Daybreak Translation « Thread Started on Jun 7, 2005, 4:08pm »
For those people that expressed interest in it, here it is. Sorry for the delay.
Disclaimer: This is my personal translation, which means that there may be minor mistakes, rephrasing, bad grammar, mispellings, and downright screwups. Additionally, this story uses a lot of stylistic effects unique to the Japanese language. I've done what I can to try to carry over some of the meaning, but a certain amount simply had to be dropped. However, I think it's mostly correct, so here it is:
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #1 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:09pm »
Reimei Daybreak
A dark road,
A quiet park,
the plunging silver light of the moon,
the white moon in the sky,
a gasp of wonder.
A very large A very fast SOMETHING was chasing me.
Before my eyes--resentfully shattering the dark was a shape, blacker than the night itself.
No time to understand. Just a sudden gust of wind--That's all it felt like. The world suddenly seemed to spin. I could see the moon hanging in the sky.
Suddenly it was chipped--I let out a scream.
----red moon ----why ----cold ----eerie moon
I saw the moon, so large, as if it were leaning over me.
----scared ----going to swallow me
I could hear the sounds of water. Sounds of a lake quietly spreading across the earth.
sinking---- ----sinking into the water dark----sinking into that lake---- ----cold
Aaah, the moon is so red----
red moon in a black world
I was dreaming.
In a dream from which I could not awaken----
----I dreamt.
I slowly awoke. Near my pillow I could hear the rhythmical 'tick-tick-tick' of a clock, announcing its existence to the world. A look showed me that it was a few minutes past midnight.
I wonder why I woke up? It's not something to brag about, but I'm one of those people where once I get to sleep, I don't wake until morning. Even so, since I did wake up in the middle of the night like this, it wouldn't be strange if something was wrong. Or maybe, I just felt--something--happen.
I sat up.
The pale moonlight shining in through the window illuminated the room. A familiar room. There was----nothing----unusual. TOHNO SHIKI's room was the same as always.
But---- What was this urgency boiling inside of me?
My throat was rasping, dry, as if I had gone for days without a drop of water. A pounding deep behind my eyes. My pulse raced. My body's temperature suddenly seemed to rise.
I stood up and walked to my desk. I opened the top drawer---
and there was a knife sitting there.
Nanatsuya. Seven Nights. Only that, carved into the handle of the solid, unadorned switchblade. In the series of events six months ago, I had protect----ed? my life with this kni----fe?
I wiped away the dust, and picked it up. It fit perfectly. Almost as if it were an extension of my hand, as if it had no weight at all. The feeling of the knife helped calm me. Something is happening tonight. My experience told me that. However, it's not something a normal person like me needs to worry about, right? But for some reason, I had awoken. And I couldn't stop feeling like there was an important reason for that.
I shifted the knife in my hand a few times, then, gripping it tightly, I aimed for the terrace and began to walk.
The thin curtains of the window opened, and----
prickling my skin---- the crimson moon----
a black world---- like a dark lake----
----The perfect roundness of the full white moon.
I opened the window, and let the cool fresh air of summer flow in. The stagnant air inside flowed out. I took a deep breath.
Inhale----Exhale.
I calmly looked up at the sky.
The white moon.
A very unpleasant feeling. Almost as if something was broken. Like the moon floating the night sky, there was an emptiness in my heart. I clicked my tongue, tsk, at the reasonless unease that was born in my chest.
Then I went out onto the terrace, and jumped. The wind rumbled behind me with my passage. Unfortunately, with the strength of my legs, it was difficult to leave the Tohno estate in one bound. It was easiest to leave by the front door, but then either--- HISUI, or KOHAKU--- one of them might be there---- then AKIHA would find out. If that happened, then she'd have something to say to me at breakfast time. If possible, I'd like to avoid that.
-----because it's not good to worry my little sister too much
So I used the branches of the surrounding trees as stepping stones, and headed for the wall. I knew where the security cameras were all located, but getting to the wall without being seen required a rather large detour. Sometimes living in a mansion with such large grounds is really a pain.
Finally, I saw the wall. This wall, seeming almost as if it was built high enough to cut off the estate from the surrounding world, wasn't something I liked much. It always feels too gloomy. I leapt over the rampart-like walls. My breath was not short in the slightest.
Just then----
"--Eh?"
I felt my heart contract, my pulse race.
Then one, two, three, four, ten, the beating multiplied.
Twenty, fifty, a hundred----
It was if there were countless hearts within my body that had just begun beating. --No, it's probably just the ringing in my ears. Because multiple hearts, beating forth in chorus, just couldn't be real. I dissolved into heaving gasps.
