“Huff…huff. This? It’s a UFO Catcher.”
“UFO Catcher? That’s kind of a childish name.” Well, it’s a game available at the sort of place you would go to, so it’s bound to be ridiculous. Aria peered inside the crane game with a sarcastic look on her face. Behind the glass casing was an abundance of small stuffed animals that seemed to be a bizarre cross between a lion and a leopard.
“…ah…!” uttered Aria pressing herself against the glass casing.
The combination of her height and the background full of stuffed animals made her look unquestionably like an elementary school student. If a police officer were to see this, she would probably be taken away and reprimanded.
“What? You’ve never seen one of these?”
“…”
“What is it already?”
“…”
“Are you hungry or something?”
“………………They’re so cute……”
Huh?
Hearing her whisper that line was so unlike her, I momentarily grew weak at the knees. Sure, the stuffed animals behind the glass casing were cute…but it wasn’t something you would hear coming out of the mouth of Aria the Quadra, the Butei who prided herself on her demon-like strength and slaughtering all enemies on sight. I thought I would point out how her personality had just switched to that of a different person’s, but as I came next to her, I saw drool hanging from her mouth, which was in the shape of an upside-down triangle. We can’t have this. This isn't the type of face that should be exposed to the public.
“Want to give it a shot?”
“I don’t know how.”
“Even a kindergartener could work this thing.”
“Can it be done right away?”
“It can. Want me to show you how it works?”
Aria turned towards me and repeatedly nodded her head up and down.
What’s gotten into her? She’s completely throwing me off balance.
The rules weren’t so complicated that they actually needed explaining, but after I told her to press the vertical and horizontal buttons in order, Aria took out a coin pouch decorated with symbols from a deck of cards and found a quarter. She then stood up straight in front of the machine, inserted the coin, and began to operate the crane with a look of seriousness you’d be more likely to see when she was attending sniping class. Her aim wasn’t very precise, however. The crane only just slightly lifted a leg of the lion-leopard hybrid; the stuffed animal itself didn’t budge. “T-That was just practice. I know how it works now.”
“Well, yeah, even an idiot would understand how it works after trying it once.”
“I’m gonna try one more time.”
Aria took another one hundred yen coin out of her coin pouch, and after inserting it into the machine, once again started pressing the four control buttons. This time she only succeeded in lifting the tail of one of the stuffed animals. She wasn’t very good at this game.
“By the way, if you put in five quarters, you get six chances.”
“Oh, be quiet! I’ll get it the next time! I got the hang of it now!”
That’s exactly what people who don't have the hang of it say.
As I expected, the crane continued to just graze the stuffed animal.
“Nggggggh!”
“Don’t have a mental breakdown now, Aria.”
“I got it for sure this time! I’m serious!”
After two more failed attempts, Aria went to the change machine and got ten dollars worth of quarters, only to continue her losing streak.
“This time I’m really serious! Really, really, really, reaaaaally serious!”
She’s hopeless. I better do something about this fast. Not only does Aria have the look, but also the mentality of an elementary school student. She’s the type that would ruin herself if she ever got addicted to gambling.
“Out of the way.”
After watching Aria squander about thirty dollars, I couldn’t bear to stand by any longer and unwillingly took out my wallet. The proud noblewoman had tears welling up in her eyes and wouldn’t take her hands off the buttons, but I shoved her out of the way.
Let’s see now. Hmm...This one by the hole is a good target.
I set my sights on a mysterious cat-like animal that was buried underneath many others and looked like it was in a difficult position to get to at first glance. Every stuffed animal in the casing was exactly the same, so regardless of which one I chose, she probably wouldn’t complain. The crane lowered in on my target and perfectly grasped the body of the stuffed animal.
“Ngh…!”
I could hear Aria making a noise with her throat as she swallowed hard.
“What have we here?” I soon realized that the tag of another stuffed animal was caught on the tail of the stuffed animal I captured. The crane lifted up the one I originally targeted, and that stuffed animal brought along another one dangling from its tail.
“Kinji, look! You fished out two of them!”
I can see that plain as day without you telling me. And fishing isn’t exactly the right term.
“Kinji, you’re in big trouble if you let them go!”
“At this point, it’s out of my hands!”
“Oh…oh, it’s almost there! It’s almost there! Get in there!”
Though not as much as Aria, I found myself rather anxious as well. One was a done deal. But the other…I wasn’t so sure. Will it make it? Will it make it?
The crane released its grip. The first stuffed animal fell into the hole…and the other followed suit, dragged along by the tail of the first.
“You did it!”
“Alright!”
It was quite a pleasing outcome. And before I knew it—it really did just kind of happen automatically—Aria and I were high-fiving each other with huge smiles on our faces.
“Ah” we said at the same time and blinked our eyes.
“Hmph.” We also said this at the same time as we became agitated and turned our backs on each other.
Damn it.
I was angry with myself. Why was I getting along with a person like this? Aria is…
“F-For an idiot like you, that was very well done!”
