Skip Beat Chapter 151
January 1, 2010
translation by unrelatedwaffle [at] gmail
Head to http://www.faceorama.com/pizza for all your manga translation needs!

 Please do not use this translation without permission. I have found my translations for other things posted on random sites or used in unauthorized scanlations, and I put a lot of effort into these as a volunteer because I love manga lovers. Please enjoy them, that’s what they’re here for, not for you to claim as your own.

 unrelatedwaffle’s manga translation key:

Dialogue is listed by page number-panel number [000-00]. The page corresponds to actual page numbers and not file numbers when page numbers are available.

Line breaks indicate a new speech bubble.

Text in italics indicates thoughts/internal monologue.

Text in italics after a speaker’s name also in italics and preceded by tilde ~ are flashback/memory sequences (example: ~Tanaka: That was back in the day. . .)

Text in [square brackets] indicates asides/handwritten text.

Sound effects are in ALL CAPS.

[001-1]  Caption:              This is my
                                               battle wear!!!
                                               No more love!
                The Magnificent Show-Biz Challenge
                Skip Beat!
                Act 151 . Like I Said, It’s the Strongest Emblem
                Nakamura Yoshiki             Volume 24 On
Sale February 19th!
                                                               Check out “Fan Book~Love Me” also on sale!

[002-2]  SOUND                 CLICK CLICK CLICK
[002-3]  SOUND                 CLICK. . .
                Kanae:                  . . .Huh?

[003-1]  Kanae:                  What?
                                               You’re at the home office today, too?
[003-2]  Kyoko:                  !!!
[003-3]  Kyoko:                  Mooooko-saaaan!!

[004-3]  Kyoko:                  I thought you’d at least let me hug you, since we haven’t seen each other in so long. . .
                SOUND                 POUT
                                               VMMMM
                Kanae:                  . . .What do you mean “so long”?
[004-4]  Kanae:                  We just saw each other when we made chocolates the other day, didn’t we?
                Kyoko:                  !
[004-5]  Kyoko:                  Come to think of it,
                                               how was it, Moko-san?
                Kanae:                  How was what?

[005-1]  Kyoko:                  Hiou-kun!
                                               Was he happy about the chocolates!?
                                               There’s no way he wouldn’t be.
                Kanae:                  . . .Not really. . .?
[005-2]  Kanae:                  He didn’t look particularly happy.
                                               [Now, now, now, here, here, here, take them, take them, Hiou-kun.]
                Hiou:                     [Uh. . .okay. . .]
                Kanae:                  [Well, I did practically force them on him. ]
                                               [So it's no wonder.]

[005-3]  Kyoko:                  Ah!
[005-4]  Kyoko:                  Then, did he frown?

                                               Did he knit his brow when you gave them to him and look like he obviously didn't want them?

                Kanae:                  No!!
                                               [How rude!!]

                                               [Just how unwanted do you think my chocolates were?]

[005-5]  Kyoko:                  Ehhhh. . .?
                                               [Man. . .how boring.]

                Kanae:                  . . .

[005-6]  Kanae:                  . . .

 

[006-1]  Kanae:                  What about you?

                Kyoko:                  Hm?

[006-2]  Kanae:                  You gave everyone the chocolates, right?

                Kyoko:                  Yeah.

                SOUND                 VMMMM

                Kyoko:                  Everyone was really glad to get them.

[006-3]  Kanae:                  . . .

                                               [Everyone. . .?]

[006-4]  Kanae:                  [. . .But. . .]

                                               . . .What about. . .

[006-5]  Kanae:                  . . .Tsuruga-san. . .?

[007-2]  Kanae:                  Why are you frozen!!??

                                               [I. . .It couldn't be. . .!!]

                                               I knew it!!

[007-3]  Kanae:                  After Tsuruga-san found out he was the only one not to get chocolates,

                                               he sulked like a little kid. . .!!

                                               [And then he racked up one more grudge against this girl. . .!]

[007-4]  Kanae:                  I was sure that Tsuruga-san, of all people, wouldn't do that, but. . .

                Kyoko:                  . . .Of course. . .

 

[008-1]  Kyoko:                  He was very happy.

