Hell Teacher Nube 26

Miki already has a record regarding spiritual mishaps, but she just doesn't know when to stop! When she decides to play a small fun prank involving a notable childish time-killer, she may end up bringing down a wave of misfortune to herself...

#26: The Million Letters of Misfortune

50.
Miki: Lun lun
Kyouko: Ara, Miki?
Miki: Ufu…ufufu—
Kyouko: Is something the matter: Miki today seems extremely happy…she has the eyes of a maiden in love, shining in the morning sun.
Kyouko: Well, which is her love letter?

51.
Letter:
LETTER OF MISFORTUNE:
THE PERSON WHO READS THIS
MUST SEND OUT
THE SAME LETTER TO TEN PEOPLE
WITHIN THREE DAYS
OR ELSE MISFORTUNE WILL
BEFALL YOU

SFX: GOGOGOGOGO
Kyouko: ARE YOU STU~~~PID
SFX; BAKYAA
Miki: WHA…what are you doing? This is a person’s meager enjoyment! (YOU’RE—MEAN!)
Kyouko: Why would you do this sort of thing; have you been through something sad!?
Miki: I really don’t have a reason; I’m just writing them to waste time due to having left-over New Years cards.
Kyouko: You~~~

52.
Kyouko: Please stop: what—will happen if the people who receive this take it seriously!!
Miki: Wouldn’t that be ni—ce, because I’m playing in any case.
Miki: Oops.
(TN: Miki ends up saying “poi” here; this is connected to the Japanese expression “poito”, which is a word for “careless” or “nonchalantly”; which just shows how Miki acts right now)
Kyouko: AH---!!
Caption: Several days later…
Voice: Eh---…
Nube: Recently…letters of misfortune have been flourishing. It seems they’re already spreading throughout the school…
Miki: No~~sca~~ry, what would—I do—if they came to my home? Who is this person that started them? It’s scary, scary.
Kyouko: …
Nube: Even so, there isn’t any authenticity to them. If they come, you should destroy them immediately!
Students: YE—S!
Nube: A super-tricky person would be delighted in flourishing these things!
Miki: Right, a tricky person!
Nube: However, what if the flourisher of these is in our class…
Miki: Ah, this disgusting person in this class is in quite a jam.
(TN: Miki’s comment about “being in quite a jam” is tied to an expression “an, biriibaboo”, which I had a hard time trying to find a translation for but this is probably as close as I’m going to get at this time…besides with Miki’s expression it works here)

53.
Nube: Occasionally, Miki, the handwriting of these letters seems like they’re yours~~but…
SFX: JI—
Miki: You’re mean, teacher! Do I seem like a woman who would do that!?
Nube: That’s right, I was wrong. The New Years’ present lottery have hit first prize for them but
Miki: Lucky! Give them back, give them back---!
Nube: …
Miki: Hyu—that was close, that was dangerous. It’s because I have several previous offenses with Angel-sama and such~~
Miki: But they’ve quite flourished. Ufufu…those 10 cards I sent out have spread out this much…that’s a bit pleasing.
Narrator: And so Miki’s letters of misfortune steadily spread out. They spread out to other schools, other towns, other prefectures, to throughout Japan!

54.
Narrator: And thus a month passed…they swelled up to surpassing a million! From that moment, the letters came to seem to possess a kind of mysterious power…
Narrator: One morning…
Miki: Fua~~
SFX: CHIRIRIN!
Postman: Are you Hosokawa Miki-chan? Somewhat many of these have come for you.
Plaque: HOSOKAWA
Miki: Eh~~what are those: they’re New Years Cards…

55.
Miki: KYAAAAA
(TN: All the letters are essentially the same as the one Miki started with)
Kyouko: What are these?
Miki: The postmarks and the handwriting are completely different! They’ve come from all over Japan; How could this stupid thing happen!? (I DON’T DO THIS WHEN I FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!)
Kyouko: They casually got this address they noticed in a phone book or something, I’m sure of it.
Kyouko: It’s simply chance! They easily noticed you because you have the same family name as former PM Hosokawa!
(TN: This is a sort of strange situation: Kyouko is referring to Morihito Hosokawa, the Prime Minister of Japan between August, 1993 and April, 1994. When the chapter originally came out around February/March 1994, Hosokawa was still PM. However, by the time this volume of manga came out in October, 1994, he was no longer leading Japan having been forced out of office by then. Either could be used for the translation, whether “PM” or “former PM”)
Miki: That…could be…!?

