Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Seeing, Walking & Enjoying - A Robot Dancing in the Light

Credits

INCLUDE THIS SECTION UNALTERED IF YOU TRANSLATE THIS TO OTHER LANGUAGES

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou—Mite, Aruki, Yorokobumono by Teriha Katsuki.

Illustrations by Hitoshi Ashinano

Originally published by Kodansha on October 23, 2008.

 

Based on Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano, published in Monthly Afternoon (1994-2006)

Raws provided by /u/horu_hosu

English translation by H. Berry (aitch99berry@gmail.com)

Cleaned color illustrations by Arturo Songor (@artson593)


A Robot Dancing in the Light

 

I raced along the road to Café Alpha on my bike. Despite my jacket being zipped tightly, the wind was biting cold. I think the “fake winter” has arrived again.

By the end of January, the maple and ginkgo trees bear fruit—Grandpa once told me it used to be much colder this time of year.

People often say I’m too sensitive to the cold, but I can’t help it; I’m just not used to it.

As for Grandpa, he went out drinking under the pretense of a neighborhood association meeting. He probably won’t be back tonight. I brought fresh fruit and fish to share with Alpha. No matter how delicious food is, eating alone isn’t much fun. While Alpha can’t eat fish, I know she’ll enjoy the fruit.

The wind suddenly picked up as I parked my bike by the fence in the front yard. I ran to the front door, shielding myself from the gusts.

“Alpha!”

...No reply.

For some reason, Alpha wasn’t at the café. The cowbell on the door chimed faintly, but the sound was drowned out by the roaring wind and crashing waves.

I rang the doorbell at the main house, but still, no one answered. There wasn’t even a sign saying the shop was closed.

“Where on earth could she be on such a stormy day?”

Worry started to creep in. While this area was generally safe, there was always the chance of something unusual happening—a stranger wandering in or, worse, Alpha being too sick to move.

The thoughts churned in my head, refusing to let me sit still. I ran to the porch, scanning the front yard. No sign of her.

I hurried to the backyard, where a field of tall silver grass swayed violently in the wind. The grass hadn’t withered, even in this cold, but Alpha was nowhere in sight. Each strong gust sent the tips of the grass slapping against my cheeks.

If... if there’s a stranger around, I shouldn’t shout.

Remembering Grandpa’s warnings, I stayed silent and carefully moved through the grass, pushing it aside with measured steps. Darkness was settling in as thick clouds rolled overhead.

Rain began to fall, light at first but quickly turning into a downpour. Cold droplets stung my skin and blurred my vision. The steady rhythm of rain striking the grass drowned out all other sounds.

I yanked the grass apart with force.

Then, suddenly, a scream.

 “Alpha!?” I shouted.

A startled yelp followed as something toppled over.

Alpha was crouched in the middle of the field, her wide eyes locked on me. I was holding her ponytail in my hand.

“T-Takahiro?” she stammered, her voice weak and trembling, as though she were on the verge of tears. I’ve never seen her like this before. My heart started pounding in my chest.

“S-sorry, your hair...”

Her expression softened into a smile, and then she broke into laughter. “Oh my goodness! What weather, huh?” Her cheerful voice cut through the storm, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

“What are you doing here? You had me so worried!”

“Sorry,” she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “I was looking for the water tap.”

“What? Isn’t there water in your house?”

“Recently, some seawater started mixing in. The coffee’s been salty lately. I think there’s a water plant to the north. If I could find the main valve, I’d have clean running water... But, you know...”

“It’s all filled up?”

She scratched her cheek awkwardly, and I noticed a rusty iron lid beneath her.

“That’s it, Takahiro!”

Together, we managed to pry the lid open with a crowbar. Beneath it was a thick water pipe with an old, corroded faucet at a branching point.

“Want me to help open it?”

“Yes, please!”

We hooked the crowbar onto the valve and pushed with all our strength. It creaked loudly, the rust flaking away as water began to flow. Both of us got completely soaked.

 

“Ah! The water’s all red. I’ll have to keep the faucet running until it comes out clean,” Alpha said as she emerged from the bathroom, carrying a large towel in hand.

As for me, the moment I walked through the door, I felt like I had a fever.

Although only a wall separated it from the shop, this was my first time inside the main house. Beyond the entrance was a large kitchen, completely unlike the tidy one of the café. Knives, cutting boards, dirty mugs, and more were scattered everywhere. For some reason, wandering through Alpha’s living space made me uneasy.

