Why was everyone afraid of them? Even though they were desperately protecting Tokyo Area, why were all the looks at them of spite or fear? Outside, there were two thousand Gastrea. Inside, there were violent people who discriminated against them. Even though this was the time for the whole Area to come together as one… “Excuse me…” Looking back, the girl was standing with a smile of gratitude mixed with remorse. Rentaro looked at the girl’s blood dripping onto the ground and silently took out a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his uniform, applying pressure to the wound as he bandaged it. The wounds that had not been applied by the Varanium knife were already on their way to healing naturally. After the first-aid treatment was completed, she seemed to calm down somewhat, and the girl lifted her face gently, suddenly stretching out her hand toward him. Rentaro pulled away for a second, but she did not seem to mean him any harm, so he let her brush her hands over his face and shoulder. “I remember your voice and face, Mr. Civil Officer.” The girl smiled more deeply and blushed. “You’re my type.” “Idiot. You don’t have to thank me. Just get out of here right now. Try coming here again, and next time, I’ll be the one to hurt you! Got it?” He meant to scold her, but the girl did not seem the least bit afraid. She just kept smiling and picking up money, rolling up her rush mat and putting it under her arm, thanking him over and over. “Please allow me to thank you one day when I have time.” “Don’t come!” The beggar girl waved her hand at the busy street as she left. Rentaro pressed his temple with his left hand. Damn it, does she really get it? But he was glad he made it in the nick of time to save her. As he turned on his heel with that sense of satisfaction, something suddenly gave him the chills. Behind him, there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The wind blew on Rentaro’s cheek and then blew away. As he rode the train, he couldn’t get the eyes of the crowd out of his head. 4 A little while after he got back to the tent, Enju came back from the outdoor classroom along with Tina and Kisara. “I have returned!” “How was school?” Rentaro asked. Enju couldn’t contain her excitement and flapped her arms. “Today was fun, too. Kisara wasn’t popular at all.” “Huh? Kisara?” Tina looked confused. “Big Brother, you are very popular. When President Tendo said you were off today and that she would be teaching all day, there was a lot of booing…” When he looked at the woman, she turned away in indignation. “Miss Kisara is not popular at all!” she parroted. “Well…I like Miss Kisara?” he offered. “Stop trying to console me.” Then what am I supposed to say? As Rentaro floundered, a voice interrupted them with, “Ma’am.” It was Tamaki. “While you were gone, a strange man came by and brought this—” He pulled out a sealed manila envelope from his chest. “Oh, that was fast. They finished looking into it, huh?” Kisara gave Tamaki a curt “Thanks” and took the envelope, unsealing it carefully. “Kisara, what is that?” Rentaro asked. “Remember, Satomi? You said yesterday that maybe there was a problem with the Monolith, right? I got someone to look into it.” Kisara twitched as she read over the few pages of materials in the envelope. She crumpled the papers in her hand, and her fingers trembled and turned white. Rentaro could tell something was strange. Wondering what was going on, he snuck a look at Kisara’s face—and he almost died from shock. “H-hey, Kisara…?” “I’m going outside for a minute.” “Hey!” Rentaro’s words were left behind as Kisara quickly turned and left. He had no time to hesitate. Stumbling, Rentaro quickly pulled on his shoes and rushed outside the tent, looking around. He didn’t have to look for long to find Kisara walking in front of him, heading toward another party that was sitting around a campfire. Without saying a word, she threw the documents into the fire. The people sitting around the campsite looked up in surprise, but their intruder walked away without a word after making sure the documents were aflame. After it was obvious she wasn’t coming back, Rentaro ran to the fire pit, pushing the people around it out of the way. There it was. Without a moment’s hesitation, Rentaro stuck his right arm into the conflagration. He hadn’t thought to cut off the pain sensors in his arm, and he gritted his teeth in pain. Even so, Rentaro’s arm remembered what it had to do. Sticking his arm into the depths of the brightly