Birdmen 9

(1) [111]
Horizontal text: Experiencing what it means to be a birdman, there's a change in Karasuma's thoughts...!?

Eishi: It must be due to the circumstances, // that my memories are extremely hazy.

Eishi: But when Takayama took my hand and led me into the fire----

Eishi: For a moment

Eishi: I felt like I was able to see the world through his eyes.

(2) [112]
Eishi: Who am I really?

Title: Birdmen // flight007 RUN
Author: Tanabe Yellow

(3) [113]
Eishi: What are the conditions to be called a hero?

Rei: Changed your mind after saving those people?
Eishi: Of course not.

Eishi: I asked Kamoda, but...
Kamoda: Strong, honest, sturdy, nice // Oh Yeah! // And also cool and popular with girls.
Eishi: his view isn't really helping.

(4) [114]
Rei: Well, he isn't really wrong, is he?
Eishi: But only a small minority of heroes is popular with girls, right!? (The idiot. //Only mobs say Oh Yeah, right?)

Rei: Yes, I guess. // Heroes are lonely... // aren't they?

Eishi: Yes. // Because they are misunderstood by the people around them.

Eishi: I walked into the flames of the shipboard fire, // but I didn't feel any heat.

Eishi: Don't you think // it's like paralysis?

Rei: Paralysis?
Eishi: Super humans.. suffer from a paralysis. They don't feel the pain that normal humans do. // That's why... they deviate from the people around them.

(5) [115]
Eishi: I think that's why // I feel uncomfortable around Takayama. //I don't want to deviate from normal people. // What do you think?

Rei: Maybe... // But still...

Rei: That "voice" calling for help // was saturated with pain. // Doesn't that mean we still understand the pain of the people calling out to us?

Eishi: I see...!
Rei: It's not impossible that // Takayama has been feeling the pain of everyone else around him all this time.

Eishi: I see... // Then, assuming that, // as a result--------

(6) [116]
Eishi: I absolutely don't want have such a life!

Eishi: If I survive the next Black Out, // I'll do everything I can to find a way to get back to normal! // Sagisawa, want to help? (This is my agenda!)

Rei: Somehow... you're strong, like Takayama-kun, but in a different sense of the word...
Eishi: What's that supposed to mean!

Rei: Well, you're strong-minded... // I wonder if that's why you and Kamoda-kun get along so well.

Eishi: Huh?
Rei: Well, // you two are an odd combination. I kind of wondered why you get along so well.

Rei: Moreover, Kamoda-kun kind of adores you.
Eishi: Stop it, that's sounds weird.

(7) [117]
Eishi: He's pretty simple-minded, so I guess it's actually pretty convenient? // He is easy to convince.
Rei: Doesn't that just mean he trusts you?

Eishi: Eh, // Well, // no, it's not. // He's just, you know... // Yes, // because of that, he has this weird admiration for the imaginative.

Rei: Imaginative?
Eishi: ......... // When I was in 3rd grade I moved to this place...

Eishi: Because I was small and unsociable, I stood out. // I'd often experience troublesome things like being chased and having my satchel being hurled away.

Eishi: The pettiest fool of the group // that pestered me was Kamoda.

(8) [118]
Rei: Pettiest!?
Eishi: Back then we were about the same height. (And he also had a crew cut.)

Eishi: Because they were really obstinate, I snapped.

Eishi: First I put bugs in the shoes in their shoe cupboard.

A: (Eww! I squashed a snail! Yuck!)
B: (There are wood louse in mine!)
C: (EEK!)
Kamoda: (Earthworms!!)
Eishi: After I slightly annoyed them,

Eishi: (Ha!)

A: (You bastard!)
Kamoda: (I don't want to wear these shoes!)
B: (Shut up and come!)
Eishi: I let them chase me on purpose, while keeping a suitable distance.

(9) [119]
Eishi: When they came to close,

Eishi: I used weapons,

Eishi: I used tricks,

A: (A pepper bomb!)
Eishi: I used weapons again,

A: (Yipes! My satchel is stuck!)
Eishi: and I made them run through rough roads.

