Chapter One: This Just In: We’re Under Attack!
It was dark inside the building.
The place hadn’t been cleaned in months, or maybe years. The windows were so dirty, it was hard to see outside, nothing but dim light seeping through. Somewhere in the gloom it was possible to make out some old metal drums and piles of wood. The chains and crane hooks hanging from the ceiling were rusty, and there wasn’t so much as an emergency light anywhere to be seen.
All of this, along with the layer of dust coating everything, suggested how long it had been since this building had been used.
And in the middle of it all was a woman. A female officer of the Japan Self-Defense Force: Koganuma Minori.
A woman, yes, but one highly accomplished in the martial arts. Her glasses may have given people a gentle first impression, and she usually acted reserved and calm. But when the moment called for it, she could draw on the fighting skills her father had taught her—or simply draw the pistol she always carried. She was a bracing sight either way.
The fact that she was involved in a highly confidential special operation spoke to the fact that she was more than just a foot soldier who knew how to beat people up. She was quick-witted and resourceful.
But now... Now...
“...Hrgh...”
At this moment, she couldn’t put any of her copious skills to use. The reason was simple: her wrists were bound by one of those chains hanging from the ceiling. Her toes—her shoes had been stripped off—didn’t quite graze the floor. Psychologically speaking, it was a more disconcerting place to be than hanging high in the air.
Minori’s hair, usually tied up in a bun, now hung messily at her shoulders. Her glasses still sat on her face, one of the lenses clearly cracked; they hadn’t been taken away, but looked like they might fall off at any moment. The state of her clothes, too, spoke to the violence with which she’d been treated. On top, she’d been stripped down to her underclothes, clearly revealing the cleft of her generous chest. And while she still had her skirt, her stockings were badly torn. There was a certain kind of person who might have been overjoyed to be in her position—but not her.
“Ugh...” She groaned softly and shifted. She was trying to get out of her bindings somehow. There are stories about people who have learned to dislocate their own joints in order to escape handcuffs and ropes. Minori might even have known some of those techniques. But...
“Ah, you’re awake.”
The door opened, and several silhouettes entered. The question was posed to her in Japanese, but when the speaker got close enough to see through the grimy darkness, he was clearly not from her country. He was white, as were all the sharp-featured faces around him.
Russians, perhaps? The faces looked meticulous, yet imposing, wide cheeks accompanied by strangely cold eyes. It was hard to imagine them smiling. The wrinkles lining their foreheads and creeping in next to their eyes suggested they were not young men.
Minori-san looked up in shock.
That face had to be one of the best known in the entire world.
“Pu**n...!”
Vladimir Vladimirovich Pu**n. The fourth and current President of Russia.
But there was something else, something even more shocking.
“That’s impossible!”
All of the men standing in front of her were Pu**n.
He was the strongest president—probably literally, being a former KGB agent, judo champion, and experienced sambo practitioner who had allegedly survived five separate assassination attempts. In other words, he was the one who put the scare in Red Scare.
This man would be despair-inducing enough by himself, but now Minori-san was faced with a crowd of him.
“And now it is time for you to talk, young lady of Japan,” Pu**n No. 1 (let’s call him) said, coming closer. Minori-san spared him a single glance... then scowled hatefully and looked away. She wasn’t going to say a word, she seemed to be telling him.
The corners of Pu**n No. 1’s mouth turned up just a little at this display of defiance. He seemed to expect the reaction. He turned to the Pu**ns (that’s the plural form) behind him and said, “Bring it in.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the Pu**ns (plural form again) said—then he ushered a large container on a self-propelled platform over toward Minori-san. A second later, one of the sides fell free, revealing what was within.
Minori-san caught her breath: inside the container was a cage. It had dozens of thick bars; it was obviously intended to hold a huge, powerful animal.
And there was, in fact, a large creature inside it.
Fangs bared, drooling, eyes alight with madness—a lion!
No, not a lion. Not a tiger, either. Or a wolf, or crocodile, or a snake.
Inside was a polar bear.
What was it doing there? Was it just... because this was Russia she was dealing with?
Then Pu**n No. 1 said something unbelievable: “This bear knows the taste of human flesh. You might survive an arm or a leg, but if he gets to your torso, well, you won’t last long. I advise you to speak before he does so.”
Minori-san was silent. She stared at the white animal in the cage, never looking away.
After a long moment, Pu**n No. 1 said, “I see how it is.”
Then Pu**n No. 2 (not that you could really tell them apart, but let’s just say) opened the door of the cage.
Two massive, white legs came out. The animal must have been at least two meters long—maybe even three. Covered in fur and muscle, made its way patiently toward Minori-san, who was in no position to run away.
Minori-san, still silent, stared the creature down. Her eyes were practically piercing...
