Hidan no Aria - Volume 12

December 1st. From today, I am a normal person. No matter where I go, I am an ordinary high school student attending this normal school. Without her sniper rifle or Haimaki trailing behind her, having taken off her usual headphones because they violate school rules, and wearing a blazer made of normal cloth, Reki looked surprisingly fresh… This is something I have to get used to as soon as possible.

This is our first time attending East Ikebukuro High, and it really does seem like an ordinary school–it’s normal. Wonderful! Unlike the buildings at Butei High that looked like some kind of secret base.

I don’t like the fact that it’s a co-ed school, but I can’t ask for too much.

My heart pounding, I changed into my indoor shoes and entered the school…

Just now, I began to search with my eyes for a pillar to use as cover out of habit, but that is no longer necessary. Students were joking around in the hallway, and there was not a trace of the smell of gunpowder. There’s a sense in the air that none of them are thinking about tactics or special skills. The people I see here don’t think about things like 『who they will team-up with to survive』.

This is the peaceful world I’ve always wanted…!

I’ve done it! After so long, I’ve finally made it. Finally, my dream has come true!

Eyes sparkling, without gun or knife, I entered the teacher’s staff room…

I was assigned to class 2-2 and Reki was assigned to class 2-1 so we were separated. The homeroom teacher in charge of my class–based on the what I could gather by reading the lips of the others students’ conversation as they passed in front of me–is the Phys. Ed. teacher nicknamed 『Gori』1 . Although he does seem healthy and fit, he is different from my last Phys. Ed. teacher who could flip a bus over single-handed. He seems like an ordinary middle-aged man.

Then…

With a noise, Gori opened the sliding door and entered the noisy classroom.

「We’ll start homeroom when you’re quiet… Today we have a transfer student to introduce.」

Like a school drama, Gori said this and took a piece of chalk…

『Kinji Tohyama』

Like a drama, he wrote out my name on the blackboard. My new classmates eyes were all turned toward me…

「If you have any questions, you can raise your hand later. Now then, why don’t you introduce yourself, Tohyama.」

He said that, and I…

「Y-yes. Uh… I’m Kinji Tohyama. I look forward to getting along well.」

In Butei High, it was pounded into our heads that when in front of a large group of people, one should not reveal too much about yourself. Falling back into this habit, I gave my name that was written on the blackboard behind me… and that was all. But apparently in a normal school, that was not enough, and hands shot up quickly. Before my expression could change…

「Show us a neat trick!」

A boy said.

It seems that no matter where I go, people are always asking me to do absurd things like that. However, I’m in trouble… The ‘normal me’–apart from the tricks that I can do opening and closing my butterfly knife that Shirayuki raves about–is pretty unexciting. Bringing a knife to school would be a violation of the rules anyway.

「I’m not very good at things like that…」

I said as I looked away.

「Do you have any hobbies?」

「Nothing in particular… Watching television and movies, I guess…」

「Any special talents?」

「Special talents… not really.」

And so it went on, and I was unable to give any kind of interesting reply. So everyone thought I was boring.

So I’m a boring person… but I already knew that.

***************************************************************

As homeroom ended, Gori said:

「If there’s anything about the school that Tohyama doesn’t know, please show him.」

Gori addressed this to the classmate sitting next to me and left me in their charge. The person he had designated walked over to my seat near the window in the back of the room and turned to face me. The girl turned around with a smiling face.

「Although Sensei already said it, if you have any questions, please ask me. I’m Moe Mochizuki. I’m one of the class representatives. Since there is a Mochizuki in another class, please call me Moe.」

The way she was talking, I could tell that she is trying to be kind because of the self-introducution that I flubbed so spectacularly. And she’s cute. It doesn’t make sense that she would be talking like this to me.

「Is there anything you want to know now?」

Her light brown, smooth hair was cut in a light bob, and going by her eyebrows, that is her natural colour. Her large, double lidded eyes were gentle. Her complexion was fair, her height 158 cm, and although perhaps not to the degree of Shirayuki or Nakasorachi, she has a buxom figure.

As an old habit from INQUESTA, I analysed each part of her appearance.

「No… Not right now.」

I couldn’t carry on a conversation with her. Ordinarily, girls were something I avoided like the plague… but how to say it? She seems like a good, normal girl. She could never be friends with a person like me– tainted by guns and knives. At Butei High, everyone–boy or girl–are all oddballs, so no matter what I said, I played the straight man. I was so firmly entrenched in that role, that it made it hard to talk to this normal girl.

In addition to Moe, until the short class break ended, a few boys addressed me, but for similar reason, I could not carry on a decent conversation. They all became bored and saying…

「Well, if you’re doing anything fun, call me.」

…leaving me with that, they were gone.

************************************************************

The lessons in a normal school are quite difficult. Now I am fully realising how lacking the academics at Butei High were, so I’ll have to work hard. From now on Calculus formulae and equations will definitely be more useful to me than knowledge about guns or the art of tailing.

As I told myself that, I heard the teacher’s voice as I read from my Ancient Literature textbook.

『At the end of the East Road, as one who had been born and raised inland…』

*Click*

Smith and Wesson M19 Combat Magnum–4 inch model!

From off to the side behind me, I thought I heard the sound of a cocking hammer being set… I snapped my head around, but it was just the sound of a classmate shutting their metal pencil box.

S-so similar!

