Black Bullet - Volume 2 - Chapter 1.2

2

After school, Rentaro changed trains and headed to the First District of Tokyo Area. On his way, he absentmindedly looked out the window at the Monoliths as he wondered why she chose him.

About a month earlier, Rentaro had ruined a ceremony that was supposed to honor his achievements saving Tokyo Area and destroying a Stage Five Gastrea. She should have resented him. They definitely did not have the type of relationship where she would offer him a job.

Still not completely satisfied, Rentaro got off at the station in front of the Seitenshi’s palace. After a few minutes’ walking, the Seitenshi’s palace came into view. It looked like it was built in the neo-Gothic style of architecture. The whole thing seemed to consist of many organic curves, with the curved glass windows that could be seen through the stone pillars that looked like bones and the area in front of the entrance slanted like waves. No matter how many times he saw it, it was always a gorgeous Western-style building, but for Rentaro, who lacked aesthetic sense, it just looked like the poor taste of people with new money.

He gave a security guard his name and the purpose of his visit. After the security guard called inside and talked for a while, Rentaro was allowed to pass, sandwiched between more guards in front of and behind him.

There were folding chairs lined up in an orderly fashion, and in front of them were a spotlight and a tiered doll stand. That was probably where the spokesman always stood to smoothly answer questions from the press. In the past, Rentaro had had the opportunity to see similar events when he was at the emperor’s palace, so there was a strange familiarity when he came to a place like this.

Because of those thoughts, he was surprised when he realized it was the Seitenshi herself who came to the podium. Directly in front of her sat a few people scattered about. It looked like she was practicing some sort of speech. It seemed she had not yet noticed Rentaro.

The third-generation head of state of Tokyo Area was wearing the same pure white dress she always wore and had a strained expression on her face. As usual, she possessed such beauty that she was hard to approach. “Today is a day of good fortune, and I wish health and joy on those gathered here today. Now, there are only three points I wish to speak of today. Only three—”

Her eye contact, the placement of her breath, the tempo of her speech—everything was perfect. In front of Rentaro’s eyes, there was a national ruler his age presenting a speech that would put adults to shame.

Rentaro was reluctant to interrupt and listened attentively, putting his hand on the back of a chair on the side. When he did, a leg on that chair gave a loud creak, and he was surprised as everyone turned to look at him.

The Seitenshi adjusted her seated posture and folded her hands elegantly in front of her dress, cracking a smile. “Good afternoon, Satomi. You’re right on time.”

Suddenly, the memory of almost grabbing the Seitenshi resurfaced in Rentaro’s mind, and he looked down slightly, scratching the back of his head. “Um, sorry about before.”

“I am not concerned about it.”

Looking at the Seitenshi’s faint smile, he grumbled in his heart that she didn’t just look good but she also had good character. No wonder she was so popular with the citizens.

A woman who looked like a secretary pushed up sharp glasses as she approached him. “Who is this?”

“Kiyomi, this is your first time meeting him, isn’t it? This is Rentaro Satomi from the Tendo Civil Security Agency, the hero of Tokyo Area who drove away a Stage Five Gastrea.”

The woman called Kiyomi was taken aback. “Rentaro Satomi… You mean the former kids’ TV singer and stripper at a gay bar? That Rentaro Satomi?”

“Who’re you calling a stripper at a gay bar?! Who’s spreading these false rumors, anyway?!”

Because of the incomplete news blackout that had been imposed, strange rumors were being spread, primarily online. Having his personal information distorted was a big headache for Rentaro. Based on those rumors, Rentaro was a former shiitake mushroom cultivation engineer, a former fortune adviser, and a former animal therapist. Kids’ TV singer and gay bar stripper were new.

“Hey, if you don’t need me for anything, I’m going home.”

“I do need you for something.” The Seitenshi signaled with a look telling those around her to back off, stepped down from the platform, and approached him.

“Satomi, President Saitake, the Osaka Area representative, is informally visiting Tokyo Area the day after tomorrow.”

“What?!” Rentaro froze unconsciously as she said a name he recognized. Sougen Saitake?

“That’s right. I’m sure you already know this, but currently, Japan is split into five areas—Sapporo, Sendai, Osaka, Hakata, and Tokyo Areas—ruled by five heads of state. One of them, President Saitake, sent a message out of the blue the other day saying that he was going to visit Tokyo Area and that he wanted a conference with me.”

“Why…?” Osaka Area hadn’t contacted Tokyo Area at all these past few years. What could he possibly want after all this time?

