Hell Teacher Nube 135

Most of the time, youkai are supposed to drive people to an unfortunate, horrible death. But what if the match of youkai and human is just...too perfect? That's the trouble with one...whose enthusiasm is dampened by her latest target!

#135: The Man in Love with Nureonago

79.
Narrator: A rainy day. It appears beside the waterside of a sea, river or a lake.
SFX: Za—za—
Man: What’s wrong? You forgot your umbrella.
Narrator: At a glance, you see a beautiful woman. And as you speak a voice, she smiles.
SFX: Nita…
Narrator: However
SFX: Niko
Narrator: When you thoughtlessly return the smile

80.
Narrator: It will possess you your entire life, coming to not leave…

81.
Narrator: That is the youkai called Nureonago…When possessed by Nureonago, your surroundings will always carry humidity and your furniture and even your house will rot.
(TN: I had a hard time figuring out the word to translate “shikke” into, since it has meanings of both “moisture” and “humidity”. However since “humidity” refers to the air around a person regardless of the temperature, I went with that. Incidentally, “Nureonago” literally translates into “The Wet Girl” or “The Wet Woman”)
Narrator: In the end, you will catch a serious illness due to the humidity and lose your life…it truly is a dreadfully damp youkai.
(TN: “Inshitsu” does mention “damp”, but specifically refers typically to the dampness of shady places. However, it was simpler to go for merely “damp” without the specifics here)
SFX: Jito jito jito
Nube: Aah, it’s already discomforting. The atmospheric temperature is high and even the humidity level is high.
Kyouko: The discomfort index is 100.
(TN: Just to make sure one understands: a “discomfort index”, which in Japanese is “fukai shisuu”, is a numerical value evaluating the heat stress combining the head and the humidity together, calculated through the equation of “(2xT) + (Rh/100 x T) + 24” , which would have “T” for Celsius temperature and “Rh” for “Relative humidity” For example, if the relative humidity was 100% and the temperature merely 25 degrees C (which would be 77 degrees F), the discomfort index would be (2 X 25) + (100/100 X 25) + 24, which would be (50 + 25 + 24) or a discomfort index of 99…and they’re one node above that!)

82.
Nube: On this day, I’ll slice that heinous youkai with the Oni no Te! (Uoooh)
Principal: Nueno-kun!
Kyouko: Hey, don’t uselessly use the Oni no Te!
Principal: A young couple is wishing for an exorcism…
SFX: Jime~~~…
Nube: Yaya…an amazing youki. Though it is vicious, he’s being possessed. That woman is a youkai; I’ll exorcise it immediately!
SFX: Pota…pota…

83.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi: youkai, let go of this man—
SFX: Kuwa
Nureonago: Please! Please separate me from this man!
Nube: Eh? Eh?
Nurenonago: Hurry! Save me from this unpleasantness!
“Man”: Kukukuku
SFX: Girori
Man: Huh~~isn’t this a relationship of you and I? You dislike it~~ (Dehe dehe)
Nurenoago: Noooo!!
Man: Dehehehe…
Nureonago: Kyaa~~~
Man: Isn’t this great--…
Nureonago: Noo~~

84.
Nube: U—m, excuse me if I’m mistaken: that woman is a youkai and that man over there is a human…am I right?
Nureonago: Yes, quickly exorcise this man—
Miki: What what, what is that uproar!?
Nube: How troubling, this is somewhat complex. (U—h…)
Nureonago: …Yes, I am called Nureonago, a full-fledged youkai. I smile at men by the waterside and possess men who smile back…
Man: Dehe dehe
Nureonago: But…how could it be the man I possessed was
SFX: Niko
Man: Dehehehehe
Nureonago: That man…
SFX: Zo…

85.
Nureonago: From then on…my terrible life with that man began. (out loud) Hey…don’t you feel bad with this dampness and humidity?
Man: Not really.
SFX: Kucha kucha | Gujuru…
Caption: Moldy bread
Man: Gua—gua—
SFX: Bopori | Nuwawawa
Nureonago: That man didn’t have any friends and almost didn’t even have any exchange with the outside with his super-gloominess and dirtiness which surprised myself as a Nureonago and, on top of that, was tough and shameless to the extent of surprising.
Caption: Mosquito larva are gushing forth
Man: I change my bath water once every three months.
Nureonago: I spent one day in that house.

