Autour de la Légende des Samouraïs
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| | | Rêver une nuit de printemps / Dream on a Spring Night |  |
| | | Auteur | Message |
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DawnSanada
Samouraï
Nombre de messages : 2276
Age : 42
Localisation : USA
Date d'inscription : 08/08/2008
 |  Sujet: Rêver une nuit de printemps / Dream on a Spring Night  Mer 31 Juil - 12:33 | |
| S'il vous plaît pardonnez les erreurs. Pour écrire cela en français, je dois utiliser Google Translate.
Please forgive any mistakes. To write this in French, I have to use Google Translate.
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Cette histoire se trouve dans le doujinshi (livre de fans, non officiel) 'Samurai Kids 2'.
This story is found in the doujinshi (fan made book, not official) 'Samurai Kids 2'.
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La version facile à traduire.
The easy to translate version.
*
(Oui. J'ai tracé les images que le texte couvrait. Pourquoi? Parce que cela me dérangeait. Je ne pouvais pas voir clairement les images!)
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: Avertissement / spoiler partiel:
Pour vous aider à ne pas être dérouté, voici un résumé simple de l'histoire.
L'esprit de Ryou évolue entre une vie de «ne pas être un soldat samouraï» et une vie de guerrier. Ryou essaie de comprendre quelle vie est réelle.
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Un rêve la nuit de printemps
(alias la réalité de Ryou)
Récit d'Aoi Rei
Art par Chikage Tachibana
Traduit en anglais par Dawn Sanada de l'URWWS 2019
*
Hayashi Hideaki, camarade de classe et ami d'enfance, le réveille dans une salle de classe vide.
Hayashi aide Ryou à se lever et à se lever, mais Ryou est confus. Il ne savait pas qu'il s'était endormi.
Hayashi demande à Ryou si quelque chose ne va pas. Ryou dit qu'il a dormi. Plus de temps endormi que réveillé. Cependant, il se sent toujours fatigué.
Hayashi rassure Ryou de rentrer chez lui et de dormir. Leur réunion au club scolaire est annulée, alors Ryou peut rentrer chez lui et dormir.
Shin réveille Ryou. Il est dans sa chambre de la maison de Nasuti. C'est l'heure du petit déjeuner.
Ryou prend une chemise et quitte sa chambre. Byakuen reste endormi à côté du lit de Ryou.
Dehors, sur le toit de l'école, Hayashi et Ryou déjeunent sur le toit de l'école.
Ryou demande à Hayashi s'il a des rêves à répéter. Hayashi dit «non».
Ryou partage son rêve de devenir un soldat samouraï. Un guerrier. Il combat des soldats maléfiques aux côtés de quatre autres garçons en armure.
Hayashi dit que Ryou s'est probablement endormi en regardant un film de super-héros.
Ryou dit que le rêve est trop réel. Ce n'est pas un rêve ordinaire. Il explique d'autres détails du rêve. Il sait que c'est à (la ville) Shinjuku, mais le problème est qu'il n'est jamais allé à Shinjuku. Ryou est bouleversé parce que ce "rêve" était aussi réel que cela.
La cloche de l'école a sonné. L'heure du déjeuner était finie.
Nasuti dit à Ryou qu'il devrait se reposer davantage. Le petit déjeuner était fini et il avait toujours l'air fatigué.
Arago avait été vaincu. Ryou avait appelé l'armure blanche pour vaincre Arago. Afin d'appeler et d'utiliser l'armure blanche, il a pris l'énergie de ses amis. Le résultat est que tout le monde était épuisé. Ryou se sent coupable.
Nasuti escorte Ryou dans sa chambre et Ryou se couche.
Nasuti commente qu'elle se sent maintenant comme une mère alors qu'elle n'a que 18 ans.
Ryou est fâché et lui dit qu'il n'est pas un petit enfant.
Nasuti lui dit de se calmer puis quitte la pièce.
Ryou est fâché à propos de tout.
Bien que ses parents ne fussent pas dans sa vie d’enfant, sa mère est décédée, son père était toujours au travail et absent, mais Ryou pense que c’est le plus proche d’une famille qu’il ait jamais eue. Bien qu'il soit irrité d'être traité de cette façon, il en profite également. Ils ne sont pas liés par le sang, mais Ryou a l'impression que ces personnes sont sa famille.
Ryou est arrêté dans le couloir de son école. Son professeur principal, M. Kubota, demande à Ryou à propos de son père. Ryou dit que ses parents ne peuvent pas être contactés. Sa mère est morte, son père voyage et travaille toujours. Rarement à la maison.
M. Kubota demande à Ryou s'il va bien. Il a remarqué que Ryou dormait en classe.
Ryou rassure le professeur qu'il va bien.
M. Kubota dit à Ryou de ne pas travailler si dur. Une mauvaise santé ne vaut pas d'excellentes notes à l'école.
Ryou part et rencontre Hayashi à l'extérieur du bâtiment.
Ryou s'excuse pour son retard et explique qu'un enseignant s'est arrêté pour le gronder.
Hayashi taquine Ryou à propos de son «mauvais comportement» et dit que c'est pour cela que le professeur l'a arrêté. Ryou rigole et dit qu'il n'y a pas de mauvais comportement et qu'il n'a pas de problème.
