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User:Stardust Fall

2017-05-21T05:17:14Z

Stardust Fall: Blanked the page

Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter4

2012-10-04T05:55:42Z

Stardust Fall: Spelling

==4th Ammo: 350m Altitude Tornado==

After the Inquesta lesson, I started on the way home only after attending 'Strategy 1' in the Assault lecture hall.

It had become quite late, so when I exited the building, it was already dark. Maybe it's because we're getting deeper into Autumn.

Stepping on the fallen leaves from the trees by the road, I headed towards the bus stop...

Several laughing girls exited from the backdoor of the Connect building, which was next to Assault.

Each of them threw the brooms they were holding behind the Connect section, past a metal fence into the artificial forest beyond. What are they doing?

"Nacchi, we'll be leaving the rest to you!"

After shouting into the forest with their hands cupped around their mouths, the girls went towards the shopping district.

Nacchi...? Somebody's nickname?

"...Ah, y-yes..."

I could only hear the sound of leaves, so I frowned and looked in the direction of the voice...

It looked like someone was cleaning up the fallen leaves in the dim forest.

That was...

"Nakasorachi...?"

I called out to her.

The figure startled, clutching the broom to herself.

Because of that movement, the garbage in which the fallen leaves were kept got caught on the broom...and it fell on its side, spilling its contents.

"U-U-Um, that voice--To-Bo-Tohyama, Boy, Boyama-kun!"

This disappointing way of talking...it really is Nakasorachi.

She was plain, having completely blended into the forest, so I didn't notice.

"Are you cleaning up by yourself? Weren't the people here just now up for cleaning duty?"

It seemed that she had knocked over the bag because of me, so I entered the forest in order to fix it...

"Y-Yes, but, um, I was asked to do it by the other people on duty, so..."

Nakasorachi backed away from me, her legs twisted towards each other...

Her back touched a tree, and she went 'Eek!', scaring herself.

Leaving that aside...rather than being asked to do it, she was forced to do it, huh.

(Really, those people...)

The actual forest is pretty small, but the amount of fallen leaves have reached their peak, so cleaning them up is a pain.

Forcing her to clean this up...that has to be bullying.

In any case, even if I go home, there won't be anybody there, so I didn't have anything to do.

"Lend me one of these."

I picked up a broom and decided to help her gather up the leaves.

Nakasorachi saw me.

"Ah, ah! It's fine, really, it's fine...Hic, hic, hi~!"

It seems like she started to hiccup.

"It's fine, I'll help. Remember the first article of the Butei Charter?"

"Yesh...Hic, th-thank yhou! Thank hyou!"

Still clutching the broom, Nakasorachi bowed her head deeply, her long black hair swinging about.

Your voice is way too loud. Why're you suddenly upping the atmosphere.

In front of me, who was shying away, Nakasorachi leapt to the garbage bag and dropped into a crouch. She then started to stuff the spilled leaves into the bag.

Well, she can really do it if she tries. Her dull movements from just a moment ago suddenly became sharp.

I started sweeping up the leaves...

"......Nnn....!"

I averted my eyes from the full, plump thighs that were visible from the corner of Nakasorachi's skirt, as she squatted there vulnerably.

L-Luckily it's dark around here. If it was bright, I would've seen ''farther in''.

Rather--if you're going to squat, squat with your knees together.

"...? What's wrong with your eyes?"

I, whose gaze had fled upwards, noticed that there were no glasses beneath the veil of Nakasorachi's long front hair.

"Ah, ah, my glasses. That's um, during class, I was clumsy, and a ball, um, during PE, a volleyball, I was hit, my glasses, um, I was clumsy, um..."

Just because I spoke to her, Nakasorachi started to talk in a way where she was rearranging the sentence order.

Apparently, I've a companion in the 'ball to the face' team.

"Rather, you're being...pretty polite? We're in the same year, so it's fine to speak casually."

"G-guys, b-boys. I-I've, um...never really...talked...to boys before, so...just by reflex, I started, um, speaking politely. S-Sorry!"

Nakasorachi dipped her head with such momentum that it looked like she was going to thrust her head into the bag containing the leaves.

"A-Also, I-I, g-got carried away, a-and I-I've only seen, To-Tohyama-kun, during battle, through a camera image, so i-it's like, I'm able to meet a person, f-from a film, a drama...I'm suddenly, talking too much, w-when I'm spoken to, I-I get carried aw-aw-aw-awawa..."

"Ahh...it's fine to speak politely. Alright, let's gather up the leaves that've fallen down."
[[File:Aria08 221.jpg|thumb]]
Starting Nakasorachi, who had stopped working, back up...We divided the work, with me gathering the fallen leaves with a broom, and Nakasorachi crouching down, picking them up in a dustpan and putting them in the bag.

If I gave instructions, Nakasorachi would follow them properly, so the cleaning went on smoothly--

"...This should be it, right? It's so dark I can't really tell."

"Yes. T-The sound of the grass and leaves ru-ruru-rustl...ing has gone."

Nakasorachi closed the mouth of the garbage bag, when...

The sound of a car honking its horn at students who had exited Connect and were trying to cross the road rang out.

"Eek!"

Nakasorachi frighted at just that noise and leaped into the air, clutching onto my arm.

(Uu...!)

Th-That was dangerous. I obstructed her with the broom so it ended in an instant, but boobs that held a ''loose'' softness and were the size of volleyballs had pressed into me.

For me, this held the same danger level as being pierced by a sharp blade.

Nakasorachi's eyes seemed to have met mine, which were filled with tension.

"Ah, ah, ee-eek!"

She rammed into me with unexpected strength.

Thanks to that, the back of my head smashed into a tree trunk. Ouch...

"I-I-I-It's not what you think! T-The reason I grabbed your hand wa-was completely unrelated from the fact that our eyes met! I-I wasn't f-f-fantasizing about T-Tohyama-kun!"

...What is it this time...

"I-I wasn't d-doing anything like f-fantasizing here! Nothing dirty! Nothing a-about the depths of the forest! I-In the shadows of the underbrush, where nobody's eyes could reach! I-I wasn't!"

In the depths of the forest...? I have no idea what she's saying.

"Ah, Nakasorachi. Please don't say anything right now."

I said--

"!"

Nakasorachi stretched out her body like she had been subjected to a high voltage electric current.

"T-T-T-T-That kind of forceful...! B-Butbut, we've finished cleaning, so I-I'll just lay something over the u-underbrush in advance! Please wait for a moment!"

As if pushing a reset button, I lightly tapped her on the waist with my broom.

"Hey. I'm finishing up. Speaking is forbidden until we finish. Alright?"

I picked up the bag filled with fallen leaves, and Nakasorachi nodded again and again, one hand over her mouth. She tottered off to gather up the brooms. It looks like she's obeying what I told her, 'don't talk'.

Rather...Nakasorachi's cowardly enough that she gets frightened from a car horn, yet she serves as a Butei.

She's probably a rare type of person. At our school, at least.

At the bus stop, I was waiting with Nakasorachi for the bus.

"To-Tohyama-kun. Th-Thaou yonk, for, um, today."

Thank you, maybe?

"It's fine. All I did was help you a little for today."

"T-This is the first time, so-somebody's, helped me li-like this, so...I-I don't have...friends, so, all I have is, J-Jeanne-san..."

...Jeanne.

Now that she mentions her, what could she be doing?

Ever since the Bandere, I've not seen hide nor hair of her--it's worrying.

"...Don't you know where Jeanne is right now?"

I asked, though I expected her to say no.

"Right now? I-In my room, or rather, th-the room Jeanne-san and I are...sharing, i-in the, gi-girl's dormitory...I think?"

"Eh?"

"At one point last week, she called me to ask for something...She said that she was coming back that morning, that she'd been absent, from school. Because she was injured. Right now, she's in the room."

Jeanne.

She'd returned to Butei High?

However, she said she was injured. That's worrying. I'll have to go meet her.

However...Jeanne seems to be roommates with Nakasorachi.

I don't know which room it is, so I'd like her to guide me there, but that, in short, is like telling this person, 'let's go into your room' so it looks like I'll have trouble bringing it up.

If I don't say it a little carefully, I'll be made to do another sentence order quiz.

"Nakasorachi, I've like to ask you for a favour..."

"F-Favour, favour? Th-that's i-impossible, a fa-favour from a b-bo-bo-boy..."

Suddenly this.

"I-I'm the t-type of person th-that can't s-say no when as-asked a favour of! So, pl-please be gentle!"

"That's convenient. I'd like--"

"B-Before that, I-I have t-to change! B-boy, please let me change! Especially the bottom!"

"I haven't said anything yet..."

That was what the situation was like, so I needed the time from when we got on the bus till we got off the bus to communicate to her what I meant (and I only just managed to do it too), but...

Somehow, I was able to go to Jeanne and Nakasorachi's room, located in the third girl's dormitory.

Together with Nakasorachi, her knees shivering as her legs pressed together in an X shape, I ascended to her room.

"Wow..."

Inside the room, massive amounts of acoustic equipment were gathered, enough for me to let out my voice.

Countless speakers and expensive looking amplifiers were piled up on a rack, surrounding a black desk with a semicircle.

The soundproof walls were painted black, and headphones of every colour were hanging from them like a electronics volume retailer.

Not only did the entire scene look like the mixing room of a radio station, but in the room, there were even communication devices coming from every time period and every place imaginable, all lined up neatly. Not only computers and wireless devices used for processing, but there were around 50 types of handheld cellphones.

The places the access lamps lead to blinked with lights, and in the midst of this room, which smelled of electronic devices...the only thing that resembled a girl's room was a miniature decorative plant, placed right by the window.

Rather, that plant with two leaves...there's what looks like a small placard with 'Tohyama-kun' written on it standing there. Was there a plant like that?

I was looking at the mini plant when Nakasorachi leaped into the air with a '!' and covered it with an empty box for headphones, hiding it.

"I-I-It's not what you think! I-I do-don't talk to that plant at all! I-I'm not ''that'' l-lonely! Ah, also, there's nothing inside that small room over there! Things that I bought in preparation for unexpected circumstances, l-lewd underwear, alcohol, none of that is there!"

"Um...I haven't come to raid your place. Rather than that, Jeanne is...?"

"Jeanne-san is, that way."

Nakasorachi turned her back on 'Tohyama-kun' and pointed at a door. That was the only door with a wood grain, having been decorated in an antique, western style. Needless to say, it was just like Jeanne.

The door creaked as it opened, and when I stepped through it, it was bright.

It does seem like she's here. I can't see her though...

A mahogany desk. A light which looks like an ancient gas lamp. Somehow, it seems like the room is decorated with chic ornaments, just like an executive office of a high-tier business, or a politician's office. It's completely different from the Nakasorachi zone.

As for the wooden bookcase...French and Japanese books that seemed like history books lined the shelves.

(She's a scholar, huh...)

I thought, taking out a book, and beyond the books bound with leather, there lay another row in...Mm...?

There were comics for girls hidden inside. And a lot of them.

Shoucomi, Margaret, Betsufure, Hanatoyume. Hehe. Jeanne reads stuff like this?

I've found an unexpected side of her. So she keeps the girly part of her hidden ''inside''. That's just like her.

''Rustle''...''Rustle''.

Raising my head at the slight indication, there was another room further in. It seemed that Jeanne was inside there.

That's right, this isn't the time to laugh.

Jeanne. She chased 'Grenada', and it seems that she was injured, but--is she alright?

(If she's heavily injured and is sleeping, I can't be noisy.)

So I thought, opening the door silently...inside was a small room, long but thin, and it seemed like it was being used as a walk-in closet.

But--what on Earth is this?

Inside the room...frills, lace...red, white, pink, aquamarine...checkers, stripes, heart patterns...dresses like this were in rows, leading all the way inside.

This...I was forcibly made to remember it by Riko, but...this is lolita fashion. And this closet was like a clothing store, and it had enough stocked here to resemble a wholesaler.

(Did she get them from Riko...?)

I thought, but the sizes of the clothes here were bigger than Riko's. These clothes are meant for someone far more slender.

Just by walking, I parted the masses of lace and ribbons that brushed past my face and limbs, advancing through the lolita jungle...

And she was there.

In the innermost portion of the long, thin room, Jeanne stood before a full length mirror, bordered with Rococo style engravings.

She was wearing the brand name waitress uniform that I had drawn the lot for as her proxy for Ristorante Masue. The uniform of 'At Home Cafeteria'. Standing there like a model, she looked at the mirror, an ecstatic smile on her face.

Wearing a skirt with openings that drew attention to her tensed long, beautiful legs, she placed a hand on her hips...

"Hehe. It really is nice."

... ...

She placed a hand on her knee and leaned forward. Turning back subtly, she adjusted the big ribbon on her back before brushing a hand through her long, silver hair (which she had let down), letting it flutter through the air.

What...is she doing?

"Heh...That I would look so lovable...Hehe."

...I...

Couldn't call out to her at all.

She was doing a solo fashion show.

Like a puma watching its prey, I peered out at my target from between the leaves of lace...

Apparently satisfied, Jeanne adjusted her headband.

"Hehe. To think that a day would come when I would be able to wear this boldly in front of everyone. The people at Informa will not have even thought that I owned something like this. Tohyama drew the best lot possible. He did well."

She spoke to herself.

And so, my voice leaked out.

"Ahh..."

Having heard my voice, the Witch of Silver Ice, Jeanne, froze.

Her eyes meeting mine in the mirror, she stopped moving, as if her heart had stopped in that position.

"Jeanne. First of all...You're doing pretty well, aren't you? Nakasorachi said that you were injured, so I was worried. Also, one more thing. What the hell is this? Are these all yours?"

Walking into the solo fashion show from the forest of frills, I spoke...

Finally moving, Jeanne covered her face with her pale, white fingers.

"...This...This is the end..."

Her skirt swaying, her body crumpled as her knees dropped to the floor, just like the heroine of a tragedy.

"...What's the end?"
[[File:Aria08 231.jpg|thumb]]
"...Tohyama. You...You have seen that which cannot be seen. I cannot let you return alive."

Tears in her eyes, Jeanne drew Durandal from her back.

"H-Hey! You're armed even though you're wearing that...!?"

Overreacting, almost like I had seen her naked, Jeanne held the scabbard in her hands. Panicking, I grabbed onto it.

As if her hands were devoid of strength, Jeanne let her sword go immediately.

"There...There is no-one who has seen this room. This is the secret garden that belongs to me and me only. I had been keeping this a secret from even Riko...!"

Jeanne's eyes were brimming with tears, her hands trembling...

And this time, a Cx100 greeted me from behind Jeanne's cocktail apron.

"I-I got it. I'll keep it a secret. Between just the two of us. So please don't shoot."

"...Do you promise? If you talk about this to anyone, I'll make you into a frozen gratin."

"I promise. Or rather, humans can't become gratins."

I said.

Jeanne sighed, a sigh that spoke of melancholy itself.

"...If I fired in a place like this, I would be making holes in all my clothes..."

And she stowed her gun away.

Holes in clothes are worth more than my life? Well...I was saved by that, so you have my thanks, western clothing.

I sat on a leather sofa in the room that was more like an executive office, waiting for Jeanne.

Jeanne　had changed into her uniform and her cheeks flushed with pink, she brewed me some coffee, lips twisted into a pout.

"I will say this now, but I myself know very well."

Sitting down with her knees together, just like a lady, Jeanne spoke, her legs slanting forward.

"Know what?"

"That those kinds of clothes do not suit a girl like me."

Really seeming as if she was embarrassed from the depths of her heart, Jeanne kept her head down but looked up at me.

"Those dresses are lovely when girls like Riko, small in stature, wear them. It is decidedly so. However...I am rather tall and have been raised as a boy since I was very young. Therefore, by nature, it does not fit me. However, the more I thought of it...for some reason, I started to feel a sort of yearning for those dresses..."

Ahh...

Well, it's not like I can't understand.

It's human nature to yearn strongly for that which we don't have.

"And then, there was Riko's influence on me...though I knew that it did not suit me, I went to Harajuku, thinking to buy one dress...and after that, it became a habit of mine, and now, things are as you have just witnessed. Haha...I am a laughable girl, am I not? You can laugh if you want. Hahaha..."

A broken laugh spilled from her lips...

"N-No, I'm not going to laugh. I thought it was cute."

The clothes were, that is.

"...C-Cute...?"

Were my words unexpected? Jeanne's ice blue eyes widened.

"Mm? Y-Yeah."

The clothes were cute.

"What a strange person. You cannot have much sense about these things."

Jeanne said, looking to the side...Facing the wall, her face looked like she was resisting the urge to smile from happiness.

Th-Thank God.

It seems like I made the right dialogue selection in the visual novel called life.

It looks like I can finally get to the point.

"By the way...Where did you go after Bandere?"

"--I was keeping track of Grenada's movements the entire time."

"What are they doing? I can't see any of their actions from here."

"Everyone has returned to their respective territories and they are all looking for an opportune moment. The only person that acted immediately is Hilda herself. I also engaged with her. The truth is, I was heavily shocked."

"Was that your injury? Where is it?"

"You would not be able to infer this from my appearance, but the damage has remained in the tendons all over my body, and I cannot use my limbs with any strength. Thanks to that, it seems that I will be unable to participate in combat for half a month."

...So that's why even I could take her sword from her before.

"Aria and I were also attacked by Hilda. We somehow managed to stay unharmed though."

"I heard from Riko. But be at ease. After a month, she will be unable to remain in Tokyo. Tamamo is expanding the Barrier of Exorcism without stopping to rest. Hilda is already unable to approach the stretch of coast from the Tokyo Disneyland to Academy Island, Empty Island, Daiba, Shinagawa and Toyosu. The barrier is improvised, so it seems that it will only hold for one year, but Tamamo's Barrier of Exorcism is formidable."

"Exorcism...Barrier? What the hell's that?"

"Speaking simply, it creates a zone that monsters are unable to invade. There is no obstruction to human bodies, but if monsters enter the barrier...speaking in terms of humans, it would be like being bombarded by a neutron beam."

"S-Some amazing things are starting, from below the surface."

"It is not something that has just started now. In the first place, Tokyo, followed by Rome and Hong Kong, is a city with high magic rejection. Yamate line and the Central line outline the yin-yang of all things ''in potentia''. It is well known that all magics weaken within it."

It isn't well known at all, is it?

I've been living in Tokyo for years and this is the first time I've heard about this gigantic SSR project.

"...Which reminds me, what are we going to do, Jeanne? Should we talk to Aria about Grenada and Deen? I haven't said anything yet, just in case."

"Indeed...let us stay silent until we are no longer able. Judging from her personality, she would go on the offensive if she found out. With Tamamo's barrier, this battle is one that is better fought defending."

"I was thinking that too. What should we tell Shirayuki?"

"Let us wait for Tamamo to decide. It would not be good for someone like you, inexperienced as you are in ability battles, to relay inaccurate information."

"That's...true. The specialists should do what they feel is best."

The moment I finished drinking my coffee...

Jeanne's cellphone rang.

"...It's Nakasorachi."

"Nakasorachi? She's in the room right next to us."

As I sat there wondering, Jeanne left me to myself and spoke on the phone for a while.

"Yes...I understand. Wait a moment, Nakasorachi...Tohyama, stay in this room. If she sees you, Nakasorachi will be unable to carry out her function. Talk with her using this phone."

"What is it? It seems that you asked Nakasorachi for something last week, but--what is it?"

"Indeed. I am making her eavesdrop on the transfer student's conversations."

"Transfer student?"

"L Watson. I suspect him."

"...!"

--Watson--

My eyes flew open in response to Jeanne's words.

"It seems that you have also taken note of this, but his movements are unnatural. All his records have been wiped, but we know he is not a normal person. His second name is 'Vein'--a boy who was decorated for his capacity as a spy, and a capable one too, for the confidential organization Liberty Mason."

"...He's..."

"I hate people who work in such a reprehensible manner. And many of my supporters in the tennis club have switched over to Watson. That, I cannot take."

Reprehensible...? Isn't eavesdropping reprehensible?

Also, it feels like you're just retaliating because Watson took all the popularity amongst the girls, but...I won't be saying that. It's promising that Jeanne is on the anti-Watson brigade.

"Tohyama, listen to this. It seems that he has made a move. He is alone and speaking with Aria."

She said.

I took the phone from Jeanne and hurriedly held it to my ear as Jeanne walked into the room with Nakasorachi.

Peeking into Nakasorachi's room a little...I saw that the room was darkened, perhaps so she could concentrate.

Nakasorachi was wearing a headset, and I could only see her face flicker in the green, yellow and blue lights that came blinking from the control panels of the communication and acoustic devices. On the display panel, audio ranges were divided up into alevel meters, and there were several tens of them lined up, increasing and decreasing rapidly.

Beside her, Jeanne was also wearing a headset. She continued to look at the equalizer that Nakasorachi was operating.

Looking closely, Nakasorachi's feet were stepping on countless pedals placed under her, making it look like she was playing an electronic organ. It was like she was swimming through a sea of sound.

"--They are currently inside a shop. Daiba 191. The 3rd floor of Hotel Japan Airlines' continental restaurant - Terrace on the Bay. They have entered a personal room. The voices inside the room are comparatively clear."

She was firm and clear, almost as if she was a completely different person. I could hear Nakasorachi's voice, like that of a female news announcer, ring out firm and elegant.

She's ''different'', only able to speaking normally through communication devices.

"Did you bug a place like that...?"

"--No. There is an EX-Unidirectional laser mike set up on the roof of the girl's dormitory gathering sound. If targeted at a surface location within a three kilometer radius, it can monitor the sound of the direction to which it is set."

"T-Three kilometers...that's amazing. You can hear people talking inside a shop three kilometers away?"

"--It is possible. The microphone amplifies the the vibrations of the voices that reach the glass of the window...the conversation inside the room is audible. Redirecting."

The power of science is amazing.

A conversation in a private room of a restaurant in Daiba can be heard directly here.

It's quite similar to ability. From my point of view, at least.

"'...hen, wha...did they Menu say?'"

Possibly because of the sheer distance, there was a little feedback mixed in with the audio, but...

This anime voice that I could hear definitely belonged to Aria.

"'...en I was in London, Menuette-san...said...ease take care...my older sister...'" "'...That girl...even though she's my sister, she looks at me from ab...so...'" "'Also...she said...the punishment game from that card game is still continuing.'" "'...She's the same as ever. It's disgusting. She's being rebellious...'"

I switched between being able to hear Watson and Aria's voice.

The line kept getting interrupted, but it seemed that they were talking about Aria's little sister.

Rather, did she have one?

Even though I've lived together with her for half a year, she never said anything to me about something as small as her sister's existence.

Well...I also hid the existence of Brother, so I can't really say anything.

She's probably the kind of sister that has characteristics that are hard to describe, or they don't get along or something.

But even so...I'm feeling a strange displeasure at the fact that Aria and Watson are talking about a common topic that none but the two of them know.

"--It seems that they are taking their seats. I can hear footsteps from Watson."

Nakasorachi looked down, as if focusing.

"--There is some strangeness in his footsteps. This is not beneficial information, but I will report it because it has been brought to my attention. Watson's body fat percentage is high. It seems to be 27%."

Nakasorachi...you can know something like that from this feedback-filled sound?

She really is a genius when you have her do audio investigations. All humans have good points.

But, a body fat percentage of 27%? That's a lot. Even I, who's already stopped going to Assault, have 15%.

Watson seems to be the kind of guy that hides his fat.

"--Aria takes her seat. Watson takes his seat."

"...but...what's the reason you're not coming back to England...I can have the ceremony by tomorrow, even..." "...It's too early for me to...think about..." "...Why are you hesitating? Do you have any other fiancés?" "..."

"--Aria is silent."

Nakasorachi's courteous explanation came through.

"'What's wrong...are you engaged to someone else?'" "'...'"

Watson repeated the same question and Aria remained silent...

"--There is someone. Every time Aria hears the word 'engaged', her heart beats loudly. Her body is experiencing other reactions besides that. The reactions of a girl who has strong feelings for a boy."

Nakasorachi declared.

Is that so.

Other than Watson...there's another fiancé? Aria being Aria, isn't she popular?

She didn't tell me about that either though.

"'Aria. It seems that your standing amongst the Holmes family is bad, but...if you marry me and enter the Watson family...your...also...the Watson family has succeeded with their finances, and now, we are more prosperous than the Holmes family...so...able...look back at them in scorn, you know? And your work won't be as something like a chief of a raid squad at the London Butei Division...but...if you become one of the Watsons...leadership...'" "'...'"

Watson spoke and Aria remained silent...

Irritation began to swell up inside me.

"'...Also, the Watson family has...Japan's political, judiciary circles...your mother's sentence...'" "'...'"

"--Aria's heartbeat has changed at the mention of 'Mother' and 'Sentence'. Starting to sweat."

"'...so...even if it's just on record...how about it, Aria...'" "'...Let me think about it...'"

Hey...

Let me think about it?

Are you talking about marrying Watson?

"Nakasorachi. Um...is Aria serious? Um...about...marriage..."

"She is serious. However, her tone...extrapolating from the memory of voice data of other girls the same age...her tone suggests that there is something that she is willing to sacrifice herself to protect."

...Are you serious?

Aria.

--Will you become Watson's?--

(Aria!)

At that moment.

My body.

--''Thump''--

What...

...is this?

--''Thump''--

A heartbeat that seemed to sear into me shuddered through my body. Twice. Three times. It continued.

That was what it was.

Blood is rising to my head--a sensation that I was no longer able to think.

It's similar to Hysteria Mode--but it's different.

It felt like I was being ravaged by these violent emotions.

--Steal her back...!

A voice spoke those words...from my heart, the very center of my soul, from the depths...I could hear the voice.

(''This'' is...!)

I remember. My body has felt ''this'' before.

This is the same thing that happened when Sherlock stole Aria from me at I-U.

--Hysteria Berserk.

One of the derivatives of Hysteria Mode that my brother told me about.

Different from the ordinary Hysteria Mode, which 'protects' girls, this power is meant for 'stealing' them.

The hostility that I feel towards other men in these situations opens this state up. A dark, dark key--

"...Nn...!"

I leaned against the wall, clutching my chest so hard it looked like I was going to tear my heart out.

I...can no longer stop this flow of blood.

It's true that Berserk is a...dangerous mode. One's battle ability is amplified by 1.7 times compared to normal Hysteria mode, but in exchange...all thoughts are focused upon aggression. To give an example, it's a double-edged blade...something like that?

--But, who cares?

I started to feel as if it didn't matter.

It doesn't matter. Nothing matters.

Conversely, I started to want to curse the cowardice I had been showing up till this point.

Why did I leave Watson, who was approaching Aria, alone?

Watson...this is a bad way of saying it, but...Watson, did you think I'd ''let'' you have my seat as Aria's partner?

It's true that he's better than me at a lot of things.

He'll be able to respond to the battles that are coming. His appearance is beautiful, his grades excellent, and he's wealthy.

But, ''who cares about that''...!?

Aria is my partner.

If you're trying to snatch her from me, then...

Fight me like a man, Watson.

Don't do things like taking Aria from me by deceiving Aria with tricks of speech.

I won't hand Aria over to people like that.

--And Aria. I'm sorry. I won't be gentle with you this time.

''I'm going to steal you.''

Thinking about it, when I was forced to team up with Reki...you tried to do the same thing at the school train station.

Allow me the privilege of stealing you back.

"Tohyama, what's wrong?"

Jeanne had come close to me at some point, and I grabbed her shoulder.

I noticed that I had taken Jeanne's phone from my ear.

Jeanne saw that my eyes had become sharper, sharper than normal, and sharper than my eyes in the normal Hysteria Mode...she tried to say something, so I pressed down on her mouth with my right hand.

Immediately, I spun her around, hugging her head, wreathed in silver hair, to my chest--

I brought Jeanne inside the room, to a place Nakasorachi could not see from her angle.

"Uuu---!?"

Reflected in the mirror was Jeanne, struggling while embraced by me...

However, it seemed that she really couldn't exert any strength. She was at my discretion.

Be careful for a while. Or you'll be subjected to these kinds of violent acts by the current me.

"Jeanne."

With the fingers of my left hand, I searched out a white ear from between the strands of hair the colour of ice.

I touched Jeanne's ear and she trembled at the contact...

Therefore.

"Don't make a noise."

I softly whispered those words into her ear.

Nakasorachi's wearing headphones and is concentrating on eavesdropping. Seeing as she won't come here even if she looks around at what's happening for a few seconds...it would seem that if we keep our voices to this level, she won't notice.

Jeanne, reflected in the mirror, tried to move again, but I pulled her hips into mine with my right hand.

"...!"

Seeing herself in the mirror, my mouth by her ear, Jeanne's ice-blue eyes widened--

Her cheeks and ears were gradually tinged with pink.

