Aria the Scarlet Ammo (novel), Volume 1

by Chugaku Akamatsu

  “…Kinji, you make a fine Butei. That’s why I respect your will now and…I won’t call you a slave anymore. So…if you ever change your mind…um, come see again. If that time should come, then next time, we’ll be partners for sure…”

  It seemed like Aria still wasn’t able to completely give up on the idea, and my response to her offer was a simple apology.

  “……Sorry,” I said, unable to help but look away from her.

  I had no intention of becoming a Butei. There was the issue of my brother as well. And to be honest, I’d had enough of placing myself in dangerous situations like the one we just went through.

  “T-That’s fine. If that’s the way you feel about it. I mean, I am still an ‘aria’ anyways. Forget what I just said.”

  With that, Aria turned her back towards me and perhaps due to the cold, headed back inside.

  “What a bummer! This month in Tokyo was the pits! In the end, I wasn’t able to find a partner, I injured my head, and I was horrible at UFO Catcher!”

  Aria spoke as if she just didn’t care anymore, and figuring I could at least see her off cheerfully since it would be the last time, I feigned a smile as I went back inside.

  “If…there is a next time, I’ll show you the trick to winning at UFO Catcher. But you know, you do need a sense for which prizes make good targets.”

  “What? Are you trying to say I don’t have good sense?” retorted Aria, looking up at me with her hands on her hips and bearing her tooth. “Keep insulting me and I’ll open a hole in you! Ten of 'em…no, a lot more!” Aria stuck her tongue out at me and laughed. It must have been contagious because I found myself laughing as well. I’m not sure what was so funny exactly, but we just continued to laugh together. I saw Aria to the door and watched over her as she put on her shoes, which she had slovenly thrown down on the floor when she came in.

  “Ah, it’s already this late. I’ve gotta hurry.”

  “Do you have some sort of appointment?”

  “Yeah. Someone’s coming to pick me up. What with everything that’s happened, the London Bureau of Butei said they would have their helicopter in Tokyo to take me back.”

  The London Bureau of Butei. That’s where Aria was operating as a Butei.

  “Before my mom was arrested, I worked there pretty extensively. They’re nagging me to hurry and come back. It’s their way of turning a blind eye to their own incompetence. But, I decided this would be a good opportunity for me to go back for once and make a fresh start.”

  “Go back…to London?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be heading to the British Navy’s aircraft carrier by helicopter, and from there I’ll get on a carrier based jet.”

  A...navy aircraft carrier? Talk about large scale. That’s nobility for you.

  “I hope you find someone—a partner, that is.”

  “I’m sure I will. Thanks to you, I know that ‘there’s nobody in the world who can be my partner’ isn’t true.”

  “I see…Yeah, I guess so. Well, see you around. Hang in there.”

  “I will. Bye-bye.”

  Aria opened the door without looking back…and left the apartment. I didn’t stop her from going. The door closed after her. Now this episode is finally over with….

  ….

  “…?”

  I didn’t hear Aria’s footsteps. She had left, so the next thing she would have to do is go to the elevator or the stairwell. Finding it a little odd, I looked out the spy hole. What I saw was Aria in front of the door, sobbing.

  “Not like this…I don’t want things to end like this, Kinji…There’s no one… There’s no one…like you…anywhere. I’ll never…be able to find anyone…” Aria whispered to herself as she frantically used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears streaming from her eyes.

  …Aria. Why…are you crying? You were laughing just a second ago. You were laughing with such a positive attitude. So why? Why are you crying…Aria.

  In the end, I wasn’t able to bring myself to open the door. I felt that doing so would have made profound changes in my life. I sank down into my sofa and placed my hand on my forehead.

  Just pretend you never saw it. You never saw Aria’s tears. Then it can all come to an end. That’s right, Kinji. Just think back. Being with that girl is nothing but a nuisance. All she does is bring trouble with her. She’s like the plague. It’s great that she’s gone. Come on, Kinji. Open up your desk drawer. Get out your application to transfer out of Butei High. That’s right. That’s the way it should be. You’ve been busy recently, so you couldn’t turn it in, but why not just take it to the educational affairs department right now and stick it in the mail slot? Then you can attend a normal high school and go to a normal college. Why not become a salary man or something and live the ordinary life you’ve been planning for yourself?