La conversation change. Hayashi demande à propos du père de Ryou. Le père de Ryou est en Irak et l'Irak a récemment fait la une des journaux. Beaucoup de mauvaises choses se passent. Ryou ne peut rien changer. Il voit rarement son père et n'est pas concerné. Ryou a sa propre vie, Hayashi a sa propre vie.
La conversation change encore. Hayashi fréquentera à nouveau l'école publique. Sa famille ne peut pas se payer une école privée. Les écoles privées sont chères.
Ryou dit que sa famille n'a pas de problèmes d'argent, mais qu'il ira aussi à l'école publique. Changer d'école ou fréquenter une école privée est une corvée. Il est plus facile de fréquenter une école publique.
Ryou et Shin sont dehors sur le balcon et parlent.
Shin admet qu'il ne se sent pas bien. Après la bataille, il est extrêmement épuisé.
Ryou admet qu'il est aussi épuisé.
Tout le monde savait que Ryou, avec plus de pouvoir que jamais, était plus épuisé que tout le monde. Il dormait plus. Il se sentait le plus fatigué. Il prenait beaucoup de temps pour récupérer.
Shin rassure Ryou qu'il peut parler s'il y a des choses qui le dérangent.
Ryou explique son rêve. De l’autre monde où il est un adolescent normal qui fréquente l’école. Cependant, ce rêve semble réel. Trop réel pour être un rêve ordinaire. Il se demande si ce monde est réel ou un rêve? Ce monde est-il réel ou un rêve? Les deux endroits sont très réels. Il est difficile de discerner ce qui est réel et ce qui est faux.
Pour ajouter à sa culpabilité, Ryou sait que l’autre endroit, son rêve, ne peut être réel ici. C'est un guerrier. Il a combattu Arago. Il n'est pas un humain normal. Il n'y a aucun moyen d'effacer cette information. Il ne peut pas oublier ce fait.
Shin tente de rassurer Ryou. Peut-être que le rêve offre à Ryou une alternative relaxante à ce monde de batailles contre Arago.
Hayashi demande à Ryou s'il devrait voir un médecin à cause de la fatigue.
Les deux garçons rentrent chez eux à pied de l'école.
Les pensées de Ryou sont ailleurs. Il demande à Hayashi ce qu'il voit lorsqu'il regarde Ryou. Hayashi est confus. Ryou se sent aussi très confus.
Il explique que, dans un rêve, tout semble réel. Tout dans le rêve est ce monde entier. La personne dans le rêve pense que c'est le monde. Que rien d'autre n'existe. Peut-être que c'est ce que c'est. C'est peut-être un rêve.
Hayashi est confus et inquiet.
Ryou explique qu'à l'autre endroit, dans son "rêve", les choses se sentent réelles. Trop réel. Il peut sentir le poids de ses épées. Il peut sentir quand il coupe les soldats blindés. Il peut ressentir et sentir et ressentir tout de ce monde. Cependant, ce monde n'avait aucun sens. Des armures magiques? Esprits portant des armures? Un esprit maléfique géant qui veut conquérir la planète? Cela ne pouvait pas être réel.
Hayashi tente de rassurer Ryou et lui touche la joue. Sa main est réelle. Ce sentiment est réel. Ce monde est réel, c'est ce que dit Hayashi.
Ryou commence à pleurer.
Hayashi ne peut pas faire ressentir à Ryou d'une manière ou d'une autre et dit que, malgré tout, Ryou Sana est son meilleur ami. Son ami depuis son enfance. C'est réel.
Ryou regarde le coucher de soleil depuis une fenêtre de la maison Yagyu. Il commente que cet endroit n'est probablement pas réel. Shin devient fâché. Ryou continue de parler en disant que la technologie et la science ont progressé. Qui peut dire que toute cette guerre, ces combats et cette "magie" ne sont pas une illusion créée par une machine?
Shin gifle Ryou. Très dur. Il est plus en colère maintenant. Il dit à Ryou qu'il se sent insulté. Après tout ce qu'ils ont vécu, presque mourant, toujours en train de se battre, en essayant de sauver ce monde ... et Ryou dit que cela doit être un rêve?! Shin dit de faire confiance à la sensation de sa joue blessée. Une empreinte de la main de Shin apparaissant sur le visage de Ryou après la gifle. Tout cela est réel. Shin quitte ensuite la pièce avec un sentiment de colère.
Ryou ressent la douleur de sa joue. Il sent l'empreinte en relief sur sa peau. Ça fait mal. Les rêves ne peuvent pas causer de douleur. . . droite?
Hayashi embrasse Ryou qui pleure. Ryou a le coeur brisé de penser que tout ceci n'est pas réel. Cette vie. Cette amitié Ce monde. Sa réalité.
Comment peut-on identifier quel monde est réel et quel monde est un rêve?
Peut-être étaient-ils tous les deux un rêve?
Chaque rêve était très différent de l'autre.
-Est-ce un rêve?
- Est-ce une réalité?
-Pourquoi suis-je ici?
- Qu'est ce que je fais ici?
-Où est-ce ...?
-Qui es-tu ...?
La voix de Shin résonna dans l'esprit de Ryou. Ryou se retrouve soudain au milieu d'une bagarre avec une armée de blindés portant des soldats. Les soldats d'Arago. Shin, Touma, Seiji et Shuu sont également présents, essayant de protéger Ryou des soldats.
