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agirlinjapan · 5 years

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Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 25)

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.

It’s summer! Woo! I have the next two months more or less to myself to do all sorts of fun things, including getting back to a regular translation schedule!

Speaking of translation schedules, today marks the return of weekly RDG posts! Lots of translation time means lots of material to share with you. I’ll return to biweekly posts in the fall, but until then, enjoy lots of RDG!

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 3: Winter Solstice Part 4 (1 of 2)

As there were no windows in the hall, it was pitch black without the overhead lights on. Everyone at the party sucked in a collective breath and stopped moving. There was a beat of silence where no one said a word.

I can’t…

Painfully aware that what was happening at the moment was her doing, Izumiko was grateful when the lights flickered back on a second or two later.

“What was that? A power outage?”

“I thought it was going to be the same as what happened at the school festival!”

Relieved voices broke out across the hall. Up on the stage, Hoshino was saying something into the microphone to try and quiet the crowd.

That was close…

Izumiko realized she was covered in sweat, and chills were going down her spine. She wanted to wipe the sweat off her forehead, but her hand couldn’t reach it under the costume’s head. Izumiko took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. However, there was something stopping her from fully relaxing and she couldn’t put her finger on where the feeling was coming from. She was being pulled under further and further by thoughts there was no escaping from.

I’m completely to blame for what’s going on here. I should be the only one being pulled down into this darkness…

Even before this, Izumiko had been afraid of what she was finding herself to be capable of. But now she knew for sure that the thing that made her quake with fear wasn’t just around her, it was inside of her. She couldn’t separate herself from the darkness, even when she went somewhere as bright and happy as where she was now.

I’m not even a little human-like. No human would call the life I live normal either…

When she had been deep inside of Mt. Togakushi, she had felt the sensation of floating through directionless darkness. Now inside the reindeer costume, Izumiko was experiencing the same feeling. The darkness inside of her small body was just as deep and all-consuming as the darkness she had found in Togakushi.

Something suddenly came to mind then. St. Nicolas gave presents to good children while his frightening attendant carried off bad children who didn’t receive anything. Not everyone was given equal blessings. Izumiko was overcome by a feeling of profound understanding of that reality.

“Izumiko.”

Izumiko was startled by Mayura’s soft voice which was unexpectedly close by. She hadn’t noticed the other girl’s approach at all. When she looked through the mask’s peephole though, it really was Mayura. She was still dressed in her raggedy costume, and so no one seemed to notice her sitting next to a reindeer. However, the tone of her voice was sharp, conveying her urgency.

“Hey. I couldn’t recognize shikigami before, but for some reason now, I’m seeing them all over the place. The room’s crawling with them. Do you know why?”

“Shikigami?”

Izumiko sucked in a breath and hurriedly looked around her. However, all she could see were partygoers.

“I don’t see any yet. The costume makes it hard to see anything though…”

Mayura seemed surprised.

“You don’t see any? Something must have happened. I’m going to go find out if Manatsu can see any.”

With this said, Mayura quickly left Izumiko’s side. Izumiko sat there, speechless. She did have to admit that something strange was happening, though.

Even when she strained her eyes, she couldn’t pick any shikigami out of the crowd. As expected in the artificial, overhead light, everyone’s shadows looked pale and barely there. Like the time before when she had identified Nobuyuki Sakano as a shikigami, all the guests’ bodies had a grainy look to them as if they might come apart at any minute. They were all the same.

What’s happening?...

As she looked around the room in confusion, Miyuki and Takayanagi both came into view. Miyuki rushed towards Takayanagi and began to make the nine signs he had taught Izumiko, chanting as he did so. Takayanagi began to make the signs in the familiar lattice-shaped gesture as well. This was the first time Izumiko had seen him do it.

Perhaps it was due to the self-protection charms they were chanting, but Miyuki and Takayanagi looked less insubstantial than the people around them. Inside of her mask, Izumiko couldn’t hear distant sounds well, but she easily picked up what Miyuki said to Takayanagi.

“Don’t you think there’s a limit to what you should do? You’re so full of yourself that you brought this many shikigami here?! The regular students are going to notice something at this point!”

“Before you blame anyone, take a good look. Those aren’t shikigami. They’re something else. I thought their numbers had been growing,” Takayanagi practically snapped.

As he spoke, he pulled a piece of paper cut into a human-like form from his breast pocket and brought it to his mouth. He blew it towards a nearby female student in a costume. When the paper touched her, she disappeared. The fact remained though that to Izumiko, the girl hadn’t looked different from any other human.

“Ah, so she disappeared. Good. It doesn’t make any difference to me,” Miyuki said irritably. As he spoke, he began to swing his staff around in a way that suggested the action and its goal really didn’t make a difference to him. More students began to disappear. Only then did he appear to notice what Izumiko had already seen—all the students looked like the ones that were currently disappearing.

Mayura’s voice traveled to Izumiko in the same way as Miyuki’s had before. “Hey, Spot. Even if you’ve finally gotten to the point where you can’t control all your shikigami, you don’t have to announce it to the world.”

“Who are you calling Spot?” Takayanagi shot back unabashedly.

When Izumiko turned her reindeer head, she saw Manatsu with Mayura. They were walking forward hand in hand. Manatsu had taken off the upper half of his animal costume and had wrapped the arms around his waist to keep the bottom half up over the clothes he wore underneath. Mayura was already speaking to Takayanagi.

“You’ve had your chance, so now it’s Masumi’s turn. You’re not allowed to complain, even when he cleans all of this up. After everything’s over, you should consider apologizing to the adults for what you’ve done.”

Manatsu looked serious as he and his sister twisted their hands into a number of different gestures not unlike the ones Miyuki and Takayanagi were making. After a moment though, he glanced at Mayura as if realizing something.

“Shoot. We messed up. It probably wasn’t the best idea to call Masumi right away…”

“Why?” Mayura asked in surprise.

It was Masumi, appearing in full form in front of them, who answered though.

“Mayura, why are you never dressed up like a princess? It’s so discouraging to me.”

Masumi was dressed in the same outfit Mayura was, complete with the fraying apron and kerchief on his head. He crouched down, looking sullen. “You know I can’t do my best when I don’t like what I’m wearing…”

“Alright, alright. I’ll go change,” Mayura said, sounding as if she had given up. Then she hurriedly walked away.

