh what happened to my plan of pleading for all kinds of things as soon as the hour would strike twelve..."

"Congratulations," I wished her before she could blurt out any bothersome things.

After she had polished her look, arranging her hair and adjusting her dress, she turned around to me with a smile all over her face. "Nonomiya-kun, you know, the date has changed, so it's my birthday..."

"I just offered you my congratulations. Didn't you listen?"

"I did listen, so I'll give you some belated thanks. But you see, personally I would prefer it if it was not just words, but—"

"No."

"I'm not done yet, Nonomiya-kun. You should hear out what others have to say."

"Remember one thing, Tsukimori. I'm not as good-natured as to hear out something that I know won't be any good."

"Don't worry! I am not going to plead for an expensive present. Well, it is a present, but it's more like a memory or a memento," she said and while doing so, she took out a mobile phone from her dress and thrust it before my nose. "I want a photograph of us."

"...you ask for that while knowing that I don't like photos?"

"You don't?"

She heedlessly feigned ignorance. In the café Usami had once asked for a photograph of me. There was no way Tsukimori didn't know that.

"Please. I won't ask for anything else if you grant me just that one wish. This day is only once in a year, so please!"

In contrast to the begging tone in her voice, she constrained me by grabbing my wrist with both her hands. She was going to have it her way.

"...Okay! But only one, hear me?"

I gave in quickly because I had already learned that the labor required to break through her obstinacy wasn't worth it.

"Thank you so much!" she rejoiced while clapping her hands. "Let's take it in front of the clock tower!" she said and walked off right away, pulling my arm along.

Said tower was three times our size and thickly coated in white paint.

"Mh, which place works best...?" she couldn't decide where she should take the photograph. When I said that it didn't matter, she rebuked me, saying she had only one chance.

As she then asked whether I would let her take several photographs in that case, I had to seal my mouth, leaned against the wall and had no choice but to wait until she decided on a spot.

I had not the slightest idea how that place was different from any other, but she claimed contentedly, "Yes, here it is. It looks like this is the best place for it after all."

"Come here," she waved me over. I positioned myself next to her.

Then she drew close to me like never before. Along with the material of her thin dress, I also felt other, different things that had nothing to do with her clothes.

"If I don't do this, we won't fit in the frame," she claimed with the arm in which she held her mobile phone fully stretched out, before I could object. Thinking that I was supposed to take the photograph because my arm was longer than hers, I snatched her phone. When I confirmed which button I had to press, she told me to wait for a second and took her shawl from her shoulders.

I gazed at her with my arm stretched out, asking myself what she was doing, while she was pulling it over her head and pinning it with a white flower that she had been using as a hair ornament.

"Alright," she said and, probably because I was looking suspiciously at her, added, "Isn't it cute and kind of princess-like?"

Indeed, it suited her so well I forgot to deny it.

I pushed the button on her signal, whereupon a mechanical shutter sound resounded from the phone. Unable to wait, she snatched the mobile phone away from me to take a look at the photo.

While viewing the picture with a satisfied expression, she nodded slightly, "Yes, exactly as I have pictured it."

From time to time she even giggled out. Good for her that the present was to her liking.

"Thank you for letting me take this photograph. I'll treasure it."

"Yeah, treasure it so much that nobody will ever see it and I'll keep my peace of mind."

I didn't even want to imagine what would happen on the day the guys at school found out about this photograph, and I was really fed up with the fact that Kamogawa's visage was the first thing that came to mind.

"What a pity. I already planned on using this valuable picture of you to brag in front of Mirai-san and Chizuru..."

Thank god I forbade her to do so.

"...oh well, I'll enjoy it all alone then. Viewing it as the wallpaper of my mobile phone during classes with a broad smile on my face. Giving it a good-night kiss before going to sleep."

"Should I delete that picture right now?"

"I'm joking, really," she laughed mischievously.

That's how it feels when someone has the better of you.

"Do you want to take a look, too?"

"With pleasure."

As it was the photo of me she was going to hold on to from now on, I felt obliged to check how I looked on it.

I approached my face to the screen of her phone, which she held before her chest, while bending my knees a little. Her next words reached me just when my ear was somewhere near her lips.

[[Image:Gekkou-319.jpg|thumb]]

After waiting that I had seen the picture, she whispered,

"Did you see? We look like bride and bridegroom at a private wedding à deux in front of a church, don't we?"

I stared at the screen. Depicted was a black-dressed man and a white-dressed woman who happily clung to each other.

With only a little imagination, the shawl on the head of the woman looked like a bride's wedding veil. And mysteriously, as soon as I viewed the woman like that, the man, too, looked as though he wore a dress suit.

Imprinting is a really dreadful phenomenon: I noticed that the clock tower looked like part of a church. If the bride had held a bouquet, it would have been a wedding ceremony no matter the way you looked at it.

I reflexively reached out to steal it out of her hands, but she evaded me, turning around like a dancing petal.

"Give me that phone."

"No! I am sure you would delete the picture if I gave it to you."

"Of course I would!"

I reached out to her again. However, she sped away like a tiny, winged fairy dancing with her toes over a water surface, so that the distance between us grew and grew. She then climbed on a slide.

"Nonomiya-kun, I am here!" she waved innocently from above, almost like a child.

Youko Tsukimori was wild and free when she revealed her true colors. Way too much to handle for a spiritless person like me.

"I'm leaving."

This night had tired me.

"Wait!" she shouted from above when I went past the slide to leave the park. I only turned my head and looked up at her.

"Why did you come alone tonight?"

Lit by the moonlight and shrouded in a veil, snow-white Tsukimori looked majestic as Jeanne D'Arc must have been.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about the murder recipe? There were more than enough opportunities, right? Just take Konan for an example... don't you think he would have been able to make people lend an ear even to your absurd story?" she asked in a slightly gloomy voice.

The only thing that was in her eyes as she looked down at me in the pointed silence without moving a muscle was I.

I accidentally bent over laughing.

Why? Because I immediately realized how easily I could answer her question. To think that I hadn't even known myself properly until recently despite being so cautious about anyone else, I really was a fool.

Now my answer was clear.

Whether she had killed her parents or someone else, whether she was guilty or innocent, even if there was to be an incident that most clearly implied murder in spite of being just an accident that happened because of a chain of unfortunate coincidences—those questions didn't matter.

She raised her brow at the edge of my field of vision.

"That's a simple question—" I spoke towards the night sky.

"—I am the only one in the world who has the right to doubt you."

We didn't need any others. It was more than enough if only I knew the real Youko Tsukimori.

At last, the cold night wind carried a heated whisper to me.

"...Mm, I'm not lonely after all."

My eyes must have been wide open when I turned them to the slide that was lit by the silver spotlight.

She was smiling with tears in her eyes, almost weeping with joy.

As I didn't know what I should reply, I closed my mouth and burned the appearance of an unknown Youko Tsukimori into my memory.

Suddenly, she cowered down. Then she slid down without even caring about her clothes or exposition of her skirt, started to run and jumped straight onto my back, upon which she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

While burying her face in my back, she said with a somewhat muffled voice,

"—You are the only one in the world to whom I grant the right to doubt me."

She sounded joyous.

I am not so tolerant as to let someone cling to me without permission, but her arms were so tight around me that I couldn't shake her off. She was like a shackle chaining me, which represented our current relationship ridiculously well.

I gave up resisting and looked up at the night sky along with a sigh.

The fine silver light from the moon shone down on the earth like silk threads, which were absorbed by the earth. Without a break, as if the moon was trying to dye all the creatures on earth in its white light.

Compared to the moonlight, any other type of light seemed ever so weak. No matter how bright the stars twinkled, no matter how much light the streets of the town emitted, nothing could match the all-enveloping moonlight.

Without noticing, I reached out for the moon—while knowing that I would definitely not reach it.

The decision I made that night might have been wrong. Perhaps I was going to regret it for a long time.

No, perhaps I would not even have the opportunity to regret.

Because I had come to know Youko Tsukimori.

I closed my eyes without moving my head away.

The moon that night was very soft and warm.

<noinclude>
{{GekkouNavbar
| [[Gekkou:Volume 1 Bye-Bye|Bye-Bye]]
| [[Gekkou:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
}}
</noinclude>

[[Category:Gekkou]]

User talk:Kadi

2014-02-07T03:25:14Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Campione Editing */

Multiple edits? What do you mean? Do you mean doing it by chapter by chapter, instead of parts? Most of the editing I'm doing today is just conforming certain character names to the guidelines, sometimes I'm doing it once or twice on a single chapter or part because I overlooked something. Well Toaru recently had a few name changes over the last few days, so i needed to change them in numerous volumes. You can also use use Hide minor edits function near the top of recent changes. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 12:59, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

All's well that ends well. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:52, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

Apparently you translated the first Champione! short story? Can you confirm please. --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:47, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't think that you'll do another bulk update, but thanks for the update though :D
== Campione edit - American/British ==

Which is the general English format for the translations? I believe it is British English. I just saw some edits converting to American language so 'just needed to confirm it. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 05:28, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

In general, the default is American unless otherwise stated. Kadi has also confirmed American spelling for Campione in the Terminology thread. There are a few editors who are used to British usage, but just remind them gently so that a spelling war is averted. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 05:33, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

K. Thanks for the update. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:00, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

Erm hi... Just wondering if you need any more editors... :D --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 10:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

== Campione Editing ==

Hello, NoodleShopRampage here. I would like to make a minor change to the title page. I noticed that there's a 16th volume of Campione now. Thus, I would like to change "the series currently has 15 volumes." to "the series currently has 16 volumes."
Update: I was about to run ahead and input the change, but I couldn't save my edit T-T (Curse you wifi). Anyways, this would just be a gentle reminder to update the project page..
[[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]] ([[User talk:NoodleShopRampage|talk]])

Erm hi. Magykalman here. Requiring permission to change sentence. Extract: "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou, whether it's then or now, is without any knowledge of magic or spells." I think it sounds a little bit awkward, so can it be changed into "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou has zero knowledge of magic or spells, whether it's now or then." or sth like that. Thanks boss. Quite a major change so decided to tell you beforehand.
--[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 14:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Hmmm. After reading quite a few chapters, I think that your works are well edited enough and is almost close to perfect, so I think I'll just take my leave and be a drive-by editor. :) --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 17:35, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Ah Boss. Sorry to disturb you but mind explaining what this sentence means to me? Thanks. Extract Campione Volume 2 Prologue: "He was one of the campione whom magi throughout the world feared as kings, devil kings." --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 18:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Mane. Requesting permission to make "extensive changes" (now reversed) in volume 5 prologue. These include (but are not limited to) changing past tense to present tense and changing sentence structure to avoid sentence fragments.--[[User:Mane|Mane]] ([[User talk:Mane|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, seems like Zzhk registered you to do V8 chapters 1-3 of Campione! but he put an ? mark next to your name, so I'm asking if you will translate those chapters so they can be free so other translators (i.e. me) can take those chapters. --[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 12:33, 14 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, Kanziel here. I wonder what is the original language for the Campione! novel? If it is Chinese, I hope to be of service and help translate the novel from Chinese to English, so I hope to hear from you soon. By the way, I wonder if there are any Chinese works that need translator that you know of, Please tell me and I would be happy to help. --[[User:Kanziel|Kanziel]] ([[User talk:Kanziel|talk]]) 20:35, 1 October 2012

Hello Kanziel, welcome to Baka-Tsuki! Perhaps I can answer a few of the questions. Campione's original language is Japanese though there are official Taiwanese versions up to Volume 7 and Chinese fan translations have completed up to Volume 12. Most of the Campione translations on Baka-Tsuki were translated from Chinese sources with various levels of cross-checking against the original Japanese. Currently, the Campione project is progressing steadily so we have no urgent need of new translators. In fact, unless an existing translator gives up a volume, all that remains are a few short stories. On the other hand, there are many other projects that will welcome additional help. It's probably easiest for you to enter such discussions by joining the forum. -[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:08, 1 October 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai! Didn't greet you the previous time you and the other senpais spoke on my talk page! Here's virtual soba as a greeting! Hope you would continue to help me proof read my works since I'm only a chinese to english translator and I'm quite worried that the original meaning in japanese would be lost in the process. Sorry to trouble you and I'll be very grateful if you could share your path of self learning with me! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 22:26, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

Why must you Troll us with 3 sentences at random time translations of Vol 8 Chapter 1 & 2. T_T

Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 12:40, 16 November 2012 (CST)

Is Vol 8 C2 done?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 06:01, 3 December 2012 (CST)

"Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)"... is none, you like to tease you super S!! :P--[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 06:09, 3 December 2012 (CST)

Do you have any plans to finish the second half of the Drama CD sometime soon? Since the translations have caught up now.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] ([[User talk:Mufarasu|talk]]) 18:45, 13 January 2013 (CST)

the novel says in next volume a new campione will appear right do you know the date of realease of the new novel [[User:mustang|mustang]] ([[User talk:mustang|talk]])

This month, on the 24th. The title is "The 8th Godslayer". For more information, please check the forum. There's a thread there which I'll update with new information as soon as I have it. Oh, and about the Drama CD (yes, I know I'm late)... I'll see if I can find some time and motivation, but right now both is in high demand without that extra work.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 03:07, 15 May 2013 (CDT)

== Translation ==

Hi, Kadi. I'm Thanatos from hako.re. Would you mind if I translate Campione into Vietnamese based on your translation? Thank you for such a great novel and look forward to your reply.

Uhm, the way I see it, there already is a Vietnamese project for Campione, so... I'm confused. What exactly are you asking for?--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 11:04, 12 May 2013 (CDT)

uhm.... they're too slow, so I want to re-translate ( for my forum, of course )

I see. So... Sure, go ahead (just among the two of us, I don't think I can actually say no). But, would it be possible to host your translations on BT, too? At least the ones we don't have yet. If our project is as slow as you say...--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 09:32, 13 May 2013 (CDT)

== Campione protection level ==

Should [[Campione!|Campione's project page]] be editable only by supervisors? that's currently how it's set up; but that's not the standard practice... as the project supervisor do you have an opinion on this?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 19:38, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I certainly have no need for random passersby deluding themselves into thinking they're being helpful. The vast majority of edits on the page are done by me anyway. Anyone who thinks a change is necessary can simply post on the Talk Page. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 19:49, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Zzhk-- I agree that you do the majority of edits, but I think that discouraging new users from making edits is counterproductive in the long run. If they make a mistake it just has to be fixed; and some of them turn into productive members. However, this is looking like one of those issues that if improperly handled could end up with the two of us in an edit war, and ending with one or more leaving the site. I love this site, and don't want that to happen. Thus I'm going to follow whatever Kadi decides.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 20:11, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

It's nothing personal against you really, Saganatsu. The issue I see here is that if someone involved in a project can't even reject changes without the interference of random passersby, then there's clearly a problem. If people want to be useful, fixing typos and offering suggestions to the text itself would be far more productive than making links, editing the Updates section or modifying progress percentages. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 23:32, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I agree it's not personal, just a policy difference. But if it turned into a edit war, it would have become personal. And that's never a good thing.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 23:57, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Do we seriously need ''another'' freaking Zerox incident? Let those who actually contribute something of '''value''' make the decisions about how they want that content to be served.--[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 01:26, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Just in case Kadi is confused, here's a quick summary:
*Saganatsu thought it would be helpful to setup a red link for a then-nonexistent SS6 illustrations page
*I deemed it premature and reversed the change
*At this point, the subjective disagreement could have simply ended in favor of the project staff (i.e. me)
*AKAAkira comes along to reverse the undo, expounding the virtues of red links as to-do reminders and as a way to prevent people from messing up names
*I reversed it
*AKAAkira returns, undo-ing the change, insisting the undo was unnecessary
*I locked the page
Since the illustrations are now uploaded, the original issue is moot. However, I consider AKAAkira's insistent attitude over a trivial and subjective issue to be a precursor to the slippery slope of Zero-style "contributions."

Anyway, I leave it to Kadi to decide whether the page actually needs direct contributions from the public. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 01:48, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Thanks for the summary. Now, I see how it's good to promote guest contributions, but not on the project page. Ideally the project page is only changed if new material is released and already "perfect" otherwise. Volume and chapter titles shouldn't be changed by just anyone "just like that" anyway, and it's not like a guest will just give us an all new and improved synopsis. All necessary or useful changes can be pointed out on the talk page or the forum easily enough.

On a more general note, Saganatsu says he wanted to avoid an edit war. From my point of view, that's what zzhk did. Had the page remained open, who knows how many times this reverting-business would've gone on, and that might've led to people leaving. Zzhk made the right call in locking it.

As for whether it should remain locked, that depends on all of you. It doesn't (shouldn't) hurt having it unlocked, so I don't mind opening it again. However, if there's another difference in opinion, keep in mind that the last decision will lie with the main contributor and the supervisor, zzhk and me. If the two of us disagree, we talk it out. So I suggest in the future, you go along with his decisions, especially over minor and/or temporary issues like red links (I mean, come on, it's a stupid link!). If you don't like his stance, come to me (ideally on IRC or the forum), and if I agree with you, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out. DON'T start editing back and forth or needless antagonizing, or the page will be locked again before you notice, and remain locked.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 04:00, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

User talk:Kadi

2014-02-07T03:21:04Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Campione Editing */

Multiple edits? What do you mean? Do you mean doing it by chapter by chapter, instead of parts? Most of the editing I'm doing today is just conforming certain character names to the guidelines, sometimes I'm doing it once or twice on a single chapter or part because I overlooked something. Well Toaru recently had a few name changes over the last few days, so i needed to change them in numerous volumes. You can also use use Hide minor edits function near the top of recent changes. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 12:59, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

All's well that ends well. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:52, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

Apparently you translated the first Champione! short story? Can you confirm please. --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:47, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't think that you'll do another bulk update, but thanks for the update though :D
== Campione edit - American/British ==

Which is the general English format for the translations? I believe it is British English. I just saw some edits converting to American language so 'just needed to confirm it. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 05:28, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

In general, the default is American unless otherwise stated. Kadi has also confirmed American spelling for Campione in the Terminology thread. There are a few editors who are used to British usage, but just remind them gently so that a spelling war is averted. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 05:33, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

K. Thanks for the update. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:00, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

Erm hi... Just wondering if you need any more editors... :D --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 10:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

== Campione Editing ==

Hello, NoodleShopRampage here. I would like to make a minor change to the title page. I noticed that there's a 16th volume of Campione now. Thus, I would like to change "the series currently has 15 volumes." to "the series currently has 16 volumes."
Update: I didn't feel like it was a very drastic change, so I went ahead and inputted my change. Sorry if this isn't what you'd like.
[[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]] ([[User talk:NoodleShopRampage|talk]])

Erm hi. Magykalman here. Requiring permission to change sentence. Extract: "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou, whether it's then or now, is without any knowledge of magic or spells." I think it sounds a little bit awkward, so can it be changed into "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou has zero knowledge of magic or spells, whether it's now or then." or sth like that. Thanks boss. Quite a major change so decided to tell you beforehand.
--[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 14:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Hmmm. After reading quite a few chapters, I think that your works are well edited enough and is almost close to perfect, so I think I'll just take my leave and be a drive-by editor. :) --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 17:35, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Ah Boss. Sorry to disturb you but mind explaining what this sentence means to me? Thanks. Extract Campione Volume 2 Prologue: "He was one of the campione whom magi throughout the world feared as kings, devil kings." --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 18:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Mane. Requesting permission to make "extensive changes" (now reversed) in volume 5 prologue. These include (but are not limited to) changing past tense to present tense and changing sentence structure to avoid sentence fragments.--[[User:Mane|Mane]] ([[User talk:Mane|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, seems like Zzhk registered you to do V8 chapters 1-3 of Campione! but he put an ? mark next to your name, so I'm asking if you will translate those chapters so they can be free so other translators (i.e. me) can take those chapters. --[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 12:33, 14 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, Kanziel here. I wonder what is the original language for the Campione! novel? If it is Chinese, I hope to be of service and help translate the novel from Chinese to English, so I hope to hear from you soon. By the way, I wonder if there are any Chinese works that need translator that you know of, Please tell me and I would be happy to help. --[[User:Kanziel|Kanziel]] ([[User talk:Kanziel|talk]]) 20:35, 1 October 2012

Hello Kanziel, welcome to Baka-Tsuki! Perhaps I can answer a few of the questions. Campione's original language is Japanese though there are official Taiwanese versions up to Volume 7 and Chinese fan translations have completed up to Volume 12. Most of the Campione translations on Baka-Tsuki were translated from Chinese sources with various levels of cross-checking against the original Japanese. Currently, the Campione project is progressing steadily so we have no urgent need of new translators. In fact, unless an existing translator gives up a volume, all that remains are a few short stories. On the other hand, there are many other projects that will welcome additional help. It's probably easiest for you to enter such discussions by joining the forum. -[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:08, 1 October 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai! Didn't greet you the previous time you and the other senpais spoke on my talk page! Here's virtual soba as a greeting! Hope you would continue to help me proof read my works since I'm only a chinese to english translator and I'm quite worried that the original meaning in japanese would be lost in the process. Sorry to trouble you and I'll be very grateful if you could share your path of self learning with me! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 22:26, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

Why must you Troll us with 3 sentences at random time translations of Vol 8 Chapter 1 & 2. T_T

Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 12:40, 16 November 2012 (CST)

Is Vol 8 C2 done?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 06:01, 3 December 2012 (CST)

"Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)"... is none, you like to tease you super S!! :P--[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 06:09, 3 December 2012 (CST)

Do you have any plans to finish the second half of the Drama CD sometime soon? Since the translations have caught up now.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] ([[User talk:Mufarasu|talk]]) 18:45, 13 January 2013 (CST)

the novel says in next volume a new campione will appear right do you know the date of realease of the new novel [[User:mustang|mustang]] ([[User talk:mustang|talk]])

This month, on the 24th. The title is "The 8th Godslayer". For more information, please check the forum. There's a thread there which I'll update with new information as soon as I have it. Oh, and about the Drama CD (yes, I know I'm late)... I'll see if I can find some time and motivation, but right now both is in high demand without that extra work.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 03:07, 15 May 2013 (CDT)

== Translation ==

Hi, Kadi. I'm Thanatos from hako.re. Would you mind if I translate Campione into Vietnamese based on your translation? Thank you for such a great novel and look forward to your reply.

Uhm, the way I see it, there already is a Vietnamese project for Campione, so... I'm confused. What exactly are you asking for?--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 11:04, 12 May 2013 (CDT)

uhm.... they're too slow, so I want to re-translate ( for my forum, of course )

I see. So... Sure, go ahead (just among the two of us, I don't think I can actually say no). But, would it be possible to host your translations on BT, too? At least the ones we don't have yet. If our project is as slow as you say...--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 09:32, 13 May 2013 (CDT)

== Campione protection level ==

Should [[Campione!|Campione's project page]] be editable only by supervisors? that's currently how it's set up; but that's not the standard practice... as the project supervisor do you have an opinion on this?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 19:38, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I certainly have no need for random passersby deluding themselves into thinking they're being helpful. The vast majority of edits on the page are done by me anyway. Anyone who thinks a change is necessary can simply post on the Talk Page. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 19:49, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Zzhk-- I agree that you do the majority of edits, but I think that discouraging new users from making edits is counterproductive in the long run. If they make a mistake it just has to be fixed; and some of them turn into productive members. However, this is looking like one of those issues that if improperly handled could end up with the two of us in an edit war, and ending with one or more leaving the site. I love this site, and don't want that to happen. Thus I'm going to follow whatever Kadi decides.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 20:11, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

It's nothing personal against you really, Saganatsu. The issue I see here is that if someone involved in a project can't even reject changes without the interference of random passersby, then there's clearly a problem. If people want to be useful, fixing typos and offering suggestions to the text itself would be far more productive than making links, editing the Updates section or modifying progress percentages. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 23:32, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I agree it's not personal, just a policy difference. But if it turned into a edit war, it would have become personal. And that's never a good thing.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 23:57, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Do we seriously need ''another'' freaking Zerox incident? Let those who actually contribute something of '''value''' make the decisions about how they want that content to be served.--[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 01:26, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Just in case Kadi is confused, here's a quick summary:
*Saganatsu thought it would be helpful to setup a red link for a then-nonexistent SS6 illustrations page
*I deemed it premature and reversed the change
*At this point, the subjective disagreement could have simply ended in favor of the project staff (i.e. me)
*AKAAkira comes along to reverse the undo, expounding the virtues of red links as to-do reminders and as a way to prevent people from messing up names
*I reversed it
*AKAAkira returns, undo-ing the change, insisting the undo was unnecessary
*I locked the page
Since the illustrations are now uploaded, the original issue is moot. However, I consider AKAAkira's insistent attitude over a trivial and subjective issue to be a precursor to the slippery slope of Zero-style "contributions."

Anyway, I leave it to Kadi to decide whether the page actually needs direct contributions from the public. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 01:48, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Thanks for the summary. Now, I see how it's good to promote guest contributions, but not on the project page. Ideally the project page is only changed if new material is released and already "perfect" otherwise. Volume and chapter titles shouldn't be changed by just anyone "just like that" anyway, and it's not like a guest will just give us an all new and improved synopsis. All necessary or useful changes can be pointed out on the talk page or the forum easily enough.

On a more general note, Saganatsu says he wanted to avoid an edit war. From my point of view, that's what zzhk did. Had the page remained open, who knows how many times this reverting-business would've gone on, and that might've led to people leaving. Zzhk made the right call in locking it.

