Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 1===

When the afternoon classes over, the sky on the west side of Ishana started to change color.

The evening on this island unexpectedly went to night in the blink of an eye. In the short interval before the day sunk completely, the sky was dyed in burning color. The city changed color as if enveloped by scarlet veil.

While it was a fantastic and beautiful scenery, at the same time, a vague fear of something beyond human understanding could also be felt from the spectacle.

After school, Kazuma walked toward the dormitory alone, with no friends to accompanying him.

His feet were heavy. Sometimes he staggered. He still hadn't recovered from the sudden illness he got during the end of the noon recess. Even now the light dizziness still lasted. There was still a listless pain inside his head.

Sometime before, Kazuma escaped to the infirmary's bed. But after he gradually calmed down enough, he rejoined during the middle of the afternoon class.

He told the worrying Trinity that there was nothing to be concerned about anymore. But the truth wasn't like that.

While casting his eyes down as if avoiding the strong setting sun, Kazuma put his hand on his heavy head.

"Uuh... I don't feel good..."

His bitter throat groaned.

Previously, he'd had times when headaches and dizziness had tortured him every now and then. Mostly, it occurred when he tried hard to remember the past he had forgotten.

(Still, what happened during the noon recess wasn't like that...)

With his eyebrows furrowed, Kazuma unsteadily made his way home.

The abnormal discomfort during that time wasn't the same as the usual dizziness. It felt like an invisible hand crawled up from inside his body, grasped his head, and started forcefully dragging it down.

Even remembering it now made him well up with nausea.

"Just what exactly is happening..."

That time, he sensed that his condition became awful just as Celica tried to touch him. But such an absurd thing shouldn't be possible. It's a different story if Celica had some sort of extremely troubling special ability that made anyone she touched ill.

(...I wonder if she took offense at it.)

He had unintentionally shaken off Celica's hands. No, Kazuma himself didn't remember if the reactions could be described with those simple words.

It seemed to have made Trinity surprised. As for Nine, he probably had entered her kill list. ...If possible, he wanted to avoid that.

"Hurk..."

It's no good. He still didn't feel well.

At this rate, going with the usual path would bathe his front with the setting sun while endlessly climbing the lenient hill road.

Stroking his tight chest, Kazuma strayed from the main road and went to an alley.

Sandwiched between buildings on both sides, the path was narrow enough for a car to not be able to get in. It might be because it was dark even during daytime that there were only a few pedestrians here.

The journey was plain and calm. Since it was what he wanted, Kazuma felt a bit relieved. He more or less had to take a detour, but going this direction was a much comfortable way home.

However, Kazuma felt an uncomfortable feeling. He couldn't proceed to go forward.

(...I somehow got a bad feeling.)

The Mages' Guild had a surprisingly large number members. There was quite a population in Ishana. As the majority of them were students, although they mostly were doing club activities during this time of day, it was still unusual even for the alley to not have a single soul sighted at this time in the afternoon.

To begin with, there was no human presence.

...No.

(Wrong. Someone's here...)

Somehow arriving at that conclusion, Kazuma stopped walking as if seized with fear.

He was being watched by someone. That feeling wasn't something that could be measured. It was the first time he had sensed someone's presence this clearly.

He got a somewhat very unpleasant feeling.

What should I do? Should I turn back? The moment Kazuma thought about it and started to step backwards... he heard a voice coming from somewhere.

"——Hey, watch out."

"Eh?"

"It's coming. Dodge!"

Someone was speaking to him from somewhere. As soon as he thought about that, a tension as if being pierced by a fine thread stabbed Kazuma's thin chest.

The next instant, a sharp noise grazed his ear.

Kazuma's body spontaneously moved. Twisting his body, he leaped away.

At the same time, behind him, the noise of a terribly dangerous slash tore through the alley's eerie silence.

"Wha...!?"

Kazuma turned around in a hurry.

He couldn't believe the scene he saw there.

The stone paving which had been regularly spread all over was deeply gouged, completely changed to a horrible appearance he had never seen before. What could have been used to make it became like this? It was incomprehensible. Kazuma's head turned like a creaking tin doll.

Nearby the hollowed ground, a mysterious figure stood up. A tiny, child-like body, triangular ears protruding on top of the head, long and thin tail branched into two. It was like a cat standing on two legs.

Was it a human? Or was it a monster? Both of that inexplicable being's large paws... hands, tightly gripped dully shining twin short swords.