“Hrm?” Suddenly, in front of the shocked Pu**ns (all of them), the bear made a sharp right, hunched over, and rode away on a bicycle that it seemed to pull out of thin air.
It was kind of cute, actually.
Now the Pu**ns (plural) looked at each other.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have borrowed him from the Bol**oi Circus?”
“What were we supposed to do? We didn’t have the budget to train our own.”
Apparently even the Pu**ns (none of them) had been expecting Minori-san to be able to win a staring contest with a polar bear. They might not have been so surprised if they knew she had gone toe-to-claw with a dragon once. A domesticated circus animal was really no threat. Apparently the thing about human flesh had been a bluff.
“She leaves us no choice,” Pu**n No. 1 said. “Call them in.”
“Yes, sir,” another of the Pu**ns—Pu**n No. 3—said. He nodded and left the room.
A short time later, though, he came back and nodded to Pu**n No. 1.
“Behold, young lady,” Pu**n No. 1 said, indicating something with a jerk of his chin.
Minori-san, despite her desire not to look in his direction, couldn’t ignore his portentous tone. She spared the slightest of glances—
—and her breath caught in her throat.
There were two more silhouettes at the entrance now. Both men, she guessed. The light behind them obscured their features, but their outlines were suggestive enough.
“Hrk...!” Minori-san, who hadn’t been intimidated even by a live polar bear, made a small, strained noise.
“You are free to pretend indifference, but I doubt your little act will last long with these two. I will be watching to see for myself exactly how long.”
The Pu**ns (all of them), all wearing the exact same half-smile, backed away from Minori-san. The newcomers stepped forward in their place.
They were not Pu**ns.
One was a young man with golden hair. The other was a middle-aged man with black hair. Both were wearing plain overalls, but the complete lack of any sort of stain, mark, or discoloration revealed that these weren’t their everyday work outfits.
“We already know your weakness,” Pu**n No. 1 said from over by the wall. “Just look. Are they not identical?”
Minori-san didn’t say a word.
“Do it. Hold nothing back.”
The golden-haired young man and the dark-haired middle-aged man began to unzip their overalls, from their collars down toward their crotches. Underneath, they appeared to be completely naked. Nothing but unblemished skin and toned muscle appeared from under those clothes...
Still Minori-san said nothing. The two men were expressionless except for a slight flush of excitement on their faces. What could the two of them be planning to do with the bound, half-naked young woman hanging before them? The mind went to many places, none of them good.
Minori-san resolutely tried to look away, but Pu**n No. 3 (probably—it was hard to tell) came around behind her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at the men.
“Ohh...” Minori-san trembled. She couldn’t suppress an instinctive response to what was obviously about to happen.
And then...
Then the golden-haired young man reached out and grabbed...
...the dark-haired older man, slowly drawing him closer.
“No...!” Minori-san groaned. “Don’t do that... Handling him as gently as a broken dream...!”
Her breath got hotter. She wanted to look away, but Pu**n No. 3 made sure she couldn’t. Surely she should just close her eyes—but behind the glasses, her eyes were so wide that it was obvious she didn’t even want to blink.
The two men pressed against each other, but then they stopped. They simply stood there, looking at each other.
“Those passionate gazes...” Minori-san breathed. “What could they be wishing for, with such melancholy in their eyes...!”
“I suggest you start talking,” Pu**n No. 1 said, “or things are going to escalate.”
“This... This is unconscionable,” Minori-san said, writhing where she hung from the chain. But of course, she found no sympathy from the Pu**ns (any of them).
Instead, one of them said, “We are aware that you’ve been buying Cat & Bunny doujinshi. The especially yaoi ones.”
They suddenly produced a small book—specifically, a doujinshi aimed at ladies eighteen and up. Minori-san couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“You seem to particularly enjoy seeing the main characters in each other’s arms. We have, of course, properly investigated which is the top and which is the bottom. And we are all too cognizant of the fact that you cannot abide role reversals. So tell us everything you know, or things are only going to get steamier from here.”
“This is a... a crime against humanity!” Minori-san all but howled.
What an astonishing twist! The Russian agents had discovered just how rotten Koganuma Minori was, and now they were exploiting her weakness to the full. It was real-life BL, right there in front of her eyes—but it was the opposite of what she wanted to see, with the top and bottom reversed, staring into each other’s eyes. Could there be a worse fate for a fujoshi?
She had never imagined such tortures could exist in this world.
Wait—was it torture? Or was it heaven?
Role reversal had been known to destroy fujoshi groups before, though...
“They’re practically nose-to-nose... Erg! No! You can’t touch him there... Ah, ahhh, nooooeeees!” Her voice cracked sweetly, her eyes brimming and her face drawn. The sound of her voice alone could have warranted an X rating.