Impatience, unease, fear, and their ilk ruled me, spreading through my body is if carried by my arteries. It felt as if some unknown person had stolen control of my body from me. But even so, my mind was calm. The hand I thrust out to keep from falling resounded surprisingly loudly against the wall, I thought, and wondered if I might that I might have hurt myself.
my vision twisted----
pure red.
A crimson world. As if a child had run wild with red paint. Pure red.
------clothes dyed black, watery world----
That was the view spread before me.
I looked around, and the world had completely changed. Just a moment ago, I had been standing next to the Tohno estates, but now it looks like an alley in downtown. Although I don't know of any red-dyed alleys...
Right then, I noticed IT.
For a moment, I didn't understand what IT was.
After all, it was dark. And IT wasn't any shape I'd guess. But the main reason was that I didn't want to admit what it was. Because recognizing what it was would be bad for my mental health, my ability to accept it was probably low.
But I soon understood. My mind quickly recovered. In times of conflict and crisis, the higher your ability to recognize and accept things, the greater your chance of survival. Because of that, and the many times that I had toed the line of Death, my ability to recognize and accept was far better than normal people.
But this time, that was a bitter gift.
Filling the air around me was the scent of fresh blood.
IT was-- ---a mass of flesh.
A minced, squashed, torn, smashed, dissolved---- utterly destroyed-- ----human.
It places, something white stuck out. Pink organs were scattered all about. Something grey had splattered from a round thing that looked like it might have been a head. Dragging something thread-like behind it, a ping-pong sized ball had rolled along the ground. And it wasn't the right volume for one human, either. It was an atrocious giant mass of flesh that was more than any person could bear to see.
"Ugh..." Something burned in my throat. Telling someone to endure this would be a horrible thing. These, incomprehensible to normal minds, dead bodies. As if seizing my throat, it burned into my eyes-- that pure red.
'Drip, drip', warm blood still fell. A sniff filled my nostrils with the unique scent of blood.
Did I do that? Did I kill them and turn them into that strange thing? I had no memories between the Tohno estate and here. Like blanks coming from a broken projector. So, did I do this during that gap? It should have been impossible. This isn't a deed that humans could do. To tear someone apart like-- that, that's not something a normal HUMAN could do. But then, why are my hands dripping blood? It's a safe bet the blood on these hands is blood from those bodies.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #2 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:09pm »
......clip, clop. Footsteps. They cleared my thoughts.
--Is it alright to been seen here? I don't know if I did this or not, but being seen here would be bad.
I looked around me.
But, this was a dead end. No place to run, no place to hide. Unable to think of anything, I just waited and watched for that person to see me.
At last the footsteps grew louder, and the approaching person stepped out into the moonlight and revealed herself.
A woman, body wrapped in dark clothing. Her age appeared fairly close to my own. When she looked at me, I saw a somewhat intimate expression on her face.
Does this woman not see the dead bodies? Well, no, she couldn't. If she was a normal person, then there's no way she could stand before bodies like this and have an expression like that. And then, in front of a man with blood-drenched hands--
"It's been a while, Tohno-kun." She spoke to me in a friendly voice.
"Huh?" I knew I sounded idiotic even as I spoke.
"My, Tohno-kun, surely you haven't forgotten me? You're really quite cold, aren't you, Tohno-kun. Forgetting about me in just six months."
----tohno? ----that's right, that's my name
----is it really? ...That's right. Tohno Shiki knows this girl.
"......Ciel-sempai?" She smiled, 'That's right, Tohno-kun'. "Sempai... Hadn't you returned to the Vatican?" "Yes, I was at the Vatican until yesterday. Then my superiors ordered that that--" Here, her lips twisted as if about to say something distasteful.
"--Um, Tohno-kun, are you still with HER?" "'Her'?" "Yes, Arcueid Brunestud. Princess of the Shinso."
----who?
"...Yeah." "I thought so. Well, since it seemed like she had not returned to the Millennium Castle, nor does she seem to be hunting down the remaining Dead Apostles, my superiors became a little uneasy about what she was doing. So, I'm here representing the Burial Agency to keep an eye on her."
"But..." Ciel-sempai looked around, then shook her head. "Gotten dragged into more trouble, Tohno-kun?" "Huh?" "This is impressive. Amazing destructive power. Was SHE the one that did this?" "Huh!?"
"Humans couldn't do this. Just look. Over there is a human arm. Torn cleanly off. With just human strength, this isn't possible. Anything that could do this is not human." Ciel-sempai looked at me. There was nothing gentle in those eyes now. Her cold gaze, sharp enough to kill, speared me. Feeling that piercing gaze, I gulped. "Tohno-kun. Was she the one that did this? Was it Arcueid? Or was it a different Dead Apostle? If you know anything, please tell me." "Sorry, I only just got here myself, so I don't know anything."