Since such things were linked to many cases of accidental shootings, at Butei High we were told to curb such noises.

This is… no good.

Several people are staring at me with 「?」 looks on their faces. Even my neighbor Moe.

「…」

Unconsciously, I had moved my hand to where I used to carry my Beretta, but it was no longer there, so I withdrew my hand from inside my jacket and tried to act like nothing was wrong as I returned it to the desk and resumed the staring context with my textbook.

The *Clack* of a desk and chair scraping the floor, the *Pop* of a marker being uncapped, and the distant *Ra-ta-tat-tat* of power tools sounded like a Jericho 941 pistol being cocked, the pin of a MK-3A2 concussion grenade being pulled, and the rapid fire of an MP5-A4 sub-machine gun, respectively.

Out of reflex, I reacted by raising my guard…Trying to keep still and control the irrational body movements, a strange sweat broke out on my forehead.

Relax Kinji. These are everyday sounds. You are a normal high school student. A bullet isn’t going to come flying out of nowhere. Don’t worry, everything is fine. Focus on the lesson.

At lunch time, I thought to check in on how Reki was doing… But due to those noises, I am completely exhausted. It feels like the exhaustion that comes after finishing a battle in ASSAULT, so I went to the cafeteria and bought a sweet bun and some milk that I washed it down with as I sat at my desk.

「…」

Since making conversation isn’t my forte, I kept quiet and listened to the conversation going on around me. The topics were surprising:

Television Idol gossip.

The latest fad diet.

Which McDonald’s hamburger they liked best.

How to hide their mobiles from the teachers during class.

Bad-mouthing some classmate whose suspension had just been lifted.

–All frivolous topics. They spoke of nothing else.

Well, such conversation went on at Butei High. Such idle chatter was encouraged. Such talk, however, was merely garnish for professional communication between colleagues. The main topics were weapons, money, jobs, and fights. Our futures, how we would live, no, how we would make a living–that was the real issue. We earnestly discussed those things because they were vital to our survival. But here there is no talk of jobs. If there is, it is only to the extent of getting a part-time job to earn some extra cash. On the surface, it seem like they don’t think any of what they are saying is of much importance. It’s like a garden of idle chatter.

For that reason, I soon felt like I couldn’t enter their circle. How can I say it…? It all seemed so childish, and it seemed like they had all been sheltered from the real world. Like they were in their own little, isolated miniature garden world.

As I realised this outlook on the world was not one to which I could acclimate myself… from the side of the room, Class Representative Moe looked at me with with a little concern.

**********************************************************************

In the end, I couldn’t talk to anyone after all, and I went home after school.

…I’m exhausted. Even though I only sat quietly. Apparently at Moe’s prompting, a group of guys invited me out to Karaoke, but I declined on the excuse that I was tired. I’m an idiot.

I fell into a bout of self-loathing as class ended. Without my gun, I feel like my balance is off, and I went downstairs. The bulletin board on the wall had a sign 『To prevent the Flu, gargle with salt-water』 posted on it like the symbol of the school’s peace and harmony. There were no 『Do not illegally modify your weapons!』 posters or savage things like 『Severe punishment has been decided for the person who bugged the MASTER’s night-duty room』 or 『Big sale of surplus US Military equipment!』 on hand bills.

It feels like some kind of parallel universe… it has to be…

「…!」

I sensed someone had crept up behind me and moving my body out of conditioned reflex, I whirled around.

*Fwip*

I aimed a preemptive blade-like strike with my arm at their windpipe…

「…!」

Suprised, I stopped cold. The breeze created as I raised my arm to strike… gently ruffled Moe Mochizuki’s soft hair, causing a few strands to flutter.

「…? …?」

Moe was holding her school bag in both hands in front of her and stood there blinking for a while. Luckily, I recovered first and quickly offered an excuse.

「S-sorry. There was a fly, and I just… swatted it.」

I offered an apology.

「Tohyama-kun, what clubs were you in at your last school?」

I transferred at a strange time, so she was probably curious about the mysterious transfer student. Moe asked this as we were changing shoes.

「Well…really, I didn’t participate in many.」

「So is there anything that you want to know about?」

Moe must be super curious.

No, she must be feeling the responsibility of a class representative. She must have noticed the air of loneliness around me and want to do something about it as soon as possible. Gori pushed that job onto her after all.

I just want to get out of here, because I’m tired, but…

I feel bad about almost snapping that small neck of hers, so I’ll walk with her for a bit.

「As for me. I’m in the Housekeeping Club. We don’t have any boys, but… T-Tohyama-kun, how do you feel about cooking?」

Huh? Was that an invitation?

But why did she stutter when she called my name and turn away, dropping her gaze to the ground? Her soft white cheeks tinged slightly red. In the normal world, does inviting someone to your club require so much bravery?

「It’s an all girl club, so it might be a little… awkward.」

「Oh, yeah… T-that’s right!」

Moe said as her bushy eyebrows began to droop bashfully.

*Whoosh*

A wintry gust of wind blew and *Fwish*

…!

The wind lifted her plaid skirt up a bit to touch her ordinary blazer, and I looked away.

「N-no! That wind! It caught me by surprise!」

At Butei High, all of the girls show off their legs year-round, but even though the wind had only uncovered a little, Moe was embarrassed.

I had turned a little red too. How.. soft her thighs looked. They weren’t fat in any sense of the word, but the muscle-to-fat ratio of the girls at Butei High was totally different. How to say it… they were nicely rounded, and because of that, they struck a new chord of interest.

