妖しのセレス (Ayashi no Ceres) Volume 12 Translation (Part 6) Formatting conventions: text = character's thoughts [text] = narration //text// = sound effects, when necessary {text} = translation notes {Translator's note: this segment of the AnC translations contains a greater-than-usual amount of profanity. Although compared to English, Japanese contains very little of what we know as profanity, the varying levels of politeness built into everything, from verb conjugation to pronouns, make it possible to be far ruder in Japanese than you could ever be with English profanity. For this reason, I choose to translate some things (such as extremely rude/improperly casual grammar forms and pronouns) as English profanities, as this is the only way to effectively convey the original intent. If you are sensitive to such things, please keep this in mind. --BB} Page 162 Aya: I should've gone to the Mikage much earlier. Tooya, Chidori... so many people have died. For my sake, for the hagoromo, and for the Mikage... I didn't even have time to thank them. Yuuhi--Suzumi--Shuro--I'm sorry. Page 163 Suzumi: "Then Aya went to Niiagata after all?!" Yuuhi: "Yeah... but nobody's at their apartment? We might've just missed each other. She left Kurozuka's place late last night." Kurozuka: "Hey... what happened to them? This is a really important time for Aya and the baby... what's Tooya doing?" Yuuhi: "...It'll be okay! Looks like they had a fight, and it seems she's gone back to Tokyo." Kurozuka: "I see... I guess it's all right then... but let me know if something happens next time." Yuuhi: "Gotcha! Thanks a lot!" Page 164 [Yuuhi walks outside and casts his gaze to the sky.] Yuuhi: "Aya--!!" [Meanwhile, Shuro is the next to get a phone call from Suzumi...] Shuro: "Is that so... all right, I got it." Suzumi [on the cellphone]: "Shuro, don't worry yourself about this. Just concentrate on your job, Aya's a strong girl! She'll be just fine." Shuro: "Right." Shuro: Aya... you couldn't be... [Suddenly, Shuro gets struck in the head by a rolled-up sheaf of paper.] Akashi: "SHURO!!" Page 165 Shuro: "Damnit, that hurt, boss!" {Shuro is actually referring to her stage manager by the title "Manager", but that sounds kind of strange in English, so I opted for the more familiar "Boss".} Akashi: "I told you to come back on time!! Don't make me worry--! Don't sit around idle so much, this is a very important time!" Shuro: "Yeah, ye--" [Suddenly, Shuro doubles over.] Akashi: "SHURO?!" Man: "Ah--!! Miss Akashi must've hurt him when she threw the script--" Shuro: "Nah... it's just... anemia..." Akashi: "No way... haven't you had anemia often of late? You should go see a doctor at least once..." Shuro: "I'm okay! Just working too hard, boss..." Page 166 Shuro [glancing at the ring on her finger]: "...Kei..." [Elsewhere, Aya sits by her mother's bedside in a hospital. Her mother is still comatose, and doesn't seem to notice as Aya begins to talk to her.] Aya: "Sorry, mom! I haven't been able to come see you for nearly six months." Page 167 Aya: "Unfortunately, I have to go far away again! I definitely wanted to see you before I go, no matter what. One of my friends... died. And... the one who came with me last time... Tooya... also... he's gone too." Page 168 Aya: "But mom! Now I understand all too well how you felt when you lost dad! I didn't for a long time... deep in my heart, I didn't understand why you attacked me. But... you loved dad that much... and I know you loved me too. And I... in another six months, I'm going to be a mother too!" Page 169 Aya: "Hard to believe, isn't it? The Aya you knew was just a lazy, empty-headed high school girl who was always wearing loose socks and playing around with her friends. But now, I want to live... and fight to protect this baby. I realized that I was just running away from Kagami and everything else after all... and it took losing Tooya to make me realize this." Aya: "It'll be okay. I know I have the strength to survive, no matter where or how I end up. So you need to live on as well, mother! If not for yourself, then for dad." Aya: "Well mom, I've gotta go." Page 170 Aya's Mother [faintly]: "...ya..." [Aya suddenly turns around, hearing a faint noise.] Aya's Mother [opening her eyes]: "...a... ya..." Page 171 Aya: "MOM!!" Aya's Mother: "...A..." Aya: "That's right, it's me! Aya!" Aya's Mother: "...Aya..." Aya [hugging her mother and crying]: "I'm right here!! I'm here, mother! MOTHER!!" Page 172 [...Elsewhere...] Woman: "It's been a long time since we had a relaxing dinner like this, hasn't it? I take it you've been rather busy with your work?" Kagami: "Yeah... I'm responsible for a large project. That's why I had to postpone our wedding... please give my best regards to the president." {The word Kagami uses, "toudori", refers specifically to the president of a bank. Incidentally, he's referring to his fiancee's father by title.