Aria the Scarlet Ammo (novel), Volume 2 Page 10

  “That was ... you know ... just me getting into a fight.”

  “And when we were kids—and tonight as well—you took me out into the world around me. That’s why I ... wanted to repay the favor here at Butei High.”

  “I haven’t done you any favors. And that being the case, there’s no need for you to repay anything,” I said it without giving it that much thought, but Shirayuki showed me that beaming smile of hers again.

  “You really are Kin-chan, aren’t you?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  The light fell from the last firework. We watched as it fizzled on the sand before disappearing completely. Shirayuki blinked her eyes once for a long period of time, as if to record the image in her heart. She then stood up, moving in such a refined manner that just seeing it was enough to make one release a sigh. I stood up at the same time and was again aware of the sound of waves breaking on the artificial beach.

  “The other day, when I divined your fortune using the priestess tarot cards...” Hearing Shirayuki’s sudden remark spoken in a soft voice as she turned towards those waves, it all came back to me. I was pretty sure she told me that my overall luck was good. It did seem like she did a pretty shoddy job though.

  “The truth is ... the results said ... you were going away.”

  “...Going … away?”

  “You’ll be leaving the place you’re at now—within a few years no less.”

  “That ... probably means I’m going to transfer to a regular school. My long-cherished desire is finally going to be fulfilled sometime next year.”

  “... I was thinking that ... it might mean Aria was going to take you away somewhere ...”

  “Hah,” I responded with a short laugh, but Shirayuki continued to look despondent as if she were seized by some sense of foreboding.

  “After all, Aria changed you. Ever since you met her, you’ve had a cheerful ...”

  “What? Me?”

  “I never saw that coming” is the first thought that came to my mind, but somewhere deep inside me, I suspected that it could really happen. Now that was something I never saw coming.

  Aria changed me …?

  “... No she hasn’t,” I denied. The words left my mouth in a lower voice than I expected they would.

  “... It’s okay ...”

  “What is?”

  “If it will bring you happiness ... If you like Aria ... It’s okay if you’re going to be with her. Even if it were just from behind the scenes, I wanted to support you … and repay the kindness you showed me.”

  “H-Hold up. What are you—?”

  “That’s why I’ve tried to put all my effort into so many things until now. I tried my best with studying, the student council, club activities ... It was all so I could improve myself. But in the end, none of it served any purpose,” Shirayuki said ... cutting me off.

  What’s going on with Shirayuki? She’s different than she usually is.

  It was like she was urgently trying to convey to me everything she had kept concealed in her heart up till now.

  “... You’re saying the most bizarre things. I told you before that Aria and I are just partners, didn’t I? And why have you been talking in the past tense? Are you by any chance … referring to the ‘butei killer’ incident last month?”

  She hadn’t said so specifically, but considering Shirayuki’s personality, she might be concerned about how she didn’t assist me at all with the “butei killer” incident. When things got ugly, the one who was always there with me was Aria, who quite possibly, is the only person Shirayuki cannot get along well with.

  “That’s not it ...” said Shirayuki, suddenly turning around. It was dark and hard to tell, but it looked like there were tears in her eyes. “Kin-chan.”

  “H-Hey.”

  She had flung herself into my chest. It was instantaneous. This was the Shirayuki that spent minutes closing the distance between us when she sat nearby me the other day.

  Seriously. W-What’s happened to her?

  “Kin-chan, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

  Shirayuki looked up at me, and I wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for, but faced with those watery eyes, I was powerless to say anything. The light of the moon illuminated her face, and I had been aware of this from the very start, but she truly was pretty. Her slightly out-of-season yukata and her hair that she was wearing up were perfectly suited for this ideal Japanese girl. A childhood friend—I’ve always interacted with her as friend since I was a young boy. It was a relationship as precious to me as water, but one that didn’t allow the intervention of any nonessential elements … I could tell that at this moment, something like nectar was being blended into that relationship. It was maddeningly sweet and made it nearly impossible to refrain from drinking every last drop.

  “Kin-chan … I’m sorry. I know this is so sudden. ... Until now, I was afraid you would hate me and I couldn’t say it …but would you listen to just one selfish request of mine? Would you please make just one of my dreams come true …?” Shirayuki’s lips were trembling, and the expression on her face revealed that she was at her absolute limit. It was at the point where she looked like she might die if she were to continue with what she was going to say next. “Just for this moment ... just for this one moment ... look at me. Look only at me …”

  It was at that instant when a cool night breeze, too early to be making its appearance in the summer, swept by us that Shirayuki closed the gentle, lovely eyes underneath her perfectly straight bangs.

  “... Kiss ... me …”

  Could I have misheard her …? Probably not.

  Certainly, she had said it very faintly, but she was standing right in front of me.

  Why …? Why would she suddenly …?

  The surprise had caused my heart to beat loudly, and I immediately checked the flow of blood in my veins. This sensation ... was different, however. The nature in which my blood was flowing wasn’t an indication that I was going into hysteria mode. This was a normal reaction—and not quite sexual stimulation ... It was probably due to Shirayuki looking so sad and pained. My ability to speak was starting to abandon me. Before I knew it … without even making a conscious decision to do so, I had instinctively started reaching out towards Shirayuki. I wasn’t even aware if the purpose was to stop her or to comply with her, but I was now on the verge of gently touching the back of her yukata ...