Aria thrust her hands into the prize slot with so much force, I thought she was going to jump inside the machine herself, but instead, she simply snatched up the two stuffed animals and pulled them out. Taking a closer look, I saw their tags which had the name “Leopon” written on them.
What kind of name is that?
“They’re sooooo cute!”
Aria squeezed them in her hands and hugged them tightly. Leopon looked like he was going to burst. Seeing Aria like that, she resembled a “normal” girl so strongly that I felt—how should I put it—a strange sensation come over me.
Maybe…Could it possibly be…that Aria really was just a normal girl like any other?
That would mean what Aria told me just a while ago could actually be applied to her… Aria was the one always being dishonest with herself and pushing herself too hard. Was there something constraining her true self and forcing her to be somebody she wasn’t?
“Kinji.”
Facing Aria, I noticed that her arm was extended towards me, offering one of the two stuffed animals.
“I’ll give you one. You won them, so this is your reward.”
I was a bit taken aback by Aria’s slanted eyes, which emphasized the smile on her face.
What do you know...She can make expressions like that. Damn it. She looks so cute.
“R-Right.” I accepted the Leopon and realized for the first time that it was actually a strap for a cell phone.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never put a strap on my cell phone. Guess I’ll try attaching it.
I took out my cell phone and slipped the cord of the strap into the hole at the bottom. Seeing this, Aria took out a pearl pink cell phone and by watching my example, began to attach her own Leopon, though she was having a hard time. Coincidentally, it would se
em as if she didn’t have a cell phone strap either. The string protruding from Leopon’s rear end was fairly thick and wouldn’t fit into the hole so easily. Why did the designers of this stuffed animal even place a cord on an unusual spot?
“Kinji, whoever gets their strap on first is the winner.”
“What are you talking about? Are you some kind of little kid?”
“I got it. I think it’s about to go through.”
“Mine…is on its way too. I’m not losing to you.”
I suddenly realized that this might be the first time I ever received anything from a girl. Shirayuki was always giving me some sort of gift or the other, but she was a childhood friend, so that didn’t count.
The two of us stood there grunting as a battle to strap Leopon to our cell phones unfolded. I had to admit, it was pretty petty.
With the freeloader gone, my apartment had returned to its original calm and quiet state. I woke up this morning alone in my peaceful bedroom to the alarm of my cell phone. I tried to grab a hold of it, but my hands closed in on Leopon instead.
“…”
After looking at Leopon for a short while, I listlessly prepared to go to school. Finishing the leftovers from a meal I bought at the convenience store, I looked at my wristwatch, which Riko returned to me yesterday.
“?”
I still have some time. I could have sworn I had been loafing around a bit more than that. Guess I’ll make some tea.
That’s odd.
I had left my apartment a little ahead of time like I was supposed to. Yet, the seven fifty-eight bus had already arrived at the bus stop where large, warm raindrops started falling from the sky. Other students were pushing and shoving and trying to get onboard. When arriving at this bus stop, which was within the school district, just before first period was about to begin the bus would always be crowded. If you were unlucky, it might get filled to capacity before you had the chance to get on.
“Yes! I got on! Sweet victory! Hey, Kinji! Mornin’!”
As I ran up next to the bus, Muto from Logi was on the ramp lifting his arms into the air in celebration. Behind him, students were jam-packed.
Not good.
It would seem that due to the rain, all the students who commuted by bicycle decided to use the bus.
“M-Muto! Let me on!”
“I’d love to, really, but no can do! It’s completely full! Come to school on your bike!”
I motioned with my hands for Muto to go farther in and make some space but the fact of the matter was he was trying to keep from getting pushed out.
“My bike was totaled! If I don’t get on this bus, I’m gonna be late!”
“What can't be done, can’t be done! Kinji, it’s important for a guy to know when to give up! Just ditch first period! Having said that, I guess I’ll see you during second period!”
“I’ll see you at second period” my ass!
The doors of the bus cruelly closed in my face leaving me with nothing but the words of my heartless “friend”, Muto. The chatter and laughter I heard coming from inside filled me with envy.
Damn. I gotta walk in this pouring rain? Not only that but I’m gonna be late for sure.
I walked along the path to school with the rain beating down on my shoulders, and my eye’s glaring at the perfectly straight road that continued down Academy Island as far as I could see. One of the reasons Mega-Floats went into development to begin with was so that a runway for an airport could be made relatively cheap. It was no wonder this school had such a pointlessly long and awkward shape. That in itself was already off-putting, but now I had this uncomfortably warm rain to deal with as well. Unpleasantness to the one thousandth power.
Maybe I should just ditch first period like Muto said. No, I can’t do that. First period is Japanese. I need to attend general education courses so I can keep up in class when I transfer to a normal high school. I don’t want to skip class.
I was walking past the Assault division’s black gymnasium with these thoughts in my head when my cell phone rang.
Pulling on the Leopon strap, I took out my cell phone and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Kinji, where are you right now?”
It was Aria.
What gives? It’s already eight twenty. Class should have already started so why is she calling me?
“Uhh, I’m next to the Assault department.”
“That’s perfect. Go in and arm yourself with class C equipment and come to the roof of the girls’ dormitory. Hurry.”
