Fifth Bullet Diamond Dust

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

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

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

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

…and went right to bed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Shirayuki? She said she wouldn’t.”

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

“Yeah. Me and Aria.”

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

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

She can fight on par with Aria anyway.

“…So? ... Which is it, Kinji?”

“Which is what?”

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

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

“Aria, right?”

“Why Aria?”

And why am I so shaken up by the assertion?

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

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

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

“Not a chance.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“…I’m sorry!”

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

“I almost resorted to underhanded tactics!”

“?”

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

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

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

Muto grabbed my shoulder, waking me up.

“. . . ?”

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

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

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

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

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

I blew it.

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

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

“…Disappeared?”

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

“Kin-chan, I’m sorry. Good-bye.”

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

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

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

It might have been just the opposite. I was thinking to myself that it would be better if he didn’t exist. … And somewhere along the line, I convinced myself that he really didn’t. I had stepped out into the walkways of Butei High, but without any clues, the only thing I could do is roam about and keep my eyes open. Muto and I agreed to split up and search for Shirayuki, but how in world am I supposed to find her?! I don’t even know where to start—not in my current state!

And I had to keep in mind that the situation was D7. If I went around indiscreetly inquiring people about Shirayuki, there was the chance that contrary to my intentions, I would actually be putting her in danger. None of my calls to Shirayuki were getting through so I tried calling Aria, but for some reason I was unable to reach her as well. In her case there was a ring tone, so she should have responded.

Aria!

If the two of us had been guarding Shirayuki just like the plan originally called for, this might not have happened. But it was my fault that Aria left the picture. I didn’t take her warning seriously, and I didn’t believe in her intuition. As a result, I pretty much forced her to stay uninvolved.

I … was being the absolute worst idiot possible! And Shirayuki said she believed in an idiot like me. That night I started guarding Shirayuki on my own, she told me she believed in me. And yet … I betrayed that trust!

I ran through the streets like an animal on the loose and checked around every alley I came across. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. The time just continued to pointlessly tick away.

Am I… this incompetent? Can I not even protect one single girl the way I am now? I am just … so … helpless! But … even so, I have to do something! If it’s come to this, I’ve got no choice but to find some sort of lead even if I have to scour every corner of Academy Island to do so. I’ll search everywhere. That’s all there is to it. That’s all I can do. Shirayuki. I’m not the kind of hero you say I am. I’m a worthless low-life who fell asleep when you were in trouble. But even a worthless low-life like me has to live up to the expectations of the person who placed her trust in me! … If I don’t, then I’m even less than worthless!

Short on breath, I was running through the southern area of Butei High when an incoming phone call caught my attention. I snatched up my phone and placed it to my ear.

“Kinji. This is Reki. I have you in my sights.”

… Reki!

“It seems we have a D7. I saw the message on my cell phone during the intermission of the sniping contest.”

“Y-Yeah.”

That’s right. I heard Reki would be participating in the Adsiard as a representative of Japan.

I could hear the voices of people yelling angrily in the background, saying things such as “What are you doing, Reki?!” or “You were just about to set a world record!” Reki said something, but her voice was cut short by those around her.

“Reki, where are you right now?! It’s so loud over there I couldn’t make out what you said!”

“The seventh floor of the Snipe building.”

“Snipe …” I said to myself and turned north.

The Snipe building was composed of an underground facility that was equipped with a long and narrow firing range, and the main building, which rose above the surface in the northern part of Academy Island.

“Sorry about the noise. It’s unrelated to your client so calm down.”

“What is it?! What going on?!”

“I left the range in the middle of the sniping competition, so I was disqualified. Everyone seems to be displeased about it.”

I heard the sound of a window opening over the phone. Next, I heard a gunshot followed by a large commotion in the background. I was about to ask what happened when the glass sphere of lamppost next to me shattered. I was in a state of panic, but the exploding glass took me by surprise and brought me to a complete standstill.

“Kinji, please calm down. Just losing one’s composure reduces a person’s abilities by half.”

D . . . Did Reki just fire at that? There’s nearly two kilometers from here to the Snipe building …

“That’s exactly what’s happening to you right now,” she continued.

“R . . . Right.”

I heard a magazine being reloaded into a gun. It was amazing that she could be so accurate while talking on the phone and using that outdated Dragunov rifle, no less.

“I don’t see the client anywhere … but I can sense something unnatural in ocean currents. It’s around drainpipe number nine.”

There were twenty-eight drainpipes on the fringes of this Mega-Float that was Academy Island. They were holes from which any water that irregularly entered the island via rainfall and the like was pumped into the ocean.

“W-Which way?”

“… I … am a single bullet …” was the response that came back to me. It was a sort of incantation she used—one she had a habit of chanting when she concentrated.

Zpp!

The bullet from a sniper rifle marked the asphalt a short distance away from my feet.

Zpp! Zpp! Zpp! Zpp! Zpp!

W ... What the?

Making use of the Dragonuv’s rapid-fire abilities, Reki was etching something in the asphalt. Soon enough I realized what it was.

“In that direction. Please investigate it. I’ll continue to search for the client from here.”

She had drawn an arrow thirty centimeters in length and width. I arrived at the drainpipe it pointed me towards, but I didn’t see anything particularly suspicious about the water coming out of it. There were, however, traces of drainpipe number nine’s grating being removed and forcefully put back in place. Reki noticed the changes in the ocean surface that came about from something as minimal as this? At that distance?

Not that it was the time for being impressed by Reki’s super-human eyesight. I checked my butei handbook to see where this drainpipe led.

“Junction …” I whispered to myself, sweating. It wasn’t sweat from running around. I had broken into a cold sweat. There was danger to be found in pretty much every inch of Butei High, but Junction was one of the three great danger zones along with Assault and Masters (the educational affairs department). The term “Junction” was nothing more than a euphemism used to avoid touching upon what the underground warehouse really was—an explosives storehouse.

This is bad. Very bad. I don’t mean to imitate Aria, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Not many were aware of it, but something significant was happening in Butei High. And Shirayuki was caught right in the center of it!

The subterranean floors of Butei High were structured like the decks of a ship, and all floors underneath the first basement were below sea level. I flew down the stairs to the first basement and jumped into the elevator that would take me to the lower levels, which were designated as a restricted area. Once inside, I tapped in emergency password … but the elevator wouldn’t move.

That’s weird. It’s not working the way it normally does. That much is fact.

I went into the transformer room and removed the thick pin that was securing the emergency ladder in the corner. The manhole-like door installed in the floor also served as partition in the event of flooding and was made of three layers of metal. Using the password, a cardkey, and the contactless IC card chip incorporated in my butei handbook, I opened the door, and putting the ladder in place, I descended to the floor underneath. That brought me to the boiler room where I repeated the same process to access the third, fourth, and fifth basement. The ladder was rusted, and my hands were cover with abrasions from climbing down it so quickly.

… It hurts. Man, does it hurt. But I don’t have the time to be concerned with that now! If there’s even a one percent chance of Shirayuki being here, I’ll climb down as fast I possibly can. If that’s what it takes to save her after she believed in me, then so be it!

And at length, I made it to the seventh basement.

Junction.

This was the deepest section of Butei High. Drainpipe number nine was connected to this floor. Of course, just making it through the drainpipes didn’t mean an easy access to the area afterwards … but I knew it wasn’t impossible to do so long as I kept going. The weakness and flaws in Butei High’s structures often came up in conversations between students. Since Butei High was designed to be so expansive, it was relatively susceptible to infiltration by outside forces. The reason it isn’t that big of a concern is simply because there aren’t many people stupid enough to trespass on an island crawling with hundreds of buteis. When I dropped down into a reference room, which was located in the corner of Junction and no longer in use, it dawned on me. It’s dark.

I carefully opened the door so as not to make any noise and looked down the corridor, but it was pitch-black. The power was out. Only the red emergency lamps remained on. Thinking to call Muto and Reki, I took out my cell phone, but the Inbuilding Mobile Communication System must have been taken out because the words “No Service” displayed on the screen.

Damn.

I was pissed off at myself for being too much of a dolt to anticipate this situation. This wasn’t going to be like some video game where a flashlight or transceiver would be conveniently lying around on the ground. Still, I would lose too much time if I were to go all the way back to surface. Right now, what mattered more communications or light was time. I wasn’t sure if my judgment was correct, but Shirayuki might be in danger at this very moment—all because I was an idiot. If that were the case, I had to hurry. There was nothing else to it.

I ran through the aisles looking for Shirayuki, doing my best to hide the sound of my footsteps. The corridors were wide and there were shelves of munitions left and right. According to my butei handbook, which I managed to keep lit with a miniature light, the area up ahead of me was a wide-open space. It was called the grand warehouse, and it was where the most dangerous munitions in Junction were stored. It was from there …

“…!”

…that I felt human presence. The person was having an argument. I couldn’t make out what was being said, someone was definitely there. I reached for my Beretta, and as my hand touched the grip, a frown came to my face. In the darkness, which was ever so slightly illuminated by the red lamps, I noticed warning signs all around me that read “Keep Out” or “Danger.”

This was an explosives warehouse.

