Chapter 10: I want to run away from my heavy past.

"Kuooh!! We're gonna crash!! Full throttle—swerve right, Indian-style!"

Hello again, everyone.

I hope you’ve all been doing well. Some of you might have been worried about me after my last entry. Some of you might’ve even thought I’d fallen into depression and hung myself. And… well, yes, there was a time when I felt that low. But for better or worse, I’m doing fine now.

Yes, yes. Some people will say I’m just putting on a brave face. But don’t worry. Under this beautiful blue sky, who could stay trapped in gloomy thoughts?

And more importantly—

"Whoaaa!? Kou, dodge!! They just fired a Stinger at us!"

"Kuooh!!! This time, swerve right—Ecuador-style!"

"Ecuador who!?"

"I think it’s a country on the opposite side of India!!"

"Where even is India!?!?"

We’ve got no time to think about anything else.

"Damn it! These Justice Task Force idiots are relentless! Come on, it was just a few macarons! They could overlook something that small!"

"It wasn’t ‘a few,’ Hibana-chan!! You took literally everything the store had! That’s not small at all!!"

I yanked the steering wheel hard, dodging the missile barreling toward us. Ugh. I barely avoided it, but it still hit some random street vendor’s stall. I hope that old guy’s okay.

But we quickly remembered we didn’t have time to worry about anyone else.

"What about the others!?"

"Those guys!? They should be here any— Hah!? They got caught!? Why!? How!? Huh!? What!? The line— the line got cut!"

"What were they saying!?"

"No idea!!! Something about a Tsu… Tsu-something coming!!! Are we getting attacked by a crane!?"

"What!? Tsu… you don’t mean—"

Amid the roaring engine, the terrified screams from bystanders, and the missiles and bullets whizzing past us, we heard a sound we really didn’t want to hear.

"…Did you hear that?"

"Y-Yeah. That’s… laughing?"

"It’s getting closer…"

"Ah."

"Ah."

A woman in a bloodstained black uniform suddenly appeared outside the driver’s-side window.

Her horrifying smile was the last thing we saw before a deafening blast and a shockwave violent enough to fling us into the air erased our consciousness.

Once again—hello, everyone.

Um, I, Fuyuyo Kou, am doing… well. No, I can’t really say I’m doing well. But I’m still alive today, somehow.

"Damn it! And I thought I’d finally get to eat real sweets for once, not trash-can leftovers!"

"…I still think digging through trash cans is a terrible idea."

"What else am I supposed to do!? I’m broke!"

…Yeah. Well. Being alive at all is already a blessing, I guess.

After the captains saved my life, I ended up wandering into the Black Market—the part of Kivotos with the worst safety record. Not as bad as Arius, though.

You might wonder why I’d step into another hellhole right after escaping one, but there’s a reason.

First, the area outside Arius was a cluster of abandoned buildings outside the school districts. (Apparently Kivotos has thousands of schools besides Arius.)

Next, I figured the Black Market—where delinquents and homeless kids from all over gather—was the best place to collect information. Before I try entering a normal school, intel comes first. Arius apparently used to be enemies with a school called… Gehenna? And then was abandoned and exiled by the three schools it was supposedly allied with: Panel…? Philippus…? And Santa Claus…? or something like that. So it’s better to stay cautious.

And lastly, the biggest reason—

—I have no identity!!!!!!

Right now, I have no registry, no school records, nothing.

It seems Arius wasn’t just unrecognized as a school—its existence wasn’t even acknowledged. Meaning, if I claim to come from some bizarre nonexistent academy, I just become a highly suspicious mystery girl. No school would accept someone like that. Not even the weakest academy. Unless there’s a school so desperate for students that it’ll take literally anyone—but unfortunately, I never found one.

What am I supposed to do? Just die in a ditch? Fine then! I’ll die! I was already in the mood anyway!—that’s about where I was mentally when someone picked me up.

Someone who is now locked in this prison cell with me───

"Let us out already! Or at least buy us a pork cutlet bowl!"

"Hibana-chan, I think that’s something they serve in interrogation rooms…"

"Ah, sorry. Apparently they don’t actually serve those in real life…"

These rough, rowdy delinquents—Hibana-chan and her group, the crackling Bachi-Bachi Helmet Gang—were the ones who helped me.

Even though I looked like a suspicious wreck covered in blood, they talked to me without hesitation. And once they heard my circumstances, they accepted me into their group. I owe them more than I could ever repay.

It’s just that…

"Um, could you please keep it down…?"

"Shut it! Let us ouuuuuut!!"

The security here is awful…! Honestly, with how lively they are, they might be even worse than the Arius girls!

But I can’t help thinking—at this rate, was there any point in leaving Arius? Can I really call this happiness? Squad Leader… is the world outside Arius really just endless fighting over discarded lunchboxes with other Helmet Gangs and delinquents, getting worked to the bone for cheap pay?

I can’t help but wonder, as I stare at the thin, dirty streets of the Black Market. Outside, I can see students walking toward school, laughing with their friends, smiling brightly.

───Ah… I want that too───

"Lights out."

"Tch! But the night was just getting started!"

"Where’s our disco ball!?"

Even this life is good enough. I’ve got friends to laugh with, a dinner table to share—even if the food is never great—and people to work with, sweat with. It’s not bad. It’s far better than life in Arius.

But… is it truly enough?

Shouldn’t I try for something more stable? A better life? One where I have a little more room to breathe? Where I can study like a real student? Where I can experience youth… like a real student?

"Haa… let’s just sleep. It’s pitch black; we can’t do anything."

"…Yeah."

"Ehh, Boss, we’re still wide awake though!"

But I feel like that still wouldn’t be enough. Probably. Even if I never had to worry about food again, even if I had a roof that could keep out the rain and wind—no matter how happy a life I managed to build…

Somehow I know my heart would still remain incomplete.

"What’s wrong, Kou? Why the gloomy face? Afraid of the dark?"

"…No. I’m fine."

"Really? Want me to hold you?"

"I’ll pass."

"You don’t have to reject me that fast… that hurts, you know… Well, if you ever need anything, just tell us. After all, we’re—"

─────a family.

A faint sting pierced deep inside my chest.

A few days passed. It was a quiet afternoon.

This was during our usual routine—getting released from jail, getting thrown back in, committing crimes between jobs, accepting requests that skirted the line of legality… or plunged face-first into illegality. Just another normal day.

"Kou Kou, check this out. It’s wild."

"Hm?"

During our usual free time—no jobs, nothing to do—Hibana-chan and a few others were killing time watching TV. And then it appeared.

"Whoa, these guys are insane."

"They’re going all out."

"Come to think of it, Kou-san, didn’t you say you were from there?"

"───With cooperation from the ——, the mysterious faction known as ‘Arius Branch School,’ who carried out the attack on the Eden Treaty Meeting, has been repelled. Valkyrie authorities are now gathering further information on the academy, while issuing an arrest warrant for the four suspected perpetrators, starting with this blue-haired girl────"

"───Sao… ri…?"

The coffee cup slipped from my hand and shattered loudly on the floor.

The girl displayed on the TV screen was glaring straight ahead with eyes sharp enough to kill.

Ah… I could never forget her.

Because she is the embodiment of the sin I left behind in Arius that day.