…Oi! Why are you thinking about such weird things, Kinji!?

At Butei High…you couldn’t exactly say that I didn’t cause any trouble… but that’s not the reason I was expelled! The headmaster himself signed off on it! But if I caused a problem (For example: Hysteria Mode) and was expelled from this normal school, I wouldn’t have anywhere else to go!

I absolutely cannot let down my guard. Even here. Girls are dangerous. At least for me…

**************************************************************************************

As I exited the school gate with Moe, a girl who was truly dangerous in several ways, Reki, was spaced-out and waiting for me. On her school bag, where normal girls would hang a stuffed animal… she had attached her dismounted sniper rifle scope. Well… It’s not like the average person would recognise it, so it’s fine, I guess. At her side, Haimaki was sitting like a stone lion temple guardian.

Apparently unable to do without them, Reki wore her headphones, and after hurling a pointed glance at Moe, she shot me a silent reproach with her eyes. What was that for?

「How did it go, Reki?」

「Nothing in particular. And you, Kinji-san?」

「The same.」

And so the meaningless conversation between 『Silence』–Reki–and 『Gloom』–me–ended after 5 seconds.

Although I’m completely tired out… Reki is calm and composed. She seems not to understand the meaning of fatigue. She must have some kind of mental hardening against tiredness. As expected of a sniper.

Reki then cast another sullen glare in Moe’s direction.

「Ah, umm… See you later, Tohyama-kun!」

Making a disappointed face for some reason, Moe hurried away.

**************************************************************************

As Reki and I walked side-by-side, the other students on their way home were casting furtive glances after us.

Is it so unusual for two people to walk together? That’s Basic Safety 101. There are some things in the normal world that I don’t get it at all.

Leaving school, we reach the Meiji Dori Street.

「You’re quick with your hands. As I thought.」

Oddly, Reki began the conversation, giving me the same reproachful glare as she did before.

「Are you misunderstanding what just happened with Moe? She chose to follow me on her own, that’s all.」

I answered, but Reki gave no sign. She’s pretending not to hear anything she doesn’t like.

「Besides that… Were you able to make any friends? It seems to be impossible for me.」

「I was.」

Surprised, I asked her about it, and apparently all of the girls in her class think she is so adorably cute that she is already quite popular. She was like a small, quiet, lovable pet. Already loved by her fellow school girls, she has been accepted into the Art Club.

Apparently my social skills are worse than Reki’s…!

Leaving me amazed, Reki trotted away from my side to a set of coin-operated lockers in the corner of a side street, and took out a suitcase from a vertical locker. It was her old friend–her Dragunov rifle.

「You… shouldn’t keep something like that in such a place. And you shouldn’t have brought Haimaki either. Leave him at home. It would be a big problem if he bit someone. Don’t carry around any guns or blades. It’s against school rules anyway.」

Feeling that the case was heavy, I hefted it onto my back with one hand, resting it in my shoulder as I spoke.

「Understood, but…」

「But what?」

「Please be alert. I sense several people affiliated with The Wind. It might be a coincidence, but they are not far.」

She said 『The Wind』. That was still stuck in Reki’s head? Well, I’ll return the favour and not hear anything I don’t want to. I worked hard to quit that school and become a normal person. Words like that harboured nothing good. If it isn’t going to do me any good, I’m not going to get involved. Right now, the most important things to me are my grades and relationships at school.

************************************************************************

From now on, I will live in my parent’s home, a little way away from the JR Sugamo station. The distance between my home and East Ikebukuro High is barely walkable. I wonder if they chose this school at Butei High because they knew that? Skirting the commercial district, we came to the residential area full of old stand-alone houses.

In an alleyway some kids were playing catch, a policeman was patrolling on his bicycle, and feral cats steered clear of each other… Rounding a tobacconist on the corner, going past a lumber shop, and walking a bit further on, we came to a traditional Japanese house– the Tohyama Family residence. Although old, it was pretty large.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it, since I’ve been home?

Going toward the door and rounding a corner…

「Oi! Gramps! I’m done sweeping the path. Teach me a secret technique.」

Saying that, a guy dressed like a Rock singer went into my house…

T-that was… G… 3…! No… it can’t be… What’s going on…?

Doubting my own eyes, I rubbed my eyelids.

「Don’t you know how to be a good neighbor!?」

Dressed in a kimono with a short traditional Japanese coat over it, stood my grandfather– Magane Tohyama. With a *Thwack* he struck G-3 on the head with his wooden getas, knocking him back out onto the path.

「You didn’t sweep the path between us and our three neighbors! Next time I’ll hit you with my fists!」

His all-white hair in a crew-cut, as my doddering grandfather 『Tsked』, the savage G-3…

…Meekly picked up the broom. But the one straddling the fence, reaching out with a pole to knock down the persimmons…

「Ooh! This one is the colour of caramel!」

Wearing a Butei High sailor suit uniform… Ka-Kaname!

*Slump*

Thoroughly exhausted, I did not merely hang my head, but sank to my knees.

「Y-you… Why are you here…?」

Before greeting my grandfather, my lips voiced the extremely obvious question.