“Sorry, I only have one spare. Please dry yourself with it,” Alpha said, dropping the towel over my head. It carried a sweet scent of flowers and fruit, reminding me of the time we watched the first sunrise of the year. My heart skipped a beat.

She used another towel to gently pat the water from her hair, which hung loose around her shoulders. Why did such a casual gesture make her look so beautiful?

“If you don’t dry yourself quickly, you’ll catch a cold.”

As if on cue, I let out a loud sneeze. Alpha grinned at my sniffles.

“Maybe we should warm up,” she suggested.

“Maybe,” I muttered under my breath.

“Oh, it should be ready,” Alpha said as she grabbed my hand and led me to the bathroom. Next to the sink was a frosted glass sliding door. When she slid it open, a wave of warmth hit my face.

“Come on, take them off,” she said, tugging at my clothes with a playful smile.

“I-I can take them off myself!” I stammered, retreating into the bathroom and quickly sliding the door shut behind me. I peeled off my wet clothes, reopened the door, and dove into the red-tinted water. It was only lukewarm, but at that moment, it didn’t matter.

“Alpha—”

“What?”

“Just leave my clothes there.”

“We have to dry them. I already hung them up,” she replied, opening the door.

For a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a figure with soft curves moving through the steam.

I immediately dunked my head under the water, squeezing my eyes shut. But then I felt her slender legs sliding into the bathtub, causing the water to overflow with a loud splash.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Alpha’s amused voice came from above. I couldn’t breathe.

Looking up, I saw her smiling, immersed in the water up to her chest, her hair wrapped in a towel. The water was so murky I couldn’t see anything below the surface. For a moment, I felt disappointed—a thought that made me want to punch myself.

“What’s the matter? Feeling unwell?”

“…No, that’s not it,” I mumbled, shaking my head vigorously. I glanced at Alpha’s neck and quickly looked away, as if bracing for a painful injection.

“Owner once told me that there used to be public baths where people would bathe together,” Alpha said cheerfully.

“…Really?”

“Yes, people would form what she called ‘naked friendships,’ chatting about all sorts of things while bathing. I’ve always wanted to try it,” Alpha stretched, her voice brimming with excitement.

I’ve also heard about public baths—Grandpa used to talk about them while scrubbing my back. But Alpha was misunderstanding one crucial detail.

“Alpha, Professor Hatsuseno may have left out something important…”

“Hmm?”

“Public baths separate men and women.”

“Ah?” Her straightforward reply caught me off guard. I turned to look at her in surprise.

The sight of her faintly pink-tinted shoulders made me blush. Though the water was only lukewarm, it felt like my body was about to overheat. What she said next, however, was like a bucket of cold water over my head.

“Owner said that children can enter the women’s bath, so you’re safe.”

She continued chatting about her dream of trying a public bath, while I could only manage curt replies.

To Alpha, I was just a kid.

I wanted to sink into the red water and disappear.

 

After getting out of the bath, Alpha handed me some clothes. They were too thick for me and carried her sweet scent. My clothes were hanging on a rope stretched across the room, gently swaying in the heat of the stove. I’d grown taller since New Year’s Day, but all my clothes were still kid sized. Hunching my shoulders, I let out a dejected sigh.

“What’s the matter? Why are you sighing?”

I spun around to see Alpha standing there in her pajamas. Her hair, usually faintly shiny, shimmered with an iridescent glow. Her pale cheeks were tinged with a soft pink, and her smooth skin seemed to capture the light. Sharing a bath with her felt almost like a dream.

“You’ve been spacing out a lot. Maybe you have a fever?”

Her concern irritated me. “I’m just a bit too warm. I’m just a kid, after all,” I snapped, my tone sharper than I intended.

“I see. Then maybe some fresh air will make you feel better,” she said, pulling out a small fan from the corner of the room.

“Wait! You’ll catch a cold!”

Alpha tilted her head, then put the fan back. Why was she always so considerate? I sighed again.

For dinner, we ate some dragon eggs I brought. They’re sweet fruits, about the size of goose eggs, bright red with green horns sprouting here and there. Alpha devoured them quickly, she loves sweets after all, but I wasn’t hungry. The thought of eating, or even talking, didn’t appeal to me.

The scene was silent, just the two of us.

“Takahiro, what’s the matter? Are you feeling unwell after all?” she asked, looking at me with concern.

I shook my head and bowed slightly. “…How about we listen to the radio?”

Alpha turned on the portable radio in the corner of the table. It tuned into Radio Hamamatsu, the station Grandpa always listens to. There were only three announcers, who took shifts covering the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. At night, a middle-aged man with a calm, gentle voice hosted.

