The Destruction of the World by Fire by Shiden Kanzaki Page B

Rentaro saw a blond girl appear at the stairs they had just climbed up. Suddenly, she leapt back and bared her teeth, starting to growl.
    He knew this face. She was clad from head to toe in black pleather with a choker collar and engineer boots. Her dyed-blond hair was split in the middle and tied on each side. In the midst of all that punk fashion, the bright red backpack she carried looked extremely out of place. It looked like she had just gotten home from school.
    “Little Sister Katagiri, huh?” he shot back.
    “It’s Yuzuki, Rentaro Satomi! Fuck you! Don’t come near me, you letch! I’m gonna catch your pervy-ness!”
    Oh yeah, this was what she was like
, he recalled with a touch of irritation, but getting angry here would be just what she wanted, so he chanted quietly to himself,
Calm down, calm down
. “It’s been awhile, Little Sister Katagiri. Haven’t seen you since the manhunt three months ago, huh?”
    Yuzuki crossed her arms, feigning boredom. “Hmph, you were just a lowly low-ranking civil officer back then, but now you’re the savior of Tokyo Area who defeated a Zodiac, huh? What do you want? Don’t tell me you came to rub it in? If that’s why you’re here, then you can turn right around and go home, you letch.”
    “That’s not why I’m here. I came because I have work for your brother.”
    “We don’t need work from a perv!”
    Rentaro looked at the decrepit hallway and office door and knocked on the wall. The vibration made a corner of the plaster fall off. “Wouldn’t it be better to at least hear what I have to say?”
    Yuzuki looked annoyed as she pulled out the key from the back of her choker and put it in the door, stealing a look at Rentaro as she opened the door. “Big Bro! You have a guest!”
    Following the girl inside, he was first overwhelmed by the choking
smell
. All families had their own smell that permeated everything, but the Katagiri Civil Security Agency’s was the smell of a cloth that had wiped up milk and was dried in the shade. Scattered around the reception area were empty containers of instant noodles and junk food. There were shed clothes scattered everywhere, a hanging plant dangling from the ceiling, and tall piles of comics. From floor to ceiling, it was so messy that it seemed like it was done on purpose to make visitors shrink back.
    Just then, something moved a little. Rentaro looked to see a sleeping man sitting on a stool with his combat boots resting on the table.
    “Yo, Bro! Wake up!” said Yuzuki, shaking him.
    “What is it, my sweet?” said the man in a sleepy voice, pulling off the adult magazine covering his face and glancing at Rentaro. Then, he uttered “Whoa…” and put the magazine back on his face.
    “Hey, you! What do you mean, ‘Whoa…’?”
    “Try to understand, boy. Right after I wake up, a guy with a faceso unfortunate that I feel like I’ll be cursed just by looking at it is standing right there. For a second, I thought the Grim Reaper had come for me.” So saying, he grunted and jumped out of the chair.
    Because of Rentaro’s height, he had to look up at the man just a little. He wore black cargo pants, a field jacket, and amber sunglasses. He had dark blond hair like his little sister, but with earrings and half-finger gloves. With his muscular build, he gave off an overbearing air. The words
I am an American
printed on his jacket were in such bad taste that the American girl next to Rentaro was clearly annoyed.
    Tamaki Katagiri. Even though he wore clothes that looked like they belonged to a thug, he was the president of the Katagiri Civil Security Agency.
    Rentaro looked around the messy office with distaste. “Well, what can I say? Looks like you’re doing well.”
    “
Hmph
, I don’t need your sarcasm, boyo.” Tamaki looked appraisingly at Rentaro and then flopped back into his president’s chair. “It’s been a while. What do you want?”
    Rentaro scratched the back of his head.