Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Dark Night, Beguiling Innocence, and I
A warh Harusha Acadeolden sunlight scattered aht around the corner
After school, an afternoon tea partyEvenleaves, Zadou Sierra sat quietly upon a bench in the courtyard, her delicate fingers continuing to turn the pages of a collection of poetry Her long hair fluttering softly in the wind, her eyelashes seemed to cast a shadow upon her fair face
Her glossy lips parted revealing her pearly teeth as she began to sed poetry
”In the distant sky beyond the mountains, that is where people say 'happiness' lives Ah, but I with others went searching for it only to return with our eyes filled with tears Further still beyond the mountains, that is where people say 'happiness' lives”
Sierra, of the high school class 1-B, clearly read Ueda Bin's translation of Carl Busse's ”Beyond the Mountains” Around her were a nu upon the lawn, others taking refuge in the shade of the trees, all listening intently to her voice Spread out upon the laas a delicate, high-class, and hand-quilted blanket, which held a tea set decorated with brilliant blue roses and gold gilding
”Sierra-saance It can only be coel's harp”
”Thank you veryme This has been a truly wonderful tea party The pastries were also quite delicious”
”I'lad you enjoyed them, they were scones hand-made by my head maid Mary”
At the center of the group of girls, Sierra was remarkably pretty, siers were rested gently against her rosy face, and even her shy sance
”Sierra-sama, do you have a favorite poet? Heine, Rilke, or maybe even Baudelaire?”
”Hm, I wonderMaybe Rimbaud?”
Froirls They were Sierra's classmates, Araki Jin and Utada Yuuya
”Ahh~, Zadou's having a tea party! Such elegance I wonder what sort of poet 'Rimbaud' is”
Yuuya clasped his hands to his heart, treht ed brown hair fit him as a flirt As for Jin, he was quite tanned because he was an archaeology s, and he also had a conspicuously chiseled face His school bag was slung over his shoulder and he wore a bored business-like expression as he muttered
”He's that guy who carries a ht?”
”That's 'Rambo' froirl like Zadou would ever watch that sort of thing!”
”Hh”
Because of a gage, Jin had ended up suenies But, the dorirls, and contrary to the prim lady-like appearance she put on daily, she was boastful, selfish, anddestruction rather than the poet Rimbaud Honestly, he was filled with reluctance at the prospect of calling on her
Continuing to watch Sierra, Yuuya clenched his fists tightly against his chest as if he could barely contain himself
”Okay, when I get back to the dorh the application deadline is toht not enter if I couldn't find inspiration for a good piece, butI' inspired!”
”Piece?”
”Didn't I tell you already, about the light otta come listen”
”I don't think so”
”So you're just going to refuse right away?”
”If I agreed to go, you'd probably ask me to throw streamers or demand an encore for you repeatedly, so I'd rather avoid the hassle”
”But if you listen to wonderful music, it'll enrich your life, you know?”
”It's annoying when you try to pawn off unsold tickets”
”So way toa true artist, ya know!”
Riled up, Yuuyato glance over in Jin's direction However, it was a passing glance, and soon enough she returned to chatting with her friends
(Huh I wonder if she didn't see me?)
Jin wondered blankly Elbowing Jin in the sto
”Hey, did you see her glance over here? Do you think maybe she considers me cool for my music?”
If she had been looking their way, Jin didn't think it would be Yuuya she'd be looking atbut saying so would be troubleso response
”Yeah, I'm sure that's it You're super cool I, your friend, feel my heart race every day because of you”
”I get the feeling that there wasn't a single shred of sincerity in that just now, but well, whatever Ah, do you think I should give Zadou a ticket to the light music competition? Maybe she'll even be like ”This is so much better than classical music~, I want to hear more” She even went and asked you to teach her ot a shot”
Yuuya seemed quite anxious Certainly, as a simple-minded skirt chaser, he's often treated like an idiot by the girls in his grade, but his place in the lighthiirls Yet even that Yuuya was feeling quite nervous because of Sierra
It wasn't just Yuuya who believed Sierra to be beautiful, kind, and elegant Just about every guy on ca, he was moved with pity
(If they all knehat she was really like, they'd probably be too shocked to even stand, I bet)
The fact that Sierra was the Genie of the La on an act was also so he couldn't tell anyone else
”When I look at Zadou, I'm simply filled with inspiration Zadou is my Goddess of art, my muse If it was for Zadou, I could write a masterpiece!”
Yuuya clenched his fist passionately, looking all fired up Jin was looking at hi
(I've got mail?)
