Fuyuu Gakuen no Alice and Shirley:Volume1 Chapter1
Status: Incomplete
The Floating Academy City
Part 1
The first day at a new school, 7:22 a.m.
Masaki alighted at Canaan, the floating academy city.
"Phew, it's so hot..."
When he walked out of the train lobby through the automatic doors and out of the area where there was air conditioning, the hot air instantly travelled down the nape of his neck.
When he looked up at the sky, the sun was shining so brightly that he seemed to hear a dazzling sound.
And, the clouds were close.
"As expected of a floating city!"
Canaan was a huge town floating 1000 metres up in the sky.
The entire area was said to be 24 square kilometres big which is about the size of one ward in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.
The only way in was through the Air Train station.
In front of the main gate was a plaza with a water fountain and down the path were department stores, restaurants and recreational buildings. It was a busy and cheerful place.
The second floor was composed of all the footpaths and plazas, whilst the vehicles moved about on the lower level of the ground floor. The walkways and roadways were completely separated from each other which was a rare cutting-edge structure in this era.
––A cool cup of ice tea would be great.
No, it's nearly time.
Masaki resisted the temptation and after doing some quick sightseeing of the area in front of the station, started searching for the meeting place.
"Erm...was it a triangular monument?"
He couldn't find it.
The other person he was supposed to meet up with was his childhood friend.
Seven years ago, before she changed schools, they were in the same class in elementary school. They played together a lot.
The girl who was better at climbing a tree than anyone else, a faster swimmer and was able to get into a fight with a boy with no hesitation was now a high school student like him.
When he thought about how feminine she must have become, Masaki started feeling embarrassing, complicated feelings about looking forward to meeting up with his childhood friend again. How would he greet her?
The sound of running footsteps approached him.
"Hmm?"
"Masaki–––!!"
His field of vision was covered in white. Something soft was touching his face.
A cushion?
Big, soft and round.
And the weight completed covered him.
After regaining control of his mind, Masaki finally noticed the person that was hugging him tightly.
"I can't...!?"
"Funyaa!! It's the real one alright. It's definitely the real Masaki!!"
"Pa, painful..."
"This smell, I miss it soo much."
"Bre, brea...?"
"Huh? What's wrong Masaki? What 'cha trying to say?"
"I'm gonna die......"
"Ehh!?"
She finally separated her arms as he was about to collapse.
His face was released from the soft swell that covered his mouth and nose.
Masaki let out a deep breathe.
"The air sure is delicious"
"Ah, it is. It's because the academy is above the sea and cars that emit exhaust gases are prohibited."
"That wasn't what I meant, but. Haha...I'm relieved that you haven't changed more than I thought you would. It's been a long time right, Shirley."
"Nihaha, long time no see, Masaki! But I don't think that there's a single part of me that hasn't changed. Look, there's a variety of stuff that's different right?"
She stuck out her chest in order to show it off.
A wide tie and a short sleeved blouse with a big collar, as well as a red-checked pleated skirt, it looked like a uniform.
Her hair which was short when she was a child, now flowed down her back, her eyelashes were long and her arms and legs were thin.
Above all, the swell of her feminine chest had an overwhelming, voluminous feel that called attention to it.
It felt like a thud.
Was it because of her blood?
She was called "Sakurazaka Shirley" and her mother seemed like an American.
"...Well of course, you've grown."
"Isn't that right!? I'm 30 centimetres bigger now!"
"E, even if you say centimetres, I wouldn't know."
"Hmm, now I'm 159 centimetres tall, I think. What about you? You're taller than me now aren't you."
Shirley reached out to pat Masaki's head.
He realised that he completely misunderstood her and involuntarily blushed.
"Ah, yeah, heights right! That's right, we were talking about heights, yeah."
"Hmm?"
"My height–"
While they were talking.
Shirley told Masaki about the town that she had lived in for seven years, then they headed to school.
Well, this is the Floating Academy Town Canaan. So they quickly reached the school.
Masaki and the others around him faced one of the huge school buildings that were in the town.
Part 2
He took the automatic bus from the station plaza and fifteen minutes later he got off at <Alrescha> bus stop.
With his arm linked with Shirley's, Masaki was forcefully dragged along.
"Look, we're here–"
He was in close contact with her softness and body heat, so he couldn't relax.
"I, I got it. I won't get lost. So I'm fine."
The area was overflowing with students heading to school. They were all wearing the same uniform.
Since he was new and his arm was intertwined with Shirley's, everyone's attention was on him.
"Masaki, have you heard about the classes yet?"
"No. I think you should tell me where the staffroom is when we're done. Or maybe I should say that I haven't heard anything. I was given some papers but even though I took a quick look at it, I didn't understand anything."
