Desire 16

Although Takashi's roommate, Shunji Shimazono is always on the run with his job and the strange places and situations it take him. But his latest undercover assignment...may be his strangest and most elating yet!

File: 16: WITCH'S SPRING

150.
Caption: HAWAII
Voice 1: What's the promised amount?
Voice 2: I found out it was six-hundred thousand Japanese yen.
Glasses: Here's the boarding permit and the ID card of the sponsor. I heard that you were going to be Chinese, but earnestly I didn't know that you were Japanese!
Shunji: Aah, that's understood. I just seemed to study once with the one at this secret party.
Caption: Freelance Writer: SHIMAZONO Shunji (Fujii's high school friend)

151.
Shunji: A monght ago, I got my hands on information that the big-wigs of Japanese public life charter a cruiser for daughters brought by their parents to hold a suspicious party...The trouble of collecting the million that was raised was painful, but with skill I had more than enough earnings.
Leader: I didn't say anything until now, but what you observe here must never be revealed to the outside!! Because these are girls of high social standing, be careful to not make that mistake!!
Shunji: That's why I've come to decide to steal the information with this hidden camera.
SFX: CLICK
Shunji: The daughters are boarding!!

152.
Shunji: Though each of the personell participating weren't distinct, the investigation was my duty before I returned to Japan. It's not that they were daughters of good families: if they were simply rich girls, then I would be up to cheat them.
SFX: Click
Shunji: ......
Shunji: !!
Shunji: She...looks like..........no, it is!!

153.
Shunji: The actress TACHIBANA Saori!! At 17, she was chosen as the lead of a morning serial and at once became the most popular actress in the country......she won "best newcomer" at a film festival the following year!! Even though she's star talent, she calmly published a "hair nude". In this golden age of the physical, there are so few pure actresses. AND I'M SURE SHE'S NOW 19...!!
(TN: A "hair nude" is a nude photo that shows pubic hair)
Shunji: Would you like some wine?
Saori: .........
SFX: Click
Saori: Are you Chinese?
Shunji: Ye...yes. (internally): The most popular actress in Japan at a secret party...well, what an unbelievable scoop!!
(TN: When Shunji goes "ye...yes", it actually uses kanji akin to Chinese while translated into Japanese. If translated, I suggest keeping the kanji and removing the Japanese translation)

154.
Long Hair: When you boarded, a serum was handed to all of you......Actually, these days, it's an aphrodesiac it's called "Witch's Spring"*, obtained by a special route by mixing "atropa belladonna", "hiyosu", "aconitum", "datura stonimonium", "holland parsley" and such, it's prided for having a massive effectiveness.
*It's also called "Miracle Witch's Drug". The ingredients is from an analysis by Professor H. Roina of Göttingen University.
(TN: First of all, I really don't know if there is any information about "H Roina", but Göttingen is one of the most famous universities in Germany and one of the most highest ranked universities both there and throughout Europe. As for all the "ingredients", a laundry list:
-Atropa belladonna: more notable as "Belladonna" or "deadly nightshade", it is a poisonous plant notable for causing hallucinations as well as being used to derive drugs such as atropine
-Hiyosu: a type of plant also tied to the belladonna family, including one known as the "Japanese belladonna"
-Aconitum: a member of the buttercup family also known as "aconite", "wolfsbane", "leopard's bane", "women's bane" or "devil's helmet", it's generally toxic but can be used for medical purposes in Asian medicine)
-Datura stonimonium: an herb grown wild as a weed, it can be used as a hallucinogen but can also be poisonous
-Holland parsley: also known as "Hamburg parsley" or "root parsley", it is a parsnip commonly used either as a vegetable or merely can be used for seasoning)
Saori: .........
Shunji: An aphrodesiac......!!
Long Hair: Thanks for waiting. And now, our hosts will debut. Everyone applaude!!
Girl: Yes, I've waited for this--!!
Girl: Yay!

155.
Girl 1: The host in the cloak I see this time is Harry Cocks!! One of the ultra-big three of the porn-film world!!
Girl 2: EH~~won't he break us?

156.
Shunji: The party entered it's climax with the girls scrambling to play and peck at the bodies of their hosts!! They were like starving hyenas. The pride and shyness of those daughters were abandoned as they went mad with lust......!! That was the meaning for the party!! Looking at that scene, this unknown show was intense. My nether region was on the verge of exploding.
SFX: Click click

157.
Long Hair: This is her first participation, she should spend a bit of time getting intimate with the mood of the party...invite her to a private room where you won't worry of being seen and her feelings will rush forth.
Man: Yes.
Shunji: .........
Shunji: That guy is...!!

158.
Saori: .........
Shunji: !!
Shunji: I haven't yet gotten a picture of Tachibana Saori getting involved. If I get just one...
Saori: .........

159.
Shunji: This feels bad. It's so sticky yet I can't touch why!!
Saori: Boy whose outside, save me!!
Shunji: ......
Man: Wh...what are you!!
Saori: Th...throw him out of this room!!
Shunji: Even if you're big, you're impotent. I can't believe a woman would say that. Get out of here quickly!!
Man: WH...WHAT~~~are you picking a fight with me, a host!!
SFX: Click click
Shunji: Fufu, got two shots!!

160.
Saori: KYAA, someone get a bodyguard......!! Help me!
Shunji: If I turn a hand to him, the uproar will increase and my true identity will be exposed.
Suit: What's going on!?
Saori:The host was reckless with me!! Though the boy came to save me, he got violent!.
Suit: Hey you, what did you do to our guest...!!

