A Concealment Full of Holes
Four people were sitting in the office of the principal of Jindai High, scowling around a rectangular table: the principal herself, the homeroom teacher of class 2-4, the student council president, and its vice president.
“Now, as I’ve explained...” said the principal, Tsuboi Takako. “The representative from the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly who’s coming to observe our school, Mr. Hayami Nobuhiko, is a very, very, very serious person. And he’s particularly concerned with youth issues.”
“What, precisely, do you mean by ‘youth issues’?” asked Kagurazaka Eri, class 2-4’s homeroom teacher who also taught English.
“Dangerous behavior among young people—assault, drug abuse, and... the possession of dangerous weapons,” the principal clarified.
Eri fell silent.
“Our school is an extremely normal school for the most part,” Tsuboi continued, “but it has one serious problem that we can’t afford to see go public: a certain student with whom you’re all familiar.”
“A certain student...” murmured the student council vice president, Chidori Kaname.
“Yes,” the principal affirmed, “that very unfortunate student who, as a result of being raised in dangerous war-torn regions overseas, lacks any understanding of how things work in Japanese society and has completely failed to adapt to life here. It isn’t his fault, of course, but it’s difficult for me to imagine Mr. Hayami having a positive impression of him.”
“So... what do you propose?” Kaname asked.
Principal Tsuboi cleared her throat. “I propose... well... I was wondering if perhaps there would be a way to ensure he wasn’t in school that day.”
“Aha...”
“After all, try to imagine it: what if... what if he were to fire off a gun in front of Mr. Hayami, or detonate an antipersonnel mine, or wave a combat knife around...”
These things were indeed very easy to imagine, and a mutual tremble ran through both Kaname and Eri. Their imaginations ran wild with images of gunshots, explosions, sprays of blood, and the death rattles of the representative himself. They felt a chill run up their spines as they pictured the reactionary headlines—typical of a certain brand of stupid and lazy reporter—that might fill the newspaper’s society page:
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member slain by male high school student
Homeroom teacher ignored warning signs
Was influence from games and anime the culprit?
“We’d be finished,” they said in unison.
“Yes, finished! Which is why I would like to take him out of school just for tomorrow. Obviously, as an educator myself, I cannot discriminate against a single student. But... you understand, don’t you? There are things a person needs to do to survive! I’m not talking about throwing away rotten oranges, just putting one slightly more threatening orange out of sight for a while. I think this is the rare case in which it would be valid. Don’t you agree? Don’t you?!” the principal pressed them.
Kaname and Eri answered together firmly, their faces pale.
“You’re very correct, ma’am!”
“We’ll make sure it all goes smoothly!”
While the three of them nodded in mutual agreement, Hayashimizu Atsunobu, the student council president—who had been quiet up until that point—began to speak. “I disagree with this course of action.”
The principal, Eri, and Kaname all turned to glare at him in unison.
“Hayashimizu-kun. Might I ask why?” the principal inquired.
The tall, pale, intelligent-looking man in question nudged his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “It is true that he tends to act with a logic that is alien to you, but he means no harm. Nor is he a wild beast incapable of taking direction. If you explain the situation to him, I believe he will prove capable of self-mediation.”
The principal struck the table with a fist. “Absolutely not! Do you hear me? The stakes are far too high if something goes wrong!”
“She’s right, Hayashimizu-kun! He’s too dangerous to leave at large!”
“Yeah, Senpai. And it’s less that he’s a wild beast incapable of taking direction, and more that he’s an inflexible combat machine... a cold-blooded Terminator!” Kaname insisted.
“That may be going a bit too far, even for passionate rhetoric...” Hayashimizu whispered, an uncharacteristic trail of greasy sweat running down his temple. “Besides, although the representative is very stubborn and inflexible, the reason he chose our school is very likely—”
“Enough quibbling!” the principal barked. “This is one time when I won’t yield, even to the student council president. Sagara Sousuke will not attend school! I will prevent his attendance by any means necessary!”
