Magia Record -- Yozuru MSS Ep. 2

Magia Record
SASAME Yozuru
Mahou Shoujo Story #2
"Interlocutor: Yozuru"
(release 1.0, translated by Sforzando; edits by Shirayuri)

Mifuyu: .....
Yozuru: .....
Livia: Anyways. Yozuru, we leave her in your capable hands.
Yozuru: ...Huh?
Livia: .....
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: U-understood...
Mifuyu: (That unnatural pause was probably for telepathy.)
Mifuyu: (I suppose they took me at my word for wanting to talk...)
Mifuyu: (...while laying their plans where I couldn't eavesdrop.)
Mifuyu: (Her flash of agreement after the pause, and her troubled expression now...)
Mifuyu: (...all go to prove it.)
Mifuyu: (Well then, Yozuru-san -- the ball is in your court.)
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: I purchased some good coffee beans on the trip to the shopping district.
Yozuru: I'll brew them now, okay?
Mifuyu: Huh?
Yozuru: We've also got handmade cake.
Yozuru: I made it for my teacher, but...
Yozuru: Apparently she's got some kind of errand to attend to.
Yozuru: Please wait a moment while I get things ready.
---
Yozuru: Thank you for waiting.
Mifuyu: Thank you... very much...
Mifuyu: .....
Mifuyu: (...It certainly looks tasty enough...)
Mifuyu: (But can I trust a Coordinator's cooking...?)
Mifuyu: (I can't help but remember what Mitama calls food...)
Yozuru: ...Um?  Is something the matter...?
Yoruzu: C-could it be that you're holding back for my sake?
Yozuru: Because I said I was preparing it for my teacher...?
Yozuru: I-if so, there's no need to hesitate!
Yozuru: I was planning to eat it myself before it went stale.
Mifuyu: I-is that so?
Mifuyu: (Not that that was my intention...)
Mifuyu: (But it would be rude not to have a bite after all this...)
Mifuyu: (I didn't come here to quarrel with her, after all.)
Mifuyu: O-okay, if you don't mind...
*quiver quiver*
Mifuyu: (My- my hands won't stop shaking...!)
Mifuyu: (It's that old "Looks delicious, is deadly" cliche...)
Mifuyu: (It totally happens all the time!!)
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: I apologize.  I should show you it's not poisoned.
Mifuyu: What?!
*munch munch*
*siiiip*
Yozuru: See, it's perfectly safe.
Mifuyu: .....
Mifuyu: (Show me it's not poisoned...?  Don't tell me...)
Mifuyu: (She thought I was considering whether it was poisoned or not...?)
Mifuyu: (And she did that... to put me at ease...?)
Mifuyu: Heh heh.
Yozuru: Miss?
Mifuyu: Thank you so much for that.
Mifuyu: Allow me to dig in.
*MUNCH*
Mifuyu: .....
Mifuyu: It's so good...
---
Mifuyu: ...What a comforting Coordinator you are.
Yozuru: I am honored by such praise.
Mifuyu: I must say, it feels a bit excessive for a Coordinator.
Yozuru: Well... I pour my personal hobbies into my work, you might say.
Mifuyu: Hobbies...
Yozuru: Seeing as how our Coordinators are mostly not from Kamihama,
Yozuru: I try my best to ease their hearts, so many miles from home.
Yozuru: That's my hope, anyway.
Mifuyu: I see.
Mifuyu: What a kind, noble outlook.
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: Miss, if I may...
Mifuyu: Yes?
Yozuru: You said you wished to talk. Why on Earth would you say that?
Mifuyu: (...And just like that, she changed the subject.)
Mifuyu: (Was it a subject she wished to avoid...?)
Mifuyu: Oh, what I wanted to talk with you all about?
Mifuyu: Let's see...
Mifuyu: (In truth, I came to see whether these three are a threat...)
Mifuyu: (Not that I can just tell her that.)
Mifuyu: (Nothing for it but a little white lie, I suppose.)
Mifuyu: ...I'm interested in Puella Care.
Yozuru: In us specifically?
Mifuyu: Yes, exactly.
Mifuyu: Yozuru-san, how would you...
Mifuyu: ...describe what Puella Care means to you?
Yozuru: M-means to me?
Yozuru: Puella Care... in general...?