"Alright. Our class is Year 2 Class A. It's on the 45th floor..."
"Seriously, the 45th floor!?"
"Uh huh. Alrescha goes all the way up to the 60th floor. The cafeteria at the top has a really good view."
Masaki looked up at the building she pointed out.
A glass skyscraper towered over its surroundings. The first floor had an entrance way, and was connected to the 2nd and 3rd floors in a step-like manner. From the 4th floor onwards it was all glass.
"Is it all classrooms!? I thought this was a corporation building, not a school."
"Ahaha. From the 1st to the 29th floor there are special classrooms, from the 30th to the 35th are the teacher's rooms, then up to the 40th are the 1st year classrooms, up to the 45th are the second year classrooms and up to the 50th are the 3rd year classrooms. "
"Woah~...what about from the 51st floor to the top?"
"The cafeteria!"
"That's quite amazing."
"I feel the same way I did when I started primary and middle school. Even though I was surprised that I changed schools, I got used to the idea almost immediately."
"That okay but...by the way, Shirley, shouldn't we separate our arms now?"
"Why?"
"Well...isn't it a little embarrassing? Everyone's looking..."
She gave a carefree smile.
"Nihaha, don’t worry too much about it Masaki!"
"Re, really?"
Masaki wondered if he was being too self-conscious.
"Now, let's go!"
"A, ah!"
They passed through the entrance and into a passage that was wide enough to be called a station concourse, and again they went through a large hall. This seemed to be the heart of the skyscraper.
In the centre of the hall was a wall where a curve was drawn, or maybe it should be called a round pillar. Many elevators were lined up on the wall where the words <<ELEVATOR PILLAR>> was written.
One by one, the students went inside them.
"There's a lot."
"But wouldn't there be a long wait? Especially when it's lunch."
"Is it because there are a lot of students?"
"Since there are elevators all along the circumference of the big pillar, everyone will line up in one direction and on the opposite side there will be no one there."
"Hahaha...I see."
"Are there stairs as well?"
"Yeah, there is. What floor is the staff room on again"
"The 30th floor–"
"No, no, that's completely wrong."
"Erm, there are two sets of stairs on the school's east block and west block."
"Why does it seem like you want to use the stairs!?"
"Eh? ...Because the stairs are there?"
"It isn't mountain climbing you know."
While they were waiting, somebody at the back yelled "Wha–!?" in a sharp voice.
As soon as he turned around, he saw a man's eyes widen in shock.
The man gave the feeling of having a well-built physique, had short evenly cut hair and had a squareish face, all of this together gave off a grim impression. Everyone's eyes were turned towards Masaki and Shirley.
He talked like he wanted to wring every last drop out of Masaki.
"Sa, Sakurazaka-san! Who is that guy!?"
"Hmm? He's Masaki."
It was an unenergetic answer. Since she didn't use a lot of words, Masaki decided to add to it.
"I'm Kusunoki Masaki. Today is my first day at this school."
"A transfer student? Then have you just awoken? That guy is, with Sakurazaka-san's a, arm..."
His shoulders started shaking.
"Who...is he?"
"That guy Ishounuma is in the same class as me. That's all."
"Sakurazaka-san, that isn't just it right."
"That is it."
"Hmph, you're as cold as ever."
Ishounuma acted friendly towards Shirley but had a sense of strong hostility towards Masaki. It seemed like he was ready to attack Masaki at any moment.
"––And? Who are you to Sakurazaka-san?"
Even though this was his first time meeting Masaki, he was really aggressive.
Masaki shrunk back.
"We're only childhood friends....Hey, Shirley, as I thought if we're like this, people will misunderstand."
He softly unlinked their arms.
She looked disappointed while she followed what he said.
However, even that didn't settle Ishounuma's anger. Instead, his eyes became bloodshot.
"Yo, you're not using honorifics with her name...!? Hey, you! Even though you've been Sakurazaka-san's acquaintance for some time, it doesn't mean that you can act over-familiar with her right!?"
"I didn't mean to do that."
"Sakurazaka-san too! Don't act friendly towards some low level guy who just awoke."
After hearing Ishounuma's words, Shirley had an angry look on her face.
"What was that? Isn't it strange to choose who you'll get along with by their level?"
"Heh!?"
"Let's go Masaki. I'm fine with the stairs."
"I guess it's no use."
He found it hard to get into conflict with other people. It might have seemed hard to go all the way up to the 30th floor using the stairs, but Masaki chose to do that.
Ishounuma ground his teeth loudly.
He kept on glaring at Masaki until he had left his sight.
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