These were shocking words to hear from a supposed educator, yet the principal declared them without shame.
That morning, after getting ready for school, Sagara Sousuke grabbed his bag filled with textbooks, notebooks, various equipment, and spare ammo clips before leaving his apartment. On his way out, he found Chidori Kaname waiting for him in the front hall.
“Morning, Sousuke.” She was a slender girl in a school uniform, with long black hair punctuated by a red ribbon. She was standing there with her hands behind her back and, for some reason, an ingratiating smile on her face.
“Chidori. What is it?”
“Well... I was thinking. Maybe we could walk together today.” She punctuated the offer with a giggle.
“Hmm?” Sousuke was surprised by this turn of events. Kaname never acted this way in the mornings. She was more likely to slouch along like a zombie, with eyes half-closed and mouth slack-jawed, moaning occasionally about how tired she was.
“C’mon, Sousuke,” she continued regardless. “Wanna ditch today? We could go to the aquarium.”
“What?”
“I’m just not in a school kinda mood today. I’d rather just kind of hang, you know? But I’d be lonely doing it on my own. So how about it?” She looked at Sousuke with upturned eyes. It was the kind of alluring expression that would make any normal man’s heart skip a beat, but...
He reached quickly towards her face and pinched her cheeks hard.
“Eh?! Ggggh... eh?! Wh-What are you doing?!” She shook his hands free, then knocked Sousuke over with a hit from her bag.
“Hmm. Indeed,” he observed, “you are the genuine article.”
“Of course I am!”
“I thought you were an enemy in disguise.”
“Well, I was trying to be cute... It kinda ticks me off if that’s your reaction,” Kaname muttered.
Sousuke stood up and dusted himself off. “Regardless... you said you wanted to skip school to go to the aquarium, but I’m afraid I must respond in the negative. My grades are already poor enough due to my work for Mithril. I cannot afford to be careless with class attendance.”
“But... it’s just one day...”
“Even one day can be fatal.” Sousuke said firmly. “Education is a treasure. In the many poor countries I have been to, there are those who wish to receive a high school education but cannot. Japan is a blessed nation in comparison. To take the day off from school on a whim, despite being afforded such a precious opportunity... Chidori, you should feel ashamed.”
“Why do you always have to have integrity on days like this?” she demanded with exasperation.
“Days like what?”
“Oh, nothing.” Kaname looked away, whistling.
Sousuke shook his head. “Regardless, that is my position. I will happily accompany you anywhere this afternoon—to the aquarium, to the zoo, even to the Smithsonian. But for now, we must attend school.” Sousuke strode forward, pulling Kaname along by the hand.
“H-Hey—”
“Move swiftly,” he urged her. “We will be late.”
“B-But... I think I’m coming down with something. I have a headache, and I’m nauseous. I might seriously die without someone looking after me all day... Hey, Sousuke, are you listening?!”
“Hurry. The train will arrive soon.” Sousuke then pulled her along down their usual road to school.
Sousuke arrived at the entrance to the school, dragging an unusually passive Kaname with him. Just then, their homeroom teacher, Kagurazaka Eri, came running. “Sagara-kun?!” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I’m sorry! I meant to tell you earlier, but it’s about next month’s student council training camp...”
“What is it?”
“The truth is, we haven’t done a proper investigation of the lodging arrangements. We need one of the students to go there and talk things over with the inn’s owner.”
“I see.”
“I was hoping you might be the one to do it.”
Sousuke recalled that the training camp location was far enough away that a round trip by train would take half the day. “Right now?” he asked.
“Yes. Immediately.”
“But what about my class—”
“Don’t worry about classes! I talked to all the teachers and they’ve agreed to mark you present. Well? It’s a good deal, isn’t it? You get to take the day off from class and enjoy a nice trip.”
“But ma’am, surely there’s no reason for me to rush out on a weekday—”
“There is! There absolutely is!” Eri said, pressing in. “I told the people at the inn that we’d be coming by today, and you’re the only one who can evaluate safety issues there! The success of next month’s training camp is all up to you!”
