Chapter 4-4
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VOLUME 4
Chapter 4: Part 4
Saras would put on a concert. That alone was enough to fill the school grounds with people.
Geez, she seriously was popular…
It seemed the play had also ended, and I saw Tomonori and Hiramatsu in their sailor outfits standing there, as well as Anderson-kun and Mihara wearing their school uniform on top of their basketball jerseys. Also… Ori-whatever was in the front row trying to fire up the crowd.
The four of us – me having changed into my school uniform, Yuu in her chiffon one-piece, Haruna in her plate armor and gauntlets, and Sera still wearing the Hanako-san of the Toilet red skirt she had put on – were behind the morning assembly stage setting up the songs.
Of course, Haruna also wanted to join in on Saras’s concert, but if she spoke out loud terrible things would happen, so…
All the spotlights soon focused on one spot and illuminated the idol. The speakers began to blare out music so loud that it would be audible from any point on the school grounds.
Saras stood on the morning assembly stage with a microphone.
“If you want to die, step forwards!”
What an oppressive performance there on the mic.
“Kirara-taaann~~!! Kill us with your loveliness~~!!” (1)
Her words seemed to be well-received by the crowd. By the way, the person babbling that was a certain spiky-haired bespectacled male. Wait, wasn’t he the one who hated Saras?
Seeing that huge wave of excited people out there was making Yuu pretty nervous.
“How did the song practice go?”
“I am fine… I had already practiced the song when we were making Haruna’s CD.”
I see. Ever since she had lost the ability to speak, Yuu had probably always wanted to sing.
She closed her eyes and her shoulders rose and fell as she took a few deep breaths. She placed her hand on her chest, almost as if she was holding onto her heart.
I never thought I’d see Yuu acting this nervous…
“There’s no need to fear. Hellscythe-dono is a very good singer.”
Sera sent her a smile. It was a kind smile I was sure would never be aimed at someone like me.
“When you’re feeling nervous like this, you should write the kanji for ‘person’ in your hand three times.”
“The shoji screen has eyes?”
Now that she mentioned it, I guess that monster did something like this…
“Your hand..” Sera took Yuu’s pale hand and began to massage it.
“This is a trick to help you relax. You should feel a bit better after this.”
“Thank you… I am fine now.”
“I’ve… always dreamed of the day I would hear those words coming from Hellscythe-dono’s mouth.”
I felt the same way. Also, I would be moved too if I could massage Yuu’s hands while they weren’t enclosed in those gauntlets.
I want to sing too.
“That’s clearly not going to happen. Just be a good girl and settle down.”
Haruna gave me a grumpy look as she whacked her hand on her memo pad.
And then, Lovely Kirara-tan’s song began.
It wasn’t some cute pop song… it was a full-out English rock number.
Even though she looked so cute and lovely!
Haruna’s eyes sparkled. It looked like she just couldn’t keep still, and made a full dash towards the audience from behind the stage.
She really wasn’t trying at all to hold in her emotions, was she?
After the song had ended and the crowd had roared their applause, Saras swept her hair up, specks of sweat glittering in the night air, and then descended from the stage.
“Well then, Eucliwood Hellscythe. Our goddess. Enjoy yourself to your fullest.”
Saras faced Yuu and went down on one knee.
The vampire ninja race was originally created by Yuu, so it wasn’t an exaggeration for them to consider her a goddess.
“Ayumu-“
“Are you scared?”
Yuu shook her head.
“I am fine. I will try my best, so please watch.”
I couldn’t see any smile on her face, but I’d like to think that there was a bit of joy mixed in with her voice.
I’m sure I was full of smiles at that moment. Saras didn’t say a word, but just smacked me upside my head.
“What the hell was that for?”
“You should be grateful. Being hit is the proof of friendship.”
Well, if you don’t know somebody well enough, I guess you wouldn’t be able to hit them too much.
“So, does that mean you want to be friends with me?”
“Don’t get cocky, you little vermin!”
As Saras punched me with her fist, I looked up at the stage. I seriously didn’t understand this person anymore.
