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DRT1.1.8: Byakuya-sama is God, section 8
Find previous chapters at the Navigation Index.
Danganronpa Togami Volume 1: Multiple Counts of Attempted World Domination
Chapter 1: Byakuya-sama is God
8
"This is a pretty old meme, but I'm not sure what else to say here... So, in the immortal words of a Haruki Murakami character, 'yare yare'. Oh, or I guess it could be a Jojo thing too."[1]
The driver kept rambling on with meaningless blather. The girl riding shotgun didn't react at all, her face as blank as a Noh mask. Both of them looked around our age.
"Maaan, this feels great. They've got a set market price for a Mercedes in Prague. A black Mercedes is pretty bad luck though. Ahaha. Bumpy roads are so much fuuun! I'm gonna bite my tooongue! Oh, that reminds me, how about it, you want a drink? It'll be proof that we met. It's not drunk driving till you're twenty." He turned towards us, pulling out a small bottle.
"Pilsner Urquell?" Byakuya-sama reached out to take the bottle.
"You know about it? Y'know, a certain Führer usually hated booze like sin, but here in Prague he had himself some anyway. The day he conquered Czechoslovakia. The beer he drank in celebration was Pilsner Urquell."
"If you're going for irony, I'm going to kill you."
"Poppycock! It's obvious I'm just kissing your ass and groveling since you're from a bigger conglomerate than mine."
"Your conglomerate?" I cut in without thinking.
"The Ketouin Conglomerate... You ever heard of it?"
"Never."
"That's fine. From the Togami Conglomerate's perspective, we must look smaller than an ant farm. Also, man, you're cute." He kept driving while turned around to face us. "I'm so weak to the cute ones. I like sticking insect pins in their arms and necks."
"Uh, can you please focus on driving?"
"A real collector's weapon!"
"Just kill me now..."
"M'lady, just checking the contraction of your pupils, I can tell what lies ahead. I could get us to the Scandinavian Peninsula just by gazing into your eyes."
"I'm not pining for the fjords," I said, cutting him off. It had been a while since I'd hated anyone so quickly.
"Ketouin Conglomerate. I remember hearing about it," Byakuya-sama muttered.
"Way to go, little master! Let me carry your bags! Should I fetch you some sandals and warm up some onigiri too?"
"Unlike the typical conglomerate, they're one of those 'underworld conglomerates', and top of the list, at that. Even I haven't met with someone from an underworld conglomerate before."
"Wow... That makes me sound pretty cold, don't you think? The word 'underworld' just has that oomph to it. It gets me all tingly when I can't just use foreshadowing. Mind scratching my back for me a little?"
"So you're with the Ketouin Conglomerate?"
"Hey, boss-boy, I cannot even believe that you are trying to have a serious conversation with me when you look like you're headed to a toga party."
"When this is over, I'm going to crash a satellite on you personally."
"What an honor. I'm Hiroyuki, the grandson of the Ketouin Conglomerate's current head, Hatakiyo Ketouin. And that's my twin sister."
"You may call me Yuika," greeted the girl in the passenger seat, in a voice softer than the flutter of a sparrow, turning to face us as slow as a sloth. Her face was disturbingly composed, and just as expressionless as before.
"A big sister and her little brother. We make a good team, huh?" The boy called Hiroyuki was still turned around the wrong way as he drove. "Now then! Since the introductions are over with, let's get on with the story."
"What story?"
"That thing that happened. The World Domination Proclamation. Even the last bosses in Dragon Quest aren't so blatant when they talk, these days."
"I'm not the one who made that proclamation."
"I know." That was an unexpected answer. "They set you up, Richie Rich. But I don't really care about that part. What I found the most interesting about it was the cattle."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Do you know about the Secret to the Togami Family's Prosperity?"
The very next moment—Byakuya-sama popped open the bottle, causing the top to get stuck in the roof of the car. "Even if I did know about it... what makes you think I'd tell you?" he laughed.
"Wooow. Didn't know you could open bottles with your bare hands, Mr. Moneybags Junior. You're ready to party any time!" Hiroyuki-san smiled. "I never said I thought you would tell me. If it were that easy, it wouldn't be very psycho or pop.[2] But I did happen to help you out of your predicament there, so maybe you could at least give me a hint. You don't get anywhere by being stingy. If you're gonna be like that, then I can always toss you back out into the crowd."
