amatsuki 99

amatsuki 99

93
Text: [Chapter 99]
Text: [The Nightingale That Cries To The Moon, Part 2]
Aonibi: I'll explain.

94
Aonibi: We were operating under the guise of an American-funded research company, but that was just a cover story.
Aonibi: In reality, we were industry spies working for the Chinese mafia - our specialty was information dealing.
Aonibi: We were asked by a client to investigate and up-and-coming I.T. company.
Aonibi: We were to obtain the latest technology from this "Sensai Corporation."
[Aonibi: We've identified their involvement in the management of the "Shinbashi Clinic", but these two areas are not necessarily unrelated.]
[Aonibi: Sensai has done research on so-called "neural prosthetics", so there is a medical connection.]
Aonibi: Sensai was producing cutting-edge virtual reality technology for the educational market.  Their profits had grown explosively over the past ten years.
[Aonibi: But it's striking that Sensai found such success in the entertainment industry.]
[Shiraai: What's the difference?]
[Aonibi: ...Ah, that's right.  Speaking of Sensai's growth...]
???: That's Sensai's logo, isn't it?
???: Oh!
Aonobi: Yes.
Aonibi: The Yakou's face covering has the same symbol as Sensai's logo.

95
Wakasa: Originally, the Sensai Corporation's core business...
[Wakasa: From finding out what the people next door are having for dinner to skimming info from the top banks,]
[Wakasa: I can fish for anything you want in the ocean that is the Net.]
Wakasa: Was data security and stuff like that.
Wakasa: But they were involved in a little bit of everything.
Wakasa: But as far as their tech, I was only able to steal a little bit of info...
[Shiraai: There's a lot of money in it for us.]
[Aonibi: It seems that his hacking was discovered, so he had to close up shop.]
[Hashita: Eh!?]
[Lily: Papa, you should ask for your money back!]
[Aonibi: He cleared out fast, so he should be fine.]
Wakasa: And that's pretty fragmented.
[Hashita: I didn't think it looked that bad...]
[Hashita: [How about me, am I bad?]]
Aonibi: For all the time we spent investigating, the information we were able to gather isn't terribly significant.
Aonibi: 1.) Sensai's upper management is made up of family members.
[Aonibi: This is an organisational chart of the Sensai Group.  Four people make up the core of the company.]
[Text: Sensai Tsuneyasu, Sensai Chigusa, Sensai Midori, Sensai Moegi]
((Note to editor: The translation of the chart can be found in chapter 38.  I'm not going to copy the rest of it here because it's too long.))
[Aonibi: And these are their partner and subsidiary organisations.]
Aonobi: 2.) They've invested a significant amoung of money in a certain hospital.
Aonibi: 3.) A man named "Kuwata Suou" was connected to the company in some way.
Aonibi: And that's about it.
Toki: .....!!
Toki: Suou...!?

96
Hashita: Yeah.  But he died seven years ago.
Hashita: I hadn't even thought about him in years, until a couple of months ago when you reminded me of him.
[Hashita: An accident at a train crossing...]
Toki: Oh!
TOki: Yeah...
Toki: I remember.
[Toki: Talking about someone who's been dead for seven years...]
Toki: But why are you suddenly bringing up Suou at a time like this...?
Hashita: I dunno.  His name came up during the investigation.
[Hashita: [That's what the report said, at least.]]
Toki: Oh, I see...
Wakasa: Yeah.  I'm not 100% sure if it's related, but there are a few more pieces of information.
Wakasa: There was this online quiz site that I thought might have something to do with Sensai.
Aonibi: Quiz site?
Wakasa: Yeah... the rest of you guys didn't think it was important, though...
Wakasa: But I'd tentatively linked it to those missing persons cases...
Aonibi: Really...?
Susutake: The quiz site was supposedly offering vacations to anywhere you wanted to go, if you could answer all of the questions.
Aonibi: [Oh, right, I remember Wakasa telling me about that!]
Aonibi: !
Aonibi: Oh!

97
[Kacchan: Here's a recording of the site taken by one of the users.]
[Kacchan: He wanted to save a copy of the question, but the site was copy protected, so he took a video.]
[Kacchan: This part is important, so watch closely.]
Wakasa: That site had Sensai's logo on it... I dunno, maybe they were going for some kind of subliminal conditioning?
Wakasa: What if all the people who disappeared were kidnapped by Sensai?
Wakasa: All of them were loners, so most of their friends were online.
Wakasa: But online, a lot of the time you only know people by their screen name.
Wakasa: If somebody disappears from the internet, there's no way for you to track them.
Wakasa: And it's not something that you can really report to the police, either.
Aonibi: But if a company was involved in kidnappings, wouldn't they quickly be found out?
Aonibi: .....
Aonibi: Hashita-san,
Aonibi: You're familiar with all of this too, right?
Hashita: Yeah.
Hashita: But everything I know, I've heard from Wakasa.
Aonibi: Now that he's reminded me, I also remember hearing about the quiz site, and about the increase in disappearances.
Aonibi: I wonder... is it really possible that they're related?

