Infinite Stratos - Volume 2, page 19
The chair was tightly packed together, and there was no sign of it crumbling, but it would immediately crumble once Tabane touched it, forming a hill of spare parts.
"H—n...I'm bored, bored."
*Tulalatulalala~♪*
The Godfather's theme rang[2E 1]. This is a famous theme hoodlums entering the new century would use, but the composer[2E 2] most probably did not expect someone in the Far East to love this song. To be honest, it would be interesting to see whether the composer would be extremely happy or sigh about this if he knew about it.
"This, this ringtone is...ha!"
A large jump, or rather, she jumped at her handphone in a diving like manner. Tabane didn't mind that her mug and toolbox got scattered all over the place as she immediately brought the handphone to her ear.
"Hello, Hi hi? Every day!"[2E 3]
*Du* *Du*—the line's cut in both ways.
"Wah—wait wait!"
Maybe it was Tabane's wish coming through or some divine prank as the handphone rangs again *Tulalatulalala~♪*.
"Hello!—This is everyone's favorite idol Shinonono Tabane—wait wait! Chi-chan!"
"Don't you call me that."
"OK, Chi-chan!"
"Sigh, whatever. I have something to ask you anyway."
"What is it?"
"Is it related to you this time?"
"This time, this time—what are you talking about?"
Tabane tilts her head. She's not feigning ignorance; she really doesn't know.
"I'm talking about the [VT system]."
"Ah, that? Ohhoho, Chi-chan, do you think I created that crude amateurish thing? I'm the perfectly flawless Shinonono Tabane. Besides, it's meaningless to create such a thing that's not perfect."
"..."
"Speaking of which, as for that research lab, I erased it from the surface of the earth more than 2 hours ago...oh, though you may know, the death count is zero. It's as easy as breaking a child's hand—oh yeah, Chi-chan, is it hard to break one? Am I the only one thinking like this? Oh my, that's weird."
Ohohohoho, Tabane adds on a little laughter and smoothly brings this conversation to an end.
"Really? Sorry for disturbing you."
"No no, it's not a bother at all! As long as it's for Chi-chan, I'll service you a full 24 hours a day. I'm not a convenience store! But I'll gladly service you~"
"Alright, I'm hanging up then."
*BAM!* Chifuyu hung up the phone. It seemed like she wouldn't be calling back again. Tabane looked somewhat regretful as she again stared at the handphone, but 2 seconds later, she just threw it away without abandon.
"Oh my, Tabane's happy to hear a voice she hasn't heard in a long time! Chi-chan's still as amazing as ever, don't go running into the other side of the sunset."
Tabane folded her arms in front of her chest as she muttered, laughing away.
Orimura Chifuyu and Shinonono Tabane first met each other in elementary school, and after that, they were always in the same school and the same class. Of course, Tabane deliberately set that up, and Chifuyu knew that.
However, that wasn't all to their relationship.
The IS was released when Chifuyu was studying high school, and for the next few years, Chifuyu had been assisting in the IS development as a pilot.
In other words, what Chifuyu knew about IS already far surpassed the other pilots by a lot, and the comprehension level was on a completely different level. Because of all that training and unique skills, it wasn't a surprise that she became the 1st Mondo Grosso champion—at least that was what Tabane felt.
"But why did Chi-chan~ choose to retire?"
Even now, Tabane doesn't understand. In terms of age or ability, Chifuyu could still be a first-stringer if she returned to the squad, and she would immediately become a winning candidate in the next Mondo Grosso.
However, the human heart was complicated, weird and inexplicable. Even a genius' mind couldn't comprehend its depths.
—It was because of just that reason that she wanted to know. Tabane was only interested in 3 people in the world.
*Tralala~♪* *Tralala~♪* You people better get ready~ BAM BAM! AH, ONII-CHAN! IF YOU WANT I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU!
