Third Bullet Assault Division

I’ve come back—back to the Assault division, also known as the “there’s no tomorrow division.” The percentage of survivors in this division at the time of graduation was ninety-seven point one percent. In other words, out of every one hundred students, roughly three wouldn’t live to graduate. They would lose their lives while either on a mission or during training. This was the truth. That’s how things were in the Assault division. It was the part about being a Butei that was kept in the shadows. I could hear the sound of gunshots and swords clashing against each other coming from the Assault division’s facilities. But today, I had been making sure my equipment was in order and filing an application to audit and whatnot, so I used up most of my time on everything except actually training. I was only going to be handling one case, but I wanted to get some target practice in at least. It didn’t look like it was going to happen. However, in Assault, where students always form parties and operate together, people naturally become quite affable…

“Oh! Kinji! I knew you would come back! Come on in and end your life as quickly as possible, even if it’s just one second earlier!”

“So you’re still not dead yet, huh, Natsumi? Do me a favor and die one tenth of second earlier than I do.”

“Kinji! You finally came back to die, huh?! An idiot like you can die in no time! It’s the idiotic Butei that die first, after all.”

“Then why are you still alive, Mikami?”

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Telling others to die was the way of greeting people here, but by returning this greeting to all these people happy to see me back and telling me to die I just lost even more time. After getting away from these guys reeking of gunpowder and leaving the Assault facilities, there was a little midget with her back leaned against the front gate waiting for me under the sunset sky. Needless to say, it was Aria. Upon seeing me, Aria came scuttling in my direction. She then lined up beside me as I walked onward with a sullen look on my face.

“…You’re pretty popular aren’t you? I was a little surprised.”

“It’s not that I want to be liked by these guys.”

I was telling the truth.

“You’re not very sociable. You kind of have that ‘dark and gloomy type’ aura about you. Everyone here seems to…how should I put it? They seem to think rather highly of you.”

That was probably because they remembered what I was like during the entrance exam. They remembered what I was like in hysteria mode. The exam given to those of us applying to join the Assault division was one consisting of actual combat in which the goal was to disperse ourselves inside a fourteen-story abandoned building and while armed, arrest every other participant. In record time, I tied up all of the others who were either personally defeated by me or ensnared in a trap I had set—including five instructors who, as part of a “pop quiz,” were lurking in the building without our knowledge.

Damn it.

I went and remembered something I wanted to forget. Aria must have noticed that my mood had grown worse because her gaze dropped to the ground as she walked beside me.

“Um, Kinji?”

“What?”

“Thanks.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?” I replied in a low, though irritated tone to Aria who had an honest look of happiness on her face.

I’ll bet you are happy. You literally got your “slave” who’s going to be fighting on your behalf.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I only came back to Assault because I had no other choice. I’m going right back to Inquesta after resolving one case.”

“I know. But…”

“What?”

“You were pretty cool walking around Assault with everyone crowding around you.”

“…”

Why are you telling me something like that?

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her intention, but by having a girl—a girl who only looks cute, at that—say something like that to me, I was at a loss for words.

“Nobody comes near me at Assault. There’s too much of a difference in skill and no one can keep up with me… Well, that’s perfectly fine though. I’m ‘Aria’ after all.”

“‘Aria’?” Puzzled, I tilted my neck to the side when Aria said her name with a different inflection than usual.

“‘Aria’ also means a voice solo in an opera. It’s a part sung by oneself. All alone—that’s what I am at every Butei high school. That’s how it was in London, and that’s how it was in Rome.”

“So your plan is to make me your slave and change the performance to a duet?”

Aria giggled as I made the remark without even looking at her. Looking at her from the corner of my eye, she truly did seem to be laughing genuinely.

“You can say some pretty amusing things, after all.”

“There wasn’t anything amusing about it.”

“Yes there was.”

“I don’t get your sense of humor.”

“The second you returned to Assault you really did become a little more animated. Up until yesterday, you never seemed like you were being honest with yourself. It was as if you were in pain. You’re a lot more appealing now.”

“That’s…not true.”

Aria made another embarrassing statement. I didn't want to hear it. I had a feeling what she was saying might be true.

“I’m gonna stop by the VA. You go on home by yourself. Now that I think about it, starting today, you’re going back to the girls’ dormitory. There’s no point in you leaving school with me.”

“We’re headed in the same direction until we get to the bus stop,” Aria said as she stuck her tongue out at me with a smile.

She was as spiteful as ever, but Aria seemed to be truly happy that she was able to bring me back to Assault. I could tell from the expression on her face. She was so easy to figure out. Aria definitely wasn’t suited for Inquesta.

“Say, what’s a ‘VA’?”

“It’s an abbreviation for video arcade. You don’t even know that?”

“It’s not my fault. I’ve spent most of my life in Europe. Hmm...I’ll go with you then. Today I’ll make an exception and do you the favor of hanging out with you. Consider it a reward.”

“Don’t need it. That’s not a reward, it’s a penalty game.”

I started to pick up my pace and distance myself from Aria. Aria responded by grinning and after catching up, increased her walking speed to match mine. She was starting to really get on my nerves so I took larger strides and walked even faster. Aria continued to keep up, her skirt dancing back and forth.

“Don’t follow me! I don’t even want to see your face right now!”

“Then I’m definitely gonna keep following you!”

“Don’t!”

In the end, we wound up running together side by side until we reached the arcade.

What’s with this girl? She’s abnormally fast.

“Huff, huff, huff, what is this?” asked Aria, who was standing so close her twin pigtails were brushing up against me.

Her red eyes were fixed on a crane game situated in front of the arcade.