「Oh… Aniki! That’s my line. I’m doing a home-stay.」

「Onii-chan, you’re so illogical. A granddaughter doesn’t need a reason to visit her grandfather, does she? Ah, but relax. We didn’t say anything to Aria and the others. We wouldn’t want to ruin our little family reunion, would we?」

My younger brother and sister answered in a boldly American-style. G-3 was monitoring me. He probably had tapped the U.S. Military’s ECHELON spy satellite he had told me about, borrowed it to track me down and then blabbed to Kaname who joined him.

It seems that after their huge fight and estrangement… they had looked back on things and made up afterward. Maybe, no… definitely, it was because of me..

This… goes beyond all expectations…

I doubt anyone could have predicted this. The former political bodyguard–the Genion, G-3, sweeping up a path in Sugamo.

Still straddling the fence, Kaname gave me a wink, and with a sigh, I stood up… Keeping an eye on G-3, I walked up to the door with Reki, and to my grandfather I said…

「…I’m home.」

Just that.

「Yes… It’s good to have you back.」

My grandfather… smiled happily. For that alone, I felt like it had been right to come home. But then my grandfather…

「Eh…? Is this pretty little thing yours?」

A lecherous glint in his eye, raising his pinky 2 as he happily surveyed Reki’s face.

「No, she came for her own reasons, but…」

「Hmm… The young girls are nice. E-hee-hee! She smells like mint, so I’ll call her Mint-chan.」

My grandfather was smelling Reki’s scent with the pointlessly sharp sense of smell that I’ve inherited when…

「Oh, Kinji. Welcome home. That’s a cute girl, isn’t she?」

*Boooom!*

Unnoticed, Setsu Tohyama had appeared–My grandmother–gave my grandfather a very strong short-punch3 .

With a 『Hrngh!』 that could not be called a proper exclamation, my grandfather was blown across the street with a *Thud* and *Crack*… into a concrete block wall, sending blocks tumbling with the impact as the wall was broken.

Th-that was… Cl-『Clear Fall Water』…!

That is the first time I’ve seen it. It’s a Tohyama Family secret technique. That was unexpected.

The power–the force behind it– in application, the amount of weight behind the blow it decides its velocity. In boxing, the force of a punch is limited to 『the amount of weight that can be carried in one arm』 but with 『Clear Fall Water』 『no body weight is left unused』 With that, what would such a blow become? Using almost no movement, a very strong short-punch can generate a massive amount of force. Just now, it was like my grandfather had been hit by a car.

In the Chinese art Kempo there are techniques known as 『Instant Strikes』 that resemble this technique, but 『Clear Fall Water』 takes this to another level. It looks like a punch, but actually, it’s a technique that employs the whole body. It’s something my Nii-san taught me when he explained that an 8 gram, 9mm bullet has so much power because of it’s velocity–light, but fast.

『Clear Fall Water』 is the opposite–slow, but heavy. My grandmother’s weight is 40 kg– 5,000 times more than a bullet. If you concentrate that into a fist for one punch, you’d only have to use a little speed.

Well, I understand the theory behind the technique, but…..

With theory alone, you couldn’t kill a fly. Thanks to my grandfather’s noble sacrifice, I finally had a front-row seat to catch how it was put into action.

I wonder if I can pull it off in Hysteria Mode…

「Oi, Gramps! You’re making more work for me!」

G-3’s angry voice was carried to us on the wind, as my grandmother…

「Come along, Kinji. There are bouquets of 『Golden Flowers』 inside. You too Mint-chan.」

Replacing both hands behind her hunched back, she strolled back into the house like nothing had happened. Grandmother… It seems that hearing I was coming home, she went out and bought them. Bouquets. When I was little, I liked those flowers, and apparently she still thinks I do. Rather, no matter how much time passes, in my grandparents’ minds, I will always be a little kid.

********************************************************************************************************

「Well, I never knew that Konza had other children out there…」

「I don’t think that Dad even knew, himself. Since Nii-san is alive, that makes us a family of 4 siblings.」

I talked with my grandfather sitting at the kotatsu eating the sweet buns my grandmother had brought. By the way, he was totally unhurt. I could tell when he was faking it.

Being on the receiving end of Aria’s daily domestic violence has only increased my stamina. In short, Hysteria Mode is easily triggered by angry women, so at least there are some positive side effects. My family are the carriers of this strange power.

By the way, before grandmother married into the Tohyama family (For some reason I was never told the full story), it seems that she belonged to a militant family. As a result, the Tohyama family wast able to perfect their martial arts to a considerable degree.

…I can only hope this is not a bad influence on Kaname.

The rooms in this house, starting with grandfather’s, are traditional Japanese rooms. Above the sliding doors of the room were some photographs of grandfather from his time in the army. On one of the walls of the room there is an alcove where a hanging scroll is displayed, beneath which grandmother’s floral arrangements are placed. Somehow they remind me of the way Shirayuki does hers. They probably studied the same school’s style.

「…」

By the way, Mint-chan–also known as Reki– was sitting formally with her knees under the kotatsu like a statue. She sat quietly like a life-sized doll. Reki gave off a feeling of discomfort as she sat , listening to us discuss private family matters without stirring…

「Well, looks like it will be a dead track this weekend.」

Grandfather is a bone doctor4 -cum-gambler with few patients left that somehow manages to make a living, and he is looking over a horse racing paper.

Thinking I would bring up the real reason I had come home I said…

「Grandfather, about school…」

Over the phone I had only given a brief summary, but grandfather’s white crew cut was still in his paper.