  The more I thought about it, the stronger a presence Aria became in my mind. Aria…Aria. She showed up all of a sudden like a typhoon and threw my life into disarray; then she disappeared, like the wind.

  …What was up with Aria exactly? I thought I would be relieved once she was gone…So why am I so depressed? Am I being swayed by the cute little thing’s tears? Me? That’s ridiculous.

  Somehow, the Leopon attached to my cell phone on the desk looked like it was crying.

  “Damn it. Kinji…what are you thinking? Stop. Just stop,” I said to myself.

  I’ve thought to myself more than once that Aria, fighting courageously, was like a small lion cub. But she was no lion. She was a lost little kitten. She left her home and didn’t know where to go. No one would stand by her, and she would wind up covered in blood after battling crows and stray dogs. She had no idea what to do and was crying inside a garbage can that fell into a ditch. Aria was that little kitten.

  “Aria…”

  I squeezed Leopon in my hand. If Aria were going to save her mother, Kanae, she would have to fight against other foes besides the ‘Butei killer’. Aria…She would have to fight, and fight, and keep fighting in this world that was like a giant garbage can.

  Are you okay with that?

  She continued to call herself an ‘aria’ to the very end.

  Are you okay with that, Aria? You’re still wet behind the ears. You’re the defective heir of the Olmes family. Are you okay with being an ‘aria’?!

  “Of course she isn’t. You understand, don’t you Kinji.”

  Like Aria, I, too, was a defective heir of the Tohyama family. I couldn’t become a hero of justice. But…but…

  …If it were just Aria’s ally, that was something I might be able to become.

  I could just barely smell Aria scent, which still remained in the apartment. It was that overly sweet aroma of gardenias.

  “Sweet…really sweet. Kinji, you’re too damned sweet! Damn it all!”

  Talking to myself, I ripped up the application to transfer. I tore it in two, right down the center.

  Thirty minutes had passed since Aria left my apartment. No busses would be coming at this hour. My bike was destroyed. That’s why being the sweet idiot I was, I ran as fast as I could to the girls’ dormitory where Butei High’s helipad was located.

  I could see a helicopter on top of the roof. That had to be it. The rotor was spinning, and it looked like it was going to take off at any minute. To make the situation worse, of all the times, the elevator was currently not running because it was under inspection. I raced up the emergency stairwell and headed for the roof. I had pretty much run the entire way from the men’s dormitory in the southern end to the girls’ dormitory in the north. Now I was climbing up a stairway, and my heart was about to burst. This girl really did make me do a lot of running. Sweat dripped off my face and strong winds disrupted my respiration right when I was already short of breath. But I couldn’t stop. I absolutely couldn’t stop. I didn't like being a Butei. I didn’t like Butei High, either. I also didn’t like being around girls. And I didn’t like being in hysteria mode. None of that had changed. But what I disliked even
more was the thought of becoming the kind of lousy jerk that could ignore the tears of that midget, Aria. There were still six months before the time came to submit applications to transfer out of this school. As for my torn up application, I’d fill out another form during these six months. But until that time comes…I’ll run for you just a little while longer!

  Bam!

  I kicked open the door in front of me, and I could see that I was a little too late. The helicopter, creating a thundering sound with its rotor, had just reached a height of ten meters in the air above the roof.

  “Aria!!” I yelled.

  Ceasing to think, I just continued screaming.

  “Aria! Ariaaaaaaa!!” I yelled with lungs that were completely out of breath. I yelled so hard, I thought those lungs were going to burst. I yelled louder than I ever had before in my life.

  “Ariaaaaaaa!!”

