February 25, 2014

Sleeping Beauty [Chapter 8]

Yuki told Eiji that she is Matsushima Saki. Eiji asks what she is saying for Saki isn’t like her who would lie just to get a guy’s favor. “Today, Ono, a friend whom we knew since high school had died. *going back inside* Please do not have anything to do with me again. I won’t want to see you again.” Surprised Yuki can only cry over that. While walking, she sees her brother waiting for her by the sidewalk’s fence. She asks him why he is there. He tells her that he checked out the address of the hotel that is charged on the credit card. “Didn’t you leave a message that you want to tell me something? So, I came to see you. What had happened?” Yuki tells him that she likes Eiji but with the identity of Yuki, he won’t like her. “I heard that his friend Ono-kun had passed away today. Right now, it is already confirmed that Erika is dead. I also want to find the culprit. I want to get back my lost memories. But it is Eiji who is always in my mind..” Shiki touches her face and asks if she wants to go back and become Saki. “To go back.. to return to your first life.. but before that, I have something that I want to tell you. I hope that you’ll listen to what I’ll say. The reason at that time as to why I changed Saki into Yuki..” In the hotel, Yuki sits on the bed while Shiki tells her about what happened. Looking out the window, Shiki tells her that it was raining that day and he is driving the car to bring Yuki’s remains down the mountain. “Midway, I felt that I had hit something so I stopped the car and went down. I saw you collapsed on the road. Actually, I don’t want you to recall that incident.. even if it is like this, you’ll listen, right?” Yuki nods. Flashback: While it was raining, Shiki shouted if she is alright. He is surprised that it is a high schooler and what could she be doing in this kind of place so late at night. He is surprised to see her injuries. He looks aghast over them and he mutters that he has to bring her to the hospital. He quickly carried her and [probably] put her beside with the real Yuki’s remains at the backseat. At his house [I presume or probably their hospital], he used scissors to remove her clothes. [<- Her panties is missing but her bra is still there so I’m assuming that Shiki didn’t removed that one.] Looking aghast, he mutters that her whole body is covered with wounds and bruises. From head to foot, she is covered in mud. She used all her strength to dig through the soil that her nails split open and became bloodied. End flashback.
Shiki tells her that the injury caused by the car is only fracture/s near the leg area, the rest are..she has been attacked by strangling her [to death] until she lost consciousness and then, she was buried by the mountain. But, she woke up and climbed out the mound of soil with all her strength [as if her life depended on it]. In tears, Yuki trembles and starts breathing fast and hard. [<- probably recalling she couldn’t breathe while buried alive] Holding a paper bag to her [to stop her from hyperventilating], Shiki asks if she is alright. Yuki thinks that she remembered..it was raining in the forest, and she headed towards the lit place.. [<- the headlights of Shiki’s car] Yuki tries to reach for Shiki’s arm. Shiki asks if she is alright. Yuki remembers [after he removed her clothes before] Shiki asking her if she is alright and he’ll definitely save her. Yuki instinctively grabs Shiki’s arm like how she, as Saki did and, she says, “I really want to die. Kill me..” After looking surprised, Shiki tells her that those are the words that the her on that day, kept on repeatedly telling him. Yuki screams. Later on, Yuki is still breathing hard while lying on the bed. Shiki asks if they should let it be for in the end, it is better not to recall those memories.. While looking awful, Yuki says no, she wants to remember everything that has happened. Shiki looks tense. Flashback: It has been four days since he brought Saki home and saved her. While carrying a tray of food for Saki, Shiki sees the news on the television about two high school students who went missing on their way home from school. He went to sleeping Saki and touched her cheek. To his surprise, Saki woke up. She asked where this place is. Shiki told her not to stand up for she’s injured. Saki is puzzled. He told her that she is currently being treated and can she tell him her name. Closing her eyes again, Saki said that she doesn’t know her name and she couldn’t remember anything. “Are you a..doctor?” While touching her hair, Shiki said yes, and also her brother. She opened her eyes and muttered, “Bro..ther.” Shiki smiled and said, yes. He told her that she got into an accident and injured her head. She also fractured her legs. He informed her that there might be a scar when it is healed though he wants to extract the bone out through surgery, can he. She asked if it is that serious. While fixing her IV fluid, Shiki said that it might not be that serious but it is a bit deep. He assured her not to worry for it is a simple surgery. Saki says is that so.
After some time, there is more news and the pictures and names of the missing female high schoolers were publicly revealed. It is then, he knew that her name is Matsushima Saki. While he is preparing for the surgery, Shiki thought that the other girl must be buried in the forest but she already couldn’t be saved. End flashback. Shiki tells her that she ought to be dead so if she still lives, she might be targeted once more so he thought of replacing her with his younger sister and make her happily live on so he performed plastic surgery on her and he probably already done something that cannot be undone. “If you want to go back to the past, I can restore you back to your original look but like this, would you truly be happy? Seriously think about it.” Surprised, crying and trembling Yuki thinks that her heart and body had become messed up but.. Yuki tells him that she’ll seriously think about it. “I accept.. the things that had happened in reality, I accept it..” After looking surprised, Shiki smiles and says, okay. Looking determined, Yuki thinks that she didn’t imagine that Saki is unexpectedly this strong. Shiki holds her hand and says, everything is as she wished.. Meanwhile, Eiji has arrived at his apartment and is surprised to see Yuuya waiting for him. Yuuya says that he is working so late and he came to see him for there is something that he wants to explain first to him. He tells Eiji that this morning at the hospital, when he said that Yuuki is in the hotel with