"......I see. Well, if you say that, then I'll believe you."
She put on a thinking expression as she passed in front of me and drew near to the pile of flesh. Spotting something, she squatted and picked up some rod-like object.
"You dropped this, Tohno-kun." In Ciel-sempai's hand was a knife. "This is your treasured knife, isn't it?" "Yeah." I took the knife from her. The blade was untouched by blood. However, when I took it, the handle was stained red.
"I was wondering, Tohno-kun, aren't you hot in that coat?" Looking a little surprised, she pointed at my coat.
Certainly, most of the time you wouldn't wear a black trench coat in the summer. The next question would be whether I have any fashion sense at all. And since the front was sealed tight, it must look quite warm. But I wasn't as hot as she might think.
"It's true that an Aloha shirt wouldn't look right on you, Tohno-kun, but even so, a trench coat at this point in summer?" "...Yeah." At my response, Ciel-sempai just sighed. "Tohno-kun. She's a Shinso, so she'd be fine with just a shirt even in the chill of midwinter. But you're human. You don't need to force yourself to match her." "Yeah."
She looked around again. "It looks like I'm going to need to discuss this incident with her. Tohno-kun, you know where she is, right?" "No, dunno..." "...I'm not going to pick a fight as soon as we meet. Right now, I'm sufficiently grown-up, after all." "No, I really don't know." "...Is... that so?" "Yeah."
"......Ok, I got it. I search for her myself. Tohno-kun, you should probably get away from here soon. I'll be taking down the kekkai." "Yeah."
"Well, then. Tohno-kun, when this incident is taken care of, I'll see you again." With that, Ciel-sempai spun on her heel and walked off. I also started walking. First, I needed to wash my hands, then return to the mansion. That's right. My life as Tohno Shiki is waiting for me.
----tohno shiki? is that my name?----
Suddenly... My sight shook. All the strength seemed to flow from me. As if something had stolen control of my body. As if someone other than me was moving it. I wonder, if I called out now, would she hear me? "ah......" If I collapse here, my coat would be soaked with blood. So I thought, then---
my gaze twisted----
----i am still dreaming-----
I awoke. A park bench. That was the first thing I thought when I opened my eyes. I was lying on a park bench. I sat up. There was no one nearby. The park was wrapped in darkness, with only the occasional lamppost lit. Other than that, the only light was that which poured from the heavens and pierced the eyes, the---
I was uncomfortable, but gazing at my surroundings was pleasant.
I stood and looked around again, but I could hear nothing but the chirping of insects. So this is the park at night. I glanced at my hands.
There was no trace of blood. Nor any on my coat. As if to say that seeing those dead bodies was just a dream, all signs of blood were gone from my body.
That's right, that was just a dream. It was nothing but a dream. Then I realized that there was something in my pocket. I pulled it out.
It was a knife, handle smeared with something crimson.
The proof that it was no dream. It really happened. But even if that was reality, what reason do I have to be afraid? That 'Ciel-sempai' person said it, right? That wasn't something done by a human. And then the only weapon I have had no blood upon its blade. Right. I didn't do anything.
I sighed in relief. It may be rude to those who died, but to me, the fact that it wasn't ME that killed them is more important. Anyways, I'm not a murderer.
I sat on the bench. What should I do now? Well, first I should go home, but what after that?
Avenge those people? Out of the question. I had no confidence that I would survive taking on something that could kill people like that. Probably it'd be best to just stay in the mansion, waiting for this storm to pass. Being a hero like that just isn't in character for me. I'm just one of those little people that takes care of themselves first.
"Urgh..." With a grunt like some old geezer, I stood. The night sky was beginning to brighten. It must be almost 4 a.m. Even if I go straight home, will I be able to make it into bed without meeting anyone?
"Shiiiiiki!"
Someone called.
I looked that direction, at what had arrived without my noticing. A woman stood there.
Wearing white clothes, with golden hair down to her shoulders. Crimson eyes. Smiling a bright smile at me. A beauty. You don't see people this beautiful often. That earlier Ciel-sempai was good looking, too, she couldn't compare to this woman. What shining beauty. Even other women must admire it.
"Something wrong, Shiki?" "Ah..."
----dangerous ----this one is dangerous
"Arcueid?" "Hmm?" 'What?' she smiled at me. A winning, warm smile. It shone, purely, with all the joy she felt for her life. I felt horribly jealous.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #3 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:09pm »
I shivered, as if some fever filled my body. And at that moment, my body jumped.
