AiM – Various Colors
Ending Theme Song in “Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning”
Lyrics: Omichi Wataru (ZIZZ STUDIO) [作詞: 大道航 (ZIZZ STUDIO)]
Composition: 4D2Y (ZIZZ STUDIO) [作曲: 4D2Y (ZIZZ STUDIO)]

KANJI

冷たくなる手と　痛む心
君の温もりに　救われたんだよ
モノクロに映る　冬の空に
鮮やかな色たち　加えてくれたね

一人じゃない　ただそれだけで光
差し込む　Bright new world

初めて目にした
カラフルな世界で
”ともだち”そう言ってくれたね
舞い落ちる雪も　白銀に輝く
願いは叶うよ
You brought color to my world

自分の弱さに　向き合えずに
二人の未来が　壊れそうなときも
”君は絶対守る”やさしい目で
僕の幸せだけ　願ってくれたね

言葉をかわそう　甘えてばかりじゃ
孤独なままだから

もう諦めないよ
ひとりぼっちの君を
悲しい色が覆うのなら
僕が語りかけ　君を笑顔にする
今度は逃げない
I’ll bring color to your world

もう戻れないの
でも　この絆は消えない

僕達が描いた
カラフルな世界で
”ありがとう”君に伝えるんだ
赤青黄色のイロトリドリの街
僕はそう　今も笑っているよ

どこかで　また会える　きっと

ROMANJI

tsumetaku naru te to itamu kokoro
kimi no nukumori ni sukuwaretan da yo
monokuro ni utsuru fuyu no sora ni
azayaka na irotachi kuwaete kureta ne

hitori janai tada sore dake de hikari
sashi komu Bright new world

hajimete me ni shita
karafuru na sekai de
”tomodachi” sou ittekureta ne
mai ochiru yuki mo hakugin ni kagayaku
negai wa kanau yo
You brought color to my world

jibun no yowasa ni muki aezu ni
futari no mirai ga kowaresou na toki mo
”kimi wa zettai mamoru” yasashii me de
boku no shiawase dake negatte kureta ne

kotoba wo kawasou amaete bakari ja
kodoku na mama dakara

mou akiramenai yo
hitoribocchi no kimi wo
kanashii iro ga oou no nara
boku ga katarikake kimi wo egao ni suru
kondo wa nigenai
I’ll bring color to your world

mou modorenai no
demo kono kizuna wa kienai

bokutachi ga egaita
karafuru na sekai de
”arigatou” kimi ni tsutaerun da
aka ao kiiro to iro toridori no machi
boku wa sou ima mo waratteiru yo

dokoka de mata aeru kitto

TRANSLATION

When my hands grew cold and my heart was torn
It was your warmth that saved me
You splashed vivid colors upon
The monochrome winter sky

Because I wasn’t alone, that itself brought light
Shining down on a bright new world

As I gazed upon a colorful world
for the first time
You called me your friend
Making even the falling snowflakes glimmer silver
My wish will be granted
You brought color to my world

Unable to face the weakness within myself
The future we were meant to share almost collapsed
But with kind eyes that glinted with fierce desire to protect me
All you wished for was my happiness

We should have more conversations with one another, because just assuming without talking
Leaves us stranded in loneliness

I won’t give up anymore
When you’re all alone
And surrounded by sorrowful colors
If that’s the case, I’ll speak up to you and make you smile
I won’t run away this time
I’ll bring color to your world

We can’t go back
But this bond will never fade

In this colorful world
that we have painted
I need you to understand — Thank you
In a multicolored town of red, yellow, and blue
I’m still smiling even now because of you

We’ll be sure to meet again some day, somewhere

The Censored Equation

Written by Yusuke Iba

Based on Hirohiko Araki’s “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”

Original story in Japanese can be found here.

“Sorry for the wait. Here are the annual reports from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and three academic journals from Ohio State University on the discovery of the Wow! signal.”
“Thanks. Just leave them there,” I said, looking up from faded letters that were printed decades ago.
The white desk where my writing utensils and a notebook had been spread out only moments ago was now piled high with books and magazines that I had requested. Even the corner of the desk that had barely escaped the encroachment of books somehow got occupied by a serving of iced coffee.
Drinking the now lukewarm coffee in one gulp, I finally noticed that the young man standing in front was looking down at both me and the mess of books surrounding me with suspicion.
“You’ve got a look on your face that wonders if I’m really going to be using all of these reference books… I am. I want to know how research institutions and the U.N. work when they’ve come into contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. The more realistic it is, the more it will hold my readers’ interest.”
It all started three days ago.
An editor from Shueisha asked me to write a short story with “encounters with the unknown” as the theme.
“While I say encounters with the ‘unknown,’ it can be anything. Like discovering ancient ruins on the ocean floor or a new butterfly species in the Amazon rainforest… How about it? Would you be willing to take on this request?”
But, well, when it comes to encounters with the unknown, it can only be about alien lifeforms.
The day after I accepted the offer, I decided to visit the library of a nearby university in Morioh. I’d already read most of the books in Morioh’s local library that I had interest in, and I thought it would be a nice change of pace to visit somewhere unfamiliar.
When I stepped up to the air-conditioned checkout desk, identified myself, and asked to be allowed to browse their shelves, it turned out that the library director was a fan of mine. He led me to a small empty conference room so that I wouldn’t be disturbed by university students, and even assigned a staff member to help me find what I wanted.
That staff member was a man slightly younger than myself, named Chikamori. His hair looked like he had just aroused from sleep, but he wore a clean white button-down shirt and ironed khaki chino pants. A student ID card hung around his neck. According to what I heard as I was ushered to the conference room, he was a graduate student who was assisting at the service counter and acting as the library’s information guide during the university’s summer break.
When Chikamori heard that I wanted him to collect all of the books and magazines there were on extraterrestrial civilizations, he returned with truly a wide variety of books. There were children’s illustrated books on space science, periodical journals from astronomical observatories around the world, papers on astrobiology and astro-linguistics, reports on radio signals received by the Earth throughout history, even copies of copies of what looked like further copies of ancient manuscripts written in languages that I didn’t even know. As I perused them, my ideas grew rapidly.
Radio waves emitted from an extraterrestrial civilization. Scholars from all over the world trying to analyze them to find out what it said. I had about nine different ideas for the punchline, but I think I’ll choose the one that best fits the plot that comes out of it.
“…Why do humans go looking for aliens?”
As I casually murmured this, Chikamori standing nearby put a hand to his chin.
“Well, let me think… I guess it’s because it would be lonely if we were the only ones in this wide universe. Or it could be that people want to meet friendly aliens who will share their advanced technology with us.”
“If it was hostile aliens, they’d attack us. That on its own is pretty interesting.”
But would it be too easy for the punchline to be that the mysterious radio waves were the aliens declaring war?
“Hmm.”
Chikamori was nodding along without showing much interest, but since I was just organizing my thoughts out loud, I didn’t care.
“What I think is that most people looking for aliens don’t have a hard logic behind it.”
“Uh-huh… Then why do it?”
I tapped a finger on the SETI report in one hand. “They simply want to know if they’re out there. More than 500,000 people try to capture radio signals from extraterrestrial lifeforms day and night just to satisfy that curiosity. Maybe curiosity is more of an incentive than money or honor could ever offer.”
“Hmm.”
Chikamori seemed to be a man who was completely indifferent to things he wasn’t interested in, but it was better than having fake interest pointed my way, so I liked him a lot more for it.
“Do you believe in the existence of aliens, Chikamori-kun?”
Upon hearing the question, Chikamori gave his usual “Hmm” and paused in his sorting through the books. “Are you aware of the Drake equation?”
“Don’t make fun of me, I know that much. That’s the equation you use to calculate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations, right?”
The Drake equation is an equation invented by astronomer Frank Drake. By setting values such as the probability of a planet being born into this galaxy, the probability of life occurring on that planet, and how many of that was intelligent life that survived after establishing civilizations where interplanetary communication was made possible, then the Drake equation would help us to estimate the number of technological civilizations that existed in our galaxy today.
What’s important about this equation is that even if you went with extremely pessimistic values, the solution was almost always greater than one. This implies that there are indeed technological civilizations other than Earth in this galaxy.
That was how one of the books that I’d just read described it, anyway.
“To be more precise, it is the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy that could make contact with Earth. It’s like another version of the Fermi estimate.”
I lowered my crossed legs, rested my cheek on the desk, and glanced at Chikamori, who was stacking the books that I’d finished reading onto a cart. What was the Fermi estimate?
“…You sure know a lot on this.”
“Mathematics is my major.”
Chikamori lifted the student ID card hanging around his neck. The plastic card had “Shingiin University, Graduate Student, Dept of Mathematics and Science, Yuuto Chikamori” on it.
“What kind of research do you do as a math student?”
“The same thing that we did as children. I solve equations day in and day out.”
Chikamori smiled and gripped the handle of the full book cart.
“The Drake equation has always been said to be incomplete, even when it was first published. It doesn’t take into account the possibilities of colonized planets where advanced civilizations would build, or of new civilizations re-emerging on planets where intelligent life had previously died out. However, I think it is very significant that it made the step to replacing the question of ‘Are there aliens out there?’ with numbers and pursued the answer in a more logical fashion.”
So, he was the type that became chatty once his field of study was involved.
I looked away from Chikamori and placed both hands behind my head, leaning back in my chair to look up at the ceiling.
“Well, once you put numbers to it, the mystery is taken out of it.”
“You’re right. The mathematical numbers that we usually use take something vague and bring it down to a level that we can understand. Kind of like a translation device.”
The conversation stopped there.
After that, Chikamori, who had been working in a tireless circle of delivering relevant books to me and returning them, kept glancing at me, but eventually he took out a notebook and began to immerse himself in some sort of calculations.
I finished writing up a simple plot outline on a piece of lined paper that was close at hand, and rubbed my tired eyes. As I stretched up high in my seat, I said, “Chikamori-kun, I’m done. I’ve gathered most of the information that I needed.”
Chikamori looked up from the notebook in his hand and laid his pen in it. “Glad to hear it. Is there anything else I can help with?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll just clean up my mess.”
I stood up from my seat. The books had scattered everywhere in a messy manner that surprised even myself. As I reached for them, Chikamori stood up hurriedly as well.
“I’ll handle the rest, Rohan-sensei. Don’t trouble yourself with that. Just leave your admission card at the circulation desk.”
“Is that right? Then thanks. You’ve helped me out a lot.”
After I watched Chikamori leave the conference room with a mountain of books on his cart, I began to pack my things. I folded the paper with the plot written on it and tucked it away in my notebook, threw my writing utensils into my pen case, stacked my photocopied materials lined with too much yellow highlighter together with a binder clip, and then the worn-looking notebook next to it—
What’s this?
I raised an eyebrow when I noticed the unfamiliar notebook on my desk, but quickly connected the dots. It was Chikamori’s notebook.
—The same thing that we did as children. I solve equations day in and day out.
After staring at the notebook for a few seconds, I slowly reached out and opened to the first page.
Just as Chikamori had said, there was some sort of equation written in small print that filled the entire page. Of course, it wasn’t a simple one that was taught for middle schoolers or high school students to learn. Numbers and Greek letters were lined up in all directions, boiled down into incomprehensible symbols. It looked more like an avant-garde piece of art with mathematics as its theme instead of an actual mathematical equation.
“…?”
And strangely enough, the right half of the page that contained the equation had been wildly torn off. The equation was cut off right in the middle, but I couldn’t tell whether it was done on purpose or if Chikamori had done it by accident.
The next page and the page after that was filled with equations that appeared to have been written by Chikamori, but as I flipped through them, I noticed another strange thing.
Every page had the exact same equation written on them.
I am not particularly skilled in mathematics, so I couldn’t tell what this equation was trying to derive. But on every page, the same equation was lined up at the top while various annotations were written at the bottom. As I strained my eyes to read those annotations—
A sound.
I turned around and saw Chikamori standing there, having opened the door to the conference room. It seemed that he had stopped in his tracks when he saw me looking at the notebook.
I was a little embarrassed, but what the heck. There was no point trying to cover myself up when I was caught red-handed. The only thing to do at this point was to own up to it.
I slapped the notebook shut and took a step towards Chikamori so that I could hand it to him.
“Is this equation your research project? You looked like you were working on it very intently…”
“Warning, Avertissement, Advertencia, تحذير, предупреждени, Aviso, warnung. Permission is required to view. P3rmission is r3quir3d t0 vi3w.”
I took a step back.
I kept my distance and stifled my breath. My shoulder bag had dropped to the floor long ago. I laid the notebook in my left hand onto the desk and slid it across, but Chikamori’s gaze didn’t move an inch. I brought my right hand to the front of my body to prepare for an attack at any moment.
Chikamori didn’t move.
After murmuring in a mechanical voice, that reminded me of metal, the same word in various languages of the world and a few mysterious words after that, his eyes had moved sharply up top so that I was seeing the whites of his eyes.
For some reason, I felt as though someone else was watching me.
“…I’m sorry for looking at it without your permission.”
Whatever it was, the first thing I needed to do was gather information.
I made a face as contrite as I possibly could, and spoke to him in an apologetic tone. “I was curious on what exactly you were researching— Hey! Are you listening?”
I brought my fingers to his face and snapped twice. Chikamori made a small, fluttering blink, and returned his gaze to me.
“Is something wrong?”
That was what I wanted to ask.
Generally speaking, I think that if someone that I’d just met that day showed the whites of their eyes at me and said something incomprehensible, then they deserved to be attacked. Even more so when they made such a strange warning like that.
But the feeling that someone else was gazing at me as I received that warning bothered me. If someone was watching this place, I didn’t want to bring out my Stand until I knew more.
“Chikamori-kun.”
I grabbed the notebook that had only made it to the middle of the desk, and handed it to him. Chikamori’s smile returned and he took it.
I guess I’d have to resort to the more classic method of information gathering.
“The equation that’s written in this notebook… What is it?”
As soon as I said that, Chikamori’s smile froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Drake’s equation is supposed to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations that are capable of contacting mankind, right? Then that equation should play a role as well. It looked like a bunch of nonsensical symbols to me, though.”
Hearing this, Chikamori brought the notebook in his hand slowly to his chest.
After a few moments of hesitation, he said very carefully, “…This equation calculates how to access another dimension.”
“Another dimension, huh?”
I wondered if people who studied mathematics were a bit odd, after all. But Chikamori seemed to be aware that what he’d said could be misinterpreted, because he continued: “You might laugh at me for talking about different dimensions, but nowadays the M-theory, which encompasses the superstring theory, makes it not unlikely for the possibility of other dimensions to exist—”
“Stop, stop! Can we just skip the complicated stuff?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I got too excited. Not even my friends in the department bother to listen to me…”
Chikamori, who had begun to lean forward eagerly, scratched his head in embarrassment. After we smiled at each other,
“…Are you able to access this other dimension, then?”
“Only if I can solve this equation.”
I put a hand to my chin and squinted at him.
Was he teasing me? I’ve seen too many people try to dramatize a story that had happened to them in amusing ways in order to get me interested in using it for my manga. But Chikamori didn’t look like he was just telling a random story, and I still didn’t have a single answer about the warning he made when I saw the equation. And above all, I found it all very interesting.
In the end, that was what was most important.
“I like that idea. If you don’t mind, would you let me gather information on that equation so that I can write about it?”
“But what about your story on radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations that you were researching on all this time…?”
“I don’t care about the cosmos anymore.”
Besides, exploring a mysterious equation was also an “encounter with the unknown” in a broad sense.
Chikamori gave a small sigh, then tapped the cover of the notebook in his hand.
“This equation uses coefficients related to spatial structure and physical constants to look for numbers that would be the key to accessing another dimension.”
“But you still haven’t solved it yet, right?”
Chikamori nodded.
“The reason for why this equation isn’t solved is quite simple— because it is incomplete.”
He nearly slammed the notebook onto the desk and pointed to the torn part of the equation on the first page.
“This equation was contrived by another student at this university. I merely inherited this notebook from her. This part was already torn up by someone when I had received it.”
“Then why not ask the student who came up with this equation?”
“She collapsed while trying to solve it.”
Chikamori continued talking as I looked at him questioningly.
“It’s been almost three years since she collapsed and she still hasn’t regained consciousness. Maybe she’ll never recover. I’m still struggling to figure out what to put in the second half of the equation to make it work. But I want to solve it, no matter what.”
“Are you feeling the drive of a mathematician’s passion? …I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t think there’s a point to spending time on something you can’t solve.”
Chikamori stiffened briefly at those words, but then slowly shook his head.
“The one who collapsed… She’s my girlfriend.”
After that, Chikamori went quiet.
Seeing this, unfortunately, I felt my interest ebbing away.
“…I see.”
It was me who’d said that I wanted to cover the story.
Which was why I couldn’t dare to mention that, honestly, this story seemed a bit fishy.
An equation that was able to access another dimension was interesting enough, but someone had torn a part of that equation off? His own girlfriend had collapsed? And he still couldn’t solve it? I mean, who even talks about private details of their life like that to someone they’d only just met?
Chikamori stared at me intently.
I stared back at him, pretended to give a thoughtful nod, and shoved my writing utensils and notes into my shoulder bag.
“It’s an interesting equation. I’ll go home and work on a plot to see if I can turn it into a short story. Thanks for your help today. You’ve been great.”
“…She doesn’t have long.”
The words that came out of Chikamori’s mouth had such urgency in them that they stopped me as I started getting ready to leave.
“Even her doctor has thrown in the towel. I was told that she’s slowly deteriorating and could die at any moment. If that’s the case, then, I’d like to at least fulfill her last wishes.”
Chikamori’s words carried weight. They had the weight of three years in helplessness that he must have spent.
“The reason I’m telling you this, Rohan-sensei, is because I think that by publicizing this equation to a wider audience, that might help me to gather enough clues to solve it.”
I dropped the bag that I’d just slung over my shoulder onto the desk and crossed my arms.
I wouldn’t have to investigate more into his background before proceeding. There aren’t many people in this world that you can trust right after you’d met them. But I did believe that people with mutual interests was one of the few exceptions.
“What do you think? Will you use this equation for your short story?”
A result always came with a cause of some kind. There had to be a reason for why Chikamori’s girlfriend had collapsed while solving the equation. I could practically hear my own curiosity welling up inside me.
Curiosity was a greater incentive than money or honor, after all.
I looked into Chikamori’s eyes, who was looking back at me solemnly, and nodded slowly.
“I promise you on that. By the way… I sympathize for all of the bad luck surrounding you. It’s awful. Heartbreaking, even. Three years, huh? I can only imagine what it must have been like for you to think about your girlfriend for that long and work on that equation with the sole intention of putting her last wishes to rest. If there’s anything I can do, please tell me. —By the way, just out of curiosity, where is the hospital that your girlfriend is staying?”
Chikamori was clearly embarrassed.
“…I’m sorry, but that’s…”
The feeling that someone was watching me had disappeared completely.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I understand. It would be weird to go around telling someone you’d just met the location of the hospital where your girlfriend is staying. Now, can you take a look at my right hand?”