Ryou avait relié ses épées ensemble et avait commencé son attaque d'armure, mais s'était soudainement arrêté. Les autres Samurai Troopers avaient essayé de protéger Ryou et de le secouer pour le débarrasser de son état d'hébétude.
Seiji crie à Ryou d'utiliser son attaque. À PRÉSENT!!! Plus de temps à perdre!
Ryou lève ses épées et se prépare à libérer son attaque.
Les quatre autres guerriers évacuent pour ne pas être blessés par l'attaque.
Ryou se sent confus, ne sachant pas ce qui s'est passé et si ce monde est réel. Tout ce que Ryou sait, c’est actuellement, c’est ce qui est réel. Il doit se battre pour survivre. Il doit se battre pour protéger. Il doit se battre pour sauver ce monde. Il ferait ça. S'il devait mourir pour protéger son monde, il mourrait.
Ryou se leva dans les airs et cria le nom de son attaque.
"SOU EN ZAN !!" (flamme coupée double !!)
Note de l'écrivain (Aoi Rei):
Merci beaucoup, Chikage Tachibana.
Je ne peux pas dessiner d'images moi-même. Je compense en créant des images dans l'imagination des gens en écrivant des histoires. Je n'ai pas écrit d'histoires depuis longtemps. Seulement 2 ans. Je me demandais 'que puis-je faire? Je ne sais pas grand chose de moi. Je ne sais pas ce que je suis capable de faire. "C'est à ce moment-là que l'inspiration de cette histoire a été créée.
Cela semblait être une bonne idée. Pris entre deux mondes. Pris entre être jeune, mais pas un petit enfant, et être vieux, mais pas assez vieux pour être encore adulte.
Si cette histoire a laissé une impression sur vous, alors je suis heureux. Cela signifie que je me débrouille bien en tant qu'écrivain.
(Un autre aspect de l’histoire de "Un rêve de nuit de printemps", cette histoire, une version totalement différente, apparaîtra dans le livre de doujinshi "Sakuragi ~ 3". En dehors de cela, on me trouve généralement à faire des publicités.)
Probablement à un moment donné en janvier, j'assisterai à l'événement (note du traducteur: une convention?). S'il vous plaît venez me rendre visite si vous le souhaitez. J'aime parler aux gens. (Je vais attribuer un nom de cercle d'art différent à Doujinshi à l'événement. Astuce: cela commence par "so re ha". Essayez de le trouver. Je suis désolé de ne pas avoir été clair à ce sujet, mais le cercle de mon ami.)
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Note du traducteur / Dawn:
1 - Étais-je la seule personne à penser que Rajura ferait cela? Créez des illusions pour confondre Ryou, puis comparaissez-vous et attaquez-le lorsqu'il était à son plus faible (mental).
2 - Oui, vous avez bien lu la fin. Non, l'auteur n'a pas expliqué pourquoi l'esprit de Ryou vivait cela. AU COEUR D'UN COMBAT.
3 - Mon opinion personnelle? Utilisez l'excuse que Rajura / Dais interférait avec Ryou au milieu de ce combat. Cette attaque d'illusion sur Ryou n'a pas abouti. L'auteur a refusé d'inclure Rajura et de l'expliquer clairement. | |
|  | | DawnSanada
Samouraï
Nombre de messages : 2276
Age : 42
Localisation : USA
Date d'inscription : 08/08/2008
| | Sujet: Re: Rêver une nuit de printemps / Dream on a Spring Night Mer 31 Juil - 12:34 | |
|
Dernière édition par DawnSanada le Mer 31 Juil - 12:37, édité 1 fois | |
| | | | DawnSanada
Samouraï
Nombre de messages : 2276
Age : 42
Localisation : USA
Date d'inscription : 08/08/2008
| | Sujet: Re: Rêver une nuit de printemps / Dream on a Spring Night Mer 31 Juil - 12:37 | |
| This is for anyone out there who's actually fluent in English and can actually read this. Enjoy! <3
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This was a fanfic originally published in the doujinshi 'Samurai Kids 2'.
Scans of this book are thanks to Delphine! Without here, I never would've been able to translate any of this!
The original pages will be displayed following this first post containing the translated story. (Also, yes, I did redraw the pictures that the text was covering just because it was bothering me that I COULDN'T ACTUALLY SEE THE PICTURES! So, yeah. Enjoy!)
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: Fair warning / partial spoiler :
It took me about two times reading through it before I really had a good grasp on this story's concept.
It explain it as simply as I can, Ryou's consciousness seems to be shifting between a normal 'not being a Samurai Trooper' life and his warrior life, with Ryou trying to figure out which one is real and which one isn't.
Trust me, by the time you get to the end, it will ... eh... kinda sorta make sense? I guess?
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A Spring Night's Dream
(aka Ryou's Reality)
Story by Aoi Rei
Art by Chikage Tachibana
Translated to English by Dawn Sanada of The URWWS 2019
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". . . "
"--!"
". . .Ry...ou..."
". . . nada . . . Hey. . . Sanada. Get up, Ryou, class is done."
Ryou snapped his head up, his body reacting faster than his mind. His senses still groggy from what was a perfectly good nap.
"Huh? Class is over?" he asked as his classmate and childhood friend, Hayashi Hideaki, was pulling him to his feet. "I didn't even know I fell asleep."
"What's going on with you?" Hayashi released his grip on Ryou, allowing the black haired teen to stand on his own two feet and regain his senses.