Suddenly, another ringtone could be heard—yes, this ringtone's really weird. It's likely that among the million fans of 'The Yakuza Wives'[2E 4], Tabane is the only one who would use the BGM of a conversation in the movie as a ringtone. On a side note, the number of fans is just pure speculation, so there may be a large difference in numbers, please take note. However, Tabane wasn't a fan of this movie. It was a reaction she just does.
The folded bunny ears of hers straightened up, and this response far surpassed all words. Why would that person call here? And for the first time! She already knew who the person was before she even picked up the phone.
"Oh my oh my oh my! Long time no see! I've always—always been waiting for you~!"
"...Nee-san."
"Yes yes, I know why you called. You want it, right? The one and only machine that you want — Houki-chan's personal machine. I did prepare it for you! It's the strongest and far surpasses all other specs, and it's even a match for the white one. And the name of that machine is...
[Akatsubaki]—!"
Afterwords
Hello hello everyone. We met again after the first volume came out of the market. I'm Yumizuru.
The ratings of the first IS volume was really good thanks to everyone, and the sales exceeded my expectations, so we're selling another volume again. I want to sincerely thank all the readers who bought the books. It's thanks to all of you, and in the future, I will continue to satisfy the demands all the readers place on me. For the time being, I'll be in your care.
And then now, it's now the second volume, and all the main female characters are gathered! Though there will be other female characters, including Charlotte and Laura, all the main cast have gathered (Basically)
Though it's somewhat mentioned at the end of the second volume, in the third volume that's coming out, Houki's sister, the inventor of IS, Shinonono Tabane will officially appear, and Houki will finally have her own personal machine! Please look forward to the developments! I'm really looking forward to Okiura-sensei's illustrations, I can't wait!
Speaking of which, many people often tell me that the setting of this novel is extremely detailed, that even the unnecessary parts are included. Well, I'm really a fan of detail, so this can't be helped. But basically, I already finished thinking of all the riddles and foreshadowing, so please relax!
On a side note, I would put write my ideas down into documents, so basically, the ideas for the outline has already amassed till half a novel's length.
But well--I can't really show others what to give up on or what to use...so I could only leave them in my brain. If I read it, I suppose I won't be able to understand as well, and may even have doubts like 'eh? it's supposed to happen like this?' Well, I did write all these anyway...
I still have a lot of stories I want to talk about, and in the future, I hope I can showcase them in a way where it's not too draggy. This will have to depend on my hard work and the readers' response, so please guide me through. However, if it's too boring, please tell me as well (laughs).
This time, Okiura-sensei helped me out with brilliant illustrations. I feel really honored and thankful, and really, I want to thank all the assistance he put in for every volume.
Besides the illustrations that were put inside the book, there were also some blueprints and all sorts of ideas in them. I myself got more or less influenced to think of new ideas.
I experienced this 'external touch that's not of one's own' many times in my many years in the game development industries, and those will push anyone's works to ways that can't be reached on one's own.
Besides, the work is definitely not something that belongs to the author; it's something that can only be completed through many people's power and assistance. Of course, the readers are a part of it, so my duty is to find out what everyone wishes to see.
My job is to create, so I often have to remind myself not to think that 'this belongs only to me'. Though the work has my name on it, it's not something that belongs to me.
As there's still additional space, let me talk more about IS.
We--ll, actually, at the planning stage, IS was a completely different story. There was nothing similar in concept except for the IS, as the initial plan was to have 'a cross-dressing guy' (!).
(But the name of the protagonist hasn't changed, it's still Ichika, because I like it.)
Then, after discussing about the content with Misaka-san, the chief editor, he gave me a lot of ideas, and after that, I restructured it to form the current storyline of IS. (And after that, I even removed 3 designated settings, including the female lead Houki.)
Though the story's completely different from how I envisioned it, as I continue to write, I felt, 'this is rather interesting'. Actually, it's also because I really want to see that I thought 'lets write this book!'
Normally, I (at least during the time of planning) would normally write what I want to see, show it to others, ask others for illustrations and publish it. After passing through these phases, the work naturally became 'something that belongs to everyone'. Well, since it belonged to the author in the first place, this can't be helped.