***

After Chikamori had graciously provided me with information, I bade him goodbye and went to visit the hospital where Chikamori’s girlfriend was hospitalized. I remember that it took place at around 5 in the afternoon.
I picked up a visitor’s card from the nurse’s station on the fourth floor, and looked at the list of this floor’s inpatients that was posted inside the station while I was at it. Her name was marked with a red circle magnet.
I walked towards her room, twirling the strap of the cardholder with my fingers.
The hospital corridors were filled with an indescribable sense of desolation. As I walked past stretchers full of medical equipment, the distinctive smell of the hospital’s disinfectant soap hit my nose.
—I had falsified Chikamori’s memories before coming here. Because it would be troublesome if I ended up running into him at the hospital, I had rewritten in his brain that he’d been working at the library’s service counter since the morning.
I found the room that I was looking for, disinfected my hands with the sanitizer hanging on the railing, and pulled open the door.
She must have been the daughter of a wealthy family, because even though she had been in the hospital for three years, it was a private room.
I glanced down at the woman lying on the white bed. She was unconscious, but breathing on her own. About the age of a college student. Just like Chikamori had said.
I pulled out a pale green round-seated stool from against the wall and sat down beside the bed. A fresh arrangement of yellow gerbera daisies sat in a vase on the shelf beside the bed.
I activated my Stand with my right hand.
Her hollowed cheeks changed into a laminated pattern. Exhaling slowly, I traced the thin, peeling pages with my fingers, and turned the first page.
Starting from her childhood memories, I read carefully and deliberately.

Excitement, discomfort, pleasure, surprise, curiosity, nervousness, relief, uneasiness, fear, a big house, vaulted ceilings, a giant dog, the scent of cypress tickling my nose, a study room surrounded by books, the loneliness and helplessness in elementary school when my parents relocated to a different city and I had to leave my friends, the bittersweet memories of my first love in middle school, the closing party that I attended still covered in sand after the sports festival in high school, the surprise I felt in college when I went on my first date with Chikamori and was taken to a fishing pond for some reason.

—I believed that the essence of my Stand, “Heaven’s Door,” laid here.
While a person could only experience their own life, I could relive the lives of others in the form of “books,” which allowed me to see things more deeply, more multifacetedly and objectively. All of it was inputted into the single individual known as Rohan Kishibe, where it was chewed on by curiosity, swallowed by imagination, and reconstructed into a story with wisdom, skill, and creativity, which in the end was outputted into the form of a comic.
My hand stopped when I saw the word “equation” appear on the page of her cheek for the first time. It was in the early fall of her third year of college, which also matched Chikamori’s story. And when I touched her cheek again—
“…”
The feeling of someone watching me.
I looked up towards the door of the hospital room. The door was still closed.
I took a few deep breaths to calm my palpitating heart.
It felt similar to when you read aloud the wrong paragraph in the school textbook and the eyes of your entire class looked at you all at once. It only lasted for a moment, but I broke out into a cold sweat and I felt my hairband getting damp.
As I slid my fingers across her cheek again, I felt a stare on me from behind.
I quickly turned around, but there were only large window panes behind me. A quiet residential area lived below beneath the blue-black summer sky, and a tall Owson sign stood just in front of me. Naturally, there was no one looking back at me. At the convenience store were three children enjoying their summer vacation, eating ice cream next to their parked bicycles.
I looked down at the page again, forcing down that itching feeling of eyes on my back. And then, I turned the page.

—As I was carrying old library documents from the new university library to the lab, I found a thick dust-covered journal in a gap between the library shelves. The journal belonged to a physicist who had once been a student at this university, and he had recorded in it his ideas for accessing another dimension.

This was it.
Sitting back in my chair, I turned the page of her cheek.

I forgot about transporting the documents to the lab and went to the university’s cafeteria, becoming engrossed in that journal.
The equation that was constructed based on the ideas recorded there suggested the possibility that even we, who are constrained to three dimension, could access spaces of different physical laws by solving a few mathematical problems.
A few mathematical problems, which were divided into three major ones.
First point, I did not know the constants.
Constants are like an anchor, the only numbers that remain unchanged in a constantly shifting equation. You can’t solve the equation if you don’t know the constants.
In this equation, the answer you reached substitutes the constant for the next equation, and the process repeats endlessly. Sometimes the answer could be one digit, sometimes seven digits. In other words, there was no other way but to calculate one by one. It took me about fifteen minutes to verify just one number.
Second point, operations done by computer made no sense.
Theoretically, there are 4,194,304 possible constants that can be thought up, which is the 11th power of the 4th dimension.
Even if there were ten billion different calculations, a computer could be done with those calculations as I was drinking tea. But what actually happened was that the computer’s calculations would never end, and seemed to go on forever, like pi. I realized that this equation was not something that I could just solve.
This was a little more tricky.
Substitute the answer you reach for the constant in the next equation, and repeat the process endlessly.
In other words, this equation can only be solved once at a time. I wouldn’t be able to adopt a human-wave tactic of having 4,194,304 people attacking the equation at the same time in order to finish the calculation in one go.
And third point, someone was watching me.
Since the very moment I came up with the original form of this equation, I have constantly felt the presence of someone watching me. That feeling gradually grew stronger as I worked on the calculation, which I think is a sign that I am getting closer to its solution. This feeling was the only thing that changed while I calculated the equation.
When this feeling reached its critical point, something was going to happen.
And whatever happened would be the real solution to this equation.
Of course, it is near impossible to do nearly 4.2 million calculations without a computer. I asked for help from my professors and friends, but they refused, saying that the idea of accessing another dimension was ridiculous.
But I could not give up.

I stopped turning the pages for a moment.
The memories that I read through Heaven’s Door were usually just a list of facts, but her memories concerning the equation were unusually detailed and easy to understand. Perhaps these memories were just that impressive in her mind.
Because I didn’t have any paper nearby, I wrote on my arms to make my own calculations.
If four constants could be assigned to an hour, and let’s say she worked on it for eight hours daily for 365 days, then the numbers she could use to substitute in a year was 11,680. At that rate, it would take about 360 years to finish calculating all of the numbers.
I touched her cheek, trying my best to ignore the stare that still pierced my back.
Now, let’s find out how she didn’t give up.

I thought about it this way.
Although I had borrowed the idea from a physicist, it was hard to believe that the equation I’d come up with was the first to be discovered in the world. There had to have been someone else, in history, besides me.
I’d thought right.
If you paid close attention, you can find traces of it everywhere in the world: in the margins of the Dutch translation of “Anatomische Tabellen,” in the blue sky of the Monet painting collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in a placard that someone held up during the televised coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in the margin of a newspaper’s advertisement column the day after the terrorist attacks on America, in the opening video of a Kohaku Uta Gassen from a couple of years ago. The dates and constants left on them may have looked like a mere string of numbers, but they were the results of research made by putting someone’s life at stake.
They were unraveling the equation.
They were brute force attacks of human effort that had been passed down and inherited for hundreds of years. Even though we do not live in the same time, I am not alone.

I stopped turning the pages and reached for a bottle of mineral water. As I turned the cap of the sweating plastic bottle and drank deeply, I felt the nice sensation of cold water filling my stomach.
—Perhaps this was how it went.
Those who come upon this equation must have arrived to the same conclusion as their predecessors, and guessed that those predecessors must have left their mark somewhere.
Therefore, the first thing to do is the investigate the research results.
And if they look carefully, they find clues all over the world that tell them ‘I calculated this far for whatever number of years, to this date’. Then, taking the number that was calculated on the most recent date, they substitute that to uncover the next number.
They didn’t need to find their own successor or even tell anyone what they had calculated. Only those who found value in this equation would be the successors.
Once this equation was solved to its end, what would happen? That curiosity was the only thing that had kept them going.
There were only a few more pages remaining on her cheek.

Two years after I had started calculating the equation, I was troubled by the feeling that someone was watching me. It was to the point that it interfered with my daily life.
I couldn’t stand the feeling of someone hiding behind me, so I started to put my back against the wall as much as possible. I was no longer able to walk the streets alone at night, and I started going back to the dormitories in the company of friends. I couldn’t stand doors or curtains even being the slightest bit open.
But this was also proof that I was getting closer to the solution.
I realized that perhaps the next number, or the one after that, would be the constant that I was looking for.
And once I realized this, I felt a bottomless fear of the equation that I had been trying so hard to solve all this time.
The stare I feel is more like that of one condemning a crime, not that of one looking compassionately over their child. I was not so foolish as to not know what it meant.
I wondered if I should explain my situation to the man that I was dating, but in the end, I decided not to. It seemed cruel to give him unnecessary information when I didn’t know what would happen after the equation had been solved.
I had once filmed an hour-long video where I went into great detail about the equation. I was confident that, with this much detail, anyone would be able to understand the equation, but when I played back the video, I found a video of myself issuing endless warnings in English, Spanish, Arabic, and so on. I am only fluent in Japanese, English, and Esperanto, the artificial language that I learned at university. In all other languages, I only knew basic greetings.
On another day, I intentionally left the notebook in the lab opened to the equation written on it. However, no one seemed aware of the equation as a written medium. Even more interestingly, if a part of the equation was missing, the rest of the equation was visible to others.
This was probably the reasons for why the equation was not widely known. It was as if the equation itself refused to be solved.
—And this was why I could not stop myself from working on it.
I could not ignore the persistence of our ancestors who had devoted their wisdom to solving this equation for the past 500-odd years, and more than anything, I wanted to know for myself what would happen if I solved the equation.
Curiosity is the fundamental need that makes us human.
I left the results of my research everywhere I could. I asked people that I knew within the country and abroad to spread it, adding 100 to the constant that I had found.
This way, the next person who tries to solve the equation will be unable to solve it because they would be using the wrong constant. I felt uncomfortable about abusing our history and tradition, but if the equation was solved and nothing happened, then all of the details could just be revealed then.
Besides, even if something did happen to me, then at least perhaps this equation would be solved in the far, far future.

With each turn of the page, I could feel the number of stares on my back increasing.
The gaze went beyond anything that came from a physical mass, but it didn’t stop my trembling fingers.
There were only a few pages left.

—On that day, I solved the equation by substituting a constant.
The constant was 3286764. After some complicated calculations, the solution pointed to D = 37. Neither the constant, nor the solution, nor the number itself had any meaning. What’s important is what happened after.
Instantly, I noticed that the gaze that had plagued me for two years was gone.
What in the world was going to happen next?
I continued to sit in my chair, bracing myself. It read 2:17 AM on the clock. There was no one else in the lab. In this room, where I could hear nothing but the air conditioner and the sound of the computer running, I must have waited for about three minutes with my eyes closed.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The computer display in front of me was still showing the equation and solution that I had typed in.
I let out a big sigh and looked up at the ceiling.
It felt so anti-climactic.
I’ll try the same thing again tomorrow, and if still nothing happened, then I’ll give up.
I wasn’t worried that my two years spent might have been a grand waste of time.
“Can you tell me your greatest achievement in college?”
“Yes. I discovered and worked on an equation. It was an equation that’s been studied all over the world, and something that I’d inherited through time.”
Yeah, this would make for good material in future job interviews.
I cheerfully got up from my chair, shut down my computer, and put on my backpack stuffed with books and lecture notes. I stopped in front of the door of the lab, where I had to write my name and the time I was leaving on the sign-in/sign-out chart posted on the door.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 2:26 AM.
I wrote 0226 in the box for time left, and 7866194 in the box for my name.
I thought I was seeing things.
But no matter how many times I looked it over, my name was still a string of numbers.
—Someone is standing behind me.
I felt their presence so unmistakably that I turned around reflexively, letting out a small scream.
There was no one there.
But all of the letters that surrounded me had been changed into numbers.
The letters on the spines of books lined along full shelves, the printed words on flyers scattered on the floor, the words on the computer’s shutdown screen, a sign someone had grabbed from the cafeteria that had said “Chilled Chinese food now available,” the label on the plastic bottle of oolong tea that I had been drinking from, the notice on the wall about the eighth annual lab barbecue competition, it all changed into lines of cold, robotic numbers.
The moment all of the numbers changed to “5” at the same time, a hair-raising anxiety crawled through my body. When the numbers changed to “4,” it became a certainty.
A countdown after I’d gotten those repeated warning looks.
When this countdown reached “0,” something was going to happen.
I leapt for the notebook that I’d left on my desk, as my heart beat explosively in my chest.
I needed to erase this equation before someone saw it.
Or more precisely, I needed to erase the ideas of the physicist that had led to this equation.
On the first page of the notebook, he had written the equation and various annotations around it, but they too had all been turned into meaningless numbers.
I tried to rip out that first page that had the equation written on it, but my hands were trembling so badly that I only took the back half of the equation and the physicist’s idea. But as long as the physicist’s idea was lost, there wouldn’t be anyone to solve the equation.
Everything became “3.”
Three seconds left. Not even enough time to leave this lab.
The lab’s paper shredder was just diagonal of my position in the room. There was no time to shred my research notes.
I had to get rid of this piece of paper that I’d ripped out right here and now.
All I saw around me was a computer, a display, cables stretching in every direction, a half-full plastic bottle of oolong tea, my backpack, piles of paper scattered on the floor, a wooden desk, a stack of papers, a garbage bin,
—Do I throw it in the garbage bin?
No. I don’t know what will happen to me, but if it ends up involving the police, they will search the contents of the garbage bin.
Do I hide it in the stack of papers?
If you want to hide a tree, put it in a forest. Everyone knew that. But once they found that my research notebook was torn, they would look for the torn part.
Burn it in a fire?
Ugh, I shouldn’t have quit smoking in high school.
No. Think of it in a different perspective. It’s not the piece of paper that’s important. It’s what’s written on it. To erase the writing on there that was made in pen—
Everything became “2.”
I quickly grabbed the bottle of oolong tea. With a flick of my thumb, I unscrewed the cap and spilled the liquid all over the piece of paper.
I don’t remember. I think I would have written it with a permanent marker since it was so important. But if I did indeed write it with a water-based pen, then it might blur and become unreadable.
But, of course, it was written in oil-based ink.
I stared in a daze at the piece of paper wet with oolong tea. I had very little time left. There was no way for me to erase the information on this paper without moving from here—
Everything became “1.”
There was a place. One place where it was unlikely to be found.
I hurriedly rolled up the torn piece of paper and stuffed it into my mouth. I swallowed vigorously as if I were swallowing a medicine capsule. I could feel the damp paper sticking slightly to the back of my throat as it fell towards my stomach.
Now there was nothing to fear. I’m sure that this equation can be solved if our science and technology had developed to the point that we reached the technological singularity, but— Who are you?
Everything became “0.”

I tried to turn to the next page, but there were no more pages left. At the same time, the sensation of someone watching me as I’d read, disappeared.
No wonder the other half of the equation couldn’t be found. Not even Chikamori would have thought to look inside his own girlfriend’s stomach.
I stared at her as she slept on peacefully.
“Curiosity is the fundamental need that makes us human,” that was a good line she’d said.
My fundamental need, at the very least, had not yet been satisfied. There were still too many mysteries left to this equation.
Why had she been attacked by numbers? Was it a curse of some kind that befell those who solved the equation? Wasn’t the main purpose of the equation to allow access to another dimen6ion? And most of all…
Who did s9e see at the end?
It wasn’t clear whether the consciousness of the person who solved the equation jumped to another dimension, or if the new concept overheat1d the brain. But it was clear that th1s equation had mysteri8us power and w27? My head 664291,
—Someone was staring at me.
It wasn’t from just one direction.
I felt a pressing feeling of ey3s watching me from every corner of the room. And what f4lt even more overpowering was the feeling of someone standing behind me84.
I stood up quickly kic6ing the chair I’d been sitting on.
Making the first move is always best. If I lost the initiative, I would be a5 a disadvantage.
My waist twisted as I swung my right arm, activated my St0nd, and struck once as I tu9ned arou2d…
No one was there.
At the same time, I realized that the numbers that had been eating away at my mind had all disappeared, but I didn’t think of it as a sign of improvement.
That was because the English letters of the Owson sign that stood directly in front of the quiet residential area below me had changed to “04521.”
I hurriedly turned around and flipped through the pages of her cheeks. All of the letters had been replaced by lines and lines of numbers.
And then all of the numbers changed to “5.”
“—Dammit!”
Was it because I read her memories? Did I trigger the same phenomenon that she went through because I re-lived the equation’s unraveling through her memories?
Everything became “4.”
I could clearly feel someone breathing down my neck. But I knew that if I turned around, I wouldn’t see anyone, and I didn’t want to waste my precious time on that. A dull pulsing pounded in my ears. I broke out into a sweat as irritation that made me want to scream washed over me.
My vision wavered.
The scenery in front of me changed, and with each change, I could feel the colors slowly fading away.
The Morioh town where I lived, the Jimbo town where Shueisha was located, the Kunimi Pass memorial park where I’d gone to visit graves numerous times, the Ponte dei Sospiri that I’d sketched in Venice, a small bed in a dark private house, a lecture room at some university, the corridor of my grandparents’ ryokan, the starry sky.
There didn’t seem to be any correlation between the changes of scenery.
Everything became “3.”
One second.
Using just one precious second, let’s get this situation straight.
My goal is to figure out this equation.
If I did nothing and lost consciousness, I’ll end up like Chikamori’s girlfriend. In addition, I wouldn’t gain any more information on the equation.
So, how do I figure out the equation?
Would I be able to get around this if I beat someone? Who did I have to defeat to learn more about this equation? Where was the one I needed to beat? Was there even an enemy for this phenomenon in the first place?
Everything became “2.”
—They’re here.
In her moment of unconsciousness, she had seen someone.
I don’t know who she’d seen. But if they were to appear before me as well, if they were the one setting the curse of this equation into place, then there was still an opportunity.
I already knew what I was going to write in them. “Reveal yourself.” I only had one second to do it. But I could do it. I’d give it to them in a single shot.
The feeling of the floor supporting my feet suddenly disappeared. The wind ate at my ears, and I could feel my internal organs floating up and trying to leave through my mouth. As the sensation of falling became infinite…
Everything became “1.”
It was pitch dark.
I heard the sound of rushing water from somewhere. I could hear the sound of scraping chains, and the smell of dark green assaulted my nose. I opened my mouth so that I could vocalize at any moment, and sticky drool fell from my mouth. The sensation was like motion sickness, where everything in my stomach came hurtling back up.
I felt a warm breeze on my back. But even though my mind thought to turn around, my body would only move slowly as though I were in a time-lapse movie.
When I turned around to face endless darkness, I saw someone standing within it.
Whether it was man or woman, or even human, I couldn’t tell. I could see slight phosphorescence around them. They were about the same height as me, but it was too dark to see their clothes. The skin was slightly pale and their irises were pitch black. They had the features of one who could have originated from any country. Both arms hung slack, as if to show that they bore no hostility.
For some reason, my brain felt that there was a mathematical beauty in the way they looked.
“Heaven’s Door!”
My right arm tensed before I even said the words.
The words I’d released had definitely hit their arm, but the numbers “628743” written down rendered no effect through my Stand whatsoever.
Amidst my fading consciousness, I saw it.
The person standing before me raised their left arm with my meaningless order scribbled on it, and held up an index finger against their smiling mouth.
Everything became “0.”
That’s where I lost consciousness.

