Shakugan no Shana Assorted Shana Vol. II Audio Drama 2

A Flame Haze's Afternoon
Kana	フレイムヘイズの午後
Information
Album	Shakugan no Shana Assorted Shana Vol. II
Length	21:40
Release Date	March 24, 2006
Type	Audio Drama

A Flame Haze's Afternoon (フレイムヘイズの午後, Fureimuheizu no Gogo) is the fourth track and second audio drama of the Shakugan no Shana Assorted Shana Vol. II soundtrack. It is set sometime after episode 13 of the anime series.

While drinking at a park, Margery listened to the worries of Yoshida and later Ike, and gave them some love advice. Yoshida and Ike acted on her advice, causing mayhem.

Summary

Margery had just bought a cart full of alcohol from a liquor store, claiming she had kept her purchase to just one shelf of the store out of consideration for other customers. She planned to go to a park to have a drink, and Marchosias knew it wouldn't end with just one. Margery was looking forward to it.

At a park, Margery was already drinking whisky. Even though it was a weekday afternoon, there were no children playing at the park, and Marchosias was hit for his joke that Margery was scaring them away. Margery wished for a son of a sake brewery to pass by so she could become acquainted with them, but instead a girl walking her dog approached. Yoshida was being dragged along by her dog Ekaterina, who went right up to Margery. Margery believed that even dogs were drawn to her beauty, but Yoshida pointed out that Ekaterina was female. They talked for a little bit about Ekaterina, which led Yoshida to believe Margery was a ventriloquist due to Marchosias' voice coming from her book. Margery had no choice but to confirm that she was one, but her hesitance to perform for the eager Yoshida caused the latter to become depressed. Yoshida couldn't get an entertainer to perform and her love life wasn't going well either. Margery was in a good mood and urged Yoshida to tell her about her worries, stating that Yoshida could open up to her and receive objective advice precisely because she was a stranger.

Yoshida told Margery and Marchosias that she was in love with a boy in her class, who didn't stand out but was reliable when needed and had a unique smile. Margery was heavily drinking but seemed to still be listening. Yoshida first took more notice of the boy during a Phys Ed. class where she had collapsed from excessive running and the boy had bravely confronted the Phys Ed. teacher in rage. The evil Phys Ed. teacher had been impressed with the boy and offered to form an alliance with him to rule the world, to which the boy had declined in a cool way. A girl had then suddenly knocked down the teacher. Marchosias thought that the girl was the one who had been cool and not the boy, but Yoshida firmly denied that. Margery pointed out that Yoshida liking the boy wasn't a cause for worries by itself. Yoshida went on to say that the girl, Yukari, also liked the boy, and was coincidentally together with him all the time. Yoshida didn't want to lose to Yukari, but would always get nervous when with the boy, and believed she was only able to talk so much with Margery because she was a woman. Margery thought that Yoshida wasn't used to boys, but if she became used to them, she would be able to talk to the boy she liked like Yukari. She could then become assertive and use her large breasts to take the boy for herself, as according to Margery, all boys liked breasts and women should use them to their advantage. Margery demonstrated how to use big breasts by embracing Yoshida and rubbing her breasts on her, but Yoshida found it too embarrassing to do. To make Yoshida quickly become assertive towards boys, Margery told her to go and pick up a man. Though Marchosias thought it was too hard for Yoshida, and Yoshida herself was anxious, Margery told her to be brave and do it if she really loved the boy. Margery convinced Yoshida to go and talk to a man, preferably a son of a sake brewery. Yoshida went off and left Ekaterina with Margery.

Yoshida was walking down a street. She wondered if she was capable of going up to and talking to a random man, but was determined to do it in order to become closer to Yūji. She was thinking about what someone from a sake brewery would look like when a man approached and started hitting on her. As Yoshida was supposed to be the one to initiate, she apologized to the man and fled. The man was unfazed and moved on to the next woman in his vicinity.

Yoshida wasn't discouraged and tried to talk to the next man who walked past her, but her voice came out feebly and wasn't heard. She came to think that her nervousness with men was due to looking at their faces and thought she would be fine calling out to them from behind. Yoshida tried to pick up a man from behind, but they turned out to be Ike, who was shocked that Yoshida was picking up men. Yoshida was unable to explain the situation and ran away in embarrassment.

Margery approached with Ekaterina, disappointed that Yoshida had ran away. Ike recognized Margery as the lady who had fallen asleep on top of him at Misaki Waterland. Marchosias told Ike that Margery had been too drunk to remember, his voice leading Ike to also believe Margery was a ventriloquist. Ike was still shocked and Margery offered to hear his worries, experiencing déjà vu as she had previously said the same thing earlier that day. Ike told Margery about how a quiet girl in his class had been picking up men on the street. Margery claimed that Ike was in love with the girl, and though a flustered Ike explained that his feelings weren't clear to him, she was sure of it. She advised him to sort his feelings out by picking up girls in opposition to the girl he liked, and forced him to agree to it.

Ike was walking in town, thinking about pick-up lines, as he had never picked up a girl before. He spotted a somehow familiar girl in front of him and tried to pick her up by saying he loved her before she was born. The girl was Shana. Yūji rejoined Shana after going to the bathroom and she told him about Ike's pick-up line, which shocked him. Ike said it was a misunderstanding and changed the subject by attacking Yūji for being on a date with Shana despite accepting Yoshida's bentos every day. Yūji claimed to Ike that he had been forced to go melonpan shopping with Shana, but she corrected that he had said he wanted to go, as his mother had been about to make him clean his yard. Yūji changed the subject back to Ike, saying Ike should just say if he liked Shana. Ike's blunt denial of liking Shana made her angry, and though he tried to say he respected her, she stated that he didn't have a sufficient character profile to say that. Yūji thought bad of Ike for hitting on Shana when he didn't like her. Ike had his own circumstances that led to this situation and it would require a second CD to explain to Yūji and Shana, and though they wouldn't mind, he would. Yūji goaded that because Ike was like that, his screen time and presence kept disappearing. Ike snapped from hearing this unspeakable truth.

