“Y-you guys better…” I clutched my head in my hands and turned my face down towards my desk.
Blam, Blam!
The sound of two gunshots resonating in succession instantly brought a dead silence to the class. Aria, red as a tomato, had drawn her two pistols and fired them without hesitation.
“R-romance?! Don’t be stupid!” Aria exclaimed.
A hole had been made in the left and right wall where each of Aria arms, spread like wings, were pointed.
Clink, clink, clink.
The empty cartridges that were ejected from the guns fell to the floor making the silence all the more noticeable. Idiot Riko, little by little, slunk back into her chair with her body twisted in a position as if she had been in the middle of some avant-garde dance. The rule at Butei High was students were not to fire their weapons “any more than necessary” when outside the firing range. In other words, it was allowed. Shoot-outs were a daily occurrence for Butei, which was what the students here were trying to become, so it was necessary to make them as desensitized to gunfire as any other soldier by exposing it to them regularly. That was the rationale, but…this girl must have been the first person to ever suddenly open fire during her self-introduction at the start of the new semester.
“All of you keep this mind! If anyone says anything stupid like that…”
It was the first thing Aria H. Kanzaki said to the students of Butei High. “I’m gonna open a hole in you!”
The instant it became time for our lunch break, I was plagued with questions from the other students, but managed to come up with an excuse to take my leave from those idiots and took refuge on the roof of the science building. I couldn’t answer any questions regarding Aria to begin with. I met her for the first time this morning, she saved me after my bike was hijacked, and then she chased after me with her weapons in hand. That’s as far as our relationship went. I didn’t know her personally. As I let out a sigh in a fit of depression, a few girls came up to the rooftop chatting. I recognized their voices. They were girls from my class—girls from the Assault division at that. I crept into the shadows like a wanted criminal.
“You know that e-mail notification that was sent out by the educational affairs department? The one about a second-year male student’s bicycle being blown up. Don’t you think it was referring to Kinji?”
“Ah, I was thinking the same thing. After all, he didn’t show up at the opening ceremony.
“Geez. Kinji sure is unlucky today. First, he has his bike blown up, and then there’s Aria.”
The three girls, sitting side by side next to the chain-link fence, seemed to be talking about me. With a rather sour look on my face, I decided to just hide quietly for the meantime.
“I felt kind of sorry for Kinji back in class.”
“I know what you mean. Aria was going around asking questions about him before the day could even start.”
“Ah, she asked me too. She wanted to know what kind of Butei he was and if he had any past achievements. I didn’t really give it much thought though. I just said, ‘He was pretty amazing when he used to be in the Assault division.’”
“I just saw Aria in front of the educational affairs department. I’ll bet she’s looking through his file right now.”
“Sheesh. She must be seriously head over heels for the guy.”
Being the center of their conversation, I just couldn’t help but listen in on them.
“Before the day could even start”? That means she started stalking me right after the hijacking incident.
“Poor Kinji. He already hates girls, and then of all the girls in this school, Aria sets her sights on him. I don't care if she was raised in Europe or anything like that; she seriously needs to take a hint.”
“But you know, Aria does seem to be a bit popular with the guys.”
“That’s right. I heard she got her own fan club right after transferring here during third semester. Apparently, the pictures that the guys from the photography club secretly took of her during gym are being sold at a premium.”
“I know about that. I’m told the Polaroid pictures of her taken during figure skating and cheerleading class go for hundreds of dollars. The same thing goes for her rhythmic gymnastics pictures.”
What kind of classes are those? Is this really a legitimate school?
“But the thing is she doesn’t have any friends, does she? She skips school a lot too.”
“And she’s always eating lunch by herself. She sits in the corner of the classroom, all alone.”
“Psh! How creepy!”
Listening to their obnoxious chatter, my gloom only deepened further. Having no interest in others, I wasn’t even previously aware of Aria’s existence, but she apparently had a personality that brought attention to her even here at Butei High, which was full of couples.
There was a specific time frame during which students were allowed to transfer out of Butei High School and into a regular school. Under Butei Law, students were required to register all their firearms and swords with the public safety commission, which is why students weren’t permitted to withdraw from school until April, when the time came to renew their registration. Furthermore, students who wished to transfer out of Butei High had to submit an application one year or at least six months in advance. I already had my application form filled out. I planned to turn it in shortly and leave the world of the Butei come next April. My only regret is having to leave my apartment. It’s a real nice place.
Evening.
Finally free of those idiots in my class, I slumped deeply into the sofa at my apartment and from the window, gazed at Tokyo’s sky, aglow with the setting sun. I’ve been living alone in this dormitory apartment since January of this year. Originally, these apartments were made to accommodate four people, but when I switched divisions, just by chance, there were no other males from Inquesta to share a room with, so I don’t have any roommates. Lucky me. It was a great feeling to be able to live as I pleased and in peace in this space where I wouldn’t be bothered by all the dumb couples of Butei High. Nothing beats solitude.
Ah, it sure is quiet…
This morning’s bike-jacking seemed like a dream. Regarding that incident, Repier collected the remains of the Segways, and Inquesta started an investigation. It might seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but the sad truth was that in the daily life of students at Butei High something as trivial as attempted murder wasn’t given too much attention. Due to having gotten too used to gunfights while in Assault and being pestered about Aria all day, not even I, the victim, was giving it much thought. Still…I wonder what that was all about. It was pretty malicious for a prank. Looks like our “Butei killing” copycat criminal is a bomber.
Bombers were one of the vilest types of criminals existing in this world, and they usually showed no discretion when choosing their targets. Generally, they gathered people’s attention by indiscriminately causing an explosion and then forced their demands on the society.
Ding-dong.
Does that mean that bomb just happened to be planted on my bicycle due to bad luck?
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
Or was I personally being targeted? But for what? Nobody had any reason hold a grudge against me.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
Oh, shut up!
Someone had been repeatedly ringing my doorbell for some time now. I was going to pretend that I wasn’t here, but it didn’t look like it was going to work.
What's going on here? I had a hell of a day today, and I’m dead tired. At least, leave me in peace after school is over.
“Who is it…?” I asked in a dreary, less-than-polite tone as I grudgingly opened the door.
“That took you forever! When I ring the doorbell, answer the door within five seconds!” came a stern voice.
In front of me was a girl with her hands on her hips and narrowed eyes the color of a reddish purple camellia.
“K-Kanzaki?!”
There was Aria H. Kanzaki, standing before me in her school uniform. I rubbed my eyes like a character in a comic book would, but when I opened them, Aria was still there.
Why is she here?!
“You can just call me Aria.” Before Aria even finished her sentence, she hopped over the threshold on one foot, taking off her shoes and dropping them by the door. She then started to trit-trot her way into my apartment.
“H-hey!” I made a grab for Aria in an attempt to stop her, but thanks to her child-like stature, she easily ducked out of the way. All I had gained from my efforts was the feel of her smooth pigtails as they grazed my fingertips.
“Wait a second! Don’t just come barging in here!”
“Bring my suitcase inside! Say, where’s the bathroom?”
Aria paid me no heed and went snooping around all over the place. Finding the bathroom rather quickly, she scurried inside and closed the door behind her.
…Not good.
This was Butei High. And the term “Butei” originates from “armed detective”. In other words, I had been tailed.
“And what does she mean by ‘suitcase’…?”