"W-wait. Give me a break already."

There was nothing to be amused about, but Kazuma's mouth reflexively pulled into a smile.

Judging from this situation, there was no mistaking that the one who gouged and slashed that ground was the small being there. Perhaps it was done by using the pair of short swords gripped on both of its hands.

But as long as there was no remarkable difference between Kazuma's and the world's knowledge, hollowing out a stone paving using a pair of short swords in such a short time was nothing short of an impossible feat. It's definitely incorrect for the cat-like being to have a disposition of needing to destroy stone paving no matter what.

What those swords were supposed to cut was not the hard ground... but Kazuma.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

When Kazuma clumsily retreated, the cat he encountered once again prepared to reversely grip the short swords inside a gloomy shadow. Along with the cold points of those swords, the cat's large eyes sharply seized Kazuma.

"...Kazuma Kuvaru."

The cat spoke. It was a low, hoarse male voice.

Kazuma's feet came to a sudden stop.

"Ye-yes. That's me... but who might you be?"

Even for him, it was an idiotic response. But if he didn't do so, the balance of his spirit would crumble.

It was bizarre no matter how he thought. A cat walking on two feet while wielding swords. It was ridiculous for it to exist in reality...

"I am Tomonori. ...I have come to kill you."

No sooner after he coldly spoke, the cat jumped.

Slashing noises buzzed. The two blows definitely didn't possess threat nor suppression, but an intention that went in accordance with his declaration.

"Hii... Uwaaah!?"

It was like approaching wind. Losing himself, Kazuma started to run away. His body was lowered as if falling to the ground, then a sword grazed the tip of his hair.

He couldn't stay still in that spot, Kazuma crawled. Then he placed his back to the wall of a building and tried to turn his face around.

"Haah, haah... W-wait. Please wait."

His heart was rampaging as if it went frenzy.

It wasn't a lie, prank, or dream. That cat was planning to kill him. He would be killed. A fear like a needle with a stench of blood pricked Kazuma's whole body.

The cat looked over his shoulder. The cold pair of beast eyes stared at Kazuma.

"...You dodged."

"I-isn't it natural!? Wouldn't I die if I didn't dodge!?"

Although he retorted with a loud voice, it seemed Kazuma himself didn't even understand how he had been able to dodge. He did it despite the thought that he would surely die when he sensed the swords were being swung.

This time, the cat silently approached to cut him.

"Hii...!"

Kazuma ran. He had heard that when a human is driven to extreme situations, they usually display unimaginable capability. But now, it felt certainly true.

Even now, he barely evaded the assaulting slashes as they grazed his skin.

However, that fortune wouldn't last forever.

Tripping on the crooked ground which the cat had previously gouged, Kazuma fell forward and collapsed. The severe impact didn't do anything particular to his whole body, but he got a burning pain on his arm.

Though he felt that he shouldn't look at it, Kazuma accidentally saw it. The spot slightly below the left shoulder of his uniform was deeply cut. He felt a sensation that the shirt was wet with something.

"Ah, ah..."

Something more vivid than fear overflowed from Kazuma's mind.

As his chin trembled, his teeth made a grinding noise. The beast looked down on him from the shadow of a building which had been deeply colored by the evening. When Kazuma raised his face to the faint footsteps, his eyes met the beast's gaze.

The reversely gripped swords were coldly lifted. The tip of a blade was slightly wet with red.

It was wet with Kazuma's blood. The blades' cold silver color appeared similar to a beast's fangs that wanted much more blood and flesh than that.

He would be killed.

His chest rose and fell as his breathing got disordered. His stomach was cramped with strain and terror. His knees were shivering and made him unable to stand.

It was useless. He couldn't escape.

(Why... Why is this happening to me...)

He would be killed without even knowing the culprit or the reason. While cursing at the ridiculous situation, Kazuma shut his eyes tightly.

He prepared himself for the sensation of the cold blades.

...However, the cat's swords stopped just before cutting Kazuma's flesh.

(H... Huh?)

He thought that something was wrong. After he counted three seconds, Kazuma timidly opened his eyes. From inside the long bangs, he peeked at the bipedal cat.

The cat dropped the blades, which should have been raised overhead, and faced toward the end of a gentle curve. Its huge ears were raised.

Before long, the cat sheathed the two swords into their scabbards, gave Kazuma a glance, and abruptly vanished as it leaped.