"It's strange," Ryou began, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "It seems like no matter how much sleep I get, whenever I go to bed, it's not enough. Even at night I want to go to bed early."
"Well, in case you forgot," Hayashi said, closing Ryou's book and notebook before handing them over to his friend, "today's club meeting was called off. Without that to worry about, head on home and get some sleep."
"Yeah, I will." Ryou took his belongings from Hayashi with a yawn. It was only at this moment that the Samurai Trooper of fire realized they were the only two people left in the classroom. Everyone had long since left, including the teacher.
Hayashi truly felt that if he left Ryou on his own in the classroom, he'd probably fall right back to sleep.
"Ryou, you getting up? Nasuti is ready to eat," came Shin's voice, his face peeking in from the doorway with a smile on his face.
"I'm coming," came Ryou's voice from his nice, warm, I-really-don't-want-to-leave-here bed. "Just give me a minute."
The teen pulled himself out of bed, pausing only a moment to stretch as Shin vanished from the doorway. The black haired teen grabbed a button up shirt and exited the room.
"You feeling all right?" Shin asked as they walked side by side down the hallway. "Even I'm getting worried about you at this point."
Ryou slipped an arm through one of the sleeves of the shirt. He paused only a moment, looking back into his room. Byakuen, big, fluffy, that big old white tiger companion of his, was sleeping soundly beside the teen's now-vacant and unmade bed. He smiled a bit at the sight of the tiger's peaceful slumber.
'Enjoy some peaceful dreams for me, buddy,' Ryou thought as he walked away from his room.
"Hey, Hayashi," Ryou began, "do you ever have repeating dreams?"
The duo were up on the school roof having their lunch break. Hayashi was off to the side, back leaning against a nearby wall. Ryou standing in front of a tall chain link fence, the view of which overlooked the school's courtyard below.
"I don't think so," he replied. "It's probably different for other people, though." He took a bite of a sandwich, looking over at his friend. "Then again, when I think of it, there are tons of things I can't remember. So, who knows?"
Ryou looked out over the school's courtyard. "For a long time now I've been having this same dream."
"What's it about?" Hayashi asked before taking another bite, letting his childhood friend answer in his own time.
Ryou's blue eyes were looking out, but not at anything in particular. His mind recalling bits and pieces of the dream. "In it, I'm wearing an armor. I'm fighting."
"Oh! You mean like you being in a play or TV show or something?"
Ryou shook his head slightly. That didn't sound right to him. Wearing an armor... fighting... he couldn't blame Hayashi for making that kind of association. Not like there weren't already tons of plays, tv shows, and movies about that topic. There were plenty of reinacted battle scenes from the Warring States era of their country's history. The teen idly placed his hands onto the fence, his fingers curling loosely around the metal wire. "No. That's not it."
"Maybe it's not Japanese. How about European?"
The teen's mind went to the armor he was wearing in his dream. Was it European? Sure he couldn't remember the dream with perfect clarity, but... it didn't look or feel old style. Then again, not like he was the best at history-related stuff.
His brow furrowed as he tried to recall anything specific from his dream. "No. I don't think so. It's modern day. I . . . I think it's Shinjuku." Hayashi fell quiet, finishing off his sandwich in silence. "There was some kind of construction going on. And. . . I was fighting. There were four other boys, my friends." Ryou's gaze went skyward as he thought, not looking upward for any particular reason. A warm, blue sky with intermitten puffy white clouds lazily floated overhead. "There was this white tiger, too. A companion for me. There were so many armored soldiers I was fighting against. . . 'we' were fighting against."
The blue-eyed teen tried his best to recall more details from the dream. He was sure it had to be somewhere in Shinjuku. The Nomura building, the NS building, the Sumoitomo triangle building... lots of high-rises... The only problem with this is the fact that Ryou had never been to Shinjuku before. The closest he'd ever gotten was seeing pictures of them on the TV.
A knot formed in his stomach with all of these thoughts floating about. Something about this familiar other version of himself fighting in a suit of armor. . . something still wasn't very clear to him. How did he get up onto the skyscrapers to get that kind of view? And... did the armors somehow manage to unite as one? This didn't make any sense, even for a dream.
"You sure it's Shinjuku?" Hayashi finally asked, breaking into Ryou's struggling throughts.
"Yeah, I think that's where it is. I remember seeing places... being places. Shinjuku train station, Studio Alta..." The only problem with this being in Shinjuku is that some of these places weren't in that specific Japanese subcenter. They were located elsewhere.
"Hm," Hayashi nodded, opening the lid of his drink. "I think I get it now. You probably fell asleep watching tv a while back, so your sleeping mind put together lots of different places, some in Shinjuku, some not. I just betcha that's what it is." He took several gulps of his drink, allowing Ryou to take in what was said. It seemed like that was the only logical conclusion for some weird repeating dream.
Maybe that's what it was. Some special effects from a movie or something he'd forgotten he'd watched at some point. Who knows? Maybe the dream was some sort of manifestation of an imaginary goal he had. To be some kick-butt super hero taking down bad guys. It just bothered him that the dream had no real beginning or end to it.
It had to be down to some weird dream. It HAD to be. . . but . . .
Ryou exhaled quietly, resting his forehead against the chainlinked fence, closing his eyes for only a moment. "It felt so different from a dream. It felt real. Just as real as here."
Before either teen could say another word, the school bell rang, signalling the end of their lunch period and to start returning inside the school building.