} Woman: "Don't worry about it. My father even encouraged me to do training for married life. And you know... some people say the waiting makes it all the more sweeter, hm?" Page 173 Woman: "It's fun to make plans for the life we'll have after marriage... for instance... about our children-to-be. Which would you prefer, Kagami... a boy, or a girl?" Kagami [quietly]: "...don't want..." Woman: "Eh?" Kagami: "I don't want any children of my own." [An uncomfortable silence passes.] Woman: "...Ah, of course! There's no real hurry. Oh! My father is going to..." Page 174 [Later, in a private room, Kagami and his fiancee are having sex. We'll skip the play by play. Afterwards, Kagami gets up and takes a shower, and settles down in the living room to watch TV.] Page 175 Kagami: "So that's a human woman... hm." TV: "...presently, the northern countryside is using guerilla..." [Kagami clicks the remote.] TV: "No way--! Well, let's see the next..." [Kagami changes the channel again.] TV: "...are leaving an environment that's good for the Earth..." Kagami: "The Earth? You're doing it for yourselves, don't lie." TV: "...next in the news, a young mother pushed her own one-year-old baby out of the third floor of her condo." Page 176 TV: "I know, you must be feeling like, 'Not again!', eh? Recently, there have been far too many cases of mothers abusing their children and ending up killing them..." [Kagami's eyes go wide... and he seems to daze off as memories flood him. Memories of a woman striking out at a young boy, blows raining...] Woman [in Kagami's memory]: [Kagami!] Kagami [in his memory]: [Mom! I"m sorry, mom! I'll definitely be number one next time...] Woman [in Kagami's memory]: [At least try to be worthy of the name 'Mikage!'] TV: "It's said that society is sick, but children are also under tremendous pressure..." Woman [in Kagami's memory]: [...be a superior person...] [Kagami sits on the couch, holding his head as if in pain.] Page 177 TV: "...case... this was perpetrated by a fifteen-year-old boy..." [Kagami lifts his head and looks at a photograph of Ceres. His cellphone rings.] Kagami: "What." Man [over cellphone]: "I'm sorry, Chief, but I have something tell you..." Page 178 Kagami: "...Aya..." [Aya stands before the Mikage International building.] Page 179 Kagami: "I'm surprised, dear Aya. I didn't expect you to come face me yourself." //guku// [Aya gulps.] Aya [under her breath]: "...he looks so different, I didn't recognize him..." Ceres: Aya Aya: Settle down, Ceres! Don't come out until I'm really in trouble! Kagami: "Oh yes, how remiss of me... congratulations on your pregnancy. I'd been planning to celebrate it for you--I am your cousin, after all." Aya: "Are you?! How can you say something like that, when you've taken away those I love!" Page 180 Kagami: "You came to talk with me, right? If you want to understand, then calm down and follow me... I'll take you to the place you'll be living for a while." Aya [looking at the steel bracelets on her wrists]: "These don't make very good handcuffs, you know." Kagami: "No worries. You're not exactly going to run away on us. After all, the hagoromo that you've been searching for is here." Page 181 Kagami: "Of course, it's not complete yet. Well... where do you want me to start? We have plenty of time--oh, have you eaten dinner yet?" Aya: "What did you do to Chidori? Yuuhi told me that Chidori had undergone surgery! But it's not just her, is it? Why have you been collecting the C-Genomers here?" Kagami: "So many questions, all at once..." Page 182 Kagami: "I'll explain about the hagoromo to Ceres in person..." [Aya shakes her head fiercely.] Kagami: "Well, let's start with the first question. Follow me..." Man: "Chief! You're aren't--you aren't really going to show her THAT room?" Kagami: "Don't concern yourself. She--Ceres--is the Genesis Mother of this line. I want her to understand this properly." Kagami: "Bring out Chidori Kuruma... Parasu Type-A." Page 183 [Kagami loads a slide under a microscope, and steps aside for Aya.] Kagami: "Why don't you have a look?" Aya: "?!" Kagami: "These are ova that we extracted from your friend. What we keep here is the ova of the C-Genome's daughters." Aya: Huh? Kagami: "We cross their ova with the sperm of certain... selected people. Of course, we examine the genes first to ensure diversity. After fertilization, we transplant them back into the womb, and produce children." Page 184 Kagami: "However, unfortunate as it may be that Miss Kuruma passed on, half of the C-Genome