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

dumb for worrying even for a moment about her school life. “Well, I’m going now, Enju.”
    Before she could say anything, he turned his back and straddled the bike. He kept going until he reached the bike stand of Magata High School two buildings over. The bell signaling the start of school rang as he parked the bike and put on the U-shaped lock.
    Rentaro clicked his tongue. He was late. Looking up at the school with an unambitious expression on his face, he half-seriously considered going home. Instead, he hooked his bag on his back and rounded his shoulders, walking slowly into the school. It was the beginning of another boring day.
    He slept through Japanese class, and during math class, he was called on three times, but the teacher gave up after being ignored all three times. During break time, the rodentlike girl who was the class president approached him nervously trying to get a survey that had been completed by everyone but him, but he ignored her, too, and she left, looking like she was about to cry.
    Some meddlesome girl who looked like her protector came to say, “Hey, don’t you think you were a little mean?” but he ignored her, too. “Fine, do what you want, idiot!” she said, and went back to the circle of girls.
    Rentaro could hear someone saying, “Is that guy even trying? Why is he even here?”
    Rentaro looked out the window at the faraway Monoliths with a yawn.
    Right around when fourth period ended, the phone in his breast pocket started to vibrate.
Who’s calling me at this time of day?
he thought as he rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at the screen. Looking wearily at the caller’s name, he waited another ten rings for the caller to hang up, but lost to the persistent ringing of the phone andpushed the TALK button. “What do you want at this time of day…President?”
    “Don’t call me President when we’re not working. Well, I’m calling you about work, though.” From the phone’s speaker, he could hear Kisara’s voice as clear as a bell.
    “Is it about the case from yesterday?”
    “Yeah, I’ll tell you more details in the car. Anyway, just come with me to the Ministry of Defense for now.”
    “Huh?” He thought he heard wrong. Wasn’t the Ministry of Defense responsible for Japan’s national defense? Huh? “H-hey, what’re you talking about…?”
    “Look out the window.”
    Hunching, he did as he was told and went over by the window. When he did, he saw a jet-black limousine parked in front of the school gates and his breath caught. “Damn it, all right, I’m going.”
    “Idiot. You’re late. I’m behind you.”
    “Huh…? Woah!” Taken aback, he let out a pathetic shout without thinking. Behind him was someone so beautiful it was bad for the heart when she appeared suddenly. He could tell that the other people in his class were also confused at the sudden appearance of someone from another school.
    “Come on, let’s go.”
    “B-but what about school?”
    Kisara put her hands on her hips and glared at him as if he was trying to sneak a peek from below. “I left Miwa Academy for this, too, you know. School or work, which is more important? This month, we’ve had zero income thanks to
someone
, remember? Good-for-nothing Satomi.”
    Rentaro shifted his gaze away from Kisara. “For some reason, I’ve come to love work a whole lot…”
    “Very good. Now, come.”
    He tried to find an opportunity to apologize for yesterday, but he completely missed his chance.
Oh well
, he thought, walking hunched over, two steps behind Kisara, who was slicing through the wind with her shoulders. Every one of the students who passed Kisara stopped, gaped, and looked back at her.
    “Isn’t that the uniform for Miwa Academy?”
    “No way, the same Miwa Academy that the Seitenshi attends?”
    “It’s a school for rich girls, isn’t it? Woah, look at how beautiful she is. Who in the world is she?”
    “No way, no way, no way!”
    “Hey, who do you think that is walking