「Well there’s not much to say about it. Schools are like trains. You can transfer or even not get on. Konza came back crying when he was bullied. Even my grades were only third-rate. School doesn’t suit a Tohyama man.」

The conversation ended with such understanding and tolerance!

And I never knew that my Dad, nicknamed 『Demon Prosecutor』 was such a cry-baby.

While those thoughts passed through my mind, Reki who had been silent for a long while, stood up.

「Where are you going?」

「The restroom.」

「Uh… We have a traditional style toilet. Is that okay?」

Just in case, I warned her. She nodded. Just as Reki’s footsteps faded into the distance… Grandfather put down his racing paper and red pencil.

「…A sniper, isn’t she?」

He whispered.

It felt like a switch had been flipped in my grandfather’s brain.

「That’s right. You picked up on it quickly.」

「I knew a while ago, I could smell the gunpowder.」

So back then, he wasn’t just harassing Reki.

「She has a pretty face, but I’ve never liked dealing with snipers. Too hard to handle in a fight.」

「Agreed.」

Once, I was completely defeated by one–by Reki.

「So… Did G-3 and Kaname tell you anything about themselves?」

I thought that I would have to explain, but…

「They didn’t tell me anything. If they had given me some made-up story, I would have seen through it right away. They are part of the family. And they are well-trained. The older brother’s main weapon is his fists, and the sister’s is the katana, right?」

「You picked up a lot… Just by looking?」

「I see a lot about you too, Kinji.」

He praised me with a smile of approval.

「Your face has become more manly. You’ve struggled your way through many battles and gone beyond the point of life and death.」

「…Well, that’s true in a lot of ways.」

I gave a bitter laugh.

「Finally, you laughed. Since you’ve gotten here, you hadn’t laughed.」

My grandfather had noticed even that, and he laughed too.

To tell the truth… even though everyone at school likes to talk about comedians and celebrities, it’s this kind of conversation that relaxes me. I feel like I can be myself. But I will become an ordinary person. I’ve come this far with that goal in mind. So I really shouldn’t get too worked up about such conversations.

「Anyway, Kinji. You should be turning 18 this year. It’s about time you learned… 『Spring Waterwheel』」

「Eh? Spring waterwheel? What’s that?」

I asked, puzzled. Making sure grandmother was busy in the kitchen grandfather said…

「This is the number one secret of the Tohyama family. It’s a secret technique, yes a secret technique…」

Lowering his voice while folding his newspaper, he took a safe out from deep within a closet.

Honestly, I knew that I should start living my life without thinking about fighting techniques anymore, but……

It was kept secret even from Grandmother–and the technique is kept hidden in a safe?

Just what was it? My curiosity couldn’t help being piqued.

The safe made a grinding sound on the floor, and grandfather opened it with a *click*

「This is the 『Spring Waterwheel』 that my grandfather developed from woodcuts. It evolved into the art of photography by yours truly. It took me a long time just to put it together, but I have been adding to the collection even before the war!」

What he took out from the safe, was a great number of……

….Clippings from g-gravure magazines and swimsuit photobooks–whole pages of them…!

「Look, doesn’t this girl’s figure resemble that Hotogi girl? Ooheehee! Here is a western girl, and here is the Loli-series. Classifying them like this is the key to the spring waterwheel. After all, a man’s taste in women will often shift and change or regress with time. And so to anticipate this–classify and preserve the photo-books, and cycle through various kinds of women according to your mood. Just like a spinning waterwheel!」

What the heck! This is embarrassing…

Speaking of it, I had completely forgotten. Grandfather was a total gravure idol addict.

He’s already at this age, and he’s still active..!

「When you put them away for a while and then look at them again, they acquire a fresh flavour. Even if you think you’re tired of it, you mustn’t ever throw one away!」

Gravure photos that had been carefully selected over the past few decades–such a dream-like sight was spread out on the tatami.

「Stop it… put them away!」

Though I had no interest in it or knew anything about it, but this kind of thing–w-when it was laid out to admire like this, there was a 『compulsion to appreciate』 kind of feeling, that was even more dangerous!

「Kinji, you’re reaching the age where you can boldly purchase adult goods. Recently there also have been cartoons you can choose from, your generation has even called it the 『2D』 treasure trove. Kinji! You must let your own 『Spring Waterwheel』 grow and evolve, and always carry it with you in digital form!」

「No way I’m doing that!」

I accidentally glanced at the girl who did indeed look a bit like Shirayuki, wearing a swimsuit and in a suggestive pose, and couldn’t help but be thoroughly panicked.

「Boy! Don’t look away! Tohyamas freely 『transform』5 and become men!」

This 『transformation』 is an old name for Hysteria Mode.

But because it sounded like 『pervert』, nobody liked it, so it was given another name. Grandfather however, always boldly uses that name.

「Although young girls aren’t bad, women really have to be over twenty for me. Look at this! Ooheehee.」

Grandfather said such while spreading the great number of photographs on the floor like playing cards……

Some people will never change. No matter how much time passes…

*************************************************************

As for school–even after a few days, still nothing has changed. The end of the second semester is almost here.

The groups of guys have already been formed, and I wasn’t in any of them. Because of that, there wasn’t anyone I really talked to on any given day.

And ever since Moe saw me leaving school with Reki, I sense a strangely aloof attitude in her.

I didn’t talk to anyone today either…

The high school on which I had pinned my hopes and dreams–had now become a mentally bitter place.