161.
Man: AOOW!
Suit: Please forgive me for being rude!!
Suit: Get up! Get out of this room.
Saori: Let him rest for a bit here due to his wounds.
Suit: Ye...yes.
Saori: You're not Chinese...you're Japanese.
Shunji: !!
Saori: The Japanese requesting to save me was a play to find out your true identity. Who are you!!
Shunji: ......

162.
Shunji: .........
Saori: If I'm not mistaken by my memory, I was hit by someone when confronting the editor-in-chief of a woman's weekly magazine several years ago......the editor was arrested for the assault!!
Shunji: I can't play innocent when I remembered that there.
Shunji: I...spendidly, am a fan of yours. In showbusiness today, you still remained real, even if purity is equivalent to obsolete.
Saori: .........
Saori: Whatever you thought about me is selfish!! Besides, you were peeping. Hand over the film!!
Shunji: ......
Saori: When you reveal who you are, then I'll throw you to the ocean as shark bait!!

163.
Shunji: AH...!!
Saori: Does it hurt...?
Saori: ......
Saori: I don't know how long the pain will last, but shall we test it?
SFX: Zip--
Shunji: !!
Saori: The "Witch's Spring"......!!

164.
Shunji: I'm...floating!! My entire body is flying high into space!!
Shunji: Wh...what is this sensation!? The pain from my wounds has changed to pleasantness. This is the the effect of "Witch's Spring"!!

165.
Shunji: A...mazing. Let me see your waist gun!
Saori: ......!!
Shunji: You...should too...
Saori: Huh...!?
Saori: .........

166.
Shunji: What exactly am I doing......!! But
Shunji: It's welling up: a desire that can't be pushed back.
Shunji: How do you feel?
Saori: Haa
Shunji: It's best you don't deny it. I have this same feeling too!!
Saori: Haa......
Saori: Hau......

167.
Saori: Do it!!

168.
Saori: Th...this is my first time!!
Shunji: "Witch's Spring" amplified the pleasant feelings embraced by Tachibana Saori. She wasn't thinking anymore about the consequences!!

169.
Shunji: I ENTERED WITHIN...
Shunji: TACHIBANA SAORI!!!
Saori: Ah Aah

170.
Saori: Pictures for weeklies...entertainment reporters...evey day, someone would watch and chase after me...I had a life where I couldn't even breathe...do you understand!?
Saori: I did this to select a method where I could release stress...no one was going to bother me. To rage about this and have them reveal this to the public is foolish!!
(TN: Sort of think I screwed this up, someone should make sure this is right or wrong)

171.
Saori: Aah, they're spinning...the stars are spinning...! Take me to the stars over there...!!
Saori: Stronger--!! Even more to the center!! Even more...!!

172.
Saori: Will you remember me?
Shunji: Well then...I do thoroughly know the code of morals...
Shunji: The million I spent for the coverage did mess with my head a bit, but I've gotten better on that matter already.
Shunji: Tachibana Saori......an actress I may never talk to or never touch the skin of ever again once we get off this cruiser...I'll never forget her for being the partner with whom I felt utlimate bliss together with.

TN: So...after we went over all those ingredients (which took me forever to translate and get connected to this chapter and nearly made me go crazy...well that and the shot with the male porn stars disturbing me), it probably should have been no guess that Witch's Spring...would literally turn sex into "2001: A Space Odyssey" in psychedelia. I know some say sex is an "out of this world experience"...but who knew they made something that made it as such! Aside from the surrealism of the "climax" (if you call it that considering it's multiple meanings"), this chapter was ultimately made by the interaction and storyline regarding both Shunji and the girl of the chapter, Saori. Considering how little we've seen of Shunji getting involved in Takashi's antics (let alone letting that one girl run off with Rikako and have her lesbian adventures a while back), actually seeing him at work probably was a breathe of fresh air from the salaryman nature of Takashi. Sure Takashi's an interesting character and the main lead, but a change in scenery and scenario was definitely needed at this point in the game. Shunji himself seems more a man who is wrestling between his morals and making a buck, particularly exposing this lewd ceremony that essentially deflowered the girls of the rich and famous...maybe they deserve to have this revealed but in the end it was his gentlemanly nature (and probably some side-effect of Witch's Spring...or just Saori) that allowed for him to hold it back and keep his moralism. Saori herself was an interesting case study: a girl who almost appeared virginal both in the media and in her own perception (as well as the obvious "virgin" bit), but at the same time knew how to play an actress in getting what she needed to out of people, including exposing Shunji. Though it does beg to question: while all the other girls were in the orgy, why did Saori stay out of it until being accosted into that weird scenario? I guess it's just a combination of both that was going on: she wanted to lose it here, but didn't want to be forced to by the porn stars and didn't really want to embarrass herself in the midst of all that was going on. But of course it also begs the question: did all the other girls use Witch's Spring too...or was it just "an AVON Demonstration followed by sex?" Considering the anticipation of the girls, probably a bit of both...but they probably were so excited about this that they didn't even need Witch's Spring.

Oh, and considering the weirdness of this chapter, it's no surprise that at one point I was translating while the radio was playing "Behind Closed Doors" by Charlie Rich. I wouldn't be surprised if that is "Desire"'s theme song...well it deserves to be.