Founding Members (7)

"This time it's the first-year Public Morals Committee again? You people. You're really starting to piss me off!"

Yamato, irritated at being interrupted yet again, took it out on Atsuki with a kick to the head.

Noah walked on without so much as a flicker of expression.

I thought he might be useful. Maybe not.

Those cold eyes swept over Masaru. His white dress shirt was soaked through with red, especially around the abdomen. Looked like he'd been stabbed. But a man could take a knife or two. What good was he, sprawled there like a limp rag? Suzuki would have laughed a wound like that off with a bright smile.

...Huh?

She'd been about to write him off when she caught Masaru's dark pupils moving.

I thought he was out cold.

Their eyes met, and he looked away. A small thing, but it told her plenty. Cognitive function: normal. Reaction speed was decent too — at least he was in his right mind. And yet Masaru wasn't so much as twitching a finger.

Having read the situation, Noah pressed a hand to her forehead, let out a long sigh, and leveled her gun at the fallen Masaru.

"If you're just going to sit there like an idiot..."

Those icy eyes, and she pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Masaru tilted his head. The bullet buried itself right beside his ear.

Noah looked at him with naked disgust.

So he really is fine. He just isn't doing a damn thing.

Atsuki's uniform was half torn to shreds. His own subordinate in that state, and he just sat there like a corpse. A pussy this pathetic was in a class of his own.

"A-a real gun...?"

"I missed on purpose, beanpole."

Noah aimed at Masaru again, her face tight with anger.

"Next one hits. If you don't want to die, get up and fight!"

"...Then."

Masaru looked at her, his voice cracking.

"May I enter your service?"

The sheer absurdity of it, in the middle of all this, nearly made Noah pull the trigger for real. She barely held it back. She genuinely wanted to kill him. But Atsuki was in the way. She'd already taken the girl as a member, and the two of them seemed close — Atsuki would probably be sad if he died. Noah didn't like any of this, but she had no choice.

"If you're fine being the lowest grunt."

"...I see."

"Hey! You bastards ignoring me?!"

Yamato's face went scarlet at being disregarded. Masaru staggered to his feet.

Didn't think he could still move. And that — that's a real gun.

Yamato was rattled, but he pretended otherwise and closed in with his pistol trained, angling himself out of Noah's line of fire.

"I'll give you credit for still having the strength to stand. Still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠playing Chairman, is that it?"

Thud.

The pistol pressed against Masaru's head.

"Step down quietly. Declare it here and now, and I'll spare your life."

Yamato had never had the guts to actually kill anyone. He had one goal, and one goal only: to become Chairman.

"Hey, answer me! You wanna die?!"

He shouted, trying to sound threatening. Masaru gave no answer at all.

Then—

"Chairman...!"

Atsuki, still on the ground, threw her wooden sword. Even through that savage beating, she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠never let it leave her hand. Masaru stretched out a long arm and caught it.

Yamato's rage boiled over at the sight of Masaru acting as if a gun to the head meant nothing.

"You really wanna die, you bastard?"

"Shoot."

Masaru's expression was blank as he clenched the wooden sword. Then he actually leaned his head forward.

"If you can."

"You think I won't? You think this is a bluff? This is a real gun!"

"You can tell the ones who can kill from the ones who can't just by looking them in the eye, Yamato."

Masaru closed his fist.

"You're one of the ones who can't."

Yamato's rage maxed out. He truly didn't have the guts to kill. But anger has a way of making even cowards brave. Murder filled his eyes. The trigger of the pistol in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his white-knuckled grip began to ease back. In that instant, he was genuinely ready to kill Masaru.

Masaru nodded quietly.

"Yes. That's the look. Only someone with those eyes can take a life. And I—"

Bang—!

Masaru tilted his head. He didn't dodge it cleanly — a thin line opened on his cheek and blood ran — but what mattered was that he'd slipped a gun fired from point-blank range.

"...can kill a man like that whenever I want."

Crack!

"Guhk!"

Masaru's fist detonated against Yamato. Three or four teeth went flying as he crumpled, eyes rolled back, out cold. A single punch. The power behind it was staggering.

"Yamato. You went too far. You're dismissed as captain of the 1st Division."

Masaru let the wooden sword hang and turned. The members of the Black Society swallowed dryly, watching him with wary eyes.

Clap, clap.

Into the silence, a boy walked out applauding. His name was Hiroshi — famous for a cruelty that didn't match his looks, and captain of the Black Society's 4th Division.

"As expected of the Chairman. To put Yamato down in a single blow."

"......"

"However."

Hiroshi's mouth curled as he pointed at Masaru's abdomen.

"That little gift I gave you still seems a bit much to handle. Can you take all of us?"

He shrugged.

"I don't even want to be Chairman. Personally, I like the Black Society just fine with you at the top. Appoint me as the next successor and we'll call it even. Not a bad offer, don't you think?"

Instead of answering, Masaru settled into a drawing stance. It was a wooden sword, so it wasn't threatening in the slightest. He paid that no mind and murmured something.

"Tenshin-ryu First Sword."