I leapt backwards. That one leap opened the distance between myself and Arcueid by almost thirty meters. But even so, my shaking didn't stop. My body knew it was still well within her attack radius.
"Who are you?" Crimson eyes. Filled with unnatural power, they glared at me.
It felt as if a spear of ice had been thrust through my spine. Danger. My life was in danger. I could feel my Death drawing closer.
"What are you?"
The air around her seemed to change. Almost as if wrapped in flames, waves seemed to rise in the air around her. I stiffened.
Bloodlust. Striking out from Arcueid, a strong bloodlust. A lethal anger. If I'm exposed to this for even a few more seconds, I'll go mad.
But there was nothing I could do. I could think of no way to run, and no way to fight. My thoughts just stumbled in empty circles.
Glaring at me with her dreadful killing gaze, she began to walk forward.
One step. Then another. A distance of a mere thirty meters would take no longer than a breath for her, but she continued her deliberate pace.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" I let loose a howl. There was no way I could oppose this enemy and survive. This flesh would be pulverized. Just an overwhelming difference in strength. Like an elephant and an ant, that impossible to overcome difference in strength is before me.
----scaredscaredscared
----this was unplanned for
----i don't want to die again!
My coat shook.
"Eh?" Arcueid sounded surprised.
From within my coat----
----Three
----black beasts
----jumped forth.
black beasts------- Those three black dogs were blown away by a single swipe of Arcueid's slender hand, and dissolved into a pile of something like black mud. There was no further pursuit from Arcueid. Instead, those crimson eyes stared warily at me.
For me, that was quite convenient.
But, just what was that? Those black animals. And it felt like they jumped out of my body. As if my body-- --was entirely composed of those monsters.
Yet, there were still things I didn't understand. Those dogs were enough to make even a monster like this Arcueid cautious. Even though she destroyed them with one strike.
"......Nero Chaos. So, you still exist."
Nero Chaos? Who's that? And 'still exist'? Isn't that a strange thing to say?
Ignoring my confusion, Arcueid continued to mutter.
"Truly, you are the Dead Apostle who bears the name of Chaos. To survive even Shiki's Eyes of Death... Or was that a spare body? Did you prepare a reserve body before you fought with us?"
----nero chaos? ----black beasts?
Something unpleasant filled my brain. Endless memories. Or rather, fragmentary images. A patchwork of lost still frames. No! this is dangerous. i'm tohno shiki that's enough for me.
----don't remember ----if i remember, then -----i'll die.
----but, is that ok?
Arcueid was speaking again. "Back then, I was weak. But this time, it's different." Her surroundings shimmered.
The air near me suddenly felt cooler. No, it really was becoming colder.
As if what she was imagining was becoming real...
"It's true that I cannot kill you myself. But I can keep you from going anywhere until I bring Shiki here."
The air around me suddenly froze solid. Or so I thought.
"Huh?" Arcueid gave another dumbfounded gasp. She sounded as if she'd put her full strength into that attack, only to have it fail.
"...Surely you haven't begun to approach true Chaos?" The overwhelming bloodlust began to fade.
With a low rumble, countless more black beasts flew from within my coat.
At the same time, I turned, and ran. I could hear Arcueid shouting behind me, but I had neither the time, nor the need, to pay attention. I just ran for my life.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #4 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:10pm »
The sun was so bright. I felt like the sunlight itself was stealing away my strength. But where could I relax?
A hotel? A deserted house? The park? Where would I be safe--- then, I remembered. The safest place in the world.
'Yamase' 'Yamase' read the nameplate before the house. A normal house. A normal neighborhood.
I passed through the gate. I tried the doorknob, but of course, it was locked. So I picked up the potted plant that sat next to the entranceway, and pulled out the key that lay beneath it.
Ah, hiding the key in a place like that, truly careless. It should be hidden somewhere a little more subtle. Even though there's nothing valuable, they really should take at least that much care. Never can tell when a murderer might come sneaking in.
I slid the key into the lock, and turned.
Click. The sound of the door unlocking. I turned the knob, and slid inside.
The house returned to silence. There was no feel of anyone in the building. I casually strolled in. "I'm home!"
No response. Of course. This house's residents had already left. If they hadn't, there'd be no need to put out an extra key, would there? In a house with just a mother and child, then obviously the mother would already have left for work by this hour.
-----i'm home
Smiling at my own silliness, I looked around. So, what should I do now? I started to think, then---
----i'm HUNGRY.
----i need NOURISHMENT soon.
----the STRENGTH of my FLESH is growing WEAKer.