burning flames, when he finally passed his limit and had to pull his arm out, his smoking artificial arm was grasping a half-burned piece of paper. “H-hey, what are you guys doing?” Ignoring the bewilderment of the neighboring party, Rentaro apologized silently to Kisara and unfolded the scrap of paper. He groaned involuntarily and staggered a few steps. What is this? Why…was this name…? Rentaro followed Kisara’s back with his eyes, and seeing that she was far away, looked back at the scrap of paper that now sported blackened edges. It appeared to be the end of the document. AS STATED ABOVE, MONOLITH 32 APPEARS TO BE A YOUNG MONOLITH BUILT NEAR THE END OF THE GREAT GASTREA WAR. THE ORDER FOR THE MONOLITH TO BE BUILT WAS PLACED BY THE PARTY OF THE CURRENT VICE MINISTER OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND TOURISM, KAZUMITSU TENDO… Kazumitsu Tendo. The grandson of Kikunojo Tendo and one of Kisara’s much older brothers. In the past, when Rentaro had lived in the Tendo residence, Kazumitsu had also still lived there, so Rentaro saw him many times. Why was Kazumitsu’s name here? It was hard to deduce the rest of the document’s contents from the excerpt. However— Rentaro’s shoulders shook. In the back of his mind, he recalled the profile of Kisara’s face he had seen earlier in the tent. She had been sneering. She had on her revenge face, one that she would never show in front of the girls. 5 The wind was blowing strong the next morning, making the curtains of the tent flutter. The weather wasn’t bad, but the clouds drifting in the sky were passing by at great speeds. “You’re going today, too?” Tamaki stood by the doorway to see them off, but he looked more solemn than usual. “Yeah,” said Rentaro. “Why do you still have to go to school at a time like this? I don’t get it,” said Yuzuki, furiously combing down her blond hair. Next to her, Enju raised her hand energetically and answered, “It’s because it’s a time like this!” “Huh?” Yuzuki sounded like she truly couldn’t understand. Rentaro thought she had a point. He also wasn’t confident that he could explain his actions to other people. From the adjacent two-person tent, there were the sounds of hurried morning preparations. When Rentaro went to wake its residents this morning, Kisara and Tina were both still sound asleep. The two of them seemed to have trouble falling asleep the night before and finally slept, but only when the sky was already turning light. Rentaro looked up behind him and gazed at the bleached Monolith. There was one day left. Gado had decided to let everyone have the whole day free. Apparently, because today was the last day, he intended for everyone to enjoy it. It was true that if they didn’t see their loved ones now, it was possible that they would never see each other in this world again. And Rentaro naturally chose to spend his last free day as Mr. Rentaro. It was a strange feeling, though. At first, he had been forced to do it against his will, and he hadn’t planned on getting into it that much. Tamaki looked at him with an even more dubious expression. “Won’t this just increase your regrets?” “Maybe, but I need to at least say good-bye.” “Well, as long as you get it, just make sure you don’t come back all gloomy.” “What about you guys?” This time, the Katagiri siblings looked at each other. Tamaki shrugged. “I guess I’ll eat something delicious to prepare for tomorrow and then go to sleep.” “You guys don’t have anything else to do?” “Our family and extended relatives were almost entirely killed by the Gastrea. There’s no one to say good-bye to.” Rentaro regretted his question, and paused before his next question, considering it. “Did you guys become civil officers to get revenge on the Gastrea?” Tamaki put both hands behind his head. “Hmm, I wonder. I don’t think about really tedious stuff like that.” “But I can’t believe you can just not think about it—” Tamaki cut him off. “The guys who bring grudges to fights with Gastrea are the ones who die early.” Rentaro felt like he had suddenly been stabbed in the chest. Tamaki pushed up the bridge of his sunglasses with his middle finger, as if he didn’t want Rentaro to see his sharp eyes peaking out from over the top. “Well, if I had to say, I’d say I was fighting for someone’s smile. All right, my sweet, shall we go back to sleep to prepare for tomorrow?” Yuzuki must have been sleepy, because she just nodded in agreement and somehow the two of them made it over to their sleeping bags. Rentaro had mixed