  My hair became disheveled in the gusts of wind sent down upon me by the helicopter’s rotor. My shirt and pants were flapping noisily in the wind with seemingly enough force to be ripped off my body. I’m sure Aria couldn’t hear my voice over the sound of the helicopter. But I couldn’t help but scream anyway. Aria! Aria! Aria!

  The sliding door of the helicopter opened with an audible sound and a surprising amount of force.

  “Kinji, you idiot! What took you so long?!”

  Aria had her head sticking out of the door, and then of all the things, she tied a wire to the edge of the helicopter and jumped down surrounded by the strong winds!

  “Wai–! You–!”

  Though Aria was slowing herself down with the wire, she was descending at a speed that wasn’t much different from free falling. The pilot must have gotten flustered and screwed up in controlling the helicopter because it wobbled in mid-air, sending Aria swinging like a pendulum.

  “Wha-? H-Huh?! Huuh?!”

  “…H-Hey! Wai–!”

  I backpedaled in an attempt to catch Aria, but soon enough my back came up against the chain-link fence. Aria finally went and released herself from the wire, causing her to come flying directly towards me diagonally.

  Do you think girls come falling down out of the sky?

  In the next instant, all the color drained from my face.

  “…!”

  The force of Aria’s impact sent me reeling back into the chain-link fence, which bent backwards a great deal as a result. The fence was now slanted at an angle and shaped more like a launch ramp, and the two of us slid down it, returning to the roof.

  Thank goodness. One false move and we would have fallen right off the roof.

  “Y-You seriously–!”

  “Aria, what are you doing?!”

  My bellowing was followed by that of a Caucasian man in the helicopter. He was probably a government official of the London Bureau of Butei.

  “Pbbbbbtt.”

  Aria was pulling down her lower eyelid with her index finger and sticking her tongue out at the helicopter in the sky while it sent her pigtails fluttering all over the place with the downward air current it was making. I’m not sure if that upset the people on board, but a few officials from the Bureau of Butei used a wire to descend from the helicopter onto the rooftop.

  The London Bureau of Butei. They wanted to take Aria back. They want to bring her back to Britain and work her like a horse. They were probably in a panic because Aria had said she would return, but was now jumping ship.

  The situation sure looks grim. There’s too many of them. At this rate, Aria’s going to be taken back to London. I’ve got to do something…! But in my current state—the Kinji who’s not in hysteria mode—there’s absolutely nothing I can… No, I have to do something. That’s just an excuse for me. Find out what it is you can do even when you’re not in hysteria mode!

  “Aria.”

  “What?”

  “Do those guys still have wire on them?”

  “They should have used it all when they descended from the helicopter just now. There were no spares inside,” said Aria placing her hands on her pistols.

  “Don’t shoot, Aria. They’re officials from another country. If they get hurt, it’s gonna be a big problem.”

  “…What are you going to do then?”

  I replied by making a desperate dash to the door that led to the stairway. Once there, I used the Beretta I bought anew to fire a couple rounds into the doorknob and destroy it.

  Perfect. It bent out of shape quite nicely. It should be impossible to leave this rooftop now.

  “W-What’s the point of sealing off the exit?!” stormed Aria.

  I smiled wryly as I looked back at her. I imagine it must have been a pretty pathetic and unreliable looking face.

  “Sorry, Aria. This is the only thing I could come up with in my current state.”

  “?”

  “You…jumped off of here to save me before, didn’t you?”

  When the ‘Butei killer’ took over my bicycle, Aria, you jumped off of the roof of this girls’ dormitory to save me. I remember it well.

  “Aria, in my current state, this is how I naturally am—a guy who’s not capable of doing much of anything…”

  “…?”

  “But repaying you the favor you did me—I can do that much!”

  Aria, come on! You strengthen your resolve! If you intend to make a worthless guy like me your partner, you’re gonna have to do reckless stuff like this!

  I ran towards the chain-link fence we had just nearly toppled over.

  “Kinji?!” said Aria, running after me.

  “Aria! You’re an ‘aria’! It’s true! I’m sure you are! But…!”

  The chain-link fence was in the shape of a launch ramp, and I used it just like one.

