Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Bakemonogatari: Nadeko and Swimming Pool

This is a short story from Bakemonogatari's official guidebook or something. Doing it as a change of pace from Onii-Ai. Well, I guess it is also the fact that I like Nadeko (though I like Shinobu more). 

This is more of me trying my hands on translating the Monogatari series, and it's really not easy. Kinda confirmed my suspicions of why no one is really eager to take up the translations for it.
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Sengoku said that she wanted me to teach her swimming. So during the weekend, I had came to this public swimming pool, which I had not visited in a while. As it is really far for us to be cycling there, we had decided to travel there by buses instead, though we had to transfer many buses.

"But Sengoku, if you wish to learn swimming, wouldn't it be okay to just get Karen or Kanbaru to teach you?"

While on the bus en-route to the swimming pool, I asked Sengoku, who was sitting by my side, that question.

"E-Even though it is like that."

Sengoku stammered slightly.

"Nadeko will feel really sorry if the precious time of Kanbaru-senpai and Karen are wasted on me."

............

What's with her inferiority complex?

And also, it is fine if she waste my time?

I may not look like it, but I am currently an exam candidate. Time equates to my studies.

"Also, isn't Koyomi-onii-chan good at swimming? You had said so before, right?"

"I have no intention of being boastful, but at the very least, I am not inept at it."

That was not me trying to show-off to a middle-school girl.

But that was the fact.

"As a child, I had always brought my pair of younger sisters to the river for a swim. I was even called as a Kappa and respected by them."

"Mmm, how cool!"

It was rare of Sengoku, but she nodded her head forcefully.

"Nadeko wishes for the ball in her butt to be removed too!" [TLNote: google shirikodama.]

............

This child has a really unique taste.

Including the fact that she finds me being called Kappa as really cool (I really wanted to tsukkomi that).

Maybe that was how Sengoku was taught by Kanbaru. If that is true, then I'll have to carefully interrogate that kouhai of mine.

"Sengoku doesn't know how to swim?"

"Mmm. In order to allow Koyomi-onii-chan to teach me, Nadeko doesn't know how to swim."

"What sort of reason is that?"

The sequence was in reverse.

"I had been using turf boards to swim, during the lessons in my school."

"...... That, was probably rather dangerous."

If that was to be a reality, then Nadeko will be a girl who has dangers around her at all times.

But that's fine. While we were talking about all these silly stuff, we had arrived at the public swimming pool.

Although the place is out of town, as the roads had been paved, it did not feel like the journey was long. However, as Nadeko - who was beside me - had been resting herself against my body for the whole journey, it had resulted in one of my arms being slightly numb (there was a really huge force on my shoulder). Well, this will cause no hindrance to swimming though.

After purchasing the tickets and entering into the place, I had temporarily parted with Nadeko at the reception area.

The smell of bleach was already there before I had entered the changing room, and it was much stronger after I went inside. If I was to say it, it was rather nostalgic. Barring the rivers for a moment, it had been a while since I had been to a swimming pool, much less a public one.

As the high school I am currently studying at is a school that focuses on having its students to further their studies, there is no swimming pool there. Thus, I had not swam even once ever since I had gotten into high school.

Because of that, it was a total blank for me regarding on how to swim, which made me really uneasy. But even so, this is the same as riding a bicycle - as long as you had learned it, you will not forget it.

I'll let Sengoku take a look at how I dive.

I have no plan to show-off, but it is nothing bad for one to be proud of himself occasionally. Sengoku is one of the few who people who worships me (just to add, Kanbaru's not included), so chances like these are important.

Tsukihi had helped me to choose a pair of swimming trunks yesterday at the shopping complex. It is sort of like a half-shorts. After changing into the swimming trunks, I placed my items into a coin-operated locker (those type that will return your hundred yen when you are done with it), then wore the key on my wrist and walked towards the pool.

Took a quick shower at the entrance of the pool.

When I was young, I had always treated this part as a sort of play, by pretending to be 'the monk meditating under a waterfall'. Such an unnecessary memory flashed through my mind, as though I was in some sort of TV drama. In front of me was an eight-lane, 50 meters swimming pool.

It was so unnecessarily formal.

What a waste, to use tax money on such things.

As it was a weekend, there was naturally a lot of people - but.

But.

With so many people that had spread out in this vast facility - right now, everyone has their sight focused on one single point.

And naturally, my eyes were attracted towards that direction as well.

To be precise, I was attracted by the girl standing there - Sengoku Nadeko.

It was really impressive of her to change faster than me, who is a guy. Although she looked like a child on the slightly slow side, perhaps she is actually rather sharp. Ah, maybe she had already worn that beneath her clothes right from the start. I had no time to be thinking all these, as all my attention was focused on her.

"......"

Being with Sengoku at the swimming pool, the first possible complain that came to mind will be - why is Sengoku wearing the school's swimming suit yet again.

No, to have such a thought, I was probably poisoned by Kanbaru as well. But with the opposite party being a middle-school girl, that should be considered rather normal.

But, Sengoku's looks were way off my expectations.

She was not wearing a school's swimming suit.

To be slightly more precise, she was not wearing the school's swimming suit. But rather, it was an overly revealing bikini that covered very little, had strings everywhere, and was something that you do not usually see, even in those gravure albums.

You can say that it was similar to noodles.

Recently in the swimming circles, there were swimming suits that only cover the vital parts, in order to reduce the surface area of the suits together with the water resistance. This thing cannot be considered to be a swimming suit. Although such thing that goes against normal conventions, is something like throwing a stone at the world, and creating waves of sensation.