If a bullet were to ricochet off of anything it shouldn’t and set off an explosion … Butei High would be sent flying. And by no means was that just a figure of speech. It would be like a battleship taking a direct hit from a torpedo. The sheer amount of explosives being kept here was easily capable of doing just that. And as far as I could see, everything was put away in a very disorganized manner. If one explosion were to cause a chain reaction of other explosions, there would be a large number of casualties among the faculty, students, Adsiard athletes, and the many capable young buteis gathered here in Butei High from countries all over the world. And that wasn’t all. The press was here to cover the Adsiard. There would be reports of an unprecedented tragedy in which hundreds of high school students were blown to pieces and sent flying all over the place. … In any case, I couldn’t use my gun. I took out the butterfly knife in my pocket and opened it quietly. The blade glinted with red underneath the emergency lamps. The butterfly knife was a weapon prone to making sounds and not suitable for infiltration missions. I had to keep it steady in my hand and be careful not to wave it around too carelessly. Keeping that in mind, I used the blade a makeshift mirror to furtively peer around the corner … that’s when I saw her. Roughly fifty meters away from me, bathed in the red of the emergency lamps and next to a wall where munitions were stacked into a huge pile, stood Shirayuki in her priestess garbs. She was talking with somebody I couldn’t see because that person seemed to be lurking on the other side of a shelf of explosives, which were lined up rather irregularly—or possibly rearranged that way. I had an impulse to go right ahead and jump out onto the scene but somehow managed to restrain myself. First, I had to get a grasp on the situation. After all, that “somebody” might be pointing a gun at Shirayuki. I brought myself as close the corner as I dared and pricked up my ears.

“Why do want me, Durandal? My abilities aren’t even that spectacular.” Shirayuki’s voice was filled with fear.

… Durandal! Durandal actually exists?!

“There is someone who is attempting to outwit us—unaware that the front is the rear of the rear.”

It sounded masculine but it was definitely female voice – and she spoke in slightly old fashioned way. “One who feigns the idea of peace negotiations while making preparations in the shadows. But strife will only serve to further strengthen the one to attempts to outwit us. Our great founder is one who dons the rear side of the shadows; in other words, our founder is one who dons the light and made plans for the shadows.”

“What … are you talking about …?”

“The enemy has begun training Stealths (espers) in the shadows. We are going to cultivate stronger Stealths on the rear side. A rare stone of ore such as yourself—well, it is only natural to reach out one’s had to such a stone. There is nothing to find mysterious about it, Shirayuki. By good fortune you were guarded by a defective butei. ”

“A defective butei . . . ? Who do you mean?” There was a hint of anger mixed in Shirayuki’s voice. The voice of girl opposite from her took on a more mocking tone.

“I thought I might have had a little trouble dealing with Holmes, but just as I planed, Kinji Tohyama took on the role of sending her away. What else could one possibly call him besides a defective butei?”

“Kin-chan . . . Kin-chan is not defective!”

“But given your plight, is it not true that he was unable to protect you?”

“That’s … that’s not true! Kin-chan wouldn’t lose to you! I didn’t want to cause any trouble for him … so I just decided against calling him!

“Hmph!” Durandal laughed. “So you didn’t want to cause any trouble for him? But you know, Shirayuki—you, too, played a role in my scheme.”

“I did?”

“[You remember the phone call, don’t you?]”

My heart nearly stopped when I heard the voice that came out from the shadows.

That … was my voice! Did that girl just imitate my voice?!

“[Shirayuki, come quick! Get over here! I’m in the bathroom!]”

“… Ngh!”

I could tell that Shirayuki had her breath stolen away. The other girl must have found it amusing because she seemed to be enjoying herself as she continued to speak.

“Holmes had set up numerous surveillance cameras, but I was the one surveying your apartment. You were by the living room window, the lights went off in the bathroom that was occupied by Tohyama … and Aria had made her way back at just that moment. I’m not the type to pass up on such opportunities.”

“You posed as Kin-chan to make me take action … and created a scenario in which Kin-chan and Aria would … fight amongst themselves?”

“Everything else played out on its own. Before a few days could pass, Aria had left the two of you.”

Durandal. … She was watching us? She was hiding right next to us—next to Aria and I … and her target, Shirayuki? And the first thing she did was to get rid of Aria, the keystone in protecting Shirayuki. She then waited for me to let down my guard. And now she was trying to kidnap Shirayuki …!

“Follow me, Shirayuki. But … before you become one of us, you should first become disillusioned with Tohyama. A gem such as yourself should offer your body and soul to someone else.”

My mind went completely blank when I heard what she said next.

“I’m going to take you with me now—to IU, that is.”

IU. The ones who framed Aria’s mother, Kanae Kanzaki, leaving her with a prison sentence of eight hundred and sixty-four years and employed the “butei killer,” Riko Mine Lupin the Fourth … to kill my brother …! I admired him so much ever since I was a kid—my brother, who was stronger, wiser, and kinder than anyone. And they were the ones responsible for his …! I could feel the blood rushing to my head. The butterfly knife, which I kept as a keepsake of my brother, shook audibly in my trembling fist.

“And one more thing.” The girl’s voice became slightly more lucid. “There was just one thing that didn’t go according to my calculations. It seems I misread your personality. I was under the impression that you were the type who kept her promises.”

“… What do you mean …?”

“‘I’ll turn myself over to you without any resistance. In exchange, don’t involve the students of Butei High—especially Kinji Tohyama.’ You undoubtedly made that promise. I heard it with my own ears. But on the rear side of things … you were calling him.”

Her voice was being projected in a different direction when she said those last words. She was obviously pointing them in my direction.

She noticed me.

Realizing that, I made my next move.

“Shirayuki, run!” I yelled out as I darted towards them. It wouldn’t be entirely incorrect to assume that I had just lost my patience. But it wasn’t as if I rushed out without any ideas. I had a good sense of where the enemy was, based on the direction from which her voice came. If that were the case, I would bring this to a quick end by throwing myself onto and subduing her. There was also the fact that this is an explosives warehouse. I wouldn’t be able to use my gun, but the same applied to my opponent. There were fifty meters separating me from the enemy. With my speed, it would take seven seconds to close that distance. There was no way seven seconds would be enough time for to her discover what my weapon with me running towards her, decide whether to fight or to flee, ready a weapon of her own, and position herself for combat. There was no way she could pull it off!

“Kin-chan?!” Shirayuki’s voice echoed in large warehouse. “… Don’t come this way! You’ve got to get out of here! A butei can’t win against a choutei!” Shirayuki cries were akin to screams of terror, and as soon as she finished, something came flying towards my feet at lighting fast speed and embedded itself in the floor.

“Whoa?!” my voice reverberated in the warehouse, and I pitched forward, falling on my stomach. Next to my feet, an elegantly curved silver blade was sticking upright in the floor. I had seen this weapon before in the Assault textbook, so I knew what it was. It was a French bayonet known as a yatagan. They were like short sabers that attached to the end of long, narrow, old-fashioned guns.

“L’anse de la Pucelle. Butei, know the humiliation of one made out to be a criminal and placed in shackles.”

On finishing her statement, something white began to radiate outward from the bayonet. Whatever it was, it made crackling noises as I felt it fix my feet to the floor.

I-I can’t move.

“Urgh?!”

I tried to get up, but the white substance had spread to my knees as well.

What is this?! It’s cold. ... Ice …?!

The bayonet didn’t look as if it were specially equipped with anything, and underneath my feet was just a regular linoleum floor.

How in the world is she doing this? I can’t get up. ... My body is being sewn down by ice.

“Those of my clan don the light. Our true form is the rear side of the shadows. We outwit the schemers and excel in our own schemes. And the one thing I loathe above all else—is a ‘miscalculation.’”

Our enemy, still concealing herself in the shadows, ended her sentence, and the emergency lamps in the room suddenly went out. We were now surrounded in complete and utter darkness.

“… N-No! Stop! What are you doing?! … Ngh …!”

I could hear metallic sounds coming from Shirayuki’s direction. The enemy was on the move.

“… Shirayuki!”

There was no answer from her.

What’s going on?! What did she do to her?!

I was starting to go into a panic, but being pinned to the floor with ice as I was now, I couldn’t do a thing. No. It wasn’t just this particular instance. Again, I was powerless to do anything. Far from saving Shirayuki, I had only made matters worse. That was how it had been from the very beginning—ever since I started acting as Shirayuki’s bodyguard. I was unable to assess the situation correctly, I idly just let time go by without making any preparations, and when the time did come for me to take action … in the end, all I did was waltz in here and cause problems for Shirayuki. I was witnessing danger befall upon Shrirayuki, yet was helpless to do anything about it. All I could do was watch the situation take a turn for the worse!

I heard a second bayonet traveling through the air. It was pitch dark, but I was fully aware. It was a blade meant to finish me off! At almost that exact same moment, I heard another blade being thrown from behind me

Clang!

For a brief instant, sparks scattered in the air.

I’m . . . still alive. Huh? What happened just now?

“You can hand the baton over to me now.”

It was an anime-like voice that cut through the total darkness. A light turned on in the corner of the room. It was followed by more lights, coming on one after the other like a row of falling dominos that encircled this warehouse as expansive as a gymnasium. The jet-black darkness was replaced with pure white light.

“There you are . . . Durandal! I’m placing you under arrest on the suspicion of attempted kidnapping of a minor!” cried a girl dressed in Butei High’s sailor uniform, making her appearance after trampling over my back and skull.

“Aria?!” I cried.

“It’s you, is it, Holmes?” Again came the voice of the unidentified girl. She had vanished … along with Shirayuki. She seemed to have been dragged away behind the shelves of explosives. From an open space in one of those shelves, two bayonets flew out at Aria. Aria spun her katana in a circle like the vanes of a windmill, deflecting both of them.

“Throw as many as you like. This is no different from being in a batting cage,” said Aria, holding her katana as if she were getting ready to take a swing with a baseball bat.

The sound of a door being closed caught our attention, and after a short moment of silence. …

“She ran for it.” Aria spun around, and after pulling out the bayonet planted next to me, carelessly flung it aside. She then squatted down next to my head. “Well, I guess even as a idiot, you were a little useful.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They say a courageous person can make use of barbarians while a wise person can make use of fools, don’t they? There are ways of using you when you’re in idiot Kinji mode too.”

She showed up only to start talking nonsense again. And don’t squat down right in front of my face.

I turned my neck—the only part of me that I could move freely—to avoid getting a glimpse of the inside of her pleated skirt. Straightening out her knees, Aria ran to go check on Shirayuki, but then made a screeching noise with her sneakers as she came to a halt, sending her long ponytails waving in front of her.