As for whether it should remain locked, that depends on all of you. It doesn't (shouldn't) hurt having it unlocked, so I don't mind opening it again. However, if there's another difference in opinion, keep in mind that the last decision will lie with the main contributor and the supervisor, zzhk and me. If the two of us disagree, we talk it out. So I suggest in the future, you go along with his decisions, especially over minor and/or temporary issues like red links (I mean, come on, it's a stupid link!). If you don't like his stance, come to me (ideally on IRC or the forum), and if I agree with you, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out. DON'T start editing back and forth or needless antagonizing, or the page will be locked again before you notice, and remain locked.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 04:00, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

User talk:Kadi

2014-02-07T03:19:06Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Campione Editing */

Multiple edits? What do you mean? Do you mean doing it by chapter by chapter, instead of parts? Most of the editing I'm doing today is just conforming certain character names to the guidelines, sometimes I'm doing it once or twice on a single chapter or part because I overlooked something. Well Toaru recently had a few name changes over the last few days, so i needed to change them in numerous volumes. You can also use use Hide minor edits function near the top of recent changes. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 12:59, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

All's well that ends well. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:52, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

Apparently you translated the first Champione! short story? Can you confirm please. --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:47, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't think that you'll do another bulk update, but thanks for the update though :D
== Campione edit - American/British ==

Which is the general English format for the translations? I believe it is British English. I just saw some edits converting to American language so 'just needed to confirm it. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 05:28, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

In general, the default is American unless otherwise stated. Kadi has also confirmed American spelling for Campione in the Terminology thread. There are a few editors who are used to British usage, but just remind them gently so that a spelling war is averted. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 05:33, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

K. Thanks for the update. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:00, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

Erm hi... Just wondering if you need any more editors... :D --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 10:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

== Campione Editing ==

Hello, NoodleShopRampage here. I would like to make a minor change to the title page. I noticed that there's a 16th volume of Campione now. Thus, I would like to change "the series currently has 15 volumes." to "the series currently has 16 volumes."
[[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]] ([[User talk:NoodleShopRampage|talk]])

Erm hi. Magykalman here. Requiring permission to change sentence. Extract: "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou, whether it's then or now, is without any knowledge of magic or spells." I think it sounds a little bit awkward, so can it be changed into "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou has zero knowledge of magic or spells, whether it's now or then." or sth like that. Thanks boss. Quite a major change so decided to tell you beforehand.
--[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 14:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Hmmm. After reading quite a few chapters, I think that your works are well edited enough and is almost close to perfect, so I think I'll just take my leave and be a drive-by editor. :) --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 17:35, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Ah Boss. Sorry to disturb you but mind explaining what this sentence means to me? Thanks. Extract Campione Volume 2 Prologue: "He was one of the campione whom magi throughout the world feared as kings, devil kings." --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 18:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Mane. Requesting permission to make "extensive changes" (now reversed) in volume 5 prologue. These include (but are not limited to) changing past tense to present tense and changing sentence structure to avoid sentence fragments.--[[User:Mane|Mane]] ([[User talk:Mane|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, seems like Zzhk registered you to do V8 chapters 1-3 of Campione! but he put an ? mark next to your name, so I'm asking if you will translate those chapters so they can be free so other translators (i.e. me) can take those chapters. --[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 12:33, 14 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, Kanziel here. I wonder what is the original language for the Campione! novel? If it is Chinese, I hope to be of service and help translate the novel from Chinese to English, so I hope to hear from you soon. By the way, I wonder if there are any Chinese works that need translator that you know of, Please tell me and I would be happy to help. --[[User:Kanziel|Kanziel]] ([[User talk:Kanziel|talk]]) 20:35, 1 October 2012

Hello Kanziel, welcome to Baka-Tsuki! Perhaps I can answer a few of the questions. Campione's original language is Japanese though there are official Taiwanese versions up to Volume 7 and Chinese fan translations have completed up to Volume 12. Most of the Campione translations on Baka-Tsuki were translated from Chinese sources with various levels of cross-checking against the original Japanese. Currently, the Campione project is progressing steadily so we have no urgent need of new translators. In fact, unless an existing translator gives up a volume, all that remains are a few short stories. On the other hand, there are many other projects that will welcome additional help. It's probably easiest for you to enter such discussions by joining the forum. -[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:08, 1 October 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai! Didn't greet you the previous time you and the other senpais spoke on my talk page! Here's virtual soba as a greeting! Hope you would continue to help me proof read my works since I'm only a chinese to english translator and I'm quite worried that the original meaning in japanese would be lost in the process. Sorry to trouble you and I'll be very grateful if you could share your path of self learning with me! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 22:26, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

Why must you Troll us with 3 sentences at random time translations of Vol 8 Chapter 1 & 2. T_T

Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 12:40, 16 November 2012 (CST)

Is Vol 8 C2 done?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 06:01, 3 December 2012 (CST)

"Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)"... is none, you like to tease you super S!! :P--[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 06:09, 3 December 2012 (CST)

Do you have any plans to finish the second half of the Drama CD sometime soon? Since the translations have caught up now.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] ([[User talk:Mufarasu|talk]]) 18:45, 13 January 2013 (CST)

the novel says in next volume a new campione will appear right do you know the date of realease of the new novel [[User:mustang|mustang]] ([[User talk:mustang|talk]])

This month, on the 24th. The title is "The 8th Godslayer". For more information, please check the forum. There's a thread there which I'll update with new information as soon as I have it. Oh, and about the Drama CD (yes, I know I'm late)... I'll see if I can find some time and motivation, but right now both is in high demand without that extra work.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 03:07, 15 May 2013 (CDT)

== Translation ==

Hi, Kadi. I'm Thanatos from hako.re. Would you mind if I translate Campione into Vietnamese based on your translation? Thank you for such a great novel and look forward to your reply.

Uhm, the way I see it, there already is a Vietnamese project for Campione, so... I'm confused. What exactly are you asking for?--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 11:04, 12 May 2013 (CDT)

uhm.... they're too slow, so I want to re-translate ( for my forum, of course )

I see. So... Sure, go ahead (just among the two of us, I don't think I can actually say no). But, would it be possible to host your translations on BT, too? At least the ones we don't have yet. If our project is as slow as you say...--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 09:32, 13 May 2013 (CDT)

== Campione protection level ==

Should [[Campione!|Campione's project page]] be editable only by supervisors? that's currently how it's set up; but that's not the standard practice... as the project supervisor do you have an opinion on this?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 19:38, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I certainly have no need for random passersby deluding themselves into thinking they're being helpful. The vast majority of edits on the page are done by me anyway. Anyone who thinks a change is necessary can simply post on the Talk Page. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 19:49, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Zzhk-- I agree that you do the majority of edits, but I think that discouraging new users from making edits is counterproductive in the long run. If they make a mistake it just has to be fixed; and some of them turn into productive members. However, this is looking like one of those issues that if improperly handled could end up with the two of us in an edit war, and ending with one or more leaving the site. I love this site, and don't want that to happen. Thus I'm going to follow whatever Kadi decides.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 20:11, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

It's nothing personal against you really, Saganatsu. The issue I see here is that if someone involved in a project can't even reject changes without the interference of random passersby, then there's clearly a problem. If people want to be useful, fixing typos and offering suggestions to the text itself would be far more productive than making links, editing the Updates section or modifying progress percentages. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 23:32, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I agree it's not personal, just a policy difference. But if it turned into a edit war, it would have become personal. And that's never a good thing.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 23:57, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Do we seriously need ''another'' freaking Zerox incident? Let those who actually contribute something of '''value''' make the decisions about how they want that content to be served.--[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 01:26, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Just in case Kadi is confused, here's a quick summary:
*Saganatsu thought it would be helpful to setup a red link for a then-nonexistent SS6 illustrations page
*I deemed it premature and reversed the change
*At this point, the subjective disagreement could have simply ended in favor of the project staff (i.e. me)
*AKAAkira comes along to reverse the undo, expounding the virtues of red links as to-do reminders and as a way to prevent people from messing up names
*I reversed it
*AKAAkira returns, undo-ing the change, insisting the undo was unnecessary
*I locked the page
Since the illustrations are now uploaded, the original issue is moot. However, I consider AKAAkira's insistent attitude over a trivial and subjective issue to be a precursor to the slippery slope of Zero-style "contributions."

Anyway, I leave it to Kadi to decide whether the page actually needs direct contributions from the public. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 01:48, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Thanks for the summary. Now, I see how it's good to promote guest contributions, but not on the project page. Ideally the project page is only changed if new material is released and already "perfect" otherwise. Volume and chapter titles shouldn't be changed by just anyone "just like that" anyway, and it's not like a guest will just give us an all new and improved synopsis. All necessary or useful changes can be pointed out on the talk page or the forum easily enough.

On a more general note, Saganatsu says he wanted to avoid an edit war. From my point of view, that's what zzhk did. Had the page remained open, who knows how many times this reverting-business would've gone on, and that might've led to people leaving. Zzhk made the right call in locking it.

As for whether it should remain locked, that depends on all of you. It doesn't (shouldn't) hurt having it unlocked, so I don't mind opening it again. However, if there's another difference in opinion, keep in mind that the last decision will lie with the main contributor and the supervisor, zzhk and me. If the two of us disagree, we talk it out. So I suggest in the future, you go along with his decisions, especially over minor and/or temporary issues like red links (I mean, come on, it's a stupid link!). If you don't like his stance, come to me (ideally on IRC or the forum), and if I agree with you, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out. DON'T start editing back and forth or needless antagonizing, or the page will be locked again before you notice, and remain locked.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 04:00, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

User talk:Kadi

2014-02-07T03:18:38Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Campione edit - American/British */

Multiple edits? What do you mean? Do you mean doing it by chapter by chapter, instead of parts? Most of the editing I'm doing today is just conforming certain character names to the guidelines, sometimes I'm doing it once or twice on a single chapter or part because I overlooked something. Well Toaru recently had a few name changes over the last few days, so i needed to change them in numerous volumes. You can also use use Hide minor edits function near the top of recent changes. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 12:59, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

All's well that ends well. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:52, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

Apparently you translated the first Champione! short story? Can you confirm please. --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:47, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't think that you'll do another bulk update, but thanks for the update though :D
== Campione edit - American/British ==

Which is the general English format for the translations? I believe it is British English. I just saw some edits converting to American language so 'just needed to confirm it. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 05:28, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

In general, the default is American unless otherwise stated. Kadi has also confirmed American spelling for Campione in the Terminology thread. There are a few editors who are used to British usage, but just remind them gently so that a spelling war is averted. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 05:33, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

K. Thanks for the update. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:00, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

Erm hi... Just wondering if you need any more editors... :D --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 10:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

== Campione Editing ==
Erm hi. Magykalman here. Requiring permission to change sentence. Extract: "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou, whether it's then or now, is without any knowledge of magic or spells." I think it sounds a little bit awkward, so can it be changed into "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou has zero knowledge of magic or spells, whether it's now or then." or sth like that. Thanks boss. Quite a major change so decided to tell you beforehand.
--[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 14:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Hmmm. After reading quite a few chapters, I think that your works are well edited enough and is almost close to perfect, so I think I'll just take my leave and be a drive-by editor. :) --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 17:35, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Ah Boss. Sorry to disturb you but mind explaining what this sentence means to me? Thanks. Extract Campione Volume 2 Prologue: "He was one of the campione whom magi throughout the world feared as kings, devil kings." --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 18:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Mane. Requesting permission to make "extensive changes" (now reversed) in volume 5 prologue. These include (but are not limited to) changing past tense to present tense and changing sentence structure to avoid sentence fragments.--[[User:Mane|Mane]] ([[User talk:Mane|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, seems like Zzhk registered you to do V8 chapters 1-3 of Campione! but he put an ? mark next to your name, so I'm asking if you will translate those chapters so they can be free so other translators (i.e. me) can take those chapters. --[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 12:33, 14 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, Kanziel here. I wonder what is the original language for the Campione! novel? If it is Chinese, I hope to be of service and help translate the novel from Chinese to English, so I hope to hear from you soon. By the way, I wonder if there are any Chinese works that need translator that you know of, Please tell me and I would be happy to help. --[[User:Kanziel|Kanziel]] ([[User talk:Kanziel|talk]]) 20:35, 1 October 2012

Hello Kanziel, welcome to Baka-Tsuki! Perhaps I can answer a few of the questions. Campione's original language is Japanese though there are official Taiwanese versions up to Volume 7 and Chinese fan translations have completed up to Volume 12. Most of the Campione translations on Baka-Tsuki were translated from Chinese sources with various levels of cross-checking against the original Japanese. Currently, the Campione project is progressing steadily so we have no urgent need of new translators. In fact, unless an existing translator gives up a volume, all that remains are a few short stories. On the other hand, there are many other projects that will welcome additional help. It's probably easiest for you to enter such discussions by joining the forum. -[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:08, 1 October 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai! Didn't greet you the previous time you and the other senpais spoke on my talk page! Here's virtual soba as a greeting! Hope you would continue to help me proof read my works since I'm only a chinese to english translator and I'm quite worried that the original meaning in japanese would be lost in the process. Sorry to trouble you and I'll be very grateful if you could share your path of self learning with me! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 22:26, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

Why must you Troll us with 3 sentences at random time translations of Vol 8 Chapter 1 & 2. T_T

Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 12:40, 16 November 2012 (CST)

Is Vol 8 C2 done?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 06:01, 3 December 2012 (CST)

"Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)"... is none, you like to tease you super S!! :P--[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 06:09, 3 December 2012 (CST)

Do you have any plans to finish the second half of the Drama CD sometime soon? Since the translations have caught up now.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] ([[User talk:Mufarasu|talk]]) 18:45, 13 January 2013 (CST)

the novel says in next volume a new campione will appear right do you know the date of realease of the new novel [[User:mustang|mustang]] ([[User talk:mustang|talk]])

This month, on the 24th. The title is "The 8th Godslayer". For more information, please check the forum. There's a thread there which I'll update with new information as soon as I have it. Oh, and about the Drama CD (yes, I know I'm late)... I'll see if I can find some time and motivation, but right now both is in high demand without that extra work.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 03:07, 15 May 2013 (CDT)

== Translation ==

Hi, Kadi. I'm Thanatos from hako.re. Would you mind if I translate Campione into Vietnamese based on your translation? Thank you for such a great novel and look forward to your reply.

Uhm, the way I see it, there already is a Vietnamese project for Campione, so... I'm confused. What exactly are you asking for?--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 11:04, 12 May 2013 (CDT)

uhm.... they're too slow, so I want to re-translate ( for my forum, of course )

I see. So... Sure, go ahead (just among the two of us, I don't think I can actually say no). But, would it be possible to host your translations on BT, too? At least the ones we don't have yet. If our project is as slow as you say...--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 09:32, 13 May 2013 (CDT)

== Campione protection level ==

Should [[Campione!|Campione's project page]] be editable only by supervisors? that's currently how it's set up; but that's not the standard practice... as the project supervisor do you have an opinion on this?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 19:38, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I certainly have no need for random passersby deluding themselves into thinking they're being helpful. The vast majority of edits on the page are done by me anyway. Anyone who thinks a change is necessary can simply post on the Talk Page. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 19:49, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Zzhk-- I agree that you do the majority of edits, but I think that discouraging new users from making edits is counterproductive in the long run. If they make a mistake it just has to be fixed; and some of them turn into productive members. However, this is looking like one of those issues that if improperly handled could end up with the two of us in an edit war, and ending with one or more leaving the site. I love this site, and don't want that to happen. Thus I'm going to follow whatever Kadi decides.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 20:11, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

It's nothing personal against you really, Saganatsu. The issue I see here is that if someone involved in a project can't even reject changes without the interference of random passersby, then there's clearly a problem. If people want to be useful, fixing typos and offering suggestions to the text itself would be far more productive than making links, editing the Updates section or modifying progress percentages. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 23:32, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I agree it's not personal, just a policy difference. But if it turned into a edit war, it would have become personal. And that's never a good thing.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 23:57, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Do we seriously need ''another'' freaking Zerox incident? Let those who actually contribute something of '''value''' make the decisions about how they want that content to be served.--[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 01:26, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Just in case Kadi is confused, here's a quick summary:
*Saganatsu thought it would be helpful to setup a red link for a then-nonexistent SS6 illustrations page
*I deemed it premature and reversed the change
*At this point, the subjective disagreement could have simply ended in favor of the project staff (i.e. me)
*AKAAkira comes along to reverse the undo, expounding the virtues of red links as to-do reminders and as a way to prevent people from messing up names
*I reversed it
*AKAAkira returns, undo-ing the change, insisting the undo was unnecessary
*I locked the page
Since the illustrations are now uploaded, the original issue is moot. However, I consider AKAAkira's insistent attitude over a trivial and subjective issue to be a precursor to the slippery slope of Zero-style "contributions."

Anyway, I leave it to Kadi to decide whether the page actually needs direct contributions from the public. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 01:48, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Thanks for the summary. Now, I see how it's good to promote guest contributions, but not on the project page. Ideally the project page is only changed if new material is released and already "perfect" otherwise. Volume and chapter titles shouldn't be changed by just anyone "just like that" anyway, and it's not like a guest will just give us an all new and improved synopsis. All necessary or useful changes can be pointed out on the talk page or the forum easily enough.

On a more general note, Saganatsu says he wanted to avoid an edit war. From my point of view, that's what zzhk did. Had the page remained open, who knows how many times this reverting-business would've gone on, and that might've led to people leaving. Zzhk made the right call in locking it.

As for whether it should remain locked, that depends on all of you. It doesn't (shouldn't) hurt having it unlocked, so I don't mind opening it again. However, if there's another difference in opinion, keep in mind that the last decision will lie with the main contributor and the supervisor, zzhk and me. If the two of us disagree, we talk it out. So I suggest in the future, you go along with his decisions, especially over minor and/or temporary issues like red links (I mean, come on, it's a stupid link!). If you don't like his stance, come to me (ideally on IRC or the forum), and if I agree with you, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out. DON'T start editing back and forth or needless antagonizing, or the page will be locked again before you notice, and remain locked.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 04:00, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

User talk:Kadi

2014-02-07T03:17:54Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Campione edit - American/British */

Multiple edits? What do you mean? Do you mean doing it by chapter by chapter, instead of parts? Most of the editing I'm doing today is just conforming certain character names to the guidelines, sometimes I'm doing it once or twice on a single chapter or part because I overlooked something. Well Toaru recently had a few name changes over the last few days, so i needed to change them in numerous volumes. You can also use use Hide minor edits function near the top of recent changes. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 12:59, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

All's well that ends well. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:52, 29 August 2011 (CDT)

Apparently you translated the first Champione! short story? Can you confirm please. --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:47, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't think that you'll do another bulk update, but thanks for the update though :D
== Campione edit - American/British ==

Hello, NoodleShopRampage here. I would like to make a minor change to the title page. I noticed that there's a 16th volume of Campione now. Thus, I would like to change "the series currently has 15 volumes." to "series currently has 16 volumes."
[[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]] ([[User talk:NoodleShopRampage|talk]])

Which is the general English format for the translations? I believe it is British English. I just saw some edits converting to American language so 'just needed to confirm it. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 05:28, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

In general, the default is American unless otherwise stated. Kadi has also confirmed American spelling for Campione in the Terminology thread. There are a few editors who are used to British usage, but just remind them gently so that a spelling war is averted. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 05:33, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

K. Thanks for the update. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:00, 3 September 2012 (CDT)

Erm hi... Just wondering if you need any more editors... :D --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 10:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

== Campione Editing ==
Erm hi. Magykalman here. Requiring permission to change sentence. Extract: "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou, whether it's then or now, is without any knowledge of magic or spells." I think it sounds a little bit awkward, so can it be changed into "Furthermore, Kusanagi Godou has zero knowledge of magic or spells, whether it's now or then." or sth like that. Thanks boss. Quite a major change so decided to tell you beforehand.
--[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 14:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Hmmm. After reading quite a few chapters, I think that your works are well edited enough and is almost close to perfect, so I think I'll just take my leave and be a drive-by editor. :) --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 17:35, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Ah Boss. Sorry to disturb you but mind explaining what this sentence means to me? Thanks. Extract Campione Volume 2 Prologue: "He was one of the campione whom magi throughout the world feared as kings, devil kings." --[[User:Magykalman|Magykalman]] ([[User talk:Magykalman|talk]]) 18:00, 7 September 2012 (CDT)

Mane. Requesting permission to make "extensive changes" (now reversed) in volume 5 prologue. These include (but are not limited to) changing past tense to present tense and changing sentence structure to avoid sentence fragments.--[[User:Mane|Mane]] ([[User talk:Mane|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, seems like Zzhk registered you to do V8 chapters 1-3 of Campione! but he put an ? mark next to your name, so I'm asking if you will translate those chapters so they can be free so other translators (i.e. me) can take those chapters. --[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 12:33, 14 September 2012 (CDT)

Hi Kadi, Kanziel here. I wonder what is the original language for the Campione! novel? If it is Chinese, I hope to be of service and help translate the novel from Chinese to English, so I hope to hear from you soon. By the way, I wonder if there are any Chinese works that need translator that you know of, Please tell me and I would be happy to help. --[[User:Kanziel|Kanziel]] ([[User talk:Kanziel|talk]]) 20:35, 1 October 2012

Hello Kanziel, welcome to Baka-Tsuki! Perhaps I can answer a few of the questions. Campione's original language is Japanese though there are official Taiwanese versions up to Volume 7 and Chinese fan translations have completed up to Volume 12. Most of the Campione translations on Baka-Tsuki were translated from Chinese sources with various levels of cross-checking against the original Japanese. Currently, the Campione project is progressing steadily so we have no urgent need of new translators. In fact, unless an existing translator gives up a volume, all that remains are a few short stories. On the other hand, there are many other projects that will welcome additional help. It's probably easiest for you to enter such discussions by joining the forum. -[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:08, 1 October 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai! Didn't greet you the previous time you and the other senpais spoke on my talk page! Here's virtual soba as a greeting! Hope you would continue to help me proof read my works since I'm only a chinese to english translator and I'm quite worried that the original meaning in japanese would be lost in the process. Sorry to trouble you and I'll be very grateful if you could share your path of self learning with me! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 22:26, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

Why must you Troll us with 3 sentences at random time translations of Vol 8 Chapter 1 & 2. T_T

Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 12:40, 16 November 2012 (CST)

Is Vol 8 C2 done?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 06:01, 3 December 2012 (CST)

"Because it's hilarious. Because I'm evil. Because I want to. Or because I can. Pick one. (I like the "evil" choice, btw)"... is none, you like to tease you super S!! :P--[[User:Braiam|Braiam]] ([[User talk:Braiam|talk]]) 06:09, 3 December 2012 (CST)

Do you have any plans to finish the second half of the Drama CD sometime soon? Since the translations have caught up now.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] ([[User talk:Mufarasu|talk]]) 18:45, 13 January 2013 (CST)

the novel says in next volume a new campione will appear right do you know the date of realease of the new novel [[User:mustang|mustang]] ([[User talk:mustang|talk]])

This month, on the 24th. The title is "The 8th Godslayer". For more information, please check the forum. There's a thread there which I'll update with new information as soon as I have it. Oh, and about the Drama CD (yes, I know I'm late)... I'll see if I can find some time and motivation, but right now both is in high demand without that extra work.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 03:07, 15 May 2013 (CDT)

== Translation ==

Hi, Kadi. I'm Thanatos from hako.re. Would you mind if I translate Campione into Vietnamese based on your translation? Thank you for such a great novel and look forward to your reply.

Uhm, the way I see it, there already is a Vietnamese project for Campione, so... I'm confused. What exactly are you asking for?--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 11:04, 12 May 2013 (CDT)

uhm.... they're too slow, so I want to re-translate ( for my forum, of course )

I see. So... Sure, go ahead (just among the two of us, I don't think I can actually say no). But, would it be possible to host your translations on BT, too? At least the ones we don't have yet. If our project is as slow as you say...--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 09:32, 13 May 2013 (CDT)

== Campione protection level ==

Should [[Campione!|Campione's project page]] be editable only by supervisors? that's currently how it's set up; but that's not the standard practice... as the project supervisor do you have an opinion on this?--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 19:38, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I certainly have no need for random passersby deluding themselves into thinking they're being helpful. The vast majority of edits on the page are done by me anyway. Anyone who thinks a change is necessary can simply post on the Talk Page. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 19:49, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Zzhk-- I agree that you do the majority of edits, but I think that discouraging new users from making edits is counterproductive in the long run. If they make a mistake it just has to be fixed; and some of them turn into productive members. However, this is looking like one of those issues that if improperly handled could end up with the two of us in an edit war, and ending with one or more leaving the site. I love this site, and don't want that to happen. Thus I'm going to follow whatever Kadi decides.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 20:11, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

It's nothing personal against you really, Saganatsu. The issue I see here is that if someone involved in a project can't even reject changes without the interference of random passersby, then there's clearly a problem. If people want to be useful, fixing typos and offering suggestions to the text itself would be far more productive than making links, editing the Updates section or modifying progress percentages. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 23:32, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

I agree it's not personal, just a policy difference. But if it turned into a edit war, it would have become personal. And that's never a good thing.--[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] ([[User talk:Saganatsu|talk]]) 23:57, 17 May 2013 (CDT)

Do we seriously need ''another'' freaking Zerox incident? Let those who actually contribute something of '''value''' make the decisions about how they want that content to be served.--[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 01:26, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Just in case Kadi is confused, here's a quick summary:
*Saganatsu thought it would be helpful to setup a red link for a then-nonexistent SS6 illustrations page
*I deemed it premature and reversed the change
*At this point, the subjective disagreement could have simply ended in favor of the project staff (i.e. me)
*AKAAkira comes along to reverse the undo, expounding the virtues of red links as to-do reminders and as a way to prevent people from messing up names
*I reversed it
*AKAAkira returns, undo-ing the change, insisting the undo was unnecessary
*I locked the page
Since the illustrations are now uploaded, the original issue is moot. However, I consider AKAAkira's insistent attitude over a trivial and subjective issue to be a precursor to the slippery slope of Zero-style "contributions."

