After 0 v.1 ch. 4: Big Sleep Baby I
Oct. 21st, 2011 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxinthestarsIt's that time again! Another After 0 story is translated and ready (for the zero people I know to be reading these, but I enjoy the accomplishment). In this one, the first in a long (long) running thread, a murdered man returns from the dead to bring his killers to justice --- in the body of his own infant son and with the assistance of his wife/mother. It's really kind of messed up.
As before, a zip with scans and translated script:
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/pWE5UF8/after0_1-04.zip
(If you find the link dead, leave a comment.)
After 0
by Okazaki Jirou
Shogakukan Bunko Edition
Volume 1
ISBN # 978-4-09-196181-5
Chapter 4
[87, story title]
Panel 1:
Narration: “Episode 4”
Big Sleep Baby I
[88]
Panel 1:
SFX: BAM!
Panel 2:
SFX: CRASH!
Panel 3:
SFX: Shaaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 4:
Narration: Your husband...
was riding in the passenger’s seat.
Panel 5:
Narration: The driver was a co-worker, Nanzan-san.
Panel 6:
Narration: From where they crashed, it looks like they were on their way from Nanzan’s apartment to your house.
[89]
Panel 1-2:
No text
Panel 3:
Round-Faced (Mizawa): Missus...
Panel 4:
Mizawa: I know how you feel, but you’ll have to be strong.
For the baby you’re carrying.
Panel 5:
Mizawa: If there’s anything at all I can do for you---
Yumiko: Please, stop!!
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Sorry... Mizawa-san...
Panel 7:
White Hair (Kuroido): I’m so sorry for your loss...
[90]
Panel 1:
Kuroido: I’m Kuroido, a colleague of your husband’s.
Actually, Madam, I would very much like to speak with you...
Panel 2:
Yumiko: All right...
Panel 3:
Narration: Seven months later
Panel 4:
SFX: Shaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 5:
Yumiko: It was raining like this that day, too...
Panel 6:
Akio (flashback): Sorry, Yumiko, I have to meet someone for dinner...
Panel 7:
No text
[91]
Panel 1:
Baby: Amumu... ummaa...
Panel 2:
Yumiko: The baby’s all I have left now, isn’t he?
Panel 3:
Yumiko: All that stress while he was inside me can’t have been healthy,
but as long as he doesn’t turn out psychologically warped...
SFX: Behh (making a face)
Panel 4:
Yumiko: You look so much like your father.
I just know you’ll grow up handsome.
SFX: smek (kissing)
Panel 5:
Baby: Thank you....
Panel 6-7:
No text
[92]
Panel 1:
Baby: Yumiko...
It’s me! It’s Akio!
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darling!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Hee! (SFX for smiling)
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Ahhh! Darling! Darling!
Darling...
Panel 5:
SFX: Shaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 6:
No text
[93]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Holding onto me even when you fainted---you’re the best, Yumiko...
I’ve come back!! ...Back to you.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darliiing!!
It’s true! It really is you!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: A-oww! Not so hard!!
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Darling...
I won’t lose you again!!
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: I woke up a month ago...
[94]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: ...But after that I still had trouble talking and moving.
Panel 2:
Newspaper Large Headline: Chaos in the Diet
Newspaper Small Headline: Sumo Victory (literally “pulling overarm throw,” a Sumo move)
Baby Akio: I guess this is what you call reincarnation.
Panel 3:
Yumiko: But I’m glad...
Since we only had half a year of marriage before you passed away... Now we’ll be together forever.
Panel 4:
SFX: squeeze
Yumiko: But... But... Now that you’re my child, we can’t be in love anymore!!
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: By the way, Yumiko, is there someone from my company you’ve been seeing a lot since then?
Yumiko: Huh?
Panel 6:
Narration (Yumiko): That’s right,
Mizawa-san keeps going out of his way for me. When I couldn’t do anything but cry, he was really a big help...
Panel 7:
Baby Akio: Hmmm, well, he did owe me big.
Anyone else? Someone who wasn’t a friend of mine...?
[95]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Yeah, now that you mention it,
before the funeral was over, someone named Kuroido came.
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: ...Kuroido?