“…?” I looked at Aria with puzzled eyes.

Aria took a step back and stuck her katana out in the air. I heard something I couldn’t see get cut in two.

“. . . What was that?”

“Piano wire. To be precise, it was probably twisted nano-Kevlar wire. It was set up at the same height as my neck.

Aria looked around and cut another wire.

“This one was set at the height of your neck. It was perfectly lined up on a diagonal axis so that if you were to run straight through here, your carotid artery would have been severed. She probably intended to kill you with this if the knife didn’t finish the job.”

“S-She’s a cautious one! Attempting to kidnap Shirayuki and laying traps all the while. …”

“But her traps won’t work. My eyes can’t be fooled,” said Aria, full of confidence. She picked up the katana that she threw when she saved me earlier and made her way towards Shirayuki once more. Before very long, she came back and kneeled by my side.

“How’s Shirayuki?”

“She’s not hurt. But she’s tied up. Help me set her free,” Aria said with one of her knees placed on top of me as she used her katana to chip away the ice fusing my limbs to the floor.

“Aria …what have you been doing?! I haven’t seen or heard from you since that day.”

“Durandal was observing Shirayuki from someplace hidden. And I had a feeling she was rapidly closing the distance between her and Shirayuki. But she never dared to attack when Reki or I was around. That’s why I intentionally stopped being her bodyguard.”

“When you disappeared after our fight on the roof of Assault … that was a part of your strategy?”

“Butei Charter, Article Two: Fulfill the contract made with your clients at all costs. I’ll never abandon a mission. Well, I was seriously mad at you when you were sleeping out on the roof, but I thought it would also be good opportunity,” Aria said as she freed my elbow from the floor. “Durandal is one of IU’s top strategists. But since you were only moderately guarding Shirayuki, I was finally able to divert her attention away from me. What are you looking so discontented about? You have some kind of complaint?”

I finally regained the ability to move around, but I didn’t voice my grievances at repeatedly being called an idiot or Aria’s consistently dangerous ways of doing things. Looking at the outcome, she had saved me, after all.

“I don’t … sense the enemy’s presence anymore. Did she escape?” I asked

According the floor plan that I check in my student handbook earlier, it should only have been possible to ascend to the higher levels from here.

“In the event that she has to deal with multiple opponents, she’ll first place some distance between us and work on dividing our forces from afar. She’ll then try to dispose of us one after the other, one-on-one. That’s the strategy Durandal uses.”

I see. … So that’s why Shirayuki and I were separated from each other so skillfully.

“But strategists like that tend to try and erase everything when something unaccounted for disturbs their plans. If that’s the case, there’s a possibility she’ll come back again to kill Shirayuki. So first, we’re going to set her free,” said Aria, pulling on my sleeve as soon as I stood up and leading me to where Shirayuki was.

Shirayuki was next to the wall of the warehouse where she was chained up in a standing position. She was gaged with a cloth and making grunting noises with her throat. When I removed the cloth …

“Kin-chan, are you okay?! You’re not hurt?!”

… she expressed her concerns for me, disregarding the predicament she was in.

“I’m fine. What about you …?” I asked as I took the chain that was fastened around her upper abdomen into my hands. The chain was wrapped multiple times around a thick pipe that ran along the wall and had the diameter of a hamburger. The huge locks keeping the chain in place were called drum locks. They were about the size of wall clocks, and three of the dreadful things were clamped onto the chain. Aria and I took out the bump key from our butei handbooks and started working on the locks … but they must have been very intricately made because we couldn’t unlock a single one.

“Kin-chan … I’m sorry … I was told to come here in these clothes without informing anyone … otherwise they would blow up Academy Island and kill you as well . …”

Upon hearing that, something painful welled up again in my heart. Without my knowing it, I had been used as bargaining chip.

“When did they tell you this?”

“Yesterday. … It was when you went to go buy the fireworks for me. I received a threatening e-mail. The thought of you get hurt terrified me. … I had no choice but to do what they said …” Shirayuki said, beginning to sniffle.

“Don’t worry about it now. Stop crying.”

So that’s when it was. No wonder she seemed so strange after I came back from buying the fireworks.

“I have to apologize to you too, Aria. You came to save me even after I did all those horrible things to you . …”

Aria seemed to be bewildered by Shirayuki’s apology, and her cheeks became slightly red.

“I-I’m … just doing my job of protecting you since I accepted this mission. My true goal is to capture Durandal. That’s all. So you don’t need to grateful for anything,” said Aria, but at the same time, was pulling on the chain with all her might as she tried to release Shirayuki. Her words and her actions were conflicting with each other, but I wasn’t going to comment on it right now.

That aside … these chains just won’t come off.

I had a feeling that if we were to use Shirauiki’s superhuman swordsmanship, it just might be possible to do something about this … but the one tied up was Shirayuki. And from the looks of it, her sword was taken away from her. I began to think it would be better to disconnect the pipe running along the wall, but unless we used some heavy-duty equipment, judging by the thickness, it would be difficult to budge. I started looking for any weak links that might be in the chain when Aria asked Shirayuki a question.

“Did you get a look at Durandal?”

“No … she kept herself hidden in the shadows of the shelves the entire time. When she ran out of that door as well, all I could see was her shadow,” said Shirayuki, indicating with her eyes the hatch on the ceiling that led to the upper level. Aria didn’t look at all surprised.

“… It can’t be helped. Durandal never allows herself to be seen.” It would seem all the investigating Aria did on a daily basis had provided her with quite a bit of background information on Durandal. I decided to ask her about something that had been bothering me for a while.

“Aria, that ice back there . …”

I was referring to the ice that had sewn me to the floor. I thought she might have used liquid nitrogen, but that probably wasn’t the case. Back when I was in the Assault division, I had frozen a time bomb with liquid nitrogen before … but it didn’t freeze over like that.

“It’s a supernatural ability,” Aria replied, nonchalantly giving the answer I was hoping not to hear.

“Yes,” said Shirayuki, “in terms of international classification, she’s a class three Stealth. Most likely, she’s a Matsugi (mage).”

Shirayuki’s supplementary explanation brought a frown to my face.

Are you serious . . . ? A magician?

“That can’t be. …”

“It can. These days, first-rate buteis don’t find it surprising anymore. Even our school has SSR, doesn’t it?”

I knew that of course. The logic made sense in my head, but …

SSR. This department Shirayuki was affiliated with was most definitely doing earnest research on psychometry and dowsing and other dubious investigative methods. But SSR was a particularly secretive specialized division at Butei High, and aside from those directly involved, very few people knew much about it in detail. That especially applied to me, someone who longed to be an ordinary person, and always avoided having anything to do with that most unordinary world. I never even heard rumors of the existence of these magical powers, well aside from conversations about video games.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Kinji,” said Aria. “From my experience, their abilities aren’t much different from the sort of thing an illusionist or a street performer does. They’re nothing a lead bullet can’t handle.”

“But those are superhuman abilities. She might come at us with attacks we didn’t account for.”

“Oh, stop being such a coward. I hate it when you’re like that. But … you can put your mind at ease. Your training to “awaken” yourself isn’t complete … so you don’t have to fight. I’ll take care of her by myself.”

Suddenly, as if replying to Aria’s proclamation, a deep sound rang out in the underground warehouse. Looking around us, we saw water rushing in from the drain on the floor. The amount of water was increasing so rapidly, that in less than a minute it had practically become a fountain and began creeping its way towards our feet.

“This is seawater,” Aria said, sniffing with her nose like a small animal.

“Yeah. She destroyed some part of the drainage system,” I replied.

From our shoes to our ankles to our shins, the water continued rising.

This is bad.

This place might be as large as a gymnasium, but at this speed, it would probably be completely submerged in around ten minutes. That was plenty of time for Aria and I to climb the ladder and escape from the hatch on the ceiling, but we couldn’t possibly leave Shirayuki behind.

A strategist, huh?

“…She certainly does seem to be strategist, Aria. She discovered your weakness.”

Aria didn’t respond to me. She just stared uneasily at the rising water.

“Discovered . . . ? Discovered what . . . ?” Shirayuki asked, and Aria went red in the face. The look Aria gave me could be easily interpreted as “Don’t say it.” But these were the circumstances we were in. She would just have to forgive me.

“Aria can’t swim. Tsuzuri was saying so the other day.”

“T-That’s not true. I-If I just have a ring buoy . . . !”

“We don’t have a convenient thing like that with us. Aria, you go on up ahead of us.”

“I … I can’t do that! I can’t just run away and abandon you two!

“That’s not it. You’re not retreating; you’re going on the offensive. Go up there and get the key from Durandal. Nothing we can do is going to get this chain off. You realize that, don’t you?”

“… B-But …”

“You have better fighting skills, so you can take her out faster than I can! Go on! We can’t afford to waste even a single second right now!” I strongly urged Aria, remembering the tempo of life back in Assault. Aria continued to stare at Shirayuki with concern, but after seeing the water rise up to her knees, she finally handed her bump key over to me.

“…Alright. But if things start looking hopeless, make sure and call for me, okay?!”

Calling for you wouldn’t help get these chains off.

All three of us were already aware of that thought. Still, I said, “Got it” as Aria turned her back on us with a mortified look on her face.

The water was continuing to increase at a faster rate, and the chains around Shirayuki weren’t budging at all. There was likely to be five more minutes or so before the warehouse was entirely inundated. I had frantically search underneath the water for any sort of tool that could be of use, but came up empty-handed. The water level was now up to my shoulders. Being shorter than I, Shirayuki was already up to her neck in water.

What should I do …?! What the hell should I do …?!

“Kin-chan … go on,” Shirayuki said, looking at the expression on my face, which showed that I was at a complete loss.

“Don’t … worry about me anymore. I don’t want to put you in danger.” She admirably put on a smile underneath her perfectly straight bangs. Even at a time like this, she was trying to keep me from worrying.

“… Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hotogi shrine maidens are guardian shrine maidens. It’s our destiny to sacrifice our body and our soul for the sake of another. Kin-chan, go and escape now. Don’t worry about me anymore . …”

“… There’s no way I’m leaving you here!”

Shirayuki tried to reply, but momentarily winced as the seawater finally made its way up to her mouth, and lifting her head up, she drew in a breath of air.

“It’s okay. I … Even if I die there won’t be anyone to grieve. The teachers and the other students might have held me in high regard, but there isn’t anyone who truly loves me. *cough* It’s not me … it’s just the power of a Hotogi shrine maiden that everyone reveres so much … *cough* …” said Shirayuki, lifting her head backwards as far as it could go and gasping for breath.

My toes had also left the floor of the warehouse. It had gotten to the point where I had to swim in order to move around.

“Sh … Shirayuki! Aria’s going to come back with the key any second! Hang in there for as long as you possibly can! Take a deep breath! Clients are obligated to follow the instructions of their bodyguard! I’ll do something about these chai-”

“I’m releasing you … from your duty as a bodyguard! Kin-chan …! Get out of here! Keep living …!”

“Shirayuki …! Dammit …! This is all happening … because of me …!”

“Kin … chan … it’s not your fault …!”

With those being her last words, Shirayuki shut her eyes tightly … and disappeared beneath the water’s surface.

“Shirayukiiiiii!!”

Shirayuki’s black hair wavered limply in the water. She stopped looking at me and just looked downwards as if she had already resigned herself to this fate.

“Shirayuki …!”

Are you trying to just die ... and make it easier for me escape? You released me from my responsibility as a bodyguard ... and defended me to the very end, saying it wasn’t my fault. …

“The hell it isn’t …!” I yelled, punching the wall.

I was at fault. It was entirely my fault that this was happening. I ignored warnings, didn’t prepare myself to face the enemy, and made the situation worse when I did take action.

Of course, it’s my fault!!

Now that things have come to this … I finally made up my mind.

Shirayuki, you always obediently did exactly what I said, didn’t you. Thinking back, most of what I ordered you to do stem from my own selfishness. So now it’s my turn to do everything that you asked of me. You told me three things. First off, you just told me to “keep living.” You got it. I’m going to stay alive all right. I’m not dying in a place like this. I’ll keep living with everything I’ve got, and I’ll crush Durandal and any other of Aria’s enemies. And when I’m done, I’m gonna live the most ordinary and carefree life possible. And as for the second thing you told me, I heard you loud and clear on that night when I was to start guarding you on my own. You said, “Protect me.” At that moment, you, too, were unaware of the enemy’s presence. That might be why you were able to say it so easily. But I did reply. I said, “Sure.” I’m going to protect you. I have a final trump card to play. Though I’ve kept it a secret and have been running away for it so long. I even hid it from you, a friend of mine ever since we were kids. I have this one card I saved until the very end—power I have locked away inside my body. More than half of what I did during that hijacking incident wasn’t of my own will. I silenced Aria so our enemy wouldn’t find us. That was the priority. If I hadn't used it, I would have died. That was the situation I was in. But now … my reason for using this power would have nothing to do with responsibility. Aria said I didn’t have to fight. Shirayuki herself rescinded the order I was given to guard her. That’s why I was no longer responsible. If I wanted to run, I was free to do so. Even if I would wind up regretting it for the rest of my life, I wasn’t obliged to use this power. But for the first time since my brother died, I’m going to use this power willingly. I’m going to use the trump card I have hidden deep within me.

I’m going to use hysteria mode!

Shirayuki, “I’m releasing you from your duty as a bodyguard,” you say?

“To hell with that!!” I screamed with my mouth wide open, and before closing it, took a deep, deep breath. Until I went red in the face. Until my lungs were on the verge of bursting. Until I became even closer to my limit. I sucked in all the air I possibly could … and dove underwater.

There, Shirayuki stood almost listlessly as I grasped her shoulders, and her large eyes grew even larger as she shook her head from side to side. She blinked her eyes rhythmically, sending me a message in code.

‘Don’t die Don’t make it up to me in that way’

Apparently she thought I was planning on dying with her. It was just like her to entertain such a thought.

That’s not it. That’s not it, Shirayuki. The third thing you told me. There was one more thing you told me to do, wasn’t there? Yesterday, after the fireworks, you said, “Kiss me.” I’m sorry it’s going to be under these circumstances though. I’ll do . . . what you asked of me!

I signaled a single word to Shirayuki with my blinking eyelids.

‘Breathe’

As soon as I communicated the message, I embraced Shirayuki …

“ …!”

…and place my mouth against hers. Shirayuki’s lips—and it was a crime to make this comparison, really—were … softer than Aria’s. The breath I held inside was being drawn out of me, and a just a little of Shirayuki’s passed my way as well. It had the sweet scent of peaches.

… Ahh. I can feel it. I can feel Shirayuki taking her next breath …

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

… as well as my increasing heart rate.

Starting at my lips, boiling blood began circulating throughout my body … and converged at my very core. I never thought I would have been doing something like this with my childhood friend. That sentiment mingled with furious excitement and lit a fire within me. It was as if all the time I had spent with Shirayuki since we were children had come together and transformed itself into a source of heat that burned the center of my being with enough intensity to be painful …!

Ahh. … It’s happening. I’m entering … hysteria mode …!

From the tips of Shirayuki’s lips, bubbles rose to the surface as she exhaled. She was breathing. I kept our lips attached and after letting her take two more breaths … released my mouth from hers. Reaching out my hand to the drum lock wedged against her upper abdomen, I gathered my concentration and inserted the bump key once again. When the water rises to the ceiling, we’ll lose our means of getting air. The way I see it, that’ll happen in three minutes. No, it should already be less than that. In normal mode, I require an average of twelve minutes to open an anti-break-in CP–C lock via lock bumping. But in my current state, the slightest sensations picked up by my fingertips allowed me to understand the inner structure of the lock as if I could see right through it. Click.

In a mere ten seconds, I opened the first of the locks that even Aria had struggled with. The second lock didn’t take any longer, either. I went up for air, and while sharing it with Shirayuki again after coming back down, I took the bump key out the butei handbook she had tucked away between her chest and her priestess garbs.

Click!

The giant drum lock that had restrained Shirayuki made a loud sound as it opened, and the heavy chains also noisily slid down the pipe. Shirayuki and I rose to the surface, and our faces emerged from the water at the same time as we gasped for air.

Great. We made it in time.

Our heads were nearly bumping against the ceiling, but the warehouse wasn’t totally submerged yet.

“Kin-chan!” Shirayuki swam over to where I was and embraced me.

“…Shirayuki, you just said that you released me from my duty as a bodyguard, didn’t you?”

Ah. You idiot. I’m an idiot. Don’t talk in that low, cool voice. And stop with the piercing look in your eyes. It’s so annoying.

“Y . . . Yes,” Shirayuki answered.

I gently caressed Shirayuki’s face from ear to cheek with my wet hands while using my thumb to brush aside a tuft of her hair that was clinging to her skin. “Whether I’m your bodyguard or not isn’t relevant. I’m going to protect you. I want to protect you because it is you … no matter what. Shirayuki … I want you to accept these scorching feelings of mine,” I said in a low yet clear voice resembling a whisper.

There was a bit of surprise mixed in with expression on her face that showed she couldn’t have been more deeply moved, and she nodded once. When she lifted her head, it finally made contact with the ceiling.

Ah. Now isn’t the time to be giving her assurance with my sweet words.

It was a bad habit of mine that emerged during hysteria mode. Right now, we had to move to the floor above us as quickly as possible.

“B-But Kin-chan, our opponent is a Matsugi. I’ll fight too,” Shirayuki said, lowering her nicely shaped eyebrows in determination.

“You’re a brave girl,” I commented with a small, wry smile. I didn’t want to expose Shirayuki to any more danger, but I had to respect the will of a lady. “I’m hoping that won’t be necessary, but … alright then. If things start looking grim, give us a hand. Aria and I will take the vanguard. Shirayuki, you stay in the rear and set up an ambush.”

Now I had all my cards out in the open. All that remained to do was to meet up with Aria and launch a fierce attack. Then we would arrest Durandal, who had yet to even show herself. Our adversary was a strategist—and an esper at that. She wasn’t the type of opponent who could be beaten by an average butei. But the buteis assembled here were by no means average. We had Aria the Quadra, myself in hysteria mode, and Shirayuki as support. With these three cards on the table, we can definitely fight on par with Durandal. We should be more than a match for her in fact. Those were the thoughts I was mulling over as I opened the hatch leading to the upper level. The water was now practically touching the ceiling. I opened the three layered door, and to prevent being attacked the second I stuck my head out, I used my knife as a mirror to check the surrounding area above me. When I came to the conclusion that there was no immediate danger, I wondered if there might have been some sort of devise attached to the door because another dull sound echoed throughout Junction.

“… Tsk!” I clicked my tongue. The water level began to rise even faster. It reached the ceiling in no time, and a surge of water threw us out onto the floor above us.

“Aaah!” cried Shirayuki, arriving on the sixth basement floor and subsequently being swept away by a rush of water on the linoleum floor.

“Shirayuki, be careful! Get your sub-edge (support blade) ready!”

“R…Right!”

I wanted very much to go after Shirayuki, who drifted off into the shadows, but right now I had to stop this flow of water. If this floor were to become submerged too, we’d have to go through the same ordeal all over again. Still keeping a firm grip on the hatch built into the floor, I attempted to close it against the extreme water pressure.

“Urrrrrrgh!” I groaned, using all the strength I could muster to push down on the door … and barely managed to close it.

“Phew.”

Look’s like that put a stop to the water. If I were the normal me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything about this, either.