feelings after catching a glimpse of Tamaki’s expression, but he forced himself to switch gears. Sticking his head into the tent, he called out to Shoma, who was in the corner of the tent taking apart his gun and cleaning it. “What’ll you do today, Bro?” Shoma shrugged and looked at Midori next to him. “We’re planning to start training in a little bit. ’Cause it’ll be problematic if my body doesn’t move when I need it to.” Both the Katagiri siblings and Shoma pair had simple plans. Well, from their point of view, Rentaro and the others going to school without a care might have seemed like they were unaware of the looming danger. But just then, Tina rushed out of the smaller tent and said with an apologetic expression, “Please go on ahead.” She followed it with a bow. He gave an amicable wave to show he understood and guided Enju forward with a hand on the back of her shoulders. If they left now, even if they got there in the shortest amount of time, they would still be quite late. And so, the last day started quietly. Rentaro bought tickets for District 39, and they got on the train. On the trains between the Outer Districts early in the morning there were almost no passengers, and it wasn’t that hard to find a train car that was completely empty. Turning their backs toward the orange sunlight shining from the east, they sat next to each other on the red velvet seats. As the train left the station, their bodies swayed and the hanging straps quivered. Finally, the train car accelerated slowly, and there was the rhythmical vibration of the train passing over the tracks. The shape of the shadows changed by the second, and moved from left to right. Rentaro’s back, which had absorbed the morning sunlight, was nice and warm. It was hard to believe that today might be Tokyo Area’s last. Once tomorrow came, they would be fighting a decisive battle against two thousand Gastrea, led by Aldebaran, a force that would be unimaginably strong. It was sure to be a fierce battle unlike anything Rentaro and the others had ever experienced before; there was no guarantee that Rentaro or Enju would be alive to breathe after these next battles. Because they both understood this implicitly, the early morning air seemed fraught with tension. Because of how short the time they had left was, even this casual time seemed like something irreplaceable, a halo that made the world sparkle. “Enju, are you having fun at school?” Rentaro asked. She narrowed her eyes and rubbed her head against Rentaro’s chest comfortably. The girl smelled sweet, like sunlight. “Yes, I am having so much fun. Thank you, Rentaro.” “If you’re having fun, it’s because you’re working hard.” Enju lifted her head and shook it, still clinging to Rentaro’s chest. “I know that you and Kisara secretly stayed up at night looking for the best school for me to attend while tapping on the calculator.” Rentaro was taken aback. “You were watching?” Seeing Enju smile wryly, Rentaro had mixed feelings. He didn’t really want a child to know about this kind of real-life cost-benefit analysis. “I am grateful to you, Rentaro…,” said Enju. “And I guess I’m a little grateful to Kisara, too.” Putting his arm around the pouting Enju, he hugged her to his chest. “It was worth the hard work, then.” Enju’s upturned eyes blinked and wavered with unease as she looked at him. “Rentaro, is it not fun for you to be a teacher, after all?” “Well…” Rentaro looked at the groups of ruins passing by the window. Most of the buildings had collapsed, and only the sky was vast. “I’m having fun.” “What?” Once he admitted it, he felt the worry lift from his chest. The next words he spoke came out pretty honestly. “No matter what started it, I’m having fun right now. It’s because of you, Enju. Thanks.” At first Enju’s eyes widened, but then slowly her expression changed to a smile, and she hugged Rentaro’s arm, overcome with emotion. Rentaro was about to protest, but seeing the charming expression on Enju’s face, he held his tongue and let her hold him. The sound of the train shunting along the rails and ties was softly buried in silence, and time passed peacefully. Rentaro didn’t know how much time had passed when it was announced that the train had reached District 39, and he urged the reluctant Enju to get off. When they left the station, wind came from below that seemed to roll up and push at their backs. Walking with the girl on the already familiar streets in front of the station, their view was soon filled with ruined buildings. As they