Anyway, I leave it to Kadi to decide whether the page actually needs direct contributions from the public. --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 01:48, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Thanks for the summary. Now, I see how it's good to promote guest contributions, but not on the project page. Ideally the project page is only changed if new material is released and already "perfect" otherwise. Volume and chapter titles shouldn't be changed by just anyone "just like that" anyway, and it's not like a guest will just give us an all new and improved synopsis. All necessary or useful changes can be pointed out on the talk page or the forum easily enough.

On a more general note, Saganatsu says he wanted to avoid an edit war. From my point of view, that's what zzhk did. Had the page remained open, who knows how many times this reverting-business would've gone on, and that might've led to people leaving. Zzhk made the right call in locking it.

As for whether it should remain locked, that depends on all of you. It doesn't (shouldn't) hurt having it unlocked, so I don't mind opening it again. However, if there's another difference in opinion, keep in mind that the last decision will lie with the main contributor and the supervisor, zzhk and me. If the two of us disagree, we talk it out. So I suggest in the future, you go along with his decisions, especially over minor and/or temporary issues like red links (I mean, come on, it's a stupid link!). If you don't like his stance, come to me (ideally on IRC or the forum), and if I agree with you, I'll talk to him and we'll sort it out. DON'T start editing back and forth or needless antagonizing, or the page will be locked again before you notice, and remain locked.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] ([[User talk:Kadi#top|talk]]) 04:00, 18 May 2013 (CDT)

Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 3-3

2014-02-07T03:11:45Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* 3-3 The "Juumoji" Incident */ Just a light touch, I noticed a minor spelling error.

== 3-3 The "Juumoji" Incident ==

037 - ♠10

I opened my boxed lunch while listening to the Broadcast Club's live radio broadcast.

What kind of day is it today, you ask? I would say today was one of those days when my sis would decide to make my boxed lunch. I should really be giving my thanks for the food I'm receiving, but what's with this ethnic-looking dish comprised of spicy soybeans and fried chicken covered in yoghurt? The grains of rice in this Nasi Goreng<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_goreng Wikipedia - Nasi Goreng]</ref> looked bigger than the rice I normally have. Where'd she get this from?

The door was closed during lunch time. This ethnic looking boxed lunch sure looked good. Guess I'll take my time enjoying this.

"Heya."

Opening the door, Satoshi walked in, followed by Chitanda and Ibara.

"Great work you did there, guys," I said, pointing upwards, or rather, towards the radio broadcast from the speakers.

A while ago, they were doing an interview with The Cooking Club.

"That sure was a high quality competition, wasn't it?"

"Yes, indeed. The results were that close. I thought the amberjack teriyaki, the main dish of Team Fata Morgana's second member would be most capable of winning. The same goes for his steamed clams, though as this is a school cultural festival, in place of steaming it with sake, he substituted rice wine, but still the taste was superb. Though he prepared them so early, that by the time the competition was over they became quite cool. This was where Team Classics Club made their comeback. The second member's giseyaki and imo-mochi were properly stored to be re-heated, while you could feel the heat from their third member's kakiage rice bowl so much that it looked as though that the prawn heads were crying. This heat was the difference that decided their victory."

"And what about Team Astronomy Club?"

"They were in a world of their own."

Putting down my chopsticks, I spoke.

"Congratulations on winning."

By the way, something seems to have happened. As representing the winners to receive the prize, Ibara did not promote the Classics Club's name as she was supposed to, and to think Satoshi went through all this trouble to participate. At any rate, Satoshi was basically enjoying this more than promoting the club.

Despite being complimented, the three members were surprisingly apathetic to the radio broadcast.

"Thank you. It was thanks to Oreki-san's help. By the way, we have something to show you."

Chitanda spoke first. I have a really bad feeling about this.

"A-anyway, let's have lunch."

I prompted them to take their seats, which they duly did and slowly took out their own food... They've all bought bread from the school store. How unambitious.

Opening her bag of green bean paste bread, Chitanda turned around without even taking a bite.

"We have something to show you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"This," She said and handed something to me. It looked like a greeting card. On it was written "The Cooking Club has lost its ladle." Signed by "Juumoji."

"Hmm."

I took a bite of the spicy beans and said, "The ladles were stolen?"

"Yes... but just ours."

Ibara nodded. As Ibara had made the kakiage rice bowl, she was most affected by the theft. And to think she could have just made dumplings out of the flour I provided... Who would have thought she would fry something with it? She sure is a sensitive person.

"Probably a prank by someone with too much time on their hands."

I returned the greeting card, yet the conversation did not end there.

Munching on his red bean paste bread, Satoshi smiled and said, "It's not just The Cooking Club, the same happened to the Go Club as well. I hear the A Capella Club was also hit."

"The Fortune Telling Association, too. They both found this, um, declaration of crime with the same font."

I see.

"Looks like someone really has a lot of time on their hands."

I tried to downplay the incident, but Chitanda was not one to be fooled. Disregarding the green bean paste bread in her hands, she held her fists tightly. Chitanda's large black eyes, which betray her normally gentle image, were now widening. I could sense the atmosphere changing.

T-this is bad. Why now? Not even half a day had passed yet. And I was hoping to endure the Cultural Festival without incident. To think Chitanda had restrained herself well yesterday, how did it come to this? Where has it gone wrong? Once she makes her move, nobody could stop her. I knew very well when Chitanda Eru would start getting curious, a dark emotion that could kill cats.

Speaking one word at a time she said, "Just who would do such a thing during the Cultural Festival? Why would Juumoji-san commit such acts with such a name? Why would he steal these items one after another?"

She's about to say that line.

"I'm ''really'' curious about it."

Ah, she's said it. She has finally gone and said it.

...No wait, there's no reason to be scared. Ever since enrolling here, I have not been able to suppress her curiosity, but right now, I have a trump card.

Instead of wasting my time making excuses, I promptly showed my trump card.

"Now is not the time for that. What about our anthologies?"

Yet just as I had finished speaking, Satoshi spoke.

"What about those anthologies indeed. Even if we raise our name recognition by participating in these straightforward events, we're not gonna improve our sales anyway. I was prepared to accept that this was a futile exercise, so I just thought of something better."

"Something better?"

Satoshi's eyes were smiling, but that's his usual self. Though he seems to be serious about what he's about to say.

"This series of thefts, coupled with a signed declaration of crime — it's clear we're looking at a phantom thief incident. It's bound to get reported by the Wall Newspaper Club, and possibly broadcasted by the Broadcast Club tomorrow. If we go along this line of thinking, even if we don't sell out, we'll still be able to look forward to selling up to thirty to forty copies."

...I see. It's not so bad if that's the case. Indeed, this is certainly a newsworthy topic. Satoshi's mic appeal yesterday yielded some results, so if we could get the two media clubs to work for us, it's possible to sell up to thirty or forty copies. However,

"How are we going to improve our sales in the first place anyway? This incident has got nothing to do with the Classics Club."

"Oh, I know,"

Ibara interrupted, "We have Oreki."

"Yup. Just as with the 'Hyouka' incident or the 'Empress' incident, Houtarou certainly performed well in both."

Wait a sec, I know where this conversation is going, but wait a sec.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Chitanda was a bit slow in getting their meaning. Satoshi explained with a mischievous smile.

"In other words, 'To find out how Oreki Houtaou, the Classic Club's super sleuth, manages to bring the harbinger of the Cultural Festival Juumonji to justice, read all about it in this "Hyouka," the Classics Club's anthology!' We could kill two birds with one stone by capturing Juumonji and promoting the Classic Club's name."

"I-I see! This is an excellent idea! I should hurry up and..."

Argh! I smacked my chopsticks onto the table.

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm not playing along with your games!"

I yelled. How can they toy around with people like that?

Yet, in contrast to my expectations, Satoshi surprisingly nodded in agreement that he was fooling around.

"You're right. I want to improve the sales, but it's probably not good to have Houtarou be our clown."

So you do get it... That I'll be nothing but a circus clown in such a charade.

"Besides, this 'Juumonji' guy is just stealing randomly. What do you want me to say to him if we do catch him?"

"I dunno, I was thinking you'd come up with something."

Don't be ridiculous.

"Why do you think I would be the one to do such a thing... First of all, how many people do you think have entered and left the school grounds during the Cultural Festival? And that's aside from our nearly one thousand students."

The room went silent. I munched another mouthful of ethnic boxed lunch.

Unwrapping the layers on her bacon roll, Ibara sighed.

"I don't think Fuku-chan's idea was bad. While I think it's a bit mean to have Oreki do something, if we could somehow catch that phantom thief, we could involve the Classics Club in this."

She unwrapped another layer.

"...If only the Classics Club were targeted."

"Yeah."

I nodded. If that were to happen, people would gradually turn their attention to the Classics Club while following the phantom thief incident. But in that case, there was no need to even catch this "Juumonji."

Satoshi muttered, "...We could stage it..."

"REJECTED."

Ibara replied sharply, "It's too risky."

"I was only kidding."

"When Fuku-chan says it, it doesn't sound like you're kidding... But, really, what could we do?"

"Try not to think too much about it, your roll's about to become straight."

Despite my quip, Ibara didn't even glare back at me and unwrapped yet another layer on her roll. She twitched her brows hard. Though she had the strongest sense of responsibility amongst us, she was also the one who's contributed the least to the Classics Club during this time. She must have realized this as well.

"Is there a chance the Classics Club would be targeted?"

Holding the green bean paste bread in her hand, Chitanda asked.

"Satoshi, how many participating clubs are there?"

"Fifty-one. Not a small number if you're wishing to be targeted."

"Would the thief calling himself Juumonji-san choose his targets randomly?"

"You think he'd target the Classics Club if he were to choose in such a fashion?"

The possibility would be zero. If it's completely random, the odds of being targeted would be...

"...Which clubs have been targeted again?"

Satoshi replied instantly, "The Go Club, A Capella Club, The Cooking Club, and what was it? Ah, the Fortune Telling Association."

Our odds of being targeted would be forty-seven out of fifty-one. Even if it were completely random, the possibility percentage would be insanely low. As I'm the only person watching the stall for the club, if I were to go out to take a walk or go to the bathroom, it would make it easier for us to be targeted.

...Hmm?

Wait a moment, this sounds strange.

I stopped Chitanda, who looked as though she was about to say something to me, and asked Satoshi, "Sorry, can you repeat which clubs were targeted again?"

"Sure, the Go Club, A Capella Club, Fortune Telling Association and The Cooking Club."

Hmm, could it be?

"In other words,"

I spoke cautiously, "The A Capella Club, the Go Club, the Fortune Telling Association, and The Cooking Club.

...Who else was targeted?"

Looking puzzled, Satoshi shook his head.

"Dunno, I've not heard of any."

Watching our conversation, Ibara began looking through the "Kanya Festival Guide" in her hands. It seems like she too had realized what I had. Searching via the gojuuon <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goj%C5%ABon Wikipedia - Gojuuon]</ref> directory for the club names at the front of the guide, she began listing some names.

"Film Club, Gardening Club, Drama Club, Sci-Fi Club."

"Yes, which of those four were hit?"

"Film Club, Gardening Club..."

Taking a deep breath, Satoshi yelled, "A.B.C.!"

"Eh? Eh? What do you mean?"

Chitanda was the only one who didn't get it.

Watching her squeeze her green bean paste bread to smithereens, I explained to her, "It is as you have wondered, he wouldn't have targeted the clubs randomly. It's all following a pattern, and a very simple one at that. The only reason we didn't realize it earlier was because the order in which we were told which clubs were targeted was mixed up. So, assuming the Film Club was targeted, we have: The A Capella Club, Go Club, Fortune Telling Association, Film Club, and The Cooking Club."

"Ah!"

Chitanda covered her mouth.

"The gojuuon sequence!"

Meanwhile, Satoshi was doing the rounds, calling someone on his cell phone.

"...Yes, just want to know if you've got something stolen... No, it's not me! Honest! ...Hmm? A water gun? I see, thanks."

He hung up the call as the three of us looked on.

Then he said, "It was the Gardening Club. One of their water guns was stolen while they were away from the room."

"Water gun? Why would the Gardening Club have water guns?"

A sensible question from Ibara, which I answered at once.

"They were making sweet potatoes, so they needed to prepare water to put out the fire, and they decided to use water guns because it looked cool that way."

"O-Oreki! How on earth did you know that!?"

Well, I'm sorry that I have amazing levels of perception. But actually, it was thanks to the Glock 17 that I had obtained earlier on. Ibara continued to mutter.

"But wait a minute. In 'A.B.C.,' it started with a person whose name starts with the letter A murdered in a place also starting with the letter A."

The only person here most likely to have read Agatha Christie's "The A.B.C. Murders" was probably Ibara.

"The Cooking Club had their ladle stolen, right?"

"Just wait a moment."

Stopping Ibara from going frantic, Satoshi took out a notebook and pen from the drawstring bag he always carries with him.

"Chitanda-san, what was it that was stolen from the Fortune Telling Association?"

"It's the 'Wheel of Fortune.'"

"OK!"

He began scribbling with his pen.

'''* A Capella Club ([A]KAPERA BU アカペラ部) - (Drink)''' 
'''* Go Club ([I]GO BU 囲碁部) - (Go Stones)''' 
'''* Fortune Telling Association ([U]RANAI KEN 占い研) - Wheel of Fortune ([U]NMEI NO WA 運命の輪)''' 
'''* Gardening Club ([E]NGEI BU 園芸部) - (Water Gun)''' 
'''* The Cooking Club ([O] RYOURI KEN お料理研) - Ladle ([O]TAMA おたま)'''

I see.

"Hmm. I've not seen their declaration of crime cards, but isn't this stretching it a bit?"

Satoshi tilted his head.

Feeling skeptical myself, I said, "Maybe the Gardening Club had their AK ('''[E]-KEI エーケイ''') stolen?"

"AK? What's that?"

"Their water gun, it's shaped like a Kalashnikov rifle."

"Really? I'll have to call the Gardening Club to confirm this."

"In that case, for the Go Club, they would have had their 'stones' ('''[I]SHI 石''') stolen."

Indeed, no one objected to such a hypothesis.

As for the A Capella Club, "The A Capella Club would be..."

"Hmm...... Awamori '''([A]WAMORI 泡盛)'''? <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awamori Wikipedia - Awamori]</ref> Hot sake '''([A]TSUKAN 熱燗)'''?"

"It wouldn't matter as long as we could confirm the item starts with an [A]. We shouldn't think too much on that."

This... Wouldn't this be the excellent chance that the Classics Club would wish for? This was not me forsaking my energy-saving lifestyle. As usual, if there's something that I don't have to do, I won't do it. But if I let this pass, wouldn't it be too much of a pity? Even I was feeling a bit excited by the dawn of such luck.

"But, how far will this 'Juumonji-san' go with his crimes?"

How can you be so carefree, Chitanda!?

"Yeah, that's a problem."

"It won't be a problem as long as he stops by the Classics Club."

...Do even Satoshi and Ibara not get it as well?

I raised my voice.

"What are you guys talking about? What does the culprit call himself again?"

"Eh? Isn't it Juumonji?"

"I don't know why you guys pronounce it as 'Juumonji', when normally you would pronounce it as 'Juumoji.'"

"...Well, that's because I have a friend called Juumonji Kaho..."

"Oh!" Ibara exclaimed.

"That's it! Juumoji (Ten Characters 十文字)! Since Chi-chan and Fuku-chan kept pronouncing it as 'Juumonji,' I didn't see the association! If it's 'Juumoji' (Ten Characters), then that would make The Cooking Club the fifth character."

Exactly.

"And the sixth target would start with [KA], in other words, the tenth and final target would start with [KO]... That's more than enough reason to get people to come visit the Classics Club ('''[KO]TENBU 古典部'''), isn't it?"

'''[148 COPIES REMAINING]'''

038 - ♥09

While I believe Fukube-san and Mayaka-san are both wonderful people, there's one thing I don't agree with them about.

They make too much fun of Oreki-san.

He gets called dullish, a slacker, oversleeper, lazy, good-for-nothing, loiterer, too lazy to even loiter, a lion that sleeps all day, not a even a lion even if he sleeps all day, the antithesis of Labour Thanksgiving Day, sluggish, and all other sorts of bad names.

For me, if I see something I don't understand, I would seek out its answer. If I see something that looks out of place, I would spot it. But while I often get praised for being able to answer any problem being asked, I do not find myself matching that description. For some of the incredible things that I have come across, I was not able to find the answer to half of them. This would be like how rice cannot be grown by just merely preparing soil, water and seeds alone, part of being a rice farmer is to oversee how they're grown properly. Oreki-san was able to find the key to the questions that I did not understand, and obtain the answers which I had never thought about. He helped massively in the "Hyouka" incident, as named by Fukube-san, as well as come up with an amazing theory in the "Empress" incident.

He wasn't just a bright person. In contrast to what he himself normally claims, that he couldn't be bothered to help other people if it is too troubling for him, I believe he is actually a passionate and warm person deep inside.

Then again, I realize I've been relying too much on that warmth of his. That's why I tell myself I shouldn't rely too much on him...

With the new vision and possibilities shown to me by Oreki-san, I now head once again to the Wall Newspaper Club room. Based on the "pattern" that Oreki-san had spoke of, it would certainly attract the attention of the Wall Newspaper Club. Yet, whether I could convey this message to them to get them moving would depend on how I negotiate with them. I am no longer overwhelmed by the colourful decorations of the Cultural Festival, the incessant chattering of the students and the various posters pasted everywhere. Instead, courtesy of Irisu-san's advice, my heart was filled with the confidence that this time I will not fail.

According to Fukube-san, it seems the "Juumoji" incident has yet to receive much attention, which means this story would be extremely newsworthy for the Wall Newspaper Club. This would be the sort of request where, based on Irisu-san's advice, I do not need to repay any favour.

I recalled what was being taught, as my sense of memory is one of the few things that I'm confident of. Important requests, give them expectations, make them think our problem is trivial, and make the request alone to a person of the opposite gender.

As to why these methods would be effective, I'm still at a loss in understanding them... It feels bad for me to use systems which I do not fully understand as mere tools, but I can't afford to be picky.

Making good use of that advice, I rehearsed my lines. To make sure I don't say anything wrong, I repeated them again and again on my own.

I arrived before the Wall Newspaper Club room, the Biology Lecture Room, and knocked on the closed door,

"Comin~!"

A hoarse voice replied as the door opened startlingly.

There were six people inside, which was more than yesterday. But that was not the only thing that was different. While Toogaito-san was amongst them, the other five people were all speaking on their cell phones. One of them finished speaking and spoke to another male student who was on the phone.

"Cooking Club. Confirm it with their president."

The student who heard the instruction made a circle with his finger. Was it money? ...Oh, he was making an OK sign. The student who just finished speaking on the phone wrote some sort of list before heading out of the room, seemingly not noticing my presence.

It was then that a voice spoke.

"Sorry about that, Chitanda-san. We're a bit busy at the moment."

Before noticing, Toogaito-san had started walking towards me. After being mesmerized by the passion of the Wall Newspaper Club, I quickly returned to my senses.

"Try coming back some other time."

"Yes, sorry to be troubling you..."

No! I mustn't! I quickly stopped what I was saying. We haven't got much time ourselves. If I give up so soon, I wouldn't be able to face Oreki-san. I should at least convey my message,

"...Sorry to be troubling you, but, could you please take a moment? I have something to tell you."

While it's an unreasonable request, Toogaito said with a troubled expression, "All right, make it quick."

He seems to have accepted the request. I should be bowing to him in gratitude, but as he's in a hurry, I have decided to omit that.

It was then that I remembered. Toogaito-san is a member of the opposite gender. As there were other members present, I gradually took a few steps back away from the Biology Room. Perhaps unconsciously, Toogaito-san stepped forward in tandem towards the corridor. I then inadvertently closed the door. During the Cultural Festival, there was virtually no one around the Biology Room on the third floor of the Special Block besides us.

I've managed to adhere to one point of Irisu-san's advice now. To ensure I didn't fail, I suppressed my nervousness and spoke,

"It's about the Classics Club."

"Like I said, we'll only consider it if it's newsworthy."

"Well, umm, it ''is'' newsworthy."

Now, to make an expectation out of him. I think I should say it like this:

"It's something that we can only tell the Wall Newspaper Club."

"Hmm?"

Toogaito-san, who had originally wanted the conversation to end quickly, suddenly had a change in his attitude.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like this,"

I took a quick breath.

"We've discovered that during the Cultural Festival, many clubs have had various items stolen."

I had wanted to go on, but Toogaito-san's reaction was vigorous.

"'Juumoji!'"

"Eh?"

"What do you know about 'Juumoji?!'"

I was at a loss in how to deal with this sudden, unexpected turn of events. Umm, how should I respond? It's a bad habit of mine to suddenly stop speaking in times like these, even Oreki-san had told me about it. I must calm down, in other words, I must try and figure out what's going on so far...

Toogaito-san, or rather the Wall Newspaper Club, has already figured out something about the "Juumoji" incident, and they're extremely interested in it... Rather than a favour that's not expected to be repaid, this has now become a request where the favour is expected to be repaid.

W-what should I do?

No, this shouldn't change what I should be telling him. I nodded and tried my best to calm down, before compiling my thoughts into words.

I explained everything.

From beginning to end.

Toogaito-san looked very intrigued in what I had said and was extremely pleased.

"I see... The gojuuon sequence, huh? Now it makes sense, The Cooking Club's official name starts with [O]. And the Fortune Telling Association was hit as well... So that's why."

I was a bit curious on what he meant by the end.

"Umm, did you figure something out?"

"Oh."

Toogaito-san had a bitter look on his face.

"This is the Wall Newspaper Club after all,"

"Yes."

I nodded.

Toogaito then repeated again in a different tone, "The Wall Newspaper Club ('''[KA]BESHINBUN BU 壁新聞部'''), starts with a [KA]."

"Oh! So that means,"

"We lost out cutter knife ('''[KA]TTA-NAIFU カッターナイフ'''), it happened when we were all out."

"And that's why you're all so busy now?"

Toogaito-san nodded.

"While it's vexing that we had something stolen from us, it's this sort of accidental incident that we most look forward to. This is way more interesting than the usual stuff that we have to report on, isn't it? You've really saved us a lot of trouble. Who would have thought this 'Juumoji' would work in such a way?"

He then added a compliment.

"Good work for figuring that out."

"Oh, yes, that was mainly Oreki-san."

Yet, upon mentioning Oreki-san's name, for some reason Toogaito-san's smile was a mix between delight and vexation.

"...Ah, of course. Anyway, give him my thanks."

"Okay."

"Well, thanks for the information."

With a cheerful expression, I watched as Toogaito-san returned to the Biology Room.

It was when he was about to shut the door that I remembered Irisu-san's advice - "For situations where you're dealing with strangers which you would not deal with again after you receive the favour, in nine out of ten cases, they would consider your request a rip-off."

''Wait! Please write something about the Classics Club in return!''

I should have shouted that to Toogaito-san... but I couldn't do it. I couldn't make myself say something that sounds like I do not trust Toogaito-san.

"......"

I looked at the hand which I stretched out to call Toogaito-san. For a moment, I felt depressed at failing once again.

However.

After thinking again calmly, this could turn out for be best. Irisu-san's advice on that was mainly for strangers whom I won't deal with again. But that's not the case for Toogaito-san. So if I were to build on a trust with Toogaito-san, then what I did wasn't wrong.

Yes, that's got to be the case.

...For a bit, I felt more resolute in my determination.

039 - ♣13

I first knew of Houtarou's amazing sense of perception in the "Hyouka" incident. Despite spending all that time with him in junior high, I never knew he was capable of such feats.

Knowing Houtarou's special abilities, I was full of expectations during the "Empress" affair, as I could not think of anyone else besides him who could pull it off. The very least I could do was give him my support. Though he was also active in other incidents, these were the two main ones that came to mind.

However, this time, I do not expect anything from Houtarou.

As he is in charge of watching the stall, he is unable to leave the Geology Room. Knowing Houtarou's motto, he would surely enjoy not needing to move around, but it also means he would be unable to solve anything, as much footwork is required for this case. In other words, Houtarou is unsuited for the "Juumoji" incident.

And what happens when I don't have any expectations from Houtarou?

...That leaves me with no choice but to do the investigation myself.

Using Houtarou's deductions as a basis, and padding it up with information I gleamed from various connections, I've managed to compile the following data.

'''Day 1 '''
'''* ~11:30am - A Capella Club ([A]KAPERA BU アカペラ部) - "Aquarius" ([A]KUARIASU アクエリアス) soft drink stolen '''
'''* ~12:30pm? - Go Club ([I]GO BU 囲碁部) - Stones ([I]SHI 石)(?) stolen '''
'''* Just after 2:00pm - Fortune Telling Association ([U]RANAI KENKYUU KAI 占い研究会) - Wheel of Fortune ([U]NMEI NO WA 運命の輪) stolen '''

'''Day 2 '''
'''* ~9:00am - Gardening Club ([E]NGEI BU 園芸部) - AK ([E]-KEI エーケイ) (Kalashnikov water gun) stolen '''
'''* Just before 11:30am - The Cooking Club ([O]RYOURI KENKYUU KAI お料理研究会) - Ladle ([O]TAMA おたま) stolen '''

And from Chitanda-san, who just returned dashing down the corridor, just a moment ago (currently it's 1:58pm), the Wall Newspaper Club ([KA]BESHINBUN BU 壁新聞部) has had their cutter knife ([KA]TTA- NAIFU カッターナイフ) stolen. The actual time when they were hit should be sometime earlier than this.

Roughly speaking, it would seem "Juumoji" seems to make his move every one and a half hour to two and a half hours. Considering the Cultural Festival takes place from 8:00am to 5:00pm, it makes sense.