And thus the birth of the saying, 'throwing Sengoku at the world, thus creating waves of sensation'. It was overly cruel. [TLNote: word play. Sengoku's kanji 千石 consist of the kanji 石, which is rock]

"Ah...... Koyomi-onii-chan."

To make it easier for her to swim, she did not let her fringes down, but rather, she had combed them to the back (and tied them loosely). However, as expected, she was still looking downwards with her head down. Sengoku looked as though she had no idea what to do, and her actions were rather suspicious. She stood there rooted to the ground, until she saw me. Then, it looked as though she gave a sigh or relief, and she came trotting towards me.

I had wished to tell her not to get close as it was dangerous, but I never said it.

"Whoa, Koyomi-onii-chan. You had such great muscles. How wonderful."

"Oh. Ohhh."

Sengoku was saying her thoughts about my muscles, but I could not give her a proper reply.

Slightly off topic, but my toned body is due to the after-effects of me being a vampire, so it is not something that I can be proud of. It's just like steroids.

"And, your swimming trunks are really cool."

"Ah...... No. I feel apologetic to you now, since I am just wearing some normal swimming trunks...... This is something that I had bought yesterday."

"Eh! Nadeko too. Nadeko had bought mine yesterday as well. How is it? Neh, how is it? This swimming costume. Nadeko, just wish to be slightly more adventurous."

"Hmm...... Indeed, it is slightly adventurous."

I was stammering slightly, and unconsciously replied like the captain from GoGo Sentai Boukenger.

Actually, this swimming costume was way more adventurous than their adventures.

Where exactly did she buy it from?

At the very least, it will not be sold at the hundred-yen shop.

I could not look directly at her, so I directed my sight away.

Not too long ago, I had said that everyone in the pool was looking at Sengoku. But thinking about it, there was actually no one who was looking.

As it was something that could not be seen. It looked like everybody felt rather awkward, thus they could only focus on swimming.

That sort of things will only happen at the swimming pool.

As this is a place that will have the whole family coming down, as such, it had became a situation where it was like the television showing some love scenes during a huge family dinner - that sort of feeling? No, instead of calling it erotic, it felt more like a crime. The pool was filled with an atmosphere, in which no one wished to be involved in this.

Though you can't fill anything else into the swimming pool.

In reality, as Nadeko was still in her puberty, her body is actually really frail, and as a result, the bones at her ribs and waist were showing. You can say that it hurts, for me to see her tiny and skinny body showing the shape of her bones at some places.

Even if she asked me how was it, my honest thought would be, 'it feels really pitiful'.

 "...... How is it?"

Sengoku asked yet again, this time with a slightly uneasy look in her eyes.

No.

I can never say things like 'pitiful'.

From Sengoku's eyes, I could clearly see that she was really worried if her huge adventure was a huge failure. Right now, it looked like she was about to cry.

That will not do.

How could I allow such a sad memory to be carved into Sengoku's middle-school diary?

Ahh, I was really a bastard.

Why couldn't I understand the reason for a really introvert girl to want to be that daring?

Think properly.

I thought of the incident where the snakes were binding her ——perhaps it is a good thing  for her to be able to show her skin like this.

Well then, I should praise her.

I should compliment her.

Right now, I no longer cared about the looks of others around me. I don't really give a damn anymore. Or rather, I felt really ashamed, for not being able to anticipate the actions of Sengoku - I should had worn trunks of waves prints at here.

"Ahhh, it fits you perfectly, Sengoku. You had totally hit my moe factor. With that, you shall be leading the fashion scene for this summer. Perhaps you should wear this to your school's swimming pool."

"Oh, mmm. I understand...... Since Koyomi-onii-chan says so."

Sengoku gave a really blissful smile.

Upon seeing her smile, I felt really happy as well.

It felt like today is the best day.

...... Incidentally, I had severely embarrassed myself at the relaxing swimming pool in front of the girl who admires me.

Sigh. Vampires can't swim.

12 comments:

  1. Since you're doing this, please do the fire sister's arc - We want all the Araragi x Sisters pervy mayhem!

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  2. Awesome thanks for the translation I love me some nadeko =P Wish someone would translate the series but as you pointed out it seems like its quite a hassle, too bad great series from the summaries I read

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  3. may I post this in baka-tsuki?

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  4. Please send an email to me so that we can work things out there.

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  5. I don't know how the Chinese version is like, but in Japanese, Monogatari series is not even close to translation hell; it's a translation abyss. Even with JLPT1+++++ :/

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  6. A decent amount of word play/jokes are ported over to Chinese. But overall, it is still pretty terrible to translate, even from Chi -> Eng

    The lack of Kanji makes Jap/Chi -> Eng a nightmare to do, I guess.

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  7. haha. vampires can't swim... good. I love this series. Thank you. :)

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  8. hahahahaha xDDD they can't swim really?? Didn't knew that one :'D
    thanks for the translation, great work! (:

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  9. To be more precise, one of their more obscure weaknesses is that, as undead creatures, they cannot cross running water.

    For obvious reasons not many mythos include it, since it can severely cripple the character.

    Tolkien did use this weakness for the Nazgûl, which are basically invisible zombies, all of them were afraid to cross rivers, except for the witch-king.

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  10. May I ask where you get the Chinese translations from? :) I wanna read more Monogatari

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  11. The next thing that's needed is to install the wedge in the ladder cup and adjust it so the area is clean against the cup wall. The wedge equipment helps the ladder stay in place and not float around when it is sitting in the water. Poolleiter

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