***

“…Agh!”
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was dust mixed with hair underneath the bed.
I turned over on the spot and slowly got up on my hands and knees. I must have hit my jaw hard when I fell, because the inside of my mouth felt a bit tender.
I glanced at my watch on my left wrist.
“…It’s been two minutes after I collapsed.”
On the left side of my watch were written the words “If you know the solution to the equation, forget about it after ten minutes.” As I was reading the memories of Chikamori’s girlfriend, I calculated the amount of time needed to solve the equation and then wrote this in.
“That was a close call. If I hadn’t taken precautions, I would only be writing in numbers now.”
Heaven’s Door was at an overwhelming disadvantage if it lost initiative, but the opposite was also true. Many a time in the past had I experienced the information that I had gathered in advance making the difference between life and death.
I pulled up the chair that had gotten caught in my fall, and looked down at the sleeping girlfriend through my sweat-soaked, disheveled bangs.
The curse of this equation is activated upon knowing its solution.
The equation itself didn’t have a will of its own, though, so perhaps calling it a “curse” wasn’t appropriate.
There was nothing hostile about this sequence of events. It was just a physical phenomenon, like how an apple falls to the ground or how water boils once it reaches its boiling point.
“…Guess I’ll leave.”
I picked up my shoulder bag off the floor, and touched the sleeping woman’s cheek with my Stand.
I tore out the dozens of pages on what she knew about the equation and stored them into my bag, then turned my fingers to release my Stand.
I waited a few seconds.
I watched as her body slowly moved, her voice hummed out of her mouth, and her nostrils began to twitch, before I pressed the nurse call button at the side of her bed and left the room.
After I returned my visitor’s card, pressed the elevator button and waited, the elevator door opened and a young man stepped out. It was Chikamori.
He was dressed no differently from how I’d seen him earlier in the day, except that he was holding a bouquet of yellow gerbera daisies in his hand. Because Chikamori had lost his memories of the daytime, he did not recognize me.
As I gave way for him to pass by, Chikamori gave me a small bow and started walking off with a discouraged look on his face.
I got on the stationary elevator and spun around on my heels. As I pressed the button for the first floor, I also wrote “Forget the equation” on Chikamori’s neck, his back facing me.
Consider it a bit of a thank you for helping me to find those reference books without a peep of complaint.
Chikamori entered his girlfriend’s room without knocking.
Just before the elevator doors closed, I heard Chikamori give a shout from within and all of the nurses at the nurse station standing up in alarm as one.

***

The train back home was crowded with office workers on their way home.
Luckily, I was able to rest my back on the seat divider near the door, so I leaned back and slowly, loudly exhaled as though I was pushing out the exhaustion that dwelled within me like mud.
I liked it here. It was very relaxing.
The night sky, still faintly blue, was filled with white clouds, and I could see huge steel towers with numerous black lines standing evenly spaced on the other side of the mountain ridge. The light bulbs coming from streetlights and advertisements became lines of light, and the sparse lighting from residential areas gave me a strange sense of nostalgia. I suddenly wondered when was the last time I had eaten dinner with someone.
As I looked out the train window upon a dark cemetery, my mind pondered over the equation.
The feeling of being watched.
It was probably a kind of warning.
Only a predator would stare at a zebra in the savanna. It was a defensive response that the brain emitted when it senses the slightest discomfort, the possibility that you were being targeted as someone’s prey. It was the remnant of a time from when humans were prey.
“Next stop, Morioh. The exit will be on the right. Those standing by the doors, please be careful as we approach the station.”
Chikamori’s lover stated that the equation could be solved if “we reached the technological singularity.”
The technological singularity.
She was referring to the technological revolution where artificial intelligence (A.I.) surpassed human capabilities. It was true that A.I. with free will could be able to solve that equation safely.
In any case, that equation was something that humans were still forbidden to touch.
From now on, I will be the only one who knows the truth of that equation. That was probably a good thing. If the solution to that equation spread throughout the internet, the human race could easily die out.
My G-pen shaped earring shook. I felt the train braking.
I could still feel it clearly burned into my mind even now.
In that moment, I had felt as if I had stepped over a boundary.
The new law of physics that mankind would gain once the equation was solved was probably something that could only be controlled in the distant future, when science had advanced enough to handle it.
That was why someone, or something, was censoring that equation.
“Morioh, Morioh. Thank you for riding with us.”
With the train’s announcement behind me, I stepped off onto the Morioh Station platform. The summer night breeze felt good against my clammy skin.

END

——————————–

維羽裕介　--Yusuke Iba--
Born in Kanagawa prefecture. Novelist. Has three moles in a row on his ear.
Previous works include the "School Poker Wars" series. 
His favorite Stand is Kraft Work. 

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Yoshimasa Masukura – First Riders
Lyrics: Shoko Ohmori

Composition & Arrangement: Cher Watanabe
**Official lyrics have not been posted, so these lyrics are by ear. There may be errors.**
1st Insert song of “Digimon Ghost Game”

KANJI
容易く解けるパズルは　いらない
最後のピースはハマらないほど面白い
痛くて焦って泣いても　約束
諦めないで　ギリギリ試すのも良いよね

「平気？」って，心配そうな君の手を取って
Challenge Spirit 迸るままにゆくよ

一番乗り　ああ、誰も知らない世界はどんなだろう
アクション　アセンション　名前を探してるエモーション
知らないから分かりたいことだらけのOur days
Next makes dimension
高鳴る鼓動がコンパス
思い思いの未来をLock on!

過ぎた失敗の堆積よりも
無茶でも無垢に　無制限に夢を歌おう
たまに傷つけ合っても　絆
信じ頼り合うたび湧くパワーの不可思議

「よせ」って反対されても止まれない　ごめん
テンプレだって　一緒なら塗り替わる

一番乗り　さあ、誰も知らない空へ　今だJump
アクション　アセンション　濃い色の虹にハイテンション
倍々式混沌もEnjoyしよう　All right
Next makes dimension
ゴールはない　いつの日か
初めての扉を開けて

歴史飾る　遠い冒険家たち
満足しただろうか　やり残しはないんだろうか
心躍る　友とThis sampling, somebody only world
一生なんてきっと一瞬だ　急げ

せーのでGo　僕たちのシンク口　奇跡起こそう
ファイティング　シャイニング　未知との出逢いハレーション
Curiosity 恐れさえ愛せるはずBrave heart
Step step, Update 合言葉はEvolution
重い高い扉を開けて

一番乗り　ああ、誰も知らない世界はどんなだろう
アクション　アセンション　名前を探してるエモーション
知らないから分かりたいことだらけのOur life
Next makes dimension
高鳴る鼓動がコンパス
思い思いの未来をLock on!

ROMANJI
tayasuku tokeru pazuru wa iranai
saigo no piisu wa hamaranai hodo omoshiroi
itakute asette naitemo yakusoku
akiramenaide giri giri tamesu no mo ii yo ne

“heiki?” tte shinpai sou na kimi no te wo totte
Challenge Spirit hotobashiru mama ni yuku yo

ichiban nori aa, daremo shiranai sekai wa donna darou
akushon asenshon namae wo sagashiteru emoshon
shiranai kara wakaritai koto darake no Our days
Next makes dimension
takanaru kodou ga konpasu
omoi omoi no mirai wo Lock on!

sugita shippai no taiseki yori mo
mucha demo muku ni museigen ni yume wo utaou
tama ni kizutsuke attemo kizuna
shinji tayori au tabi waku pawaa no fukashigi

“yose” tte hantai saretemo tomarenai gomen
tenpure datte issho nara nuri kawaru

ichiban nori saa, daremo shiranai sora e ima da Jump
akushon asenshon koi iro no niji ni hai tenshon
baibaishiki konton mo Enjoy shiyou All right
Next makes dimension
gooru wa nai itsu no hi ka
hajimete no tobira wo akete

rekishi kazaru tooi boukenka tachi
manzoku shita darouka yarinokoshi wa nain darouka
kokoro odoru tomo to This sampling, somebody only world
isshou nante kitto isshun da isoge

seino de Go bokutachi no shinkuro kiseki okosou
faitingu shainingu michi to no deai hareishon
Curiosity osore sae aiseru hazu Brave heart
Step step, Update aikotoba wa Evolution
omoi takai tobira wo akete

ichiban nori aa, daremo shiranai sekai wa donna darou
akushon asenshon namae wo sagashiteru emoshon
shiranai kara wakaritai koto darake no Our life
Next makes dimension
takanaru kodou ga konpasu
omoi omoi no mirai wo Lock on!

TRANSLATION
I don’t need a puzzle that’s easily solved
If the last piece doesn’t fit, the more interesting it gets
Despite the pain, panic, and tears, I promise
Never give up, it’s okay to test to your limits

You ask “Are you okay?” worriedly and I grab your hand
I’ll keep surging on with my challenger’s spirit

I’m first! Oh, I wonder what an unknown world is like
Action, ascension, the emotion of finding its name
Since I don’t know, I want to know everything there is in our days
Next makes dimension
The quick-beating heart is like a compass
Lock on to the future of your dreams!

Instead of counting the piles of past failures
Let’s sing about our reckless dreams, innocently, without limits
Even if we hurt each other at times, we are bonded
Inexplicable power swells whenever we trust and rely on each other

Even if you tell me “Stop,” I can’t, sorry
Templates can be rewritten when we’re together

I’m first! Now, to an unknown sky, jump
Action, ascension, excitement over a strong colored rainbow
Even in double the chaos, let’s enjoy, All right
Next makes dimension
There is no goal, but someday
We’ll open a door of firsts

Distant adventurers that color our history
Are you satisfied? Do you have any unfinished business?
With friends, this thrilling sampling is somebody’s only world
An entire life takes just one second, so hurry!

At 1, 2, 3, let’s go! Our sync will create a miracle
Fighting, shining halo upon meeting the unknown
With curiosity, we’ll even grow to love fear, Brave heart
Step step, Update, the password is Evolution
Open that high, heavy door

I’m first! Oh, I wonder what an unknown world is like
Action, ascension, the emotion of finding its name
Since I don’t know, I want to know everything there is in our life
Next makes dimension
The quick-beating heart is like a compass
Lock on to the future of your dreams!

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Where to buy this song: Official page

Aiiro Apollo – Pedal
1st Ending song of “Digimon Ghost Game”

KANJI
全部忘れて　遠くへ漕いでいこうか
真夏日が唄う
その目大きく開いて　そこに無いものも
いつかあらわになってしまう

大きくなる　夢が崩れる
それは筋書き通り　つまらないだろう

それ目掛けて手を伸ばして
掴めなくて届かなくても
何もなくて見えないほどに　暗いけど

別に何かわからなくて　ぼやっとして見えるもの
その足で登っていったら　見える

歪んだものから、生み出した言葉
いつも乾いて鳴って軋む
足を大きく踏み込む
風は倍速でいつもこの胸に飛び込むのかな

日が落ちる、前が見えない
それは筋書き通りつまらないから進め

明日はどこへ行こうか
そんな事ばかり思って
明日が来ない事など
考えてたらつまらないから

それ目掛けて手を伸ばして
遥か彼方届かなくても
何もなくて見えないほどに　速いから

別に何かわからなくて　ぼやっとして見えるもの
その足で登っていったら　見える

ROMANJI
zenbu wasurete tooku e koide ikou ka
manatsubi ga utau
sono me ookiku hiraite soko ni nai mono mo
itsuka arawa ni natte shimau

ookiku naru yume ga kuzureru
sore wa sujigaki doori tsumaranai darou

sore megakete te wo nobashite
tsukamenakute todokanakutemo
nani mo nakute mienai hodo ni kurai kedo

betsu ni nanika waranakute boyatto shite mieru mono
sono ashi de nobotte ittara mieru

yuganda mono kara umidashita kotoba
itsumo kawaite natte kishimu
ashi wo ookiku fumi komu
kaze wa baisoku de itsumo kono mune ni tobi komu no kana

hi ga ochiru mae ga mienai
sore wa sujigaki doori tsumaranai kara susume

ashita wa doko e ikou ka
sonna koto bakari omotte
ashita ga konai koto nado
kangaetetara tsumaranai kara

sore megakete te wo nobashite
haruka kanata todokanakutemo
nani mo nakute mienai hodo ni hayai kara

betsu ni nanika waranakute boyatto shite mieru mono
sono ashi de nobotte ittara mieru

TRANSLATION
How about we forget everything and pedal somewhere far away?
The midsummer day sings
Open those eyes wide, because what isn’t there
Will one day show itself

When the growing dream crumbles
That’s so by the book, isn’t that boring?

Aim for it and reach out your hand
Even if you can’t get it in your grasp
And it’s so dark that you can’t see anything

The things that look hazy and you can’t tell what they are
Will become clear to you if you keep climbing

Words born from twisted truths
Always sound dry and squeaky
Push down hard on those feet
I wonder if the wind will always blow into this heart at double speed

When the sun sets and I can’t see what’s ahead
Going by the book is boring, so instead, keep going

Where shall we go tomorrow?
That’s all I can think about
Because thinking that tomorrow won’t come
Is no fun

Aim for it and reach out your hand
Even if it’s in the far off distance
You’re so fast that you can’t see anything around you

The things that look hazy and you can’t tell what they are
Will become clear to you if you keep climbing

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Where to buy this song: Official page

Wienners – FACTION
[According to Wienners, “FACTION” is a combined word of “FACT + FICTION”]
1st Opening song of “Digimon Ghost Game”

KANJI
FACTION FACTION　曖昧なもんさ
怪・抽象的 FACTION LIFE

FACTION LIFE　奇妙奇天烈　怪々到来　ミステリアス
パッと振り返ったらふと　感じる未知へのマテリアル

That’s a FACTION FACTION　曖昧なもんさ
FACTION FACTION　リアル　イデアル
FACTION FACTION　背後に微か
FACTION FACTION　「今おいでます」

遠い　手を招いている正体は truth or lie？
境目ないグラデーションの狭間で「おいで」
幻聴　偶像　真実かさえもおぼろなまんま
GO AFTER, VANISH, SHOW UP　繰り返しては掴めない

あっち　こっち　驚き(ドッキン)彷徨って moments　迷宮はラビリンス
怪奇　突飛　暗闇(バックン)さあ迷って　口舌 make your happening
More FACTION FACTION　デタラメ　支離滅裂の中にもきっと
More FACTION FACTION　真実のカケラが埋もれてるはずさ REAL？
FICTION？

あ　真実の隙間に　深い深い亀裂　異次元へとワープして
アンビリバブル　開いた　暗い暗い余所の世界へのドア

Fear　跨いだ恐怖との境界線を
Fear　繋いだ点と点の一直線上
怪奇のタイトロープ　快感に落ちる？落ちない？
FALL DOWN

真と偽と表裏(ドッキン)交わって　迷路 into the mystery
無い？怖い？ 触れてみな(ゾックン)飛び込む　未体験の奥の奥に
More FACTION FACTION　もっと裏側　芯に迫ってよあと一歩
More FACTION FACTION　目に見えぬものへ辿りつくはずさ GO INTO
ACTION

FACTION FACTION　曖昧なもんさ
FACTION FACTION　ファンタジア
FACTION FACTION　聴こえておりますか
怪・抽象的 FACTION LIFE

いないいないばー

あっち　こっち　驚き　彷徨って moments　迷宮はラビリンス
怪奇　突飛　暗闇(バックン)さあ迷って　口舌 make your happening
More FACTION FACTION　デタラメ　支離滅裂の中にもきっと
More FACTION FACTION　真実のカケラが埋もれてるはずさ REAL？
FICTION？

ROMANJI
FACTION FACTION　aimai na mon sa
kai chuushouteki FACTION LIFE

FACTION LIFE kimyou kiteretsu　kaikai tourai misuteriasu
patto furi kaettara futo　kanjiru michi e no materiaru

That’s a FACTION FACTION　aimai na mon sa
FACTION FACTION　riaru idearu
FACTION FACTION　haigo ni kazuka
FACTION FACTION　”ima oidemasu”

tooi te wo maneiteiru shoutai wa truth or lie?
sakaime nai guredehshon no hazama de “oide”
genchou guuzou shinjitsu ka sae mo oborona manma
GO AFTER, VANISH, SHOW UP　kuri kaeshite wa tsukamenai

acchi kocchi odoroki (dokkin)　samayotte moments meikyuu wa rabirinsu
kaiki toppi kurayami (bakkun)　saa mayotte kouzetsu make your happening
More FACTION FACTION　detarame shirimetsuretsu no naka ni mo kitto
More FACTION FACTION　shinjitsu no kakera ga umoreteru hazu sa REAL?
FICTION?

a shinjitsu no sukima ni fukai fukai kiretsu ijigen to waapu shite
anbiribaburu hiraita kurai kurai yoso no sekai e no doa

Fear　matagaida kyoufu to no kyoukaisen wo
Fear　tsunaida ten to ten no icchokusenjou
kaiki no taitorohpu　kaikan ni ochiru? ochinai?
FALL DOWN

shin to gi to omoteura (dokkin)　majiwatte meiro into the mystery
nai? kowai? furete mina (zokkun)　tobikomu mitaiken no oku no oku ni
More FACTION FACTION　motto uragawa shin ni sematte yo ato ippo
More FACTION FACTION　me ni mienu mono e tadori tsuku hazu sa GO INTO
ACTION

FACTION FACTION　aimai na mon sa
FACTION FACTION　fantajia
FACTION FACTION　kikoete orimasu ka
kai chuushouteki FACTION LIFE

inai inai baa

acchi kocchi odoroki (dokkin)　samayotte moments meikyuu wa rabirinsu
kaiki toppi kurayami (bakkun)　saa mayotte kouzetsu make your happening
More FACTION FACTION　detarame shirimetsuretsu no naka ni mo kitto
More FACTION FACTION　shinjitsu no kakera ga umoreteru hazu sa REAL?
FICTION?