98
Aonibi: This is information...
Aonibi: That none of us could have figured out on our own.
Aonibi: Which proves that we're not dreaming...
Wakasa: ......
SFX: [*nod*]
Hashita: ...Yeah, well, maybe you guy are convinced...
Hashita: But you'd better have some damned good proof if you're expecting me to believe that this "Amatsuki" place is real.
Aonibi: Of course.
Aonibi: But it's what you'd call a "devil's proof"...
Aonibi: Human beings are subjective creatures.
Aonibi: It's almost impossible to determine with 100% certainty whether something is "real," or whether it's merely "likely to be real."
Aonibi: And yet we base our entire lives on what is essentially a guess.

99
Aonibi: But we can prove that "Amatsuki" isn't just one person's delusion, because things have happened that are outside the scope of a single person's subjective experience.
Aonibi: ...Let me explain.
SFX: [*cough*]
Aonibi: Before all of this happened, we'd gathered enough information to know that Sensai was building some sort of huge, enclosed space.
Aonibi: It was intended as a fun, interactive addition to Ueno's Edo Tokyo Museum - the Bakumatsu Interactive Exhibit.]

100
Toki: Everything keeps coming back...
Toki: To Ueno!
Toki: That's right!  I was in Ueno before I came here!
Aonibi: The two of us took part-time jobs at the exhibit construction site.
[Man: Hey, watch that!]
[Man: Tamura!  Carry that over here!]
[SFX: [*chatter chatter*]]
Aonibi: Our goal was to sneak in and steal information on Sensai's latest technological products.
[Aonibi: Ooh, working hard?]
Aonibi: However...
Toki: ...?
Hashita: Hm...
Hashita: ...We failed, right?
Hashita: I can't remember what happened next.

101
Aonibi: Neither can I...
Aonibi: How strange...
Wakasa: I remember talking to Shiraai-san just before we ended up here...
Wakasa: She was with Lily-chan...
[Shiraai: Are Hashita and Aonibi back yet?]
[Shiraai: Just wait.]
Aonibi: My sister...
SFX: [*gasp*]
Hashita: Lily...!!
Aonibi: Wakasa-san, what happened to my sister...!?
Aonibi: Where is she!?
Wakasa: Sorry, but I don't know!!
Aonibi: That's...
Aonibi: Rikugou-san!!
Aonibi: Have you perhaps seen a woman who looks very much like me!?
Aonibi: Well, she's a bit more confident, and a bit more brash...
Toki: Eh?
Toki: N-no, sorry...
Toki: I have no idea who you're talking about!!

102
Aonibi: .....
Aonibi: I...
Aonibi: I see...
Wakasa: Well,
Wakasa: Maybe she just didn't get sucked into all of this!
Wakasa: Right?
Aonibi: ...I wonder.
Aonibi: That would be for the best...
Aonibi: Now that I think about it,
Aonibi: Perhaps I've been unconsciously searching for her...
Aonibi: Or at least someone like her...
Hashita: ......

103
Toki: Hashita-san?
SFX: [*shock*]
TOki: What's wrong?
Toki: You don't look so good...
Hashita: .....
Hashita: Um...
Hashita: No...
Hashita: It's nothing...
Hashita: Oh!
Hashita: Hey, Toki!
Hashita: After they finished building the Bakumatsu Interactive Exhibit, you were a visitor there, right?
Hashita: And that's how you found yourself in "Amatsuki?"
Toki: Huh?
Toki: Oh.
Toki: Yeah.
Toki: I failed a test...
Toki: So I got sent there for extra credit.
Toki: [I was chased by the Nue...]

104
Toki: [I met Kuchiha...]
Toki: [I hung out with Kon...]
Toki: [But the only people that I know for sure are from the real world are...]
Toki: You three, Kon, and me.
Toki: ...Oh, and Bonten.

105
Toki: [But Kon doesn't have any memories of our world anymore...]
Toki: [He doesn't know anything about himself anymore...]
Toki: [And lately his eyes look so dull and lifeless...]
Bonten: Yeah.

106
Bonten: You're right.
Bonten: As you've already figured out,
Bonten: I'm from the same place you are,
Bonten: And I know how this world was created.
Bonten: I know the true identity of Teiten.
Bonten: And that's why...
Bonten: ......
Bonten: I still can't tell you the truth.

107
Aonibi: Wh...
Aonibi: What!?
SFX: [*shock*]
Wakasa: Come on, Bon...!
Wakasa: How can you hold out on us like that!?
Toki: I still...
Ginshu: He became "Bonten"...
Ginshu: In order to save me...
[Bonten: ...Hey.]
[Bonten: Byakuroku]

108
[Bonten: ......]
Bonten: I... I suddenly understood.
[Bonten: I...]
Bonten: And this isn't just my pride talking.
Bonten: This world is like "seeing the moon on a rainy night"... it's a place that shouldn't exist.
Bonten: We don't need gods or heaven or anything like that.
Ginshu: Everything in this world happens under the watchful eye of Heaven.
Ginshu: For some reason, Shinshu and I were bestowed with power and privilege.
Ginshu: But perhaps for Bonten, that power always felt like a noose around his neck.
[Toki: You mean he's working for Teiten!?]
[Ginshu: When you go back, you must talk to him!]
[Bonten: I'm no longer able to read Heaven's Net.]
[[Bonten: [But I'm no longer trapped in Teiten's cage.]]