What was strange about the whole scene was that none of the other students, teachers, or guardians seemed to be paying any attention to what was going on. They all just kept talking to one another. No notice was taken of the people who Takayanagi and Miyuki had made disappear. It was as if those students had simply walked away or left the party. The non-shikigami that had escaped the two of them seemed to be sluggishly moving away without anymore fuss.

What if this is another dimension?… What if this is all happening outside of reality?...

A thought suddenly occurred to Izumiko. While she had thought everything had gone back to normal a second after the lights had gone out, something was slightly different.

Is this someplace inside of me?...

This way of thinking gave her a reasonable explanation for why she hadn’t been able to detect any shikigami. If this was someplace inside of her, then everything here was a part of her. It was strange that Miyuki and the others were acting the way they always did, but maybe this was some sort of phenomenon brought on by her desires.

I’ve been sucked down into myself. I have to find the reality beyond this…

It was difficult to be aware of the outside world when she was in a place with no apparent way out. As much as she didn’t want to, she forced her awareness in the direction of the party.

It had gotten dark outside of the auditorium. She could taste that darkness and the chill of the rattling branches on the trees across the campus. Beyond the noises of the wind, she could hear what sounded vaguely like far off, distant thunder.

Ah, it’s getting closer…

Izumiko realized this through her reluctance. Now that she was aware of it, the sound was slowly beginning to grow louder. Her senses were getting sharper, but they still offered no help. The unpleasantness of the noises continued to increase. The low bass noises felt as if they were burrowing into her head.

While it sounded like thunder, it was different from the real thing. What she heard now was a mix of ground shaking rumble and high-pitched noise. The ground shaking rumble sounded like a herd of horses’ hooves, and the high-pitched noise was like dogs howling.

…Is it the Wild Hunt?...

As she thought of this, she lost her train of thought connecting her to the outside world. She remembered what she had looked up after the exams. This was like Japan’s night parade of one hundred demons. The Wild Hunt with its supernatural hunters chasing after the dead… The collection of spirits that prowled through the darkness and storms that came along in the dead of winter…

They collect souls. The hunters of darkness that ride black horses and own black hunting dogs…

There was a thunderous roar accompanied by an ominous tremor that made her stomach quake and all the doors in the auditorium fly open. A white, mist like haze flowed into the room.

Izumiko knew that the pack of howling dogs was now in the lobby. Then they were barreling into the room, jumping and leaping as they went. A black shadow rose up in the middle of the mist. The first horse of the hunt placed a heavy hoof on the floor and let out a snort before immediately advancing. More horses followed after it, their tack jangling as their massive bodies stepped forward. Their riders, however, were less substantial than their mounts. They were little more than their brimmed hats, cloaks, boots, and gloves, like mummies or bare skeletons.

The area covered by the white mist was growing, making it hard to see the people at the party. Still, no one noticed. They paid no attention to the shadow hunters, nor did the hunters have any interest in them. The object of their hunt, the reason these dead had come together, was her alone.

This is my problem…

The hunters were the only things Izumiko could see in the darkness of her costume. At the same moment that she realized the position she was currently in, Claus let out a yell next to her.

“Ah! Keep the dogs away from me please, Izumiko.”

“Claus, you can see them?”

“Hunting dogs are the worst. I’ve been bitten before.”

Izumiko didn’t have the time to look in Claus’s direction, but there was no doubt that he could see the black dogs from the fear audible in his voice. She took another deep breath, unsure of what to do.

“What’s happening…”

“Izumiko.”

She could hear Miyuki’s voice right next to her. She hadn’t noticed his approach anymore than she had Claus’s. When she gravely brought her hands up and turned the reindeer head, she saw Miyuki dressed in his ascetic monk’s garb and holding his staff horizontally over his head. She knew he was focused on the threat coming through the doors of the hall.

“You can see them too, Miyuki?”

“Of course I can. What do you think the point of having Wamiya with me is?” Izumiko got the sense that Miyuki had intended to speak calmly, but his voice came out hollow.

The dead hunters on their black horses and the pack of black dogs continued forward. The dogs’ deafening baying and the sounds of the horses’ hooves grew, but so did another sound—unsettling silent screams that seemed to enter her body not through her ears, but through her skin. This was joined by the high pitched, metallic sound and the unforgettable scent of death.

Unable to shout over all the noise, Miyuki brought his face close to the reindeer head.

“I don’t know why they’re here, but I’m going to drive them away. I don’t need your help, so go stand by Takayanagi.”

Izumiko held her breath. She was no longer capable of knowing if she was talking to the real Miyuki or if this was a dream. Uncertain of herself, she said weakly, “You can’t drive them away anymore. This is what’s inside of me. So there’s no point in running from it…”

“What are you talking about? I have no idea what you’re trying to say, but snap out of it. You know how to protect yourself, so don’t let them get into your head!”

Miyuki clapped a hand onto the reindeer costume’s shoulder and shook her as if trying to wake her up.

“Get it together! Everyone’s doing their best to keep you hidden.”

Izumiko couldn’t feel much through the thick fabric of the costume, but the sense of Miyuki’s touch reached her. Belatedly, she realized that they weren’t in her own personal darkness.

Ah… Alright. So I have to replace the barrier…

She knew at once what was making reality so messy. She hadn’t truly realized the reason for her protection charm, one so large it covered the whole campus, until now.

…They said that the winter solstice is the darkest day of the year…

It was as if she had opened her eyes for the first time since all of this had begun. It all made sense now. The darkness of the season had a dark effect on Izumiko’s power as well. It was something that was necessary for her to understand. Just like summer and winter came and went. Just like day and night danced around each other. This world was always shifting back and forth between light and darkness here and there. While certain things remained throughout the year, the world was not something that remained the same all the time. It was made to constantly recreate itself.

I can’t chase the darkness away from myself. But if I know that there’s a way through the darkness inside of me, I can change how I deal with it. I don’t have to let the darkness take me over…

As Izumiko discovered this about herself, Miyuki continued speaking about something else.

“I feel the same way as Mayura. I’m not happy about working with Takayanagi. It’s just that he’s here in the right place at the right time. I feel bad about saying this to Mayura and Manatsu, but we can’t let Masumi take control of this place. If he swallows up this many spirits, he’ll become invincible.”

Now that Izumiko knew that Miyuki really was himself, she was positive that this wasn’t a dream. She answered him.

“Yeah, I agree.”

Hearing her words, Miyuki turned away and called out in the opposite direction, “It sounds like we’re ready! Let’s start, Takayanagi.”

