SKIP BEAT! (by NAKAMURA Yoshiki) Chapter 5 (as appeared in "Hana to Yume" #7'2002, Hakusensha) translation by anime-cat v.1.0 (22.mar.2002) [Page 1] [Title Page] Magnificent Show-Biz Challenge Act. 5 The Missing Emotion Fragile because it's pure... Skip Beat! [Page 2] Primary Judging Passing Entrants (Acting/Talent Section) 31 32 41 42 43 35 44 45 37 46 11 Names Total Girl 1: "Thank goodness! I really thought there was no way..." Kanae: "So, you were dropped, as expected..." Kyouko: "!!" [Page 3] Kanae: "I predicted that for you, didn't I? Hehe. What do you have to be depressed about?" Kyouko: "I... I don't think I was dropped because I measured up poorly in comparison to you!!" Kanae: "Oh, then why were you dropped?" Announcer: "Primary judging passing contestants, please come into this room..." Kyouko: "Be...Because... Um, um, um..." Kanae: "Ah." Kanae: "Oh dear, I have to go." *Snap* (Cutting off the conversation.) Kyouko: "Ah... wai..." Kyouko: ("I just can't understand it...") Kanae: "Ah. That's right... Well, we won't be meeting again, will we?" *smile* "Have a nice life. Hehe" Kyouko: "~~~oo" *shake shake shake shake* Kanae: "hm hm hm hm hm~~~" Kyouko: ("What in the world is the reason I was dropped...!?") [Page 4] Kyouko: ("Even the president liked me...!!") Sawara: "... As I thought... I knew you'd be coming. There's no use hiding with your evil thought spirits floating all around." Spirits: "You can't go home~ You can't go home~ You can't go home until I understand~~" Kyouko: !! Sign: LA HEARTS (LME Company Break Room) Sawara: "It wasn't just the president, Matsushima of the acting section also gave you a good evaluation." Kyouko: "Then it was because I broke the cellular phone...!! That's it! That's the only thing that makes sense!! If that's it, I'll reimburse you for it." Sawara: "No... That has nothing to do with it." [Page 5] Sawara: "In your case it was that of all the primary judging contestants who didn't pass, you were the most lacking of the one thing that an 'entertainer' must have." Kyouko: "...!?" Sawara: "When you hear the word "love" what is the first thing you associate it with?" Kyouko: "The prelude to destruction and despair!!" (IMMEDIATE REPLY) *Absolutely* Sawara: "..." *sigh* Kyouko: "Huh...!?" *babump* "Uh..um...!?" Sawara: "Listen, a person isn't fit to be an 'entertainer' if they're just going into it for their own satisfaction. If a person thinks they can succeed in the entertainment world all on their own, without taking stock of what is going on around them, they're just playing 'make- believe.' (A make-believe entertainer.) Entertainers survive as long as the audience wants them. If they are loved, they continue to succeed." [Page 6] Sawara: "It's not just the audience, there's no lack of entertainers who have been hated by the staff and failed as well." Employee: "Coffee please." Waiter: "Ah, yes, sir." Sawara: "In other words, as the president says," (Takarada: "If you want to succeed as a pro in this business, your love of the audience and the desire to be loved by the audience must never be lost!! The customers are water and fertilizer to you bastards. Impress upon them the fact that in return for selling a dream to the customers, the customers are letting them eat!!") (The mental attitude he's always preaching about.) Sawara: "So, you see how it is..." Kyouko: "..." Kyouko: ("A loving heart and...") Sawara: "And well, the last reaction test was the deciding test..." Kyouko: ("A heart that wants to be loved...") Sawara: "It's a psychological test regarding "love" that the president thought up." [Page 7] Kyouko:("I heard that a lot a long time ago at Shoutaro's family's inn...") (Woman: "Kyouko, whenever you're in front of the customers you should always smile at them. However bad you might feel, you can't show it on your face. You see, our business is one that depends on making the customers think "I'm glad I came" and "I want to come again." The feeling of wanting the customer to love our inn is important, and at the same time, when you think about gaining the customer's love, you mustn't forget the love we have for our customers.") Kyouko: "..." ("The 'service industry' and the entertainment world...") Sawara: "So you see, depending on how adroit the response to that reaction test was, you can know how intrinsic that person's subconscious desire to love and be loved is." Kyouko: ("They're the same...") [Page 8] Sawara: "Of course, the president regards those results very highly, but Matsushima and I..." Kyouko: "Mr. Sawara..." Kyouko: ("There's no way...") Sawara: "Huh...?" Sawara: "... What's the matter...?" Kyouko: "..." Kyouko: "I understand... perfectly..." Kyouko: ("...I can't do it.") Sawara: "..." Sawara: "You're certainly readily accepting this... I thought you'd be more stubborn about it but... Where did the persistent girl from the time you were trailing me go?" Kyouko: "..." [Page 