Aria the Scarlet Ammo (novel), Volume 2

by Chugaku Akamatsu

  Aria the Scarlet Ammo II

  Blazing Diamond Dust

  Written by

  CHUUGAKU AKAMATSU

  Illustrations by

  KOBUICHI

  English translation by

  Sai Higashi

  First Bullet Armored Priestess

  Shirayuki Hotogi is a paragon of the ideal Japanese woman.

  She’s an exemplary Japanese maiden of the olden days with long, glossy, black hair and a graceful, modest demeanor. Like the ladies of the court in olden day, she is an exemplary maiden of grace and modesty with a lovely visage perfectly framed by her long, glossy dark tresses. A skilled worker in cooking and laundering and a kind soul to everyone, Shirayuki was bound to be a good wife and wise mother. …Or so they thought…

  She isn’t the type of girl who would raise a katana over her head with the ferociousness of a demon and scream something along the lines of “I-I-I’m going to kill Aria and then take my own life!”

  …Normally, that is.

  “Why me?! You’ve got the wrong person!”

  It would seem that not even Aria H. Kanzaki, the fourth generation descendent of the great detective, Sir Sherlock Holmes, knew why this priestess had come for her life.

  I didn’t blame her. I didn’t know either, and Shirayuki was my childhood friend. My mind shuffled through the blur of recent events, struggling to find reason and cause for the current madness eschewing in front of me. •Shirayuki, who had returned from training camp, sent forty-nine messages to my cell phone the first of which asked: “Is it true that you’re living with a girl?” •Soon afterwards, Shirayuki came storming into my apartment.

  •Then, when she saw Aria, this happened.

  That’s it.

  …It’s no use. I don’t have a clue. I don’t have a single clue as to why Shirayuki suddenly flipped her lid!

  “Shirayuki! I don’t know what it is you’re misunderstanding, but this is a misunder…!”

  Before I could finish my sentence, Aria kicked me squarely in the back. I slammed into the wall of the hallway before falling on the floor.

  “Kinji, do something about this! It’s your fault this weird girl showed up!”

  “I-It’s not my fault!”

  “That’s right! It’s not Kin-chan’s fault! Kin-chan isn’t to blame! Aria ... it’s your fault! You’re undoubtedly in the wrong here! You should just disappear! So GO AWAY ALREADY!”

  T-This isn’t good. Shirayuki’s rage is causing her to forget herself.

  To be honest ... I still wasn’t sure of the cause, but ever since we were children, Shirayuki occasionally has these outrageous episodes. From my experience, once things reached this point, no one could calm her down, and it would continue until her victim, usually some girl who had no idea why she was being attacked—was beaten to a pulp.

  “This is your divine punishment!!” shrieked Shirayuki as she charged forward, her getas beating across the floor, and swung her katana downwards toward the top of Aria’s head.

  Y-You got to be kidding me! She’s seriously trying to kill her!

  “Neow!”

  Aria gave off a cry like that of some feline-like beast and caught Shirayuki’s katana between her hands.

  S-She stopped the blade with her bare hands!

  It was the first time I had seen that technique used in actual combat. There was no denying that Aria was a master of baritsu. But this wasn’t the time for me to be impressed by Aria’s expertise.

  “You dumb broad!” Aria screamed. With the katana still in Aria’s grip, she jumped up, sending her skirt high into the air. Aria then latched onto Shirayuki’s right arm with both of her legs and proceeded to twist it.

  “Vale tudo, is it?!”

  Shirayuki, who seemed to have instantly identified Aria’s fighting technique, immediately sounded her getas once more as she took a powerful step backwards and performed a belly-to-back suplex with Aria still wrapped around her arm.

  H-Hey, you guys just put a huge dent in the floor!

  “Nnnnnnngh, be gone! Be gone, you home wrecker! Disappear from Kin-chan’s sight!” howled Shirayuki, using all of her might to kick Aria with both feet.

  “Kyaa?!” Aria cried as she slammed into the living room couch, reducing it to rubble and getting pinned underneath.

