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 landed at Canaan, the floating academy city.

"Phew, it's so hot..."

As he walked out of the train lobby through the automatic doors, and out of the 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.

Because the island was floating, it looked like one could almost touch the clouds.

"As expected of a floating city!"

Canaan was a huge town, floating 1000 meters up in the sky.

The entire area was said to be 24 square kilometers big which is almost the size of a ward in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

The only way to get there was by taking an Air Train.

In front of the main gates of the train station, there was a plaza, in it’s center was a water fountain, and beyond that there were department stores, restaurants and recreational buildings. It was a place that bustled business, and a happy aura hung in the air.

The second floor was composed of nothing but walkways and plazas, while the vehicles moved about beneath them on the ground floor. The walkways and roadways were completely separated from each other; which was a rare cutting-edge design 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, He began to look for the meeting place.

"Erm...was it a triangular monument?"

He couldn't find it.

The person he was trying 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 had played together a lot.

The girl who was better at climbing trees than anyone else, who was a faster swimmer and would get into a fights with boys without any hesitation; she was now a high school student.

When he thought about how her feminine charms must have blossomed since he last saw her, Masaki began to feel embarrassed, This complicated his feelings about about meeting up with his childhood friend again. After so long, 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 of it 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 sooooo much!"

"Bre, brea...?"

"Huh? What's wrong Masaki? What'cha trying to say?"

"I'm gonna die......"

"Ehh!?"

She finally let go of him just as he was about to collapse.

His face was released from the amazing softness that covered it, and he could now breath again.

Masaki let out a deep sigh.

"This air sure is amazing"

"Ah, yeah it is. It's because the academy floats above the sea, and cars that emit exhaust fumes are prohibited."

"That wasn't what I meant, but. Haha...I'm relieved that you haven't changed any more than I thought you would. It's sure 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 at me, there's a whole bunch of stuff that's completely different.”

She stuck out her chest proudly in order to show it off.

A wide tie and a short sleeved blouse with a large collar, as well as a red-checked pleated skirt, it looked like a school uniform.

Her hair which she used to keep short, now flowed down her back, her eyelashes were long and her arms and legs were petite.

Above all else, the size of her chest was overwhelming; a voluminous bulge that called attention to her and her feminine charms.

The amount she had changed was like an impact to him.

Was it because of her family heritage?

She was called "Sakurazaka Shirley", and Masaki was pretty sure her mother was an American.

"...Well of course you’ve changed, you've grown up after all."

"Isn't that right!? I'm 30 centimeters bigger now!"

"E, even if you say centimeters, I wouldn't know."

"Hmm, now I'm about 159 centimeters tall, I think. What about you? You're taller than me now, aren't you?"

Shirley reached out to pat Masaki's head.

He realized that he completely misunderstood her and involuntarily blushed.

"Ah, yeah, our heights! That's right, we were talking about our heights, yeah."

"Hmm?"

"My height–"

While they were walking.

Shirley told Masaki about the town that she had lived in for seven years, as they made there way towards their school.

Well, this is the Floating Academy Town Canaan. So they quickly reached the school.

Masaki and the other people 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 as Shirley.

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, but I think you should tell me where the staff room 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 and has a really good view."

Masaki looked up at the building she pointed out.

A glass skyscraper towering 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 up 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's nothing but 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 had to change 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 center 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, and on the wall were the words <<ELEVATOR PILLAR>>.

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 standing there talking, somebody at the back loudly exclaimed "Wha–!?" in a sharp voice.

As soon as he turned around, he saw a man's eyes widen in shock.

The man seemed to have 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 lethargic 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? This guy is entwined with Sakurazaka-san's a, arm..."

His shoulders started shaking.

"Who...is he?"

"This guys name is Ishounuma, and he is my classmate, and now yours. That's all."

"Sakurazaka-san, that isn't all, right?"

"That is all there is to 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 acted really aggressive towards him.

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 does it!?"

"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 will be friends with by their level alone!?"

"Heh!?"

"Let's go Masaki. I'm fine with the stairs."

"I guess it's no use."

He found it hard to get into conflicts 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 because it was easier then arguing with Ishounuma.

Ishounuma ground his teeth loudly.

He kept on glaring at Masaki until he had left his line of sight.

Part 3

"Sorry about that Masaki, things started getting a little strange."

