Free Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods by Shiden Kanzaki

The brakes hadn’t been oiled, and let out an ear-piercing sound every time he used them, and the spokes were so rusted that pieces of oxidation fell off as he pedaled. He wondered how many years this antique had been left unused in the shed.
    But those things were soon forgotten once he started pedaling. As he strained to put strength into his feet on the pedals, he pushed comfortably through the fresh morning air. Enju gave a cheerful greeting to the students and men in business suits they occasionally passed. If he looked hard enough, he could see the Monoliths in the distance, brightly reflecting the sun’s rays. Underneath the trees lining the street that were sparkling with morning dew, the sunlight filtering through the trees changed shape and blinked like a kaleidoscope.
    He felt strange.
    Ten years ago, material civilization was at the brink of being destroyed due to the invasion of the Gastrea, and a vast number of people were killed or turned into monsters. At that time, the only expressions on people’s faces had been despair and loathing that had no outlet. It had only been ten years. Even so, it had been ten years.
    Rentaro closed his eyes and breathed the scent of spring deeply into his lungs. Hearing the bell of a departing streetcar in the distance, emotions welled up from the bottom of his heart.
    Just as Enju was clumsily shouting, “Rome! By all means, Rome” as Princess Ann, Enju’s school, Magata Elementary School, came into view. “All right,” she said. “I will now be zealous in my studies. We must part for a while, but don’t cry while I’m gone.” Enju made her parting farewell with her hand stretched out gallantly.
    Looking at Magata High School two buildings down, Rentaro sighed in exasperation. “C’mon, Enju. We’re only going to be separated for a few hours. Don’t you think that’s a little too dramatic?”
    “If I had my way, we would be together twenty-four hours a day. Rentaro, won’t you transfer to my class? I mean, you are not that intelligent, right? You could take the opportunity to start over from elementary school.”
    “You say the craziest things out of the blue. Be kind to my pride.”
    “Hmph,” she sulked. “Then be held back and wait for me for six years until I become a second-year in high school. That is my final compromise. Take it or leave it.”
    “Being a twenty-three-year-old high school student is wrong in a lot of ways.”
    “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
    “I do. Anyway, if I get held back that much, they’d kick me out.”
    “How dare they?! I want to be in the same class as Rentaro…!”
    Seeing the female students around giggling as they passed, Rentaro felt the heat go to his cheeks as he shrugged his shoulders.
    “F-fine, I get it. By the way, Enju, inside the school—”
    As if knowing what he was going to say next, Enju shook her head slightly and finished his sentence for him. “I know already. In order to hide the fact that I’m one of the Cursed Children, I must act with the utmost consideration inside the classroom.”
    Only when she was saying things like this did Enju show her dead, cold eyes. Rentaro uncomfortably shifted his gaze. “All right… That’s fine, then… Sorry.”
    “Oh, good morning, Enju!” A cheerful voice interrupted from the side. Rentaro saw a girl about Enju’s age with frizzy hair.
    “Good day to you, Mai. I’m glad you look in good health.”
    “You’re talking funny, as usual,” said the girl. “By the way, did you watch
Tenchu Girls
yesterday?”
    “Of course. Tenchu Black’s nihilism where one could not tell if she was friend or foe was excellent, as expected.”
    She was probably a classmate. Once the girls started talking about the cartoon, they didn’t spare another glance for Rentaro. Even though Enju’s attention was taken away from him in a second, and he was relegated to outside the mosquito net, watching the two talk, his face broke into an easy smile. He felt