  We consider a solution $u(\cdot,t)$ to an initial boundary value problem for
time-fractional diffusion-wave equation with the order $\alpha \in (0,2)
\setminus \{ 1\}$ where $t$ is a time variable. We first prove that a suitable
norm of $u(\cdot,t)$ is bounded by $\frac{1}{t^{\alpha}}$ for $0<\alpha<1$ and
$\frac{1}{t^{\alpha-1}}$ for $1<\alpha<2$ for all large $t>0$. Moreover we
characterize initial values in the cases where the decay rates are faster than
the above critical exponents. Differently from the classical diffusion equation
$\alpha=1$, the decay rate can give some local characterization of initial
values. The proof is based on the eigenfunction expansions of solutions and the
asymptotic expansions of the Mittag-Leffler functions for large time.