"Ryou, you should go get some more rest," Nasuti said. "You still look completely exhausted. Soon as you can, you should head back to bed and rest up some more."
Sure he'd defeated Arago with the help of his friends, but, in the aftermath of it all, it left more lingering questions than any possible answers the whole situation had provided. The warrior of fire couldn't help but to feel uneasy. After everything, there was no guarantee that peace was really here to stay. That everything was truly back to normal and would stay that way.
It didn't help matters any that a new Youja had appeared in front of the teens. His only goal was to get that white armor to appear. The white armor that had been so instrumental in defeating Arago. In that fight, Ryou could only activate that armor by draining the magical powers out of his friends.
"If you need anything," Nasuti said, "feel free to let me know."
"But, Nasuti. . ."
Among all of them, they all knew that they were weak in comparison to the power of Ryou's new white armor. Even though it had to be triggered and relied soley on the power of the others to even work, when it was activated it was incredibly strong. Then again, the recovery time for weilding this sort of intense power was pretty substantial. He was taking much longer than normal to recover from it.
It's clear that Nasuti was worried about all of them. The other four were hurt and exhausted, spending more time resting than awake, but this whole event had hit Ryou the hardest. At least they could spend some time up and about. Ryou spend most of his days and nights sleeping. The only goal was for his body to recouperate from the massive drain of the experience.
She'd escorted him back to his bedroom after having some breakfast. "Listen, I know you're not happy about this," she began, opening the door to his bedroom. "The guys are downstairs in the living room and resting. They're all fine. You need to focus on you for right now. So, don't worry about them. Go ahead and lay down for a while."
Reluctantly he laid down in his bed and Nasuti placed the blanket over him like a mother would to, tucking a child in for the night.
"I feel like I've become the mother for all you guys, even though I'm only 18," she commented with a chuckle.
Ryou's face blushed red and he sat up. "We're not little kids, you know!" he blasted at her.
"I know, I know," she said calmly. "You're still a kid that can get riled up easily. Be a good boy and lay down. Everything's alright. Listen, if you're still unable to sleep in a few minutes then I'll bring you some fruit to eat." With that, she left the room.
For a long moment afterwords, he continued to stay sitting up in bed, his cheeks still flushed red. He was being treated just like a little kid, he was sure of that.
Sure, okay, he didn't have a mother or any memories of her, but he was absolutely sure this is how a mother would treat a little kid.
Then again, not like there was anything she could've said differently that would've changed how he was feeling. The whole situation had him upset and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. He couldn't revitalize his friend's energy levels. He couldn't fix himself and be back ot normal at the snap of his fingers. He couldn't go back in time and make it so his white armor didn't drain his friend's energy to the point they'd pass out.
With an irritated huff, he flopped down, then rolled over onto his side. He figured that this is probably how mothers are with their children and that she was only trying to help him feel better. No one could fix any of this, so she was doing what she could. Try and help ease his mind and help him emotionally feel better.
All this daily life living alongside the other Troopers and Nasuti, being both a girl and the oldest of their group had propelled her into a guardian-like role, had given him a dose of what a normal family life was like. Intentional or not, she'd taken up a mother-like role and the others hadn't seemed like they disagreed with it any.
This was all new for him and he was still trying to get use to it. Not that a part of him wasn't secretly enjoying being cared for, it's just that he'd spent so much of his life so far all on his own. Having others in his life, and a guardian type of figure keeping an eye on everyone, was . . . different.
All this time he'd only ever seen their relationship as something more akin to a younger brother and older sister. Not as a mother and child.
He sighed, snuggling the side of his face against the pillow. Despite whatever feelings he had about all of this, he genuinely hoped this would continue. He liked having a family. This place felt like a home. None of them were releated by blood, but he truly felt like these were members of HIS own family. The family of Ryou Sanada.
"Sanada."
The teen blinked.
An older gentleman was standing in front of him. An olde gentleman with greying hair and reading glasses sitting halfway down the bridge of his nose. This was homeroom teacher.
"Yes, sir?"
"I'd like to speak with your father. When would be a good time for me to call him on the phone?"
"Not any time soon," Ryou stated. To be perfectly honest, not even Ryou himself knew where his father was at this exact moment in time. . . or any time, really.
"Do you know when he'll be available?"
Ryou rubbed the back of his neck. The only time a teacher ever wanted to talk with a student's parents was when they were in trouble about something. Had he done something to get in trouble? He was sure he'd been behaving. He hadn't gotten detention or anything, or even called out on any unwanted behaviors in class. So . . . why?
"The last letter I got from my dad said that he wouldn't be back for a while. My dad's a photographer and he takes jobs from all over the place way out in the middle of nowhere. In the countryside. In lots of different countries. This started about three years back and he spends most of his time either out of the country or on a plane somewhere. So, as to when you'd be able to talk to him next, I have no idea."
"That's a shame," Mr. Kubota muttered to himself then spoke up when addressing his student. "Sanada, I want you to know that you're not in any sort of trouble. I'm concerned about you, is all. You've been taking a lot of naps during class, between classes... are you getting enough sleep at night?" The concern in his voice was genuine.
"Yes, sir, I am." He looked up at the older gentleman. "I'm really sorry I've been falling asleep in class. I'll do my best to eat better and stay awake during class. If I don't, then I know I'll struggle with my studies and tests later on."
