Editing Tasogare-iro no Uta Tsukai:Volume2 1st Play (section)

===Part 3===

From the main entrance, Neight looked up at the large clock hanging on the side of the school building. The needles of that clock pointed at a time half an hour earlier than what he had promised Serges yesterday.

—It was six o’clock.

Just who could be on the roof of the first year school building this early in the morning?

He was so interested that he couldn’t even sleep well last night. Because of that, although he had come early, his eyelids couldn’t help but feel heavy.

Biting back a yawn, Neight walked through the main entrance.

Not only students, but looking around, there weren’t even any teachers in sight. He headed towards the dome-shaped Books Administration Building beside the first year school building. As expected, the library wasn’t open yet, and he couldn’t see the figures of students lining up either. Of course, neither was the figure of the girl he was used to seeing visible.

“It’s this early, after all. It’s natural that Mio-san wouldn’t be here.”

Talking to himself, Neight turned back to the first year school building.

That building was dark grey with a strong metal structure. During the incident at the recital contest, this building had been able to withstand the chimeras’ attacks.

“……As expected, it’s closed.”

A large padlock hung on the entrance of the school building. Glancing at it, Neight turned and headed to the back of the building.

Towering up from a grassy field where sunlight didn’t reach was a spiraling emergency staircase.

“It would be much easier if I could fly up like Arma.”

Looking up at the long spiral reaching up to the roof, Neight let out a small sigh.


Clomp, clomp…

On the slightly rusted staircase, the sound of a single person’s footsteps echoed.

Walking past the second floor, past the third floor, he reached the roof of the school building.

—Is someone really here, at such a place?

It wasn’t that he was calling Serges’s words a lie. It was just that he didn’t understand why a student would be up here, instead of on the campus or in a classroom.

He went up the last step leading to the roof.

As the morning sun suddenly burned his eyelids, he closed his eyes. But he didn’t close them completely because a sharp sound like something cutting the wind resounded in his eardrums.

What was that sound?

In the direction of the sound— He turned his gaze to the center of the vast rooftop.

“……Eh.”

In the dazzling sunlight, Neight opened both of his eyes.


Dancing beneath the vivid sun was a girl with wheat-brown skin.

—No, not dancing……

The girl was holding a large pole. A dull metallic luster shone from the tip. It was a blade that had clearly been sharpened— In other words, it was a spear.

The girl wielded a spear longer than her own height.

Swinging like it was flowing, spinning like it was dancing, and piercing like it was fluttering. Moving without stopping for even a second, each movement seemed different from the next. The polished blade flowed like it was drawing the onlookers in. Was this really training with a spear? Seeing her beautiful actions, he couldn’t help but think that.

“……Amazing.”

At first glance, the performance seemed like a beautiful war dance. However, she seemed to have a vigor that couldn’t be emitted when acting. It couldn’t be described with just the word ‘reality’. That was what the expression on the spear-wielder’s face said.

The girl’s movements didn’t stop. On the roof so wide that you could run a race, her feet moved so fast that his eyes couldn’t keep up. Even the splash of sweat glittering in the sunlight was beautiful. Different from any sport, it couldn’t be classified as something in this dimension.

Returning from the edge of the rooftop to the center, the girl spun the spear with one hand.

……Kiiiiin.

“—Ah!”

As a metallic sound rang out, Neight finally returned to his senses.

Ten meters away, the girl stopped moving. The spear wasn’t in her hand.

—The spear, did she drop it?

Her actions confirmed his thoughts. Looking down at the spear fallen on the ground, the girl let out a small sigh.

He hadn’t noticed because he had been captivated by her movements until now, but the girl actually wasn’t very tall. She was at most only a few centimeters taller than him. She wore white shorts and a tank top of the same color. Her bare shoulder that was exposed to the sun was a tanned brown color. No, it would be more appropriate to call it copper-brown.

Her light brown hair was cut to shoulder-length, a boyish girl with short hair. Her face was small in proportion to her body, but she had contrasting large eyes. Her impressive features somehow reminded him of a cat—

[[File:Tasogare_v2_051.jpg|thumb]]

……Eh? This person looks familiar.

“Hm? Hey, you.”

The girl before him finally raised her face. Their eyes met.

“Hey, if it isn’t Chibi-kun. ‘Morning! You’re here early, aren’t you?”

Her breathtaking expression from before was like a lie. With an indifferent expression, she raised one hand.

“……Ada-san?”

Ada Yung— The girl before his eyes was someone in the same class as him and Kluele. It was the familiar face of a classmate.

“Ada-san, is that a spear?”

“Mm, aah. Wait a moment, okay? I can’t stay sweaty like this.”

From a bag lying near the edge of the roof, the girl took out a towel.

Ada-san, just how long have you been here?

It was still earlier than seven in the morning. Even though it was only this time, from the smiling girl’s forehead, no, from her whole body, large drops of sweat flowed.

“Hey, Chibi-kun. I have a favor to ask.”

...…Chibi-kun?

“H-Hey. Even Neighty is slightly better…”

“Eeh. But doesn’t the nickname Chibi-kun sound cute? It has more charm to it!”

“Really?”

Even as he indirectly expressed his dissatisfaction, the girl had an indifferent expression. It seemed that to her, that nickname was already fixed.

“Yeah, yeah. By the way, Chibi-kun, can you face the other way for a bit?”

“The other way?”

For what purpose? Not understanding her intention, he stared blankly at Ada.

The girl curled her lips into a grin.

“Sure enough, Chibi-kun is Chibi-kun.”

“Eh?”

