Chapter Ten

The Ethics of Freelancing

This school is weird.

Hold your ground against the president one time and suddenly everyone changes their opinion on you.

Though it probably also has something to do with the new rank halo sewn on my chest. Ah I feel so weird. But a bit more confident, for some reason.

I sat in my seat, trying my best to ignore the not-so-subtle glances that everyone was giving me. Almost immediately, as if the universe was transpiring to make him my sidekick, Kenta walked up and sat on the desk beside me.

“You’re making waves, Kimura.”

“Hm, yeah.” I replied lazily. “Feels good acing the last exam miss Fujioka gave us. I’ve never been prouder of myself.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! I’m talking about what happened between you and the president!”

“Please don’t phrase it like that. People might misunderstand what you’re trying to say.”

Kenta grinned, pounding his fist into his palm.

“Everyone in school saw it man! Well, the first thirty seconds of it, at least. After that you guys just sorta disappeared and did god-knows-what in who-knows-where. But by the end, it looked like the fight ended in a tie, yeah?”

I turned to Kenta, tilting my head.

“That never happened before!”

“The president said it ended in a tie?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what everyone is saying.” he shrugged. “I guess that’s what you’d expect. From what everyone saw, you sounded like you were just as good as the president.”

“I’m not sure about that. She landed a few good punches and threw me into a tree, once or twice.”

I touched my chest with my palm. The pain was gone, but it still stung in some places. She also broke a couple of ribs, but an overnight sleep was enough to heal those.

“Everyone is waiting for a rematch.” Kenta said eyes afire with interest.

“Well don’t get your hopes up. It won’t happen any time soon.”

“Oh come on, don’t say that. I’m sure there are plenty more freshmen out there who want your help.”

“Very funny.”

The president mentioned that you were something of a faction leader last year. I wanted to ask him this, but my curiosity was the size of a match light. I wasn’t curious enough, nor did I care. I made a mental note, however, that Yoshida was obviously not as ordinary as I once thought.

[—

A small letter was on placed inside my shoe locker, the envelope sealed with blue wax. I sighed. It was creepy how these guys had seemingly unlimited access to people’s shoe lockers.

The message was written in fine print, in English, in big, black letters.

‘WE’LL CALL YOU.’

Ah.

Sounds like something a creepy admirer would write.

Turning around, I realized that I’ve failed to notice that someone’s been standing behind me. She must have moved like a shadow to completely bypass my senses like that. Or maybe my guard was down. It’s probably a combination of both.

The girl gave me a beaming smile and tilted her head, her curled locks bouncing on her shoulders. She was standing uncomfortably close, but I didn’t mind because she was beautiful. Her hair was short and her eyes and hair were a deep shade of violet. The halo on her chest indicated her status as an A Rank, and the mechanical bow slung over her shoulder immediately gave me the impression that she was some type of archer.

“Kimura-san.” she said, beaming. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

She offered her hand, which I gently took and shook.

“It’s uh, nice to meet you too, miss?”

“Megumi Fujino.” she said, bowing slightly. “I’m the captain of Arsenal Sol.”

“Ah.” I bowed in kind, before turning away and walking off. “Sorry, never heard about you guys.” I already know where this is going. “See you around!”

“Wait!” she cried out, grabbing my sleeve. “Yo—You’re not even going to ask what I want?”

“Yeah, I’m not.” I replied. “Sorry, but this isn’t the first time this happened.”

She stood there, dumbfounded before releasing her hold of my sleeve.

“I—I’m sorry. This was inappropriate.” she grasped her skirt. “I’m not really good with— with people.”

Well. That’s a complete one-eighty. Wasn’t she just confidently smiling a second ago? Still, she’s cute. And I guess that’s all that matters in the grand scheme of things.

“Don’t worry, I understand.” I said. “People have said in the past that I can be difficult to approach.”

She looked up, with big, pleading eyes.

“So—So does this mean you’ll listen to what I have to say?”

“Hahaha.” I laughed heartily, pounding my chest. “Of course not!”