TRANSLATION
FACTION FACTION, It’s all a little vague
The curious and abstract FACTION LIFE

FACTION LIFE, It’s bizarre and odd, The peculiar keeps coming, it’s so mysterious
When I abruptly look back with startled realization, I feel that material of the unknown

That’s a FACTION FACTION, It’s all a little vague
FACTION FACTION, the real ideal
FACTION FACTION, faintly from behind me
FACTION FACTION, “I’m coming to you now”

Is the identity of that distant hand beckoning to me a truth or lie?
In the gradations of borderless intervals, “Come in”
Even whether we’re really hearing things or seeing idols remains hazy
GO AFTER, VANISH, SHOW UP, Can’t catch them on a repeat

Wandering here and there in surprise (heart pounding), the mystery moments are a labyrinth
Within the weirdness, the wild, and the dark (dry gulping), get lost in it, in a manner of speaking: make your happening
More FACTION FACTION, even within the illogical nonsense, I’m sure
More FACTION FACTION, there’s a piece of truth buried beneath it as REAL?
FICTION?

Oh, in the crevices of truth are deep, deep cracks that warp you to another dimension
Unbelievable, they open the door to a dark, dark other world

Fear, Straddling the boundary line of terror
Fear, It’s one straight line between the connected dots
It’s a tightrope of the bizarre – do you fall off it into pleasure? Or not?
FALL DOWN

Truth and lies are two sides of the same coin (heart pounding), merge them like a maze into the mystery
Is it not there? Are you scared? Give it a feel (spine chilling), as we jump into the depths of new experiences
More FACTION FACTION, get to the core by going further into the other side, just one step more
More FACTION FACTION, you’ll reach something that can’t be seen, GO INTO
ACTION

FACTION FACTION, It’s all a little vague
FACTION FACTION, Fantasia
FACTION FACTION, Can you hear it?
The curious and abstract FACTION LIFE

Peek-a-boo!

Wandering here and there in surprise (heart pounding), the mystery moments are a labyrinth
Within the weirdness, the wild, and the dark (dry gulping), get lost in it, in a manner of speaking: make your happening
More FACTION FACTION, even within the illogical nonsense, I’m sure
More FACTION FACTION, there’s a piece of truth buried beneath it as REAL?
FICTION?

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KANJI
雨に打たれても
I can see it
君だけの rainbow
Oh woah

眩しい太陽が
隠れているなら
見えない
未来は
同じようなもんさ

I got super powers
運命変わるのは
自分次第　君次第
誰にも止められないように
breaking my 限界の limit

どんな pain
感じても we gain
Oh
君との promise
守りたい
どんな時でも yeah
超えて行こう

共に走り抜けるから迷わない
道はまっすぐ ride with you
夢は覚めない終わらない諦めない
叶えて
歩んで
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down I’ll go down
Ooh lala ooh lala
一生一緒
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up I’ll go up
そばにいれば
We’ll make all dreams come true

日々向かっていく face off
切り開いて run & take off
誰にも気持ちだけは負けない
倒されてもまた立ち上がれ

ファイト I know
これから解放
信じることで生まれる才能
それを生かして君と final
Ready to go

どんな fate
待っていても the same
Yeah
君との promise
忘れない
どんな時でも
一緒に行こう

共に走り抜けるから迷わない
道はまっすぐ ride with you
夢は覚めない終わらない諦めない
叶えて
歩んで
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala
Running with you dreaming with you
Ooh lala
Ooh
抱きしめる夢
君と向かう one way
手は離さないよ Oh

共に走り抜けるから迷わない
道はまっすぐ ride with you
夢は覚めない終わらない諦めない
叶えて
歩んで
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down I’ll go down
Ooh lala, ooh lala
一生一緒
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up I’ll go up
そばにいれば
Our dreams come true
叶える
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer
When I’m with you
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer

ROMANJI
ame ni utaretemo
I can see it
kimi dake no rainbow
Oh woah

mabushii taiyou ga
kakureteiru nara
mienai
mirai wa
onaji you na mon sa

I got super powers
unmei kawaru no wa
jibun shidai kimi shidai
dare ni mo tomerarenai you ni
breaking my genkai no limit

donna pain
kanjitemo we gain
Oh
kimi to no promise
mamoritai
donna toki demo yeah
koete yukou

tomo ni hashiri nukeru kara mayowanai
michi wa massugu ride with you
yume wa samenai owaranai akiramenai
kanaete
ayunde
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down I’ll go down
Ooh lala ooh lala
isshou issho
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up I’ll go up
soba ni ireba
We’ll make all dreams come true

hibi mukatte iku face off
kiri hiraite run & take off
dare ni mo kimochi dake wa makenai
taosaretemo mata tachi agare

faito I know
kore kara kaihou
shinjiru koto de umareru sainou
sore wo ikashite kimi to final
Ready to go

donna fate
matteitemo the same
Yeah
kimi to no promise
wasurenai
donna toki demo
issho ni yukou

tomo ni hashiri nukeru kara mayowanai
michi wa massugu ride with you
yume wa samenai owaranai akiramenai
kanaete
ayunde
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala
Running with you dreaming with you
Ooh lala
Ooh
dakishimeru yume
kimi to mukau one way
te wa hanasanai yo Oh

tomo ni hashiri nukeru kara mayowanai
michi wa massugu ride with you
yume wa samenai owaranai akiramenai
kanaete
ayunde
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down I’ll go down
Ooh lala, ooh lala
isshou issho
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up I’ll go up
soba ni ireba
Our dreams come true
kanaeru
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer
When I’m with you
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer

TRANSLATION
Even as I’m soaked by the rain
I can see it
The rainbow that’s only yours
Oh woah

If the bright sun
is hiding
Then the invisible
future is
about the same

I got super powers
If you want to change fate
It’s up to me, it’s up to you
So that no one can stop me
I’m breaking my constrained limits

No matter what pain
We feel, we gain
Oh
My promise with you
I want to protect
No matter when that is, yeah
Let’s go above it

Because we run through this together, we won’t lose our way
The path is a straight line, riding with you
The dream still goes on, neverending, never giving up
Let’s make it true
and keep walking
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down, I’ll go down
Ooh lala ooh lala
Together forever
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up, I’ll go up
With you by my side
We’ll make all dreams come true

Every day we head towards the face off
Cutting open a path, we run & take off
We won’t lose to anyone when it comes to passion
Even if we fall, just get back up again

Fight, I know
From here on out, set yourself free
With the power of faith, talent is born
Make the most of it, and with you reach the final
Ready to go

No matter what fate
Awaits, it’s all the same
Yeah
My promise with you
I won’t forget
No matter when that is
Let’s go together

Because we run through this together, we won’t lose our way
The path is a straight line, riding with you
The dream still goes on, neverending, never giving up
Let’s make it true
and keep walking
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala
Running with you, dreaming with you
Ooh lala
Ooh
Embracing a dream
I head with you one way
I won’t let go of your hand, Oh

Because we run through this together, we won’t lose our way
The path is a straight line, riding with you
The dream still goes on, neverending, never giving up
Let’s make it true
and keep walking
Cuz we’re dreamers

Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going down, I’ll go down
Ooh lala, ooh lala
Together forever
Ooh lala, ooh lala
When you’re going up, I’ll go up
With you by my side
Our dreams come true
We’ll make it true
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer
When I’m with you
I’m a dream I’m a dream I’m a dreamer

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Where to buy this song: Amazon.JP (digital download)

Maica_n – Mind game
3rd Ending song of “Digimon Adventure:”

KANJI
あっという間に詰まる　交差点はHeavy traffic
出口なし　グルグル巡る
パッとチートで抜ける　妄想で悪あがき
頭の中はジグザグ

蓋を開ければミニチュアサイズの世界のクセに
本当　油断も隙もない　複雑怪奇に
チェックメイト　サイエンス

Oh my　バトルは爽快　起死回生
困惑　誘惑　タフな middle game
Oh no　切り札 queen sacrifice
生き延びる術　キングアンドナイト

あっという間に go back home
修羅場の波は hide out　時間稼ぎ　バラバラパズル
パッとビートで逃げる　心は裏腹に
気分は既にギザギザ

結局誰もが　ミニチュアボトルの海中遊泳
本当　余裕綽々で　裸の王様
準備不足で　サイを振る

Oh my　弾みで豪快　振り切って
究極　難局　タフなマインドゲーム
Oh no　冷たく　釣れないチェスクロック
そっぽ向いてる　キングアンドクイーン

For me, For my only dream like endless
いつか　きっと　形を変える
それでも　同じ心意気で　越えて行ける

Oh my　弾みで豪快　振り切って
究極　難局　タフなマインドゲーム
Oh no　冷たく　釣れないチェスクロック
味方にして

Oh my　バトルは爽快　起死回生
困惑　誘惑　タフな middle game
Oh no　切り札 queen sacrifice
生き延びる術　キングアンドナイト
そう My mind game

ROMANJI
attoiu ma ni tsumaru kousaten wa Heavy traffic
deguchi nashi guruguru meguru
patto chiito de nukeru mousou de waruagaki
atama no naka wa jiguzagu

futa wo akereba minichua saizu no sekai no kuse ni
hontou yudan mo suki mo nai fukuzatsu kaiki ni
Check mate! Science?

Oh my! batoru wa soukai kishi kaisei
konwaku yuuwaku tafu na middle game
Oh no! kirifuda queen sacrifice
iki nobiru sube King & Knight

attoiu ma ni go back home
shuraba no nami wa hide out　jikan kasegi barabara pazuru
patto biito de nigeru kokoro wa urahara ni
kibun wa sudeni gizagiza

kekkyoku daremo ga minichua botoru no kaichuu yuuei
hontou yoyuu shaku shaku de hadaka no ousama
junbi busoku de sai wo furu

Oh my! hazumi de goukai furi kitte
kyuukyoku nankyoku tafu na mind game
Oh no! tsumetaku tsurenai Chess lock
soppo muiteru King & Queen

For me, For my only dream like endless
itsuka kitto katachi wo kaeru
soredemo onaji kokoroiki de koete yukeru

Oh my! hazumi de goukai furi kitte
kyuukyoku nankyoku tafu na mind game
Oh no! tsumetaku tsurenai Chess lock
mikata ni shite

Oh my! batoru wa soukai kishi kaisei
konwaku yuuwaku tafu na middle game
Oh no! kirifuda queen sacrifice
iki nobiru sube King & Knight
sou My mind game

TRANSLATION
With just an intake of breath, the crossing is filled with heavy traffic
I travel in circles with no exit in sight
I daydream of escaping this useless struggle with an easy cheat
My head is full of zigzags

When I take a look inside, the world is mini-sized
But it’s really complicated and mysterious, where you can never be too careful
Check mate! Science?

Oh my! The battle is exhilarating, reviving from a hopeless situation
With confusions and temptations, it’s a tough middle game
Oh no! My secret weapon is sacrificing my Queen
The only way for the King & Knight to survive

With just an intake of breath, go back home
Hiding out from the waves of carnage and buying time is like scattered puzzle pieces
Contrary to my heart that flees with a beat
My mood is always jagged

In the end, all of us are staying afloat in the sea inside a miniature bottle
Acting composed like the emperor with his new clothes
Lacking the preparation, we roll the dice

Oh my! Shake off the rebound heartily
It’s the ultimate, most challenging, toughest mind game
Oh no! Like a cold chess lock not taking the bait
The King & Queen look the other way

For me, For my only dream like endless
One day, surely, its shape will change
But with the same spirit, I will overcome it

Oh my! Shake off the rebound heartily
It’s the ultimate, most challenging, toughest mind game
Oh no! Like a cold chess lock not taking the bait
Make me your ally

Oh my! The battle is exhilarating, reviving from a hopeless situation
With confusions and temptations, it’s a tough middle game
Oh no! My secret weapon is sacrificing my Queen
The only way for the King & Knight to survive
Yes, my mind game

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KUSHAGARA

Written by Ballad Kitaguni

Based on Hirohiko Araki’s “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”

Original story in Japanese can be found here.

