C1 Part1

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Chapter 1: With Concern to the Disease.

(TN - honestly just wait for the completion since this is a one shot anyway me reducing it into parts is for my own sanity and sense of progress (350+ pages O-O is a lot), I’m only translating this in anticipation of the 2nd volume of bokutachi no remake and since musaigen no phantom world is three volumes I will put that off for now(And maybe translating one shots could be a thing in between each BokuRe volumes )

P.S. Also note that I have not read aheand and I am basically translating as I read so please no spoilery discussions till the end of the volume for those who already read the original jp ver ty.

P.S,S The book sometimes switches from 3rd person to 1st person I’ll try to keep it uniform to 3rd person though but sometimes it can’t be helped and as I said in BokuRe I don’t add images as incentive to support the novel .)

Chapter 1 part 1

The sea that was confined on the other side of the train’s windowsill is now widespread.

Sou Uehara stands on the station platform and stared at the shining sea in the summer sun.

The highway ran along a single line and beyond it was the sea.

There is nothing blocking the view, the sky is so clear that not even clouds are in sight.

The sea was so wide that it couldn’t even compare to that town.

A middle-aged woman who got off the same train as the boy, passed him by.

In her hands is a small boquet.

Perhaps she saw that he who was holding a western confectionary shop’s paper bag as someone in the same boat as her, so she lightly nodded. The boy didn’t respond.

Watching at it for a while the blueness of the sea hurt his eyes. The boy took off his glasses and put on some eye drops.

Wiping its overflow with the palm of his hands and with the help of the wind from the sea , in the blink of an eye it was dry.

Passing through the unattended ticket gate he stepped onto the highway.

The sidewalk is narrow, a heavy handed car driving through would likely scratch his shoulders.

There were no pedestrians. He was the only baking in the scorching heat of the afternoon sun.

Even though for the drivers this was just another transit point, For the boy this land is both pivotal in his life, and his destination.

It was a lonely place, though he found this far more amiable than the festive mood in the area around his home and high-school.

The hospital was protected from the sand by a forest of trees*. The building was as shabby as ever.

The once white exterior is yellowing having been exposed to the sea breeze and fracturing in the sunshine.

(TN- A “Bousarin” is a type of disaster prevention forest which protects things from sand. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/防砂林, and on a side note , yes buildings do crack due to temperature variations)

The guard at the entrance showed him a smile. The boy expressed gratitude with his eyes in return.

It’s lobby was brand new as opposed to the exterior. The reception desk has a bright wooden grain, and it seemed to be enveloped in the smell of varnish.

The clerk waved her hands from the other side of the counter.

“Sou-kun do you want to call Haruka-chan over the P.A system?”

“It’s fine. She’ll eventually come if I wait.”

He sat down of a square gummy-like sofa.

The woman he passed by at the station is sitting at the far end of the lobby.

Both hands were on her knees reverently holding a bouquet.

When their eyes were about to meet, the boy turned away.

Maybe because of bathing in the sun a while ago, his own skin was dark. It was like he had a tan in a short time.

He started to dry his arm in a single stroke. His t-shirt and jeans were cold and damp.

A white line was drawn on the floor, It showed the way to the ward and medical specialty departments.

He needed to move from here, as if he was reminded that this was checkpoint he anxiously stared at the floor.

White sandals rolled to his feet. It was upside down and showed the soles, the toes on a pale feet catch it and flip it around. The boy then raises his head.

“Yo.”

The boy smiled slightly. Without answering, Haruka crosses her legs.

The sandals were caught on the tip of her toes and aimlessly swaying around.

“What’s that?”

Under the straightly trimmed bangs, long slit eyes were beaming through.

The girl’s gaze was sorely focused on the paper bag that the boy held on his lap.

“These are cream puffs.”

“Eeh, ain’t that nice.”

“Shumai flavored cream puffs*”

“Uwah? Is that supposed to be a rhyme?”

(TN- creampuffs are called “shukurimu” and shumai is called shumai plus this sound unappetizing.)

The boy laughed at her glare.

“It really does rhyme.”

“Why’d you have to buy that? I’m sure that even the store clerk would be surprised by it.”

“Why are only these kinds of things that would be left week after week that I buy there?”

“It’s definitely because it didn’t sell. The sweets industry is serious business!”