“It’s the coldest night in years near Hamamatsu…” the familiar voice said. Perhaps it was my imagination, but Alpha’s eyes seemed to narrow slightly at that, “…If you’re going out, please dress warmly. Cold nights are perfect for stargazing—”

“Takahiro, let’s see the stars! There’s a big window in my room,” Alpha said suddenly, standing up with the radio in hand.

“Uh, but it’s cold…”

“Looking at the sky will cheer you up! Come on.”

Alpha practically dragged me to her room. The walls were decorated with strange fish sculptures, similar to the weathervane outside. She leaped onto the bed and pushed open the large window behind the headboard with all her strength.

A cold wind rushed in, making me shiver. I stood next to the headrest and looked outside.

“Put a blanket around you—it’s cold,” Alpha said softly, draping a blanket over my shoulders.

I gazed at the sky just as Alpha turned off the lights, plunging the room into complete darkness. Slowly, stars began to appear, shining like tiny shards of glass scattered across the black expanse of the night.

I held my breath.

The stars sparkled sharply, the sky completely cloudless, as if the rain earlier had been nothing but a dream.

“Betelgeuse rests on Orion’s shoulder. The blue Sirius shines at the tip of the Canis Major, while Procyon marks Canis Minor’s heart. The Milky Way should be faintly visible between the three…” The radio announcer described the constellations.[1]

“Hey, Takahiro, do you know which is which?” Alpha asked softly. I looked at her silhouette, faintly illuminated by the starlight. Despite the cold, she sat there with a blanket draped loosely around her shoulders.

“I think I do. What about you?”

“…I don’t know!”

“Huh?” I asked, surprised. “Don’t you have amazing eyesight, Alpha?”

“I can see so many stars—it’s dazzling. I can’t tell which ones are which.”

It took me a moment to understand. Be it the faint glow of a firefly on a tree or the shimmer of a fish’s scales deep underwater, Alpha’s eyes are extraordinarily sensitive to light. On a clear night like this, she can probably see the entire Milky Way, making it difficult to pick out individual stars.

“Hey, Takahiro.”

“What is it?”

“We’re beneath the same sky,” she murmured, her voice tinged with a quiet loneliness. For some reason, it reminded me of the blue glow of the Misago.

I reached out and gently placed my hand on hers. She turned to me in surprise.

“It may look different for each of us, but it is the same sky.”

I looked directly into Alpha’s eyes, hoping my feelings could reach her, even if a little. For a moment, she stared back at me, wide-eyed in confusion. Then her usual warm smile returned, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe, just maybe, I’d left a small mark on her. That thought made me happy.

Before we realized it, the stargazing program on the radio ended, replaced by one about long-distance bus travel.

“…I couldn’t find a single star in the end,” Alpha muttered, sounding a little disappointed.

“You can see more than the guy on the radio ever could. That’s what matters.”

I meant it as encouragement, but Alpha just laughed softly, looking a little embarrassed. She didn’t say anything else.

Did I say something wrong?

“The announcer’s voice sounded a bit like Owner’s…” Alpha murmured, setting the radio on the windowsill.

She gazed out into the distance. Her expression was so gentle and lovely, yet it stirred a strange frustration in me. I felt like I was missing something important, though I couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

“I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

Alpha’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. She set up a thick mat and futon for me. Compared to the thin, rice cracker-like futon I usually sleep on, this one was fluffy and unbelievably comfortable.

Lying down, I watched Alpha as she curled up on her bed. She must’ve been exhausted; she fell asleep instantly. She lay on her side, facing me, and her peaceful expression was enchanting.

Even in the dim light, I couldn’t take my eyes off her face. Her closed eyelashes were long and delicate. Her lips, curled into a faint smile, seemed to be mumbling something I couldn’t quite catch. Looking at her like this, my heart felt calm, as if I were in a dream.

Without thinking, I reached out, my hand hovering close to her cheek. Just as I was about to touch her, I hesitated and pulled back slowly.

Something in me whispered that I shouldn’t do that.

As my consciousness began to fade, a thought lingered: we can lose sight of the things most precious to us without even realizing it.

 

The cold wind brushing against my cheeks woke me up. The room was bathed in pale blue light—it was morning.

When I turned to Alpha’s bed, I saw she was gone. The window was wide open, letting the frigid air pour in.

“Takahiro!” Her voice called out, bright and lively, from beyond the window, “Come on, hurry!”