                                               If I recall. . .

[008-2]  Kyoko:                  So much so that I was extremely troubled. . .

                SOUND                 INHALE

                Caption:                               [Darkness]

                SOUND                 GLOW

                                               JERK

[008-3]  Kyoko:                  Thanks to him, I learned that when you can't discriminate between "thank you"s and other

                                               boundaries they only become dangers. . .

                                               And that all human behavior should be carried out in moderation. . .

[008-4]  Kyoko:                  So, for the peace of the world. . .!!

[008-5]  Kyoko:                  Let us protect grey Japan's national character, with which one cannot express things clearly!!

                                               [Shy, reserved Japanese citizens, banzai!! Banzai!!]

                Sash:                     Personal Peace Party   Mogami Kyoko

                Caption:                               [Whooooooaaa!]

                Kyoko:                  [Be modest and humble until this world rots away!!]

                Kanae:                  . . .So. . .in other words. . .

                                               He thanked her so excessively that the peace of her heart was disrupted. . .

 

[009-1]  Kanae:                  [Hmmm. . .]

                                               . . .

                                               [Could it be. . .?]

[009-2]  Kanae:                  . . .I wonder if he kissed her or something.

                                               It wouldn't be unusual for Tsuruga-san to use his skills in that arena that way.

[009-3]  Kanae:                  It's easy to be taken in by his warmth and gentlemanly behavior, but. . .

                                               [Rather. . .]

                                               She's used to it, so he could hide his real intentions that way. . .

                Kyoko:                  [Please offer your cooperation!! Let's protect this country with a modesty ceremony!!]

                                               First, when you thank someone,

                                               second, you cannot touch them. No kissing!
                                               [Ah!]

                                               You, too, you look like someone who caters to the flesh.

                                               [Why don't you become a shy boy?]

                                               [Okay!]

                                               Third, don't look at people unless you have to.

                Kanae:                  . . .

                                               . . .Well. . .

[009-4]  Kanae:                  If Tsuruga-san thanked her, she must have given him something.

                                               [You're embarrassing me. Stop that.]

                Kyoko:                  [Mmph mn mmmmmppph! (Live in peace!)]

                Crowd:                  [That's the Love Me Section. . .Only someone from there could be this eccentric. . .]

                Kanae:                  I'm glad that there wasn't any sort of argument like I was imagining, though.

[009-5]  Kanae:                  . . .Honestly!

                                               I don't care if you want to be a weirdo,

                                               but I'd like you to tone it down when you're with me!

 

[010-1]  Kanae:                  They're going to think “oh, she's friends with an oddball!”

                SOUND                 CLICK CLACK

                                               CLICK CLACK

                Kyoko:                  You're mean!
                                               [I'm not an oddball!]

                                               Besides, besides,

                                               I may not be an oddball,

[010-2]  Kyoko:                  But we are friends, aren't we?

                                               With a bond so strong it's like a curse,

[010-3]  Kyoko:                  a bond of beautiful friendship.

                                               The only two members

                                               of the Love Me Section. . .

 

[011-1]  Kyoko:                  We're friends, aren't we. . .!?
                SOUND                 KACHAK

                Kanae:                  Don't talk about it in that disgusting way!
                                               [“Beautiful” and “bonds” and all that!]

                                               If that's the alternative, I'd rather our bond be because of a curse!!

[011-2]  Girl:                        . . .Really. . .?
                SOUND                 DING DONG DINGA DONG DONG DONG DONGA DONG DONG DONGA DONG

[011-3]  Guy:                      . . .Really. . .

[011-5]  Girl:                        . . .I'm so happy. . .!!
                SOUND                 GRAB

 

[012-1]  SOUND                 GNASH

[012-2]  Guy:                      [In exchange, you should know that I'm extremely jealous. Is that okay?]

                Girl:                        [It's totally okay! Leave it to me!]

                SOUND                 GASH GASH GASH STARE GASH GASH GASH STARE

                Caption:                               [Poison Notebook]

                                               [What the hell is this? You can tell very well she's acting. She should stick to singing, which she's

                                               just as lousy at. It's unbelievably frustrating how many people think they can get by in this world

                                               just on their looks!!]

