Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods by Shiden Kanzaki Page B

a loss, started at Enju, looking pleased with herself next to him. “Hey, Enju… I want to politely send these kids home, so what should I do?”
    “Aw, don’t be like that,” she said. “You can train them a little.”
    The disheartened Rentaro sighed. Apparently, this had all started when Enju had spread word around her school that Rentaro was a martial arts master. Thanks to that, Rentaro had been shaken awake early in the morning, and he had to give up the morning of a rare dayoff. Normally, this was the time when he could stay in bed and try to go back to sleep.
    “Master! Is it true that you can shock a grizzly to death with just your eyes?” said one child. The truth had been embellished with surprising momentum.
    “Master! Is it true that you annihilated a whole marine battalion with your bare hands?” said another child. Apparently, he also killed marines.
    “Master! Is it true that you stopped a nuclear warhead and threw it back?” said yet another. Rentaro shot a reproachful look at Enju.
Just how hard are you trying to make this?
    When their eyes met, Enju gave him a thumbs-up and an earnest look with complete faith in him that said, “Rentaro can do anything!”
    Rentaro wanted to sigh again. The problem with Enju was that part of her seriously believed that he could do anything. Rentaro scratched his head. Everyone went through a phase where they projected themselves onto their favorite superheroes. It wasn’t like he didn’t feel the need to protect the dreams of innocent boys and girls. He nodded decisively and prepared himself. First impressions were important in times like these. Anyway, kids were no problem. Easy. “All right you guys, thanks for coming. I am the great Rentaro Satomi!”
    Silence.
    Rentaro couldn’t take it anymore, and he blinked his eyelids rapidly, sending a call for help to Enju.
    Enju grinned and waved at him. It was almost refreshing how the message didn’t reach her at all.
    “Um, well, you guys, the concept of Tendo Martial Arts was created by the originator, Sukekiyo Tendo. To put it simply, the basics of Tendo Martial Arts are the First Style punches, the Second Style kicks, and the Third Style that covers everything else. Sorry to dash your expectations, but I’m only a beginner and can’t do that much. There are many hidden secrets that I can’t teach you yet—”
    “Master! We don’t care about that. Just teach us your special move!”
    “Dang it, I guess I have no choice.” Disconcerted by the children’s short attention spans, Rentaro went to stand in front of the single maple tree in the vacant lot. He lowered his hips, shifted into the basic Infinite Stance, and inhaled deeply. “Tendo Martial Arts FirstStyle, Number 3”—he exhaled sharply and dispatched a punch with a twisting circular motion—“
Rokuro Kabuto
!” His fist hit the tree with a heavy thud, and the maple shook as leaves fluttered down. Rentaro exhaled and returned to his stance. Then, he turned around abruptly. “H-how was that?”
    “What? It was too fast. I couldn’t see what was going on!”
    “It was just a punch.”
    “Seemed kinda lame.”
    “Right?”
    “Make the tree fall down!”
    “I want my money back!”
    “
Asshole, asshole!
”
    Rentaro was at his wits’ end.
What should I do? I just wanna punch these kids.
“W-well, you know. This was just a warm-up. I have a technique I’ve been saving. One of the Tendo Martial Arts hidden secrets, Second Style, Number 11:
Inzen Kokutei
.”
    “Ooh!”
    “That one sounds a little cooler.”
    “It’s just the name, idiot.”
    “We won’t be able to tell until we see it, right?”
    Thinking
, I’ll show them this time,
Rentaro turned back to the tall tree, jumping with enough spirit to kick down the tree. “Tendo Martial Arts Second Style, Number 11—”
    Abruptly, Rentaro’s consciousness was drawn back to the incident in the meeting room the day before. Going around and around in his head was one of the