What was she doing outside on such a cold morning? Her excitement made me curious. Still half-asleep, I wrapped the blanket around myself and shuffled to the window, shivering.

But the moment I stepped outside, sleep vanished entirely.

The blanket slipped from my shoulders, forgotten.

A brilliant white glow surrounded me. The grass shimmered in a pale, milky hue, like it was dusted with crushed fish scales. A moment later, the first rays of sunlight rose silently from the eastern sky, illuminating the world in pure light.

And there, in the midst of the silver glow, stood Alpha.

“Wow… this is frost, right? Have you seen it before?”

I shook my head slowly, unable to look away from her.

In the silver-white dawn, her thin gown fluttered like dragonfly wings, accentuating the smooth elegance of her figure. Her loose hair glimmered like green gemstones, catching the light. When she turned to face me, her dazzling smile shone brighter than the morning itself.

“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, her voice brimming with childlike wonder.

She didn’t realize just how beautiful she looked in that moment.

“…Yeah,” I murmured, my chest tight. “It’s so beautiful.”

I really love this beautiful person.

From now on, every time I see the light of dawn, I’ll remember her like this. I’ll carry the memory of her brilliance, etched into my heart, for as long as I live.

Alpha danced through the silver frost, completely unaware of the mark she’d left on me.

Above, the sky still held the faint moon, a soft, white arc drawn as if by a delicate brushstroke. It glowed with a fragile light, as though it might disappear at any moment.

Before he realized it, the connection was severed.

Omega sat motionless on the stool, the light slowly returning to his indigo eyes.

The sleeping figure before him remained perfectly still, her features illuminated by the pale sunlight filtering through the cloudy glass door. Her cheeks glowed softly, bathed in a gentle, white radiance, and she smiled faintly.

The sight was so beautiful it made him want to cry.

Omega never thought anything could feel so important to him. He had never been so profoundly moved by anything before. His chest ached, as though something sharp was scratching his insides. It was a sensation that reminded him of the sadness the Misago showed, yet this pain was pleasant. It reflected the joy Alpha often experienced, a paradoxical blend of sorrow and elation.

This strange emotion, Omega thought, was neither purely sadness nor joy. Somewhere within the memories of the Evening Calm, the boundary between Omega and Takahiro blurred, their identities overlapping and interweaving.

For the first time, Omega saw with his own eyes what made Alpha so special to Takahiro. It was the essence of Alpha’s very life—the spark that defined her existence. Even though that brilliant flame had long since been extinguished, it lingered in her memory like an eternal ember.

But, what if that ember could reignite? What if, just for a fleeting moment, she could open those radiant purple eyes that once brimmed with vitality and smile at him?

“No matter what I’d have to give up, it’d be worth it,” he thought.

Omega gently pressed his warm forehead against Alpha’s cool one. There was nothing more he could do than immerse himself in her memories, holding onto the fragments of her presence.

It was an undeniably painful act, but within that pain was something transformative. The intense emotions he experienced with Takahiro reshaped the sadness of losing Alpha into something sweet—a memory that was both comforting and eternal.

Omega, who had once been oblivious to the meaning of a kiss, now began to understand. It wasn’t just an act; it was a message, a silent declaration that someone was more precious than anything else.

As Omega’s warm lips met Alpha’s cold, colorless ones, an intense, searing pain shot through him, like being pierced by countless needles.

A sound of rippling waves filled the air. Omega’s consciousness sank deeper and deeper into the vast, endless ocean of Alpha’s memory.[2]



[1] This was difficult to translate. In Japanese Canis Major and Canis Minor are simply known as the Dog and Puppy constellations, the way the announcer describes them makes the scene sound somewhat poetic, but that can’t really be conveyed due to their English names. As the announcer says, on a good evening sky, it’s a truly incredible view. A more direct translation from Japanese would be: “Betelgeuse rests on Orion’s shoulder. The blue one, Sirius, shines at the tip of the dog’s nose, while Procyon rests in the puppy’s heart…”

[2] Taking a big jump, this one is based on Ch31: Red Water (them bathing together) and Ch56: White Morning (stargazing and looking at the frost at dawn). In the manga Ojisan arrives with Makki to pick up Takahiro before it gets dark after they bathe. Also, the two events rather far apart in the manga, maybe by years.

Contents

Prologue
The Colors of Evening Calm
An Azure Shadow
Warm Hands
A Robot Dancing in the Light
Stars at the Bottom of the Cove
Time Spiral
The One Who Travels Through the Skies
Heron Cross
Flying Eyes
Epilogue
Afterword, Interview and Download links

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