Haruka takes out a phone out of her waist pocket and fiddled with it for a while.

Eventually, “Uwaah….there seriously is one, shumai flavored…” was what she muttered with a frown on her face.

“How are you holding up, do still have a fever?

When he inquired, she slid her smartphone into her pocket.

“There’s none today.”

“Does it always happen?”

“Sometimes it’s there sometimes it’s not”

Her vision strayed. The boy followed her gaze and looked back.

Outside of the window a pine forest sparkles with a deep green.

“The people are experiencing summertime now huh~”

“Huh?”

He turned to the front, his eyes meeting with her.

“What about you Sou? Are you studying for exams? ”

“I’m making progress at it. I would like to get a recommendation if possible though.”

He answers and the girl nods as she played with her nails.

Realizing he was talking about mundane things he cast his sights to the inside of the paper bag.

Footsteps echoed as the two of them walked side-by-side towards the inpatient ward.

Haruka’s skin glows palely in the dark. A thin neck extends from the collar of the hospital gown.

Sou thought that he seemed to reek like a smelly t-shirt so he separated from the girl by a small distance.

An acquaintance doctor who was a ways off comes after noticing the boy and lightly raises his hands.

“How’s your health?"

“So-so”

Haruka stopped her feet next to the boy as he halted.

She was gazing towards the inner part of the corridor.

The tennis hobbyist doctor has well burnt skin.

“You seemed to have gained a little bit of fat.”

“Yeah, so I have. I haven’t been running recently.

“Don’t overdo it when you get to it okay.”

“Advice noted.”

After parting with doctor and after a slight walk, Haruka comes closer to Sou.

“That doc has an affair with a rookie nurse”

“Seriously?”

The boy looks behind, and sees the far off back of a white robe.

“His wife’s pregnant you know! He’s scum huh~. I’m sure he’ll fall into hell.”

As Haruka said so her steps became faster.

As they went up the stairs, a man in a medical gown came from the upper floor. Sou looked on at the unfamiliar face. New patients were a rare sight nowadays. The man looks roughly about 30 years old. The shaved head and the gray stubble of a facial hair make a sloppy impression.

“Otsuki-san where are you going to?”

Haruka called out to the man.

“I’m going out to buy coffee”

A man named Otsuki looked on at Sou.

“Is this perchance, Uehara-kun?”

“Yup this is the guy who was quickly discharged from the hospital.”

Haruka gave a thumbs up to the man and looked over at Sou.

“This person is the newly admitted Otsuki-san, he’s been here since last week”

“Nice to meet you. I heard from Haruka about you Uehara-kun. Your illness seems to have been cured huh~.”

Sou slowly climbed up the stairs and stands on the same level as Otsuki and assesses him.

“I am in a state of remission, I have no symptoms but I’m not cured. This sickness can’t be healed.

Otsuki let out a faint breath as if his chest was crushed.

“Aint that the same thing? Semantics is all it is. ”

Haruka walks up the stairs and steals the paper bag from Sou’s hands.

“Otsuki-san, do you want to eat cream puffs?”

Otsuki made brighter expression at Haruka’s words.

“Yeah, Can I really help myself to some?”

“Then come to Saya’s room.”

“Then I’ll buy drinks for Haruka-chan. Is coffee fine?”

“Make it have lots of milk and hold the sugar. Sou will have milk tea-“

With a nod, Otsuki went down the stairs, Sou had a sharp look as he saw him off

“What’s with the angry look?”

Haruka holds out the paper bag. Sou gets it and it returns to the hands of the original owner.

“Was that the rookie from the affair talks earlier. ”

“Going that far, If that was the case instead of getting bogged down by it shouldn’t you be laughing instead?”

Haruka had a smiling face, he overtook him and climbed the stairs.

Smelling the hospital ward made Sou feel that he was truly back. There is the remaining scent of food lingering. There is no smell of disinfectant so its nauseatingly sweet smell tickles his nose.

The room is large enough to pack multiple beds from a normal hospital. Sou approached the only bed that was placed, as he bent himself over it by the waist.

“Saya how are you doing? Your complexion looks good today.”

Saya didn’t respond, her eyes very slightly opened.

Her mouth was covered in an oxygen mask that was regularly clouded.

