Skip Beat Chapter 154

March 5, 2010

translation by unrelatedwaffle [at] gmail

Head to http://www.faceorama.com/pizza for all your manga translation needs, and to http://www.faceorama.com/bluelight for all your jpop lyric 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]    Lory:                       What am I thinking about, you ask?

                                                Why, about love, naturally.

 

The Magnificent Show-Biz Challenge

                Skip Beat!
                Act 154  Violent Mission, Phase 2

                Nakamura Yoshiki                Volume 24 Now On Sale!

                                                                Check out the special volume “Fan Book ~Love Me~” too!

 

[002-1]    Banner:                  Protective Charm

                SOUND                  JINGLE

                Heart Caption:      Sound Health

                Pennant Caption: Road Safety

                SOUND                  JINGLE

                Kotatsu Caption:  Home Safety

                Kyoko:                   Well,

 

[003-1]    Kyoko:                   I don’t think this is quite what he meant.

                                                [. . .I mean,]

                                                I guess I could make a protective talisman if I had to, but. . .

                SOUND                  JINGLE

                Caption:                 May Your Prayers Be Answered

                SOUND                  RUSTLE RUSTLE

                Kyoko:                   But I don’t know.

[003-2]    Kyoko:                   Tsuruga Ren is like this.

[003-3]    Kyoko:                   To put something like this

                                                on him. . .

                Heart Caption:      Sound Health

[003-4]    Kyoko:                   It doesn’t suit him at all~~~

                                                [I know it’s late to be asking, but what’s wrong with me. . .?]

                                                It’s a, whaddya call it, a mismatch? Personality dissonance? Oil and water?

                                                I try to be pretty self-aware, but. . .

[003-5]    Kyoko:                   My tastes don’t align with Tsuruga-san’s even at the molecular level~~~

                SOUND                  GASP. . .!

                Kyoko:                   . . .Hey.

 

[004-1]    Kyoko:                   When I think about it that way, I get really uneasy,  somehow. . .!!

                                                [About that thing from the other day. . .]

                                                I wonder if it’ll be all right.

                ~Ren:                     “I can’t use something like this.”

                SOUND                  [Disappointed]

                Kyoko (same bubble):         What if he feels like that?

                                                Or what if he opens it in front of other people all excitedly and then gets

embarrassed. . .!?

                                                [Ahh. . .! What if. . .!!]

[004-2]    Kyoko:                   I even asked  him to open it at home, alone, because I was too embarrassed to

have him open it there!!

No. . .!!

[Actually!!]

I wasn’t ashamed of the item itself at the time!

[004-3]    Kyoko:                   I was embarrassed to have him open it in that room buried in high-class-looking

gifts, but. . .!!

                Caption:                 [Packages that anyone could tell were brand-name goods from the wrapping

alone.]

[Packages where you could tell after looking at them for a while.]

[004-4]    Kyoko:                   But now. . .

 

[005-1]    Kyoko:                   I’m ashamed of the item itself~~~!!

                SOUND                  HWAAAAAAH

                Kyoko:                   I know it’s too late for regrets, but I never should have given it to him!!

                                                I can’t afford the kind of branded goods that suit Tsuruga-san, so that was all I

could think of!

                SOUND                  HWAAAAAAH

                Kyoko:                   Tsuruga-san, give it back to me, please!!

[005-2]    Kyoko:                   The birthday present I gave you!!

                Voice:                     Mogami-sama.

[005-3]    Man:                       I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.

[005-4]    Man:                       The preparations are all finished, so I will lead the way.

 

[006-1]    Man:                       Are you ready?
[006-2]    Caption:                 WC (Female)

                                                [Fried Shrimp]*
*Note: I have no idea what WC is. I even Japanese Wikipedia’d it. Even THEY don’t know what it is. Anyone really familiar with Japanese cuisine?

[006-3]    Man:                       Come this way.

                Kyoko:                   [. . .Th. . .]

                                                Thank you. . .

                                                . . .This man is. . .

[006-4]    Kyoko:                   the one who played “Sebastian (the butler)” at the Grateful Party, right. . .?

                Caption:                 [Real name unknown]

                Man:                       Please go to the back.

                Kyoko:                   [Ah. . .]

                                                Okay.

                                                He looks pretty serious. . .

                                                But he must be a weirdo.

[006-5]    Kyoko:                   He is the boss’s secretary, after all. . .

                                                Hm?

 

[007-1]    Jerry:                      Ah!

Hi!

Are you Kyoko-chan?

[007-2]    Jerry:                      Nice to meet you.

                                                I’m Jerry Woods. I’ll be taking care of you today.

[007-3]    Kyoko:                   Eh?? Ah. . .

                                                N. . .No, the pleasure’s all mine. . .

                                                [Um]

                                                I don’t really know the details, though. . .

                Jerry:                      [Eh?]

                                                Oh, no.

                                                [Really?]

                                                Darling didn’t explain it to you, did he?

                Kyoko:                   Eh?

 

[008-1]    Kyoko:                   . . .Darling. . .?

                                                [Wh. . .Who is she talking about. . .?]

                Jerry:                      [Jeez, I guess it can’t be helped.]