him as if something had happened, actually, nothing happened between them. He explains that it is because the police would doubt Yuki so he said it that way and it is impossible for Yuki to injure Yoshiharu. “Even if it is a fact that we spent the night together, but actually, nothing happened at all. If I didn’t tell things clearly to you, you and Yuki would suffer, right?” Looking away, Eiji asks why would he.. Yuuya says that he wants to tell him clearly because Yuki likes him. “I like Eiji and I think of you as my best friend but I absolutely won’t give Yuki-chan to you.” Eiji looks flustered and tense. He mutters that he already has Saki. Yuuya nods and says that he knows. Eiji looks flustered and Yuuya smiles at him. Yuuya says that he’s leaving but Eiji suddenly grabs his arm. When Yuuya says that it hurts, Eiji quickly apologizes for he’s injured. He tells Yuuya that there is no train anymore. Yuuya smiles and says that he can go back since it is just three stations. Eiji holds his hand and suggests that he spend the night at his house.
Then, he notices that Yuuya’s hand is hot that he asks if he has a fever. Yuuya laughs it off by saying that perhaps, it is because of the injury. Eiji uses his forehead to check Yuuya’s temperature and says that in the end, he has a fever and he won’t let him go home. Yuuya smiles and says okay. Dream: Someone is laughing and said that she no longer needs this. A bracelet[/necklace] was taken off from her. Someone else[?] laughs again and shouts to hold a bit tighter again. While someone is strangling Saki and a faint ‘hold tight’ urging [<- not sure if it is the same person], someone says, “..you must definitely..live on.” Yuki wakes up from her nightmare. She sits up and wonders if it was a dream. She wonders if she slept alone and where is her brother. She wonders who told her ‘to live on’. She touches her neck and mutters, “..I’m still alive..” At the JR station, Souichirou sees Yuki. He informs her that Yuuya and Eiji went to their hometown today and he just returned to Tokyo. She asks if he’ll attend tomorrow’s funeral. He says that he only plans to participate in today’s wake[/vigil for the dead]. While walking in the streets, Yuki tells him that she plans to talk with the president of the modeling company tomorrow and tell him that she doesn’t want to be a model anymore and she isn’t suited for it. He says is that so. Yuki thinks that she went into modeling to find her previous memories so if she is Saki, then there is no meaning in doing that. Souichirou mentions that he heard from Yuuya that they weren’t going steady and nothing happened at the hotel yesterday. This surprises Yuki that she asks if Yuuya said that. He says yes, yesterday night, it seems that he also told Eiji. He informs her that Yuuya was feverish from his injury but he still forced himself to wait outside of Eiji’s apartment to always wait until he comes home, truly honest up to that degree. This made Yuki blush. Souichirou glances at her and asks why do girls like Eiji. “I think Yuuya is also a good guy, nice and also charming, but girls like Eiji.” Yuki asks if there are other girls. Souichiro says that he’s talking about Erika. He heard that she is obviously going steady with Yuuya but likes Eiji so she dumped Yuuya. “Erika is a beautiful girl and cannot resist a guy’s attraction[/lure] because she easily change her mind [/fickle]. It just so happen that it seems that Yuuya is also tired of it that the two simply drifted apart. The problem is Saki. Saki came to like Yuuya.. *Yuki is surprised* She wanted to break up with Eiji but Eiji won’t agree.” Yuki tells him to wait, what’s up with that. Souichiro looks at her and says, “You also know, right? Even if she’s been missing for such a long time, but Eiji still won’t stop searching for Saki. Saki would often cry. It is said that Eiji’s attachment to Saki is absolutely frightening..” Blurb: “Souichirou’s shocking statement!! Saki unexpectedly fears Eiji!?”
Comment: Just when I thought I got things figured out, things got a bit complicated. ^^; From this chapter, Eiji is a potential suspect if what Souichirou is saying is true. He has a motive to kill Saki since she is going to break up with him. He might also be the one who is telling her to live. He might be conflicted over his obsession with her but want to kill her since she is going to leave him. And, the reason why he is still currently searching for her if he was the culprit is perhaps, he had gone back to the burial site to find that Saki is missing. So, those previous seemingly innocent reactions might be just acting. Hehe, thanks to that information, Yuki won’t be having that plastic surgery anytime soon. She might stick to finding out who killed Erika and tried to kill her. Also based on her reaction to Shiki after being saved and her panties missing, I think she was also raped. Now, who has the motive to kill Erika? It seems that Yuuya and Erika parted ways because of Erika’s fickleness so maybe someone else is lusting after her? I start to wonder what is the possibility that someone/some people has some twisted notion of ‘punishing the two girls’ since they aren’t ‘loyal girlfriends’. Could it be that it is most of Eiji’s gang? Obviously, Shiki is no longer a suspect since her memories also confirm that he is a good Samaritan type who saved her not just to make her into his sister..it just came afterwards with his good[?] intention to give her a new identity and life. Though, he is still a suspect in moving Erika’s corpse which as Souichirou mentioned, to taunt the living which is probably the ones who killed her. Now, there is also a possibility that Souichirou is bluffing since he seems to be more on Yuuya’s side and well, Yuki’s expressions betray her feelings. He might be helping Yuuya from behind the scenes and make Yuki scared of Eiji..at least be suspicious about him. I guess it helps here that Eiji told her off like that so Yuki has an alibi to avoid him. If Eiji is the culprit, would he still be obsessed with Saki if she looks like Yuki? Ya, I know..those two really seem to be gay there. ^^; So, what is Yuuya’s motive for going there to tell Eiji about it? Is it really because he is nice and doesn’t want to have a bad impression on Yuki that he clarified things to everyone or he is pretty much warning Eiji that he knows so keep his hands off Yuki = might be a repeat of his relationship with Erika? Hm..so many questions and possibilities and I guess I shouldn’t hope/expect much about that fate love story thing between Eiji and Yuki. ^^;;; Scans by 深雪