“Now,” Pu**n No. 3 said. His tone was soft, almost sweet, like Mephistopheles negotiating with Faust. “Tell us, Minori Koganuma...”
“Ahhh...” Her pitiful cry echoed through the building.
And then...
...............
...............
“Master...?”
Myusel’s voice suddenly brought me back to the real world.
“Huh...?” I looked up to see Myusel, Petralka, and Elvia sitting around the table, and all looking very worried.
“Are you okay?” the flaxen-haired Myusel asked, touching me.
Myusel Fourant—my personal maid, if you can believe it. Her sweet, beautiful face was presently darkened with concern. She had always been the meek type—and watching her blink as she gazed at me with her big, violet eyes, I could practically feel how generous and kind she was.
But then, so were the other faces around me.
“We have been calling you, but you did not answer,” Petralka said with a frown. She, too, had a hand on me.
Petralka an Eldant III. At first glance she looked cute, almost like a doll, but she was actually the Empress of the Holy Eldant Empire, a country in an entirely separate world.
And she shouldn’t have been here. Yes, she was the one who had decided to sneak along—but if there was anyone we had to worry about here in Japan, it would be her.
“Are y’ feeling tired? Or maybe sick?” This question came from the third girl—yes, also touching me—Elvia. Specifically, Elvia Harneiman.
She was a beast-girl artist from the other world. She had actual ears and an actual tail—in short, an otaku dream girl.
And she had the same sort of anxious look as the other two. She was always pretty easygoing—you could almost say mellow—so she looked like the calmest of the three, but I could see her tail flicking nervously from side to side.
“Oh... Sorry, I just...” I must have slipped off to sleep, even though I hadn’t remotely noticed it happening.
Let’s just say it had been a busy afternoon. I must have been running on adrenaline and not noticed how exhausted I was. Then again, Myusel and the others had been through just as much as I had, and they were all still awake, so maybe it just went to show what a weakling I was. How embarrassing. Apparently I still had all the physical strength of a former shut-in.
Anyway...
“I just... got a little drowsy...” I looked around my nice, familiar house.
That’s right: I was in Japan. Not the other world.
But Myusel, Elvia, and Petralka were all here. Everything that had happened since we’d arrived in Japan flashed through my mind: the reunion with my family. The yakiniku we’d all shared. Going back to Akihabara.
And then there was being cornered by a Chinese (?) spy, kidnapped by the US Army, and losing Minori-san to Russian (?) agents.
Minori-san...
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Myusel said when she saw me frown silently. “We shouldn’t have woken you up when you were resting...”
“No, no, no,” I said, shaking my head. She must have thought I was angry. “I shouldn’t have been asleep anyway. And besides, I appreciate you woke me up when you did. I was having a nightmare.”
Chapter Two: Operation Rescue Minori-san
It was morning by the time we finished straightening up the living room. I wasn’t too sleepy, though—maybe it was the few winks I had managed to catch, or maybe it was just the excitement—and I proceeded immediately to hold a strategy meeting with Myusel in my room.
“These are all the sprite bottles we have left...” I looked at the row of palm-sized ceramic jars. They looked strangely like bullets. I guess, in the sense that they allowed us to fire off our magic, they sort of were. “As for the magic stones, we should probably have as many on us as we can.”
“Shinichi-sama, there are still more.”
From my gun-nut father’s stash of airsoft equipment we’d gotten a field vest with plenty of pockets, which we’d stuffed with all the sprite bottles they would hold. Our fingers, meanwhile, were bedecked with magical stones, which we treated like accessories. There were still bottles and stones we weren’t able to keep directly on us; these we put in a backpack also procured from my dad’s stuff.
Once we were outfitted with every magic-supplying item we could manage, we discovered it was all pretty heavy.
“Is... Is this all of it?” I mumbled, looking around the room—and that was when I noticed the door was slightly ajar. Myusel had spotted it before I had, and was staring intently in that direction. And then...
“...Oops.”
Our eyes met hers.
“What’re you peeping at?” I said.
“I’m not p-peeping at anything!” Shizuki said from the crack in the door, through which she was clearly peeping. “The door just happened to be open! I just wanted to make sure my big brother wasn’t doing anything weird to Myusel-san, alone in this room together...”
“If you want to know what’s going on in here, then just come right in!” We weren’t doing anything wrong, and didn’t have anything to hide.
Er... except I guess it would be tricky if she asked what the bottles or the rocks were for. I still hadn’t used magic in front of my family. If worst really came to worst, I didn’t think I would be able to pass it all off by muttering about state secrets.
“It’s creepy to have you just peering in there,” I added. “It’s like some kind of horror movie.”
“You’re one to talk about creepy, you nasty otaku!” Shizuki exclaimed.