Panel 3:
Narration (Yumiko): He said they’d lost some of your documents from work, and he came to look in your home office.
I didn’t know anything about it... Was that bad...?
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Hey... What is it? Such a scary face...
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: Yumiko...
I was...
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: Murdered.
[96]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Calm down, Yumiko...
Panel 2:
Narration (Baby Akio): That day, I got a call from Nanzan.
Akio: Come to the office right now?
Panel 3:
Akio: ...What!?
No way!! In our department!?
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): I couldn’t believe what Nanzan was telling me. People inside our company were using the supply import system to smuggle marijuana... my co-workers!! He’d even been one of them, and now he was trying to get out.
Nanzan said he’d wait for me, that he wanted to give me a list of all the names of the gang and the smuggling routes. ...Then in case something happened to him, he wanted me to hand the list over to the police.
[97]
Panel 1:
Nanzan: The list is at the office.
When you get to the Supply Department, call me and I’ll tell you where it is.
Panel 2:
Nanzan: ...1106.
1106. Don’t forget that number, okay?
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Wha...? You have to go in to the office!? But it’s Sunday!
Akio: Sorry, Yumiko, I have to meet someone for dinner.
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but I hurried to the office anyway.
Akio: 1106... huh...?
Panel 5:
Narration (Baby Akio): But when I got there and called Nanzan, no one answered...
Panel 6:
Akio: Hmmm....
Panel 7
SFX: POW!!
Panel 8:
No text
[98]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: That’s all I know.
Someone needed to shut me up. That person --- no, those people, maybe --- are my co-workers who are in on the marijuana smuggling.
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: But they didn’t get rid of me; I’m here,
and I’ll find them before long!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Yumiko, I’ll need your help...
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Huh?
You want a job here? Missus...
Panel 5:
Mizawa: Aah, I did say that, didn’t I?
No, I appreciate it! It would be a big help. Are you sure it’s okay?
SFX: Heh heh
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Yes. I have to do what I can on my own now, so...
[99]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Thanks for everything, Mizawa-san.
Mizawa: Don’t mention it, Missus... Ha ha ha ha!!
Panel 2:
SFX: Hmmm...
Baby Akio: Has he got a thing for you?
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: If that Kuroido guy came to search my home office, they haven’t got the list.
That means it must still be hidden somewhere in the office.
(Off-bubble) want a beer...
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): If we find it first, we win.
The hint is the number Nanzan told me...
Panel 5:
Narration (Baby Akio): 1106!!
SFX: Bing!
Panel 6:
Co-worker: Takanashi-san, what are you doing for lunch?
Yumiko: Sorry, I packed it.
[100]
Panel 1:
SFX: Katam (door closing)
vwip (turning suddenly)
Panel 2:
No text
Panel 3:
Yumiko: 1106...
Narration (Baby Akio): 1106 could be a locker number, say. The Sales Department is “11”, so what about Locker #06 there? Try different combinations like that.
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Darliiing, I’m hooome.
Were you able to change your diaper by yourself?
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Huh?
Baby Akio: Right!! I work for a trading company. How old am I? 33!
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: My voice is too young? Wha- what do you mean? I have a sore throat, that’s all! Anyway, send it express, please. Thanks!
[101]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: (Off-bubble) Cute!
Baby Akio: Ahhh, phew!
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Who were you calling?
Baby Akio: He he he, just telephone shopping. I ordered something good.
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: By the way, Yumiko, can I have your breasts for a minute?
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Wha...!? Darling... Now, like this?? ...ick...!!
In that body, you still want some---
Baby Akio: ---Some milk! (I’m hungry!)
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Not here either, huh...?
Panel 6:
Yumiko: “106” in “1,” “6” in “110,” even “116”...
Still not the right combination...
Panel 7:
SFX: K-Slam!
Yumiko: !!
[102]
Panel 1:
Kuroido: Well, Madam. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?
What are you doing in a place like this? This is the men’s locker room.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Ku... Kuroido-san...
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Well, um, that is, I was looking for the toilet... So I was going this way...
Panel 4:
SFX: vwip (sudden motion)
Kuroido: And that key...?