[—

“Arsenal Sol’s president approached personally?” Ayane asked with an incredibly incredulous, confused, and downright offended look on her face.

Clouds flew past behind her, sending her long hair curling in the wind. She picked at her expensive bento, her eyes glued to my own. The subtle howling of the wind is our only companion, here, far above the school, Tokyo, and the world.

“Yeah. I was hoping you could tell me what they’re all about.”

Ayane narrowed her eyes and immediately frowned.

“You didn’t even ask her?”

“Nope.”

“What about Yoshida-san?”

“Come on. I don’t want to bother him over something like that, hahaha.”

“But you’re perfectly fine with bothering me. You do know who I am, don’t you?”

“Yeaaaah, you’re the school president. That makes you the best person to ask about these things, right?”

She slumped her shoulders, dropped her chopsticks and fried pork chop, and sighed.

“Arsenal Sol was formally the archery club.” she said in a deadpan. “They’re composed exclusively of A Ranks. They mainly offer protection services to people who are willing to pay.”

“Protection services?” that’s crazy. “That’s a thing in this school?”

Ayane nodded, picking up a shrimp and stuffing it in her mouth.

“Yeah. The school encourages student duels— to I don’t know— cultivate a more competitive atmosphere or something.”

“Ahhh, so that’s why we haven’t been disciplined for flying around everywhere, destroying property, and wrecking people’s cars.”

“Mmm-hmm. The school paid for all the damage we did.”

“Great. My bank account and I love this school already.”

“It’s necessary, considering all the fighting that happens here.” Ayane said, sipping from a box of juice. It was weird seeing someone so refined drinking from a bright orange box. “In any case, I’m not surprised that Arsenal Sol attempted to talk to you. Powerful Overseers are a valuable resource in this school, especially to a combat-centric faction like them.”

I turned my gaze away from her and focused on the distant cityscape.

“Well, she wasn’t the first. There were two others, but I didn’t even bother learning about their organizations.”

“Has Yoshida-san told you about Hanta Paragon and Sonata House yet?”

I leaned away, taken aback.

“Are you spying on me? How did you know that those two are dogging for me?”

Ayane shrugged. “Of course I am, I wouldn’t be the school president if I didn’t have my own spy network. Don’t be surprised, those groups are known for their very active recruitment campaigns. I actually feel bad for the freshmen this year.” she glanced at me and grinned. “Oh and before you say anything, yes, I’m also aware that you’re working with Courier Blue.”

“Wrong. I’m not working with those guys.”

“At the very least, you worked with them.” she closed her eyes. “Whether or not you plan to work with them again in the future, is something yet to be seen. Regardless, there’s no real way to prevent you from communicating with them.”

She opened her eyes slowly. She seemed to cast her gaze at the entire world at once. A gentle breeze blew and the collar of her uniform moved with her thoughts.

“Hey Kimura-san, why don’t you come with me for a bit.”

[—

‘STUDENT COUNCIL OFFICE’

I stared at the sign on top of the double wooden doors, wondering if I’m in the wrong place. I glanced to my right, seeing Ayane poking through her pocket for her keys.

“Why is it locked?” I asked.

“Hikari-chan and Natsumi-chan seem to be out. We have to lock it for security reasons.”

“Ohhh.” I leaned on a wall, crossing my arms. “So a simple door lock is the only thing protecting your precious office? I expected the home of the supreme student council to be more protected.”

She glanced at me as she gingerly held her keys.

“There are cameras monitoring the office at all times, along with alarms and other precautions. I can teleport inside to instantly address any issues. I’m all the protection the office needs.”

She opened the door before confidently stepping inside, not even bothering to usher me in. After a cursory glance at our surroundings to make sure that no one was around to misunderstand what we were doing, I invited myself in.

For all the power the student council possessed, their office was surprisingly sparse and simple. A single long table sat in the middle of the room, stacked with paper, books and writing materials. Cabinets and drawers lined the sides of the spacious room, decorated with even more writing material. Ayane disappeared into an adjacent room, only to appear a moment later with two cups of tea.

