Anohana:Part 1 Chapter 8
Chapter 8 : My Dear Menma[edit]
“Wu…Yeah. At last, I caught it!!”
The room was still as dark and quiet as ever, so quiet I could hear the ticking sounds of the clock…a day had already passed.
For twenty-three hours, from morning to night, I hadn't eaten anything.
I had finally caught Dialga[1]. With all my strength, the intelligence of an adult, and the help of rare books and technology, I had finally caught it.
But of course I didn't feel bad for playing games all day long, for recently I got through every day the same way or the other. Speaking of this, Matsuyuki was witty about letting me to take up this job of playing Nokemon.
In short, I mailed Hisakawa a message about this. I have no need to report to Matsuyuki. He wasn't the captain anyway.
‘Dialga Capture: Success’
That was all I wrote and sent. Let me eat something…I think there was still some round bread in the fridge…I thought about it.
“Mmm?”
My phone rang: it was a message.
I hadn’t ever contacted with my dad over mailing, let alone friends. So for that moment I couldn't figure out who the sender was.
It was Hisakawa. I opened it and looked…
“Menma Found. Catching Failed.”
My mind went black for a moment: I couldn’t comprehend.
Inhaling deeply, I looked at the mail again. Then, I couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
“Menma…found?!”
No sooner had I finished speaking than my neck was hooked all of a sudden. My upper body shook, my breathing difficult.
“What? Did you call for Menma?!”
“!!”
It was a honey-sweet voice. I slowly called upon all the senses in my body to confirm the situation I was in.
Clinging on my neck was a white small wrist. My ears could feel a warm and milky breathing sensation…
“Ah…ah. Ah…”
I couldn't move.
Compared to feeling surprised, I felt gladder; compared to feeling glad, I felt…what was it? My nose was bloated. If I were to turn my head now I was sure I would cry.
Yesterday we met so sudden I couldn't fix in my mind on what had happened. But after some time now, I had time to think and clear things up…even if it all happened out the blue, I could accept it in some sense.
This is another chance that I met Menma…I-am-here-.
“Hey. Jintan?”
I could sense Menma’s glare me at my face. She hung her head on my shoulders, looking at me with her aqua-blue eyes. I could even feel the colour of her eyes.
There was something I had always wanted to do and that I had practiced for numerous times. That was right…First, I would have to start from here.
“Jin-tan? Are you hearing what I’m saying…Ah!”
I loosened off Menma’s hand, and sat uprightly, facing directly to her.
Then, I gradually straightened my right arm.
“Heh?” Astonished, Menma’s adorable expression reflected upon my retina, inducing the vigorous thumping of my heart. Nevertheless, I had to do this and I couldn't stop. I put my right hand on my forehead.
That was the pose ‘my dear Menma’ that I had repeated many times!
“M…my. M…my dear!!”
This was the best moment I could unveil the ‘my dear Menma’ after all these years!
“Yooh, ayoo, thank you for waiting everybody!”
“…eh?”
I froze. The ‘my dear Menma’ I wanted to say for years was interrupted just like that. Menma laughed out loud.
“That line yo, wasn't wrong yo—it was wrong, yo![2] You have to say it like this: say it with your hand curled like a cone and place it in front of your mouth!”
Menma started to repeatedly perform that yo line. I had always thought that my ‘my dear Menma’ could win that yo thing…
“Indeed…I couldn't win over it.”
“Eheh?”
My apology failed. However, Menma’s smiling face warmed my heart bit by bit.
“Ahahahah?!”
Menma suddenly spotted the Nokemon on the quilt.
“That’s Dialga! That’s brilliant! When did you start playing that, Jintan?!”
Menma was ranting out loud, her eyes flashing with beam.
I had captured the Dialga, yet Menma was still here.
It seemed I had messed up her wish. Nevertheless, it was a wish that I thought so myself, not what Menma had actually meant.
Menma glared at the Nokemon with concentration. “Here. This shoulder place that is bulged is so cool!” She said to herself on and on, overflowing with joy.
Perhaps it was only a hallucination. Nevertheless, the Menma in front of me was truly the Menma I knew. It was the Menma that would be threw off in ecstasy by a Dialga.
So, I made a promise quietly.
“I would certainly help you fulfill your wish.”
“Yeah? That’s too soft. What did you say? Can you say it again?”
“…No. Yo.”
Translation Notes[edit]
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