walked, he collected his thoughts. Today’s classroom would probably also be full of kids from the Outer Districts. But since today might be the last day, he decided he’d talk about hope and happiness. After they walked for a while, Rentaro saw a mountain of trash blocking their way. Once they got past that, the open meadow would be spread out in front of them. And as long as they had a blackboard and students, it didn’t matter where they were—it was a classroom. The closer Rentaro got to their destination, the more nervous he got. But for some reason, it wasn’t a comfortable nervousness but an ominous premonition. Just then, Rentaro noticed an unpleasant smell and covered his mouth and nose with his hand. Was it the smell of something burning? Why? When he saw a police officer from afar, Rentaro’s heart skipped. The whole area was cordoned off with caution tape. That was exactly the place Rentaro and the others used for their outdoor classroom. Even though he had no idea why the policeman was there, all his hairs stood on end nervously. The eyes of the hoodlums from the city flashed through his mind. “The ones you civil officers are protecting are those brats after all, huh?” As the distance between them shrunk to ten meters, the policeman also noticed them and walked over. “Enju, stay here…,” Rentaro whispered. “R-Rentaro?” Leaving Enju, Rentaro went to face the officer and exchanged a few words. There was sadness in his face. Finally, the man opened his mouth. His words were few, and cruel. The blood drained from Rentaro’s face. The things around him faded into oblivion, and the scene twisted. He didn’t hear anything else the officer had to say. He even forgot to thank the officer as he turned around and returned to Enju. When Enju saw his face, she froze. Fearfully touching his face with his hands, he felt his dried-out skin and tense muscles. “Enju, let’s go home. You don’t have to go to school today.” “Wh-why? Why all of a sudden—?” Rentaro didn’t say anything. “Then, early tomorrow morning for just a little bit…” “You don’t have to go tomorrow, either.” Enju gasped. “Then, then, after we finish fighting—” “You don’t have to go the day after, or the day after that, or the day after that.” Rentaro put both hands on Enju’s shoulders and met her eyes. “Enju, listen to me calmly—” His nails almost dug into her shoulders. He couldn’t meet her eyes and looked down. “A bomb exploded in our class. Because of that news report.” 6 Rentaro followed along as he was taken through the gloomy building with moldy black concrete and was made to wait in front of the door. He lifted his eyes to read the words on the sign over and over and tried to reconnect with the reality that he had lost, but he couldn’t focus, and his thoughts were disordered and fragmented. Finally, the door opened, and a police officer in his late thirties appeared wearing white nitrile rubber gloves, and he beckoned Rentaro listlessly. It would have been nice if it had been Inspector Tadashima, whose face he knew, but it appeared to be a different jurisdiction. Rentaro made a silent bow and went inside. It was a concrete room with an area of about six tatami mats. The lighting was dim, and it smelled of incense. The inside was full of stretchers covered with white cloths, and because it was summer, a sour smell was mixed in. There were a total of nine inside. There were apparently more in the room next door. Rentaro shook his head. He just wanted to yell at them to stop messing around. There was no way this was reality. Just let me wake up from this ridiculous dream right now. He was overcome with the desire to yell that out. However, no matter how long he waited, the nightmare would not end. The inspector with the tired eyes spread his arms perfunctorily. “Well, it’s great that you can confirm these. It’s kind of soon but take a look.” Saying that, he roughly flipped back the first white sheet. As he did so, the cloying smell of blood spread, and Rentaro gagged and covered his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut. The body in front of Rentaro forced him to confront the reality that he had been half avoiding. He would be having nightmares every night for a while and did his best to swallow his nausea. After he calmed his heaving stomach, the first thing he heard was the sound of the air conditioner running. Rentaro shook his head desperately with his hand still covering his mouth. “This is terrible… I can’t believe something like this happened…” “In order to