xxxHOLiC Rou 197 translation

[starlady]

So I translated "pearl" as "butterfly" last time. Whoops.

I've got to run to work right now, so I'll fix that in the relevant chapter and finagle the formatting in this chapter when I get back later tonight. Finished! 

!!! page 01

Do you know the red pearl?

!!! page 02
FX: Sound of grilling tofu

Watanuki: An apartment building?

Doumeki: Yeah.
It was the corner room on the highest floor.

FX: Mumble

Watanuki: …I feel like
I know that place somehow…

!!! page 03
Watanuki: Oh!
I've been there.

Doumeki: When?

Watanuki: The past.

…With Yuuko-san.

A woman lived there

Who couldn't stop using her computer.

Doumeki: The same person?

Watanuki: No, that person definitely wasn't on the top floor.

Text: He remembers because he was made to climb up and thought he might die.

!!! page 04
Watanuki: Did you see anything besides the spiderweb thread?

Doumeki: No, nothing else.

We checked the post box, but we couldn't make out the doorplate; it was chock full of mail.

Watanuki: …I see.

Right.

FX: Rustle

Watanuki: I know the place.

!!! page 05
Watanuki: With this, I can "enter."

FX: Slow movement

FX: Grip

FX: Puffing

!!! page 06
Watanuki: You're not being instructed by me in this, are you?

FX: Exhaling

Watanuki: The errand boy should leave already.

Doumeki: He'll leave if he wants to.

FX: Ex…haling

!!! page 07

!!! page 08
FX: Swelling

Doumeki: It's cooked.

The sake.

FX: Snapping

FX: Shaking

Watanuki: You really never do change,
Do you.

Mokona: Watanuki--
I folded the laundry--

FX: Straightening

FX: Sudden appearance

Mokona: I helped! I helped!

!!! page 09
Maru: Mokona was fooling around!

Moro: Mokona was getting in the way!

Mokona: Sh--!
The quantity of my evening sake will go decrease!

Watanuki: Yeah.
Just as you expected, it'll be cut in half.

Mokona: Wicked Witch--!!

Watanuki: I'm not a witch. Maru, Moro. Can you take care of the hot sake?

M&M: Sure!

FX: Bounce

Mokona: Watanuki-sama--! Mercy--!

At least four times--!

FX: Clutching

Watanuki: I said I'm cutting it.

!!! page 10
FX: Slow movement

!!! page 11
FX: Clench

!!! page 12
Watanuki: Crossing dreams is breaking and entering.

FX: Sitting up

Watanuki: No matter how many times I do it, I feel like apologizing.

…It's certainly the same layout as that room.

But…

Why is it so…

Wrecked.

FX: Rumble

!!! page 13
Watanuki: …She can't see me.

I can never get used to this, either…

FX: Quickly

!!! page 14
Girl: Can I

Help you?

Watanuki: Huh?!

Comments

[selenityshiroi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translation!

[ariadnechan.livejournal.com]

thanks starlady38

oh the girl have powers, lady Spider wants her???

[shushu-yaoi.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot! <3

[leviathanmirror.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[cutesherry.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the fast translation ^^
Clamp are really cunning, they show us an old item like the egg to show off they didn't forget about the actual principal plotline, but on the other hand they are seemingly making up new random cases which got nothing to do with it.
Well, we do explore and learn more about the 'new' Watanuki-kun I guess ^^
I would actually be fine with anything if only they didn't take so many breaks and released so little pages each time =__=

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

innuendo...yum.

[levels.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the translation, as always :D

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

oh good, i'm glad i'm not the only one whose brain has been irrevocably warped. ^^

[alex-of-h.livejournal.com]

HEY! That girl seems Kotori from X so much...

[scottishrefugee.livejournal.com]

Pages 6-7 are incredibly suggestive indeed.

[canon-4-life.livejournal.com]

i love page 6-7 ... hohohohoh!

[outou.livejournal.com]

Watanuki: Crossing dreams is breaking and entering.

FX:

Watanuki: No matter how many times I do it, I feel like apologizing.


Nice to know that you still have morals, Watanuki.

Setting that aside, that girl really looks like she could be one of the "Internet lady's" children, especially since five to six years have passed since Watanuki and Yuuko visited her apartment. I hope CLAMP doesn't go the heavy-handed route and have the woman's addiction to her computer (and neglect of her family) be the reason why her daughter is in rags and her home is in ruins.

[nekocat17.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the translation!! ♥

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy it a lot.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Thanks for pointing out the dropped FX; it was "sitting up."

I hadn't considered that the girl could be the woman's kid. Offhand, I'd say the fact that she lives in a different apartment mitigates against it, but we'll see.

[outou.livejournal.com]

Actually, I missed the "top floor" part--I was assuming that it was the same room due to Watanuki's comment. :D That said, the fact that at least one of the apartments was torn apart doesn't bode well, since I imagine the landlord of the building would normally have done something about it. That the girl Watanuki saw apparently isn't wearing anything more than a shirt and bandages makes things even worse.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

If the mail slot is choked with mail, I tend to assume that someone is still paying the rent.

I was surprised that CLAMP made it the same apartment building as the first volumes, actually. I guess it was to facilitate Watanuki knowing the place so that he could "enter" it; the alternative would have been having him watch through Doumeki's eye, I suppose.