Chapter 2
Cleaning King
This translation is intended to be read along with the ebook or paper volumes, so it isn’t a scanlation, just a translation. We are planning on working on chapter 6 next.
22: {When I was little, Mother bought us coloring books./
I colored a woman’s long hair green./ “It’s pretty”/ said Riru./
“Satoru,1 the color is wrong.”/ Black, brown, gold…/
Mother sorted through the colored pencils.}
23: {“But I/ want it to be colored green.”/ “Well..”/ “But isn’t it abnormal?/ Isn’t a green-haired person ridiculous?”/
“Look. Riru colored it black.”/ After that, the colors were thrown out./ Mother scolded me./ I sulked at the time./ That is/ my oldest memory.}
25: Arashi: Hey, Shizuka…/ is that the order you’re working on?
sfx: flap [flutter]
Shizuka: Arashi./ Yeah, it’s a brother model./ Since he’ll be working in a one child household for a long time.
Small text: They’ll have more people.
Arashi: He’ll work for a long time!/ He’ll fill the house with cuteness!/
Huh? Doesn’t he work yet?
Shizuka: No, no/ There’s still an error.
26: Arashi: Still?/ Arashi’s study function/ didn’t cause it, right?/ I’ll probably have to take it out.
{Year 28XX. In the middle of the East Desert North Gate/ two puppetmasters live. It is a dollhouse.}
Small text: It’s not bad./ It’s good.
sfx: beep
Arashi: Is that the doll’s recipient?
Shizuka: No…/ It’s four days too early.
{A house with only one child creates the need for a sibling./ Dolls assist the elderly without relatives and those without friends. They become companions to tell stories to people who are ill./
Creating life allows people to live with others.}
Shizuka: I’m coming…
{Human emotions fill the child-type android.}
sfx: grip
27: Arashi: Hey/ Hey/ Are you okay…
sfx: thump
Satoru: S… Save her!!/ She fell from the stairs!/ She might be broken…/ She’s not moving./ Save her.
Shizuka: Wait…/ Calm down…
Satoru: Fix her./ Save her./ Riru is…
28: sfx: slap
Shizuka: Calm down!/ She’s only broken./ Arashi!/ Carry her to the research room!
Satoru: Riru…!
Arashi: Calm down, alright./ It’s okay. She’ll be fixed soon…
sfx: crash
Satoru: Ah…
29: Arashi: How is it? The doll…
Shizuka: Yeah./ She’s…/ okay./ She can be fixed.
sfx: wobble/ flop
Satoru: Ah…/ That’s great…
Shizuka: But,/ Hasn’t it been a long time, Satoru-kun?
Satoru: How… how do you know my name?
Shizuka: I looked at the customer list./ In the year 28XX, Riru was contracted with a couple’s son.
Satoru: Oh… Yes.
Shizuka: Well, let’s hear it./ How did it happen?
Satoru: Ah/ from before/ the doll makers who…
Shizuka: Where?
30: Satoru: Huh?/ Huh?
Shizuka: That’s us./ It doesn’t matter that it happened so long ago./ So, the reason she fell…
sfx: Huh?
Satoru: Ch…/ children?
Shizuka: The reason!!
sfx: bam
Satoru: Y-/Yessir!/
Satoru: In… in our house/ there was a fight… a quarrel…
Shizuka & Arashi: A quarrel?
Satoru: It was an accident… a sudden rage…/ on the stairs,/ she was thrown/ and fell down, naturally…
31: Satoru: I/ have to do something…/ this…/ I’m…/ sorry/ so sorry…
Shizuka: To fix Riru…/ we will need your cooperation.
Satoru: What do I do?/ I’ll do anything!/ If it will fix Riru, I’ll…
Shizuka: Well, to start with/ Have you gotten in touch with your family?
Satoru: For.. for payment?
sfx: wobble
Arashi: You idiot!/ It’s not in the contract, but we won’t charge you!
Shizuka: We can accept your labor/as payment instead, right?
{That day}
32: {A sheet of my timetable went missing.}
Riru: Cram school?
Satoru: It’s for my exam prep course./ Mother chose it./ Hmm…/ The time limit is/
about twenty-four hours./ At the same time…/ It will get smaller and smaller./ That’s troublesome./ Now my head/ is filled with formula and grammar.
33: {Meals. Baths. Sleep. I can’t focus on anything except what Mother approves. I’m amazed I can focus this much.}
Satoru: Any other thoughts that enter my mind,/ I won’t be able to keep.
Riru: Maybe you don’t need to study for school now./ Is this really important?
Satoru: Is it important?/ Why would/ you think it wasn’t?/
I’ll only be able to keep it if it’s all in my head./ Knowledge isn’t the same as a report!/ Okay,/ I… just/ wish it could be like a report.