Lunch break in particular, was especially difficult.

After all I couldn’t just stare at people, but I didn’t want to be like Reki and just blankly stare into space either. So I ended up reading the ingredients list on my empty pastry bag a good number of times. Just what am I doing?

So, today I planned to find somewhere besides the classroom to pass the time–

Wandering around school for a while, I realised that no matter where, there were always groups students around.

If I joined them, yet just sat there and said nothing, it would be too strange.

There’s nowhere I fit in…

Back in Butei High, Tsuzuri always said I was 『asocial』 and now that fact is quite clear.

Wandering around like this, I finally found an unclaimed spot–under the shadow of the roof’s water tower. So I sat myself down there.

Lunch break still has thirty more minutes. Just what should I do?

Come to think of it, in the mail that Riko sent me, when Aria was in elementary school in London she truly didn’t have a single friend…. so it seems she had a dark history of pretending to sleep in order to pass the time during breaks.

I’ll try it. I’ll also conveniently be able to get some sleep.

Just as I was thinking these resigned thoughts…

My sanctuary–the rooftop, had been invaded by someone.

Although I couldn’t see them from where I was sitting, judging from the footsteps and voices,they should be a few female students.

「Tohyama, well…」

Hm? It sounds like they are talking about me!

Would it be better if I left this place? But, if I move from here, they’ll notice. It’s not like I can hop the railing and rappel down.

Since they haven’t noticed me… I’ll just stay and really pretend to sleep.

「I’ve heard that he has a terrifying jagged scar on his arm. I heard the boys said they saw it during Phys Ed.」

「How scary! Was he caught up in some machinery?」

「I’ve always felt that that guy must be hiding something.」

Scar? Oh, when I was fighting with Sherlock the self-inflicted damage from the Ouka shock-wave left behind a scar.

Is that so strange? At Butei High, about the only the students without scars were the girls in CVR.

That said, could you please not use someone’s physical appearances as a topic for conversation? If they were someone sensitive, they would feel hurt.

But……it looks like everyone is secretly talking about me.

It isn’t just the girls, and even the boys were talking behind my back too.

******************

After school was also a hard time to bear for a loner like me.

When walking through school in order to go home, I would always see the figures of other students.

Everyone looked really happy. I don’t understand what they were so happy just walking around, but I definitely got that feeling . The people in clubs, they exercised and sweat. The exceptionally studious ones left with their friends to cram school.

Only I had nothing to do.

Since tonight there would be no ASSAULT operations to join, or requests for rescue that would have me jump on one of LOGI’s four-wheel drive vehicles. Even if I wanted to do some target practice to unwind, I no longer needed to. I had nothing at all.

So… this is a regular school, huh…

This place is exactly how I imagined it would be. The reason I couldn’t fit in was my asocial personality.

However, besides this unbearable feeling–

Every day, nothing happened , nothing at all. It was actually very irksome.

You mean tomorrow, and the day after that, will all be like today…forever…? Is this what the normal world is like?

This was the kind of world I want.

Therefore, I should be feeling happy right now.

But, then why am I feeling so restless?

…This place, is too empty….

No, the empty one was actually me.

If not a Butei, I was nothing.

What remained was a hollow shell. I now painfully understood this.

Compared to the suffering I’m going through now, even the plane jacking incident was more relaxing.

Thinking about the plane jacking…

What were Aria and Riko doing right now? Shirayuki as well. Have they been given any jobs, exposed some scandal? I hope they haven’t been in any danger.

While I was worrying about my companions, as I reached near the school gate–

…?

I think I heard someone arguing.

It came from the corner of the school grounds, near the bicycle parking area.

There were the belligerent voices of two boys….and the voice of a girl. Seems like the girl was being bothered by the guys.

「……」

Although my attention was arrested in that direction due to old habits, I immediately decided to leave school quickly.

In this place what was most important in life was to not be too conspicuous. To avoid causing problems.

If I was caught up in some fight and use something I picked up at Butei High… I would be suspended, or maybe even expelled.

After all in a normal school, things like violent acts were a serious crime.

「–You aren’t allowed to ride a motorbike to school…! The noise will bother people…!」

「Bother people? What did you say!?」

「We don’t go to school! We’re suspended!」

…I clicked my tongue.

The voice of that girl–was Moe Mochizuki, the girl who sat next to me.

Sizing it up, Moe had no fighting ability. None, zilch, nada.

The boys sounded very agitated. Were they about to get violent?

Dammit….What should I do!

I–although I decided to merely observe the situation, I couldn’t help but walk towards the bicycle parking area.

There, I saw a mess of knocked down bicycles……

「Fujikibayashi-kun, Asao-kun, at least put back the bicycles you knocked over…」

Moe said this while lifting her own bicycle.

「Alrighty~ then, Mochizuki, since you were so rude to me, you get a heavy fine. 100,000 yen6 . Fork it over or you’ll get it!」

The bright gold-haired skinny guy with a pair of small tinted glasses and a bunch of earrings on, flashed a common switchblade that could be bought out of mail order magazine. Judging by Moe’s line of sight, that should be Fujikibayashi.

「Hey, it’s a bother to other people, huh? You pick them up then, Miss Class Representative! 」

Throwing a fried chicken bone onto the ground as he said this, the contrastingly plump one–by process of elimination–must be Asao.