                Both:                     . . .

 

[013-1]  Kyoko:                  . . .A. . .

                                               Amamiya-san. . .!?

                                               [Gasp. . .! Come to think of it. . .]

                                               [There are three people in the Love Me Section. . .]

                Kanae:                  . . .

                                               . . .Who's

                                               that girl. . /?
                                               [. . .At any rate. . .she's giving off an aura of the type I'm not good at dealing with. . .]

[013-2]  Chiori:                   I've been in the Love Me Section since last month.

                                               I'm Amamiya Chiori, from the agency Soft Hat.

[013-3]  Chiori:                   Nice to meet you.

 

[014-1]  Kanae:                  Soft Hat?

                                               . . .I don't think I've ever heard of them. . .

                Chiori:                   [Hee hee]

                                               It's a small company.

                                               I told them I was quitting to join the Love Me Section.

[014-2]  Chiori:                   But the president cried and said I couldn't quit.         

                Caption:                               [Their biggest money earner.]

                Chiori:                   So Soft Hat's president negotiated with LME's president

                                               so that I could be in the Love Me Section and still at his company.

                Kanae:                  Hah!?

[014-3]  Kanae:                  [Eh. . .?]

                                               Then, wait. . .do you mean. . .

[014-4]  Kanae:                  You volunteered to join the Love Me Section. . .?
                                               [Really. . .?]

                Chiori:                   Yes, of course.

                SOUND                 BLUNTLY

[014-5]  Kanae:                  . . .An oddball. . .!!

                                               This girl's an oddball, too!!

                SOUND                 TERROR

                Kyoko:                  [. . .Um. . .]

                                               . . .So, Amamiya-san. . .

 

[015-1]  Kyoko:                  What are you doing in here. . .?
                Chiori:                   . . .Oh. . .

[015-2]  Chiori:                   I have to write response papers. . .

                                               [I haven't written a single one yet, though.]

                Caption:                               [She's been immersed in her poison notebook.]

                Kyoko:                  . . .Response. . .papers. . .?
                Chiori:                   . . .Yeah.

[015-3]  Chiori:                   On all of these Kawagoe Michika dramas.

                SOUND                 SMACK

                Caption:                               Three series total

                Kyoko:                  [Ehhh. . .?]

                                               . . .Why do you have to do that here. . .?

[015-4]  Chiori:                 I just came here to say hello to the people at LME.

[015-5]  Chiori:                 And then I met the president,

                Kyoko:                  I see. . .

                Chiori:                 and he asked me something. . .

[015-6]  Chiori:                 and I answered on reflex. . .

                Kyoko:                  . . .?
                                               . . .What. . .did he ask you. . .?

 

[016-1]  Lory:                     Oh, you're here! How was Valentine's Day,

                SOUND                 FFFT FFFT

                Lory:                     Love Me Section members?

[016-4]  Caption:                               [An inner tube. . .?]

                                               ANACONDA

 

[017-1]  Lory:                     [She's not poisonous, and she's still a baby. You don't have to get that scared. . .]

                                               [Takarada-san will play with you later, Natsuko.]

                Caption:                               [Natsuko-chan.]

                                               [Because she likes humans (natsukkoi).]

                Lory:                     . . .So?

[017-2]  Lory:                     How were your Valentine's Days?

                Kanae:                  I gave chocolates to a boy I'm acting with in a drama.

                Kyoko:                  . . .I. . .

[017-3]  Kyoko:                  I gave homemade chocolates to people at work and the couple that owns the boarding house I live

                                               in.

[017-4]  Kyoko:                  Oh,

                                               and to Moko-san.

                                               [We made them together, so I gave them to her then.]

                Lory:                     Oh?

                Kanae:                  . . .

[017-5]  Lory:                     It's unusual to hear that the two of you have participated in a love-related event.

                                               [I admire you.]

                Both:                     . . .It's not like we participated voluntarily. . .

                                               [Forced against their will out of desperation.]

[017-6]  Lory:                     So,

                                               you must have had a fun day.

                SOUND                 TWITCH

 

[018-1]  Caption:                               [Fun. . .???]