Meanwhile, the silver-haired girl in the white chiffon one-piece was adjusting the height of the microphone.
The audience had come to see Saras, but their excitement didn’t die down at all when Yuu appeared on stage.
And the minute Yuu began to send her angelic singing voice ringing over the crowd…
It began to pour rain.
At the sudden, fierce downpour, people began to make a desperate dash towards the school building.
The lights went out, and the minute the grounds were enveloped in darkness, a scream rang out.
“Uwaahh! This isn’t good!”
Tomonori and Anderson-kun hurriedly began to dismantle the speakers and other equipment on the stage.
Everyone was in a huge panic trying to find shelter from the rain.
“Kirara-tan! Over here!”
“No, it’s not like I mind the rain…”
But her fans took her by the hand and led her away into the school building.
The only people left there were Yuu, Haruna, Sera, and myself. The concert had ended. And there wasn’t anything we could do. It was the weather, after all.
“Haruna.”
The rain was coming down so hard that a fine mist was rising around us. In the midst of that, Yuu called out Haruna’s name with a hint of frustration in her voice.
“Hm?”
“This is because Haruna showed emotion.”
Yuu’s pale, frail hands were shaking.
She was probably really, really looking forward to this concert.
She was looking forward it so much that even her nerves were just adding to her enjoyment of it all.
And Yuu… this Yuu who always blamed everything on herself… she was glaring at Haruna.
Her wet silver hair swayed sadly from side to side as she was pelted by the rain.
“Haruna, don’t tell me… were you jealous of Yuu’s concert?”
Haruna firmly shook her head. Even though her hair was completely wet, her ahoge still bounced from side to side.
–
I also wanted to hear the gloomy necromancer sing.
–
The rain blurred those words on her memo pad, and I couldn’t really read them too clearly…
But it seemed the Haruna was just simply enjoying the school festival. That was all.
When Yuu couldn’t control her emotions and had fun, she would end up meeting people that she didn’t want to meet.
In Haruna’s case, the thing she didn’t want to meet was a typhoon. The one thing she didn’t want to visit this school festival she was enjoying so much was a typhoon.
“If Haruna controls her emotions, the rain will definitely stop.”
Yuu’s blue eyes seemed to be begging me for help.
Yuu then seemed to realize what she was saying, and spoke again while tousling her hair.
“I apologize. I am in no position to be able to say something like that.”
She was the one who stole Haruna’s emotions awy from her.
So it was presumptuous of her to tell Haruna to restrain herself. That’s probably how she was thinking right now.
“I understand how you might feel, Hellscythe-dono. This is…”
Sera couldn’t support or refute what Yuu was thinking. She just stood there, at a loss for words.
“But… I… but… sorry…. I…”
Yuu was someone who was always emotionless and so not used to expressing her feelings, so it was obvious at a glance that she didn’t know what to do.
If Haruna controlled her emotions, huh…?
“Sorry, Yuu.”
“Ayumu….?”
“If this girl… if Haruna’s enjoying herself from the bottom of her heart, and if she’s behaving herself and obeying all the rules… then I can’t tell her to stop feeling that joy. When you want to laugh, you just have to laugh.”
“Ayumu…”
Sera looked at me with widened eyes. Certainly, I wasn’t expecting her to understand my viewpoint.
“So, I’m sorry. I really want you to be able to do what you want to do, but…”
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“I think… Ayumu also thought that way when I was unable to show emotion… so thank you.”
Yuu remained as expressionless as ever. But I could’ve sworn I spied a faint smile appearing on her lips.
“I had always thought that you considered Hellscythe-dono as a supreme being.”
I heard a quiet, dignified voice. But there was no menace in Sera’s voice. And I wondered why she was looking right at me with eyes filled with hope.
“Certainly, Yuu is really important to me… but that doesn’t mean Haruna isn’t. And of course-“
You are too. But before I could say that, Sera placed her index finger on my lips.
“Your explanations are always so unclear and hard to understand… but I know what you want to say. You don’t have to say it.”