She sat down by the long table, near a spot that was clear of papers and ushered me to sit with a nod.

“I apologize for the mess,” she said, pushing the cup toward me as I took my seat. “And I apologize for the drink. It’s uh; it’s from a tea bag. I was never good at preparing anything more… genuine.”

I took the cup in my hands, smelling the aroma.

“Thanks. Though I am a bit surprised that someone as refined as you doesn’t know how to make a proper cup of tea.”

She huffed and puffed her cheeks. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to.”

I placed the cup to my mouth and took a small sip.

“It’s passable.”

“Ugh. You don’t have to be so blunt, idiot.” she frowned deeply.

The president’s cell phone rang the moment I gave my incredibly handsome thumbs-up.

A happy, but monotonous tone played from inside her blazer pocket. She gave me a sly grin as she pulled out her phone and placed it to her ear. She spoke in her refined, ‘presidential voice’, in an even-handed, yet authoritative manner. She sounded like a completely different person. I didn’t bother listening in and instead opted to stare at the ceiling fan that slowly spun above us.

“Why’d you change the ring tone?” I asked when the call ended.

“What?” she tilted her head innocently. “What are you talking about, Kimura-san?”

“Oi, don’t play dumb with me. Aren’t you some kind of reincarnation of a kid from the ‘90s?”

“Ahhh, you mean that song? No, no, you see that was merely a mistake, a bug on my phone that caused my ring tone to be changed.”

“A bug. Okay.”

“Hmm, yes. I am a fan of modern music, not that drivel from the past.”

“Man, and here I was, thinking of using your music choice as leverage the next time we fought.”

Ayane froze and narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t test my patience, Kimura-san. Don’t give me a reason to murder you in your sleep.”

“You’re welcome to try. Hahaha.”

I saw her tighten her fist and I half-expected her to throw a punch. But she held her temper and instead simply sighed.

“Wait here.” she stood up and retreated again into the back room.

While she was gone, I considered snooping around their office, but eventually decided against it. She mentioned that they had surveillance here. It would be impossible to do anything without implicating myself.

Ayane emerged a moment later, holding a big folder in her hands. She plopped it down in front of me with a visible smack, causing a nearby stack of paper to collapse.

“What’s this?”

“Details on all the factions inside the school.” she said, sitting back down.

“Uh,” I picked up the dusty folder and examined it. The folder was fat from the massive stack of paper it tried to contain. “You guys have heard of computers right?”

“Hardcopies are easier to manage.” Ayane said. “Feel free to read through those files. After our scuffle last week, people have started to take a particular interest in you and I believe that you should be acquainted with each group.”

“That’s uh, that’s surprisingly very thoughtful of you.”

“Like I said, people like us are a precious resource.” she leaned back and crossed her long legs. “You’re better off getting an unbiased opinion on each of the factions before deciding to join one.”

“Well, rest assured, president because I’m not planning to join any of these organizations.” I returned the unopened folder to her.

The president took the folder back, dumbfounded.

“I see.”

“Plus, I don’t think I have the time to read all that. Classes start in fifteen minutes.”

The president was about to reply when the office doors opened. The person who walked inside was a small redhead, a freshman probably, with a completely blank look on her face. She ignored both of us as she walked inside and disappeared into the same room that Ayane kept going to.

“OI. WHAT THE FUCK?”

The voice that screamed from within was like that of a hobbit’s. But angrier.

“We’re out of tea bags!”

The tiny girl emerged enraged, her breaths short huffs. Her gaze immediately fell on Ayane, who instantly shrunk in fear.

“Sorry, Natsumi-chan. We have a guest and well, Hikari-chan wasn’t around to make us some real tea.”

It was only now that the little devil paid any attention to me.

“Oh.” she said. “I didn’t see you there.”

“And I almost didn’t see you too, shortstuff.”

“What the hell?” she recoiled, hands up defensively. “What did you just call me?”