                                                I don’t really mind, because we’ve been together a long time,

                                                so I’m used to his pushiness.

[008-2]    Kyoko:                   [Pushiness. . .]

                                                [I. . .It couldn’t be. . .]

[008-3]    Kyoko:                   No, no.

                                                This cute girl would never. . .

                Jerry:                      But how could he do that to this young girl, too?

                                                [How violent.]

                                                [Mutter mutter]

[008-4]    Kyoko:                   “. . .Young girl. . .”

                                                [. . .But. . .]

                                                Aren’t you about the same age as me. . .? Maybe a little older. . .

                Jerry:                      [Ah]

                                                But. . .

[008-5]    Jerry:                      If you get used to his pushiness, it can be really fun!

                Kyoko:                   . . .I. . .

                                                see. . .

                Jerry:                      I’ll prove it to you.

[008-6]    SOUND                  FLUTTER

 

[009-3]    Jerry:                      . . .My name is Jerry Woods.

                                                They call me the “witch” of the makeup world.

[009-4]    Caption:                 [W. . .Witch!?]

                SOUND                  THUMP

[009-5]    Jerry:                      So, true to my name,

[009-6]    SOUND                  FAN

[009-8]    Jerry:                      I’ll change your life

 

[010-1]    Jerry:                      in five minutes.

 

[011-1]    Lory:                       . . .You’re a rude one.

                                                You always act like I have something up my sleeve.

                Ren:                        I’m not acting, because you always do, which is why I don’t trust you.

[011-2]    Ren:                        You were all buddy-buddy with me today, saying you’d send someone from the

acting department to pick me up,

                Caption:                 [Then if he wasn’t discovered as Ren on the way to Lory’s house, the act would be

perfect.]

Ren:                        and then it's Mogami-san who comes to get me? This situation is already

incredibly suspicious.

                Lory:                       [Heh heh]

                                                That was all on purpose.

[011-3]    Lory:                       It was a test to see if you could keep in character as Cain Heel even in

unexpected circumstances without showing any agitation.

                                                That’s a total lie, actually.

                                                Wasn't today supposed to be a dry run in case of a real disaster like that in the

future?

                Ren:                        . . .That’s true. . .

                                                Certainly. . .

 

[012-1]    Ren:                        when I saw that gaudy pink out of the corner of my eye, I thought, “it can’t be.”

                                                I was definitely in danger of looking up without thinking.

                Caption:                 [The Cain Heel Character

 

Sullen, short-tempered, touchy (to the casual observer),

a heavy smoker, and sluggish on days off of work.]

                Ren:                        Therefore, that was more of a test of avoiding a situation, I think.

                Lory:                       Right?

                                                [And]

                                                It was a test to see if you could convince someone who recognized you that you

were somebody else.

[012-2]    SOUND                  TWITCH

[012-3]    Lory:                       . . .By the way,

                                                how did she recognize you right away, anyway?

                                                [So quickly it’s shameful.]

                Ren:                        . . .

                                                . . .Well. . .

[012-4]    Ren:                        . . .Um. . .

                                                . . .

                                                . . .

                Lory:                       Oh.

                                                [I guess it’s hard for you to say.]

[012-5]    Lory:                       Is it a sexy reason?

                Ren:                        No. . .not at all. . .

                                                . . .The reason goes beyond shocking

[012-6]    Ren:                        into full-on frightening territory. . .

                ~Kyoko:                                [All the parts!]

                                                [When you compare!]

                                                [The muscles!]

                                                [The bones!]

                Caption:                 [Joy joy]

                                                [Explaining explaining]

                ~Ren:                     . . .

 

[013-1]    Ren:                        . . .Being discovered that way. . .doesn’t make me happy. . .

                                                [What was that about bones. . .?]

                Lory:                       . . .

                                                . . .Perfect perception. . .?

                                                [Like perfect pitch.]

                                                . . .Well, I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up in the first place. . .

                                                [For there being a sexy reason.]

                                                [She is the first member of the Love Me Section, after all.]

                                                . . .Although. . .

[013-2]    Lory:                       even if. . .

                                                the reasoning is abnormal,

                                                it does mean she’s at least looking at him.

                                                And. . .

[013-3]    Lory:                       quite intently, at that. . .

                SOUND                  HEH

                Lory:                       . . .There’s. . .

[013-4]    Lory:                       definitely some value to this mission

                                                for Mogami-kun

[013-5]    Lory:                       after all. . .

                Jerry:                      Darling!

 

[014-1]    Jerry:                      Sorry to keep you waiting!

                SOUND                  CLICK CLICK CLICK

[014-2]    Lory:                       Ohhh, all finished?

[014-3]    Jerry:                      I’m sorry, Darling. . .

                Lory:                       Hm?

                Jerry:                      At first, I was going to do it exactly like you said. . .

[014-4]    Jerry:                      I was going to put her in black from head to toe, but. . .

[014-5]    Jerry:                      Once I started working on Kyoko-chan, my imagination just took over.

                                                So her image has changed a little bit.

                Lory:                       Oh?

                Ren:                        . . .