“I do not know. However, I believe a large part of why he chose now is because of the absence of Kikunojo.”

“Now that you mention it, that old man is in China or Russia or something, right? They showed it on TV.”

The Seitenshi nodded silently. Saitake and Kikunojo had a long history of being political opponents since before the Great War, so to come while Kikunojo was gone could be seen as cowardice or underhandedness.

“I see. Well, you said you wanted me as an escort, but what exactly did you want me to do?”

“I want you to sit next to me in the limousine when we travel, stand behind me during meetings, and be my bodyguard.”

“Does that mean you want me to stand in the old man’s place where he always stands and be his replacement?”

“To put it plainly, yes.”

Rentaro didn’t know what to think anymore. What in the world was the national head of state in front of him thinking? “Is this at your own discretion?”

“Yes.”

“When the old man comes back and finds out about this, he’s going to be furious, you know.”

“Why would he be?”

“Because…I followed Kisara Tendo.”

As if she understood with just that, the Seitenshi let out an “Ah.”

“I do not make plans based on concerns over the Tendo family feud.”

“But you know that it’s not as simple a matter as a family feud.”

She did not say anything.

“Anyway, don’t you already have proper guards around you?”

“I was just about to introduce you to them. Please, come in.”

When the Seitenshi raised her arm to summon them in, there was the stamping of soldier boots, and men without a thread out of place entered the press conference room and formed a line. These were the Seitenshi’s personal guards, who were always seen off to the side during TV broadcasts. Rentaro counted six of them.

They all wore white overcoats and uniform caps, with handguns at their waists. He didn’t want to say it, but more than guards, they looked exactly like the treasonous military police from World War II. When they looked this similar, it was strange that there was no military sword at their waist.

“Satomi, this is the captain, Yasuwaki.”

A conspicuously tall and handsome man stepped forward, smiling with his right arm outstretched. “Pleased to meet you. I am Takuto Yasuwaki. My rank is second lieutenant, and I have the honor of being the captain of the guard. I have heard much about you. If anything happens while on duty, I am counting on you, Satomi.”

“I haven’t accepted the offer yet, you know. Besides, I didn’t come here to serve. I just came to hear an explanation of a job.” Even as he spoke, Rentaro was inwardly surprised. The man looked to be in his early thirties. He was very young to be the captain of the Seitenshi’s personal guard.

Rentaro stared at the proffered right hand for a while, and then raised his head to look at Yasuwaki. He had sharp eyes in a narrow, pointy face that looked nervous. Behind his ingratiating voice, those eyes stared at him coldly. Rentaro could feel them on his skin that had suddenly become as sensitive as radar. For some reason, contrary to Yasuwaki’s tone of voice, Rentaro was apparently not very welcome.

Seeming to sense the unrest in the air, the Seitenshi hurriedly intervened. “Satomi, isn’t it a little impolite of you to not return his handshake?”

Yasuwaki lightly took off his hat and smiled at her. “No, Lady Seitenshi. I am used to being treated this way by civsec officers. Even if he is a hero, he is still a mere high school student, so he must be a little nervous.” Yasuwaki did not seem particularly hurt as he withdrew his hand and gave a polite bow.

He knows how to handle himself, Rentaro thought. Was it my fault?

The Seitenshi looked back and forth from Rentaro to Yasuwaki. Then, with a strange uneasiness, she quickly moved on to discussing compensation.

Rentaro let that go in one ear and out the other as he put his hand on his chin and thought, setting his personal feelings aside for a moment. He felt bad doing this to Kisara, but it wasn’t really a job he felt like doing.

First of all, during the previous terrorist incident, he had gone through a lot of trouble because the government had been hiding important information. The job this time seemed to be a personal request of the Seitenshi’s, but it sounded like the selfish wish of a princess where he would definitely get the short end of the stick.

Another reason was that he simply did not think he was good enough. A job like this should be undertaken by a specialist unit of VIP guards. It was one thing if there was no money and the client wanted to keep costs down by hiring a civsec officer, but for the national ruler, this was unthinkable. Guarding a helpless girl like the Seitenshi would likely be a nerve-racking job. He didn’t think anything would happen, but if something did, the responsibility would be too great.

“Well then, if you will accept the job, please fill out the necessary paperwork and contact us.”

The female secretary from earlier finished the standard explanation and handed Rentaro the contract. Then, the Seitenshi concluded, saying, “I have another engagement,” and left, taking her personal guards with her.