“I need to change, change clothes. I want to take off my tank top. If Chibi-kun doesn’t turn around, won’t it be too provoking?”

“……If that’s what you meant, then say it earlier.”

Puffing up his cheeks, Neight turned away. Really, if she had said earlier that she wanted to change, then he would have turned around right away.

“That’s why you’re Chibi-kun.”

Teasing him, the girl’s shoulders shook cheerfully.


“Club activity?”

What the girl was telling him was something that he had heard about before.

“Yeah. I’m in a spear-wielding club. I was practicing just now.”

“Practicing, at this early in the morning?”

He wasn’t sure about the exact time. If he had to guess, she had probably come here before six. He had no idea how early she woke up each morning.

“Club practice starts at ten. Before that is time for private lessons.”

“By private lessons, you mean individual practice?”

And then. As if hiding her embarrassment, the girl shyly turned away and placed her hand on the back of her head.

“Well, it’s different for everyone. For me, it’s…… Well, my memory isn’t very good. I don’t understand much or get good-quality practice, so I have to work even harder.”

Memory isn’t very good?

“Eh, but Ada-san. You joined the spear-wielding club this April, right? It hasn’t even been half a year, yet you’re already this good. How could your memory be bad?”

Suddenly, the girl’s facial expression changed.

The change was so subtle that it couldn’t be expressed in words. But something scary seemed to light up the girl’s eyes. Frightening. Or more accurately, it somehow stirred up fear inside him.

“No, no. Chibi-kun saw it too, right? In the very end, I ended up dropping my spear. That wasn’t cool at all. I’m still making such basic mistakes after so many years—”

……So many years? That means...

Before he had time to comprehend the meaning of her words, the girl hurriedly waved her hand.

“Ah. Forget it, forget what I just said! It’s a girl’s secret.”

“……H-Huh?”

Although he didn’t understand, pressured by the girl’s vigor, he couldn’t help but nod.

—But it really was amazing.

Wearing sportswear, she looked fairly short. Just judging by her appearance, it was hard to believe that someone as slender as her could wield a spear.

“Well, it’s hard work just to keep this body figure.”

Poking her arms a few times, Ada crossed her arms with a bitter smile.

“After wielding such a heavy thing, my muscles start developing pretty quickly. That’s fine for a boy, but not so much for a girl. ……I’ve already given up on my tan though.”

“It must be difficult, isn’t it?”

For him, it was hard to even develop muscles.

—Neight, you should train your body a bit more. Kluele had once said that to him, but he didn’t know exactly how to train.

“See, men don’t understand these feelings that girls have. Even though I restrict how much I eat just to keep this body figure, they say things like ‘If you don’t eat more, you won’t keep that figure!’ And when I’m doing makeup, they barge in and say things like ‘You’re so slow.’”

Crossing her arms, Ada shrugged sullenly.

“……Ah. I-Is that so?”

At first, Neight thought she had been talking about her boyfriend.

“First of all, that stubborn father of mine doesn’t even understand his daughter’s feelings.”

But as he continued listening to her, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“By ‘men’, did Ada-san mean her father?”

“Yeah.”

Surprisingly, she easily admitted that.

“My father is, how do I put it… a blockhead who doesn’t pay detailed attention to others. Also, he lacks creativity, and even gave his only daughter a ten kilogram iron dumbbell for her fourteenth birthday.”

“That’s…… Rather than creative, I think it’s an original idea.”

No way! Instead of using words, Ada furiously shook her head.

“It was ten kilos, ten kilos! I got mad and threw it at him. And then that idiot father said, ‘Sorry, would fifteen kilos have been better?’ He asked me with such a serious face!”

“……You threw it? Even though it was ten kilograms?”

It would have been bad for the person being thrown at, but since Ada-san was angry, it couldn’t be helped—

“In the first place, my usual dumbbell is twenty kilos!”

“Was that why you were angry?!”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Chibi-kun? You don’t seem very energetic?”

……Take back what I said before. Angry people should just be angry.

“Ada-san, do people often say that you’re similar to your father?”

“Eh, there’s no way anyone would say that. We’re not similar, not similar at all!”

She frowned openly as if she really hated that statement.

“Ah, that’s right. I should go soon.”

Suddenly, as if she had just thought of something, she quickly stood up.

“Is it time for your club?”

“Nope. I’m going shopping today. It’s the long-awaited trip, so I need to go buy things like a bag and some summer clothes.”

“Trip? Are you going somewhere?”

“Isn’t Chibi-kun also going?”

Carefully wrapping her spear in a piece of cloth, Ada tilted her head.

“After the incident a while back, parts of the school buildings are being repaired, right? The supplementary lessons during summer vacation are usually held in Tremia Academy, but this year we’re going to Tremia Academy’s branch school. It’s a place beside the ocean.”

As she said that, Neight realized he had seen a notice about that before.

“Chibi-kun’s also going, right? Kluele said she would also go. Aren’t you tired of only practicing Recitations? Occasionally, you also need time to relax.”

“……Kluele-san told me the same thing.”

“That’s right. Then let’s go shopping together with everyone! Anyway, Mio should be at the library, right? And Kluele also seems like she has some free time.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl quickly ran down the emergency staircase.

“W-Wait, Ada-san. Don’t you have club activities today?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just say I had a stomachache today.”

I-Is that really okay?

But speaking of which, didn’t she also act like this during class?

“……Ada-san is a strange person.”

“Eh, did you say something?”

She stopped running down the stairs and with sharp ears, asked in return.

“No, it’s nothing!”

Telling an obvious lie, Neight also headed down the emergency stairs.