It appeared that Ichijo Takayanagi was also completely capable of seeing the Wild Hunt. Its appearance, however, seemed to have taken him very much by surprise. He faltered, not beginning whatever magic he was supposed to, and Miyuki was forced to urge him on before he began to chant.

The little paper dolls that Takayanagi blew into and then threw towards the oncoming hunt seemed like nothing compared to what they were up against. They were simply blown back in Takayanagi’s direction by the power of the invading force, fluttering up into the air.

However, up in the air, the appearingly useless charms began to change form one by one. Letting off golden glows so powerful they sent beams of light streaming down below them, they became dazzling balls of light. A second later, they had grown wings and were flying through the mist, leaving trails of brightness behind them.

Takayanagi’s creations were so bright that it was difficult to make out their actual forms, but the V-shape of their wings made them look like birds of prey. As they glided through the air, the lights split, increasing their numbers. Eventually, the whole hall was filled with light and it became clear that the black hunting party would not be able to keep moving forward. The strength of the ear-splitting noise weakened, and the hound’s baying began to lessen.

Eventually, the horses and their riders began to fade. They changed from midnight black to light grey, then continued on to an even lighter misty dust color. The dogs, horses, and the dead were surrounded by the birds of light. Then they disappeared.

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#rdg #red data girl #rdg 6 #rdg 6 week 25 #rdg my wish on the night of the shooting stars #translation

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brotherseph · 3 years

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Parable Of The Unmerciful Servant

March 09, 2021, Tuesday Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent (Violet) CYCLE B -YEAR I RDGS: DN 3:25. 34-43/ PS 25:4-5. 6. 7. 8. 9 GOSPEL: MT 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

"Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

This parable is about the mercy of God, which is one of the strongest divine qualities, if we may put it like that. Nothing except mercy born of compassion cancels a debt like the one referred to in the story. It further ends by calling us to be merciful as we have received mercy. Mercy is deeper than forgiveness; it sees into the heart of the other and walks around for a while in the other's shoes. It includes compassion and active healing. Shakespeare's description still resounds, 'Mercy is twice blessed - it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.' To live in an environment of mercy is to live in an atmosphere of peace, healing, and growth.

As Jesus continues to emphasize forgiveness, I humbly bring myself before God who forgives me everything, who loves me beyond any sin. The forgiveness that God gives is often difficult for me to receive. I think of how it is given generously to me so that I may give it freely to others.

PRAYER:

Lord, to forgive from the heart is a grace I must pray for. I can’t do it on my own, and I know this. Often I am a ‘wicked slave’! You are always so good to me, but I can be so hard-hearted with those who offend me. Have mercy on me and change my heart!

#bibleverseoftheday #ParableOfTheUnmercifulServant

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agirlinjapan · 5 years

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Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 27)

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.

I did it! This week I finished translating RDG 6! And with that, I’ve finished translating the RDG series! There’s a new book that came out last year, Ice Shoes, Glass Shoes, and I do plan on translating that, but it’s a book of short stories, not a seventh book in the series. Keep an eye out for more information on what I’ll be doing after RDG 6.

While I’m finished translating RDG 6, I still have another 100 or so pages of the book left to post here for you. I expect that I’ll be posting the last piece of the story sometime in early September. Until then, enjoy the last third of the book!

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 4: Mizuho Part 1 (1 of 2)

The December closing ceremony was set for the 22nd.

Many of the students who lived far away would be leaving for home that day. However, Izumiko, Miyuki, and the Souda siblings had plans to stay at the school until the 25th. Miyuki had not forgotten the promise he had made to put something together for them and their friends to do so that Izumiko could dress up and Mayura and Manatsu had readily agreed to the suggestion as well.

However, something unexpected occurred the day before the closing ceremony. While gathered at one of the cafeteria’s white tables and just about to finish their lunch, Miyuki said, “I got an invitation to a party on Christmas Eve. It’s for all of us. Angelica’s putting it together at her home and she’s invited ten or so of her new friends. What do everyone’s plans look like?”

“What?! Her house in Paris?” Izumiko asked, the words coming out of her mouth before she could think about them.

Miyuki turned to look at her, his eyes disbelieving. “Yeah, right. There’s no way we could go there even if she invited us. Her father apparently has an apartment he rents in here in Tokyo. Here are your official invitations.”

Miyuki handed each of them an envelope. Their names had been written on them. The card inside, decorated with Christmas-y drawings, gave the date, time, and address. While Izumiko had been indeed invited to the barbeque at the Souda’s house that summer, this was the first time she had gotten a formal written invitation to a party. She stared at the card for some time, struck by its novelty.

“The address is in Minato-ku, the harbor district. Angelica’s dad really is rich just like she said then,” Mayura said with admiration. Then she looked towards Miyuki questioningly. “But why did she pass this information on through you? Were you talking to her about something? You’ve gotten awfully close to her lately, haven’t you?”

Izumiko immediately turned to look at Miyuki, taking in his expression at Mayura’s question. It was something she had wanted to ask about as well.

Miyuki, apathetic to their suspicion, denied the connection. “You’re wrong. It’s Claus I’ve been getting to know. He’s the one I got the information about the party from. Apparently, Claus mentioned to Angelica that you didn’t have fun at the school party, Izumiko, and that’s how we got the invitations. He also told me that most of the people who are invited are exchange students, but he knew you wanted another chance to dress up.”

Izumiko was quiet for a moment as she gazed at the invitation one more time. There were a lot of things she hadn’t experienced yet, including karaoke, going to a movie theater, and attending a party at a friend’s house to name a few. Going into the city just to have some fun was a big event for her.

“If the four of us are together, I’ll go anywhere…”

When Miyuki had promised to put together some other opportunity to celebrate Christmas, Izumiko had secretly imagined that he had been talking about a first date. After he had brought the suggestion up with Mayura and Manatsu though, she had felt a mix of disappointment and relief. With that said, Izumiko certainly felt the most at peace when the four of them were together. Now that she had friends as good as these, she was ready to try anything.

…But Angelica’s party feels a little like a trick.

Manatsu didn’t seem to have much interest in going to the party. He was holding the invitation between two fingers and waving it back and forth like a fan as he said, “I like your first idea of going to see a movie better. Or just us going to karaoke. I really didn’t ask for anything boring like this.”

“Takayanagi isn’t one of those friends Angelica’s invited, is he?” Mayura asked quickly. She, unlike her brother, seemed interested in going.

Miyuki nodded. “I didn’t ask, but I’d say there’s a good chance of that.”

“Then, let’s not go… Or at least that’s what I want to say, but I really want to.”