increase its destructive power, a large amount of Varanium fragments were stuffed inside. It was terrible. The victims were Children who didn’t belong to any family registers, much less have IDs. You’ll have to verify their identities.” “What about Mr. Matsuzaki?” “Oh, that old man? He’s fine, but he’s laid up in bed from the shock.” Rentaro turned his head and, looking over the depressing number of stretchers around him, took a pair of rubber gloves selflessly. Had all of these been his students? There was no way. Yet his instincts told him that if he didn’t do something, the despair would swallow him up whole, and freeze his feet to the floor. However, that feeling was soon overwritten by hellish despair. Every time Rentaro lifted a sheet, his eyes encountered a new hell. He girded his breaking heart and carefully told the names of the girls one by one to the inspector next to him, who was taking notes with a binder in one hand. It was surprisingly similar to the morning roll call. He wondered how the perpetrators felt right now. Were they holding their stomachs and laughing because they were successful? Were they satisfied? Or did they feel the slightest bit of remorse? When the long hand on the clock made about one circle, the hellish torture finally ended. He was so completely exhausted that he could barely stand. Signing the documents and turning his back on the voice that said, “Good work,” he went outside, dragging his feet until he came to sit in the waiting room. He wanted to fall asleep then and there. Just then, a “Let go!” ripped through the hall. In front of him, he saw Enju struggling desperately as she was held down by two police officers. Shaken for a moment, Rentaro took a deep breath to calm his heart and walked briskly over to the girl, a stern expression on his face. “Why did you come here? I told you to go home!” “I want to see Micchan! I promised Sasana I’d show her Tenchu Girls next time!” Enju yelled. “Enju, you understand, right? They’re already—” “It’s a lie! They’re all lies!” Enju, you… Rentaro closed his eyes and rebuked his half-flinching heart. He knew what he had to do. Rentaro looked quietly at the police officer near him. “Throw her out.” Enju looked at him like he had betrayed her. “Rentaro? Rentaro? Rentaro…!” Listening to her wails grow farther away as she was pinned down on both sides and dragged away, Rentaro’s fist shook and he gritted his teeth. Just as she was out of Rentaro’s field of vision, suddenly, the officers on either side of her were knocked down, and Enju rushed back toward him. Her eyes were red. She had released her power. “Hey, idiot. Stop—” Before he could finish his sentence, he was blown back by a strong force, and the next thing he knew, his hands were on the ground. Looking back reflexively, he realized that she had gone into the morgue behind him. What had just—? The air trembled for a moment, but it could also have been Enju’s sob. But the next instant, a shriek echoed inside the police station. It was a scream the regular Enju would never have screamed that could crush the hearts of those who heard it. Rentaro closed his eyes hard and held his ears as hard as he could. He wanted to avert his eyes for just an instant from the harsh reality of it all. 7 When he pushed the iron door open, a strong, slanted gust of wind greeted him. The clouds were moving surprisingly fast, just like they had been that morning. Rentaro went to the fence and held it with his left hand, staring at the bleached Monolith in the distance. Civil officers couldn’t cry every time someone died. Hardening their hearts was something they all had to master sooner or later. Seeing that Enju had calmed down after crying herself to exhaustion, Rentaro went to the roof of the police station. Right before he left her, Enju was even able to muster the strength to smile at him to thank him for his consideration, but when Rentaro saw that, it made him feel the impending danger even more. Rentaro pulled out the bundle of handouts from his bag with his right hand. They were the future dreams he had his students write for fun after the quiz. Idol singer, actress, pastry chef, nurse, wife. It brimmed with various hopes that would never come true. Lynching and killing with bombs. What made the hearts of the citizens of Tokyo Area so devastated that they would do such things? In the past, Rentaro had been taught that humans possessed both high intelligence and virtue and were true social animals, that they were the beings closest