Yoshida had ran back to where she had left Ike. She thought she could explain the situation to him and get some advice, but wanted to be assertive like the ventriloquist had said. She spotted Yūji and Shana together, not noticing Ike was there as well. When Shana told Yoshida to go away, Yoshida asked why Shana was with Yūji, and the two started quarreling. Yūji told Ike to clearly confess his feelings to Shana in order to resolve the situation, but was shocked when Ike said he had picked the wrong girl to hit on. Yoshida used the move taught to her by the ventriloquist on Yūji by putting her breasts against him, which upset Shana. Shana also tried it and was distraught by the difference in sound effects between her chest and Yoshida's. Yūji commented that it felt like marshmallows and a washboard, which angered Shana and pleased Yoshida. Ike wanted Yūji to choose between Yoshida and Shana, but he couldn't in these circumstances. Ekaterina's bark finally notified Yoshida of her presence.

Margery was walking with the cart of alcohol, satisfied after drinking plenty and helping young people with their worries, though Marchosias thought she had made things worse. It didn't bother Margery, who thought that the young would worry and fall in love and grow up, and when they had grown up, they would worry and fall in love and drink. Margery decided to go back to Satō and Tanaka at Satō's house, where they would have dinner waiting. Marchosias teased her for her drinking, only to get hit.

Characters

• Margery Daw
• Marchosias
• Ekaterina
• Kazumi Yoshida
• Phys Ed. teacher (mentioned)
• Man - voiced by Daisuke Kirii
• Hayato Ike
• Shana
• Yūji Sakai
• Chigusa Sakai (mentioned)
• Keisaku Satō (mentioned)
• Eita Tanaka (mentioned)

Locations

• Misaki City - park

Quotes

• Margery: "It's alright, because even dogs can't help but be drawn towards beautiful women."
  Yoshida: "Ekaterina is female though."
  Margery: "This girl says too much."
• Yoshida: "Yukari-chan is coincidentally with him often. When we all went out, they coincidentally went home together, they coincidentally were walking together intimately early in the morning, and he coincidentally always calls Yukari-chan by a nickname. Well, it's probably all a coincidence though."
  Marchosias: "These coincidences have an awfully high chance of happening!"
• Margery: "Once you become assertive, all you have to do is let those big and soft-looking breasts do the talking and steal him for yourself."
  Yoshida: "Wh-what are you saying!?"
  Margery: "You idiot, why are you getting angry? Your bust is your weapon given to you by your parents! Men are all weak against them. As a woman, why wouldn't you want to use them?"
• Ike (to Shana): "Hey girl, I've loved you since before you were born."
• Yūji: "Uh, um, how should I put it, it's like the strange joint performance of marshmallows and a washboard."
  Shana: "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!! What do you mean washboard!?"
  Yoshida: "Marshmallows refers to me, right!?"
• Margery: "Oh, it's fine! While they're young, they have to worry, fall in love, and grow up."
  Marchosias: "Then what do they do when they've grown up?"
  Margery: "They worry, fall in love, and drink, of course!"

Trivia

• Yoshida told Margery and Marchosias about how she had collapsed during a Phys Ed. class and Yūji and Shana had confronted the teacher, in episode 04, though the version she told was dramatized and had fictitious parts to it.
• The Phys Ed. teacher can be heard screaming from being kicked in Yoshida's retelling. His voice actor, Daisuke Kirii, also does the voice of the man who approached Yoshida.
• Yoshida recalled Shana going home with Yūji after their friend group had went somewhere together, referring to the time they had gone to Misaki Waterland in episode 09. She also mentioned how she had seen the two walking together early in the morning, which she saw in episode 12. Due to this, "A Flame Haze's Afternoon" must take place after the Aizen Siblings Arc.
• Ike recalled how he had met Margery at Misaki Waterland, though Margery had no memory of this because she had been drunk.
• Ike mentioned how a friend had once asked him if he liked Yoshida, referring to Yūji asking him in episode 12.
• Yūji mentioning Ike's diminishing screen time and presence is alluding to a joke among the Japanese Shakugan no Shana fandom that Ike is a Torch. Introduced as the best friend of Yūji, one of the main protagonists, Ike is overshadowed in the story by Satō and Tanaka due to their involvement with Margery, and by Matake Ogata in slice of life parts of the story.

Cultural References

• When Margery was teased by Marchosias for saying she would have "one drink" using the word ippai (一杯), she rephrased herself using the exact same word by saying she would have "a lot", which is another meaning ippai can hold.
• As Margery and Marchosias were talking about Ekaterina being a Japanese dog with a foreign name, Yoshida stated that the dog's real name was Yoshida Dolgors[Censored] Dagvadorj. Margery then replied asking where the name Asa[Censored]ryū came from. These are references to the Mongolian rikishi Asashōryū Akinori, who was born Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj. When Assorted Shana Vol. II was released, Asashōryū was the sole reigning yokozuna.
• Yoshida described Yūji's smile as being somehow similar to the smiles of American actor James Dean and Japanese screenwriter James Miki, which are notably very different.
• One pick-up line Ike came up with was explaining that the expression ichi-go ichi-e, which means "a once-in-a-lifetime encounter", originated from tea ceremonies.