“Huff…huff. This? It’s a UFO Catcher.”

“UFO Catcher? That’s kind of a childish name.” Well, it’s a game available at the sort of place you would go to, so it’s bound to be ridiculous. Aria peered inside the crane game with a sarcastic look on her face. Behind the glass casing was an abundance of small stuffed animals that seemed to be a bizarre cross between a lion and a leopard.

“…ah…!” uttered Aria pressing herself against the glass casing.

The combination of her height and the background full of stuffed animals made her look unquestionably like an elementary school student. If a police officer were to see this, she would probably be taken away and reprimanded.

“What? You’ve never seen one of these?”

“…”

“What is it already?”

“…”

“Are you hungry or something?”

“………………They’re so cute……”

Huh?

Hearing her whisper that line was so unlike her, I momentarily grew weak at the knees. Sure, the stuffed animals behind the glass casing were cute…but it wasn’t something you would hear coming out of the mouth of Aria the Quadra, the Butei who prided herself on her demon-like strength and slaughtering all enemies on sight. I thought I would point out how her personality had just switched to that of a different person’s, but as I came next to her, I saw drool hanging from her mouth, which was in the shape of an upside-down triangle. We can’t have this. This isn't the type of face that should be exposed to the public.

“Want to give it a shot?”

“I don’t know how.”

“Even a kindergartener could work this thing.”

“Can it be done right away?”

“It can. Want me to show you how it works?”

Aria turned towards me and repeatedly nodded her head up and down.

What’s gotten into her? She’s completely throwing me off balance.

The rules weren’t so complicated that they actually needed explaining, but after I told her to press the vertical and horizontal buttons in order, Aria took out a coin pouch decorated with symbols from a deck of cards and found a quarter. She then stood up straight in front of the machine, inserted the coin, and began to operate the crane with a look of seriousness you’d be more likely to see when she was attending sniping class. Her aim wasn’t very precise, however. The crane only just slightly lifted a leg of the lion-leopard hybrid; the stuffed animal itself didn’t budge. “T-That was just practice. I know how it works now.”

“Well, yeah, even an idiot would understand how it works after trying it once.”

“I’m gonna try one more time.”

Aria took another one hundred yen coin out of her coin pouch, and after inserting it into the machine, once again started pressing the four control buttons. This time she only succeeded in lifting the tail of one of the stuffed animals. She wasn’t very good at this game.

“By the way, if you put in five quarters, you get six chances.”

“Oh, be quiet! I’ll get it the next time! I got the hang of it now!”

That’s exactly what people who don't have the hang of it say.

As I expected, the crane continued to just graze the stuffed animal.

“Nggggggh!”

“Don’t have a mental breakdown now, Aria.”

“I got it for sure this time! I’m serious!”

After two more failed attempts, Aria went to the change machine and got ten dollars worth of quarters, only to continue her losing streak.

“This time I’m really serious! Really, really, really, reaaaaally serious!”

She’s hopeless. I better do something about this fast. Not only does Aria have the look, but also the mentality of an elementary school student. She’s the type that would ruin herself if she ever got addicted to gambling.

“Out of the way.”

After watching Aria squander about thirty dollars, I couldn’t bear to stand by any longer and unwillingly took out my wallet. The proud noblewoman had tears welling up in her eyes and wouldn’t take her hands off the buttons, but I shoved her out of the way.

Let’s see now. Hmm...This one by the hole is a good target.

I set my sights on a mysterious cat-like animal that was buried underneath many others and looked like it was in a difficult position to get to at first glance. Every stuffed animal in the casing was exactly the same, so regardless of which one I chose, she probably wouldn’t complain. The crane lowered in on my target and perfectly grasped the body of the stuffed animal.

“Ngh…!”

I could hear Aria making a noise with her throat as she swallowed hard.

“What have we here?” I soon realized that the tag of another stuffed animal was caught on the tail of the stuffed animal I captured. The crane lifted up the one I originally targeted, and that stuffed animal brought along another one dangling from its tail.

“Kinji, look! You fished out two of them!”

I can see that plain as day without you telling me. And fishing isn’t exactly the right term.

“Kinji, you’re in big trouble if you let them go!”

“At this point, it’s out of my hands!”

“Oh…oh, it’s almost there! It’s almost there! Get in there!”

Though not as much as Aria, I found myself rather anxious as well. One was a done deal. But the other…I wasn’t so sure. Will it make it? Will it make it?

The crane released its grip. The first stuffed animal fell into the hole…and the other followed suit, dragged along by the tail of the first.

“You did it!”

“Alright!”

It was quite a pleasing outcome. And before I knew it—it really did just kind of happen automatically—Aria and I were high-fiving each other with huge smiles on our faces.

“Ah” we said at the same time and blinked our eyes.

“Hmph.” We also said this at the same time as we became agitated and turned our backs on each other.

Damn it.

I was angry with myself. Why was I getting along with a person like this? Aria is…

“F-For an idiot like you, that was very well done!”

Aria thrust her hands into the prize slot with so much force, I thought she was going to jump inside the machine herself, but instead, she simply snatched up the two stuffed animals and pulled them out. Taking a closer look, I saw their tags which had the name “Leopon” written on them.

What kind of name is that?

“They’re sooooo cute!”

Aria squeezed them in her hands and hugged them tightly. Leopon looked like he was going to burst. Seeing Aria like that, she resembled a “normal” girl so strongly that I felt—how should I put it—a strange sensation come over me.

Maybe…Could it possibly be…that Aria really was just a normal girl like any other?