Mifuyu: Yes. Not the tagline or public relations version, but what it means to you personally. If you please.
Yozuru: When you ask "what", concretely,
Yozuru: do you mean...what kind place Puella Care is...?
Mifuyu: ...Yes, exactly.
Yozuru: Then, as for what kind of place it is...  I feel free here.
Mifuyu: ...!
Mifuyu: Free, you say...  How... enviable.
Yozuru: Enviable...  I apologize...  It seems I'm sounding self-satisifed.
Mifuyu: Heh heh.  Oh, nothing of the sort!
Mifuyu: I simply... havent known freedom for so very long...
Mifuyu: On which I must blame some of my rudeness.
Mifuyu: I am, simply, jealous of you who can taste freedom.
Mifuyu: That's all I meant.
Yozuru: You... haven't known freedom...?
Mifuyu: Hence my intense interest.
Mifuyu: ...in how Puella Care...
Mifuyu: ...lets you be free.
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: Please forgive me. I've never considered that question deeply...
Yozuru: But I feel that freedom deep in my heart...
Yozuru: ...At the risk of answering a question with a question, Miss...
Mifuyu: By all means.
Yozuru: How is that you have not known freedom?
Yozuru: Is this something to do with your birth...?
Mifuyu: ...I dont know how deeply Puella Care...
Mifuyu: ...has researched our affairs...
Mifuyu: ...but I was born into a fairly old family in Mizuna.
Yozuru: An old family...  Meaning, a strict one...?
Mifuyu: Oh, absolutely. Strict tutelage since I was very little.
Mifuyu: More than enough to stifle knowledge of freedom.
Yozuru: That... sounds much like my family.
Yozuru: And the same lack of freedom.
Yozuru: Oh, not that I mean I'm from an old family or anything.
Mifuyu: (So, she was raised in a strict family without a sense of freedom...)
Yozuru: ...However...
Yozuru: The freest I've ever felt in my life was before joining Puella Care.
Yozuru: The freest I've ever felt...
Yozuru: The time I was finally able to grieve for my un-free self.
Mifuyu: ...?  What... exactly do you mean?
*clink clink*
Yozuru: Ahh, a customer. I apologize, but I must end this here...
Mifuyu: Oh, I don't mind at all.
Yozuru: Thank you for understanding.
Yozuru: Oh! Our customer is...!
Mifuyu: ...?
---
Yozuru: Oh! Our customer is...!
Mifuyu: ...?
(girls) We'll just show ourselves in.
Mifuyu: Oh.
(girl) Huh...?
(girl) I-it you!
(girl) Hey, aren't you the Wings of the Magius'...?!
Mifuyu: I'm with the Magia Union now.
Mifuyu: I take it you harbor resentment toward the Wings of the Magius...?
Mifuyu: As Promised Blood members, that is?
(girl) Ooh, looks like she's done her homework.
(girl) Hey, now's not the time for...
(girl) Don't sweat it.
(girl) This's neutral ground. SUPER important, like.
(girl) I ain't stupid enough to lay a hand on her here. Directly, that is.
(girl) ...But check it.
Mifuyu: You've something to say to me, I take it? If so...
(girl) Yo, what's with the attitude, bitch?!
Yozuru: Attention! May I have your attention please!
Yozuru: 3... 2... 1...
(both) ---!
Mifuyu: (What's come over Yozuru-san...?)
Mifuyu: (She started making funny faces out of the blue...)
Mifuyu: .....
(girl): .....
(Yozuru's voice): ......Drat.
(girl): Hey, she stopped making those funny faces...
Yozuru: .....
Yozuru: And here I... practiced so hard...!
(both) What was she trying to do?!?
(both): .....
(girl): Hmph. ...Man, this's lame.
(girl): Man, sorry 'bout that, Yozuru-san!
(girl): She's got this hair trigger, see, always ready to throw down...
(girl): Yo, apologize already!
(girl): Sorry, okay?
Yozuru: Oh, not at all. I should apologize for such disgraceful behavior...
Mifuyu: .....
Mifuyu: (No apology to me, I see. Setting aside their attitude towards me...)
Mifuyu: (is this all going as you planned, Yozuru...?)
Mifuyu: (Defusing this situation... all for my sake?)
Mifuyu: .....
Mifuyu: Well then, Yozuru-san, I suppose I should be taking my leave.