The pseudonym “Juugo Shishi” was a multiplication table that was calculated all wrong.
When 4 x 4 (shishi) gives you 15 (juugo), it’s a reminder that life never goes the way you plan it; that was apparently why he made the name. When Rohan Kishibe saw the kanji for that pseudonym, its square edges reminded him of a map of Kyoto with its many street intersections.^[1]
As fellow manga artists working at Shueisha, Rohan had first met Juugo at the year-end party that he had unwillingly attended and had heard the meaning of Juugo’s name from the man himself. As Rohan remembered it, he had shrugged at the explanation and thought nothing of it then.
However, he was getting a full taste of that name’s meaning at this very moment.
“…See all the empty seats around?”
“Yeah, I see them.”
“Then why come all the way here to sit at my table?”
“Think about this from my perspective,” Juugo began. “I come to this café for refreshment and see a colleague here, right? If I greeted you, sat at a different table, and we both quietly drank our tea and left for home, it just seems, I dunno, unnatural? Standoffish? The right choice here is to sit together!”
Rohan had come to Café Deux Magots with the plan to drink their Earl Grey tea while working on his new storyline when a loud, amiable voice had called out to him. It belonged to Juugo Shishi, who also just happened to drop in. Before Rohan even knew what was happening, Juugo had slid into the seat across from him and ordered a ginger ale.
For Rohan, who wanted to spend his time alone thinking quietly, he was simply a nuisance.
“What do you mean ‘colleague’?”
“Aren’t we? We’re both manga artists working for the same publisher.”
“We’re in the same line of business, but… When you think about my level, it grieves me to call you someone from the same industry as I……But ‘colleague’? We’re not friends. It’s better to call ourselves business competitors.”
“Now, don’t be so cold, Rohan-senseiii! Being a manga artist is a lonely life, y’know? The only person you get to talk to once in a while is your editor! If you find a conversation partner, you’ve just gotta talk to them! Otherwise you’ll forget how to talk!”
“…”
If only you could be a prime example of the latter, Rohan cursed inside his head.
It was true that manga artists and writers were often indoor people. There were a lot of them who led the kind of lifestyle that Juugo mentioned.
But… even though Rohan was an eccentric, he wasn’t lonely (he had friends that he could count on) and he spoke with people on occasion. Besides, even if he really was alone, he didn’t think he would feel inconvenienced by that.
Also, for a manga artist, this man Juugo Shishi was… Well, as one could tell by his appearance, he was an impudent chatterbox. Definitely the kind of guy who was born into the world mouth first.
That’s right, Rohan remembered. Even when they had met that first time, Juugo went into great detail about the origin of his pseudonym when Rohan hadn’t even asked.
“So, Rohan-sensei, what are you up to? Here to brush up on your latest story?”
“Well, aren’t you perceptive. If that’s what you think, then why not let me spend my time thinking quietly?”
“What a coincidence! I’m actually here to work on my material too.”
“At least carry the conversation, won’t you?! If you’re just gonna talk to yourself out loud then sit somewhere else!”
“If I’m seen talking out loud to myself at a café, people will think I’m nuts! I don’t want to be seen as a weirdo, so it’s better to be sitting with someone when talking to myself.”
“Then go talk to a scarecrow or something. I bet you two would hit it off.”
“Now don’t say that, Rohan-sensei! Listen, what you’re drinking, it’ll be my treat… Okay?”
“What?! Don’t give me that bullshit! Do you honestly think that I, Rohan Kishibe, would get chummy with you over a single cup of tea?!”
“Calm down, man! Don’t yell out your name… You’re famous, remember? Look, those kids coming home from school are looking at us. What are you gonna do if they come over here begging for your autograph? You won’t have the chance to work on your plot anymore.”
“…”
“Or do you like kids?”
“I hate them.”
“Then you see where I’m going with this,” Juugo grinned. “Besides, it’s impossible to be alone in such a public place. What are you gonna do if someone who knew us both saw that we were sitting separately and avoiding each others’ looks while sipping tea? That itself would turn into a strange rumor.”
“…Tch.”
Rohan felt a distinct stab of annoyance then. This annoyance that he felt for Juugo was like… Like the one he felt for that shithead Josuke and that idiot Okuyasu. Guys like them were simpleminded and yet difficult to predict what they would do next, so Rohan didn’t like them.
Just by watching them, he could anticipate their next move to be something that was even more annoying, so that anticipation alone had him on pins and needles. They were the kind of people who stomped up next to others with their dirty feet, touched your private collection that you kept preserved on your shelves with their grimy hands, flipped through books with the same fingers that ate greasy potato chips and then put those books back on the shelves upside-down. There were plenty of other peeves that he could find, but to add it up, what Rohan wanted to get at was that these guys annoyed him for all of the same reasons.
As another manga artist, as a person who worked with expression like he did, Juugo’s careless, inconsiderate attitude was unbecoming and got on Rohan’s nerves. That’s why, at a basic level, he distinctly disliked the guy.
However—
“No, no, no, I mean, I get it?” Juugo said. “Yeah… I totally get it. Sitting at an open terrace with a gentle wind on your face, listening to the sounds of town life as you work on your story… You make a lot of progress in an environment like that.”
“…That’s right.”
“It’s easy to concentrate when you’re alone in a room, but that isn’t enough. In order to ‘express’ something, you need energy… So creating while being surrounded by ‘living energy’ is important.”
“…”
“That’s why the atmosphere of the town is great… The ‘lives’ flowing through it act as the background music. Reality and rawness don’t come from the inside, and you won’t find it inside a room. You need to catch what’s pouring out outside… That’s why, even though it’s a profession where you can easily work from home, you go through the trouble of shaving your face and going outside. At least, that’s what I do.”
“…I guess you really are a manga artist.”
To tell you the truth, Rohan did not hate this man as a manga artist.
Juugo Shishi’s series was not what you would expect from his vulgar appearance. Despite his dyed red hair with shaved hairlines on the sides and pierced eyelids, his work was fantasy. While his series had a fictitious culture and fictitious history, there was a very detailed reality structured into it. Even though it wasn’t real, the world in his manga had its own social etiquette, laws of physics, and each of the characters had a full background. To draw something like that, Juugo Shishi believed that he needed “experience” and “knowledge,” so he habitually studied and researched history and customs.
Rohan felt that Juugo’s works always had “logic” as its backbone. That’s why he could never act completely cold to this man.
Of course, he did not even consider once that this man was a better manga artist than himself.
“…So, about this new story of yours, Rohan-sensei. What’s it like?”
“I’m not obligated to tell you anything. It’ll piss me off if you stole my ideas.”
“Then how about you listen to my idea? I think my ideas are fun, but you could always use an objective view, right?”
“Why do I have to put myself through that?”
“I was thinking of trying out the horror genre once in a while as my main story, and I figured you’d have a great sense of that, Rohan-sensei.”
“…So you don’t just draw shonen manga about cautionary tales, eh? You think you can do horror?”
“But ghosts don’t scare me at all, man… I think things that hit more closer to home are creepier. So, I came up with some ideas on what would scare me… ‘A toilet paper roll that runs out no matter how many times you refill it’… That one feels scarily relatable… Oh, ‘A toilet paper roll that’s inexplicably sticky’ also gives me chills. Which one should I go with? I can’t decide!”
“They’re both incredibly scary ideas. I almost wet myself. Amazing.”
“Okay! In the trash it goes. I’m glad you’re so easy to read.”
Juugo laughed. Rohan didn’t laugh.
“If you want to bounce ideas off of someone, why don’t you discuss them with your editor instead of me?”
“Editor! That’s right! Speaking of my editor! There’s something I wanted to talk to you about!”
“Well, I don’t.”
The conversation didn’t click together, as usual, but Juugo kept talking anyway. Rohan rolled his eyes at Juugo’s rudeness but didn’t leave his seat in anger.
“Take a look at this.”
“…”
Juugo took out an A4-sized envelope out of his bag. Rohan saw the familiar “Shueisha Publications” logo on the front. As Juugo took out the contents of the opened envelope, he began talking.
“My editor got replaced the other day. My old editor knew how to do his job. We had the same taste in potato chips, and I liked how ‘Home Alone 3’ was his favorite out of the movie series. He only listened to traditional Japanese music, but it was great how he would only listen to THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT… Even when I put up the volume after work, he was always on board with it.”
“You two were close, huh?”
“He was seriously a great guy. And efficient. He was so efficient that he got promoted.”
“No longer had to hold your hand as your right-hand man anymore, huh?”
“Which is fine! It’s all part of the industry… Demoting, not so much, but being promoted is always a happy thing. However. However. My new editor… Well, he isn’t a bad guy. Yeah.”
“But he isn’t a good guy either?”
“No, I didn’t say that! In fact, he’s a great guy. He’s polite, thoughtful… But he’s a little too earnest. It’s good to be earnest, that’s an important quality to have in a job. But when you’re a little too much of it, then it becomes inconvenient… You know what I mean, right?”
“I won’t deny that.”
The issue with being earnest was how you applied that earnestness. When it came to his work, Rohan was earnest. No matter how twisted he was as a human being, there was no “treachery” when it came to drawing manga. While he may fool other people, he could not fool manga.
“It’s fine. Being earnest is a great quality… I welcome it. But the timing is all wrong. Did you receive documents of some kind, Rohan-sensei?”
“Nope. Probably the last thing my editor brought me was a Kinnikuman sticker… It was Curry Cook. You know him, I know you do.”
“Wow, I’m so jealous. Wish I had that. But my editor came to me and said ‘This is nothing special, but I hope you like it’ and then really gave me something that wasn’t special at all… Take a look.”
Saying this, Juugo pulled out a thin pamphlet from the envelope.
The pamphlet looked clean and businesslike, but not in a way that made one think that it should have a cover page made of good quality paper. It looked like a bunch of copy paper neatly stapled together.
On the very first page of this dull-looking pile of papers were huge words typed in brisk MS Gothic font.
“…Taboo word list?” Rohan read aloud.
“Yep. In other words, a list of words that can’t be used in manga or other publications.”
“That really is nothing special!”
“Right?! I got fed up just looking at the cover, but the contents are even more so. Look.”
Saying this, Juugo turned the pages. In syllabary order, the pamphlet was packed with “banned words” that was rare to see coming from a publishing company.
I see. Even I would get fed up with this.
These limitations were both the rules that changed manga from “art” into a “product,” as well as the shackles. It changed a simple expression into an object that could be purchased with money.
There was nothing interesting at all about a list crammed with those rules— but you couldn’t ignore it either.
“Let’s see here…” Rohan said. “Most of these words are ones that I agree with. The really obvious ones are the slurs. As long as my work is being published as a product, I want to avoid words like that.”
“Well yeah, you’re a professional.”
“But… What’s this? Some of them make sense, but… The ones that don’t make sense, they seem a little unreasonable, don’t they?”
“Right?! Why do words like ‘death by electrocution’ or ‘high voltage wires’ have to be banned? When I asked why, it’s because they’re “out of consideration” for a suspicious death that happened a few days ago! The fuck?! Who the hell cares, dumbass?! …I mean, not that I actually said that. I’m an adult, so I pretended to go with it.”
“Even ‘earthquakes’ and ‘tsunami’ are no good, huh? That seems a bit overly sensitive. How would you even work with that?”
“Right?!” Juugo agreed enthusiastically. “As manga artists, we use ‘art’ as our weapon. But it isn’t a manga without a ‘story.’ Words are incredibly important. We can change the words into inoffensive ones and change the plot, but doing that makes it lose its realism, right? When you lose the freedom to use all these words, the story starts to sound phony.”
“Yeah… Even I think this is a problem.”
To tell the truth, Rohan thought that this list was clearly going a bit overboard. Even though it came with remarks on why the word couldn’t be used, the remarks themselves weren’t convincing in the slightest.
Exactly whose complaints were they afraid of? Was a publishing company this much of a coward?
Rohan wasn’t given this list, but even he couldn’t help but feel confusion and resentment. As someone whose job was to express things, having his power of expression controlled was the same as being choked to death.
But apparently, for Juugo, that wasn’t the topic that he was interested in.
“But I’m a professional,” Juugo said. “If you tell me not to use it, then I won’t. Even a major leaguer sticks to the rules as long as he’s getting paid. Someone said it… ‘Manga isn’t art, it’s entertainment.'”
“There’s a lot that I want to comment on about that phrase…”
“That’s not what this conversation is about right now.”
Rohan was slightly miffed that Juugo decided that, but Juugo kept talking before Rohan could interrupt. He was good at creating a tempo like that.
“I’m sure you would understand this, Rohan-sensei… What’s important isn’t just expressing yourself and that’s it, end of story. You’ve gotta entertain. You’ve gotta make something that’s worth showing people… So to do that, you can’t ignore the rules that allow you to put that out into the world. If I carelessly used words like ***** and ***** (words that I would hesitate to even use here), I know that there are gonna be many people who would be unhappy with that.”
“That’s right,” Rohan agreed. “There’s no point unless people read our work. We aren’t middle schoolers content with sketching in our notebooks. If we want to reach readers who look forward to our series and buy the magazine, then we can’t just throw work away over something like that. We need to put up with it.”
“Which is why it’s fine. I don’t agree with it at all but it’s fine. It’s a rule. It’s like the offside rule in soccer… I don’t know exactly how it gets called, but I’ll abide by it. However…”
Juugo flipped through the pages again, this time turning back towards the front of the package. He found the ‘k’ page and pointed.

“Kushagara.”

Even Rohan was taken aback by this one.
“…Kushagara?”
“Do you know this word?” Juugo asked the confused Rohan.
Kushagara.
In Rohan’s entire life… No, in the life that he put at stake to accumulate knowledge and stories for himself, he had never come upon this word.
It was almost like an onomatopoeia. He didn’t think it meant anything.
“No, I have no clue at all. Is it a regional word of some kind?”
The word was so unfamiliar that it creeped him out a little, but the unusual sound of it perked his interest. That’s why he asked Juugo, but…
“Man, the thing is…”
But even Juugo looked bewildered.
“…I dunno. I’m at a complete loss,” he spat out with an aggrieved sigh.
Rohan was disappointed that the answer was not surprising, despite Juugo’s pause, but he did not show it. “I thought so. If I didn’t know it, then I was pretty sure that you wouldn’t either.”
“Well, you’re right, I don’t know it. At all. This word is the only one that doesn’t have the meaning written down, and the reason for why it can’t be used is left blank.”
“I’ve never even heard of it before… Did you try asking your editor?”
“Of course I did. But all he tells me is that ‘it can’t be used.’ It doesn’t make sense! It’s not in dictionaries and I can’t find it on Google.”
“So you’re at a dead end.”
“Yeah, exactly… But that otherwise very earnest editor of mine tells me that if it can’t be used, then I shouldn’t bother knowing what it means either.”
“Wow, what a nasty attitude!”
“Right?! It’s not nasty, it’s downright heinous! Apparently he’s going by the same logic that it’ll be as safe as when you see a sign for a button that says ‘Don’t Push,’ even though you don’t even know what that button is for. And that’s true, he has a point. If there’s a sign for it, then any good general citizen wouldn’t push the button. I get it.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“You get me! How you follow along is seriously so smooth! A total contrast to my editor. You gimme the words that I wanna hear as if we’re comedians who’ve been working together for many years!”
“Who are you calling a comedian?!”
“But it’s just as you say, Rohan-sensei,” Juugo continued as if he hadn’t heard anything. “I don’t like it! That bastard, if I can’t use it, then at least explain to me why I can’t!”
“Not using it is simple… But it’s important to know ‘why.’ Why it’s bad to use, why it’s dangerous… There’s a difference between not using the word versus choosing not to use the word while knowing what it means. The ‘weight’ of that shows up differently in the story.”
“That’s right! I’m so glad you catch on quick, Rohan-senseiiiii! You’re as smooth as a sliding door coated with wax. That’s exactly the problem I’ve got!”
“You know, you’ve been being quite rude!” Rohan said in an offended tone. “Enough with the examples! Stop it! To be honest, you really suck at them!”
Even Rohan was, not all that surprisingly, angered to be described as a sliding door coated in wax, but Juugo continued before Rohan could continue his objections.
“It’s unforgivable, that’s what this is… The manga artist’s weapon isn’t just art, it’s words too. If you wanna have lively dialogue for a story, then you can’t just hold that back. If there’s a word that interests you, you can’t just leave it as a huge ‘I don’t know.’ You need to ‘use it without using it.’ So you gotta know what it is.”
“Well… I’ll agree to that.”
“Which is why… Well, to be honest, I called out to you because I thought maybe Rohan Kishibe would know. If you didn’t, then it’s probably useless to ask any of our other peers.”
“You have the right perception there. However… Unfortunately, I’ve never heard that idiotic-sounding word before. Nothing about it even comes to mind.”
“…Thought so.”
Juugo’s shoulders drooped visibly. Maybe his expectations were that high, because the gesture looked exaggerated.
“At least we know for a fact that it isn’t standard Japanese,” Rohan said.
“There’s no mistake there…” Juugo said. “I tried guessing from words that sounded close to it. I thought it may be a spin on other words like ‘sobagara’ (buckwheat chaff) and ‘kushami’ (sneezing). But then it doesn’t make sense why it would make it on the taboo list.”
“If it’s a variant of words that are used often, it wouldn’t be prohibited in the first place,” Rohan pointed out.
“Yeah. If you can’t use it, then it’s the ‘meaning’ that becomes important.”
“I thought that maybe it isn’t Japanese, but then they would probably write it out in English. It might be some sort of regional word after all.”
“I thought as much…” Juugo mused. “Maybe I should look into it from the dialect angle… ‘Kushagara’… ‘Kushagara’… When you repeat it over and over, it sounds like an onomatopoeia. Like a sound when you crush something with a fist?”
“If not that, then it could be a straightforward slur. That would make sense. Those are the ones you have to be most careful about among all taboo words.”
“That’s a good point. But if that’s the case, then I wanna know all the more what it means! How can I just sit down and swallow it if I’m not even familiar with who the word is indicating?!”
“All things considered, shouldn’t you just ask your editor about it?”
“The thing is? I can’t catch him.”
“…What?”
It was here that Rohan felt for the first time that something was wrong.
“I mean, he picks up when I call him, but when I ask him about this word, he runs circles around me… And when I go to the company building to ask him directly, he’s never there. We haven’t even had a face-to-face meeting with each other lately. Meanwhile, my deadlines keep coming through all of this, so it’s not like I have time to follow up on it constantly…”
“…Isn’t that a bit strange? If that were happening to me, I’d be yelling at them to change my editor.”
“I think so too, but I don’t really wanna anger my editor, man. I mean, publishing a book is not all thanks to me. Since you gotta make those negotiations with editing, I try not to complain as much as possible.”
“With the kind of treatment you’re getting, I’d say you’re more of a fool than a goodhearted man,” Rohan snorted with laughter. Juugo didn’t laugh.
“Anyway, this word, ‘kushagara.’ It’s been on my mind… At this point, I don’t care if my editor explains it or not. As long as someone can tell me what it means, that’s all I care about.”
It’s like he’s crying about it, Rohan thought.
It was quite possible that he actually was, because Juugo was clearly in distress. Until today, Rohan would have never pinned him as a man who would plead this much.
“…Hey, Rohan-sensei. This is my once-in-a-lifetime request… If you find anything on ‘kushagara,’ would you let me know? I’m serious, it can be anything… If a once-in-a-lifetime request was seriously something that you could only use once, then I don’t hesitate to use it here.”
“That’s quite a cheap ‘lifetime’ you’ve got.”
Rohan laughed again, but Juugo didn’t laugh.
Apparently, Juugo was more serious about it than Rohan had thought. While Rohan didn’t normally care about how serious another person’s situation was… Juugo’s behavior really was odd. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t bother him.
“…All right. All right. If I find something on it, I’ll let you know… but don’t expect me to be your lifeline on this. It’s none of my business to begin with.”
“Ahh… No, that’s enough. That would be helpful… Seriously, thanks.”
Saying this, Juugo placed down his empty glass (when had he emptied it?) and finally rose from his seat. He comes and goes whenever he pleases, Rohan thought.
“I feel soooooo much better now. I knew it would be better talking to someone else about it.”
“I think it’s more important to consider first if it’s a suitable time or not for the person you’re talking to.”
“Hey, don’t say that. You’re a good conversation partner, Rohan-sensei. No, seriously. At least that’s what I think!”
“Don’t think that! In fact, don’t ever come to me again!”
“Hehehe… Seriously, you were a big help. See you around!”
Saying that, Juugo walked back home at a lazy pace with his shoulders pulled back.
When he walked like that, he really did look like a thug, Rohan couldn’t help but think. Was he really able to do the delicate work of a manga artist when he acted crudely like that?
But maybe that part of him that tormented himself over the meaning of a single word was the delicacy that balanced it out.
As he thought that… Rohan’s thoughts slowly shifted over to the word “kushagara.”
“‘Kushagara’… ‘Kushagara,’ eh? What a bizarre-sounding word… I do feel interest in it, but not to the desperate extent that he’s going about it. Well, if I have a free moment, I can look it up and revel in the feeling of superiority when I tell him what it means. That wouldn’t be bad at all… If I make him feel indebted to me, maybe I could even tell him to stop bugging me…”
As he spoke, Rohan realized that his throat was dry from the conversation and brought the barely touched cup of Earl Grey to his lips.
“Urk!”
What passed his lips was a discomforting lukewarmness.
The porcelain cup could not insulate against the long talk they’d had. The Earl Grey, with its fragrant flavor, had cooled completely.
“…That shithead.”
Knocking back his cold Earl Grey tea in one swig, Rohan stood up and left for home in a huff.

***

Juugo was irritated.
This irritation, he thought, was the kind of irritation that a person felt when they decided to stop smoking for their health but then reached their fifth morning of no cigarettes.
Although Juugo put an example to it, he had actually succeeded in quitting smoking (gaining both the experience of smoking and of the irritation from quitting filled his satisfaction more as a manga artist than that irritation itself). Similarly, he could also put up with hunger and desire for sleep. Sexual desire was a piece of cake.
But “the thirst for knowledge” was the one thing that he simply could not endure.
The mentality of manga artists, heck, of all creators, existed apart from the body. It was resistant to pain, suffering, and physical hunger.
That was why “mental” hunger was all the more painful.
Being unable to satisfy your knowledge was agony.
It was more agonizing than walking through the desert with only salty dried meat and a bottle of seawater for sustenance! It was really, really agonizing!
As the days passed, Juugo continued to turn over all of the dictionaries in his house, stayed for hours at the library, and visited the editorial department at Shueisha again, but he could not find a single trace of the word “kushagara.”
He visited the editorial department so much that they began to call him a troublesome person over there, which he did not like. Some editors even said to him warily, “You sure you got enough time developing your manuscript?”
For Juugo, who had never missed a deadline, being told that was humiliating. As time went on, he stopped approaching the editorial department altogether…