Eishi: Then I made it look like I was driven into a corner // and lured them in.

Eishi: The construction work on the slope was stalled due to some dispute about the rights. // I knew they would sometimes sneak in there to play, pretending it was their secret base.

(10) [120]
A: That transfer student is really an idiot! To seek refuge in this place!

Eishi: When idiots think they have the advantage of terrain or something, they just stop thinking, right? // So, the abandoned construction shack and materials made for a pretty good stage.

Eishi: Stop it already.

(11) [121]
A: !!
B: There's a cliff on that side...!?

Kids: This is bad! // What do we do!? // How should I know! // Let's get away from here!! // What!?

Kids: (Yipes! // Wait for me! // Eek!)
SFX: Falling plump
Eishi: (Just going to run off? These guys are horrible. // If they rush it too much, they'll fall down the slope.)

Kamoda: (Wait! Wait!)

A: (What!? // It's stuck!)

(12) [122]
Kida: (Why, why!? // It won't open!!)
SFX: Banging
Eishi: (It's common knowledge that when a human ends up in an unfamiliar situation he/she will be overcome with fear and start to panic.)

Kamoda: What do we do!? What do we do!?
A: I don't know!!
B: You have a mobile phone, right!?
C: Yeah...

C: (Aaaargh!) I lost it somewhere!!
B: What!?

A: Do.. // don't cry!!
Kamoda: This isn't fun anymore!! // I wanna go home!

Plane: Read

Kamoda: ...?
A: What's that...

(13) [123]
Paper: How to get to a new exit // shack // go down // here // You are here
Bubble: Stop pestering me. If you do it again, I'll fill all your shoes to the brim with wood louses.

Eishi: Well, I was just a kid then. // Even my mind was full of childish mischief. (But it's also when I started skipping cram school.)

Rei: Bugs... you dare to touch them...?
Eishi: Only if I have to. // Then, the next day----

(14) [124]
Kamoda: You are amazing! // Let's be friends!

Eishi: He had this huge smile on his face, // it was just... // I really admired that carefree side.
Rei: Ehe, // he he he...

Rei: Kamoda-kun and Kurasuma-kun. // Even before the accident, you often went to Futou park, right?

(15) [125]
Rei: I, // all that time I wanted to be friends with you two.

Eishi: Huh!?
Rei: The two of you seemed to get along so well. // Cutting class like the two of you, gave me some sense of intimacy...

Rei: That's why I'm glad we're friends now.
Eishi: Wha...

Eishi: What------!?

(16) [126]
Eishi: No, no, no... // Hold on now. Wait a moment.

Eishi: Should I be happy some guy told me he wanted to be // friends with me?

Eishi: I should be! // It's quite an achievement in the pages of my history!!

(17) [127]
Eishi: Well, and he isn't just some guy. // Speaking of the inter-school pyramid, he's at the top. He's the most popular guy!

Eishi: After all, even though I survived a terrible accident, // no one in my class even said a word to me.

Text: Inflicted 10.000 damage to himself
Girl: Hey, you there.

Eishi: !? // Yes!?

(18) [128]
Girl: Hey, just now... // we saw you talking to Sagisawa-kun...
Girl: Are you possible his friend...?

Eishi: Huh? // Yes, // no, // well...

Girl: WHAT!? // No way! // Seriously!!?

Girl: Impossible, how can that be!? // Why, why!? // What!?
Girl: Huh, what about Sagisawa-kun!?

Eishi: Eh, what going on!? What's going on!? // Why is this enormous crowd of girls swarming around me!?

(19) [129]
Eishi: Yikes... // Everyone is looking at me...

Eishi: Damn, the popular guys are scowling at me-----
Girl: Hey, tell us. Come on.

Girl: Do you // know his cell phone number?

Eishi: ...... // not telling you.
Girl: He knows!! // Even though I heard he never told his number to anyone of school!!

(20) [130]
Eishi: Jeez! (For a moment I thought I'd die.) // Really, // to think the day would come that I'd be surrounded by girls...

