Fruits Basket Volume 4: Chapter 21 Translated by Zeynep (zgoral@gmail.com) Found at Chiisana Inori http://fruits.prettysenshi.com/ And so it's the twenty-first chapter of Fruits Basket. This is my Fruits Basket manga translation project, found at my Fruits Basket site, Chiisana Inori. You can also find scans for the manga there. This translation is not to be reproduced anywhere else, under any circumstances. It was made for people who have the Japanese Fruits Basket manga (or want to buy it) but don't know Japanese. I hope you enjoy this great manga series. =D % Lines that aren't spoken $ Lines that are flashbacks [] Actions/descriptions are in brackets () My own notes on the translation are in parentheses. Enjoy! Questions and comments are welcome! E-mail me at zgoral@gmail.com. ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ P70 TOHRU When it becomes May, what kind of crops can you plant? YUKI Let's see... carrots, turnips, leek. TOHRU Ah ha ha! YUKI And strawberries. TOHRU Whaa... so many. It sounds like fun! P71 YUKI Yeah... it's fun. [TOHRU fx: AH-CHOO] YUKI Are you alright? TOHRU Yes! It's April already, but today is chilly. YUKI Honda-san, you can go ahead and return ahead of me. I'm almost done here. TOHRU What? But... YUKI I'm also hungry... [Yuki tummy fx: GRRRR...] TOHRU Ah ha ha... then I'll do as you say and go back early to fix lunch. P72 %TOHRU %It's been a few days since I met Akito-san. However Yuki-kun is as cheerful as %usual. Is he really okay? TOHRU Strawberries are also wonderful... %TOHRU %Now, what should I make for lunch...? ....? %In such a place, someone dropped their Western-style clothing...? %I wonder what this means. It's as if they threw all their clothes off.... P73 TOHRU AH-- Could this be... Juunishi... Wha... KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! YUKI ! Honda-san?! TOHRU So--so--so--so-- YUKI Vegetables? [This is a play on words. In Japanese Tohru is stuttering "Na--na--na--na--" and "na" by itself means "vegetables." Yuki is confused.] TOHRU Something is under my dress!! YUKI What?! TOHRU Ah!! P74 [Ayame fx: SLITHER] YUKI .......... KYOU Ahhh, damn it. I'm hungry. SHIGURE Isn't Tohru-kun supposed to return soon? KYOU It's fine. I'll make something myself before she gets here. P75 SHIGURE Hold on, Kyou-kun. Though this is boring, let's wait a bit. [Bowl fx: SLAM] KYOU Hey! It's a waste of time waiting for them to come back!! SHIGURE Don't handle the food so roughly, Kyou-chan!! [Door fx: SLAM] [YUKI fx: RUN RUN RUN RUN] SHIGURE Ah, see? It looks as if they've come back. [Door fx: SLAM] P76 YUKI Peel his skin off and burn him immediately. SHIGURE Wha... A--Ayaa? KYOU Geh... SHIGURE Isn't that Aya? What happened so suddenly? TOHRU Ah... Um... P77 YUKI Peel his skin off immediately. SHIGURE Wait just a second, calm down, Yuki-kun. His name is Souma Ayame. Well, the way you've seen him, he's the Serpent. TOHRU Oh... SHIGURE Snakes hybernate. Because of this, Aya gets weak when he gets old. On cool days like today, he ends up transforming. TOHRU The winter must be tough then... SHIGURE Yes, it is tough! P78 SHIGURE Aya, Hatori and I are all the same age, so we went through elementary, middle, and high school together. That is to say, the three of us formed the Genuine Lovely Trio. TOHRU What?! Is that so...? I see now!! %KYOU %What the hell is a Genuine Lovely Trio? %YUKI %I can imagine Hatori's suffering... SHIGURE And? What made you so angry earlier Yuki-kun? YUKI ... It's so disgusting, I won't say it. SHIGURE Come on, come on, you can't say that. TOHRU U... um... SHIGURE You're so opposed to your older brother. P79 TOHRU What? WHAAAT?! Old--older brother... AYAME Regarding that, let me explain in my own words! My cruel body has already become cold once, now I have warmed up. I couldn't help but cling to the nearest form of human warmth. You could say it's a form of instinct. P80 AYAME Hey, ladies and gentlemen. You're doing well, my little brother? P81 %TOHRU %He's like an older Yuki...!! YUKI What do you mean, "Cling"?! It's only appropriate to call the police!! KYOU What's going on? What did that bastard do to you? TOHRU Wha--no--um... AYAME Ah! Kyon-kichi is really here as well! KYOU I told you to stop calling me by that name!! AYAME Well, Kyon-kichi is the way I've always called you. KYOU STOP IT!!! AYAME I haven't seen you since New Year's, Gure-san. SHIGURE Yes, since New Year's. P82 AYAME You haven't been cheating on me since I last saw you, have you? SHIGURE Not when I've got someone like you, could I? Aya. AYAME/SHIGURE ALL RIGHT!! %YUKI/KYOU/TOHRU %What on earth?! %TOHRU %Let's see... it seems his personality is totally different from Yuki-kun's. SHIGURE This girl is Honda Tohru-san. You came here to meet her, right? AYAME Oooh, that's right. P83 AYAME I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I am Yuki's affectionate older brother, Ayame. TOHRU Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. AYAME I see, I see. A princess? KYOU/TOHRU What? AYAME A rare flower that has bloomed among the men of this house! You're a captured princess, aren't you! SHIGURE She's not really captured, though. YUKI Brother... if you don't stop treating her like an idiot... AYAME I am showing her plenty of respect. P84 AYAME Now, princess, bring me some tea at once. Please hurry up and make lunch also. [Ayame fx: pat