“… Shirayuki,” I called out, but no reply came back. “…”

It could be … that she had found our enemy and was keeping quiet so as not to give herself away. Shirayuki was currently supposed to be laying in ambush, after all. I took a look around me and realized that this level, the floor of which was now waterlogged, had a large number of humungous computers lined up together like walls. This room housed a HPC server—or what’s commonly known as a super-computer. There were access lamps blinking all over the place. There weren’t, however, any signboards that read “Danger” or “Caution.” I pulled out my Beretta and after removing the bullets, blew the water out of the chamber. A little soak in water wouldn’t be enough to render modern-day guns useless. It was too bad for the guys in Informa and Connect, but I had no qualms with using my gun on this floor.

This room, with its large-scale computers lined up like portable partitions, was just like a maze. Unlike the shelves of explosives, there was no danger of having projectiles thrown at us from between small open spaces, but there was no way of telling where or who another person could be. Muffling the sound of my footsteps, I ran down a corridor surrounded by walls of integrated circuits and silicon. I held my gun in the position we learned in our indoor-combat class and moved around like a Special Forces commando. I made my turns cautiously when I came to corners of the walls of computers, and at the third one …

“Kinji.”

… I came across Aria. Apparently, she had heard our voices earlier and made her way back here from the elevator towards the back of the room.

“You’re okay. That’s great . …”

I made eye contact with her and nodding slightly, adjusted the direction of my gun to exclude Aria from its bullets’ trajectory. Aria, who seemed to have felt guilty for leaving the warehouse without us, looked relieved to see me unharmed. But when she came by my side, Aria glared up at me with angry eyes.

“Why didn’t you escape from here? I told you that you didn’t have to fight, didn’t I?” Aria reproved me in a low voice for disobeying her orders.

“I’m afraid I’m not rational enough to leave an adorable person such as yourself here while I make a run for it.”

“…Wh-What’s that supposed to mean?”

I, also relieved to see Aria bearing her cuspid and returning to her usual self, whispered back to her.

“When I thought that you were probably longing to see me, I couldn't contain myself and my body just starting acting on its own.”

“W-W-W-What are you talking about at a time like this?”

I put on a smile rivaling that of Shiranui’s, and Aria displayed her usual habit of becoming red in the face. The process of going from a fair complexion to bright red took precisely half a second. Congratulations on setting a new record, Aria.

“But more importantly, Aria, where’s Durandal?”

“. . . I haven’t found her yet. It doesn’t look like that coward plans to fight with me.”

“I see.”

“But she’s somewhere in this room for sure. All the locks on the doors leading to the upper level have been destroyed, and the elevator doors have been sealed off with iron plating. It was all done on the side accessible from this floor,” explained Aria, regaining her wits. Sure enough, it didn’t look like Aria had entered battle with Durandal yet. “Say, I heard her voice earlier, so you succeeded in rescuing Shirayuki, right? She wasn’t hurt or anything?”

It would seem Aria was fairly worried about us after all; she asked with the utmost sincerity.

Such a strong sense of responsibility. What a good little girl.

“No. But I lost sight of her in here. If we’re taken out one by one while we’re scattered about, it’ll be just the way our enemy planned. First, we need to reunite with Shirayuki—”

Just then I heard a faint coughing noise. It was a barely audible sound that my ears only vaguely picked up even in hysteria mode, and Aria, with the sensitive hearing of a wild animal, spun around in its direction.

“It’s Shirayuki. She’s over there.”

“Let’s go. But we don’t know where Durandal might strike from. Aria, let me be your shield,” I said as I walked past Aria and started leading the way down the corridor. When I walked past her, I saw Aria’s crimson eyes grow ever slightly larger in my peripheral vision. It would seem that she realized a certain something about me.

We found Shirayuki right away. She was towards the back in the single open area of this HPC server room—the elevator hall. She had wandered into the corridor adjacent to the elevator hall and was slumped down in the shadow of computer nearly three meters high. She might have swallowed some of the seawater that swept her away because she was sitting on the floor in a position of a washed-up mermaid and coughing with both hands over her mouth.

“… *cough cough* … D-Did you find Durandal ...?”

“We haven’t seen her. Shirayuki, don’t stray too far from us,” said Aria, bending down to rub her on the back. Shirayuki nodded in compliance.

“Kin-chan . …” Shirayuki was half in tears as she looked up at me with a gaze that suggested she was completely depending on me. Her wet priestess garbs were adhering to every inch of her body, revealing her sexy bodyline that was uncharacteristic of a high school student. When I was in hysteria mode, I could call to mind everything about the shape, color, quality, and trimmings of a girl’s outfit as if I had a photo right in front of me. However … Shirayuki currently seemed to be wearing thin body-armor, not that black bra.

“Were your lips okay after that?”

“Yeah, they’re fine.”

I thought I would ask, and Shirayuki nodded her head.

“They were bleeding, weren’t they? Lemme have a look.”

“No need. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I just have a cut on the inside of my mouth.”

…I knew it!

“Aria, get back!” I yelled and opened fire on Shirayuki.

As for Shirayuki … she seemed to have anticipated my actions.

“!”

In her dripping wet garbs she knocked away my arm, causing the bullet to go astray. The bullet ricocheted off the floor and hit the enormous computer nearby, creating sparks.

“Kinji?!” Aria cried out in surprise, and Shirayuki ran alongside her at blinding speed.

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! I instantly switched to full auto and my Beretta lit up with muzzle flashes. But the bullets it fired only found their way into the hem of Shirayuki’s hakama. She actually made use of the force that knocked back her hakama and scrambled behind Aria. Once there, she took up a katana that was hidden underneath the computer rack. She flung its vermillion-lacquered scabbard into the elevator hall, and the blade she had drawn from it was the katana that Shirayuki always kept with her. I was no longer able to fire at Shirayuki. She was using Aria as a shield. Aria was still unable to comprehend the situation, but she seemed to have sensed the danger with her animal-like instincts.

“…?!”

She reflexively pulled out her pistols and tried to turn and face Shirayuki.

“Ungh?!

Shirayuki tightly wrapped her left arm around Aria’s neck from behind. The sharp edge of the katana in her right hand was dangerously angled against the back of Aria’s neck under her ear. It was lined up with her carotid artery—the vital artery that could be reach by cutting inward by just a few centimeters, causing a person to bleed to death in a matter of seconds.

“Shira . . . yuki! What’s going on?! What’s gotten into you?!” Aria hollered.

From over Aria’s shoulder, Shirayuki then blew on the right hand in which Aria was holding her pistol.

“Uagh!” cried Aria, flinching as if she had been scalded by a hot iron. She dropped her prized Government, and when the silver pistol fell on the ground, the area around it became covered in ice.

“Aria! That’s not her!” I screamed. “That’s not Shirayuki!”

Shirayuki proceeded to blow on Aria’s left hand as well.

“Aaah?!”

She flinched again, this time releasing her jet-black Government and bringing both hands in front of her chest. There was ice attached to her hands as if a hard frost had set in. Seeing that unnatural spectacle caused an instinctive sense of fear to run through my spine.

Shirayuki … did that just now? Using supernatural abilities?

“A mere human,” her voice was no longer Shirayuki’s, “trying to oppose a Stealth? Such foolery.”

I did have a hunch that something wasn’t right. The Shirayuki before me hadn’t done what I told her to do. I told her to take out her sub-edge, but she was lying on the floor coughing and unarmed. That’s why I asked if her lips were okay—to see how she would respond. If she had been the real Shirayuki, who I had kissed when we were under water, there was no way she would have calmly just said something like “they’re fine.” Not only that, but I hadn’t seen her injure her mouth at all. Yet, she answered in a way that suggested she had. This fake Shirayuki was so well disguise that I had to go through such lengths to confirm my suspicions. She was the exact splitting image of Shirayuki. If I hadn’t been in hysteria mode, which increases my senses by many times greater than usual, even I, Shirayuki’s childhood friend, would have been completely fooled and fallen at her hands.

“…Durandal …!” Aria, finally perceiving the imposter’s true identity, cried out her name while trembling in pain from her frozen hands.

“…Don’t call me by that name. I’m not partial to names people arbitrarily label me as.”

“You … remember my name, don’t you?! I’m Aria Holmes Kanzaki! One hundred and seven years of my mom’s prison sentence come from the crimes that you pinned on her! You’re going to have to make amends for what you did!”

“Is that the kind of statement one makes in your situation?” Durandal sneered at the captured Aria. “And regarding your name, it’s laughable for you to be so proud of a name with only one hundred and fifty years of history. My name is much more ancient than yours. It has a history of six hundred years—a proud history of light.” She narrowed her eyes in amusement using Shirayuki’s face and brought her lips close to Aria’s ear. “I see. So you’re the Quadra. It’s just like Lupin the Fourth said.”

Lupin the Fourth’s name was just mentioned. She was referring to Riko.

So she is allied with the “butei killer,” Riko Mine, Lupin the Fourth.

I was just thinking that that a disguise this perfect couldn’t have been possible without her skills.

“Aria, you very much resemble my great ancestor, Joan of Arc the First. You have a beautiful and lovely appearance, but you also have a courageous heart …”

“Joan of Arc …?!” Aria repeated the name.

Did she just say …Joan of Arc?!

I knew the name as well. I learned of it in the world history class that was part of our general education. She was a saint of France who led her country to victory in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France in the fifteenth century. Does Durandal mean she‘s a descendant of that Joan of Arc? … But …

It was impossible for this girl right in front of me to be a descendent of Joan of Arc. The reason being that the woman known as “The Maid of Orléans” met her end by …

“That’a a lie!” cried Aria, “Joan of Arc was burned at the stake …before the age of twenty! She has no descendants!”

“That was a double,” Durandal said, snorting with derision. “Our clan is a clan of strategists. We can feign to be saints, while out true identity is that of a sorceress. We have concealed our true identity in the shadows of history while passing on our pride, name, and ingenuity to our heirs for generations. I am the thirtieth in our line—Joan of Arc the Thirtieth,” said Durandal—or if one were to abide by her claim, Joan of Arc.