"And that's it? That's hardly a threat."
"I'm real bad at being the bad guy."
"How boring. You ought to try taking the example of Göring and Ribbentrop when they made President Hácha faint without killing him."[3]
"Good one! You'd get some big laughs with that joke here in the Czech Republic! Even Krtek-kun would be surprised!"[4]
"Oh?"
"Don't worry about it. It's a pleb thing."
"You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself."
"You're in pretty high spirits yourself, uptown boy. Go on now, savor your Pilsner Urquell."
"No matter how you try to get me to talk, I won't tell you anything about the Secret to the Togami Family's Prosperity. I'll stake the Togami name on it." Byakuya-sama raised his bottle, and dumped it out onto Hiroyuki-san's head.
Heheh. Heheheh. He flashed a cruel smile. Probably, talking about the cattle thing made him lose it, just a little.
"Na zdravi."[5]
Translator's Notes
[1] yare yare - this is a phrase iconic both to Haruki Murakami's writing and to Jotaro Kujo of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure... as explained in the dialogue. It's basically "good grief". But since it's phrased as a specific reference/meme, I think it's more well known among English-speaking fans of Japanese-language media as just "yare yare", so I left it intact.
[2] psycho pop - as you may or may not know, "psycho pop" was one of the phrases used to describe the atmosphere of the main Danganronpa video games.
[3] Göring/Ribbentrop/Hácha - Göring and Ribbentrop being Nazi officials who met with Hácha, the then-President of Czechoslovakia. Hácha signed the country away to Nazi Germany in 1939 after passing out during intense negotiations and being given an injection to bring him back to consciousness... or at least that's what I gather happened in this incident from Google, but I'm no WWII expert.
[4] Krtek - a Czech cartoon character who also saw some popularity in Japan.
[5] Na zdravi - I neglected to put a note for the Czech in previous sections, but the Japanese includes a translation, so I guess it's only fair. This is "cheers"... or at least that's what Google tells me, but I'm no Czech expert either.
Stay tuned for the next update next Sunday (PST)!
Read the rules before commenting! They're different from the DRK rules!!
Danganronpa Togami Volume 1: Multiple Counts of Attempted World Domination
Chapter 1: Byakuya-sama is God
8
"This is a pretty old meme, but I'm not sure what else to say here... So, in the immortal words of a Haruki Murakami character, 'yare yare'. Oh, or I guess it could be a Jojo thing too."[1]
The driver kept rambling on with meaningless blather. The girl riding shotgun didn't react at all, her face as blank as a Noh mask. Both of them looked around our age.
"Maaan, this feels great. They've got a set market price for a Mercedes in Prague. A black Mercedes is pretty bad luck though. Ahaha. Bumpy roads are so much fuuun! I'm gonna bite my tooongue! Oh, that reminds me, how about it, you want a drink? It'll be proof that we met. It's not drunk driving till you're twenty." He turned towards us, pulling out a small bottle.
"Pilsner Urquell?" Byakuya-sama reached out to take the bottle.
"You know about it? Y'know, a certain Führer usually hated booze like sin, but here in Prague he had himself some anyway. The day he conquered Czechoslovakia. The beer he drank in celebration was Pilsner Urquell."
"If you're going for irony, I'm going to kill you."
"Poppycock! It's obvious I'm just kissing your ass and groveling since you're from a bigger conglomerate than mine."
"Your conglomerate?" I cut in without thinking.
"The Ketouin Conglomerate... You ever heard of it?"
"Never."
"That's fine. From the Togami Conglomerate's perspective, we must look smaller than an ant farm. Also, man, you're cute." He kept driving while turned around to face us. "I'm so weak to the cute ones. I like sticking insect pins in their arms and necks."
"Uh, can you please focus on driving?"
"A real collector's weapon!"
"Just kill me now..."
"M'lady, just checking the contraction of your pupils, I can tell what lies ahead. I could get us to the Scandinavian Peninsula just by gazing into your eyes."
"I'm not pining for the fjords," I said, cutting him off. It had been a while since I'd hated anyone so quickly.
"Ketouin Conglomerate. I remember hearing about it," Byakuya-sama muttered.
"Way to go, little master! Let me carry your bags! Should I fetch you some sandals and warm up some onigiri too?"