86.
Nureonago: And he persistently approached me to wear strange clothing of his own tastes… (out loud) No~~~o, I’m a youkai of dampness.
Man: Dehe dehe, you’re cute—
Nureonago: Somehow or another, this man with his gloominess, his dirtiness and his disgustingness is a human whom I feel not like any other.
Nureonago: I really don’t want this anymore…I didn’t want to live together with this man for a second and yet…he doesn’t get sick from my humidity with the strong health of his body…he can’t be killed by me.
SFX: Shiku shiku shiku…

87.
Nube: Therefore, you want to be pulled apart with my power…?
SFX: Kokuri
Man: Dehe dehehe…
Nube: Speaking about that, the youkai Nureonago is
SFX: Kachi
Miki: Nureonagois a youkai created by the sad and strong feelings towards the husbands who haven’t returned of the wives of either fishermen who encountered drowning and died or those who worked who on the waterside. Therefore, they stubbornly possess men in place of their husbands who can’t come home.
Nube: Nureonago adheres with that powerful feeling of women when they possess. Pulling you apart unreasonably must have you erased from this world.
Miki: Hey, am I a youkai explanation machine--?
Nureonago: That’s!
Nureonago: It’s no good…even for you, teacher…
Miki: It’s an impossible thing for you like that? Isn’t it simple to pull you apart?
Miki, Hiroshi & Kyouko: Here—we go.
SFX: Gui
Nureonago: Ah.

88.
SFX: Gui gui
Kyouko: Ah, huh, somehow the pulling power is…
Miki: Ah.
SFX: Byu | Bita—n
Nureonago: Kyaaaa!
SFX: Dohehehe
Caption: A play by the Drifters?
(TN: I really don’t get the caption here, but somehow I think the caption gives a bit of an inference through the words: “Dorifu no Konto kai”; one of the best inferences I could come up with refers to the Japanese band and comedy group known as the Drifters, notable both for certain aspects of their music career [like being a 40-second opening act when the Beatles held their first ever concert in Japan] and for the popular comedy variety show “Hachijidayo Zen’in Shuugou!” (“It’s 8 o’clock, Everyone Come Together!”, which was one of the biggest TV shows in Japan during its run between 1969 and 1985 and notable for low-brow humor and slapstick comedy, such as some of this relationship between the man and Nureonago)
Nube: Sorry, we didn’t come to have the power…
Man: Dehe dehe
Nube: ………

89.
Nureonago: Hey…hey’re always laughing “Tehe tehe” but…is it fun to have a sodden woman like me?
SFX: Jime jime
Man: Yes.
Man: It’s fun.
Caption: Great sweater
SFX: Mu~~~n
Nureonago: Nooooo!
Nureonago: Gross, gross, this is gross. (uh uh…) This is a living hell for a youkai.
Nureonago: That’s right: even if I can do nothing to haunt him to death with the power of a youkai, it’ll be fine if I simply kill him.

90.
SFX: Buooo | Pupu—(Beep beep--)
Nureonago: Right…it’s nothing…wouldn’t it be fine even if I don’t kill him using my youryoku from being a youkai…
Nube: No, she’s going to do that after all?
Kyouko: We were right in worrying about that.
Nube: Stop, Nureonago!

91.
SFX: Don!
SFX: Gorogoro
Man: Waaa!?
SFX: Zuru
Nureonago: Eh!?
Nube: Idiot! Didn’t you understand that you too would be pulled and fall down there?
Nureonago: Kya—
SFX: Goro goro
Man: Wa—
Nube: Watch out!
SFX: Kikikiki…
SFX: Doka

92.
Nube: !!
Truck: Sekitani Salt
(TN: “Salt” isn’t merely just “salt” but “seien”, “salt making”)
Man: Uuuuh~~
Nube: That’s severe bleeding, don’t move!!
Kyouko: An ambulance!
Nureonago: It…hurts, my leg is cut off.
SFX: Zuzu…
SFX: Doza—
Nureonago: !

93.
Nureonago: Gyaaaa!!
SFX: Juuuu
Miki: Huh…her body is melting!?
Nube: It’s salt! Salt sucks moisture…That’s similar to a strong poison to Nureonago.
Hiroshi:No, it won’t come off her leg.
Nureonago: It’s hot…uh…it’s too…late…
Nube: Hold on…I’ll send my spirit power now…
SFX: Juuu… | Paa
Nureonago: No, my youki is leaving with great force…I’m…already dead…
Voice: You won’t die…

94.
Man: You won’t die…
SFX: Yoro yoro
Nube: Stop that…you’ve torn your belly!
Kyouko: That’s impossible with your body.\
Hiroshi: He’ll die.
SFX: Gashi
Man: You won’t die~~
SFX: Gogogogogo | Bushu—

95.
Man: I’ve…I’ve been happy. With you by my side…by the side of someone like me, who has separated from this society and come to not have a partner with anyone…even if nothing can be done, you are here…I…if I can save you, I don’t have to live…I…
Man: Die…if for you.
SFX: Zushin!
Man: I’ve done it! Quickly, some moisture…
SFX: Da
Man: Uooo

96.
Man: You won’t die.
SFX: Dadada…
Man: You won’t die!
SFX: Ba!
SFX: Dobo—n
Man: You won’t…die…

97.
Voice: Eh, then you’ve stopped on killing that man already?
Nureonago: Eh? Well, that isn’t how it is..
Nureonago: I am Nureonago after all…I’ll be possessing this man through his life and will haunt him to death no matter how many decades it takes.
Nube: Fufu…a couple of a youkai and a human…it would be good if it turned out well.
Hiroshi & Kyouko: By the way, Nube, you didn’t have any activity this time.
SFX: Giku

98.
NUBE’S WEIRD FILES

#22: Nureonago

Alias “Nureyomejo”, “Waraionago”. She is a tenacious youkai who appears on the shore on a rainy night and possesses a person who returns her smile their entire life. But she won’t inflict particular injury if you don’t return her smile.