  Boom.

  The sound of a distant explosion reached our ears.

  “...?”

  Our most primitive instinct—the instinct to protect each other from danger—took over. Shirayuki, who raised her shoulders in alarm, and I, coming back to my senses, simultaneously looked in the direction from which the sound came...

  Two more explosions rang out in the skies above Walt Land. One after another, fireworks were launched into the air where they transformed into large colorful circles. We had jumped to conclusions and assumed the event already ended, but apparently it was just an intermission.

  “... Ngh ...”

  There’s just nothing that can be done about the habits human beings form over their lives.… In the last few seconds, I had placed myself protectively between the source of the explosion and my client, Shirayuki. I also had my hand on the Beretta that I brought with me just in case. I had my days of training at Assault to thank for all this. Here, I was on heightened alert after hearing the sound of a firework. Having miserably misread the situation when Shirayuki had been agonizing so earnestly, I was unable to look her in the eye as I turned to face her. Just a moment ago, our feet were so close that our toes were practically touching, but because of the movements I made, they were now half a step apart. Those forty centimeters seemed so vast that they would be impossible to recover.

  “…Sorry,” Shirayuki apologized. Her voice sounded like she was giving up on something, and she looked up at the fireworks with somewhat hollow eyes that made it seem like she wasn’t entirely there. There was no help
for it, so I, too, turned my gaze towards the variously colored fireworks that seemed to magically rise into the air. The summer fireworks added color to the night view of Tokyo, both in the sky and the rippled reflection in the ocean. The two of us simply continued to watch the scenario, standing there as if our souls had left our bodies.

  …Never did we think that moment would become our time of parting.

  Fifth Bullet Diamond Dust

  The string of holidays crammed into this past week came to an end, and the Adsiard had commenced. Since I’m performing the music for the Ar-kata during the closing ceremony, the following few days for me consist of attending shortened classes and helping out with a few things here and there. When Shirayuki and I returned to Acadamey Island yesterday, she said something about forgetting some item or other and went back to the girl’s dormitory she had stayed at before. After that, she sent me a single e-mail.

  “Kin-chan, I’m really sorry about tonight. You must be angry, I know. I’m too ashamed to face you, so I’m just going to sleep here in my own room.”

  To be honest, I was pretty fed up this foolishness of constantly preparing for an enemy that didn’t even exist. The truth of the matter was that we spent the whole night playing around with our guard down, and nothing ever happened, so I just replied to her e-mail…

  “I’m not angry. What happened early is done and over. Don’t dwell on this, okay? Also, it would be a problem if the educational affairs department were to give me any bad marks on my record for abandoning a mission, so I’ll still continue acting as your bodyguard. Give me a call tomorrow when you finish with your duties for the student council.”

  …and went right to bed.

  However, for some reason, I had a difficult time falling asleep last night. I thought about the incident at the artificial beach that ended on a sour note, but…I also felt an odd sense of foreboding. It was inexplicable and I couldn’t determine what the cause if it was. And as a result, I was suffering from a major lack of sleep today. I had to use every ounce of my willpower to stay awake for my shift. Muto and I were collecting tickets from guests at the entrance to the auditorium, which is where the opening ceremony for the Adsiard is taking place. There were other gateways leading into the auditorium as well, but the structure was situated fairly close to the center of Butei High, so there was no need for any security. Additionally, this particularly gate we were stationed at only led to an anteroom where the press would be, so I was bored out of my mind. Before the start of the opening ceremony, there were a decent number of cameramen and reporters holding microphones passing through here, but now that it was going on three in the afternoon, no one would be showing up this late.

  “…The song we’re performing, ‘Who Shot the Flash,’ is a variation of a copy of a cover version of the original song. When it gets that bad, you just can’t help but laugh, really,” grumbled Muto, sitting in a steel folding chair and having nothing else to do with his free time.

  “Why did it get chosen then?” I asked, also having nothing better to do and stirring up a conversation with him.

  “There’s a part of the lyrics that goes ‘bangbabangbabang.’ You notice how that line wasn’t changed, right? It’s because that part sounds like gun shots.”

  “Oh. …Well, I guess that certainly is typical of Butei High…” I said, gritting my teeth to stifle a yawn as I looked through the window at the clear, blue skies outside.

  “So…is Hotogi not going to take part in the Ar-kata cheer after all?”

  “Shirayuki? She said she wouldn’t.”

  “Oh,” Muto said, sounding rather disappointed. “By the way…you were acting as Hotogi’s bodyguard, weren’t you, Kinji?”

  “Yeah. Me and Aria.”

  “I’ll bet guarding Hotogi just kind of felt natural, didn’t it. She is the type of girl that makes you want to protect her.”

  “I can’t say I felt there was a need to protect her.”

  She can fight on par with Aria anyway.

  “…So? ... Which is it, Kinji?”

  “Which is what?”