As the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival spans three days, if he were to steal from ten clubs, he would have divided them evenly, stealing from three the first day, three the second day, and four on the final day. However, while he has indeed targeted three clubs in the first day, as people would be preparing to take down their stuff on the final day from around three, it's possible that he could choose to target four clubs today.

Taking out my copy of the "Kanya Festival Guide," I started looking up the clubs whose names begin with [KI]... Heh, looks like the phantom thief is bound by the strange rules he has set for himself, as the only club that starts with [KI] is the Magic Club ([KI]JUTSU BU 奇術部).

Arriving at the Magic Club, there was a poster that read "The next show will begin at 2pm." This is most ideal. If he were to commit the crime, he would have to do so right before everyone's gazes. And even if "Juumoji" manages to pull this off and steal something that starts with [KI], there should still be some clues left behind.

If I stay vigilant, I have a fair chance of victory. "Juumoji"'s defeat lies with his pattern being too easy to read. The only problem with catching "Juumoji" now would mean he's denied the chance to go all the way to [KO], which would be bad for our attempt to promote the Classics Club. Anyway, if we catch him, we still might be able to achieve something out of it.

I'm not like Houtarou. I am unable to untie the knots of a rope, neither am I able to just cut them loose quickly. If I could, even I would be amazed at myself.

However, I am at least able to move my body around, just by walking on my two feet and seeing with my two eyes, I should be able to figure something out.

The Magic Club public performance takes place in Class 2D's classroom. As a regular classroom, it has two entrances. The front door was covered by a curtain, with a cardboard box placed outside that read "Magic Club Backstage. No Trespassers Allowed." Visitors are to enter via the back door. Beside the back door was a table with a white box placed on it. Taking a closer look, it turns out it contains the programme booklets for the show.

As there was nothing else to do while waiting thirty minutes for the show to start, I bought one booklet.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fefefe; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|
# Introduction 
# Living Dead - Takamura Youichi (1st Year) 
# The Rainbow Ring - Nagai Kaori (1st Year) 
# Vanishing Act - Tayama Kazuya (2nd Year) 
# Closeup Card Magic - Takamura Youichi and Nagai Kaori (1st Year) 
# Bowls and Balls - Tayama Kazuya (2nd Year) 
# Closing

|}

I see.

The first thing I understood was that the Magic Club only has three members. The Classics Club has four while the Sewing Club has five. Hey, we have more.

"Living Dead" would be referring to zombies. As this is the Magic Club, they're no doubt referring to the zombie ball. "Rainbow Ring" would be linking rings, where they'd be playing with the illusion of the rings linking and separating. "Vanishing Act" probably involves something disappearing and being replaced with something else. "Closeup Card Magic" is like its name suggests, a straightforward performance. Should be interesting as there are two performers. "Bowls and Balls" is probably a variation of the cups and balls trick, where the audience is tricked into thinking the ball entered one cup when it instead ended up in another, this time they seem to be using bowls instead.

There doesn't seem to be anything within sight that starts with [KI]. Though there are the Kings ([KI]NGU キング) from the deck of cards, if they're going to use coins, then gold coins ([KI]NKA 金貨). If diacritics<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakuten Wikipedia - Japanese Diacritics] (In Japanese, KI becomes GI with the addition of a diacritic mark)</ref> are allowed for the [KI] spelling, then silver coins ([GI]NKA 銀貨) would do as well... But wait, that's technically impossible. (A 1 yen coin is made of aluminum, 5 yen is brass, 10 yen is bronze, and the rest are nickel coins. Oh, there's also the 500 yen coin, which is a mixture of brass and nickel, I guess?)

I wondered if I should take a peek inside, as I placed my hand on the door handle. I'd better not, while it might help in catching the phantom thief Juumoji, it's too unrefined of me to peek into the Magic Club's backstage. Besides, as long as I just stand here, I would easily see if anyone went in or out.

As I looked at my own notes, I immersed myself in enjoying this unexpected turn of events. While seeking out knowledge at my own pace is also fun in itself, I relish in these kinds of unforeseen incidents. Then again, based on my own experiences, sadly speaking, it would seem my wits, which are required in such a case, are by no means superior to the rest. In essence, I am unable to deal with such sudden situations with a calm head, but this time I have prepared sufficiently in terms of intel, so I should be able to do something about it.

I killed time while going along such thoughts.

"Hmm? Why, if it isn't Fukube," said a surprised sounding voice. It was Tani-kun, with his firm jaw and round nose.

"You did rather well in the Wild Fire tournament."

That reminds me, we did beat his team during the cooking tournament. Upon discovering the declaration of crime, we'd totally forgotten about our duel.

I smiled and said, "Well, it's thanks to my pork miso soup, after all. My teammates also worked their best as a result, making my work look rather incomplete though."

"Team competitions sure are tough. I should have stuck with individual tournaments. Those two girls were incredible, even Suhara was amazed."

"Though I don't feel like I've won, as there weren't many participants. We were just lucky."

"By the way..."

Tani-kun turned his gaze towards my hand, which held the list of targeted clubs and items stolen. I subtly hid it away from sight.

"So have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

Tani-kun then turned his sights towards the Magic Club's billboard. I pondered on the possibiliies of why I would bump into him here.

Just as I wondered if I should confirm that possibility with him, he began to puff his chest and said, "The guy known as 'Juumoji.'"

Bingo. I nodded and shrugged my shoulders.

"As expected of Tani-kun, no rumour ever escapes your attention."

I had meant that as a compliment, yet Tani-kun didn't look too pleased.

"Oh, so you do know."

"That's why I'm here."

"Well, it is you guys that discovered the crime note at the Cooking Club, so it's not surprising that you already knew... But how did you end up figuring out it's the Magic Club?"

"It was easy of course, we followed the gojuuon pattern."

With an intrigued smile, Tani-kun said, "...Interesting. I was right to expect something of you."

Why thank you.

Predicting what his next line would be, I decided to move pre-emptively.

"So, what will our next duel be?"

"Oh, so you're up to it?" Tani-kun said and smiled.

Then he lowered his voice.

"Anyway, to show my fairness... I can tell you that the Wall Newspaper Club has been hit."

I knew that already, you didn't really need to tell me. Though I shouldn't ridicule him for it, less it complicates things.

However.

"It seems the Wall Newspaper Club's now fired up. Their next edition headline will feature the Juumoji story. Seems like they're doing a manhunt for 'Juumoji' with rewards."

Now I didn't know that, so I said with genuine concern, "Oh? Rewards, eh?"

"Details for the rewards will be included in their Special Edition No. 1... Once this becomes public, it'll attract a great deal of attention."

"You bet."

"Everyone is hungry for something unexpected. At any rate, this will become the main talking point for tomorrow."

For me personally, who prefers to enjoy stuff alone, this was rather bad news. Having Tani-kun involved was already a kill-joy, but main talking point? Give me a break. Yet for the Classics Club, in need of some PR to promote themselves, this was good news. If the "Juumoji" incident were to get more and more exciting, attention would eventually be turned towards the Classics Club. As to which aspect I should place more importance on... Guess I should prioritize making Mayaka smile once again.

Placing his hand on my shoulder, Tani-kun smiled.

"Well, it's impressive that you were able to get wind of this so quickly. Sorry, but I'll be the one to catch this guy. I may not look it, but I'm quite the mystery fan, you know?"

Oh, really? While that was what I thought, I maintained my smiling expression.

"Do go easy on us,"

I gave him a polite response, to which he nodded.

"Good luck to us both then, Fukube!"

040 - ♦08

While I would prefer to slowly enjoy my lunch as an excuse to stay with the Classics Club as long as possible, I know this can't last. No matter how unpleasant it is, I need to return to the Manga Club soon.

Without noticing, I had already unwrapped and torn my bacon roll into bits, and I now slowly picked them up one by one and fed them to my mouth. I'll go once I'm finished with them all. Just when I'd decided to do that, Oreki, who was in charge of watching the stall, opened his mouth.

"Ibara, you said you've read Agatha Christie's novels before, right?"

I was just about to wonder how he knew that when I remembered that I had told him near the end of the summer holidays, during what Fuku-chan called the "Empress" affair.

I stopped picking up the bacon roll pieces and said, "I did, but only her most famous works. It's not like I've read all of her works."

"And ''The A.B.C. Murders'' is one of them?"

"Of course."

Crossing his arms, Oreki sat back deeply into his chair while brazenly staring at the ceiling and said, "This 'Juumonji' incident, Satoshi said it's similar to A.B.C...."

It was only just a while ago that Oreki was telling us off for mispronouncing "Juumoji," and now he's pronouncing it as "Juumonji." Though as a person's name, it is indeed easier to pronounce it as "Juumonji," so I didn't say anything.

"Somehow, it's easy to make the association. Since ''The A.B.C. Murders'' involve victims being left with an 'A.B.C. list,' then it's natural that he would make the association with the 'Kanya Festival Guides' that were left at the crime scenes."

"Well, of course. Or there wouldn't be much meaning to it."

"By the way,"

Moving his gaze down from the ceiling, Oreki looked as though he was about to say something bad.

"Just asking, but what's the reason the killer in ''A.B.C.'' kills his victims in alphabetical order?"

...What a strange question.

"Oreki, have you even read ''The A.B.C. Murders''?"

"Nope, just the premise."

"Premise, huh? So, do you intend to read it in the future?"

"...Dunno."

"Are you sure you still want to know even then? It'll spoil the story for you, are you okay with that?"

Thinking for a bit, Oreki met my gaze.

"Sure, go ahead."

Fine then.

Just to be safe, I had a look around. Because if someone were to hear all the plot details of ''A.B.C.'' before reading it, it would definitely ruin the story for them.

After making sure no one was around, I sighed.

"Well, it's actually quite straightforward. Wouldn't you already be thinking the killer simply wants to kill in alphabetical order?"

Oreki gave a bitter smile.

"Yeah, I guess."

Jeez. That's the problem with him, he would often change his mind just when he's about to say something. I began to speak harshly.

"In other words, you were thinking 'Juumoji' had simply wanted to steal according to the gojuuon sequence, weren't you?"

"...Yeah."

Oreki answered and sat upright with an unpleasant looking face.

"I don't know if 'Juumonji' was aware of Christie when he committed his crimes, but what has he stolen? Go stones and ladles, they're nothing but trinkets. Surely he wouldn't really want to steal those.

"But does that mean he's simply a prankster stealing in the gojuuon sequence just for fun?"

"So you're saying there's another meaning to all this?"

I took another piece of bread roll and stuffed it into my mouth.

"When Satoshi and Chitanda both heard that 'Juumonji' works according to the gojuuon sequence, they both ran out looking excited. To be blunt, just by observing the clues, anyone would have figured that out."

"It's true that you were the first to realize, but it's not like it's some big discovery in itself."

"In other words, this was no big deal to 'Juumonji' himself. If instead of the gojuuon sequence, he were to base his sequence on something more cryptic, for example taking the letters from the slogan 'Glory To Kami High,' then he would need to put more effort into it."

"I see. The gojuuon sequence just seems too easy to figure out."

I get what Oreki's trying to say. If 'Juumoji's' objective was merely to steal stuff following the gojuuon sequence, then this prankster is a bit weird in the head. But if that's not the case, then the gojuuon sequence is merely a process for him to achieve something else.

I did not realize this until I'd personally participated in the Cultural Festival, but it really is a unique moment. That uniqueness involves a sense of floating around in a carefree way, and it's not strange to see people getting moved along by strange pranks. But is that all?

...I think I'm becoming strange myself.

"Oreki, do you ever think of catching 'Juumoji' yourself?"

"Me?"

He looked surprised.

"Why would you think I'd do such a thing?"

"You look enthused."

Oreki snorted and went back to leaning on the back of his chair.

"It doesn't matter to me either way. Be it Juumoji (Ten Characters) or The Man with a Thousand Faces. If he wants to steal something from the Classics Club, I'll gladly give it to him as long as it's not my wallet. Though afterwards Chitanda would probably be very curious and would badger me about who 'Juumonji' was."

"Well, you could always just ignore her."

"She's not the sort of person you can just ignore."

Oreki frowned.

Hee hee.

How silly.

Tossing the last bits of bread roll into my mouth, I stood up. As I proceeded to move, I thought I should give my thanks.

"That reminds me. Oreki, thanks for the bag of flour. I was really at a loss back there."

"Oh. Don't mention it."

As though remembering something, Oreki gave an enigmatic smile.

"I got that bag of flour via the straw millionaire protocol."

Straw millionaire protocol?

"What're you talking about?"

"The story of the straw millionaire, you know?"

Oh, I see.

"So you want something in exchange for the bag of flour, is that right?"

"You got something? If you don't, then I don't mind ending my protocol here."

Oh, well.

After thinking for a bit, I took off the brooch on my chest.

"You can have this."

Oreki looked on in surprise.

"...Are you sure? Don't you need it for your cospl—"

"It's not a cosplay, you idiot!"

I threw the brooch at Oreki's face as hard as I could and quickly turned and left the Geology Room.

041 - ♣14

I had intended to keep monitoring any movement near the backstage entrance, but I cannot resist the call of nature. As the show was about to start, I quickly went for the bathroom. When I came back, I asked Tani-kun whether he saw anyone suspicious. Though he admonished me for having the audacity to ask a rival, it helped stroked his ego a bit as he answered kindly.

"Nobody came or went."

As he answered, someone emerged from the Class 2-D classroom. It was a male student, and the badge on his collar indicated he was a second year. That would be the Magic Club president Tayama. (It's not like I knew who he was, I just happened to read it in the programme booklet.) He raised his voice across the corridor filled with flags and lanterns and all sorts of decorations.

"The fifth Magic Club show will commence shortly."

Without saying anything, both Tani-kun and I entered the dark classroom. It seemed like even the windows were draped in black curtains. The classroom itself was partitioned into two parts, with a curtain separating the two sides. The tables were all stacked along the windows while the chairs were lined up in rows. Behind the curtain would be the backstage. Right before the curtain was the podium and teacher's table. That would be the stage. The spacing between the spectators' seating and the stage was quite narrow, which could be a bit tough for the performer but would provide a great view for the spectator. But now's not the time for me to enjoy myself.

I next looked at the people entering the spectators' seating.

As this was the fifth performance, most people with an interest in conjuring tricks would have already seen it, so there weren't many people coming in. The first person I saw coming in was someone I didn't expect. When silent, she would exude a cool aura, and when she spoke, it was as regally as an "Empress." I stood up without thinking.

"Oh, hello there, Irisu-sempai."

Irisu Fuyumi-sempai squinted her eyes in the dark to see who was speaking to her.

"...Oh, you're from the Classics Club."

She nodded and greeted me back before sitting on one of the chairs in the last row. It feels a bit strange seeing the extremely rational Irisu-sempai coming to watch a magic show.

The next person to come in was also a girl, who brought another girl with her. At first I thought they were a couple, as one of them was dressed like a man. I remember seeing that tuxedo before... That's right, she's with the Manga Club. She was with Mayaka when they were drawing the posters. In that case, the girl besides her would be the Manga Club president, whom I've seen a few times. Both chatted and pointed to their programme booklets while taking the seats in front.

Next came various people whom I did not know. Though we may study in the same school, I'm familiar with their faces, but it's not like I'm acquainted with them. As for visitors from outside the school, there was a middle-aged couple, even though today was a working day. Wondering what was going on, a grade-school-looking little girl entered as well looking curious.

The girl who entered next was a classmate of mine, though as I don't know her really well, I didn't call out to her. She must've noticed my presence, though she decided not to call out to me either. Come to think of it, her surname happens to be "Juumonji," Juumonji Kaho-san. As a member of the "Four Exponential Clans," I would most like to get to know her, but I find it quite hard to deal with her. (As for what I meant by "getting to know her," it simply means I'd like to ask her about stuff that I've not heard before, that's all. Though I'd get myself in a lot of trouble if Mayaka were to hear me say that.)

While there weren't many people in the beginning, in time the room was now quite packed. The Magic Club should be quite pleased with this attendance. The president from before could be seen taking a peek through the curtain.

Next came a group of guys. Whoa, if it isn't the president of the Executive Committee Tanabe Jirou? And beside him was... Oh my god, it's the Nth President of the Kamiyama High School Student Council, His Excellency Kugayama Munetaka. ("Nth" means I have no idea how many presidents there were before him.) A charismatic figure with a sporty-looking figure and carefree smile, his moving speech still left an impression in my mind, though I have no idea what the president normally does. Besides those two, I'm not quite acquainted with the others. Noticing me, Tanabe-sempai raised his hand to greet me.

While the spectator seating that took up half of the classroom was not quite completely filled, it was still 70% full. A girl, presumably a Magic Club member, closed the door. The partition curtain opened, and a male student walked onto the stage carrying a candle stand in each hand, placing them on the teaching desk. Taking a match from his pocket, he began lighting the candles, which began to illuminate the dark classroom with a gentle light. I see, in order to deal with the confined spacing of the room, they resorted to using dim candle lighting to make the room look bigger. I began to be absorbed by the mood created.

After the guy who lit the candles withdrew, the president emerged. The president, with his hair combed back and wearing a pair of framed spectacles, was a slim figure with skillful-looking hands. He waited till the audience gradually went silent before smiling and bowed courteously like a stage actor.

"Let the show commence. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Magic Club performance. Now feast your eyes upon the wonders that we have worked hard in order to show you."

Applause.

I looked around during the applause. There doesn't seem to be anything out of order so far...

"First, the Magic Club proudly presents Takamura Youichi of Class 1-B, who will be gracing us with his performance of 'The Living Dead.'"

He then withdrew from the stage amidst the applause. The male student that next emerged from the curtains was carrying a ball, as expected, as the El Bimbo<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Bimbo Wikipedia - El Bimbo]</ref> began to be played in the background... As a French whisper pop, this kind of music suits the mood well. Takamura-kun seems totally relaxed. Now I know why they were proudly presenting him. Or perhaps it's because this is the fifth time he's performing this?

The zombie ball and linking rings performances went smoothly as expected.

The Magic Club people sure have some skill. While I've seen my fair share of conjuring tricks, this was nothing to be amazed at, but still, it was quite intense seeing the ball float in mid air or the rings linked together from such a close distance. And while the first guy and the girl that followed had a few awkward moments with their movements, it wasn't so bad as to jeopardize their performance. I applauded their mastery from the bottom of my heart.

The third act, "Vanishing Act," was just as impressive. Tayama-san, the Magic Club president and their sole second year, was certainly more skilled than his two members. He was just as composed during his performance as he was while greeting the audience, making cards and handkerchiefs appear seemingly out of nowhere as the background music played (this time it's some piano sonata, the name of which I've forgotten).

His card and handkerchief apparition acts, while skillful, were nothing to be astonished at, but, I was still a bit surprised when he suddenly made that black handkerchief appear out of his right hand near the end. It caused quite a stir with the audience, and even I was grappling at the edge of my seat.

Whether he was relieved at the success of his performance or pleased with the applause, the previously emotionless president Tayama gave a gentle smile. He then took out a pink candle, which was already alight. I'm not making this up, normally you wouldn't put a lit candle in your pocket, would you? Raising the candle for all to see, we all applauded in unison.

Seated some distance from me, Tani-kun whispered to me while applauding.

"Looks like he's got the torch."

I don't know why he's calling it a torch. Sure, it has other names like a flambeau, torchlight or rushlight, but wouldn't one normally call those candles? I had an urge to explain to him that torches were different from candles, but I decided not to.

No, wait, I've been so immersed in the show, I'd nearly forgotten I wasn't here to watch the performance. Yet, nothing out of the ordinary had happened with the magic show so far, and there were no strange movements amongst the audience either. Occasionally the door would open and one or two more visitors would enter or leave mid way, but there was nothing "Juumoji" could have stolen from the outside, as there's nothing but curtains, the billboard, and posters. Hmm, what was it that Juumoji was after again? Something that begins with [KI].

...CANDLE ('''[KI]YANDORU キャンドル''')!

I gave out a gasp, and turned to look at president Tayama, who was sincerely thanking the audience. The candle in his hand was no longer lit. As it was probably dangerous, upon showing the lit candle to everyone, he had promptly blown it out. But that wasn't the only candle in the room. I turned to look at the candle stands used for illuminating the room.

"...AH!"

"Now, rather than the usual poker cards, this time we'll be playing with Japanese playing cards<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda Wikipedia - Hanafuda (Japanese card game)]</ref>... Huh?"

Oh crap, I gasped too loudly. As the following card magic involved interacting with the audience, there was no background music, and so Takamura-kun and Nagai-san, who were now performing, turned to look at me. I quickly waved my hands apologetically for interrupting them.

There were originally five candles on each candle stand. While the stand on the right still had five candles, the one on the left only had four!

They've been hit!

But when?! All this time no one had approached the stage, until now.

"And now, would the lady sitting at the back please come forward to the stage?"

Irisu-san, being called upon, walked towards the stage. But before that, only the performers had appeared. Which means the missing candle was never there to begin with.

And all this time I was thinking that "Juumoji" would carry out his act under the gaze of this many people. Yet the act had already been carried out before the show even began.

Dammit, I've been wasting my time all along!

He must have left his declaration of crime somewhere. Come to think of it, the ladle wasn't stolen from The Cooking Club during the Wild Fire tournament itself. It was already gone before the tournament even began. The phantom thief "Juumoji" did not seem to carry out his thefts in a flashy way like most phantom thieves do.

Anyway, if it had come to this, there was no reason for me to stay anymore. If it had already been stolen beforehand, then it rules out the people here as suspects. All that's left is to...

"The card you've chosen is the Maple Deer, right?"

"...That's it!"

I clapped my hands.

I straightened myself up and watched on carefully.

042 - ♦09

Returning to the Manga Club, one of the first years with whom I'm friendly greeted me.

"You're late."

I smiled kindly in response and returned to my seat at the booth.

The posters drawn during the morning had some effect in drawing visitors, as they seem to have increased from yesterday.

I asked the girl sitting beside me in a low voice, "How is it? Compared to yesterday."

She took a look across the room, and it was then that I noticed Kouchi-sempai was here.

Making sure Kouchi-sempai was engaged with her followers and not looking over here, the girl replied in an even lower voice, "Well, there are more visitors."

"Is it because of the posters?"

"I'm not sure, but..."

Well, it's good if it helps sales. It's not like I was against Kouchi-sempai's proposal to draw posters to attract customers in the first place, but on the other hand, it's not like I'm pleased that my drawings had helped as well. Don't get the wrong idea.

However, while realizing I could be wrong, I still felt something was not right. As we giggled, someone from across the room began speaking to indicate that they heard us.

"See? We should have listened to sempai to begin with."

"Yeah, if it weren't for someone being against it, we would have sold more yesterday."

It's not like these people who've not even contributed to the anthologies have any right to complain, but I kept quiet.

"Oh, don't be so mean to her. To think she worked so hard to draw the posters."

"I guess. Well, good luck."

Though they said one thing, the tones of their voices revealed another meaning. To be more precise, they were saying "Oh, don't be ''so'' mean to her. To think ''she'' worked so hard to draw the posters," while throwing a glance at me, as though accusing me of having a victim's complex and saying "Serves you right."

I love manga, and if I had to choose, I would say I like the Manga Club as well. Though I did not wish for this to happen... but it can't be helped. There's three of them, and it's not in my nature to say anything unnecessary. Not to mention I was unable to present my evidence. So I need to hold back. But with such an atmosphere, there's no way I could ask the club to help sell ''Hyouka''.

They continued their persistent whispering. They're really such pesky gossips. Speaking of gossips, this reminds me of a strange conversation I once had with Fuku-chan, when I once said he was like a gossip and he gave me an unbelievable response.

"You mean I'm brave?"

"Eh?"

"As well as being patriotic?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You said I'm like Kossuth<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Kossuth Wikipedia - Lajos Kossuth]</ref>."



"...What the hell's that?"

"A Hungarian hero."

Seriously, what the hell's that??

Being reminded of how seriously silly Fuku-chan was then, I giggled. I know I shouldn't be laughing, but I still ended up doing it. As expected, the gossiping group suddenly stopped.

"What's with her?"

"Isn't she being a bit cocky?"

"Weird girl."

Well I'm sorry about that!

This group normally acts in unison, with each member being basically like the others, though this time one of them led the way by speaking louder than before.

"She was bluffing, wasn't she? To say she couldn't find it, as if anyone would believe that. And she was going on about how there are masterpiece mangas out there and was bragging about showing us one of them. Instead, she gives the name of some doujin no one's ever heard of, as though she's some expert on it. Besides, she..."

For them to go so far, even my patience was incredibly stretched to the point of bursting.

"Enough. You should keep your mouth shut about things you have no knowledge of."

A voice called out from across the room. The gossiping group turned their heads in a direction they never expected the voice would come from. They had no choice but to keep quiet, as the one who spoke was none other than their leader, Kouchi-sempai. Dressed in her tuxedo, Kouchi-sempai began yawning as though she hadn't even said those words.

I was quite surprised. But not at Kouchi-sempai reprimanding her followers. For Kouchi-sempai, as long as it was funny, it didn't matter whether a manga was fiction or non-fiction, parody or homage, so I thought she would be the sort who wouldn't fuss whether things were fair or not. So I was really astonished when she of all people would tell people to shut up about things they are ignorant about.

The group of followers all cowered like a bunch of dogs who had just been scolded by their master. Though I could still feel their resentful gazes directed towards me.

This feels suffocating.

...Though I had only just arrived, I already felt like I needed a breath of fresh air. So I told the girl sitting next to me I needed to leave for a bit and stood up. I wish I could just flutter away like the wind.

The autumn sun was sinking quickly.

Though it wasn't yet evening, the sunlight was getting weaker and the wind was getting cooler. I stood along the roof of the connecting corridor, looking down towards the central garden, wondering if this place had been forgotten while the rest of Kamiyama High School has been decorated fully.