109
[Bonten: Those two are unstable existences.]
[Bonten: Without my power, they'd disappear.]
[???: Disappear]
[Bonten: I'm being punished for acting against Teiten's will.]
[Bonten: But I can't carry out my plans in this state...]
Ginshu: Bonten was forsaken by Heaven, so I'm asking you to protect him,
Ginshu: Rikugou-san.
Ginshu: He's like a bird who was cast out of its nest.
Ginshu: He knew too much.  He said too much.  And so he was struck down...
Toki: !
Toki: Bonten...

110
Toki: Would you tell us everything you know...
Toki: If you had nothing to fear from Heaven?
Bonten: !
SFX: [*whisper*]
SFX: [*blink*]
Toki: [One blink for yes...]
[Toki: Teiten can listen in on our conversations, right?]
[Toki: If that's the case, we need something safer...]
[Toki: Than our ears.]
[Toki: Since he won't hear if I try to figure things out on my own,]
[Toki: Why don't you answer by blinking a certain number of times?]
Toki: [That was our silent code!]
Toki: I wonder what he's waiting for...
Toki: Is he really not going to tell us anything until then?

111
Toki: [What if...]
Toki: Okay,
Toki: Ginshu-san.
Toki: Yeah.
Toki: This time, I'm going to protect him.
Toki: Um, hey, guys, let's not push Bonten for answers right now, okay?
Toki: Well, at least not too hard...
Toki: We've just got to wait.
Toki: It kinda sucks, though.

112
Aonibi: .....
SFX: [*sigh*]
Aonibi: It seems that the rest of us were brought into "Amatsuki" before the Bakumatsu Interactive Exhibit was complete,
Aonibi: But Rikugou-san entered after construction had finished.
Aonibi: I believe that this lag in time is why Rikugou-san has capabilities that we do not.
Toki: Oh!
Toki: You mean...
Aonibi: It's why your will...
Aonibi: Can affect this world.
Hashita: I think...
Hashita: That before Bonten was forced into becoming Teiten's errand boy,
Hashita: We may have all had that power.
Hashita: But since Toki entered "Amatsuki" after we did, he still has the ability to alter reality.
Hashita: That's why the "Unwritten Page" is so unique in this world.
Toki: !
Aonibi: I see... Rikugou-san, do you by any chance have some sort of connection to Sensai?
Toki: ...I don't think so...

113
Toki: But wait, what about Shinonome?  We both came to "Amatsuki" through the exhibit, but he must have entered before me.
Toki: Shinonome had gone off to wander around the exhibit on his own, but when it was time to leave, we couldn't find him.
Toki: We all split up to look for him.
Toki: And while I was searching, somehow I ended up here.
Toki: [My guess is that Shinonome had already entered "Amatsuki," and that's why we couldn't find him anywhere in the exhibit.]
Toki: [But Shinonome seemed to know something about "Amatsuki" from the beginning...]
Toki: [I wonder if maybe he came here on purpose.]
Toki: But if that's true, then why?  Was there something he wanted here...?
Toki: But I don't know anything...
Toki: Did I really just get pulled into this world by accident?
Toki: [Wait.]
SFX: [*snap*]
Toki: [There's one more person.]

114
Toki: [There's one more person!!]
TOki: I...
Toki: I used to know someone... she was a friend of Suou's...
Toki: Her name was "Chitose-san."
Toki: I don't remember exactly what she looked like, but I know it was her...!!
Bonten: Chitose-san?
Bonten: ......!!

115
Toki: She's someone from the real world, too, but she's been turned into a character in "Amatsuki!!"
Toki: ...Ehehe, or maybe I should say "he?"  Anyway...
Toki: She's Iemochi-san!!!
Wakasa: WHAT!?
Wakasa: EH!?
SFX: [*shock*]
Wakasa: NO WAY!!
Wakasa: THE SHOGUN!?
Wakasa: WTF!?
Hashita: Huh!?
Hashita: That's...
Wakasa: Wait!  That was the name of one of Sensai's subprograms!
Wakasa: "Chitose..."
SFX: [*gasp*]
[Wakasa: Huh, is that supposed to be the name of the program?  "Chitose?"]
Wakasa: It can be written with the same kanji as "Sensai," right?
Wakasa: Was that a person's name?
[Chitose: I don't know whether I'm a good person or a bad one...]
[Chitose: I'm like a ghost.]
[Chitose: I...]
[Chitose: I can only be "Chitose" for Suou. (Note: she says she can only be a "human" for Suou, but the word is glossed with "Chitose.")]
[Toki: [Her eyes were so sad...]]

116
[Suou: If it turns out that she's crying on the inside too,]
[Suou: I want you to help her out.]
[Suou: If I can't help her...]
[Suou: I want you to go in my place.]
[Sasaki: Our lord's whereabouts...]
[Sasaki: Are unknown.]
SFX: [*snap*]
Toki: Oh...