I let out a sigh, then looked down and went back to my preparations. Maybe I should bring the stun guns the agents had dropped? Or maybe it would be better not to fool around with weapons I didn’t really understand. Hmmm.
I kept mulling it over, but Shizuki didn’t go anywhere; she just stood at the door watching me.
“What do you want?” I finally asked.
“Huh? I, uh, I just...” She couldn’t quite come up with anything. Why was she here?
After a moment of what seemed to be intense thought, Shizuki looked first to the right, then to the left, then up, then down... anywhere except at me. She crossed her arms, obviously deeply uncomfortable, but finally she said softly, “I guess I... misjudged you. A little.”
“What...?” I said dumbly. I was completely shocked to hear her say that, when just a minute ago she had been accusing me of being a “nasty otaku.” So shocked, in fact, that I thought I’d misheard her. “C... Come again?”
“I mean the way you chased off those, like, spies from China or wherever. I always thought you were just a good-for-nothing otaku, but...”
I wasn’t sure whether it was worse to be a nasty otaku or a good-for-nothing one... but I guess it wasn’t exactly worth worrying about at that moment. More than anything, I was just stunned to hear Shizuki say that. She was practically complimenting me.
Hoping to act the part of the cool, composed older brother, I put a sort of wry smile on my face. “The truth is, I didn’t do anything. It was Mom and Dad’s security system that even gave us anything to put on Egao Video. And you were the one who helped spread it all over the web.”
Shizuki didn’t say anything, so neither did I.
I counted the bottles and stones in the vest and backpack one more time, made sure we hadn’t forgotten anything, then zipped everything up. “Okay,” I finally said.
Myusel appeared to be ready, too; we looked at each other and nodded. We seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, without saying a word to each other. It made me happy somehow.
I was just savoring that little thrill when...
“What are you doing, anyway?” Shizuki asked with just a hint of annoyance.
“Hm? Getting ready,” I said.
“Are you... planning something else?” As I hefted a backpack, Shizuki frowned and took a step into the room. “You scared off those guys. Isn’t that enough?”
“We have to go rescue the princess,” I said. “Er... although, she’s not a princess.”
“What?” Shizuki said flatly, furrowing her eyebrows. Now she was ticked for sure. Ah, I knew this expression. It was the same look she got when me and our parents were geeking out over something and she was the only one who wasn’t part of the fun. The look was part mocking and part angry. “That’s a really creepy way of putting it.”
Chapter Three: The Going Is Easy, but the Coming Home...
It was the day after we had rescued Minori-san. A microbus and two black sedans were parked in front of my house. Strictly speaking, there was nothing special about them, but they must have given off a certain vibe, because we could see people turning and staring as they walked by.
The three vehicles had been provided by the Japanese government to get us back to Eldant. Me and the girls would ride in the microbus, while our escort went in the sedans.
“You look practically normal like this,” I said. I was standing just outside the front door, talking to a man in a black suit who was standing beside one of the sedans.
“‘Normal,’ sure!” Reito-san said with a wry grin. The stereotypical otaku gear he’d been wearing until the day before—the black shirt, the fingerless gloves—were gone, replaced with a black suit, perfectly fitted and without a wrinkle in sight. He looked like a real, productive member of society. Okay, so his hair was still a little long, but he had it tied back by his collar. I guess clothes really do make the man.
“The way you dressed and acted right up until yesterday—I guess that was to get us to let our guards down?”
If Reito-san had shown up in Akihabara looking the way he did now, I would never have trusted him. It was the way we seemed to be fellow otaku that had helped me accept him, even if our meeting did seem a little convenient. It was pretty incredible that it was all part of his plan.
“Nah, those are my civvies.”
“Huh?!”
“And that’s my personal car.”
He sounded practically proud. His personal car? To be fair, I wouldn’t have known what to make of it if he’d said that itasha was government property.
“You don’t get to have a lot of fun in this line of work,” Reito-san added.
“Oh, is that it?”
Then again, Minori-san was an otaku, too; a fujoshi at that. Maybe it made a certain kind of sense. Come to think of it, I had heard that the JSDF, and the US Army stationed in Japan, had uncommonly high percentage of otaku. I wondered if it was true.
Minori-san came out of the house a moment after I did. “Are all the bodyguards here now?” She was followed by Petralka, then Elvia.
So our party consisted of those of us going back to Eldant, Reito-san, two guys for each of the black sedans, and a driver for the bus. I gathered they were mostly CIRO people, although Reito-san told me they were subcontractors—“outsourcing,” he called it.
CIRO, by the way, is sort of a public security or police organization. Traditionally, they haven’t gotten along very well with the JSDF—territorial disputes or something. Which might explain why they’d been sent to take care of us, considering what we had done to the JSDF intelligence guys.