Till now, while I still think I wasn't wrong, I wondered if I should have kept silent.

But I didn't regret it, I think. I just couldn't stand by and watch Kouchi-sempai say that whether one think a manga is interesting or not was purely subjective. If what she said was true, then anyone can be an expert. While my art wasn't something I was ashamed of showing people, as I did draw the posters a while ago, the manga that I drew were just dull. I wanted to draw something more interesting, much, much more interesting. If I had not encountered ''Ashes at Dusk'', I would have still believed myself to be capable of that. For Kouchi-sempai to say it was pointless to strive to improve one's work, it was as though she was describing the effort as walking in the dark. She said without a clear objective or target, no matter how much you've progressed, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. No matter how you brush up your skills, it still wouldn't change anything. If I had accepted those words, then why would I still be thinking my art isn't good enough?

...Yet I didn't give her those counter-arguments yesterday, as I thought showing her a copy of ''Ashes at Dusk'' would be good enough. But I didn't consider whether she would be convinced by it, or whatever her followers might say afterwards.

Heh, I'm such an idiot.

...I feel like seeing Fuku-chan. He's probably engaged in some event like a fool somewhere. I too wanted to go investigate the "Juumoji" incident with him. I wonder if he would invite me. As a result of these thoughts, I still had not returned to the Manga Club.

"Ibara,"

A voice suddenly called out to me, so I turned to see who it was.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that."

It was President Yuasa, giving a concerned but gentle smile with her fluffy cheeks and double eyelids.

I quickly shook my head.

"Why are you apologizing? You've done nothing wrong, President."

"Well, that's because I've been quiet all this time. I wanted to stand by your side."

...To come all the way to the roof of the connecting corridor to tell me that, I wonder what my mind was going through then?

But, that's fine. It's not like I had wanted anybody on my side. And had she actually stood up for me, it would only worsen my conflict with Kouchi-sempai and cause turmoil within the Manga Club. That wouldn't be good. So it's fine.

"...Ayako doesn't really mean what she said," President Yuasa said as she stood alone.

As I was wondering who Ayako was, I realized she meant Kouchi-sempai, whose full name was Kouchi Ayako.

"What do you mean by her not meaning what she said? You mean her saying we should keep quiet about things we have no knowledge of?"

"No, not that. I meant her argument with you yesterday."

It was a topic I did not want to go further into.

I took a deep sigh and said, "You mean her saying whether a manga is interesting or not depends on one's acceptance antenna?"

The president nodded softly.

Was she trying to console me? If she was, she wasn't doing quite a good job at it.

I gave a weak smile and asked, "How could you tell she didn't mean it?"

"Well... it's because Ayako and I are good friends."

"Is that all?"

"Ayako and Haruna are good friends as well."

President Yuasa smiled kindly, as though I would understand by now. I was probably looking dumbfounded like an idiot right now. Who's Haruna? She sure wasn't referring to Kouchi-sempai, and that wasn't President Yuasa's name either. I could not recall anyone I knew with that name. After an awkward pause, I decided to ask.

"Who's that?"

"Who's who?"

"This Haruna."

This time it was President Yuasa's turn to look perplexed. The way she tilted her head reminded me a bit of Chi-chan.

"Eh? But, Ibara, I thought you've read her work."

What work? Seeing I still haven't got a clue, she continued.

"You know, ''Ashes at Dusk''?"

Hearing the name of the title I never thought would get mentioned during this conversation, I replied with a stiffened back.

"...Yeah."

"Haruna was its author. Anjou Haruna. Didn't she put her name on it?"

Eh?

I would have most certainly remembered who the author of ''Ashes at Dusk'' was. But, how should I say this, it was definitely not "Anjou Haruna." The author name for that doujinshi was a quite obscure sounding name, that I certainly remembered.

"I thought the author was someone called Anshinin?"

"Anshinin?"

"'Anshin' as in 'peace of mind,' 'In' as in 'hall.'"

President Yuasa looked a bit surprised, but then slowly shook her head.

"She must have used a pen-name then. But I know the story was penned by Haruna. I have no idea who drew the art, though Haruna should know."

I managed to learn more about the author of a manga I admire in the strangest of occasions.

While I knew that the script and artist were different people, for a moment, I had forgotten the depression that I was having and asked, "Which class is this person in?"

"Oh, Haruna is no longer here. She transferred to another school."

"...I-I see."

I tried to organize what the president had just told me... I didn't really get it, so I sighed softly.

"President, what did you mean when you said this Anjou Haruna was friends with Kouchi-sempai? And how did you realize Kouchi-sempai didn't mean what she said?"

The president looked downwards and went silent.

Could it be that she was quite cautious with her words? As I pondered such a question, she slowly raised her head.

"If you had spoken to Haruna, you might understand as well. I know this is not a good enough answer for you, but, I'm sorry Ibara, while I do know the answer, I'm not able to tell you."

"..."

"Because Ayako is my friend."

Her large eyes with her double eyelids looked lonely as she explained. ''I can't tell you, because she's my friend.'' If she had told me, she might feel that she was speaking ill of Kouchi-sempai... as well as revealing Kouchi-sempai's secrets.

In any case, as she couldn't tell me, I wouldn't understand. And right now, I realized I was going nowhere thinking about something I do not understand. I slowly shook my head.

I feel like being alone. Regardless of whether Kouchi-sempai really meant what she said, I just wanted to indulge in the breeze.

"Let me just enjoy the breeze for a bit before returning."

"Ibara..."

Once again, I said insistently, "I'll be back in just a bit."

So please leave me alone.

043 - ♠11

It was soon five o'clock.

Though everyone had returned just before the final chime, for some reason the mood seemed strange. Satoshi was unusually frowning for once. In contrast, Chitanda looked pleased. Ibara just looked downright depressed. As she probably doesn't wish for anyone to speak to her, I decided to ignore her for now.

"We've been outfoxed, Houtarou."

As Satoshi spoke, he suddenly stared at my face and asked puzzledly, "What happened to your eye?"

Is it still red?

"Oh, my eye got hit by a heart."

"Huh?"

"Like I said, my eye got hit by a heart."

Satoshi looked dumbfounded, but quickly regained his composure.

"Anyway, we were completely outfoxed. A candle was taken from the Magic Club."

"Isn't that good news?"

I said truthfully, "It wouldn't be good if 'Juumonji' was caught before he reached the Classics Club, would it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Satoshi nodded grudgingly. Hearing his story, it seemed he had hoped to catch "Juumoji" red handed. Firstly, none of the items from [A] to [KA] had been stolen during events. Secondly, "Juumoji" wouldn't be so stupid as to pick an inconvenient time like during a performance to carry out his thefts. He would simply do so at a time of his convenience, regardless of whether an event was ongoing or not.

"You could've told me that earlier..."

Satoshi grumbled. Hey, it's not like I knew what you were trying to do before.

"So? Did you find a declaration of crime?"

"Yeah, after looking around, we found it bundled along with a notice for tomorrow's first show at 10am, and sure enough, a copy of the ''Kanya Festival Guide'' was there as well."

"And you found that in the corridor?"

"Yeah."

This means the culprit could be anyone.

Meanwhile, Chitanda's cheek was twitching. Though she wanted to smile, upon seeing Ibara looking depressed, she obviously couldn't do so. I decided to break the tension.

"Seems like you found something good?"

Chitanda gave a big nod.

"Yes I did!"

"Really?"

"The twenty copies of ''Hyouka'' that I've given to Irisu-san are selling well."

I guess, since it is that Irisu. While it's something to rejoice about, I couldn't smile for some reason. I just hope she doesn't find use for me this time.

"So they're all sold out?"

"No, there are still a few copies left, but they'll most likely be sold out by tomorrow."

If they're all sold out, should we send another twenty copies over? That was the question.

"And there's more. The ''Kami High Monthly Special Edition'' that was released at 4pm mentioned the 'Juumoji' incident. It included the gojuuon rule that Oreki-san figured out."

I feel a bit embarrassed at being credited for such a deduction. As I've mentioned to Ibara, anyone could have figured that out.

Chitanda continued while placing her hand before her chest as though in prayer, "Besides, they've mentioned the Classics Club's name! Right here: ''And so, our dear readers, it is speculated that 'Juumoji' will carry out his final crime sometime between noon and 2pm at either the Classics Club or the Miniature Club ([KO]USAKU BU 工作部).''"

"The Miniature Club? I didn't know we had such a club."

Satoshi nodded deeply as he replied, "We do, now that you mention it."

"If he went to that club, then all our plans will be wasted."

"Yes, I'm worried about that as well,"

Chitanda gradually withdrew her delighted expression as she said that. I was wondering why she was so happy just now when I realized it was she who had brought that newspaper from the Wall Newspaper Club over here. So she was happy that she gets to inform us of the news... No, that's not right. This wasn't something that would get her this happy, there must be something else to it. But I shouldn't be prying into the minds of others, especially not that of Chitanda Eru.

"...So, Houtarou, how many copies have we sold?"

Ah, that.

"Excluding the copies we've given Irisu-sempai, that would be sixteen copies."

"Hey, we're actually selling more than yesterday."

Yeah, but only marginally. Though we seem to have done better in our promotion today via the Wild Fire tournament than the Quiz Trial tournament yesterday. So there were more students who had decided to come over to this forsaken corner during their free time. We'll need all the word-of-mouth advertisement we can get.

At the end of the second day, our hope for selling out the remaining three quarters rests with how the "Juumoji" incident plays out...

Well, we'll worry about it then. I took out a bag of biscuits from the table drawer.

"Houtarou, what's that?"

"I bought them from the Confectionery Club. I've not eaten them yet, you can have some if you like."

As I called out, even Ibara had walked over.

The four of us divided up the bag of biscuits. As we munched on the biscuits, the chime signaling the end of the second day began ringing.

'''[141 COPIES REMAINING]'''

==Translator's notes and references==

<references />

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 3-2|3-2 - Wild Fire]]
| Return to [[Hyouka|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 4|4 - Yet Another Sleepless Night]]
|}
</noinclude>

User talk:Cautr

2014-02-07T01:41:34Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Talk */

[[Image:cautr_2.jpg|border|right|x210px]]

Welcome to my talk page. Please use the respective categories to say whatever.

==Talk==
Saw your entry just a few minutes back, thanks for the moral boost! Stay on the DAL page for just a while longer, the next section will be up by the end of the day. [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 08:20, 18 October 2013 (CDT)

err thanks... i guess--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase|talk]]) 06:13, 25 November 2013 (CST)

thanks for your encouragement, that was exactly what I needed. I was feeling a bit down about my edits. -- [[User:NoodleShopRampage|NoodleShopRampage]]

==[[Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne—]]==

/

==[[HUNDRED]]==

I`m interested in the project, though I can help only as an editor in English. Send a message if you need help :).

I just want to say that it isn't that I don't understand japanese, it is just that my english sucks. If I were to translate from japanese to french, then I would not have need editors to look for some errors and grammatical fouls in my work. And the sentences I touched on your translation, I change them because I was sure of the meaning. What I did was just TLC, not edit. I thought that I could TLC and that some other people could have easily edit afterward. Just that. Anyway, I decide to help accelerate this project with translation. Since you have already taken chapter 1, I think I will work chapter 2 translation later. What do you say? [[User:Setsuna86|Setsuna86]] ([[User talk:Setsuna86|talk]]) 05:05, 27 January 2014 (CST)

If you can do, then Okay. I have just propose to help. Anyway, good luck. [[User:Setsuna86|Setsuna86]] ([[User talk:Setsuna86|talk]]) 11:17, 27 January 2014 (CST)

==[[Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai]]==

So am Übersetzen von Hagani bist du jetzt nicht mehr interessiert? --[[User:Darklor|Darklor]] ([[User talk:Darklor|talk]]) 05:39, 18 September 2013 (CDT)

Yea I will probably pick it up for translation after I finish reading it. [[User:inaban|-inaban]] ([[User talk:inaban|talk]]) 09:58, 13 October 2013 (JST)

==[[Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru]]==

Yes of course! It may be easier to discuss things over at the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4637 Forum thread] for Oreshura. Okashira (the TLC for Oreshura), is fantastic at editing things for accuracy, but his English isn't always the best. It would be great if you could go over the old chapters for fluency and clarity so it's comfortable to read c: (Don't bother trying to edit the chapters that say "pending TLC/proofread" because Okashira will get to those eventually and he will probably edit over your edits). If you run into any that seems unclear, post in the Discussion section of the page. Anything major can go on the forum page or the talk page. Thanks for volunteering~! And yes... I still am desperate for a fluent English editor xD [[User:Cloudii|Cloudii]] ([[User talk:Cloudii|talk]]) 14:01, 18 October 2013 (CDT)

==[[Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Come o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru]]==

/

==[[Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo]]==

Hi, pleased to meet you. I'm done editing the first volume, I just haven't found the time to upload all of the changes. I do intend to go through all of the volumes, most likely chronologically (Don't know when I'll get around to it though). Hope to get along with you too!!!
--[[User:DarkeKyuubi|DarkeKyuubi]] ([[User talk:DarkeKyuubi|talk]]) 19:07, 25 September 2013 (CDT)

Hey, this is Infiking, I was wondering if it is ok to keep the dashes to seperate sections that seem to skip around a lot? Also, nice to meet you and thanks for your hard work.
[[User:Infiking|Infiking]] ([[User talk:Infiking|talk]]) 12:11, 27 December 2013 (CST)

==[[Oda Nobuna no Yabou (Deutsch)]]==

Abondoned would it be with the current rule in some months, since the last update for it was in December 2012 for Kapitel 2. So I would say you'll have still to wait some months till you can take over this chapter. For the other chapters shouldnt it be a problem, since they weren't already registered or officially worked on. --[[User:Darklor|Darklor]] ([[User talk:Darklor|talk]]) 05:37, 18 September 2013 (CDT)

Schön zu sehen, dass noch jemand sich entschieden hat Oda Nobuna no Yabou zu übersetzen. Wie du sicher weisst, bin ich kein Deutscher, deshalb sind meine übersetzungen nicht gerade 'perfekt'. Natürlich habe ich nichts dagegen, im gegenteil, ich bin froh. Ich hatte und werde demnächst auch keine Zeit zum übersetzen haben. Wenn du irgendwelche hilfe brauchst, einfach nur fragen. --[[User:AngelOfDeath|AngelOfDeath]] ([[User talk:AngelOfDeath|talk]]) 09:26, 18 September 2013 (CDT)

Sure, I don't think I'll finish it any time soon, so it's better if you take it over. --[[User:AngelOfDeath|AngelOfDeath]] ([[User talk:AngelOfDeath|talk]]) 16:55, 19 September 2013 (CDT)

I don't mind. I was actually planning on asking you if you wanted to take over the Supervision of Oda Nobuna, but I never came to it. --[[User:AngelOfDeath|AngelOfDeath]] ([[User talk:AngelOfDeath|talk]]) 14:22, 11 October 2013 (CDT)

==[[Campione! (Deutsch)]]==

/

User talk:RikiNutcase

2014-02-06T12:39:20Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Absolute Duo-Editor */

==High School DxD edits==
Hey, is it ok to let me do a quick first edit of High School DxD chapters before you begin editing. I can make 1st run edits, while you can go over it once i'm done and make any other changes.
Thought I should ask so our edits don't conflict.
I should begin editing the chapter within 10-20 mins of it being uploaded, If I haven't edited after that, just begin editing your self, as I may not be able to edit for a few hours.
Thanks --- [[User:Ff7 freak|ff7_freak]]

OK
------
Is it alright if I list you as retired editor over Highschool DxD's page? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 18:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

sure~ since the only thing i do know is spelling--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh nono, as long as you are regularly doing something I guess it's alright to keep you on the active list. I was just asking since you listed yourself as retired on your user page, I kinda have been taking it easier as well these days lol. Thanks for all your edits as of now, we'll see in a couple of months if we mess up a bit with the editors list. [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 23:02, 16 August 2012 (CDT)

nah~ just put me in the retired list~ ill be focusing on translating now--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 03:39, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

I'll proceed then, thanks for all your contributions. Who knows I might end up editing some of your translations too, good luck. Would you recommend Seirei Tsukai? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 04:07, 17 August 2012 (CDT) Edit: forgot to sign lol, even if it might be obvious...

hmmm im focusing on Date A live now sooo~ seirei maybe next time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 04:41, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

== Talk:Seirei-Tsukai no Blade Dance Vol 3 Prologue ==

Need some help with a few kanji i never heard seen or Found before in the dictionary 背負=Knapsack Lol?(=.=)--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Some queries from the translations:

<pre>With a mesmerizing blue colored ponytailed hair that would make anyone recognize her as a cute and lovely beautiful girl,
but there wasn't a sense of a sweet/naïve emotion from her.</pre>

Doesn't "naive" means stupidity/ignorant? It kinda feels like a mismatch.

<pre>If you touch her you will get a cut kind of feeling omitted out of her body, just like a sword.</pre>

Can we use "slash" instead of "cut" and is it really "omitted" or rather should be "emitted"?

背負= knapsack or a midget from Rikaichan (can help better if given some insight abt the previous statement in the txt)

Thanks for the translations :) --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] 11:41, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

Im guessing you can switch to Lovely/sweet since its "amai" Lol. oh opps guess i got spelling errors. Using slash seems kinda exaggerated so stick with cut. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

yea better stick with cut rather than slash cuz its kinda deeper than meaning of cut. Maybe i'll suggest the word 'omitted' can be be change to simpler ones like 'released' or 'came out' instead. --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 11.50am, 20 April 2012(UTC)

You all can change anything that suit's the sentence, ill just focus on translating for now~Good luck y'all --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Ok :) at least it doen't affect the meaning of the sentence. Best luck to u too dude.dying to read the next one :) --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 12.18am, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Good try, look [[Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance:Names_and_Terminology_Guidelines|here]] for the standardized terms. And, this is up you to but it'll be nice if you follow the paragraphing(the double enter in wiki) of the novel. I'll review it when I'm done with v2c2 and give you some feedback.

About the kanji you mentioned, where is in from? Is it part of the verb 背負う? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 10:52, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Page 11 2nd sentence Lowere part. Thanks for the support --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

It's the verb 背負う, are you familiar with verb conjugations? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:14, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

いずれおまえも帝国の威信を'''背負'''い.....Thats the sentence i dunno if i need to put "Carry the empire dignity on your back" or what....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

背負う = 背負い = (v5u,vt) (1) to be burdened with; to take responsibility for; to carry on back or shoulder; (2) to have (something) in the background; to be in front (of something); (P); ED

So the whole line would be like, "Because, eventually, you'll also be shouldering the dignity of the empire and fighting in the blade dance." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:38, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Hmm well meaning my translation was correct Thanks Senpai XD --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Hi, I've made some changes yesterday of page 1, so if there's anything you're not sure about the changes, feel free to ask. Btw I noticed you gave some word [ ] or capitalization, which aren't needed. Some of the words you chose to use are a little too different from the original. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 23:23, 23 April 2012 (CDT)

裾に大きな切れ目の人<---- someone help translate this its a very weird sentence...--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

裾: (trouser) cuff; (skirt) hem
切れ目: break; pause; gap; end;...

So, "A person with a large gap between her (trouser) cuffs." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 17:54, 18 May 2012 (CDT)

奉納する最高位の神楽=the greatest offering of (kagura)?<---- need someone clarify? --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

split it like this: 奉納する | 最高位の神楽

The greatest Kugura offered --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 22:06, 25 May 2012 (CDT)

Thank you very much. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

ハット=> this word is usually used as? there is sooo many cases for this......--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

okay.....done with the prologue whats left is kuroihikari to give the finishing touches and double check....sorry for the problems~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

== volume 4's titles ==

Hmm, I guess that will depend on what the chapter is about, but I haven't read till there yet. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 05:07, 11 May 2012 (CDT)

==Date.A.Live ==
this series has one hell of a kanji festival (=.=) just the prolouge i think there's more than a few hundred.....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

I've made some major edits, and some parts I simply took what the Chinese version said. Could you look at them? [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 10:28, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Took a few looks at it and found some mistakes TY~ thanks for the fix oh heres a small thing when, Tohka makes a dialogue she uses "shido". the MC name is Shidou maybe she might have problems with kanji since it is written in katakana.oh and how do you put a nav bar and a Terminology page???--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:40, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh. IIRC, Tohka doesn't know how his name is written, so when she calls Shidou, it's written with katakanas. For the nav bar, do you want the simple one or the template? As fo the terminology page, you just have to create a wiki link, though I can do that for you as soon as I am in front of my computer. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 11:14, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

the nav bar something like seirei's since it is easier to check between pages. and for the terminology you can take your time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:39, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai, I'm a new translator(self proclaimed) for Kurumi Killer. I've taken the liberty of translating the prologue, please give me some pointers! Oh and do you mind if I try translating the whole novel by myself? Its going to be tough since I don't have the original text and I'm just going by chinese to english, but I really hope that I can do this! Here's some virtual soba and I'll be in your care! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:50, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

*eats soba while talking* go ahead and if you have any problems just tell us *slurpp* good luck--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:58, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

I don't know how to say this properly, but I found just too many mistakes while reading through the chapter. ( vol 2 ch 1). --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 00:40, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

then i guess you can fix em?is it grammatical error or TL error? and can you tell me where exactly?--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 01:39, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

Its grammatical errors. Translation errors are not my forte ( and I personally don't think there are any. I am able to follow the translation flow.). As to the places....near about everywhere. My main confusion is regarding the tense. There's a continuous change between past and present tense (leaving aside the dialogue). Also, there are errors for punctuations...and many more. For now, just take care of starting a sentence in caps. :P --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 03:56, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

oh.....i guess i'll get a editor to do it XD good luck on your seirei TL--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:01, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

I made some large edits to vol2 chapter 1, part 1 without consulting you first:

*In between the two of the girls for the time being, the ordinary Shidou couldn’t help but enter and divide them. Originally his body's fatigue was accumulated from unusual amount of mental stress.

changed to

*Acting as the the divide between these two girls for the time being, Shidou's body was accumulating fatigue from unusual amount of mental stress.

was a particular large one, hopefully it hasn't drifted to far from what you originally wanted it to say.

Also it might be annoying, but could you have a glance over the Names and Terminology Guidelines? In particularly the translators need to get together and settle on how you guys want to present Shidou in katakana form presented across volumes --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 08:42, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

that is okay no meaning changed i guess..and ill take a look at the N&T page, but the katakana/hiragana problems is usually from Tohka. john prefers shidou instead of Shidou or Shido.....i'll disscuss with him
thanks for the edits and help--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:46, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

I am sorry I am writing it there only so late. I sometimes edit your work. If you have any problems with my changes (I know that sometimes I am doing quite drastic changes to the sentences without consulting it first) just tell me and I will try not to do similar mistakes again, or if you are too displeased with my changes, just tell me to not edit your work and I won´t.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 08:41, 6 November 2012 (CST)

don't worry about it i wont burst out of anger from edits(though i do get heated up by random ppl asking the delays for vol 1).....but anywats do what Drowzy is doing, if you have sentence changes you can ask me...no you have to ask me LOL just type the sentence here and ill check.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

So I added some suggestions and comments. Did zou mean it like this?--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:36, 6 November 2012 (CST)

you can use the talk page or come here and post the question of the edit good luck~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 09:39, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Well if you don´t exactly mind I would rather do it in this style, it is faster than using two windows (and I am incredibly lazy person). You can reply to me there or just use the things in comments.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Geez now I noticed that while I was editing my keyboard switched into another language and the comments ended being quite a mess. I won´t edit my own comments since it isn´t so important, but anyway, I am sorry.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:48, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Most of the edits have been minor and towards changing things like "is" to "was", making things plural/singular of that sort of nature, trying to make things a bit more uniform looking in terms of numbers of [......],etc. Even more head scratching since I've encountered Yoshino's speech, LOL so I just left them how they were. The more dramatic changes I tried leaving TLC tags as hidden notes directly in the text, which you've removed so I assume they weren't too bad.