He drew the wooden sword in tight against his side, then lifted it on a diagonal. Anyone could see it wasn't an ordinary drawing stance — and anyone could see it was still of the same family. From that position, Masaru dropped his hips low. And then—

Thud!

Masaru did nothing. More precisely, that was how it looked. The result was staggering. Everyone in front of him went down at once. The only person still standing in his space was Noah.

She watched the scene with indifference and thought, How'd he do that?

All he had was a wooden sword. Something went whoosh, and they all dropped. Honestly, she was hugely impressed. But she kept her poker face by narrowing her eyes to slits. If she looked surprised, she'd lose all her cool. Holding that expression, she opened her mouth.

"Well. Not bad."

"Ow! G-gently, please!"

"I would if I could. You got shot."

Noah scolded her.

"Putting on airs over a little bullet in the thigh."

Yuria was indignant.

"How is that 'a little'?! Are you even sane, Minamoto-senpai?!"

"If you're a yakuza, heal a gunshot wound yourself like a proper yakuza."

Noah took an elegant sip of cocoa. Yuria bristled.

"I am not a yakuza! And even yakuza go to the hospital when they get shot!"

"Ah-ah. If you thrash around like that, the wound will open."

Chise gripped Yuria's thigh firmly. When she yanked the bandage tight, Yuria screamed.

"That huuurts!"

"Lucky the bullet went clean through, Ichinose. You won't even need a hospital."

"That doesn't make any sense! I'm going to the hospital!"

Noah looked at the teary Yuria with a mischievous glint.

"Itchi, you know Tokyo University Hospital bills are expensive, right?"

"......"

Noah shrugged.

"Well, I won't stop you if that's what you want."

"...Better."

"Hm?"

"I'm better. W-weird, it hurt like crazy just a second ago... haha."

Poor Yuria. Broke and sad. Too poor to go to the hospital even after getting shot...!

It was a joke, of course. Chise told her not to worry.

"Ichinose, this is just first aid. We'll go to the hospital together later and get you treated properly."

"I-I'm fine. I'm all better."

Chise covered her mouth and laughed.

"Don't worry. I won't charge you for treatment."

"F-Fujiwara-senpai...!"

Yuria was moved. I knew Fujiwara-senpai was a good person!

"By the way, senpai. Who did you decide on for the advisor?"

"That slutty woman."

"Ah... huh?"

"I think her name was... hmm."

Chise furrowed her brow, but she couldn't recall it.

"Not a teacher — a student teacher, maybe...? That's odd. I can't remember her name."

"Th-then what do we do? We finally found someone and we can't even file the paperwork without a name."

"Don't worry about that. I already submitted the documents to the teacher, so she'll have taken care of it."

Yuria had plenty she wanted to argue with, but she let out a breath of relief. One way or another, it seemed to have worked out.

"Then that settles the founding members. Like the founding heroes of a nation, you know."

Yuria hid her dark ambitions and stood with confidence. Chise offered an awkward smile.

"I don't know if we need to make it that grand..."

"F-Fujiwara-senpai, you really don't know how the world works. Founding members are important, you know?"

With a look of triumph, Yuria rapped the table and made her proposal.

"How about it, Minamoto-senpai? All six of us as officers, just like this, going forward!"

Yuria's ambition, laid bare. The truth was, she always imagined this kind of thing before she fell asleep.

"Th-that's—!"

"It's Ichinose, officer of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the first-year Public Morals Committee!"

"Oh my god... she's so cool...!"

She was a middle schooler, after all. Right at the age to care about that sort of thing.

Noah nodded, unimpressed.

"Sure, whatever."

Yuria forgot she'd even been shot, her face sunny. Noah looked at her and thought, Except for one of them.

Noah met Masaru in a secluded spot.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Masaru folded at the waist.

"......"

Honestly, Noah didn't like him. Even badly wounded, he'd put those punks down in a single stroke. If he'd done it sooner, Atsuki wouldn't have needed three weeks of recovery, and Yuria wouldn't have taken a bullet. And still he'd just sat there — for the pathetic reason that he couldn't be bothered. How was she supposed to trust someone like that and put him to work?

Noah believed a person's usefulness was decided by trust. Ability mattered, but that came later. Masaru fell short as a human being. She was half convinced he was unhinged.

Not that I can just break my word.

Still, she'd said it out loud. Going back on it now would be awkward. Then the phrase recommended resignation drifted through her mind. Some companies didn't bother with firing people. They took away the desk, or transferred someone to the middle of nowhere, until the person quit on their own. In short, the best way to get rid of someone was to make them walk away.

A good idea occurred to her. Noah placed a call.

That's what you call simple, you lunatic?

A crease formed between Noah's brows, but she decided to let the small stuff slide.

Noah hung up and spoke to Masaru, who was looking at her in puzzlement.

"Go to the place I tell you. There'll be a woman there."

Masaru asked with a look of grim resolve.

"Is this a test?"

"More or less."

Noah smiled, meaningful and thin. Even active yakuza usually ran when they saw Suzuki's organ party in real time. There was no way a high schooler could sit through that. She was certain of it.