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Th-that’s... Someone dropped it here... so I picked it up, and...
Panel 6:
No text
Panel 7:
Yumiko: (thinking) D... Darling... Help...!!
Panel 8:
Kuroido: urk!
SFX: ka-chunk (door opening)
Panel 9:
Co-Worker: Huhh? Takanashi-san! (This guy looks like Mizawa, but he doesn’t address Yumiko the way Mizawa does, so I’m not sure it’s him.)
Yumiko: Whew~!
[103]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Hmmm, so none of them are any good, huh?
No way. Could he have put it in the data bank? No, no, that’s not it...
Yumiko: Darling, you’re biting your nails again...
(Off-bubble) And you don’t have any teeth now...
SFX: (sucking on his fingers)
(Translator’s note: the writing on the map is indecipherable, but upside-down by Baby Akio’s foot, you can see a “henohenomohe” doodle.)
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Say, Darling,
Nanzan-san wanted someone to take the list to the police for him, right?
SFX: (sucking on fingers)
Panel 3:
Narration (Yumiko): But in that case, hiding it at the office would be too dangerous.
I thought so, looking around for it.
Panel 4:
Baby Akio: But... that can’t be it!
If he just wanted a third party, why did he ask me?
SFX: (sucking on fingers)
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: Send the list...
Panel 6:
Yumiko: What is it? You don’t need my breasts again, do you?
Panel 7:
Baby Akio: I’m an idiot!
I was forgetting that Nanzan had a fax at home!!
[104]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Yumiko!! I’ve got it!!
If we go to the office now, we might still be in time!!
Panel 2:
Sign on Door: Supply Department Fax Room
Mizawa: It’s okay since no one’s here, but...
Panel 3:
Mizawa: There’s confidential material and things like that; I’m really not supposed to.
SFX: click click
Yumiko: Sorry, just for a second...
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Let’s see, push this button and...
this button, and then...
Panel 5:
Yumiko: ...put in “1106”!!
Panel 6:
SFX: ZHIIIIN (fax printing out)
[105]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Aaah!! There it is!! The list!!
Mizawa: Missus, what the...?
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: To be safe, Nanzan sent the list to the office as a confidential fax!
Panel 3:
Narration (Baby Akio): When a confidential fax comes in, the machine stores a copy of it in memory, but no one can get it...
---Unless they enter the code! It could even still be there after seven months, because they don’t cut off the power to the fax machine.
Akio: Nothing, huh?
Panel 4:
Baby Akio: Lots of people in the company use the fax,
but not so many know it can do that.
Panel 5:
Mizawa: ...Wha, what the hell is this...!?
SFX: tap tap (knocking papers even)
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Let’s go!! Right away, to the police!!
[106]
Panel 1:
No text
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Ku... Kuroido!!
Mizawa: Dammit!!
Panel 3:
Mizawa: You--- You were watching!?
Kuroido: Madam, give me that list.
Panel 4:
Kuroido: We’re police!! Hand it over quietly!!
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Wha?
Panel 6:
Yumiko: AAH!!
SFX: Snatch!
[107]
Panel 1:
Someone: Aaaaah!!
Mizawa: Don’t come any closer!! I’ll kill this baby!!
Panel 2:
Kuroido: Urk!!
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Mizawa-san!!
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Dammit! So it’s come to this!
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Mizawa-san... You... You...!
Panel 6:
No text
Panel 7:
Yumiko: You did it!?
Panel 8:
Mizawa: Yeah...
[108]
Panel 1-2:
No text
Panel 3:
Mizawa: Nanzan was acting strange... so I was watching his every move.
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Your husband was a nice guy, but... It just wasn’t his day.
Panel 5:
SFX: !!
Baby Akio: Ohh, so that’s it? You’re the one who killed me...
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: Mizawa! I’ve come back from Hell for my revenge!
Panel 7:
SFX: ZAP!
[109]
Panel 1:
No text
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darling!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Yumiko.
Panel 4:
No text
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: It’s a stungun;
That’s what I ordered.
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Darling...
Kuroido: Madam, are you all right?
Panel 7:
No text
Panel 8:
Yumiko: Cheers!!