"Good. Sanada, just . . . just try not to push yourself too hard, okay? Doing well in your classes is fine, but not at the expense of your health. You could end up falling seriously ill if you push yourself too much with all of this."
The teen nodded obediently. "I understand."
As Ryou resumed walking down the hallway, the teacher quietly watched him go. He couldn't help but feel concerned. He knew that Ryou's mother had died either when he was born or when he was still very young, and his father was rarely ever home from work. Hadn't been aware of the fact he was a globe-trotting photographer. Who even knew how hard that boy was pushing himself to do well in his studies. The rest of the students in his class seemed to be doing perfectly well, but, then again, not all of them had to deal with a home life like Ryou had.
After leaving Mr. Kubota's presense, Ryou exited the building and met up with Hayashi. They'd made plans to have supper at the other boy's house today and Ryou could hardly wait to enjoy a good homecooked meal.
"Sorry I'm late," Ryou said, slightly out of breath. Once he was sure he was out of the teacher's view, he'd jogged through the building to get outside and to his friend. "When I was getting ready to leave, Mr. Kubota stopped me to talk."
Hayashi's eyebrows rose. "Oh? What's this? You got into trouble with one of your teachers?" He playfully nudged Ryou's side with his elbow. "I didn't know you had such a bad attitude in class."
"No," Ryou returned, giving his friend a light, playful shove. "I'm fine."
"Uh-huh," Hayashi said, leading the way down the sidewalk and off of school property. "So there's not gonna be any parent-teacher conference any time soon to talk about your non-existent bad behavior?" he asked, his tone implying that he was still in a bit of a teasing mood.
"Nah," the blue eyed teen answered. He kicked a small rock with the tip of his shoe, watching as it skittered down the sidewalk then into the grass and out of view. "Mr. Kubota is a sharp guy. I know I'm the youngest kid in class and probably have to work the hardest to keep up with everyone. He's worried about me, is all."
"So you're totally sure that you're not in any sort of trouble?"
"Positive."
"What about your dad? Any word from him lately?"
"I got a letter from him last month. Said that he was taking pictures of some animals in Iran and that he'd return 'soon'."
"That must be tough," Hayashi said, sticking both hands into his pockets. "If you look at the news at all, there's always bad stuff happening in Iran. It's got to be worse for you knowing your dad's over there somewhere in all of that."
Ryou shrugged off the comment. "I have my life, you have yours. I'm fine."
They walked in silence for a while.
At one point some time ago Ryou's father had told him to live his life. Life a life that's not going to be full of regrets and 'I wish I'd done that'. Ryou's father knew his son was a good boy, he'd make smart decisions and be responsible. He was that sort of person, even at a young age. Probably a good part of the reason why he didn't seem to have any problems leaving Ryou home alone for long stretches of time.
"So. . ." Hayashi said after a while, "you decide where you're going to go to school next year? I'll be going to public school again. Private school costs way too much money. I mean, I'm not really worried about financial stuff since I'm not broke or anything, but I sure can't afford going to any private school."
"After Dad started working for that news agency taking pictures, money hasn't been any kind of an issue. I'll probably still be going to public school. It's easier. If I decided to go to somewhere private I'd have to move and take trains and, I'm not in any mood to do that. Too much work, I suppose. Either way, though, I'm fine. My dad and I alright."
Hayashi nodded, not sure what to talk about from there.
"Ryou," Shin said, getting the raven haired teen's attention from across the table. "I haven't been feeling very good lately. How're you holding up? You okay?"
The warrior of fire sat quietly.
With the meal finished, the dishes and utensils cleaned and put away, the duo went outside on the balcony. The air, warm as the day was, had a slight coolness to it as the breeze flowed across the land. The temperature forcing both to feel more awake than when they were in the house.
Shin took a seat on the balcony railing, his back facing the lake, himself looking at Ryou. Maybe, he thought, it'd be easier to talk with his friend outside.
"Are you still tired after that fight with the Youja warrior?" Shin queried.
"It's not a big deal," Ryou replied. "After what we've been through, all of us were overwhelmed with it. Myself included."
"And, what about you? Listen, Ryou," he placed a hand on the teen's shoulder, looking him directly in the eyes, "if anything's bothering you, you know you can come talk to me any time you want, right?"
"Shin," Ryou said with a tired sigh. He honestly felt too tired and irritated to have this conversation right now.
He knew it wasn't only Shin who was feeling this way. Nasuti, Touma, Seiji, heck, even Jun, who was just a little kid, were all clearly concerned after this latest Youja clash. Shin, Touma, Seiji, Shuu, these four were always protecting him in battle. He always regretted not having more power, not being stronger. If he was, if only he had more power, then they wouldn't have to suffer so much. And that white armor, sucking out the energy from them solely to power his own only doubled whatever concerns and guilt were already inside of him.
Then again, who knows? Maybe that white armor was some kind of manifestation of his own desire to be more powerful. Sure, yes, he was more powerful, he could protect his friends, but at what cost? Was it really worth it?
Ryou lowered his head and slowly shook it once. Deep down, he really wanted someone to listen to him, to unload all of this onto and get it off of his chest.
"It's not a big deal. This is probably just some dream come true," he muttered, rubbing both hands over his face to push away the heavy fatigue he felt.
"A bad dream?" Shin offered, resting both hands on the balcony railing as he kept both of his ocean-colored eyes on his friend.