As always, when it came to things like this, Sera could see right through me.
Meanwhile, Haruna had a fairly conflicted look on her face.
You know, Haruna, you might always be the one leading us around by the nose, but it’s not like we hate you for it.
Haruna… you think of us the same way, right?
Ayumu’s words were the grossest thing I’ve ever heard.
“You little brat, I’ll make it so you’ll never laugh or cry again!”
I grabbed Haruna’s soft, impertinent cheeks with both my hands, and then… a sudden burst of wind blew into us.
A burst of wind so strong that it was hard to keep my eyes open.
Haruna was close to being blown off her feet, and she grabbed onto my clothes.
As the scene around us turned into something that could’ve been taken straight out of a TM Revolution promo video, I somehow managed to dig my feet into the ground and prevent us from getting blown away.
Sera’s red miniskirt blew up and I caught a wonderful glance of black fabri- unghph! I saw the back of a foot. It wasn’t the wind this time, but a kick that had almost sent me flying.
And then, the stage also moved. But it wasn’t sliding to the side.
Rather, one of its legs was lifting up into the air, and the stage was close to falling on its side.
Yuu was still standing on top of there and she gripped onto the microphone stand. I caught hold of the leg of the stage as it lifted up and held onto it.
Sing.
I heard the sound of clothing flapping in the wind. Haruna stood there holding out her memo pad to Yuu with both hands, almost like some lawyer announcing “victory!” after she had won a big lawsuit.
“Eh?”
Yuu stared back with puzzled eyes, but Haruna continued thrusting her memo pad at Yuu.
I also wanted to hear the gloomy necromancer sing.
That was the same memo she had showed me a bit ago.
Haruna and Yuu’s gazes met.
“But… in the middle of this rain…”
Yuu shook her head. The grounds were a lonely place right now, and the only people here to hear Yuu sing would be me, Haruna, and Sera. But then…
“Yoohoo~~.”
“Yahoo~~.”
The wind blew over a male-female duo, both with happy looks on their faces.
“This is fun! I love typhoons like this!”
I saw a girl wearing a sailor uniform spinning around, and spouting her usual idiotic delusions.
“You’re gonna get soaked, Tomonori.”
“Hehe~~.” Tomonori gave me a teasing smile and flicked her skirt up.
“I thought something like this would happen so I came wearing a swimsuit underneath!”
Well, whatever the case, you’re going to catch a damn cold in that…
“So? What about you?”
This kind of weather really didn’t seem like the kind that would suit the spiky-headed guy standing next to her though…
His spiky hair was getting really messed up in this rain, and could he seriously see in this weather with those glasses? But despite all that…
“Come on, let us join in.”
He pointed his thumb towards himself, and laughed. He was as gross as ever, but seeing him with the rain splashing against his glasses, I couldn’t help but just laugh back.
“Yeah, I guess so. You wanna join in?”
I felt a huge hand grab firmly onto the stage leg. It was a hand big enough to cover mine, belonging to a tall young man.
It was the handsome, blue-eyed student, Anderson-kun.
“Yuki-chan started running off somewhere, so I followed her here.”
Next, Mihara came. You guys were wearing tanktops underneath, so you’re going to all catch colds…
“… You all… don’t blame me if you get a cold…”
Next, even Hiramatsu came. She kept both her hands on her skirt, almost as if she was deathly afraid of her skirt flipping inside out. Her ponytails swayed in the wind.
“You’re all insane.”
“Nobody wants to hear that from you. Disgusting.”
Sera’s Hanako-chan outfit was almost see-through after getting drenched in the rain, and I found myself averting my gaze from her.
My heart was beating out my chest because I had seen Sera in that immodest getup, right…?
No, that asn’t it. It was just a sign of how much I loved all these people.
Just being with these people made a sense of excitement well up within my chest.
“Yuu. Is this alright then?”
“Eh?”
“You might not be able to sing to a huge crowd, but you should let these people hear you. Could you do that? I want to show these people how great your singing voice is.”
Just sing. You planning on lettingg all those special lessons I gave you go to waste?”