Mayura leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Angelica’s dad is the one who is came up with the idea of us coming together as a team to become the World Heritage Candidates, right? What do you think about that? Should we be grateful?”

“What are your thoughts on it, Mayura?” Miyuki asked instead. “That’s what I’d rather hear. Obviously, Izumiko and I will be grateful if none of this continues on beyond school. But you wouldn’t really understand that, would you?”

The bright winter sunlight shone through the big glass windows of the cafeteria. With the seating so near to those windows, it was practically like sitting in a sunroom. Seeing as exam days were only half days of class, the cafeteria was mostly empty. The space was quiet and comfortable, a far cry from what it always seemed to be like when it was packed with students arriving for lunch. Izumiko and the others were now basking in the calm. They had all taken off their uniform blazers, revealing their v-neck sweaters beneath.

Mayura looked around the room for a moment. Then she pushed her hair behind her shoulders and replied, “…That’s not true. I had completely given up on becoming the World Heritage Candidate, so when I heard the chairman had said something like that, I was unexpectedly happy. I thought, ‘So they don’t think I’m useless. Isn’t it good that they changed their minds? I’ll be with Izumiko. It’s great that I’ll be in a position where I can protect her.’ When the shikigami started to attack at the party, all I could think about was how important it was to make sure she was safe.”

Izumiko was well aware that she would only ever be seen as someone who needed protecting. Just thinking about what might have happened if she had stayed in that dark place still made her stomach drop.

“It seems like there’s still a lot of things I don’t know about myself…” she said dejectedly. “I felt the dimension change during the party. I’m really sorry for being so useless.”

“If we’re talking about not knowing ourselves, then I’m a mystery too,” Mayura said, sounding caught up in her thoughts. “I started seeing shikigami out of nowhere, remember? Before, I could never make out the differences you described between them and humans.”

“Me too,” Manatsu added. “I can spot them a lot better than I could before. I have a theory. Maybe once the campus came under Izumiko’s control, this and that started changing little by little.”

“Like, the campus is changing to resemble the way Izumiko sees it?” Mayura cocked her head to one side and then said hesitantly, “I didn’t want to say this in front of Takayanagi before, but now that I can see the shikigami, I feel a lot better about them. I can’t think that they’re entirely bad anymore…”

“I didn’t think they were from the start. That’s why I said you were being too stubborn about them.”

Hearing her brother say this, Mayura lifted her chin primly. “We might disagree with the diviner when it comes to our opinions on using shikigami, but now it’s clear where we stand with him. That’s because now, everyone knows he’s not the best magic user on campus. I think it’s safe to say he never gives up though.”

Manatsu laughed and said off-handedly, “Think of the shikigami as Spot’s toys. Anyway, Masumi’s definitely more powerful than he is. And now that Izumiko’s forgiven Takayanagi, we can be on just as good terms with him as we are with Masumi. But have you noticed that since he started saying the school is his, it feels like a load has been taken off?”

“Oh. Now that you mention it, I have noticed that. I haven’t needed as much sleep.”

Mayura stared at him. The day after the party, both she and Izumiko had gone about their day completely normally with no ill effects despite everything that had happened.

“Something’s definitely different,” she said. “Is it what you mentioned before?”

Miyuki, who hadn’t said anything until this point, opened his mouth and said thoughtfully, “Takayanagi said that the goddess can alter the flow of magic from its origin and amplify it. Maybe that’s what’s different. Speaking of becoming a team, I still don’t know how I feel about it, but I heard what you had to say, Mayura, Manatsu, and it sounds like we need to talk things out more before we make any decisions. We’re not just dealing with divine spirits and ghosts here. We’re all people who are being affected by living inside of the goddess’s barrier.”

Izumiko’s heart lightened as she thought of what Hodaka had said to her during their last meeting.

President Hodaka said everything in this world shares the same roots. Humans are just one part of a greater picture. But humans are a big part of nature…

Manatsu smirked, saying, “I guess we’d become Team Goddess. That sounds good. Team Goddess. It sounds like fun to me.”

Izumiko laced her fingers together and brought them up to rest in front of her chin. “I’m going to do my best to make sure there aren’t any negative effects and adjust any magic I’ve put in place if need be. I also need to take advice from more people so that I’m not alone or wondering what needs to be done. I’ve become much more conscious of what I should be doing than I was before. So, please let me stay with all of you.”

Mayura reached out a hand and lightly smacked Izumiko’s stiff arm.

“Easy there. You jump to conclusions so quickly. We’re all in the same boat here. Takayanagi’s still kind of a problem, as is Angelica and everyone she’s connected with.”

At Mayura’s words, Miyuki quickly looked away and rested one elbow on the back of his chair. Then he gazed out the window for a minute before finally saying, “It definitely won’t be hard to come to a compromise. Ascetic monks, diviners, and ninjas all have the same ancient, Japanese roots and we all know that already. It’s just because of the situation surrounding the adults that our backers and Takayanagi’s backers haven’t joined forces. But if we can work together here at the academy, those adults might end up working together, too.”

“What about Angelica and her father? Are you suggesting that we should feel grateful for their offer?” Mayura asked.

“So that’s going to be the attitude that people working with the goddess adopt, huh?” Manatsu picked up the invitation he had placed on the table and looked at it again. “I guess we should go to this party to see what Angelica and her family really want then, right? If that’s the plan, I’ll go too.”

Miyuki looked at Manatsu, his expression somewhat strange, but then readjusted his position in the chair and turned his attention to Izumiko.

“What do you want to do, Izumiko? If you have a bad feeling about this, you can decline.”

Izumiko wondered why Miyuki had turned his head away before. It had looked as if he hadn’t wanted Mayura to see his expression. She realized that he hadn’t said one word about his own thoughts on the party. Izumiko suspected that he had kept his mouth shut because he wanted to go to Angelica’s party.

For some reason, it was because of this, not because she had a bad feeling about the party, that she didn’t want to attend. Even Manatsu was going to the party, so Izumiko didn’t have any reason to decline.

Her mind decided, she opened her mouth and said, “Let’s accept the invitations and see what happens at Angelica’s party.”

~*~

Accepting her report card from her homeroom teacher, Izumiko returned to her seat and nervously peered at what was written on it. Her body immediately began to shiver as a rush of accomplishment she had never experienced before washed over her.

Yes!... I did it!

Her results on the end of term exams had ranked her tenth in the grade.

However, her true excitement wasn’t due to her high rank. If she was feeling this pleased with her grades, she would have an excuse to openly thank Miyuki for his hard work and give him the Christmas present that was currently hidden in her bag.

