Bokurano Ikki #1, 2008 Chapter 48 Kana Ushiro (1) - Page 1 - Chapter 48 - Kana Ushiro (1) Her brother wasn't contracted. She wasn't supposed to be contracted. Manga volumes 1-7 and anime volumes 1-5 on sale now!! - Page 2 - [I want to help my brother see his mom.] [I especially wanted to do this when we learned that he and I] [were going to die.] [He and I aren't really brother and sister.] [But he doesn't know that.] - Page 3 - [Only his real mother can save him.] [I've always thought that.] [After a while, I began to think that HE might be the one not under the contract.] [He'll survive this ordeal.] [No. Actually,] [He'll be left behind.] [That means he'll need his mother even more.] [Jun's mother.] [Father chose his words very carefully] [when he told me about her.] - Page 4 - [She was a student of his, in middle school.] [She was a delinquent.] [A real problem child.] [She graduated middle school and ended up at Father's house.] [By that time,] [she was already pregnant.] [Father and Mother didn't have any children at the time. They took her in,] [and helped prepare her to have the baby.] [She never talked about the baby's father.] [She said it didn't matter.] [She gave birth to her baby... my brother,] [and left him behind. She disappeared.] - Page 5 - [Her only relative was her mother.] [But she wasn't in any state to take in a child.] [Mother and Father talked, and decided to foster Jun.] [The girl's mother, Jun's grandmother, died soon after.] [And from that point on, not even Father knew where Jun's mother went.] [I have to look for his mother.] [That's why I asked Mrs. Tanaka.] [I thought someone more powerful than Father could find her.] [But it didn't work.] [I don't actually know] [what kind of person his mother is.] - Page 6 - [It's been 13 years since she left him here,] [so she's probably a very bad person.] [Maybe nothing good would happen from bringing the two of them together again.] [But I still wanted to find her.] [I think it will be the last thing I can do.] Jun: Wha... Why didn't you tell me...? - Page 7 - Jun: Why didn't you tell me you were in the contract?! Kana: Because... If I did, it would mean you were all alone... Jun: You bitch!! - Page 8 - Kana: Eek! - Page 9 - Kana: Did you know? Jun: Know what? - Page 10 - Jun: Know WHAT?! [You're spoiled by the security of being related by blood.] Jun: Dammit! [That's why you can hit Kana without ever thinking twice.] - Page 11 - [Do you understand how much courage it takes] [for my Dad to hit me?] Yoko: You made Kana enter the contract?! - Page 12 - DB: Yeah? So what? Yoko: I swear, there's something WRONG with you. DB: Me? You're crazy. Kana was scheduled to be in the contract from the beginning, remember? And then Ushiro just had to step and mess things up. Did you think that was gonna fix everything? - Page 13 - DB: Either way, you're still gonna need another person. Who do you think's gonna have to pick out the last person? Are YOU gonna do that? No. I'm the one who gets stuck with all the dirty jobs. This Earth needs 14 people. I didn't know we had a baby in the contract, and that Ushiro wasn't in. So we only had 13 people. That means we need one more. What the hell's your problem? Are you projecting me onto Ushiro? Screw that. You know I'm better than he is. - Page 14 - DB: At least I treat my sister with care. You should realize that, little sis. Don't treat me like that putz. Yoko: You shouldn't... DB: Don't call me that. When we're together, you will address me as "big brother." Besides, I'm being nice! By having Kana in the contract, this Earth has an advantage. Yoko: You mean about a lower age increasing the power of the robot? We don't know if that's real. That's just what OUR Dung Beetle said. DB: Yeah, but if you're gonna go down that road, that goes for everything. You gonna determine if every little thing is true or not? Why? - Page 15 - DB: You've got this huge freakin' joke of a robot running around, we get sent to this place, and I look like THIS. What's to doubt, anymore? Just go back to our Earth, already. Mom and Dad are worried. There's nothing more you can do here. You're not gonna help make up for anything. You couldn't sign the contract, remember? People not from this Earth can't sign this Earth's contract, obviously. Yoko: I was prepared to die, when it was our Earth's turn, of course. We just had