Shiinamachi-senpai’s Safe Day Episode 2 Part A (1)
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Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist Editor: Weasalopes
【Episode 2】Murder and Gift: Part A (1)
■ Search Results for 「Killer」:
• a type of profession where one specializes in accepting jobs to murder other people, thereby obtaining money from the client.
• does not include civil servants who perform executions due to their job responsibilities.
• someone who murders in exchange for money. A professional hitman.
• a type of profession where one accepts a client’s killing request to eliminate a target.
「Fujisato, to tell you the truth, I come from a lineage of professional killers. Assassins, if that works better for you.」
It was the next day after I died and got miraculously resurrected by Shiinamachi-senpai.
It was now a break after the morning batch of my supplementary lessons had finished, and I’ve decided to share the truth about my lineage with Fujisato Yuika, my class representative.
「Oh? Is that so?」
All she did was to open her eyes a little wider with a slightly doubtful expression and cock her head to the side with a somewhat ironic smile. Not the reaction I was initially expecting.
「Now imagine if that was actually true, hahahaha.」
So she doesn’t believe me, but that’s okay, I have anticipated that to some extent. Hers was actually the proper way that any sane human being would react after hearing such a shocking revelation.
No matter who I tried to share my secret with, whether they be classmates or Librarian Committee members, no one ever treated it seriously. And that was perfectly understandable to me. No matter how you looked at it, the concept of professional killers was simply too detached from the reality of our modern day and age. Of course no one would believe you if you said you were one of them out of the blue.
「Don’t you think that choosing something edgy like that for a family business is kind of an overkill, Monjiro? Like seriously, it’s something that is more befitting of a criminal world rather than an ordinary guy like you.」
This was a false knowledge that got popular in the internet in the recent years, implanting itself firmly as truth in the minds of the young people. Again, there was nothing bad about it, it was exactly like you would expect normal high school students to react when faced with fenomena like that.
「It is, but it’s true, and I’m being serious. My mother was also an assassin, and all that I know about the profession I’ve learned from her.」
「Wow, that’s so surprising, Monjiro… But really now, could it be that you have Chuunibyou? I see now, so that’s how it is! You know, having delusions of grandeur or thinking that you have some cool superpowers is fine and all, but we’re supposed to have graduated from Chuunibyou by the time we reach high school, you know!」 [1.TN: Chuunibyou, Chunibyo (中二病 Chūnibyō) – 8th grader’s syndrome, middle school second year syndrome, etc.; early teens with delusions of having special powers or abilities, such as those common in Anime/Manga/LNs. Otaku term which has gone mainstream in Japan. Sometimes shortened to Chuuni.]
「I know it sounds like Chuunibyou, but I’m telling the truth! On top of that, I am currently immortal! In fact, I was murdered by some unknown individual just yesterday evening, but thanks to the immortality power, I was able to come back to life as if nothing happened. I don’t even have any scars left!」
「So on top of being a Chuuni, you also have a pretty wild imagination. Or maybe you’re talking about a dream you had that was just so realistic that you thought it was true? Because if we’re going that way, then let me tell you something I did yesterday. So you see, yesterday I was chased by a bunch of zombies, but I gunned them all down like it was nothing!」
So she is skeptical of my words after all. Can’t say I really blame her, as even I sometimes felt that my whole life was something akin to a dream. Now that I think about it, were the last night’s events actually a dream. Yeah right, as if. It was all too real, as was evident by the presence of that mysterious mark on my chest.
「Putting that aside, you sure have some rather bizarre imagination yourself, huh, Fujisato?」
「Of course I do, thank you very much! When you work as a night shift clerk at a convenience store, you deal with all kinds of sketchy individuals on a daily basis! For example, there is this group of middle school delinquents with tattoos, piercings and dyed hair always gathering outside the store where I work, you know? They are really a handful bunch, littering and scaring away the customers. And who always has to clean up after the mess they made? Me, that’s who. *Sigh* If only I had an air gun on me, I’d just gun them all down if I could.」
「Uh-huh, cool. So… do they steal from the shop, break the windows, or do any other of that typical delinquent stuff?」
「Actually no, now that you mention it. They always act properly after they enter the store. Strange.」
That’s because they probably have a crush on you. But I was kind of relieved to hear that, even if she was the store’s mascot, Fujisato didn’t have to put up with any serious troublemakers.
「By the way, Monjiro, this might be sudden, but have you ever thought about changing your current self?」
「Eh? Why do you ask?」
「Nothing much, just an afterthought after hearing you talk about assassins, immortality, murders and stuff like that. They say that if you have dreams like that, then that usually means that you feel that your current life is not enough for you, and that’s where the desire to change comes from.」
「Changing my current self, huh…?」
As a matter of fact, I’ve already done that.
All that I remember from the days of my early childhood was my mother training me on how to become an ultimate weapon. I’ve never once experienced what you might call a normal ordinary life. Even my family name, Sakuradamon, was a fake one, but the fact remained that we were indeed in possession of a 「License to Kill」. This essentially meant that we were recognized as professionals at what we did by a government agency, and were able to engage in 「legalized murder according to our own personal judgement.」
For generations we were essentially government’s lapdogs, hunting down and disposing of any potential enemies of the country, be it spies, politicians or other assassins. And among all of the family members, my mother was supposed to be something akin to a genius. But she suddenly just up and vanished when I reach fifteen years of age.
