That’s it? For a person acting like she’s doing me a favor that sure is a ridiculously simple plan. If this girl is supposed to be the great-granddaughter of the world famous Sherlock Holmes the Fourth, for the sake of their country’s honor, I think the British government should consider having a DNA test done. Seriously.
“So the skill you need to learn is a counterattack technique.”
“Counterattack technique ... What is that?”
“First, you’re going to stop a sword by catching it with your bare hands,” said Aria, raising her katana.
“Wa-”
Before I could say “wait,” I heard the sound of the air being slashed at right next to my right ear. Aria had just swung her sword down towards my shoulder at a speed faster than the eye could follow. I couldn't see it, but she did stop one millimeter away from shoulder though. Riding along the wind created by Aria’s movements was that faint smell of gardenias.
“Okay. Go over that timing in your head five hundred times. You have ten minutes.”
“Go over the timing ...?”
“That’s right. Imagine yourself catching the katana based on the speed at which it just came at you. If you like, you can actually use your hands as if you were shadow boxing.”
Aria returned the katana to its scabbard on her back in one fluid motion.
“In other words … you just want me to do image training.”
“We can start mass producing lumps on your head right now if you want.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll do it.”
After breathing a very deep sigh, I reluctantly began imagining myself catching Aria’s katana. Aria nodded in satisfaction.
“That’s the way. You’re very commendable when you follow instructions. Good boy. I hear there’s a master swordsman among the IU members who made my mom a scapegoat. Techniques for countering knife attacks are the basics for any butei. Don’t slack off now,” said Aria in a condescending tone and with a smile on her face.
Get treated like a kid by her and it’s all over.
“Get to it. I’m gonna start counting now. Nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Fifty-eight seconds.”
“I’m doing it, I’m doing it.”
“No useless chatter. As a penalty, you just lost thirty seconds!”
What’s up with that “Aria rule”? She’s as tyrannical as a despot. Well . . . I guess I’ll stick it out with her though.
I let out a short sigh. All this talk about the key to my hysteria mode aside, I had already made up my mind about what I’m going to do after that last incident we went through. I’m not going to become some ally of justice. But ... I will continue to be her ally for a little while longer.
I’ll help Aria out with what she’s trying to do.
But the one thing I wanted to keep telling myself was that it wasn’t because she was cute, or I had fallen in love with her or anything like that. It was simply a matter of me seeing through to the end what I had already decided. I was only doing what I should be doing. As for the other things I had decided on—transferring from Butei High to a regular school next year, becoming a normal person who leads a normal life—I didn’t intend to change those plans, either.
These were the thoughts swimming through my head as I engaged in image training when Aria pull out her iPod from underneath her skirt and starting fiddling with it. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw there was a video being played on the small screen, which also served as a touch panel. It was a video demonstration of the choreography used in Ar-kata. As per Aria’s suggestion, I signed up to join the band, and the Adsiard preparatory committee sent me the same video this morning.
“Hmm ... This might be kind of cute,” Aria said to herself. Then, slightly distancing herself from me, she turned away and ... suddenly started dancing. She wasn’t doing too bad of a job, either.
Well I’ll be. She’s pretty good.
Having no interest in cheerleading, I’m not too knowledgeable on the subject. But even to my untrained eye, Aria’s movements as she began to dance and her twin pigtails flailed about, looked like those of an expert cheerleader. Her movements started out as the normal kind of cheerleading most are used to seeing, and from there, it took on a more gallant atmosphere as she incorporated the martial arts formations. Even so, when adorable, little Aria did all of this in that cheerleader uniform ... it was still very cutesy. Switching from a knife to her pistol, Aria continued to dance, and lifting her leg high into the air, she even performed a back walkover. According to Aria, boy shorts aren’t underwear so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But regardless of her choice in undergarments, I had to admit that she was good. Aria picked up her pom-poms and even had the nerve to show off one of those starry smiles. Normally, she was always in a bad temper and practically scowling, so even though Aria was only acting, the effects of these types of smiles were twice as potent. What kind of effects those were, I didn’t know. But despite all of that, seeing Aria practice her cheer routine like this ... really did make her come across as just an average girl. If this had been a regular high school, no one would assume her to be anything but—just a tad short, self-centered, energetic high-school girl that could be found anywhere.
“Hey ... Kinji.” Aria suddenly stopped dancing and her pink ponytails twirled as she spun around. “Have you been staring at me this whole time? Those are the eyes of a lecher.”
Aria placed her pom-poms against her hips. She then noticed her skirt had inched itself up slightly and used the pom-poms to straighten it out.”
“This isn't a show, you know?”
Though a bit late, I think she must have started to feel embarrassed because her puffed up cheeks had taken a red hue.
“I’d say cheerleading is a show—essentially. More to the point, staring at you is the last thing I’d want to do.”
To be sure, I had been fixated on Aria for too long, and feeling a bit awkward, I averted my gaze.