[110]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: The smugglers were rounded up,
and we even got a reward from the police...
(off-bubble) Sorry, it’s just juice and milk biscuits.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: So let’s go to the hot springs. It’s been so long since we went together,
and you were saying you wanted to go...
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Hey, Darling...
Baby: Wuuu mmaa!
Panel 4:
Baby: Abubu... Guu guu.
Panel 5:
No text
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Darling...
Baby: Mmuuu wuuu mmaaa!
Panel 7:
Narration (Yumiko): P.S.:
Where has Darling been since then? Maybe he’s still there, inside...
Even now, the baby still has his bad habit.
Below: ...So she says, but the story will continue.
Sidebar: Originally published December 1988.
Note: While After 0 consists mostly of one-shots, there are hints of an over-arching story world and some episodically-continuing threads. In particular, I’ll warn you right now, this “Big Sleep Baby” business will go on. And on. And on.
*Translation by Laura Fox (foxinthestars@yahoo.co.uk; http://foxinthestars.dreamwidth.org), October 2011*
Any rights I hold in my translation, I release under a Creative Commons Attribution license (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ---i.e. as far as I’m concerned, you can do anything you want with it as long as you keep that line between the asterisks and apply it to the work I did); the rest is between you and the original owners.
This translation was produced as a means of study and should be viewed as student work; I’m sure it’s clumsy and at times inaccurate, but if it will even let you follow the gist of the story, I thought it was better to share it than to hoard it in secret. I hope you get some enjoyment or use out of it.
Hope you enjoy it!
Other than this, though, I've been kind of a mess this week and have been dropping the ball on writing and other things after finally poking at the manga/light novel raw site a little too much and putting myself into a feeding frenzy; I really did have to go through the list to catch some of the stuff they had (somehow I hadn't thought to check for Gakuen Kino, and I hadn't even known there was a manga behind Space Family Carlvinson), but I also admit to downloading a bunch of vaguely-interesting-looking detritus that was probably unnecessary. I'm finally through it, though, so hopefully I can get back to normal...
As before, a zip with scans and translated script:
http://www.uploadstation.com/file/pWE5UF8/after0_1-04.zip
(If you find the link dead, leave a comment.)
After 0
by Okazaki Jirou
Shogakukan Bunko Edition
Volume 1
ISBN # 978-4-09-196181-5
Chapter 4
[87, story title]
Panel 1:
Narration: “Episode 4”
Big Sleep Baby I
[88]
Panel 1:
SFX: BAM!
Panel 2:
SFX: CRASH!
Panel 3:
SFX: Shaaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 4:
Narration: Your husband...
was riding in the passenger’s seat.
Panel 5:
Narration: The driver was a co-worker, Nanzan-san.
Panel 6:
Narration: From where they crashed, it looks like they were on their way from Nanzan’s apartment to your house.
[89]
Panel 1-2:
No text
Panel 3:
Round-Faced (Mizawa): Missus...
Panel 4:
Mizawa: I know how you feel, but you’ll have to be strong.
For the baby you’re carrying.
Panel 5:
Mizawa: If there’s anything at all I can do for you---
Yumiko: Please, stop!!
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Sorry... Mizawa-san...
Panel 7:
White Hair (Kuroido): I’m so sorry for your loss...
[90]
Panel 1:
Kuroido: I’m Kuroido, a colleague of your husband’s.
Actually, Madam, I would very much like to speak with you...
Panel 2:
Yumiko: All right...
Panel 3:
Narration: Seven months later
Panel 4:
SFX: Shaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 5:
Yumiko: It was raining like this that day, too...
Panel 6:
Akio (flashback): Sorry, Yumiko, I have to meet someone for dinner...
Panel 7:
No text
[91]
Panel 1:
Baby: Amumu... ummaa...
Panel 2:
Yumiko: The baby’s all I have left now, isn’t he?
Panel 3:
Yumiko: All that stress while he was inside me can’t have been healthy,
but as long as he doesn’t turn out psychologically warped...
SFX: Behh (making a face)
Panel 4:
Yumiko: You look so much like your father.
I just know you’ll grow up handsome.
SFX: smek (kissing)
Panel 5:
Baby: Thank you....