Word of the day:
So, although we can expect some trouble in this fallen world, the good news is that we can count on Jesus for peace in troubled times. ~ Our Daily Bread

32 comments:

  1. Hi, thank you for your works.

    I looked the raws of Sleeping beauty's chapter 9 and the Souichirou's description of Eiji's love for Saki corresponded more at Yuuya's.

    Moreover, in chapter 9 I think Yuki found the bracelet/neclace in Eiji's apartment and we have Yuuya digging something in the woods while raining. Since the beginning, I found Yuuya weird and almost all clues pointed him.

    This is what I think but maybe I am wrong.

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    1. Thanks for reading ^-^

      And next time, please don't spoil me on it. If you cannot help it, type in bold so that I can avoid it.

      Since you already spoiled what happened in chapter 9..maybe I'll skip the summary for that. =P

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    2. Nooooooooooooo! D: (Well, I hope you won't, anyway. :) )

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    3. No don't skip the summary because I don't speak or understand chinese or japanese. So I'm sorry if I spoiled it. It's just by observing the raws that I wrote my thought but it doesn't mean it's the reality. I love your summaries.

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    4. Is that so. I see..

      Thanks for reading them. ^^

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  2. It seems someone is obsessed Yuki/Saki? And that person love her too much that it isn't healthy anymore. I was wrong about Shiki though, I thought he was planning something but it just turns out that he helped her out in a big way. To be honest, I really don't know what to expect anymore since there's always an unexpected twist when you think you have the idea what is going on.

    So many plot twists O.o I rarely read such a serious manga but this one is really good! Thank you Kat because of your summaries I always get to discover new interesting mangas like this one. Also, Thank you for the summary! :)

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    1. It seems so. That's right..Shiki did. And, yup, it is like that..and I like it that way = unpredictable in this kind of genre ^^

      Thanks for reading ^-^

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  3. I also find Yuuya strange and someone tried to kill him, I think that someone was "Saki", maybe Yuki and Saki are two personalities and Saki pushed Yuuya and Yuki did not know it, also I was thinking that Shiki is not innocent, I think he was obsessed with his sister and killed her and is now kontrolling Yuki. This is a really good mystery manga.

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    1. True..he has been acting a bit strange like how jealous he was when Eiji is with Yuki or on the phone with someone when they went to Yuki's school. Maybe...

