Sket Dance 39

1
[insert text: It's a non-school day! What are the Sket-dan members up to...?!]
Himeko: Ah, fancy seein' you here! // What're you doing in a place like this?
Bossun: Hm?
Himeko: All on your own... you look kinda lonely!
Bossun: You're on your own too!
Bossun/Himeko: ............
Himeko: So... this is kinda awkward. / Get outta here already.
Bossun: Th - that's my line! I see your stupid face enough at school, I don't need you following me round outside school too!!
Himeko: Then move it.
Bossun: No, you move it!
Himeko: You move it.
Bossun: No, you move it!
Himeko: Just move it.
Bossun: No, you move it!
Himeko: Ah, screw it!!
Bossun: Hm? // Hey... is that...?
Himeko: Hm?

2
Sket Dance
Chapter 39: Otaku And Occult
Reiko: Sorry to keep you waiting, Switch-kun.
Switch: No, // I really haven't been waiting long at all. // Shall we begin?
Reiko: By all means.
[insert text: Boy and girl... a fated meeting?!]

3
Bossun/Himeko: ............... // WHAT'S WITH THAT?!!
Himeko: Did'ja see that?!
Bossun: I saw that!!
Himeko: What's going on?!
Bossun: What could be going on?!
Himeko: What do you think?
Bossun: What do you think?
Himeko: Ah, screw it!!
Bossun: Switch... / ...and Yuuki-san...........
Himeko: Ehh? / For real? // Could they be going out?
Reiko: Thank you for being so kind as to come shopping with me today, Switch-kun.
Switch: No need to thank me. // I simply accepted your request as a member of the Sket-dan.
Himeko: Request?
Bossun: Oh, yeah... he was saying something about that yesterday...
Flashback!Bossun: Huh, you heading home already?
Flashback!Switch: There's something I need to check up on.

4
Flashback!Bossun: Did anybody show up?
Flashback!Switch: Yes, Yuuki-san was in here a moment ago. // It seems she is in the market for a notebook computer, and was looking for somebody who could help her make a decision.
Flashback!Bossun: Huh? So she came to you?!
Flashback!Switch: It seems she tried asking all her other friends who knew a lot about computers first, but they were all busy, so she had to resort to me.
Flashback!Bossun: Figures...
Flashback!Switch: And as such, I was forced to divulge to her the entirety of my knowledge about computers.
Flashback!Bossun: That's just harassment!! / How could a beginner understand all that?!! You should try explaining things more simply!!
Himeko: Oh, right... so in the end, he's goin' shopping with her to help her pick out a computer, huh?
Bossun: I can't even tell whether that guy's nasty or nice...
Himeko: They've gone into the department store! // I'm pretty sure this store sells computer stuff up on the seventh floor.
Bossun: Hm? What do we do? Do we keep following them? ...I guess we do. // I mean, we must be pretty damn bored... / And didn't we do something like this once before...?

5
Reiko: If I may voice an opinion... whilst the actual subjects of our beliefs may be different, I would venture to say that my own devoted belief in occultism and your own in science are fundamentally extremely similar. // You have no right to deny that which I believe in. Indeed, I would say that an inability to open one's eyes to the deep mysteries of this world reflects an inability to dream and an inexpressive mind.
Switch: You should have realised that your thoughts were misdirected the instant you started spouting words such as "dreams" and "belief". Science is a matter of absolute rules, not of belief. // The so-called supernatural affairs that you are so enamoured of amount to nothing more than fakes, rumours, and things that have failed to garner the slightest scientific proof. If that is what you call a "dream", then I would propose that the future of scientific study holds far more worthwhile dreams.
Reiko: There is simply no point talking to you... surely you can see that is is precisely because they are unexplainable that they hold such a powerful appeal!!
Switch: All that matters to me is how things work. Frankly, I would say that there is something deeply wrong with an otherwise reasonable person believing in things that cannot be reasonably explained lululul
Bossun: Why do they have to start arguing right away like that?!!
Himeko: Please, just stop it already!! It's just embarrassing with all these people around!!
Switch: Let us take the escalator.
Reiko: Indeed.

6
Switch: Have you never considered wearing fashionable clothing and using makeup like other girls of your age?
Reiko: ............
Bossun: Dammit...! He's picking a fight with her again already...
Himeko: How can you ask a girl a question like that...?!!
Reiko: I suppose you are trying to say that you find my clothing plain?
Switch: I do not mean to criticise your fashion sense. After all, I am not too different myself. / I am simply asking out of honest curiosity. If I have given offence, then I apologise.