56.
Miki: Couldn’t it be that my name was written there by the work of some spiritual power!?
Kyouko: In spite of you being the person who devised this…if you’re worried about this, how about consulting Nube?
Miki: No way: how angry would he be if he knew I was the offender…
Mrs. Hosokawa: Ara, welcome home, Miki.
Caption: MIKI’S MOTHER
Mrs. Hosokawa: ? What are these strange bugs…?
SFX: PU—N PU—N
SFX: BAKI RAGARA | DOSA
Voice: KYAA!
Miki: MOTHER!!
Miki: She suddenly collapsed on the balcone! This is dreadful…it will take her a month to recover!

57.
Miki: This is the curse of the letters. I’m certain of that. I can’t have this done to me; if I don’t hurry.
Kyouko: MIKI
Miki: Please give me 500 postcards!
Sign: POST OFFICE
Kyouko: Hey…Miki, what are you doing!?
Miki: This isn’t settled; I’m writing these letters! Will I not be trapped by this curse if I send these to ten people per postcard!? I’ll write these while looking in the phone book!
Kyouko: For all 500!?
Miki: PLEASE HELP ME!
Kyouko: I think you should talk frankly to Nube but…
SFX: KUSUN…
Miki: Mother…
SFX: CHIRIRI~~N
Voice: Mail—

58.
SFX: PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N PU—N
Miki: KYAAAAA~~~
Kyouko: There are 200…no, 300 of them. What can you do, you can’t do all of them?
Miki: I’LL WRITE!! IF I DON’T WRITE, I’LL COME TO HAVE MISFORTUNE!
Kyouko: Where will you get money, and school!?
Miki: I’m taking out savings! I’m taking off from school!
Voice: 300 postcards!? We don’t sell that many; go to the main office.

59.
Voice: The limited-express train is passing through line 1.
Sign: JR EAST JAPAN: DOUMORI STATION
(TN: JR East, or the East Japan Railway Company, is the largest passenger railway company in the world, with many lines in the Tokyo area as well in other areas including Toukai, Koushinetsu and Touhoku)
Man: ?
SFX: PU~~N PU~~N
Miki: The main office is the next station; why won’t this hurry?
SFX: PUAA
Man: Otto
SFX: DON
Miki: !!
Miki: GYAAAAA~~~~
SFX: GATAN GATAN GATAN
Man: Are you alright---¡?
SFX: GATAN GATAN
Miki: Uuh…
Miki: I’ve finally bought them…if I don’t send these postcards quickly… (Haa haa)

60.
Miki: NOOOO~~~
SFX: UOOOO
Miki: KYAAA—KYAAAA~~~with this, they keep coming no matter how many I send out—what is this~~
SFX: PU—N PU—N
SFX: JIJIJI…
SFX: BOWA—
Miki: !!

61.
Miki: KYA!? NOO~~A FIRE!?
Miki: Save me…someone save me—my house is burning down~~|
SFX: BAFU BAFU
Miki: KYA~~
SFX: GOOOO | ZABA

62.
Nube: Dummy! What were you doing!
Miki: Te…teacher…
Nube: I heard from Kyouko! How exactly could a person like you be satisfied in doing stupid things many times.
Miki: I’m sorry~~
Nube: But…I didn’t think it would become large to this extent.
Kyouko: Is this because she received those letters of misfortune after all?
Nube: No…The people who receive letters of misfortune don’t have the power to cause misfortune…on the other hand, the person who sends them could come to have misfortune!
Nube: In the time they’ve circulated the entire nation of Japan, they took in an unbelievable thing; and thus they’ve returned to the original person who first sent them out.
Miki: An unbelievable thing?

63.
Nube: Right, now I’ll show you! Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan: being that possesses these postcards: show yourself—
SFX: BUOOOOO
Miki: KYAA~~~

64.
Kyouko: Wh…what is that~~!!
Nube: These small, fly-like things are vengeful spirits. They’re feelings of resentment of the people who received the letters of misfortune. They’re small one-by-one, but when many gather just like this…
(TN: “Ikiryou” = “vengeful spirits”)
Nube: Mu…
SFX: GOGOGO
Nube: It’s coming, get away everyone!!
Miki: KYAAA!
SFX: WAAAA
Miki: No~~why is it aiming for me~~!?
SFX: BIN BISHI
Nube: The letters of misfortune don’t have the power to cause misfortune to people. Even if there comes to be misfortune by chance, the person thinks that it’s the fault of the letter.
Nube: This is the voices of resentment of these people!
SFX: BARI BARI BARI
Miki: !