pat] YUKI/KYOU THAT ISN'T RESPECT!! SHIGURE Aya... you're treating her like a maid. AYAME Is that so? Then please make lunch slowly. KYOU That's not the point!! YUKI ......... AYAME What a difficult situation. I've got it... Tohru-kun. TOHRU What? [Ayame fx: GRAB] P85 AYAME I'm taking you out to eat!! TOHRU WHAT?! U--um... but... AYAME It's nothing to worry about! It's on me! AH HA HA! SHIGURE It's no use to get mad at me. P86 AYAME Order whatever you want! By the way I'll have the special of the day. [Small print man: Is it a girl? Chef small print: It's a man, isn't it? Woman small print: Is it a man, I wonder?] TOHRU .......... AYAME If it's Yuki and them you're thinking about, don't worry. They're not children, they'll figure something out on their own. TOHRU Ye--yes, but, it looked like they needed some help. AYAME I said it was all on me, right...? TOHRU N--no! I don't want anything so extravagant!! AYAME Alright. Clerk, we'll have two of today's special. [Chef small print: Okay] TOHRU Ah... I've been overwhelmed... P87 TOHRU But it's such a surprise. Yuki-kun has never said a single word about his older brother, but his older brother is also a part of the Juunishi... Ah! Is it possible that Kyou-kun or Shigure-san have siblings?! AYAME Nope, they're both only children. But it's expected that Yuki didn't mention me. Our relationship was bad. Rather, it was right for him to not mention me. More than ten years ago, I left. Right after Yuki was born, it seemed that the cause for all his sickness was isolation and segregation. %TOHRU %Isolation...? AYAME I didn't recognize him as being my younger brother. I grew up doing whatever I wanted to do. P88 AYAME Then, when I hurt him, our relationship as siblings became completely inaccessible. That's why. TOHRU ... AYAME Yuki met with Akito at school, didn't he? You met him as well, right? How could I put it... though you didn't hear it from me, for Yuki, Akito is the subject of great horror. Even more than the rest of the Juunishi, for Yuki, Akito is a serious illness. About this time, I don't think he is terribly depressed. Even thoough I'm saying this to you, I came to see how Yuki was doing. P89 AYAME Even so, he seems kind of happy. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed. I thought that if I could get him to like me, I could be like an older brother. TOHRU Do you regret coming? %TOHRU %To have cultivated such a gap... AYAME ... It's strange. The years pass by and the things I couldn't understand when I was a child, I've come to understand. P90 AYAME "I could've done that differently," or "I could've said this differently." In this way, I've come to understand many things. If this is regret, this might be more like to repentance. Repentance for my shameless and ignorant childhood. I want it to disappear. That's why I can say what I want as an adult. P91 TOHRU ... But my mother... my mother once said that once you become a parent, you can then understand your parent's feelings. However... however, honestly what you need to understand, what you cannot forget, is who you were as a child. P92 TOHRU It's like the day you were able to pull yourself up for the first time, or the day something made you angry for the first time. If you allow yourself to let go of the feelings you felt as a child, even if you became an adult, even if you became a parent, you will be able to reach an understanding. 100% might be impossible, but you will be able to compromise. %TOHRU %That's why... P93 %TOHRU %Thinking of it that way is much more enjoyable. TOHRU Ah--Ah... I mean, that is, um... somehow, what I meant to say is... Yuki-kun and Ayame-san will surely be able to compromise from now on!! P94 TOHRU ........ I'm sorry... AYAME No, it's okay, it's okay. You're someone who says wonderful things. TOHRU YES! My mother is the best in all the universe!! %AYAME %No... I was talking about you. Oh well. AYAME But now I see, I see. Now I understand why Yuki is so much happier. That's right. From now on, I am also going to try my best... like you. P95 AYAME From now on, before I become better friends with Yuki... %TOHRU %At that time, Ayame-san was... YUKI Honda-san... are you safe?! TOHRU Yes. About lunch for the rest of you... YUKI Don't worry about that. About my older brother... did he bother you? TOHRU No, he ordered the daily special for me. P96 TOHRU ... Um, Yuki-kun... Do you hate your brother, Yuki-kun? YUKI What? TOHRU Ah--no, I just wanted to ask, that's all. YUKI ... I don't know if you could call it 'hate'... It's more like, I'm bad at it. I can never understand what he's thinking. AYAME If you're bad at it, we can restore it!! Now is the time for us to reconcile!! YUKI ?! P97 AYAME My little brother!! [Ayame fx: slither] [Kyou fx: FREEZE] TOHRU Ah... um, this is... right after we left the store, it got cold and he transformed... I heard that when snakes get too cold, they might die... AYAME Because I am a snake, after all!! P98 YUKI You're not my brother, you're nothing!! [Tohru small print: Yu--yuki--kun...] AYAME Ah ha ha! You've shown your true side, Yuki! %TOHRU %But Yuki-kun, at that time, Ayame-san's face was that of an "older brother." %He was smiling. AYAME Gure-san, where would be best for me to sleep tonight? SHIGURE What? You're staying? ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ End of volume 4 chapter 21