Yozuru: ...What? Are you sure?
Yozuru: We were in the middle of talking...
Mifuyu: Yes! But, my role here is finished.
---
Mifuyu: (Goodbye, Yozuru-san. And thank you.)
Mifuyu: (I spent half of today observing you and chatting with you...)
Mifuyu: (And the mystery of Puella Care is deeper than ever.)
Mifuyu: (...That said...)
Mifuyu: (Yozuru-san, you're always concerned about those around you.)
Mifuyu: (You're clearly a very gentle person.)
Mifuyu: (Perhaps I wasted some of my time here...)
Mifuyu: (But I'll be making my report with conviction:)
Mifuyu: (That Yozuru is a very gentle soul.)
---
		(Several hours later)
Livia: We're back.
Sudachi: *mumble!*
Yozuru: Welcome home.
Livia: So, how'd it go with that girl?
Livia: Got her t'stop frettin' over us?
Yozuru: Well... To be honest, I'm not really certain.
Yozuru: Some Promised Blood members came in the middle of our chat...
Livia: Whoa, rotten luck!
Livia: Though your face says you had fun anyway.
Yozuru: Indeed... We had a wonderful chat.
Livia: "All's well", then!
Yozuru: Oh, but when things were getting tense,
Yozuru: I tried making faces to calm things down. I totally blew it.
Yozuru: My book recommended jokes to help calm things down, but...
Livia: Gotta be a question of quality.
Livia: Train more and you'll nail it for sure.
Yozuru: Train, you say?
Livia: "Yozuru Training", see?
Sudachi: *mumble muffle!!*
Yozuru: I see...
Yozuru: But teacher, today was just too much.
Livia: Oh, whinin' now?
Yozuru: "Whining", you say?
Livia: Anyways. Yozuru, we leave her in your capable hands.
Yozuru: ...Huh?
Livia: Seems to me this girl's REALLY frettin' over us.
Yozuru: I see...
Livia: So Yozuru, why don’tcha set her mind at ease?
Yozuru: W-why me?
Yozuru: This task clearly isn't my forte.
Yozuru: That's why I said it's too much.
Yozuru: You know very well that I lack <gentleness>.
Yozuru: Without a gentle heart, it's very hard for me to dispel other's suspicion.
Livia: That's the whole point. Call it part of the training.
Livia: You got the hang of that book yet?
Yozuru: Yes, I believe I did everything I could.
Yozuru: I may have blown it, but I managed some updates too.
Livia: Well good on ya, then.
Livia: A Coordinator who can't figure out her client's state of mind's no Coordinator at all.
Livia: An' gentleness -- havin' it an' understandin' it -- is part of the package.
Livia: I know it's hard on you, missin' the gentleness bit, but if you're gonna be a Coordinator,
Livia: that book's gonna have to be your guide.
Yozuru: Yes, which I appreciate very much.
Yozuru: This guidebook to gentleness, which you so kindly recommended,
Yozuru: shall be my guiding light...
Yozuru: and let me disguise myself as a gentle human being.
		Ooog!
Sudachi: (Mmf!  Hmmph mnf!)
Yozuru: That's the your stomach's emptiness alarm!
Yozuru: And faced with an empty-stomached person, a gentle human being must...
*flipflip*
Yozuru: ...Here we are...
Yozuru: ...offer them food!
Yozuru: So, let me prepare us a meal...
Yozuru: But it's almost evening!
Yozuru: With dinner approaching, it must be time for...
*flipflip*
Yozuru: ...Here it is!...
Yozuru: ...a light helping of sweets!
Yozuru: So, please let me fix you a few sweets, okay?
Yozuru: And for my teacher too.
Livia: Good thinkin'.
Livia: Even if you're not hungry, you'd want what you see your neighbor eating.
Livia: Nice job on the psychology front.
Yozuru: Yes, that's one of the patterns in the book.

		Why am I lacking in gentleness?
		Because I wished so.
		The story begins back when I was still a gentle person.

Yozuru's Mom: Wow, Yozuru! Well done!
Yozuru: Yay!
Yozuru's Mom: I'm so looking forward to your future.
		A story from when I was young.  And gentle.
		...And not free.

Yozuru: There are too many things in the way for me to go on living...