Japanese novel translation: “Welcome to the Raindance Cafe” Summary and Prologue

I’ve decided to start translating the novel “Welcome to the Raindance Cafe” (original title “パーセント・エイジ 〜カフェ、レインダンスへようこそ！〜”)  by Yama Yamasaki (山崎山). I’ve talked to the author and gotten his permission to translate and put it on my blog. This post will cover the summary and the prologue.

The story’s original table of contents and summary can be seen in Japanese here. You can see the prologue in Japanese here.

As usual, if you like this story please like and/or comment on this post to help me decide whether to translate more of this or to move on. You can also see this survey where you can vote for this story, or others for me translate.

I hope you like it!

(Note: you can see a link to this story’s table of contents which will contain links to other chapters here)

Welcome to the Raindance Cafe     by      Yama Yamasaki

Summary

Life. It’s all about probabilities―and miracles.

Jun Momose is a college student who’s been quite fortunate in his life so far, except that he’s never fallen in love.

One day, on a whim Jun decides to take a different way home and stumbles on the antiquated Raindance Cafe, where he falls head over heels for the waitress Rei Ochikibe.

Heart racing with unfamiliar feelings, he ends up working at the cafe, only to discover it is frequented by a dangerous crowd and on the verge of going out of business.

Pushed around by these unsavory customers, Jun begins to learn about a world very different than the one he knew. In this world, everything he thought to be true disappears in a puff of smoke.

In the process, he begins to discover certain things about Rei’s past.

What should he say? How should he act? Jun is faced with more and more difficult decisions.

Because life is determined by probabilities―

 

Prologue

I read once somewhere in a book that the probability of getting hit by a meteorite falling from the sky is greater than the chances of winning a million dollars in the lottery.

When I first heard this I was genuinely surprised. Or I guess I should say that since there are actually people who have become billionaires by winning the lottery, it logically follows there is a greater number of people who have actually been killed by falling meteorites, and I cursed the fact I had been born on this planet. Just a little.

While we are exposed to such dangers as we live here, I guess to be honest the matter of whether we will be hit by a falling meteorite or not is completely irrelevant, at least to our actual everyday life. There is no point in thinking about something that leads nowhere. And there’s bound to be an enormous number of other things which have the low probability of a meteor falling on your head.

That’s right–this includes even the chances of you being born from your parents. That’s apparently a one in two billion chance. The odds alone of your parents meeting are amazingly low, which makes the odds of you being conceived by them astronomically unlikely. If you consider that this type of thing happens every day around the world, being human isn’t that bad after all. Our world is built on such fortunate events.

The fact I have lived a healthy live without any major injuries and am now able to attend college is also a result of passing through nearly countless probabilities. Depending on how you look at it, you might say I am one of the “lucky ones”, or have lived a rich, adventurous life. A fulfilling life of only 21 years.

At least that is what I thought–until a moment ago.

“Excuse me…”

The girl asked with a frown.

What beautiful blond hair. It didn’t appear to be dyed, and framed a face with well-defined features. I bet she’s only half Japanese. Judging from the bamboo broom in her hand, she was probably in the middle of cleaning.

I’ve really lived a rich, adventurous life.

At the elementary school athletic meet relay race I made a miracle comeback for the win, and in middle school I helped the track team make it to the regional tournament. In high school, I won first prize in the cultural festival, and even now I’m doing great in college. Raised in a family you could say was well-to-do, I was able to do whatever I wanted. My parents were a little strict, but it’s thanks to my great cook of a mother and my hardworking father that I have become what I am today.

Whether you can call my life “rich and adventurous” surely depends on the person, but personally I feel like it’s an apt description.

And yet, so far there has been something sorely lacking in my life. One experience that is typically considered an important part of any adventurous adolescent life.

I’ve never fallen in love.

“Is there something you need…?”

This was something completely new to me. An emotion I’d never felt before.

To come this far, I’ve made it through nearly countless probabilities. My third period lecture was cancelled, so I left for home earlier than usual, only to discover the road I usually took was closed due to construction. Since I had to make a detour anyway, I decided to try a route I’d never taken before, and as luck had it, she happened to be cleaning outside the cafe.

It was something like a miracle. No, it was a miracle–I couldn’t see it as anything else.

A paper posted on the wall happened to catch my eye. In an instant, I made up my mind. At the same time, I gave thanks to this overwhelming probability.

What is this feeling? It’s…It’s…

“Oh, hello…I’d like to apply to your job opening.”

This is…love at first sight!