Panel 6-7:
No text
[92]
Panel 1:
Baby: Yumiko...
It’s me! It’s Akio!
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darling!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Hee! (SFX for smiling)
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Ahhh! Darling! Darling!
Darling...
Panel 5:
SFX: Shaaa (sound of rain)
Panel 6:
No text
[93]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Holding onto me even when you fainted---you’re the best, Yumiko...
I’ve come back!! ...Back to you.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darliiing!!
It’s true! It really is you!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: A-oww! Not so hard!!
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Darling...
I won’t lose you again!!
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: I woke up a month ago...
[94]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: ...But after that I still had trouble talking and moving.
Panel 2:
Newspaper Large Headline: Chaos in the Diet
Newspaper Small Headline: Sumo Victory (literally “pulling overarm throw,” a Sumo move)
Baby Akio: I guess this is what you call reincarnation.
Panel 3:
Yumiko: But I’m glad...
Since we only had half a year of marriage before you passed away... Now we’ll be together forever.
Panel 4:
SFX: squeeze
Yumiko: But... But... Now that you’re my child, we can’t be in love anymore!!
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: By the way, Yumiko, is there someone from my company you’ve been seeing a lot since then?
Yumiko: Huh?
Panel 6:
Narration (Yumiko): That’s right,
Mizawa-san keeps going out of his way for me. When I couldn’t do anything but cry, he was really a big help...
Panel 7:
Baby Akio: Hmmm, well, he did owe me big.
Anyone else? Someone who wasn’t a friend of mine...?
[95]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Yeah, now that you mention it,
before the funeral was over, someone named Kuroido came.
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: ...Kuroido?
Panel 3:
Narration (Yumiko): He said they’d lost some of your documents from work, and he came to look in your home office.
I didn’t know anything about it... Was that bad...?
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Hey... What is it? Such a scary face...
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: Yumiko...
I was...
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: Murdered.
[96]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Calm down, Yumiko...
Panel 2:
Narration (Baby Akio): That day, I got a call from Nanzan.
Akio: Come to the office right now?
Panel 3:
Akio: ...What!?
No way!! In our department!?
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): I couldn’t believe what Nanzan was telling me. People inside our company were using the supply import system to smuggle marijuana... my co-workers!! He’d even been one of them, and now he was trying to get out.
Nanzan said he’d wait for me, that he wanted to give me a list of all the names of the gang and the smuggling routes. ...Then in case something happened to him, he wanted me to hand the list over to the police.
[97]
Panel 1:
Nanzan: The list is at the office.
When you get to the Supply Department, call me and I’ll tell you where it is.
Panel 2:
Nanzan: ...1106.
1106. Don’t forget that number, okay?
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Wha...? You have to go in to the office!? But it’s Sunday!
Akio: Sorry, Yumiko, I have to meet someone for dinner.
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but I hurried to the office anyway.
Akio: 1106... huh...?
Panel 5:
Narration (Baby Akio): But when I got there and called Nanzan, no one answered...
Panel 6:
Akio: Hmmm....
Panel 7
SFX: POW!!
Panel 8:
No text
[98]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: That’s all I know.
Someone needed to shut me up. That person --- no, those people, maybe --- are my co-workers who are in on the marijuana smuggling.
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: But they didn’t get rid of me; I’m here,
and I’ll find them before long!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Yumiko, I’ll need your help...
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Huh?
You want a job here? Missus...
Panel 5:
Mizawa: Aah, I did say that, didn’t I?
No, I appreciate it! It would be a big help. Are you sure it’s okay?
SFX: Heh heh
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Yes. I have to do what I can on my own now, so...
[99]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Thanks for everything, Mizawa-san.
Mizawa: Don’t mention it, Missus... Ha ha ha ha!!
Panel 2:
SFX: Hmmm...
Baby Akio: Has he got a thing for you?
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: If that Kuroido guy came to search my home office, they haven’t got the list.
That means it must still be hidden somewhere in the office.
(Off-bubble) want a beer...
Panel 4:
Narration (Baby Akio): If we find it first, we win.
The hint is the number Nanzan told me...