That would mean what Aria told me just a while ago could actually be applied to her… Aria was the one always being dishonest with herself and pushing herself too hard. Was there something constraining her true self and forcing her to be somebody she wasn’t?

“Kinji.”

Facing Aria, I noticed that her arm was extended towards me, offering one of the two stuffed animals.

“I’ll give you one. You won them, so this is your reward.”

I was a bit taken aback by Aria’s slanted eyes, which emphasized the smile on her face.

What do you know...She can make expressions like that. Damn it. She looks so cute.

“R-Right.” I accepted the Leopon and realized for the first time that it was actually a strap for a cell phone.

Now that I think about it, I’ve never put a strap on my cell phone. Guess I’ll try attaching it.

I took out my cell phone and slipped the cord of the strap into the hole at the bottom. Seeing this, Aria took out a pearl pink cell phone and by watching my example, began to attach her own Leopon, though she was having a hard time. Coincidentally, it would seem as if she didn’t have a cell phone strap either. The string protruding from Leopon’s rear end was fairly thick and wouldn’t fit into the hole so easily. Why did the designers of this stuffed animal even place a cord on an unusual spot?

“Kinji, whoever gets their strap on first is the winner.”

“What are you talking about? Are you some kind of little kid?”

“I got it. I think it’s about to go through.”

“Mine…is on its way too. I’m not losing to you.”

I suddenly realized that this might be the first time I ever received anything from a girl. Shirayuki was always giving me some sort of gift or the other, but she was a childhood friend, so that didn’t count.

The two of us stood there grunting as a battle to strap Leopon to our cell phones unfolded. I had to admit, it was pretty petty.

With the freeloader gone, my apartment had returned to its original calm and quiet state. I woke up this morning alone in my peaceful bedroom to the alarm of my cell phone. I tried to grab a hold of it, but my hands closed in on Leopon instead.

“…”

After looking at Leopon for a short while, I listlessly prepared to go to school. Finishing the leftovers from a meal I bought at the convenience store, I looked at my wristwatch, which Riko returned to me yesterday.

“?”

I still have some time. I could have sworn I had been loafing around a bit more than that. Guess I’ll make some tea.

That’s odd.

I had left my apartment a little ahead of time like I was supposed to. Yet, the seven fifty-eight bus had already arrived at the bus stop where large, warm raindrops started falling from the sky. Other students were pushing and shoving and trying to get onboard. When arriving at this bus stop, which was within the school district, just before first period was about to begin the bus would always be crowded. If you were unlucky, it might get filled to capacity before you had the chance to get on.

“Yes! I got on! Sweet victory! Hey, Kinji! Mornin’!”

As I ran up next to the bus, Muto from Logi was on the ramp lifting his arms into the air in celebration. Behind him, students were jam-packed.

Not good.

It would seem that due to the rain, all the students who commuted by bicycle decided to use the bus.

“M-Muto! Let me on!”

“I’d love to, really, but no can do! It’s completely full! Come to school on your bike!”

I motioned with my hands for Muto to go farther in and make some space but the fact of the matter was he was trying to keep from getting pushed out.

“My bike was totaled! If I don’t get on this bus, I’m gonna be late!”

“What can't be done, can’t be done! Kinji, it’s important for a guy to know when to give up! Just ditch first period! Having said that, I guess I’ll see you during second period!”

“I’ll see you at second period” my ass!

The doors of the bus cruelly closed in my face leaving me with nothing but the words of my heartless “friend”, Muto. The chatter and laughter I heard coming from inside filled me with envy.

Damn. I gotta walk in this pouring rain? Not only that but I’m gonna be late for sure.

I walked along the path to school with the rain beating down on my shoulders, and my eye’s glaring at the perfectly straight road that continued down Academy Island as far as I could see. One of the reasons Mega-Floats went into development to begin with was so that a runway for an airport could be made relatively cheap. It was no wonder this school had such a pointlessly long and awkward shape. That in itself was already off-putting, but now I had this uncomfortably warm rain to deal with as well. Unpleasantness to the one thousandth power.

Maybe I should just ditch first period like Muto said. No, I can’t do that. First period is Japanese. I need to attend general education courses so I can keep up in class when I transfer to a normal high school. I don’t want to skip class.

I was walking past the Assault division’s black gymnasium with these thoughts in my head when my cell phone rang.

Pulling on the Leopon strap, I took out my cell phone and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Kinji, where are you right now?”

It was Aria.

What gives? It’s already eight twenty. Class should have already started so why is she calling me?

“Uhh, I’m next to the Assault department.”

“That’s perfect. Go in and arm yourself with class C equipment and come to the roof of the girls’ dormitory. Hurry.”

“What’s the big idea? Assault class isn’t until fifth period.”

I complained and Aria raised her voice in anger.

“It’s not for class; there’s been an incident! When I say ‘hurry’, it means get moving!”

I looked at myself in disgust. TNK bulletproof vest. Helmet with enhanced plastic face guard. Wireless headset with Butei High’s emblem printed on it. Fingerless gloves. On my belt, which was so tight that it was biting into my waist, hung a gun holster and four spare magazines. This class C equipment, which resembled that of an SAT or SWAT officer, was the aggressive equipment that Butei wore when they entered the fray. Many of the cases in which the Assault division got involved were quite dangerous, and I was often instructed to equip myself in just this manner.

A case.

Regarding what? What had happened? Dear Lord, let it be a trivial one.

With that prayer in my heart, I emerged onto the roof, and there was Aria, being hammered by the rain and dressed in the same class C equipment I was wearing. She was yelling into a handheld transceiver and had a ghastly expression on her face.

“…?”