                SOUND                 GLOOM GLOOM

                Kanae:                  . . .!

[018-2]  SOUND                 GLOOM GLOOM

                Kyoko:                  . . .!

[018-3]  SOUND                 BYOO

                Kyoko:                  !!!

[018-4]  Lory:                     So, in conclusion,

[018-5]  Lory:                     what is Valentine’s Day

                                               to you?

 

[019-1]  Kyoko:                  An unlucky,  nightmarish day that threatens the peace

                                               and should be avoided at all costs!!

                SOUND                 DADADADA DUMMMMM

                Kanae:                  A public nuisance of a day

                                               that makes stupid people even stupider!

 

[020-1]  Kanae:                  . . .Damn, I just replied on reflex.

                                               [With exactly what I was thinking.]

                Kyoko:                  Now we have to write response papers, too. . .

                                               [Is this payback from the boss? He seemed mad. . .]

                Chiori:                 Count yourself lucky.

[020-2]  Chiori:                 Your theme is the love between the two main characters. . .

                                               So at least you’re writing something about the plot. . .

                Kyoko:                  What are you writing about, Amamiya-san?

[020-3]  Chiori:                 . . .

                                               . . .My theme. . .

[020-4]  Chiori:                 is this Kawagoe Michika, who gets by in her acting on cuteness alone.

                Kyoko:                  Heh. . .?

[020-5]  Kyoko:                  Why is that your theme?                  

                                               [The boss assigned it, right?]

                Chiori:                 . . .I told you I answered the boss’s question on reflex, right?

                                               [And that’s why I’m writing these reports.]

                Kyoko:                  Ah. . .

                Chiori:                 He asked me. . .

 

[021-1]  ~Lory:                   What is Valentine’s Day

                                               to you?

[021-3]  Kyoko:                  . . .So. . .

                                               . . .what did

                                               you say?

[021-4]  ~Chiori:             Kawagoe Michika, who has gotten ahead on her looks alone, appeared in her first drama three

years ago on that day!!

[And in the lead role!! You’ve got to be kidding me!! That idol that’s gotten the world handed to

her on a silver platter just with that wispy smile!! She ought to tumble to the depths of the depths of the Earth!!]

                                               February 14th is the most terrifically terrible day in the calendar of my life!!

[021-5]  Caption:                               [She used the prefix “terri-” twice. . .]

                Kanae:                  . . .

                Kyoko:                  . . .

[021-6]  Kyoko:                  . . .It’s rare for you to say something like that out loud. . .

                                               [You usually seal those thoughts up in your notebook. . .]

                                               Were you that angry about it?

                                               About that Kawagoe Michika-san. . .

                Chiori:                 . . .Yes.

                                               I suppose.

 

[022-1]  Chiori:                 She’s not the only one, though. . .

                                               [My most terrifically terrible day. . .there are lots of people who become popular

without suffering.]

                Caption:                               [Poison aura]

[022-2]  Chiori:                 . . .So then Mr. Takarada reprimanded me. . .

[022-3]  Chiori:                 He said that people should be jealous of others whose talent gains them

popularity,

but if you can't acknowledge someone's good points honestly and in a

sportsmanlike way, then you can't grow as a person.

Even if you think that person isn’t as talented as you.

[022-4]  Kyoko:                  [Ah. . .]

                                               So. . .

                                               You’re supposed to write response papers on Kawagoe Michika’s good points in

her acting. . .?

[022-5]  Chiori:                 Yep.

                Kanae:                  . . .That’s fairly impossible. . .

 

[023-1]  Kanae:                  What could you possibly say that’s good about this girl?

                Chiori:                 I know, right?

[023-2]  Chiori:                 She’s got a complete air of “I’m acting right now.” It’s pathetic. . .

[023-3]  Kanae:                  And those tears just now were obviously eyedrops.

                                               [You can fool an amateur, but you can’t fool a pro.]

                Chiori:                 Really.

                                               The more I watch, the more annoyed I get.

[023-4]  Chiori:                 If you can’t cry when your scene demands it, you shouldn’t be acting at all.

                Kanae:                  Can’t argue with that.