So that she could continue to breathe, I moved my hand from her mouth--but even then, I placed my index finger over her rose-coloured lips, continuing to gesture 'to her to 'keep quiet'...

"--T-Tohyama...!"

Jeanne responded with a soundless voice, apparently having read the atmosphere.

"Butei should not feel lust just from hearing about male-female entanglements! Nakasorachi is in the next room, you realize? I do not claim to know, so I have no proof, b-but she is not able enough to hold back her scream, even if you try to calm her down. N-No, rather than that, HSS--"

Jeanne spoke that far before I whispered into her ear again.

"Correct."

"Wh-Which of the things I said are correct?'

"Currently, I am in HSS--Hysteria Mode. However, it seems that this is a modified form. I suddenly feel like going outside. I'll be borrowing your cellphone."

"Going outside...?"

"Continue to have Nakasorachi tell me the situation through the phone."

Saying that, I released Jeanne and checked the magazines of my Beretta and DE.

Jeanne nodded once before she slumped to the floor...was the sight of me in Berserk that shocking?

Hey, me.

What exactly are you doing?

After this, Jeanne's definitely going to go ballistic on me, saying things like: "What do you mean by that!"

I've only learned this now, but the me in Berserk is opposite from the me in HSS.

I am rough with girls. I could even be called violent. Like a carnivore--

I can only pray that I don't make these kinds of moves on Aria.

Because, when predators savage each other, all involved with be covered with holes and soaked in blood.

"--Watson as well as Aria are moving. There is a change in Aria's manner of walking. It seems that she's tottering, or in other words, stumbling about. They have moved into an elevator. Descending. The door is closing. Voice suspended--"

Nakasorachi's voice, connecting to Jeanne's cellphone from the headsets linked over WLAN, continued on.

By now, the tap had become just feedback to me, an amateur.

From within that, Nakasorachi picked up faint sounds and told me Aria and Watson's movements.

I returned to my room and picked up spare magazines as well as Orochi. Better to have one hand than none.

Because I could not get Mutou's help, I had no choice but to ride my own bike.

The watch ticked over 22:00.

The lights attached to the front fork of the bike illuminated the road flowing past me.

I had tried cycling with all my might before, but the me in Hysteria Mode was able to output around 90 km/h on just a normal bike. If it's just Daiba, then there isn't that big a difference between this method of transportation and any others, right?

So I thought, but...

"--Voice has been recaptured through echos off buildings. Watson and Aria are in a car. The car is a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The soft cover is currently closed. Moving northeast on city highway 482."

Watson was going out by car.

Northwest...He intends to bring Aria somewhere, not returning to Butei High.

However, there's no way I can race a Porsche with a bike.

"--Watson is speaking to Aria. Aria is not responding. She seems to be sleeping."

Sleeping...?

"It's unnatural. Tell me how she's sleeping, Nakasorachi. It's probably quite difficult, but can you?"

"--...Processing...consciousness levels are below JCSII-10. The sounds of the vital signs such as breathing or heart rate resemble the lowering of clarity that occurs with the application of anesthetics or drugs."

That bastard Watson...!

He did it this time. It seems that he slipped Aria a sleeping pill or the like at the restaurant.

I don't know what he plans on doing, but I hope he tries hurting Aria just a little.

Because I will return the pain completely.

In the most violent manner possible--!

(But...)

Where does Watson plan on going? If I don't know, I'll be left behind, unable to chase him.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I took the road under the monorail, heading to Daiba.

At that moment.

"--I can hear the sound of information being entered into the navigation systems of the car. The voice of the navigation system. Destination is...Sumida, Tokyo Oshiage 1-1-2."

"Nice assist, Nakasorachi. I'll give you a kiss later."

"--Please refrain from unregulated declarations."

Haha.

She paid attention to me.

The me in Berserk and Nakasorachi, across the communication device. Both of us are in personalities completely different from our normal ones.

"--Watson and Aria have reached the maximum range of audio capture. Voice was lost at the high-speed Metropolitan Shiodome Junction. Judging from the situation, I believe that you will be out of range--Be careful."

We've finally reached the limit of Nakasorachi's ears, huh.

But it's more than enough. She really saved me.

Because if I know their destination, I can chase them.

Wait for me, Watson. I'll wake Aria up and instead, put you to sleep.

"--In a hospital bed, that is!"

Looking at a map with my own phone, my destination...Oshiage 1-1-2, was...

--The Tokyo Sky Tree.

Its current site of construction.

Wondering if this was really the place and looking around...Watson's Porsche was in a nearby parking lot.

But there was no one in the car.

Checking the heat of the muffler, I estimated that it had been 15 minute since the car had stopped.

Using the light that I unclipped from my bicycle, I illuminated the ground of the construction site, the sandy floor visible through a metal fence...Ah, found it. The footprints of Butei High shoes.

However, there wasn't a set for Aria.

Watson walked while carrying the sleeping Aria, huh.

(Why...did he bring Aria here...?)

I looked up at the Sky Tree, about 7/10 done...It was tall.

So tall that looking up at me made my neck hurt.

I didn't realize it when I saw the Sky Tree with Aria from the classroom's veranda, but if you go to the bottom, the white pillars were terrifyingly huge.

It was a massive structure, so huge that I couldn't even bring myself to understand that it was a tower.

At the topmost part, the crane in the midst of building the second viewing platform...was enveloped by the darkness, becoming completely invisible.

Looking even more closely, it was different from an ordinary tower in that the supporting pillars were all lined up in a light helix.

(Is he...at the top of this?)

I scaled the metal fence, chasing the footprints into the tower interior construction site.

Because we were in the dead of the night, there was nobody. On top of that, there was hardly anything there at all--so my footsteps on the metal plates rang out into the air.

Staying vigilant of the shadows of the signboards and heavy machinery inside the construction site, I would, from time to time, point my gun forward, going forth.

"..."

The footprints on top of the sandy metal boards had nearly become invisible...

At its end, there stood a temporary work elevator.

(...An elevator...)

If I use it, I'll reveal the fact that I tracked them here.

Like I care. The me currently, in Berserk, couldn't think of anything much more than attacking the enemy and stealing Aria.

I inserted a skeleton key I took out from the Butei Handbook into the keyhole used for operation.

The unstable elevator used a metal fence in place of a door.

As I stood inside, it ascended.

After riding the elevator up several floors, heading upwards, ever upwards, in the thick, white steel frame...

I was pulled up to a height at which planes flew.

--It's so tall. What amazing height.

It may be because I'm looking upon it at nighttime, but Tokyo Bay, below me, looked like it could have come out of a photo of deep space.

This is far taller than the rooftop battle on Landmark Tower, where we had fought with Vlad. This is far taller than the height we had flown at in the ANA600.

After continuing in this way, the place I reached was--

The first observation deck. I walked onto it, spotting a pillar on which '350m' was written.

It was dark, but the light from the streets reflected up here, so I had become completely used to the darkness.

The unfinished observation deck was in a state where the exposed concrete was just about hardening on the floor.

It was extremely wide, and besides a few materials strewn around the corners, there was nothing.

There were no sounds.

All I could hear were the sounds of crows crowing in the distance, apparently from the top of the Sky Tree.

There had not yet been glass erected between the pillars, which encircled the floor.

A gust of wind blew through the gap, bringing with it a scent of...cinnamon.

"...Aren't you good, Watson."

I spoke to my opponent.

Of whom I could not see hide nor hair.

He's here. He's close.

"I've understood why you were undermining me at Butei High. You predicted that after snatching Aria, you would eventually face up against me...just like this."

I spoke to the enveloping darkness, slipping Orochi onto my right hand.

--In the end, the left hand part wasn't made in time.

If I use Slash, I'll have to sacrifice my left fingers. There'll be nothing left for me after that. No matter how disadvantageous the situation, I can't use it more than once.

In other words, I've been limited in my uses of this new, useful technique.

Rather, it'd be fine to say that I've been completely blocked.

"Up till now, I've been working together with my companions in order to overcome. I wouldn't have been able to make it through the battle with I-U without the teamwork with my allies. You focused on that...isolating me was your first step. You've been doing rather dirty things just for me, haven't you?"

I didn't even have Mutou's support.

I was 15 minutes slower than Watson in reaching this place.

Anybody could do mostly anything with 15 minutes.

Hide Aria, slip himself into the shadows, and wait for me to show an opening.

Because I was forced to come by bike, the muscles in my legs were aching. In addition, I hadn't been eating well, so I was feeling lightheaded.

He forced me to start this battle from a rather disadvantageous standpoint.

"Get out here. Or do you plan to hide there like a little thief?"

I felt the air around me grow tense.

Like I thought, Watson seems to be the type who gets riled up easily. It seems that he's met my challenge.

"...What have you come here for?"

His voice rang out from the darkness to the front and left of me.

He finally spoke.

"...Do you need to ask?"

I cocked my Beretta, replacing any answer I might have had with the noise it made.

Fixing my eyes on the darkness, from whence the sound originated...I saw him.

He was on the opposite side of the circular observation deck. Behind the materials, a vague shadow, shaped like a human, moved.

20 meters away.

"I've come to steal Aria back."

"I won't give her to you, Tohyama. If you leave now...I won't kill you."

"Can't do that either, can I? I'm the leader of Team Baskerville.　If a team member's taken out, it reflects badly on the leaders record...What did you do with Aria?"

"I put her to sleep with drugs."

"Is it really fine for you do that to your fiance?"

"Fiance? Ah. That's just for show, like playing pretend."

"Playing? I see..."

He tricked Aria.

I felt Berserk's malevolent blood flow grow one stage stronger.

"--Aria's too much of an idiot to be my official partner. She needs instruction."

"Well, if that's the case, I'll give you some instruction. Butei High style."

...From the heavens far above us, distant thunder rumbled.

It was as if it was matching my Berserk feelings.

"Tohyama."

"What."

"I'll say this now--In the UK, Butei are allowed to kill in self-defense. In addition, as I am a Butei of the royal court, I hold extraterritoriality. In short, even if I kill you here in Japan, I will not be taken in for any crime."

I see, I see...

...Well, there are people like that in Japan. Government workers with a license to kill.

My father was one. It seems that he never killed anyone in his lifetime, though.

"That's a rather cheap threat, Watson. Pretty suited to a person who's all talk."

"I'll take those words as an acceptance to my challenge."

"Take if if you like."

I spit those words out.

As I finished speaking, I could hear a small hiss coming from where Watson was standing.

(--He's a ''doper''.)

That was the sound of a needleless injector.

If he's using it here, then it's most likely 'Nebula'. A stimulant for the central nervous system.

It's forbidden in Japan, but it's a combat drug used in Assault that temporarily heightens your concentration and gives you the ability to see in the dark.

From experience, dopers are...strong. They become resistant against terror and pain.

"I'll tell you something nice."

Apparently to buy time for the drug to take effect, Watson spoke out.

"The reason I'm distancing Aria from you is to protect her."

"Protect...?"

"If she remains with 'Deen', she will definitely be killed."

Is he talking about Far East Warfare?

"Currently, five parts of the Golden Shell that protects Aria belong to 'Grenada', and two belong to 'Deen'. She is already exposed. To ensure her safety, I must first take her from the leader of Baskerville - you. You have misjudged the situation. No matter how one thinks about it, Aria should be affiliated with 'Grenada'...No. She must be."

"Vein-san. During the Bandere, Liberty Mason's representative said that you would remain 'Neutral'."

"Having looked at the situation, I have recommended that we ally ourselves with 'Grenada'. It is currently being discussed at our headquarters, the Grand Lodge. We will most likely reach a conclusion next week."

"In that case, you're giving me the chance to strike a blow against the enemy pretty early."

Saying that, I started to close the distance between us.

If we talk much longer than this, he'll have the advantage with 'Nebula'.

I'm aiming for an early conclusion.

Watson's voice, half a laugh, sounded back at me as I approached him.

"Do you think you can win? Overconfident Butei die young."

"That's not true. You're alive, after all."

Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter3

2012-09-06T00:20:12Z

Stardust Fall: Fixing another typo I found. Last edit consisted of fixing typos and making sense of sentences (Forgot to summarize the changes..)

==3rd Ammo: Silver-white ICBM==

"The accused, Kanzaki Kanae--is sentenced to 536 years of imprisonment."

That verdict echoed within the 800th courtroom of the Tokyo high court.

I, seated in the seats of the defense, couldn't believe my ears.

The text which declared the postponement of the death sentence or life sentence wasn't spoken by the judge, so I had had a bad feeling, but...I can't believe it. Aria's mother, Kanzaki Kanae-san...

...was convicted.

And there wasn't even a delay before its execution. It's a heavy sentence. Too heavy.

"..."

Sitting next to me and dressed in a suit, Riko looked over to the prosecutors with sharp eyes.

Jeanne, who we had lost all communication with after Bandere, and Sayonaki Vlad, being held in a level 5 holding facility in Nagano, weren't present, but I had thought that we would definitely win this trial.

--We lost. Completely.

The sentence was reduced from the first trial, but still, this high court trial's a loss for the accused.

Because, Kanae-san's actual life sentence hasn't changed.

(That's not right...! Something like this is...!"

Strange.

This trial is strange.

For some reason, there wasn't an audience, and there wasn't anybody from the mass media either--

I even feel that there's something that we don't understand lurking at the back of this.

"That's an unfair verdict!"

Aria stood up, her chair scraping on the floor, and she shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"This---Why!? I gathered so many testimonies, so much evidence--Why!? Mama is...Mama is innocent! Why!?"

Aria, also dressed in a suit, tried to sprint over to the prosecution, but--

The young female attorney, Renjou Kuroe, held on to her tight, keeping her back.

"Don't raise a racket, Aria! You're giving a bad impression for the next trial! We'll appeal directly, so calm down!"

--The next trial--

If she's sentenced to life imprisonment, we'll no longer be able to overturn it.

This trial has finally been driven into a corner.

"Let go! Let go of me! I'm not angry at you! You're talented, and you did all you could! The one's that're strange are those people!"

Aria wept as she pointed at the prosecutors and further, even the judge.

"Do it over! Do it over again! I'll replace all of you and do it again! This is a---mockery! You've all conspired together to frame Mama...My Mama! This is a conspiracy!"

"Stop it, Aria! There's still the supreme high court! This isn't definite!"

Unable to say anything other than that, I also went to restrain Aria, but--

Even when together with Renjou, who was a former Butei, we couldn't control her.

Looking around, the security had taken out their handcuffs and were coming to surround Aria.

This is bad. This is really bad. If Aria punches them and gets arrested here...!

"--Aria. Please calm down."

With that single quiet sentence, uttered from the seat of the accused--

I knew that Aria had regained control of herself.

Her gaze was turned towards her own mother--

--Kanzaki Kanae-san.

Aria had been struggling violently just a moment ago, but her eyes changed from rage to sadness...she just...she just looked at Kanae-san.

--Please don't go. Please don't be apart from me--

Her eyes seemed to be clinging onto those words.

Wearing a grey suit and shaking her wavy hair, Kanae-san faced Aria...

"Thank you, Aria. Your hard work...really made me happy. I can't believe that you had made I-U your enemy, that you had accomplished this much. You've grown a lot. For a parent, that's a joy beyond all other."

...and she was calm.

More so than anybody else here.

"Tohyama Kinji-san. I thank you too from the bottom of my heart. You've given Aria an amazing partner. I'm happy that I'm able to see that with my own eyes. But--"

Kanae-san spoke up until that point--

Erasing the expression on her face completely, she closed her beautiful eyes with those thick eyelashes.

And her face formed the expression of...someone who had been made a scapegoat and was thinking about the person who had appointed her death...someone who wasn't here.

"--I knew that things would turn out this way."

She muttered.

Apparently trying to comfort Aria, who was clutching the guns with Kanae-san's picture on them and continuing to cry, Renjou bundled us into her own Audi, and after spending some time in the parking lot...

She started forward, as if chasing the vehicle carrying Kanae-san from the high court.

She was thinking along the lines of...'Even if just a little, I'll let Aria be by Kanae-san's side', right?

Aria, on a passenger's seat, was staring at the transport vehicle, which had gone through Roppongi Road, avoiding a traffic jam.

"Mama..."

Flicking a glance to the front mirror in response to that voice, I saw that Aria was...still crying.

That's...that's right.

In this trial, the defense was fought to win.

For the sake of winning, Aria had literally risked her life, continuing to fight. For several years too.

Throwing away her youth as a normal girl, she ran around the world, fighting with Riko and Jeanne, capturing Vlad, driving away Sherlock and Patra and gathering evidence.

--In spite of that.

Only Riko, Jeanne and Vlad's share was deducted from Kanae-san's sentence.

The evidence of the defense concerning the other members' crimes wasn't enough. Their sentences were left behind.

Why? I don't know. The case of the prosecution regarding Kanae-san's crimes seemed...even for an amateur like me, illogical. It was clear that their reasoning didn't stand. Even their evidence was ambiguous.

--However, judgement was passed.

...What do we do now?

Would it be fine if we arrested all the scattered remnants of I-U, including Patra and Hilda? And then would it be fine if we took a rope to their necks and dragged them to court, making them say that they were in the wrong? That's just a dream.

Even if we could, something like that would take years.

Renjou had bought us time, but there's no way we would make it in time for the Supreme High Court.

The delay of s trial in Japan was improved through the enforcement of frequent new laws. No matter how hard we worked, within maybe three years...no, within two years, the supreme high court would judge, and Kanae-san's life sentence will be definite.

...While worrying about that, I looked at Riko, who was sitting next to me.

Riko had closed her eyes earlier, seeming to be thinking about something.

The car drove on, keeping up with the transport vehicle. It took a right at a reservoir intersection--entering Sotohori Road--and approached Kinnoushita.

At that moment, at a place quite far away from the stop line of the traffic light...

The transport vehicle stopped.

"...?"

Renjou took off her sunglasses and looked up the road.

I had also noticed the irregularity.

The traffic lights in front of us--

(They're off...?)

Neither red, yellow, or green were shining. They were off.

The lights for pedestrians were also off, and people were milling around in front of zebra crossings, looking around at each other.

"...What is it...?"

Looking around, I saw that crowds of salarymen were pouring out of the buildings to the left and right, worry all over their faces.

I noticed late because it was noon, but it's dark inside the cafe's and convenience stores on the ground floor.

The lights on the billboards had also gone out.

"A blackout?"

Just as Renjou muttered those words, Riko opened her eyes wide, as if she was alerted of something.

"...?"

The next instant, my eyes--

--took hold of something...irregular.

''Something black'' was spreading out from below the transport vehicle in front of us, which was currently stopped...and it was coming this way.

It looked like it could have been a fuel leak, but that wasn't it.

That was...a shadow...!

The 'shadow' was stretching this way.

I looked to the sky from the car window, but it didn't seem as if there were any helicopters or airships passing by.

"...!"

In the blink of an eye, the shadow enveloped the bottom of our car.

That too was strange. The space outside the car remained bright.

''Though there's nothing above, there's still a shadow''...!

--This is...!

The instant the memory of a scene like this flashed into my mind----

"--!"

A flash of light erupted, and following it was an overwhelming screeching of sparks, piercing my ears.

Renjou's voice of surprise as well as Aria's shriek resonated in the car.

I had thought that it was an explosive, but that wasn't it. This is--electricity. A high voltage electric current had just torn through our car.

It gave rise to an impact which felt like we had been struck by lightning from below.

"...!"

The current seemed to have passed through the metal portions of the car--in other words, the exterior, leaving the interior unharmed.

However, smoke as well as a choking sound was rising from the bonnet...not to mention the flames licking out from under the hood.

Tens of liters of gasoline are held inside a vehicle.

If it ignited, all of us--

"Everyone, get out of the car! We're in danger!"

Kicking the door open and getting outside, smoke was rising from the transport vehicle in front of us as well.

All its tires had gone flat too.

"Kanae-san--!"

Just as Aria and I tried to sprint towards the transport vehicle--

Golden sparks burst from the rear of the vehicle.

"--Mama!"

"Aria, wait! It's a trap!"

Looking inside, the driver was hammering on the door.

It seemed like he was trying to get out from the car, which had come to a stop, but was unable to.

Could the door be broken? Or was something installed there and is keeping it closed?

Having gotten onto the asphalt, I noticed that the strange shadow by my feet had disappeared.

A series of unnatural movements from an unnatural 'shadow'--

"Hilda...!"

The reason I shouted her name--

Was because I could see her.

At some point in time, she had stood up on the car and now, she was twirling her frilly parasol--

Giving off a decadent and, somehow, unlucky impression, a girl in gothic lolita.

Having put herself forth as 'Grenada' during the Bandire, the most battle hungry of them all--

And she was the vampire girl who bit Aria that night!

"...Hilda! I've seen you in photos--but this is our first meeting, isn't it...!"

Hilda sniffed at the sight of Aria, who had drawn her guns reflexively.

And shaking her twin-tails, curls of golden hair hanging downwards, she looked the other way.

"That's intolerable. How rude. I'm not really in the mood to fight, you know? I really hate the sunlight."

Hilda pressed the handle of the parasol against her cheek, as if embracing it--

"I say that, but I accidentally acted! Well, you just casually came out of Tamamo's barrier after all. And also..."

Tapping the roof of the car with a stiletto heel made of black enamel, she indicated inside it.

"This is your Mama, isn't it? I'll exterminate every one of Father's enemies, their families, their followers...I'll force them to extinction."

"--Kinji, give support from the right side!"

Aria shouted in her anime-like voice--

Following her usual movement pattern, she sprinted straight towards Hilda.

She ran with abandon, a reckless charge which made it seem like she had a jet engine strapped onto her.

"...!"

Without missing a beat, I drew my Beretta and ran towards Hilda's right...I see, it seems like her field of vision on this side is limited because of her parasol.

The instant my and Aria's shadow stepped into the shadow of the transport vehicle...

"--Mm."

It seemed as if Hilda exerted herself slightly--

"Uu---!"

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

Aria and I fell to the ground simultaneously.

T-This is...!

Her ability...!?

It was like I had taken the shock of a 600~900 thousand volt stun gun.

"As I was saying...don't show me yourselves like this...your blood running so high. I won't be able to hold myself back, will I? Ahh. I wonder if I should start feasting. Even Primo like you...it feels like I could."

I tried...I tried to stand, but I couldn't.

I'm staying conscious. That's another similarity with a stun-gun. Her ability--the current is impressive, but it doesn't seem as if she can raise the voltage.

"...Fu-Fuck...!"

In spite of that, pain is flashing through all my nerves, and I can't put any strength into my muscles.

Even so, Aria hadn't let go of her guns, and her knees were quivering...

"Hi...lda...!"

Crawling inside the shadow, she clung to the license plate of the transport vehicle, which was still smoking.

Her teeth clenched tight, she strained, but--she couldn't. Aria couldn't stand either.

"...Ahh, I've had it. Aria, when I look at you...hunger just seems to well up. I remember your delicious flavour...I remember it well..."

Hilda stepped down towards the trunk as if going down a set of stairs--

Not even giving Aria's guns a thought, she crouched down.

"I wonder if I'll have some accompaniment to my drink. The blood of that dying cockroach over there tastes like soured wine left in a thrown away bottle. On the other hand, your blood is like century old wine."

By cockroach...does she mean me?

I may ask that, but if this continues...I'm really the same as a dying cockroach.

Only able to squirm on the ground...unable to do anything.

I can't even put strength into a single finger. I can't even fire.

"--Hilda!"

A yell rang out--

It belonged to Riko, who had exited from the car.

Only able to turn my eyes in her direction, Riko was holding Walthers in her hands, and knives with the tails of her hair.

"Get away...Hilda!"

Even as she was holding two knives and two guns at the ready, Riko was trembling. Trembling so much that even I, looking from quite a ways away, could tell.

She was stifling her terror, trying to bluff. That's what it felt like.

Seeing her behaviour, I recalled the relationship between Riko and Vlad, who I had battled in June.

When she was young--Riko was imprisoned. Imprisoned by the father of the girl standing before us, Hilda. Dracula Vlad.

Seeing as they seemed to recognize each others faces, could it be that Riko and Hilda met during that period?

"Aaah, the fourth. What fierce eyes. How cute."

Hilda hugged herself, performing the gesture deliberately.

"That's why I love you, fourth. If I'm the most high class of purebred dogs, you're a stray afflicted with rabies. But...you know, don't you? That you and I are friends."

--As if Aria and I couldn't be seen, she spoke to Riko.

"Currently, while father is absent, I am the master of the Dracula family. I won't shut you in a cage like father did. My marble room, my canopied bed of silk, my bathtub of pure gold...I'll lend it all to you. I don't mind leaving Koumeikan in Yokohama to you."

Having said that, Hilda descended to the road.

"Don't get any closer! Don't look down on me. Do you think that I'll be tricked by such worthless lies!?"

--She grinned.

At the sight of a screaming Riko, Hilda brought a finger to her mouth and grinned.

"Look at my eyes, Riko. They aren't the eyes of someone who's telling lies, are they?"

"..."

Riko reflexively stared at Hilda's eyes--crimson irises only slightly filled with sparkling gold.

Her breath seemed to leave her, as if she heard the words 'oh fuck' coming from her heart.

"Alright. Put down your guns and knives. For the sake of our friendship. Do it while looking into my eyes...yes, like that. Do it while looking closely...slowly, slooowly..."

"......!"

Looking at her--Riko put her Walthers down, her hands trembling. She did the same for the knives in her hair...

"Yes. It's fine now, fourth. Good girl. Listening to what I have to say, you're a good girl."

Riko's body seemed to be moving contrary to her own will.

Hilda, her stiletto heels clicking, approached Riko until she was right before Riko's eyes.

Riko didn't fire. She just stared at Hilda in a daze.

--She's done. It seems like she's been affected by some sort of hypnosis.

This is getting ugly...none of us can fight anymore.

Isn't whether we live or die...entirely up to Hilda...!?

Hilda removed one of her bat earrings from her ear--

"As proof of our friendship, I'll give you this."

She attached it to Riko's ear.

"...!"

Riko withered, trembling, but even then, her eyes continued to glare at Hilda.

Hilda faced her with a smile.

Using that opening, I spasmed, trying to get a grip on my Beretta, but--

"Gaaah...!"

High voltage current once again tore through my hand.

My body snapped backwards, leaving me facing upwards.

With that, my hand was numb, and it couldn't move. All it did was twitch.

"--If you're the most hideous litterbug to ever walk this earth, I'm the most beautiful Helena Morpho butterfly. Tohyama. You're forbidden from even turning your face this way."

Hilda frowned and averted her crimson eyes away from me.

This is impossible. I can't do anything. Faced with this witch, the me who isn't even in Hysteria Mode is really an existence comparable to that of an insect...!

No, even if I ''was'' in Hysteria Mode...could I fight her? With this human stun-gun?

Fuck, I don't want to d-die in a place like this...

Will we be finished here...? So soon...!?

--That moment--

"...?"

Hilda tilted her parasol, her gold twin-tails waving about. Her slender, dainty eyebrows creased, and she looked to the skies.

It was hard for me to move even my eyeballs, but in my field of vision, restricted to the sky...

--?

What is that...?

From beyond the skyscrapers, a silver light could be seen, high, high up in the sky.

It wasn't a star. No star exists that can be seen during the day.

"..."

It was coming closer.

That--

I remember seeing that before...!

It was one of the ICBMs that the members of EU had escaped on at the same time Sherlock had escaped on one. Modified and constructed, it was a transport...!

The instant I realised this--

With enough force to shake the ground, the silver-white ICBM pierced the road.

It didn't explode. It stayed unmoving, like a slanted telephone booth. This really is a transport.

As if to prove it--I could see a hatch on the side begin to open, releasing white smoke.

"...?"

Someone showed himself in the hatch--

Aria, still lying on the floor, seemed to have locked gazes with him.

"That was dangerous. You are...Aria, are you not? I knew when I first saw you."

The sunlight at his back, he showed himself, stepping from the silver-white ICBM, on which 'Polaris 05' was written.

A handsome boy wearing what seemed like the uniform of a foreign Butei High, a grey blazer.

He was shining, like a prince who had come galloping on a white horse to save the princess.

His glossy black hair was immaculate, and it gave off a slight shimmer. The boy stepped from the hatch to the floor.

And as if protecting Aria, he faced Hilda, blocking her way.

"Hilda. You have hurt the person whom, more than anyone else in this world, cannot be hurt."

With a tone similar to the one I use while in Hysteria Mode (though a little higher pitched,) he spoke. Using his right hand, he drew a slender saber from a silver scabbard engraved with an emblem.

At the sight of the saber, which sparkled like a gem in the sunlight, Hilda frowned, as if in discomfort.

