The Sunset I (夕日 I Yūhi I) is the third chapter of the Shakugan no Shana manga series.
The girl had assumed the existence of Yukari Hirai. Yūji knew that the girl was not Hirai and decided to call her "Shana".
Summary[]
Yūji arguing with the girl.
The girl responded that she and Alastor would stay near Yūji to bait the people who were after him, and sight-see at the same time. Yūji asked her what happened to Yukari Hirai. The girl said that Hirai had been a Torch, and was gone now because she had taken over it. Yūji was shocked as the girl said she had put her existence into the Torch, and thus now she was Yukari Hirai. Yūji objected, saying the two looked nothing alike, but the others in the class hadn't noticed and were more concerned with his raised voice. The girl explained that her existence had been exchanged for Hirai's, so she was now recognized as Hirai, and Yūji only finds it strange because the girl had influenced him. Yūji heatedly asked again what happened to Hirai, the girl who had been sitting there until yesterday, even though he did understand what the girl was saying to him. The girl explained that Yukari Hirai had never existed. She added that Hirai would have faded soon anyway, and Yūji would have forgotten about her.
Yūji thought about Hirai, a quite girl who hadn't stood out, and he didn't have any striking memories of her. She had just coincidentally been sitting next to him since school started in April, but Yūji knew she had been there. He didn't know if she had wanted to be remembered. He knew that the girl sitting in the seat now was not her, and he was perhaps the only person who remembered her. Yūji had an idea, and asked the girl what her name was. He recalled that the lady from yesterday had said she was "Alastor's Flame Something" but surmised that "Flame Something" was the name of the monster hunters. The girl looked troubled and said that she had no name, but was differentiated from the other Flame Haze using the name of her sword, the Nietono no Shana. Yūji decided to call the girl "Shana", and she didn't mind. Yūji then got friendly by using no honorifics and asked whether she would be okay taking the school lessons. Shana referred to the Japanese history textbook in a trivial manner.
Shana staring at the teacher.
It was English class and the classroom was dead silent. Everyone had their heads in their notebooks except for Shana, who was staring at the teacher's back with nothing on her desk. It had been like that for four hours. The teacher, trembling as he wrote on the board, finally turned and told Shana to make notes. He was instantly scared as Shana grilled him on the inadequacy of his teaching techniques, with fill-in-the-blank questions in random places and mistakes in his text because he was writing off of a book. Shana criticized his knowledge as a teacher, as he couldn't do anything without a manual and was bad at explaining. She told him to study before coming back to teach her. The teacher seemingly fainted.
Shana eating melonpan.
During lunch break, Yūji asked Shana to come outside with him, surprising Tanaka and Satō, who were even more surprised when she agreed. Yūji and Shana sat on a bench outside. Yūji watched as Shana happily ate melonpan and was worried about all the teachers she had scared off. He tried to ask if she had to say that much to them, but she didn't understand. While eating, Yūji asked if her pendant was a communicator. The pendant Alastor answered that it was a Divine Vessel called Cocytus for him to manifest his will from inside Shana's body. Shana said that Alastor was inside of her due to their contract. Yūji asked if she used to be human, which she confirmed, but she didn't want to tell him why she became a Flame Haze. After checking to see that no one was around, Yūji asked for a detailed explanation about the Crimson Realm.
Characters[]
* denotes if the character debuts in this chapter
- Yūji Sakai
- Shana (named)
- Yukari Hirai* (visualization)
- Marianne (flashback)
- Matake Ogata* (cameo)
- Mr. Okada*
- Eita Tanaka
- Keisaku Satō
- Alastor
Locations[]
Quotes[]
- The girl: "You only think it's strange because we've influenced you. Don't worry about it."
Yūji: "Of course I'm worried! What happened to Hirai-san!!"
The girl: "Argh... Like I've been saying, I am Yukari Hirai."
Yūji: "That's not what I mean!! What happened to the original Hirai-san, the "Yukari Hirai" who was really here until yesterday!?"
Yūji (thinking): "I understand what she's saying... but... but...!!" - Yūji (thinking): "Hirai-san... She was a quiet girl who didn't stand out, and I have no striking memories of her. She coincidentally had the seat next to me for about a month since April; she was just a classmate... but... she, Yukari Hirai had definitely been here. I don't know if she wanted to be remembered... but... the girl who was now sitting in the same seat, as Yukari Hirai, wasn't her. I know that. I'm probably the only person who remembers her... then..."
Yūji (to the girl): "What's your name?" - Yūji: "Nietononosha...?"
The girl: ""Nietono no Shana". It's the name of the long sword I have."
Yūji: "I see... then... alright, I'll call you "Shana"." - Shana (to the teacher): "If you plan to teach me, come back after you've done some studying."
Trivia[]
- Yūji remembered the name that Marianne had called the girl during their fight the day before, in chapter 1.
Cultural References[]
- Shana refers to a question on the board with the line: "That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet", a line from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
- For lunch, Shana eats melonpan and Yūji eats onigiri.