“This is about as many people as you can have and still keep a low profile. You have to be able to make excuses for why everyone’s here,” Reito-san said with a shrug.
“Where’s Myusel...?” I didn’t know what she was doing, but she hadn’t come out of the house yet. I didn’t want to keep Reito-san and the others waiting. I was just thinking maybe I should go get her when she, my parents, and Shizuki all came out the front door.
“I am sorry for making you wait.”
“What were you doing?”
“We were talking about... the various things.”
For some reason, her voice almost trailed off as she answered, and she blushed a little.
Huh...? What’s with this reaction? It’s super-duper cute.
“Shinichi.”
I was just about to get on the microbus when someone stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. It was my dad. My mom and Shizuki were there with him. Myusel and the others glanced back at me, but Minori-san urged them onto the bus.
“Y-Yeah, what?”
“You take good care of that Myusel-san of yours, all right?”
“Say what? That’s kind of out of the blue.”
“She really is a good girl,” my mom chipped in. “She helped out so much at dinner. And she has so many kind things to say about you, for whatever reason.”
“Hey, I’m your son, remember,” I said with a frown.
Well... okay. So being shot down by my old friend had led to me totally ditching school, until I suddenly disappeared one day—maybe I deserved “for whatever reason.” But still... Myusel had said nice things about me? What in the world could that mean?
“...What exactly did Myusel say?”
I had to admit I was a bit embarrassed to ask. My parents, though, just grinned sly grins.
“Oh, this and that. Like how you’re so cool, you’re so reliable.”
“How you’re totally indispensable to all of them.”
“G-Gosh, really?”
Yikes! I was happy but also kind of freaked. Embarrassing!
“You’re a good enough son, Shinichi, but for her to be so keen on you... I have to question her taste in men.”
“Just what do you mean by that?”
Geez, seriously—what a way for a mother to talk to her long-lost little boy!
That was when something occurred to me. I was on my way “home” to Eldant, but I had no idea when I would be coming back to this home again. Six months? A year? Longer?
“When will you come home again?” a blunt voice asked, as if its owner was reading my mind. It was Shizuki.
“Well, I...”
I was lost for words. I hadn’t even really planned to come back this time; it had only happened because I was worried about our dad. It had spiraled from there into an international game of spy-vs-spy. And it put me on notice that for better or for worse, I wouldn’t be able to just duck back to Japan any time I felt like it.
As I stood there, trying anxiously to figure out what to say, my dad spoke up instead. “I’ll bet Shinichi can’t just waltz back here so easily. He’s an... otaku evangelist now. A goodwill ambassador, if you will.”
“I’m so glad you’ve found your calling,” my mom said. “Out of the curse of your blood.” She smiled.
Well, no question I was the full-throttle otaku that I was because I had happened to be born to these parents. Was it a blessing, or a curse? I guess that depended who you asked. Whatever it was, Shizuki seemed to have escaped it completely.
“I guess it’s because you saw your mom and dad spend their lives doing what they love. All I’ll say is, do what you have to do so that you don’t regret anything. And... drop us a letter or an email sometimes, just to let us know how things are going. It’d be good for your old dad’s heart.”
“Even if it does seem a little early for you to be leaving the nest...”
The sight of my parents’ smiles left me speechless.
Yikes! I was on the verge of choking up, here. Suddenly embarrassed, I looked away from my mom and dad—
“Gotta say, though, it’s fine by us if you never come home again,” my dad said.
“I-Isn’t that a little harsh?”
“He’s right—you have a job, you’re living on your own. Obviously, the next time we see you will be when you bring your fiancée to meet us.”
“What?”
As I fought back panic, my dad leaned in and whispered: “Wherever your Princess Petralka comes from... is polygamy allowed there?”
That’s what you’re worried about?!
I tried to find the words to react, but before I could—
“Come on now, everyone’s waiting for you. Hurry up and go.”
“You’re the ones who stopped me!”
My parents urged me toward the microbus; it felt a bit like I was being gotten rid of. In the bus, Myusel, Petralka, Elvia, and Minori-san were all sitting and waiting patiently for me. The rows in the bus were arranged with two seats, then the aisle, then another seat, for a total of three in each row. There were seven rows in the bus. Myusel and Petralka sat in one pair of seats, with Elvia in the one across the aisle. I took the open place next to Minori-san behind Myusel and Petralka. The driver made sure we were all on board, then started the engine.
Minori-san opened the window and poked her head out. “Sorry it was so sudden. Thanks a lot for having us!”
Everyone got out of their seats and went over to the side Minori-san was on, sticking their heads out the windows like she was doing.
“We thank you for your show of the hospitality.”
“It was very fun!”