34: Riru: People…/ Humans don’t have a reason to write reports./ It’s just/ something like a report/ would be a fake.
{…even…/something like that, but}
Satoru: Shut up!!
35: sfx: crash
Satoru: Wake up!!
sfx: toss
Shizuka: How long are you going to sleep?/ Wake up, wake up.
sfx: toss toss/ eep!
Satoru: Wh-/ What’s going on…?/ We’ll work together…
sfx: vroom
{“I wish it could be like a report…” and all that.}
sfx: whack
Satoru: It was a bad dream…/ right?/ Wahh
sfx: wobble wobble/ Wahh / umph
Arashi: You’re bad at this,/ aren’t you?
36: Satoru: I’m learning./ It’s my job.
sfx: umph
Arashi: You?
Small text: Yes, me
Satoru: Arashi!
Arashi: This is the work/ I do every day.
Satoru: It’s not the everyday work of a man…/ Cleaning and stuff.
Arashi: That’s because you’re bad at it.
Satoru: Who would want to do this everyday?
sfx: gulp
Arashi: You’re bad at it,/ so you’re putting on airs.
sfx: gulp gulp
Arashi: Since you started,/ haven’t you just moved things around?/ Everything should be in order/ when Shizuka passes through the parlor.
Satoru: Does he/ clean?
Arashi: I’m the expert!
Satoru: Huh?
Arashi: Well, can you?
37: Satoru: Yes…
Small text: 2
Arashi: Don’t whisper!
Satoru: Y/…yes.
Small text: Okay!
Satoru: By the way,/ what’s this?
Arashi: What!?/ You don’t know?/ It’s a dustcloth.
Satoru: It’s a company where they’re always/ cleaning house…
Arashi: Ha!/ Cheeky!
Shizuka: It’s better than usual, isn’t it?
Arashi: It’s the work of two people.
Small text: Than usual?
38: Satoru: What about this time?
Small text: That expression [
Shizuka: Take him/ shopping with you.
Satoru: Don’t you think you’re working me like a housewife?
Shizuka: Quiet!3 /
Didn’t you come here so that we would fix Riru?
Satoru: That’s right!
Shizuka: Do you always just say whatever you feel like?
sfx: Uh…
Satoru: They’re beasts…/ Arashi/ Are we/ walking there/ from here?
39: Arashi: Yeah./ It’s a whim.
Satoru: Isn’t it forbidden,/ because it’s dangerous in the desert…
Arashi: If you never try it,/ you’ll never get used to it./ But you’ll probably get tired…/
You’ll see why when we get started.
Small text: It’s the air.4
Satoru: Yeah!
Arashi: Does it have to have a purpose?/ Danger is best when you exprience it personally!/ Like giving water to a dying man.
Small text: Let’s go!
Satoru: O-okay…
Arashi: I know/ first aid.
sfx: titter
Satoru: Oh…
40: Satoru: We got here okay without a compass.
Arashi: It’s all in my head./ I’m the compass!/ Do you want anything to eat, Satoru?
Satoru: Eh? Nothing in particular…/ Whatever is fine./ Whatever…
Small text: He’s really okay with anything.
Satoru: What’s this?/ Ah,/ no…/ This/ is something Riru would like./ Beads…
41: sfx: shing
Satoru: If only I had some money…
Arashi: You’re impossible.
sfx: glance
Satoru: Hey
Arashi: Good things come to those who wait./ It’s useless!
Satoru: Wait-/ Ah/ Hey, hey/ Look!
Arashi: Huh?
Small text: What is it this time?
Satoru: What are these?
sfx: Sea urchin!
Satoru: Are they hedgehog eggs!?/ Oh, it’s seafood./ Isn’t it?
sfx: Hahahaha
42: Satoru: You’re still laughing…/ It’s annoying.
sfx: hahaha
Arashi: S-/Sorry, sorry…
Satoru: What, a sea urchin!?/ Aren’t they orange!?
Arashi: How…
sfx: hehehe
Satoru: That’s enough!
Arashi: Sorry!/ Hey, I’ll make it up to you./ Take off your goggles!
Satoru: Wow…
Arashi: A yellow sunset.
43: Arashi: We’re back!
Satoru: Ah…/ Riru!
Shizuka: We’ll have to wait for her to open her eyes./
When her/ maintenance ends.
Satoru: Eh!?/ Why is it like that?/ Isn’t there only one switch!?/
Right/ …It’s just like/ that story about sleeping in the forest…
Shizuka: Yeah, that might be close.
Arashi: Among scientists,/ there aren’t a lot of romanticists./ Hey,
sfx: toss
Shizuka: What’s this?/ A sea urchin?
sfx: glare/ hehehe
44: Shizuka: Well?/ Wasn’t it funny?/ You didn’t laugh.