Panel 5:
Narration (Baby Akio): 1106!!
SFX: Bing!
Panel 6:
Co-worker: Takanashi-san, what are you doing for lunch?
Yumiko: Sorry, I packed it.
[100]
Panel 1:
SFX: Katam (door closing)
vwip (turning suddenly)
Panel 2:
No text
Panel 3:
Yumiko: 1106...
Narration (Baby Akio): 1106 could be a locker number, say. The Sales Department is “11”, so what about Locker #06 there? Try different combinations like that.
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Darliiing, I’m hooome.
Were you able to change your diaper by yourself?
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Huh?
Baby Akio: Right!! I work for a trading company. How old am I? 33!
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: My voice is too young? Wha- what do you mean? I have a sore throat, that’s all! Anyway, send it express, please. Thanks!
[101]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: (Off-bubble) Cute!
Baby Akio: Ahhh, phew!
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Who were you calling?
Baby Akio: He he he, just telephone shopping. I ordered something good.
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: By the way, Yumiko, can I have your breasts for a minute?
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Wha...!? Darling... Now, like this?? ...ick...!!
In that body, you still want some---
Baby Akio: ---Some milk! (I’m hungry!)
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Not here either, huh...?
Panel 6:
Yumiko: “106” in “1,” “6” in “110,” even “116”...
Still not the right combination...
Panel 7:
SFX: K-Slam!
Yumiko: !!
[102]
Panel 1:
Kuroido: Well, Madam. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?
What are you doing in a place like this? This is the men’s locker room.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Ku... Kuroido-san...
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Well, um, that is, I was looking for the toilet... So I was going this way...
Panel 4:
SFX: vwip (sudden motion)
Kuroido: And that key...?
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Th-that’s... Someone dropped it here... so I picked it up, and...
Panel 6:
No text
Panel 7:
Yumiko: (thinking) D... Darling... Help...!!
Panel 8:
Kuroido: urk!
SFX: ka-chunk (door opening)
Panel 9:
Co-Worker: Huhh? Takanashi-san! (This guy looks like Mizawa, but he doesn’t address Yumiko the way Mizawa does, so I’m not sure it’s him.)
Yumiko: Whew~!
[103]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Hmmm, so none of them are any good, huh?
No way. Could he have put it in the data bank? No, no, that’s not it...
Yumiko: Darling, you’re biting your nails again...
(Off-bubble) And you don’t have any teeth now...
SFX: (sucking on his fingers)
(Translator’s note: the writing on the map is indecipherable, but upside-down by Baby Akio’s foot, you can see a “henohenomohe” doodle.)
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Say, Darling,
Nanzan-san wanted someone to take the list to the police for him, right?
SFX: (sucking on fingers)
Panel 3:
Narration (Yumiko): But in that case, hiding it at the office would be too dangerous.
I thought so, looking around for it.
Panel 4:
Baby Akio: But... that can’t be it!
If he just wanted a third party, why did he ask me?
SFX: (sucking on fingers)
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: Send the list...
Panel 6:
Yumiko: What is it? You don’t need my breasts again, do you?
Panel 7:
Baby Akio: I’m an idiot!
I was forgetting that Nanzan had a fax at home!!
[104]
Panel 1:
Baby Akio: Yumiko!! I’ve got it!!
If we go to the office now, we might still be in time!!
Panel 2:
Sign on Door: Supply Department Fax Room
Mizawa: It’s okay since no one’s here, but...
Panel 3:
Mizawa: There’s confidential material and things like that; I’m really not supposed to.
SFX: click click
Yumiko: Sorry, just for a second...
Panel 4:
Yumiko: Let’s see, push this button and...
this button, and then...
Panel 5:
Yumiko: ...put in “1106”!!
Panel 6:
SFX: ZHIIIIN (fax printing out)
[105]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: Aaah!! There it is!! The list!!
Mizawa: Missus, what the...?
Panel 2:
Baby Akio: To be safe, Nanzan sent the list to the office as a confidential fax!
Panel 3:
Narration (Baby Akio): When a confidential fax comes in, the machine stores a copy of it in memory, but no one can get it...
