薄墨情話
usuzumi jouwa
A Love Story Written in Diluted Ink

Vocals: Ginryu, AO
Lyrics: (Uncredited on official site)
Arranged by: Coro
Album: Touhou PARTYBOX -Hakurei Shrine- ver.02 【Official Site】
Circle: TAMAONSEN (魂音泉)
Published by: Melonbooks
Event: Reitaisai 14 [RTS14]
Original Theme: Bloom Nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Blossom ~ Border of Life [幽雅に咲かせ、墨染の桜 ～ Border of Life]

Requested by: katsuragirin

In some ways, this song seems to be about Perfect Cherry Blossom, told from Yuyuko’s point of view. In other ways, this song seems to be an account given by someone unrelated to the story. Either way, death and cherry blossoms are an important theme, as you’d expect from an arrangement of Yuyuko’s theme.

(AO)
不可思議な現さ　不束なうつらうつらさせて帰さない妖
現実のような芸術の桜花 外から覗けば窮屈な葛篭
そんな空間でこそより麗 ここじゃ場違い冗談に冷やかし
死は数多　数珠繋ぎ　連鎖する魂

fukashigi na utsutsu sa futsutsuka na utsura utsura sasete kaesanai ayakashi
genjitsu no you na geijutsu no ouka soto kara nozokeba kyuukutsu na tsudzura
sonna kuukan de koso yori urara koko ja bachigai joudan ni hiyakashi
shi wa amata juzu tsunagi rensa suru tamashii

(AO)
Reality is mysterious. I make the youkai slumber rudely. I won’t send them home.
This cherry blossom is a piece of lifelike art, though it looks like a formal clothes box from outside.
But it’s even more beautiful here, where inappropriate jokes fly about.
There are many deaths, and souls link together like prayer beads.

(Ginryu)
至高の美談すら重ねて愚行か
今は遠き平穏無事 一生の内 何が笑みに向かう
未だ分からずも 生きている儚く
散り際は墨染 色褪せ
灰になり 幾年を舞う

shikou no bidan sura kasanete gukou ka
ima wa tooki heion buji isshou no uchi nani ga emi ni mukau
mada wakarazu mo ikite iru hakanaku
chiri giwa wa sumizome iroase
hai ni nari ikutose wo mau

(Ginryu)
Is it folly to repeat the best moving tales?
Living in an age of peace, something faces toward my smile.
Though I don’t know it yet, I’m living uncertainly.
The blossoms are ink-black when they fall, having lost their colour.
They turn to ash and dance through the years.

(AO)
南無阿弥陀仏 唱えた桜木の逢瀬
望んだ者がそうさせた 妖へ豹変
おどろおどろしい曰く付きの木の下で
そっと語られる All day…
きっかけは Lyricist 今や塵に散って死に導き
契りと言わんばかり 後を追おうといきり立つ愚か者に痺れ切らし
響き渡る嘆きと共に止める心の音

namu amida butsu tonaeta sakura-gi no ouse
nozonda mono ga sou saseta ayakashi e hyouhen
odoro odoroshii iwaku tsuki no ki no moto de
sotto katarareru All day…
kikkake wa Lyricist ima ya chiri ni chitte shi ni michibiki
chigiri to iwan bakari ato wo ou to ikiri tatsu orokamono ni shibire kirashi
hibiki wataru nageki to tomo ni tomeru kokoro no oto

(AO)
They keep their tryst beneath the cherry trees and chant “I take refuge in Amida Buddha.” (1) 
The one who wished for it made it happen. They suddenly changed into youkai.
They are quietly spoken about
Beneath a tree with an eerie history, All day…
It began with a lyricist. Now, the petals scatter among the rubbish, offering guidance to death.
It’s like it’s a vow. I’m tired of waiting for the foolish ones, who lose their tempers and vow to die after their loved ones.
The sounds of my heart stop together with the echoes of grief.