[023-5]  Kyoko:                  . . .Huh. . .

                                               They seem to agree on everything.

[023-6]  Kyoko:                  Hm?

 

[024-1]  SOUND                 ROOOOOOOARRRRRRR

                Kyoko:                  !!!!

                                               Eeeeeek!!
                Chiori:                 Eh?

                                               What?

 

[025-1]  Lory:                     To be honest, after not seeing a single shred of growth in my Love Me members,

                                               I have gone from sadness to anger.

[025-2]  Lory:                     Mogami-kun, Kotonami-kun.

                Both:                     Y. . .Yes. . .?
                Caption:                               [Seiza]

                Lory:                     Just what have you been doing all year?

[025-3]  Kanae:                  . . .Well. . .

                                               [Um. . .]

                                               . . .I’m sorry. . .

                                               . . .Nothing, really. . .

[025-4]  Kanae:                  No one’s made any requests for work of Love Me members. . .

                Lory:                     Fools!!

[025-5]  Lory:                     What is one to do when those who are supposed to work for the love of others

are always so passive!?

 

[026-1]  Lory:                     If no one offers you work, then you must go and get it yourselves!!

                                               You may have forgotten this, but the aim of the Love Me section is. . .

                                               to do the things that people want done before they think it,

                                               to move them with your heart-filled work, and be loved by them!

[026-2]  Both:                     . . .Yes, sir. . .

[026-3]  Lory:                     . . .

                                               . . .You say that, but. . .

[026-4]  Lory:                     Your faces say, “We’re already working real acting jobs,

                                               so we don’t care about the Love Me section.”

                SOUND                 START

[026-5]  SOUND                 EXHALE

                Lory:                     . . .Well,

                                               I expected as much.

 

[027-1]  Lory:                     All the more reason

                                               it was worthwhile to have prepared these.

[027-2]  SOUND                 RUMMAGE RUMMAGE

[027-3]  Lory:                     Now,

                                               Mogami-kun,

                                               Kotonami-kun,

                                               Amamiya-kun.

[027-4]  Lory:                     Each of you

                                               take one.

                SOUND                 TADA

                Slips (from RtL): Amamiya-kun

                                               Something Fun

                                               Kotonami-kun

                                               Something Messy

                                               Mogami-kun

                                               Something Dangerous

[027-6]  Everyone:             . . .

                                               . . .What are those. . .?

[028-1]  Lory:                     I have most carefully

                                               and diligently selected for you

[028-2]  Lory:                     these drastically necessary requests for work.

                Both:                     No, thank you!!
                Kyoko:                  [It even says ‘dangerous’ on it!!]

                Kanae:                  [Whaddya mean ‘messy’!?]

                Chiori:                 Oh!

[028-3]  Chiori:                 Then I will take mine, gratefully.

                                               [It says it’s fun!]

                SOUND                 GASP

[028-4]  Kyoko:                  Amamiya-san!!

                                               [Don’t. . .!!]

                Kanae:                  Don’t do it!!

                                               Something the boss thinks is “fun” certainly won’t be!!

                                               [And he said this was his most careful selection!!]

 

[029-3]  Chiori:                 . . .I refuse.

                Lory:                     No givebacks.

[029-4]  Chiori:                 Bossss~~~!!

                                               [I can’t do it!! I just can’t do it!!]

                Kyoko:                  . . .

                SOUND                 WALK WALK WALK WALK WALK

[029-5]  Kyoko:                  . . .I w. . .

                                               I wonder what it was. . .

                Kanae:                  [. . .Who knows. . .]

                                               . . .I don’t know. . .

[029-6]  Kanae:                  Well. . .

                                               At least we made it without accepting them. . .

                Kyoko:                  Th. . .that’s. . .

[029-7]  Kyoko:                  true. . .

[029-9]  SOUND                 GLANCE

 

[030-1]  SOUND                 GASP

[030-2]  Paper:                    Mogami-kun

                                               Something Dangerous

[030-3]  Paper:                    Kotonami-kun

                                               Something Messy

[030-4]  Both:                     . . .!!

[030-5]  Both:                     [NOOOOOOOOO!!]