“Thank you very much. Please, be well.”
“Our pleasure!”
“Take care of Shinichi for us.”
Finally, I squeezed up next to Minori-san, leaned out the window, and waved. “See you guys!”
“Big brother—!” Shizuki, who had been sort of hiding in our parents’ shadows until that moment, ran up to the bus. “Take... Take care, okay?”
She was stone-faced, her words the very definition of decorum. But coming from my little sister, whom I had hardly spoken to in years, they sounded different. More meaningful.
Afterword
Hullo, light novelist Sakaki here, bringing you Volume 10 of Outbreak Company: The Power of Moe.
How about that? Outbreak Company has hit the double digits! Obviously I’ve needed a lot of help to produce the limited-edition Volume 9 with drama CD, the anime and manga versions—the whole media mix thing—but just the fact that I’ve made it to ten volumes is a testament to the support of my readers, and for that I’m extremely grateful.
Now then, Volume 10 is the second part of the story that started in Volume 9. I deliberately left a few loose ends at the conclusion of this volume, though. I don’t know exactly which ones I’ll have the opportunity to pursue, but there’s some foreshadowing for later books and even the final volume... but you can just kindly ignore all that for now.
Anyway.
The afterword below includes some minor spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book yet, I suggest doing so first.
Now, about the Homecoming Arc, or Japan Arc, or whatever you want to call it.
Shinichi’s dad is pretty transparently me—that is to say, he’s very Sakaki Ichiro-ish (both the way he acts and the way he’s drawn, heh!). Making him a light-novel author was just an easy-to-use plot detail; I don’t mean to imply that Shinichi, his little sister Shizuki, or his mom are anything like my real family—just so we’re clear (lol). My lovely bride isn’t a bishoujo-game designer and doesn’t possess mad hacking skills.
And I don’t play KanColle (lol).
Besides, my kids are actually an older sister and a younger brother, so Shinichi would have to have a big sister who’s about college age... I have to admit, picturing how that character would look in the illustrations is a lot of fun.
Eh, it’d be too easy for her character to overlap with Minori-san’s if I wasn’t careful.
As for Shizuki, the tsundere younger sister, I was surprised to realize how rarely I had written a character who relates to the protagonist in that way, so it was kind of refreshing. Petralka herself, and a number of my other female characters, might seem to fill the role of a strong but somewhat shy heroine, but all of them have gone fairly easy on the tsun (prickliness). They might have a sharp word for the hero, but they rarely outright make fun of or attack him. In fact, they tend to acknowledge and demonstrate their affection for him pretty quickly.
For that reason, as well as simply to help differentiate her, I tried to write Shizuki as more of an orthodox tsundere. So, readers: how did I do? Personally, Yuugen-shi’s design turned out younger than I had been picturing, which give a little something extra to that orthodoxy (she’s grown meaner to her brother the older she gets, but she’s not always completely comfortable with that side of herself), I thought.
Also, Elvia’s whole “I-wanna-see-fairies” shtick at the end was dreamed up by a particular member of my assistant staff so rotten she’s practically fermenting. At first, I (and my editor) had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and thinking it felt a little weird to call my assistant purely to ask about it, we decided to look it up on the web. And, uh... wow. I guess the world is always a bigger place than you thought.
I see... So that’s one of the meanings of fairy. Huh.
I’m still mulling over some things as regards volumes 11 onwards. I wonder how they’ll turn out. I’m thinking it’s about time for an Elvia-centric story (or more precisely, an Amatena- and Clara-centric one), but we haven’t seen Loek and Romilda in a while, either. Actually, there’s lots of side characters that I’d like to shine the spotlight on. An author’s life is never easy.
Maybe it’s about time for another short-story collection?
In any event, that’s Volume 10. Outbreak Company now occupies close to 4,000 sheets of manuscript paper. We’re approaching epic status here. Will it hit 10,000 sheets before it’s over? Or will it putter out at just 5,000? Only time will tell, but I hope you, dear reader, will stay with me till the end.
12 May 2014
Sakaki Ichiro
Bonus Translator’s Notes
Chapter One
Sambo
A Soviet martial art.
“The Scare in Red Scare”
The Japanese describes this “Putin” as “the image of oso-roshia (おそロシア).” This is a really, truly terrible pun on osoroshii (scary) + roshia (Russia). It has fairly wide currency on the Japanese internet as a way of referring to any of the less savory practices of the Russian state.
The Bol**oi Circus
That is, the Bolshoi Circus, an auditorium and performance venue in Moscow.
Cat & Bunny
A play on Tiger & Bunny.
Nooooeeees!
Jp. rame. This is a corruption of dame (no!/don’t!), made prominent by the series Doruaga no Tou (Tower of Druaga).