Ideally, like the latest edits, we'll just discuss them in the relevant discussion pages (There are few scenes that that I changed from the earlier chapter 1 edits that I'll pull out to discussion pages to go through later). But reading through it hasn't been too bad, there have only been 1-2 lines at most that in each chapter have been really confusing. Usually in the narrative bits of the text where some sequences seem a bit jumbled. The dialog has been fine. Thanks for the translations. :) --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 09:54, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Hi Riki-kun. Erm, yeah...I just wanted to point out a few things about your Date A Live translations. To begin with, your English is confusing to the point of being incomprehensible. I guess the Editors can fix that...but the meanings might end up getting distorted. Also your translations aren't very accurate and you seem to be skipping some parts...If you don't understand stuff you can always post it in the Lingua Franca Lexicon forum. So, yeah maybe you should get someone to TLC everything or retranslate the volume afterwards...(-_-;) [[User:Stellarroze|Stellarroze]] 07:47, 11 November 2012 (CST)

i check the mistakes when editors change it. and im not that good in jp>eng. and ....seriously i skipped some parts? mind pointing where? and whoa its that bad huh......guess ill take it down from B-T since it needs retranslation--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:50, 11 November 2012 (CST)

BT's never had minimum requirements for quality, and I don't think that it's a good idea to set such a precedent for it. Though it is a little troubling when translations are wrong, I think readers would be much happier to hear that you continued rather than giving up. I think that all stella meant to say was that you should feel free to ask for help when you think that there's something that you're not completely understanding. Besides, if you just take care when translating, skipping lines won't be a problem at all. There's nothing wrong with taking a little more time to translate~ - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 08:26, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Pls don't make quick decisions :teary eyes 
I enjoy this series very much. And you have editors to take care of the errors --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 08:37, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩が”おまえが下手糞”に言われて何か傷つく過ぎて、涙が血に成ってしまった。hahaha........--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:46, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩におまえが下手糞と言われて何だか傷つき過ぎ、涙が血に成ってしまった - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 12:32, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Congrats on completing Volume 2, I see you're starting on Volume 5 already, just curious to know why don't you start on Vol 4? (Don't do it though *pleading*, I have my eyes on that volume) [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:43, 28 November 2012 (CST)

you said you wanted to do the Kurumi's chapter...Vol 4 includes that and.....Vol 3 is not done lol--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:51, 28 November 2012 (CST)

Waii~!Thank you! But Volume 4's gonna be hella slow since my country doesn't have the chinese raws yet......Are you translating any other projects other than DAL?

planning either seirei tsukai , Gakuen Toshi Asterick or Gin Cross draculia. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:10, 28 November 2012 (CST)

hey Riki, i am a huge fan of you and admirer as well :) and thanks for translations. Well just wondering since rozenbach can't translate from Japanese and chinese raws are not available yet, but you can translate from japanese, then won't you translate volume 4 :) Hey please don't be offended because of this i am just curious please.
thanks

Rozenbach will translate Vol 4 until either to the end of the Chinese translation or he decides to stop. if he wants help he can contact me or john--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:13, 2 December 2012 (CST)

For Tohka's pronunciation of Shidou's name, what should it be? shido, shidou, or Shido? Should it be capitalized? In the terminology page, the reference usedis "shidou", should I go with the names from the terminology page when editing?

use shidou, since John set the rules of it in Vol 1.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 06:24, 7 December 2012 (CST)

Nyahahahaha~ I got busted huh....Well I originally used "Voting competition Chapter" for the url link. Then I thought that Web chapter was more fitting, then when I edited it, the entire chapter disappeared, in a panic I made a new chapter. I'll take the first chapter down once all the hype is gone. orz sorry for any trouble caused! Oh and I'm already done with chapter 6, I can't translate any more unless chinese raws are out, I'll have to leave the rest to you and John then. Just pleading but LEAVE any chapters with Kurumi to me!!! hahaha, I'm obsessed. Oh btw, do you have the raws to volume 6? [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Muhahaha, I only know that Kurumi comes out on Vol 6's end chapter. What happened to John-san? is he not translating anymore? The frigging chinese translators decided to skip volume 4 and went straight into volume 5, now I can't even translate even if I wanted to... DX< I'll probably be doing other projects first until the chinese volume comes out orz. But that doesn't mean I'll be inactive!!! my eyes will be out for any more stories. Oh and what's that about a Kotori's birthday chapter? I didn't know about that! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Well I finally found chapter 7 and 8 just now, so it looks like you're stuck with me for a little longer. Translation IS going to be slower than ever since I have to go back into training soon, but I should be able to churn out one chapter every two weeks. I'll keep searching as I translate! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Hmm... Sorry, right in the beginning of the vol5 ch3 "Tohka placed his hand on the wall" I was gonna change it to her hand but from the context it seems to be Shidou. Can you check that over? [[User:Keisanichi]] ([[User talk:Keisanichi#top|talk]])

Firstly,I would like to apologize for changing 'Shidou' to 'shidou' without permission in chapter 3 of volume 5(line 1064) m_m . Secondly,in the same chapter(line 1085), '..share a bed that girl" it sounds a bit weird. Perhaps you can check it again. I hope I won't offend you in anyway. Oh,and thanks for your translations. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 00:23, 19 January 2013 (CST)

'...a Queen swinging a whip down and the boys was, a naked man on all four with his but facing her.' Anone Riki,did you mean 'butt/back' instead of 'but'? Oh,and thanks a lot for your translations. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 01:55, 18 February 2013 (CST)

"And, at that moment a sound-like noise shook his right eardrums and following with that, he heard a sleepy voice coming from it."
Hello Riki ^^, I was doing some major editing of Volume 5 and on chapter 2 I don't know what sound shidou was trying to describe there, I'm Gonna put something like High-Pitched for now. BTW I'd like to talk to you on some translations of the sentences later once I get a copy of the Raws. --[[User:Daylighter|Daylighter]]([[User talk:Daylighter|talk]]) 20:48, 6 March 2013 (GMT+8:00)

I'm gonna be VERY shameless here, can i take volume7? I'm saying this even though I haven't finished Vol 4 yet...OTL Just asking thanks. [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 08:11, 6 April 2013 (CDT)

Thx for update [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 21:27, 22 April 2013 (CDT)

Congrats for vol 5 completion. Just curious, will you do the next volume too? [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 22:28, 4 May 2013 (CDT)

Ano riki~ on chapter 5 of vol.5 "He tried multiple times but, the results were the same. <Sandalphon> was only cutting the air around the radius of its blade, would not show its absolute authority '''''(I think it'll be better if you add comparison here e.g 'similar　to/just like' cause it sounds weird.)''''' when Tohka handles it." and "While both of them were in a haori[5E 1]-like state, on Shidou’s hand which was gripping onto <Sandalphon>’s handle, she '''''(I believe it should be "gently accompanied..." instead. Btw doesn't "gently joined her hands.." sounds better? Though I have no idea whether that's how it is written in the original japanese text or not)'''''gentle accompanied her hands together with his." All in all,it's only my small opinion. Don't bite me #__#. Thank you for translating this. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 09:35, 7 May 2013 (CDT)

What about 'gently accompanied'? 'Gentle accompanied' doesn't really make sense imo. m__m Sorry for being fussy. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 02:45, 8 May 2013 (CDT)

Vol 6 chapter 2 doesn't has lost its registered translator. Would you mind translating the missing parts once you are done with chapter 4?--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 15:52, 1 August 2013 (CDT)

Riki, not my fault. For volume 7's epilogue I followed the Chinese translations and they did say that Shido kissed Miku after having sealed her powers. If it was an error, not one Chinese reader caught it. [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:03, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

Pointed what out? The discrepancy between the original Japanese text and the online Chinese translation? [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:29, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

(I am new at this.) Is the reason you deleted my edit because I'm not registered? If so then sorry, won't do it again. But seriously, at least put periods and commas at the end of dialogue. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:25, 23 August 2013 (CDT)

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Sorry about that, I'm used to editing with less restrictions. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:58, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

I'm going to put the punctuation back in. Is it OK if I fix the tenses as well? (Line 744)[[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 07:08, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

Just want to say thank you for translating DAL. I have to say, the nuance of how you translate improved greatly from Vol 2 to Vol 5. Amazing, I love it. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 08:06, 25 September 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I saw that DAL's volume 8 illustrations were uploaded with IMG_??.JPG patern. When I got home I will rename the images with the right name and numbers. Anything against it?

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 08:56, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

go ahead but remember to change the pictures in the chapters too--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:59, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Thanks fr the fast answer. I will take good care of the images on the chapters. :D

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 09:04, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Just asking here: why jumped to vol 8 and skipping vol 7? I dont see anyone registered themselves on vol 7. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 06:44, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

He already answered this question in the forum, go take a look: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4694&p=210335#p210335 here] 
[[User:Devenk83|Devenk83]] ([[User talk:Devenk83|talk]]) 06:55, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I think and only if you got the time and what not, help translate Volume 7. As Tsuchiura is probably overwhelm atm with stuff, and iamadooddood is m.i.a for at least a few years or so. I don't mind editing whole volumes (will edit DAL volume 8 when fully completed) and I plan to help edit Absolute Duo to help you out. [[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]])

Sweet jesus your TL speed is out of space! Nice going! [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 06:04, 25 November 2013 (CST)

== Image TL req ==
DAL_v01_000e.jpg , that is Vol 1 with kotori sitting on the chair. Could you TL what's in the left bottom part of it? There's TL for the other part, but someone didn't notice that text :p. --[[User:Krytyk|Krytyk]] ([[User talk:Krytyk|talk]]) 09:58, 29 January 2013 (CST)

== Absolute Duo-Editor ==
I apologize about my mistakes with chapter 3 of Absolute Duo. I just felt that so many things were out of place.

Apologies,

NoodleShopRampage

I'm interested in becoming an editor for this project. I did not know if I needed to contact you or Code-Zero, so I decided to write both of you. I'm a native English speaker and I'm quite proficient with the spoken and written forms of the language. If you will accept me,then I'm more then happy to help. I'm currently in college and will have to edit between assignments but I enjoy reading and writing so doing this type of work during my free time is not a problem.

Thanks,

Jesse

Hi Riki!! Regarding my recent edit, you reverted the 'blonde' to ' gold'. My assumption was from the vol cover page showing the blonde girl. It will be helpful if you can tell what 'gold' means for this case. I am just curious abt it. Thanks. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

Thanks Riki. Will keep in mind about the same while reading. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

==Gratitude==
thank you for translating Absolute Due! --[[User:Kai Ran|Kai Ran]] ([[User talk:Kai Ran|talk]]) 06:24, 18 January 2014 (CST)

User talk:RikiNutcase

2014-02-06T12:38:47Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Absolute Duo-Editor */

==High School DxD edits==
Hey, is it ok to let me do a quick first edit of High School DxD chapters before you begin editing. I can make 1st run edits, while you can go over it once i'm done and make any other changes.
Thought I should ask so our edits don't conflict.
I should begin editing the chapter within 10-20 mins of it being uploaded, If I haven't edited after that, just begin editing your self, as I may not be able to edit for a few hours.
Thanks --- [[User:Ff7 freak|ff7_freak]]

OK
------
Is it alright if I list you as retired editor over Highschool DxD's page? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 18:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

sure~ since the only thing i do know is spelling--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:33, 15 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh nono, as long as you are regularly doing something I guess it's alright to keep you on the active list. I was just asking since you listed yourself as retired on your user page, I kinda have been taking it easier as well these days lol. Thanks for all your edits as of now, we'll see in a couple of months if we mess up a bit with the editors list. [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 23:02, 16 August 2012 (CDT)

nah~ just put me in the retired list~ ill be focusing on translating now--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 03:39, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

I'll proceed then, thanks for all your contributions. Who knows I might end up editing some of your translations too, good luck. Would you recommend Seirei Tsukai? [[User:Ajmc93|Ajmc93]] ([[User talk:Ajmc93|talk]]) 04:07, 17 August 2012 (CDT) Edit: forgot to sign lol, even if it might be obvious...

hmmm im focusing on Date A live now sooo~ seirei maybe next time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 04:41, 17 August 2012 (CDT)

== Talk:Seirei-Tsukai no Blade Dance Vol 3 Prologue ==

Need some help with a few kanji i never heard seen or Found before in the dictionary 背負=Knapsack Lol?(=.=)--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Some queries from the translations:

<pre>With a mesmerizing blue colored ponytailed hair that would make anyone recognize her as a cute and lovely beautiful girl,
but there wasn't a sense of a sweet/naïve emotion from her.</pre>

Doesn't "naive" means stupidity/ignorant? It kinda feels like a mismatch.

<pre>If you touch her you will get a cut kind of feeling omitted out of her body, just like a sword.</pre>

Can we use "slash" instead of "cut" and is it really "omitted" or rather should be "emitted"?

背負= knapsack or a midget from Rikaichan (can help better if given some insight abt the previous statement in the txt)

Thanks for the translations :) --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] 11:41, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

Im guessing you can switch to Lovely/sweet since its "amai" Lol. oh opps guess i got spelling errors. Using slash seems kinda exaggerated so stick with cut. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

yea better stick with cut rather than slash cuz its kinda deeper than meaning of cut. Maybe i'll suggest the word 'omitted' can be be change to simpler ones like 'released' or 'came out' instead. --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 11.50am, 20 April 2012(UTC)

You all can change anything that suit's the sentence, ill just focus on translating for now~Good luck y'all --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Ok :) at least it doen't affect the meaning of the sentence. Best luck to u too dude.dying to read the next one :) --[[User:Chia|Chia]] 12.18am, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Good try, look [[Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance:Names_and_Terminology_Guidelines|here]] for the standardized terms. And, this is up you to but it'll be nice if you follow the paragraphing(the double enter in wiki) of the novel. I'll review it when I'm done with v2c2 and give you some feedback.

About the kanji you mentioned, where is in from? Is it part of the verb 背負う? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 10:52, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Page 11 2nd sentence Lowere part. Thanks for the support --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

It's the verb 背負う, are you familiar with verb conjugations? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:14, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

いずれおまえも帝国の威信を'''背負'''い.....Thats the sentence i dunno if i need to put "Carry the empire dignity on your back" or what....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

背負う = 背負い = (v5u,vt) (1) to be burdened with; to take responsibility for; to carry on back or shoulder; (2) to have (something) in the background; to be in front (of something); (P); ED

So the whole line would be like, "Because, eventually, you'll also be shouldering the dignity of the empire and fighting in the blade dance." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 20:38, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Hmm well meaning my translation was correct Thanks Senpai XD --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

Hi, I've made some changes yesterday of page 1, so if there's anything you're not sure about the changes, feel free to ask. Btw I noticed you gave some word [ ] or capitalization, which aren't needed. Some of the words you chose to use are a little too different from the original. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 23:23, 23 April 2012 (CDT)

裾に大きな切れ目の人<---- someone help translate this its a very weird sentence...--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

裾: (trouser) cuff; (skirt) hem
切れ目: break; pause; gap; end;...

So, "A person with a large gap between her (trouser) cuffs." --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 17:54, 18 May 2012 (CDT)

奉納する最高位の神楽=the greatest offering of (kagura)?<---- need someone clarify? --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

split it like this: 奉納する | 最高位の神楽

The greatest Kugura offered --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 22:06, 25 May 2012 (CDT)

Thank you very much. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

ハット=> this word is usually used as? there is sooo many cases for this......--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

okay.....done with the prologue whats left is kuroihikari to give the finishing touches and double check....sorry for the problems~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

== volume 4's titles ==

Hmm, I guess that will depend on what the chapter is about, but I haven't read till there yet. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] 05:07, 11 May 2012 (CDT)

==Date.A.Live ==
this series has one hell of a kanji festival (=.=) just the prolouge i think there's more than a few hundred.....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]]

I've made some major edits, and some parts I simply took what the Chinese version said. Could you look at them? [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 10:28, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Took a few looks at it and found some mistakes TY~ thanks for the fix oh heres a small thing when, Tohka makes a dialogue she uses "shido". the MC name is Shidou maybe she might have problems with kanji since it is written in katakana.oh and how do you put a nav bar and a Terminology page???--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:40, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Oh. IIRC, Tohka doesn't know how his name is written, so when she calls Shidou, it's written with katakanas. For the nav bar, do you want the simple one or the template? As fo the terminology page, you just have to create a wiki link, though I can do that for you as soon as I am in front of my computer. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 11:14, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

the nav bar something like seirei's since it is easier to check between pages. and for the terminology you can take your time--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 20:39, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

Hello senpai, I'm a new translator(self proclaimed) for Kurumi Killer. I've taken the liberty of translating the prologue, please give me some pointers! Oh and do you mind if I try translating the whole novel by myself? Its going to be tough since I don't have the original text and I'm just going by chinese to english, but I really hope that I can do this! Here's some virtual soba and I'll be in your care! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:50, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

*eats soba while talking* go ahead and if you have any problems just tell us *slurpp* good luck--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:58, 15 October 2012 (CDT)

I don't know how to say this properly, but I found just too many mistakes while reading through the chapter. ( vol 2 ch 1). --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 00:40, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

then i guess you can fix em?is it grammatical error or TL error? and can you tell me where exactly?--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 01:39, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

Its grammatical errors. Translation errors are not my forte ( and I personally don't think there are any. I am able to follow the translation flow.). As to the places....near about everywhere. My main confusion is regarding the tense. There's a continuous change between past and present tense (leaving aside the dialogue). Also, there are errors for punctuations...and many more. For now, just take care of starting a sentence in caps. :P --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 03:56, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

oh.....i guess i'll get a editor to do it XD good luck on your seirei TL--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:01, 19 October 2012 (CDT)

I made some large edits to vol2 chapter 1, part 1 without consulting you first:

*In between the two of the girls for the time being, the ordinary Shidou couldn’t help but enter and divide them. Originally his body's fatigue was accumulated from unusual amount of mental stress.

changed to

*Acting as the the divide between these two girls for the time being, Shidou's body was accumulating fatigue from unusual amount of mental stress.

was a particular large one, hopefully it hasn't drifted to far from what you originally wanted it to say.

Also it might be annoying, but could you have a glance over the Names and Terminology Guidelines? In particularly the translators need to get together and settle on how you guys want to present Shidou in katakana form presented across volumes --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 08:42, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

that is okay no meaning changed i guess..and ill take a look at the N&T page, but the katakana/hiragana problems is usually from Tohka. john prefers shidou instead of Shidou or Shido.....i'll disscuss with him
thanks for the edits and help--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:46, 3 November 2012 (CDT)

I am sorry I am writing it there only so late. I sometimes edit your work. If you have any problems with my changes (I know that sometimes I am doing quite drastic changes to the sentences without consulting it first) just tell me and I will try not to do similar mistakes again, or if you are too displeased with my changes, just tell me to not edit your work and I won´t.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 08:41, 6 November 2012 (CST)

don't worry about it i wont burst out of anger from edits(though i do get heated up by random ppl asking the delays for vol 1).....but anywats do what Drowzy is doing, if you have sentence changes you can ask me...no you have to ask me LOL just type the sentence here and ill check.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

So I added some suggestions and comments. Did zou mean it like this?--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:36, 6 November 2012 (CST)

you can use the talk page or come here and post the question of the edit good luck~--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 09:39, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Well if you don´t exactly mind I would rather do it in this style, it is faster than using two windows (and I am incredibly lazy person). You can reply to me there or just use the things in comments.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:43, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Geez now I noticed that while I was editing my keyboard switched into another language and the comments ended being quite a mess. I won´t edit my own comments since it isn´t so important, but anyway, I am sorry.--[[User:KaprJarda|KaprJarda]] ([[User talk:KaprJarda|talk]]) 09:48, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Most of the edits have been minor and towards changing things like "is" to "was", making things plural/singular of that sort of nature, trying to make things a bit more uniform looking in terms of numbers of [......],etc. Even more head scratching since I've encountered Yoshino's speech, LOL so I just left them how they were. The more dramatic changes I tried leaving TLC tags as hidden notes directly in the text, which you've removed so I assume they weren't too bad.

Ideally, like the latest edits, we'll just discuss them in the relevant discussion pages (There are few scenes that that I changed from the earlier chapter 1 edits that I'll pull out to discussion pages to go through later). But reading through it hasn't been too bad, there have only been 1-2 lines at most that in each chapter have been really confusing. Usually in the narrative bits of the text where some sequences seem a bit jumbled. The dialog has been fine. Thanks for the translations. :) --[[User:Drowzycow|Drowzycow]] ([[User talk:Drowzycow|talk]]) 09:54, 6 November 2012 (CST)

Hi Riki-kun. Erm, yeah...I just wanted to point out a few things about your Date A Live translations. To begin with, your English is confusing to the point of being incomprehensible. I guess the Editors can fix that...but the meanings might end up getting distorted. Also your translations aren't very accurate and you seem to be skipping some parts...If you don't understand stuff you can always post it in the Lingua Franca Lexicon forum. So, yeah maybe you should get someone to TLC everything or retranslate the volume afterwards...(-_-;) [[User:Stellarroze|Stellarroze]] 07:47, 11 November 2012 (CST)

i check the mistakes when editors change it. and im not that good in jp>eng. and ....seriously i skipped some parts? mind pointing where? and whoa its that bad huh......guess ill take it down from B-T since it needs retranslation--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 07:50, 11 November 2012 (CST)

BT's never had minimum requirements for quality, and I don't think that it's a good idea to set such a precedent for it. Though it is a little troubling when translations are wrong, I think readers would be much happier to hear that you continued rather than giving up. I think that all stella meant to say was that you should feel free to ask for help when you think that there's something that you're not completely understanding. Besides, if you just take care when translating, skipping lines won't be a problem at all. There's nothing wrong with taking a little more time to translate~ - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 08:26, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Pls don't make quick decisions :teary eyes 
I enjoy this series very much. And you have editors to take care of the errors --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 08:37, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩が”おまえが下手糞”に言われて何か傷つく過ぎて、涙が血に成ってしまった。hahaha........--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 10:46, 11 November 2012 (CST)

いやああ、しかし、先輩におまえが下手糞と言われて何だか傷つき過ぎ、涙が血に成ってしまった - [[User:YoakeNoHikari|YoakeNoHikari]] ([[User talk:YoakeNoHikari|talk]]) 12:32, 11 November 2012 (CST)

Congrats on completing Volume 2, I see you're starting on Volume 5 already, just curious to know why don't you start on Vol 4? (Don't do it though *pleading*, I have my eyes on that volume) [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 19:43, 28 November 2012 (CST)

you said you wanted to do the Kurumi's chapter...Vol 4 includes that and.....Vol 3 is not done lol--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 19:51, 28 November 2012 (CST)

Waii~!Thank you! But Volume 4's gonna be hella slow since my country doesn't have the chinese raws yet......Are you translating any other projects other than DAL?

planning either seirei tsukai , Gakuen Toshi Asterick or Gin Cross draculia. --[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:10, 28 November 2012 (CST)

hey Riki, i am a huge fan of you and admirer as well :) and thanks for translations. Well just wondering since rozenbach can't translate from Japanese and chinese raws are not available yet, but you can translate from japanese, then won't you translate volume 4 :) Hey please don't be offended because of this i am just curious please.
thanks

Rozenbach will translate Vol 4 until either to the end of the Chinese translation or he decides to stop. if he wants help he can contact me or john--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 22:13, 2 December 2012 (CST)

For Tohka's pronunciation of Shidou's name, what should it be? shido, shidou, or Shido? Should it be capitalized? In the terminology page, the reference usedis "shidou", should I go with the names from the terminology page when editing?

use shidou, since John set the rules of it in Vol 1.--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 06:24, 7 December 2012 (CST)

Nyahahahaha~ I got busted huh....Well I originally used "Voting competition Chapter" for the url link. Then I thought that Web chapter was more fitting, then when I edited it, the entire chapter disappeared, in a panic I made a new chapter. I'll take the first chapter down once all the hype is gone. orz sorry for any trouble caused! Oh and I'm already done with chapter 6, I can't translate any more unless chinese raws are out, I'll have to leave the rest to you and John then. Just pleading but LEAVE any chapters with Kurumi to me!!! hahaha, I'm obsessed. Oh btw, do you have the raws to volume 6? [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Muhahaha, I only know that Kurumi comes out on Vol 6's end chapter. What happened to John-san? is he not translating anymore? The frigging chinese translators decided to skip volume 4 and went straight into volume 5, now I can't even translate even if I wanted to... DX< I'll probably be doing other projects first until the chinese volume comes out orz. But that doesn't mean I'll be inactive!!! my eyes will be out for any more stories. Oh and what's that about a Kotori's birthday chapter? I didn't know about that! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Well I finally found chapter 7 and 8 just now, so it looks like you're stuck with me for a little longer. Translation IS going to be slower than ever since I have to go back into training soon, but I should be able to churn out one chapter every two weeks. I'll keep searching as I translate! [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]])

Hmm... Sorry, right in the beginning of the vol5 ch3 "Tohka placed his hand on the wall" I was gonna change it to her hand but from the context it seems to be Shidou. Can you check that over? [[User:Keisanichi]] ([[User talk:Keisanichi#top|talk]])

Firstly,I would like to apologize for changing 'Shidou' to 'shidou' without permission in chapter 3 of volume 5(line 1064) m_m . Secondly,in the same chapter(line 1085), '..share a bed that girl" it sounds a bit weird. Perhaps you can check it again. I hope I won't offend you in anyway. Oh,and thanks for your translations. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 00:23, 19 January 2013 (CST)

'...a Queen swinging a whip down and the boys was, a naked man on all four with his but facing her.' Anone Riki,did you mean 'butt/back' instead of 'but'? Oh,and thanks a lot for your translations. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 01:55, 18 February 2013 (CST)

"And, at that moment a sound-like noise shook his right eardrums and following with that, he heard a sleepy voice coming from it."
Hello Riki ^^, I was doing some major editing of Volume 5 and on chapter 2 I don't know what sound shidou was trying to describe there, I'm Gonna put something like High-Pitched for now. BTW I'd like to talk to you on some translations of the sentences later once I get a copy of the Raws. --[[User:Daylighter|Daylighter]]([[User talk:Daylighter|talk]]) 20:48, 6 March 2013 (GMT+8:00)

I'm gonna be VERY shameless here, can i take volume7? I'm saying this even though I haven't finished Vol 4 yet...OTL Just asking thanks. [[User:Rozenbach|Rozenbach]] ([[User talk:Rozenbach|talk]]) 08:11, 6 April 2013 (CDT)

Thx for update [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 21:27, 22 April 2013 (CDT)

Congrats for vol 5 completion. Just curious, will you do the next volume too? [[User:Victorrama|Victorrama]] ([[User talk:Victorrama|talk]]) 22:28, 4 May 2013 (CDT)

Ano riki~ on chapter 5 of vol.5 "He tried multiple times but, the results were the same. <Sandalphon> was only cutting the air around the radius of its blade, would not show its absolute authority '''''(I think it'll be better if you add comparison here e.g 'similar　to/just like' cause it sounds weird.)''''' when Tohka handles it." and "While both of them were in a haori[5E 1]-like state, on Shidou’s hand which was gripping onto <Sandalphon>’s handle, she '''''(I believe it should be "gently accompanied..." instead. Btw doesn't "gently joined her hands.." sounds better? Though I have no idea whether that's how it is written in the original japanese text or not)'''''gentle accompanied her hands together with his." All in all,it's only my small opinion. Don't bite me #__#. Thank you for translating this. :) [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 09:35, 7 May 2013 (CDT)

What about 'gently accompanied'? 'Gentle accompanied' doesn't really make sense imo. m__m Sorry for being fussy. [[User:Resoundz|Resoundz]] ([[User talk:Resoundz|talk]]) 02:45, 8 May 2013 (CDT)

Vol 6 chapter 2 doesn't has lost its registered translator. Would you mind translating the missing parts once you are done with chapter 4?--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 15:52, 1 August 2013 (CDT)

Riki, not my fault. For volume 7's epilogue I followed the Chinese translations and they did say that Shido kissed Miku after having sealed her powers. If it was an error, not one Chinese reader caught it. [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:03, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

Pointed what out? The discrepancy between the original Japanese text and the online Chinese translation? [[User:iamadooddood|iamadooddood]] ([[User talk:iamadooddood|talk]]) 05:29, 9 August 2013 (CDT)

(I am new at this.) Is the reason you deleted my edit because I'm not registered? If so then sorry, won't do it again. But seriously, at least put periods and commas at the end of dialogue. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:25, 23 August 2013 (CDT)

OK, thanks for clearing that up. Sorry about that, I'm used to editing with less restrictions. [[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 06:58, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

I'm going to put the punctuation back in. Is it OK if I fix the tenses as well? (Line 744)[[User:Passwordrawr|Passwordrawr]] ([[User talk:Passwordrawr|talk]]) 07:08, 24 August 2013 (CDT)

Just want to say thank you for translating DAL. I have to say, the nuance of how you translate improved greatly from Vol 2 to Vol 5. Amazing, I love it. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 08:06, 25 September 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I saw that DAL's volume 8 illustrations were uploaded with IMG_??.JPG patern. When I got home I will rename the images with the right name and numbers. Anything against it?

