xxxHOLiC 155

1
xxxHOLiC
Chapter 155
[insert text: The one thing that can change a person... is meeting another.]
[insert text: Watanuki and Kohane... that which could not be changed alone, they now attempt to change with the bond they share. With her unending feelings for her mother in her heart, what kind of future does Kohane wish for...?!]

2
[side text: Watanuki speaks lightly of Kohane's mother's misdeeds. But his back is overflowing with resolve and sincerity!]
Watanuki: How many onigiri will you have?
Doumeki: ...Five. // ...So you decided not to run away this time?
Watanuki: If I'd run away at that point, Kohane-chan would have been hurt further. // Fillings... salmon, plum, ikura... / What else?

3
Doumeki: Yakitarako, and torisoboro. // You could've run away with her.
Watanuki: I don't have any torisoboro. / ...Yeah. / But her mother... in that state, she was going to end up hitting someone, no matter what happened.
Doumeki: Irijako. // Even so, why did you have to sit there and let her smack you?
Watanuki: Okay... / Irijako, I have.

4
Watanuki: If she had ended up attacking other people there... / ...she might have been arrested for assault. // Kohane would just have been hurt even more.
Doumeki: You know, I think I'll have six. / Negi-miso. // But I hope you know watching you get hurt like that... // ...was going to hurt her as well...?
Watanuki: I do.
[TN: Gah... looking at the grammar here makes me want to translate this exchange as practically the opposite of what I've got here... but that makes no sense in context >_<]

5
Watanuki: But still, I didn't want to make Kohane-chan... see her mother go through any more pain than necessary. // Besides, with me being punched, no matter what happened... // ...You'd still have been there.

6
Doumeki: ...You know, I think I was right... / You have hit your head on something. // It must have been a real battering.
[sFX: crunch]
Watanuki: ...What did you just say...?!
Doumeki: Oi. / Fry up some fish, too. And deep-fry some tofu.
Watanuki: Just how much are you planning to eat at this time in the morning...?
Doumeki: Just make it.
Watanuki: Only after I've made breakfast for Yuuko-san and Kohane-chan!

7
Doumeki: The girl...
Watanuki: She's with Yuuko-san.

8
Kohane: Thank you very much for having me here. // And for this kimono.
Yuuko: I must say, it suits you.
Kohane: ...Thank you.
Mokona: You're different from when you came here yesterday.
Kohane: ...... // I don't understand it myself.

9
Kohane: But perhaps... // ...it's because I shed all those tears.
[sFX: kiss♥]
Mokona: Mokona prefers how you were yesterday!
Kohane: ...Thank you.

10
Yuuko: This is a shop that grants wishes, in exchange for a price. // Kohane-chan. // The fact that you are here in this shop... / ...means that you have a wish.
Kohane: ...Yes.
Yuuko: And what would that wish be~?
Kohane: Mama...

11
Kohane: I want Mama to be happy. // But as things are, even if we're together, things will just become more painful. // That's why I want to find happiness myself first... / ...and then I will wait for Mama to notice me herself.

12
Kohane: When I speak of "happiness", I don't mean anything like money, or appearing on TV... // ...but simply to be able to be with a precious person, and for that person to be happy. // ...After meeting Kimihiro-kun... // ...I understood that.
Yuuko: Indeed.

13
Kohane: That's why... // I think I would be better off without my power. // Even as a child, I always thought I might be able to use my power to protect Mama... // ...But that... was impossible.
[sFX: reach]
Yuuko: No... // You did protect your mother... / ...with all your might.

14
Kohane: ...I don't know...
Yuuko: It's true.
Kohane: I offer my power as the price. In exchange, I want you to stop the people on TV, from the newspapers, on the internet - stop all of them from writing bad things about Mama. // So that Mama can keep on living her life in that house like always.
[side text: Kohane finally voices her "wish"!! How will Yuuko respond to Kohane, who offers up her power in exchange for her mother's salvation?!]
[TN: Just a thought - if the "relationship, freedom and time" were a valid price for original-Syaoran's wish to travel across dimensions - despite the fact that they were things he had already lost, completely outside of his own control, without any regard to the wish - then surely Kohane's years of selfless suffering for her mother's sake should count for something here? ~_~ Seems a little unfair to make her give up her power on top of everything.]