too many contractees. My turn never came. I wasn't like you. I didn't cheat. DB: Well, how very splendid of you. All right, I'm sending you back. - Page 16 - Yoko: No. DB: Damn. Yoko: I can't just leave you here by yourself. Besides, I've been with these kids all this time. I want to see it to the end with them. Besides, next is Kana, right? DB: She ain't as weak as you think. - Page 17 - DB: She's kept her unrelated brother at ease, by letting him hit her. She's a freak, and that's the only way she can play family. Yoko: But, being able to bear yourself being hurt, and being able to bear hurting another person, are two different things. DB: She knew what this involved. She signed after Garaku's battle. Yoko: After Mr. Gara's fight? DB: Yeah, just before their magazine was loaded. And Garaku gets off looking all saintly, the ass. He gets to play the good guy before he dies. - Page 18 - DB: Oh, and just for the record, Kana called for me because she WANTED to sign. She knew there was some amount of danger involved. Course, I didn't tell her she was gonna die. Yoko: Why... Because she couldn't leave Ushiro behind? DB: Yeah. She thought he was in the contract. Yoko: Wow, she's just like me. DB: Pssh. I don't think so. You ain't dead. - Page 19 - DB: You just be a good girl and pretend you're trying to rehabilitate me. Sasami: A 34-hour battle... What in the world are we DOING, anyway? - Page 20 - Sasami: Have you called Yoshikawa's father? Man: I have. He'll take the remains. Sasami: Normally he'd get a national funeral... Or maybe not. It wouldn't bring back the kids who have already died. Man: When all the fighting is over, Captain Seki and the others who died in the line of duty are to be given two promotions and war hero status. Their families will be visited by the staff and the soldiers' commanding general. We've sent four people to Ms. Machi's house. We'll have her brought back as soon as we find her. Sasami: That won't work. She's not stupid enough to go back home. We don't even know if that's her house. Where's Captain Tanaka? Man: Napping. She'll go to deliver the explanation in the morning. - Page 21 - Sasami: This could be the hardest development for her, yet. That Kana Ushiro is the next pilot. Kana: Father. - Page 22 - Father: Kana... Where's Jun? Kana: He went... somewhere... Father: I see... - Page 23 - Father: They just showed a thing on the news. We'll be able to go back home by the end of the day. I don't know how much we'll be able to relax, but we should live together, again. Are you cold? Kana: Were you all right, Father? Father: I was very busy with handing out blankets and taking lists of people who evacuated. I haven't had much time to think about things... I guess Kanji must be... - Page 24 - Father: That's hard... Is it... Jun, next? I see... I see... So someone else will have to suffer, again. - Page 25 - Father: In a little bit, I have to go meet with someone from the Defense Department. They said it was a sudden matter. You can wait here, can't you? I'll have to go to the city office. - Page 26 - Kana: {That was all today. Mr. Seki and Kanji are gone... They were here, just... yesterday...} - Page 27 - Kana: What does that mean, "not here"? Voices: Aha! There she is! Kana Ushiro? Tokosumi: Oh, good. I found you. People: Is that Akira Tokosumi? Huh...? You mean... Tokosumi: Let's go somewhere else. - Page 28 - Kana: Umm... Does this mean... Tokosumi: Yes. We found her. The person you were looking for. - Page 29 - Tokosumi: The real birth mother of your brother, Jun. Kana: And... Is she still alive? Tokosumi: Of course. Kana: Where is she now? Is she far away? Tokosumi: We're going to see her, right now. She's supposed to be here at the city office. Kana: Huh?! - Page 30 - Father: Mrs. Tanaka, correct? I'm sorry for being late. Tanaka: No, I ought to thank you for making the trip. I'm sure it must have been tough, with the roads separated. Father: You're not the usual person. Tanaka: No. Today's business has to come from me, and me alone. - Page 31 - Tanaka: It's been a very long time, Mr. Ushiro. It's Miho Sato. When I got married, I changed my name to Misumi Tanaka. - Page 32 - Father: Sato... Tanaka: I wasn't planning to ever see you again. Father: You're... Sato...? Tanaka: It's been... 13 years. Since I put Jun in your care... No... abandoned him. - Chapter 48 End -