“It’s just as you say. My ancestor, the first Joan of Arc, was nearly executed by burning. But following that, we have been studying this power for generations.” Like a poisonous snake, Joan extended her hand to Aria’s thighs and Aria wrenched her body in immense pain again.

“Aaah!”

Before my eyes, ice formed over her small kneecap. There was no longer any doubt. This girl had an unbelievable power that was different the abilities of we buteis.

“Follow me, Aria. Lupin the Fourth failed to bring you back with her, but I’ll be taking you as well. Or … would you prefer to die? I’ve accounted for the possibility of that scenario as well.”

“… Aria!”

I switched my Beretta to semi-automatic and threatened Joan by pointing it at her head … but I couldn’t fire. Butei Charter, Article Nine: Under no circumstances shall a butei kill another person while operating as a butei. I only realized it when I fired at her earlier, but the priestess garbs she was wearing were bullet proof. The only other part of her body that was exposed was the hand that held the katana, but if were to shoot at it, I would hit Aria’s neck. Joan knew the advantage she would have with Aria as her shield. She had it planned all along.

What do I do?

Joan looked me in the eyes as I stood there with furrowed brows and smiled at me presumptuously with Shirayuki’s face.

“Having seen though my disguise, I’m pretty sure you aren’t the usual Kinji Tohyama. I unquestionably need to be on my guard … but in your current state, your weakness is having a girl taken hostage, isn’t that right?”

She certainly deserves her title as a strategist. She had done a very thorough investigation.

“Tohyama, if you move Aria will turn to ice. Aria, don’t you move either, or I’ll freeze any part of you that so much budges.”

I cursed in the back of my mind. Just as she said, in hysteria mode, I prioritized the safety of women over all else.

“Kinji … shoot her!”

Where exactly, do you suggest I shoot her at? I can’t just shoot through you. In my current state, I’m utterly incapable of doing that!

“You just spoke, didn’t you Aria? You moved your mouth. You don't need that troublesome tongue of yours.”

Using the hand she held the katana with, Joan grab Aria’s chin and forced it to the side where she restrained it. She then brought her own lips towards Aria’s. She’s going to blow that freezing breath into Aria mouth!

“Stop!” I shouted, but was powerless to do anything—not with Aria taken hostage.

“Aria!” echoed a voice that didn’t belong to me. But the voice didn’t have its usual reserved and somewhat frail tone. It had become something more valiant and powerful. From above a three-meter high computer behind Joan, a chain with a weight attached at its end sped towards Aria and wrapped itself around the sword guard of the katana in Joan hand, which she had relaxed her grip on while she restrained Aria’s chin. The blade’s sharp edge, which had been pressed against the nape of Aria’s neck, was being pulled away.

“?!”

Joan looked up with Shirayuki’s knitted brows, and on top of the computer …

“Kin-chan, rescue Aria!”

. . . was the real Shirayuki! She yanked on the chain and pulled the katana out of the hand of her imposter. Atop the computer, Shirayuki then caught the katana that she fished up. Aria saved Shirayuki’s life a little while ago, but this time Shirayuki saved Aria’s. Butei Charter, Article One: Believe in your comrades and help one another. Normally, the two of them couldn’t even do a simple fortune-telling together peacefully, but when situation called for it, they saved each other’s lives.

Aria. Shirayuki. You two are remarkable buteis! Excellent job!

The real Shirayuki jump off the computer and swung her katana downwards, aiming to separate Aria from Joan of Arc. Joan responded. She gathered the long sleeves of her blade-proof priestess garbs and attempted to catch the sword with her kimono. In doing so, she released Aria, who interfered. When Aria got away, she used her remaining functional leg to deliver a kangaroo kick into Joan’s knee. Joan almost completely lost her balance and was forced to fall back. My hysteria mode eyes captured the entire process, which happened in little more than a second. Aria came rolling in front of my feet and stood up on one knee. Shirayuki stood in front, guarding her. She held the hilt of her sword vertically with both hands at position diagonal from her shoulder.

“Shirayuki,” Joan said, “to think you would forfeit your own life to save Aria. …” A cylindrical shaped object dropped out from underneath the hem of the hakama she wore to disguise herself as Shirayuki. It produced a white smoke that quickly spread all around her.

A smoke bomb…! She’s trying to blind us!

The sprinklers on the ceiling sensed the smoke and began showering water one by one. Shirayuki backed up little by little, avoiding coming in contact with the smoke Joan used to conceal her whereabouts. “Sorry, Kin-chan. I thought I had her just now … but I let her escape.”

“You did great. I would have expected no less from you. You okay, Aria?”

“S…She had me completely fooled. I never thought there would be two Shirayukis. …” Aria said, still kneeling and repeatedly opening and closing her hands. Her grip had lost nearly all of its strength. She probably wouldn’t be able to participate in the battle any longer, which was likely to be exactly what Joan’s planned for. In addition … I had the slight feeling that it was getting colder inside the room.

“Shirayuki, would you recall to memory a couple of things for me?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have any recollection of setting up piano wire inside Aria’s locker?”

“Her locker …? I swear that I haven’t done anything like that.”

“One more thing. The other day, did Shiranui see you in the greenhouse pulling petals off flowers?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah …” Shirayuki answered somewhat bashfully, and I clicked my tongue.

“I came across another Shirayuki at that same time. That girl has been lurking in Butei High disguised as Shirayuki, the entire time. That’s how she was able to observe us so closely … and split us apart. Aria, the one who set up piano wire in your locker was probably Joan as well. You remember the piano wire that was set up in the floor beneath us, don't you? As they say, the best place to hide a tree is in a forest. Joan’s death trap was mixed in among the all the harassment you were subjected to by Shirayuki.”

Aria’s camellia-colored eyes grew wide as I speedily stated my deductions.

“Kinji … you … changed into ‘that’ again, didn’t you?!”

I did. I’m currently in hysteria mode—that “awakened” state as you call it. By not saying anything, I answered Aria’s question in the affirmative. Confirming her suspicion must have emboldened Aria because she exposed that fang-like cuspid of hers and started to holler.

“Durandal! You’re Joan of Arc, you say? You’re a coward! You don’t resemble your ancestor in the least!”

Beyond the smoke and a fair distance away, Joan responded to Aria’s taunting voice.

“The same applies to you, doesn’t it, Holmes the Fourth?”

Her voice came from a distance. It originated somewhere by the elevator hall. We turned in that direction … and it donned on us. It wasn’t just a slight feeling. The temperature in this room was rapidly dropping. On the other side of the smoke, the water that fell from the sprinklers turned into ice crystals and danced around like snow. It was the phenomenon called diamond dust. It was a mystifyingly beautiful scene akin to dancing jewels. But paradoxically, it created an indescribable sense of fear. She was a diamond dust sorceress.

“Kin-chan … defend Aria. She won’t be able to fight for a while.” Keeping her katana in her right hand, Shirayuki backed up towards us and kneeled down on one knee. She gently took Aria’s right hand into her own left hand. “A sorceress’ ice is similar to poison. The only one who can purify it is a Sister . . . or a priestess. But this is a strong form of ice ranging from grade six to grade eight. Even if I use my powers to heal her … I think it will take five minutes before she’s back to normal. So you protect her until then. I’ll defeat our enemy on my own.”

“… What are you saying, Shirayuki? I can’t let you fight alone.” I step in front of the two, preparing myself in case Joan went on the offensive.

“Kin-chan … I’m happy you feel that way. But for just right now, leave this to me, a choutei. Aria, I think … this is going to sting quite a bit. But it’s going to help you heal. Please bear with it,” said Shiruki, and she started to softly whisper some kind of incantation. She was probably gathering her concentration. Power invisible to the human eye transferred from Shirayuki’s hand to Aria’s.

“… Agh ...! Ngh!”

Pain seemed to accompany the treatment Shirayuki was performing, but Aria muffled her voice so as not to be discovered by the enemy. Being in hysteria mode, I couldn’t keep myself from looking behind me when I heard the pain in Aria’s voice.

“Nggh!”

Aria was stifling her voice by biting the sleeve of her uniform, all the while flinching in pain. Her bangs whipped upwards, and I caught a glimpse of the X-shaped scar she hid underneath them. It was from the wound she received when she shielded me with her own body last month—a scar that would remain on the face of a girl for the rest of her life. I felt a pain run deep inside my chest. Beside me, Shirayuki finished administering Aria’s treatment and pulled out something resembling wax paper from her kimono. She affixed it to the wall-like computer, and the area around us began to grow warmer. Taking a closer look, I saw that it was a rectangular shaped charm made of Japanese paper, and written on it were red symbols and Chinese characters. My vision became clearer, and I saw Shirayuki spring to her feet. The mixture of ice and smoke surrounding her drifted away like evil spirits being exorcized. I hadn’t realized it, but at some point, our clothes had also been dried. So this is a supernatural ability too, is it?

“Shirayuki …” I whispered.

Looking at her, I made up my mind. I didn’t want to let her fight alone. I couldn’t. However … I couldn’t leave Aria on her own, either.

… I’ll leave this battle to Shirayuki for the most part since she’s an esper. That’s what she desires as well.

Seeing me back up towards Aria, Shirayuki addressed our adversary.

“Joan,” Shirayuki said, taking a step forward in the opposite direction towards the enemy and turning her back on Aria and I, “let’s … put a stop to this. I don’t want to hurt anyone—not even you.”

Shirayuki made herself heard loud and clear, and from beyond the smoke came a short derisive laugh.

“Don’t make me laugh. A raw ore such as yourself is incapable of hurting me. I have been thoroughly refined at IU.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a grade seventeen Stealth.”

This time, Shirayuki’s words didn’t meet with any laughter. I wasn’t very clear on the matter, but apparently, what Shirayuki just said was a substantial threat to an esper.