"I have three pieces of bad news for you. One, this is a Crux Edge I borrowed from the grand cathedral in Canterbury. Its core is Swedish steel, but the pure silver foil on the blade was shaved from a cross over 400 years old. The second..."

Next, the gun the boy drew into his left hand was...a Sig Sauer P226R, nicknamed the SIG.

It's supplied to governments, an elite automatic sidearm that England's SAS and America's SWAT like to use. It's expensive, but it's a masterpiece with high reliability.

"Holy bullets. In addition, pure silver bullets that have been blessed by a Protestant church...something that you aren't used to."

Bullets of silver. Those insanely expensive bullets, nicknamed 'Silvers'. They're probably also magically coated--(It isn't an area that I'm familiar with, but it seems like famous temples and churches bless them against evil.)

"Third...I am angry. Hilda, I'm angry that you hurt Aria."

His face stormy, the boy spoke.

The sword and gun he was wielding was called 'Gun-Edge' in Assault.

Even for Aru=Kata, it's relatively difficult, so it's a style that's died out, but if you're able to master its usage, it's useful in battle.

I also use it occasionally; it's able to respond to both close distance and mid distance threats, leaving no openings.

"...How hateful."

Hilda opened a fan which used black ostrich feathers and hid her nose and mouth with it.

"What a distasteful stench. When I think that it's the stink of silver..."

''Tch''...That seemed to be the sound of her teeth grinding.

It looks like this boy's threats are working.

"I am well aware of the impoliteness of nobles not following the protocol of a proper battle and launching a surprise attack, but...Dracula Hilda. I will bury you here."

The boy faced Hilda with black eyes...eyes containing an earnest depth along with a tinge of blue.

Dropping his hip a little, he stood ready, arms crossed over each other.

"Aria, close your eyes. I don't want to show her blood to a lady."

Having been told that, Aria remained silent, her camellia eyes staring blankly.

Or rather, Gun-Edge boy, have you been ignoring me all along?

That's intentional, isn't it? He hasn't even looked over here.

"..."

...As the boy closed the distance between them, Hilda, who was clearly showing her distaste of the arms the boy was carrying, gestured towards the clear and sunny sky.

"--If you would like to play with a lady, then think of the time and circumstance. Mannerless cur. Wanting to play on a day with such bad weather, at such a late time...did you think that the noble Lady Dracula would accept?"

Hilda refused with some strange complaint, and...her feet in high heels, her shin, her knee...

Like a melting amber statue, she sunk into the car's shadow.

This too was something that I had seen on Empty Island. Starting from her feet, she disappeared, just like a magician.

"Farewell, then. I'll hold myself back for today."

Finally left with just her head and parasol, Hilda spoke to Aria, leaving those words behind her...

And with that, she disappeared.

A thud sounded, and I turned my head, finally able to move, towards it...

Riko had sunk to the asphalt road.

It felt like the threads of stress that had been stretched out had, along with the hypnosis, dissolved.

"Are you alright, Aria?"

The handsome boy spoke as he took Aria's shoulder, helping her to stand up...

A little bit late, I also somehow managed to stand and stumble towards Aria.

"...I can move. Let go of my shoulder."

Aria, being prideful, turned towards the boy though her knees were still slightly trembling.

The boy examined Aria from head to toe, as if checking on her condition. Realizing that she seemed to be fine, he brushed the dust off his shoulders and straightened his collar.

"What about Mama...?"

Because Aria looked towards the car, I looked as well...

Apparently, Kanzaki Kanae-san had finally able to exit from the car. Supported on either side by bodyguards, she was looking this way with eyes that seemed to be filled with relief.

By law, we aren't able to speak with her, but...she seems to be unhurt. Thank God.

However--

I looked between the ICBM that the boy had been riding and the boy himself.

It doesn't seem as if he's an enemy, but who the hell is he?

"Saying this after being saved is a little rude, but...are you a remnant of IU? What did you come here for?"

I pointed towards the ICBM and spoke before the boy finally looked towards me.

His eyes, black as obsidian, rested on me in a sharp gaze.

I felt...something like hostility in that gaze.

"Before asking others for their identity, give your own name first."

"...I'm Tohyama Kinji."

"I know. I saw a photo of you during my advance investigation."

Don't ask me for my name then.

"--I am L. L Watson."

Hearing that name, Aria started, letting out a voice of surprise, and turned towards the boy.

--Watson...?

That name was...written in the Inquesta textbook.

Yeah, he was the famous partner of Sherlock Holmes, Aria's great-grandfather and the leader of IU. It's the surname of the famous man, a former military doctor, who was Sherlock's lifelong partner.

"Eh...!? Eh, the-then, you're, could you be...?"

Aria's voice shook a little, but differently from before, when she was numb from the electric current...

And whilst she spoke, she looked up at Watson.

Watson, facing Aria with a small smile, nodded once--

"That's right. I am Sir J.H. Watson's great-grandchild."

This time, he turned to me, frowning.

"Tohyama. You asked me what I came here for, but...do I need to give a reason?"

Watson, who looked up at me with his tidy double-edged eyes, seemed displeased for some reason.

"It's fine for you to say something like that, right? I don't know who you are."

Becoming slightly irritated myself, I responded--

Watson looked at Aria, and then at Kanae-san, standing further beyond.

And--

"I came to save my fiancé and mother-in-law. That's all."

He said.

...?

Not understanding him, I looked at Aria, and her eyes were wide and staring at Watson...She looked at me, and the expression of shock still on her face, she averted her eyes, like she was panicked.

"...Fiancé?"

Because of the atmosphere, which I couldn't really fathom, I asked Watson again.

"I'm talking about Aria."

Isn't it obvious?

As if saying those words, Watson spoke without hesitation.

And looking up at me, who was taller than him, he straightened, repeating what he said.

"--Aria is my fiancé."

Afterward, we explained the situation to the policemen that came running, and we saw off Kanae-san, who was once again put back onto the transport vehicle and sent to the detainment facility...and also, Hilda didn't seem to pursue us, so...

We parted ways with Watson, who seemed to have something to talk about with the lawyer and therefore accompanied her to her home in Toranomon. Riko suddenly said that there was something she had to do, and she headed off to Nogizaka district.

Left without a choice, Aria and I rode the train back home, just the two of us.

During the train ride, Aria...didn't say a thing.

I teased Aria a little bit, as she couldn't reach the handholds, but when I had just spoke one sentence to her, she started acting strangely, turning her face away from me, so she remained taciturn.

This atmosphere...I can't ask any questions.

About Watson.

L Watson.

Aria is his fiancé.

If you look at historical manga...there ''are'' things like that among the nobility. Ever since the people in question were very young, their parents arbitrarily decided their spouses.

Aria had someone like that too, or so it seems.

Hmm...That's how it is.

...So, yeah. Those are pretty much my thoughts on the matter.

I've heard about this during an Inquesta class; the Holmes and Watson family were initially, (stemming from their first generation) an intimate, single household. Both were granted the title of nobility, so in terms of family status, it's fitting as well.

Isn't that alright? It's really fitting. A handsome boy and a beautiful girl.

...The air seems charged with these thoughts...

Had I been unconsciously releasing this tension into the air?

The moment we descended onto the Butei High station from the monorail, Aria grabbed my sleeve.

"...Why're you so quiet?"

Huh?

I turned towards Aria, whose voice was subtly trembling.

"Because you're quiet? When we got onto the Ginza-line, I tried talking to you once. You ignored it, so--"

"Don't get angry. Listen to what I'm saying calmly."

"Why is it that I have to be angry?"

"Um, that person just now--"

"I don't really care about Watson. He has nothing to do with me."

In the end, I was forced to use the name 'Watson'.

Leaving Aria at the platform, I descended the stairs ahead of her.

Last month, at this landing...Aria had seen Reki and I and came looking for a fight...And now, Aria caught up to me here.

"...You're doing this even though you were e-engaged to Reki?"

She spoke to herself in a small voice.

Aria misunderstanding things is something that happens all the time, it wasn't especially something to get angry about, but--

No matter how much I tried to resist, I found myself growing annoyed. I turned, intending to give her what she had been looking for.

"That thing with Reki was--"

"Today was the first time I met him."

Had she read my thoughts? Aria reined in her words, which came out a little strong.

"Watson is...the fiancé that my grandmother decided on her own. That was something that I had only been told of once--and my grandmother was getting on in years, so there were often times where she would talk to me of reality mixed with her own fantasy. I didn't take her seriously, and to be honest, I had forgotten. About what she had said."

"..."

"It's true. I swear to God. I first met Watson today."

Looking up at me and speaking sincerely, Aria seemed...somewhat desperate.

"To expand a little, I didn't even know if he existed. I had heard a rumour of there being a heir to the Watson family, but...right now, that family is taking care of the organization Liberty Mason's high-level work. As long as Her Majesty the Queen doesn't give express permission, they can't show their real identity. Every one of them lives with a fake name, doing their work undercover--"

Eyes like that of an abandoned dog, Aria spoke. I...

(Why is she getting so desperate?)

I felt myself getting angry for no reason I could think of.

Isn't she making it feel like I've been shouting at her for having a fiancé?

I've understood all along.

I've understood that you will eventually disappear. I've understood that you live in the world of nobility.

"...Kinji..."

Which is why there's nothing that you need to give any excuses for.

As Butei, you and I are just teamed up temporarily. In the end, you and I are different. In ability, in status, and in the world that we live in.

Staying silent, I turned my back on Aria and walked down the stairs.

The sound of footsteps following me--didn't appear.

<big>''L. Watson''</big>

Watson wrote his own name on the board in flowing cursive script--

Kyaaa!

Just by him doing that, the girls in class screamed in a high pitch voice.

At the enthusiastic praise, the nervous homeroom teacher, Takamagahara Yutori, stepped away from the teaching platform.

Smiling, Takamagahara-sensei said: "Alright then everyone! I'll be introducing a very special guest, a transfer student! Coming from Manchester Butei High, he's a reaaally cool exchange student!"

So...there's no way, or so I thought, but it was true.

(Watson...He transferred here...)

I frowned, and beside me, Aria was trembling in shock...

Once again, she stole a look at me.

What is it with you? You've been like this since yesterday.

Don't take that kind of attitude, where it feels like you're afraid to touch a sore point.

Unlike you, it's not like I have any business with your private matters.

It's not something that I should intrude in.

"My name is L Watson. I'll be in your care."

Watson spoke with a voice that was a little high for a guy, and he took a seat at one of the tables farthest to the back.

Just as he took his seat, the bell that signaled the end to homeroom rang.

Simultaneously, the girls crowded around Watson's seat, accompanied by cries of 'Waah!' or 'Kyaa!'

They look like paparazzi crowding around a Johnny's-type idol.

"What was your specialty class back at your old school!? Which one will you be in here!?"

"I was in Assault at New York, Inquesta at Manchester, and Medica at Tokyo--I've come to give a final polish to my Butei skillset."

Kyaa!

The girls started getting excited again. It felt like all their eyes had become heart shaped.

"You're like a prince!"

"I'm not part of the royal family. I'm a viscount."

Kyaaa! Kyaaa!

They became even more excited. Looking at the girls, quite a few of their eyes had now become $ marks.

"Your skin is so pretty! It's even more beautiful than a girl's!"

"...Thank you."

He smiled. The girls screamed with their high-pitched voices when they saw Watson smile, showing off his white teeth. In its aftermath, a few of them seemed to have become lightheaded, and they staggered around...they were supported by the girls from Medica and Ambulace.

Thank God that Riko's taking a break.

She loves these kinds of disturbances, so she has the habit of exacerbating the situation. 

(But...Watson's a pretty big deal.)

If I was surrounded by that many girls...Just thinking about it makes me want to run away. I'd prefer being surrounded by armed criminals.

Even so--Watson was perfectly calm.

It feels like he doesn't care at all, confronted with a herd of girls. He's completely used to them. With the relaxed attitude that comes with being surrounded by friends, he's handling them well.

Taking into account the fact that he's such a beautiful guy, he's in a completely different league.

"What club are you joining, Watson-kun!?"

"I don't have any plans."

Hearing that answer, the colour of all the girls' eyes changed in an instant. "Join the soccer club! I'm starting as the manager soon!" 'Eh, how do you feel about the drama club...?" "Please come to the swimming club!" They started fighting over him with invites.

"I'm sorry. I don't join club activities in any of the Butei Highs. Swimming is especially bad for me--"

Watson smiled wryly, but the girls didn't back down so easily.

They really want to become the transfer student's friend, don't they. He just happens to be handsome and a viscount as well.

"You can't just be in the go-home club!"

"That's right. Are you planning on napping on the roof together with Kinji?"

Hey, swimming club people. I'm planning to eventually transfer out, so it's true that I'm not joining any club activities, but...don't mention my name. Or rather, were you watching me napping? Well, when Aria or Shirayuki are in a bad mood, I don't want to head back to my room, so I just sleep away the time.

"But, if Watson-kun hangs around with Tohyama-kun...he'd get tainted...ah, won't I have a chance if that happens...?"

The drama club girl whispered to herself.

Tainted? What's that supposed to mean?

"Tainted?"

Apparently, Watson had felt something strange about the same phrase. He asked the girl about it.

The girl glanced in my direction. Holding her hand up to her mouth in order to prevent her lips being read...she whispered something to Watson.

Having listened to her, Watson looked in my direction, his face reddening--

"...Wha...! Tohyama did tha...? H-How lewd...!"

His thin eyebrows raised in anger, Watson glared this way.

His face is pretty, so it doesn't really carry a lot of weight, but in any case..."Looking like that, Kinji's a womanizer. Kanzaki-san, Hotogi-san...there's many other victims too." That's what's been spreading around, right?

That would be because, my involvement in those scandals is often talked about by the girls.

But...to rebuttal her argument...

* In the beginning, Aria stayed in my house to investigate Hysteria Mode's trigger.
* Shirayuki got a key from Aria, and then she stayed in my house for reasons unknown to me.
* Riko wanted to get close to Aria and I, intentionally approaching me and setting an example for Aria.
* Reki proposed to me because of Wind-sama's orders.

I don't even feel like defending myself one by one like this.

Rather, I can't. There's too much confidential information, not to mention things that aren't clear to me either.

Apparently, Watson had been told more tales of my legendary exploits, as unfounded and without proof though they were.

"...Tohyama truly is a lady killer, huh. To have tempted so many...!"

His face reddening even more, he was getting extremely flustered; it almost look liked he was about to blow his top.

Men who've reached that kind of age shouldn't change their expressions so much just from hearing gossip.

Or rather...normally, when boys hear from someone about my fictional female history, they normally admire me, saying: "What an awesome guy. I want to learn from him." I'm not sure why, but I speak from experience.

(Well, whatever.)

I'll just forget about Watson.

He can think what he likes of me.

Those stories aren't the truth. There's no point in talking about it; they're just rumours founded on misunderstandings.

If Watson is a guy who takes stock in rumour without confirming its truth, I'd be devaluing myself as a man just by going up against him.

Afterward, during the normal classes--

Watson kept pace with us.

No, that isn't quite it. It wasn't just that he was keeping pace with us.

When he was pointed out by the teacher, he answered every question correctly. Of course he'd get all the English questions correct, being a native speaker like Aria, but he answered all questions correctly. Questions about math, biology...even Japanese history, which came after.

Even ignoring the fact that Butei High's standard score is quite low, this was something that sparked the admiration of the entire class.

In any case, Watson had just transferred today from a foreign Butei High school.

"I studied a little in advance."

Every time break came, he would say those words to the girls who would come praising him, a wry smile on his face...However, to be honest, he was more capable than me in all of the classes, where I was just about average.

It isn't completely correct to say that someone is smart because they're good at calculation and memorization, but if he's able to remember so much from just a little studying, I have to admit how intelligent he is.

His appearance is beautiful...in reality, he's a noble...now he's a genius too?

That's why girls won't leave him alone.

Afterward, I was waiting for the bus that would bring me from the normal section of the school to the section for the specializations...it didn't come.

Normally, I'd ride on Aria's bike together with her and walk to Inquesta from Assault, but...

When things are awkward, just like they are now, we don't move around together. It's nice not being around Aria all the time, but not having her bike is unexpectedly making things even more difficult for me.

--Yesterday, Aria didn't come home to my room.

I was a little worried, so I had Fuuma from Lezzad look for her. It turned out that, as a form of stress release, she was playing Daruma dropping (with peach buns) with her junior in the girl's dormitory.

For some reason, Aria was in a really bad mood, so her Amica, Mamiya, was terrified.

Really. Venting her feelings on those younger than her, treating her food as toys...

(...She's a brat, just as ever...)

I sighed softly.

Just as I sighed, a black vehicle pulled up in front of the bus stop.

It wasn't a bus. Its hazard lights were flashing, and...Wait, isn't this a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet? It's a super high-class car; it can't be worth less than 1,000,000,000 yen.

As I stood there shocked, the hood of the car automatically opened, storing itself in the back of the car.

The 911 opened up completely, and I saw the person in the driver's seat.

"So, it really is you, Tohyama."

The boy who took off his sunglasses was...Watson.

"The bus isn't coming. At the last intersection, the Assault students started brawling inside the bus. Ranbyou sprinted there and flew into a rage. She flipped the bus with her bare hands, so traffic's stopped for a while."

...Those bastards from the Die-Die Squad...

I don't care how many of you are injured, but please stop causing trouble for the general public.

Rather than that, Ranbyou...just being Ranbyou. Flipping buses with her bare hands...

"Get in, Tohyama. You'd probably make it in time if you walked, but--I'll send you to Inquesta. There's some things that I want to speak to you about."

--Saying that, Watson opened the door. I could feel that he was slightly uncertain.

What could it be?

Somehow, I feel uneasy being alone with him.

It's not just that I can't stand him--Intuitively, instinctively, I feel danger.

Nevertheless, the bus isn't coming. I guess I'll hold him to his word and get in.

When I got in the car, the hood closed automatically, and Watson started the car, but...

What could it be? I could smell a faint, cinnamon-like fragrance coming from Watson. Why would he have that kind of scent as a guy? Weird...

"...Nice car."

"There was a Carrera that was modified into a two-seater, so I bought it yesterday. In Japan, it's too much to handle if you don't have a small chassis."

That's amazing. He changes the car he drives based on the country?

If Mutou heard about this, he'd go crazy with envy.

But really, this pitch-black Carrera suits Watson. It looks perfect when a beautiful guy with black hair rides in it.

Our conversation didn't continue after that, and we sat in silence.

As we were waiting at a traffic light, Watson glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes before he started hostilities.

"--Looking like this, you're a womanizer, aren't you."

So, you're really going to talk about that?

"You were told that by the girls, huh."

"I hate boys like you the most. Let alone your helplessness before Hilda, you...you treat g-girls...so loosely."

Watson gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

Since he takes things so seriously, it seems that he's the type of guy who lets the blood rush to his head.

Just the type of person I'm bad with.

"So I told Aria to stop living in your room."

"Thank God for that. It was causing a lot of trouble."

I humphed, turning the other way.

Watson did the same.

"It looks like I just don't really get along with you."

"It's not just that you don't ''really'' get along with me, you ''don't''. I feel the same way."

Afterward, as he stopped in front of Inquesta, Watson had an angry look on his face.

"It's planned for Aria and I to formally marry when we both reach maturity, but...before that, I'm distancing Aria from you. It seems that she holds you with unusual regard."

"Do whatever you want...Thanks for sending me here."

I opened the door, getting out of the car...

"Remember this. ''The partner most suited to Aria is me, not you.''"

Watson spoke those words in the same manner as a declaration of war.

Bssssh--!

Accompanying that sound, my butt hit the sport's halls court.

The day after Watson had sent me to Inquesta, period 4...

It was time for PE, and we were told to play volleyball, but--

"...Ouch..."

I was hit by an attack directly to my face. In other words, I had just taken one to the face.

"Sorry Tohyama. Are you alright?"

Kneeling on one knee further down the court, Watson, dressed in shorts, apologized.

I--didn't answer, and made a rough gesture that meant "don't worry about it" before I stood up again.

Rather than that, that attack just now...

Weren't you looking at me, aiming for my face...?

For a while afterward, we continued to score points and they continued to take points from us...after enough times to make people think it was an accident, it finally happened again.

Watson's attack scored a hit right on the side of my head.

Furthermore, the ball landed outside the court, making it our loss.

Judging from the last one, I knew. The others didn't know, but this indeed was ''hostility''.

(That bastard...)

Watson had scored half of their team's points in that game. He's an agile guy.

His body's flexible, and he's skillful even in using little tricks. Including the one he used to smash me in the face.

At a corner of the sports hall, the first year girls whose fourth period appeared to have been cancelled (and had been cheering for Watson ever since the beginning of the game) surrounded him.

Watson brushed his hair up, a refreshing smile on his face as he talked to the girls.

...Like I thought, he's avoiding looking this way on purpose. What a transparent bastard.

Afterward, during the lunch break, as I felt my irritation building at the fact that my nose was still aching and ear still throbbing, I noticed something extremely troubling.

(Damn it...)

I didn't have any money.

I was shockingly devoid of money.

This was due to the fact that recently, all I had been doing was work that I wasn't compensated for...and because despite that, I had been involved in a lot of battles, so I had been buying a lot of equipment.

If all I'm doing is spending and I'm not getting any income, I'll run out of money.

Borrowing that motorboat from Mutou's sister the night of Bandere was a serious hit to my wallet. When I asked her to put it on my tab...she flew into a rage, screamed "I'll run you over!" and came to collect my debt on her motorbike.

(Once again, Shirayuki's taking part in her shrine's rituals, so she isn't here.)

Guess I can't help it. I'll get my hands on a portion of the payment I gave to Hiraga-san when I ordered 'Orochi'. The portion that paid for the left hand glove.

But I can't spend it frivolously.

Even if I get a request from any civilian, I'll only be compensated next month.

I'll have to make do with the cheapest thing, this bread roll.

(Even though I'm hungry from just having had PE, all I have is this...?)

I settled the bill, took some water from the self-service section and went to table. I opened the vinyl bag containing the bread...now I slightly understand how Fuuma, the girl in poverty, must feel.

I set to eating my bread, completely alone...

Ugh. Watson was walking towards me, carrying the tray for his meal.

And when he saw my poor excuse of a meal, he smirked in a hateful manner.

"...What is it."

"Shall we eat together?"

Despite the fact that he said that he didn't get along with me, Watson placed his tray on the table, smiling all the while.

Rather...that's the steak plate isn't it, the most expensive dish in the cafeteria.

It's a steak of Kobe beef. What's more, ''blanched'' Kobe beef.

"Um, payment is made directly after purchase..."

Lifting my head to face the direction that voice was coming from, the lady who manned the cash register was standing next to Watson.

Looking at Watson, his eyes below long eyelashes were staring blankly up at the lady as she stood there holding her apron and fidgeting...it seemed that he thought that you were supposed to pay after.

"I see, you pay immediately in Japan. Maybe because it isn't customary to leave a tip here?"

Saying that, Watson opened the wallet he had taken out of his breast pocket.

The lady and I startled simultaneously.

10000 yen notes were stuffed into the Louis Vuitton wallet to the point where it seemed like it was about to burst.

"Just a moment. I'm still not used to the yen's currency conversion. Is this enough?"

"Y-Yes. I'll bring the change immediately!"

Having been handed a 10000 note, the lady left, extremely flustered. Watson looked at her go, a wry smile on his face...and with that, he turned towards me.

And with elegant movements, so beautiful that my eyes stared in fascination, he crossed himself, giving thanks for the meal. Afterward, he cut into the steak, which was so soft it almost seemed that his knife sunk into it.

''Click''...''Click''.

"Tohyama."

"What is it."

"Do you want some?"

"..."

I stayed silent.

"I'm not giving you any."

Then don't ask.

Faced with Watson, who was taking his meal with graceful movements like those belonging to an actor...I silently stuffed my face with my bread.

Watson watched me do that with lighthearted eyes that glittered triumphantly.

This bastard. He really doesn't like me.

"As far as I can see, it seems like you're having trouble with money."

"Sorry about that."

"For Butei, money is the lifeline which ties us to ammunition and equipment. If it's interrupted, any Butei would be weakened."

"I know."

What Watson was saying...was the truth. Even the first years at Butei High learn this.

As opposed to the police or the Jieitai, who take care of their equipment using public funds, Butei have to think about their finances, which are always spent on equipment.

"You even had some transactions with the Mutou siblings as well as Hiraga Aya."

"...You looked into it, huh."

Fundamentally, Butei run on money.

Putting aside the 'work that I'm not getting any rewards from' that I've been spontaneously doing recently, when it comes to normal requests, Butei are told by Masters to take on requests in order to counterbalance the completion of a request instead of the payment or distribution of money that normally makes up the compensation, even within the student community.

Furthermore, in this case, it isn't forbidden to 'save' money. Conversely, it isn't against the rules to suspend work when payments are delayed.

In the world of Butei, such a severe and realistic side does exist. Even if one is a student.

"I've found one of your weak points so soon."

Watson's handsome face broke into a smile.

I don't really know what--but something about him is dangerous for me. That's all I know.

But, what is it...? That, I cannot see.

At Butei High, even during the second semester, we have PE at the indoor pool once a month, but--the next day, if Watson sets something up for me again, I intend to counterattack.

But unexpectedly, Watson was just watching the class.

(Could it be that just like Aria, he can't swim?)

Watson warmed up with the rest of boys of year 2 class A before he, dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and pants, put on a pair of Chanel sunglasses...taking a pipe chair, he placed it next to a table after carefully dusting it off.

He likes things to be neat.

He sat down, knees spread in front of him, and afterward, with a manner that indicated that he had just noticed something...he folded his legs in panic.

Just as I tilted my head to the side due to his strange movements--

"Aalllright, you brats! Do 20 lengths of the pool! I'll shoot the people that slack off to death!"

In exchange of a starting pistol, Ranbyou, who was next to Watson, fired an M600 'Elephant Killer' before disappearing.

Ranbyou...really, it's impossible to take away her teaching qualifications because of that.

Well, I was thankful at least that that violent teacher had disappeared, so we took the fact that she hadn't said whether we should be doing vertical or horizontal lengths as our argument, and quickly completed 20 horizontal lengths of the pool.

After that, there was time left over, so it was time to relax while the devil was away.

Everyone just swam as they liked, and it became a free time where we just chatted by the poolside.

I...took a film magazine from the bundle of magazines that Mutou, foreseeing Ranbyou's abandonment of class, had taken out of his locker, and headed to borrow one of the pipe chairs sitting next to Watson.

"...?"

Looking at him...Watson's face was red as he stared at the boys fooling around in their swimsuits.

(Has he caught a cold?)

If so, then of course he'd abstain from going into the pool.

When the earnest Shiranui, who had completed 34 horizontal lengths, equivalent to 20 vertical lengths, got out of the pool, Watson went 'Ah!' apparently surprised, and slid his chair back a little bit.

"...Hey Watson. If you aren't feeling alright, you should go to Ambulace."

Watson, having been spoken to by me, turned this way, looking at my chest and shoulders--

His mouth trembled, going 'Wa, wa'...before he turned away.

He didn't say anything, and he was red to the tips of his ears. Doesn't he have quite a serious fever?

"Hey Kinji! All of AKB's in this one! Shiranui, you get over here too! Let's have a vote!"

At the poolside, Mutou had without hesitation spread open a gravure magazine was gesturing at it.

"It won't be much of a vote with just three people, will it?"

Shiranui, who was handsome to the point where he was able to stand up to Watson, was a great guy to hang around with...so it seemed like he was pretty excited.

"You guys...What do you gain by doing stuff like that?"

I thought about refusing because of the sheer pointlessness of it, but I feared that I wouldn't be able to borrow magazines from Mutou if I acted indifferently.

As one might expect, I won't go into Hysteria Mode from swimsuit gravure, so I guess I'll tag along.

"Then between all of us, there're 5 votes. Hey Watson, you choose too."

Mutou opened a can of coke and took a sip before spreading the magazine out on a plastic table...

Watson, who had been purposely not looking in this direction to begin with, looked directly away.

"I refuse. Don't spread that kind of book wide open in a public place."

That kind of book, he said. These gravure photos?

Even ''I'm'' fine with them.

"C'mon, don't say that. If there's so many here, there's definitely at least one girl who you'll like. You'll think I'm tricking you, just take a look at all of 'em."

Saying things that sounded like they were meant to draw customers to an indecent shop--Mutou, the upper half of his body naked, forcefully slipped his arm around Watson's shoulders, hugging him towards his body and showing him the photos.

"--Kyaa!"

Watson, whose cheek was pressed against Mutou's chest, let out a short scream.

His sunglasses slid off, and his eyes, having become visible, had even become wet.

