Crown 21
Nagisa: ......
Hiyori: Nagisa-kun!
Nagisa: ...It’s you.
Hiyori: Don’t give me that! You need to run, Nagisa-kun!
Nagisa: Run? Why?[1]
Hiyori: There’s a problem on stage! Amagi Rinne from Crazy:B is—
Nagisa: ...Yes. I have been watching the broadcast. It’s important for the commander to understand the state of affairs.
...I knew that Crazy:B would not sit idly by.
...In a sense, this is only natural. From the moment they made their debut, they have not wavered in their stance.
...“We won’t allow anyone be treated like they’re worthless, or like they don’t exist.”
...“Everyone has the right to become an idol, to shine brightly and to be loved.”
...“So this is a warning to everyone who wants to hide away inconvenient truths, those who want to rob us of that fundamental right—”
—“We have venomous stingers, and we’ll use them.”[2]
...I almost admire it. I never disliked them, after all.
...I feel the same way about Ibara, my right hand.
...This is why I tried to keep them in their hive, though exterminating them would have been simpler.[3]
...If in the end their stingers kill us, it will be my own fault.
...I knew perfectly well how dangerous they are, how poisonous they are to us.
Hiyori: What are you going on about? Who cares! Just run! If Crazy:B’s right, you’re in trouble! The police are going to want to question you!
Nagisa: ...What, exactly, is the trouble? I have nothing to hide.
...Though, if I am detained by the police, I wouldn’t be able to perform. That would be disappointing.
Hiyori: Who cares about the stage?! They said they found signs of tampering with the national vote system!
Nagisa: ...Did they really?
Hiyori: Yes! They found evidence of foul play! And evidence that you were involved!
Nagisa: ......
Hiyori: Right now it’s just Crazy:B making that claim!
But he sounds so confident in things that it must be rigged!
I’m sure Gatekeeper is behind this! He’s been using threats and manipulating us since the Qualifying Rounds—
And now he’s going to make you take all the blame for it! He’ll pin everything on you and cut you off like a lizard shedding its tail, just like the mafia!
Nagisa: ...The Watchdog? Yes, that does sound like something he would do.
...If the police launch an investigation, they will likely uncover more and more evidence of his crimes.
...And all of that evidence will lead them to me as the culprit.
...It will be as if Ran Nagisa of Eden was the mastermind behind the whole affair: the true criminal.
Hiyori: Yes, exactly! You’re being framed! The police and the people aren’t your allies here, okay? You have to get somewhere no one else can find you, right now!
Nagisa: ...And what about you? What will you do?
Hiyori: Huh? Come on, let’s just get out of here! I have a car waiting outside the venue; you just have to get in!
Nagisa: ...Are you still my ally? Are you the only one?
Hiyori: ? Of course I am! We’re family, aren’t we? We’re in this together until the end!
Nagisa: ...Yes. I pray that will always be true.
Hiyori: Do you pray often, Nagisa-kun? It looked like you were kneeling down in prayer when I came in, too.
Nagisa: ...It calms me. It’s an old habit: at first, I was only imitating Father.
...But even though it was mere mimicry, if I did what my Father did, it made me feel as if I could become as great as Him.
...I wonder. Compared to those days when I didn’t know a single word of prayer and only imitated Father...
...Have I grown, even a little?
...O divine Father, You who were called God—what is it that You were praying for?
...I believe I understand now.
...No matter how high one stands above the world, one will always be unable to reach the all-knowing, all-powerful God in Heaven.
...That is why everyone needs something cling to, even someone as mighty as Father.
...Faith requires a God. At least, it requires something precious that inspires the same feelings.
...I wanted to be that something for others, like Father was.
...I wanted to be an idol.
Hiyori: Enough of that! Praying now is pointless, so let’s just get away already! When all is said and done, the only one who can save you is you!
Nagisa: ...Fufu. That does sound a bit like something you would say, Hiyori-kun.
- Like in Melée 7, this line excludes Nagisa’s ellipses.
- Once again, this line is not preceded by ellipses.
- The word Nagisa uses here which I translated as “hive” is 虫かご (mushikago) which means “insect cage.” He’s deliberately invoking bug imagery here because of Crazy:B’s bee motifs, so I phrased the sentence in my translation to retain that imagery. For the record, while the word used here is mushikago, the “reading” of this word (as in, what Nagisa would actually say out loud) is just “cage” (ケージ). This is a unique feature of the Japanese writing system, wherein the pronunciation of characters is extremely fluid; as a result, a writer can invoke layered meanings in the text. On the surface, Nagisa is saying that he wanted to lock them up in a cage, but what he means under that surface is (probably) that he wanted to put them in a little bug cage, and presumably study them and interact with them the way you would if you kept bugs as a pet.