When Izumiko had gone out shopping with Mayura for an outfit and jewelry, she had also bought Christmas presents. Seeing as she had had plenty of spending money from Sawa left over after buying the clothes, she had been able to buy a lot.

Mayura had given her an important piece of advice. At this point, she shouldn’t buy anything expensive for anyone. Doing so would only make the recipient feel badly.

“Don’t go crazy,” she had said. “Something little is good. For example, get something that’s unique and will make them smile or something they can use.”

She had gotten her grandfather, Takeomi, a paperweight, and Sawa a kitchen gadget. Both gifts had been unique, but easy to pick out. However, it had been harder to find a good present for Miyuki seeing as she didn’t know what he liked. At a loss of what to pick, she had eventually chosen gloves. She had gotten the feeling that if she had chosen a hat or scarf for him, he would still keep using the ones he already had. All the same though, she still wasn’t sure if he would like her present either.

Originally, she had planned to give the gloves to Miyuki during the Christmas party and pretend she had gotten them as a store freebie or something along those lines. However, she had missed her chance and had been carrying them around ever since. Throughout that time, the present had begun to feel more and more boring to her. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to give them to him anymore.

As she thought about this, Mayura appeared at the door to Class 1-C and waved to her. Izumiko’s braids bounced behind her as she quickly got up and went to meet her friend.

“How did you do, Izumiko?” Mayura looked calm, but she had a satisfied smile on her face. “I got ranked number one. Miyuki’s number two, and Takayanagi’s number three.”

“You’re amazing, Mayura! You did exactly what you said you would.”

When Izumiko clapped for her, Mayura added with no embarrassment whatsoever, “They compiled the rankings only using the grades from our core classes. I’m not going to say this to many people, but that meant that Takayanagi couldn’t throw his weight around to get a better rank. What did you get, Izumiko?”

“I’m ranked tenth.”

“What? That’s a huge jump! That makes you way more amazing than me!” Mayura sounded genuinely surprised and her voice rose to show it. Realizing they weren’t in the best place to be exclaiming over grades, she lowered her voice and said, “It’s because you managed to fill in that gap you had in math, right? Was it worth all that extra studying you did?”

“Yeah, for sure.” Izumiko nodded.

An unusual expression crossed Mayura’s face as she looked at her. “Today, Manatsu and I are going to have a serious talk about the importance of schoolwork. I’m hoping he’ll take on a different attitude after it.”

“Oh?”

Izumiko blinked, but kept her gaze on Mayura’s face. When she looked into her friend’s eyes, she understood exactly what she was telling her. Usually Manatsu failed most of his exams.

“I think Miyuki’s already on his way to the student government room. Go tell him thanks.”

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agirlinjapan · 5 years

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Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 19)

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.

Happy Palm Sunday, Easter, and Passover to those who will be celebrating over the next week!

This installation has brought us to page 200 in RDG 6. We’re chugging along! It’s officially spring break for me, which means I’ll have more time than usual to dedicate to RDG. I’m hoping to get a decent amount done each day, and move further through the novel. I think I’ll be done by the beginning of summer!

Translation Notes:

The Namahage are a type of demon portrayed at festivals in certain parts of Japan.

The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons appears in a number of Japanese folktales. It’s more or less just what it sounds like.

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 3: Winter Solstice Part 1 (2 of 3)

Seeing as no one came to the student government room during the study days before the exams, it was a much better place to tutor someone than the library. Talking wasn’t allowed in the library’s reading rooms and any questions a student amassed during their time there were easily forgotten by the time they left and could speak again.

In the government room though, it was perfectly fine to talk. Miyuki also seemed to prefer it over the library because he felt more comfortable when other people’s eyes weren’t on him. They could also talk freely about whatever they wanted when there weren’t other people around. Today, Izumiko was planning to use that solitude to bring up the awkward moment they had had the day before.

However, Miyuki and Izumiko weren’t the only ones to claim use of the student government room. When they arrived, Okouchi and Hoshino were already settled there. Unused to not coming to student government once a day during the pre-exam club hiatus, the two second years had been coming anyway to play around with the computers there.

Okouchi and Hoshino were so lost in their own world though that they never once bothered Izumiko and Miyuki when they studied together or did anything else. Little by little, Izumiko had gotten used to their presence, and didn’t notice them as much as she had at first.

The two second year boys came from very normal families. It was clear that neither of them had been raised in connection with spiritual abilities of any kind. However, while they did know about the students who had been raised with magic, they had reacted quite calmly to their existence. Their reaction probably wasn’t the norm though. The way they interacted with Izumiko hadn’t changed at all either.

The people Honoka collected for student government all must have something special in common, but I wonder what it is… Izumiko thought quietly to herself.

Hodaka and Honoka’s student government had turned itself into a well-functioning group over the past few months, but they had to have all been chosen for some quality they showed. Izumiko was just grateful that no one had been treating her differently since everything with Takayanagi.

The bespectacled duo had liked Miyuki from the start, and Miyuki had gotten along with the older students as well. He seemed to have a respect for their deep knowledge of everything two dimensional. Izumiko could tell that the duo was quite intelligent as well. They just really didn’t care much about anything outside of their own interests.

That day, as Hoshino, Okouchi, Miyuki, and Izumiko were talking, Hoshino said out of nowhere, “Did you know? December 25th, the day that everyone thinks is Jesus Christ’s birthday, was actually decided on by the Christian church after the Council of Nicaea that was held in 325 AD. The Roman empire was showing off the authority it had at the time, and they set the date to intercede with the Mithraic winter solstice. December 25th was the date of that holiday.”

Miyuki looked at Hoshino, and then let out a small laugh. “Does that mean you’re interested in a Christmas event all of a sudden?”

“If this is all common knowledge to the exchange students, it would be embarrassing if I didn’t know it. It was interesting to look things up. Listen to this,” Hoshino continued enthusiastically. “The headquarters of the Greenland International Santa Claus Association is in Copenhagen, and they talk about people becoming certified Santa Clauses on TV and stuff. Also, Scandinavia is seen as Santa Claus’s home. But in Scandinavia, the word they use for Christmas, Yule, is actually the Germanic winter solstice that dates back to before Christianity. Old Man Santa doesn’t appear in that old European festival. Instead, there’s a spirit of some kind who doesn’t give nice presents to anyone. It’s kind of like the Namahage here in Japan. It’s a demon that goes around scaring little kids into behaving well.”