It looks like blood has rushed to his head. It seems that as he was watching the pool, he was getting feverish.

"Wha...what is it? That voice was like a girl's. Alright then, it's fine if you don't do it. Rather than that...doesn't it seem like you've gotten feverish? Look, have some coke. It's cold, so it feels good when you're hot."

Mutou let go of Watson and stuck out the cola he had been drinking earlier, as if in some sort of apology.

Watson took the can of cola that was pressed towards him in both hands.

"B-But you--before, you..."

"I only took a sip."

"But, yo-your mouth touched it--"

"What're you saying? We're both guys."

Mutou said. Water from Mutou had gotten on Watson's sportswear earlier, so...

"If you have a fever, it'll be bad if you get wet. You have to wipe it off."

Shiranui grabbed a towel and was on the verge of wiping off the droplets of water from Watson's body, when--

Watson sprang up, as if even the thought of it was horrible.

He rammed into Shiranui, and for some reason, me as well.

"I-I'm going back! I can't take any more!"

Saying that with a voice so high-pitched that it seemed like it had changed, Watson ran in a strange zig-zag pattern (maybe because he was panicking?), getting out of the pool area.

Like always...there's something strange in all of his movements.

After school that day...

I had to save on my spending on food, so I bought some canned field rations at a 50% discount--my wallet had become light enough that it felt like I could fly it like a kite, and with it in hand, I gave Hiraga-san a call.

"Hello hello, what can Aya do for you?"

"Hiraga-san, this is Tohyama. Um, this is about Orochi's left hand..."

"Ah, that isn't finished yet. This week is a little..."

"It's a little hard for me to say this, but...the payment for the bill will be a little late. I'll definitely pay next month, so could you finish it up according to the normal schedule? As always, I'm sorry, but I'd like to put it on my tab."

"Mmm..."

Hiraga-san made a noise that seemed to express that she was thinking, the sound of her flipping through schedules next to the mouth of the telephone came through.

"Since Tohyama-kun is a regular, it would be OK under normal circumstances, but...this time...I'd like to postpone it."

"Postpone it...is making it difficult?"

"That's one reason, but the main reason is, I received an urgent request from Masters. Money was donated to the school, so they want me to fix all kinds of broken fixtures around the school."

"A donation...?"

"It seems that Watson-kun gave a whole lot of money!"

Watson...?

"It seems that the person who asked for Aya was Watson-kun too. So, this month, Ayaya is super busy! That's how it is!"

Hiraga-san said, followed by a tired sigh.

...That bastard Watson. What does he mean to do by keeping Hiraga-san's hands full?

Could it be that...this is also more of him harassing me?

"...Hey, Hiraga-san."

"Yes?"

"I understand that the left hand portion of Orochi will be postponed. However...be careful of Watson."

"Be careful?"

"Something about him is strange. He's..."

I thought about saying that he was harassing me in strange ways...but I have no proof.

I'll just keep that particular aspect to myself.

"??? What about him is strange?"

"About that...um...just something."

"I don't see anything strange about him. Watson's a nice person. Before, he came to Aya's place and ordered some other equipment. Teehee."

That's...Hiraga-san's version of a delighted laugh.

It's the way of laughing she uses when she makes massive profits because the other side of the transaction doesn't bargain even though she's overcharging them.

"No, he moves strangely. When we were at the pool..."

Having had Hiraga-san taken from me, I spoke unhappily--

"Ahhh, could it be ''that''? Tohyama-kun is jealous? How cute--♪"

With a cute voice, like that of a kindergartener, Hiraga-san started to say incomprehensible things.

"J-Jealous?"

"There's a rumour going around that before, Watson-kun was all alone with Aria-san in a cafe. There's also information concerning the fact that Tohyama-kun is living apart from Aria-san."

Living apart?

"Y-You're well informed...I didn't know about that thing with Watson and Aria."

"Aya isn't popular, because she's so tiny. So one Aya's interests is listening to the love stories of the popular people, so Aya feels like she's taking part of them."

W-What a dark hobby. I, who's nicknamed the Introvert, can't really say anything though.

"If I put those two pieces of information together...Tohyama-kun had Aria-san taken from him by Watson-kun and is jealous. Wahaa, it's like something from a manga!"

"N-No. I'm just...Watson's just strange, so..."

"Watson is a good person. He gave me a big piece of candy. Tohyama-kun, jealousy between men is disgraceful!"

When I tried to repeat myself and say something against Watson, she hung up on me.

It seems that at some point, Hiraga-san was won over to Watson's side.

I've started to somewhat understand, but...it seems that Watson's laying the foundations necessary to seal my movements in places that I can't see.

What's his aim?

Rather than that...candy? He really knows what each of the girls like. One more thing on the list of things I don't like about him.

--I figured out that Watson also has weaknesses.

His luck in drawing lots.

Transfer students decide their costumes for Ristorante Masque afterward, but the time frame is too short, so they aren't asked to make it themselves.

In exchange, they only have one chance to draw. It seems that there's a rule that states that changes will not be recognized.

Only things that could just be worn without any modifications were inside the box that a first year had brought during recess, but...

Written on the lot that Watson opened up under the gaze of several classmates was--

"Girl's Uniform (Butei High)"

The worst one possible. Why? Because it's a girl's uniform. He's definitely going to be up for some corporal punishment.

Other than me, who was thinking 'about time, you bastard' in my heart, tension was running high throughout the students of Class A.

"..."

Watson's manner gave off the feeling that he was thinking.

"Deception is part of strategy...If you don't want to be suspected...you should in turn, show your cards eagerly and willingly."

He said something like a proverb in English.

"...No way. I don't really want to do this, but...well, it seems like I'll be throttled by the teachers if I don't. Since I drew it myself, I'll do it. Should I change now?"

So he said. And because of that, the class broke into an uproar.

The girls were rushing into the toilet, jerseys in hand, saying things like: "You're welcome to use my uniform!" or "Please use mine!" "No, mine!" One section of the boys were preparing digital cameras while saying inexplicable things like: "We finally get to see the third boy-girl of our lives!"

There was no need to change immediately, but nobody said that.

Afterward, Watson, having borrowed a uniform from the girls, disappeared somewhere from the corridor, the uniform in hand.

Everyone was waiting impatiently...when a panel was suddenly taken out from the ceiling, and Watson's voice rang out.

"It's the costume that we've all been waiting for, so I'll be making my entrance a little bit of a surprise."

From the hole in the ceiling, a girl dropped down to land standing on the podium.

His SIG SAUER locked and loaded, Watson winked, his face smug.

'Waoah!' A strange cheer came from the boys.

It seemed to be a voice that instantaneously mixed 'Woah!' with 'Wha...!?'

It's not that I can't understand how they feel. If I actually got along with Watson, I might've even let my voice loose as well.

--Watson was that cute.

Not like Kana, who was so beautiful, too beautiful, to the point where it didn't feel real, but she was the epitome of the boyish girl, the girl who has a sense of closeness. Well, when comparing him to girls, he isn't the type to make mouths drop open like Riko or Aria, who turn heads just by walking into the room.

After this had happened--

Even the group of boys who had been resenting Watson, who had snatched all popularity amongst the girls, started to treat him nicely.

Watson became the class favourite, and the number of his friends continued to increase.

Not only did I not get along with Watson, I also didn't have many friends in the first place, so...

Gradually, I found that there was nowhere for me inside the class.

A few days later, Mutou was invited to a party at Watson's (of course, I wasn't invited.) He got to eat a lot of delicious food at Watson's massive room, located inside the dormitory...or so he was saying so happily, so--when I warned him, saying: 'Be careful of Watson,' he answered: 'Watson's a good guy, you know? I only understood it when he changed back then, but he's easy to like,' getting angry at me instead.

(Even Mutou's been charmed by Watson...)

Because I was bothered by it, I did a little searching and found out that the bulletproofed trike that I borrowed from time to time, Road Fox, had been loaned for an indefinite period by Watson. He has a goddamned car. He's clearly doing this to drag me down.

What a dirty bastard. Trying to undermine me from the outside in like this...

Nighttime came, and I sat alone on my room's sofa--

I don't have any hobbies that I can really call hobbies, so I had completely disassembled my gun, maintaining it to pass the time.

Right now, I'm broke. If my guns malfunction, I won't be able to have them repaired.

(Aria's at the girl's dormitory and Shirayuki's at her shrine...I'm alone, huh...)

Guns are normally made out of around 30~100 parts, but my Beretta and DE are modified, so they have more.

So, when completely disassembled, it's as difficult as putting together plastic models. After checking the state of each part, the part has to be cleaned, and in that way, I could spend the time.

I used a flannel cloth to apply oil to the inner parts of the gun, which I had almost finished maintaining.

And as I did that, what I thought of without meaning to, was Watson.

(I know that he doesn't like me because he declared it while in the car, but...)

For some reason, Watson is trying to set up my fall.

He pinpointed my weakness, targeting my lack of sociability and isolating me.

Simultaneously, he used the the attribute of Butei High students' mercantilism, their willingness only to work with money involved, depriving me of Hiraga-san and Mutou's help. However, I'm unable to save money and reclaim their aid.

I was unable to resist his actions.

Because of his strategy, little by little, I'm becoming alone.

Well...ever since the Uraga Bay accident, I've been trying to put distance between myself and Butei High, and because of my level of success in doing so, I was nicknamed the Introvert...I'm used to loneliness.

But, I can't take his method of doing things. That's what irks me.

(I don't like using this way of talking about it, since it's sexist, but...that bastard Watson. He's using the dirty ways that women use despite being a man.)

If he hates me, he should just come for a fight like a man. That's the path of all male high school students of Butei High...No, of all male high school students of Japan.

And when that time comes, I'll take him on his offer.

I understand that he'd want to monopolize Aria, who's an amazing Butei, but ostracizing me like this?

Right now, as we're prepared for the battle with 'Grenada', this isn't a time where we should have divides like this.

"That's a scary face, Ki-kun."

Those words were whispered into my ear, and at that voice, which sounded like a bell had pealed ever so softly, I startled, turning around.

And right next to me was Riko.

"Riko...? You're always appearing like a ghost."

"I tiptoed in~. I was thinking like, when'll I be noticed, though."

Teehee. Laughing, Riko raised her head and plopped herself down on the revolving chair by the computer.

She then rolled over here in her chair, coming to a stop beside me.

In her modified uniform that she always wore, on one of her ears was a single earring that I knew I had seen before.

"Oh, oh, Ki-kun. Are you maintaining your guns all lonely by yourself?"

Riko placed her feet, covered with socks that were decorated with things like cherries, on the floor and spun left, then right, turning little by little.

Because of that movement, her frilly skirt and soft, wavy hair floated through the air...

Floating, floating...

And a sweet scent like that of vanilla drifted towards me.

I was still feeling rather dark, so I returned to checking my guns--

"Ki-kun is all alone."

"Don't say it twice. I don't need your sympathy."

"Don't be hurt~. Riko doesn't mean to do anything like that."

"Don't puff your cheek up like that. You look like a kid."

"Ehehehe~."

Completely uncaring about the aura about me which screamed 'Go away', Riko took two PSPs out of her pocket.

And the 2 PSPs in her hands like two guns, she turned to the kitchen.

Exactly at that moment, the microwave went 'ding'.

"...?"

"Here, Ki-kun. You were so into it that you didn't even hear the sound of the microwave spinning, huh."

She was right.

"...I've lost. It looks like I've been too on edge lately."

"You seem to have finished with your maintenance, so play some games with Riko while we eat! Um, you know, Riko bought an autumn-limited set of chestnut rice. There was this special offer for couples where Riko could get a scratch card, so Riko bought two. Ki-kun, my boyfriend, can have one~."

Saying this, Riko walked to the microwave, the big ribbon attached to her back of her modified uniform fluttering...Muttering 'owowowow', she took two convenience store lunchboxes from the microwave.

"Boyfriend...? Well, I'll take it. I'm tired of eating rations."

"Ki-kun, let's duel in Ace Combat! We can do it while eating! The loser gets a slap on the wrist~!"

Riko brought the lunchboxes to the table in front of the sofa and sat herself down next to me with a thud while pushing a PSP towards me.

Ah. Isn't this my PSP? When did she get it out?

Rather than that...are you planning on eating at the sofa table? While gaming?

(She's carefree as usual...)

When Shirayuki, who's always going, "Your manners are horrible!' is gone, she immediately starts to do whatever she likes.

It had been a long time, but I laughed. I laughed at Riko's disihibition. It may've been a little wry though.

...Therefore...

Lying on the sofa all the while, we ate the chestnut rice, fired missiles at each other, ate warm pickled vegetables that were a little weird, fought a dogfight with a rule limiting us to machine guns only, and slapped each other on the wrist.

I had some experience with this game, where we use modern fighters and have dogfights, but--

Whenever Riko turned, she had a habit of leaning in the same direction, just like a kid.

Furthermore, she was sitting directly to the right of me...

"Gnnnnnngh! Alright, I've gotten behind you! Don't run away, Ki-kun! Kyahaha!"

Ah, hey, don't turn to the left...!

With enough momentum to knock me flat, Riko pressed her leaning body against me.

Her smooth arms stuck closely to me, and her elastic thighs pressed into me through her skirt--Her sweet smelling chestnut brown hair w-was pressing against my face. My neck was being tickled by her ribbon and twintails, and it was really ticklish. It was like the right side of my body was melding into Riko.

"H-Hey! Don't get in my way, I can't see my screen because of your hair!"

"Take this! And that! Crash!"

Riko was just innocently playing the game, so it wasn't really erotic at all. Because of that, I seemed to be alright when it came to Hysteria, but I couldn't fly like I wanted to. I couldn't shake off Riko's plane's pursuit.

Aah...I'm out of respawns...I lost again.

Drove into the ground, my F14 was crashed--

"Alright! This is Riko's twelfth win! Ki-kun's won two and lost twelve~!"

Out of energy, I slumped to my left...

As I was lying there, Riko got all over me like I was a futon or hugging pillow.

"Teeheehee! Ki-kun's weak~!"

Several soft area's on Riko's body clung to mine, so--

"H-Hey. Get off me..."

As one might expect, this is bad. So I thought, trying to push Riko off me.

Riko lifted her uppper body up like she was doing a push up.

"Ah, Ki-kun. There's a piece of rice stuck to you~!"

Looking at my face from point blank range, she really took a grain of rice from my mouth.

And she ate it.

"..."

I was starting to get embarrassed when Riko's expression changed into one that showed: 'I've thought of something good~!' A smile on her face, she took a grain of rice from the lunchbox on the table...

"Aaahhh, there's one stuck to Riko too~~"

Sticking a grain of rice to her cheek, she looked up at me with teary eyes.

...In any case, she's going to say: "Take it and eat it. Use your mouth directly." right?

"Ki-kun, take it and eat it♪ Maybe directly with your mouth?"

Riko took a cute pose and said what I imagined she would've.

I flicked the grain of rice off her cheek with my finger.

"Myaah!"

Riko squeezed her eyes into X shapes and rocked upwards--

I caught the sight of her chest, holding a sense of weight that didn't match her diminutive body, bouncing up.

Because of that movement, my face was, for an instant, obscured by two independent shadows.

L-Like always...She has an outrageous body. That's the only part of her that really experienced a growth spurt.

It's like a figure that takes the cuteness of Aria's miniatureness and the ''goodness' of Shirayuki's well-sized proportions. That's what I thought when I see Riko from up close again.

"Mmm? Geez, where are you looking~? You pervert~~!"

Riko thudded on my face happily, as I stared up at her in a daze.

"H-Hey! The punishment was supposed to be a slap to the wrist, right? Don't hit my face!"

Somehow able to crawl out from under Riko, I complained.

"The rules have changed~! From now on, it doesn't matter how you hit!"

She said something which was just an arbitrary decision of The Riko, so--

Having gotten annoyed, I gave my all and at the end of a furious battle that made up the next game, I brought Riko down.

And when she lost, she said, "I'm changing the rule change from just now again! Now it's back to what it used to be~!" running away. My full annoyance at Riko experienced a limit break and transformed into super annoyance...so I caught her, clutching her to my side and spanking her butt through her frilly skirt. Well, just slapping. 
[[File:Aria08 201.jpg|thumb]]

...When we had finished doing those kinds of stupid things, it had become really late.

Looking at my watch, it was already midnight.

We have school tomorrow, so we have to go to sleep soon.

I took a shower, changed into my pajamas and returned to the living room...

Still rolling around on the sofa, Riko rested her cheek on her hand and grinned up at me.

"...What is it?"

"Mmm. I'm tired."

"I can't do anything even if you tell me."

"Sooo tiiiirrreeeeed~!"

Riko kicked her feet around.

"Doooon't waaaant toooo sleeeeeep~!"

"What're you telling me to do...?"

With a spoiled voice like she had returned to being a baby, Riko rolled around.

At the sight of her, I sighed deeply.

"I want to talk."

"About?"

"Anything's fine~. I want to talk. Forever."

"I refuse. I'm going to sleep."

I opened the door to my bedroom...

The bedroom was cold, so I thought of having some of warm air in the living room flow in and left it open.

"But well...thanks for today."

Sitting on my bed, the bottom right one of the two bunk beds in the room, I said to Riko that which I had been too embarrassed to say earlier.

"You came because I've been depressed lately, right? I feel a little bit better now."

Riko stayed silent for a moment.

"...That's not all."

She responded with a small voice...Feet hitting the floor, she exited the living room, apparently having entered the bathroom.

I could hear the sound of the shower running.

It seems that she wants to sleep here.

I don't want her to, but...Riko came here because she was worried about me, so well, I guess I'll let her do as she wants.

Rather, at some point in the time, the two bunk beds have been occupied as the following: Upper left = Aria, Bottom left = Riko, Upper right = Shirayuki, Bottom right = Me. Therefore, it's split between the four people that can come in and out of this place freely (3 of them are entering illegally.) Riko sleeps here whenever she wants, and it happens quite a lot. As for chasing her out, I can't refuse her right now.

Thinking this, I turned on my side, falling asleep...

I heard the sound of the electricity going off in the living room--and the room darkened.

...Footsteps sounding, Riko entered the bedroom and turned on the footlight...

I heard the sound of her hand reaching my bed, so--

"!?"

I suddenly awoke.

Looking back, Riko, in pajamas, was trying to sneak into the bottom right bed...in other words, my bed.

"H-Hey! What is it? You're the bottom left one, right?"

"Ah, I mixed it up♪ And now, the mix-up will continue!"

Sticking her tongue out, she thumped her own head...

Just like that, she got her knees on my bed.

H-Hey.

What on Earth is this.

Even if I try to run, I can only enter and exit on the side that Riko's on.

Gone into panic, I squeezed my body against the wall, trying to run away, but--conversely, that didn't go well.

Rather, I had now given Riko enough space to get on the bed.

And of course...Riko got on.

What am I doing? That was a pretty good self-destruct.

Wasn't that a movement which is just like saying: 'Get in'?

"I-It's tight, so don't get in."

..."Nobody's here today."

Riko spoke, her voice coming out husky and erotic...

She wasn't wearing the loose smile she usually did, but her eyes were so very sad.

--I-I'm suddenly caught in a massive disaster. I've been cornered in an instant.

To get out of this bed, I have to get out from Riko's side. However, even if I try to get out with all I've got, I might be kept in with all she has...I'll be pushed down by the monstrous strength of her hair, which can move like a snake.

What should I do? My head's completely blank. Terrifyingly, I couldn't even lift my body.

But if we continue to stay silent like this, I don't know what'll happen to me. Just like Riko said, my wingmen that impede Riko from approaching me (Aria and Shirayuki) are gone.

I can't just stay silent. She'll have her way with me. S-Say something, me!

This is really bad, if I really don't say something, then--

I panicked.

"R-Riko. Your pajama's inside out."

And so, I said something that I noticed then and there.

No. Nonono. Kinji. That's not it. That's not what I should be berating her about!

"Ah, you're right.

Her large, double-folded eyes stared down at her own pajamas. Riko put her hands on the hem of her dress, and suddenly--

She flipped it up!

"--!"

I just barely managed to roll over and turn my back to Riko.

What I had been able to see for just an instant was Riko's bare boobs--about the bottom fourth of them.

(D-Do girls...not wear underwear when they sleep!?)

C-C-Ca-Ca...Not that, calm down, Kinji!

This isn't the time to become terrified at having discovered this habit that girls have!

Apparently, Riko had fixed her pajamas. I have to drive her away somehow.

"Riko, you...um, get off. Normally, at this point...you'd be beaten up by Aria or Shirayuki, right? I'd most likely be beaten up as well, for some reason."

Riko spoke to my back, a little bit of a laugh mixed into her words.

"Riko is fine. It doesn't matter who Ki-kun likes. All the girls that like Ki-kun don't really feel like posers, so I'm a little annoyed, but...liking ''that'', that means that Riko has a good eye for guys, right?"

"Wh-What're you talking about?"

"Riko is fine with it. When together with Riko...just like today, Ki-kun's always been gentle with me. Mmm...because of that, just like Yuki-chan said, Riko's probably suited to being someone's mistress."

Once again, I could hear the sound of bed's springs squeaking behind my back. S-She turned on her side.

Rather, what kind of conversations do you have with Shirayuki?

"H-Hey. Don't spread the blanket out."

"Eh? Isn't this fine? It's cold."

Saying that, Riko took the back of the blanket that was draped onto my body and crawled inside it.

"My hands have become cold."

Her nose touched the back of my head...around my neck. Riko continued to whisper in a flirtatious voice--

And she stuck her hands in the pockets stitched to the left and right of the stomach area of my pajamas.

"...!"

My body stiffened and Riko giggled.

I've been driven into a corner. I've finally been embraced.

"Riko, you know about--my condition, right?"

As my final card to play, I somehow managed to act calm, warning her.

"You're talking about HSS? Ki-kun calls it Hysteria Mode, right?"

"That's righy. Different from Kana, once I go into it, I can't control myself. Originally, it's something that we possess in order to protect women, to act cool, and -- I'm only saying this considering the circumstances -- to leave children behind."

"''I know''."

Bringing her face close to my head, Riko whispered, the scent of shampoo accompanying her words.

"Then--go back to your own bed."

Really...in a situation like this, when I'm trying desperately to control my transformation into Hysteria, I can't even soften my tone.

However, Riko didn't draw back.

It's fine if I warn her of the worst that may come, right? Even if it's a little harsh?

"What will you do if I go into Hysteria Mode...and attack you?"

I told her as if it was a last warning.

"When it happens, it will happen."

Riko responded, completely calm.

What a...You should think of yourself more preciously.

Furthermore, I'm also involved in this. I'm begging you, so please accept my warning and back off.

"But if you go into Hysteria Mode, it'll be a little bit troubling~. It feels like Riko's thoughts will all be seen through...every last one of them~. So--flirt with Riko until you're just about to, alright?"

"That's why I'm saying that I don't have that kind of control..."

"It's fiiiine~. I won't do anything weird."

"You're already doing it!"

I put my hands in my pockets, trying to take Riko's out.

And at that moment.

Riko grabbed my hands.

And just like that, suddenly--

(...?)

Riko gripped my hands tightly.

"Please...stay by my side..."

A serious voice.

I opened my eyes, which had been closed so tightly before.

Riko is...

(Riko is...crying?)

I tried to turn back in reflex, but Riko pushed her face against my back, not allowing me to do so.

"...Make Riko forget. Make Riko forget everything...Riko wants to forget...Everything from before...after seeing her, I remember it every night...Nightmares...Riko can't take it anymore..."

"...Before...?"

'H-Hil...Even saying her name is horrible. At Romania...she...I..."

Riko continued to cry into my back.

For a while, as I lay there, listening to her sobs...

I began to be able to read Riko's behaviour.

--Hilda.

The day before, she attacked us with a high voltage current...Riko was the only one she didn't attack. The batgirl of Grenada.

She's the daughter of the person who confined Riko in Romania before.

Dracula Vlad.

That girl probably also...tormented Riko, right?

And probably with the most extreme methods, having inherited her father's sadism.

That trauma was probably relived when Riko saw Hilda.

"Riko..."

...Having nightmares of painful memories...I can understand her feelings of wanting to...rely on someone.

Before, when I had lost my family...I was in that stage of grief where all I wanted to do was cry against someone.

So...having gone through the same thing together and being able to sympathise...well, it's not that I can do that.

Doing something like this is fine...right?

In response to Riko's crying, the Hysteria bloodflow died down.

And turning around forcefully...

"..."

I took Riko's head, which she kept down, not wanting to show her tearful face.

And I hugged her to my chest.

Having done that....

As if the emotions that she had been holding back up till that point had broken through...

Rika cried, her voice muffled by my chest.

Normally, Riko is...lighthearted, and she puts on a strong front, but...from way before, she's had an emotionally unstable part of her.

That's probably the manifestation of the wound she's received to her heart.

(Hilda...)

There's plenty of personal scores that I have to settle with you, but I really can't forgive you. After knowing this.

The next time I meet you--I'll do something to break you. Just like I did to your father.

"...When are you going to sleep until? You're going to be late."

An anime voice, filled with astonishment.

In the midst of the daylight, I lazily woke.

"...Riko...?"

Noticing that there was nobody in my arms, I muttered with a drowsy voice.

"Like I thought, you were with Riko.　No wonder your sleeping face was so happy."

I woke up at the sound of ''Aria'''s voice.

Aria, dressed in her sailor uniform and carrying her schoolbag, was staring down at me, her hands at her hips.

Just in case...it's impolite, but I flashed a glance at her chest...just confirming that it wasn't Riko in disguise.

It was as small as they could go. It's the real Aria.

Her eyes, which were already angry, grew angrier, and she slid her slender feet further apart, about 15% wider than the width of her shoulders, standing like a king.

This is...a sign that she's angry.

If I tell her that I was with Riko, I'll probably be subjected to hole dancing.

"That's not it. I was alone..."

"Please say that after wiping the lipstick away from your cheek."

What? R-Riko...

I rubbed my cheek, but--nothing was there.

"That was a lie. You're really not suited to Inquesta."

Damn it. She got me.

Bloody Aria.

You managed to pull that on me despite being weak against Inquesta's tricks yourself. Why're you getting so desperate for?

"I passed by Riko below. And in the living room, there's two empty trays of the same meal, both eaten."

As if showing me more evidence, Aria picked up a strand of long, wavy, chestnut brown hair from next to my pillow before discarding it.

"Kinji. Why did you try to hide this from me?"

The blood vessels on her temple standing out to form a 'D', Aria looked down on me.

(G-God, that's terrifying...!)

I'm completely at a loss here.

"T-That's because you were asking with a face like a demon. Rather than that, is it fine for ''you'' to be here? You were told by Watson not to go to my room, right?"

For the first time in a long while, I activated the super secret technique handed down through the Tohyama family: 'Reverse Blame'.

"I-I...don't need to follow Watson's instructions."

"You certainly followed them very well, seeing as you haven't come here recently."

"That's--because after Watson came, you suddenly became seriously unhappy..."

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's all my fault."

Taking advantage of the fact that Aria had faltered a bit, I left my bed.

Preparing to be fired on, I changed into my bulletproof uniform.

"Rather than that...Kinji, why're you talking about Watson? It's still too early for me to talk about--he arbitrarily said that he'd even become my partner. That's why I'm saying, there's no need for you to stop caring and go running to Riko..."

Her voice getting more and more soft and fragmented, Aria seemed to be making some kind of excuse.

"What are you talking about? Watson's a nice guy. Isn't it fine for you to get along well with him?"

"Are you listening? Why are you getting so angry? It's true that Watson's a nice person, but..."

"It's fine. I'm not angry. Don't care about me."

As I spoke those words, letting them pierce the air--

Inside me, I felt the hazy thoughts that I had about Aria and Watson settle into place.

Until now...As Aria's partner, I've been fighting against the criminals affiliated with I-U.

But those battles were all very, very close.

If I had taken even one step incorrectly, Aria and I would have died a long, long time ago. Our days were spent walking on a tightrope.

And now, this time we're enfolded into the struggle between 'Deen' and 'Grenada'.

However, I don't have much anti-ability battle experience. If I directly confront those monsters, I'd be completely helpless. Just like what had happened at Sotohori Way.

On the other hand, Watson beat Hilda off with just a threat. He prepared expensive equipment to fight against a formidable foe, and he has the technical knowledge.

In regards to the battles from now onward-

''Aria should team up with Watson.''

That's why, for the sake of Aria's safety...I probably started to treat Aria badly on purpose, even if I wasn't conscious of it, trying to distance myself from Aria.

Also, in the first place--the two of them are 'Holmes and Watson'.

They fit each other well. No matter what anybody thinks, they'd come to the same conclusion.

"..."