Shirley said this while we were going up the stairs.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault. While it was a little unusual, he's only our classmate you know?"

"Of course!"

But it didn't look like she thought so.

Shirley looked troubled.

"In my first year, I didn't have a partner, so Ishounuma asked me to be his."

"Really!? Did you two hang around with each other a lot, was it like that?"

Shirley swung her arms around angrily.

"That's not it! It's wasn't like that, I'd just become a member of the school committee and it was the rule for everyone to have a partner!"

"Ah...the committee."

"But in the end I didn't become his partner since I paired up with someone else. I wonder if he misunderstood it because I didn't turn him down clearly? Well, it did look like we were pretty close."

"But I think no matter who it is, it's best to be on good terms with them."

"Ye~s, but I didn't mean to cause trouble between us...but isn't it weird that I'm thought to be on particularly good terms with that guy by everyone else? It's strange! Strange!"

Maybe it's because Ishounuma acts like they're close in order to cause other people to misunderstand there relationship.

"I don't think it can be helped as long as he talks like that."

"Well...you could have said that he was being annoying, right. Did you say that?"

"So many times. I said it plainly as well!"

Masaki had never been approached by someone of the opposite gender, so he couldn't imagine what it would be like, but he was able to understand that this was troubling for Shirley.

On the stairs landing, Shirley suddenly turned around to face Masaki.

"I'm just making sure, but you're not having a strange misunderstanding right?"

"It's alright since you explained everything. Of course, I understand and believe you."

"Then, that's fine... I would never have a special relationship with someone who discriminates by level!"

When they reached the 15th floor, Masaki started to lightly pant.

Masaki lifted his glasses and wiped the sweat from his nose.

"Phew...Now that you mention it, you said something about peoples attitudes towards levels...what was that about?"

"Don't worry about it. It's just a number."

"In fact, I don't know anything about this...are levels important?"

A surprised look appeared on her face.

"Masaki, you don't know anything about levels?"

"Since I suddenly transferred schools, I didn't take a single look at any of the transfer documents."

"Then, what about Dialecte and Globaliser?"

Masaki was astonished. He stared intensely at Shirley.

"Amazing! You've really have changed from when you were a child."

"Wh, what? So suddenly."

"I didn't expect such difficult-sounding words to come out so smoothly from your mouth."

"Huh? Nihaha, is that so? Amazing? Amazing?"

Shirley stuck out her chest happily.

"I think it's really amazing. And? What kind of things are Dialecte and Globaliser?"

Shirley stiffened. Her face formed a frown, and she groaned.

"Uuu...What did you say? I feel like going "Yaa! Whump!". Nya-"

"Thank you, I understand now."

"Really?"

"Ah, of course you're Shirley!"

"Nihaha."

Masaki understood––

Shirley disappeared seven years ago because of her ability.

And thanks to that ability, he was now able to reunite with Shirley.

"...Since my ability is really meager, I doubt it'd be useful for anything even if I study and go as far as changing schools."

"It's normal for a persons power to be weak and their level to be low, when they've only just awoken. I think that it'll start changing from now on, right?"

"Oh, so is the strength of the ability equals the level?"

"It kinda does. The teacher said something about test results to."

"Is it important in this school?"

"Even though the classes are divided by levels, I say that everyone is important...to me it doesn't matter"

"Really?"

"Well, we all use the same cafeteria!"

"I see, that's really persuasive."

Shirley told me that she was in class A.

If we go in the order of levels, then could it be called the best class?

So the guy called Ishounuma seems to be in the same class as Shirley, and by judging from his attitude, he probably has a high level too.

"You don't need to worry about that. The level is just a number, a number~"

"How are the levels decided?

"Yeah...when I say that you don't need to worry about levels, don't you think it's strange? So when the time comes for you to need to know about it, you can ask someone then."

"Perhaps, you don't know very much about it?"

"Ththththat isn't it."

Shirley's eyes swam in the sky. It was dangerous as they were walking up the stairs.

"Well, everything will be explained in the staff room."

Masaki sighed.

She suddenly pointed her finger–to the tip of his nose.

She had a serious expression on her face.

"You only need to do one thing, and that's to be positive! I don't discriminate people by their levels or stuff like that!"

"...Understood."

Shirley gave a smile as she turned around.

It seemed to be normal that Masaki who had just awoken still have a low level. She must have been worried about him. Since their relationship wasn't equal anymore, Masaki swallowed his words of thanks that he was going to give her.