“Is it?”
“Yes! So you have to go!”
Sousuke fell quietly thoughtful for a moment. Then at last, he straightened up and responded, “Yes, ma’am. I will leave at once. Chidori?” He turned to Kaname, who had been anxiously watching their exchange.
“Wh-What?”
“You heard her. I may not return to school before the day ends, so I wish you good luck with your studies.”
“All right. Good luck to you, too.”
“I’ll be going, then.” Sousuke turned around and left the school.
He was in no position to see Kaname and Eri sigh with relief as they watched him go.
“Welcome, Mr. Hayami! I am Principal Tsuboi. Did you run into much traffic on the way here? Route 20 is always so congested, with so many dangerous intersections... Ha ha ha ha...” said Principal Tsuboi, greeting their guest with forced cheer.
“Not at all. Thank you for having me, Ms. Tsuboi.” Representative Hayami was a slightly fastidious-looking man of just under 50 who had arrived in a black chauffeur-driven car. He was the archetypal politician; dressed in a gray suit and black-rimmed spectacles, he walked swiftly, straight-backed, with two secretaries always in attendance. He and the principal exchanged the usual overly polite pleasantries as they headed for the employee entrance.
Fourth period classes had just begun. The school was quiet, and there were no students in the halls or the courtyard at the moment.
“It really is an honor to have a man of your status observing our school,” Principal Tsuboi insisted. “The staff and the students are all so delighted. I’m only sorry we couldn’t hold a welcome ceremony.”
“No need to go to any trouble. I want to see your school in its typical state,” Hayami said to her casually.
“Yes, yes. That’s the best policy, really. Ha ha ha...”
“I’m happy to hear you agree.” He nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “I’ve been on a few school visits like this, and they all seem overly practiced in anticipation of my evaluation. It doesn’t give me an idea of what they’re really like. To be honest, it’s both disappointing and irritating.” There was a subtle anger in Hayami’s voice.
“I-Is that so?”
“That attitude—enacting superficial pleasantries while they wait for the storm to pass—gets under my skin very deeply. What kind of an example are they setting for the children? All places have their issues. I want to see those issues for myself.”
The principal felt sweat rise on her back as she eyed the representative from the side. But... honestly... if you saw our typical state, you would be far angrier, she thought. Nevertheless, she cleared her throat and reassured herself. Well, stop worrying. Sousuke won’t be here today. Eri and Kaname got him out of the way. Everything will be fine!
“That’s a wonderful attitude to have, Mr. Hayami,” she said out loud.
“Thank you. By the way...” Hayami stopped in the middle of the hall, and pointed to a wall, close to the ceiling. “What is that?”
“What?”
There was a small hole there with a radial crack around it. It was a place Sousuke had shot with his handgun.
“I’ve been wondering,” Hayami said thoughtfully. “I’ve seen a few similar points of damage here and there around the building. They almost look like gunshots.”
“Certainly not! No gunshots!” the principal shouted in denial. “Nothing so horrible ever happens at our school! Absolutely nobody ever shoots bullets into the walls! Our students are extremely peaceful and never carry firearms!” Her reaction was completely over-the-top. Realizing how it had bowled Hayami and his secretaries over, she gasped and tried to course-correct. “Th-That is, er...”
“Well, of course they’re not gunshots,” Hayami said dazedly. “It was merely an example.”
“Of course... ha ha ha... it’s probably just air bubbles in the concrete. This school is getting up in years, after all!”
“I see. But what about that window?” This time, he pointed to one of the windows in the hall, which had a spiderweb fracture patched up with duct tape. This damage, too, had been caused by Sousuke.
“Th-That was from the baseball club. We have a very promising new slugger. He actually hit a ball all the way here from the athletic field!”
“I see. But it really does look exactly like the bullet holes I’ve seen before...”
“Seen before?” Principal Tsuboi exclaimed.
