Chapter 2 (1/2)
Of course, Sousuke tailed her, keeping an eye on the situation from
the opposite corner of the shop Sousuke looked around nervously
while pretending to read a three-day-old copy of Tokyo Sports
Sousuke didn't like the look of theat the counter
behind Kaname-mid‘twenties, medium build, eyes hidden beneath
a plain gray beret The man had a black attaché case at his feet, and
he incessantly checked his wristwatch
What’s in the case? wondered Sousuke
It re of antiterrorist
equipment If his memory was correct, that particular
un, which could be fired at the
flip of a switch
After polishi+ng off his haer, the man stood up with his
tray in hand
Here we goSousuke readied himself for action
But the er wrapper in the
trash, placed his tray on top of the garbage can, and left
So I rong Unless…
Sousuke looked and saw the round,
where he’d left it What ifDammit!
It was not unheard of for terrorists to blow up a whole crowd
of people to get at a particular target But wasn’t Kaname supposed
to be a kidnapping target? Maybe the situation changed At any
rate, Sousuke didn’t have time to think about it
He dashed through the cra tables and
shoving diners He grabbed the briefcase, which was certainly
heavy enough to be a bomb
However, this action didn’t go unnoticed ”Sa-Sagara-kun?”
said Kaname in disbelief
“Get down!”
Shoving away ed out of the
haer joint with the mysterious case
Nohere can I get rid of this thing?
Sousuke surveyed the surrounding area-during the evening,
the shopping district was positively crammed with people He
spotted a parking lot across the street-perhaps there would be fewer
people there
“Move!” yelled Sousuke as he bolted out into the street,
angering drivers literally left and right
Honk! Honk!
Sousuke turned just in ti to a halt
It couldn’t stop in ti He crashed
into a bicycle stand on the side of the road
Failurenot an option
Standing up as quickly as his woozy head would permit,
Sousuke was in the process of trying to relearn hohen
the suspicious er place approached him
“Hey
Sousuke of the attaché case He popped it open ”Oh, thanks I
don’t knohat I would have done if I had lost my manuscript”
The man slapped Sousuke on the back and left
A s the truck driver, Kaname,
her friends, and so at Sousuke
Some orried, some confused, some amazed, but all seemed
to be expecting some kind of explanation
“What on Earth are you doing, Sagara-kun?” wondered
Kyouko
“I thought it was a bomb,” Sousuke said meekly before
collapsing on the pavement
”At this rate, you'll be dead by the end of the week!” Kurz
laughed as he wrapped a bandage around Sousuke's head ”You're
probably erous than any terrorists! Try to relax a
little”
”I',” said Sousuke
That evening's ha on the
cake of four days' worth of uided efforts with catastrophic
(and injurious) results
No matter how hard he tried, Sousuke could not stop
hi around,
destroying public property, disturbing class—and Kagurazaka Eri
and Kanaet it
He never ran out of energy or fresh bruises
Even in the harshest combat conditions, Sousuke hadn't
ever taken so much abuse in such a short period of time He