  “Between Hotogi and Aria, which is more your type?”

  “Huh?” I said, bringing my eyebrows together. Before I could say that neither of them was, Muto turn his chair towards me with a loud thud.

  “Aria, right?”

  “Why Aria?”

  And why am I so shaken up by the assertion?

  “Umm … you know. I have a feeling you get along well with girls who look younger than you.

  “I don’t get along with that lion cub. I’m a Homo sapiens.”

  “The other day, Aria was in the general education sector talking with the other girls in our class. Everything she talked about was related to you. I’m telling you, the both of you are interested in one another.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Well then … are you by any chance hitting it off with Hotogi?”

  “…What gives? Why are you also making these dumb assumptions now?” I was becoming sullen after remembering what took place between Shirayuki and I yesterday.

  “Uhh … well, you know. Buteis are a bunch of jack-of-all-trades who always want to know about everything.”

  “…Curiosity killed the cat. That’s from a book that was written by a butei,” was all I said as I placed by elbows on the desk and avoided answering the question.

  “Answer the question. If you don’t answer I’m gonna run you over with a four-ton truck.

  “Bring it on. I’ll take you down with my Kinji Model Beretta.”

  I started a very Assault-like exchange with my friend and went into “ignoring Muto mode.” He still refused to give up though. He kept staring at me with a look that said “Say something already.” A minute went by. Then a second minute passed in the same fashion. By the third minute, Muto bent his head downwards, pointing his spikey hair at me.

  “…I’m sorry!”

  “What is it all of a sudden? You’re being pretty loud too.”

  “I almost resorted to underhanded tactics!”

  “?”

  “By recommending you go out with Aria. I’ll … I’ll pray that things work out between you and whoever it is you’re interested in,” said Muto, resolutely crossing his arms and looking upwards diagonally.

  …Makes no sense. Not a single one of them makes a lick of sense.

  I didn’t want to prolong the conversation any further, and Muto seemed willing to drop the subject, so we went back to killing time by talking about music and movies and motorcycles and whatnot. Muto’s shift ended at four, and I was left alone to supervise this gate at which no one ever made an appearance. With nothing to do, I idly dawdled away my time. My eyes began to repeatedly open and close themselves. Sitting on my steel folding chair and in the rays of the sun, both the lethargy that follows a long vacation and my lack of sleep were overwhelming me, and I finally dozed off. I was dreaming of Aria crying as she ran down a hill in pursuit of a runaway peach bun and fell into a manhole. Just then … “Hey, Kinji!”

  Muto grabbed my shoulder, waking me up.

  “. . . ?”

  Crap. I was completely out of it. The clock has advanced quite a bit. It’s already five.

  Muto must have run all the way back here because he was out of breath. It doesn’t look like he’s mad about me sleeping on the job. What’s going on?

  “What’s up?” I frowned at Muto and he pointed at the cell phone in my pocket.

  “Case D7. We’re in the middle of a Case D7.”

  The drowsiness I was feeling disappeared instantly. Case D7 is a code word that means some kind of incident had occurred on campus during the Adsiard. But in the event of a Case D7 however, the facts of the incident aren’t made clear right away and only certain people are notified. Additionally, in order to ensure the safety of people who needed to be protected, we were prohibited from creating a scene unless there was good reason to do so. The Adsiard is to proceed as planned and the situation must be resolved in secret
. Taking out my cell phone, I saw that a notification e-mail had indeed arrived while I was asleep.

  I blew it.

  I hadn’t noticed because my phone was in manner mode. There were a few incoming calls from Muto as well. I wondered what could have happened, but before I could read the notification, Muto lower his voice to a whisper told me.

  “It looks like Hotogi disappeared. No one’s been able to contact her since a little past noon.”

  “…Disappeared?”

  I quickly looked at my phone to check the e-mail Butei High sent to us, and I noticed that a single message had arrived from Shirayuki. The blood in my veins froze upon reading what it said.

  “Kin-chan, I’m sorry. Good-bye.”

  It was odd. Being her childhood friend, I could tell. There was something peculiar about this message. I’m pretty sure she hadn’t run away because things got awkward between us yesterday. What happened at the artificial beach was put behind us when I sent her that e-mail yesterday. There was no way for me to know what was actually going on inside her head, but I did know that she was an obedient person. If I said it was over, then she would act like it was over. She wouldn’t keep obsessing over the matter. She’d act like it never happened. Not only that, Shirayuki had a strong sense of responsibility. She would undoubtedly finish the duties she had to perform during the Adsiard until the closing ceremony came to an end. That’s probably why Butei High issued a Case D7 alert when Shirayuki disappeared without warning. I could tell. This wasn’t just a disappearance. Something had happened to her!

  At this point, everything was just an excuse. Neither Shirayuki, nor I had felt any danger whatsoever. Even Aria, who from the very beginning was so cautious of our surroundings, wound up abandoning her mission. Even so … I was being too careless. I had let my guard down. There was the possibility that someone might have actually been targeting Shirayuki. I brought to mind what I told Aria the other day.

  “You thought to yourself that you wanted him to exist. And now you’ve deluded yourself in thinking he really does!”