Ryou sat down beside the brunette on the balcony and sighed, keeping his gaze on the floor. "It's a really ordinary dream. I'm wearing school clothes. I'm going to school. Have a friend there with me. Life is really. . . you know. . . normal. No wars, no demons, no spirits, no magical armors. Nothing. In the dream I kept falling asleep in class and got scolded by one of my teachers." That word seemed to be strange to say in this context. He was so use to living the life of a warrior by now, all of the training he'd gone through, that was his normal. That was his every day. Not this slice-of-life he dreamed of whenever he was asleep. At some point his life went from being quiet and living off into the middle of nowhere into all of . . . this.
The teen knew full well there was no way to return to that kind of life. That's not who he was any more. Not who he'd been for a long time now. 'That' Ryou Sanada didn't exist. Only 'this' Ryou Sanada, warrior of fire, weilder of the armor of Rekka, leader of the Samurai Troopers.
Even with the battle against Arago being over with, there's no way he could go back to having a non-magical life. He'd been through so much that, even if he never experienced another encounter with a Youja in his life, he could never return to his former self. He knew full well that he was different from everyone else. Nothing could make him forget that fact.
Everyone in the world wants, more than anything else, a peaceful life. A quiet, uneventful life. That's something that, sometimes, he felt jealous or angry about. It was stupidly funny. He wanted a normal, quiet life, too. He wanted the battles to be done and over with as soon as possible. . . but. . . even with that, there's no going back. There's no way to return to the old days. You can't unwind the hands of time. Life doesn't work that way.
Shin nodded. "I can understand that."
Maybe a dream like that would be more like a nightmare than anything else. Taunting the warrior of fire with dreams of a life he'd never be able to have.
"It can't be easy dreaming of something like that after everything we've been through." Shin leaned over, gently nudging Ryou's shoulder with the edge of his own. He continued, his tone reassuring. "Who knows? Maybe this is your mind's way of relaxing and forgetting about everything we've been through. Letting you have a little piece of something not magic or war related."
Ryou shrugged.
"Shouldn't you go to the doctor?" Hayashi's voice broke into Ryou's thoughts.
Ryou blinked, being brought back to the present. They were continuing their walk away from the school and towards Hayashi's home. "Sure, it was kinda funny at first, you falling asleep in class and the teacher calling you out on it, but you look rough. Even I can tell that you're really tired. Maybe you're not getting enough sleep? Or too much of it?"
Things were so much different when he was a kid. When Ryou got sick, he went to bed for a week, got over whatever was affecting him, and he was fine again. This? This was different. How long had he been this tired for? Days? Weeks? He truly had no idea, and it felt like too much effort to try figuring out.
"Hey, Hayashi," Ryou began, keeping his eyes forward on the quiet city sidewalk. "How do you see me when you look at me? Like. . . what sort of Ryou Sanada am I?"
"Huh?" The confusion was clear in his voice. What sort of question was this to ask out of nowhere?
"I mean, right here, right now, I'm definately here, aren't I?"
"What are you even talking about? I don't understand."
Ryou looked over at Hayashi and stopped walking. The other boy stopped walking as well to directly face his friend.
"In my dream, I remember I had a sword in my hands." He looked down at his own hands, slowly closing them into tight fists to feel them. "I could feel it when I attacked and cut them apart. It doesn't feel like it was a dream. I remember it like it's something that actually happened. Awake. In real life." He relaxed his hands and looked over at his friend again. "Just as real as this is."
"There's another person I'm talking to in this dream I'm having. Or. . . maybe I'm dreaming right now. I'm . . . I don't know. I'm wearing school clothes, telling one of my friends that . . . I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you right now." Ryou stood up and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Maybe this is actally a dream and the 'real me' only exists over there," he thought aloud. "Maybe nothing here is real, but over there, everything is real. . . and this is fake. . .?" Blood was rushing through his veins, his heart was pounding, and he felt upset and excited. His cheeks blushing as his mind reeled in an attempt to force this to make sense.
After all, everyone new actual magic wasn't real. Magical armors? Spirits? Demons? That wasn't for real. That wasn't real life.
"But, how can this place be real and that not be real at all? Unless that is the real place and everything here is a dream?"
Hayashi places a warm and very solid feeling hand on Ryou's cheek. "Do I feel real to you?" His brown eyes look directly into Ryou's sky blue eyes. "I'm here right now. So are you. This is real. You're not in a dream."
Sparkling tears streaked down Ryou's face as he looks at the face of his long-time friend. His best friend in the world. The boy he'd known since he was a little kid and grew up alongside. This was the closest thing he had to family in his life. The only person he truly looked at as a tride and true brother in any sense of the word.
Not removing his hand, not breaking the gaze, Hayashi added, "whatever you feel, whatever you say, Ryou Sanada, you're my childhood friend. I'm real."
Ryou looked out a window of that Yagyuu house at the setting sun over the forested landscape. The sky itself turning shades of red and orange as the sun begins its descent out of view. "It looks like a dream," he quietly mused. "Don't you think so, too, Shin? Heh, maybe this place really is nothing more than a dream."
Shin approached Ryou's side, looking absolutely puzzled. "What're you saying?"
Not removing his gaze from the setting sun, he tried to explain. "In this age of science and technology, doesn't it seem more like a dream to you that you can wear armor and fight creatures that are clearly not human? What if this is some weird holographic illusion or something cooked up by a piece of technology?"