By the time Rentaro stretched out his arm asking, “Uh, hey, where’s the exit—” everyone had already left the press conference room.

At a loss, Rentaro scratched the back of his head, stuffed both hands in his pockets, and wandered around the Seitenshi’s palace. However, he stopped suddenly and scratched his head three minutes later when he realized he was lost. After passing a reception room decorated with gigantic stuffed deer and alligators and the like, then a locked meeting room, Rentaro found himself in a hallway he had never seen before with a red carpet, without knowing how he had gotten there.

As Rentaro walked around looking for a worker to ask for directions, he suddenly felt a shot of pain as his arm was wrenched behind his back. “Don’t say a word,” a stifled voice whispered in his ear, and he was pushed into a nearby men’s restroom and thrown against the wall. Rentaro saw stars, and he thought his forehead had split open as he watched a bloodstain spread on the wall.

Bastard. Still trapped, Rentaro elbowed his captor behind him and tripped him. Getting free, he used his left hand to grab his opponent’s head and banged it into the wall in return.

“Son of a bitch.”

Rentaro felt someone else coming from behind to hit him and took the attack by putting up his right arm to block without looking. Then, he used a bit of aikido to twist and throw his opponent into the wall.

There was a gasp as air was pushed out of his attacker’s lungs.

“That’s enough.” There was the click of a gun cocking, and Rentaro stopped moving. Turning around slowly, he saw the six guards from before, including Yasuwaki. One was standing guard outside the restroom, two had been beaten by Rentaro, and two had drawn their sidearms and had them pointed at Rentaro.

And the last, Yasuwaki, had his arms clasped behind his back, looking down at Rentaro like a snake tormenting something weaker than it.

“What are you trying to do…bastard?” Rentaro said.

Yasuwaki walked briskly over to Rentaro, and just as Rentaro thought he had drawn a large knife from his hip, Yasuwaki thrust the side of Rentaro’s face into the wall of the restroom as hard as he could. Yasuwaki brought his mouth next to Rentaro’s ear and whispered in a stifled voice, “Rentaro Satomi, turn down this job. It is my job to stand behind Lady Seitenshi.”

“Huh?”

“You make me sick. Who cares if you’re the hero who defeated a Zodiac? You just happened to be the one by the abandoned railgun module, you whelp. If I had been there, I would have defeated the Zodiac.”

Rentaro didn’t say anything.

“Why you?” Yasuwaki continued. “Lord Tendo left Lady Seitenshi to me while he was gone. To me. Lord Tendo’s usual position by her side should be mine.”

“You’re always by her side protecting her, aren’t you?”

Yasuwaki gave a snort. “Idiot. It’s not the same as being with her in the car or during meetings. Besides, Rentaro Satomi”—Yasuwaki leaned over and grinned, licking his lips repulsively—“Lady Seitenshi has grown up beautifully and will be sixteen this year. Don’t you think it’s about time Tokyo Area’s ruler had a successor, as well?”

“Oh, is that how it is? In the end, it’s always that, huh?”

Yasuwaki drew his gun from his hip and thrust it between Rentaro’s eyebrows. “Shut up. Now, I’ll have your answer.”

“I’m not gonna listen to you.”

Yasuwaki put away his handgun quickly and headed for the hallway with a jerk of his chin. “Crush the bones in his arms and legs.”

Were these guys serious? Held down by guards on his left and right sides, he was disgusted and flailed wildly until suddenly the hold on his right hand loosened. The next instant, before he could even think about it, his hand had reached out to the gun on his hip. He aimed slightly to the right of Yasuwaki’s astonished face and pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew straight and grazed Yasuwaki’s cheek, and then the explosive sound of small-arms fire in a small room thundered throughout the palace. Then, there was a brief moment of silence, and the smell of gunpowder smoke stung Rentaro’s nostrils.

“This guy…”

“I can’t believe you fired in the Seitenshi’s palace.” The guards were shocked.

Yasuwaki roared at the guards, who had started to look nervous. “Get yourselves together, idiots!”

Holding his cheek where the bullet had grazed him, Yasuwaki narrowed his eyes that were burning with hatred. “I’ll kill you…… I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!” Spitting out his parting threat, he and the guards quickly retreated.

In their place, workers rushed in in great numbers. “Are you all right?” they asked Rentaro.

As Rentaro waved away the hands reached out to him in his confused state and stood up, he glared at the exit Yasuwaki and the others left from. Apparently, the Seitenshi’s personal guards were far from being honest or diligent.

