Rin (HAROLD Sakuishi) 18

Rin 18
*For RyColaa scanlations

p1: ==========================================
<no text>

p2: ==========================================
[sign]: Hirano Inn

[sign]: Hirano Inn

p3: ==========================================
Let here be made clean; let here be made pure…
Together, with all the myriad gods…..

Wh… What in the world are they doing?

p4: ==========================================
It’s a ceremony to welcome a god!
?

They are inviting here Otaki-san, one of the gods of the holy grounds,
and will entertain him for three days.

Today, they welcome him….
/ Tomorrow is the high festival…..
/ / And on the final day, they will see him off…..
Thus comprises the three-day-long Kou-no-Mori Festival!

p5: ==========================================
He is within.

Who’s “within”?
The god.
Huh?

p6: ==========================================
With that, until the god is sent off in a ceremony two days hence,
none may pass that sliding door, nor peek within.

There’s a god in there…..
At least, that’s the setting.
May my work be turned into a Hollywood movie.

p7: ==========================================
Th—The room right next to the one we’re in is a room for a god. That’s amazing….

By the way, there’s less rooms for guests now,
so I’ll be sharing your room with you.
I—I’m in a room with you, Higeta-san?‼

Let us present to each other
(true) ghost stories until the dead of night.

……….
So, this is going on at each of the three families in charge of one of the holy grounds?

p8: ==========================================
[sign]: Inui

My leg’s fallen asleep…. Do I gotta put up with this shit for three whole days?

[sfx]: Yawn

p9: ==========================================
This is retarded.
Why do we keep followin’ this stupid superstition once every seven years?!

Naomichi, once this is done, we’re headin’ back out.

G—Got it.

p10: ==========================================
[sign]: Takoyaki / 6 for 300 yen

[sign]: Yakisoba

[sign]: JERK CHICKEN <in English> / Jerk Chicken <in Japanese> / 600 Yen / *Beer / *All kinds of rum‼

Wow! They’ve got jerk chicken! I love jerk chicken‼
I guess the neighborhood association’s been hard at work building things up this year.
I was scornful, but this has proven more fun than I anticipated.
Heck, he’s just hanging out with us like he’s one of the gang.

p11: ==========================================
Is your fever gone?
Yeah.

Thanks for the picture you texted me.
The waterfall was really pretty, huh.
Otaki-san, was it?

Taki-kun got pretty interested in it.
He stayed behind by himself to keep staring at it.

And Ishidou-san, maybe you shouldn’t push yourself too hard today.
Yeah.

p12: ==========================================
[sign]: No Cars Permitted
Eeek!
Why’s there a car here?!
I’m scared!

Tch. If y’all take yer sweet little time gettin’ out of the way on such a narrow road, maybe I should just done run y’all over.

!

Ishidou!

p13: ==========================================
She’s a girl at my school, same age as me.
She transferred here back ‘round seventh grade, so you ain’t gonna know her.
…………

But still, who’s that there with her?
I ain’t never seen Ishidou goin’ out with a man before.

p14: ==========================================
She wants to be with someone like him?

Hmmmmm….
That chick don’t look half-bad.

What’s with that pimped-out car?
…..Doesn’t he know no one’s allowed to drive here?

His plate’s from another prefecture….
Maybe he’s from out-of-town and didn’t know?
And he’s blaring that horrible, cheap music.

p15: ==========================================
‼

You got a problem with it?

Didn’t you just say somethin’?
Why don’t you repeat yourself?

p16: ==========================================
Uh, no….

What, you don’t have the balls to say it to our faces, you little shit?!

I’m really not good at this sort of thing….

p17: ==========================================
Ah!

Nii-chan, some of the people in charge are done headin’ this way.

I’m sorry, but no cars are allowed on this road.

After that fuss from earlier, it’d probably be wise if we just go skedaddle on outta here.
Tch.

p18: ==========================================
Y—You’re a nuisance to everyone!
Now hurry and move your vehicle out of here!

I ain’t gonna forget yer face. Mark my words!

p19: ==========================================
That’s my line, you idiot.
[inset]: Don’t you come back here again!

Nishi-chan, look at you go!
Oh, no; I was just a delinquent once myself.
I even have every volume of Samurai Soldier from then.

Hey, ain’t that Inui’s big brother?

I heard he done run off to Oosaka or some such,
but there ain’t nobody what remembers him fondly from when he was here.

p20: ==========================================
They say that, since ancient times, festivals and fighting are inseparable!

Huh? Higeta-san, where’d you go?
Don’t tell me you were scared and sprinted away.
It seems the town hall parking lot is being used for a special stage. Let us investigate.