  “S-Stop! Stop, both of youuuu!”

  Blam! Blam!

  My deplorations changed to a scream when bullets suddenly whizzed past my face, fired from Aria’s smoking guns that she pulled out while underneath the rubble. Ka-pwing!

  Shirayuki matter-of-factly deflected the bullets with her katana.

  “That’s it!” Aria cried. “Now I’m pissed! I’m gonna open a hole in you!”

  Aria flew out from beneath the couch as if launched from catapult. She ran towards Shirayuki, relentlessly firing her pistols until the magazines became empty . . . but Shirayuki deflected every single bullet. Aria, living up to her alias the Quadra, then crossed her two shorter katanas just in time to intercept a fatal thrust from Shirayuki’s sword. The swords continued to clash again and again until both fighters stood face to face with their katanas locked together, each doing her best to push the other back.

  “Kin-chan, stab this girl from behind! If you just do that, I’ll pretend I never saw anything here!”

  “Kinji! Back me up! You’re my partner, aren’t you?!”

  They both looked to me for assistance ... but I just didn’t know what to make out of the whole situation anymore.

  “... Do whatever you want. Fight to your heart’s content.”

  Placing my hand on my throbbing forehead, I wearily walked past the two of them, who continued to glare at each other, opened the window, and went out onto the balcony. Why the balcony, you ask? Because there’s a storage locker here—a bulletproof one.

  “Kin-chan!”

  “Kinji!”

  Ignoring their cries, I opened the storage locker and stepped inside.

  Shirayuki the Berserker.

  Aria the Child of War.

  Is a single, ordinary high school student such as myself capable of putting an end to this battle of the beasts? Simply put, the answer is “no.” So I shut the door, sealing my escape from this absurd reality. If you think I’m being rather pathetic, feel free to do so. Nobody wants to die, right?

  Hotogi shrine maidens are “armed priestesses.”

  At any shrine, the head priest and the shrine maidens more or less protect the objects of worship enshrined there. However, at Shirayuki’s home, the Hotogi Shrine, shrine maidens have always armed themselves while guarding sacred objects of worship for many generations. God only knows why. And as one can see from Shirayuki’s amazon-like prowess, Hotogi Shrine maidens are quite powerful. At this very moment, Shirayuki is effortlessly deflecting all of Aria’s bullets with her katana. Even I have only been able to accomplished that once while in hysteria mode. The source of her strength isn’t something easily understood when explained, nor when witnessed, but apparently ... it’s a type of supernatural ability known as the art of kidou.

  ...

  ... Supernatural ability.

  It sounds so dubious that no one could believe it, right? I don’t want to believe it either. But evidently these espers do exist. Many researchers have secretly studied and reared them in special facilities in multiple countries across the globe. At Butei High, SSR is the equivalent of one of those facilities. Shirayuki excels as a student there as well and is currently displaying her superhuman abilities. Additionally, buteis who possess these supernatural powers are referred to as “chouteis,” and though they raise a few eyebrows, they’re gaining more and more attention in the butei
business with each passing day.

  I let out a deep sigh.

  ... This is not normal.

  Some day, I want to transfer to a regular school, lead a normal student life, and become an ordinary adult ... Even now, I hold that wish in my heart ... However, thanks to Aria, I’m rapidly being dragged off into a world that’s anything but ordinary.

  The violent clashes, coming from inside the apartment and resembling the climactic battle scene in a war flick, finally came to an end ... so I stop looking at movie websites (my means of a distraction) on my cell phone, place the phone in my pocket, and quietly step out of the bulletproof locker. I nearly passed out as I saw what had become of my home. There were bullet holes and gashes all over the walls, and pieces of furniture I was particularly fond of, were now fragments scattered about the floor. It was as if an earthquake and a typhoon had merge into one destructive force inside my home. As for Ms. Earthquake and Ms. Typhoon themselves, their hair and clothes were as disheveled as could possibly be, and they were covered with sweat and dust. Their status as the most beautiful women around was crumbling away as they sat there exhausted.