The image of a man dressed up in a demon mask and a straw cape with a sword in his hand going door to door during a festival came to Izumiko’s mind. She had seen it on TV at some point.

“The Namahage is from the Touhoku region in the northeast, right?” she asked. “He’s part of one of their festivals.”

“Yes, yes. He’s the one that goes, “Are there any bad kids here? Are there any crybabies here?”” Okouchi said, his expression serious as he took on the demon’s role for a second.

“The Christmas that Japanese people are used to comes from the US,” he continued. “And US Christmas comes from England. We’re used to the Christmas traditions that come from the English speaking part of the world, but there are many different traditions beyond those. The reason why western Christmas has rooted itself so deeply here in Japan is because Emperor Taisho died on December 25th and the day became a national holiday. It became a normal day again after World War II, but decorating Christmas trees, Santa Claus’s presents, and the winter sales war remain.”

“Have you been researching Christmas too, Okouchi?” Miyuki said doubtfully.

“I need to be prepared so that this doesn’t become a Christian based event. I’m doing this for President Honoka, too.” Okouchi went back to typing on his keyboard. “Christmas trees appear in winter solstice festivals that predate Christianity. Decorating houses with boughs from pine trees comes from early, non-Christian traditions. Decorating with evergreens is said to keep away evil spirits and attract good luck. We decorate with pine branches in a similar way here in Japan. After December 25th became Christ’s birthday, Germany began the tradition of decorating trees in the early modern era. It apparently then spread to England through the royal family. When Europeans first came to America, Christmas trees were one of the customs they rejected as being pagan. They were Puritans after all.”

“Wow. That’s unbelievable,” Izumiko said, her eyes wide. “So, Christmas trees are a pagan tradition. Decorated trees and the way we hang pine boughs outside people’s homes seem really different, though. Do they really still have the same basis in their meanings?”

Seeing Izumiko’s involvement in the conversation, Hoshino continued with increased vigor. “Speaking of original meanings, the connection between Christmas and the Wild Hunt is also interesting. There’s a legend about a hunt that takes place during the time between Halloween and the winter solstice. The hunting party is made up of fairies, the dead, and their black hunting dogs. That’s the Wild Hunt. The stories originated in Europe, and there are lots of different versions of it, but because any human who sees the hunt dies, it’s basically the same as Japan’s Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. However, if children put offerings in their stockings on the night before Winter Solstice, Germen folk stories say they’ll receive presents in those stockings from the Wild Hunt the next morning. ”

“Is that where leaving candy in Christmas stockings comes from?” Izumiko asked.

Miyuki made a sour face. “Please use this time to study for the exams, you two. Don’t waste the rest of your time wrapped up in this.”

“We’re getting wrapped up in this because it’s just before the exam,” Hoshino said. “Without fail, I always feel the need to read a big fat book right before exams.”

“Ah, me too.” Okouchi agreed.

The two of them made a few comments about their extensive stock of knowledge, but the conversation ended quickly after that. It wasn’t because they were bothering Miyuki though. They had simply said all that they needed to. Most likely, Okouchi and Hoshino had not been ignoring their studies, they had simply wanted to give Izumiko and Miyuki a break from their own work.

Quick break or not, Izumiko had been surprised by what she had just hard, and she couldn’t easily stop thinking about it. Even after parting from the bespectacled duo, she was still mulling over the information.

“I didn’t know that Christmas had its roots in a pagan holiday. Maybe I’ll do some research on it too… I’ve never heard of the Wild Hunt either. If they were comparing it to the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, the legends should be from around the Heian era probably. The Night Parade is mentioned in an Abe no Seimei story, isn’t it…”

“Don’t get pulled into this, Izumiko. We’re focusing on math right now,” Miyuki said, giving her a frightening look. “If you do the same thing they’re doing, you’ll waste all your time. Those two have the impressive ability of being able to switch back and forth between topics in an instant.”

“Had you heard about what they said before?”

“Most people wouldn’t know those things. I’ve only ever thought of Christmas as a day where kids ask their parents for things they want.”

“So, a present day?”

Sensing that Izumiko could no longer concentrate on the problem set, Miyuki gave up for the time being and answered her question.

“Okouchi was right when he mentioned the sales war. Isn’t that really what Christmas is for most people besides people who believe in it?”

“I never got any presents on Christmas,” Izumiko replied. “Were you someone who did?”

“I don’t just get stuff. I have to ask Yukimasa for it. If I bug him about something I need, he’ll get me whatever I want. He’s such a bad parent. I guess it’s his way of making up for leaving me alone so much,” Miyuki said bluntly.

The dry relationship between him and his father was quite evident at that moment. He didn’t seem as close-lipped as he usually was when Yukimasa came up in conversation though. He was speaking calmly.

Izumiko expanded upon the question she had already asked.

“Did you ever get a Christmas present from anyone? Like from a kid at school or something?”

“Yeah, I got a few of those.”

“From girls?”

Hearing this, Miyuki looked at Izumiko in surprise. “Well… some. We had present exchanges and Christmas parties, after all.”

“I’ve never been to a Christmas party. But I’d see presents during the cold season with their pretty wrapping paper and ribbons, and I always thought it would make me feel really good to get one. They have a different feel to them from getting New Year’s money,” Izumiko said, thinking about it yearningly.

She had never been able to experience a Christmas party when her school life had depended on being driven back and forth from the shrine to school in Mr. Nonomura’s car. She only knew about them from what she had heard from other people.

Miyuki gave a little laugh as if he found her life detached from the rest of the world strange.

“Unexpected Christmas presents do make people happy. You end up wondering how the other person knew you wanted whatever it was that they gave you.”

“Are you talking about something you got from a girl?”

“Why are you getting so particular about this? I get Christmas presents every year. That’s why Yukimasa can’t ignore the day either and gives me something. The sender’s name is never anywhere on the box, but it’s probably from Kaori. I have a feeling that it comes through Mr. Sengoku.”

Izumiko blinked at the unusually personal story he had just told her. Kaori was the name of Miyuki’s mother who had divorced Yukimasa years ago.

“Does your mom live in the mountains? Mr. Sengoku is the ascetic monk you trained with on Mt. Haguro, right?”

“I have no idea where Kaori is now. I heard that she got remarried a long time ago. That’s why I haven’t seen her or talked to her since she left. I just get a present with no name on Christmas.”

Miyuki showed no emotion at all, but all the same, Izumiko could sense how he was feeling. Even though he hadn’t seen his mother in all this time, she still had a big place in his heart.