His hair in a close cropped, doughnut-like shape, with rattling chains hanging from the edges of his uniform, he carried a metal bat. Near the two of them who wore tattered East Ikebukuro High uniforms….

What was that? It had a high windshield, a non-muffling stove-pipe muffler, and was covered in stickers. Originally it was a Kawasaki Zephyr, but it had been modified so many times that the performance of the bike had suffered.

If Mutou had seen it, he would have been angry.

I could tell at a glance that these weren’t real thugs… they were 100% amateurs… but even that is dangerous.

Out of all these things I noticed, I was focused on one thing.

Fujikibayashi. That punk was pointing the glittering knife at Moe. It’s no threat to me, but if he were to miss– there’s the danger that he might stab Moe or himself.

Although I don’t know what exactly he meant by 『You’ll get it』, since he drew it out, he plans to use it somehow, and I don’t see him putting it away any time soon.

I can tell that he would be child’s play for me. His grip is that of a complete amateur, but…

It is precisely because he is an amateur that something might happen. I’ve read incident reports where someone pulled out a knife in order to threaten someone and then went berserk and started stabbing people.

Just as Fujikibayashi grabbed the scared Moe’s collar, and licked his knife with his long tongue–

Bastard! There’s really no helping it.

「…Hey.」

I reluctantly showed myself.

Right then… now how do I resolve this situation peacefully?

「…To, Tohyama-kun….」

Ah– Looking at me with suddenly teary eyes, Moe went ahead and blabbed my name.

「Huh? Who the hell do you think you are? Tough-guy?」

Holding the knife, Fujikibayashi wrinkled his eyebrows to the limit, and glared at me while tilting his head.

「Eh–I guess so. Put that shiny thing away.」

I spoke with as level a tone as possible. But…

「This none of your business! To even suggest something to me, you’re still ten billion light years too early!」

H-he suddenly snapped. Why?

Also, aren’t light years units of distance? Looks like he’s a bit thick in the head. Although, with my grades, I have no grounds to say that.

「Eh–? Another one showed up. Although I’ve never seen her before, she’s wearing our school uniform.」

Hearing Asao’s rough voice, I turned my head to look–

Asao was using his fat hand to grab a hold of someone’s head and drag them by their hair.

And that person whose hair he had grabbed and lifted with a single hand was…

Reki…!

That, that girl…

It seems that she guessed I had stuck out my neck and gotten into some trouble, so she came over here.

「S-stop! Those two just transferred to our school recently, don’t be so rough with them!」

M-Moe… you even blabbed our entire life stories so easily…

But the problem now has become even more troublesome.

Reki, expressionless as always had allowed herself to be caught completely unarmed on my orders. And she was originally from SNIPE, so she also never learned hand-to-hand combat. At times like this, Haimaki would be truly handy, but he had been left at my grandparents’ house.

「BOOYAH–! More girls!」

Boo…yah…? I can see you just wanted to shout that, Fujikibayashi.

But, that’s good. This time his knife has turned away from Moe to Reki. Even though it’s pretty far…

I’ll make my move now.

「I said to put that away.」

I said such, walking within the distance where Fujikibayashi could stab me.

「–Oh?」

Originally, I planned to grab his arm when he tried to stab me–but it seems Fujikibayashi doesn’t have the guts to stab someone–he even let the knife tip point slowly backwards. Dammit, an amateur would totally do something so unexpected.

So I moved closer and pretended to grapple with Fujikibayashi…

「Whoa!」

Keeping a perfect margin of safety so no one would be stabbed, I kept control and pointed his knife hand toward Asao.

As expected, Asao got scared seeing the knife pointed at him–and released his grip on Reki.

He even dropped the metal bat he was holding, freaking out.

「…」

Then Reki… picked up the bat in her small hands. What are you planning to do to these amateurs? I could only use blink signals to tell Reki to 『escape』, letting her abscond with the bat…

The knife I had already taken, and letting it fall to the ground, I kicked it into a drainage pipe. So now…

「–Oi! You won’t get off so easy!」

「A brat like you, I’ll kill you with a single punch!」

Now it should be alright if I let the noisy Fujikibayashi and Asao punch and kick me as they please, right?

That said… although they were punching and kicking me, I didn’t feel under attack at all.

Instead of 「*Boom!* *Thud!*」 it was more like 「*Slap!* *Poof!*」.

Firstly, their posture was way too sloppy, and their transfer of body-weight inadequate.

The way they punched and kicked was even more disappointing. I had to be careful not to let them sprain their wrists or ankles as they hit me, and that was extremely difficult.

「S-s-stop!!!」

Witnessing this farce, Moe still cried out desperately. I wanted to burst out a with laugh, but since that wouldn’t be too good, I held it in.

「Hah, hah… now…」

「Huff, huff… Learned your lesson yet?」

Eh…don’t tell me…you’re out of breath already?

Not even three minutes have passed…

But, these two really did look exhausted, and it was from trying to beat someone up.

「Yeah. I understand. I’m sorry about that.」

I replied…

Crap. I should have pretended to get beaten up a bit more, if I don’t these two won’t be satisfied and leave. After all, there are girls watching.

「Take this! This move’ll kill ya!」

Fujikibayashi slowly turned his back toward me and made some distance between us…Oh, is he planning to get some running distance?

Dragging his feet, he ran towards me, planning to give me a flying kick.