to God. Then why did they kill each other like beasts? How could they destroy each other’s hopes and dreams? Why in the world could they machinate such stupid things? Damn it, he muttered in his heart. What in the world was I looking at? The ones who really needed a helping hand were those girls. There was a gust of wind on the roof, and Rentaro’s uniform fluttered. The papers in his hand were also blown up, making an arc in the sky, spinning and undulating as they danced in the air. Rentaro gripped the fence tightly with both hands, his body shaking. Sorry, everyone. It was my fault. I’m truly sorry. Rentaro gritted his teeth and looked up at the sky. The Monolith in the distance seemed to be pressing near to his chest. It was then that the cell phone in his breast pocket started to vibrate. Seeing the name on the screen, he hesitated for a moment but then finally pressed the button to pick up. “Can you talk now?” said the voice on the other end. Rentaro looked up at the Monolith and closed his eyes miserably. “I’m embarrassed to be part of the Stolen Generation. Even though they trample the Children and laugh, they still expect us to defeat Aldebaran… But we still have to do it… Damn it!” “You knew that when you first became a civil officer, didn’t you? You must carry it out, Satomi. That is what a civil officer does.” “But Kisara, don’t you always say to carry out justice? Tell me, where is the justice in this vat of filth that is Tokyo Area?” “That’s not it, Satomi. That’s why we have to fight. If we win and save Tokyo Area, then there may be a few more people who will abandon their swords of hate and change the way they think. Satomi, didn’t you say it in front of those girls, too? ‘Bear it. And don’t even think about getting even.’ Did you say that even though it wasn’t what you thought just because you wanted to look cool in front of those girls? That’s not it, right? Please, Satomi, let your mind be filled with righteous light. Don’t abandon your heart of justice.” Rentaro put his hand to his temple as he shook his head. “I don’t know what face to make as I fight beside Enju…” “I don’t know either. But you can’t run from her.” “…Being a civil officer is a terrible trade, isn’t it?” “But that’s why it’s worth doing.” Rentaro looked up at the sky and exhaled deeply. “Have you calmed down a little?” “Yeah, thanks, Kisara.” Kisara teased, “I’m actually a pretty devoted woman, you know.” “How’s Tina?” “She’s fine. She’s calmed down.” “Then, what about you…?” “I’m fine, too.” “I see…” If that’s what she said, then he was probably supposed to ignore the slight shaking in her nasally voice. Still, the anger that was budding inside him was like a banked fire, burning brightly at a high temperature. But right now, he would not think about the absurdity of it. He had to aim that spearhead at Aldebaran. Rentaro felt optimistic as he looked out over the Outer Districts. “Then, I’ll go back soon to see how Enju’s doing.” After Kisara gave herself some time to think, she was sure to say, “Got it.” But she stopped in the middle of those words, and the Kisara at the other end of the line shook violently, and he could hear her gasping breaths. “Hey, Kisara—” “It’s begun, Satomi.” Rentaro frowned. But before he could say another word, the woman on the other end of the phone spoke again. “Look at the Monolith.” Rentaro raised his gaze from the ground. A ripple of shock went from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. First, a corner of the rectangle collapsed. But that immediately led to the next collapse. The large body of the cracked Monolith finally couldn’t stand up against the Varanium corrosion fluid and let out a scream, and then nothing could stop the chain reaction. From where Rentaro was, he couldn’t hear the sound of the collapse, but that made the shriek of the Monolith even clearer. Abruptly, the whole bleached Monolith became fatally cracked, and the Monolith looked like it was shrugging its shoulders as it completely disintegrated. Chills shot down Rentaro’s spine. The collapsing structure looked like time-lapse photography, falling from its base with fragments peeling off. It would crash to the ground in no time. There was a roar, and Rentaro was suddenly hit with a rumbling from the ground—a shock wave—making Rentaro raise his arms and grit his teeth. The intense vibration shook Rentaro from his feet to his guts, and the shock wave blew away the surrounding debris, rotting signs, and sheet metal.
Chapter 43
25 min read