      That is also possible..well, if he didn't kill her..why would she commit suicide.

      Ya..so far so good ^^

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  4. When it seems that is one thing, has twist.The mangaka keep the up cards. I'll just wait. Thanks Kat. ;*

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  5. And the plot thickens even more than before!! Great manga, it keeps me hooked wondering who the culprit would turn out to be...Yuuya or Eiji?? I personally hope is Yuuya, because there's something in his demeanor that gives me the creeps, you know, like he's too much of a nice guy, too perfect to be true, and in real life, the ones who are like this on the surface really nice and polite, handsome and whatever end up in being psychopaths :S
    Anyways, what a great chap and thank you Kat for your wonderful summaries. Besos :*

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    1. Yup, alita8205 ^-^

      Indeed..it seems to be those two now. True..and I'm somehow hoping it will be Yuuya because I want the fate love story thing..but it's okay even if it isn't.

      Thanks for reading ^-^

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  6. This is making me crazy.. new twist and more revelations, i don't know what to think of anymore.. i'm getting really hooked here, feels like im being an investigator myself.. hehehe..

    So, it seems that Shiki is a good guy, based on his stories.. And i can't believe the love triangle between the friends (Yuuya, Eiji, Erika, Saki) .. i hope Yuki/Saki remembers more from that time.. Can't wait for the next chapter Ms. Kat.. please do the summary.. ^^,

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    1. Yup..me, too..I wonder if it is just to throw us off.

      Ya.. and hopefully she does.

      =)

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  7. Thank you for the amazing summary. After 8 chapters we still don't know what's going on. One mystery overlay another.
    I think the bracelet is a couple bracelet or a gift from Eiji to Saki, that's the reason she won't need it anymore because she will die. The person who did this must have know Saki and Eiji enough to know what's the meaning of the bracelet.
    If Eiji is the culprit then why did he have to kill Erika? If Yuuya is the culprit then why Saki is also the target? I knew that these two are like BFF, and Saki is willing to die in place of Erika (but does Erika feel the same?). The assault could also be Erika's plan to get rid off Saki and she could replace Saki's role as Eiji's girlfriend. To do so she must have some men ready to go with her bidding, and that may include Yuuya. However Yuuya once said that Yuki is the first person to make him feel like that meaning he doesn't feel much for Erika.
    Souichirou is not out of the suspicion either because he match with the above condition. But then what is his reason to kill the other two?
    The opening is perfect for a detective story: we have the suspects, the victim, the witness, the readers could read and solve the riddle along with the characters... All of it makes "Sleeping Beauty" a detective story but we'll have to see how Doumoto Nao end it.

    Thank you Miss Kat for this detail summary. Your conclusion at the end also makes it a lot clearer. I'm really looking forward to your next summary.

    Yuki Yukihara

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    1. Thanks for reading, Yukihara ^-^

      Indeed..so it must be someone close to know about the bracelet..so the culprit is someone in their group of friends.

      Ya..why the two of them and not just only one girl? Erika does. In the flashback in chapter 4, Saki is willing to sacrifice herself for Erika but Erika shouted for her not to be like that and just quickly go home. That made me think that Erika was the original target since she thinks that Saki can just go home after this. Unless Erika is acting, maybe that is possible..so why did it ended up to beating and death of Erika herself? What would Yuuya get from doing that? Indeed..so does that mean that Yuuya didn't know before that Saki likes him? Ah..still depends if someone is lying/acting..@-@;;

      Well, I think Souichirou is up to something..casually saying all kind of stuff to Yuki and seems quite very indifferent to everything. Maybe he hates both girls for 'fooling around' with his two friends? But then..enough to assault and kill them?

      Indeed..it is a nice detective suspense story. Hehe..and the characters are getting crossed out as we go..who'll survive in the end?

      Thanks for reading ^-^



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    2. Maybe Souichirou thinks that Yuki knew Saki whereabout and thinks that Yuki is investigates on Saki behalf. That's why he casually said that to Yuki (if he don't think so he may thinks that Yuki is investigates out of curiousity). There are two posibility: 1. He is trying to help Yuki by telling her everything he knew, 2. He is trying to mislead Yuki so she will place her suspicious on Eiji. We saw that he said "Girls like Eiji", so maybe he could have some sort hatred toward Eiji for stealing the girl he likes (it might be Erika, Saki or another girl) so he is trying to hurt Eiji (which make Saki the main target). But Souichirou could also wants to torment Yuuya for the same reason.
      Now that it was clear that Saki digs herself out of her own grave it gave us another info: 1. Saki is the main target, Erika is just a bonus, 2. Her grave is shallow enough for her to have some oxygen to breathe (the rain might help her a bit), 3. The one who strangle her must have some sort of feeling for her so when she lost conciousness he release and kept telling to live on (or that might be Erika in her dying breath) it also add to another point that she might be rape (Saki is not pretty so there is a chance), 4. Her bracelet was removed (the bracelet was the proof that she is Eiji's girlfriend).
      Now that I think about it maybe the guys that were killed in the previous chapter either know about the real culprit or is another acomplice (how the hell one guy could take two girls under his control, it takes at least 3 guys) and were killed because he will tell the police.
      Who the killer is isn't a big matter, I just hope that it's not either Yuki or some random dude shows up at the last minute because that would cause a lot of people flip the table.

