Six in the morning.
No shrill air-raid siren. No death metal blasting through the loudspeakers.
Jason's eyes snapped open on his narrow bed.
Quiet. Too quiet.
Every muscle in his body instantly tensed, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His right hand instinctively reached beneath his pillow. Nothing.
"Gap-Tooth!" Jason kicked the iron railing of the lower bunk. "What time is it?"
Gap-Tooth, his hair a bird's nest, blearily glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Five past six... boss, there's no siren today."
Jason froze for two seconds.
Only then did he remember that their month of hellish military training had ended after last night's barbecue.
He let out a long breath and fell back onto the bed. But less than thirty seconds later, he irritably sat up again. That she-devil named Retsu Unohana had completely rewritten his body clock. Even if he was allowed to sleep now, he couldn't close his eyes.
Eight in the morning, in the classroom building.
The brand-new desks and chairs gave off a faint scent of pine.
Class 021. Their homeroom teacher was a gray-haired old man, reportedly a retired veteran teacher hired from Metropolis at great expense.
Chalk in hand, the old man wrote "Class representative election" on the blackboard.
"Students, we'll be voting by secret ballot..."
Before the old man could finish, Mohawk stood straight up. He planted one foot on his stool and put his hands on his hips.
"Election, my ass! If anyone but Boss Jason dares to be class rep, I'll be the first to take him out!"
Dozens of East End delinquents nodded in unison.
The old man was so frightened that he dropped his chalk. "Young man, please observe classroom discipline..."
Jason sat in the back row, leaning against the wall. He gave