are pregnant mothers like you. Some of them were virgins, but all of them gave their consent in this." Aya: What... the... Kagami: "...you look pale. Shall we head into a reception room?" Aya: What the hell is he talking about? Kagami: "...morning sickness. As I said, we have facilities for childbearing, so you needn't worry yourself." Page 185 //PAN// [Aya slaps Kagami's proferred hand away.] Aya: "Don't you touch me!!" Aya: "You inhuman... Chidori's body... without permission... just what the hell do you think you're doing here? You son of a bitch!" Kagami: "I beg your pardon? In-vitro fertilization isn't unusual these days. You got pregnant naturally, but once the child's born, the result is the same." Aya: "NO!! It's not the same at all!" Kagami: "As you said, we handled the fertilization artificially. The children who will be born are superior in various ways. We can give them an excellent environment and education from the very start..." Page 186 Aya [screaming]: "But I loved Tooya!!" Aya: ...we loved and desired each other naturally... Aya: "Because of that, I have this child--and I can tell him that he was brought into this world because his mother and father loved each other!!" Kagami: "I see.... you think that if there's 'love', then...? Well, let me ask you a question... why do males and females mate? The answer is simple--to carry on their bloodline. It's nothing but reproductive behavior incorporated into all genes." Page 187 Kagami: "Long ago, asexual creatures divided into males and females to unite different genes and reorganize them. That stimulated the process of evolution, and from this comes the strength to overcome any environmental changes and disease-causing germs--so that they can continue reproducing. However, human beings are a little more complex. Although I just had sex, there was no love involved, and I don't have any intention of passing on my seed. I simply do it to satisfy my biological desires. The fact is, we seek pleasures of the moment--even though we're just puppets dancing on the strings of evolution." Aya: ...oh my god... Kagami: "You know, every day there are brainless little bitches who never hesitate to sell their bodies to their equally brainless male counterparts. The thought of those stupid women bringing children into this world utterly terrifies me." {the word Kagami actually used to refer to the girls was 'mesugaki'. It doesn't quite have a direct translation--'gaki' means 'brat', but 'mesu' is a word usually used to refer to animals. Used to refer to a human, it's extraordinarily rude, and I felt that 'bitch' was the most appropriate term.} Page 188 Kagami: "How many of these fools doom their children to die without a second thought by doing so, heedless of the laws of nature?" [a pause] "Then again, you're quite familiar with that mistake, aren't you?" Aya: "NO!! My mother loved me, that's why--" [Aya remembers her mother waking up from the coma and calling her name.] Kagami: "Even if not all of them are like that, it ends up the same if they can't stop it and pretend they don't know it's happening. Only superior creatures can survive in an evolving world... how can it be wrong to prepare our new descendants for the ruin that will come of the future?" Page 189 Kagami: "Ceres is the pinnacle of the feminine form, and she possesses amazing intelligence and abilities as well. If we're to live outside of this fragile earth, all the better, since the Tennyo have adaptibility for space..." Aya: "What a load! Just who the fuck do you think you are, spouting that kind of shit?! You talk like you're some kind of god!!" Kagami: "If I didn't do this, someone else would make it possible, one way or another!! Even this barely scratches the surface. You'll find out soon enough. Love is nothing but an illusion to make reproduction possible." Aya: That's not all! Kagami: "It's inevitable--love flickers and fades. Men and women betray and hate each other so easily... and kill each other off in their hearts." Aya: "YOU'RE WRONG!!" Kagami: "Oh yes... I have something for you..." Page 190 [Kagami brings out Tooya's cross necklace and hands it over to Aya.] //DOKUN// {Aya's heart beating hard} Kagami: "As a memento of Tooya..." //dokun// Aya: ...smeared with blood... Tooya... //dokundokun// Kagami: "...who died, never again to speak words of love... nor even to see the face of his child.... such a pity." //dokundokun// Aya: Tooya //dokundokun// Page 191 Aya: TOOYA [The two lab techs stand slack-jawed in shock.] Kagami: "Well, finally you've decided to show yourself... we've been waiting for you... Ceres." [Ceres stands where Aya was a moment before... looking rather extremely pissed off.] Continued in Shokomi 17...