“…You’re bluffing. There is only a handful of grade seventeen’s in this world.”

“You should be able to feel it yourself. It’s forbidden by the Hotogis ... but when I released the seal on my garments …”

“…Even if that were the truth …” This time, there was a bit of tension in Joan’s voice. “You can’t betray the Hotogis—not if you understand what betraying them would mean.”

“Joan … you’re a strategists who’s fallen prey to her own strategy.” Shirayuki’s voice became stronger. “You refer to the person I normally am—the person I’ve been until now. But at this moment, I have next to me the single being who can bring me to break any of the Hotogi’s rules. Your foresight didn’t account for the strength of those feelings.”

Joan didn’t have any reply for the curious statement Shirayuki made. Those who concoct schemes are weak against unexpected developments. And right now, our enemy was being made aware of a miscalculation in her plans—all due to this Shirayuki who was a different person than before. The temperature in the room was already reverting to normal. The smoke from the smoke bomb was also disappearing, and the sprinkles shut off one after another.

“… Give it your best shot,” said Joan. “I anticipated the possibility of direct combat. The higher their grade, the more quickly chouteis lose their stamina in battle. If I can hold out, then I win.”

It sounded as if Joan had strengthened her resolve, and at long last … her figure appeared from behind the dissipating smoke. She had cast aside the red hakama and white kimono, and as I suspected, what had lain beneath them was western style armor covering sections of her body.

“The disguise Lupin the Forth provided me with was difficult to move around in, but that’s over now.”

Joan peeled off the thin mask she was wearing on her face, and behind it were long and narrow sapphire eyes as piercing as blades. Her hair, two French braids worn up around the whorl of hair on the back of her head, was a silver color like that of ice. Unlike the descriptions of Joan of Arc mentioned in old-fashioned Japanese textbooks, this Joan of Arc was exactly the kind of beautiful Caucasian that you would expect to see in a western historical film.

“Kin-chan … don’t look at me from here on,” said Shirayuki in a slightly trembling voice with her back still facing me.

“… Shirayuki?”

“Starting now … I’m going to use a technique that’s forbidden by the Hotogis. But if you see it … I’m sure you’ll become afraid of me. You’d think you were seeing the impossible. You may … come to hate me even,” Shirayuki said as she placed her hand on the white ribbon she always wore in her hair. Her fingers were also trembling to a small degree.

Taking half a step back, I replied, “Shirayuki … don’t worry. There’s only one thing that’s impossible.” I moved into a position that would protect Aria from the battle that was going to start between two chouteis. “I’ll come to hate you? That, of all things, is impossible.”

Almost as if my low voice had given her a push, with a forced smile, she turned her head halfway towards me as she unraveled the white ribbon that was tied in her hair.

“I’ll be right back.”

Shirayuki repositioned her foot, sounding her geta with its red thong and carrying her sword in a different position. Her stance was different from what it was before. She was grasping the very edge of the pommel of her katana with her right hand and held it sideways above her head so that flat the of the blade could be seen. It was a peculiar stance that was unlikely to exist in any school of kendo.

“Joan, I can no longer allow to you escape.”

“…?”

“It’s because you’re about to witness the forbidden kidou that lies hidden within Hotogi priestesses. Like you, we, too, have inherited the power and name of our ancestors. Aria’s family has done so for one hundred and fifty years. Yours for six hundred. And we have been doing so for a long period of roughly two thousand years.”

Shirayuki strengthen the grip of her hand holding the katana, and a waving, scarlet light shined at its point. The light quickly extended over the entire sword blade. The light, which was illuminating the computer filled room, was the light of flames! At this point, there was no doubting that it wasn’t a trick using benzene or flammable gas. It was unmistakably Shirayuki’s trump card—her supernatural ability.

“‘Shirayuki’ is an alias used to hide my true name. My real name … is Himiko (scarlet maiden).”

The second she finished her sentence, Shirayuki darted towards Joan, closing in on her like a blazing arrow. Joan, who for a short instant was entranced by Shirayuki’s technique, stooped down low, and pulling out a gorgeous, western style sword that had been hidden behind her back, stopped the powerful attack into which Shirayuki had put her all.

What would have normally been sparks, emerged in the form of jewel-like diamond dust that immediately evaporated as the two swords vied for dominance. Joan skillfully avoided a swing from Shirayuki’s katana, and it cut the computer beside her in two without making a sound. Joan dodged backwards from Shirayuki’s next attack, placing some distance between the two of them. It was an obvious retreat.

“Fire …” I said to myself.

Taking a good look, I noticed there was a tinge of fear mixed in with cold sweat running down the face of the beautiful girl. In hysteria mode, I could tell. She was afraid of fire. Joan said that the founding ancestor of her clan began developing that technique after nearly being burnt at the stake. Most likely, it was out of fear. She was afraid of what nearly took her life. For generations, her clan has been studying the secret art of ice manipulation with that fear deeply ingrained in their hearts.

“What you just saw was the first of a series of attacks of Hotogi Souten style, Hinokakabi (Scarlet Shining Man). Next, I’m going to cut through that sword with Hinokaguchi (Scarlet Flame Hammer of Fear),” Shirayuki said, once again raising the blazing scarlet katana over her head.

It’s just like a torch. I see now. The purpose of that stance is to keep the surging flames from harming the wielder.

“That will be the end of this. There’s nothing this Irokaneayame cannot cut.”

“That’s my line. The Sacred Sword Durandal can cleave through anything” Joan proclaimed, her voice full of courage.

The large sword Joan wielded was an ancient-looking but a well maintained, magnificent claymore. The blue jewel that decorated its cross-guard sparkled in the light given off by Shirayuki’s flames. Shirayuki sprang towards Joan again … but to my eyes, it seemed as if she were rushing to bring the battle to an end.

Clang! Clang!

Their swords exchanged strikes a number of times, sending the loud sounds of clashing, fierce metal echoing through the room. It was almost unbelievable to watch as Shirayuki’s katana and Joan’s sword sliced through everything they came in contact with. The computers along with the cabinets that housed them. The bulletproof elevator door. The linoleum floor and walls. But there was one thing that wasn’t being cut apart. It was the metal that formed Shirayuki’s Irokaneayame and Joan’s magical sword—the Sacred Sword Durandal as she claimed it to be. Those swords, both exalted for being able to cut through anything, were the only things that didn’t receive a single scratch no matter how many times they clashed against one another.

“This certainly is … a battle between top-ranking chouteis!” came Aria’s voice from below me, and she finally lifted her head.

“Aria,” I whispered, crouching down next to her, “can you move?”

“I … seem to be okay now. But my guns are frozen to the floor so even if I recovered them, they won’t be of any use. My pistols aren’t meant to be used in cold environments. They probably won’t be functional unless I completely disassemble and perform maintenance on them,” said Aria, looking at her frozen Governments in frustration.

“Let’s come up with a plan.”

Aria, who was always arbitrarily acting on her own authority, looked up at me … and nodded her head without protest. It would seem she treated me like an actual partner when I was in hysteria mode.

“I’d like to support Shirayuki in some way, but if our timing is off, we’ll wind up becoming a hindrance. You have experience arresting espers like this, don’t you? Isn’t there some way to create a chance for us to take her down?”

“To be honest . . . I’ve never come up against a Stealth this powerful. But I don’t think … their battle is going to last very long.”

“What do you mean?”

“The greater the power an esper uses, the more that person’s stamina is depleted. When fighting a butei, they make it a point to use as little power as possible … but when the opponent is one of their own kind, they continue to release their full powers just like that. That’s why they run out of steam so quickly. That moment will be our chance.”

“Can you tell when that moment is?”

“As a rule of thumb, probably. Half of it will be based on intuition though. ... Will you trust me?” Aria asked, sounding just a little bit fretful.

I see it left a scar on her heart when I told her I couldn’t believe her the other day. This won’t do.

If two buteis don’t have a relationship of trust, they wouldn’t be able to act in unison. Their timing would be off. I straightened out my knees and gently stroked Aria’s pink hair.

“I was being an idiot the other day. I want you to forgive me. I swear . . . I’ll trust you for the rest of my life.”

“Th-The rest of your life?”

It seemed my formal choice of words wasn’t in Aria’s Japanese vocabulary.

“Even if no one else in the world believes you, I alone will always be on your side,” I explained, staring deep into her camellia-colored eyes.

Aria, whose natural habit of become red in the face had already made her cheeks quite rosy, became the bright red color of a strawberry. Her face, full of surprise, looked somewhat happy as well, and I asked her if that were the case.

“Feeling happy?”

“… Y-You’re an idiot, Kinji! E-Even in super mode, you’re an idiot … you idiot …!

“Answer me. I want to be certain of your feelings,” I urged her.

“... A-A little … a little happy. B-But just a little bit, okay?!”

“If you’re happy, I’m happy. Now then … will you trust me as well?”

“… Y-Yes.” Aria nodded and even gazed up at me the way a child does with an adult.

It’s like she’s at my beck and call when I’m in hysteria mode.

“We both believe in one another,” I delivered the finishing blow, and Aria brought her coupled hands to her chest as if something had rang out deep in her heart. “That’s why I want you to be confident and tell me how we should time our attacks. We’re going to arrest Durandal.”

While I was rebuilding the bond of trust between Aria and I, the conflict between fire and ice in which Shirayuki looked as if she were dominating at the beginning, now seemed to be an even battle. “…Ngh!” Shirayuki was swinging her sword around with her teeth clenched tightly; it didn’t even look like she was breathing.

She made an attack in which she practically used her entire body to ram into her opponent, and Joan finally fell backwards against the wall in a squatting position. But …

“Haaa, haaa, haaa!”

… Shirayuki, the person who landed the attack, was the one breathing hard and looking groggy. As if to illustrate her shortness of breath, the flames surrounding Shirayuki’s katana were much smaller than what they previously were.