There were still more stairs.

He decided to change the topic.

"That reminds me...what kind of committee did you join?"

"My committee? It does lots of different stuff...we do rounds to make sure that there aren't any rule-breakers and we warn people who break the rules of the academy, those kind of things."

"Is it the public morals committee?"

"It's a bit like that. However, we have a much more exciting name than that!"

"What is it?"

"It's Breaker."

She said this in an embarrassed manner.

It’s definitely an exaggerated name for a school committee. Maybe it had some hidden meaning?

"Well, apart from the name...I think it's Shirley-ish."

"Shirley-ish?"

"When we were kids, you disliked crooked things, and when it came to dealing with bad guys you seemed weaker than me, but you had the kind of character that let you face them without faltering. Should I call it being an ally of justice or just being reckless? At any rate, you acted rashly. Do you remember?"

"Nihaha, I guess it was like that...well yeah, it didn't go very well a lot of the time."

"Yeah, since you were clumsy, and maybe it's also because you misunderstood a lot of things most of the time?"

"Only a little."

Her bitter smile, also had a shadow to it unexpectedly. It was an expression that she didn't show when they were young.

Maybe she got into some kind of trouble.

She couldn't say anything to Masaki who had just arrived at school but––

"Shirley, I think it's best if you act the way that you think is right."

"Hm? Aha, I think so too...thanks Masaki!"

She shook off the dark atmosphere and gave a bright smile that she had worn since she was an elementary school student.

A high-pitched electronic sound rang.

The sharp sound that repeatedly assaulted the ears, echoed throughout the wide stair case.

Shirley lifted up her left hand.

She wore a silver bracelet on her wrist. A relief of a rose was engraved on it and a violet crystal adorned it.

The sound stopped when she touched it with her right hand while a translucent board appeared in the previously empty space. It wasn't some kind of illusion, it was purely the product of science.

The word <<EMERGENCY>> was displayed in red in a window in the 3D image.

"An emergency...!?"

Her expression froze.

"What's wrong?"

"There's trouble in the school building...what am I gonna do...a dispatch request came from the committee."

Her eyes kept going back and forth between the window and Masaki.

He was able to roughly guess what the situation was.

"What are you worried about? If it's me, then you don't need to worry. I'm not a child, so I won't get lost in the school building."

"Ye, yeah."

"You're being called aren't you? And it's an emergency."

"Yeah."

"Then go quickly!"

Masaki said it daringly in a strong voice.

The doubt disappeared from her expression and born from within it was seriousness.

"Thanks, Masaki. I'll be going now!"

"Go. I'll go to the staff room on the 30th floor."

It wouldn't take too much time to get there since he was now on the 25th floor.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to show you everything!"

"It's alright. After you're done, I'll be happy for you to show me around the other places. Especially the shop where they sell delicious cakes."

"Of course, you really do like cakes Masaki! See you later!"

Shirley gave a nod then ran off.

She was fast!

The moment he started going up the stairs, she rushed to the corridor on the 26th floor.

While she raised her bracelet close to her ear.

"It's Shirley, tell me what the situation is!"

He didn't hear the voice of her colleague that she was getting in touch with as her running footsteps instantly faded into the corridor.

Part 4

As soon as Shirley left Masaki, he started feeling a little lonely.

However, he was a student who transferred half-way through the school year, so it was natural for him to feel that way.

He silently walked up the stairs.

When he arrived at the 28th floor.

He heard a loud voice.

"Hey, look! Ha...ha...did you see it?! That's my power. What do you think now...I can still do it right!? It's useful, isn't it!! So...so...I'll do more!"

It was a shrill, urgent voice.

Masaki heard another whispering voice but, he couldn't understand what it said.

"...More...of course......"

"What!? That wasn't what you said before!! Give it! Hand it over!"

It seemed like they were arguing.

It was an angry voice.

Masaki heard what they were saying from the corridor.

He didn't want to get anywhere near trouble on his first day at this school––but he thought that it was a bit shameful for him not to see what was happening, even though there might be trouble taking place.

If things got violent he couldn't just leave it alone, and even if there wasn't a problem, it would only be a little detour. He should still have some time to spare.

Masaki left the staircase and went into the corridor.

His footsteps resounded within the silent corridor.