A Different Direction
Shinichi says that there were eight attackers, and that “each of them came from a different direction.” This implies one from each of the cardinal directions (North, South, etc.) and one from each of the ordinal directions (northeast, southwest, etc.). “The eight directions” (happou) is also a common expression in both Japanese and Chinese meaning “everywhere at once.”
Type 64 Silenced Pistols
The Type 64 is a semiautomatic pistol formerly used by the People’s Liberation Army.
Consumption Tax
A consumption tax (shouhizei) is assessed on most goods sold in Japan. The rate of this tax has been raised a number of times, but Shinichi’s dad is probably referring to the increase to 8% in 2014.
Assemblyperson
A giin or member of a prefectural assembly (gikai or ken-gikai), which are the legislative bodies of Japan’s individual prefectures.
110
The number for emergency services in Japan, equivalent to 911 in the US. It’s often referred to as “hyaku-tou-ban,” combining the number 110 (using an alternate reading of the number ten) with the suffix -ban, or “number.”
Without Even Taking Off Their Shoes
In Japan, you are expected to remove your shoes almost any time you enter a private residence (or for that matter, even a school). To fail to do so—and therefore to track dirt and filth from outside into the home—is considered tremendously rude.
Heavily Accented Japanese
In the original, this is indicated by using kanji where they would be expected, but then rendering the rest of the sentence in katakana. (For example, 我々ト共ニ来イ! [ware-ware TO tomo NI koI!, “Come with us!”) This makes the sentence somewhat more readable, and therefore seem less “stumbling,” than the all-katakana lines of the Eldant characters.
Spread the Word
The Japanese is kakusan kibou, literally “share wish,” that is, “I hope you’ll share this.” “Plz share” might be another viable translation, but wouldn’t have had the gravity that was necessary for this line in this scene.
LINE
An instant-communication app that launched in Japan in 2012.
Ni** Nama
Nico Nama, Nico Nico’s live-video streaming site.
Chapter Two
Airsoft
A team shooting game similar to paintball, where teams of players hold battles using replica weaponry. Unlike paintball, though, airsoft pellets don’t mark their targets. Airsoft originated in Japan, although now it’s known around the world.
Nasty Otaku
Jp. kimo-ota, a contraction of kimoi otaku. Kimoi (itself perhaps related to kimochi warui, “sickening”) means disgusting, the sort of thing that makes you sick to your stomach.
Egao Video
Egao means “smiling face,” and is a clear play on niko-niko video, the Japanese streaming site. (Niko-niko, or in the site’s spelling, Nico Nico, is roughly “grin.”)
Thinking the Exact Same Thing
In the Japanese, Shinichi says he and Myusel shared aun no kokyuu. Kokyuu means “breath.” Aun (or a-un) refers to the first and last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. In many Japanese temples, a pair of imposing statues can be seen, one with its mouth open to represent the sound a, the other with its mouth closed, making the sound un. Between them, they represent the beginning and end of all things. The two are considered to be in perfect harmony, and therefore the expression aun no kokyuu (“[sharing] an a-un breath”) means to be of one mind.
Sneak Tourism
Jp. O-shinobi kankou, “sightseeing on the sly.” This must be used by people who have spotted Shinichi and the gang out and about but trying to be inconspicuous.
A Certain Anime Event
Shinichi may be referring to Summer Comiket, or just perhaps to the now defunct Tokyo Anime Fair, though that was mostly held in February or March.
Intercom
An intercom providing audio and often video from a buzzer at the front door is a feature of many Japanese residential homes.
A Supra, a Skyline, or a Fairlady Z
That is, a Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline, or Nissan Fairlady Z, all well-known Japanese sports cars.
Systema
Another Russian martial arts system. There are actually a couple of characters in popular fighting games that allegedly use Systema, but the games (including Street Fighter V and Dead or Alive 6) are too recent to be specifically referenced here.
“More Subdued Arts”
Judo and aikido (a martial art similar to judo but with less emphasis on competition) are widely perceived as being “gentle” arts; they’re often associated more with joint locks and control holds than with direct physical strikes. Karate and to an extent kenpo (a somewhat broad term) are associated with punching, board-breaking, and “karate yells” (kiai). Police forces in Japan frequently learn “softer” martial arts so that they can respond to and control situations and suspects. It would be a mistake, however, to think of these arts as harmless; they have punches, kicks, and other physical strikes like any other martial art, and both are known for their devastating throws, such as the one Reito performs on the Russian agent.
Reito’s Gun
Japanese gun laws are exceedingly strict, generally allowing only law enforcement officers and a small handful of game hunters to possess firearms. The only other people who carry guns are gangsters. Reito obviously doesn’t spend most of his time in the mountains stalking wild boar, so his having a gun marks him out as either a constable or a criminal.
