“Um…thanks for always helping me out like this.” “Hm? Oh, thank you too, Kin-chan…thank you very much.”
“Why are you saying thanks? More importantly, don’t bow at me with your fingers on the ground. It looks like you’re kneeling down before me or something.”
“T-that’s because you were kind enough to eat the food I made, and then you thanked me so graciously…” said Shirayuki in a thin voice and lifted her face, gleaming with happiness and eyes glistening.
Look here, why are always so timid? You should stand tall, stick out your chest, and be confident in yourself. After all, you do have an amazingly large chest. As I was thinking this, just by chance, (it really was just by chance) I happened to catch a glimpse of Shirayuki’s chest. With the upper part of her body leaned forward in a bow, Shirayuki’s blouse was hanging loose around her breasts. Shirayuki’s impressively deep cleavage was clearly visible, as well as the black lacy bra enveloping it.
B-black?! Are you serious?
Flustered, I turned my eyes away from the scandalous garment unbefitting a high school student. Even so…
I could feel that dangerous sensation. It was like a surge of blood at the very core of my body. Don’t go there. I’m abstaining from that sort of thing.
“Thanks for the meal.” I jumped to my feet as if I were trying to run away from Shirayuki.
Phew. Looks like it’s gonna be okay.
Shirayuki cleared the table with the utmost efficiency and proceeded to bring me my Butei High school uniform, which had been spread out on the sofa.
“Kin-chan, as of today we’re starting our second year of school, aren’t we? Here’s your bulletproof uniform.”
After I put on the jacket, Shirayuki brought me the pistol that was sitting by the television.
“Today’s just the opening ceremony. I don’t need to bring my gun, do I?
“Of course you do, Kin-chan. It’s school regulation,” said Shirayuki immediately getting on her knees and attaching a holster to my belt in which she placed the pistol.
School regulations…
“All Butei High students are required to carry their pistol or sword with them while on school grounds.”
Yeah. Definitely not normal. The abnormality of Butei High is enough to make me sick to my stomach.
“Besides,” Shirayuki continued, “there’s always the possibility another ‘Butei killing’ could happen…” Still standing on her knees, Shirayuki cast an apprehensive upward glance at Kinji.
“Butei killing?” “You know, the serial murders that we were notified about by e-mail at the beginning of the year?
Oh, that’s right. There was an incident like that, wasn’t there? If I recall, a bomb was planted in the car or some other vehicle of a Butei, forcing the victims to keep driving. They had a radio-controlled helicopter armed with a machine gun following them around. In the end, they wind up plunging into the ocean. I’m pretty sure that’s how it happened.
“But they arrested the perpetrator, didn’t they?” I asked.
“B-but a copycat crime could always take place. And I divined your future this morning. It said you would have trouble with women. If anything were to happen to you, I… I…” said Shirayuki who began to snivel again.
Trouble with women, huh? You could say it was right on the money. I’ve had to deal with this person right at the start of my morning. She’s starting to tear up again. If I lose points on my student evaluation again for violating school regulations, my goal of transferring to a normal school is going to be that much harder to achieve. I guess I’ll do what she wants and arm myself at least.
“All right, all right. Look. You can be rest assured now, right? Come on, stop crying.” I let out a sigh and took a knife—a butterfly knife that was a memento from my older brother—off the shelf, which I then placed in my pocket.
For some reason or other Shirayuki was gazing at me with an enchanted look in her eyes and placed her hands on her cheeks.
“…Kin-chan, you’re so dashing. You really can tell that you’re from a family that’s been a ‘hero of justice’ for generations.”
“Please, stop. I’m not a kid,” I said disdainfully. All the while, Shirayuki, in high spirits, took out a black nametag and affixed it to the chest pocket of my jacket.
“Kinji Tohyama,” it read.
There was a rule at Butei High, which stated that all students must wear nametags during the first month of the semester. I intended to disregard that rule, but it would seem Shirayuki predicted as much and prepared a nametag for me. Just what you’d expect from a dependable superwoman who was the student body president, as well as the president of the horticulture club and handicraft club. Not to mention, she's the captain of the girls volleyball team, and has a student deviation value of seventy-five. For a loafer like me, that made associating with Shirayuki rather difficult.
“I’m gonna check my e-mail before I head out. You go on ahead,” I said.
“Oh, then while you’re doing that, I’ll take care of the laundry and the dishes and–” “Don’t worry about it.”
“O-okay. In that case…um…I’d appreciate it if you would text me later,” Shirayuki said hesitantly with a slight bow. When she got to the door, Shirayuki made another deep bow and left the apartment, just as she was told.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
What a hassle. She finally left.
I sank heavily into the chair in front of my computer and idly checked my e-mail and various web sites. As I idled away my time, before I knew it, the clock was approaching seven fifty-five.
Ah, crap. I wasted a bit too much time. I’m not gonna make the seven fifty-eight bus.
The rest of my life. That’s about how long I would regret missing the seven fifty-eight bus that day. The reason being because before long, a girl was going to come falling out of the sky—a girl by the name of Aria H. Kanzaki.