***

The next time Rohan Kishibe and Juugo Shishi met was a month later, at the town’s antique bookstore.
It was Rohan’s first time visiting this bookstore. He liked to buy his books in as pristine a condition as possible. Like new was best of all, while secondhand he would settle on if it was from a collector’s auction or even a large chainstore where it was properly covered in vinyl. The more new the condition, the better.
That’s why the reason he entered this mom-and-pop used bookstore was not because he wanted a book (although he wasn’t completely unexpectant, since he could possibly find a bargain). He only wanted to get a taste of the atmosphere in an “old declining bookstore.”
However, when he allowed himself to follow such whims like this, Rohan Kishibe usually met with…Well, like when a little brat persistently pursued him for a rock-paper-scissors showdown… He met with unexpected developments.
This time, it was Juugo. But he was different from before.
“I’m asking you if you’ve got any other dictionaries around! I don’t mean encyclopedias! I mean something more involved with dialects or ancient languages! Any books that feature that!”
“Please, give me a break, sir…”
Juugo was getting tangled with the shopkeeper, a roly-poly man past middle age who certainly fit the picture of someone who had inherited this store from his parents and was running it as a hobby.
Juugo had always looked like a thug by nature, but when Rohan observed him like this objectively, he was nothing but a thug. Still, he shouldn’t have been the type of guy who got up in strangers’ faces like that… No matter how brutish his appearance was, he basically let everything that came his way roll off his back. That was why seeing Juugo like this felt like something was amiss.
Was the way his face looked stretched and gaunt, showing sharp cheekbones, the reason why he looked more like a goon than usual? Not even a month had passed since he’d last spoken with Rohan, so why did he look so different…?
Several questions rose as his appearance caught Rohan’s gaze. But Juugo didn’t realize that he was being watched. Looking completely emaciated, he continued to harass the confused shopkeeper.
“Please… If you’ve got it, bring it out! There’s gotta be books or something in your inventory that aren’t on the shelves, right? It can be anything… I’m begging you here!”
“You need to back off, sir! I told you, we don’t have that here!”
“Goddamnit! T–Then, what about you?”
“W–What about me?”
“I’m asking if you know anything about ‘kushagara,’ you fucking dumbass! I’ll take anything you know, even if it’s just something that you heard in passing! Did you ever hear about it as a rumor, or hear the kids talking about it? You got to have! Tell me you have!!! If you don’t tell me, I’ll break that fucking useless neck of yours in half!”
“Geh! Ggh… ghhh…”
The atmosphere had turned alarming and tense. Juugo had grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and was pressing into his face, staring at him with menacing eyes that seemed to look right through. It was clearly not a normal exchange.
Rohan didn’t want to get involved, but since he knew the guy who looked as if he was one move away from murdering the shopkeeper… He couldn’t look the other way on this one.
Rohan returned the book he was holding, “The Ukiyo-e System: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,”^[2] back on the shelf and reached out with the same hand to grab Juugo by the shoulder, pulling him away from the shopkeeper.
“What the— The hell are you doi—! R–Rohan Kishibe…”
“Yeah, that’s right. At least you have the good sense to recognize me.”
In fact, Juugo looked as if he had returned to his senses a bit the moment he saw Rohan’s face.
“Excuse us.”
While Rohan had wanted to be surrounded by the sooty scent of books a bit longer, the looks that the confused shopkeeper gave them as he fixed his collar made Rohan uncomfortable, so he pulled Juugo out of the store without buying anything.
Leaving the poorly ventilated store, he felt the sun smoulder down on them in the sunny alleyway. Rohan was hoping a little that the sunlight would shine down on Juugo and cleanse him like an air-dried feather quilt.
“Jeez, what the hell are you doing? I didn’t get to read my book thanks to you. I hadn’t even gotten to see Kameido Umeyashiki^[3] yet…”
“O….Oh, s–sorry…”
Juugo looked to have calmed down a bit. He had the look of someone who’d just woken up from a nightmare but was unable to forget what he’d dreamed about. His pale skin was slick with sweat, and he had bags under his eyes. His hair wasn’t properly styled and it looked greasy as if he hadn’t washed it in days.
For someone who was overly social, almost annoyingly so, and who decked himself out so fancy that no one would think he was a manga artist, he now looked like a seedy social outcast.
Was it possible for someone to change this much in a month?
Rohan believed that the look of a person’s face didn’t change by cosmetic surgery (although that was a different story if it was done by a Stand, and let’s not get into that right now), but by how they felt mentally. Therefore, Juugo must have undergone considerable mental damage.
And what caused it was clear.
“…Have you been searching this whole time for that ‘kushagara’ thing?”
“Y–Y–Yeah… That’s right. That’s right. It’s never left my mind.”
“But from the look of things, you still haven’t found what it is.”
“…I’ve read more dictionaries than anyone could possibly read in their lifetime. I’ve read novels, reference books, even picture books. I even asked the police. But it’s not there… The ‘answer’ is nowhere to be found.”
“I’ve been curious about it too and looked into it a bit…”
“You found it?!”
“Calm down!”
Rohan was taken aback by Juugo, who looked ready to literally tear into him at any moment. It must have been luck that Rohan had been able to stop him at all earlier. The second Juugo heard the word “kushagara,” his eyes changed into that of a rabid dog.
“I looked for it too… But I didn’t find it. Nothing came up. Whether in books or broadcasts, I couldn’t find such a word anywhere.”
“I knew it… Damn it… Shit, it’s only to be expected from a banned word. You can’t go around using a word that shouldn’t be used… You wouldn’t find it in books or anything of the sort… I know that. I know that!”
“I couldn’t find anything no matter how old the literature was. If the word can’t be used because it’s prohibited, then it must be that way for a deeply rooted reason.”
“Then it’s all a dead end?! Fuck! I don’t accept this! I can’t quit now! If it’s being prohibited that strictly, then the reason has to be paired with it! That’s right. Let’s just forget about the word right now, why is ‘kushagara’ banned?! That’s all I wanna know!”
“…Hey. I’m about to say something that is unlike what I would normally say,” Rohan prefaced. He pointed a finger before Juugo’s eyes and took a breath. He looked like he was soothing a wild beast. Instinctively, that’s what it felt like. “…How about letting it go?”
“What?” Juugo paused. ” …You know, man, I have good hearing. I can hear a coin hit the floor even while I’m listening to heavy metal with the volume at max… But maybe I misheard you. Did you tell me, just now, to let it go? You can’t be serious…”
“…It’s been a month. A month. It’s taken over your life way more than it should. If you’re starting on a new project, then it’s a bad idea to spend that time on something else.”
Even as he spoke, Rohan felt that it really wasn’t like him. If he was in Juugo’s position, he would continue investigating without a second thought.
In fact, he put time into researching it even though he’d only heard about it briefly. If it wasn’t for his job… If it wasn’t for his prideful will to complete that job fully before the deadline and send it to his readers, he might have been more absorbed with it.
He was able to see things objectively because he wasn’t personally involved. Rohan thought that if he didn’t say this, then Juugo was bound to fall into a deeper abyss and Rohan wanted to warn him.
But Juugo said, “That’s impossible, you ********* bastard!”
Resolutely, without any hesitation. What he said was so dirty that it can’t be written down. Anyway, it was a very dirty word.
Which was why Rohan instantly snapped and clobbered Juugo in the face.
“Ugbhgbkk!”
Rohan had the sense to not use his dominant hand, the tool of his trade, but Juugo still landed on the concrete with a satisfying thump.
“…I’m being nice and telling you to calm down. I don’t care if you’re annoyed and taking it out on other people… but keep in mind that depending on who you talk to, you could end up with your face planting in the asphalt… Good thing I wasn’t holding a G-pen, eh? That would have sliced your fingers.”
“U–Urghh… S–Sorry…”
“I’ll pretend that you were acting out of momentum and got carried away. But if you dare try to treat me, Rohan Kishibe, with contempt ever again, you’re on your own.”
“I–I’m sorry. I seriously can’t understand myself either… My mind is full of nothing but ‘kushagara’… I just lose sight of everything else…”
Juugo tried to stand up as he rubbed his temples, but he was swaying as if he couldn’t gain balance. Since Rohan didn’t think he’d punched him that hard, he looked at Juugo with suspicion.
Something was indeed off about Juugo, both emotionally and physically. This could not be explained away with a simple “I didn’t see anything else around me because I got absorbed in one thing.” Was he perhaps snorting something…? Rohan couldn’t help but suspect that was the case.
Whether Juugo knew what Rohan was thinking or not, he kept holding his head as he staggered in place. He began mumbling incoherently under his breath.
“Ugh… fuck! All I want to know is what ‘kushagara’ is. When I was a kid, my parents would praise me about how I would always look up more information on something once it catches my eye. Since I always had my nose in a dictionary, they said it would be a useful life skill when I grew up… So why the hell is this happening to me?!”
“How should I know?”
“…Damn it… Damn it! ‘Kushagara’… ‘Kushagara’…”
Juugo chanted the word over and over, as if he were possessed.
As if it were a spell. As if he was having a fit.
“‘Kushagara,’ damn it! That’s all I wanna know! If I knew what ‘kushagara’ was, I wouldn’t need anything else! I’ll even trade it for a gold nugget or a hundred million yen check!”
“Why don’t you head on home and work on your material? You want to keep your job, don’t you?”
“I can’t…. Once I have ‘kushagara’ on my mind, I can’t focus on ‘kushagara’ anything else…”
“…Hm?”
A feeling of discomfort.
It was a clear sense that something was not right. Rohan thought that maybe he had just misheard, but Juugo didn’t seem bothered.
“What?”
“No, just… Just now… Was something strange there? I mean, with the usage of it, or even… the ‘timing’ of it…”
“Timing? What the hell are you ‘kushagara’ talking about? I’m seriously racking my brains over ‘kushagara’ here!”
“Hey! You did it again! You’re acting weird!”
“What the hell is your problem?! You’re calling me weird now?! ‘Kushagara’ just to put things straight between us, man, you’re ‘kushagara’ not the only one here who gets to be mad at the drop ‘kushagara’ of a hat!”
“That’s not the issue!”
Something was wrong. Something was clearly wrong.
Like a sneeze or a hiccup, it interrupted Juugo’s words at unnatural timing.
…A spasm.
Yes, it was a spasm. A spasm occurred whenever the body was ill.
It was then that Rohan recognized clearly that Juugo was “sick” and that Juugo was absolutely unaware of it.
Juugo was acting crazy over something as if he was delirious with fever. His interest and passion was leaking out from him like a cough that couldn’t be held back.
There exists a phrase that “sickness and health start with the mind.” But there are plenty of illnesses that progress without being noticed.
Juugo hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t noticed the “lesion” that was growing inside of him…
Surprisingly, it’s easier for other people to see when you are sick. It’s more clear to them since they can see the changes in your appearance, like the color of your complexion or if rashes have flared up on your skin.
That’s why it was Rohan who noticed it first.
“…Hm?”
“I keep trying to ‘kushagara’ forget ‘kushagara,’ but I can’t even sleep ‘kushagara’ because I can’t get ‘kushagara’ out of my head… Damn it, I’m not some teenager pining ‘kushagara’ over his first crush…”
“…”
“What’s ‘kushagara’ wrong? You went quiet ‘kushagara’ all of a sudden.”
“…Oy.”
“You’re making fun of ‘kushagara’ me too, right?! If you fucking ‘kushagara’ keep looking ‘kushagara’ down on me, I’ll fucking beat you up so ‘kushagara’ bad!”
“No… Wait, what is that? That thing… in your mouth…”
“…Huh?”
Juugo was confused. Although he was admittedly acting threatening, Rohan was shrinking back too much for that. He looked, in fact, terrified. It was not an expression that the proud and arrogant Rohan Kishibe ever allowed himself to show.
And his eyes were clearly focused on Juugo.
“…I’m asking what that thing is… In your mouth… No, in your throat?… What is that thing coming out…?”
“…’Kushagara’…?”
Obviously, Juugo couldn’t see what was happening, but Rohan could.
Now Rohan understood. He knew now who was saying the word ‘kushagara.’ He could see it.
Something bizarre was peering out at him from inside Juugo’s throat.

“Kushagara.”

“…!”
This was the guy.
It wasn’t Juugo. “This guy,” this something that wasn’t human, was saying it. This bizarre something that made Rohan physically recoil.
It was trying to crawl out from Juugo’s throat. The moment Rohan saw that, he cried out, “Heaven’s Door!”
An ‘image’ of a young boy wearing a hat appeared in the sky.
With a flash of light, Juugo collapsed to the floor unconscious.
While Rohan’s Heaven’s Door had grown in power and now had the unbeatable ability to hit a target without question, it was better to be safe than sorry to use it on a target that matched his “wavelength.” In that respect, it was effective on Juugo as a fellow manga artist.
In the blink of an eye, Juugo was spread across the floor, having turned into a book.
He was knocked out cold… That helped Rohan to reaffirm that Juugo was indeed just an ordinary human being. At the same time, since Juugo’s mouth closed the moment he lost consciousness, whatever was in the back of his throat had vanished.
Rohan had to admit, he breathed a little sigh of relief at that.
“I’m not sure about this… but that was probably a close call. I want to believe that using Heaven’s Door was the right choice…”
Rohan crouched down next to Juugo, flipping through his pages. Perhaps he could find out what that bizarre creature was somewhere in here.
Juugo himself hadn’t appeared to be aware of it. With Rohan’s Heaven’s Door, which could turn someone into a book and read them, he might be able to decipher an answer.
That was both his expectation and his wish.
“…Juugo Shishi. His real name is Keitaro Nishi… What a normal name. His father loves manga. In high school, his submission for a contest won an award and that’s how he made his debut… The person he dated then he’d broken up with two years ago, but he was invited to their wedding at the beginning of this year and attended it… No, that’s not what I’m interested in right now…”
Turning people into a book and reading about their life. The action of it always struck up a tremendous amount of curiosity that was greater than one could find from reading a novel or a biography. Reading with the use of Heaven’s Door was the greatest Peeping Tom experience in this world.
That person’s life, their experiences, their complexes… Whether it was a golden experience or a nauseating past, it was all exposed.
With “Heaven’s Door,” there was nothing that Rohan couldn’t read. Except for his own memories of his past and his fate.
…That was how it had always been, and yet…
“…What’s this…?”
As he flipped through Juugo’s pages, what Rohan found… was something bizarre that he had never come across before in the books of people that he had read.
“…A sealed page?”^[4]
That’s right. As he flipped through a couple of pages, it suddenly appeared there unnaturally. The ends of the two pages were stuck together to form a pouch, so that you couldn’t see what was inside… You may have seen them before in weekly magazines. There was a pouch there.
“…What is this? Does this mean there are things that not even Heaven’s Door can read? …It’s true that, while it’s rare, strange things happen when a person is made into a book depending on their condition, but this is a first occurrence…”
The outside of the pouch had patterns drawn all over it. There was something about the messily drawn patterns that made him instinctively sense that they were dangerous. Upon closer inspection, he realized why.
This wasn’t a pattern!
Innumerable small handprints were etched into the page, enough to turn it black!
“…This is getting bad. It’s gotten to the point where it isn’t simply just a word anymore. This thing has the power to take down Heaven’s Door!”
What was he supposed to do with this pouch? Rohan could steal a person’s memories by ripping their page out. But would that be enough?
If this was a manga, would such a “simple, happy ending” be possible?
But the reality that was unfolding before his eyes was not like a manga waiting for its reader to turn the next page. It did not wait for Rohan’s decision.
“Kushagara.”
“Ugh!”
There was that voice again. It was coming from within the pouch.
“Kushagara.”
Every time the voice spoke, the pouch squirmed.
If this was a magazine, the words “please open from here” would have been printed on the edge of that pouch. The part that was holding the pouch closed was being pulled from within as whatever lay inside squirmed restlessly.
“…T–There’s something in this pouch! It’s trapped inside… No, it can’t be! Is it trying to get out?!”
As if to answer Rohan’s question, the corner of the pouch ripped open.
…This was not good.
He couldn’t explain why, but he knew that if he didn’t do something, there was going to be trouble for sure. He had to act fast.
It was highly likely that this phenomenon was the cause of the word “kushagara,” the word that was having so much influence over Juugo. He didn’t know if this would be the right way of dealing with it… but he had to do it now.
Before it was too late.
Rohan took out a ballpoint pen from his pocket and brought it to a blank space on Juugo’s “page.”
“I’ll make him forget everything that’s related to the word ‘kushagara’! It’s the only way!”
He pressed down the tip of the pen on the page and wrote the word ‘kushagara.’ This was the only approach that he could take at the moment.
But reality betrayed his expectations even further.
“…What?!”
He kept writing and writing.
But the very moment he wrote the word “kushagara,” it evaporated from the page as though he were writing it in disappearing ink. No matter how many times he tried, the ink wouldn’t stick. In fact, he would be writing furiously onto the page but there was not even a trace of a line, as if he was writing with an empty pen.
“Impossible! I can’t write it?! But this is a new pen… The ink is still fresh! …It can’t be. It can’t be! Is it because it’s ‘forbidden’? I can’t use this word… It can’t be accepted on the pages because it’s a ‘taboo word’?!”
The dots connected.
No wonder he couldn’t find the word, no matter what documents he searched. Because it was prohibited, it couldn’t be used. It was outrageous… but at the same time, a simple and powerful reason.
“Kushagara.”
“Ghhk… This thing is coming out! Any minute now, it’s going to rip through the pouch to get outside…! There are some species of parasites that eat their host from the inside out once they’re done growing… If this guy is like that…!”
There was no time to spare.
“Kushagara.”
The word was like the countdown to a time limit. With small ripping sounds, it opened up Juugo from the inside and tried to squeeze through the hole.
“Gwooooohhhhhhhh!” Rohan cried.
He didn’t even have time to think. Gripping the pen, he used the superspeed which he drew his manga with at full power… and “wrote” on Juugo…

***

“…Huh?”
When Juugo woke up, he felt incredibly clear-headed.
It was like… As if, after a whole month, he had changed into new clothes and underwear, soaked in a hot bath, shaved his beard, fallen asleep on brand new sheets and had woken up from a deep, fulfilling rest.
“…What am I doing here?”
“…”
“Oh, if it isn’t Rohan-sensei! What a coincidence! Not that I’d really know if it’s a coincidence or not, since I don’t even know why I’m here, but if we’ve met without knowing why, then it’s just gotta be a coincidence! Don’t you think so?”
“…Let’s just say that’s the case.”
“Huh?”
Juugo had no idea what was happening. He tried to think, but felt like he was missing information to piece it together. But since Rohan Kishibe was being unusually docile and the early afternoon sun felt great on his skin, he chalked it up to one big “Oh well.”
“I don’t get what’s going on here, but I’m gonna head home,” Juugo said. “My head feels so clear right now, man. Like I just came out from a sauna that shed all my dead skin off. If I come up with ideas for my new story right now, I bet they’re all gonna be great.”
“…Is that so? Go for it.”
“Go for it? Did you just tell me ‘go for it’? Wow, is the sky about to fall down?! If people in the business heard that Rohan Kishibe is rooting for me, all of their jaws will hit the floor! Can I tell them? Is it okay for me to brag about this?”
“…Do what you want.”
Juugo was left even more confused.
Seeing Rohan so quiet— not that he was a noisy person to begin with, but seeing him act like this was a first.
Juugo Shishi quite liked Rohan Kishibe as a person, as well as his manga. While the guy was an eccentric, Juugo had nothing but respect for him as a manga artist. Even though he did his work with an aloof expression, all of his creations were filled to the brim with amazing life energy. Juugo moaned with admiration whenever he read them.
Juugo was always eager to say that he was Rohan’s colleague. He was doing the same job as Rohan. Just thinking that made him swell with pride.
So even if Rohan treated him harshly (although, to be honest, he thought Rohan should fix his attitude towards people in general), being able to talk with him from the shared stance of a manga artist was enough to satisfy Juugo.
And now, Rohan’s replies to him were strangely gentle.
That fact only boosted Juugo’s sunny, positive, and fully driven motivated mood. He was certain that he could draw a wonderful manga right now if he had pen and paper in hand.
“Hehe… See you around then, Rohan-sensei. The next time we meet might end up being the Shueisha party though…”
“Yeah… If I decide to attend.”
“At least that hasn’t changed.”
Juugo laughed, while Rohan didn’t laugh, and the two parted.
The sun, which was just starting to set, cast a shadow over Rohan’s face.