There were cables lain about her body, The body monitor has an annoying carelessly emitted electric sound and was her only influence on the outside world.

“The other day, her eyes opened slightly and it seemed to move.”

Sou nods and stares at Saya’s face. Her cheeks are lamentably depressed, Messy overgrown black eyebrows grew from her body as if it was a seedbed. The distinctly bony wrist’s were contoured as if parts of it were carved and gouged out. The wristband was coming off lose.

“Hey, you want to eat creampuffs right?”

He says as he lightly taps Saya’s hands. The back of her hands was cold and dry.

Beside the bed were two single person sofas side-by-side.

Hanging on the wall was a tv larger than the one in Sou’s house.

The walls on the corridor side wall are fitted on with glass so that you can see the situation here from the outside.

There is a balcony that you can go to the outside from, but it’s too hot at this time of year.

Haruka perched herself on a stool placed on the side nearest the hallway, took the remote control from the side table and turned on the TV. A golf tournament is projected.

“I come here once in a while and we watch TV together. It’s boring watching alone.”

Sou gazed at the floor. The air warmed by sunlight causes convection. His shadow swirled around in the cream colored linoleum. He noticed his own disappointment. He wanted Saya to recover even a little bit after a week passed by. Over the past week he has learned English books, submitted a report on Japanese history and graphed the results of chemistry experiments. Bit by bit progress was made in regards to his school life. He wanted the same thing to happen to Saya’s medical condition. His expectations have been betrayed many times, nevertheless he comes here with the same confidence every Sunday.

Different from the previous Sunday, I felt like saying something but being face to face

. However nothing came out when finally meeting each other

“Sorry for talking long-”

Otsuki opened the glass sliding door with his elbows and came inside, He has three paper cups on the tray. Haruka stood up and came closer there.

“Thanks”

“Uehara-san, help yourself.”

Otsuki sits down on the sofa next to him and gives him a cup, Sou takes it and opens the bag of creampuffs, Haruka takes two and hands one to Otosuki.

“Here, it’s shumai flavored.”

“Heeeh, that’s a weird one.”

Otsuki raises his cream puffs and nods at Sou. Sou returns a confirmation with his eyes.

Haruka takes a bite of the cream puff. She holds her stomach and bends her body.

“Wooooahh ! That is nasty!”

Sou laughed at her reaction and also tried eating it. Certainly the cream inside reproduces the taste of shrimp shumai. Sacrilegious for cream puffs.

“But if you think of this as gratin croquette it might be pretty good”

Otsuki puts out his two cents with a calm face. Sou watched in astonishement.

“Eh….. Ah, yes I bought it with that in mind.”

“No way, It was a shocker for me you know.”

Haruka sipped the coffee with a frown.

Even after all of the complaints she eventually ate all the cream puffs.

Otsuki placed an empty paper cup on the table between the sofas.

“I heard from Haruka-chan that Uehara-kun was at the town the time when the disease reared its head.”

Sou looked at Haruka who watched a game of golf on purpose with her arms crossed.

Otsuki leans closer to Sou.

“What exactly happened in that town, can you shed some light on it? Neither the TV nor the newspaper tell me anything in detail. There’s no info on the internet. I think the person who knows the truth is you, who was there when it happened.”

Sou looks away, but Otsuki’s gaze was piercing through him.

“I want to know more about this illness, where the it came from, and why I got infected by it…I want to know.”

“That story would be able to reveal things about me too right? I want to hear it too.”

Haruka keeps her eye on the TV.

Sou drops his look onto the paper cup in his hands. The milk tea make a wave as a dent appeared with the force applied on it.

“Fine then.”

I’ve talked about this story who knows how many times, My conversation partner changed each time and there were always different things that were required of me.

Though the ending is always the same-----with the battle’s end.

Everyone is dead.

Everything has changed.

The monitor of Saya’s body makes an electronic sound as if encouraging the talk to continue.

Saya is lying silently.

(TN- and with that the preview is over well how's that for exposition dump ＼| ￣O￣|／ *yawn* I'll post again on sunday or Monday probably(depending on the timezone) I'll continue this till I get a copy of Bokutachi no Remake vol 2 so I'll try my best to keep at this before then , Tell in the comments how you think of if you somehow were able to read this so far.