I suddenly noticed that Reki from Snipe was sitting under the eaves by the stairway with her knees pulled up and feet flat on the ground. Aria was a shrewd one. She was a transfer student, but she knew who the top players were. Like me, Reki was given a rank of S when she entered this school. But unlike me, she was still an S-rank affiliated with the Snipe division. Reki was what you would call a prodigy. She had a thin build and was taller than Aria by half a head’s length. Her skill was undisputed, and she was a pretty looking girl with her hair cut short, but she didn’t stand out very much because of her unemotional, robotic personality. As a side note, nobody knew what her last name was. Apparently, not even she knew.

“Reki.”

I called out to the girl, who was sitting as still as a piece of furniture, but she didn’t respond. That was to be expected, however. She had on large headphones and was listening to something. When I was in Assault last year, I paired up with her from time to time in the course of completing a few jobs, but it looked like she still hadn’t broken that bad habit of hers. After poking her in the head with my finger a few times, she finally took off her headphones and looked up at me. As always, she had such well-formed features that you would suspect her face was a product of computer graphics.

“Were you called here by Aria, too?”

“Yes,” answered Reki in her monotone voice.

“Actually, what I really want to know about is those headphones. What kind of music are you always listening to?”

“It’s not music.”

“What is it then?”

“The sound of the wind,” Reki said plainly and repositioned the sniper rifle—a slim, semi-automatic gun called a Dragunov—resting on her shoulder as naturally as if it were a tennis racket or something of that nature.

“We’re out of time.” Aria had finished her conversation and turned to face us. “I wanted at least one more S-rank student with us, but they’re all out working on other cases.”

Apparently, in Aria’s mind, my rank had been promoted to a much higher one than it actually was.

“We’re going to go after them as a party of three. I’ll make up for what we lack in firepower.”

“Pursue what? What happened? At least give a proper briefing.”

“It’s a bus-jacking.”

“…Bus?”

“The school bus for Butei High commuters. It’s the one that stopped in front of your dormitory at seven fifty-eight.”

Say what?! Are you telling me that bus was hijacked? Muto and a lot of other Butei High students are crammed together like sardines on that bus.

“…Is the culprit onboard the bus?”

“I’m not sure, but in all likelihood, I’d say no. The bus has been rigged with a bomb.”

A bomb. Upon hearing that word, the bicycle-jacking incident that took place a few days ago darted through my mind. Aria must have picked up on what I was thinking because she cast me a sidelong glance.

“Kinji, this is ‘Butei killing.’ It's the work of the same criminal who tampered with your bicycle.”

…Butei killing?

I knit my eyebrows upon hearing those familiar words. It was the widely used term for the serial murders that Shirayuki was talking about the other day.

“The first Butei to be victimized had his motorcycle hijacked. Next it was a carjacking. After that was your bicycle. This time it’s a bus… In all instances, the culprit rigs the vehicle with a bomb that’s designed to explode when speed is reduced, effectively imprisoning the victim inside the vehicle. The bomb can also be activated by remote control. But there’s a pattern in the radio frequency that the culprit uses to control the vehicle. I figured out the pattern when I saved you last time and this time as well.”

“But the criminal behind the ‘Butei killings’ was apprehended.”

“That person wasn’t the true culprit.”

“Say what? Wait a second. What are you talking about?”

It didn’t make sense. There were too many holes in the conversation we were having. Still, Aria turned towards me and gave me an intense look with a hint of irritation in her eyes. “There’s no time to explain all the background information and there’s no need for you to know. I’m the leader of this party.”

Aria placed her hands on her waist and stuck out her chest. Reki, standing nearby like a statue, gave Aria a brief glance.

“Wait… Wait, Aria! You–”

“This case is already underway! The bus could explode at this very moment! Our mission is to rescue everyone onboard! That’s all there is to it!”

“If you want to be the leader, go ahead! But if you’re the leader, give the members of your team a proper explanation! Butei risk their lives when they head out for any kind of mission!”

“Butei Charter, Article One, ‘Believe in your comrades and help one another’! The victims are our Butei High comrades! There’s no need for any other explanation!”

Above us, another loud sound could be heard amidst the pouring rain. It was the sound of a helicopter. Looking up, we saw a Logi single-rotor helicopter with a blue revolving light coming down to land on the rooftop of the girls’ dormitory. Aria…She had covered all bases and even arranged for something like this. If this was how things were going to proceed, then there certainly wasn’t any time to hear an explanation.

“…To hell with it. All right, I’m in! That’s what you want to hear, isn’t it?!”

Aria looked at me as I yelled out, and with her drenched twin pigtails flying about in the gusts created by the helicopter…she smiled.

“Kinji, looks like this is going to be that first case we made a promise about.”

“Quite a case at that. I gotta be the unluckiest guy in the world.”

“Keep your end of the bargain. I’m looking forward to seeing your true skills.”

“I’m letting you know in advance, but I don’t have the kind of ability that you think I do. It’s also been a while since I’ve done this sort of thing. Are you really sure you want to bring an E-rank Butei along with you on a mission as difficult as this?”

“If by the off chance you get in a pinch…I’ll protect you. Rest assured.”

According to what we were told by Connect (Communications Division) through our headsets, the Butei High school bus was an Isuzu Erga Mio. It started driving erratically after leaving the men’s dormitory where Muto and the others got onboard and hadn’t made any stops at any other bus stop since then. At that point, there was an emergency call from the students inside the bus notifying us about the bus-jacking. The bus, carrying sixty students and exceeding its capacity for passengers, circled around Academy Island once and was heading towards Odaiba via the bridge in South Aomi.