He turned away from the window to look at the brunette.
"But, all of this feels so. . . so real. Sure, we might be Samurai Troopers and fight against Youja but, what if that's only true here? I guess anyone can say that they exist in a dream and it not be at all true." He couldn't help a chuckle from escaping. "After all, when we're dreaming, doesn't that world seem like everything is real no matter how crazy everything is? When, in reality, nothing about it is real at all."
"Ryou!" the warrior of fire snapped. The sound of the sharp slap of his hand against Ryou's cheek pierced the quiet of the room. The blow knocking the black haired teen back two steps. "How dare you even say that! After everything we've been through! You may not understand how I'm feeling right now but I guarantee you that you are completely awake right now and that THIS is reality! You feel that pain?" He indicated the strike to his cheek just now. "That shows you that all of this is real." He exhaled sharply, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
Ryou, a bit in shock at the outburst, gingerly touched a hand to his now burning, tingling, stinging cheek. The very clear impression of a handprint from that strike beginning to show loud and clear on his skin. It hurt. It really . . . hurt. Dreams couldn't hurt. Not like this. . . right?
Hayashi stepped forward and embraced Ryou with nothing but love for his best friend. Ryou couldn't help the tears from flowing. He couldn't bare to think that this was nothing more than a dream. That this life, that his best friend wasn't real. That all of this was nothing more than some figment of his imagination.
He buried his face into his friend's shoulder, throwing his arms around Hayashi's back and cried.
How could he possibly know which one was the reality and which one was the dream? Nothing made sense any more.
Maybe, in some weird sense of reality, both places existed, or neither did.
Where they both dreams?
They were so drastically different from one another, yet felt as real as the other did.
-Is this a dream?
- Is this a reality?
-Why am I here?
- What am I doing here?
-Where is this ...?
-Who are you ...?
"Ryou!" Shin's voice broke through to Ryou like brilliant sunlight crashing through into a completely darkened room.
"Ryou!!" Touma's voice. "There you are! We finally got through to you!"
"Ryou, what were you thinking?!" Shuu asked.
"That doesn't matter!" came Seiji's voice. "Right now we've got to think about surviving this fight and defeating the enemy!"
Ryou looked around himself as his friends kept on the move. The sky overhead was cloudy and dark. Numerous Youja soldiers had them surrounded with no way out. The four others did their best to stay on their toes and keep the enemy forces at bay in general, but, for right now, even moreso. Ryou had seemed to have momentarily blacked out. He'd paused, his eyes caught looking somewhere off in the distance but at nothing in particular. It was clear his mind and senses were a million miles away from this fight, and, in a situation like this, that could easily end up getting someone injured or killed with a single strike.
Ryou took in his surroundings and attempted to catch up with what was going on as fast as he could.
He could feel the power of his armor resonating all through his body.
"RYOU!! GO! NOW!!!" shouted Seiji.
Ryou looked down at his hands, seeing his twin katana's bases joined together. He'd been about to unleash his attack, it seemed.
He didn't know which place was the dream and which was the reality. Or even if this place right now was real.
His grip tightened around his swords as he lifted them above his head. The other four swiftly jumping out of the way in order to not get caught in the astounding blast of fire, light, and destructive energy that was about to be released.
For this moment, for right now, this place was the reality. This is the place he would fight and, if need be, die for.
The teen lept up into the air, drawing in a deep lungfull of breath, then shouted.
"SOU EN ZAN!!" (TWIN FLAME CUT!!)
The End
Note from the writer :
Thank you very much, Chikage Tachibana.
I can't draw pictures myself, so I make up for it with helping to create pictures in people's imaginations using only words.
I'm not good at saying that I'm an original person. (I actually started writing something like my fellow story writer Anibaro, who's been around for about 2 years now).
Besides, it has been a long time since I first stepped into this world of doujinshis (doujinshi : book for stories that fans have made. Not official stories). However, I haven't done a lot of it. Recently I thought to myself "What can I do? I don't know much about myself or what I'm entirely capable of".
I got the inspiration for this story at that moment, and I'm honestly feeling that "I really can be in such a place, it's not something wrong". But, well, I think that taking time in a place like that is good every once in a while. You're young, yet, at the same time, you're not so young that you're still considered to be a little kid.
I'm very glad if I'm able to make an impression on you because of this story. That's how I know that I'm doing well. (The other side of "A Spring Night's Dream", well that, or a whole different version of it, will appear in the doujinshi "Sakuragi ~ 3". Other than that, I'm usually found casually working on making commercials.)
Probably sometime in January I'm going out at the event (transator's note: a convention?), so please come and see me if you'd like to. I like getting to talk with people. (I'm going to have a different doujinshi art circle name for the event. Hint: It'll start with "so re ha". Try hard to find it. I'm sorry for being mean about this, but I'm a part of my friend's circle.)
* * * * *
Note from the translator / Dawn :
1 - Was I the only person who got to the end of this and was thinking that this story just totally sounded like a really manipulative Rajura / Dais move to have done? Totally screwing with Ryou's head to suddenly pop out of somewhere and go 'GOTCHA!' before launching his attack?
2 - Yes, you did read the ending correctly. No the author didn't explain WHY Ryou's mind was going though all of that, IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT.
3 - My personal opinion? I say we use the excuse that Rajura / Dais was messing with him mid-fight, it ended up not working, and that the author simply negelcted to say so. | |
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