"--eh?" I felt my heart contract, my pulse race.
Then one, two, three, four, ten, the beating multiplied.
Twenty, fifty, a hundred----
This time, I knew what those heartbeats were. The heartbeats of those black beasts that I'm made of. I opened the front of my coat, and I could see countless red eyes floating in the black rubbery surface. Countless starving eyes. Imploring me, second by second, to give them their chance to come forth.
an incredible strong entreaty filled my head. My GAZE began to TWIST. No! My CONCIOUSNESS began to VANish.
If it happens here, then when this house's 'residents' reTURN, the CHANCE of meeting those BLACK BEASTS is too high.
Beneath my clothes, my BODY twitched and BULged.
Frantically controlling it, I headed to the kitchen.
Marshalling my fading mind, I spotted the refrigerator. The Yamase family's proud purchase, the giant fridge that once each week is filled with all the food for the family, specially bought at the store for just that purpose-- I opened it. I pulled out some raw meat, and shoved it against my body.
With a slurp, it was sucked in. I could hear chewing sounds. I pushed more meat against my body, and again it was sucked in.
About the time all the food in the refrigerator was gone, my hunger finally stopped.
For some reason, I was very sad.
Closing my coat, I directed my legs up the stairs to the second floor.
----don't go there! ----i don't need to know!
A step forward. My body was struck by draining exhaustion. Step, step. Another step.
At the top of the stairs were the doors to two rooms, 'Maiko's Room'. And then, 'Akemi's Room'. Two cute name plates, names written cleanly in hiragana, hung on the doors. I stood before the door labeled as 'Maiko's'. I gulped. For some reason, I knew I shouldn't open this door. Probably, it'd be best to turn around and just walk away. But I knew that I needed to open it. I stood staring for a moment, then----- opened the door.
Inside was a neat and tidy room. A pink carpet, and a bed adorned with cute dolls. Feels like a girl's room. I entered the room. My sight began to shake dizzily. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. But there was something I needed to do here.
For myself--
The room condition. Something about it really bothered me. It was TOO tidy. It was as if there wasn't anyone who actually used the room, but it got cleaned anyway. As if to be ready for it's occupant's return at any time. I glanced into the trashcan. As I expected, there was nothing inside. It was just collecting dust. A dusty trashcan. There could be only one reason for that. This room wasn't being lived in.
I turned to the desk. I picked up a notebook. Supposed to be cute, maybe. In rounded letters, the contents of classes were neatly copied. From just this one notebook, I could grasp the personality of the room's inhabitant. Then I noticed an unadorned picture frame. I reached out to pick it up, then froze. This emotion... This is terror, huh. Just looking at that frame awoke a deep, binding terror. It stopped me from doing anything. But there was only one thing I could do.
Sucking in a deep breath, I gathered my courage, and reached out to the frame. The picture in that frame looked to be a family picture. A woman who seemed to be the mother, and two girls. Two girls. One girl with long hair.
And one more girl, very similar to the long-haired girl, but with short hair.
Happily smiling. The mother looking on, smiling gently. ah, that's right----
pita pata, it crumbled. My dream crumbled.
I returned the picture to the desk, and then pulled a photo album off the shelves. The records of two girls growing up. Both so happy. As if the two of them were a single set. Fit into a single picture. What is this, this feeling in my heart?
My head shook. My gaze turned red. Then the world--- broke.
"RUUUUUUN!"
I heard that shout from somewhere. What was that about? I looked around, but I didn't see anything happening. But somebody seemed to be in danger. That voice seemed quite tense, not at all joking.
If that's true, then I should go help. Yeah, people should help each other. I'm a Black Belt in karate, after all. Against a knife, then I'm pretty sure of myself. Today was special, after all. In that silver lit park, I moved quickly towards that voice.
"This body is all cracked. My nourishment has been quite insufficient."
A quiet voice. A different person than before.
"Conveniently, it seems something nutritious has arrived." "Don't---!"
With heavy, rhythmical footsteps, some huge black thing ran towards me. It looked like some black beast.
"Aah!" As my scream escaped, the wind slashed by my face. My vision tumbled.
A deep red puddle was spreading. My clothes were drenched in something cold. Even though I knew I needed to flee, my body wouldn't move. Like this, my clothes will be stained all red. My favorite clothes, that my little sister gave me for my birthday!
I wonder if it'll come out in the wash... What'll I do if it doesn't? May I should take them to the cleaners first.
I could feel something dragging me.
Stop, I don't want my clothes to tear! It may not bother her, but it would bother me.
In the sky, a pure red moon. As if my eyes were filled with blood, and pure red moon. I like the white moon, but I hate this red moon.