[014-6]    Jerry:                      But I think she’s definitely got the “Setsuka”-chan feel going on.

                                                [So will you forgive me?]

                Lory:                       . . .Hmm. . .

                Ren:                        . . .

                                                . . .What are you talking about. . .?

[015-1]    Lory:                       Hm?

                Ren:                        What’s “Setsuka”?

[015-2]    Lory:                       Oh,

                                                you call her “Setsu,” okay?

                Ren:                        . . .Huh?

                Lory:                       Why don’t you just wait and see?

[015-3]    Ren:                        Hey. . .Boss. . .?
                Lory:                       . . .So?

                                                Where’s our guest of honor?

                Jerry:                      Eh?

                                                Huh!?

[015-4]    Jerry:                      She was right behind me.

                                                She was pretty frightened to come that far.

                                                I told her she didn’t have to be embarrassed, and she looked cute!

[015-5]    SOUND                  STEP

                Jerry:                      Kyoko-chan!

[015-6]    Ren:                        Wait just a minute. . .

 

[016-1]    Ren:                        You made her wear something that embarrasses her so much she’s

frightened. . .?

                Lory:                       No, I didn’t.

[016-2]    Lory:                       It’s no molehill for you to make a mountain of.

                Ren:                        . . .I. . .

[016-3]    Ren:                        I wasn’t making a mountain out of a molehill. . .

                                                What do you mean, molehill?

                Lory:                       [Oh, really?]

                                                All it is

[016-4]    Lory:                       is something rather far from her tastes, something that wouldn’t ordinarily tug at

her heartstrings.

 

[017-1]    Lory:                       She’s probably never had the chance to wear something like this in her life.

                Jerry:                      Ah,

                                                there you are.

                                                What are you doing, Kyoko-chan? Come on in!

                Lory:                       She’s probably just hesitant because she’s not used to it.

[017-2]    Kyoko:                   . . .D. . .

[017-3]    Kyoko:                   Do I have to come out. . .?
                                                [Dressed like this. . .]

                SOUND                  FIDGET FIDGET

                Jerry:                      Kyoko-chan.

[017-4]    Jerry:                      This is your job.

[017-5]    Jerry:                      Are you going to

[017-6]    Jerry:                      give up your role

[017-7]    Jerry:                      over something like this?

 

[018-1]    Lory:                       --Embarrassed?

                                                Embarrassed, nothing.

[018-2]    Lory:                       When she gets in her role, she’ll completely forget about it.

                Ren:                        . . .!?

[018-3]    Lory:                       That is,

                                                if she’s a real actress.

[018-4]    Ren:                        . . .!

                                                “Gets in her role”?
[018-5]    Ren:                        Boss, what are you planning on making her do. . .?
                                                Saying she’d have to be my “protective charm”!!

                Lory:                       Hm?

                                                What, you ask?

[018-6]    Lory:                       That.

 

[019-2]    SOUND                  STEP

                                                RSH

[019-3]    SOUND                  CLICK CLICK

[019-4]    SOUND                  CLICK

 

[020-1]    SOUND                  CLICK

 

[021-1]    SOUND                  STOMP

 

[022-2]    Ren:                        . . .

                Caption:                 [Dumbfounded]

                SOUND                  GAPE

                Caption:                 [Frozen.]

                Lory:                       Ohhh, what was that all about? You look great!
                                                [Mogami-kun!]

                                                [Definitely more of a “hard rock“ cute.]

                Kyoko:                   . . .

                Caption:                 [Frozen.]

                Jerry:                      Doesn’t she?

                                                [She’s a masterpiece!]

                Caption:                 [Used the Natsu walk and Natsu stance to get this far.]

[022-3]    Lory:                       Not bad.

                                                From now on,

                                                you’ll be Cain and Setsu,

 

[023-1]    Lory:                       the Heel siblings!

                Jerry:                      [Kyaaaa! They’re so wild and out there! A lovely pair of siblings!! I can see the

resemblance!]

[023-4]    Ren:                        . . .Excuse me. . .?

[023-5]    Lory:                       Little sister, little sister!

                SOUND                  GASP

                Kyoko:                   . . .!

[023-6]    Kyoko:                   . . .Y. . .

                                                Yes. . .!?

 

[024-1]    Lory:                       Leaving your big brother alone would cause a host of problems,

                Ren:                        . . .

                Lory:                       so please look after him.

                Kyoko:                   . . .

[024-2]    Kyoko:                   . . .O. . .

[024-3]    Kyoko:                   . . .Okay. . .

                                                . . .Oh. . .

[024-4]    Kyoko:                   When they said they were making a “Cain Heel’s sister” role,

                                                I wondered what they were going to make me do. . .

                                                [How anticlimactic. . .]

[024-5]    Kyoko:                   I guess I’m going to be kind of like his manager after all. . .?

                                                The “host of problems” that would happen if Tsuruga-san was left alone are

probably food-related.

                Ren:                        . . .What? How rude.

[024-6]    Ren:                        If you’re talking about my meals, there’s no need to worry.

                                                When I get hungry I can eat, you know.

                Kyoko:                   Your most unconvincing line ever!!

 

To Be Continued in Issue 9, April 5th!