Hidan no Aria:Volume6 Chapter2

2nd Ammo: Water Tossing

September 1--

During the opening ceremony on the first day of the second semester, the Japanese students of Butei High will respect international tradition, wearing an imitation uniform of the first Butei High in the world, Butei High - Rome, the completely black uniform which is called, "Diviza Nero".

The students, dressed completely in black, sat up straight on the folding chairs, in a phalanx-like formation.

This scene was almost like the assembly of a miniature army division, or perhaps a Yakuza funeral.

The curtain, full of patched up bullet-holes, opened left and right, and on the stage, the principal, Midorimatsu, was standing in the center, at the lectern, giving a speech about the international co-operation between Butei.

He said something about public safety continuing to worsen, but Japan was still a safe country, so as such, Tokyo Butei High will be accepting exchange students for the sake of the students' growth in a tense situation.

...Hey. Please don't make the situation in the school any more tense.

It was probably because of Butei High's new policy, but sitting in one corner of the room were students from Hong Kong Butei High.

There were not only high school students, but there seemed to be middle school students as well...even somebody like a elementary school student. As expected of foreigners.

(But, it might not be too long before the era comes where Japan, like America, will legally issue firearm licenses to 5 year old children.)

Having not slept much in Reki's room last night, I thought of those things, stifling a yawn.

It is common practice that one cannot be absent from the opening ceremony of the 2nd semester. However, delinquents like Riko, or busy students like Aria still neglect it. So, all those that sit here are the good students, the slackers, or those failing students, who like me, came so their credits would not drop.

And Reki...after she had accompanied me to school, because she was performing in the ceremony after the opening ceremony--using a pistol or sniper rifle as a replacement for the marching band's batons--went to the preparation room of the auditorium.

As such, I am able to do this, enjoying my temporary freedom.

But, as long as I am within a 2km radius of that Dragunov, I am still in the palm of Reki's hand.

And, Haimaki was idly crouching by my feet, and once in a while, he would, with an expression which said: "If you dare run, I'll report it to my master," looks up at me. Damn it.

I couldn't help but glare angrily at the Haimaki by my feet...

"Tohyama-kun, is it alright if I sit next to you?"

"Yo, Kinji. Looks like you aren't getting held back a year after all."

Two male students moved to the seats by my side, in unison. The good student Shiranui and the slacker Muto.

The handsome Shiranui was already cheerful, even though it was the first day of the second semester, and Muto was still wearing an expression of yearning for the summer holidays, stubble building up on his chin. The contrast between you two is amazingly strong.

"Kinji, I heard a rumor. Yesterday, you ran into some shooting spree, broke the glass off my four-wheel drive, forcing me to track down my insurance company..."

Ah? The car that I hid in yesterday was Muto's?

Well...I'll just pretend that I don't know what he's talking about for now. After all, the person who actually broke the glass was Reki.

Also, I still haven't paid Muto back for breaking my Gyro Canopy while we were arguing.

"--Besides that small matter...Tohyama-kun. Another scandal has been raised because of your relationship with a girl, you know?"

Radiating normal Butei behavior with the mention of a shooting spree as, "that small matter," Shiranui interrupted from the other side.

He was chuckling as if he had run into something amusing. This guy definitely thinks that since it has nothing to do with him, he can just spectate from the side.

"Are you serious!? Damn it! Why!? Why is it always only Kinji!?"

"Don't shout so loud, Muto. It's the opening ceremony right now. Anyways, Shiranui, how did you know?"

"'Know' is inaccurate, rather, I deduced this. As I was doing early sword-training in Assault--Kanzaki-san was throwing a huge tantrum. So, I thought that it might have something to do with Tohyama-kun."

Kanzaki...Aria-san was throwing a huge tantrum?

Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

Incidentally, morning practice would refer to some specific subject practice in a normal school, but in Butei High, it refers to morning battle training.

"Once again, it's become a pretty popular topic. It's said that--This morning, Tohyama-kun and Snipe's Reki-san came out of the girl's dormitory together when they were going to school."

While saying this, Shiranui, as if trying to prove the existence of the relationship between Reki and I, stroked Haimaki's back.

"--This time it's Reki!? Ah-, but, I can understand that. A dark boy and a wordless girl fit each other, after all. But, Kinji, you've taken action against somebody dangerous again. Reki has a lot of secret fans. You might get caught in a multi-directional crossfire one day, you know? You sure are unlucky, Kinji."

Agreed.

Now, not only am I being observed by Reki, but the number of guns pointed at me are increasing...

Unable to explain the situation to Muto, who was laughing and patting my back from behind, I...dipped in my head in despair.

"...There's another popular topic going around, because Kanzaki-san and Reki-san get along well. It's said that, after Kanzaki-san finished throwing a tantrum, she was very depressed about losing both her friend and lover."

What...is that supposed to mean?

Are you saying that, Reki = Friend, and I = Lover?

"Hey. Aria and I aren--"

"There's a lot of this kind of trouble around this season. After all, "Caravan I" is about to arrive."

I had seen it many times, but as I was trying to defend myself, Shiranui's overly brilliant smile cut me short.

--Caravan I.

Now that he mentions it, it's true that it's about to arrive.

In Butei High, sophomores have 2 training trips. The first one is "Caravan 1".

From the name, it might appear to be a normal school trip, but in truth, it is an activity for the sake of making the final corrections in the teams formed between students.

This is because...when Butei High students reach their second year, they have to form and register themselves as 2~8 man teams before the end of September.

An unexpected important result of this team system is that, the registered teams will in turn, be registered in the IADA.

Normally, Butei will move in those teams as units, fulfilling the activity. Even if they split up later due to their own goals, the mutual co-operation in that team takes precedence over entire organizational relationship--this is also laid down in International Butei Law.

"It's popular, because there are a lot of cases where the formation of a team is affected by boy-girl relationships. Because Tohyama-kun was unable to solve his personal matters."

"About that, I've pretty much decided who I'm going to team up with. We're going to take members from both Logi and Amdo, forming a logistics unit. There're girls too, you know. It's Hiraga Aya though, so there's nothing to get excited about."

There are no firm criteria, but normally, teams will normally be either assault teams, logistics teams, communications teams, or mixed teams etc., completely different forms. As a result, different teams will work together.

Using an army analogy, it would be like the image of sections coming together to form a platoon.

Therefore, this isn't something like the normal high school relationships, where getting along well is the focus, but a team formed with tactics and strategy taken into account.

To sum it up in a sentence...team formation is something that requires a lot of thinking.

Especially for me, who doesn't have many friends, and is now engaged to Reki, this is a massive undertaking that gives me a massive headache just to think about.

"Tohyama-kun is going to form an assault team, right? Or maybe a reconnaissance team?"

"I haven't decided on anything yet. I'm busy enough earning credits, so I have to postpone it for now."

"Ahh, that's a problem. Tohyama-kun, the next time you wear this, what are you going to do?"

Said Shiranui, pointing to my black tie. The next time I wear this? He's probably talking about the team photo at team registration.

During team registration, according to the rules, the team members have to have a photograph taken of them...and they have to wear this bulletproof uniform - black while taking the photo. It's rumored that this is for the sake of preventing offenders from being able to recognize which Butei High the students come from.

I remember, when we saw our senpai's team photos last year...they were all looking away from the lens on purpose, turning their heads slightly to the side or even downwards. That's probably so their appearance wasn't completely shown.

Really, this is an amazingly dangerous school. Having to take so much care with just a photo.