Sumi de ii desu. Kamawanaide kudasai Chapter 1

Looking for a good home~ Wandering TLs, please adopt!

Some knowledge on Yoshiwara and historical j.a.pan beforehand is a good idea though! (Which I don’t have, which is why I don’t want to take this on fully TT_TT)

Also I’m choosing to leave more things in romaji for this series particularly mostly because idk how to translate it well.

Beginning

『If you don't have anywhere to go, why not work at my place?』

It was a month before I was told that and picked up by Oyaji-sama. 1

For some reason when I woke up and came to while sprawled on the riverbank, I was startled to discover there were people wearing historical costume-like kimonos around me.

Eh, what, a festival?

Or so I thought, but there were some men wearing a topknot 2 hairstyle so I got the feeling it wasn't that.

And everyone was a great deal larger than me. Or rather this uncomfortable feeling… I'm tiny!!?

When I looked at my palms, feet and stomach they were those of a child's, and the kimono I was wearing looked worn out. I didn't have a mirror so I peered into the water next to the riverbank and my appearance was as I thought. To think that I'd become a chibikko 3 in this situation where I couldn't tell left from right… OTL 4

But then, I suddenly considered.

Come to think of it, who am I?

I knew about j.a.pan, and that there were cars, and I also recalled that there were giant buildings. But, I didn't know my ident.i.ty or what type of person I was.

From the emotion of dejection I felt when I became a chibikko, I think I was a grown adult. And from referring to myself as 『watashi』, I'm sure my gender was on the female side. Well, there were men who use it occasionally too, but… 5

It was certain that this world was different from the world I was from. If not, then I'd become a resident from this world with slight amnesia, a kid with somewhat higher thinking capabilities.

With these sort of feelings and while half staggering, I must've walked quite a bit; before I noticed the surroundings before my eyes opened up into a new and glittering world.

It was a reversed neighborhood bizarrely packed with women, the path-like buildings had lattices installed, and when I looked inside… Hm? Men?

Exceedingly fair men were wearing beautiful kimonos and sat inside.

Huh? That's strange, to the extent of my knowledge I had a feeling that this sort of thing was done by women.

As expected I still can't eliminate this sense of discomfort.

Night had already completely taken over, and the lights of this neighborhood had brightened even more. Feet hurting and tired from walking, I crouched down at a girouya? jourouya? (whatever they're called) like building to rest. 6

When I did my heart suddenly felt lonely, and I wanted to cry. Perhaps because my body was that of a child's, before reason my instincts were drawn out and the corners of my eyes became hot.

「uh… fue」

Zaku– 7

「? You, what're you doin in this sort of place?」8

When my sobs threatened to leak out, a voice suddenly called out to me. Startled I looked towards the direction of the voice, there was an old man in his 50's sprouting white hair and with a stern appearance looking this way with a wrinkle between his brows.

It was a little scary.

「Lost?」

Because I was surprised, and because I was scared of the old man my voice wouldn't come out, so I could only shake my head side to side.

「You got parents?」

To the old man who kept asking questions, I shook my head horizontally again.

「Then… a place to go home to?」

「No…ne.」

On the third question, my voice finally showed itself.

Though it was good I was able to answer, what exactly does this person want to do?

When I did, the old man began muttering to himself inaudibly like he was reciting a mantra.

『An abandoned kid? No, but parents… none… but… so』

Unable to comprehend what he was saying, I looked up at the old man in puzzlement.

After staring at me with stern eyes, he displayed a wide grin.

「Alrighty, looks are good.」

「Hey, you. If you don't have anywhere to go, why not work at my place?」

To those invitational words, for me who had no place to go or knew zilch about this world, there was no way I'd find anything better than this option to take his outstretched hand.

Oyaji: one’s father; old man; one’s boss ↩ Just think of those j.a.panese samurai movies or something. Those kinda hairstyles. Or you can google it. ↩ Chibikko チビッ子 = little kid. If you know what chibi means then think of that. ↩ It actually says がっくり。Gakkuri here, which means disappointment. But it felt weird to use as a standalone sentence? So I went with the next best thing I could think of “OTL” If people don’t know what OTL stands for then:  ↩ 私 Watashi is a p.r.o.noun referring to one’s self. It’s used by women, but is also used by men in a polite setting, like when they’re at work or something. There are other ways to read the kanji but I’m just going to go with the general one. =_= ↩ 楼屋？女郎屋？ Looked in dictionary but they’re both brothels? Or is there a difference? Someone informed, please clarify. ↩ ザクッ Not sure what this means either. Jumping in shock? Some sort of SFX? Or maybe it’s the sound of a door opening. ↩ Refers to her as Omae-san お前さん which is “you” pretty much ↩