  “…I’ll at least be your BGM!!”

  Screaming those words, I jumped into the sky looking as if I were striding over the full moon, which just reached its peak.

  I wonder.

  Am I a too much of a Mr. Nice Guy? Why did things come to this, exactly?

  The wire in my belt that I attached to the chain-link fence earlier was slowing down my fall. Aria, with her skirt turned up considerably, had jumped down and came grabbing onto me in mid-air. Aria and I came crashing into the vinyl greenhouse that was located next to the girls’ dormitory. The vinyl roof became a cushion to stop our fall…or, that’s what I had hoped. We plowed right through the roof and fell inside of the greenhouse.

  “…O-Ow…”

  “K-Kinji, you idiot!”

  It certainly was a reckless idea. Our eyes were spinning around like they do in the comic books. Aria staggered to her feet.

  “T-That was the worst plan ever! You’re in ‘idiot Kinji mode’, aren’t you…?”

  That word finally came out of Aria’s mouth, and my cheek twitched upon hearing it. Although she didn’t know all the details, the number of people who knew about my secret had increased. The searchlight of the helicopter came shining down into the greenhouse from above. We found ourselves being singled out by the circular light as we were right in the center of it. It was just like an act out of an opera.

  “Kinji.”

  Aria pointed her crimson eyes at me. I looked up at her, still sitting on the ground.

  “You have mysterious abilities that are rapidly enhanced when triggered by something.”

  “…”

  “I’m not sure what that ‘something’ is. And you have no self-control over it.”

  “……”

  “But you know, I just thought of something. If that’s the case, all I have to do is train you to be able to use those abilities at any given moment! That’s it! The answer was that simple! Don’t you agree?!”

  “Wai–…! T-That might be physically possible…but it’s ethically out of the question!”

  “A man shouldn’t go back on his word!”

  “I never said any words to go back on!”

  “Oh, just be quiet! I’m going to make you my partner and become an excellent ‘H’, just like my great-
grandfather! I’ve made up my mind!”

  “W-What is that ‘H’, already?!”

  “You still haven’t figured it out?! Unbelievable! What an idiot! Massive idiot! Guinness World Record level idiot! Gold medal idiot!”

  Hey, that’s going a bit too far, isn’t it?

  “Oh, forget it! I’ve chosen you, so I’ll just tell you! My name is…” Bearing her tooth, Aria put her hands on her hips with an exaggerated motion as she stuck out her chest, which couldn’t be pushed up or plunged. “Aria Holmes Kanzaki!”

  “Ho…lmes…?!”

  “That’s right! I’m Sherlock Holmes the Fourth! And I’ve chosen you to be my partner, J. H. Watson! I’m not letting you escape again! If you try to get away…”

  Wait, wait. Wait a second!

  “…I’ll open a hole in you!!”

  Epilogue Go For The NEXT!!!

  Sherlock Holmes.

  He was Britain’s famous detective who had an active career around one hundred years ago—an expert with guns and a master of baritsu. And Riko was France’s phantom thief, Lupin the Fourth. The first generation Holmes and Lupin battled together in France, and after the struggle ended in a draw, their grudges were passed down through the family. That’s what I read in some document at Inquesta. It turns out that ‘Holmes’ is pronounced ‘Olmes’ in French.

  So that’s what it was. But still… Her favorite food is peach buns. She goes on a rampage with her pistols at the drop of a hat. She swings around Japanese swords. Can a cute little midget like that really be a Holmes?!

  My inner turmoil was completely meaningless however, Aria, on the bothersome pretext of discovering the key to switch me in and out of modes, had come back to my apartment. I protested against living together, but she argued that since Riko hadn’t been captured, the case of the ‘Butei killer’ still hadn't been resolved. I told her she was just splitting hairs. Having said that…I did agreed with Aria as far as her opinion that Riko was probably still alive. And I was interested in what she was saying about my brother and that ‘IU’ she kept bringing up. Those missiles that came out of nowhere and hit the ANA flight six hundred were a mystery as well. This case was far from being closed.