9] Kyouko: "Even though, when you love, there's no guarantee that your love will be returned..." Kyouko: ("Throwing away my own future...") (Shouko: "Oh man, the way you talk, it's as if you brought her with you in place of a housekeeper.") (Shou: "It's not 'as if.'") Kyouko: ("Even though I loved him, my feelings didn't reach him.") Kyouko: "How..." [Page 10] Kyouko: "How can you, all at once, love a bunch of people you've never met or seen or know...?" Kyouko: ("At this point...") Sawara: "..." Kyouko: ("My desire to love someone has disappeared somewhere.") Sawara: "Since you came here wanting to become an entertainer... you must have had the desire to be seen and loved by people...?" [Page 11] Kyouko: ("The desire to be loved...") Kyouko: "... That's true..." Sawara: "...!!" Kyouko: ("At this point...") [Page 12] Kyouko: "Once I did..." Kyouko: ("I've forgotten it completely.") Suit 1: "All right, we'll leave it at that." Suit 2: "See you again some other time." Suit 3: "Thank you for your courtesy." Sawara: "..." ("Man... I don't understand that girl at all... Even though she pushed her way in with tenacity that terrified me to get into the entertainment world, she then goes and asks me why you have to love the people who are your audience... And on top of that...") (Kyouko: "That's true... Once I did...") Sawara: ("That look in her eyes like she had given up on even the thought of being loved...") [Page 13] *STAB* Sawara: "Waaah!! ~~~!!" Maria: "Hahahaha. What's the matter, Oji-sama? Sitting here all alone with a grim look on your face... I was so worried I couldn't just walk by without saying something." Sawara: "! Ah, Maria." Maria: "Yup, Oji-sama." * Maria: "Ah, oh... That's right! If you're just sitting here doing nothing that must mean the results of the auditions have been announced, right?" Sawara: "Huh... uh, yeah... they have..." Maria: "Great!! What happened with person number 61!?" Sawara: "..." ("That girl...") Maria: "...Oji-sama?" [Page 14] Maria: "Oji-sama~~!? Hey, come on, tell me what happened to her!!" Sawara: ("I wonder if she'll be okay left alone like that?") *slump* (She doesn't look very okay.) Okami-san: "..." (Spider's web) Okami-san: "The poor thing. Kyouko is completely depressed." Boss: "..." Okami-san: "After all, she had been pleading with someone in the business constantly for 4 days before finally getting accepted for that audition..." (To be precise, she attached herself to him and threatened him.) Customer 1: "Okami-san, is something the matter with Kyouko?" Okami-san: "Huh...? Uh... umm... nothing really..." Customer 1: "Huh~, what what?" Customer 2: "Now I'm curious." Boss: "..." Boss: "It's nothing. She just took a bad fall on her butt." [Page 15] Boss: "It could happen to anybody." Okami-san: "What about you guys? Weren't you so worn out you came here for a drink?" Customer 2: "Oh..." Customer 1: "That's right..." Customer 1: "When I eat the boss' food, I almost forget what was making me so upset in the first place. Hahahaha." Customer 2: "Right, right. And Okami-san makes you smile." (Okami-san: "You don't have to work in the restaurant today...") [Page 16] (Okami-san: "You can't go out in front of the customers looking like that, can you?") Kyouko: ("How pathetic... Even now I'm being told the same thing... Up until now, I don't think I've ever served customers out of affection for them. When I was at Shoutarou's inn, I just did as I was told so I would be praised by Shoutarou's mother... Even in Darumaya, because the boss and Okami-san liked it, I just did what I knew had to be done. After all, I was desperate to support Shoutarou's lifestyle here. I definitely didn't do it because I wanted to make the customers happy. That's right... whenever I do something for someone else...") [Page 17] Kyouko: "The fact that it's always, always been for this guy's sake is so sad!! What has my life been!?" Kyouko: "Don't laugh at me!! You good-for-nothing bum!! Because of you, I've lost something very valuable to me as a human being!!" Kyouko: ("Being able to love someone...") Kyouko: "I... I..." Kyouko: ("I think it's the most useless thing in the world...") Kyouko: ("Wanting to be loved...") [Page 18] Kyouko: ("All I can think is that you just long for it and then fall into despair...") *drip* [Page 19] *drip drip drip* Kyouko: "Uh... Huh...? What...? (No way...) Oh, man... It won't stop..." (Sawara: "You are lacking the one thing you must have.") Kyouko: ("Is that, as an entertainer...? No...I'm sure...") [Page 20] Kyouko: ("It's as a human being...") *sit* Kyouko: "Bwaaaaa...." Kyouko: ("That night, for the first time in a long time, I cried. In frustration, shame and sadness, without suppressing my sobs or my tears, like a child...") [Page 21] Kyouko: ("I cried.") Kyouko: "Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff" (Listening carefully) Okami-san: "..." *silence* *nod* Boss: "..." Okami-san: "It looks like Kyouko has finally calmed down." Boss: "..." Okami-san: "Crying all night long like that, she must be completely cried out... And the fact that she tried to muffle her cries was so sad. I would rather have liked to give her a drink of sake or something and let her get drunk." [Page 22] Kyouko: "Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff..." ("It's morning... I ended up not getting a wink of sleep...") (Exhausted...) Kyouko: ("I'm tired... It's really been along time since I cried this much... I cried a lot when I was a kid... Because I thought if I cried someone would do something for me...") (Little Kyouko: "..mmy... Mommy...") [Page 23] Kyouko: ("But the reality is...") Kyouko: "..." Kyouko: ("A stone...") Kyouko: "Of course, that stone... No, that's right, it was in this bag." *rummage* [Page 24] Kyouko: ("When I swore vengeance on Shoutarou, even though I threw away all the possessions I'd had up until then..." Kyouko: "Got it! This is it!" (A mini coin purse) Kyouko: ("This was the only thing I couldn't throw out...") *snap* *roll* Kyouko: ("Ever since I was little, it took away the sadness and misery I couldn't deal with on my own.") [Page 25] Kyouko: ("A mysterious stone... is what I was told when I got it so I might just be fooling myself but... [It's a stone that eats sadness, they said]") Kyouko: ("But really, just by holding it like this, my down spirits are rising...") Kyouko: "See, it's already working... The dark feeling that I was crawling around in the depths of the earth, I feel like I can see the sky and I'm trying to poke my head out of the earth..." (As you'd expect she's the type who is easily fooled by people.) Kyouko: ("It may just be soothing... but... This rock that even now makes me feel better... Way back when... and now... My secret treasure... When I'm able to smile a little more naturally...") [Page 26] Kyouko: ("I'll think about what I'm going to now...") Okami-san: "Huh... You're going to go looking for a daytime job?" Kyouko: "Yes... hahaha. I just thought it's kind of strange to just be sitting around doing nothing until evening..." Okami-san: "Wait a minute, does that mean you're going to stop trying to become an entertainer?" Kyouko: "..." [Page 27] Kyouko: ("After all...") Kyouko: ("It's doesn't look like it's something I'm suited for!") Kyouko: ("Just by working hard at it, it's not something that can be fixed.") Kyouko: "Yesterday, it was made clear why I can't do it." Kyouko: ("Once a thing is broken...") Kyouko: ("Even if you put the pieces back together, it's not going to go back to the way it was...") Boss: "Are you giving up?" [Page 28] Boss: "I lent you the tool of my trade because I thought you were serious about it." Kyouko: "... Boss..." Boss: "I thought you had more determination than that..." [Page 29] LME Entertainment Offices Sawara: "Huh...? R... Really!? President!!" Takarada: "Yeah. Actually, I've been strangely unsure about the x I marked for her, so this is perfect timing." Sawara: Well, I was wondering about it and I just thought I'd come ask you... And with what happened yesterday..." Takarada: "It's nothing. I'm interested in her unique personality. If we train her strictly from the beginning (there's a possibility) she might really become something explosive, you know? It seems fun, so let's give it a try." Sawara: "President..." Takarada: "However. (Wait, wait.) That girl is definitely lacking something important. For that reason, this will happen only if she has enough enthusiasm to overcome that, doesn't give up, and when, all on her own, she once again comes to stand before me. That's when this plan goes into action." Sawara: "... That's no problem!! Because that girl is tenacity and determination incarnate!!" Takarada: "Oh, no... That's not very beautiful..." Sawara: ("In which case...") [Page 30] Sawara: ("The girl I know,") *grab* Sawara: "!" Sawara: ("Won't give up because of a one time setback. You have to come here!") The closed door to the entertainment world... Listen, Kyouko! You should be able to force open that door once again!! You definitely can! *Oji-sama - Kids will often refer to adults who are as old or older than their parents as "oji-san" for men ("oba-san" for women). This is usually reserved for people who are unknown to them, or conversely, people they are very familiar with. In this case, I would say Maria definitely knows Sawara-san very well and calls him "Oji-sama" as a term of endearment. The fact that she uses "-sama" tells us she is a very polite little girl. At least with adults... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Translation by anime-cat. Do not use without permision! More information about "Skip Beat!" can be found at: http://www.zaha.net/shoujo/nakamura/skip/skipbeat.html Contact email: zahara@washuu.swb.de Thanks! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------