Small text: 5
sfx: snap
Shizuka: It’s natural/ when you first see something strange.
Satoru: Wah
sfx: crack
Arashi?: Be careful./ Haven’t you used a knife before?
Satoru: S…/ Sorry.
sfx: crack
Satoru: Eggs…
Shizuka: Isn’t it an/ interesting thought?
45: Arashi: You won’t lose your dreams if you gain knowledge, Satoru!
Shizuka: No,/ gaining knowledge/ is the next dream.
Arashi: Yes,/ Satoru./ Dreams are like a delicacy!
Satoru: Th…/ Thank you…/ B… But,/ is this really an egg?/ Every night, aliens drop eggs!
Small text: Staring/ at the plate…
{Why is this…/ okay…}
Satoru: Hey…/ I
46: Satoru: want to learn/ how to use a knife.
Shizuka: Satoru,/ Come this way and leave the cleaning up to Arashi.
Satoru: What is it?
Shizuka: This way.
Satoru: Sorting the library…/ Arashi said that/ messing it up was your specialty.
sfx: haha
Shizuka: That guy/ does things that are fun too./
Besides…/ there are a lot of them.
Satoru: A lot of different kinds?
47: Shizuka: Like “climbing the mountain over there”/ I think it’s “reading the books over there.”/ I like them.
{Liking…}
Shizuka: Do you?
Satoru: Eh?
Shizuka: Do you like them?/ Books.
Satoru: …I don’t think about them.
sfx: uff
Satoru: But I thought that the stories/ in textbooks were interesting./
But…/ they weren’t good?/ What the author conveyed in the story was covered in brevity in the summary.
48: {One day, I thought I knew the answer to the teacher’s question./ “Even though you’re not sure,/ you still have to answer.”/
I immediately forgot the sentence when I reached the blackboard.}
Satoru: If I wasn’t sure, why did I do it?/ It probably wasn’t the right answer./ It was unpleasant…
Shizuka: …In here/ no one will correct you./ It’s okay if you want to rest./ Why don’t you read something?
Satoru: Umm…/ yeah./ What would be best/ to read…
Shizuka: You don’t know what to read?
Small text: umm…
Satoru: Are there a lot/ of biographies?/ My mother always chose which books to buy…
49: Satoru: I should ask for other people’s opinions./ I can’t be allowed to choose.
sfx: tap
Shizuka: Choose it yourself./ It’s okay this time.
Satoru: Well,/…I’ll read this. /Yeah.
Shizuka: …Satoru?
Satoru: What?
Shizuka: You…/ should/ make it more of a habit to choose on your own.
50: Shizuka: That would be better.
sfx: burp
Satoru: It’s more fun that way?
sfx: rustle
Satoru: Good morning…
sfx: stagger/ clatter/ gulp
?:What happened!?/ You didn’t sleep?
51: Satoru: This…
Shizuka: Really?/ Until morning…
Satoru: It-It was really interesting!/ Reading a book all night…/ That’s a first./ Hehe.
sfx: thud/ Wah!!
Arashi: Satoru!!
sfx: wow
{Sirius./ Rigel./ Betelgeuse./ Orion./ Vega./ The polar star…}
Riru: Look, Satoru/ It’s Cygnus.
Satoru: If you’re noisy,/ won’t the stars scatter?
{The starry sky}
52: {As a child,/ I thought that the stars were like cherry blossoms or fireflies.}
Mother: It’s not the stars that scatter,/ Satoru./ We’re the ones moving.
Riru: It’s not stars, Satoru. The earth…/ the ground we are on moves.
Mother: Wow,/ That’s amazing, Riru./ You’re a good girl./
{The green hair flickered in my memory.}
53: {Since that day, I decided to live for truthful knowledge./ Mother/ said she wished for me to become an adult who was normal and correct./
A child who would give the correct answer./ Not a child who would say things that weren’t true./ Satoru,/ Who would chose to be normal?/ You didn’t laugh. [p. 44]}
54: {In here, no one will correct you. [p. 48]}
Arashi: Satoru,/ Satoru…/ Are you awake?/ Astronomical Observation?/ On the roof?
sfx: suddenly
Satoru: A dream…
Arashi: Hmm?
Satoru: A dream…/ from my childhood…
55: Satoru: Amazing…!
{It’s not artificial light.}
Arashi: Do you know/ a lot about them?…
Satoru: Since I came here,/ I’ve experienced many things that I used to ignore.
Arashi: You didn’t know anything.
Satoru: Yeah,/ There were many things I didn’t know./ So, by stuffing my head with various things,/
I ended up not knowing anything./ I’ll stop living for that.
56: {Ideas I chose,}
Satoru: I was afraid.