Eishi: Yeah, of course I am aware of it... // It's all because of Sagisawa's magic... // I know that much... // (After all, they still don't know my name.)

Eishi: But // it's not bad.
Arm: (This isn't drool.)

Eishi: That's right... Until now I just never got the chance... // Right now... I'm sure that something is changing...

(21) [131]
Eishi: So this is how heroes are born... // I guess. (laughing).

(22) [132]
Mother: How is it? // Do you like it?

Eishi: ......
Mother: Really, you're so surly. // Since I got home early, // I even decided to make your favorite hamburger!

Mother: I actually wanted to put cheese on top of it, // but there was none in the refrigerator left.

Mother: We probably used it all to make toast? // Anyway, I put a fried egg on top of it instead. // Isn't it splendid? // You really eat a lot lately.

(23) [133]
Mother: At this rate, you may even grow a bit taller. // Please eat as much as you like.

Mother: Eishi, // lately you've been leaving the house at night, right?

Mother: I know you do. // I don't know what you do, but you get a lot of clothes dirty. // Please stop it at once.

Mother: I often get home late from work, // but you are a student. // You'll soon have to take entrance exams, right?

(24) [134]
Mother: And I also want you to stop seeing Kamoda-kun.

Eishi: What? // Kamoda isn't a bad...
Mother: I don't think Kamoda-kun is a bad child.

Mother: He's a temple kid, // a bit rough, but his intentions are pure.

Mother: But you and he are totally different. // The two of you just don't fit together.

Mother: It's not only about high school, // I still think it would've been better if you had taken that middle school entrance exam. // Then you would've been able to make more stimulating friends. // And I also think you would be skipping less classes, if the school would actually suit your needs.

(25) [135]
Mother: Ranking first at a public middle school will get you nowhere. // Public schools are a hodgepodge, even an average child can graduate from one.// I know you absolutely don't want to do, but don't you think it's better if you went to cram school again? // Let's think about it after we get the result of your next mock exam.

Eishi: Hold your tongue.

Mother: It's a bit far from home, but it's said to be a great cram school. // If you'd like I could cut down my work hours and bring you there by car for this rest of this year. // In exchange I'd expect you to enter a good high school. // You should definitely talk with smarter kids.

Eishi: Don't just say whatever you think fit.

Mother: I'll find some way to pay your high school fees. // Know that I'm doing everything I can for you, // so it'd be nice if you'd give some serious thought to your future as well.

(26) [136]
Mother: It worries me... // I have to raise you properly...

Eishi: See, I knew it.

Mother: or people will think I'm a bad parent.

Eishi: It's as I thought.

(27) [137]
Eishi: .........it's not my fault.

(28) [138]
Eishi: It's not my fault that dad left us.

Eishi: I'm the worst!

(29) [139]
Eishi: What hero would intentionally hurt his mother? // I'm an idiot...

Eishi: Even though I know // how hurtful it is...

Eishi: I haven't changed at all...
Mother: It worries me, I have to raise you properly...

Eishi: That's right, first your son snapped and selfishly dropped out of the middle school entrance exam, // then he couldn't find his feet in the public school he entered and slips out of class, // only to get into an accident and turn into a birdman.

Eishi: It's cruel... // It's too cruel... // I really can't face her. // I don't want these wings, I'd rather be a shellfish.

(30) [140]
Eishi: If I could just file myself away in the depths of the dark ocean, // at least I won't be able to hurt anyone.

(31) [141]
Eishi (Takayama): Do you still think you can't fly?

(32) [142]
Eishi: Stop it.

Eishi: I'm not a kindhearted person...

Eishi: I don't know what I'll do if I'm set free.

(33) [143]
Eishi: Don't ask me to live in your world.

(34) [144]
-

(35) [145]
Eishi: If I'm going to do this anyway, // I'm going to break through the clouds.

Eishi: It's not like the depths of the ocean, but... // I'll be completely alone there-----

(36-37) [146-147]
Text: The sudden appearance of a "Black Out"...!! At that moment, Karasuma...!? // To be continued in issue 9