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.
With those thoughts in the corner of my mind, one night, Aria and I were arguing over whether peach buns or eel buns tasted better. The chime of the cell phone in my pocket alerted me to an incoming text message. The signal quality in this apartment wasn’t the best, and sometimes it would take some time after a message was sent before my cell phone would chime, or at other times a backlog of messages would come all at once. I received a shock as I looked at the display. There were forty-nine unread text messages and eighteen voice recorded messages. And they were all from Shirayuki. The first one read, “Kin-chan, is it true that you’re living with a girl?” It was followed by “I just got back from Mount Osore, and I heard a rumor that a girl named Aria H. Kanzaki had seduced you.” “Why aren’t you answering?” “I’m coming over!” I watched as Shirayuki’s messages gradually evolved into something horrifying over a period of thirty minutes.
“A-Aria, m-m-m-m-m-m-m-make a run for it!”
“W-What are you talking about? Why are you trembling all of a sudden? Y-You’re creeping me out, Kinji…”
“T-T-The ‘armed shrine maiden’ is…ah! Oh no…she’s here…!”
Footsteps that sounded like they belonged to a raging bull in the middle of a charge were resonating in the hallway of the apartment complex. They were coming closer! A piercing metallic sound rang out, and like a bad joke, the door to the apartment was cut open. Standing there firmly with her feet set apart and suited for battle with a metal-plated headband and a sash that held up the sleeves of her shrine maiden garb was…
“Shirayuki!”
Shirayuki was wheezing as if she had made a mad dash all the way over here, and she wore an angry expression under her squarely cut bangs.
“So…you were here…after all…Aria…H….Kanzaki!” said Shirayuki trying to catch her breath between each word.
“W-Wait! Calm down, Shirayuki!”
“It’s not your fault, Kin-chan! You were tricked! I know it!”
I still wasn’t sure what triggered it, but every now and then, Shirayuki would turn into a demon-like berserker just like this. And at times like these, for some reason, the people around me—usually girls—wind up taking the brunt of her attacks.
“You thieving hussy! A-A-Atone for the sin of seducing and defiling Kin-chan with your death!!”
Shirayuki lifted her Japanese sword, which gave off a bluish glow, above her head. Not even Aria could help but back away, and she was even forgetting to draw her pistols.
“S-Shirayuki, stop! I haven’t been defiled in any way!”
“Kin-chan, step aside! I can’t kill her unless you get out the way!”
“K-Kinji! Do something about her! W-What’s going on here?!”
“What’s going on?” That’s what I want to know!
To be continued!!!