Chapter 21: Senka Hibana’s Daily Life

The moment I woke up, I realized this had to be a dream.

After all, the very first thing in my field of vision was a huge black star… no, an eyeball. Anyone would know this wasn’t reality. Or maybe it was more accurate to say I was desperately clinging to the hope it wasn’t real—because if it were, I’d need a sanity check.

I sat up and looked around. What spread before me looked like the ruins of a worn-down, crumbling church. Even an idiot like me could tell the stained glass—still surprisingly elaborate—must’ve been worth a lot. Once upon a time, this place had been grand.

I’d heard somewhere that dreams reflect scenes from real life, but I had zero memory of any place like this. Especially not the giant eyeball above my head. Sure, maybe I’d once seen a rundown church on TV and forgotten it, but that eyeball? No way. I’d never seen anything like it—not even enough to think, Oh, so that’s what an eye looks like up close.

So yeah. This had to be a dream.

“So. What the hell are you supposed to be?”

Since I knew it was a dream, I could move and talk freely.

The thing above me didn’t reply. It just stared—unblinking, unwavering. Creepy at first glance, but once I focused on it as an eyeball, the gaze didn’t feel hostile. Annoying, if anything. Hurry up and speak. And if you can’t speak, at least blink out some Morse code. I opened my mouth to tell it exactly that—

—and something shot in from outside my field of vision.

“!?!!?”

The giant eyeball was punched. Just straight-up decked. Dream logic at its finest—something roughly my height, ignoring scale entirely, smacked the thing across the room. That convinced me once and for all that this was 100% a dream.

The newcomer was wrapped head to toe in bandages, wearing a creepy costume and mask. Judging by the build, she was probably an adult woman. She was yelling—silently, since I couldn’t hear anything—scolding the enormous eyeball as she kicked and punched it.

Oh—now the eyeball punched her back.
What even is this.
Stop grappling. Stop it, stop it!

Damn it! It’s silent, yet somehow incredibly loud!

I just wanted a quiet moment to recover from today’s exhaustion.

Ugh, come on!

I charged forward, fists full of irritation.

“Shut uuuup!!! I can’t hear you, but your movements are noisy as hell! I’m tired from work! Let me sleep already!!!”

Oh hey, I managed to punch someone too.

Wham! My punch echoed alone—and I woke up.

My vision was flipped upside down. Once I gathered my bearings, I realized I had rolled off the bed and smacked my head on the floor. So that sound must’ve been me hitting the ground.

“Hey, Hibana-chan, breakfast is ready—wait, what kind of position is that?”

Knock-knock. The door opened, and there stood Kou, as usual, here to wake me up. From behind her came voices—

“I’m still sleepy.”

“Yay, sausages!”

—and the smell of breakfast drifted in.

I’m Senka Hibana. Nice to meet you—well, nice to meet you in this format. Kou’s always been in your care. I’m writing this record today… not that there’s anything special to write, so I figure I’ll just talk about daily life.

This is our base—a former abandoned building now owned by the Helmet Gang. Thanks to the money we earn working at Shie’s shop, including me, we bought and renovated this rundown place into our current headquarters.

Up until recently, I never imagined we’d get something this nice, so I really owe Kou for getting connected with Shie. That girl—whether she’s lucky or unlucky—gets caught up in some incident every single time she goes out for work. Thanks to that, she occasionally comes back with something good. I call it the “Kou Gacha.”

“Ugh… I had such a weird dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

“You were headbanging, then breakdancing, then doing a headspin.”

“…Maybe go wash your face?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

In other words, she was telling me, You’re half-asleep, idiot. So I washed my face and sat down for breakfast. Today’s cook was… that guy, huh. Since everyone’s been working part-time at Shie’s place, the food around here has been getting better. He’s a pâtissier by trade, but his regular cooking is above average too. It helps, but man, I’m jealous of that talent.

After breakfast, everyone splits off. Some go to school, some to their jobs. Unless we have Helmet Gang business, we’re free. Me? I’m not expelled or anything, but I don’t go. I’ll show up when the mood hits. That’s just how us Gehenna kids are.

Kou once said, “Students should really attend school, you know…” but she’s weirdly serious about random things. Despite that, she doesn’t go to school either.

And honestly, it’s not like it can be helped. Ever since the Eden Treaty incident, I heard Arius students were being taken in by Trinity, but there’s no way those stuck-up birdbrains would willingly accept kids who caused terrorism. Predictably, bullying is pretty common. And in Kou’s case, those four friends of hers are wanted criminals, so they can’t enroll anywhere—and Kou probably feels like she can’t just go without them. Poor girl has it rough.

“Thanks for the meal.”