  “I can’t ... believe ... what a resilient ... home wrecker ... you are,” wheezed Shirayuki, using her katana as cane to help her stand up.

  Would you please not pierce the floor with your sword?

  “R-Right back ... at you ... Would you please ... just roll over ... and die?”

  Aria was sitting in the floor with her knees upright and supporting her upper body with her arms behind her.

  “... So, has everything been settled? From the looks of things, I’d say it’s a tie . ...”

  After there are no longer any means of continuing a battle, having a third party come in and mediate peace talks is probably the way the world works. That’s what I figure anyway, so I began urging the two of them to negotiate with each other.

  “Kin-chan-sama!”1

  Shirayuki seemed to have just noticed I came out, and tucking her katana away under her arms, she wobbly sat down in proper Japanese fashion. She then moistened her pretty, obsidian-like eyes with tears and covered her face with both hands.

  “I-I’ll make amends for this with my death. If you’re going to cast me aside, I’ll kill Aria and c-commit hara-kiri right here and now as atonement!”

  She making less and less sense with every word she speaks. And what’s with “Kin-chan-sama”? That’s two suffixes attached to my name.

  “L-Listen to me ... I’m not casting away or picking up anything. What are you talking about?”

  “Well, I mean ... I mean ... if you put a male and female hamster in the same cage, they automatically start multiplying!”

  “Not only are you not making sense, but you’re getting way ahead of yourself.”

  Hearing the irritation in my voice, Shirayuki flung her tear filled face up towards me.

  “A-A-Aria doesn’t think anything more of you than a mere plaything! I just know it!”

  “S-Stop shaking me by the collar!”

  “It’s my fault. It’s because I didn’t have enough courage that you left, and ... I should say you brought a woman inside ...”

  “If you were to become any more courageous, it would put me in a bind.”

  She turned towards Aria, who had been making all sorts of wry comments beside me.

  “D-Don’t let it get to your head just because you’re in a relationship with Kin-chan, you she-devil!”

  Shirayuki threw me to the floor and flung a chain-sickle, which was hidden in her sleeve, at Aria.

  “R-Relationship?!” cried Aria as the chain entwined itself around the jet-black Government and left hand she used to shield herself. The strain in their faces was plain to see as they both tugged on that chain with everything they had.

  “D-Don’t be stupid! I-I-I-I couldn’t care less about romance!!” shouted Aria in that anime-like voice of hers. As always, she wasn’t very good at dealing with issues related to love, and her face went bright red. “Romance is ... just a waste of time! I’ve never had anything to do with it before and I never intend to! I-I’ve never even wanted to! I’ve never wanted get involved in a romantic relationship! I’ve never wanted anything like that!”

  Why did you repeat yourself three times?

  “Then what is Kin-chan to you?! He’s not your lover?!”

  “We’re not like that!” Arias voice became unnaturally high. “Kinji is my slave! He’s nothing more!”

  “S-S-Slave ...?!”

  Upon hearing this, Shirayuki’s face went pale, and she stood there with her mouth agape. I didn’t know what she was imagining, but soon afterwards, her face became red-hot.

  This girl’s got a lot going through her mind too.

  “T-This can’t be ... You’re even forcing Kin-chan to participate in such immoral games?!”

  “W-W-W-What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! You’ve got it all wrong!”

  “No, I haven’t! I-I’ve also fantasized about that same situation with the roles reversed, so I know!”

  “You’re wrong! You’re wrong! You’re wrong! You’re wrong! You’re wroooooong! Kinji!”

  Still continuing her tug-of-war with Shirayuki, Aria glared at me with her camellia-colored eyes.

  W-What does she want from me, I wonder?

  “It’s one-hundred percent your fault that this crazy girl showed up! Do something about it! I’m gonna make you regret it if you don’t!”

  I’m already in deep regret.