Jin took out his phone The e was from Zadou Sierra
[Geez, co over there just now? Anyway, you a~~-bsolutely have to sury]
(What the heck, what kind of emoticon is that)
When he looked over at Sierra, she was looking his way, her cell in one hand and a sharp expression on her face By being summoned by Jin, as her master, Sierra could level up as the Genie of the Lamp And, until she matured fully, her family had absolutely no source of income, so she was relatively distressed
(Forget it, just ignore it, it's got nothing to do withabused by Sierra, it's been nothing but trouble)
Seeing Sierra with her cell in her hands, one of the girls around her asked
”Sierra-sa?”
”Ah, no My servants just wanted to knohat sort of black tea I wanted for tonight's high tea (tea partaken at night)”
Sierra lied, then laughed boisterously with one hand held to her mouth
(Yeah, she can really put on quite the friendly act)
She could probably put on other acts as well, Jin conjectured
Elsewhere, fro an attentive eye on Sierra
The vice-president, second-year Hiure and a refined hair-style, with her glasses adding an intellectual air With a digital ca cover behind a tree with bated breath
”Zadou SierraYouthose two in front of other people, but I know for a fact from my part-time job at the pizza parlor that you were in their room at the boys' dorm”
The student council president and head of the boys' dorm, Konoe Ukyou was secretly in love with Sierra Ukyou was a eneral aversion to women, but Eriko could tell with her wo like the quiet, docile, and neat Yaht she wasEriko's intuition practically screamed
But, when she told him as such, he didn't believe her Without solid proof, she'd be considered a slanderer and Ukyou, as a man of justice, would inevitably coet a picture of Sierra going into the boys' room
”I' to expose you as the faker you are and open the president's eyes to the truth My plan's all set UfufuOhohoho!”
Eriko doubled over in laughter Her sudden outburst of laughter caught the students alking past off guard, and they started to stare at her Realizing they were all looking at her, Eriko quickly came to her senses
”Hohohoho, cough cough”
Or at least that's how she tried to play it off
Tachibana Dorm, the boys' residence hall at Harusha Academy, closes its doors at 6 o'clock when dinner is served After eating, the students were allowed to spend their time as they wished
Back in his rooies on his desk and set to work furiously writing aith a mechanical pencil
”Your fiery gaze o ”rockin' on”, you reckless soldieress of love You're a Riirl, oh so wild”
”What's really reckless and wild is your lyrics Please, did you even reference any of Rimbaud's works? I'd really like to hear you summarize your research in 100 words or less, if you don't mind”
Behind hily
”It comes out in the next line”
”There's actually more to this?”
”Rimbaud the hot-blooded poet, born in 1854 in Charleville, France You're Rimbaud, happy birthday baby
”Err, well, you certainly mentioned him”
Yuuya sat with his ar his pencil between his nose and his upper lip as he contemplated Jin's point
”So you must think it's too rockish rather than R&B too, then?”
”Yuuya, it ht be for the best if you don't try to read too deeply into it”
”Haa~, maybe I just don't have any talent I'll really have to try harder”
Looking exhausted, Yuuya collapsed onto his desk Jin gave hi slap on the back
”Cohtest hint of talent in you, so it's not gonna ht?”
”If that was soht want to work on it a bit”
”Is this contest really so soether some sort of half-baked concoction?”
”I don't get it, does your mouth run on auto-pilot or are you intentionallyit frivolous, but in a way, the light music club is more like volunteer work”
”Aren't you guys just doing it to stand out and be popular?”
”You idiot! Without us, only the donors and kids treating it as a fair would coirls from other schools come, y'know”
”Ok, so you get girls to come, how exactly does that make it volunteer work?”
”Sorry I guess for a guy ould sooner swoon at the sight of cuneiforument falls pretty flat”
”I don't care how much you bad cuneiform”
”I' the opportunity to uys would be plenty grateful And the ones who provide that service is the light music club, myself included”
”Even if they're in close proxireat of a chance of theirlfriend”
”MmWell, that's true”
”And, it doesn't mean you'll be able to either So, you don't need to burden yourself for such a thing to happen, and I don't get why you'd feel the need to stress out and try so hard either”
”Huh Rather than that, what I don't get is you losing yourself in a pile of books full of cuneifor around in the mountains”
”If you can't understand the allure of cuneiform, I feel sorry for you”
The argument between the two continued parallel It was obvious they would never reach a point where they understood each other Yuuya, deciding to give up, sighed
”Well, let's just drop it I guess no matter who it is, if so, they're bound to be looked down upon by others at so my hardest, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't ”
Yuuya went back to filling in the notes with his pencil He really seeized