"Unlike the typical conglomerate, they're one of those 'underworld conglomerates', and top of the list, at that. Even I haven't met with someone from an underworld conglomerate before."
"Wow... That makes me sound pretty cold, don't you think? The word 'underworld' just has that oomph to it. It gets me all tingly when I can't just use foreshadowing. Mind scratching my back for me a little?"
"So you're with the Ketouin Conglomerate?"
"Hey, boss-boy, I cannot even believe that you are trying to have a serious conversation with me when you look like you're headed to a toga party."
"When this is over, I'm going to crash a satellite on you personally."
"What an honor. I'm Hiroyuki, the grandson of the Ketouin Conglomerate's current head, Hatakiyo Ketouin. And that's my twin sister."
"You may call me Yuika," greeted the girl in the passenger seat, in a voice softer than the flutter of a sparrow, turning to face us as slow as a sloth. Her face was disturbingly composed, and just as expressionless as before.
"A big sister and her little brother. We make a good team, huh?" The boy called Hiroyuki was still turned around the wrong way as he drove. "Now then! Since the introductions are over with, let's get on with the story."
"What story?"
"That thing that happened. The World Domination Proclamation. Even the last bosses in Dragon Quest aren't so blatant when they talk, these days."
"I'm not the one who made that proclamation."
"I know." That was an unexpected answer. "They set you up, Richie Rich. But I don't really care about that part. What I found the most interesting about it was the cattle."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Do you know about the Secret to the Togami Family's Prosperity?"
The very next moment—Byakuya-sama popped open the bottle, causing the top to get stuck in the roof of the car. "Even if I did know about it... what makes you think I'd tell you?" he laughed.
"Wooow. Didn't know you could open bottles with your bare hands, Mr. Moneybags Junior. You're ready to party any time!" Hiroyuki-san smiled. "I never said I thought you would tell me. If it were that easy, it wouldn't be very psycho or pop.[2] But I did happen to help you out of your predicament there, so maybe you could at least give me a hint. You don't get anywhere by being stingy. If you're gonna be like that, then I can always toss you back out into the crowd."
"And that's it? That's hardly a threat."
"I'm real bad at being the bad guy."
"How boring. You ought to try taking the example of Göring and Ribbentrop when they made President Hácha faint without killing him."[3]
"Good one! You'd get some big laughs with that joke here in the Czech Republic! Even Krtek-kun would be surprised!"[4]
"Oh?"
"Don't worry about it. It's a pleb thing."
"You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself."
"You're in pretty high spirits yourself, uptown boy. Go on now, savor your Pilsner Urquell."
"No matter how you try to get me to talk, I won't tell you anything about the Secret to the Togami Family's Prosperity. I'll stake the Togami name on it." Byakuya-sama raised his bottle, and dumped it out onto Hiroyuki-san's head.
Heheh. Heheheh. He flashed a cruel smile. Probably, talking about the cattle thing made him lose it, just a little.
"Na zdravi."[5]
Translator's Notes
[1] yare yare - this is a phrase iconic both to Haruki Murakami's writing and to Jotaro Kujo of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure... as explained in the dialogue. It's basically "good grief". But since it's phrased as a specific reference/meme, I think it's more well known among English-speaking fans of Japanese-language media as just "yare yare", so I left it intact.
[2] psycho pop - as you may or may not know, "psycho pop" was one of the phrases used to describe the atmosphere of the main Danganronpa video games.
[3] Göring/Ribbentrop/Hácha - Göring and Ribbentrop being Nazi officials who met with Hácha, the then-President of Czechoslovakia. Hácha signed the country away to Nazi Germany in 1939 after passing out during intense negotiations and being given an injection to bring him back to consciousness... or at least that's what I gather happened in this incident from Google, but I'm no WWII expert.
[4] Krtek - a Czech cartoon character who also saw some popularity in Japan.
[5] Na zdravi - I neglected to put a note for the Czech in previous sections, but the Japanese includes a translation, so I guess it's only fair. This is "cheers"... or at least that's what Google tells me, but I'm no Czech expert either.
Stay tuned for the next update next Sunday (PST)!
Read the rules before commenting! They're different from the DRK rules!!
no subject
Hiroyuki is ridiculous and I love him already.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2016-01-20 02:14 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2016-01-30 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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(Anonymous) 2021-09-12 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)