“Well, you see, I once had a bit of a squabble with a particular political association,” Hayami explained. “One of their members shot at my office to intimidate me.”
“I see... ”
“Really, it’s nothing to worry about. The culprit was arrested and is currently serving time.”
“I’m... glad to hear that.”
“Indeed. And all the leaders of the organization to which he belonged have been duly chastised by society.”
“I... I’m very glad to hear that,” said the leader of the school to which Sagara Sousuke belonged, her voice trembling.
“Indeed. Japan is a country based on rule of law, and those who carry firearms within her borders are unforgivable,” Hayami insisted. “Those who look the other way from such acts belong in prison as well.”
Tsuboi said nothing.
“Oh, I suppose the conversation’s gotten rather dark. I apologize. Now, show me what Jindai High School is like during class.”
“Right. Th-Th-This way, please...” the principal stammered as she led the way back down the hall.
Kagurazaka Eri was writing a phrase in English on the blackboard when the door to her classroom rattled open. Kaname, Kyoko, Kazama, Onodera and all the other members of class 2-4 turned back to look.
“Hello. Pardon us,” Principal Tsuboi said as she poked her head inside.
Representative Hayami entered the classroom after her. The students had been told about his visit in advance, so they weren’t surprised or shocked to see him. The primary feeling hanging over the classroom was relief that Sagara wasn’t there.
“Sorry to intrude, all. Please continue as if I’m not here,” Hayami said.
Most present realized it was a ridiculous request, but Eri gave him a strained smile and said, “Everyone, let’s continue class as normal, just as Mr. Hayami asked. I don’t think we have anyone here who would try to eat lunch early behind their textbook, or read a Fantasia Bunko paperback, or fall asleep and snore loudly, do we?”
“No, ma’am!” the class responded in eager unison.
“Good. Now, the next sentence. ‘Kigen 79-nen, Rome no toshi Pompeii wa, Vesuvius-kazan no daifunka ni yotte, ichiya de ushinawareta.’ Can you translate that into English, Chidori-san?”
“Yes, ma’am. Um... In the year 0079, Zeon declared war against the Earth Federation for its independence,” Kaname read smoothly from her notes.
“Very good. Thank you.”
Class continued smoothly in that manner, completely quiet except for the distant sound of a helicopter. Hayami, the principal, and his secretaries sat in folding chairs set up in the back of the classroom, quietly watching things proceed.
“All right. I think we’re home free.” Eri had been very nervous, but it seemed things were working out fine. Hayami seemed to find the class rather boring, but that was preferable to being the subject of his rage. If things keep up like this, we might just ride this out, Eri thought.
But it was at that exact moment that the door to the classroom opened forcefully, and a male student entered. Of all people, it was Sagara Sousuke.
“I have returned,” he said.
“Erk!” Eri, the other students, and the principal all reeled back and choked in unison.
Sousuke scowled as he looked around at their expressions, which were universally twisted with surprise and confusion. “Hmm? What’s the matter?”
“Oh, n-nothing... S-S-Sagara-kun, y-you’re back early...” Eri gasped.
“Yes. The round trip took a mere ninety minutes in an MH-67 Pave Mare.”
“A pave... what?”
“It’s a transport helicopter,” he clarified. “They happened to be nearby, so I asked them to give me a ride, though I cannot tell you the affiliation of the helicopter, nor its current assignment.”
“I don’t quite understand, but... did you scout out the training camp accommodations already?” Eri wanted to know.
“Yes. Allow me to prove it.” Sousuke held out a Polaroid photo, which showed two people standing in front of a sign that read “Hikage-so Inn.” The owner of the inn wore a strained smile as he held up that morning’s newspaper, shaking hands with a typically sullen Sousuke.
Eri just stared in disbelief.
“It all checked out. I also scouted out escape routes and defensible points in the event of an emergency. I’ll explain the details later. By the way...” Sousuke turned his attention to the back of the room and pointed at Representative Hayami. “Who is that man?”