So taking on the role-of-a-lifetime act, I had to be careful not to hurt myself while managing to make trick my opponent into thinking he had 『finished it』–

–*Wham!*

I let him kick me.

Then I pretended to be knocked backwards. Using the knocked down bicycles to cushion my fall, I crashed with a *Whoom!*

「…Uu…」

I even especially included sound effects. It may have been a little over-the-top with the moaning, but the message was clear–I’ve lost. Since my loss to Hilda at Sotobori, this was my most obvious defeat.

Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but want to laugh again, but I have to restrain myself.

「Fujikibayashi! Asao!–You’re suspended! What are you doing!?」

Just then, from the staff room came Gori’s loud voice.

He must have been watching what was going on from the beginning through the window. So it turns out he was waiting until Fujikibayashi and Asao were tired out before doing anything? As expected of a working adult. He is truly wise in the ways of the world.

「….Asao, let’s scram. Oi, Tohyama, you’ll regret this. Just you wait, we’ll make you pay!」

With great difficulty, the puffing Fujikibayashi started up the heavily modded motorcycle with difficulty and left with tottering Asao.

You’ll regret this…huh?

In Butei High, that phrase–originating from mercenary jargon–signified a deep affection for someone.

It meant: Live until we can meet again.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly inside, and when I opened my eyes…I saw Gori scowl as he closed the window turning back toward his desk.

「A-are you alright? Tohyama-kun! Tohyama-kun……Tohyama-kun! Tohyama-kun–!」

Suddenly released from the tension, Moe fell down and clung to me like a victim rescued from a snowy mountain, repeatedly calling my name.

That said, why are you crying about… what happened just now…?

Although I was thinking that, unfortunately, I had to keep up the act.

After all, if a normal person had just been beaten up, they would be in pain, and it would appear strange if I appeared to be fine.

「Ah, ouch!…It really hurts.」

H-how’s that? I should stagger a bit for good measure.

Moe said 「Let’s go to the infirmary!」 and was going to lend me a shoulder, but I picked up my bag and made an excuse about going home. And like that, it was settled.

–That said… although it was no big deal… I felt a little happy.

So it turns out a regular school also has lively people. Although they were suspended.

No no no, Kinji, if you get interested in that kind of stuff, you’re finished.

If they were just a bit stronger, it could have at least counted as a massage.

I was thinking this while letting the sobbing Moe calm down– and after we said our goodbyes…

「……Hey, Aniki. Want me to ‘take care’ of those two?」

Just then, my younger brother who was concealed in his his photo-refractive camouflage coat, whispered into my ear.

「Idiot, cut it out! No matter what, they’re still human. Don’t kill people.」

I warned him, pretending I was talking to myself.

As a matter of fact he had been there for a while. He had arrived in the middle of the scene, but because the meaning of it was so uncertain, he had merely observed from the nearby wall.

「I don’t get you at all, you’re so strange, Aniki. What the hell were you doing?」

「Fine, I’ll explain it to you. It’s called student life, and if you mess it up, I’ll end you.」

「Humph. What the hell is that?」

「Oh, and from now on stop following me. I’ve never heard of a younger sibling being overprotective of an older brother.」

「By the way, let me make it perfectly clear that I haven’t been following you because you haven’t been lively lately. It’s something else.」

「Why is it that you tsunderes always manage to blurt out the truth while rambling on?」

I asked and…

*Step* *Step* *Step* *Step* *Whoosh!*

G-3 easily jumped and cleared the wall to the outside of the school. His steps more amateur-ish than Asao or Fujikibayashi’s.

I suddenly realised there were a lot of footprints on the ground. They wanted to be real tough guys, but they only managed to worry about themselves.

Later– I joined Reki who was still holding the metal bat and attracting a lot of stares, in front of the school gates, and throwing it away, we walked home side-by-side.

After that… I got the impression that Reki was walking somewhat closer to me than usual.

「…Thank-you for what you did.」

Reki suddenly thanked me.

Reki never thanks anyone. This is rare.

「What for?」

「Kinji-san saved me.」

「O-oh! You don’t have to thank me for that. It couldn’t even be called a fight.」

「No, that’s not it. You want to hide your past identity. I understand that. But even so, you faced the danger that it might come to light– and you fought to protect me.」

Well… That is kind of what happened.

「Ah…Moe Mochizuki was there too.」

Suddenly Reki looked up and shot me a sidelong glance that looked a bit angry.

Despite the fact that she just thanked me.

What’s this? It’s a little scary.

(End Text)

**************************************************

1. Short for ‘gorilla’.

2. This somewhat sexist gesture is used by men to indicate or ask if a girl is another man’s girlfriend, lover, or wife. Kind of a bro-code to see if she is ‘taken’.

3. Seems to refer to a superpowered one-inch punch.

4. A ‘bone doctor’ is a Japanese non-professional medical profession that treats minor injuries and can set broken bones. These ‘doctors’ also integrate some primitive chiropractic care and massage into their treatments along with some folk medicine. Kind of like first-aid crossed with a witch-doctor. There is no set literature for bone doctors to study, so the treatments beyond simple care can vary widely. I know traditional dojos would usually have one on hand to set the students broken bones and treat injuries in place of a certified doctor.

5. The word is ‘hentai’ It uses different characters (change-body/form rather than strange/twisted-person) but uses the same pronunciation.

6. 100,000 yen is, ~830€, and just shy of 900 USD.