However, I may start to incorporate all sorts of suggestions from the planning stage on.
The work involves a lot of people that allows others to add in their touch.
So in the future, I hope to create works with all sort of people.
Alright, we'll meet again in the 3rd volume. Goodbye!
--Yumizuru Izuru
A certain day in July, 2009.
Translation Notes and References
Chapter 1
↑ One of many japanese terms used to refer to a big brother (actual or big brother figure, both)
↑ In English
↑ Idiot big brother
↑ High social class ladies
↑ のほほん. A rough translation for it will be 'whatever/anyhow'.
↑ TL note: Ling Ling is the name of a panda in Japan Ueno zoo. It was from China, and exchanged with a Japanese born panda in 1992. The panda died in 2008 at the age of 22.
↑ A reference to how Chinese movies are dubbed in Japanese. The Chinese characters in manga and novels would often have such a catchphrase
↑ Another double entendre here (後ろ髪を引かれるushirogami o hikareru): literal meaning: hair being pulled from behind, and the figurative meaning.
Chapter 2
↑ One of many Japanese terms for "Mother". Replacing would not be good since there are so many terms for it and the combination of the terms with the honorifics reveal the attachment, respect and love for the person.
↑ 事情, 事情,トッポ: Jijō, jijō, toppo)
↑ In English: Under Siege - the movie
↑ Silence of the Lamb
↑ Similar to common sense but made up on the spur of the moment.
↑ Ladies belonging to the upper class of society.
↑ Noblesse Oblige
Chapter 3
↑ "Ichika no echhi" can be translated to "Ichika, you perv/pervert" but since Charles uses it often it's left like this.
↑ Original Text is: な、なんでまない、なんでまないぞ、なんでまないんだ、なんでまないに遠いない (Romaji: Na, nande-ma-nai, nande-ma-nai-zo, nande-ma-nai-nda, nande-ma-nai ni-tōi-nai)
↑ Houki's family
↑ Japanese term for Rock-Paper-Scissors
↑ The action used here is normally associated with the words "Come and get me if you dare/can". One famous example of its use is in The Matrix (franchise).
↑ Japanese polite self reference word for males (ie: Same function as I except normally used by males to refer to themselves while speaking politely).
↑ She was about to say that she wouldn't mind it if Ichika was to... but then got embarrassed.
Chapter 4
↑ Rock-Paper-Scissors
↑ Oni are demons and ogres of japanese folklore
↑ 正拳のブラツク墨す, sounds similar to The Sacred Blacksimth (聖剣の刀鍛冶(ブラックスミス) Seiken no Burakkusumisu)
↑ Bishounen means beautiful boy whereas bishoujo means beautiful girl. Both in the feminine sense (ie: Beautiful... not handsome).
↑ 嫁にする, basically this is one of the forms a male uses to propose to a female. Basically it means "I'll make you my bride" or something along similar lines. Laura (and the person who taught her this) is ignorant/mistaken about proper japanese social customs hence her mistake.
↑ The Sengoku era, also known as the Warring States period was a time in Japanese history in which social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century.
Epilogue
↑ The Theme of the 1972 film "The Godfather"
↑ The composer's name is Nino Rota.
↑ もすもす ひねもす (mosu mosu, hinemosu). The literal translation was written here. However as you can see by reading the original. The sentence is supposed to rhyme. In the anime, certain fansubbers chose to change the sentence slightly to "Hi Hi, are you high?" in order to keep the rhyming sense.
↑ 極道の妻たち, gokudou no onna-tachi
Prev [v d e]Infinite Stratos Next
Volume 1 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Afterwords
Volume 2 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 3 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 4 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 5 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 6 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 7 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Volume 8 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Epilogue - Afterwords
Side Stories
SS 1 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4
SS 3 Novel Illust. - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2
Izuru Yumizuru, Infinite Stratos - Volume 2