      P/S: The name is Yuki, the name is in Eastern order (but at the sign I use Western order orz)

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    3. Oh..sorry about that, so it's Yuki ^^;

      Maybe..I'm also referring the time when they learned about finding Erika's things in the news - chapter 2. He casually explained things between Eiji and Yuuya to Yuki. So, yes maybe he is helping if he knows that she is investigating..but that wasn't the case when Yuki first learned about Erika. He just casually told her about it.. Re-reading that part and this conversation, it really seems like Souichirou wanted Yuki to end up with Yuuya. Then, he mutters why Erika's remains is in that place. So, he's one of my suspect/accomplice.

      Hm..is that so..I get the impression is it is more like some animosity over why girls like Eiji rather than Yuuya..rather than why girls like Eiji not him. Hm..why would Saki be the main target because she dug out of her own grave? In chapter 6, it was mentioned that Erika was also buried due to the state of decomposition..later on, her body was moved elsewhere.

      That is possible..it was a shallow grave or there might not be no intention to really kill her by the one strangling her. I'm actually assuming that she just got lucky = the culprit/s were careless or didn't really make sure she's really dead. Or she did 'die' temporarily but somehow revived..kind of like a miracle-type. I'm wondering if it is premeditated murder or not. If it was, there should be a weapon like a knife rather than what seems to be a necktie to strangle her. Wait..in the scenes, hands are used to strangle her..but there was a scene with a necktie..was it for Erika? Of course, it is still unknown how did Erika exactly died. Same or different = how they were treated. What are the chances that those guys are drunk or on drugs?

      Hehe..in rape, I don't think they really care if pretty or not. ^^; Saki isn't exactly ugly..and there are more than one guy. Hm..if that is so with 4, why would she still wear it if she fears Eiji's persistent attachment..unless, she fears of anything bad happening if she removes it..so why would Eiji, if he's the culprit, remove it..maybe because he has fallen out of love with her..so, he is currently looking for her to kill her again? Then, why isn't he suspicious at all..or curious when Yuki told him that she's Saki? Ah..stumped there again.

      Ya, it seems that they know the real culprits or accomplices. Indeed..they are easily scared too..based on their reaction to the Erika news.

      Hehe..the killer of who? Well, I hope it isn't just some random dude. Yuki..I'm not so sure yet..if she has a dual personality or someone is doing the present killing while she's passed out. Maybe when there is more news/clues regarding Yoshiharu's death.

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  8. "She used all her strength to dig through the soil..." What if... She actually buried someone. Yeah, I know it might be impossible since she was strangled but, I don't know. Hah! I can't wait for the mystery to finally be unveiled.

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    1. Hehe, if that was the case..well, who did she bury? Erika?

      Ya..

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    2. Yes. I know they're friends and in an early chapter I remember there's this flashback where she appears to tell the guys to let go of Erika but... Well, with all the twists, I'm really expecting the unexpected, ironically.

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    3. Thanks BTW for the translation!!

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    4. Is that so..Katniss.

      Well, actually, I'm wondering of the possibility..what if Yuki is actually Erika? ^^;; Since she always mention, 'if I'm Saki..' as if all those stuff/flashbacks aren't true. Of course, that is quite impossible.

      Thanks for reading ^-^

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    5. Thought so too but I removed the possibility when it appears to me that they confirmed the skeletons in the abandoned building as that of Erika... Or was is not confirmed yet? Anyways, looking forward to the next chapter.

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    6. Ya, it was confirmed to be Erika, Katniss unless it is a possible cover-up or something =P Still, the flashbacks would nullify that. ^^;

      Yup ^^

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  9. Hey Kat,

    Could you send/post the link to this manga? I tried searching it up online, but for some reason, I cannot find it. Thanks.

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    1. Ah..amavericksjournal, for Chinese scans, you can find it here: http://www.17kk.cc/intro/19081.htm

      For now, there is no English scanlation.

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    2. Thanks for the link.

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