Youkai with given names that closely resemble this are there with “Nureonago”, but their quite brutal. Nureonago is the wife of the youkai known as “Gyuuki”; she becomes a lure and tempts people and they become killed by Gyuuki. Those youkai are said to be allies of “Isoonna”. Isoonna is also a brutal youkai; she attacks people walking on the beach and kills them through sucking their lifeblood. Other than them, she’s similarly allies with Isohime and Umihime.
(TN: A few things:
1. The alternate names translations for “Nureonago”:
-“Nureyomejo” = “The Damp Bride-Woman”
-“Waraionago” = “The Laughing Girl”
2. A little bit on all the other youkai mentioned in camaraderie with Nureonago:
-“Gyuuki” (“Ox/Cow Demon”): Also known as the “Ushi-oni”, it is generally one of several demons that are usually monsters with a horned, bovine head. The one of interest to us here is one who lives off the coast of Shimane Prefecture [Southwestern Japanese coast] depicted generally with a body like a spider or crab. This Nureonago generally tricks a person into holding their “child”, who becomes heavy enough to trap their prey.
-“Isoonna” (“[Rocky] Beach Woman”): A long-hair vampire-like youkai generally with a bottom half that is either translucent or in the shape of a snake or dragon. Generally appearing either during Obon or New Years Eve, they attract with beauty and an erotic voice, then use their long hair to drag them into the sea and suck their blood. To some, “Nureonago” is merely another name for “Isoonna”
-“Isohime” (“Beach Princess”): Generally seen as the Isoonna of Nagasaki Prefecture or another name for Isoonna, also seen with some of the genereal Nureonago traits of “luring a man with a child to trap them”. Some depictions of her show her with feelers or tentacles for her legs.
-“Umihime” (“Sea Princess”): Yet another possible identity/name for Isohime or Nureonago.

TN: This has to be said: did we have to be deceived by Nureonago in the title page? I mean, if she's supposed to be super-cute the whole chapter, what's with the super-freaky version at the start of the chapter? I mean, when you see a female scarred up with fangs and a killer instinct, you end up lowering your guard down...when you see how super cute the real Nureonago is thanks to this chapter. (unless it's another Nureonago...or just her typical self before the freaky guy came into her life)

This was an interesting chapter due to the situation presented and sort of the whole aspect of the strange attraction between a duo who seem made for each other, regardless of how much one despises the other. As I said above, I really, really do love Nureonago in the chapter in her cute depiction and just the whole depiction of a "damp, rainy but beautiful girl...who slowly kills you", even with...that second page with freaky Nureonago. The concept of her actually meeting her perfect match but hating everything about him and trying either to let go of him after possessing him or just kill him off was a tad sick but a funny concept, mostly due to seeing her go from super freaky and evil to...well, cute and helpless the next moment. The main male character (who really didn't have a name) really was a tad hard to place regarding his depiction and everything about who he was aside from "he was made for Nureonago". It seemed he was a man who spent his life as a bit of a reclusive otaku and either chose not to take good care of himself...or just chose to live as horribly as possible so he could be able to afford what he wanted instead of what he really should have had. Certain aspects of that seemed to show itself with his depiction in Nureonago's tale: he buys video games and "otaku things" (and weird bibs and bunny ears for a cute girl like Nureonago), but chooses to live in a squalid apartment, eating moldy bread and not even changing his water often enough! Living on my own now, I sort of get the whole aspect of "priority" and the man is obviously trying to be depicted as one who is so prioritized that it should hurt him...but it ends up being what exactly leads to his idealistic conditions for Nureonago to live in. Though the question now is this from the ending: was this man really intentionally searching for Nureonago knowing he would be perfect for her...or was it just perfect chance? It seemed from how the man spoke near the end and from his expression meeting her that it probably was the latter: it's like he knew this particular female youkai would be one that would be forced to attach to him once he smiled back and knew that his life was perfectly terrible enough that he would have her. Then again the whole aspect of a "dream girlfriend" does seem to be one that tends to go around his type anyway: one who allows for them to have interaction with someone, particularly of the opposite sex, but not get in the way of their own antisocial behaviors and circumstances. Some would say it is creepy, but I did like how it was done here.

BTW: anyone have any idea where to get that "catgirl poster" in that guy's apartment? (yeah, that is one of the things you have to admire about Okano: all his cute monster girls, even the ones who barely even exist like that catgirl...or ones who start off freaky like Nureonago)