Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Empty 

Asleep as if dead, or dead as if asleep.

A fall so swift, as if dropping into hell at an irresistible force. A crash so soft, as if gradually ascending to heaven.

Warm memories, cold impulses, everything was gone. Only this emptiness remained. Swaying back and forth, like a boat thrown into the sea.

Help me! Help me! 

The screams shouted exhaustively. Desperate cries in front of the raging sea???black waves, black skies, black death. 

A hole opened on the bottom of the boat, dragging it into the sea. 

Can’t breathe. Nothing can be seen. Nothing can be heard. 

Guruguru, shi ~yurururu??guru. No matter how hard I flail my arms, I just splash the texture of the water in vain. 

“You are left with nothing. Because you are an empty shell, filled with nothing.” A whisper from the depths of that girl’s heart.

In her inner thoughts. Perhaps, because I can’t remember anything that I am dying like this. A cold hand caught the girl’s right foot, strongly dragging her into the deep sea.

Die, die, die, die, die, die, die. Live, live, live, live, live, live, live. 

Everything is empty. There is nobody at all.

Sinking, sinking, sinking. The girl was sinking into the dark space without end. Painful, painful,

empty, scary, painful …………lonely. 

Suddenly, the girl opened her eyes. At the bottom of this deep black sea, there was a faint glow. 

Forgetting the fear of drowning, forgetting the pain of drowning, the girl swam towards that radiance. How much pain and suffering can be forgetting by going towards it, the girl was a little bit surprised at herself. 

“Hurry, hurry, hurry. I’ll never touch it if I don’t grab this radiance now.” 

Like this, the girl inspired herself. 

She grasped it with trembling hands. It was weak, but surely still shining. Indeed, she should not be permitted; a radiance that did not belong to herself.

If sleeping is to die, then waking is to live. To live is to think. A girl was pondering over such an issue.

“??????Ahh.” 

That was the connection to this world. She slowly supported her upper body while stretching a lot. But the girl's sleepiness has not dissipated, so she slowly lied down once again. 

“Na??????” 

A sound only permitted while dozing off. Rather than cute, it was a very strange cry. 

But somehow, due to it sounding similar to the cry of a cat, she wanted to make another sound, but then she noticed something important. 

“…...Where is this?” 

After opening her eyes, the girl’s eyes fell into a panic. After getting up, her mind suffered from a shock. No, rather than a shock, it would be better to say that it was like an empty shell. 

A lack of knowledge, a complete lack of understanding of where she was now. 

“……Who am I?” 

In the first place, she didn’t even know who she was. 

Shoes worn well, clothes worn well, glasses not worn. 

There was a chest. 

Only these things were known. 

For the time being, I could understand that I am a woman. I was wearing white clothes and could barely understand anything. Otherwise, nothing was known, nothing could be remembered. 

In fact there was an air of indifference to this matter. The unnamed girl, who remembered what she just said, laughed at the ridiculous notion. 

And then. 

“I just laugh, and laugh, but ah, I wonder what should I do?” 

The unnamed girl twisted her neck, clutching her head with her hand while trying to remember about herself. 

……Just like the feeling of being surrounded by a thick fog. Or that is to say, memories and

other important things about herself have been completely plundered away. The girl turned to look at her surroundings.

It resembled a specially-customized and refined back alleyway. No, there should be some stains

and dirt in a normal alleyway. This place didn’t have even a speck of dust. 

From this unconceivable sight, this girl was unable to calm down. Being surrounded by these pure white walls, in every direction, made it feel more like being a prisoner in custody. 

“Anyway, let’s go ask someone.” 

Even if she tried to keep thinking, it would be pointless. She would be unable to solve this issue here. In that case, there was no choice but to move onward. 

She took a step forward. 

Leaving behind the alleyway and walking outside. 

“????????????” 

She was at a loss for words for a while. It couldn’t be helped with this unfamiliar city landscape. However, even though there was not even a single pedestrian present, it was not something that could be described with “nothing”. 

An uninhabited street, with a street light flickering and a store opened. However, the key element of people cannot be seen. Not even, a stray cat was present. 

“Is there anyone here?” 

The girl stood and shouted loudly in the middle of the road. But there was no reply. “Hello! Hello! Hello!” (TL note: First hello is said in English, second hello in Japanese, third hello in Chinese) There was no voice.

There was no sound. 

There were no people. 

Had time stopped or has humanity been brought to ruin? 

While enduring the anxiety beginning to spread, the unnamed girl continued to walk. When it became no longer just enough to walk, she began to run. 

“Someone??! Anyone??!” 

Even after running until completely out of breath, nobody was there. The only thing alive on this street was herself?? 