---Unless they enter the code! It could even still be there after seven months, because they don’t cut off the power to the fax machine.
Akio: Nothing, huh?
Panel 4:
Baby Akio: Lots of people in the company use the fax,
but not so many know it can do that.
Panel 5:
Mizawa: ...Wha, what the hell is this...!?
SFX: tap tap (knocking papers even)
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Let’s go!! Right away, to the police!!
[106]
Panel 1:
No text
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Ku... Kuroido!!
Mizawa: Dammit!!
Panel 3:
Mizawa: You--- You were watching!?
Kuroido: Madam, give me that list.
Panel 4:
Kuroido: We’re police!! Hand it over quietly!!
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Wha?
Panel 6:
Yumiko: AAH!!
SFX: Snatch!
[107]
Panel 1:
Someone: Aaaaah!!
Mizawa: Don’t come any closer!! I’ll kill this baby!!
Panel 2:
Kuroido: Urk!!
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Mizawa-san!!
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Dammit! So it’s come to this!
Panel 5:
Yumiko: Mizawa-san... You... You...!
Panel 6:
No text
Panel 7:
Yumiko: You did it!?
Panel 8:
Mizawa: Yeah...
[108]
Panel 1-2:
No text
Panel 3:
Mizawa: Nanzan was acting strange... so I was watching his every move.
Panel 4:
Mizawa: Your husband was a nice guy, but... It just wasn’t his day.
Panel 5:
SFX: !!
Baby Akio: Ohh, so that’s it? You’re the one who killed me...
Panel 6:
Baby Akio: Mizawa! I’ve come back from Hell for my revenge!
Panel 7:
SFX: ZAP!
[109]
Panel 1:
No text
Panel 2:
Yumiko: Darling!!
Panel 3:
Baby Akio: Yumiko.
Panel 4:
No text
Panel 5:
Baby Akio: It’s a stungun;
That’s what I ordered.
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Darling...
Kuroido: Madam, are you all right?
Panel 7:
No text
Panel 8:
Yumiko: Cheers!!
[110]
Panel 1:
Yumiko: The smugglers were rounded up,
and we even got a reward from the police...
(off-bubble) Sorry, it’s just juice and milk biscuits.
Panel 2:
Yumiko: So let’s go to the hot springs. It’s been so long since we went together,
and you were saying you wanted to go...
Panel 3:
Yumiko: Hey, Darling...
Baby: Wuuu mmaa!
Panel 4:
Baby: Abubu... Guu guu.
Panel 5:
No text
Panel 6:
Yumiko: Darling...
Baby: Mmuuu wuuu mmaaa!
Panel 7:
Narration (Yumiko): P.S.:
Where has Darling been since then? Maybe he’s still there, inside...
Even now, the baby still has his bad habit.
Below: ...So she says, but the story will continue.
Sidebar: Originally published December 1988.
Note: While After 0 consists mostly of one-shots, there are hints of an over-arching story world and some episodically-continuing threads. In particular, I’ll warn you right now, this “Big Sleep Baby” business will go on. And on. And on.
*Translation by Laura Fox (foxinthestars@yahoo.co.uk; http://foxinthestars.dreamwidth.org), October 2011*
Any rights I hold in my translation, I release under a Creative Commons Attribution license (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ---i.e. as far as I’m concerned, you can do anything you want with it as long as you keep that line between the asterisks and apply it to the work I did); the rest is between you and the original owners.
This translation was produced as a means of study and should be viewed as student work; I’m sure it’s clumsy and at times inaccurate, but if it will even let you follow the gist of the story, I thought it was better to share it than to hoard it in secret. I hope you get some enjoyment or use out of it.
Hope you enjoy it!
Other than this, though, I've been kind of a mess this week and have been dropping the ball on writing and other things after finally poking at the manga/light novel raw site a little too much and putting myself into a feeding frenzy; I really did have to go through the list to catch some of the stuff they had (somehow I hadn't thought to check for Gakuen Kino, and I hadn't even known there was a manga behind Space Family Carlvinson), but I also admit to downloading a bunch of vaguely-interesting-looking detritus that was probably unnecessary. I'm finally through it, though, so hopefully I can get back to normal...
