Himegami no Miko v1c9

Himegami no Miko (姫神の巫女) Part I, Chapter 9
Finally, here’s Chapter 9! Phew, things have been a little crazy since I received news about my acceptance. Thank you for the congratulations! Once I got through about half of this chapter, I just did not want to stop translating. I was so into what was going on but had to go to bed since it was late. At least I had the chance to finish the rest of it today. Finally, I looked it over a few times until I was satisfied enough to release it.

With that, I present to you the penultimate chapter of Part I! I’m going to see if I can squeeze in the last chapter before the end of the weekend. After that, I might take a little break to work on one or two anime lyric translations and/or yuri-related posts before I begin working on Part II since I only had one comment for Chapter 8 by lilly_938. Thank you and I’m glad you enjoyed it! What happened to the rest of you? Didn’t get to read it or just forgot to comment? Hmm…

Disclaimer: Himegami no Miko was written by Uetake Sumio-san and the ill.u.s.trations were drawn by Kaishaku. You may access the original text here. This is not being done for any profit or sale. It is being done for the sake of an English-speaking audience and for my own practice and enjoyment. The translation is my own work and not a collaboration with anyone else. As long as you give me credit, feel free to translate this version into other languages. Thanks!

And so———
They were on a local train line with only three cars that was headed towards the center of the city.
They were seated side by side.
Since it was not rush hour, there were barely any other pa.s.sengers aboard.
At the last stop of the local line, there was a cake shop Himeko wanted to go to.
As she gazed at the pa.s.sing landscape outside the window, Chikane thought.
Fas.h.i.+on. Sweets. Girls’ talk. Etc…
For fifteen years, she never even once held any interest in such things so common to girls.
Himeko was the one who had made her cognizant of them.
Something then struck Chikane on the shoulder.
Himeko had come to lean on Chikane’s shoulder.
Anyhow, she had quite a face while sleeping.
It was like that of a kitten napping during a spring afternoon.
Like that of a small child being held to her mother’s chest.
Full of relief, as if she was simply wrapped in pure and innocent happiness.
Chikane suddenly had a thought.
Did Himeko really believe there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance of Chikane betraying her?
No, there would be no betrayal.
Himeko had said so.
That if she came to hate it, she could stop being her “most important person” at any time.
Chikane could unleash the techniques her hands had been trained to carry out on that soft, white neck and faintly rising and falling small chest.
In just an instant, she could very easily put an end to the girl’s cheerful chirping.
Why couldn’t she do it?
She was the opponent she just had to keep alive until it was time for the “Ceremony to Appease the Spirit of the Dead.”
Anything beyond that would be met with the Honorable Arbitrator’s scorn.
Her worrying would disappear.
There was no need for her to soil herself with these impure girly hobbies and to pretend to enjoy their outings.
Remember!
This girl is the Hinomiya Mikamiko.
A longtime enemy of the Kouzuki.
This was surely a trap.
Everything was due to her negligence and was an invitation to an opening.
She knew this. She would not be tricked.
Even though she knew this.
Her sweet sleeping breath.
The supple texture of her hair.
Her sweet, lingering aroma.
The warmth being exuded from the skin underneath her uniform.
Bit by bit, all of it was stirring up Chikane’s heart.
Since when had it been this way?
This was a lie. An act. Most certainly, a trap.
Hadn’t she warned herself that this was so?
The beat grew steadily.
Chikane’s chest was getting hotter.
Something stiff inside the interior of her chest was riding the rhythm of the beat and continued to be kindled.
First red, then white,
Hotter and hotter, blazing more than any flame.
Not good, Chikane thought.
Settle down. Calm down, heart. Right now.
If you don’t, surely…
Surely, I’ll end up waking this girl.
She’ll end up noticing.
Noticing? What exactly?
Chikane lifted her right hand.
Her fingers were shaking.
While she had been surrounded by a forest of swords, even when she had been knocked into the frigid basin of a waterfall, never once had she trembled.
I, Kouzuki Chikane, whose hands have been thrown into the art of battle, what do I want to do with this girl?
Destroy her?
Embrace her?
This girl, Hinomiya Himeko.
What on earth is she?
What is she to me?
She is———
What came to mind was the trifling movie they had seen sometime.
The story of a forbidden love that had developed between two enemies.
The instant she thought that,
The train car shook as it hit a b.u.mp.
Himeko’s body had landed against Chikane’s chest with a big jerk.
Without thinking, Chikane held Himeko in place with an embrace.
At that moment———
That “something” that had swelled inside Chikane’s chest burst open.
Right now it was like the moment she had been embraced and kissed on the cheek by Himeko that night at the arcade.
It became the radiance of an aurora that blanketed Chikane’s heart.
At that barren tundra that had been frozen in a mission, water became hotter, vegetation grew thickly and flowers bloomed in profusion.
It was filled with a sweet fragrance and a rosy glow, transforming into a paradise.
“Himeko…”
Chikane whispered.
That’s right———
It was the same…as the movie both of them had seen.
This was not admiration.
This was not affection.
Nor could it possibly be friends.h.i.+p.
I———to this girl———Himeko———
I want to strongly embrace her and have our bodies touch, to convey the feelings in my heart and to taste her lips.
And then———
Then?
What am I thinking!?
There is no way that could possibly happen.
Because———
Both she and I are girls.
Her newborn sweet dream smashed in an instant, Chikane was pulled back into the real world.
This was the inside of local train car.
This was a short-lived game until the time came for the “Soul Offering to Heaven” and the girl beside her had been allowed these fleeting dates as long as she would be the one given up as the sacrifice.
The “Honorable Aribitrator” had said it.
“It’s as though you’re a woman now.”
Chikane was definitely a woman in love.
Moreover, she was a girl who was in love with a girl…
That is why she thought she had been defiled.
It was not just about her pride or her n.o.bility or her virtue.
…These hidden feelings…Chikane felt as though he had grasped the thoughts she had not even been aware of herself.
How shameful.
How sentimental.
How unfortunate.
How sublime.
How glorious.
How transient.
That’s right———
This was love.
It was not performed.
Nor was it something that began.
While singing.
While getting intoxicated.
While in agony.
It entagles you.
It constricts you.
To the bottom of the bottom of the bottom———until reaching the lowest level of the underworld full of joy.
This way, she would continue to fall.
That was not her goal.
Like an extended iron chain, it was the beginning of suffering that could lead her anywhere.
Chikane had realized.
That this girl who was like a puppy, like a small bird, like a devil…Hinomiya Himeko, that she…
And that embracing her.
And rejecting her.
These were things that now she would never be able to do.

The train continued to move as it carried the bewildered female knight and the sleeping beauty.
Through the tranquil rays of the afternoon sun and flowers in full bloom, forever, anywhere…