As if obeying what I had told her, 'don't care about me', Aria left the room, her footsteps sluggish.

--I'll be going to school alone again.

And though I'm going to class, I'll be alone.

That would be the fault of my conflict with Watson.

I've been completely undermined, from the outside in.

But, if he's undermined me...

That means that the bastard's moving.

In the battles of times long past, once the fortress has been undermined...

The next step is to attack the heart of the citadel.

<noinclude>
{{Hidan no Aria Nav|prev=Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter2|next=Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter4}}
</noinclude>

Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter3

2012-09-06T00:13:06Z

Stardust Fall:

==3rd Ammo: Silver-white ICBM==

"The accused, Kanzaki Kanae--is sentenced to 536 years of imprisonment."

That verdict echoed within the 800th courtroom of the Tokyo high court.

I, seated in the seats of the defense, couldn't believe my ears.

The text which declared the postponement of the death sentence or life sentence wasn't spoken by the judge, so I had had a bad feeling, but...I can't believe it. Aria's mother, Kanzaki Kanae-san...

...was convicted.

And there wasn't even a delay before its execution. It's a heavy sentence. Too heavy.

"..."

Sitting next to me and dressed in a suit, Riko looked over to the prosecutors with sharp eyes.

Jeanne, who we had lost all communication with after Bandere, and Sayonaki Vlad, being held in a level 5 holding facility in Nagano, weren't present, but I had thought that we would definitely win this trial.

--We lost. Completely.

The sentence was reduced from the first trial, but still, this high court trial's a loss for the accused.

Because, Kanae-san's actual life sentence hasn't changed.

(That's not right...! Something like this is...!"

Strange.

This trial is strange.

For some reason, there wasn't an audience, and there wasn't anybody from the mass media either--

I even feel that there's something that we don't understand lurking at the back of this.

"That's an unfair verdict!"

Aria stood up, her chair scraping on the floor, and she shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"This---Why!? I gathered so many testimonies, so much evidence--Why!? Mama is...Mama is innocent! Why!?"

Aria, also dressed in a suit, tried to sprint over to the prosecution, but--

The young female attorney, Renjou Kuroe, held on to her tight, keeping her back.

"Don't raise a racket, Aria! You're giving a bad impression for the next trial! We'll appeal directly, so calm down!"

--The next trial--

If she's sentenced to life imprisonment, we'll no longer be able to overturn it.

This trial has finally been driven into a corner.

"Let go! Let go of me! I'm not angry at you! You're talented, and you did all you could! The one's that're strange are those people!"

Aria wept as she pointed at the prosecutors and further, even the judge.

"Do it over! Do it over again! I'll replace all of you and do it again! This is a---mockery! You've all conspired together to frame Mama...My Mama! This is a conspiracy!"

"Stop it, Aria! There's still the supreme high court! This isn't definite!"

Unable to say anything other than that, I also went to restrain Aria, but--

Even when together with Renjou, who was a former Butei, we couldn't control her.

Looking around, the security had taken out their handcuffs and were coming to surround Aria.

This is bad. This is really bad. If Aria punches them and gets arrested here...!

"--Aria. Please calm down."

With that single quiet sentence, uttered from the seat of the accused--

I knew that Aria had regained control of herself.

Her gaze was turned towards her own mother--

--Kanzaki Kanae-san.

Aria had been struggling violently just a moment ago, but her eyes changed from rage to sadness...she just...she just looked at Kanae-san.

--Please don't go. Please don't be apart from me--

Her eyes seemed to be clinging onto those words.

Wearing a grey suit and shaking her wavy hair, Kanae-san faced Aria...

"Thank you, Aria. Your hard work...really made me happy. I can't believe that you had made I-U your enemy, that you had accomplished this much. You've grown a lot. For a parent, that's a joy beyond all other."

...and she was calm.

More so than anybody else here.

"Tohyama Kinji-san. I thank you too from the bottom of my heart. You've given Aria an amazing partner. I'm happy that I'm able to see that with my own eyes. But--"

Kanae-san spoke up until that point--

Erasing the expression on her face completely, she closed her beautiful eyes with those thick eyelashes.

And her face formed the expression of...someone who had been made a scapegoat and was thinking about the person who had appointed her death...someone who wasn't here.

"--I knew that things would turn out this way."

She muttered.

Apparently trying to comfort Aria, who was clutching the guns with Kanae-san's picture on them and continuing to cry, Renjou bundled us into her own Audi, and after spending some time in the parking lot...

She started forward, as if chasing the vehicle carrying Kanae-san from the high court.

She was thinking along the lines of...'Even if just a little, I'll let Aria be by Kanae-san's side', right?

Aria, on a passenger's seat, was staring at the transport vehicle, which had gone through Roppongi Road, avoiding a traffic jam.

"Mama..."

Flicking a glance to the front mirror in response to that voice, I saw that Aria was...still crying.

That's...that's right.

In this trial, the defense was fought to win.

For the sake of winning, Aria had literally risked her life, continuing to fight. For several years too.

Throwing away her youth as a normal girl, she ran around the world, fighting with Riko and Jeanne, capturing Vlad, driving away Sherlock and Patra and gathering evidence.

--In spite of that.

Only Riko, Jeanne and Vlad's share was deducted from Kanae-san's sentence.

The evidence of the defense concerning the other members' crimes wasn't enough. Their sentences were left behind.

Why? I don't know. The case of the prosecution regarding Kanae-san's crimes seemed...even for an amateur like me, illogical. It was clear that their reasoning didn't stand. Even their evidence was ambiguous.

--However, judgement was passed.

...What do we do now?

Would it be fine if we arrested all the scattered remnants of I-U, including Patra and Hilda? And then would it be fine if we took a rope to their necks and dragged them to court, making them say that they were in the wrong? That's just a dream.

Even if we could, something like that would take years.

Renjou had bought us time, but there's no way we would make it in time for the Supreme High Court.

The delay of s trial in Japan was improved through the enforcement of frequent new laws. No matter how hard we worked, within maybe three years...no, within two years, the supreme high court would judge, and Kanae-san's life sentence will be definite.

...While worrying about that, I looked at Riko, who was sitting next to me.

Riko had closed her eyes earlier, seeming to be thinking about something.

The car drove on, keeping up with the transport vehicle. It took a right at a reservoir intersection--entering Sotohori Road--and approached Kinnoushita.

At that moment, at a place quite far away from the stop line of the traffic light...

The transport vehicle stopped.

"...?"

Renjou took off her sunglasses and looked up the road.

I had also noticed the irregularity.

The traffic lights in front of us--

(They're off...?)

Neither red, yellow, or green were shining. They were off.

The lights for pedestrians were also off, and people were milling around in front of zebra crossings, looking around at each other.

"...What is it...?"

Looking around, I saw that crowds of salarymen were pouring out of the buildings to the left and right, worry all over their faces.

I noticed late because it was noon, but it's dark inside the cafe's and convenience stores on the ground floor.

The lights on the billboards had also gone out.

"A blackout?"

Just as Renjou muttered those words, Riko opened her eyes wide, as if she was alerted of something.

"...?"

The next instant, my eyes--

--took hold of something...irregular.

''Something black'' was spreading out from below the transport vehicle in front of us, which was currently stopped...and it was coming this way.

It looked like it could have been a fuel leak, but that wasn't it.

That was...a shadow...!

The 'shadow' was stretching this way.

I looked to the sky from the car window, but it didn't seem as if there were any helicopters or airships passing by.

"...!"

In the blink of an eye, the shadow enveloped the bottom of our car.

That too was strange. The space outside the car remained bright.

''Though there's nothing above, there's still a shadow''...!

--This is...!

The instant the memory of a scene like this flashed into my mind----

"--!"

A flash of light erupted, and following it was an overwhelming screeching of sparks, piercing my ears.

Renjou's voice of surprise as well as Aria's shriek resonated in the car.

I had thought that it was an explosive, but that wasn't it. This is--electricity. A high voltage electric current had just torn through our car.

It gave rise to an impact which felt like we had been struck by lightning from below.

"...!"

The current seemed to have passed through the metal portions of the car--in other words, the exterior, leaving the interior unharmed.

However, smoke as well as a choking sound was rising from the bonnet...not to mention the flames licking out from under the hood.

Tens of liters of gasoline are held inside a vehicle.

If it ignited, all of us--

"Everyone, get out of the car! We're in danger!"

Kicking the door open and getting outside, smoke was rising from the transport vehicle in front of us as well.

All its tires had gone flat too.

"Kanae-san--!"

Just as Aria and I tried to sprint towards the transport vehicle--

Golden sparks burst from the rear of the vehicle.

"--Mama!"

"Aria, wait! It's a trap!"

Looking inside, the driver was hammering on the door.

It seemed like he was trying to get out from the car, which had come to a stop, but was unable to.

Could the door be broken? Or was something installed there and is keeping it closed?

Having gotten onto the asphalt, I noticed that the strange shadow by my feet had disappeared.

A series of unnatural movements from an unnatural 'shadow'--

"Hilda...!"

The reason I shouted her name--

Was because I could see her.

At some point in time, she had stood up on the car and now, she was twirling her frilly parasol--

Giving off a decadent and, somehow, unlucky impression, a girl in gothic lolita.

Having put herself forth as 'Grenada' during the Bandire, the most battle hungry of them all--

And she was the vampire girl who bit Aria that night!

"...Hilda! I've seen you in photos--but this is our first meeting, isn't it...!"

Hilda sniffed at the sight of Aria, who had drawn her guns reflexively.

And shaking her twin-tails, curls of golden hair hanging downwards, she looked the other way.

"That's intolerable. How rude. I'm not really in the mood to fight, you know? I really hate the sunlight."

Hilda pressed the handle of the parasol against her cheek, as if embracing it--

"I say that, but I accidentally acted! Well, you just casually came out of Tamamo's barrier after all. And also..."

Tapping the roof of the car with a stiletto heel made of black enamel, she indicated inside it.

"This is your Mama, isn't it? I'll exterminate every one of Father's enemies, their families, their followers...I'll force them to extinction."

"--Kinji, give support from the right side!"

Aria shouted in her anime-like voice--

Following her usual movement pattern, she sprinted straight towards Hilda.

She ran with abandon, a reckless charge which made it seem like she had a jet engine strapped onto her.

"...!"

Without missing a beat, I drew my Beretta and ran towards Hilda's right...I see, it seems like her field of vision on this side is limited because of her parasol.

The instant my and Aria's shadow stepped into the shadow of the transport vehicle...

"--Mm."

It seemed as if Hilda exerted herself slightly--

"Uu---!"

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

Aria and I fell to the ground simultaneously.

T-This is...!

Her ability...!?

It was like I had taken the shock of a 600~900 thousand volt stun gun.

"As I was saying...don't show me yourselves like this...your blood running so high. I won't be able to hold myself back, will I? Ahh. I wonder if I should start feasting. Even Primo like you...it feels like I could."

I tried...I tried to stand, but I couldn't.

I'm staying conscious. That's another similarity with a stun-gun. Her ability--the current is impressive, but it doesn't seem as if she can raise the voltage.

"...Fu-Fuck...!"

In spite of that, pain is flashing through all my nerves, and I can't put any strength into my muscles.

Even so, Aria hadn't let go of her guns, and her knees were quivering...

"Hi...lda...!"

Crawling inside the shadow, she clung to the license plate of the transport vehicle, which was still smoking.

Her teeth clenched tight, she strained, but--she couldn't. Aria couldn't stand either.

"...Ahh, I've had it. Aria, when I look at you...hunger just seems to well up. I remember your delicious flavour...I remember it well..."

Hilda stepped down towards the trunk as if going down a set of stairs--

Not even giving Aria's guns a thought, she crouched down.

"I wonder if I'll have some accompaniment to my drink. The blood of that dying cockroach over there tastes like soured wine left in a thrown away bottle. On the other hand, your blood is like century old wine."

By cockroach...does she mean me?

I may ask that, but if this continues...I'm really the same as a dying cockroach.

Only able to squirm on the ground...unable to do anything.

I can't even put strength into a single finger. I can't even fire.

"--Hilda!"

A yell rang out--

It belonged to Riko, who had exited from the car.

Only able to turn my eyes in her direction, Riko was holding Walthers in her hands, and knives with the tails of her hair.

"Get away...Hilda!"

Even as she was holding two knives and two guns at the ready, Riko was trembling. Trembling so much that even I, looking from quite a ways away, could tell.

She was stifling her terror, trying to bluff. That's what it felt like.

Seeing her behaviour, I recalled the relationship between Riko and Vlad, who I had battled in June.

When she was young--Riko was imprisoned. Imprisoned by the father of the girl standing before us, Hilda. Dracula Vlad.

Seeing as they seemed to recognize each others faces, could it be that Riko and Hilda met during that period?

"Aaah, the fourth. What fierce eyes. How cute."

Hilda hugged herself, performing the gesture deliberately.

"That's why I love you, fourth. If I'm the most high class of purebred dogs, you're a stray afflicted with rabies. But...you know, don't you? That you and I are friends."

--As if Aria and I couldn't be seen, she spoke to Riko.

"Currently, while father is absent, I am the master of the Dracula family. I won't shut you in a cage like father did. My marble room, my canopied bed of silk, my bathtub of pure gold...I'll lend it all to you. I don't mind leaving Koumeikan in Yokohama to you."

Having said that, Hilda descended to the road.

"Don't get any closer! Don't look down on me. Do you think that I'll be tricked by such worthless lies!?"

--She grinned.

At the sight of a screaming Riko, Hilda brought a finger to her mouth and grinned.

"Look at my eyes, Riko. They aren't the eyes of someone who's telling lies, are they?"

"..."

Riko reflexively stared at Hilda's eyes--crimson irises only slightly filled with sparkling gold.

Her breath seemed to leave her, as if she heard the words 'oh fuck' coming from her heart.

"Alright. Put down your guns and knives. For the sake of our friendship. Do it while looking into my eyes...yes, like that. Do it while looking closely...slowly, slooowly..."

"......!"

Looking at her--Riko put her Walthers down, her hands trembling. She did the same for the knives in her hair...

"Yes. It's fine now, fourth. Good girl. Listening to what I have to say, you're a good girl."

Riko's body seemed to be moving contrary to her own will.

Hilda, her stiletto heels clicking, approached Riko until she was right before Riko's eyes.

Riko didn't fire. She just stared at Hilda in a daze.

--She's done. It seems like she's been affected by some sort of hypnosis.

This is getting ugly...none of us can fight anymore.

Isn't whether we live or die...entirely up to Hilda...!?

Hilda removed one of her bat earrings from her ear--

"As proof of our friendship, I'll give you this."

She attached it to Riko's ear.

"...!"

Riko withered, trembling, but even then, her eyes continued to glare at Hilda.

Hilda faced her with a smile.

Using that opening, I spasmed, trying to get a grip on my Beretta, but--

"Gaaah...!"

High voltage current once again tore through my hand.

My body snapped backwards, leaving me facing upwards.

With that, my hand was numb, and it couldn't move. All it did was twitch.

"--If you're the most hideous litterbug to ever walk this earth, I'm the most beautiful Helena Morpho butterfly. Tohyama. You're forbidden from even turning your face this way."

Hilda frowned and averted her crimson eyes away from me.

This is impossible. I can't do anything. Faced with this witch, the me who isn't even in Hysteria Mode is really an existence comparable to that of an insect...!

No, even if I ''was'' in Hysteria Mode...could I fight her? With this human stun-gun?

Fuck, I don't want to d-die in a place like this...

Will we be finished here...? So soon...!?

--That moment--

"...?"

Hilda tilted her parasol, her gold twin-tails waving about. Her slender, dainty eyebrows creased, and she looked to the skies.

It was hard for me to move even my eyeballs, but in my field of vision, restricted to the sky...

--?

What is that...?

From beyond the skyscrapers, a silver light could be seen, high, high up in the sky.

It wasn't a star. No star exists that can be seen during the day.

"..."

It was coming closer.

That--

I remember seeing that before...!

It was one of the ICBMs that the members of EU had escaped on at the same time Sherlock had escaped on one. Modified and constructed, it was a transport...!

The instant I realised this--

With enough force to shake the ground, the silver-white ICBM pierced the road.

It didn't explode. It stayed unmoving, like a slanted telephone booth. This really is a transport.

As if to prove it--I could see a hatch on the side begin to open, releasing white smoke.

"...?"

Someone showed himself in the hatch--

Aria, still lying on the floor, seemed to have locked gazes with him.

"That was dangerous. You are...Aria, are you not? I knew when I first saw you."

The sunlight at his back, he showed himself, stepping from the silver-white ICBM, on which 'Polaris 05' was written.

A handsome boy wearing what seemed like the uniform of a foreign Butei High, a grey blazer.

He was shining, like a prince who had come galloping on a white horse to save the princess.

His glossy black hair was immaculate, and it gave off a slight shimmer. The boy stepped from the hatch to the floor.

And as if protecting Aria, he faced Hilda, blocking her way.

"Hilda. You have hurt the person whom, more than anyone else in this world, cannot be hurt."

With a tone similar to the one I use while in Hysteria Mode (though a little higher pitched,) he spoke. Using his right hand, he drew a slender saber from a silver scabbard engraved with an emblem.

At the sight of the saber, which sparkled like a gem in the sunlight, Hilda frowned, as if in discomfort.

"I have three pieces of bad news for you. One, this is a Crux Edge I borrowed from the grand cathedral in Canterbury. Its core is Swedish steel, but the pure silver foil on the blade was shaved from a cross over 400 years old. The second..."

Next, the gun the boy drew into his left hand was...a Sig Sauer P226R, nicknamed the SIG.

It's supplied to governments, an elite automatic sidearm that England's SAS and America's SWAT like to use. It's expensive, but it's a masterpiece with high reliability.

"Holy bullets. In addition, pure silver bullets that have been blessed by a Protestant church...something that you aren't used to."

Bullets of silver. Those insanely expensive bullets, nicknamed 'Silvers'. They're probably also magically coated--(It isn't an area that I'm familiar with, but it seems like famous temples and churches bless them against evil.)

"Third...I am angry. Hilda, I'm angry that you hurt Aria."

His face stormy, the boy spoke.

The sword and gun he was wielding was called 'Gun-Edge' in Assault.

Even for Aru=Kata, it's relatively difficult, so it's a style that's died out, but if you're able to master its usage, it's useful in battle.

I also use it occasionally; it's able to respond to both close distance and mid distance threats, leaving no openings.

"...How hateful."

Hilda opened a fan which used black ostrich feathers and hid her nose and mouth with it.

"What a distasteful stench. When I think that it's the stink of silver..."

''Tch''...That seemed to be the sound of her teeth grinding.

It looks like this boy's threats are working.

"I am well aware of the impoliteness of nobles not following the protocol of a proper battle and launching a surprise attack, but...Dracula Hilda. I will bury you here."

The boy faced Hilda with black eyes...eyes containing an earnest depth along with a tinge of blue.

Dropping his hip a little, he stood ready, arms crossed over each other.

"Aria, close your eyes. I don't want to show her blood to a lady."

Having been told that, Aria remained silent, her camellia eyes staring blankly.

Or rather, Gun-Edge boy, have you been ignoring me all along?

That's intentional, isn't it? He hasn't even looked over here.

"..."

...As the boy closed the distance between them, Hilda, who was clearly showing her distaste of the arms the boy was carrying, gestured towards the clear and sunny sky.

"--If you would like to play with a lady, then think of the time and circumstance. Mannerless cur. Wanting to play on a day with such bad weather, at such a late time...did you think that the noble Lady Dracula would accept?"

Hilda refused with some strange complaint, and...her feet in high heels, her shin, her knee...

Like a melting amber statue, she sunk into the car's shadow.

This too was something that I had seen on Empty Island. Starting from her feet, she disappeared, just like a magician.

"Farewell, then. I'll hold myself back for today."

Finally left with just her head and parasol, Hilda spoke to Aria, leaving those words behind her...

And with that, she disappeared.

A thud sounded, and I turned my head, finally able to move, towards it...

Riko had sunk to the asphalt road.

It felt like the threads of stress that had been stretched out had, along with the hypnosis, dissolved.

"Are you alright, Aria?"

The handsome boy spoke as he took Aria's shoulder, helping her to stand up...

A little bit late, I also somehow managed to stand and stumble towards Aria.

"...I can move. Let go of my shoulder."

Aria, being prideful, turned towards the boy though her knees were still slightly trembling.

The boy examined Aria from head to toe, as if checking on her condition. Realizing that she seemed to be fine, he brushed the dust off his shoulders and straightened his collar.

"What about Mama...?"

Because Aria looked towards the car, I looked as well...

Apparently, Kanzaki Kanae-san had finally able to exit from the car. Supported on either side by bodyguards, she was looking this way with eyes that seemed to be filled with relief.

By law, we aren't able to speak with her, but...she seems to be unhurt. Thank God.

However--

I looked between the ICBM that the boy had been riding and the boy himself.

It doesn't seem as if he's an enemy, but who the hell is he?

"Saying this after being saved is a little rude, but...are you a remnant of IU? What did you come here for?"

I pointed towards the ICBM and spoke before the boy finally looked towards me.

His eyes, black as obsidian, rested on me in a sharp gaze.

I felt...something like hostility in that gaze.

"Before asking others for their identity, give your own name first."

"...I'm Tohyama Kinji."

"I know. I saw a photo of you during my advance investigation."

Don't ask me for my name then.

"--I am L. L Watson."

Hearing that name, Aria started, letting out a voice of surprise, and turned towards the boy.

--Watson...?

That name was...written in the Inquesta textbook.

Yeah, he was the famous partner of Sherlock Holmes, Aria's great-grandfather and the leader of IU. It's the surname of the famous man, a former military doctor, who was Sherlock's lifelong partner.

"Eh...!? Eh, the-then, you're, could you be...?"

Aria's voice shook a little, but differently from before, when she was numb from the electric current...

And whilst she spoke, she looked up at Watson.

Watson, facing Aria with a small smile, nodded once--

"That's right. I am Sir J.H. Watson's great-grandchild."

This time, he turned to me, frowning.

"Tohyama. You asked me what I came here for, but...do I need to give a reason?"

Watson, who looked up at me with his tidy double-edged eyes, seemed displeased for some reason.

"It's fine for you to say something like that, right? I don't know who you are."

Becoming slightly irritated myself, I responded--

Watson looked at Aria, and then at Kanae-san, standing further beyond.

And--

"I came to save my fiancé and mother-in-law. That's all."

He said.

...?

Not understanding him, I looked at Aria, and her eyes were wide and staring at Watson...She looked at me, and the expression of shock still on her face, she averted her eyes, like she was panicked.

"...Fiancé?"

Because of the atmosphere, which I couldn't really fathom, I asked Watson again.

"I'm talking about Aria."

Isn't it obvious?

As if saying those words, Watson spoke without hesitation.

And looking up at me, who was taller than him, he straightened, repeating what he said.

"--Aria is my fiancé."

Afterward, we explained the situation to the policemen that came running, and we saw off Kanae-san, who was once again put back onto the transport vehicle and sent to the detainment facility...and also, Hilda didn't seem to pursue us, so...

We parted ways with Watson, who seemed to have something to talk about with the lawyer and therefore accompanied her to her home in Toranomon. Riko suddenly said that there was something she had to do, and she headed off to Nogizaka district.

Left without a choice, Aria and I rode the train back home, just the two of us.

During the train ride, Aria...didn't say a thing.

I teased Aria a little bit, as she couldn't reach the handholds, but when I had just spoke one sentence to her, she started acting strangely, turning her face away from me, so she remained taciturn.

This atmosphere...I can't ask any questions.

About Watson.

L Watson.

Aria is his fiancé.

If you look at historical manga...there ''are'' things like that among the nobility. Ever since the people in question were very young, their parents arbitrarily decided their spouses.

Aria had someone like that too, or so it seems.

Hmm...That's how it is.

...So, yeah. Those are pretty much my thoughts on the matter.

I've heard about this during an Inquesta class; the Holmes and Watson family were initially, (stemming from their first generation) an intimate, single household. Both were granted the title of nobility, so in terms of family status, it's fitting as well.

Isn't that alright? It's really fitting. A handsome boy and a beautiful girl.

...The air seems charged with these thoughts...

Had I been unconsciously releasing this tension into the air?

The moment we descended onto the Butei High station from the monorail, Aria grabbed my sleeve.

"...Why're you so quiet?"

Huh?

I turned towards Aria, whose voice was subtly trembling.

"Because you're quiet? When we got onto the Ginza-line, I tried talking to you once. You ignored it, so--"

"Don't get angry. Listen to what I'm saying calmly."

"Why is it that I have to be angry?"

"Um, that person just now--"

"I don't really care about Watson. He has nothing to do with me."

In the end, I was forced to use the name 'Watson'.

Leaving Aria at the platform, I descended the stairs ahead of her.

Last month, at this landing...Aria had seen Reki and I and came looking for a fight...And now, Aria caught up to me here.

"...You're doing this even though you were e-engaged to Reki?"

She spoke to herself in a small voice.

Aria misunderstanding things is something that happens all the time, it wasn't especially something to get angry about, but--

No matter how much I tried to resist, I found myself growing annoyed. I turned, intending to give her what she had been looking for.

"That thing with Reki was--"

"Today was the first time I met him."

Had she read my thoughts? Aria reined in her words, which came out a little strong.

"Watson is...the fiancé that my grandmother decided on her own. That was something that I had only been told of once--and my grandmother was getting on in years, so there were often times where she would talk to me of reality mixed with her own fantasy. I didn't take her seriously, and to be honest, I had forgotten. About what she had said."

"..."

"It's true. I swear to God. I first met Watson today."

Looking up at me and speaking sincerely, Aria seemed...somewhat desperate.

"To expand a little, I didn't even know if he existed. I had heard a rumour of there being a heir to the Watson family, but...right now, that family is taking care of the organization Liberty Mason's high-level work. As long as Her Majesty the Queen doesn't give express permission, they can't show their real identity. Every one of them lives with a fake name, doing their work undercover--"

Eyes like that of an abandoned dog, Aria spoke. I...

(Why is she getting so desperate?)

I felt myself getting angry for no reason I could think of.

Isn't she making it feel like I've been shouting at her for having a fiancé?

I've understood all along.

I've understood that you will eventually disappear. I've understood that you live in the world of nobility.

"...Kinji..."

Which is why there's nothing that you need to give any excuses for.

As Butei, you and I are just teamed up temporarily. In the end, you and I are different. In ability, in status, and in the world that we live in.

Staying silent, I turned my back on Aria and walked down the stairs.

The sound of footsteps following me--didn't appear.

<big>''L. Watson''</big>

Watson wrote his own name on the board in flowing cursive script--

Kyaaa!

Just by him doing that, the girls in class screamed in a high pitch voice.

At the enthusiastic praise, the nervous homeroom teacher, Takamagahara Yutori, stepped away from the teaching platform.

Smiling, Takamagahara-sensei said: "Alright then everyone! I'll be introducing a very special guest, a transfer student! Coming from Manchester Butei High, he's a reaaally cool exchange student!"

So...there's no way, or so I thought, but it was true.

(Watson...He transferred here...)

I frowned, and beside me, Aria was trembling in shock...

Once again, she stole a look at me.

What is it with you? You've been like this since yesterday.

Don't take that kind of attitude, where it feels like you're afraid to touch a sore point.

Unlike you, it's not like I have any business with your private matters.

It's not something that I should intrude in.

"My name is L Watson. I'll be in your care."

Watson spoke with a voice that was a little high for a guy, and he took a seat at one of the tables farthest to the back.

Just as he took his seat, the bell that signaled the end to homeroom rang.

Simultaneously, the girls crowded around Watson's seat, accompanied by cries of 'Waah!' or 'Kyaa!'

They look like paparazzi crowding around a Johnny's-type idol.

"What was your specialty class back at your old school!? Which one will you be in here!?"

"I was in Assault at New York, Inquesta at Manchester, and Medica at Tokyo--I've come to give a final polish to my Butei skillset."

Kyaa!

The girls started getting excited again. It felt like all their eyes had become heart shaped.

"You're like a prince!"

"I'm not part of the royal family. I'm a viscount."

Kyaaa! Kyaaa!

They became even more excited. Looking at the girls, quite a few of their eyes had now become $ marks.

"Your skin is so pretty! It's even more beautiful than a girl's!"

"...Thank you."

He smiled. The girls screamed with their high-pitched voices when they saw Watson smile, showing off his white teeth. In its aftermath, a few of them seemed to have become lightheaded, and they staggered around...they were supported by the girls from Medica and Ambulace.

Thank God that Riko's taking a break.

She loves these kinds of disturbances, so she has the habit of exacerbating the situation. 