Hayami didn’t seem to like that mode of address. He and his secretaries scowled at Sousuke, while the principal, Kaname, and the others all turned white as a sheet.
“S-Sagara-kun... That’s Representative Hayami from the Tokyo Assembly. He’s a very important guest.”
“What business does a politician have in our school?”
“He’s here to observe our educational systems!” hissed Principal Tsuboi.
“I see.” While the others watched him in panic, Sousuke scrutinized Hayami carefully. “Very well. I don’t see anything suspicious about him just yet.”
“Of course you don’t! Now, take your seat at once. A-And... please, don’t do anything rude!”
“Understood. I will do my best.” Sousuke quickly headed for his seat. Unfortunately, it was at the center of the back row, very close to Hayami and his retinue.
Eri resumed class. Sousuke sat down at his desk, opened his bag and removed the contents: a textbook, a notebook, a pencil box, a pocket dictionary, a digital transceiver, a first-aid kit, a smoke bomb, a strobe light...
Hayami, watching from nearby, whispered to him, “Can I ask you a question, son?”
“What is it?” Sousuke whispered back, pausing.
“I want to know more about what high school students carry around with them these days. May I see?”
His question caused the students nearby and the principal to freeze up in terror.
“Feel free.” Sousuke proffered the smoke bomb he was holding.
Hayami took it, then scrutinized it carefully as he turned it over in his hands. “Is this something students walk around with nowadays?”
Ignoring the principal’s gaze, which urged him to keep quiet, Sousuke launched into his explanation. “It has numerous uses: moving safely through open territory, marking LZs, indicating targets to FAC. It can be used for COIN in some situations as well. And you can rig it up for a few other uses, too.”
Hayami frowned at him. “I see. You young people use a lot of newfangled slang. What is ‘LZ’?”
“It means ‘landing zone,’” Sousuke said, using the English words.
“And ‘FAC’?”
“‘Forward air controller,’” he said in English once again.
“And... ‘COIN’?”
“‘Counterinsurgency.’” English once more.
Hayami frowned. An extended silence followed. The only sound in the classroom was Eri, who was still reading from the English textbook. But most of the students were no longer listening to her lecture, focused instead with bated breath on the tense conversation happening in the back of the room.
But despite the strange atmosphere that hung over them...
“I just don’t understand any of it.” In the end, Hayami seemed to give up on trying to work it out and turned his attention to another piece of equipment. This was Sousuke’s digital satellite transceiver. “That’s a rather large cell phone you have. I’ve heard of those... It’s one of those iModes, isn’t it? Could I see it?”
“Absolutely not,” Sousuke replied bluntly.
Hayami exchanged a glance with his secretaries. “And why not?”
“Its settings are classified information. I can’t let an outsider view the frequency and encryption algorithms.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“It means that you are not authorized to handle this device,” Sousuke said, his eyes expressing pity for the man’s foolishness.
“Not authorized?” Hayami exclaimed. “Do you know who I am?”
“Sir, even if you were the President of the United States, I could not grant your request.”
“You’re a strange child. Who exactly—”
“Excuse me, Mr. Hayami?” Eri called from the podium. “I’m sorry, but we are in class right now. Do you think you could save your questions for the students until after?” Eri said apologetically.
Hayami cleared his throat and returned to his seat. “I beg your pardon. Please continue.”
The principal and students breathed a sigh of relief as Eri awkwardly resumed class.
It was then that Sousuke, undeterred, pulled a new item out of his bag.
“Son. I have one more question for you,” Hayami whispered to him, persistently.
“Yes?”
“What is that block-like thing there?” He was referring to the plastic explosive on his desk. It looked like nothing more than a pencil box-sized lump of clay, but in fact, it had the power to explode and kill everyone in the classroom.
“Composition C4.”
“Compo-what?”
“A fusion of trinitrotoluene and other elements with plasticizer added,” Sousuke explained.
“What exactly does that mean? Do your friends all carry it as well?”
“It seems unlikely. It’s a high-performance explosive, difficult to acquire in Japan.”