“… I understand. I… will sing.”
“Now you’re talking!”
“Yes!”
Yuu’s expression turned serious and she gave us a firm nod. She sounded more full of life at that point than I had ever heard her sound.
And so, like that, Yuu’s concert began.
Her singing voice was more than beautiful enough to win against the rain and wind.
–
A single silver mouse was scurrying around today.
–
The song was a blend of pop and rock that I would never have expected someone like Yuu to sing.
And as expected, her voice was great. I was so engrossed that I suddenly didn’t care that I was in the middle of a raging storm.
–
One day, the mouse stopped in her tracks.
And from that first day on,
Her destiny was changed forever.
–
Hiramatsu and Mihara just looked up at Yuu and swayed with the rhythm.
Orito and Tomonori were hopping up and down, in great spirits.
Anderson-kun was… wait, why was he crying? It wasn’t like the rain was just making his face wet… those were definitely tears. Was this song really that moving to him?
–
The mouse’s destiny was always within her.
It was there, allowing her to live every day stronger than the last.
–
Sera had her arms crossed and eyes closed, and was just listening. Was she trying to pick out Yuu’s voice in the midst of all this chaos?
–
And so, the mouse went to town and sang into the night air.
Even darkness can appear to be light.
–
Haruna… like Sera, Haruna also had her eyes closed.
Her gauntletted hands were pressing against her chest, almost as if she was trying to keep herself from getting emotional.
And then… the rain stopped. For Yuu’s, for this concert’s sake… had Haruna desperately restrained her own emotions and freed her mind from thoughts?
–
And so, the mouse went to town and laughed into the night air.
Before all the truths turned into lies.
–
By the song’s climax, Saras’s fan club had also begun to run back onto the grounds.
Soon, only a strong wind remained, and the other students also returned.
There were just as many people here as there were for Saras… no, there might’ve been even more. It seemed like people were even coming from other festival stalls.
But, they had come too late. Yuu’s song had already finished.
“Encore!”
That didn’t come from us… indeed, it was coming from male students I didn’t even recognize.
“One more time! One more time!”
And it seemed that Tomonori was saying the wrong thing.
Saras didn’t make another appearance on the grounds, but she did bring back the lights that had been taken away during the storm.
The pretty girl wearing a chiffon one-piece on stage was suddenly illuminated from both sides with lights, and her silver hair glittered in the night.
“I… can sing again?”
“Yeah, sing again. This is exactly what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Yes… it is.”
She started again from the beginning. But… even though she was trying to get everyone to hear her singing, the wind began to pick up pace. It was almost as if the wind was desperately trying to drown Yuu’s voice out. Haruna could only stop the rain… but it was almost difficult to breathe in this awful headwind.
“The lights! Don’t let them fall!”
I heard Saras yelling. But in the midst of this violent wind… this time, nobody left the grounds. Tomonori and Sera both helped hold onto the stage.
Yuu brushed aside the silver hair that were blowing into her face and gripped onto the microphone.
“I… will not lose!”
A cheer rose out of the crowd. It was almost as if Yuu was a famous idol.
The sound of rushing wind and the rustling of dry leaves reverberated around us, creating an autumn cacophony more ferocious than even the cicadas of summer. However, Yuu was not going to lose.
Yuu wasn’t the kind of weak person who would lose to a small bit of misfortune that Haruna had caused.
And then, in the middle of the huge gale and the cheers, Yuu finished her song.
“Everyone! Thank you very much!”
Yuu shut her eyes and shouted that. Her hair sparkled, slick from the rain.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” We heard an angry yell and turned our gazes to the school building.
Our homeroom teacher, Kurisu, was running at us in a jersey. People scattered in all directions like spiders. Mihara and Orito instanely fled, while Sera and Haruna happily followed. I took Yuu by the hand, and chased after them with a smile on my face.
“You lot, get back into the school building already!”
And thus, the concert came to an end.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) He literally says something more like “moe us to death.”
(NanoDesu) A Translation of the Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Light Novel 