***

And so, Juugo was on a roll.
He felt as if he had opened up a creative outlet that went beyond the “everyday life that he had known before.” He was able to incorporate incredible intensity into his fictional story.
He had no idea that he still had such potential as a manga artist within him!
With this wonderful feeling surging inside of him, he drew up various plots and was eager to talk about them with his editor immediately, when he remembered.
“Oh right, I got a new editor.”
But since, for some reason, he couldn’t find his new editor’s business card or phone number, he called the editorial department to reach him and got chewed out instead.
“Now, you listen here, Juugo-sensei! I understand that you were very close with your previous editor, but can you please not stand up your new editor for a month when he’s trying to meet you and please stop calling us here?! He doesn’t have much experience under his belt yet, so being treated like this is gonna give him a nervous breakdown!”
“Huh? Oy oy oy oy oy, what are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean!”
“Please don’t act innocent.” They sighed. “You totally stood him up at your very first meeting with him! Then you phone us mumbling about something on a broken line… You said you wanted to ask about something, but none of us could hear what that ‘something’ was and it was driving us nuts, did you forget about that?! Besides, what have you been doing for a month?! You’d better have the prep for your new story ready to go… We’re really reaching our limit here.”
“R–Right. Yeah, of course. It’s bang on!”
He remembered being told that he was getting a new editor. He remembered that, and also that he’d made an appointment with them to meet. They hadn’t met even once since then?
But now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember having meetings at all. In fact… His memories of the past month were ambiguous, as if they had gone missing.
He didn’t understand what was going on, but Juugo thought, “The way I treated that new editor of mine ain’t right. My new story is totally interesting for sure and I want him to look at it… Maybe if I bring him a cake, he’ll forgive me…”

***

Rohan Kishibe felt ill.
In order to save Juugo, he had to do it.
Juugo’s personal life was absolutely about to be subject to considerable friction because Rohan had written “Forget everything that happened this past month.”
…To be honest, that was fine. Rohan wasn’t obligated to have that much concern for Juugo and, for what it was worth, he did save him.
What bothered Rohan was that… at the end of it all, that was the only step he could take to resolve the situation. If he made Juugo into a book again, that pouch could still exist.
In the end… he had discovered nothing about ‘kushagara.’
When Rohan went to the editorial department the next day and inquired, it was true that Juugo Shishi had been assigned a new editor, but Juugo hadn’t met with them even once.
That itself made Rohan raise an eyebrow, but there was also something else.
When he asked, “Is there a list of taboo words that’s being given around to manga artists?” he was met with a reply of: “No way! We wouldn’t give something like that to our authors. If we come upon a problematic word or phrase while checking the draft, we can easily fix those with a snap. Oh, but if you’re mindful about stuff like that to begin with, it would be a big help to the editing department!”
…At the end of the day, who in the world was “the new editor” that Juugo had met?
What was the list of taboo words about?
…The truth would never come to light.
But he did try coming up with a theory: Maybe that word “kushagara” didn’t have any meaning to begin with. Like a germ or a parasite, it stimulated people’s curiosity to infect susceptible hosts. That was its goal… Perhaps even a way of “reproducing” itself.
That thought brought chills down Rohan’s spine.
“Oh, hello there.”
Hearing someone speak to him, Rohan snapped out of his thoughts. He had gone to visit the antique bookstore once more. Standing in front of him was the shopkeeper that Juugo had fought with.
“You were here the other day, weren’t you, sir? You know, um, when you stopped that scary man that was here… Right?”
“…”
“I was so surprised back then… Since he was all frantic about it, I got curious myself and looked into it… But I couldn’t find anything on that word ‘kushagara.’ Would you know about it, sir—”
Rohan’s Heaven’s Door burst forward before the shopkeeper had even finished speaking. He fell to the ground and as Rohan perused the shopkeeper’s pages… He found it.
“…It’s small and slim, but this page has that pouch.”
Rohan wrote into the shopkeeper to forget everything that happened in the past few days, and left the bookstore.
Even as he left the moldy store, he could hardly feel the warmth of the sun.
…You can’t control what people say, as the proverb goes.
The “transmission” of words is not unlike that of a virus or bacteria spreading.
How many places did Juugo Shishi travel through in this past month to investigate? And how many people did he speak about “kushagara” to?
How many places did the “kushagara,” unable to be recorded either in books or on paper… How many places did it spread to by borrowing Juugo’s voice?
…What’s more, when considering the “propagation of kushagara,” wouldn’t Rohan be no exception? Who was to say that Rohan himself wasn’t carrying a “pouch” right now?
If so, then why didn’t Rohan lose his sense of reason like Juugo?
Did his “pride,” which prioritized his work over his curiosity, win over it? Or did his ability to use Heaven’s Door enable him to fight against this incomprehensible power?
The questions were endless. But he felt that inquiring further was dangerous.
He couldn’t allow his “curiosity” to spur him any further.
When you thought about it, it was a rather simple precautionary measure. But for humans, it was much harder to act on it than how it sounded. Even Rohan was all too familiar from past experiences where he had acted on his curiosity and had met with pain.
If he hadn’t had such experiences and had heard about ‘kushagara’ before Juugo had… He couldn’t stop shivering at the thought.

***

…To tell you the truth, there is a “lie” mixed into the story that you have now just read.
The bizarre word that Rohan and Juugo came upon is not actually ‘kushagara.’
Since it’s a taboo word, it can’t be used in the first place. It wouldn’t have even been published here. So you, having read the record of this bizarre incident here, are safe.
However… If, in the future, you happen to hear “a bizarre, indecipherable word,” I think it’s understandable that you’d want to look up its meaning.
Beware.
“Curiosity kills the cat” as they say.
If you have Rohan Kishibe’s force of will, experience, and ‘Heaven’s Door,’ you could stand a chance. But not many people are immune to bizarre events.
There’s no guarantee that you won’t end up as the dead cat.

END

——————————–
[1] 志士十五 , the kanji for “Shishi Juugo”.
[2] 浮世絵体系・名所江戸百景 The Ukiyo-e System: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, the title of a real book on Ukiyo-e print.
[3]〈亀戸梅屋舗〉Kameido Umeyashiki, one of the famous views which you can find collected on this wiki: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo
[4] 袋とじ , Fukuro-toji is “double-leaved printing,” more info can be found on this page: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/japanese-rare-books-culture/0/steps/17244

北園ばらっど　--Ballad Kitaguni--
Lives in Hokkaido. Winner of the Award for Excellence at the 13th Super Dash New Novelists Awards.
Previous publications include "Apricot Red," "We're Normies And Were Never Otaku In The Past (Big Fat Lie)," etc.
Their favorite Stand is Tubular Bells.

To support this site:

Where to buy this CD: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

——————————–
CAST
Daisuke Motomiya : Fukujurou Katayama
Ken Ichijouji : Arthur Lounsbery
Iori Hida : Yoshitaka Yamaya
Miyako Inoue : Ayaka Asai
Takeru Takaishi : Junya Enoki
Hikari Yagami : MAO
V-mon : Junko Noda
Wormmon : Naozumi Takahashi
Armadimon : Megumi Urawa
Hawkmon : Kouichi Toochika
Patamon : Miwa Matsumoto
Tailmon : Yuka Tokumitsu
Narrator : Hiroaki Hirata

STAFF
Producer : Hiromi Seki & Yousuke Kinoshita
Script : Akatsuki Yamatoya
Sound Director : Satoki Iida
Recording : Satoru Matsuda
Sound Effects : Yuuji Furuya & Maki Takuma
Sound Production : TAVAC

——————————–

　The story has begun to revolve at full speed
　Dyeing the earth red
　On the map there lies an empty paradise
　Let’s try to save it ourselves
　We’re running as fast as we can now
　Up the endless hill, far away
　Stand up! There’s a hero inside of me
　A target that towers over everything, there’s no way I can lose!
　Burn up! My heartbeat burns within my chest
　We’re gonna get back the tomorrow we’ve forgotten
　With a heated battle!

–

NARRATOR: It’s early summer in the year 2010. Daisuke and his friends have each moved on to shape their chosen future careers, but with summer vacation approaching, they decided to form a plan. And in order to put that magnificent plan into action, Daisuke and his friends take a stand.

DAISUKE (Title Call): “Where Should We Go?”

TEACHER: Therefore, my emotions at this time would be choice C: “We could have continued on this together without abandoning all efforts.” Incident to that would also be “We could have continued, but we didn’t”—

[School bell rings]

TEACHER: That’s all the time we have, so that’s it for today’s lecture.

[Class stretches and yawns]

STUDENT: See you, Hida-kun!
IORI: Good work today. See you tomorrow.
STUDENT: Bye, Iori!
IORI: Goodbye. Please be careful on your way home.
DAISUKE: …I see you’re still talking formally to everyone as always, Iori!
IORI: Daisuke-san! And Takeru-san.
TAKERU: Hey there, Iori-kun. Long time no see.
IORI: It’s unusual for the both of you to come and see me. Did something happen?
DAISUKE: Sorry for the short notice, but we need to talk to you. Could you come with us?

–

FRONT DESK: Hello! Welcome to the Karaoke Palace! Do you have membership cards?
IORI: No, we’re not members.
DAISUKE: Three students, please!
TAKERU: Oh, but we may have more joining us later.
FRONT DESK: Understood. Should I add an all-you-can-drink option?
IORI: No, thank you.
FRONT DESK: You got it. How much time would you like?
DAISUKE: Three hours, to start!
TAKERU: Oh, but we might extend it later.
FRONT DESK: Understood. Please head to Room 505!

–

DAISUKE: All right, we’re here! Hey, V-mon, you can come out now!
V-MON: Yes! Daisuke, I’m starving!
TAKERU: Sorry to keep you cramped up in there, Patamon.
V-MON: Why did we have to hide?!
DAISUKE: Hey, don’t complain! I needed to save up from the admission fee that they would have charged you guys!
IORI: Well, that’s rather cheap.
DAISUKE: Get off my back!
ARMADIMON: Guys, long time no see, dagya!
DAISUKE: Hey, Armadimon! You came to our world too, huh?
V-MON: Oh, this is a karaoke bar!
PATAMON: Takeru, can I sing?
TAKERU: After we’re done talking.
PATAMON: Yay!
DAISUKE: Okay, guys, first… Let’s get something to eat!

[Daisuke picks up the phone]

FRONT DESK: Hello, front desk.
DAISUKE: Three oolong teas and three orange juices! Also, a large order of fries, the fried food combination platter, and one of each pizza you’ve got! Also, the entire first page of the menu!

[Daisuke hangs up]

IORI: The entire first page…
TAKERU: [laughing] They must think we’re total pigs.
IORI: Who’s going to be paying for this…?

–

FRONT DESK: Thank you for waiting! Here are your drinks, a large order of fries, the fried food combination platter, pizza, and the entire first page of the menu.
TAKERU: Wow… That’s a lot of volume.
FRONT DESK: Enjoy!
DAISUKE: All right guys, you can come out now! Go ahead and eat!
DIGIMON: Yay! Thank you for the food!
IORI: So, who’s going to be paying for this?
DAISUKE: Now look at who’s being the cheap one.
TAKERU: I could say that for the both of you.
DAISUKE: I’m not being cheap, I’m economizing!
TAKERU: Not that I care either way.
IORI: Putting that aside… What did you want to talk about?
DAISUKE: Oh, what I wanted to talk about was…
V-MON: Daisuke wants to go on a trip with everyone!
DAISUKE: Hey, V-mon! Don’t say it before I do!
V-MON: Oh, sorry…
IORI: When you say “everyone,” to what extent do you mean?
DAISUKE: I was thinking, first, Hikari-chan! Then Takeru, Ken, Iori, and Miyako. I thought about reaching out to Taichi-san and the others too, but our seniors seem pretty busy.
TAKERU: I think whoever’s busy can just come along if they happen to make it.
ARMADIMON: I heard from Hawkmon that Miyako is studying abroad in Spain right now, dagya.
TAKERU: Ichijouji-kun also mentioned that he has a soccer camp.
PATAMON: Wow, everyone’s so busy.
DAISUKE: Since we’re all more or less like that, I figured we’d ask Iori first about his schedule since he’d be the busiest with studying for college entrance exams and club activities.
IORI: Oh, I see. I have cram school and kendo practice during the summer, but I believe that I can arrange my schedule as long as it doesn’t take place on my training camp week.
TAKERU: Oh, great! That’s more flexible that I’d thought.
DAISUKE: That would be majorly helpful, Iori!
IORI: Going on a trip is fine and all, but what exactly do you guys want to do?
DAISUKE: Eat delicious ramen!
V-MON: See the ocean!
PATAMON: I wanna go gather firewood in the mountains!
TAKERU: …Firewood?
IORI: In this area, we could go to Izu for the ocean or Karuizawa for the mountains.
DAISUKE: I like that! Playing tennis with Hikari-chan in Karuizawa!
TAKERU: But the ocean is a great choice, too.
DAISUKE: I like that… Swimming underwater in the ocean with Hikari-chan… Hehehe…
V-MON: Daisuke… You’re kind of embarrassing me…
IORI: By the way, Armadimon, where would you like to go?
ARMADIMON: I want to go… to Nagoya, dagya!
ALL: Nagoya?
ARMADIMON [takes the karaoke mic]: “The castle is the mainstay in Owari, Nagoya!” as they say.^[1] Its landmark, the Nagoya Castle, is famous for its brilliant gold shachihoko^[2] on its roof! On maps, Nagoya is located at the very center of Japan as its central hub of culture! Containing the best of both the east and the west, it’s the number one place in Japan where a car is essential! Its four-laned highways on both sides that ignore pedestrians runs in all the four cardinal directions^[3] , and the local favorite date spot is the aquarium! There’s even a few zoos and art museums! And what’s more— What else could represent Nagoya more than its gourmet food! Gourmet food is what Nagoya is all about! Miso pork cutlets, shrimp tempura hand rolls, deep fried chicken wings, and Nagoya’s famous special “fwied shwimp”!^[4] A round table full of breakfast foods! Slightly salty spaghetti with starchy sauce on top! Not pasta, but spaghetti! When you’re in a hurry, stop by at the train station for kishimen! I recommend the shops located on the uptown platform!^[5] Piping hot udon noodles boiled in miso! Super-super-spicy Taiwan ramen! The slightly expensive hitsumabushi^[6], and last but not least, the Yamatoya ramen, dagya!
ARMADIMON: [breathes] So, that’s why I say let’s all go to Nagoya, dagya!
DAISUKE: I’m personally interested in the Taiwan ramen…
V-MON: Hey, why is it called “Taiwan” ramen if it’s popular in Nagoya?
ARMADIMON: Grk!
PATAMON: Right? If it’s from Nagoya, then it should be called Nagoya ramen!
DAISUKE: You have a point.
TAKERU: I’ve heard that the “fried shrimp” is spoken with a Nagoya twist as if it originated there, but it actually didn’t.
ARMADIMON: Grrrkkk!
IORI: This has always been on my mind, but most of Nagoya’s famous foods are rearrangements of already completed dishes, aren’t they? Take the hitsumabushi, for instance. Why don’t they just call it an eel bowl?
ARMADIMON: Huh?! Not you too, Iori!
TAKERU: Well, if you’re gonna talk about that, then that goes for the miso pork cutlets too.
DAISUKE: Yeah, the pork cutlet is kinda already a dish all on its own.
V-MON: And kishimen is just flattened udon noodles, right?
IORI: Perhaps I shouldn’t be saying this, but I feel that a majority of Nagoya’s food menu is rearrangements of dishes that already exist with extra things added in. In other words, they’re ripoff—
ARMADIMON: REARRANGEMENTS! [pants heavily] Good grief, I wish you wouldn’t speak of such slander, dagya! Nagoya is the great metropolis that very nicely blends the east and west together, dagya!
KEN: Sorry we’re late, guys.
WORMMON: Hello!
TAKERU: Hey, Wormmon! Hello!
DAISUKE: Ken and Wormmon are here!

–

KEN: I see. So that’s what you guys were talking about.
IORI: Do you have an idea of where to go, Ichijouji-san?
KEN: Hmm, well… If I had to choose… Maybe the hot springs?
ALL: Hot springs?
KEN: Yeah! Hot springs are great!
KEN [takes the karaoke mic]: The hot springs *obviously* must have free-flowing water. If possible, I think I’d prefer a quiet, rural flowing hot spring that’s surrounded by a moss-covered garden. Then I want to stay the night at a historical inn that focuses more on tranquility and wabi-sabi rather than wildness or beauty. I’m not looking for a lot on the food options, but the portions should ideally be neither too large nor too small. If we’re just going to relax our bodies, then I’d like it if there was a variety of hot springs to choose from. The water quality that I recommend for the ladies would be the hydrogen carbonate spring or the alkaline simple hot spring (these are otherwise known as simple hot springs with a basic pH of 8.5 or above), but my personal favorite is the hot sulphur spring! Incidentally, the hot sulphur spring is said to treat arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. If it were possible, I’d like to take my time there… At least stay for two nights! Ahh… Hot springs… Hehehe…
TAKERU: Y–You have some unexpectedly refined tastes!
DAISUKE: I wouldn’t say “refined,” maybe more “obsessive”…
PATAMON: I didn’t understand a single word you just said!
V-MON: Me neither!
WORMMON: Don’t make fun of Ken-chan!
V-MON: Then did *you* know what Ken said?
WORMMON: Hmm… Nope!
ARMADIMON: Dagya!
IORI: A place that has the ocean, mountains, and hot springs… How about Atami?
KEN: Oh, Atami! It’s mostly chloride springs there, but soaking in a colorless, transparent spring would be nice once in awhile!
DAISUKE: Ramen at a hot springs spot, huh…? That’s got its own charm, so I like the sound of that! Refreshing shoyu ramen with naruto on top, a nostalgic flavor that reminds you of times past! Mmm!
TAKERU: Yeah, the hot springs at Atami seem like a good idea!
KEN: If we’re staying at a hot springs inn, then I can recommend a few places there that I regularly visit.
DAISUKE: Regularly visit? What are you, an old man?
TAKERU: But that would certainly help us decide on things quickly.
IORI: Then it’s decided! Our trip destination will be in Ata—
HIKARI: HOLD IT!
TAILMON: It’s premature to be making that decision!
DAISUKE: Hikari-chan!
V-MON: And Tailmon!
TAKERU: When did you two get here?
HIKARI: We’ve been here for awhile!
TAILMON: You were all so absorbed in your conversation that you didn’t notice us come in.
DAISUKE: What are you guys, ninjas?
V-MON: Ninjas? That’s so cool!
TAILMON: I’m not a ninja.
TAKERU: Hikari-chan, since you object, does that mean you don’t like Atami?
HIKARI: It’s not that I dislike Atami, but I thought if we’re going to do this as a group, then it would be best to go to Spain where Miyako-san is!
ALL: Spain?!
DAISUKE: We’re talking overseas now?
TAKERU: Isn’t that a little too high of a reach?
MIYAKO: Not really!
DAISUKE: Whoa, now Miyako is here!
MIYAKO: ¡Hola!
HAWKMON: By the way, I, too, am here!