After a moment of thought, Miyuki ended the conversation with a note of finality. “Mr. Sengoku is Kaori’s uncle. He’s the only person I know in the Sengoku family. Let’s stop talking about Christmas. We can talk about it more after the exams when we can relax.”

Izumiko knew how much it had taken Miyuki to share this story with her, so she didn’t want to make him angry by spacing out on the math problems he had prepared for her. She dropped her head back to the problem set, and diligently returned to her work on the equations.

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#rdg #red data girl #rdg 6 #rdg 6 week 19 #rdg my wish on the night of the shooting stars #translation

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agirlinjapan · 6 years

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Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School (Week 25)

Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Today, I successfully completed translating all of RDG 5. I’m so excited! The ending is a little different from where the anime stops. I’m really looking forward to starting RDG 6 seeing as this is part of the story that we didn't get in the anime. However, it’s bittersweet to know that this is the beginning of the end.--Book 6 is the last book in the series. What will I do when I finish? I’ll have to find something else good to translate!

Red Data Girl: My Longest Day of School By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 4: Choice Part 2 (2 of 3)

With Masumi in his Warring States era costume, Izumiko felt as if the school was nearby. She became aware of her own kuroko outfit. Her hair was wild and unruly, hanging to her waist with leaves stuck in it near the bottom of its strands.

“Why are you dressed like that? It looks like something Takayanagi would wear,” Izumiko said.

Masumi looked surprised.

“Huh? Really. This is what Mayura’s wearing today. Shoot. Does she look like him, too?”

“She doesn’t.” Izumiko grinned at him broadly. “She looks like a respectable soldier. The outfit looks good on her. Masumi, aren’t you supposed to be with her all day today? Why are you here?”

“Ah, um…”

“Don’t you have to help her win?”

Masumi gave a vague gesture at her words. “Yeah, but… I’m a little confused about what’s going on here. I’ve switched places with Mayura a hundred times before this. But this time, I think she wants to sacrifice herself.”

Izumiko blinked, thinking she must have misheard him.

“Sacrifice herself? That can’t be right. Why would she do that?”

“Mayura’s ultimate wish is to give her heart to Manatsu.”

“Give?...”

Izumiko found herself at a loss. Masumi didn’t often use figurative language, but she thought that he must be this time.

“A heart transplant,” he said, his tone straight foward. “There’s a good chance that Manatsu’s heart will give out like mine did when I was young. So Mayura wants Manatsu to live a long life by giving him hers, I think. That way, they can continue living as one person.”

At first, Izumiko didn’t know how to respond. She took a breath and finally whispered, “That’s…”

Masumi’s facial features were more or less the same as Manatsu’s, but his expressions resembled Mayura’s as well.

“It’s true,” he said. “When we were little, we promised each other that we’d all become one person. Mayura still acted like a boy then. It was an innocent promise. That’s why I came back to my siblings. The being known as Masumi is a dream of that promise.”

Izumiko stared at him, her eyes wide. “But that’s… What does Manatsu think of all this?”

“He has no idea what to do. He didn’t think it would come to anything, but then the events of this summer happened. Things are starting to unravel. For now at least, barely anything’s changed though.”

Izumiko thought about this for a minute and then opened her mouth. “If I were Manatsu, I wouldn’t know what to do either. Things are serious if that’s what Mayura is wishing for. It’s hard to full comprehend. What do you think, Masumi?”

Masumi shrugged, his surcoat going up and down with the motion.

“I don’t really think anything about it. A while back, you told me that devouring another spirit was kind of like liking them, right? Could you say this situation is an explanation of what like is, too?”

“…I don’t think I would say that,” Izumiko murmured quietly. “So, whether Mayura wins or loses or whatever else happens, all three of you are planning to become the same person in the future?”

“They’re looking for ways that would keep them from being alone. Mayura and Manatsu both want the other to live because they’ve seen the existence I, who died before them, lead.”

Izumiko stared at him, thinking. The words “ways that would keep them from being alone” resonated in her chest. Mayura always had someone with her. She had people she could be with.

“I’m jealous… She’s totally different from me… I’ve always thought that, even from the first day we met,” Izumiko said, her eyes downcast. “I thought I would be happy if I could just be useful to Mayura. I wanted to be on her side and help her beat Takayanagi. I wanted to help her become the best in the school. But now I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do… I’m probably not useful. I can’t do anything for her.”

“Why?”

“I can’t go back to the school.”

“Why?” Masumi repeated. He sounded like a young, curious child.

“I’m different from normal people,” Izumiko replied. “I might as well not be human at all.”

“But you’re human, Izumiko.”

“Then why am I here with you now?” she asked in return.

When Masumi responded, his voice was serious. “You’re human, but you were born with the ability to heighten your wavelength. Ages ago, there used to be plenty of people like you, but these days they’re an endangered species. There are some people who can learn to heighten their wavelength just a little through practice, and those people can see ghosts. Still, there really aren’t many people who can change the actual wavelength of the space around them. That’s what you can do.”

“When you say wavelength… Are you talking about how I break computers and cellphones?”

Masumi let out a short laugh, hearing the moment when Izumiko realized what he was talking about.

“That has to do with wavelengths too, but everything has its own wavelength. In this world, things made of matter, from minerals to organisms, exist within the range of short wavelengths. Electromagnetic waves and light have slightly longer wavelengths. Spirits exist in a range of much longer wavelengths than organisms. To put it simply, they’re on a different stage.”

Izumiko was surprised. “You know a lot about this. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were the sort of person who put a lot of time into thinking things through and figuring them out.”

Masumi brought a hand up to the bun on top of his head, and brightened ever so slightly.

“Nah… I don’t really think things through that much. I didn’t even realize I was a dream for a long time. I only figured it out when you were dancing in front of the stone door in Togakushi.”

Izumiko recalled how she had done this in order to get Manatsu back. There had been a stone door behind which the sleeping Nine Headed Dragon God had been sleeping. She had found it while trying to help look for Manatsu.

“Speaking of that time, when Manatsu came out of the door, you disappeared instead. We hadn’t seen you since then until this festival.”

“I woke up for an instant then. But then I fell back to sleep right after that and everything just went back to the way it had been before. Now though, I know that I don’t have a regular body and that I’m just a dream. My actual body is huge, and it has a massive store of knowledge.”