“Shortstuff.” I blurted out.

Ayane gave me a murderer’s glare, which I promptly ignored.

“Sorry,” I said to the girl. “It just kinda came out.”

She huffed and walked over to us, taking twice the steps necessary because of her short stature.

“Why are you here?” she demanded.

“Ayane invited me over to look at these files you had on the factions inside the school.” I replied instantly.

“And why are you giving a stranger access to our files?” she demanded, this time to Ayane.

“Because I don’t want him joining a group without knowing the full extent of their intentions.”

“Ah. Is that the only reason why you brought him here?”

“No.” the president frowned before reaching out and covering the girl’s— Natsumi’s— mouth. “Stop using your power on me, Natsumi-chan.”

The girl tried to complain, but her words transformed into muffles and groans. She tried swinging her arms at Ayane, but between her small size and Ayane’s superhuman strength, she practically had no chance.

“Kimura-san, I’d like to introduce you to Natsumi Akiyama, the SSC secretary.” Ayane frowned.

The redhead gave me an angry look, causing me to lean away from her.

“Nice to meet you, mini-secretary. Mind if I ask what her power is, president?”

“It’s impossible to ignore her or lie to her when she asks questions.”

“Ah.” that’s why my lips have been moving on their own. “Having a conversation with her must be a pain.”

Natsumi, the little demon that she was, reached out and punched the president in the abdomen, to the latter’s minor annoyance. Eventually the president surrendered, sighed and released her.

“Ahhh!” she exclaimed, gasping for air and turning to Ayane with a snap. “What is wrong with you!?”

Natsumi’s power seemed to trigger immediately, causing Ayane to reply without missing a beat.

“I overthink too much about, well, everything. And sometimes I think I get too competitive when it comes to academics. I also take abnormally long showers—” the president frowned and her eyes narrowed before she turned to me. “I’m going to get us something to eat.”

The president left swiftly, her braided hair trailing behind her, the double doors slamming shut in her wake.

“Well… I think I should be going.” I quickly said, slamming my hands on the table as I stood up.

“You should stay.” Natsumi replied, pulling a chair for herself and sitting down. “Ayane-chan said she’d be back. She’ll be disappointed if she found out that you ditched her.”

“We have class in a few minutes. You guys are probably allowed to skip a few lessons, but I’m not.”

“Why? Are your grades so bad?”

“No, I have excellent grades, actually. I just hate missing classes.”

“Why do you hate missing classes” she grinned.

“I hate being idle.” I frowned. Her power is definitely something. I can’t even feel myself being influenced.

Natsumi sighed and stretched, arching her back as she let out a long extended yawn. “Well, suit yourself.” she said. “I’ll just tell Ayane that you had to go.”

I nodded, my hand on the doorknob. “Of course. It was nice meeting you, Akiyama-san.”

The building that housed the student council office was found in the heart of the campus, near the administrative offices. The hallway that greeted me as I left was mostly empty, save for the stray teacher or student that walked about. There were more people here on our way in, but I guess everyone evacuated since classes were about to start.

After heading down two staircases, I once again find myself alone in a long hallway.

I could probably get to class in a flash if I used my powers, but even I appreciate the value of a walk, once in a while.

After rounding a corner, a most peculiar sight caused me to stop.

Two girls were facing off, standing ten meters apart. Like any other healthy male my age, I always appreciated a good catfight. But as I walked closer toward the pair, I slowly come to realize who they are.

The girl on the right, with the fiery red hair and haughty attitude was without a doubt the captain of Enforcer Company, Rina Miyamori. She was without her usual posse of abusive amateur swordsmen, but she still looked as intimidating as ever.

Across from her was the purple-haired girl from before, the socially-awkward, but eccentric captain of Arsenal Sol.

I frowned inwardly. I shouldn’t be here watching. But I can’t help but be curious.

Neither girl seemed to have noticed my presence. I stopped in my tracks and keep my distance.

I don’t know anything about either combatant.

This is the perfect opportunity for a bit of research.