“The Metropolitan Police Department and Tokyo Bureau of Butei haven’t taken action?” Surrounded by the roaring noise of the helicopter as it increased in altitude, I spoke to Aria through the headsets.

“They have. But our target is a moving bus. There’s a certain amount of preparation required.”

“So we're the first ones to tackle this head on.”

“Of course. I caught onto the culprit’s radio frequency and made preparations before a report was made.”

Aria gave a snort and did an inspection of the two pistols she always used. As far as I could see, her gray and black pistols only differed in color and were of the same make. They appeared to be custom made guns with a Colt Government as their base. It was the trademark gun of Colt’s Manufacturing Company, and all of the various patents had run out on it, so it was fairly easy to customize them as one pleased. What particularly stood out was the conch cameo attached to the grip, which was embossed with the profile of a beautiful woman that vaguely resembled Aria.

“It’s in view.”

Hearing Reki’s voice, both Aria and I brought our faces to the bulletproof window. Looking out the window on the right, I could see the buildings and costal road of Odaiba and the Rinkai Railroad. But at this distance the cars were too small and I couldn’t make them out.

“I don’t see anything, Reki.”

“It’s the bus making a right in front of Hotel Nikko. I can see the Butei High students behind the window.

“I-I’m surprised you can see all that. What’s your eyesight vision?” asked Aria.

“Both my left and right eye have 20/3.3 vision.”

Aria and I looked at each other in shock as Reki nonchalantly replied with an unbelievable numerical figure. The helicopter pilot descended to the location Reki had mentioned, and there in fact was the Butei High school bus speeding along. It was traveling fast—remarkably fast. The bus was overtaking one car after another as it raced by the television station. I could see people flooding out of the station with their cameras and cell phones taking pictures of us as we chased after the bus.

“We're going to transfer to the roof of the bus from mid-air. I’m going to check the exterior of the bus. Kinji, you go inside and contact me after assessing the situation. Reki, standby inside the helicopter and keep following the bus.”

Aria quickly and efficiently gave her instructions and began to remove a backpack containing a tactical assault parachute from the ceiling.

“Go inside…? If the culprit is in there, I’d be endangering the hostages.”

“If this is a ‘Butei killing’, the culprit won’t be inside.”

“This might not even be a ‘Butei killing’!”

“If it’s not, just handle the situation as it develops. Knowing you, you should be able to.”

This girl…

Butei are often criticized for it by the public, but we make it a principle to resolve matters with expedition, so we tend to deal with circumstances by relying on the spontaneous judgments we make in any given situation. But Aria’s plan wasn’t simply ignoring theory. You could even call it absurd. Basically, she wanted to be the first one on the scene without conferring with anyone else, and instantly settle the matter with overwhelming combat ability. It might be placing too much confidence in the members of this team. I think I understand why Aria performs a “solo vocal” in every country she goes to.

Using the tactical assault parachute, Aria and I fell towards the bus at a speed almost no different from free falling and rolled along the roof as we landed. It had been a while since my last parachute jump and I nearly slipped right off the bus. Fortunately, Aria grabbed my arm in time..

“Come on! Be serious now!” yelled Aria in irritation.

“I am! This is me being serious…! At this moment…” I trailed off as I attached the wire in my belt to the roof of the bus so I don’t get thrown off.

Aria did the same and rappelled down the rear of the bus. I used a mirror on an extendable rod to check the inside of the bus in case the perpetrator was onboard. The students were jostling inside, but there was no sign of anyone who looked like he or she could be the culprit. I had one of the students open the window and slipped inside after releasing the wire. The students onboard were already in a state of disarray, but when they saw me come inside, they increasingly rose to a clamor. They were all speaking over each other and I couldn’t understand what they were telling me.

“Kinji!”

Turning towards the direction of a familiar voice, I found Muto, the guy who said something about seeing me at second period and abandoned me.

“Muto. Not quite second period yet, but it looks like we meet again.”

“Y-Yeah. Damn it. Why did I have to get on this bus?”

“Punishment for abandoning a friend, wouldn’t you say?”

“Kenji, that girl over there.”

The girl Muto pointed to was wearing glasses and standing next to the driver’s seat.

“T-T-T-Tohyama! Help us!”

Her eyes were filled with tears. If I recall, she was from the middle school.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I-I-I don’t know when, but my cell phone was replaced with a different one. It suddenly started talking…”

“If you reduce speed, the bomb will freaking explode.”

So that’s how it is.

The same person was probably behind this, just like Aria said. The culprit was the same person who hijacked my bicycle!

“Kinji, what’s going on?! Give me a status report!”

It was Aria’s voice.

“It’s just like you said. The bus is being operated remotely. Did you find anything?”

“There’s something here that looks like a bomb!”

I extended my neck to look over the heads of the other students, and outside the rear window, I could see a wire and Aria’s legs. She was hanging upside down looking underneath the bus.

“Kaczynski Beta type Composition C-4. It’s the ‘Butei killer’s’ specialty. From what I can see…the bursting charges have a volume of thirty-five hundred cubic centimeters!”

I thought I was going to faint.

What the hell? “Excessive” doesn’t even begin to describe that amount of fire-power. If something like that were to explode, not just a bus but even an entire train would be airborne.

“I’m gonna go underneath and try to dismantle it…ah!”

The exact moment Aria cried out, the bus received a powerful jolt. Losing their balance, the students fell over one another and screams filled the air. In a panic, I looked towards the rear window to see a convertible that had collided into the bus from behind and was now backing away, distancing itself from us.

“Aria, are you okay?!”