“A high-performance... what?”
Sousuke sighed, and explained again, slower and louder. “C4 is a highly destructive plastic explo—”
Crash! A sudden flying cross chop bowled Sousuke over. The toppling of his desk and chair with him produced a terrifying racket.
“What?!” Hayami cried as he and his secretaries drew back.
“Ha ha ha ha... S-Sorry!” Kaname picked herself up off the floor, laughing hysterically. “Sorry... It’s a chronic condition. A few times a day, I just find myself flying through the air!”
“A... chronic condition?”
It was then that a girl with braids and coke-bottle glasses, Tokiwa Kyoko, stood up and shouted, “Th-That’s right! Chidori-san has Spontaneous Mil Máscaras Syndrome. It’s an extremely rare condition. Isn’t that right, everyone?!” This utterly bizarre cover story caused everyone to briefly freeze up.
Mil Máscaras, AKA the Man of a Thousand Masks. He’d had a long and glorious history as a luchador in the Mexican pro wrestling scene and specialized in beautiful flying finishers—in particular, his artistic flying across chop. But all of that aside...
“Oh! Y-Yeah, that’s it!”
“It’s true! Poor Kana-chan!”
“She just can’t help it! It’s that Mill thing of hers!”
Once time began moving again, the others piped up in agreement.
“But I’m okay now. The urge has died down. Sorry, Sagara-kun! Are you okay?” Kaname helped Sousuke up as she forced a smile.
“Where did that come from?” he inquired with a frown.
“Honestly, you shouldn’t be talking about personal matters during class. And would you please put your extremely non-dangerous personal items away? Now? Please?” Kaname hissed.
“But Chidori. Our guest was asking about my plastic ex—”
Smack! Taking a full-force elbow to the back of his head, Sousuke hit the ground once more.
“S-Son?!” Hayami called as he and his secretaries blinked in surprise.
“Ha ha ha ha! What? How weird! It usually doesn’t trigger multiple times in a row like that,” Kaname laughed as she whipped her arms around, making sounds like out of a kung fu movie.
“For what sounds like a chronic condition, those are very precise moves. Even a dedicated spectator like me can sense clear fighting spirit and killer instinct in them,” Hayami insisted.
“That’s just your imagination. I don’t want to hurt anybody. I just want to be a normal girl. But... but...”
Sousuke stood up for the third time. “I don’t understand why can’t I talk about my plastic ex—”
Crash! A dazzling rolling sobat from Kaname once again reduced Sousuke’s health bar to zero. “Oh, there I go again!” she said brightly. “Are you okay, Sagara-kun?!”
This time, he didn’t respond.
“Ms. Kagurazaka! I’m going to take him to the nurse’s office! I feel a duty as class representative, as student council vice president, and most of all, as a fellow human being!”
“Excellent initiative, Chidori-san!” Eri said approvingly. “Please take him to the nurse’s office as quickly as possible. And make sure he stays there!”
“Right!” she responded immediately. While Hayami and his secretaries watched, dumbfounded, Kaname dragged Sousuke off.
“Nicely done, Kana-chan!”
“She doesn’t even hesitate to play the heel...”
“You are truly the school’s savior!”
The students of class 2-4 whispered their approval and pumped their fists in gratitude.
“Where am I?” Sousuke awoke to find himself in the nurse’s office, handcuffed to the bed.
“It’s nothing personal, Sousuke.”
“Chidori?!”
Kaname was silently looking down on him from the folding chair in which she sat. “I’m doing this all for the sake of the school,” she said. “We can’t let that representative know what you really are.”
“‘What I really am’? What do you mean? I am a model high school student working to maintain peace at this school!”
“I’m starting to realize... you really do believe that, don’t you?” Kaname peered into his face, a vein throbbing on her forehead. She was close enough that he could feel her breathing. “One way or another, I need you to stay here. Quietly. Until the representative leaves.”
“Why?” Sousuke demanded to know.