[roof]: Kou-no-Mori Festival Special Stage

p21: ==========================================
Hey, hey, what’s that?
You could call it a mascot character.

That’s Matakkii, who’s based on Matagi-san.
That one is Takicchi, who’s based on Otaki-san.
And here’s Umippii, who’s based on Umihime.

p22: ==========================================
I get Mattakii and Takicchi,
but what’s Umippi?
She’s from a legend about Umihime Island.

Long ago, there lived on that island a fearsome giant snake.

For years, young girls from the village were offered to it, one after another,
but one year, the daughter of the town chief was selected for that role.

p23: ==========================================
The town chief, deeply distressed, went to the poorest family in town, purchased their Umihime, and had her go in his daughter’s place.
When she was offered as a sacrifice, she put on a most beautiful dance and warmed the giant snake’s heart.

Hmmmmmmm.
Though it is kinda weird how a dance warmed the heart of a giant snake.
Well, that sort of things comes up in fairy tales.

So that’s why she’s dancing.
What’s this song, again?
[inset]: With a smile and a song~~

Something similar to that may have happened.

p24: ==========================================
Countless people died on that island.

Huh?!

Those young girls….

might have been sacrifices.

p25: ==========================================
[roof]: Kou-no-Mori Festival Special Stage
Now, it’s time for these girls to compete through song and dance in the Miss Umihime Contest‼

Rin-chan, d’you think we should start headin’ home?
You ain’t been feelin’ well, and all.
Yeah.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Our judge, whose self-published CD, the Cape of Love, is on sale now with rave reviews, is Inui Motonobu-san‼

p26: ==========================================
Such myths can be found all over the country, with only minor variations.
In all likelihood, they are simply remnants of a time of thysía.

What's thysía mean?

It is the act of sacrificing a person to the gods!

‼

p27: ==========================================
Are you talking about the giant snake on Umihime Island?

The snake could refer to a natural disaster, a plague, a bad harvest, or poor catch.
The people of long ago are said to have assigned meaning to disasters beyond their ken.

I don’t know whether a skilled dance could “warm its heart”….
But it does mean that custom ended.

I believe that the Kou-no-Mori Festival was in fact a ceremony of thysía!
*Scratch*

The subject of worship on the other side of that sliding door…..

p28: ==========================================
May be a once-cursed god who devoured humans!

p29: ==========================================
Well? Let’s all draw one of my handmade lots…
And have whoever pulls the marked one take a peak past the sliding door.

Stop creeping us out, dammit‼

Hey, all of these are marked.

You bastard‼

I—I thought it might make good material for a manga….

OK, let’s just all go to sleep.
They said breakfast would be at 7.

p30: ==========================================
After being told there’s a god on the other side of that sliding door,
it’s kind of hard to sleep.

p31: ==========================================
I need to go to the bathroom.

Wow, he grinds his teeth loudly.

[sfx]: Gulp

None may pass that sliding door, nor peek within.

p32: ==========================================
[sign]: Bathroom

Heck, if anything’s scary, it’s Higeta-san’s face.

It may be a once-cursed god who devoured humans!

p33: ==========================================
<no text>

p34: ==========================================
<no text>

p35: ==========================================
Fushimi Norito….

p36: ==========================================
<no text>

p37: ==========================================
Yassan‼

p38: ==========================================
That name does seem to have taken hold.

Congratulations on winning the Sawamura Eichi Prize Runner-Up Award!

p39: ==========================================
Sh—Shoot. I’m not supposed to enter here….

Uh….
Th—Thank you.

I guess you heard….
I know everything about you.
Including what happened in Tokyo.

!

p40: ==========================================
It seems there is something you wish to ask.
Something about what you saw at the end of that spiral staircase.

Yassan, tell me.
Were those lost memories? Or just some sort of delusion?

p41: ==========================================
A little of both…
After all, as you experienced something that went beyond your five senses,
your thoughts and explanations began to flow like a river.

But you have not yet awakened.
Therefore, accessing those proved difficult.

He has such presence….
Is he really just a product of my subconscious?

p42: ==========================================
Thank you very much, Iwakuma-sensei.
Oh, here.

Hahaha. Sorry it’s so bad.

………..

If you come to know this being’s true form….

p43: ==========================================
it will shock you,
bringing about severe complications.

Perhaps that is why it appears in such a comical form.

Are you saying that, if it takes off the animal costume,
there’l be something amazing inside?!