7
Reiko: I suppose that if I had a boyfriend, and went out with him and suchlike, then I might make an effort to be fashionable like other girls. // But since I doubt that such things are relevant to me...
Switch: I see. So you have given up on such things without even trying. You nerdish fool.
Himeko: Yeah, like you're one to talk!!
Reiko: What do you mean by that?
Switch: It is not that you have no interest in love and fashion, but simply that you use your own unfashionable nature as an excuse, claiming that such things are clearly beyond you.
Bossun: Oh, for the love of...!! Can you stop saying things like that...?!!
Reiko: That is none of your business. I suggest that you leave me alone. / [random illegible chanting]
Bossun: You're gonna get cursed, Switch!!
Himeko: Watch out!!
Switch: While we are on the subject of things that are none of my business... // Frankly, I would not say that you are essentially an unattractive person. // I would like to emphasise that this is not my personal opinion but rather a generic male observation...

8
Switch: ...but you have large eyed, a well-positioned nose, and if you tried, you could easily turn that frown of yours into one of those pursed-liip faces that are so fashionable recently. // It is true that you have little in the way of obvious positive features right now, but on the other hand you have no negative features to speak of. Your face is well-balanced.
Reiko: ...But people always say I look scary.
Switch: Surely that's largely due to your character, the way you act. // The shadows under your eyes and your thin eyebrows may also contribute to a "scary" appearance, but a little eyebrow pencil and concealer would be enough to cover that up. // If you were to devote a little effort to using eye-makeup, you could give a very different impression.
Himeko: Why the hell does he know so much about makeup?! It creeps me out!
Reiko: Switch-kun, why is it that you know so much about makeup? Somehow it seems a little creepy.
Switch: I don't know that I like being called creepy by you. // As for your figure, well, personally I don't know that I am keen on the excessively-thin type, but you do have long legs, and I suppose one could call you "slim".
Himeko: If you're complimentin' her, sound a little more sure of yourself...
Switch: If you could fix that old-woman's hunch that you have, you could instantly alter your figure into that of a model.
Himeko: Can't you just speak normally?!
Switch: And though your hair may not be in brilliant shape, if you were to simply have it fixed up at a beauty salon, you could easily have a long, flowing black head of hair.
Reiko: ...............
Switch: And though it may look unhealthy at first glance, having such a perfectly white complexion without makeup is actually a powerful asset.

9
Reiko: I feel... as though a veil has been lifted from my eyes...
Switch: Coming from you, that actually sounds rather frightening.
Reiko: So I was actually a beautiful girl all along...
Switch: That's not what I said.
Reiko: Perhaps Switch-kun actually secretly has feelings for me...
Switch: I assure you, I do not.
Reiko: Ah, what would happen if I were to fall for Switch-kun as well...?
Switch: Is that a new curse you've come up with? // You said you wanted to use your computer to create a personal website, yes?
Reiko: Indeed. I want to let the world know about my occult hobbies. // I already have an idea of what I want to do with it... Supernatural phenomena, occult videos... there are all sorts of things I want to put up there.
[site: Yuuki Reiko's / Spirit Pavilion]
[TN: I'm not really sure how to translate that title...]
Switch: I assure you, I will never visit the site, so you need not explain. // If you mainly intend to use it for the internet, then perhaps a PC such as this would be appropriate. // It doesn't have incredible specs or anything, but it has wireless networking built in, and it is excellent value.
Reiko: I'm not entirely sure I follow, but it sounds all right...

10
Himeko: But man, this is really something! Switch doing all this for his bitter rival, Yuuki-san... It's incredible!
Bossun: I'm telling you, they're totally "together"!
Himeko: Ahh, that's a kinda nasty thought! But I do get a real sense of chemistry from them...!
Kobayashi: Hmm? Is that Yuuki-san? // Ah! / It is you! // How're you doing?
Reiko: Kobayashi-kun?
Kobayashi: Jeez, I haven't seen you for a while... must've been since graduation, huh? / Hahahah!
Reiko: It certainly has been a while.
Girl: Hey, who is she~? This creepy girl~
Kobayashi: Oh, just a girl who was in my class, back in middle school.

11
Kobayashi: But man, you really never change, huh, Yuuki-san? I recognised you from behind in an instant! / That crazy long hair of yours... hahahah! // And that aura you have... that da~~rk aura! / Hahahah!
Reiko: You don't seem to have changed either, Kobayashi-kun.
Kobayashi: Hahah... really? You think I haven't changed? Not at all? // So... // Who's this lovely guy over here? Could he be your boyfriend? / Nah, couldn't be...
Reiko: Oh, no, of course not. He's just a friend. He's helping me pick out a computer.
Kobayashi: Hahahah... / That right... makes sense, I guess. // Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry I couldn't give you a better response back then. // It's kinda been bugging me, you know?

