The following day, Aria and Shirayuki both started behaving oddly, but their actions were as different as day and night. Aria, whose motto is “investigate and learn everything on your own,” went to the library, and starting with stamens and pistils, she taught herself all about the wonders of life. This is how she came to realize that everything she knew about health and physical education was as wrong as the Ptolemaic theory. Following this, for a brief period, Aria developed a strange habit of turning red and stiffening up every time she saw me, but she seemed to be the type who could change her mindset quickly, and soon enough she returned to being the impish little Aria who abuses me for hardly any reason. I really don’t need this.
On the other hand, Shirayuki had clearly been avoiding us ever since that incident. Until now, she had always insisted on looking after me to the point of being obnoxious, but after her fight with Aria, she started hiding herself like a small, overly cautious animal whenever she saw me.
It was in the midst of all this that one day during lunch...
“Tohyama, mind if I sit here?”
Sitting in that noisy school cafeteria, I was enjoying a Salisbury steak lunch set with Aria, who had brought her favorite peach buns, when a guy, so good-looking you would do a double take, approached me. This guy was Ryou Shiranui. He was a member of Assault, and he gave me that sort of smile that only effeminate guys could. A while back, he was a classmate of mine with whom I would often form a party. His butei rank is “A” and having an “A” rank can mean a lot of things, but Shiranui was a pretty well-rounded person. He could be relied upon for his skills in hand-to-hand combat, with knives, or pistols. His weapon of choice is an MK 23 equipped with a laser sight—also very reliable. When he put his tray with its club sandwich on the table, I slid mine over but he returned it to its original position. He even remembered to nod his head in apology. This guy is a real straight arrow.
…I might also mention that Shiranui was quite popular with the ladies.
Of course he would be. He’s got the looks, and he’s a person of character, a combination not often found at Butei High. But the odd thing is ... apparently, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. He, Muto, and I (before Aria started following me around all over the place) used to hang out together after school often, and there was never anyone of interest to him.
“I heard all about it Kinji. Let me interrogate you a bit. Try to escape and I’ll run you over.”
The spiky-haired guy who just sat across from me, pushing my tray back with his, was Goki Muto. He was a skilled member of Logi (Logistics division), and an automobile nut who could drive anything considered a vehicle, from steam locomotives to nuclear submarines. As for his weapon, he likes to use a Colt Python with a revolving cylinder for its ease of maintenance. It didn’t hold very many rounds, and it couldn’t be outfitted with a suppressor. As a gun suitable for a butei, it was out of the question. Muto, on the other hand, wasn’t very popular with the ladies. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he was rather rough around the edges.
“What do you mean ‘interrogate me’”?
“Kinji, I heard you had a fight with Hotogi.”
. . . That’s Butei High for you. Information—or should I say “rumors” spread abnormally fast. More to the point, what are you acting so moody for, Muto?
“Hotogi was looking really depressed, you know? What happened?”
“Nothing happened between us ... Wait a second. You saw Shirayuki?”
“Shiranui told me that he saw her in the greenhouse trying to divine her future by pulling petals off flowers.”
“Trying to divine her future?”
“I’d say it’s a pretty popular thing to do,” said Shiranui, lifting his eyebrows.
“I wouldn’t know. Have you heard of it before, Aria?
Across from me, Aria shook her head indicating that she hadn’t. Her long, pink pigtails flew through the air back and forth like a Japanese pellet drum. Aria, by the way, was currently cramming her mouth with peach buns, so she would be silent for a while.
“I’m sure you know what it is, Tohyama. It’s that game where you pluck the petals from a flower one by one and say to yourself ‘he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not.’”
Oooh. That. To think that there’s somebody who still does that in this era. That girl really is a living natural monument.
“Unfortunately, she caught me watching and then the warning bell for the first period went off, so she didn’t finish the divination. But her eyes seemed to be filled with tears. So ... why did you two break up? Did the love grow cold or something?”
I heard Aria gag from the mouthful of the peach bun getting caught in her throat.
Don’t mention the word love. It causes children to overreact.
“Are you serious? I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Shirayuki and I aren’t even in that kind of relationship. We’re just childhood friends.”
“Childhood friends, huh? That’s certainly a popular choice of words for dodging the matter. According to rumors, Kanzaki got jealous and opened fire on Hotogi. That’s why I’m thinking that you and Kanzaki hit it off, and the two girls duked it out to determine who would have you ... After all, Kanzaki is always talking about you at Assault. She seems to having a lot of fun doing so too.”
Aria H. Kanzaki went bright red and with a little difficulty, managed to swallow down her peach bun.
“Y-Y-Y-You pervert!”
“Ngh!”
For some reason, a punch came flying into my face.
What gives? This can’t be right. If you’re gonna punch anyone, it should be Shiranui.
“I’m going to make myself perfectly clear. The reason I drove off Shirayuki wasn’t because I was j-jealous or anything like that. Kinji and I are partners. There’s no l-love or anything else involved. There’s absolutely, positively, definitely nothing like that going on. Those are my real, honest, true feelings!”