[sfx]: Smile!

p44-45: ==========================================
However, when that happens,
it may turn out to be something you were never supposed to know!

p46: ==========================================
What’s wrong, Fushimi?
Are you thinking back on that close-cut man in the glasses?

If you want to know what has gotten you so excited,
go to Umihime island.

p47: ==========================================
Was that a dream?
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a weird one.

p48: ==========================================
Taki-kun!

I figured you’d be here.

Morning.
[sfx bubble]: *Rattle*

You really like this place, huh

Today’s the big festival.
I lot of people will probably come, so I thought I’d get here first.

p49: ==========================================
You haven’t had breakfast, right?
Here’s some rice balls made by the people at the inn.
Oh, thanks.

How’s your storyboard coming along?
Huh?
You’re aiming for the Young Blue Cup, too, right?

Oh, yeah, kind of.

What’s it about?
At least tell me the title.

p50: ==========================================
“Private Teacher Narumi-sensei”!

………

I see….
Th—that was a really delicate reaction….
It got rejected, anyways.

But the truth is, I haven’t gotten any better ideas….
I’m starting to panic.

p51: ==========================================
Hmmmmmmmm. I don’t really get how you can feel that way.

I have so many ideas, it’s hard to pick just one.
Th—That’s why you’re the once-in-a-decade prodigy.

I know you know this, but don’t overwork yourself.
Just enjoy the scenery, and maybe you’ll have a spark of inspiration.

[inset]: Now, let’s head towards the forked tree.
I don’t think seeing trees and waterfalls
is going to make me think of erotic material.

p52: ==========================================
Shoot, it started raining while I was spacing out.
Was it supposed to rain today?

!

Morning!

p53: ==========================================
Oh, you two. Why didn’t you bring your phones?
We tried to call you.

Here’s an umbrella.
Thanks.

Ishidou-san, how are you feeling today?
I’m fine, thanks.

Are you? Great.

p54: ==========================================
There’s a ton of things I want to ask you!

…….
It’s raining again…..

Huh?

p55: ==========================================
It feels like, every time I meet you, it’s raining.
[bg, upper right]: Oh!
[bg, lower right]: Hey!
[bg, upper left]: *Smile* / You’re Fushimi Kinosuke-kun, right? / Uh, yes.
[bg, lower left]: Hey. / Wassup?

……..Maybe…

Ishidou-san, are you a rain-woman?
Huh? No one’s ever called me that before.

p56: ==========================================
Besides, this rain?
I’m pretty sure it’ll stop when we get back to the Hirano.

?

[sign]: Hirano Inn

p57: ==========================================
It really did stop….
We’re back.

You’re late!
I even brought out the Nishigaitsu edition of The Game of Life because it was raining~.

The skies are clear now.
Seriously?

And Nishigaitsu-sensei, your calves are really tight.
But yesterday, I walked enough for a whole year~.

p58: ==========================================
Now, let’s go examine Umihime Island!

Huh?
But low tide isn’t until 3 o’clock.
Even if we go now, there’ll be no path, so we can’t cross.

I want to find evidence of the theory I discussed last night.

You mean that thysía stuff?

p59: ==========================================
I’ll pass. I’ll just head over this afternoon.
And Nishi-chan’s giving me a massage.
Well, I kind of want to go, too.
Plus, I’ve been giving you a massage for an hour.

I’ll wait here, too.

Oh, then I’ll stay here, too.

Then let’s eat snacks and have some girl talk!
Nishi-chan, you can go off with them.

p60: ==========================================
Fushimi-kun, about that hat….

Huh?

Mm-mm.
It’s nothing.

p61: ==========================================
Oh!

Come to think of it, ain’t the family in charge of Umihime Island the Inuis?
/ After what done happened yesterday, y’all think them’s gonna be OK?

……..

p62: ==========================================
YOU IDIOT‼

You’re the son of one of the families in charge, and you done come back here after the sun rises?‼

We’re so busy these three days we’d take whatever darn help we can get‼
Now get to changin’ your clothes and go clean up the beach‼

I knew Pops would be mad….
Tch. When I’m back after so long, it ain’t gonna kill him if I have a bit of fun.

p63: ==========================================
Hiroki!

Don’t you dare do nothin’ like what happened seven years ago!

p64: ==========================================
The sea breeze is so cold~.
I would expect no less from the “entranceway to another world.”
From this close, the island truly looks eerie.
Not half as eerie as your face.

p65: ==========================================
Fushimi-kun, do you like that hat?
Yeah, I guess.

p66: ==========================================
If you want to know what has gotten you so excited,
go to Umihime island.

[box]: To be continued in the July issue