Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part1 (1/2)
t.i.tle: s.h.i.+ro no Kanata e [白の彼方へ]
Chapter: 1-1, To The Whiteness Far Beyond
Page: 009 – 015
Author: Masaki Hikaru
Ill.u.s.trator: Takamine Akira
Publisher: Charade Bunko
Year of Release: 2007
Disclaimer:
Masaki Hikaru is the original author of this work, and this is a fan translation. Feel free to re-post this elsewhere if you like but please credit this site. I did buy the original copy of this book, along with the rest of the series, so it'll be great if you can support her by buying her books.
By the way, this work contains BL, or h.o.m.o-eroticism.
Note:
As I have no formal training in translation theory nor am I an expert in j.a.panese (nor English, for the matter), I cannot guarantee the quality of this translation work, but I promise I did my best.
Frankly, I found this novel difficult to translate as the tango and technical jargon is fairly hard and I believe the author wanted to create a specific atmosphere which I struggled to replicate in English. Nevertheless! I intend to pick it up again when I feel more confident of being able to do justice to the original (and if there is affirmation from readers, of course). This novel, I believe, is a little known work of Masaki Hikaru, but do give the BLCD a listen (Nakamura Yuuchi x Midorikawa Hikaru, Inoue Kazuhiko) if you can. I thought it was beautiful.
Chapter 1 Part 1: The Whiteness Far Beyond
The scent of winter hung heavy in the air in the Northern Alps as it approached the end of October.
The autumn snow that had been falling from the skies for two days straight finally abated, and the sun peeked itself out from the clouds after a long time away, its light reflecting off the dazzling white snow.
Asahi pushed open the creaky door to stand at the doorway, squinting his eyes against the brightness of the sun. Something behind him pushed against the insides of his thighs.
”Nn…? Tsurugi.”
When he turned to see what it was, a Saint Bernard which was almost as high as his waist and weighed more than eighty kilograms was pus.h.i.+ng his head against him.
Two years ago, a mountain rescue trooper whom he didn't yet know had said to him, it must be lonely being shut away in this mountain lodge all alone… and brought along with him a puppy that was born in an acquaintance's house.
Asahi didn't particularly like animals so he was hesitant at first, but the more he spent time with this puppy the more he started to grow rather fond of it. Now, Tsurugi was an important member of his family, and also a dear friend.
On an unrelated note, the name 'Tsurugi' was taken from the name of a mountain rescue helicopter said to have the capability to fly over the highest peak in the Alps; it was the pride and joy of the prefecture's police force.
”Sorry. You want to go outside, don't you?” Asahi moved out of the way, and Tsurugi leapt out into the new snow with great vigour.
He wagged a bushy tail, getting his long fur coat covered with snow as he ran about in circles in the snow. The weather in the past few days had been stormy and he was only let out when Asahi went out on errands, so he was probably overjoyed at being able to finally get out of the house.
”I'll have to replenish the food supplies soon… how bothersome.” Asahi tried to recall whatever that was left in his food stockpile. He seemed to remember that rice was running low… and sighed.
He thought the s.h.i.+pment he received before summer would suffice to get him through to winter, but his mountain lodge saw more visitors than he had expected before and after the Bon festival, and he was now facing a shortage of food.
There was still some milk that was vacuum-sealed in a pouch that he could keep for a long time, and he had in stock meat and fish that was kept frozen. However, rice was a staple, and he felt uneasy knowing that his stock of rice was diminis.h.i.+ng.
Other than rice, I should also get… As he stood there thinking while looking out at the pure-white snow, Tsurugi, now with snow clumps in his long fur, came running towards him. He barked gruffly, once.
”… Oh, your food. I haven't forgotten you, you know.”
It was unclear if Tsurugi could understand what he said, and Asahi wouldn't call this having a conversation. Yet, he would occasionally catch himself talking to his dog.
Mountain climbing season was over for the year, and the number of people going into the mountains had plummeted. That, and the fact that his villa was slightly off major climbing routes means that if that year was a year that saw fewer mountain climbers coming by the Alps in autumn, there would be times when Asahi would not have anyone to speak to for close to half a month. Asahi has never felt lonely because of this, but people who knew him would sometimes say: ”Won't you forget how to speak j.a.panese one day?” to him, in half-jest.