Without her around, our grandfather took custody of us, ensuring that both me and my sister could live peacefully as normal humans. Before then, I never relied on something as fickle as emotions, logic and reason were more than enough for me, to the point where I once concluded that I don’t need society and other humans to function properly.
It was then that my sister began to educate me in the ways of normal people, so I could have an ordinary life as an ordinary boy. She imprinted all kinds of information into my brain, including what boys my age should think about, how I should talk, and how was I supposed to conduct myself as just your average member of society.
Fast forward two years into the future, and I was no different than your average high schooler who just hit the high point of puberty. But contrary to other guys my age, it could be said that I’ve essentially worn my heart on my shoulder the entire time, especially when it came to dealing with the members of the opposite sex and sex-related matters. Oftentimes I’d find myself troubled over the simplest of things, unable to make correct judgements. But, weird as it was, according to my sister, it was still within the accepted norms of behavior for pubescent males.
To counter that problem, we’ve come up with a certain system. Whenever I wore my glasses, I was in 「Ordinary High School Boy Mode」, where I thought and acted just like any other person would. Slowly applying this method over time, I was finally indistinguishable from others, just another man in the crowd. After receiving my sister’s seal of approval, only then did I transfer to my current high school to enjoy the rest of my youth in peace.
Of course, such a drastic chance was only possible because my mother implanted a certain 「mechanism」 within me that made it possible in the first place.
「Coming back to the topic of assassins, do you think they’d have some kind of finisher move, like in video games?」
I reached towards my right shoulder almost out of habit, but thankfully I was able to stop myself just in time.
「It definitely is possible, but such powerful techniques are usually sealed up in some way or another due to being potentially harmful to themselves.」
What I said was actually true, but I deliberately made it sound like an over exaggerated lie.
「Hahaha, that is so stereotypical that it’s actually funny. But I can’t help but wonder, what if it was all true?」
Most probably the world would be much more messed up than it was now.
The same principle could be applied to this very high school. Up until recently I used to think this place was just like any other, only to discover that it was actually full of weird individuals like a busty senpai who was actually a member of another race, or a stoic kouhai with her own set of quirks and behaviours which were in a league of her own.
「Be that as it may, I understand where you’re coming from, kind of. Sometime I too can’t help it but to wonder if I should change the way I am now. There’s just one more year until I graduate, and after that, I’ll probably become a university student. But that’s why I keep thinking to myself, am I really fine with living such a laid-back lifestyle as I am now?」
「The future, huh? Gotta admit, I’ve never really thought about it up until now.」
「I’ve always wondered if I’ll be able to handle university entrance exams, especially since I have no aptitude for studying, and they are said to be a notch above what we have to deal with now. I actually envy you, Monjiro. You seem to be a pretty smart guy, so you’d probably breeze through them without much trouble, right?」
It was generally agreed upon that all students had to study their asses off to achieve the best results possible, but apparently I have ascended past that level a long time ago. Back in June, before I transferred here, I took part in a nationwide mock exam, and somehow I aced it and got the best score in the entire country. Don’t ask me how I did it.
Standing out was not my intention at all, but according to my sister, such rankings were very important for reinforcing or ruining one’s self esteem. To celebrate my achievement, she even cooked red bean rice for dinner that day, which made me very happy, despite the fact that I felt like I did nothing that worthy of praise myself.
「It may sound cruel, but starting from the second term, mathematics, physics and chemistry will get more difficult, so it’s necessary to work even harder.」
「Is that so… Monjiro, I know you’re probably right, and the subjects will get more and more hard… but you just triggered my PTSD card… Tohoho…」
Fujisato only made a 「Tohoho」 sound whenever she felt very helpless and demoralized about something. With slumped shoulders, her dejected look was so very interesting that occasionally, I would feel a sudden urge to imitate that motion of hers.
*Cling* *Clang* *Clong*
「Oh, it’s time for classes again. By the way, Monjiro, would you like to have lunch together after this class is over? I brought two bento packages from the convenience store this morning.」
「Oh, thank you very much. I’ll gladly take you up on your offer, if it’s not a problem of course.」
「And it won’t be just the two of us, since I’ve already asked Nagi-chan the same thing in the morning. I hope you have nothing against it?」
「Having lunch alone with you would be ideal but I’ll be very happy to have Kuhoh with us as well. After all, the more the merrier, right?」
「Ahaha, thank you for your compliment! See you later then!」
Fujisato returned to her seat, her soft hair brushing lightly against her cheek. As I was watching her from behind, a certain thought surfaced in the back of my mind: I think it’s safe to conclude that Fujisato has nothing to do with the incident. At the time of the murder, she was still probably in the middle of her shift at the store.
No matter how I tried to approach it, she looked to be just another high-school girl with no relation to all things supernatural.
Now, what should my next move be… I know! During lunch break, I’ll try to get more information about her and Kuhoh, and if that won’t lead me anywhere, I’ll have to report their innocence back to senpai with a clear conscience.
While thinking that, I still did not lower my guard and continued to observe the other students cautiously, just to be on the safe side.
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