Greed54: переводы

→Friday, April 13th - lunch break.

→The same held true for me.

→I'd been immortal ever since I was born, and I had convinced myself that there was nothing unusual about that. Think about it. Even the greatest of mavericks is normal if he has nobody to compare himself to. It was only later that I met a lot of people who were _truly_ normal, and was forced to accept that it was _I_ who was atypical. It was a sudden realization. One day, my world collapsed around me, leaving me with nothing to believe in. I still haven't forgotten the anguish I felt then.

→Even _I_ can prove useful to them?

→I wouldn't want Kuriyama to just up and disappear one day. Plus, with Mitsuki keeping me at a distance, it's probably a matter of time before my relationship with her goes sour. I ought to do something. But... would that count as breaking my promise with Mitsuki? I'm not sure. I am sure about one thing, though: I have a bad habit of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. It isn't altruism that motivates me to behave that way. Au contraire; by making myself indispensable to others, I preserve my sense of self. And that's a sense I very much lack, being neither a human nor a dreamghast - indeed, being no-one at all. When other people feel that they need me, I feel a sense of salvation.

→I let my self soak from the waist down for quite a while before getting out. After I toweled myself off, I gathered up the clothes I had taken off. I sleep in my house-clothes, thus saving me the trouble of having another set of clothes ready. That's a good tidbit to keep in mind for when you want to reduce the amount of laundry you do. I sat down on my bed, wearing only my shorts. As I dried my hair, I watched the news. Apparently, the local minor league baseball team had lost the first ten games of the season.

→Suddenly, Kuriyama's face popped into my head.

→"Phew."

→It was a perfect dinner for a high school guy. Once the bath had enough water in it, I shut off the tap and began eating. I kept the TV running to stave off loneliness. In the end, it only made me lonelier. I was used to that, though. I spent thirty minutes eating what I could've finished off in fifteen. I washed the dishes and took off my clothes. There were times after I'd started living here when I'd be caught up in some sort of conflict. Nonetheless, by comparison with the years of my life I had spent as a nomad, my current situation was utterly peaceful.

→Today: a fluffy omelette over rice, with a salad on the side.

→There was nobody inside. Nobody to say "Welcome home!" or ask "How was your day?". I unlocked the door and walked inside. Out of habit, I switched the TV on. Boisterous laughter erupted from the screen. It was probably some sort of variety show. Sound oozed from the TV behind me as I changed out of my uniform. I set my bag down in its usual place, began to prepare dinner, and drew myself a bath.

→My drab studio apartment.

→"In that case, I have just one last question. Why do you keep following me?"

→I asked her one last question, using a gentler tone of voice.

→"I wouldn't lie about something like that," she replied, immediately.

→"You really don't know anything about that?"

→"According to someone in the know, xenors have been coming to this area for a few weeks now. And apparently, they're all here because too many of them responded to someone's solicitation."

→"Couldn't it just be a coincidence?"

→"Are you planning to help out the other xenors?"

→"Go ahead."