“Listen to me,” she begged earnestly. “Society these days doesn’t have a lot of room for humor. The things you did that we previously thought of as silly little stories—firing your little gun off inside the school, blowing up shoe cubbies—aren’t as funny as they used to be.”
“Really?”
“Really! And another thing! There’s a whole lot of scrutiny on us right around now, given the second you-know-what coming up! So at least for this volume, we need to pretend that this is just a completely normal, harmless school! Please try to restrain yourself!”
Greasy sweat streaked down to Sousuke’s forehead. “You say the strangest things from time to time...”
“Shut up! Anyway, that’s the situation, so...”
“What’s the situation, exactly?”
Ignoring him, Kaname stood up, her shoulders heaving with breath. “The point is, you’re staying exactly where you are. Ma’am, I’m leaving the rest to you.”
Nishino Kozue, the nurse who had been listening quietly to their conversation in the corner of the room, smiled brightly and nodded in response.
As Kaname left, closed the door, and could be heard walking away, Kozue asked him a question. “Now, Sagara-kun. Is there anything you want? Are you hungry? I’d be happy to bring you anything you need while you’re here.”
“A wire, if you please.”
“A wire?”
“Yes. As sturdy a wire as possible,” Sousuke said, eyeing the keyhole on the handcuffs that held him to the bed.
After sitting in on Class 2-4, Representative Hayami and his secretaries looked around at a few other classes. It all went quite smoothly. Fortunately, the non-Sousuke problem students didn’t cause any particular trouble that day.
Eventually lunch break arrived, which meant Representative Hayami would be taking his leave. Having finished observing the school, he was walking out of the front door with his secretaries. The principal, the teachers, Kaname and a few members of the student council saw him off.
His chauffeured car drove up and opened its door. “I’ll be going now, if you don’t mind.” Hayami bowed while standing in front of the car, so Principal Tsuboi and Eri responded quickly with deep bows in kind. The students followed their example.
“It really is a shame. We would have liked you to see more of our school,” the principal said with a smile. Kaname and the others reflected to themselves about her obvious insincerity.
“I’m terribly sorry. I’m a busy man, after all.” Hayami took one last glance over the faces of the students around him. “By the way, is your student council president off today?”
“What? O-Oh, well, there appeared to be a scheduling conflict... I’m sorry.”
Hayashimizu, the student council president, had said there was no need for him to put in an appearance and had ended up being a no-show.
“Very well, then. Thank you for having me. I hope I can stop by again some time.”
“Yes! We’d be honored to have you.”
“And you,” Hayami said, suddenly looking past her. “I’m sorry I distracted you in class. I truly apologize.”
“No, not at all,” came the response from a familiar voice.
The students turned back and felt all the blood drain from their faces. Sousuke was standing there as if he’d never left. “But curiosity killed the cat, Mr. Representative. I would advise you not to pry too deeply into the secrets of our school. Take care.”
Hayami furrowed his brow. “That sounded a bit like a threat to me.”
“Not at all. It was a warning.”
“Oh?” Apparently annoyed by his phrasing, Hayami took a step forward. It was then that a Super Cub motorcycle, apparently on a ramen delivery, passed through the front gate, but nobody paid it any mind.
“Mr. Hayami. You see... this student is rather uninformed in the ways of manners...” the principal tried.
“It’s true. As his teacher, I’m often scolding him... so, please, indulge him...” Eri tried.
“Yes, he just watches too many movies! But he’s not a bad person, so please overlook him...” Kaname tried.
But Hayami ignored their attempts to intervene on Sousuke’s behalf. “That’s what the others have to say about you. Do you have any final words for yourself?”
“Final words?” Sousuke murmured.
The delivery motorcycle was approaching the group.
“If I had to say something, it is that I am an excellent bodyguard.” Without batting an eye, Sousuke sprang into action, grabbing Hayami by the lapels and pulling him down to the ground.
Hayami exclaimed in surprise, but there was no time for anyone to react as Sousuke threw up his uniform jacket, drew the pistol from the holster on his back, and...