12
Reiko: Oh, no - no need to bring up things from so long ago.
Girl: Hey, what's that~? What do you mean "back then"~?
Kobayashi: Hahahah... / Oh, well, you know. I've always been a popular sort of guy, right? // But honestly, Yuuki-san, you're a high-schooler now, aren't you? Surely you could at least try and wear something a little better than that? // I mean, I just met up with some other girls from our class a while back, and they've all turned out crazy cute, you know?
Reiko: Thank you for the advice. I'll see what I can do.
Girl: Come on... Let's leave already~! We'll miss the start of the movie~!
Kobayashi: Ah, sorry 'bout that. / Well, see ya, Yuuki-san!
Girl: And after the movie, we have to go eat at that restaurant down at Fountain Park~!
Kobayashi: Okay, okay...

13
Reiko: It was a long time ago. // Back in middle school, I wasn't as hooked on the occult as I am these days... // ... but I wasn't too big on fashion either... I was something of a "dark", friendless girl... // But even I wanted somebody to love... // There was this one guy who I'd talked with a little about a horror movie... // He was very popular amongst the other girls, but I fell for him...
Flashback!Kobayashi: Y'know... / You're just kinda scary, Yuuki-san.
Reiko: But, well, that didn't last very long. // I suppose it happens all the time.
Himeko: Hey... can I hunt down that guy and smack him?
Bossun: Why?!
Reiko: Looking back, I have no idea why I was ever even attracted to a guy like that... // I suppose I had just really begun to notice that I was a little "different" from the other girls... / ...and I was trying to be more "normal" by falling in love like any other girl...

14
Reiko: I suppose it was because he found me so creepy... // ...that I ended up like this in the end... // I suppose you think it's strange to hear me talking like this...?
Switch: Don't worry. This is a department store.
Reiko: ?
Switch: There are plenty of clothes stores around... / ...and there's even a beauty salon. // There are cosmetics places, too, where we can get a little make-up done...
Reiko: What are you talking about...?

15
Reiko: !!! // Wait -
Bossun: ......... / Huh? What's going on here...?
Himeko: W - Wow, he's very forward...
Kobayashi: Tch, that stupid bitch... I almost had her... // ...but she walked on me. // Oh...?

16
Kobayashi: Hey there! / Lookin' good there, beautiful! Hahahah! // You on your own? / How about coming for a drink with me?
Reiko: No... // I'm afraid I am waiting for somebody...
[TN: luls at the crazy fancy font.]
Kobayashi: Oh, right... // That's a pity... // (Dammit... she's one of the cutest girls I've seen in a long time, and all...)
Switch: Sorry to keep you waiting, Reiko.
Kobayashi: Huh? / Wha?! // But you're...
Reiko: Oh, I really haven't been waiting long at all.
Switch: Oh, my. / If it isn't our good friend Kobayashi-kun.

17
Kobayashi: No way?!! // Huh? But then "Reiko" would be...
Reiko: Kobayashi-kun... // I have gazed into your future... // ...and foreseen that a drowning awaits you!!!
Kobayashi: Y - Y - Y - // Yuuki-san!!! // Guahh!!! // Nblgahh!!

18
Bossun: Eheheh... / Now that's what I call "Occult Power".
Himeko: I guess they didn't need our help, huh? // How boring.
Bossun: Let's head home. / Heheheh...
Reiko: We ended up spending all the money I'd brought with me for the computer... / But I suppose it's quite nice to dress up like this once in a while.
Switch: Yes, it suited you better than I expected. I was impressed. // But personally, I think that you're more natural just as you usually are.
Reiko: Because... // ...because I'm just not a normal girl...?
Switch: If you're "not normal"... // ...then I'm even less normal than you.

19
Switch: I only helped you out today because you said you wanted to start up a website for your obsession. // I wouldn't have wasted my precious free time on this otherwise.
Reiko: ............ // Hahaha... // That's so very like you, Switch-kun. / Maybe you really do "like" me after all...
Switch: You are grossly mistaken.
Reiko: But even so, I'm afraid you'll have to see me again tomorrow... since you still have to help me with buying that computer.
Switch: I'm afraid that's impossible. I can feel the stench of the occult clinging to me just from spending a single day with you.
Reiko: "Stench of the occult"?
Switch: But since you're buying a computer, I supposed that makes you a proper scientific person like myself -
Reiko: I SHALL DRAW YOU IN... TO THE WORLD OF THE OCCULT!!! // Switch-kun... my computer's broken...
Switch: Dark spirit begone!
[insert text: They kind of make a nice duo?!]
[bottom text: Next issue, the Sket-dan in a crisis?! A visit from an unexpected person throws the club into chaos!!]