---Crunch, bite, tear. ---Rip, chew, swallow.
ah, I feel a little... sleepy. but I need to get home, today is my sister's birthday. i need to finish getting her present ready.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #5 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:11pm »
"I'm home! Mom, you there?" Followed by footsteps climbing the stairs. I didn't know what to do. Should I run? If so, then jumping out the window would work. With this body, that'd be easy. But, I couldn't. I, Yamase Maiko, want to meet this girl.
Behind me, I heard something heavy fall to the floor.
I turned around. There stood my little sister--Yamase Akemi, wearing a shocked face.
"...Nee-san?" ".........Long time, no see. ......You look good.....I'm glad."
"Nee-san!"
With flowing tears, Akemi tried to embrace me, but I avoided her. That earlier feeding couldn't escape my mind. "Nee-san?" "...Sorry. There's a reason I can't hug you." "That doesn't matter! I knew you were alive, Nee-san. We've been worried."
It hurt. My heart hurt. My crying sister, it hurt. ".......Hey, Akemi... I'm.... dead."
"Huh?" "I begged God. Just for today, I've returned to this world." "That, that can't be, Nee-san!" "It's true." For a moment, I hesitated. Then flung open my coat.
"Aah!" Akemi held both hands to her mouth, and stepped back. My body was nothing but a black mass with only the outlines of a woman's body. No surprise she's scared. I expected it, but seeing that reaction from my beloved sister hurt. "...See? My body doesn't belong to this world anymore." "......Nee-san." "You know? Just a guess, but the reason I came back to this world is probably for you, Akemi. So I could tell you 'Happy Birthday', it just occurred to me." "...N, nee-san..."
"Stay well, ok? Take care of yourself. I'll always be watching over you... And, stay out of the park at night, ok?" "...Nee-san, wait! At least wait for Mom to--" "Sorry. I'm already out of time." "...No, not like this. Onee-chan, you finally, finally came back..." Akemi's cute face twisted up, and tears poured out. ...'Onee-chan'? Oh, yeah... How nostalgic. Long ago, Akemi used to call me that...
But at what point did she stop calling me Onee-chan, and start using Nee-san? That's right, it was when she entered high school. I felt it was too childish, and I got mad at her about it.
When Mom was off at work, I was the one who took care of Akemi. That's why she always followed me around. Always quietly crying, following me.
To protect my sister from bullying boys, I studied karate. And the end result of my karate studies opened her heart, and from then on she always stuck to my side. Even though she was far smarted than I am, she took the same entrance exams just to be in the same high school as me. To try to make her stand on her own, I pushed her away a little. Ever since then, Akemi referred to me a 'Nee-san'.
"Onee-chan, me, and Mom, we always believed you'd come back, we knew you definitely come back!" It's like seeing the past Akemi all over again. Sniffling, sobbing, my little sister---
Ah, why can't I cry?
"There are so many things I wanted to tell you, so I waited for you!"
It hurt.
"At least one day, one day!"
It hurt too much.
I just silently walked past her. "--W, wait, Onee-chan!" Akemi grabbed my arm. Her hand began to sink into my flesh. I slapped her hand away.
"Onee-chan......" Looking at her hand, my dear sister's face was scared. ".........Stay well, ok?"
Giving my farewell, I left the house. I could sense Akemi chasing me, so I shook her off with one great leap. I wonder what I should do now?
Eventually, night came. I stood alone in the park. The park... where I died. Maybe they'd grown too starved, but somehow I managed to maintain control of my body. However, I could feel the end approaching. If I should lose control, then the beasts of my body would probably fill their hunger on all the people nearby. I don't want that. I don't want there to be any more people like me.
So I silently stood, watching the night sky, and the slowly sinking moon.
aah, the pure red moon. red, as if dyed scarlet.
Part of me was horribly impatient, but another part of horribly calm. Utter ambivalence. So, this is what it feels like to wait for your execution. How I acquired this form, I don't know. In my mind, it really is near miraculous. If possible, I really wanted to spend more time with my family. But I can't. I don't think I could restrain myself from eating people.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #6 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:11pm »
How much time passed... Suddenly, I felt someone arrive. Then-- "So you were here. Such confidence." "Although your shape has changed." The voices of two women. Arcueid-san and Ciel-sem..., Ciel-san. I stood up from my bench.
The two I'd been expecting, but also, protected behind Arcueid-san's back, a single man. He wore a pair of glasses over a grim face.
He must be Tohno Shiki. He staggered weakly. His face was very pale. No matter how you look at it, this was one unhealthy young man. Is it alright for him to be here? Ha. Here I am about to be killed, and I'm still worrying about others.