[Eyecatch]

DAISUKE: Whoa, now Miyako is here!
MIYAKO: ¡Hola!
HAWKMON: By the way, I, too, am here! Also by the way, “¡Hola!” is how you greet others in Spain!
WORMMON: Hawkmon, long time no see!
V-MON: Now we’re all here!
HAWKMON: It’s been a while, everyone.
DAISUKE: Wait, Miyako, didn’t you leave for Spain?
MIYAKO: I did.
TAKERU: You came all the way back here just to meet us?
HAWKMON: Of course! It’s only natural for us to come since you said it was an important meeting.
V-MON: By plane?!
MIYAKO: No way! We used this!
BOYS: The smartphone D-3?
MIYAKO: That’s right! With this, we can open a Digital Gate and go anywhere in the world!
TAILMON: I see! We have that option!
DAISUKE: Which means…
KEN: Yeah. We can go anywhere in the world without taking up time!
V-MON: So that means…?
DAISUKE: It means, we can go anywhere we want in the world!
V-MON: Wow!
KEN: [laughs] Didn’t I just say that?
TAKERU: Anywhere…
IORI: In the world… Without spending money!
PATAMON: Wow, this is amazing! I’m so excited!
MIYAKO: …I feel like you guys are getting hyped about something else.
ARMADIMON: We can go to Nagoya whenever we want, dagya!
[The other Digimon talk excitedly]
HIKARI: I flat-out refuse that idea! Because… I want to visit Spain!
TAILMON: Hikari, I agree. I want to go to Spain as well. If possible, to the Basque region!
MIYAKO: Yeah! In all honesty, Spain is a great place. Their wines are delicious, whether in red or white, and their sangria is the best!
HAWKMON: Um, Miyako-san, we have underage people here.
MIYAKO: All of their foods taste amazing, and if you do an afternoon pub crawl, you can eat all sorts of tapas! Any restaurant you go in has exquisite dishes, and in their street market, you can buy raw ham and seafoods at a reasonable price!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san, you’re getting too worked up about this…
MIYAKO: So, Hikari-chan…!
HIKARI: Yeah! We have to convince the others!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san, you’re ignoring me, aren’t you…
MIYAKO: So… Listen up, everyone!
ALL: Huh?
HIKARI: We’re about to give you a presentation on just how wonderful Spain is!
MIYAKO: So be quiet and listen!

[They take the karaoke mic]

HIKARI: ¡Buenas!
MIYAKO: ¿Cómo estás?
HIKARI: Spain, the country of passion! Spain, the country of delicious gourmet!
TAILMON: Paella! Al ajillo! Spain omelettes!
MIYAKO: Spain, the birthplace of Antoni Gaudí!
HAWKMON: The Sagrada Família, the Park Güell, the Casa Batlló!
MIYAKO: Spain, where there’s the Liga Española!
DAISUKE: [jumps in] Camp Nou, Santiago Bernabéu, San Mamés!

HIKARI: …And you get the idea! Spain has a lot of famous tourist spots and their food, which goes without saying, is incredible!
MIYAKO: Their fruits of the sea and fruits of the land are better than you could ever hope for! Dare I say it, you could even call it the world’s capital for gourmet food!
HIKARI: It’s rich with art museums, and Barcelona has a huge zoo. Not a lot of people know this, but there’s even casinos!
MIYAKO: It’s low humidity there and the air is fresh, so it’s comfortable to live there! Also, the view of the streets is gorgeous!
HIKARI: So…
HIKARI/MIYAKO: Let’s go to Spain, okay?
DAISUKE/KEN/TAKERU/THEIR DIGIMON: Okay!
HIKARI: ¡Gracias!
IORI: …Everyone gave into that pretty quickly.
TAILMON: Then it’s decided! Our destination will be Spain—
ARMADIMON: Hold it, dagya!
TAILMON: Hmm?
ARMADIMON: I’m not letting go of Nagoya, dagya!
TAILMON: What if I said that *we’re* not letting go of Spain?
ARMADIMON: Grrr…
TAILMON: Are you picking a fight with me, Armadimon?
ARMADIMON: What if I said that I was, dagya?
TAILMON: Very well then! I’ll take you on!
DAISUKE: …Uh, what’s with this sudden change in atmosphere?
KEN: Wait, you two!
TAILMON: Hikari!
ARMADIMON: Iori!

[‘Break Up’ music plays]

TAILMON: Tailmon, armor evolve!
ARMADIMON: Armadimon, armor evolve!
TAILMON: The light of smiles…
ARMADIMON: The steel wisdom…
TAKERU: HOLD IT!
ARMADIMON: Huh?
TAKERU: Now hold on a second! If you evolve here, you’ll make a mess of the karaoke room!
ARMADIMON: You’ve got a point, dagya…
TAILMON: Then come outside with me. We’ll settle it there.
ARMADIMON: Bring it on, dagya!
IORI: Wait a moment! I don’t think you need to go that far.
TAILMON: Why not?
IORI: It won’t take any time at all to travel, so we can go to both places.
ARMADIMON: Oh… That’s right, dagya.
TAILMON: But are the rest of you okay with that?
KEN: Of course we are! …As long as we also go to the hot springs.
IORI: In other words… We can spend the night at a hot springs inn at Nagoya, and go to Spain from there.
PATAMON: Hey, then I want to go to the southern islands!
WORMMON: Going to the south in the summer is dull! Since it’s summer in Japan, we should go skiing in Australia!
DAISUKE: Wormmon… How are you going to wear the skis?
TAKERU: If we want to see a beautiful ocean, then why don’t we go to Tahiti? We could try diving there!
MIYAKO: Then I want to go to Taiwan next! The soup dumplings!
KEN: Wormmon, I just looked it up on my phone… If we take a car three hours from Melbourne, there’s a ski resort called Mount Buller.
WORMMON: Really?! Ken-chan, you’re so kind!
DAISUKE: [whispering furiously] No, seriously, how…?
IORI: Then if we go from Nagoya, to Spain, to Australia… What were the other places again?
MIYAKO: Guys, I’m fine with wherever we go, but don’t forget about foreign currency! You can’t buy anything without money.
KEN: Oh, that’s right.
MIYAKO: Especially the American dollar! As long as you have USD, you can rest easy! I mean, even the Digital World uses it!
TAKERU: Do you think we should carry our passports?
MIYAKO: You’ll need it in order to stay at hotels. Also, don’t forget to bring your toothbrush because some hotels don’t provide it depending on where you go.
KEN: Is that true?!
TAKERU: Yeah, it’s pretty common overseas.
V-MON: Hey, then, if we’re traveling overseas, should we bring rice with us?
PATAMON: And pickled plums?
HAWKMON: If you miss Japanese food, then you could just use the D-3 to come back to Japan.
ARMADIMON: We should always be carrying a bag of Yamatoya’s instant ramen with us, dagya!
DAISUKE: Um…
HIKARI: We are definitely going to Spain, okay?
ARMADIMON: We’re all absolutely going to see the Nagoya Castle together, dagya!
MIYAKO: I’ll give you guys the tour of Spain, but… I do like the idea of braised pork rice bowl in Taiwan!
HAWKMON: Miyako-san! If we’re going to Taiwan, then I also recommend its night markets!
PATAMON: Tahiti!
WORMMON: Australia!
ARMADIMON: Nagoya!
DAISUKE: Guys, listen to me!
ALL: Huh?
DAISUKE: My dream is to become a ramen shop owner in the future. I don’t know when I started thinking that way… But when I confided in Ken on my obscure feelings about ramen, he turned to me and said this: ‘If you really want to run a ramen shop, then you should form a concrete plan in order to turn that dream into reality.’
WORMMON: Ken-chan, you told him that?
KEN: Hmm, I might have.
DAISUKE: Hearing those words bowled me over because I was only vaguely thinking about owning a ramen shop. It made me realize that I was naive to think that just thinking about it was going to get me to accomplish it.
TAKERU: Yeah, just thinking about it won’t do anything.
PATAMON: Yep, yep!
DAISUKE: That’s why I circled around the ramen shops in my neighborhood in order to figure out for myself what delicious ramen is supposed to be like. I thought that I was getting somewhere with that, but this time, Iori saw what I was doing and lectured me.
IORI: I said something?
ARMADIMON: You don’t remember, dagya?
IORI: No, not at all.
DAISUKE: Iori said to me, ‘Ramen is deeper than it appears. Do you think you’ll understand it just by eating the ones from your local shops?’ So I studied up on the various ramen from all over the country! Asahikawa ramen from Hokkaido, Sapporo’s miso ramen, Hakodate’s shio ramen, Sendai’s chilled noodles, Fukushima’s kitakata ramen, Kanagawa’s iekei-style ramen, Tokyo’s niboshi ramen, Hachioji’s sweet broth with raw onions, Toyama Black, Wakayama’s tonkotsu-shoyu broth, Fukuoka’s tonkotsu ramen, Nagasaki’s champon noodles!
V-MON: Every kind of ramen was so tasty!
DAISUKE: Then Hikari-chan gave me a regional guidebook, and Miyako told me about the Seishun 18 ticket!^[7]
HIKARI: Oh, that was back when I was getting rid of stuff!
MIYAKO: You should have already known about the Seishun 18 ticket…
DAISUKE: As I traveled throughout the country, eating that region’s local ramen, I began wanting to learn more and more about ramen! I started seeing an albeit vague-but-getting-there idea of what *my* best ramen would be like! But at the same time, it brought to the front an issue of what I was clearly lacking.
KEN: Lacking?
IORI: What would that be?
DAISUKE: Experience. I had absolutely no experience as a chef. That’s why I’m attending a vocational school right now to become a certified chef. I’ll eat and make lots of ramen! I want to know more and more about ramen!
MIYAKO: Oh, I see…
IORI: I’m sorry, Daisuke-san… I had no idea you felt that way and we kept talking about what we wanted…
HAWKMON: So, what you’re saying is, you want to go on a trip not to spend time overseas, but to go somewhere famous for ramen to continue your research, right?
KEN: [smiles] If that’s the case, then why not?
WORMMON: We all love ramen!
PATAMON: I agree!
HIKARI: Seeing you pursue your dreams makes you look kind of cool.
DAISUKE: Huh?! Really?!
TAKERU: Then how about we let Daisuke-kun choose where we should go?
ALL: Okay!
KEN: But in return…
ALL: Huh?
DAISUKE: In return?
KEN: I hope you’ll let us try the ramen that you’ve come up with, Daisuke.
DAISUKE: Yeah, no problem!
[ALL smile]
MIYAKO: So? Where do you want to go?
DAISUKE: Right! So, the place I was thinking of going is…
ALL: ???
DAISUKE: It’s…

DAISUKE: [grabs a mic and yells] NEW YORK!!!
ALL: Why New York (dagya)?

–

　Try to wait a while, ’cause anyone is
　Totally different from yesterday
　Try to look for a while
　Even the silhouette of your profile looks mature
　Hey you, yeah, you
　I get why you feel like wanting to make excuses
　Because if the world is like this,
　Nothing’s gonna get done
　Right! I wanna breathe in
　Now! That feel-good breeze
　So badly, so badly
　Tomorrow my wind will blow
　So keep all the doors in the world open
　Tomorrow my wind will blow
　So that cowardice of yours
　Will be blown away completely
　For a gorgeous life!

–

NARRATOR: The New York City eats! Daisuke and his friends land in NYC, the city of cutting edge gourmet food, in order to research on a new kind of ramen free of preconceived ideas! But what awaited them there was a phone call from an unexpected person. Next up, Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna! Now, the gate to adventure opens.

–

DAISUKE: Whaaat, after all that, it’s just Ken and Iori?
KEN: Now, now.
IORI: Hikari-san and Takeru-san said they’d join us on the second day.
V-MON: Daisuke, I can’t wait to see New York!
WORMMON: Yeah!
ARMADIMON: Let’s hurry up and eat that ramen dagya!
V-MON: Daisuke!
DAISUKE: Sure! Then let’s get going! Digital Gate open!

[The gate opens]

DAISUKE: Let’s go, guys!
ALL: Yeah!

——————————–
[1] “The castle is the mainstay in Owari, Nagoya” (尾張名古屋は城で持つ) = There are different interpretations of this saying, one of them being that Nagoya is only famous for its Nagoya castle; the castle acts as the main tourist attraction that supports Nagoya financially.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shachihoko
[3] Nagoya is filled with highways, sometimes even having as many as five lanes for one direction. Pedestrians often have to use pedestrian bridges in order to cross streets. An example of how wide car lanes are in Nagoya and how much traffic dominates it can be demonstrated on this YouTube video.
[4] “Fwied shwimp” = The comedian Tamori joked about how the Nagoya dialect pronounces “fried shrimp” with a more distinctly nasal, lazy sound, and restauranters in Nagoya ran with the joke to make fried shrimp one of Nagoya’s specialty foods. While it’s hard to translate from the Japanese, the joke was that “ebi furai” (fried shrimp) spoken in Nagoya dialect sounds like “ebifuryaa”.
[5] Kishimen on the train platform = At Nagoya station are many kishimen counters where you can stand while eating. People often stop for a quick bite of this as they are commuting.
[6] Hitsumabushi = In Nagoya, the eel over rice bowl which is called “unajuu” everywhere else, is called “hitsumabushi” because it’s the same dish but with additional condiments.
[7] Seishun 18 Ticket = This is a budget ticket that one can use to travel throughout Japan. Since it’s a known form of travel among citizens, Daisuke really has no excuse for not knowing about it.

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Where to buy this song: Amazon.JP, CDJapan

Takayoshi Tanimoto – X-treme Fight
2nd Insert song of “Digimon Adventure:”

KANJI
目醒めろ　巨大なPOWER
限界超越すりゃ
奇跡が産声をあげる

邪悪を許さないぜ
未曾有の獰猛な奴
必ず俺が仕留めてやる

大事な誰かを守るために人は
強くなれるんだ
試練に負けない　決意があるなら

ぶち破れ　逆境こそ
暗黒を倒せるものは
挫けない魂が放つ光だから
食いしばれ　極限まで
苦しみを引き受けた時
不可能は→可能へと変わってゆくんだ
X-treme Fight

感じる　声なき叫び
誰かの悲鳴なのか？
救けるために戦うぜ

悲劇が近づくなら
俺たちが立ちはだかる
悪夢はここらでThe ENDさ

運命の鍵はこの自分が持ってる
こじ開けて進め
支配されるな　明日を動かせ

前に出ろ　誰よりも
自分史上イチの切り札
俺たちの底力　激烈に見せるぜ
食い止めろ　ギリギリで
苦しみを乗り越えた時
絶望は→希望へと変わって輝く
未来へ飛べ

ぶち破れ　逆境こそ
暗黒を倒せるものは
挫けない魂が放つ光だから
食いしばれ　極限まで
苦しみを引き受けた時
不可能は→可能へと変わってゆくんだ

追い詰めろ　全力で
自分史上イチの切り札
俺たちの底力　激烈に見せるぜ
ぶっ飛ばせ　超絶に
苦しみを乗り越えた時
絶望は→希望へと変わって輝く
X-treme Fight

ROMANJI
mezamero kyodai na power
genkai chouetsu surya
kiseki ga ubugoe wo ageru

jaaku wo yurusanai ze
mizou no doumou na yatsu
kanarazu ore ga shitomete yaru

daiji na dareka wo mamoru tame ni hito wa
tsuyoku narerun da
shiren ni makenai ketsui ga aru nara

buchi yabure gyakkyou koso
ankoku wo taoseru mono wa
kujikenai tamashii ga hanatsu hikari dakara
kui shibare kyokugen made
kurushimi wo hiki uketa toki
fukanou wa → kanou e to kawatte yukun da
X-treme Fight

kanjiru koe naki sakebi
dareka no himei nano ka?
tasukeru tame ni tatakau ze

higeki ga chikazuku nara
oretachi ga tachi hadakaru
akumu wa kokora de The End sa

unmei no kagi wa kono jibun ga motteru
koji akete susume
shihai sareru na ashita wo ugokase

mae ni dero dare yori mo
jibun shijou ichi no kirifuda
oretachi no sokojikara gekiretsu ni miseru ze
kui tomero giri giri de
kurushimi wo nori koeta toki
zetsubou wa → kibou e to kawatte kagayaku
mirai e tobe

buchi yabure gyakkyou koso
ankoku wo taoseru mono wa
kujikenai tamashii ga hanatsu hikari dakara
kui shibare kyokugen made
kurushimi wo hiki uketa toki
fukanou wa → kanou e to kawatte yukun da

oi tsumero zenryoku de
jibun shijou ichi no kirifuda
oretachi no sokojikara gekiretsu ni miseru ze
buttobase chouzetsu ni
kurushimi wo nori koeta toki
zetsubou wa → kibou e to kawatte kagayaku
X-treme Fight

TRANSLATION
Wake up immense power
By transcending past boundaries
Miracles are formed

Wickedness must not go unpunished
Unprecedented savage foes
I will put a stop to

To protect those important to them
People grow stronger
As long as there’s determination to persist through any ordeal

Beat down adversity
What defeats the darkness
is the light unleashed by a tenacious soul
Keep your teeth clenched to the very end
When we accept the pain
The impossible becomes → possible
X-treme Fight

I sense a voiceless scream
Is it someone’s shriek of pain?
We fight to save them

If what approaches us is disaster
Then we will stand in its way
The nightmare ends here

I hold the key to fate
I’ll wrench open that door to move ahead
Don’t be controlled; keep tomorrow moving

Step forward, ahead of anyone else
With your life’s best trump card
We’ll show the ferocity of our hidden power
Stop them at the very last minute
When we overcome the pain
Despair changes to → shining hope
Fly to the future

Beat down adversity
What defeats the darkness
is the light unleashed by a tenacious soul
Keep your teeth clenched to the very end
When we accept the pain
The impossible becomes → possible

Corner them with all your might
With your life’s best trump card
We’ll show the ferocity of our hidden power
Knock them down with excellence
When we overcome the pain
Despair changes to → shining hope
X-treme Fight

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