No response. That collision seemed to have taken her out. I stuck the upper half of by body out the window so I could climb onto the roof and make my way to the back of the bus. The sound of an engine accelerating made me turn around. The car that should have been behind us—a dark red Renault Sport Spider—had pulled up alongside the bus. In its empty driver’s seat was an Uzi placed on top of a barbette and it was aimed in this direction.

“Everyone, get down!” I yelled, warning the students in the bus, and right after they lowered their heads…

Bratatatatat!!

A countless number of bullets decimated the windows of the bus from the rear to the front in one fell swoop. I took a bullet to the chest as well and was sent hurtling back into the bus. Thanks to the bulletproof vest, I wasn’t injured, but the impact was like getting hit by a flying knee strike. It was a sensation I just couldn’t get used to no matter how many times I experienced it. The bus shook in a somewhat awkward manner so I looked towards the driver’s seat.

“!”

The driver was collapsed on top of the steering wheel. He had a bullet wound in his shoulder. Most likely, he wasn’t able to get down because he was driving. The bus was starting to veer heavily into the opposite lane. A car coming towards us from ahead managed to avoid the bus, but collided into the guardrail, sending sparks into the air.

Things are getting really out of hand! What should I do? I don’t know. I just don’t know! In my current state, I don’t know how I can bring this situation under control!

“Freaking turn right at Ariake Coliseum.”

I heard the Vocaloid's synthetic voice come from the cell phone that the girl dropped when she fell. To make things worse, the bus was starting to lose speed!

“M-Muto! Take over for the driver! Don’t let the bus slow down!”

After taking off my bulletproof helmet and throwing it to Muto, I put my hand on the window once again.

“T-That’s no problem, but…” Muto put on the helmet as soon as he caught it and with the help of some other students, laid the injured driver on the floor before taking his place in the driver seat. “The other day, they found out my car was customized. I can’t have any more violations on my record!”

Turning my back on Muto, who sounded rather desperate, I proceed to climb onto the roof of the bus.

“This bus is already in violation of driving in the passing lane. Isn’t that great, Muto? Your license is officially revoked.”

“I hope you fall! I’ll run you over while I’m at it!”

Speeding in the heavy rain, the bus made its way onto Rainbow Bridge.

“Does the culprit plan on bringing this explosive into the city?!”

With half of my body outside of the bus, I did my best to keep from getting thrown off. As the bus took the sharp curve near the entrance to the bridge, it tilted to the right, and for an instant, the wheels on the left side of the bus lost contact with the ground, but it managed to make the turn. Muto had instructed everyone to gather on the left side of the bus, doing a good job of maintaining its center of gravity and keeping it from tipping over. That was Muto for you. Just what you’d expect from an honor student of Logi. As the bus raced down Rainbow Bridge, there wasn’t a single car to be seen. It looked like the Metropolitan Police Department had taken precautionary measures. The road was blocked off.

“Hey, Aria, are you okay?!” I yelled out from on top of the bus.

“Kinji!” Aria came climbing up her wire from behind the bus and looked up at me.

“Aria! Where’s your helmet?!”

“It broke apart when that Renault rammed into the bus! Where’s your helmet?!” Aria pointed at my head.

“The driver was wounded! I lent my helmet to Muto and had him drive!”

“It’s too dangerous! Why did you come out here defenseless?! How could you make such an faulty judgment call like that?! Hurry up and get back in the—Behind you! Get down! What are you doing, you idiot?!”

Aria’s face went pale as she suddenly drew her two pistols and charged at me.

What happened?

Unable to grasp the situation, I turned around and looked behind me. What I saw was the Renault Sport Spider, which had taken up position at the front of the bus, opening fire…with the Uzi pointed at my face. Bullets came flying towards me.

I’m a dead man.

That’s what I honestly believed. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. While returning fire at the Renault, Aria ran up and tackled me with that small body of hers. The sound of bullets ripping through flesh resonated twice, and fresh blood flew into my line of sight. I didn’t feel any pain, however.

“Aria!”

Aria rolled on the roof and off the side of the bus. She left behind a trail of blood that was washed away by the rain.

“Aria! Ariaaaaa!”

I pulled on Aria’s wire with every ounce of strength I had. The Renault reduced its speed and fell back to the side of the bus.

Not good. If that thing opens fire at us now, it’s all over!

That’s what I was thinking to myself but…the Uzi remained silent. Upon taking a closer look, I saw that the barbette was broken. In that brief exchange of fire, Aria had destroyed the Renault’s weaponry.

If you get in a pinch, I’ll protect you.

Aria’s anime voice repeated itself in my head.

“Ariaaaaaa!!”

Screaming at the top my lungs, I hauled Aria, who was utterly motionless, up onto the roof of the bus. I felt the blood freeze in my veins when I saw her up close, and at that moment…

Pow!

The sound of something bursting filled the air.

Pow!

There it was again.

“?!”

The sounds were followed by the Renault rapidly spinning out of control and crashing into the guardrail. The bus left the Renault behind in the distance as it exploded and burst into flames. I looked ahead and saw the Butei High helicopter flying parallel with us off the side of Rainbow Bridge. Its hatch was wide open, and I could see Reki on one knee pointing a sniper rifle in our direction. There were many buildings situated in Odaiba, which prevented any possibility of sniping, but here on this large bridge, it was now a valid option.

“…I am a single bullet.”

I heard Reki’s voice through the headset. Looking more carefully at her, I noticed that she was aiming at the bus.

“A bullet possesses no human heart. Therefore, I do not think…”

She was whispering to herself what seemed to be a verse of poetry.

“…I merely fly towards my target, nothing more.”