Rentaro received simple treatment and was interrogated by the staff and found innocent. By the time he was led out of the palace by the staff, he had decided to take the job.

When Rentaro left the palace, the sun was low, and the sky was dyed red. He stretched hard, and the bones in his body made delightful popping sounds. Every time he had to undergo this kind of questioning, it made his shoulders stiff.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain and pressed his hand to the bandage on his forehead.

On the other hand, despite the extremely serious matter of boldly shooting a gun in the Seitenshi’s palace, he had been allowed to go home surprisingly easily. For some reason, the staff understood his situation, but when Rentaro tried to turn the conversation to Yasuwaki and the other guards, the staff gave a start and looked down.

It looked like the staff inside the palace had some knowledge of the arrogance of the Seitenshi’s personal guards. At least, enough to figure out immediately that something had happened between Rentaro and the guards when they saw Yasuwaki and the others leave the restroom, with Rentaro inside with blood dripping from his forehead. Rentaro sighed. It had turned into something annoying.

Then, he looked up and thought, Oh? There was a bicycle circling the elaborately designed fountain in front of the Seitenshi’s palace. It had been circling this whole time. Riding the bike was a girl about the same age as Enju with hair that could probably be called platinum blond. The wind blew her beautiful hair up, and it reflected the red light of the setting sun, sparkling brightly.

However, the girl was wearing baggy pajamas, her feet shod in house slippers, she had a serious case of bedhead sticking out from her head, her mouth hung half-open, and she pedaled the bike with a self-effacing expression on her face. It was hard to watch.

The people walking by had expressions on their faces that made it clear they did not want to get involved with what looked like a sleepwalker on a bike caught in an endless loop around the round fountain, and they quickened their steps to pass her.

Rentaro had a bad feeling about this and hunched his shoulders, walking quickly to pass the girl on the side, leaving plenty of space between them. With a feeling of relief, he stroked his chest and tried not to look back as he headed home.

Suddenly, there was the sound of something falling behind his back.

“Hey…! What the…?! Watch where you’re going!” The thunderous voice carried a hundred meters, and when Rentaro reluctantly turned back, there were three delinquent boys with bleached blond hair surrounding the girl from before. The girl had been thrown off her bike and looked like she didn’t know what had happened. Surprised, she looked left and right, but then the kicks started mercilessly, and Rentaro closed one eye.

The girl’s back crashed into the edge of the fountain, and the muffled voice that escaped when the air was knocked out of her lungs even reached Rentaro.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Say something, bitch. You ran over my foot with this bike. Get it?”

“Aw man, that foot’s probably broken.”

“You’ve gotta pay compensation! Compensation!”

One of the boys started stomping on the vainly spinning spokes of the inverted bicycle in a fit of anger. The girl didn’t know what was going on and just stood with her mouth open. There were more people around them who avoided the girl and walked by, and some started appearing who didn’t want to get involved and turned away completely.

Rentaro felt bad for her, but he wasn’t such a good person that he would act like a hero and go in to help. His feeling of not wanting to get involved won, and he turned around, but when he suddenly thought of what Enju would say if she were here, his legs stopped as if they were glued to the ground.

Rentaro ruffled his fingers through his hair. Damn it. Might as well call her parents, he said to himself as he put his hand on the spiky-haired one who was poking the girl and who seemed to be the leader, forcing him to turn around to face Rentaro.

The spiky-haired boy scowled unpleasantly and said, “Huh?”

Rentaro regarded the boy with little in the way of enthusiasm. The pure violence of this type of scary-faced loudmouth was definitely easier to deal with than the underhanded, spiteful Yasuwaki.

When Rentaro didn’t say anything, the boy said, “Who the hell are you?” and put his face close to Rentaro’s to threaten him.

Rentaro didn’t say anything and just tapped his own back twice where his gun was stuck into his belt.

The spiky-haired boy’s reptilian eyes gave off a dangerous light, and there was an oppressive silence. The fibers of Rentaro’s clothes poked his skin.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the spiky-haired boy finally turned on his heel and said, “Hey, let’s go,” and left, taking his friends with him.

Exhaling softly and relaxing his shoulders, he swore to himself that he would never do this again. As Rentaro turned back reproachfully, he saw the blond girl looking at him with her mouth open.

“A hero… It’s my first time ever seeing one.” The girl in pajamas that he saved looked at him with an absentminded expression.

“You don’t have to thank me. Just hurry up and go home! Later.”