Izumiko didn’t respond for a moment after Manatsu answered her, but then she said, “Umm… Well, Masumi? I saw the giant snake come out of the stone door. I don’t really want to say that’s you if I can help it. It’s just kind of uncomfortable…”

“Okay. Then we won’t say that’s me. The Nine Headed Dragon God, as you called it, is just a reflection of the image humans had of that spirit a long time ago. There were young triplets who weren’t scared of the god. That’s why I became what I am now.”

Izumiko gazed at Masumi as she took in what he had said, a strange feeling growing in her chest. Masumi did not consider himself to be one of the triplets anymore. That much was becoming clear.

“You really are a god in Togakushi, aren’t you, Masumi…”

“I am.”

Masumi nodded and then was quiet. After a moment, he continued. “Eventually, I’ll probably devour Mayura or Manatsu. That’ll be the conclusion of the dream, so I can’t be sad about it or anything like that. Mayura refuses to see the great problem that is life and death. It’s just the reality of wavelengths of matter. But lately I’ve started thinking that you’re better than anything else.”

“Do you mean you’d rather eat me?” Izumiko asked, unalarmed despite herself.

“Our friends might say that. As you know, I like to eat a lot. But seeing as you’re a person with a very high wavelength, I don’t think I could really eat you like I could a normal person. In other words, what I’m saying is I want you to be with me. I don’t want you to be alone,” Masumi told her gently. “I mean, I like you, Izumiko.”

After a moment of shock, Izumiko finally thought, Could this be my first confession in my life?...

But then, she told herself, of course not. She pulled herself back. She was just being vain.

I’m wrong. I’m just the one who’s teaching Masumi about liking people. He just said he wants to eat me.

“Do you dislike me? Have you thought about that?” Masumi asked, suddenly alarmed.

Izumiko smiled a little, thinking of how he was impossible to dislike. She shook her head and her long hair slid over her body. “I don’t dislike you, but I don’t know what I feel.”

“Is that why you don’t want to go back to school? Do you not want to go back to being together with humans? Seeing as you’re such an unusual human, you could live with the humans or you could live in this dimension. So let’s be here together. I’d make sure you never got bored, and you wouldn’t be alone for a hundred years.”

“A hundred years?”

“For sure,” Manatsu said brightly.

If this really was a confession, it was one on a grand scale, Izumiko thought.

“…That’s a long time. Would I be aware of all that time passing? Is there some sort of guarantee that we wouldn’t start hating each other? We haven’t really spent a lot of time together yet. We don’t know each other that well.”

“You know what my true form is capable of. And I like you so much that I can’t stop looking at you. Let me show you how much fun we would have together.”

“I have a feeling that I’ll never enjoy anything ever again…” Izumiko said. Her words made her want to cry. Even though she had never shed a tear when she had been prepared to live in solitude for the rest of eternity, they welled embarrassingly up now in front of Masumi.

Masumi leaned forward and said soothingly, “Don’t cry. This place is different from the academy. It’s a world I thought up. We can change it however we want…. For example…”

He gently placed his hands on Izumiko’s arms. She didn’t feel anything at all as the kuroko outfit turned into the red and gold brocade over-kimono outfit she had worn to the kimono demonstration with its vine and hexagonal pattern. However, the unbelievable weight of the outfit which she had experienced that day was nowhere to be seen. The material itself felt the same, but the outfit didn’t weight any more than the kuroko costume had.

“It’s so light…”

“That’s right. It’s because of the difference in wavelengths here.”

Izumiko glanced up at Masumi who was looking pleased with himself, and asked, “Why do you want me to be a princess? Do you want me to wear this sort of clothing all the time if I stay with you?”

“I’m a boy because I came from the same egg as Manatsu. You said that yourself. I can recreate the Warring States era much better than a school festival can. If you want something more exciting, it doesn’t just have to be the two of us living together out here alone. We can live exciting lives. If you want to live extravagantly, we can live extravagantly, too.”

“I don’t want any…”

As Izumiko began to speak, she noticed that Masumi’s outfit was changing little by little. The battle surcoat’s color became more subdued. Then the entire outfit changed. The surcoat became a casual, sleeveless robe worn over a kimono and hakama pants. He looked like a samurai during peacetime.

“Houjou Ujiteru’s wife, Lady Hisa, survived the fall of the castle. However, her wish to see her husband again was never fulfilled. I don’t want to recreate that unhappy ending.”

Am I… Lady Hisa? Izumiko thought in confusion.

As she considered this, she heard voices she recognized from before.

“My lady.”

“How fortuitous. The lord has returned.”

A number of women dressed in kimono were now surrounding Izumiko. With Masumi’s hands still on her red clothed shoulders, Izumiko felt as if they had been caught in an intimate moment.

“My lady, please come this way.”

“Come this way, my lady. We have prepared a small feast for you and your husband.”

While the figures of the woman were dim, it was still clear for anyone to see that all of them were smiling as they spoke. Masumi smiled as well.

“Everyone’s been worried about their mistress all this time. If the two of us return to the palace’s main hall, they’ll be ecstatic. We’ll have moon viewing feasts, and flower viewing feasts, and have fun going out on the lake on boats. We’d rekindle an ancient love story and live a luxurious life.”

Izumiko unconsciously found herself wanting the life Masumi described.

If I stay here forever, no one would ever have to see me again…

Keep reading!

#rdg #red data girl #rdg 5 #rdg 5 week 25 #rdg my longest day of school #translation

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brotherseph · 3 years

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Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

December 19, 2020, Saturday (Saturday of the Third Week of Advent) (Violet) (Fourth Day of Simbang Gabi/Misa de Gallo) (White) CYCLE B - YEAR I RDGS: JGS 13:2-7. 24-25/ PS 71:3-4. 5-6. 16-17 GOSPEL: LK 1:5-25

In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Once when he was serving as priest in his division's turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord." Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel said to him in reply, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time." Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, "So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others." #bibleverseoftheday #birthofjohnthebaptistforetold

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Zechariah and Elizabeth belonged among the Lord’s own ‘little ones’ of the earth, among the ‘God fearing’ masses. Each of them, judged by the depth of their belief, could be rated as being ‘one in a thousand’ – while, to the external view, each was unknown and just like a thousand others. And God seemed to be even withholding the award that might have been expected in those days - they were childless. Certainly, God’s ways are not our ways; and the very people who have always tried to remain fully loyal to the Lord, are sometimes going to find themselves called to even deeper faith – involving an ever more privileged closeness to God.

PRAYER:

Lord, before I existed, my parents prayed that I would be born, would live, and would have a destiny with you. I thank you for the wonder of my being.

#bibleverseoftheday

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