I clapped my hands together, finished breakfast, and stepped outside the building. I didn’t have any plans today. No shifts, either. Days like this, I usually wander around, beat up a few delinquents, and earn some pocket money.

“Hey! Looks like you’re busy.”

“Ah! Hibana-san!”

“Boss!”

“Boss came to heckle us!”

“Boss! Take my shift!”

Stopping by Shie’s shop, which was in total chaos thanks to booming business.

“Hi-hi-hii…”

“Uh… Hibana-san? We really appreciate you taking over the work for us, but… could you maybe stop taking wallets from the delinquents you beat up…?”

“If I stop, will you increase my reward money?”

“N-no… that’s… well, maybe you should ask the committee chair…”

“Hina Sorasaki? No way. Too scary.”

Teaching those rowdy delinquents a lesson and getting pocket money from the disciplinary committee. Not a bad gig, honestly.

“Wow, these nails are nice! Damn! Money’s tight this month… like a hundred of these…”

“You a carpenter, little lady? You can tell the quality of nails? Impressive. How about these? I made all of them myself. I’ll give you a good price. Build yourself a nice house with them!”

“Thanks, but I’m not a carpenter. I gotta be picky with ammo. If I use crap stuff, it might misfire. Nails are the same.”

“A-ammo…? You mean… you turn these carefully made nails into… bullets… for a gun…?”

Buying nails for my homemade nail gun on the black market.

Doing all this wandering around quickly made me hungry. By the time I looked at the clock, it was twelve—lunchtime.

My eyes landed on a familiar chain ramen shop. Always reliably good, and one of my favorites. Street stalls and tiny shops have their charm, but in the end, a convenient place with consistent quality is unbeatable.

“Soy sauce ramen, extra chashu!”

“Soy sauce ramen, extra chashu!”

We ordered at the same time.

Turning toward the voice that overlapped mine, I saw a rare face—someone I didn’t run into often.

A shady-looking man in a pitch-black suit, with a boiled-egg-like black head cracked and leaking strange flames. He looked like a textbook villain, but I knew he was surprisingly decent. People aren’t always what they look like.

“Oh, long time no see, Mr. Black Suit.”

“Kukuku… long time indeed, Senka Hibana-san.”

Well… for this guy, adjusting more than just his appearance might be a good idea—maybe his speech patterns too.

“Still as stiff as ever! Just call me Hibana!”

“Then I shall call myself Black Suit, too…”

“That’s why you’re Black Suit, old man.”

“…Kukuku.”

Like I said, he’s decent despite appearances. He gives us a good amount of pocket money every month and supports us with supplies. It’s thanks to him that the Helmet Gang could even maintain itself before Shie took us under her wing. Beyond money and materials, he provides information and requests. He gave me intel during that prison incident, and when information from the usual routes dried up, he connected me with other jobs.

“This is this month’s support money. As usual, it’s on this card. If you need anything else in terms of supplies, let me know now.”

“Thanks. I’ve always wondered… why do you help us, Mr. Black Suit?”

“I help you, not all of you… we had a deal, you see.”

“Huh.”

“Not interested, I see.”

“Uh… slurp slurp… just because the ramen’s good… so, who was the deal with? That person must be my benefactor, right? Of course I’m thankful to you too.”

“You’ve finally reduced me to ‘just an old man’…”

Man, this ramen really is good… cheap, tasty, unbeatable. Uh-oh, spilled some broth. Oh no, it’s on the old man’s clothes. Eh, he probably won’t notice—he’s Black Suit after all.

“Kukuku… surely Hibana-san has heard of him before.”

“Hm? A famous person?”

“Yes. Especially in the black market.”

“Huh… so, who is it?”

“You would understand if I said ‘Cleaner.’”

“Cleaner, huh?”

A professional toilet cleaner, maybe. The kind whose work leaves the seat so spotless you could use it as a mirror.

“…Kukuku.”

“Eh… I don’t recall doing anything to deserve gratitude from a cleaner… oh, wait, maybe he’s in love or something?”

“Kukukk… BAH!”

“Can’t do anything about that. That old man’s off-limits. Ah, thanks for the meal. When you see him next, tell him ‘sorry.’”

“Ah, wait—”

Done eating. Next time I’ll bring everyone. I wonder if you can rent the place out? Need to check by phone.

So yeah, that’s basically my daily life. Usually nothing particularly exciting, but… if it were Kou, she’d probably say, “That’s the best kind of life.” I want something thrilling to happen sometimes, but… I also hope days like this keep going.

Incidentally, after this, the gang yelled at me at the top of their lungs, “Boss, your garlic stinks!!!!!!” and I cried.