I had heard this a few times before at Assault. Reki had a habit of reciting those lines when she was about to fire at her target. The second she finished her incantation… Blam, blam, blam!

The muzzle of her gun flashed three times. With each flash came the impact of a bullet on the bus, and each of the three sounds was followed by the lagging sound of a gunshot.

Clunk, clunk, clunk!

I heard the sound of some component falling off from underneath the bus and rolling down the street behind us. It was the bomb as well as the parts that were connecting it to the bus.

“…I am a single bullet…”

Reki’s voice was followed by another gunshot.

Bang!

Sparks arose from the parts the bomb were attached to, and the entire unit soared through the air like a soccer ball. It then made its way to the median strip and from there, continued on its path to the ocean below.

Boooooom!

I wasn’t sure if the bomb had been triggered remotely or not, but a huge column of water rose from the ocean’s surface. The bus slowly reduced speed…and came to a stop. On the roof of the bus, Aria who was deathly still…and I, who was unable to be of any use to the bitter end, continued to be pelted by the pouring rain.

Aria was admitted to the Butei Hospital where she was treated for minor wounds. We were lucky. That’s all there was to it. The two bullets that hit Aria only grazed her forehead and didn’t result in serious injury. Aria went through an MRI scan while she was suffering from a concussion, but there was no cerebral hemorrhage, so she had escaped with only external injuries.

The next day, after turning in a report to the educational affairs department, I went to the Butei Hospital to find Aria in a private VIP hospital room. Riko did mention that Aria was the daughter of a noble family or something like that.

Inside her hospital room was a small private room decorated with white lilies. Sticking out from between the flowers was a card that read “From Reki.”

That robot-girl brought these with her? That’s surprising.

I suddenly heard an odd sound coming from behind the door to her bedroom, which was just slightly opened. I found it suspicious and peeked inside to see Aria sitting up in a huge bed.

She was holding onto a hand mirror and looking at the wound on her forehead.

“…”

She must have been concentrating awfully hard because she wasn’t aware of my presence. The swelling on her forehead still hadn’t receded, and a deep red lump was bulging out. The bullets had left two intersecting linear scars on her head, ruining the well-shaped forehead she always so proudly showed off. I heard from the doctor yesterday that there was nothing they could do about the scars and that they would be permanent—scars that would remain with her for the rest of her life.

I heard that strange noise again. Aria was looking at the mirror with moist eyes, and she was repeatedly fastening and taking off the hairpin she always used. Seeing that, I felt a pain in my heart as if it were being pierced by dozens of needles. Aria…was very fond of her forehead. It must have been really difficult for her to have a scar like that on it.

“…Aria.” I pretended like I had just arrived and knocked on the door after slightly distancing myself from it.

“Ah, h-hold on a second.”

I could hear the rustling sound of hasty movement coming from inside the room.

“…Come in.”

I entered the room just in time to see Aria rewrap the bandage around her head with amazing speed and proceed to tinker with her gun using some sort of tool. It was a bit contrived, but apparently she was pretending to have been doing maintenance on her gun.

“Are you here to visit me?” When she glanced at me, there was a look of aversion in her eyes that she wasn’t trying to hide.

“Just don’t treat me like I’m some sort of injured patient. I can’t believe I’m being hospitalized for a little scratch like this. The doctors here make such a big deal out of everything.”

“You’re every bit an injured patient. That wound on your forehead–”

“What about it? Stop your gawking.”

“Well, I mean, it’s gonna leave a scar isn’t it?”

“So what? I’m not concerned about it. You don’t have to be concerned about it, either. That takes care of maintenance.” Aria placed her gun on the side table and crossed her arms. “Butei Charter, Article One, ‘Believe in your comrades and help one another.’ I was merely abiding by our creed. I wasn’t making any special exceptions when I saved you just because it was you.

“The Butei Charter…? It’s just a bunch of stuck up ideals. Don’t go around defending them like some idiot.”

“…Are you saying I’m an idiot? I don’t wanna hear that from someone like you. But…you may be right. I just might be an idiot for saving an idiot like you.”

Aria turned her back on me, and I didn’t feel like carrying on this conversation any further so I just held out the bag of goods I brought from the convenience store. After a short silence, Aria’s nostrils quivered as she sniffed the air.

“…Peach buns?”

I hadn’t even opened the bag, but she knew by the scent. Aria turned towards me and her angry red eyes opened wide.

“Knock yourself out. I bought all they had—five to be precise. They’re your favorite, aren’t they?”

For a moment, Aria just sat there quietly eyeing the bag, but soon enough she snatched it out of my hands and plunged her own inside. She then began to greedily devour the peach buns, which had already started to cool off. It was kind of like feeding a wounded, savage animal.

“Take your time. Those peach buns aren’t going anywhere.”

“Be quiet. I can eat them however I want.”

Aria stopped eating just long enough to say something spiteful with that bean paste-stained mouth of hers and continued to gobble down her peach buns in silence. Butei Hospital was famous for serving awful tasting food. She probably hadn’t eaten too much since she’s been here.

“Well, listen while you eat. After that incident, they found the hotel room that the culprit was using.”

“…What about the hotel register?”

“There was none. Rather, I should say the records were tampered with. It was done from the outside.”

I took out a translucent file from my bag and laid it by Aria’s knees. “We had Riko Mine and other members of Inquesta and Repier inspect the room. The end result…not a single trace of anything that would help to identify the culprit could be found.”

“I’m not surprised. Our ‘Butei killer’ is incredibly cunning. There’s no way the person would leave behind any footprints.”

“‘Butei killer’, huh? I was convinced that both my bicycle-jacking episode and the bus-jacking were copycat crimes of the ‘Butei killings’. After all, the perpetrator had already been arrested.”