(But...Watson's a pretty big deal.)

If I was surrounded by that many girls...Just thinking about it makes me want to run away. I'd prefer being surrounded by armed criminals.

Even so--Watson was perfectly calm.

It feels like he doesn't care at all, confronted with a herd of girls. He's completely used to them. With the relaxed attitude that comes with being surrounded by friends, he's handling them well.

Taking into account the fact that he's such a beautiful guy, he's in a completely different league.

"What club are you joining, Watson-kun!?"

"I don't have any plans."

Hearing that answer, the colour of all the girls' eyes changed in an instant. "Join the soccer club! I'm starting as the manager soon!" 'Eh, how do you feel about the drama club...?" "Please come to the swimming club!" They started fighting over him with invites.

"I'm sorry. I don't join club activities in any of the Butei Highs. Swimming is especially bad for me--"

Watson smiled wryly, but the girls didn't back down so easily.

They really want to become the transfer student's friend, don't they. He just happens to be handsome and a viscount as well.

"You can't just be in the go-home club!"

"That's right. Are you planning on napping on the roof together with Kinji?"

Hey, swimming club people. I'm planning to eventually transfer out, so it's true that I'm not joining any club activities, but...don't mention my name. Or rather, were you watching me napping? Well, when Aria or Shirayuki are in a bad mood, I don't want to head back to my room, so I just sleep away the time.

"But, if Watson-kun hangs around with Tohyama-kun...he'd get tainted...ah, won't I have a chance if that happens...?"

The drama club girl whispered to herself.

Tainted? What's that supposed to mean?

"Tainted?"

Apparently, Watson had felt something strange about the same phrase. He asked the girl about it.

The girl glanced in my direction. Holding her hand up to her mouth in order to prevent her lips being read...she whispered something to Watson.

Having listened to her, Watson looked in my direction, his face reddening--

"...Wha...! Tohyama did tha...? H-How lewd...!"

His thin eyebrows raised in anger, Watson glared this way.

His face is pretty, so it doesn't really carry a lot of weight, but in any case..."Looking like that, Kinji's a womanizer. Kanzaki-san, Hotogi-san...there's many other victims too." That's what's been spreading around, right?

That would be because, my involvement in those scandals is often talked about by the girls.

But...to rebuttal her argument...

* In the beginning, Aria stayed in my house to investigate Hysteria Mode's trigger.
* Shirayuki got a key from Aria, and then she stayed in my house for reasons unknown to me.
* Riko wanted to get close to Aria and I, intentionally approaching me and setting an example for Aria.
* Reki proposed to me because of Wind-sama's orders.

I don't even feel like defending myself one by one like this.

Rather, I can't. There's too much confidential information, not to mention things that aren't clear to me either.

Apparently, Watson had been told more tales of my legendary exploits, as unfounded and without proof though they were.

"...Tohyama truly is a lady killer, huh. To have tempted so many...!"

His face reddening even more, he was getting extremely flustered; it almost look liked he was about to blow his top.

Men who've reached that kind of age shouldn't change their expressions so much just from hearing gossip.

Or rather...normally, when boys hear from someone about my fictional female history, they normally admire me, saying: "What an awesome guy. I want to learn from him." I'm not sure why, but I speak from experience.

(Well, whatever.)

I'll just forget about Watson.

He can think what he likes of me.

Those stories aren't the truth. There's no point in talking about it; they're just rumours founded on misunderstandings.

If Watson is a guy who takes stock in rumour without confirming its truth, I'd be devaluing myself as a man just by going up against him.

Afterward, during the normal classes--

Watson kept pace with us.

No, that isn't quite it. It wasn't just that he was keeping pace with us.

When he was pointed out by the teacher, he answered every question correctly. Of course he'd get all the English questions correct, being a native speaker like Aria, but he answered all questions correctly. Questions about math, biology...even Japanese history, which came after.

Even ignoring the fact that Butei High's standard score is quite low, this was something that sparked the admiration of the entire class.

In any case, Watson had just transferred today from a foreign Butei High school.

"I studied a little in advance."

Every time break came, he would say those words to the girls who would come praising him, a wry smile on his face...However, to be honest, he was more capable than me in all of the classes, where I was just about average.

It isn't completely correct to say that someone is smart because they're good at calculation and memorization, but if he's able to remember so much from just a little studying, I have to admit how intelligent he is.

His appearance is beautiful...in reality, he's a noble...now he's a genius too?

That's why girls won't leave him alone.

Afterward, I was waiting for the bus that would bring me from the normal section of the school to the section for the specializations...it didn't come.

Normally, I'd ride on Aria's bike together with her and walk to Inquesta from Assault, but...

When things are awkward, just like they are now, we don't move around together. It's nice not being around Aria all the time, but not having her bike is unexpectedly making things even more difficult for me.

--Yesterday, Aria didn't come home to my room.

I was a little worried, so I had Fuuma from Lezzad look for her. It turned out that, as a form of stress release, she was playing Daruma dropping (with peach buns) with her junior in the girl's dormitory.

For some reason, Aria was in a really bad mood, so her Amica, Mamiya, was terrified.

Really. Venting her feelings on those younger than her, treating her food as toys...

(...She's a brat, just as ever...)

I sighed softly.

Just as I sighed, a black vehicle pulled up in front of the bus stop.

It wasn't a bus. Its hazard lights were flashing, and...Wait, isn't this a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet? It's a super high-class car; it can't be worth less than 1,000,000,000 yen.

As I stood there shocked, the hood of the car automatically opened, storing itself in the back of the car.

The 911 opened up completely, and I saw the person in the driver's seat.

"So, it really is you, Tohyama."

The boy who took off his sunglasses was...Watson.

"The bus isn't coming. At the last intersection, the Assault students started brawling inside the bus. Ranbyou sprinted there and flew into a rage. She flipped the bus with her bare hands, so traffic's stopped for a while."

...Those bastards from the Die-Die Squad...

I don't care how many of you are injured, but please stop causing trouble for the general public.

Rather than that, Ranbyou...just being Ranbyou. Flipping buses with her bare hands...

"Get in, Tohyama. You'd probably make it in time if you walked, but--I'll send you to Inquesta. There's some things that I want to speak to you about."

--Saying that, Watson opened the door. I could feel that he was slightly uncertain.

What could it be?

Somehow, I feel uneasy being alone with him.

It's not just that I can't stand him--Intuitively, instinctively, I feel danger.

Nevertheless, the bus isn't coming. I guess I'll hold him to his word and get in.

When I got in the car, the hood closed automatically, and Watson started the car, but...

What could it be? I could smell a faint, cinnamon-like fragrance coming from Watson. Why would he have that kind of scent as a guy? Weird...

"...Nice car."

"There was a Carrera that was modified into a two-seater, so I bought it yesterday. In Japan, it's too much to handle if you don't have a small chassis."

That's amazing. He changes the car he drives based on the country?

If Mutou heard about this, he'd go crazy with envy.

But really, this pitch-black Carrera suits Watson. It looks perfect when a beautiful guy with black hair rides in it.

Our conversation didn't continue after that, and we sat in silence.

As we were waiting at a traffic light, Watson glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes before he started hostilities.

"--Looking like this, you're a womanizer, aren't you."

So, you're really going to talk about that?

"You were told that by the girls, huh."

"I hate boys like you the most. Let alone your helplessness before Hilda, you...you treat g-girls...so loosely."

Watson gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

Since he takes things so seriously, it seems that he's the type of guy who lets the blood rush to his head.

Just the type of person I'm bad with.

"So I told Aria to stop living in your room."

"Thank God for that. It was causing a lot of trouble."

I humphed, turning the other way.

Watson did the same.

"It looks like I just don't really get along with you."

"It's not just that you don't ''really'' get along with me, you ''don't''. I feel the same way."

Afterward, as he stopped in front of Inquesta, Watson had an angry look on his face.

"It's planned for Aria and I to formally marry when we both reach maturity, but...before that, I'm distancing Aria from you. It seems that she holds you with unusual regard."

"Do whatever you want...Thanks for sending me here."

I opened the door, getting out of the car...

"Remember this. ''The partner most suited to Aria is me, not you.''"

Watson spoke those words in the same manner as a declaration of war.

Bssssh--!

Accompanying that sound, my butt hit the sport's halls court.

The day after Watson had sent me to Inquesta, period 4...

It was time for PE, and we were told to play volleyball, but--

"...Ouch..."

I was hit by an attack directly to my face. In other words, I had just taken one to the face.

"Sorry Tohyama. Are you alright?"

Kneeling on one knee further down the court, Watson, dressed in shorts, apologized.

I--didn't answer, and made a rough gesture that meant "don't worry about it" before I stood up again.

Rather than that, that attack just now...

Weren't you looking at me, aiming for my face...?

For a while afterward, we continued to score points and they continued to take points from us...after enough times to make people think it was an accident, it finally happened again.

Watson's attack scored a hit right on the side of my head.

Furthermore, the ball landed outside the court, making it our loss.

Judging from the last one, I knew. The others didn't know, but this indeed was ''hostility''.

(That bastard...)

Watson had scored half of their team's points in that game. He's an agile guy.

His body's flexible, and he's skillful even in using little tricks. Including the one he used to smash me in the face.

At a corner of the sports hall, the first year girls whose fourth period appeared to have been cancelled (and had been cheering for Watson ever since the beginning of the game) surrounded him.

Watson brushed his hair up, a refreshing smile on his face as he talked to the girls.

...Like I thought, he's avoiding looking this way on purpose. What a transparent bastard.

Afterward, during the lunch break, as I felt my irritation building at the fact that my nose was still aching and ear still throbbing, I noticed something extremely troubling.

(Damn it...)

I didn't have any money.

I was shockingly devoid of money.

This was due to the fact that recently, all I had been doing was work that I wasn't compensated for...and because despite that, I had been involved in a lot of battles, so I had been buying a lot of equipment.

If all I'm doing is spending and I'm not getting any income, I'll run out of money.

Borrowing that motorboat from Mutou's sister the night of Bandere was a serious hit to my wallet. When I asked her to put it on my tab...she flew into a rage, screamed "I'll run you over!" and came to collect my debt on her motorbike.

(Once again, Shirayuki's taking part in her shrine's rituals, so she isn't here.)

Guess I can't help it. I'll get my hands on a portion of the payment I gave to Hiraga-san when I ordered 'Orochi'. The portion that paid for the left hand glove.

But I can't spend it frivolously.

Even if I get a request from any civilians, I'll only be compensated next month.

I'll have to make do with the cheapest thing, this bread roll.

(Even though I'm hungry from just having had PE, all I have is this...?)

I settled the bill, took some water from the self-service section and went to table. I opened the vinyl bag containing the bread...now I slightly understand how Fuuma, the girl in poverty, must feel.

I set to eating my bread, completely alone...

Ugh. Watson was walking towards me, carrying the tray for his meal.

And when he saw my poor excuse of a meal, he smirked in a hateful manner.

"...What is it."

"Shall we eat together?"

Despite the fact that he said that he didn't get along with me, Watson placed his tray on the table, smiling all the while.

Rather...that's the steak plate isn't it, the most expensive dish in the cafeteria.

It's a steak of Kobe beef. What's more, ''blanched'' Kobe beef.

"Um, payment is made directly after purchase..."

Lifting my head to face the direction that voice was coming from, the lady who manned the cash register was standing next to Watson.

Looking at Watson, his eyes below long eyelashes were staring blankly up at the lady as she stood there holding her apron and fidgeting...it seemed that he thought that you were supposed to pay after.

"I see, you pay immediately in Japan. Maybe because it isn't customary to leave a tip here?"

Saying that, Watson opened the wallet he had taken out of his breast pocket.

The lady and I startled simultaneously.

10000 yen notes were stuffed into the Louis Vuitton wallet to the point where it seemed like it was about to burst.

"Just a moment. I'm still not used to the yen's currency conversion. Is this enough?"

"Y-Yes. I'll bring the change immediately!"

Having been handed a 10000 note, the lady left, extremely flustered. Watson looked at her go, a wry smile on his face...and with that, he turned towards me.

And with elegant movements, so beautiful that my eyes stared in fascination, he crossed himself, giving thanks for the meal. Afterward, he cut into the steak, which was so soft it almost seemed that his knife sunk into it.

''Click''...''Click''.

"Tohyama."

"What is it."

"Do you want some?"

"..."

I stayed silent.

"I'm not giving you any."

Then don't ask.

Faced with Watson, who was taking his meal with graceful movements like those belonging to an actor...I silently stuffed my face with my bread.

Watson watched me do that with lighthearted eyes that glittered triumphantly.

This bastard. He really doesn't like me.

"As far as I can see, it seems like you're having trouble with money."

"Sorry about that."

"For Butei, money is the lifeline which ties us to ammunition and equipment. If it's interrupted, any Butei would be weakened."

"I know."

What Watson was saying...was the truth. Even the first years at Butei High learn this.

As opposed to the police or the Jieitai, who take care of their equipment using public funds, Butei have to think about their finances, which are always spent on equipment.

"You even had some transactions with the Mutou siblings as well as Hiraga Aya."

"...You looked into it, huh."

Fundamentally, Butei run on money.

Putting aside the 'work that I'm not getting any rewards from' that I've been spontaneously doing recently, when it comes to normal requests, Butei are told by Masters to take on requests in order to counterbalance the completion of a request instead of the payment or distribution of money that normally makes up the compensation, even within the student community.

Furthermore, in this case, it isn't forbidden to 'save' money. Conversely, it isn't against the rules to suspend work when payments are delayed.

In the world of Butei, such a severe and realistic side does exist. Even if one is a student.

"I've found one of your weak points so soon."

Watson's handsome face broke into a smile.

I don't really know what--but something about him is dangerous for me. That's all I know.

But, what is it...? That, I cannot see.

At Butei High, even during the second semester, we have PE at the indoor pool once a month, but--the next day, if Watson sets something up for me again, I intend to counterattack.

But unexpectedly, Watson was just watching the class.

(Could it be that just like Aria, he can't swim?)

Watson warmed up with the rest of boys of year 2 class A before he, dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and pants, put on a pair of Chanel sunglasses...taking a pipe chair, he placed it next to a table after carefully dusting it off.

He likes things to be neat.

He sat down, knees spread in front of him, and afterward, with a manner that indicated that he had just noticed something...he folded his legs in panic.

Just as I tilted my head to the side due to his strange movements--

"Aalllright, you brats! Do 20 lengths of the pool! I'll shoot the people that slack off to death!"

In exchange of a starting pistol, Ranbyou, who was next to Watson, fired an M600 'Elephant Killer' before disappearing.

Ranbyou...really, it's impossible to take away her teaching qualifications because of that.

Well, I was thankful at least that that violent teacher had disappeared, so we took the fact that she hadn't said whether we should be doing vertical or horizontal lengths as our argument, and quickly completed 20 horizontal lengths of the pool.

After that, there was time left over, so it was time to relax while the devil was away.

Everyone just swam as they liked, and it became a free time where we just chatted by the poolside.

I...took a film magazine from the bundle of magazines that Mutou, foreseeing Ranbyou's abandonment of class, had taken out of his locker, and headed to borrow one of the pipe chairs sitting next to Watson.

"...?"

Looking at him...Watson's face was red as he stared at the boys fooling around in their swimsuits.

(Has he caught a cold?)

If so, then of course he'd abstain from going into the pool.

When the earnest Shiranui, who had completed 34 horizontal lengths, equivalent to 20 vertical lengths, got out of the pool, Watson went 'Ah!' apparently surprised, and slid his chair back a little bit.

"...Hey Watson. If you aren't feeling alright, you should go to Ambulace."

Watson, having been spoken to by me, turned this way, looking at my chest and shoulders--

His mouth trembled, going 'Wa, wa'...before he turned away.

He didn't say anything, and he was red to the tips of his ears. Doesn't he have quite a serious fever?

"Hey Kinji! All of AKB's in this one! Shiranui, you get over here too! Let's have a vote!"

At the poolside, Mutou had without hesitation spread open a gravure magazine was gesturing at it.

"It won't be much of a vote with just three people, will it?"

Shiranui, who was handsome to the point where he was able to stand up to Watson, was a great guy to hang around with...so it seemed like he was pretty excited.

"You guys...What do you gain by doing stuff like that?"

I thought about refusing because of the sheer pointlessness of it, but I feared that I wouldn't be able to borrow magazines from Mutou if I acted indifferently.

As one might expect, I won't go into Hysteria Mode from swimsuit gravure, so I guess I'll tag along.

"Then between all of us, there're 5 votes. Hey Watson, you choose too."

Mutou opened a can of coke and took a sip before spreading the magazine out on a plastic table...

Watson, who had been purposely not looking in this direction to begin with, looked directly away.

"I refuse. Don't spread that kind of book wide open in a public place."

That kind of book, he said. These gravure photos?

Even ''I'm'' fine with them.

"C'mon, don't say that. If there's so many here, there's definitely at least one girl who you'll like. You'll think I'm tricking you, just take a look at all of 'em."

Saying things that sounded like they were meant to draw customers to an indecent shop--Mutou, the upper half of his body naked, forcefully slipped his arm around Watson's shoulders, hugging him towards his body and showing him the photos.

"--Kyaa!"

Watson, whose cheek was pressed against Mutou's chest, let out a short scream.

His sunglasses slid off, and his eyes, having become visible, had even become wet.

It looks like blood has rushed to his head. It seems that as he was watching the pool, he was getting feverish.

"Wha...what is it? That voice was like a girl's. Alright then, it's fine if you don't do it. Rather than that...doesn't it seem like you've gotten feverish? Look, have some coke. It's cold, so it feels good when you're hot."

Mutou let go of Watson and stuck out the cola he had been drinking earlier, as if in some sort of apology.

Watson took the can of cola that was pressed towards him in both hands.

"B-But you--before, you..."

"I only took a sip."

"But, yo-your mouth touched it--"

"What're you saying? We're both guys."

Mutou said. Water from Mutou had gotten on Watson's sportswear earlier, so...

"If you have a fever, it'll be bad if you get wet. You have to wipe it off."

Shiranui grabbed a towel and was on the verge of wiping off the droplets of water from Watson's body, when--

Watson sprang up, as if even the thought of it was horrible.

He rammed into Shiranui, and for some reason, me as well.

"I-I'm going back! I can't take any more!"

Saying that with a voice so high-pitched that it seemed like it had changed, Watson ran in a strange zig-zag pattern (maybe because he was panicking?), getting out of the pool area.

Like always...there's something strange in all of his movements.

After school that day...

I had to save on my spending on food, so I bought some canned field rations at a 50% discount--my wallet had become light enough that it felt like I could fly it like a kite, and with it in hand, I gave Hiraga-san a call.

"Hello hello, what can Aya do for you?"

"Hiraga-san, this is Tohyama. Um, this is about Orochi's left hand..."

"Ah, that isn't finished yet. This week is a little..."

"It's a little hard for me to say this, but...the payment for the bill will be a little late. I'll definitely pay next month, so could you finish it up according to the normal schedule? As always, I'm sorry, but I'd like to put it on my tab."

"Mmm..."

Hiraga-san made a noise that seemed to express that she was thinking, the sound of her flipping through schedules next to the mouth of the telephone came through.

"Since Tohyama-kun is a regular, it would be OK under normal circumstances, but...this time...I'd like to postpone it."

"Postpone it...is making it difficult?"

"That's one reason, but the main reason is, I received an urgent request from Masters. Money was donated to the school, so they want me to fix all kinds of broken fixtures around the school."

"A donation...?"

"It seems that Watson-kun gave a whole lot of money!"

Watson...?

"It seems that the person who asked for Aya was Watson-kun too. So, this month, Ayaya is super busy! That's how it is!"

Hiraga-san said, followed by a tired sigh.

...That bastard Watson. What does he mean to do by keeping Hiraga-san's hands full?

Could it be that...this is also more of him harassing me?

"...Hey, Hiraga-san."

"Yes?"

"I understand that the left hand portion of Orochi will be postponed. However...be careful of Watson."

"Be careful?"

"Something about him is strange. He's..."

I thought about saying that he was harassing me in strange ways...but I have no proof.

I'll just keep that particular aspect to myself.

"??? What about him is strange?"

"About that...um...just something."

"I don't see anything strange about him. Watson's a nice person. Before, he came to Aya's place and ordered some other equipment. Teehee."

That's...Hiraga-san's version of a delighted laugh.

It's the way of laughing she uses when she makes massive profits because the other side of the transaction doesn't bargain even though she's overcharging them.

"No, he moves strangely. When we were at the pool..."

Having had Hiraga-san taken from me, I spoke unhappily--

"Ahhh, could it be ''that''? Tohyama-kun is jealous? How cute--♪"

With a cute voice, like that of a kindergartener, Hiraga-san started to say incomprehensible things.

"J-Jealous?"

"There's a rumour going around that before, Watson-kun was all alone with Aria-san in a cafe. There's also information concerning the fact that Tohyama-kun is living apart from Aria-san."

Living apart?

"Y-You're well informed...I didn't know about that thing with Watson and Aria."

"Aya isn't popular, because she's so tiny. So one Aya's interests is listening to the love stories of the popular people, so Aya feels like she's taking part of them."

W-What a dark hobby. I, who's nicknamed the Introvert, can't really say anything though.

"If I put those two pieces of information together...Tohyama-kun had Aria-san taken from him by Watson-kun and is jealous. Wahaa, it's like something from a manga!"

"N-No. I'm just...Watson's just strange, so..."

"Watson is a good person. He gave me a big piece of candy. Tohyama-kun, jealousy between men is disgraceful!"

When I tried to repeat myself and say something against Watson, she hung up on me.

It seems that at some point, Hiraga-san was won over to Watson's side.

I've started to somewhat understand, but...it seems that Watson's laying the foundations necessary to seal my movements in places that I can't see.

What's his aim?

Rather than that...candy? He really knows what each of the girls like. One more thing on the list of things I don't like about him.

--I figured out that Watson also has weaknesses.

His luck in drawing lots.

Transfer students decide their costumes for Ristorante Masque afterward, but the time frame is too short, so they aren't asked to make it themselves.

In exchange, they only have one chance to draw. It seems that there's a rule that states that changes will not be recognized.

Only things that could just be worn without any modifications were inside the box that a first year had brought during recess, but...

Written on the lot that Watson opened up under the gaze of several classmates was--

"Girl's Uniform (Butei High)"

The worst one possible. Why? Because it's a girl's uniform. He's definitely going to be up for some corporal punishment.

Other than me, who was thinking 'about time, you bastard' in my heart, tension was running high throughout the students of Class A.

"..."

Watson's manner gave off the feeling that he was thinking.

"Deception is part of strategy...If you don't want to be suspected...you should in turn, show your cards eagerly and willingly."

He said something like a proverb in English.

"...No way. I don't really want to do this, but...well, it seems like I'll be throttled by the teachers if I don't. Since I drew it myself, I'll do it. Should I change now?"

So he said. And because of that, the class broke into an uproar.

The girls were rushing into the toilet, jerseys in hand, saying things like: "You're welcome to use my uniform!" or "Please use mine!" "No, mine!" One section of the boys were preparing digital cameras while saying inexplicable things like: "We finally get to see the third boy-girl of our lives!"

There was no need to change immediately, but nobody said that.

Afterward, Watson, having borrowed a uniform from the girls, disappeared somewhere from the corridor, the uniform in hand.

Everyone was waiting impatiently...when a panel was suddenly taken out from the ceiling, and Watson's voice rang out.

"It's the costume that we've all been waiting for, so I'll be making my entrance a little bit of a surprise."

From the hole in the ceiling, a girl dropped down to land standing on the podium.

His SIG SAUER locked and loaded, Watson winked, his face smug.

'Waoah!' A strange cheer came from the boys.

It seemed to be a voice that instantaneously mixed 'Woah!' with 'Wha...!?'

It's not that I can't understand how they feel. If I actually got along with Watson, I might've even let my voice loose as well.

--Watson was that cute.

Not like Kana, who was so beautiful, too beautiful, to the point where it didn't feel real, but she was the epitome of the boyish girl, the girl who has a sense of closeness. Well, when comparing him to girls, he isn't the type to make mouths drop open like Riko or Aria, who turn heads just by walking into the room.

After this had happened--

Even the group of boys who had been resenting Watson, who had snatched all popularity amongst the girls, started to treat him nicely.

Watson became the class favourite, and the number of his friends continued to increase.

Not only did I not get along with Watson, I also didn't have many friends in the first place, so...

Gradually, I found that there was nowhere for me inside the class.

A few days later, Mutou was invited to a party at Watson's (of course, I wasn't invited.) He got to eat a lot of delicious food at Watson's massive room, located inside the dormitory...or so he was saying so happily, so--when I warned him, saying: 'Be careful of Watson,' he answered: 'Watson's a good guy, you know? I only understood it when he changed back then, but he's easy to like,' getting angry at me instead.

(Even Mutou's been charmed by Watson...)

Because I was bothered by it, I did a little searching and found out that the bulletproofed trike that I borrowed from time to time, Road Fox, had been loaned for an indefinite period by Watson. He has a goddamned car. He's clearly doing this to drag me down.

What a dirty bastard. Trying to undermine me from the outside in like this...

Nighttime came, and I sat alone on my room's sofa--

I don't have any hobbies that I can really call hobbies, so I had completely disassembled my gun, maintaining it to pass the time.

Right now, I'm broke. If my guns malfunction, I won't be able to have them repaired.

(Aria's at the girl's dormitory and Shirayuki's at her shrine...I'm alone, huh...)

Guns are normally made out of around 30~100 parts, but my Beretta and DE are modified, so they have more.

So, when completely disassembled, it's as difficult as putting together plastic models. After checking the state of each part, the part has to be cleaned, and in that way, I could spend the time.

I used a flannel cloth to apply oil to the inner parts of the gun, which I had almost finished maintaining.

And as I did that, what I thought of without meaning to, was Watson.

(I know that he doesn't like me because he declared it while in the car, but...)

For some reason, Watson is trying to set up my fall.

He pinpointed my weakness, targeting my lack of sociability and isolating me.

Simultaneously, he used the the attribute of Butei High students' mercantilism, their willingness only to work with money involved, depriving me of Hiraga-san and Mutou's help. However, I'm unable to save money and reclaim their aid.

I was unable to resist his actions.

Because of his strategy, little by little, I'm becoming alone.

Well...ever since the Uraga Bay accident, I've been trying to put distance between myself and Butei High, and because of my level of success in doing so, I was nicknamed the Introvert...I'm used to loneliness.

But, I can't take his method of doing things. That's what irks me.

(I don't like using this way of talking about it, since it's sexist, but...that bastard Watson. He's using the dirty ways that women use despite being a man.)

If he hates me, he should just come for a fight like a man. That's the path of all male high school students of Butei High...No, of all male high school students of Japan.

And when that time comes, I'll take him on his offer.

I understand that he'd want to monopolize Aria, who's an amazing Butei, but ostracizing me like this?

Right now, as we're prepared for the battle with 'Grenada', this isn't a time where we should have divides like this.

"That's a scary face, Ki-kun."

Those words were whispered into my ear, and at that voice, which sounded like a bell had pealed ever so softly, I startled, turning around.

And right next to me was Riko.

"Riko...? You're always appearing like a ghost."

"I tiptoed in~. I was thinking like, when'll I be noticed, though."

Teehee. Laughing, Riko raised her head and plopped herself down on the revolving chair by the computer.

She then rolled over here in her chair, coming to a stop beside me.

In her modified uniform that she always wore, on one of her ears was a single earring that I knew I had seen before.

"Oh, oh, Ki-kun. Are you maintaining your guns all lonely by yourself?"

Riko placed her feet, covered with socks that were decorated with things like cherries, on the floor and spun left, then right, turning little by little.

Because of that movement, her frilly skirt and soft, wavy hair floated through the air...

Floating, floating...

And a sweet scent like that of vanilla drifted towards me.

I was still feeling rather dark, so I returned to checking my guns--

"Ki-kun is all alone."

"Don't say it twice. I don't need your sympathy."

"Don't be hurt~. Riko doesn't mean to do anything like that."

"Don't puff your cheek up like that. You look like a kid."

"Ehehehe~."

Completely uncaring about the aura about me which screamed 'Go away', Riko took two PSPs out of her pocket.

And the 2 PSPs in her hands like two guns, she turned to the kitchen.

Exactly at that moment, the microwave went 'ding'.

"...?"

"Here, Ki-kun. You were so into it that you didn't even hear the sound of the microwave spinning, huh."

She was right.

"...I've lost. It looks like I've been too on edge lately."

"You seem to have finished with your maintenance, so play some games with Riko while we eat! Um, you know, Riko bought an autumn-limited set of chestnut rice. There was this special offer for couples where Riko could get a scratch card, so Riko bought two. Ki-kun, my boyfriend, can have one~."