“What’s the big idea? Assault class isn’t until fifth period.”
I complained and Aria raised her voice in anger.
“It’s not for class; there’s been an incident! When I say ‘hurry’, it means get moving!”
I looked at myself in disgust. TNK bulletproof vest. Helmet with enhanced plastic face guard. Wireless headset with Butei High’s emblem printed on it. Fingerless gloves. On my belt, which was so tight that it was biting into my waist, hung a gun holster and four spare magazines. This class C equipment, which resembled that of an SAT or SWAT officer, was the aggressive equipment that Butei wore when they entered the fray. Many of the cases in which the Assault division got involved were quite dangerous, and I was often instructed to equip myself in just this manner.
A case.
Regarding what? What had happened? Dear Lord, let it be a trivial one.
With that prayer in my heart, I emerged onto the roof, and there was Aria, being hammered by the rain and dressed in the same class C equipment I was wearing. She was yelling into a handheld transceiver and had a ghastly expression on her face.
“…?”
I suddenly noticed that Reki from Snipe was sitting under the eaves by the stairway with her knees pulled up and feet flat on the ground. Aria was a shrewd one. She was a transfer student, but she knew who the top players were. Like me, Reki was given a rank of S when she entered this school. But unlike me, she was still an S-rank affiliated with the Snipe division. Reki was what you would call a prodigy. She had a thin build and was taller than Aria by half a head’s length. Her skill was undisputed, and she was a pretty looking girl with her hair cut short, but she didn’t stand out very much because of her unemotional, robotic personality. As a side note, nobody knew what her last name was. Apparently, not even she knew.
“Reki.”
I called out to the girl, who was sitting as still as a piece of furniture, but she didn’t respond. That was to be expected, however. She had on large headphones and was listening to something. When I was in Assault last year, I paired up with her from time to time in the course of completing a few jobs, but it looked like she still hadn’t broken that bad habit of hers. After poking her in the head with my finger a few times, she finally took off her headphones and looked up at me. As always, she had such well-formed features that you would suspect her face was a product of computer graphics.
“Were you called here by Aria, too?”
“Yes,” answered Reki in her monotone voice.
“Actually, what I really want to know about is those headphones. What kind of music are you always listening to?”
“It’s not music.”
“What is it then?”
“The sound of the wind,” Reki said plainly and repositioned the sniper rifle—a slim, semi-automatic gun called a Dragunov—resting on her shoulder as naturally as if it were a tennis racket or something of that nature.
“We’re out of time.” Aria had finished her conversation and turned to face us. “I wanted at least one more S-rank student with us, but they’re all out working on other cases.”
Apparently, in Aria’s mind, my rank had been promoted to a much higher one than it actually was.
“We’re going to go after them as a party of three. I’ll make up for what we lack in firepower.”
“Pursue what? What happened? At least give a proper briefing.”
“It’s a bus-jacking.”
“…Bus?�
�
“The school bus for Butei High commuters. It’s the one that stopped in front of your dormitory at seven fifty-eight.”
Say what?! Are you telling me that bus was hijacked? Muto and a lot of other Butei High students are crammed together like sardines on that bus.
“…Is the culprit onboard the bus?”
“I’m not sure, but in all likelihood, I’d say no. The bus has been rigged with a bomb.”
A bomb. Upon hearing that word, the bicycle-jacking incident that took place a few days ago darted through my mind. Aria must have picked up on what I was thinking because she cast me a sidelong glance.
“Kinji, this is ‘Butei killing.’ It's the work of the same criminal who tampered with your bicycle.”
…Butei killing?
I knit my eyebrows upon hearing those familiar words. It was the widely used term for the serial murders that Shirayuki was talking about the other day.
“The first Butei to be victimized had his motorcycle hijacked. Next it was a carjacking. After that was your bicycle. This time it’s a bus… In all instances, the culprit rigs the vehicle with a bomb that’s designed to explode when speed is reduced, effectively imprisoning the victim inside the vehicle. The bomb can also be activated by remote control. But there’s a pattern in the radio frequency that the culprit uses to control the vehicle. I figured out the pattern when I saved you last time and this time as well.”
“But the criminal behind the ‘Butei killings’ was apprehended.”
“That person wasn’t the true culprit.”
“Say what? Wait a second. What are you talking about?”
It didn’t make sense. There were too many holes in the conversation we were having. Still, Aria turned towards me and gave me an intense look with a hint of irritation in her eyes. “There’s no time to explain all the background information and there’s no need for you to know. I’m the leader of this party.”
Aria placed her hands on her waist and stuck out her chest. Reki, standing nearby like a statue, gave Aria a brief glance.
“Wait… Wait, Aria! You–”
“This case is already underway! The bus could explode at this very moment! Our mission is to rescue everyone onboard! That’s all there is to it!”
“If you want to be the leader, go ahead! But if you’re the leader, give the members of your team a proper explanation! Butei risk their lives when they head out for any kind of mission!”
Aria the Scarlet Ammo (novel), Volume 1 Page 8