(Ginryu)
満ち足りた姿 眩く 最後の御馳走様
繰り返した行いを 振り返りひとつ思えば

michitarita sugata mabayuku saigo no gochisousama
kurikaeshita okonai wo furikaeri hitotsu omoeba

(Ginryu)
Your appeased figure is so radiant. This is my final treat.
When I look back over what I repeated and think of a single thing…

※
ああ、御終いの慕情 暗渠への旅に誘うもの
眼窩に滲む血の雨に 行きは良い、良いが帰っちゃこれない

aa, oshimai no bojou ankyo e no tabi ni izanau mono
ganka ni nijimu chi no ame ni iki wa yoi, yoi ga kaeccha korenai

Ah, their final longing invites people on a journey down the drain.
They should go, while a rain of blood falls from their eyes. They should, but then they’ll never return.

ああ、嫌いなのよ 閉じた瞼に薄く残る
吾、忘れじの誓文も忘れた花よ

aa, kirai na no yo tojita mabuta ni usuku nokoru
ware, wasureji no seimon mo wasureta hana yo

Ah, I hate this! Faint traces remain beneath my closed eyes.
O, oaths and flowers that I have forgotten!

(AO)
奏でるように読む 妖々夢の断片
もとい一人の娘の愛情の残滓
とうに忘れたはずなのに
その行いはまるで過去の残り香
満ちることのない Sakura Delight
こっそりとくすねた春がひらり
一時の気の迷い 今宵だけは花見といこう
二度とないだろうから じっと見つめた

kanaderu you ni yomu youyoumu no danpen
motoi hitori no musume no aijou no zanshi
tou ni wasureta hazu nanoni
sono okanai wa marude kako no nokoriga
michiru koto no nai Sakura Delight
kossori to kusuneta haru ga hirari
ichiji no ki no mayoi koyoi dake wa hanami to ikou
nido to nai darou kara jitto mitsumeta

(AO)
I recite the fragments of that ghostly dream as if performing. (2) 
Or, rather, I read the remains of a single girl’s love.
I should have forgotten about it long ago,
But those actions are almost like a lingering scent of the past.
This Sakura Delight will never reach its peak.
The spring I secretly nabbed lightly falls.
I’ll lose myself for a moment and go flower viewing for just tonight.
It probably won’t happen again, so I gazed diligently.

(Ginryu)
開いた隙間は 飲み込む 決められた善悪すら
忘却へと歩み寄る 生前の句 辞世の句 共に
ああ、御終いの幕情 暗渠への旅に誘うもの
亡霊にしてはあまりにも美しく儚げ 正に春そのもの
ああ、嫌いなのよ 閉じた瞼に薄く残る
赴くままに 世界を彩った 幽々しき桜の日は色濃く残る

hiraita sukima wa nomikomu kimerareta zen’aku sura
boukyaku e to ayumi yoru seizen no ku jisei no ku tomo ni
aa, oshimai no bojou ankyo e no tabi ni izanau mono
bourei ni shite wa amari ni mo utsukushiku hakanage masa ni haru sono mono
aa, kirai nano yo tojita mabuta ni usuku nokoru
omomuku mama ni sekai wo irodotta yuuyuu-shiki sakura no hi wa iro koku nokoru

(Ginryu)
The gap that was opened swallowed up even what was decided to be good and evil.
I walk towards forgetfulness, together with the poems of my life and death.
Ah, their final longing invites people on a journey down the drain.
I’m too beautiful, too frail for a ghost. I’m just like spring itself.
Ah, I hate this! Faint traces remain beneath my closed eyes.
The days of gloomy cherry blossoms, which freely coloured the world, remain thick with colour.

※繰り返し
Repeat ※

(1) 南無阿弥陀仏 (namu amida butsu) is a Buddhist term roughly equivalent to the phrase “Lord have mercy.” See this site for more information.
(2) 妖々夢 (youyoumu, ‘ghostly dream’) is a direct reference to the Japanese title of Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom