Hell Teacher Nube 53

A spirit stuck on Earth usually has a reason why they are attached to this plain of existence...some of which are more tragic than horrific. One is a mysterious woman whose love for another may make her trapped in the worst scenario...

#53: The Child-Raising Ghost

47.
Narrator: It was already three months ago when that woman came here.
Narrator: This woman carries a baby that hasn’t been born for long and wears worn-out winter clothing even in the summer.
Baby: Ogyaa ogyaa ogyaa
Narrator: She is always looking this way with a pale face without complexion. And then, with a single word…she says this.

48.
“Woman”: Please give me candy.

49.
Makoto: Th…the candy auntie has come.
Hiroshi: She isn’t scary—she’s a pitiful person. Everyone, do you have candy?
Kyouko: I’ve got this lollipop.
(TN: A bit of an explanation: the “candy woman” asks specifically for “ame”, which is Japanese for a “hard candy”. However, Kyouko states with her lollipop that she has “kyandei”, which is literally “candy”. I decided to just literally say it as a lollipop so it wouldn’t seem repetitive)
Katsuya: I’ve got caramel.
Hiroshi: Don’t you have some—Miki?
Miki: Unlike all of you, I’m honest. En~~ough.
Hiroshi: Here.
SFX: Yusayusa | Bara bara
Miki: Ugyaaa~~~!
Katsuya: Aah.
Miki: What did you do—I was thinking of secretly eating them during class this afternoon.
Hiroshi: Nothing—we could—do.
Kyouko: I’m certain she can’t buy anything being poor.
SFX: Hiso hiso (whisper whisper)

50.
Hiroshi: Here—you baby shouldn’t eat just too many sweets.
SFX: Niko…
Miki: Chi…how about if you say you’re grateful?
Katsuya: I’m certain she’s reticent.
“Woman” My cute baby—
Kyouko: Eh? Is it fine to hold it?
SFX: Su

51.
Narrator: It was eerie, but she was a fine auntie with a child companion. No one should have said insults or scared of her but…
Voice: He~~the candy auntie
Nube: I don’t know where this miserly woman is from, but she’s cheating you of candy because of her child. She is a bold one. Shouldn’t you be careful if she comes today?
Miki: But she’s an extreme beauty—
Nube: Is…is she single? (Ohyohyohyohyo)
Kyouko: This guy…he’s even fine with a mature woman with child if it’s a beauty… (Haa~~)
Nube: By the way…from where are you getting this candy you’re giving her?
SFX: Giku

52.
Nube: Hey, all of you, how long have you brought candy to school?
Students: Hi—we’re so~~rry.
Narrator: Since then, the Candy Auntie came to school as if every day.
Narrator: And then, on that rainy day…
SFX: Za—za—
Hiroshi: Ah—rain? This is gloomy—
Boy: Hey, look: at the school gate.
Voice 1: !!
SFX: Za—za—za—za—
Voice 2: It’s…nothing. Even on this rainy day…
Voice 3: Strange!
Voice 4: Somehow she’s the Rain Auntie…
(TN: This turned into a bit of a pun here: the nickname given to the homeless woman is “ame-obasan”; typically “ame” refers to “candy”, but “ame” also stands for “rain”, thus the pun made here changing her from the “Candy Auntie” to the “Rain Auntie”)

53.
Nube: That’s the Candy Auntie.
Voice: Here. This includes from the kids in the classroom…
Kyouko: A moment, auntie, your baby’s drenched.
(TN: “Drenched” here is actually “bishonure”, which is “wet to the skin”)
Hiroshi: Want to loan an umbrella?
Kyouko: Hey, a moment!!
Miki: F**k you--!
(TN: Yes, Miki literally states the “f-word” in English, just noting here)

54.
Katsuya: Her state is qui—te strange.
Hiroshi: Let’s follow behind her.
Miki: Eh~~what—about afternoon classes?
Kyouko: It’s best we return during lunch break.
Kyouko: Hey—isn’t here a vacant house?
Hiroshi: Is she living there without notice?
Hiroshi: Let’s open it.
Voice: Beddy-bye, rocky rocky~~
(TN: The song that is being sung is a Japanese lullabye which goes “Ne~~n nen korori yo, okorori yo~~”; I translated it best as I could)

55.
“Woman”: My boy is a good child. Go beddy~bye~~
Miki: Eww—it’s eating things that come from her mouth.
Kyouko: Dummy, she’s softening it up like that.
Hiroshi: I’m crying; it’s a mother’s love.
SFX: Shuru
“Woman”: Ah, my scarf. Hey, stop that…
SFX: Shuru…

56.
SFX: Goro…

57.
Voice: Namumyou Houren Gekyou
Voice: Namumyou Houren Gekyou Namumyou Houren Gekyou
Ghost: Oooh…
Miki: Sh…she’s a ghost.
SFX: Su
Katsuya: A…ghost is raising a child?
Hiroshi: Where is it going?
Nube: It’s time for sutra-chanting at the nearby temple. Impure spirits are charmed by it and go to listen.