“Throw down your sword, Joan. You’ve lost.”

“Heh … heh heh,” Joan laughed unseemly, and with one smooth motion, instantly created a flowing mist of minute ice crystals all around her. Under the cover of that mist, she rolled forward, escaping to Shirayuki’s side. In a panic, Shirayuki swung to the side her katana, which had lost most of it flames.

Clang.

The blade pierced the wall … and came to a stop. It was all too clear. Shirayuki was losing the power she had been using until now—and it happened in just a few minutes. It was just as Aria said. Chouteis were powerful. They can pride themselves on possessing a strength that was incomprehensible to others. But they were unable to fight for an extended period of time. Video games worked the same way. When a character that uses powerful magic runs out of the means to cast those spells ...

“Haaa, haaa ... haaa.” Still holding the hilt of her Katana, Shirayuki fell on one knee. She looked completely exhausted. It was as if she had just run a full marathon. She pulled her katana out of the wall and resting it on the floor, she fumbled for the vermillion-lacquered scabbard that was lying nearby. And for some reason, she used it to sheath her sword.

“You’re soft.” said Joan. “You’re a woman as soft as ice cream. To think you would aim only for my sword and not my body … despite the fact that it’s utterly impossible to cut through the Sacred Sword Durandal,” said Joan, repositioning herself and placing Durandal’s edge against Shirayuki’s neck.

Aria … not yet? It’s still not time to give our support?

I saw Shirayuki grit her teeth as she place the sheathed sword behind her, almost as if she were trying to hide it.

Shirayuki!

I nearly jumped out on impulse, but Aria placed an admonishing hand on my arm.

“Not yet, Kinji! Shirayuki’s … probably leaving herself just enough strength to perform one more attack. … But she needs time before she can use it. It looks to me like … she’s charging up some kind of power …” Aria said in a soft voice, looking as if she were desperately restraining her own self from rushing out into fray.

Diamond dust began to dance around Joan again as she held her sword in her hand. Before my very eyes, it raged throughout the room like a snowstorm. Once again, the cold instantly dropped to sub-zero temperature inside the room!

“Behold the Fleur de la glace d’Orléans (Ice Flower of Orleans)! Turn to silver ice and forfeit your life!”

Beyond the diamond dust, Joan’s Durandal began emitting a bluish-white light that steadily grew brighter. Just then …!

“Kinji, follow after me in three seconds!” yelled Aria, pulling out the two short katanas from behind her and flying towards Joan like a bullet.

… One second.

Joan, who had been concentrating on her battle with Shirayuki, turned around startled.

… Two seconds.

“A mere butei!” Joan swung her sword sideways towards Aria in a fit of rage, but even faster than that, Aria used the katana in her right hand to pick up the priestess garbs Joan had thrown to the floor and flung them up in front of her, robbing Joan of her sight for just an instant.

“!”

Aria lowered her body and slid with skill of a professional soccer player. Joan’s arm continued to swing on the path it traveled. Aria had read her opponents movements and carried herself using aikido-like baritsu movements. Above Aria, a torrent of blue light pushed aside the priestess garbs in midair and rose upwards. The spectacle before me truly was something one would see in a video game. An eddy of shining ice crystals converted into blue cannon fire and reached all the way to the ceiling. It spread on impact like a colossal flower of ice blooming on the ceiling.

… Three seconds!

“Kinji, now! Joan can’t use her powers anymore!”

Aria didn’t even have to tell me. I raced towards Joan, creating a rift in the diamond dust around me.

Blam! Blam! Blam!

I fired along a vertical line centered on the upper half of Joan’s body with my Beretta, which I had set to fire in three-burst rounds. Using Durandal, which she had already brought back in front of her, Joan deflected all three of the bullets. I had anticipated she would. She was a master swordswoman who could fight on even grounds with Shirayuki. That’s why I increased my speed and closed in on her. I would engage her in the close-range pistol combat I had learned in Assault. During class, I used something similar to the shields employed by riot police though. When enemies had a means of defending themselves from bullets, the tactic buteis use to defeat them is by showering them with bullets at point-blank range.

“A lowly butei like you dares to challenge me?!” Joan roared, actually coming right for me. Aria swung her two katanas at Joan’s feet, and naturally, expecting that as well, Joan jumped into the air, leaping towards me. Using her sword, she blocked the bullets I fired to intercept her. But she didn’t just defend herself. After her sword arced back, she brought it down again—aiming for my skull.

“!!”

It was a superhuman feat for someone who had lost her magical abilities. The speed of the incoming sword was greater than that of which I assumed Joan’s motor skills were capable. Durandal was on a clear path to my skull, and I was unable to get out of its way. Just then … everything appeared to be moving in slow motion to my hysteria mode eyes. There was one technique that would help me to overcome this situation—and it required both of my hands. But I couldn’t allow myself to let go of the pistol in my right hand. Speaking in terms of chess, it was a piece I needed in order to achieve checkmate. That’s why I used my empty left hand …

“… Ngh …!”

…to stop the magic sword, Durandal. It was the method of catching a sword blade with one’s bare hands—the single-handed version. I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not I could put it off, but I did it. It was thanks to hysteria mode ... and to the training Aria gave me.

“…!” Holding the hilt of her sword, Joan landed right beside me. “… I can’t believe you ...” Joan looked at edge of her prized sword being gripped between my index finger and middle finger, but as I expected, she still didn’t seem to have lost her fighting instincts. Keeping her sword in my left hand, I placed the barrel of the gun in my right hand against the back of her neck.

“. . . This is the end of the line, Joan. It would be best for you to behave like a good little girl,” I said, chastising her like a child.

“Butei Charter, Article Nine,” she replied.

I slightly averted my gaze and smiled wryly. She was right. If I were going to uphold the law, I wouldn’t be able shoot Joan in the neck.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. Buteis can’t kill people.”

“Ha ha. You certainly are a clever young lady.”

“Y-Young lady?” Joan must have found the designation embarrassing because, her face slightly reddened. “B-But I’m not a butei!” she said, straining the arms in which she held her sword.

Come on now. You’re already captured, young lady. This battle is over. The reason being …

The sound of footsteps made by getas with red thongs could be heard racing towards us.

“Don’t you lay a hand on Kin-chan!!” cried Shirayuki as she came running at us with magic sword Durandal in her sights. “… Hihinohotogikami (Scarlet God of Hotogi)!”

Similar to iai style, Shirayuki drew her katana from its scabbard and swung it upwards in one fluid motion. A scarlet flash of light came out along with the katana ... and the upward swung blade sliced through Durandal. It then sent an eddy of flames like those from an incendiary bomb spiraling upwards towards the roof far above. The frozen ceiling and the layer of ice covering it shattered as if it were blown up by a grenade launcher! As debris fell all around her, Joan stood there dumbfounded at the fact that Durnadal had been cut in two.

“…!”

At the very end of it all, yet again did something she hadn't accounted for take place. Joan, having a weakness for such things, could do nothing but stand there with her sapphire eyes wide open.

“Durandal!” an anime-like voice called out. Aria took advantage of the opportunity, and the sound of handcuffs being clamped onto Joan’s right wrist could be heard.

“Ah?!” Joan looked at her wrist, and what she saw attached to it were anti-esper handcuffs. It probably shouldn’t even require mentioning, but they were handcuffs that Aria bought on the first day she began acting as Shirayuki’s bodyguard.

“You’re under arrest!!” Aria pounced on Joan like a carnivorous beast and cuffed her left wrist as well.

“That’s why I said ‘It would be best for you to behave like a good little girl.’” Spinning the top half of Durandal’s blade, which had been cut near the hand guard, I grabbed it by its lower end. Meanwhile Aria, clinging fast to Joan, put additional handcuffs on her ankles. I took my watchful gaze off of Aria. Although her actions didn’t suggest it, like Aria, she was, after all, a young lady who came from a very proud lineage. That confidence of hers did prove to be her downfall though.

Joan, till the very end, you made light of Aria and I—of buteis. That was the cause of your defeat. But the buteis gathered here are Holmes the Fouth a. k. a. Aria the Quadra, and I in hysteria mode working effectively as partners. We aren’t “mere buteis”.

I let a sigh out of my nose and walked over towards Shirayuki, who had used up all of her strength and was sunk down on the floor surrounded by debris. As soon as our eyes met, she returned her katana, now void of flames, to its scabbard and hid it away.

“K-Kin-chan.”

She looked like she was about to say she was sorry, so I made a warning sign with my finger and gave her a look that said “Stop right there.”

“…Th…thank you.”

“Thank you,” huh? I guess that gets a passing mark.

“Shirayuki, you really pulled through. We were able to arrest Durandal thanks to you.”

“Y … you weren’t … scared?”

“Of what?”

“O … of me just now … I-I was so …” said Shirayuki with moisture in her black eyes underneath her perfectly straight bangs. It would appear she was convinced that I was afraid of the super-natural powers she just displayed.

Ha ha. That’s what you were worried about?

I could see Shirayuki was afraid that I hated her now so I answered her question with a kind smile.

“There’s nothing to be scared of. It was very beautiful and powerful fire. Much, much more so than the fireworks we saw the other day.”

“Kin-chan ... ngh … uuu …”

Shirayuki let out a wail and started crying as she flung her arms around me, so I gently returned her hugged and stroked her on the back.

I’ll do this with you as long as it takes. So quick to cry. Until you calm down . . . I’ll just continue to tenderly rub you on the back. Just like I did when we were kids, and you were crying because we got in trouble for going to the fireworks festival. Indeed. When it came to this sort of thing, Shirayuki hadn’t changed at all. But … she’d become quite strong—strong enough to break out of Hotogi’s bird cage, spread her fiery wings, and fight of her own will. Sniveling, Shirayuki looked up at me, and I told her some words to help put her at ease.

“Don’t go disappearing on me like that again ... Shirayuki,” I said, showing her another smile.