Saying this, Riko walked to the microwave, the big ribbon attached to her back of her modified uniform fluttering...Muttering 'owowowow', she took two convenience store lunchboxes from the microwave.

"Boyfriend...? Well, I'll take it. I'm tired of eating rations."

"Ki-kun, let's duel in Ace Combat! We can do it while eating! The loser gets a slap on the wrist~!"

Riko brought the lunchboxes to the table in front of the sofa and sat herself down next to me with a thud while pushing a PSP towards me.

Ah. Isn't this my PSP? When did she get it out?

Rather than that...are you planning on eating at the sofa table? While gaming?

(She's carefree as usual...)

When Shirayuki, who's always going, "Your manners are horrible!' is gone, she immediately starts to do whatever she likes.

It had been a long time, but I laughed. I laughed at Riko's disihibition. It may've been a little wry though.

...Therefore...

Lying on the sofa all the while, we ate the chestnut rice, fired missiles at each other, ate warm pickled vegetables that were a little weird, fought a dogfight with a rule limiting us to machine guns only, and slapped each other on the wrist.

I had some experience with this game, where we use modern fighters and have dogfights, but--

Whenever Riko turned, she had a habit of leaning in the same direction, just like a kid.

Furthermore, she was sitting directly to the right of me...

"Gnnnnnngh! Alright, I've gotten behind you! Don't run away, Ki-kun! Kyahaha!"

Ah, hey, don't turn to the left...!

With enough momentum to knock me flat, Riko pressed her leaning body against me.

Her smooth arms stuck closely to me, and her elastic thighs pressed into me through her skirt--Her sweet smelling chestnut brown hair w-was pressing against my face. My neck was being tickled by her ribbon and twintails, and it was really ticklish. It was like the right side of my body was melding into Riko.

"H-Hey! Don't get in my way, I can't see my screen because of your hair!"

"Take this! And that! Crash!"

Riko was just innocently playing the game, so it wasn't really erotic at all. Because of that, I seemed to be alright when it came to Hysteria, but I couldn't fly like I wanted to. I couldn't shake off Riko's plane's pursuit.

Aah...I'm out of respawns...I lost again.

Drove into the ground, my F14 was crashed--

"Alright! This is Riko's twelfth win! Ki-kun's won two and lost twelve~!"

Out of energy, I slumped to my left...

As I was lying there, Riko got all over me like I was a futon or hugging pillow.

"Teeheehee! Ki-kun's weak~!"

Several soft area's on Riko's body clung to mine, so--

"H-Hey. Get off me..."

As one might expect, this is bad. So I thought, trying to push Riko off me.

Riko lifted her uppper body up like she was doing a push up.

"Ah, Ki-kun. There's a piece of rice stuck to you~!"

Looking at my face from point blank range, she really took a grain of rice from my mouth.

And she ate it.

"..."

I was starting to get embarrassed when Riko's expression changed into one that showed: 'I've thought of something good~!' A smile on her face, she took a grain of rice from the lunchbox on the table...

"Aaahhh, there's one stuck to Riko too~~"

Sticking a grain of rice to her cheek, she looked up at me with teary eyes.

...In any case, she's going to say: "Take it and eat it. Use your mouth directly." right?

"Ki-kun, take it and eat it♪ Maybe directly with your mouth?"

Riko took a cute pose and said what I imagined she would've.

I flicked the grain of rice off her cheek with my finger.

"Myaah!"

Riko squeezed her eyes into X shapes and rocked upwards--

I caught the sight of her chest, holding a sense of weight that didn't match her diminutive body, bouncing up.

Because of that movement, my face was, for an instant, obscured by two independent shadows.

L-Like always...She has an outrageous body. That's the only part of her that really experienced a growth spurt.

It's like a figure that takes the cuteness of Aria's miniatureness and the ''goodness' of Shirayuki's well-sized proportions. That's what I thought when I see Riko from up close again.

"Mmm? Geez, where are you looking~? You pervert~~!"

Riko thudded on my face happily, as I stared up at her in a daze.

"H-Hey! The punishment was supposed to be a slap to the wrist, right? Don't hit my face!"

Somehow able to crawl out from under Riko, I complained.

"The rules have changed~! From now on, it doesn't matter how you hit!"

She said something which was just an arbitrary decision of The Riko, so--

Having gotten annoyed, I gave my all and at the end of a furious battle that made up the next game, I brought Riko down.

And when she lost, she said, "I'm changing the rule change from just now again! Now it's back to what it used to be~!" running away. My full annoyance at Riko experienced a limit break and transformed into super annoyance...so I caught her, clutching her to my side and spanking her butt through her frilly skirt. Well, just slapping. 
[[File:Aria08 201.jpg|thumb]]

...When we had finished doing those kinds of stupid things, it had become really late.

Looking at my watch, it was already midnight.

We have school tomorrow, so we have to go to sleep soon.

I took a shower, changed into my pajamas and returned to the living room...

Still rolling around on the sofa, Riko rested her cheek on her hand and grinned up at me.

"...What is it?"

"Mmm. I'm tired."

"I can't do anything even if you tell me."

"Sooo tiiiirrreeeeed~!"

Riko kicked her feet around.

"Doooon't waaaant toooo sleeeeeep~!"

"What're you telling me to do...?"

With a spoiled voice like she had returned to being a baby, Riko rolled around.

At the sight of her, I sighed deeply.

"I want to talk."

"About?"

"Anything's fine~. I want to talk. Forever."

"I refuse. I'm going to sleep."

I opened the door to my bedroom...

The bedroom was cold, so I thought of having some of warm air in the living room flow in and left it open.

"But well...thanks for today."

Sitting on my bed, the bottom right one of the two bunk beds in the room, I said to Riko that which I had been too embarrassed to say earlier.

"You came because I've been depressed lately, right? I feel a little bit better now."

Riko stayed silent for a moment.

"...That's not all."

She responded with a small voice...Feet hitting the floor, she exited the living room, apparently having entered the bathroom.

I could hear the sound of the shower running.

It seems that she wants to sleep here.

I don't want her to, but...Riko came here because she was worried about me, so well, I guess I'll let her do as she wants.

Rather, at some point in the time, the two bunk beds have been occupied as the following: Upper left = Aria, Bottom left = Riko, Upper right = Shirayuki, Bottom right = Me. Therefore, it's split between the four people that can come in and out of this place freely (3 of them are entering illegally.) Riko sleeps here whenever she wants, and it happens quite a lot. As for chasing her out, I can't refuse her right now.

Thinking this, I turned on my side, falling asleep...

I heard the sound of the electricity going off in the living room--and the room darkened.

...Footsteps sounding, Riko entered the bedroom and turned on the footlight...

I heard the sound of her hand reaching my bed, so--

"!?"

I suddenly awoke.

Looking back, Riko, in pajamas, was trying to sneak into the bottom right bed...in other words, my bed.

"H-Hey! What is it? You're the bottom left one, right?"

"Ah, I mixed it up♪ And now, the mix-up will continue!"

Sticking her tongue out, she thumped her own head...

Just like that, she got her knees on my bed.

H-Hey.

What on Earth is this.

Even if I try to run, I can only enter and exit on the side that Riko's on.

Gone into panic, I squeezed my body against the wall, trying to run away, but--conversely, that didn't go well.

Rather, I had now given Riko enough space to get on the bed.

And of course...Riko got on.

What am I doing? That was a pretty good self-destruct.

Wasn't that a movement which is just like saying: 'Get in'?

"I-It's tight, so don't get in."

..."Nobody's here today."

Riko spoke, her voice coming out husky and erotic...

She wasn't wearing the loose smile she usually did, but her eyes were so very sad.

--I-I'm suddenly caught in a massive disaster. I've been cornered in an instant.

To get out of this bed, I have to get out from Riko's side. However, even if I try to get out with all I've got, I might be kept in with all she has...I'll be pushed down by the monstrous strength of her hair, which can move like a snake.

What should I do? My head's completely blank. Terrifyingly, I couldn't even lift my body.

But if we continue to stay silent like this, I don't know what'll happen to me. Just like Riko said, my wingmen that impede Riko from approaching me (Aria and Shirayuki) are gone.

I can't just stay silent. She'll have her way with me. S-Say something, me!

This is really bad, if I really don't say something, then--

I panicked.

"R-Riko. Your pajama's inside out."

And so, I said something that I noticed then and there.

No. Nonono. Kinji. That's not it. That's not what I should be berating her about!

"Ah, you're right.

Her large, double-folded eyes stared down at her own pajamas. Riko put her hands on the hem of her dress, and suddenly--

She flipped it up!

"--!"

I just barely managed to roll over and turn my back to Riko.

What I had been able to see for just an instant was Riko's bare boobs--about the bottom fourth of them.

(D-Do girls...not wear underwear when they sleep!?)

C-C-Ca-Ca...Not that, calm down, Kinji!

This isn't the time to become terrified at having discovered this habit that girls have!

Apparently, Riko had fixed her pajamas. I have to drive her away somehow.

"Riko, you...um, get off. Normally, at this point...you'd be beaten up by Aria or Shirayuki, right? I'd most likely be beaten up as well, for some reason."

Riko spoke to my back, a little bit of a laugh mixed into her words.

"Riko is fine. It doesn't matter who Ki-kun likes. All the girls that like Ki-kun don't really feel like posers, so I'm a little annoyed, but...liking ''that'', that means that Riko has a good eye for guys, right?"

"Wh-What're you talking about?"

"Riko is fine with it. When together with Riko...just like today, Ki-kun's always been gentle with me. Mmm...because of that, just like Yuki-chan said, Riko's probably suited to being someone's mistress."

Once again, I could hear the sound of bed's springs squeaking behind my back. S-She turned on her side.

Rather, what kind of conversations do you have with Shirayuki?

"H-Hey. Don't spread the blanket out."

"Eh? Isn't this fine? It's cold."

Saying that, Riko took the back of the blanket that was draped onto my body and crawled inside it.

"My hands have become cold."

Her nose touched the back of my head...around my neck. Riko continued to whisper in a flirtatious voice--

And she stuck her hands in the pockets stitched to the left and right of the stomach area of my pajamas.

"...!"

My body stiffened and Riko giggled.

I've been driven into a corner. I've finally been embraced.

"Riko, you know about--my condition, right?"

As my final card to play, I somehow managed to act calm, warning her.

"You're talking about HSS? Ki-kun calls it Hysteria Mode, right?"

"That's righy. Different from Kana, once I go into it, I can't control myself. Originally, it's something that we possess in order to protect women, to act cool, and -- I'm only saying this considering the circumstances -- to leave children behind."

"''I know''."

Bringing her face close to my head, Riko whispered, the scent of shampoo accompanying her words.

"Then--go back to your own bed."

Really...in a situation like this, when I'm trying desperately to control my transformation into Hysteria, I can't even soften my tone.

However, Riko didn't draw back.

It's fine if I warn her of the worst that may come, right? Even if it's a little harsh?

"What will you do if I go into Hysteria Mode...and attack you?"

I told her as if it was a last warning.

"When it happens, it will happen."

Riko responded, completely calm.

What a...You should think of yourself more preciously.

Furthermore, I'm also involved in this. I'm begging you, so please accept my warning and back off.

"But if you go into Hysteria Mode, it'll be a little bit troubling~. It feels like Riko's thoughts will all be seen through...every last one of them~. So--flirt with Riko until you're just about to, alright?"

"That's why I'm saying that I don't have that kind of control..."

"It's fiiiine~. I won't do anything weird."

"You're already doing it!"

I put my hands in my pockets, trying to take Riko's out.

And at that moment.

Riko grabbed my hands.

And just like that, suddenly--

(...?)

Riko gripped my hands tightly.

"Please...stay by my side..."

A serious voice.

I opened my eyes, which had been closed so tightly before.

Riko is...

(Riko is...crying?)

I tried to turn back in reflex, but Riko pushed her face against my back, not allowing me to do so.

"...Make Riko forget. Make Riko forget everything...Riko wants to forget...Everything from before...after seeing her, I remember it every night...Nightmares...Riko can't take it anymore..."

"...Before...?"

'H-Hil...Even saying her name is horrible. At Romania...she...I..."

Riko continued to cry into my back.

For a while, as I lay there, listening to her sobs...

I began to be able to read Riko's behaviour.

--Hilda.

The day before, she attacked us with a high voltage current...Riko was the only one she didn't attack. The batgirl of Grenada.

She's the daughter of the person who confined Riko in Romania before.

Dracula Vlad.

That girl probably also...tormented Riko, right?

And probably with the most extreme methods, having inherited her father's sadism.

That trauma was probably relived when Riko saw Hilda.

"Riko..."

...Having nightmares of painful memories...I can understand her feelings of wanting to...rely on someone.

Before, when I had lost my family...I was in that stage of grief where all I wanted to do was cry against someone.

So...having gone through the same thing together and being able to sympathise...well, it's not that I can do that.

Doing something like this is fine...right?

In response to Riko's crying, the Hysteria bloodflow died down.

And turning around forcefully...

"..."

I took Riko's head, which she kept down, not wanting to show her tearful face.

And I hugged her to my chest.

Having done that....

As if the emotions that she had been holding back up till that point had broken through...

Rika cried, her voice muffled by my chest.

Normally, Riko is...lighthearted, and she puts on a strong front, but...from way before, she's had an emotionally unstable part of her.

That's probably the manifestation of the wound she's received to her heart.

(Hilda...)

There's plenty of personal scores that I have to settle with you, but I really can't forgive you. After knowing this.

The next time I meet you--I'll do something to break you. Just like I did to your father.

"...When are you going to sleep until? You're going to be late."

An anime voice, filled with astonishment.

In the midst of the daylight, I lazily woke.

"...Riko...?"

Noticing that there was nobody in my arms, I muttered with a drowsy voice.

"Like I thought, you were with Riko.　No wonder your sleeping face was so happy."

I woke up at the sound of ''Aria'''s voice.

Aria, dressed in her sailor uniform and carrying her schoolbag, was staring down at me, her hands at her hips.

Just in case...it's impolite, but I flashed a glance at her chest...just confirming that it wasn't Riko in disguise.

It was as small as they could go. It's the real Aria.

Her eyes, which were already angry, grew angrier, and she slid her slender feet further apart, about 15% wider than the width of her shoulders, standing like a king.

This is...a sign that she's angry.

If I tell her that I was with Riko, I'll probably be subjected to hole dancing.

"That's not it. I was alone..."

"Please say that after wiping the lipstick away from your cheek."

What? R-Riko...

I rubbed my cheek, but--nothing was there.

"That was a lie. You're really not suited to Inquesta."

Damn it. She got me.

Bloody Aria.

You managed to pull that on me despite being weak against Inquesta's tricks yourself. Why're you getting so desperate for?

"I passed by Riko below. And in the living room, there's two empty trays of the same meal, both eaten."

As if showing me more evidence, Aria picked up a strand of long, wavy, chestnut brown hair from next to my pillow before discarding it.

"Kinji. Why did you try to hide this from me?"

The blood vessels on her temple standing out to form a 'D', Aria looked down on me.

(G-God, that's terrifying...!)

I'm completely at a loss here.

"T-That's because you were asking with a face like a demon. Rather than that, is it fine for ''you'' to be here? You were told by Watson not to go to my room, right?"

For the first time in a long while, I activated the super secret technique handed down through the Tohyama family: 'Reverse Blame'.

"I-I...don't need to follow Watson's instructions."

"You certainly followed them very well, seeing as you haven't come here recently."

"That's--because after Watson came, you suddenly became seriously unhappy..."

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's all my fault."

Taking advantage of the fact that Aria had faltered a bit, I left my bed.

Preparing to be fired on, I changed into my bulletproof uniform.

"Rather than that...Kinji, why're you talking about Watson? It's still too early for me to talk about--he arbitrarily said that he'd even become my partner. That's why I'm saying, there's no need for you to stop caring and go running to Riko..."

Her voice getting more and more soft and fragmented, Aria seemed to be making some kind of excuse.

"What are you talking about? Watson's a nice guy. Isn't it fine for you to get along well with him?"

"Are you listening? Why are you getting so angry? It's true that Watson's a nice person, but..."

"It's fine. I'm not angry. Don't care about me."

As I spoke those words, letting them pierce the air--

Inside me, I felt the hazy thoughts that I had about Aria and Watson settle into place.

Until now...As Aria's partner, I've been fighting against the criminals affiliated with I-U.

But those battles were all very, very close.

If I had taken even one step incorrectly, Aria and I would have died a long, long time ago. Our days were spent walking on a tightrope.

And now, this time we're enfolded into the struggle between 'Deen' and 'Grenada'.

However, I don't have much anti-ability battle experience. If I directly confront those monsters, I'd be completely helpless. Just like what had happened at Sotohori Way.

On the other hand, Watson beat Hilda off with just a threat. He prepared expensive equipment to fight against a formidable foe, and he has the technical knowledge.

In regards to the battles from now onward-

''Aria should team up with Watson.''

That's why, for the sake of Aria's safety...I probably started to treat Aria badly on purpose, even if I wasn't conscious of it, trying to distance myself from Aria.

Also, in the first place--the two of them are 'Holmes and Watson'.

They fit each other well. No matter what anybody thinks, they'd come to the same conclusion.

"..."

As if obeying what I had told her, 'don't care about me', Aria left the room, her footsteps sluggish.

--I'll be going to school alone again.

And though I'm going to class, I'll be alone.

That would be the fault of my conflict with Watson.

I've been completely undermined, from the outside in.

But, if he's undermined me...

That means that the bastard's moving.

In the battles of times long past, once the fortress has been undermined...

The next step is to attack the heart of the citadel.

<noinclude>
{{Hidan no Aria Nav|prev=Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter2|next=Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter4}}
</noinclude>

User talk:Florza

2012-09-05T12:57:00Z

Stardust Fall: /* Hidan no Aria */ new section

Might as well start the page.

Thank you for your translations on Campione ... :)

*I also wish to thank you for your great hard work and awesome translations... the vol 4 going really fast and again really thanks!

You're welcome :) It's mainly cause I want to read volume 5 & 6 that I'm doing it this fast though, but more Liliana is also good :D - Flo

Thanks for your hard work!
And just checking but are you gonna translate the short story too? --[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 20:34, 2 August 2012 (CDT)

The first short story is supposedly translated already by Kadi, you should ask him about it. - Flo

Kk, will do.--[[User:Mufarasu|Mufarasu]] 10:46, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Thank you for translating Campione vol.4... Just wondering but do you plan to continue translating Campione ? It would be really nice if you plan on doing so :) ... Thanks again --[[User:LSwRl|lSwRl]] ([[User talk:LSwRl|talk]]) 10:15, 11 August 2012 (CDT)

If I didn't register for the chapter, that means I'm not translating it. At any rate, I've only read up to what zzhk has translated, and I still have a lot of stuff to read before Campione v7/v8. But I might translate a chapter or two for V8 in the months ahead, seeing as Kadi has done SS1/2. - Flo

Thanks for translating the short story and bring Campione to life in english. It was excellent read! - Mokata

Hi Florza, thanks for this interesting SS. I have edited some parts of the chapter. Check it out at your own leisure. Thanks again :) :) --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 13:24, 23 August 2012 (CDT)

== Annie's Dialect ==

Why don't you put forward Annie's dialect for Godou on the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Campione!:Names_and_Terminology_Guideline Names and Terminologies] as well that on the forum to avoid such editing again? --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 00:02, 30 August 2012 (CDT)

Didn't know about others, thanks --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 02:44, 30 August 2012 (CDT)

==smth game==

hey.

is there gonna be a main page for the new project? or am i being too impatient? just thought it'd be the first to be created, a least before the registration page..--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] ([[User talk:Idiffer|talk]]) 08:07, 31 August 2012 (CDT)

you were a contributor to this page [[Boku to Kanojou no Game Sensou:Registration Page]], thus i messaged you.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] ([[User talk:Idiffer|talk]]) 10:02, 31 August 2012 (CDT)

== Campione ==

You added that the Vol 12 chapter 2 is completed but its not posted yet. Is it the translator's wish? --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 07:09, 1 September 2012 (CDT)

I didn't, I added that chapter 1 is done, because it's fully uploaded. Perhaps you misread it? --[[User:Florza|Florza]]

Ah...so sorry. 'Am going crazy in the office which might have affected me for the mistake. I am slipping too much nowdays.--[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] ([[User talk:Chancs|talk]]) 07:20, 1 September 2012 (CDT)

== Hidan no Aria ==

In case you didn't see the reply on my talk page, the weapons in Hidan no Aria are mostly referred to by their original names, such as Aria's M1911s, Shirayuki's M60, Riko's Derringer and P99s. If you see it fit to change the name back, please do so --[[User:Stardust Fall|Stardust Fall]] ([[User talk:Stardust Fall|talk]]) 07:57, 5 September 2012 (CDT)

User talk:Stardust Fall

2012-09-05T12:48:47Z

Stardust Fall:

I'm sure the weapon names are meant to be parodies of the real-life versions. I could be wrong, since I don't read HnA that much. - [[User:Florza|Florza]]

If you check Volume 6, you can see that it's referred to by the real-life name. Additionally, I remember the name of the M60 not being changed. --[[User:Stardust Fall|Stardust Fall]] ([[User talk:Stardust Fall#top|talk]]) 07:48, 5 September 2012 (CDT)

Hidan no Aria:Volume8 Chapter4

2012-09-05T12:39:08Z

Stardust Fall: Cx100 -> CZ100

==4th Ammo: 350m Altitude Tornado==

After the Inquesta lesson, I started on the way home only after attending 'Strategy 1' in the Assault lecture hall.

It had become quite late, so when I exited the building, it was already dark. Maybe it's because we're getting deeper into Autumn.

Stepping on the fallen leaves from the trees by the road, I headed towards the bus stop...

Several laughing girls exited from the backdoor of the Connect building, which was next to Assault.

Each of them threw the brooms they were holding behind the Connect section, past a metal fence into the artificial forest beyond. What are they doing?

"Nacchi, we'll be leaving the rest to you!"

After shouting into the forest with their hands cupped around their mouths, the girls went towards the shopping district.

Nacchi...? Somebody's nickname?

"...Ah, y-yes..."

I could only hear the sound of leaves, so I frowned and looked in the direction of the voice...

It looked like someone was cleaning up the fallen leaves in the dim forest.

That was...

"Nakasorachi...?"

I called out to her.

The figure startled, clutching the broom to herself.

Because of that movement, the garbage in which the fallen leaves were kept got caught on the broom...and it fell on its side, spilling its contents.

"U-U-Um, that voice--To-Bo-Tohyama, Boy, Boyama-kun!"

This disappointing way of talking...it really is Nakasorachi.

She was plain, having completely blended into the forest, so I didn't notice.

"Are you cleaning up by yourself? Weren't the people here just now up for cleaning duty?"

It seemed that she had knocked over the bag because of me, so I entered the forest in order to fix it...

"Y-Yes, but, um, I was asked to do it by the other people on duty, so..."

Nakasorachi backed away from me, her legs twisted towards each other...

Her back touched a tree, and she went 'Eek!', scaring herself.

Leaving that aside...rather than being asked to do it, she was forced to do it, huh.

(Really, those people...)

The actual forest is pretty small, but the amount of fallen leaves have reached their peak, so cleaning them up is a pain.

Forcing her to clean this up...that has to be bullying.

In any case, even if I go home, there won't be anybody there, so I didn't have anything to do.

"Lend me one of these."

I picked up a broom and decided to help her gather up the leaves.

Nakasorachi saw me.

"Ah, ah! It's fine, really, it's fine...Hic, hic, hi~!"

It seems like she started to hiccup.

"It's fine, I'll help. Remember the first article of the Butei Charter?"

"Yesh...Hic, th-thank yhou! Thank hyou!"

Still clutching the broom, Nakasorachi bowed her head deeply, her long black hair swinging about.

Your voice is way too loud. Why're you suddenly upping the atmosphere.

In front of me, who was shying away, Nakasorachi leapt to the garbage bag and dropped into a crouch. She then started to stuff the spilled leaves into the bag.

Well, she can really do it if she tries. Her dull movements from just a moment ago suddenly became sharp.

I started sweeping up the leaves...

"......Nnn....!"

I averted my eyes from the full, plump thighs that were visible from the corner of Nakasorachi's skirt, as she squatted there vulnerably.

L-Luckily it's dark around here. If it was bright, I would've seen ''farther in''.

Rather--if you're going to squat, squat with your knees together.

"...? What's wrong with your eyes?"

I, whose gaze had fled upwards, noticed that there were no glasses beneath the veil of Nakasorachi's long front hair.

"Ah, ah, my glasses. That's um, during class, I was clumsy, and a ball, um, during PE, a volleyball, I was hit, my glasses, um, I was clumsy, um..."

Just because I spoke to her, Nakasorachi started to talk in a way where she was rearranging the sentence order.

Apparently, I've a companion in the 'ball to the face' team.

"Rather, you're being...pretty polite? We're in the same year, so it's fine to speak casually."

"G-guys, b-boys. I-I've, um...never really...talked...to boys before, so...just by reflex, I started, um, speaking politely. S-Sorry!"

Nakasorachi dipped her head with such momentum that it looked like she was going to thrust her head into the bag containing the leaves.

"A-Also, I-I, g-got carried away, a-and I-I've only seen, To-Tohyama-kun, during battle, through a camera image, so i-it's like, I'm able to meet a person, f-from a film, a drama...I'm suddenly, talking too much, w-when I'm spoken to, I-I get carried aw-aw-aw-awawa..."

"Ahh...it's fine to speak politely. Alright, let's gather up the leaves that've fallen down."
[[File:Aria08 221.jpg|thumb]]
Starting Nakasorachi, who had stopped working, back up...We divided the work, with me gathering the fallen leaves with a broom, and Nakasorachi crouching down, picking them up in a dustpan and putting them in the bag.

If I gave instructions, Nakasorachi would follow them properly, so the cleaning went on smoothly--

"...This should be it, right? It's so dark I can't really tell."

"Yes. T-The sound of the grass and leaves ru-ruru-rustl...ing has gone."

Nakasorachi closed the mouth of the garbage bag, when...

The sound of a car honking its horn at students who had exited Connect and were trying to cross the road rang out.

"Eek!"

Nakasorachi frighted at just that noise and leaped into the air, clutching onto my arm.

(Uu...!)

Th-That was dangerous. I obstructed her with the broom so it ended in an instant, but boobs that held a ''loose'' softness and were the size of volleyballs had pressed into me.

For me, this held the same danger level as being pierced by a sharp blade.

Nakasorachi's eyes seemed to have met mine, which were filled with tension.

"Ah, ah, ee-eek!"

She rammed into me with unexpected strength.

Thanks to that, the back of my head smashed into a tree trunk. Ouch...

"I-I-I-It's not what you think! T-The reason I grabbed your hand wa-was completely unrelated from the fact that our eyes met! I-I wasn't f-f-fantasizing about T-Tohyama-kun!"

...What is it this time...

"I-I wasn't d-doing anything like f-fantasizing here! Nothing dirty! Nothing a-about the depths of the forest! I-In the shadows of the underbrush, where nobody's eyes could reach! I-I wasn't!"

In the depths of the forest...? I have no idea what she's saying.

"Ah, Nakasorachi. Please don't say anything right now."

I said--

"!"

Nakasorachi stretched out her body like she had been subjected to a high voltage electric current.

"T-T-T-T-That kind of forceful...! B-Butbut, we've finished cleaning, so I-I'll just lay something over the u-underbrush in advance! Please wait for a moment!"

As if pushing a reset button, I lightly tapped her on the waist with my broom.

"Hey. I'm finishing up. Speaking is forbidden until we finish. Alright?"

I picked up the bag filled with fallen leaves, and Nakasorachi nodded again and again, one hand over her mouth. She tottered off to gather up the brooms. It looks like she's obeying what I told her, 'don't talk'.

Rather...Nakasorachi's cowardly enough that she gets frightened from a car horn, yet she serves as a Butei.

She's probably a rare type of person. At our school, at least.

At the bus stop, I was waiting with Nakasorachi for the bus.

"To-Tohyama-kun. Th-Thaou yonk, for, um, today."

Thank you, maybe?

"It's fine. All I did was help you a little for today."

"T-This is the first time, so-somebody's, helped me li-like this, so...I-I don't have...friends, so, all I have is, J-Jeanne-san..."

...Jeanne.

Now that she mentions her, what could she be doing?

Ever since the Bandere, I've not seen hide nor hair of her--it's worrying.

"...Don't you know where Jeanne is right now?"

I asked, though I expected her to say no.

"Right now? I-In my room, or rather, th-the room Jeanne-san and I are...sharing, i-in the, gi-girl's dormitory...I think?"