  “... Uhhh. Hey ... first off, Shirayuki—”

  “Yes?” she answered upon being called, and releasing the chain-sickle, Shirayuki faced me once again, sitting in the proper Japanese fashion. As a result, Aria was sent tumbling backwards with her legs straight up into the air, but I’m going to pretend I didn’t notice for now.

  “Listen to me carefully. Aria and I are just fellow buteis who have temporarily formed a party.”

  “... Really?”

  “Yes, really. You know my nickname, don’t you? Tell me what it is.”

  “... The Misogynist.”

  “Right?”

  “Also, Mr. Useless as a Lamp in Daylight.”

  “That’s not relevant right now.”

  “R-right.”

  Don’t bring up any unnecessary nicknames. It’s only going to make matters more complicated.

  “So as you can see, this incomprehensible anger of yours is a product of misunderstanding and your actions just now are completely meaningless. Besides, she’s a runt who looks like an elementary school student. There’s no-”

  “Gonna open a hole.”

  “way I’m going to enter that kind of relationship with her.”

  Aria had made an interjection, but I’ll be ignoring that as well. She was probably out of bullets anyway.

  “B-But ... Kin-chan.”

  Hm?

  It was quite rare for Shirayuki, whose obedience was one of her merits, to make any sort of retort.

  “What?”

  “That ...” uttered Shirayuki as she pointed to my pants at the pocket with her slender, white finger. Dangling from my pocket was the enigmatic cat-like creature, Leopon, that I won from that crane game a while back. This plushie was somewhat large, and when I put my cell phone in my pocket, Leopon tended to hang outside. But ... what of it?

  Shirayuki’s finger rigidly changed direction until it pointed to the skirt pocket of Aria, who had gotten up and made her way to us. From within her pocket as well, Leopon had his head and arm sticking out as if to say “How’s it goin?”

  “The two of you are going for a pair look!!” cried Shirayuki, and tears gushed out of her eyes like a water fountain.

  “Pair look?”

  Apparently Aria isn’t familiar with the obsolete term that brought with it images of the Shouwa era, and she raised a questioning pink eyebrow.

  “H-Having a pair look is what people who love each other do! I’ve ... I’ve dreamt of it so many times!”

  “I
keep telling you! Kinji and I aren't like that! I’m not even in the slightest bit interested in that kind of relationship with this guy!!”

  Great … So much for peaceful negotiations.

  “Come on now, Shirayuki.” I turned towards Shirayuki, and gripping her by the shoulders, I looked deep into her eyes. “You don’t believe me?”

  I said it with a fairly serious tone, and she began wiping the tears that fell endlessly from her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “I-It’s not that. I believe you. I do believe you ...”

  After repeatedly affirming the fact, Shirayuki finally began to soften up.

  Still whimpering and hiccupping, she then looked back and forth between Aria and I.

  “Then ... then you and Aria haven’t done anything like ‘that,’ right?” Shirayuki inquired in a slightly calmer tone.

  “What do you mean ‘like that’”?

  “Like k-kissing ...”

  Kissing. Kissing? Kissing, you say?

  “...”

  “...”

  Aria and I looked at each other, and the both of us became petrified all at once. Aria became as red as a stoplight and glowered at me speechlessly with a mouth that simply continued to open and close.

  H-Hey, don’t look at me. Well ... if you looked at the facts, the answer would have to be that we have. But that was sort of an emergency measure that was necessary in our battle with Riko. I’m not sure exactly what to call it, but by no means was it a kiss that could be associated with romantic feelings…

  “... You ... did ... didn’t ... you ...?” whispered Shirayuki as her eyes became completely dilated. Any form of expression that was once on her face vanished instantly, and an eerie, hollow laugh could be heard coming from deep within her throat.

  H-Hold up, Shirayuki! You’ve become something straight out of a R-rated movie!

  “W-We ... we did do something like that, but . . . !” For some reason, Miss Aria, who was on the opposite side of Shirayuki, stood up straight and stuck out her “enhanced” chest, which really couldn’t be pushed up or plunged. “B-But i-i-i-it’s okay!”