A dizzying spell. Although there were no memories, her common sense was screaming that

something was “unusual”. There must be no humans on this street. 

This was quite strange; this ought to be quite strange. 

“What to do? A dream? Is this a dream?” 

She lost her balance and collapsed. Even though she was lying on the middle of the road, there was not a single person who found fault in this. 

The unnamed girl struggled to resist the urge to laugh. Once she began to laugh, it felt that it would continue on until she died. 

The girl prayed for this to be definitely a dream. Since it was a dream, there was nobody on this street. Since it was a dream, it was normal to have no memories. 

Once waken up, this nothingness will disappear. She would return to her daily life??despite not having any memory of what everyday life was like. 

The collapsed girl looked towards the sky??getting up at last upon seeing a towering building. 

“……If looked at this from above……” 

If gazed upon from the tallest building, she should be able to see a panoramic view of the town. The girl rushed to the tallest building next to her, climbing up the stairs in a panic. 

It’s fine, it’s just an illusion. The circumstances of no one being here were simply by chance. Perhaps there was no one here because of a nearby festival. This building as well, happened to just have no one here. 

From the rooftop, everything would be understood immediately. The location of people present would be clear. 

Out of breath. Rapid heartbeats. Because of falling down earlier, there was quite a bit of pain coming from my shin. 

Since there was pain, this was certainly not a dream. 

She panted while running to the top of the building. After opening the door, there seemed to be something resembling a coffee shop or outdoor café, with stylish chairs and tables placed on the open terrace. 

……There wasn’t a single person. “But……!”

Grabbing the railing, gazing at the scenery unfolding before her eyes??she fell to despair. Nobody was here. Unbelievably, in this vast town, any creature other than herself did not exist. Her heart was in disarray. From this reality, perhaps it was impossible to leave forever……?

Katan, a sound coming from other than herself resounded. 

Turning around to look back. 

The girl may have called this bad luck. 

However, at this time, it was a miracle in of itself for her. 

“…………Is, someone, here?” 

A black and red Astral Dress that gave the impression of an icy cold beauty. 

Brilliant black hair, glittering porcelain white skin akin to a Bisque doll, and a slender figure. 

The girl in awe of this sight did not notice this abnormality. Normally, people standing so gracefully on top of a chimney should not exist. 

Her beauty can undoubtedly enable people to automatically ignore her anomalies. Ah, how pitiful of a backdrop this blue sky served for her.

The girl surely thought so. The one that best matched her tastes must be a dark night with a faint amount of moonlight. 

“……Excuse.” “……Excuse me!!”

Shortly after that greeting, a bang sound resounded. A strong wind pressure struck her ear. 

“?” 

As the girl stared blankly and tilted her head??their lines of sight intersected. Her eyes blinked.

“My apologizes.” 

A voice like a silver bell. After opening her eyes, she saw that the girl in the dark clothes descended down from the chimney and landed onto the ground in front of her eyes. Soon after, the girl noticed how truly beautiful she was. 

That pupil. 

A clock was engraved on the left eye of the girl in black clothes. The second hand made a ticking sound as it made a complete rotation. Then, as if echoing that rhythm, the minute hand pressed forward one step as well as well after each spin. The hour hand was rotating at a lax speed difficult to see with the naked eye. 

The beauty of an object working at a precise accuracy, it reached an even more so brilliant level with the radiance also exuded. 

The girl in black spoke with a shallow smile. 

“Inadvertently, I fired a shot.” 

Fired a shot? The girl tilted her head in confusion. 

“Sell? Hit? Shot? (TL comment: All three words are homonyms in Japanese) 

It was shot. 

Looking closely, the girl was holding an archaic styled short gun in her hand. Looking back, the coffee table had been crushed. 

“You shot at me!?” “Just shot.”

The girl’s back fell limp. Then, the girl in black spoke with a grin. “……Yes, you’re still alive. You are”

The girl asked with a stunned look. 

“……Are you an angel? Or a demon?” 

“When said like that, shouldn’t it be a demon? You ought to interpret it like that.” The demon snorted and smiled. Indeed, that smile did not radiate any warmth. “No, I think it is an angel for me.”

Faced with the girl’s words, the demon narrowed her eyes. 

The girl continued on. 

“……I don’t have a name. I am just Empty. What is your name?” “……My name is Kurumi.”

The girl in black, as if giving a supplication, said that name. 

“……My name is Tokisaki Kurumi.” 

“So, Empty collapsed on the side of the alleyway.” 

Kurumi’s scarlet-red eye, as if piercing though a target, stared at the unknown girl. 

“Yes! So, where is this place, who am I, and why is there not anyone here!” 

Confronted by Kurumi’s indifferent facial expression, Empty (for the sake of convenience, since

a name more appropriate than that couldn’t be conceived) kept talking on and on. “Is it not possible to ask your questions one at a time?”