Ciel-san swung her arm in a simple motion. Thunk, thunk, thunk! Three needle-like blades pierced my body. The tips stuck out my back. But, there was no pain. No feeling of being stabbed at all.
I pulled the blades out, and tossed them aside. They rung loudly as they hit the ground.
"As I said, Ciel. Our attacks won't work on that." "So it seems, Arcueid. To get hit by my Black Keys and not even twitch, well, a normal vampire couldn't manage that." I couldn't ignore those words. "What? You can't kill me..."
"That's right. WE can't. Your flesh is now very close to real Chaos. Chaos itself is a world of its own, fusing heaven and earth. To destroy that Chaos that is your flesh would require enough power to destroy the entire world. Ever since the Earth was created, nothing has had that much power. --But Shiki is different."
Ciel-san nodded. "Right. Tohno-kun's Eyes of Death can kill even an entity like you. Because Tohno-kun can kill, not the concept of Chaos, but rather the concept of you." "......So that's why you brought someone so ill."
"That's because you separated from Shiki's body!" Arcueid shouted almost angrily. No, she actually was angry. "For some reason, you, a piece of Nero's ruin that should have stayed a part of Shiki's body, developed your own will! That's why you and Shiki were both around at the same time! If it were for the blood of the two girls, even bringing Shiki here would have been really dangerous!"
......Now I understand.
This body's starving hunger isn't actually hunger. The one that originally used this body used some method describe the structure the flesh was to maintain. But to a normal person like me, that sort of difficult trick is impossible. In the end, since I separated from Shiki-kun's body, the body needed to draw in new shape information from outside the body. In other words, this wasn't just a simple hunger.
Collapsing existence. Reversion to perfect chaos. And the techniques to prevent that.
To preserve this body-- To preserve a human-like body that would not fall into chaos, it needed to supply something similar.
----Thus, eating people.
Ahhhh... After all, I can't live on without killing people. I'm a monster, after all---
"...Although, to think about it, wasn't the start of all this because you taught Tohno-kun some of the fragmented magic from your meager knowledge?" Ciel-san's gaze caused Arcueid-san to flinch. "That's! Ciel! I did for Shiki!" "...And it ended up like this, didn't it? I'm truly looking forward to watching you explain this to Akiha-san." A righteous smirk graced Ciel-san's face. "What? Nooo! Shiki, say something!" "Ah, well, Arcueid was just thinking about my life span when she taught me that......"
".........Ah"
......Jealousy. A superficial, playful argument between people who don't even dislike each other. Akemi and I used to argue like that. Why are these three people playing out such a cruel scene before me?
Like a scene from normal, everyday life. Get up in the morning, eat breakfast with the family, go to school, chat with friends, return home, eat a family dinner, sleep.
The utterly boring, irreplaceably precious daily life. Mom was there, and Akemi. That quiet, restful scenery. What I now long for from the bottom of my heart, what I cannot ever have. Such a small thing; until you lose it you never even realized it was there, that giant, desperate, desire.
Why... are they forcing me to watch that.......
I pulled the knife out of my pocket, and tossed it to Shiki-kun. As I expected, Arcueid-san grabbed it out of mid-air, before passing it to Shiki-kun herself. Then Arcueid-san and Ciel-san both silently stepped back. This pale-faced, ill Shiki-kun is to take care of me, it seems.
"A human will take care of me?"
With a sigh, he removed his glasses.
"--Blue...eyes?" Terribly cold, evil eyes. As if shining with their own light, those fascinating eyes. They left the same feeling in my heart as Arcueid-san's crimson eyes.
Suddenly, the beasts began to writhe within my body.
As if triggered by the magic of those blue eyes, or maybe they simply understood how dangerous those eyes were. Survival instincts. They suddenly awoke. But I forced them down. The beasts struggled for a little, then grudgingly subsided. How skillful I've become at controlling this body in just a few hours.
Shiki-kun's cold eyes quietly watched me. "Do you think you can kill me with that tiny little knife?" Deliberately, I jested with him-- but he still said nothing, just continued to silently watch. Is it just my imagination that he looks like a predator waiting for its prey?
"...Why don't you say something!"
I suddenly broke into a run. My body felt so light. In a moment, my surrounding were left behind. No joke, just pure physical strength. I clenched my right hand. A hard, boulder-like fist. Just a single strike from this body, and a human would die easily. It had that much strength, I now knew. But for that same reason, I held back. I don't want to kill anyone any more.
Shiki-kun dove under my fist, and stuck out his knife. ...But a tiny blade like that one couldn't kill me. So, there's no reason to bother dodging. I wish he'd get serious about this.