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 08:56, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

go ahead but remember to change the pictures in the chapters too--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] ([[User talk:RikiNutcase#top|talk]]) 08:59, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Thanks fr the fast answer. I will take good care of the images on the chapters. :D

--[[User:Nura rihan|Nura rihan]] ([[User talk:Nura rihan|talk]]) 09:04, 17 October 2013 (CDT)

Just asking here: why jumped to vol 8 and skipping vol 7? I dont see anyone registered themselves on vol 7. [[User:Castor212|Castor212]] ([[User talk:Castor212|talk]]) 06:44, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

He already answered this question in the forum, go take a look: [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4694&p=210335#p210335 here] 
[[User:Devenk83|Devenk83]] ([[User talk:Devenk83|talk]]) 06:55, 24 October 2013 (CDT)

Riki, I think and only if you got the time and what not, help translate Volume 7. As Tsuchiura is probably overwhelm atm with stuff, and iamadooddood is m.i.a for at least a few years or so. I don't mind editing whole volumes (will edit DAL volume 8 when fully completed) and I plan to help edit Absolute Duo to help you out. [[User:Dual Blades|Dual Blades]] ([[User talk:Dual Blades|talk]])

Sweet jesus your TL speed is out of space! Nice going! [[User:Cautr|-cautr]] ([[User talk:Cautr|talk]]) 06:04, 25 November 2013 (CST)

== Image TL req ==
DAL_v01_000e.jpg , that is Vol 1 with kotori sitting on the chair. Could you TL what's in the left bottom part of it? There's TL for the other part, but someone didn't notice that text :p. --[[User:Krytyk|Krytyk]] ([[User talk:Krytyk|talk]]) 09:58, 29 January 2013 (CST)

== Absolute Duo-Editor ==
I apologize about my mistakes with chapter 3 of Absolute Duo. I just felt that so many things were out of place.

I'm interested in becoming an editor for this project. I did not know if I needed to contact you or Code-Zero, so I decided to write both of you. I'm a native English speaker and I'm quite proficient with the spoken and written forms of the language. If you will accept me,then I'm more then happy to help. I'm currently in college and will have to edit between assignments but I enjoy reading and writing so doing this type of work during my free time is not a problem.

Thanks,

Jesse

Hi Riki!! Regarding my recent edit, you reverted the 'blonde' to ' gold'. My assumption was from the vol cover page showing the blonde girl. It will be helpful if you can tell what 'gold' means for this case. I am just curious abt it. Thanks. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

Thanks Riki. Will keep in mind about the same while reading. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 06:46, 2 December 2013 (CST)

==Gratitude==
thank you for translating Absolute Due! --[[User:Kai Ran|Kai Ran]] ([[User talk:Kai Ran|talk]]) 06:24, 18 January 2014 (CST)

Absolute Duo:Volume 2 Chapter 3

2014-02-06T12:22:41Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Chapter 3 『That Is a Good Idea』 */ Looked over the chapter, I missed something.

==Chapter 3 『That Is a Good Idea』==

===Part 1===

After exiting the school gate and crossing the small bridge, the only connection to the outer world to the students attending Kouryou academy ---------is a monorail for authorized personal only.

In a distance that doesn’t even take 5 minutes; the suspended type monorail is connected to a nearby JR station<ref group ="2c">Japan Railway station</ref> of Tokyo and Chiba from the front of the school.

When we boarded the railway car, there were only a small number of people riding inside.

Since school academy personnel were the only ones able to use it in the first place, it's only natural to say the number of users are few.

Thanks to that, we're grateful to find empty seats without fighting over them.

“This is somehow heart throbbing isn’t it?”

Sitting in the opposite side of the box seat, Yurie said while looking outside the window.

“I see. It’s the first time you visited a Japanese city.”

“Ya---. That is why I am looking forward to it.”

Yurie shifted her eyes from the window to me and nodded.

(It might be good to take a breather like this once in a while...)

I took a side look at Yurie, who had returned to looking at the sea outside the window, and *Fuu* leaked a smile.

Incidentally, Yurie and I were in uniform even though it was Sunday.

It’s not like there is a school rule saying we have to wear the school uniform when going out of the school.

It’s simply just because Yurie doesn't have any clothes to match the May weather, and I followed her.

(However, this placement relation sure feels nostalgic. Well, it’s probably because I've gotten too used to it.)

Normally, I would be with Yurie side by side with our shoulders close to each other when we usually watch television--------and depending on the situation, we would be sitting side by side within a certain distance, I could feel the warmth from us almost touching each other.

It's also the same case when we attend classes and at the cafeteria.

That is why I feel strange sitting in front of her and would accidentally fix my stare at her.

This foreign beauty directing her {{Furigana|red eyes|Ruby eyes}} outside the window.

Her {{Furigana|silver hair|Silver blonde}}, which no one would turn away from and would stare amazed, was beautifully swaying.

Because there's a lack of expression shown on her well-featured face, it makes one think of her as a delicate bisque doll.

But I know this normal girl has something aside from those truths.

---Inside that heart holds a dark emotion known as revenge.

The same darkness as me.

Maybe------That night was just a dream, I would think something like that.

However, I felt hesitant to put that matter in my mouth again.

That’s because I didn’t want to admit Yurie holds the same hatred as me and is someone that wishes for revenge.

“-----Tooru?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Chirin* the echoing bell brought me back.

She has probably called out to me many times already. Yurie was looking at me while tilting her head.

“We're going to arrive soon."

“Ah... I-I see.”

Before I knew it, almost as soon as we departed, the monorail was close to reaching its destination.

In the middle of slowly entering the platform, Yurie got up from her seat.

“Yurie, it’s better to stand up once we arrive.”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Gakon*.

Almost at the same time of my warning, the monorail was close to stopping and was swaying.

“Ah...”

My warning was useless and Yurie’s balance collapsed, making her fall on her butt.

...on top of my lap.

Her hair swayed and a pleasant smell tickled my nose.

“Th-that’s why I told you.”

“Ya-Ya-----……..”

After I said that while feeling a little embarrassed, Yurie also hanged her head downwards in embarrassment.

“I will be careful from now on. Alright then, let’s get off.”

After I stood up, I extended my hand to Yurie.

Although I once extended out my hands to her in the clock tower last time, including this time, having her hands rested on mine felt very embarrassing.

After getting out the station we transferred to the JR route, following what Miyabi taught me, and got off after one station.

From there, after walking for around 5 minutes, we reached our destination the A La Mode but------

Once, the A La Mode was the biggest shopping mall in Japan (According to Miyabi’s information), although that status has been taken by another place, the number of customers didn't decrease and is filled with many people during holidays.

“…………….It’s like a festival.”

Although it can’t be said to be wide, Yurie opened her mouth in amazement and looked around.

“Tooru isn’t really that shocked.”

“That’s because there was a big mall in my hometown. Well, let’s see the floor guide and confirm the location of the shop for now.”

“Ya---…………..”

I urged Yurie, who was still a little blank and the moment, as I opened the guide map I took from a nearby help kiosk, I furrowed my eyebrows in bewilderment.

“What is this…………..”

The guide map is oddly thick, as it spans 8 pages even though it is just introducing the floors; with a total of more than 500 plus shop names written in it.

(I heard there are a lot of shops but, I didn’t think it would be this many……………)

“Tooru, Is something wrong?”

While I was dumbfounded, Yurie tip-toed while peeking into the guide map.

She then grabbed my sleeves to take balance and her peeking form makes me think of her as a small animal.

“Ah, sorry. Let’s look at this while sitting nearby.”

After saying that, I sat on a nearby stool with Yurie.

“This is... I have no idea what's going on in this at all.”

“A-aah... As expected, it’s normal to think that.”

She brought her body closer, defenselessly as usual, and stuck on my lap making me feel slightly excited (mentally) .

However, Yurie did not seem bothered by this at all and flipped the page but------

“It’s too many, so I don’t know where we should go...”

And like that, she made a troubled face.

The only information in the index are the shops name and position code. What’s more, it’s not like the places are positioned in the west, south, north hall respectively since it also expands to the first and second floor; thanks to that, just like what Yurie said, we have no idea where we should go.

“U---n... Let’s walk around randomly for now. Since there are this many shops, I think we would find something of interest sooner or later.”

I stood up and right before I was about to start walking, I recalled something and turned back.

“Yurie, please be careful not to get separated because of the crowd.”

“Ya---“

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Koku**koku* Yurie nodded and grabbed my sleeves tightly.

“I won’t get separated like this.”

Yurie said that with satisfaction while making a small smile.

“Th-that’s true...”

It’s not like the level of holding hands, but this is embarrassing in its own way.

However, that feeling immediately disappeared somewhere once we started walking.

Inside, amongst the hustle and bustle, the many people we passed by looked at us and I could hear topics about Yurie.

["Hey, isn’t that girl really beautiful?"] ["A celebrity?"] ["I’ll take a photo and upload it"] ["Oh, she has a guy…….."] ["The Blondie just now was good too but, this is good in its own way………."]

There were a lot of reactions but, most of it regarding Yurie.

But, while I meant most of it, it means all of it wasn’t that.

["They are wearing school uniforms though; I wonder which school they are from?"] ["Don’t know? I never seen that before…………."]

It’s only normal they don’t know.

Unless there is a good reason, Kouryou students are not allowed to go out other than weekends.

And even if they were to go out on a weekend, there probably isn’t any commendable students that would go out wearing a school uniform.

Only the school name could be heard at best.

Even for myself, if I hadn’t heard about the existence of the school beforehand then, not only would I have no idea about the internal conditions of the school, I wouldn't even know the school’s name in the first place.

(That’s because it’s a school with that kind of enrollment ceremony.)

Although it is a school lacking common sense when half of the number of students dropped out from the enrollment ceremony, it’s also weird that this school is not known to the public.

Mikuni-sensei said that information regulations were imposed, but it would probably be just a rumor at most.

And when I was thinking things like that, my sleeves was *gui**gui* being pulled.

“Tooru, how about that shop?”

“Ah, You’re right, that’s a cute shirt... I guess?”

I was often brought by my sister Otoha to buy things. However, I don't know anything about girl's clothing.

But, judging from the shop display, it’s true that I feel it would suit Yurie.

Like that, we tried entering this shop for now but-------

“I think this suits her. How about it, boyfriend-san?”

“Eh!? Ah... No, no, no. I am not her boyfriend!”

When we were looking around for clothes, a female shop attendant came over and said those lines; even though I hurried and denied it, she just giggled.

She probably thought I was trying to trick her.

A male and a female together, we even entered the shop together and started looking at clothes. Yurie was still grabbing my sleeves. It wasn't difficult for the shopkeeper to misunderstand.

Rather, even if I am a 3rd person here, we would definitely be thought of as a couple.

“I will go try on the clothes now.”

Yurie left with those words after taking several summer clothes, recommended by the shop attendant, before entering the changing room.

“Fufu, she’s a very cute girlfriend!”

“Y-yeah………”

I gave up on correcting the misunderstanding. I nodded while giving a wry smile.

Checking on Yurie's status, I sighed a bit while glancing at the shop attendant who came to stick her nose in our business, and began regretting coming here with the two of us only.

(It would have been better if everyone was together...)

Miyabi is probably out playing with Tachibana somewhere.

Tora headed out somewhere so I couldn’t find him.

Tatsu is working hard in his muscle training.

While I was recalling the status of my friends, the curtain opened slighly and Yurie's face popped out.

“Tooru, I have finished changing... can you see it?”

“I’ll say this just in case; don’t expect good fashion sense from me.”

“Ya---. It is okay.”

I don’t know what she meant by "it is okay" but Yurie nodded and opened the curtain wider.

[Uoo...][Oh my...]

The shop attendant and I let out a shocked voice while Yurie silently showed herself.

The clothe Yurie tried on was a cooling, basic, white, one piece.

The sleeves were opened wide and the arranged white lace emphasized the girlishness.

“What’s wrong, Tooru?”

“A-aah... errr, I think it suits you very well...”

“Thank you very much. I will buy this then.”

“You decide too fast!! Wait, isn’t it at least better to try some of the others first before deciding?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Un**un*The shop attendant beside me nodded.

Rather than doing it for her job, her expression was saying to try more clothes on.

“I understand... but I decided to buy this one.”

After saying that, she closed the curtain once more and we waited a few more minutes.

“Tooru. What do you think about this?”

It's black this time, the opposite color of the one piece earlier. Looking at her figure, the attendant and I made sounds of admiration.

The skirt was short and it had a lot of frills. Due to its color, it made Yurie’s silver hair attractive. It suited her very well.

“Err...I think it’s nice. Extremely.”

“Ya---. I think I will buy this too then.”

Maybe she liked my response, Yurie slightly narrowed her eyes and confined herself within the changing room a third time.

She then showed herself not long later. Again, the clothes suited her.

“How about this?”

“It looks refreshing so why not?”

“Ya---, it is very soothing. Well, this too...”

She bought all 3 clothes she tried in the end.

“E-erm. If it’s okay with you, will you try other clothes? For my eyes... not that, I think it will suit miss customer and we have a lot of cute clothes too”

“Errr... what will you do, Yurie? Will you try it on?”

“Ya--. If Tooru says so.”

It was a mistake to go with the flow.

“Yurie... Don’t you think you are buying too much?”

While staring at the 12 clothing items, stacked up like a mountain on the counter, I made a comeback just in case.

Looking at the pile of clothes at the cash register, Yurie bought too many clothes (as expected). If I hadn't told Yurie it was time to go to other shops, I have no idea how many clothes she would have bought.

“Nai. I am only buying the clothes Tooru said is nice.”

“N-no, it’s true I said them but, I think all of it is just a little...”

“But, this one looks very matching and this one is very nice, this one is cooling and-------“

Yurie lined up my comments one by one without making any mistakes.

After saying everything until the last 12th clothes-----

“As expected, I will buy all.”

In the end, Yurie called herself as a very good customer-san.

Although the shop attendant opened her eyes wide when we said to buy 12 clothes (+3 pair of shoes), she made an even more shocked expression when we told her we would pay with our student ID.

She probably would have never thought students like us would pay with a card.

But the instant we handed her the card, the attendant muttered, "Ah... it's that school."

I became curious on how she knew about our school, so I asked her. It seems several people like us come over here to buy stuff every year.

However, we were the first ones to purchase this large of an amount.

Incidentally, the moment I heard the total amount of money, my eyes almost popped out.

Luckily it was within our allowance, so there wasn’t any problem.

“Alright then, now that we finished buying clothes, what should we do now?”

“--------? Weren’t we going to other shops to see the clothes?”

“... no, I’ll give up on that for today.”

It was easy to imagine the result of going to another shop.

It would be faster if I say it doesn’t suit her but, the foundation material is good---------rather that, Yurie was so good looking, to the point that, any clothes she wears suits her naturally.

More importantly, it's impossible for me to tell her that.

In front of the small happy expression she shows when I say it suits her, there's no way I can lie.

“So, should we head back?”

“U-nn... well since we are outside, let’s wander around for a bit then.”

“Ya--. That’s true.”

Nonetheless, we had a lot of baggage so we decided to stop at the delivery counter first.

“Well, where should we go, Tooru?”

After we finished our lightening our load, we decided to look around the north hall from one corner to the other.

As if it was natural for her, Yurie grabbed my sleeves and walked beside me.

Although it was more or less embarrassing for me at the beginning, we talked with each other while looking at the shops until I forgot about it.

After that, Yurie looked at the ferret in the pet shop nearby with her eyes glittering and played a free to play virtual game in one corner of the game shop. We were having a time fun and peaceful enough to forget about our tough training.

“Now that I think back, Miyabi told me the gelato on the first floor is recommended.”

“… gelato huh. If Miyabi recommended it then, I want to try heading there but..."

As a late lunch, when Yurie was about to start her pumpkin cream pasta and fondant chocolate as dessert, I recalled the talk Miyabi gave me.

Even Yurie isn't an exception to girlishness. It seems Yurie also loves sweets and she often changes expressions with the desserts that come out from the cafeteria.

That is why it's only normal for her to think she wants to try something after hearing about it as a recommendation but------

Since Yurie eats little in the first place, it's clear that she won't be able to eat both the chocolate and gelato. She knows that, and dropped her shoulders.

It will probably be alright after some time, but the influence would probably come back during dinner time this time if we were to do that.

Her disappointed look was really pitiful, so I came up with an idea-------

“Why don’t we try buying as much gelato as you can eat for now? If you can't eat all of it then I will eat the leftovers.”

“That is a good idea.”

Yurie became happy again.

(This is good, this is good...)

Her expression was so nice, I accidentally smiled.

And like that, my thoughts quickly ended.

“Tooru. Just in case, can you eat this chocolate?”

“Aah, I don’t mind.”

Yurie asked me about her half eaten chocolate.

Since there was no reason to refuse, it was alright. But-------

“Please open your mouth.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, please open your mouth.”

She lifted, one mouth-full sized scoop of fondant chocolate wrapped in cold ice with her fork, placing right it in front of me.

“... Are you perhaps going to feed me?”

“Ya—♪Ahnn”

“N-no, doing that in front of people is a little...”

“----? Miyabi often does this to me?”

But that is between girls.

And we are of the opposite sex.

I know Yurie has no other intentions, but it can’t be helped for me to feel resistant to her actions, rather I think it's only normal to do so.

“Errrr...”

Luckily, there weren't many people in the shop since it wasn't lunch time any more. Thanks to the many dividing panels, people can't really see us. It's unacceptable in that there was window. However, since there is an atrium in front of the window instead of a road, we aren't likely to be noticed from outside.

(Well, I guess this situation is alright...?)

“------?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Chirin* the bell rang as if to urge me. And of course, Yurie doesn’t any intentions of making me hurry.

“I-I get it. Then…………..”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ahhn* I opened my mouth wide as I was told and ate the chocolate.

(I’m glad everyone didn’t come...)

Just now, I was thinking something completely different from my thoughts earlier.

“Tooru, here you go.”

“Eh? Again?”

“Ya---. There is still too much left. So, Ahhnn”

“Hahaha... okay.”

In the end, Yurie fed me around 8 times. One time, a shop attendant there saw us and giggled, making it an awkward situation.

But------

The true problem came right after that.

“Tooru, Ahhn”

Between the south and north hall in a place called Harbor Street where many people pass by, Yurie brought the gelato to my mouth.

“...eh?”

“It's very delicious so I am sharing with you. That’s why Tooru, please. Ahnnn”

Inside, within the presence of a crowd of people, Yurie smiled as if she was not bothered about them at all.

Of course, it was only natural for me to be bothered by the gazes of passerby.

“----Tooru?”

She tilted her small head-----

“Ya-yaa...”

I answered powerlessly and let her feed me the gelato.

===Part 2===

Tooru and Yurie. Unless somebody knew about their situation, they could only be seen as an intimate couple. There were shadows watching those 2 from afar.

It was Tomoe and Miyabi.

Having asked Tooru and Yurie’s departure time indirectly during breakfast, Miyabi and Tomoe reached the closest station near the A La Mode shopping mall one hour before those 2 did.

From that point on, the both of them were sneakily, following Tooru and Yurie from behind. They acted as if they were buying things at a shop near the one Yurie had tried on her clothes in (Miyabi actually bought something). This time they were hiding and watching from a sports shop located some ways across from the atrium where Yurie and Tooru were eating at.

“Mi-Miyabi. Are those two really not going out?”

“U-u... Tooru-kun said that………..”

“I see... No, but...”

During eating and this time in a manner of not bothering the public eye----------(Miyabi and Tomoe saw it like this)-------Tooru was being fed gelato by Yurie.

Looking at those two, Miyabi and Tomoe panicked together.

“To-To-To-Tomoe-chan. That’s errrr... not an illicit relationship right?”

“N-no, i-it isn’t sexual conduct so...”

There are probably those in this society the might call Tooru and Yurie a stupid couple, but at the very least it wasn't any kind of an illicit relationship.

Thanks to that, Miyabi and Tomoe couldn't cut in. This agitated both of them even more because they couldn't do anything other than watch over Tooru and Yurie.

However, a voice suddenly called out to Miyabi and Tomoe.

“Both of you are alone?”

“Eh?”

When they looked over, there were 4 guys standing there.

They were obviously picking up girls.

["If it is okay you two, want to play with us?"]["Both of you are cute. High school student? From what school?"] ["Kouryouu?"]["I know where. It’s the place nearby popular with martial arts."]

The confirmation this guy made about Kouryou academy wasn't wrong.

A private school with a dormitory system, with a power structure placed within martial arts, graduation would link to an employment from the secret service.

Leaving no school services supplied by the public, because of the secret regulations from the Dawn organization, it is impossible for there to be any eye catching general information left inside people’s memories.

Even if the <<Luciful>> or <<Blaze>> has been turned into a rumor, it would probably be interpreted as absurd nonsense at most.

[[File:Absolute Duo Volume 2 Non-Colour 3.jpg|thumb]]

Unless they have definite proof it would not leave the realm of rumor, even if it was real.

Naturally, since this was also made to be fully aware to the students that go out, during the filling for permission to go out, they are not to cause any trouble outside, they are not to manifest their <<Blaze>> and etc; it was an outing with many restrictions.

By any chance that any of those rules were broken; a strict punishment will be given but------

“Heeh, by martial arts is it judo or karate? So you all are doing that too?”

“Ye-yeah...”

Miyabi and Tomoe were agitated by the sudden pick up and answered the persons question honestly.

“That’s nice. Then, teach us some pinning skills too.”

“No thanks. Let’s go, Miyabi.”

Finally at this moment, Tomoe recognized the guys’ intentions and even though she took Miyabi and left the spot-----

“That’s so cold. A little is fine. We won’t do anything strange.”

A guy then grabbed Miyabi’s arm and pulled hard.

“Ah...”

Scared--------the moment she felt that, her body moved by reflex.

“Le-let go……….!”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Don* Miyabi thrust the guy away.

Normally, he would stagger a bit but-------

Since her arm strength is exceedingly stronger than a normal person because of the <<Luciful>>, the guy fell over pathetically.

["Haha, lame!"]["Shut up! My balance just collapsed!!"]

The fallen over guy shouted at his comrades who were laughing loudly.

Luckily, he was just grazed.

“Oi, oi. Give me a break from violence.”

“Your side was getting violent first. It’s true that, thrusting him away was too much though...”

Although Tomoe entered between Miyabi and the leader, her voice tone was weak as expected.

Naturally, the person did not let that slip by.

“If you think it was too much then, isn’t it okay for you two to go out with us to reconcile?”

“I-I refuse! I will apologize but, this and that are different!!”

“To-Tomoe-chan...”

Tomoe whispered ''It’s alright'', to Miyabi who was seeming to become smaller behind Tomoe.

(I have no problems with this number of people!)

That awareness, made Tomoe’s feelings stronger even if it turns into a fight.

However, the guys didn't like Tomoe's response. After the guy Miyabi thrust away returned, the group of young men stood and surrounded both of them like a wall.

At that moment, someone Miyabi and Tomoe was familiar with, pushed through the crowd of people and appeared.

“Stop it you bastards!!”

["What is it!?"]["Who the hell are you!!"]

Tooru was the one who stood in front of the guys.

Luckily, since they were nearby, he heard Miyabi and Tomoe’s voice and ran over here.

“These two are with me. I’ll listen if you have any problems.”

["To-Tooru-kun………."]["Kokonoe………..!"]

Both of them called Tooru’s name and was a little relieved.

["He says they are with him."]["Looks real."]["What should we do?"]

On the other hand, the guys were looking at each other on what to do next from the appearance of the person who named himself as one of them-------

“Miyabi, Tomoe, are you two okay?”

At that moment, they made their decision when Yurie joined.

["Wow. She’s super cute………."]["This girl is also with him?"]["The so called Harem?"]["I feel a little pissed][What should we do?"]["Obviously---"]

At the same time with the leader saying that, the guys slightly lowered their hips.

“Let’s give him a light one!”

“-----!!”

The guys move at the same time.

It was somewhat surprising------- but nonetheless, it still looks like it was in slow motion to Tooru who has sublimated to <<{{Furigana|II|Level 2}}>>.

(I have no choice then; I’ll give them a light one then run away.)

''I’ll push them down so they won’t get hurt I guess'', it was that moment Tooru decided that.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Taan*!! A dry sound from far away-----a ''gunshot'' echoed in the harbor street.