Blam! Blamblam!
He fired swiftly at the approaching ramen delivery motorcycle. Bullets hit its wheels, its engine, its cowl, and its headlights before the driver fell over, frothing at the mouth.
“...What?”
To say that the art for all of the students went off-model in that moment would be an understatement.
“What?!”
As the entire group stood there in silence, as if watching the world end, Sousuke ran up to the collapsed motorcycle driver and kicked him hard. The ramen shop delivery man let out a muffled scream, but then lay still.
“Sousuke? What are you doing?!” Tears appeared in Kaname’s eyes as she stumbled forward. “I really wasn’t only thinking about the school, you know. I was worried about keeping you safe, too... Now you won’t be able to go here with me anymore! That’s the one thing I didn’t want to have happen... but you... you... you hurt that innocent ramen delivery man!”
“Look closer.” Sousuke gave another light kick to the ramen delivery man lying on the ground. A small submachine gun slid out towards Kaname’s feet.
“What...”
“It’s a vz.61, a Czech submachine gun known as the Skorpion. It’s apparently used frequently by Japanese terrorists.” While Sousuke calmly explained the situation, Hayami turned pale and looked back and forth between the submachine gun and Sousuke.
“What? What... What in the world...”
“When a VIP is getting into or out of his car, that’s the best time to assassinate him,” Sousuke explained calmly. “He pretended to be a delivery driver in order to get close enough to shoot you.”
“You mean... from the political organization I fought with before...?” Hayami whispered.
Everyone, not just Kaname, stared at him in shock. “You mean... it was a real attack?” they squeaked in unison.
“Of course.” Sousuke puffed himself up, more confident than they’d ever seen him. His always sullen face seemed to project the aura of, “Well? I was right this time!” Even though it had been a horrifying act of attempted terrorism, he seemed almost happy about it.
Meanwhile, Kaname and the others were close to panic. A genuine attack! An honest-to-goodness assassination attempt!
“Th-That was horrible!” Principal Tsuboi exclaimed. “Someone call the fire department!”
“No, ma’am! We need to call the JSDF!” said Kaname.
“N-No! Have you forgotten that field trip?” Eri demanded hysterically. “Call United Nations Command!”
While they lost their minds arguing, Kyoko let out a sigh and dialed 110.
Even so, the problem wasn’t solved. No matter the reason behind it, Sousuke had drawn a gun and fired it right in front of Hayami. He seemed sure to report the incident to the police. And yet...
“‘Suspect apprehended on-site, no one injured’?” That afternoon, at the student council room, Kaname stared in confusion at the society page of the newspaper. The only report on the incident was a small article on the right-hand side. “What could have happened?”
“It’s all over, Chidori-kun,” Hayashimizu said indifferently as he walked in. Right after the assassination attempt, she had seen him appear quietly on the scene and whisper something to Representative Hayami. “Even the bullet holes in the bike have been attributed to the culprit’s gun. Don’t worry.”
“But, but...” she whispered.
“I know quite a few things about that particular representative. Everybody has skeletons in their closet.”
“What?”
“He may appear to be an upstanding member of society, but even he has things he doesn’t want known. And so I decided to play one of the cards I’d kept in my hand in the event of a worst-case scenario. The rest is politics.” With that, Hayashimizu turned to Sousuke, who was camped out at a far corner of the table. “Sagara-kun. I wish to speak with you.”
After urging the other students to leave so that it was just the two of them, Hayashimizu spoke to Sousuke.
“This information is available for anyone who digs a bit, but that prim and proper ‘Hayami Nobuhiko’ is actually using the pen name he used as a writer before he became a politician. His real name, unknown to most people, is Hayashimizu Nobuhiko.”
“What?”
“I haven’t heard from him for over two years, and we hate each other, but... your father is your father, right? And since you saved his life, I wanted to thank you personally,” said Hayashimizu with a self-effacing shrug.
Even Sousuke was forced to stare in wonder.
〈A Concealment Full of Holes — The End〉
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