“Ah??, uh??. So, who am I?” 

Even when faced with Kurumi’s giggling laughter, Empty refused to give up. 

“I do not recognize your name at all.” “That’s what I thought!”

“But, I know what you are.” 

“You don’t know who I am, but know what I am?” 

Empty tilted her head with a confused look. Kurumi informed her without delay.

“I, as well as you. We are not human beings, but rather an existence known as Spirits.” “……Spirit……”

Spirit, the word that Kurumi had said. 

Although the reasons were unclear, Empty could understand that word without knowing the reason why. 

“You, among them, are a type called a Quasi-Spirit.” “A……Quasi-Spirit?”

“There’s not the formidable power of a Spirit, but certainly more than a fleeting human being, an existence like a mirage. Although having said that, since you’re not human you’ll suffer no illnesses, no hunger. Traffic accidents cannot occur. You can also fly in the sky. Correspondingly, a powerful ability may also be serviceable.” 

“Seriously!?” 

How amazing, it was worthy of being bestowed the name of being a Spirit. 

“But since you were just born, it would be impossible for you”

“Gakuri……” (TL note: Original Japanese is ??? a Japanese onomatopoeia for a falling effect used to express shock. There’s not really

an English equivalent, so I just went with the romanji) 

Kurumi let out a giggle. It seemed that she found Empty’s reaction to be pleasing. 

“Additionally, here is the world where only Spirits live, a place where once former humans live. Both heaven and hell. ??It is called the neighboring world.” 

“……Neighboring, world.” 

Both heaven and hell, for those that were once human??the world where Spirits lived. 

“Of course, it is difficult to survive in this neighboring world. Although you won’t necessarily die, it is quite hard to live here. Incidentally, nobody will take care of you here. Everything must be done relying only on yourself and so on.” 

“I-is there a supervisor……?” 

“As far as I know, I have never encountered an adult here.” 

“Then……then, uhh perhaps. I who have no memories and no relatives……” 

Was this not despair? Was this not hell?

“Well, this inquiry is finished. Now then, if you may please go, I am very busy.” “But you look to be free.”

“Merely just an appointment that’s all. ……Look, it’s here.” 

Wondering who was coming, Empty turned her head to look back. There was no one at the entrance to the roof. Just as Empty was thinking, a voice poured down from above. 

“Which person is the one who called me?” 

The voice echoed from the sky. Confused, Empty looked upwards, there another girl stood. It was a girl dressed in white and blue. 

Her hairstyle was in sharp twintails resembling an insect’s antenna. Her short skirt was fluttering against the wind as there was hint of malice in her eyes. And one more important point, she was floating in the sky. 

“Sky……flying……” 

“The one who called you is me.” 

Kurumi replied back while taking a step forward. 

“I suppose. But what about that child over there? An assistant?” 

“It doesn’t matter if you let her go. Since that is just an empty that has just formed.” 

Ah, the girl nodded in the air as if understanding that. 

“So, then you were the one who called me. Is that correct?” “Yes, that’s right. Inui Yume-san.”

Inui Yume, the so called name of this girl, gave a smile full of confidence. 

“I didn’t intend to drag in someone who had just taken form. Come to the sky.” “Certainly.”

Tap, Kurumi gently kicked against the concrete floor. Only by this action alone, her body began floating in the air. 

“Ah……” 

Empty couldn’t help unintentionally let out her voice. Seeing that, Yume sneered. “That expression is just like an abandoned dog.”

“Clearly she’s been tamed before raised, but I guess that’s unavoidable for an abandoned dog.” 

Cruel remarks passed as banter. 

“I still have a mountain-load of questions to ask!” 

“……I know. Then, please wait here. I will be back soon.” “Haah. Uh, what are you going to do?” 

Listening to that question, Kurumi and Yume both smiled together. Smiling, making a facial expression as candidly as possible while they both made that declaration. 

“Slaughtering each other.” 

The two immediately flew into the air like birds. 

Empty pressed her head against the fence as she watched on desperately??something resembling two people confronting in a match could be confirmed. 

Tokisaki Kurumi and Inui Yume were facing off against each other. 

For a while, Empty stood dumbfounded, her shoulders abruptly shaking from the thunderous roar. The two people floating in the air began to dance against each other in the sky.

Nevertheless, that alone was still within a permissible range. Meeting people who could fly in the sky in an uninhabited town was undiluted fantasy. But what they were doing was?? 

“Really……killing each other……” 

Shooting with a gun. 

Soaring through the sky. 

Trying to stab your opponent with a sword. 

That is to say, no matter what flowery language was used to modify this, it was perfect attempts at mutual massacre.