Almost at the same time, one guy that was going to punch Tooru, fell down as if he was flicked away.

“Eh…………?”

The man knocked down muttered in astonishment.

However, faster than everyone in the spot-------including Tooru and the group------faster than them understanding what happened, another gunshot echoed and another guy collapsed.

“Wha...?”

“Tooru, That’s...!!”

Around 100 meters away standing on top of the 3rd floors balcony, Tooru saw the cause of the gunshot.

A girl with long gorgeous shining {{Furigana|blonde hair|Yellow Topaz}}.

Her hand was holding a-------black long barrel <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>>.

(Lealith!? And that’s-------------<<Blaze>>!?)

While Tooru was opening his eyes in shock, Lealith pulled the trigger, firing the 3rd and 4th shot instantly, causing the last two guys to fall.

While the group of guys were collapsing. Tooru and Yurie were looking at the golden-haired girl-------and were unable to take their eyes away from the <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>> she
held.

The thought that emerged in Tooru's mind was the lecture from the previous class.

'''“The <<Blaze>> cannot be manifested as a weapon with complex structure”'''

That lecture wasn’t a lie and '''a <<Gun>> type <<Blaze>> is impossible originally'''.

But the <<Blaze>> being shown to Tooru and his friends unmistakably a <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>>.

Lealith made her <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>> disappear and turned on her heels.

While looking at the {{Furigana|blonde hair|Yellow Topaz}} walking into the balcony, Tooru muttered.

“<<Exception>>...”

<noinclude>

==Translation Notes and References==
<references group="2c" />

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</noinclude>

Absolute Duo:Volume 2 Chapter 3

2014-02-06T12:17:29Z

NoodleShopRampage: /* Chapter 3 『That Is a Good Idea』 */ Massive edits, the pre-edit chapter had horrifying grammatical errors. Translator-san, please check your work more carefully >.<. If anyone notices errors in my edits, please correct them for me.

==Chapter 3 『That Is a Good Idea』==

===Part 1===

After exiting the school gate and crossing the small bridge, the only connection to the outer world to the students attending Kouryou academy ---------is a monorail for authorized personal only.

In a distance that doesn’t even take 5 minutes; the suspended type monorail is connected to a nearby JR station<ref group ="2c">Japan Railway station</ref> of Tokyo and Chiba from the front of the school.

When we boarded the railway car, there were only a small number of people riding inside.

Since school academy personnel were the only ones able to use it in the first place, it's only natural to say the number of users are few.

Thanks to that, we're grateful to find empty seats without fighting over them.

“This is somehow heart throbbing isn’t it?”

Sitting in the opposite side of the box seat, Yurie said while looking outside the window.

“I see. It’s the first time you visited a Japanese city.”

“Ya---. That is why I am looking forward to it.”

Yurie shifted her eyes from the window to me and nodded.

(It might be good to take a breather like this once in a while...)

I took a side look at Yurie, who had returned to looking at the sea outside the window, and *Fuu* leaked a smile.

Incidentally, Yurie and I were in uniform even though it was Sunday.

It’s not like there is a school rule saying we have to wear the school uniform when going out of the school.

It’s simply just because Yurie doesn't have any clothes to match the May weather, and I followed her.

(However, this placement relation sure feels nostalgic. Well, it’s probably because I've gotten too used to it.)

Normally, I would be with Yurie side by side with our shoulders close to each other when we usually watch television--------and depending on the situation, we would be sitting side by side within a certain distance, I could feel the warmth from us almost touching each other.

It's also the same case when we attend classes and at the cafeteria.

That is why I feel strange sitting in front of her and would accidentally fix my stare at her.

This foreign beauty directing her {{Furigana|red eyes|Ruby eyes}} outside the window.

Her {{Furigana|silver hair|Silver blonde}}, which no one would turn away from and would stare amazed, was beautifully swaying.

Because there's a lack of expression shown on her well-featured face, it makes one think of her as a delicate bisque doll.

But I know this normal girl has something aside from those truths.

---Inside that heart holds a dark emotion known as revenge.

The same darkness as me.

Maybe------That night was just a dream, I would think something like that.

However, I felt hesitant to put that matter in my mouth again.

That’s because I didn’t want to admit Yurie holds the same hatred as me and is someone that wishes for revenge.

“-----Tooru?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Chirin* the echoing bell brought me back.

She has probably called out to me many times already. Yurie was looking at me while tilting her head.

“We're going to arrive soon."

“Ah... I-I see.”

Before I knew it, almost as soon as we departed, the monorail was close to reaching its destination.

In the middle of slowly entering the platform, Yurie got up from her seat.

“Yurie, it’s better to stand up once we arrive.”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Gakon*.

Almost at the same time of my warning, the monorail was close to stopping and was swaying.

“Ah...”

My warning was useless and Yurie’s balance collapsed, making her fall on her butt.

...on top of my lap.

Her hair swayed and a pleasant smell tickled my nose.

“Th-that’s why I told you.”

“Ya-Ya-----……..”

After I said that while feeling a little embarrassed, Yurie also hanged her head downwards in embarrassment.

“I will be careful from now on. Alright then, let’s get off.”

After I stood up, I extended my hand to Yurie.

Although I once extended out my hands to her in the clock tower last time, including this time, having her hands rested on mine felt very embarrassing.

After getting out the station we transferred to the JR route, following what Miyabi taught me, and got off after one station.

From there, after walking for around 5 minutes, we reached our destination the A La Mode but------

Once, the A La Mode was the biggest shopping mall in Japan (According to Miyabi’s information), although that status has been taken by another place, the number of customers didn't decrease and is filled with many people during holidays.

“…………….It’s like a festival.”

Although it can’t be said to be wide, Yurie opened her mouth in amazement and looked around.

“Tooru isn’t really that shocked.”

“That’s because there was a big mall in my hometown. Well, let’s see the floor guide and confirm the location of the shop for now.”

“Ya---…………..”

I urged Yurie, who was still a little blank and the moment, as I opened the guide map I took from a nearby help kiosk, I furrowed my eyebrows in bewilderment.

“What is this…………..”

The guide map is oddly thick, as it spans 8 pages even though it is just introducing the floors; with a total of more than 500 plus shop names written in it.

(I heard there are a lot of shops but, I didn’t think it would be this many……………)

“Tooru, Is something wrong?”

While I was dumbfounded, Yurie tip-toed while peeking into the guide map.

She then grabbed my sleeves to take balance and her peeking form makes me think of her as a small animal.

“Ah, sorry. Let’s look at this while sitting nearby.”

After saying that, I sat on a nearby stool with Yurie.

“This is... I have no idea what's going on in this at all.”

“A-aah... As expected, it’s normal to think that.”

She brought her body closer, defenselessly as usual, and stuck on my lap making me feel slightly excited (mentally) .

However, Yurie did not seem bothered by this at all and flipped the page but------

“It’s too many, so I don’t know where we should go...”

And like that, she made a troubled face.

The only information in the index are the shops name and position code. What’s more, it’s not like the places are positioned in the west, south, north hall respectively since it also expands to the first and second floor; thanks to that, just like what Yurie said, we have no idea where we should go.

“U---n... Let’s walk around randomly for now. Since there are this many shops, I think we would find something of interest sooner or later.”

I stood up and right before I was about to start walking, I recalled something and turned back.

“Yurie, please be careful not to get separated because of the crowd.”

“Ya---“

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Koku**koku* Yurie nodded and grabbed my sleeves tightly.

“I won’t get separated like this.”

Yurie said that with satisfaction while making a small smile.

“Th-that’s true...”

It’s not like the level of holding hands, but this is embarrassing in its own way.

However, that feeling immediately disappeared somewhere once we started walking.

Inside, amongst the hustle and bustle, the many people we passed by looked at us and I could hear topics about Yurie.

["Hey, isn’t that girl really beautiful?"] ["A celebrity?"] ["I’ll take a photo and upload it"] ["Oh, she has a guy…….."] ["The Blondie just now was good too but, this is good in its own way………."]

There were a lot of reactions but, most of it regarding Yurie.

But, while I meant most of it, it means all of it wasn’t that.

["They are wearing school uniforms though; I wonder which school they are from?"] ["Don’t know? I never seen that before…………."]

It’s only normal they don’t know.

Unless there is a good reason, Kouryou students are not allowed to go out other than weekends.

And even if they were to go out on a weekend, there probably isn’t any commendable students that would go out wearing a school uniform.

Only the school name could be heard at best.

Even for myself, if I hadn’t heard about the existence of the school beforehand then, not only would I have no idea about the internal conditions of the school, I wouldn't even know the school’s name in the first place.

(That’s because it’s a school with that kind of enrollment ceremony.)

Although it is a school lacking common sense when half of the number of students dropped out from the enrollment ceremony, it’s also weird that this school is not known to the public.

Mikuni-sensei said that information regulations were imposed, but it would probably be just a rumor at most.

And when I was thinking things like that, my sleeves was *gui**gui* being pulled.

“Tooru, how about that shop?”

“Ah, You’re right, that’s a cute shirt... I guess?”

I was often brought by my sister Otoha to buy things. However, I don't know anything about girl's clothing.

But, judging from the shop display, it’s true that I feel it would suit Yurie.

Like that, we tried entering this shop for now but-------

“I think this suits her. How about it, boyfriend-san?”

“Eh!? Ah... No, no, no. I am not her boyfriend!”

When we were looking around for clothes, a female shop attendant came over and said those lines; even though I hurried and denied it, she just giggled.

She probably thought I was trying to trick her.

A male and a female together, we even entered the shop together and started looking at clothes. Yurie was still grabbing my sleeves. It wasn't difficult for the shopkeeper to misunderstand.

Rather, even if I am a 3rd person here, we would definitely be thought of as a couple.

“I will go try on the clothes now.”

Yurie left with those words after taking several summer clothes, recommended by the shop attendant, before entering the changing room.

“Fufu, she’s a very cute girlfriend!”

“Y-yeah………”

I gave up on correcting the misunderstanding. I nodded while giving a wry smile.

Checking on Yurie's status, I sighed a bit while glancing at the shop attendant who came to stick her nose in our business, and began regretting coming here with the two of us only.

(It would have been better if everyone was together...)

Miyabi is probably out playing with Tachibana somewhere.

Tora headed out somewhere so I couldn’t find him.

Tatsu is working hard in his muscle training.

While I was recalling the status of my friends, the curtain opened slighly and Yurie's face popped out.

“Tooru, I have finished changing... can you see it?”

“I’ll say this just in case; don’t expect good fashion sense from me.”

“Ya---. It is okay.”

I don’t know what she meant by "it is okay" but Yurie nodded and opened the curtain wider.

[Uoo...][Oh my...]

The shop attendant and I let out a shocked voice while Yurie silently showed herself.

The clothe Yurie tried on was a cooling, basic, white, one piece.

The sleeves were opened wide and the arranged white lace emphasized the girlishness.

“What’s wrong, Tooru?”

“A-aah... errr, I think it suits you very well...”

“Thank you very much. I will buy this then.”

“You decide too fast!! Wait, isn’t it at least better to try some of the others first before deciding?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Un**un*The shop attendant beside me nodded.

Rather than doing it for her job, her expression was saying to try more clothes on.

“I understand... but I decided to buy this one.”

After saying that, she closed the curtain once more and we waited a few more minutes.

“Tooru. What do you think about this?”

It's black this time, the opposite color of the one piece earlier. Looking at her figure, the attendant and I made sounds of admiration.

The skirt was short and it had a lot of frills. Due to its color, it made Yurie’s silver hair attractive. It suited her very well.

“Err...I think it’s nice. Extremely.”

“Ya---. I think I will buy this too then.”

Maybe she liked my response, Yurie slightly narrowed her eyes and confined herself within the changing room a third time.

She then showed herself not long later. Again, the clothes suited her.

“How about this?”

“It looks refreshing so why not?”

“Ya---, it is very soothing. Well, this too...”

She bought all 3 clothes she tried in the end.

“E-erm. If it’s okay with you, will you try other clothes? For my eyes... not that, I think it will suit miss customer and we have a lot of cute clothes too”

“Errr... what will you do, Yurie? Will you try it on?”

“Ya--. If Tooru says so.”

It was a mistake to go with the flow.

“Yurie... Don’t you think you are buying too much?”

While staring at the 12 clothing items, stacked up like a mountain on the counter, I made a comeback just in case.

Looking at the pile of clothes at the cash register, Yurie bought too many clothes (as expected). If I hadn't told Yurie it was time to go to other shops, I have no idea how many clothes she would have bought.

“Nai. I am only buying the clothes Tooru said is nice.”

“N-no, it’s true I said them but, I think all of it is just a little...”

“But, this one looks very matching and this one is very nice, this one is cooling and-------“

Yurie lined up my comments one by one without making any mistakes.

After saying everything until the last 12th clothes-----

“As expected, I will buy all.”

In the end, Yurie called herself as a very good customer-san.

Although the shop attendant opened her eyes wide when we said to buy 12 clothes (+3 pair of shoes), she made an even more shocked expression when we told her we would pay with our student ID.

She probably would have never thought students like us would pay with a card.

But the instant we handed her the card, the attendant muttered, "Ah... it's that school."

I became curious on how she knew about our school, so I asked her. It seems several people like us come over here to buy stuff every year.

However, we were the first ones to purchase this large of an amount.

Incidentally, the moment I heard the total amount of money, my eyes almost popped out.

Luckily it was within our allowance, so there wasn’t any problem.

“Alright then, now that we finished buying clothes, what should we do now?”

“--------? Weren’t we going to other shops to see the clothes?”

“... no, I’ll give up on that for today.”

It was easy to imagine the result of going to another shop.

It would be faster if I say it doesn’t suit her but, the foundation material is good---------rather that, Yurie was so good looking, to the point that, any clothes she wears suits her naturally.

More importantly, it's impossible for me to tell her that.

In front of the small happy expression she shows when I say it suits her, there's no way I can lie.

“So, should we head back?”

“U-nn... well since we are outside, let’s wander around for a bit then.”

“Ya--. That’s true.”

Nonetheless, we had a lot of baggage so we decided to stop at the delivery counter first.

“Well, where should we go, Tooru?”

After we finished our lightening our load, we decided to look around the north hall from one corner to the other.

As if it was natural for her, Yurie grabbed my sleeves and walked beside me.

Although it was more or less embarrassing for me at the beginning, we talked with each other while looking at the shops until I forgot about it.

After that, Yurie looked at the ferret in the pet shop nearby with her eyes glittering and played a free to play virtual game in one corner of the game shop. We were having a time fun and peaceful enough to forget about our tough training.

“Now that I think back, Miyabi told me the gelato on the first floor is recommended.”

“… gelato huh. If Miyabi recommended it then, I want to try heading there but..."

As a late lunch, when Yurie was about to start her pumpkin cream pasta and fondant chocolate as dessert, I recalled the talk Miyabi gave me.

Even Yurie isn't an exception to girlishness. It seems Yurie also loves sweets and she often changes expressions with the desserts that come out from the cafeteria.

That is why it's only normal for her to think she wants to try something after hearing about it as a recommendation but------

Since Yurie eats little in the first place, it's clear that she won't be able to eat both the chocolate and gelato. She knows that, and dropped her shoulders.

It will probably be alright after some time, but the influence would probably come back during dinner time this time if we were to do that.

Her disappointed look was really pitiful, so I came up with an idea-------

“Why don’t we try buying as much gelato as you can eat for now? If you can't eat all of it then I will eat the leftovers.”

“That is a good idea.”

Yurie became happy again.

(This is good, this is good...)

Her expression was so nice, I accidentally smiled.

And like that, my thoughts quickly ended.

“Tooru. Just in case, can you eat this chocolate?”

“Aah, I don’t mind.”

Yurie asked me about her half eaten chocolate.

Since there was no reason to refuse, it was alright. But-------

“Please open your mouth.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, please open your mouth.”

She lifted, one mouth-full sized scoop of fondant chocolate wrapped in cold ice with her fork, placing right it in front of me.

“... Are you perhaps going to feed me?”

“Ya—♪Ahnn”

“N-no, doing that in front of people is a little...”

“----? Miyabi often does this to me?”

But that is between girls.

And we are of the opposite sex.

I know Yurie has no other intentions, but it can’t be helped for me to feel resistant to her actions, rather I think it's only normal to do so.

“Errrr...”

Luckily, there weren't many people in the shop since it wasn't lunch time any more. Thanks to the many dividing panels, people can't really see us. It's unacceptable in that there was window. However, since there is an atrium in front of the window instead of a road, we aren't likely to be noticed from outside.

(Well, I guess this situation is alright...?)

“------?”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Chirin* the bell rang as if to urge me. And of course, Yurie doesn’t any intentions of making me hurry.

“I-I get it. Then…………..”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Ahhn* I opened my mouth wide as I was told and ate the chocolate.

(I’m glad everyone didn’t come...)

Just now, I was thinking something completely different from my thoughts earlier.

“Tooru, here you go.”

“Eh? Again?”

“Ya---. There is still too much left. So, Ahhnn”

“Hahaha... okay.”

In the end, Yurie fed me around 8 times. One time, a shop attendant there saw us and giggled, making it an awkward situation.

But------

The true problem came right after that.

“Tooru, Ahhn”

Between the south and north hall in a place called Harbor Street where many people pass by, Yurie brought the gelato to my mouth.

“...eh?”

“It's very delicious so I am sharing with you. That’s why Tooru, please. Ahnnn”

Inside, within the presence of a crowd of people, Yurie smiled as if she was not bothered about them at all.

Of course, it was only natural for me to be bothered by the gazes of passerby.

“----Tooru?”

She tilted her small head-----

“Ya-yaa...”

I answered powerlessly and let her feed me the gelato.

===Part 2===

Tooru and Yurie. Unless somebody knew about their situation, they could only be seen as an intimate couple. There were shadows watching those 2 from afar.

It was Tomoe and Miyabi.

Having asked Tooru and Yurie’s departure time indirectly during breakfast, Miyabi and Tomoe reached the closest station near the A La Mode shopping mall one hour before those 2 did.

From that point on, the both of them were sneakily, following Tooru and Yurie from behind. They acted as if they were buying things at a shop near the one Yurie had tried on her clothes in (Miyabi actually bought something). This time they were hiding and watching from a sports shop located some ways across from the atrium where Yurie and Tooru were eating at.

“Mi-Miyabi. Are those two really not going out?”

“U-u... Tooru-kun said that………..”

“I see... No, but...”

During eating and this time in a manner of not bothering the public eye----------(Miyabi and Tomoe saw it like this)-------Tooru was being fed gelato by Yurie.

Looking at those two, Miyabi and Tomoe panicked together.

“To-To-To-Tomoe-chan. That’s errrr... not an illicit relationship right?”

“N-no, i-it isn’t sexual conduct so...”

There are probably those in this society the might call Tooru and Yurie a stupid couple, but at the very least it wasn't any kind of an illicit relationship.

Thanks to that, Miyabi and Tomoe couldn't cut in. This agitated both of them even more because they couldn't do anything other than watch over Tooru and Yurie.

However, a voice suddenly called out to Miyabi and Tomoe.

“Both of you are alone?”

“Eh?”

When they looked over, there were 4 guys standing there.

They were obviously picking up girls.

["If it is okay you two, want to play with us?"]["Both of you are cute. High school student? From what school?"] ["Kouryouu?"]["I know where. It’s the place nearby popular with martial arts."]

The confirmation this guy made about Kouryou academy wasn't wrong.

A private school with a dormitory system, with a power structure placed within martial arts, graduation would link to an employment from the secret service.

Leaving no school services supplied by the public, because of the secret regulations from the Dawn organization, it is impossible for there to be any eye catching general information left inside people’s memories.

Even if the <<Luciful>> or <<Blaze>> has been turned into a rumor, it would probably be interpreted as absurd nonsense at most.

[[File:Absolute Duo Volume 2 Non-Colour 3.jpg|thumb]]

Unless they have definite proof it would not leave the realm of rumor, even if it was real.

Naturally, since this was also made to be fully aware to the students that go out, during the filling for permission to go out, they are not to cause any trouble outside, they are not to manifest their <<Blaze>> and etc; it was an outing with many restrictions.

By any chance that any of those rules were broken; a strict punishment will be given but------

“Heeh, by martial arts is it judo or karate? So you all are doing that too?”

“Ye-yeah...”

Miyabi and Tomoe were agitated by the sudden pick up and answered the persons question honestly.

“That’s nice. Then, teach us some pinning skills too.”

“No thanks. Let’s go, Miyabi.”

Finally at this moment, Tomoe recognized the guys’ intentions and even though she took Miyabi and left the spot-----

“That’s so cold. A little is fine. We won’t do anything strange.”

A guy then grabbed Miyabi’s arm and pulled hard.

“Ah...”

Scared--------the moment she felt that, her body moved by reflex.

“Le-let go……….!”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Don* Miyabi thrust the guy away.

Normally, he would stagger a bit but-------

Since her arm strength is exceedingly stronger than a normal person because of the <<Luciful>>, the guy fell over pathetically.

["Haha, lame!"]["Shut up! My balance just collapsed!!"]

The fallen over guy shouted at his comrades who were laughing loudly.

Luckily, he was just grazed.

“Oi, oi. Give me a break from violence.”

“Your side was getting violent first. It’s true that, thrusting him away was too much though...”

Although Tomoe entered between Miyabi and the leader, her voice tone was weak as expected.

Naturally, the person did not let that slip by.

“If you think it was too much then, isn’t it okay for you two to go out with us to reconcile?”

“I-I refuse! I will apologize but, this and that are different!!”

“To-Tomoe-chan...”

Tomoe whispered ''It’s alright'', to Miyabi who was seeming to become smaller behind Tomoe.

(I have no problems with this number of people!)

That awareness, made Tomoe’s feelings stronger even if it turns into a fight.

However, the guys didn't like Tomoe's response. After the guy Miyabi thrust away returned, the group of young men stood and surrounded both of them like a wall.

At that moment, someone Miyabi and Tomoe was familiar with, pushed through the crowd of people and appeared.

“Stop it you bastards!!”

["What is it!?"]["Who the hell are you!!"]

Tooru was the one who stood in front of the guys.

Luckily, since they were nearby, he heard Miyabi and Tomoe’s voice and ran over here.

“These two are with me. I’ll listen if you have any problems.”

["To-Tooru-kun………."]["Kokonoe………..!"]

Both of them called Tooru’s name and was a little relieved.

["He says they are with him."]["Looks real."]["What should we do?"]

On the other hand, the guys were looking at each other on what to do next from the appearance of the person who named himself as one of them-------

“Miyabi, Tomoe, are you two okay?”

At that moment, they made their decision when Yurie joined.

["Wow. She’s super cute………."]["This girl is also with him?"]["The so called Harem?"]["I feel a little pissed][What should we do?"]["Obviously---"]

At the same time with the leader saying that, the guys slightly lowered their hips.

“Let’s give him a light one!”

“-----!!”

The guys move at the same time.

It was somewhat surprising------- but nonetheless, it still looks like it was in slow motion to Tooru who has sublimated to <<{{Furigana|II|Level 2}}>>.

(I have no choice then; I’ll give them a light one then run away.)

''I’ll push them down so they won’t get hurt I guess'', it was that moment Tooru decided that.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Taan*!! A dry sound from far away-----a ''gunshot'' echoed in the harbor street.

Almost at the same time, one guy that was going to punch Tooru, fell down as if he was flicked away.

“Eh…………?”

The man knocked down muttered in astonishment.

However, faster than everyone in the spot-------including Tooru and the group------faster than them understanding what happened, another gunshot echoed and another guy collapsed.

“Wha...?”

“Tooru, That’s...!!”

Around 100 meters away standing on top of the 3rd floors balcony, Tooru saw the owned of the gunshot.

A girl with long gorgeous shining {{Furigana|blonde hair|Yellow Topaz}}.

Her hand was holding a-------black long barrel <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>>.

(Lealith!? And that’s-------------<<Blaze>>!?)

During the time Tooru was opening his eyes in shock, Lealith then pulled the trigger making the 3rd shot then 4th shot in an instant and all of the guys collapsed.

In the middle of the sights looking at the guys suddenly collapsing at their surroundings, Tooru and Yurie was looking at the gold girl-------and was unable to take their eyes away from the <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>> she was holding.

The thought that revived in his mind, was the talk that was taught in class last time.

'''“The <<Blaze>> cannot be manifested as a weapon with complex structure”'''

That talk wasn’t a lie and, '''a <<Gun>> type <<Blaze>> is impossible originally'''.

But the <<Blaze>> being shown in Tooru and the group’s sights was unmistakably a <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>>.

Lealith made her <<{{Furigana|Gun|Rifle}}>> disappear and turned on her heels.

While looking at the {{Furigana|blonde hair|Yellow Topaz}} walking into the balcony, Tooru muttered.

“<<Exception>>...”

<noinclude>

==Translation Notes and References==
<references group="2c" />

{{SimpleNav}}
</noinclude>

User:NoodleShopRampage

2014-02-05T14:34:53Z

NoodleShopRampage:

'''About Me'''

Chinese guy born in America. Although I'm currently living in China. I love Japanese stuff, and my favorite food is sushi.

I'm looking to become an editor for a light novel project.

I'm highly proficient in English, if you'd like me to help you with editing (I'd be more than happy), contact me at noodleshoprampage@aol.com

User:NoodleShopRampage

2014-02-05T14:34:00Z

NoodleShopRampage: Created page with "'''About Me''' Chinese guy born in America. Although I'm currently living in China. I love Japanese stuff, and my favorite food is sushi. I'm looking to become an editor f..."

'''About Me'''

Chinese guy born in America. Although I'm currently living in China. I love Japanese stuff, and my favorite food is sushi.

I'm looking to become an editor for a light novel project.