{Opinions I chose,/ and myself,/ I rejected from fear.}
Satoru: If I look hard,/ I will see many interesting/ and fun things/ around me./ If I investigate,/
I won’t make a mistake./ That way,/ fun…/ I…
57: Satoru: was being wasteful./ Riru…/ Are…/ are you fixed!?
Riru: …I’m sorry/ You’re wrong./ From the beginning/ I wasn’t broken.
58: Riru: When I fell from the stairs,/ in that moment,/ I thought the fall would break me./
If that happened, I thought that surely/ you would take me here…
{That boy is always like that./ He will live his life/ bound to nothing.}
Riru: In that way,/ Satoru/ would fail.
Shizuka: What/ do you want from us?
59: {It would be good if he/ could live beside you for a short while./
Satoru doesn’t have ties with others./ He doesn’t know much about the world./ Please…/ Save Satoru.}
Shizuka: That’s what Riru/said to me.
Riru: …I’m sorry./ Satoru…/ I’m sorry…
{Save Riru}
Satoru[?]: It’s not a joke…
60: Satoru: I was worried…
{I’m sorry/ for worrying you.}
Arashi: Hey.
Shizuka: Hmm?
Arashi: We also didn’t know, but/ Riru’s request was/ something we wanted too./ Didn’t we become equal partners in the secret!?
Shizuka: Ahaha
Arashi: Don’t laugh!!
61: sfx: Oh/ It’s loose?
Satoru: Ah…/ Ahhhh/ Arashi!!
sfx: pitch black
Shizuka: …Clumsy
Satoru: You’re talking so casually in this situation!
Shizuka: He’s not dead.
Satoru: Hurry, help him…/ He fell from that height,/ so there’s no way he’s not injured…
Arashi: Hey./ I’m back, I’m back.
62: Shizuka: Your shoulder came loose./ It’s wearing out.
Satoru: Ahh.
Shizuka: It’s good that your head isn’t hurt./ You put a lot of importance on physical labor./ My model-
Satoru: Ro-/Robots!?
Shizuka: This?/ We didn’t tell you?/ We are both androids.
63: {The next day, a young couple came to contract a new doll./
The doll’s eyes opened in an instant. I/ saw something like ancient magic./ It was a feeling of wonder.}
64: Shizuka: It’s the program./ The melody is the input into the IC./ Arashi’s is the operation program, mine is the suspension program.
Satoru: So it’s/ the tone?
Arashi: We aren’t magicians…/ Are you disappointed?
Satoru: Even so,/ it’s beautiful./ I think/ it would be fun if/ the illusion never ended.
sfx: rustle
?: The program assembles/ the machines together./ Adults and the elderly have places for companions./
Things like dictionaries and encyclopedias go into their heads./
With a sibling program like Riru’s, the level of knowledge in the program is at an early level./
The learning funtion steadily stores materials.
sfx: hmm…
65: Shizuka: But machines don’t have/ a forgetting function./
Even if human emotions are only its pattern,/ the learning function program/ came from studying the growth of humans./
But there is something they don’t have.
Satoru: What is it?
Arashi: What/ do you think?
Satoru: Physical growth?
Arashi: Oh, that too?/ haha
Small text: Why is that?/ I heard from Riru.
Shizuka: Green hair./ Eggs falling from outer space./ Stars scattering…/
Their objective is to live for the duties./ It’s a necessary restraint.
66: Shizuka: Freedom of ideas…/ So, for machines,/ that’s what we don’t have.
Satoru: Freedom…
{Ahh, so…/ that’s why you were angry.}
{Something like a report would be fake knowledge.}
Arashi: Because of that, machines are/ fascinated by humans.
{It’s beautiful.}
67: Shizuka: Be careful.
Satoru: Yeah,/ thank you.
Shizuka: The next time we meet,/ you will hear my flute./
Ah… when a/ doll’s role is over, they will return here.
Riru will watch over you until you become an adult.
Small text: Just a minute.
68: sfx: mumble
Satoru: Hahaha/ yeah/ yeah
Shizuka: What?
Riru: Hey,/ what is it?
Shizuka: What did you tell him?
Arashi: It’s a secret ❤
Small text: You can still be destroyed.
{They saw me as I am.}
69: {When will it be?/ Someday, it won’t be long./ He’ll grow up and no longer be a boy./
The necklace of multi-colored beads was worn on the chest of the smiling girl like a treasure./ I saw it.
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1. Riru and Satoru are different pronunciations of the same kanji. ↩
2. Too messily written for me to read.↩
3. It’s a joke, shizuka means quiet. He’s literally saying his own name.↩
4. Incomplete, there’s a few things I can’t read.↩
5. The first kanji is live/fresh, I can’t read the others.↩
Futago Translations 