Special Security Team
A counterterrorism arm of the Japanese Coast Guard.
Tracing the Character for Person on One’s Palm
The character for person (hito) is 人, two simple strokes, making it easy to trace quickly and repeatedly. This helps provide a distraction and calm anxiety.
Chapter Three
The Going Is Easy, but the Coming Home...
The title of chapter three alludes to an Edo-era children’s song which includes the line “Iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai” (the going is easy, but the coming home a fright). The tune (the song is known as “Touryanse,” or “Come On In”) is—or used to be—commonly played at street crossings in Japan when it is safe to cross, and as such is probably familiar to most anime fans who have seen any series with a contemporary urban setting, even if they don’t know what it’s called.
Specialty Shops
As Petralka discovers, because gacha are dispensed at random, it can take a fair amount of time (and money) to get a specific figure you want. For this reason, some shops purchase the figures from the gacha machines themselves, so customers can pick the figures they’re after and purchase them individually.
Otome Road
An “otaku street” in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district that appeals especially to women. (And especially to fujoshi.)
Tourist Sites
In thinking about where Elvia might want to go, Shinichi ticks off a whole list of otaku-oriented attractions in the Tokyo area. A giant Gundam statue has stood in the Odaiba area since 2009 (originally erected to celebrate Gundam’s 30th anniversary); in 2017 the original statue was replaced by one from Gundam Unicorn. Comiket (short for “Comics Market”) is a semi-annual convention focusing especially on doujinshi, while Nakano Broadway (so called because it’s a large thoroughfare-cum-shopping district in the Nakano area of Tokyo) is another shopping area with lots of stores selling anime-related goods.
A couple paragraphs later, he goes on: “Rat Kingdom” (Nezumi no Oukoku) is an attraction in Urayasu City in Chiba Prefecture, next door to Tokyo. The Ghibli Museum is located in Mitaka, on the western edge of Tokyo’s metropolitan sprawl. It’s not far from Kichijouji, the “trendy” district Shinichi mentions. Kichijouji has a lot of green space in the form of Inokashira Park (which includes a zoo), as well as shopping and eating opportunities.
Aniki
This is a reference to Billy Herrington, a gay porn star who became an internet meme in Japan. In his popularity, many mashups of clips from his videos were made. (The mashups are known as gachimuchi, which Shinichi uses in this sentence and which we translated simply as “mashups.” Literally, though, it’s derived from gay slang referring to someone with a muscly but sexy body, like a wrestler.) Herrington became known as Aniki (“Big Bro”) on the Japanese web. Many of these mashups play on deliberate mishearings (in Japanese, soramimi) of lines from his films; soramimi is what Shinichi accuses Elvia of when he exclaims “You misheard!” Herrington sadly died in a car accident in 2018, at the age of just forty-eight.
M4A1 Carbine
A gun similar to an assault rifle currently favored by the US armed forces for a wide variety of applications, largely replacing the familiar M16.
Aggregator Blog
In Japanese, matome burogu (or saito, site). These are websites that collect information or links about a specific topic. Sometimes also called “curator sites.”
CH-53D Sea Stallion
As Shinichi explains, the Sea Stallion is a heavy transport helicopter used chiefly to ferry troops from one place to another. The crash he mentions is probably one that occurred on 13 August 2004: a CH-53D belonging to the US Marines at Futenma Air Station crashed into Okinawa International University. The crash didn’t cause significant injury or damage, but it did exacerbate tensions with residents of Futenma, where the airbase is not very popular. Other incidents in the years since this book was published have continued to make the base a point of contention and have fueled calls for its closure, although as of this writing it is still open.
Hayate
The term Hayate can refer to a few different military vehicles, but the one Shinichi seems to have in mind is the so-called koukidousha, or High Mobility Vehicle (HMV). It’s a JSDF personnel carrier that looks a bit like a beefy Jeep. Its nickname, Hayate, literally means “[a] swift wind.”
Afterword
KanColle
Short for Kantai Korekushon (Fleet Collection), a browser game that features classic Japanese battleships personified as young girls.
Manuscript Paper
Called genkou youshi in Japanese, this is a type of paper printed with a grid of either 200 or 400 squares, each intended to accommodate a single Japanese character (kanji or kana) or punctuation mark. Genkou youshi is ubiquitous in Japanese life, being used, for example, to do school assignments, so any Japanese adults would have a sense of how much text is represented by a certain number of pages of manuscript paper.
Yuugen Character Designs
Strawberry Mar**mallow
Refers to Strawberry Marshmallow (Ichigo Mashimaro), a manga that started in 2002 (there was an anime in 2005). Petralka’s outfit in this volume resembles the clothing worn by the characters in this series.