As he waved carelessly and was about leave, the girl grabbed the sleeve of his uniform. “Where are we?”

Rentaro covered his face with his palm and shook his head softly. Damn it, he had gotten involved, after all.

Sitting the girl on a bench in a green park in the neighborhood, Rentaro went all the way to a water faucet, got a towel wet, and brought it back. Wringing out the towel, he wiped the girl’s face. “Stay still for a sec.”

The girl lifted her chin, narrowed her eyes, and stayed there. “You seem to be…used to this.”

“I’ve got a freeloader about your age at home, that’s why. There, all clean.” Rentaro took a step back to look at the girl, putting his hand on his hip and nodding once.

The girl lowered her head to bow in thanks—but strangely, she never lifted her face back up. Rentaro thought this was suspicious and peeked at her face from below. Her eyelids looked heavy, blinking sleepily as she started falling asleep.

“Hey…”

Suddenly raising her head, the girl dug around in her pocket and pulled out a bottle with an English label on it, took a pill out of it, and put it in her mouth. Rentaro thought she was eating something and stole a look at the label on the bottle and frowned. Apparently, they were caffeine pills.

“I’m…nocturnal, so if I don’t do this, I can’t stay awake during the day.” As she spoke, she tossed a large number of pills in her mouth one after another, chewed sleepily, and swallowed. Rentaro did not know much about this type of pill, but he could tell that this was more than a normal dose.

“Where did you come from? What’s your name? Where’s your guardian? Why are you wearing pajamas and house slippers?”

The girl looked down at her own clothes and tilted her head slowly. “Dunno…” It had taken her about ten seconds to react.

“What do you mean, ‘dunno’? Jeez… What about your name, then?”

“My name is…” For some reason, the girl’s eyes shifted for a moment, but then she seemed to give up and lifted her face. “Tina…… It’s Tina Sprout.”

“I’m Rentaro Satomi.”

“Call me Tina.”

“Then, you can call me Rentaro.”

“Rentaro…?” Tina looked at Rentaro absentmindedly with her mouth half-open.

“What is it?”

“I just…wanted to try it out.”

Rentaro slumped his shoulders. This was tiring. “Well, Tina, I’ll ask you again. Where’s your guardian?”

“I don’t have one.”

She didn’t? “Where did you come from? You can just tell me what you remember.”

With her eyes half-closed, Tina tilted her head front and back, left and right, stuck her forefinger on her chin, and started to speak slowly. “All I remember is that I think I woke up in my apartment today, took a shower, changed my clothes, and went out.”

“Don’t lie! Not only haven’t you changed or showered, you look like you just woke up!”

Tina opened her mouth and said, “Oh,” softly, her eyes still half-closed. “You know me better than…I know myself…don’t you?”

“Hey… The bike that was broken was yours, right?”

“Bike? Was I…riding something…like that?”

“Never mind. You should go to the police box and ask for directions.”

“I can’t…really…”

“Just do it. I realized now that I can’t deal with you.”

“Don’t…say that.”

Rentaro wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Here, if you get lost again, you can call me, so just go to the police box. Please.”

“Then, can I try calling you as a test right now?”

“Why do you have to do something like that…?”

“Because you might have given me a fake phone number.”

Rentaro had no words.

Tina turned her back on him and fiddled with her cell phone, and then Rentaro’s chest pocket started to vibrate. “I know this is sudden, but you are interested in ten-year-old girls, right?”

“Wh…what…?”

“I was keenly aware of you gazing at the skin peeking out from my pajamas.”

“Go see an eye doctor.”

“I was afraid to say it to you in person, but you really have an unfortunate face, don’t you, Rentaro?”

“Shut up.”

“I also didn’t get a chance to say this, but I know where my apartment is.”

Rentaro felt foolish. Then, what was I hanging out with this kid for?

Tina smiled faintly and folded her cell phone shut slowly. “Today was a very fun day.”

Apparently, in this girl’s mind, this farce was saved in her memory as a fun day.

It wasn’t fun at all for me, you know, he almost said, but kept it to himself after seeing her happy face.

Tina slowly slid off the bench and smiled. “I hope we can meet again.”

Rentaro scratched his head, then gave up and gave a big nod, shooing her off with his hand.

“Well then, good-bye, Rentaro.” The girl bowed politely and walked falteringly out of the park. Rentaro watched her go, not exhaling with relief until he couldn’t see her anymore. She didn’t seem like a bad kid.

Thinking he had another story he could tell Enju, he walked in the opposite direction of the girl.