58.
Nube: I heard this from a neighborhood person, but this madam here had her body sliced in two and died in a rail crossing accident not long after giving birth to the child. Since her husband was already dead, the child came to be in the custody of an institution but…
Nube: Strangely afterwards, the child was stolen from the hospital. The spirit of the dead mother too the child with her loving it too much and is raising it!
Hiroshi: So, are we going to take it back to the hospital?
Nube: Right. With this, I’m worried about the child’s future.
Kyouko: It will be fine: the mother’s spirit won’t come back until the sutra-chanting is over.
Baby: Fugya
Baby: Ogyaaaa—eu—eu—
Hiroshi: H…hey, hey.
Kyouko: It’s scared of his Prime Minister Murayama eyebrows.
(TN: As mentioned prior, Tomiichi Murayama was the PM of Japan at the time of this chapter)

59.
SFX: Zaku…zaku…gata gata gata gata…
Nube: This is bad…It heard it’s cry and is returning. I feel a staggering sense of anger!
Kyouko: Eh!!
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan: quiet the mother’s spirit…
Nube: !!
SRX Gara gara gara
Hiroshi: Nube!!
Ghost: Give~~him~~right~~back~~

60.
Ghost: My~~baby~~…
SFX: Zuzu…zuzu
Hiroshi: Uwaaa! It appeared~~
SFX: Mozo mozo mozo
Kyouko: Run—
Ghost: Baby~~my~~cute~~baby~~
SFX: Fuwa fuwa

61.
Ghost: Give it back
SFX: Guwa
Kyouko: Kyaaaaa!!
Ghost: Baby~~
SFX: Bari bari
Miki: Hiii!!
Ghost: Give~~him~~back~~
SFX: Ton ton
Katsuya: Ogyagyagyagya
Ghost: Give~~him~~back~~my~~baby~~
SFX: Zowa zowa zowa
Hiroshi: Hi

62.
SFX: Gecha gecha gecha
Ghost: Give~~him~~back~~
SFX: Gecha
Ghost: Myyy~~babyyyy~~
SFX: Gururi | Ooooooooh

63.
Hiroshi: Awawa…
Katsuya: Kyouko~~please give her that brat quickly~~
Kyouko: Bu…but
Kyouko: What’s wrong, the state of the baby is strange.
Kyouko: ! He’s terribly hot!
Nube: He’s caught pneumonia. It’s because he’s been struck by rain for a long time on top of his insufficient nourishment.
Nube: The staying in this world for you that became a spirit is just your attachment to this child. Thus, your ability to think was limited to the degree of presenting him candy…that isn’t like an extremely ordinary mother.
Nube: Can you do it!? Can this child be healed by you? Go and take him to the hospital!

64.
Nube: Can this child be raised as an ordinary child and raised as one!?
Ghost: Uuuh.
Ghost: Ah…ah…ah…
Nube: Hold him.
Ghost: Aah…
Ghost: Uuuh…
Baby: Mama…mama…
Ghost: Please…take this child…please…!!

65.
Nube: The worlds where the living live and the dead live are different. You won’t be together ever again. But the love fed to this child by you won’t ever be forgotten by him. Even when he grows, he’ll have the memories of being held by his mother…
Nube: You should come to meet him again at that time.
SFX: Shuuu
Narrator: Stories of a spirit raising a baby remains in many places even now. An attachment not of resentment or anger but of love…they are the most sad unclean spirits in this world.

66.
3rd Place: INABA KYOUKO (7,958 VOTES)
The manga’s heroine as Hiroshi’s girlfriend. Possessor of a strong-minded, ferocious personality. It’s said her hair-style resembles the lead character of a certain anime, but there really isn’t any connection.

-On a late-night date with middle-schooler Nube…
-She’s scary when she’s angry!
-She almost never wears skirts. (#4: Shugorei Shift!)
-Her romantic comedy with Hiroshi is high in reader popularity. (#23: Doppelganger)

TN: Not much one can really say this time: this was a sad chapter but really freaky. Love sometimes can be a factor that just can't be explained...and the love between a mother and child is just one of the strongest loves there is, leading to the nightmare scenario. It's hard to say the ghost was a bad mother...she either just had no parenting concepts or her death made her forget how to truly care for her baby leading to her obsessively giving it candy and letting it run around in the rain instead of getting the care that it deserves. (even if there is a danger probably in it with whomever family it ends up with next) Though at the same time...we get quite a few disturbing images with the mother, from her body falling apart to it coming together and that last "embrace" with the baby sucking on her...yeah, you do have to wonder if this is love or if the little guy will be scarred for life with this incident.