Ginji-san & Aoi (source)

Oh wow! Tenjin-sama (the God of Learning) must be with me this week, for I was able to finish translating the Intermezzo of Volume 7 in a short time! 

Please refrain from posting my translations elsewhere. If you need to quote it, please acknowledge my site for the quote, because translating from Japanese hardcopy texts to English is a really hard work...

I will delete this translation when there is an indication that the novel will be translated into English and I will replace it with the summary of the chapter.  Meanwhile, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy reading it at least as much as I enjoy translating it. 

The next chapter is a long chapter (36 pages), hence will take a long time. Like, a good few months. However, hopefully I can post it before this year’s Christmas…

Novel Vol 7 Intermezzo 1 (Ginji at Dawn)

P204

“Even when I’m tired, when I go back home, when I see your smile and your cooking, I’m sure I’ll be able to do my best…”

Yes, turned out, I was indeed tired. 

Yet, Aoi-san’s cooking, which exposes ayakashi’s heart, still does its job…

Ah, how pathetic am I, to blurt out something like that?

At dawn, I woke up to find that my fatigue had completely vanished. That, coupled with the winter chill, gave me a good sensation. I observed my surroundings in silence^. 

Yet, when I got up and stretched myself, I suddenly noticed something. 

I am inside the Moonflower’s tatami room. I turn pale.

“W-what happened to me? Did I just fall asleep like that?”

P205

I feel so miserable that my cheeks and ears droop. Overwhelmed by various emotions, I cover my face with my palms. As the Young Master I act like I got everything under control in front of Tenjin-ya staff. However, in front of Aoi-san, slowly slowly I ended up showing my weakness and true feelings. Perhaps it was because we both run the Moonflower, cook together, eat together, talk about things, such that I’ve completely fallen in love with her. 

Before I know it, the Moonflower has totally become a place of healing for me.

That being said, I really don't think it's okay for me to sleep in a place like this. I’m sure I’ve surprised Aoi-san too. 

“Eh…? Wait, Aoi-san?”

I didn't notice it earlier because it was dark, but now I see a figure lying face down on the counter. 

Aoi-san. Still wearing her Moonflower kimono and a thick hanten jacket over it, she’s sleeping face down on the counter; her hair undone. Flustered, I sprang out of the tatami area towards Aoi-san. 

“Aoi-san, you’ll get sick if you're sleeping here, you… know…”

However, my hand stopped just as I was about to shake her shoulder. Sleeping face down, Aoi-san’s hand is holding something. Her hair ornament, adorned with the flower-shaped crimson crystal.

P206

It was the very hair ornament that Ōdanna-sama gave her when she arrived at Tenjin-ya. Instead of being a mere bud, the crystal flower is now blooming. Aoi-san must’ve been staring at this flower until she fell asleep.

“… Ōdanna…sama…”

I said nothing. 

Is that so. With Ōdanna-sama, Aoi-san is now already…

A little smile suddenly formed in her lips as she was talking in her sleep. Yet, before long, the smile disappeared.

Aoi-san is Ōdanna-sama’s fiancée.

Until recently, she was but Ōdanna-sama’s promised bride whose engagement was forced unto her. However, she now has developed feelings for him. Once she realises and accepts these feelings, that’s the moment I no longer have a role in her life. 

Before, together with Aoi-san, I opened a small eatery called the Moonflower here and fumbled around trying to maintain it. It was but a young eatery. Aoi-san called this shop her place to return home and I’m sure that even when she’s already married, she would still take care of this place and make it thrive. However, dare I say, my relationship with Aoi-san will change afterwards.  I’m sure I won’t be able to have casual chats with her or touch^ her casually either. She’ll be beyond my reach…

“Aoi-san… Let me take you to your room. Please sleep properly. You need to take care of yourself.”

P 207

I carry Aoi-san under my arm and bring her to her own room. I lay Aoi-san down on the futon that Ai-chan had left on the floor, and put the blanket and comforter over her neck. As an oni fire, Ai-chan has warmed the room by floating around. That’s good. 

“Good night, Aoi-san.”

“Hmm… okay, Ginji-san… good night~…”

I said nothing. Aoi-san tossed and turned in her sleep, mumbling again in her sleep. I was about to brush off her bangs that cover her eyes, but I stopped. I stared intently at my own hand before silently rose. 

Then, I immediately left the Moonflower.

I look up towards the dawn sky to see the pale moon there. At this time around, the deepest stillness envelopes Kakuriyo. I surrender myself to the cold winter and feel the heat in my chest dissipating. Exhaling cold air, I remembered what my big brother Ranmaru said to me^.

“You bring yourself pain by falling in love with her, you know...”

-xxx-

Translation notes

Following Kakuriyo Translation & Fan Translator By Choice, I put the page numbers of the original novel volumes (the Japanese version) in the translation to enable any readers who can read Japanese and have the books to examine the related pages. If the last sentence of a page goes over the next page, I will put a combined page number as an indication. 

I use mainly Jisho.org for Kanji searching, though at times Romajidesu.com and Nihongo-pro.com are used as well. I use Google Translator to have a rough guess of the meaning of phrases, but then I consult my trusted Japanese grammar book for the closer approximations of the meanings (the “Japanese the Manga Way” by Wayne P. Lammers – I would have otherwise tripped on nuances such as “kita”, “iku” and “okimasu”). I use The Jaded Network for SFX effect translations.

Seigo Nakao’s “Japanese-English English-Japanese Dictionary” has proven to be very useful as a companion to Jisho.org. To assist with grammar, I also use Naoko Chino’s “All About Particles”, Kakuko Shoji’s “Japanese Core Words and Phrases”, Kakuko Shoji’s “Common Japanese Collocations”, Kakuko Shoji’s “Basic Connections” and Kamiya Taeko’s “Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication”.

Specific translation notes:

P204: ^ These days I tried to translate 「……」 into something else (e.g. “I remained silent”), because 「……」  translates well in manga pages, but not in novel pages.

P206: ^ The JP ver is 触れ合う、ふれあう、or “to come into contact with; to touch (each other); to have a brush with”. Google Translator suggested “interact”, but interaction can mean just casual verbal chats. Since the Kanji is specifically about “touch” or physical contact, I chose to translate it as “touch(ing) her casually”. After all, at times Ginji-san did casually, but respectfully, touch Aoi.

P207: ^ Ranmaru said it to Ginji at the end of the Southern Land story-arc. It was not in the anime, but it was in Vol 5 of the novel. Another fan translated that epilogue here.