The knife pierced my chest. Then---- ----I felt a chill that penetrated all the way to the bottom of my heart.
"Aah...."
The instant I felt myself being stabbed, I knew that I was beginning to fade. That this was, probably, a fatal wound. One that I would definitely not be able to revive from.
My mind began to scatter, sinking into the darkness. Thankfully, it didn't hurt. I don't want to hurt anymore---
Suddenly---
My body jerked and writhed. With its commander, me, dying, the beasts that composed this body began to run wild. As my thread was stretched to its limits, their struggles became stronger. From my body, starving beasts---Bears and tigers and lions and wolves and sharks and other creatures I couldn't recognize--- sprang forth, like water from a fountain.
But as those countless beasts jumped from my body and attacked those three people, they were pierced by dark needle-like blades, or killed by single strikes from Arcueid-san. It's alright. These people can actually kill me. It's alright now-----
"Onee-chaaan!"
----A familiar voice, from a girl that shared my blood. At the edges of my fading sight, several beasts ran towards that voice. My mind, melting into darkness, suddenly returned.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Collapsing. Breaking. Fading. my flesh-- my soul-- my mind--
But if a miracle had brought me back once, then a miracle could help me again. So I ran. Steadily, my body-- or rather, my spirit, was crumbling, turning into a viscous black mass. But just a little more---
Before that precious girl, one beast. A large black tiger. I----
"AAAAAAAAA!!" With a roar, I grappled with the beast. Akemi looked at me in surprise. Shiki-kun arrived a half step behind me, with a flash of his knife.
The tiger collapsed.
and just like it
I, too
collapsed----
".........Bye, huh?....." Akemi began to cry. Behind her stood Arcueid-san and Ciel-san, looking unhappy. And bewildered, as if he didn't understand what was happening, Shiki-kun.
"O, Onee-chan! No, no, no! Don't die! I'll do anything, please!" Summoning all my remaining strength, I smiled. So that in the end, I could show Akemi my best face... "Onee-chan! Onee-chan! Onee-chan, Onee-chan, Onee-chan!" Ahh...Akemi is still such a crybaby.
But...
I can't protect her anymore.
"A...Akemi... Smile..." "Eh? ...I can't! If you come back, then I'll smile, but I can't!"
...Distant. My mind was fading. My spirit fading.
"...Akemi, smile. For me, too, smile. .....At the end, let me see your smile..." "...Aaa....Onee-chan... OK... I'll smile. See? I, I'm smiling..."
"...Be strong... I was always there to protect you, right..."
The world was dark. Everything... growing so distant...
"...Aaaa, aaaaaahhhh...Onee-chan!!"
Aah...
Twinkling, tears fell on my face. I wonder if it looks like...I'm... crying......
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #7 on Jun 7, 2005, 4:14pm »
A note on some of the sylistic features of this story: First, this story made heavy use of the game engine to automatically display text at fixed times during some scenes, frequently with a sound screen effect between lines. Obviously, this effect was completely lost.
Next, Maiko, the narrator, uses 'Boku' exclusively as her first person reference, even when she thinks she's Tohno Shiki. The real Tohno Shiki, however, uses 'Ore' exclusively. 'Boku' is used mostly by boys and particularly tomboyish girls. 'Ore' is used almost entirely by men.
Third, names. During the story, a lot of names appear. However, most of them are written in katakana when the first appear in Maiko's thoughts. Writing names this way is frequently done when one does not know the correct kanji to use.
Fourth. A lot of times, when Maiko became confused, or when the beasts and her vampiric nature began to take over, the text converted entirely to katakana. I decided to duplicate this by using all lowercase, and dropping standard punctuation rules. It's not a good match, but it's the best I could come up with for a 'weird writing style that is technichally correct but awkward to read'.
Fifth. Again with the kana. There's one section where the text skips between capital and lowercase letters a lot. This is deliberate, as this section in the Japanese flips between katakana, hiragana, and kanji at random, sometimes in the middle of a word. Again, if it looks weird but is understandable, then that's what it should be.
Finally, as far as I know, this is a fan-written side story, and it shows. The writing style is completely different from Tsukihime itself, using different phrasing for some things. Many of these I tried to change back to more familiar (from other translations, both mine and other people's) phrases, but sometimes I couldn't. Hence, some things may sound different from things said in the game, but mean the same. Particularly when describing powers and such.
Re: Daybreak Translation « Reply #14 on Jun 8, 2005, 12:57am »
Great job. You really can't help but feel sorry for her. It is probably one of the sadder stories in the Tsukihime series. Of course, there are a lot of those.
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