65.
Resentments: (clockwise, left to right):
Girl: It’s the fault of the misfortune letter. Give me back Koro-chan.
Boy: Damn—it’s the letter of misfortune’s fault I failed…
Boy: Daddy’s in a traffic accident!? Fu, it’s the letter of misfortune’s fault…
Girl: They made a mistake for surgery tomorrow. It’s from receiving this letter of misfortune.
Boy: It’s the fault of the letter of misfortune that daddy’s company…
Everyone: I HATE THEM…I HATE THEM!! THAT PERSON WHO SENT THIS LETTER OF MISFORTUNE…
Miki: NOOO~~~I didn’t intend for this…
Nube: Apologize, Miki! That’s the only way to calm their anger! Your reflective feelings will be amplified by the Oni no Te!

66.
Miki: I’m sorry.
Nube: Make it much stronger!
Miki: I’M SORRY.
Nube: Even more!!
Miki: I…
Miki: I’M SORRR~~~I~~~
SFX: DOSHU!
SFX; SHUUUU
Nube: Are you alright?
Miki: Uuuh…how cruel; I thought I would die…

67.
Miki: You’re stupid, teacher! You did that on purpose in making me reflect! You’re cruel! Sorry, I couldn’t do that from something like this. I can’t get killed by vengeful spirits.
Miki: !!
Miki: Teacher…he took those great wounds for me…I’m sorry, I won’t do stupid things ever again…!
Miki: Perhaps…bu…but, I may do them just a bit…
SFX: GON!
Nube: She doesn’t learn.
(TN: Nube’s expression at the end includes the word “korin”, I translated it as if it was connected to the verb “koriru”, or “to learn by experience”, and thus “korin” is read by me as “korinai” or “doesn’t learn from what happened”; thus “korin yatsu da ”is“ she doesn’t learn”)

68.
NUBE-SENSEI’S GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

20. Letter of Misfortune

A game with a letter that has directions that seems like a letter that should be sent out to multiple people and goes to increase in those concerned in a “mouse formula” is called a “chain letter”. The Letter of Misfortune is a kind of this, and further is the most vicious.

But letters of misfortune wasn’t a circumstance where they were letters of misfortune from the start. In the beginning, they were called “letters of happiness” and the person who received them would become blessed if they sent the same contents to about three people. Before we knew it, they seemed to say “you become misfortunate if you don’t sent them out”; the contents changed and the number of people came to be a large number of people (it’s many when you say “29 people”) and in the end became “letters of misfortune”. The contents that said that someone somewhere would die due to not sending out a reply were written to seemingly be the most extreme. However, I think you’ll understand thinking about it a bit, but if you really continue to send them out with the same contents, then you’ll quickly understand from this thing that that this thing called “a letter of misfortune” is a mere prank that has no basis doesn’t possess those things, with the circumstance that there shouldn’t be written a letter about these things even if someone dies along the way. Even if any of you receive this thing, then it’s best to throw it away without thought. We should pity those poor-hearted people that do these stupid things in this world. (That’s about you, Miki!)

There are also those things like “I want your cooperation so I can challenge the Guinness Book of World Records” in chain letters. They tell that it’s famous in organizations like the Boy Scouts, but of course that too is a lie. Again, no matter to what extent of people you affect by a chain letter, it absolutely won’t be mentioned in Guinness. That’s because they can’t grasp the exact number of people. If you were to use postage for a foolish thing, then it’s way better to send out the Jump Questionnaire postcard. Of course, give a check to “Nube”.

(TN: A couple things:
1.“Mouse formula” is in Japanese “Nezumi-zanshiki”, this is tied to “nezumi-zan”, which is a mathematical formula tied to the rapid multiplication of mice through birth.
2. The “Jump Questionnaire postcard” is in reference to a postcard in every issue of “Weekly Shonen Jump” where readers can vote for their favorite three Jump series of the week, usually both for popularity and for a drawing for a weekly prize from the magazine. The more votes a series gets, the higher its rank is weekly in the magazine and the more interest it has in continuing on to the editing department.)

TN: Is it just me or did this chapter seem like a bit of a rerun of "Angel-sama?" Well OK, there is one major difference that was way better than the last "Miki causes mayhem" chapter, but I'll get to that. On the other hand, for the most part there does seem to be a bit of similarity even Miki points out herself: she plays around with things she doesn't understand and nearly gets herself killed because of it. It's not a complete rerun considering chain letters and playing around with ouija boards are not exactly carbon copies...but you nearly could think they were the same if you think hard enough. On the other hand...there is one thing I love way better between this chapter and Miki's previous incident: her "interactions" with Nube early on about it. Just watching her make those crazy facial expressions while Nube immediately has an inkling that "she's at it again" just livened up the chapter, with the two of them maneuvering in a delicate chess game they don't want the other to win...and somehow Miki is able to get away with it...until bugs nearly kill her but that's the chapter. Though...Mrs. Hosokawa is nice looking...a more motherly Miki with...something minor that we find out later about her.