"Eh?"

"At one point last week, she called me to ask for something...She said that she was coming back that morning, that she'd been absent, from school. Because she was injured. Right now, she's in the room."

Jeanne.

She'd returned to Butei High?

However, she said she was injured. That's worrying. I'll have to go meet her.

However...Jeanne seems to be roommates with Nakasorachi.

I don't know which room it is, so I'd like her to guide me there, but that, in short, is like telling this person, 'let's go into your room' so it looks like I'll have trouble bringing it up.

If I don't say it a little carefully, I'll be made to do another sentence order quiz.

"Nakasorachi, I've like to ask you for a favour..."

"F-Favour, favour? Th-that's i-impossible, a fa-favour from a b-bo-bo-boy..."

Suddenly this.

"I-I'm the t-type of person th-that can't s-say no when as-asked a favour of! So, pl-please be gentle!"

"That's convenient. I'd like--"

"B-Before that, I-I have t-to change! B-boy, please let me change! Especially the bottom!"

"I haven't said anything yet..."

That was what the situation was like, so I needed the time from when we got on the bus till we got off the bus to communicate to her what I meant (and I only just managed to do it too), but...

Somehow, I was able to go to Jeanne and Nakasorachi's room, located in the third girl's dormitory.

Together with Nakasorachi, her knees shivering as her legs pressed together in an X shape, I ascended to her room.

"Wow..."

Inside the room, massive amounts of acoustic equipment were gathered, enough for me to let out my voice.

Countless speakers and expensive looking amplifiers were piled up on a rack, surrounding a black desk with a semicircle.

The soundproof walls were painted black, and headphones of every colour were hanging from them like a electronics volume retailer.

Not only did the entire scene look like the mixing room of a radio station, but in the room, there were even communication devices coming from every time period and every place imaginable, all lined up neatly. Not only computers and wireless devices used for processing, but there were around 50 types of handheld cellphones.

The places the access lamps lead to blinked with lights, and in the midst of this room, which smelled of electronic devices...the only thing that resembled a girl's room was a miniature decorative plant, placed right by the window.

Rather, that plant with two leaves...there's what looks like a small placard with 'Tohyama-kun' written on it standing there. Was there a plant like that?

I was looking at the mini plant when Nakasorachi leaped into the air with a '!' and covered it with an empty box for headphones, hiding it.

"I-I-It's not what you think! I-I do-don't talk to that plant at all! I-I'm not ''that'' l-lonely! Ah, also, there's nothing inside that small room over there! Things that I bought in preparation for unexpected circumstances, l-lewd underwear, alcohol, none of that is there!"

"Um...I haven't come to raid your place. Rather than that, Jeanne is...?"

"Jeanne-san is, that way."

Nakasorachi turned her back on 'Tohyama-kun' and pointed at a door. That was the only door with a wood grain, having been decorated in an antique, western style. Needless to say, it was just like Jeanne.

The door creaked as it opened, and when I stepped through it, it was bright.

It does seem like she's here. I can't see her though...

A mahogany desk. A light which looks like an ancient gas lamp. Somehow, it seems like the room is decorated with chic ornaments, just like an executive office of a high-tier business, or a politician's office. It's completely different from the Nakasorachi zone.

As for the wooden bookcase...French and Japanese books that seemed like history books lined the shelves.

(She's a scholar, huh...)

I thought, taking out a book, and beyond the books bound with leather, there lay another row in...Mm...?

There were comics for girls hidden inside. And a lot of them.

Shoucomi, Margaret, Betsufure, Hanatoyume. Hehe. Jeanne reads stuff like this?

I've found an unexpected side of her. So she keeps the girly part of her hidden ''inside''. That's just like her.

''Rustle''...''Rustle''.

Raising my head at the slight indication, there was another room further in. It seemed that Jeanne was inside there.

That's right, this isn't the time to laugh.

Jeanne. She chased 'Grenada', and it seems that she was injured, but--is she alright?

(If she's heavily injured and is sleeping, I can't be noisy.)

So I thought, opening the door silently...inside was a small room, long but thin, and it seemed like it was being used as a walk-in closet.

But--what on Earth is this?

Inside the room...frills, lace...red, white, pink, aquamarine...checkers, stripes, heart patterns...dresses like this were in rows, leading all the way inside.

This...I was forcibly made to remember it by Riko, but...this is lolita fashion. And this closet was like a clothing store, and it had enough stocked here to resemble a wholesaler.

(Did she get them from Riko...?)

I thought, but the sizes of the clothes here were bigger than Riko's. These clothes are meant for someone far more slender.

Just by walking, I parted the masses of lace and ribbons that brushed past my face and limbs, advancing through the lolita jungle...

And she was there.

In the innermost portion of the long, thin room, Jeanne stood before a full length mirror, bordered with Rococo style engravings.

She was wearing the brand name waitress uniform that I had drawn the lot for as her proxy for Ristorante Masue. The uniform of 'At Home Cafeteria'. Standing there like a model, she looked at the mirror, an ecstatic smile on her face.

Wearing a skirt with openings that drew attention to her tensed long, beautiful legs, she placed a hand on her hips...

"Hehe. It really is nice."

... ...

She placed a hand on her knee and leaned forward. Turning back subtly, she adjusted the big ribbon on her back before brushing a hand through her long, silver hair (which she had let down), letting it flutter through the air.

What...is she doing?

"Heh...That I would look so lovable...Hehe."

...I...

Couldn't call out to her at all.

She was doing a solo fashion show.

Like a puma watching its prey, I peered out at my target from between the leaves of lace...

Apparently satisfied, Jeanne adjusted her headband.

"Hehe. To think that a day would come when I would be able to wear this boldly in front of everyone. The people at Informa will not have even thought that I owned something like this. Tohyama drew the best lot possible. He did well."

She spoke to herself.

And so, my voice leaked out.

"Ahh..."

Having heard my voice, the Witch of Silver Ice, Jeanne, froze.

Her eyes meeting mine in the mirror, she stopped moving, as if her heart had stopped in that position.

"Jeanne. First of all...You're doing pretty well, aren't you? Nakasorachi said that you were injured, so I was worried. Also, one more thing. What the hell is this? Are these all yours?"

Walking into the solo fashion show from the forest of frills, I spoke...

Finally moving, Jeanne covered her face with her pale, white fingers.

"...This...This is the end..."

Her skirt swaying, her body crumpled as her knees dropped to the floor, just like the heroine of a tragedy.

"...What's the end?"
[[File:Aria08 231.jpg|thumb]]
"...Tohyama. You...You have seen that which cannot be seen. I cannot let you return alive."

Tears in her eyes, Jeanne drew Durandal from her back.

"H-Hey! You're armed even though you're wearing that...!?"

Overreacting, almost like I had seen her naked, Jeanne held the scabbard in her hands. Panicking, I grabbed onto it.

As if her hands were devoid of strength, Jeanne let her sword go immediately.

"There...There is no-one who has seen this room. This is the secret garden that belongs to me and me only. I had been keeping this a secret from even Riko...!"

Jeanne's eyes were brimming with tears, her hands trembling...

And this time, a CZ100 greeted me from behind Jeanne's cocktail apron.

"I-I got it. I'll keep it a secret. Between just the two of us. So please don't shoot."

"...Do you promise? If you talk about this to anyone, I'll make you into a frozen gratin."

"I promise. Or rather, humans can't become gratins."

I said.

Jeanne sighed, a sigh that spoke of melancholy itself.

"...If I fired in a place like this, I would be making holes in all my clothes..."

And she stowed her gun away.

Holes in clothes are worth more than my life? Well...I was saved by that, so you have my thanks, western clothing.

I sat on a leather sofa in the room that was more like an executive office, waiting for Jeanne.

Jeanne　had changed into her uniform and her cheeks flushed with pink, she brewed me some coffee, lips twisted into a pout.

"I will say this now, but I myself know very well."

Sitting down with her knees together, just like a lady, Jeanne spoke, her legs slanting forward.

"Know what?"

"That those kinds of clothes do not suit a girl like me."

Really seeming as if she was embarrassed from the depths of her heart, Jeanne kept her head down but looked up at me.

"Those dresses are lovely when girls like Riko, small in stature, wear them. It is decidedly so. However...I am rather tall and have been raised as a boy since I was very young. Therefore, by nature, it does not fit me. However, the more I thought of it...for some reason, I started to feel a sort of yearning for those dresses..."

Ahh...

Well, it's not like I can't understand.

It's human nature to yearn strongly for that which we don't have.

"And then, there was Riko's influence on me...though I knew that it did not suit me, I went to Harajuku, thinking to buy one dress...and after that, it became a habit of mine, and now, things are as you have just witnessed. Haha...I am a laughable girl, am I not? You can laugh if you want. Hahaha..."

A broken laugh spilled from her lips...

"N-No, I'm not going to laugh. I thought it was cute."

The clothes were, that is.

"...C-Cute...?"

Were my words unexpected? Jeanne's ice blue eyes widened.

"Mm? Y-Yeah."

The clothes were cute.

"What a strange person. You cannot have much sense about these things."

Jeanne said, looking to the side...Facing the wall, her face looked like she was resisting the urge to smile from happiness.

Th-Thank God.

It seems like I made the right dialogue selection in the visual novel called life.

It looks like I can finally get to the point.

"By the way...Where did you go after Bandere?"

"--I was keeping track of Grenada's movements the entire time."

"What are they doing? I can't see any of their actions from here."

"Everyone has returned to their respective territories and they are all looking for an opportune moment. The only person that acted immediately is Hilda herself. I also engaged with her. The truth is, I was heavily shocked."

"Was that your injury? Where is it?"

"You would not be able to infer this from my appearance, but the damage has remained in the tendons all over my body, and I cannot use my limbs with any strength. Thanks to that, it seems that I will be unable to participate in combat for half a month."

...So that's why even I could take her sword from her before.

"Aria and I were also attacked by Hilda. We somehow managed to stay unharmed though."

"I heard from Riko. But be at ease. After a month, she will be unable to remain in Tokyo. Tamamo is expanding the Barrier of Exorcism without stopping to rest. Hilda is already unable to approach the stretch of coast from the Tokyo Disneyland to Academy Island, Empty Island, Daiba, Shinagawa and Toyosu. The barrier is improvised, so it seems that it will only hold for one year, but Tamamo's Barrier of Exorcism is formidable."

"Exorcism...Barrier? What the hell's that?"

"Speaking simply, it creates a zone that monsters are unable to invade. There is no obstruction to human bodies, but if monsters enter the barrier...speaking in terms of humans, it would be like being bombarded by a neutron beam."

"S-Some amazing things are starting, from below the surface."

"It is not something that has just started now. In the first place, Tokyo, followed by Rome and Hong Kong, is a city with high magic rejection. Yamate line and the Central line outline the yin-yang of all things ''in potentia''. It is well known that all magics weaken within it."

It isn't well known at all, is it?

I've been living in Tokyo for years and this is the first time I've heard about this gigantic SSR project.

"...Which reminds me, what are we going to do, Jeanne? Should we talk to Aria about Grenada and Deen? I haven't said anything yet, just in case."

"Indeed...let us stay silent until we are no longer able. Judging from her personality, she would go on the offensive if she found out. With Tamamo's barrier, this battle is one that is better fought defending."

"I was thinking that too. What should we tell Shirayuki?"

"Let us wait for Tamamo to decide. It would not be good for someone like you, inexperienced as you are in ability battles, to relay inaccurate information."

"That's...true. The specialists should do what they feel is best."

The moment I finished drinking my coffee...

Jeanne's cellphone rang.

"...It's Nakasorachi."

"Nakasorachi? She's in the room right next to us."

As I sat there wondering, Jeanne left me to myself and spoke on the phone for a while.

"Yes...I understand. Wait a moment, Nakasorachi...Tohyama, stay in this room. If she sees you, Nakasorachi will be unable to carry out her function. Talk with her using this phone."

"What is it? It seems that you asked Nakasorachi for something last week, but--what is it?"

"Indeed. I am making her eavesdrop on the transfer student's conversations."

"Transfer student?"

"L Watson. I suspect him."

"...!"

--Watson--

My eyes flew open in response to Jeanne's words.

"It seems that you have also taken note of this, but his movements are unnatural. All his records have been wiped, but we know he is not a normal person. His second name is 'Vein'--a boy who was decorated for his capacity as a spy, and a capable one too, for the confidential organization Liberty Mason."

"...He's..."

"I hate people who work in such a reprehensible manner. And many of my supporters in the tennis club have switched over to Watson. That, I cannot take."

Reprehensible...? Isn't eavesdropping reprehensible?

Also, it feels like you're just retaliating because Watson took all the popularity amongst the girls, but...I won't be saying that. It's promising that Jeanne is on the anti-Watson brigade.

"Tohyama, listen to this. It seems that he has made a move. He is alone and speaking with Aria."

She said.

I took the phone from Jeanne and hurriedly held it to my ear as Jeanne walked into the room with Nakasorachi.

Peeking into Nakasorachi's room a little...I saw that the room was darkened, perhaps so she could concentrate.

Nakasorachi was wearing a headset, and I could only see her face flicker in the green, yellow and blue lights that came blinking from the control panels of the communication and acoustic devices. On the display panel, audio ranges were divided up into alevel meters, and there were several tens of them lined up, increasing and decreasing rapidly.

Beside her, Jeanne was also wearing a headset. She continued to look at the equalizer that Nakasorachi was operating.

Looking closely, Nakasorachi's feet were stepping on countless pedals placed under her, making it look like she was playing an electronic organ. It was like she was swimming through a sea of sound.

"--They are currently inside a shop. Daiba 191. The 3rd floor of Hotel Japan Airlines' continental restaurant - Terrace on the Bay. They have entered a personal room. The voices inside the room are comparatively clear."

She was firm and clear, almost as if she was a completely different person. I could hear Nakasorachi's voice, like that of a female news announcer, ring out firm and elegant.

She's ''different'', only able to speaking normally through communication devices.

"Did you bug a place like that...?"

"--No. There is an EX-Unidirectional laser mike set up on the roof of the girl's dormitory gathering sound. If targeted at a surface location within a three kilometer radius, it can monitor the sound of the direction to which it is set."

"T-Three kilometers...that's amazing. You can hear people talking inside a shop three kilometers away?"

"--It is possible. The microphone amplifies the the vibrations of the voices that reach the glass of the window...the conversation inside the room is audible. Redirecting."

The power of science is amazing.

A conversation in a private room of a restaurant in Daiba can be heard directly here.

It's quite similar to ability. From my point of view, at least.

"'...hen, wha...did they Menu say?'"

Possibly because of the sheer distance, there was a little feedback mixed in with the audio, but...

This anime voice that I could hear definitely belonged to Aria.

"'...en I was in London, Menuette-san...said...ease take care...my older sister...'" "'...That girl...even though she's my sister, she looks at me from ab...so...'" "'Also...she said...the punishment game from that card game is still continuing.'" "'...She's the same as ever. It's disgusting. She's being rebellious...'"

I switched between being able to hear Watson and Aria's voice.

The line kept getting interrupted, but it seemed that they were talking about Aria's little sister.

Rather, did she have one?

Even though I've lived together with her for half a year, she never said anything to me about something as small as her sister's existence.

Well...I also hid the existence of Brother, so I can't really say anything.

She's probably the kind of sister that has characteristics that are hard to describe, or they don't get along or something.

But even so...I'm feeling a strange displeasure at the fact that Aria and Watson are talking about a common topic that none but the two of them know.

"--It seems that they are taking their seats. I can hear footsteps from Watson."

Nakasorachi looked down, as if focusing.

"--There is some strangeness in his footsteps. This is not beneficial information, but I will report it because it has been brought to my attention. Watson's body fat percentage is high. It seems to be 27%."

Nakasorachi...you can know something like that from this feedback-filled sound?

She really is a genius when you have her do audio investigations. All humans have good points.

But, a body fat percentage of 27%? That's a lot. Even I, who's already stopped going to Assault, have 15%.

Watson seems to be the kind of guy that hides his fat.

"--Aria takes her seat. Watson takes his seat."

"...but...what's the reason you're not coming back to England...I can have the ceremony by tomorrow, even..." "...It's too early for me to...think about..." "...Why are you hesitating? Do you have any other fiancés?" "..."

"--Aria is silent."

Nakasorachi's courteous explanation came through.

"'What's wrong...are you engaged to someone else?'" "'...'"

Watson repeated the same question and Aria remained silent...

"--There is someone. Every time Aria hears the word 'engaged', her heart beats loudly. Her body is experiencing other reactions besides that. The reactions of a girl who has strong feelings for a boy."

Nakasorachi declared.

Is that so.

Other than Watson...there's another fiancé? Aria being Aria, isn't she popular?

She didn't tell me about that either though.

"'Aria. It seems that your standing amongst the Holmes family is bad, but...if you marry me and enter the Watson family...your...also...the Watson family has succeeded with their finances, and now, we are more prosperous than the Holmes family...so...able...look back at them in scorn, you know? And your work won't be as something like a chief of a raid squad at the London Butei Division...but...if you become one of the Watsons...leadership...'" "'...'"

Watson spoke and Aria remained silent...

Irritation began to swell up inside me.

"'...Also, the Watson family has...Japan's political, judiciary circles...your mother's sentence...'" "'...'"

"--Aria's heartbeat has changed at the mention of 'Mother' and 'Sentence'. Starting to sweat."

"'...so...even if it's just on record...how about it, Aria...'" "'...Let me think about it...'"

Hey...

Let me think about it?

Are you talking about marrying Watson?

"Nakasorachi. Um...is Aria serious? Um...about...marriage..."

"She is serious. However, her tone...extrapolating from the memory of voice data of other girls the same age...her tone suggests that there is something that she is willing to sacrifice herself to protect."

...Are you serious?

Aria.

--Will you become Watson's?--

(Aria!)

At that moment.

My body.

--''Thump''--

What...

...is this?

--''Thump''--

A heartbeat that seemed to sear into me shuddered through my body. Twice. Three times. It continued.

That was what it was.

Blood is rising to my head--a sensation that I was no longer able to think.

It's similar to Hysteria Mode--but it's different.

It felt like I was being ravaged by these violent emotions.

--Steal her back...!

A voice spoke those words...from my heart, the very center of my soul, from the depths...I could hear the voice.

(''This'' is...!)

I remember. My body has felt ''this'' before.

This is the same thing that happened when Sherlock stole Aria from me at I-U.

--Hysteria Berserk.

One of the derivatives of Hysteria Mode that my brother told me about.

Different from the ordinary Hysteria Mode, which 'protects' girls, this power is meant for 'stealing' them.

The hostility that I feel towards other men in these situations opens this state up. A dark, dark key--

"...Nn...!"

I leaned against the wall, clutching my chest so hard it looked like I was going to tear my heart out.

I...can no longer stop this flow of blood.

It's true that Berserk is a...dangerous mode. One's battle ability is amplified by 1.7 times compared to normal Hysteria mode, but in exchange...all thoughts are focused upon aggression. To give an example, it's a double-edged blade...something like that?

--But, who cares?

I started to feel as if it didn't matter.

It doesn't matter. Nothing matters.

Conversely, I started to want to curse the cowardice I had been showing up till this point.

Why did I leave Watson, who was approaching Aria, alone?

Watson...this is a bad way of saying it, but...Watson, did you think I'd ''let'' you have my seat as Aria's partner?

It's true that he's better than me at a lot of things.

He'll be able to respond to the battles that are coming. His appearance is beautiful, his grades excellent, and he's wealthy.

But, ''who cares about that''...!?

Aria is my partner.

If you're trying to snatch her from me, then...

Fight me like a man, Watson.

Don't do things like taking Aria from me by deceiving Aria with tricks of speech.

I won't hand Aria over to people like that.

--And Aria. I'm sorry. I won't be gentle with you this time.

''I'm going to steal you.''

Thinking about it, when I was forced to team up with Reki...you tried to do the same thing at the school train station.

Allow me the privilege of stealing you back.

"Tohyama, what's wrong?"

Jeanne had come close to me at some point, and I grabbed her shoulder.

I noticed that I had taken Jeanne's phone from my ear.

Jeanne saw that my eyes had become sharper, sharper than normal, and sharper than my eyes in the normal Hysteria Mode...she tried to say something, so I pressed down on her mouth with my right hand.

Immediately, I spun her around, hugging her head, wreathed in silver hair, to my chest--

I brought Jeanne inside the room, to a place Nakasorachi could not see from her angle.

"Uuu---!?"

Reflected in the mirror was Jeanne, struggling while embraced by me...

However, it seemed that she really couldn't exert any strength. She was at my discretion.

Be careful for a while. Or you'll be subjected to these kinds of violent acts by the current me.

"Jeanne."

With the fingers of my left hand, I searched out a white ear from between the strands of hair the colour of ice.

I touched Jeanne's ear and she trembled at the contact...

Therefore.

"Don't make a noise."

I softly whispered those words into her ear.

Nakasorachi's wearing headphones and is concentrating on eavesdropping. Seeing as she won't come here even if she looks around at what's happening for a few second...it would seem that if we keep our voices to that level, she won't notice.

Jeanne, reflected in the mirror, tried to move again, but I pulled her hips into mine with my right hand.

"...!"

Seeing herself in the mirror, my mouth by her ear, Jeanne's ice-blue eyes widened--

Her cheeks and ears were gradually tinged with pink.

So that she could continue to breathe, I moved my hand from her mouth--but even then, I placed my index finger over her rose-coloured lips, continuing to gesture 'to her to 'keep quiet'...

"--T-Tohyama...!"

Jeanne responded with a soundless voice, apparently having read the atmosphere.

"Butei should not feel lust just from hearing about male-female entanglements! Nakasorachi is in the next room, you realize? I do not claim to know, so I have no proof, b-but she is not able enough to hold back her scream, even if you try to calm her down. N-No, rather than that, HSS--"

Jeanne spoke that far before I whispered into her ear again.

"Correct."

"Wh-Which of the things I said are correct?'

"Currently, I am in HSS--Hysteria Mode. However, it seems that this is a modified form. I suddenly feel like going outside. I'll be borrowing your cellphone."

"Going outside...?"

"Continue to make Nakasorachi tell me the situation through the phone."

Saying that, I released Jeanne and checked the magazines of my Beretta and DE.

Jeanne nodded once before she slumped to the floor...was the sight of me in Berserk that shocking?

Hey, me.

What exactly are you doing?

After this, Jeanne's definitely going to go ballistic on me, saying things like: "What do you mean by that!"

I've only learned this now, but the me in Berserk is opposite from the me in HSS.

I am rough with girls. I could even be called violent. Like a carnivore--

I can only pray that I don't make these kinds of moves on Aria.

Because, when predators savage each other, all involved with be covered with holes and soaked in blood.

"--Watson as well as Aria are moving. There is a change in Aria's manner of walking. It seems that she's tottering, or in other words, stumbling about. They have moved into an elevator. Descending. The door is closing. Voice suspended--"

Nakasorachi's voice, connecting to Jeanne's cellphone from the headsets linked over WLAN, continued on.

By now, the tap had become just feedback to me, an amateur.

From within that, Nakasorachi picked up faint sounds and told me Aria and Watson's movements.

I returned to my room and picked up spare magazines as well as Orochi. Better to have one hand than none.

Because I could not get Mutou's help, I had no choice but to ride my own bike.

The watch ticked over 22:00.

The lights attached to the front fork of the bike illuminated the road flowing past me.

I had tried cycling with all my might before, but the me in Hysteria Mode was able to output around 90 km/h on just a normal bike. If it's just Daiba, then there isn't that big a difference between this method of transportation and any others, right?

So I thought, but...

"--Voice has been recaptured through echos off buildings. Watson and Aria are in a car. The car is a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The soft cover is currently closed. Moving northeast on city highway 482."

Watson was going out by car.

Northwest...He intends to bring Aria somewhere, not returning to Butei High.

However, there's no way I can race a Porsche with a bike.

"--Watson is speaking to Aria. Aria is not responding. She seems to be sleeping."

Sleeping...?

"It's unnatural. Tell me how she's sleeping, Nakasorachi. It's probably quite difficult, but can you?"

"--...Processing...consciousness levels are below JCSII-10. The sounds of the vital signs such as breathing or heart rate resemble the lowering of clarity that occurs with the application anesthetics or drugs."

That bastard Watson...!

He did it this time. It seems that he slipped Aria a sleeping pill or the like at the restaurant.

I don't know what he plans on doing, but I hope he tries hurting Aria just a little.

Because I will return the pain completely.

In the most violent manner possible--!

(But...)

Where does Watson plan on going? If I don't know, I'll be left behind, unable to chase him.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I took the road under the monorail, heading to Daiba.

At that moment.

"--I can hear the sound of information being entered into the navigation systems of the car. The voice of the navigation system. Destination is...Sumida, Tokyo Oshiage 1-1-2."

"Nice assist, Nakasorachi. I'll give you a kiss later."

"--Please refrain from unregulated declarations."

Haha.

She paid attention to me.

The me in Berserk and Nakasorachi, across the communication device. Both of us are in personalities completely different from our normal ones.

"--Watson and Aria have reached the maximum range of audio capture. Voice was lost at the high-speed Metropolitan Shiodome Junction. Judging from the situation, I believe that you will be out of range--Be careful."

We've finally reached the limit of Nakasorachi's ears, huh.

But it's more than enough. She really saved me.

Because if I know their destination, I can chase them.

Wait for me, Watson. I'll wake Aria up and instead, put you to sleep.

"--In a hospital bed, that is!"

Looking at a map with my own phone, my destination...Oshiage 1-1-2, was...

--The Tokyo Sky Tree.

Its current site of construction.

Wondering if this was really the place and looking around...Watson's Porsche was in a nearby parking lot.

But there was no one in the car.

Checking the heat of the muffler, I estimated that it had been 15 minute since the car had stopped.

Using the light that I unclipped from my bicycle, I illuminated the ground of the construction site, the sandy floor visible through a metal fence...Ah, found it. The footprints of Butei High shoes.

However, there wasn't a set for Aria.

Watson walked while carrying the sleeping Aria, huh.

(Why...did he bring Aria here...?)

I looked up at the Sky Tree, about 7/10 done...It was tall.

So tall that looking up at me made my neck hurt.

I didn't realize it when I saw the Sky Tree with Aria from the classroom's veranda, but if you go to the bottom, the white pillars were terrifyingly huge.

It was a massive structure, so huge that I couldn't even bring myself to understand that it was a tower.

At the topmost part, the crane in the midst of building the second viewing platform...was enveloped by the darkness, becoming completely invisible.

Looking even more closely, it was different from an ordinary tower in that the supporting pillars were all lined up in a light helix.

(Is he...at the top of this?)

I scaled the metal fence, chasing the footprints into the tower interior construction site.

Because we were in the dead of the night, there was nobody. On top of that, there was hardly anything there at all--so my footsteps on the metal plates rang out into the air.

Staying vigilant of the shadows of the signboards and heavy machinery inside the construction site, I would, from time to time, point my gun forward, going forth.

"..."

The footprints on top of the sandy metal boards had nearly become invisible...

At its end, there stood a temporary work elevator.

(...An elevator...)

If I use it, I'll reveal the fact that I tracked them here.

Like I care. The me currently, in Berserk, couldn't think of anything much more than attacking the enemy and stealing Aria.

I inserted a skeleton key I took out from the Butei Handbook into the keyhole used for operation.

The unstable elevator, using a metal fence in place of a door, ascended.

User:Stardust Fall

2012-09-05T12:37:56Z

Stardust Fall:

Some person from Australia, located deep within the realms of the hikikomori. Generally lazes around on Steam and Origin until the decision to play a game is made. Only bothers with the official Touhou games, doesn't bother with any other danmaku games.. which may change over the course of the future.

Currently playing:

- Mass Effect 3 (Multiplayer)

- Touhou Project

PC gamer, don't play consoles anymore.

Plain life huh?

Status: Waiting for Steam sales and new games.

User:Stardust Fall

2012-09-05T12:11:50Z

Stardust Fall:

Some person from Australia, located deep within the realms of the hikikomori. Generally lazes around on Steam and Origin until the decision to play a game is made.

Currently playing:

- Mass Effect 3 (Multiplayer)

- Touhou Project

PC gamer, don't play consoles anymore.

Plain life huh?

Status: Waiting for Steam sales and new games. Soon to edit on Hidan no Aria

User:Stardust Fall

2012-09-05T12:05:27Z

Stardust Fall:

User:Stardust Fall

2012-09-05T12:04:20Z

Stardust Fall: Created page with "Some person from Australia, located deep within the realms of the hikikomori. Generally lazes around on Steam and Origin until the decision to play a game is made. Currently p..."