Since he was below the 30th floor, where there were only specials classrooms, and it was the morning, it was quite quiet.

Someone jumped out from the open door of a classroom.

It was a thin wiry young man.

He was alone.

––But he heard him talking with someone else, was there another person in the classroom?

The boy breathed in and out roughly.

His eyes had become bloodshot and his face pale.

"Y, you...did you hear anything!? What we just said! Hey! Why is there something I dislike here!?"

"No...when I was going up the stairs, I heard..."

"Shit! Shit! Ah...I get it now! I'll take care of it right away! So, I'll! It's fine, since it's a promise right?"

He called out to inside the classroom. Because of that, Masaki assumed someone must be inside there.

The man glared at Masaki.

"Shit!"

"...Erm...What's going on?"

Masaki presumed that there was something unusual going on, so he called out this while standing a ways back.

The other person was about ten steps away.

"After I killed that person...by myself."

"Huh?"

"And, for now...you too..."

"Wh, what are you saying?"

"I'll kill...everything...slice them up!"

"I'll...whatever it is...will be sliced up!!"

The man broke into a run.

"What's going on...?"

"Cut! Slice up! I'll...waaah! Slice and tear him up! <<Cutting noise>>!

At the same time as the twitching man's scream, a whooshing sound started. It was the sound of wind.

There was only a white afterglow drawn in the shape of a circle.

It was about one meter wide.

All of the windows, walls and doors in the surroundings area broke and crumbled down to the ground.

He took a peek around the corner and saw that it looked as if there were completely different objects from the beginning; the concrete walls and metal door lay scattered on the floor.

It was a paranormal phenomenon.

"Wh, what is, that...!?"

Masaki jumped out from behind.

It was a dangerous place.

Now that he had closed the distance, he was close enough for him to confront him, but did he have a knife?––Is what Masaki thought.

There's no way that he could swing an invisible knife and cut everything up in the area! It was surprising to find the doors and walls completely destroyed.

It's not something a normal human could do.

Masaki guessed that it had something to do with that thing called Dialecte, even though he didn't know anything about it.

That guy was completely mad and his actions were anything but normal.

"You...why haven't you run off yet, huuh?"

That guy is dangerous!

He could be killed if he's careless.

He didn't understand why but the moment he shouted, the invisible knife dropped.

It was sharp enough to cut even iron and concrete.

Despite it being clear that the thin wiry man was the perpetrator, now he was screaming like he was a victim.

"Gaaaaaah!! I! Can still use it! It's useful! This much...this much...is strong! It's strong! Gaaah!!"

"Give me a break!"

Masaki started running away.

The wiry man chased after him.

He saw a dead end at the end of the corridor.

He was cornered.

He placed both of his hands on the handle and turned it down strongly.

Masaki put his hand on the classroom door.

It opened!

Luckily, a key wasn't needed.

He jumped in.

The room was a really ordinary classroom. Desks and chairs were lined up in rows and there was a large monitor instead of a black board. It was a typical classroom with modern equipment.

He saw the view from the 28th floor outside the window.

There wasn't anywhere to escape to.

"Ha...ha...ha..."

"Haa, haa, haa...haa."

The wiry man appeared in the doorway of the classroom and was breathing much more heavily than Masaki.

Masaki threw some words at the irrational person.

"Wh, why are you doing this!?"

"Heeh...because you heard what we were saying!"

"Even though I heard you, I didn't understand what you were saying...honestly."

"You know! If I don't kill you...I, I'll be in trouble! I'll show you. I can still cut! I can still use it!"

"….eugh...is it no good?"

Masaki didn't understand what he was saying.

As for what he could guess from his speech and behavior. He thought that the man seemed to be acting like this in response to someone's incentive. Maybe that person was in the other classroom.

Even though the man had lost all sense of reason, his judgment seemed to be fine. He slowly came closer to drive him into a corner.

"Cut...cut...cut...I'll cut...this guy too...one person...two people...anyone..."

"Uuu..."

Masaki also had Dialecte, but it wasn't something that could be used in a fight.

––What should he do?

The other guy reduced the distance between them so that Masaki was in the range of that mysterious power, the moment he shouted, Masaki would be cut along with the walls, windows, desks and chairs.

He didn't hear any footsteps from the corridor, so it seemed like no one was coming to help him.

Would he be killed?

He started trembling.

Will I be killed?

The ceiling collapsed.

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