“I told you. They arrested the wrong person.”

I was unable to refute Aria’s theory. Sure enough, these crimes didn’t seem like the work of some petty copycat criminal.

“Also…the results of the investigation on the bicycle-jacking are included in that file. But to be honest, there wasn’t much to gain from that incident, either. Both the Segways and the Uzis were stolen goods.”

“Those guys are all so useless. Reading those documents would be a waste of time.”

“If that’s what you think, just throw them in the trash.”

I wasn’t really being serious, but then Aria actually did just that, causing me to become a little angry. Although they didn’t come up with any clues, Riko and the others worked throughout the night conducting the investigation.

“You can leave now. It’s over isn’t it?”

“?”

“You were going to help resolve the first case that presented itself after returning to Assault. That case is closed so your contract has expired. You can go back to Inquesta now. Good-Bye.” Aria had finished her peach buns and spoke with exasperation.

“What the hell? You really are a self-centered person, aren’t you? You were so forceful in dragging me into this, and now that you’re done with me, that’s how you’re gonna be?”

“Do you want me to apologize? Will you feel better if I pay you?”

“…Do you want to make me angry?”

“I want you to hurry up and leave. Let me be alone.”

“You got it. I’m outta here.”

I could feel myself getting angrier by the minute. I wasn’t sure why I was so upset, but each of Aria’s words stung me like bees.

“Humph!” I turned my back on Aria as well and started heading out of the hospital room.

“I can’t believe you…”

I heard Aria say something under her breath as I took hold of the doorknob.

“I was counting on you…I thought you would show me the skills you demonstrated that other time if I brought you on a mission with me!”

“Nobody told you to have such big expectations of me! You came to your own conclusions! I don’t have that kind of skill! And besides…I’ve already decided to quit being a Butei! Why do you always decide everything on your own?!”

Unable to control myself, I raised my voice as I spun around to face her. For some reason, when Aria was the person I was dealing with, I couldn’t maintain my composure.

Damn it. What’s going on? This isn’t like me.

“I have to decide everything on my own! I’m running out of time!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! You’re not making any sense!”

“If you’re a Butei, why don’t you look into it on your own?! Compared to…compared to my circumstances, your reasons for wanting to quit being a Butei are trivial! I just know it!”

Trivial.

Hearing those words, before I knew it, I had impulsively approached Aria, and forgetting that she was a girl, I nearly grabbed her by the collar. However, I restrained myself, and my fists closed on themselves instead—tightly enough to leave nail imprints on my hand.

“W-What? What’s your problem?”

Even Aria was taken off guard by the threatening attitude I had never shown before. I placed both of my hands on the bed and buried my face in the sheets.

I must have a hideous look on my face right now—a face I don’t want to show to anyone.

Shirayuki had mentioned this to me before, but my family, the Tohyama's, have been heroes of justice for generations. The occupation may have changed depending on the era, but for hundreds of years, we have been fighting on behalf of the weak using the power of our unique genetic make-up known as hysteria mode. My father, who died in the line of duty while I was still a toddler, was active as an armed prosecutor, and my older brother was also a Butei. As far as I was concerned, they were heroes I wanted to model my own life after. That’s why I entered Butei High of my own free will without hesitation. My hysteria mode might have been the cause of some bad experiences I had in middle school, but I figured I would eventually be able to control it like my father and my older brother. That’s how optimistic I was. But during the winter of last year, something happened that turned my entire life upside down—the boating disaster off the coast of Uraga.

Embellir, a Japanese-registered cruise ship, had sunk, and one passenger went missing. It was a misfortunate accident in which the search was called off without the body ever turning up. The person who died was a Butei who happened to be on the boat—Kinichi Tohyama, my older brother. According to what the police said, my brother, a person who was always fighting on behalf of the weak for a mere pittance and never lost to even the most formidable of villains, was helping to evacuate the crew and passengers and failed to make it out in time as a result. But fearing lawsuits from passengers, the company that offered the cruise as well as some of the passengers who were incited by the company, harshly criticized my brother after the accident. They claimed that my brother was an incompetent Butei for not being able to prevent the accident, despite being onboard the ship. All the numerous verbal attacks posted on the Internet and in the weekly magazines that were aimed at me, the surviving family—even now, they still haunt me in my dreams. Why did my brother die after saving other people? Why was he made into a scapegoat? It’s because of the hysteria mode in our genes…and it's because he was a damned Butei! That’s right. Butei. Heroes of justice. They just fight and fight until they’re completely battered, and even if they wind up dead, people will still throw stones at them. They’re worthless roles, and whoever fills them is only going to lose out! That’s why I gave up becoming something so ridiculous. From this point on, I’m going to be a regular person. I’m joining the side that just lives their lives saying irresponsible things and spends their days carefree and in peace. That’s what I’ve decided.

I lifted my head. Aria…wasn’t saying a word. When my eyes met with those camellia-colored eyes of hers, I realized what this black feeling inside me that I had towards Aria was. She and I were alike. Aria shouldered a heavy burden that no one else could understand and was tragically running at full speed down the path of a Butei in the direction directly opposite of where I was headed. I was trying to run away from my issues, while she was trying to confront hers. That’s why I was unable to remain calm when Aria was involved.

“In any case, I’ve already given up on being a Butei. Starting next year, I’ll even be going to a normal school.”

“…”

“Are you listening?”

“Alright…alright already…You…” Aria looked away from me and closed her eyes for short while before reopening them. It was like placing the period at the end of a sentence that shouldn’t be written. “…weren’t the person I was looking for.”