“Oh, i-it was nothing. Let me help out with the heavy stuff at least.”
“Thank you, Kin-chan ... You really are strong, aren’t you? Such a gentleman.”
Shirayuki was smiling at me happily. Apparently, she didn’t see what I was doing just a moment ago. Seeing Shirayuki in that apron and skirt, my eyes couldn’t help but notice the elegant, female curve of her waist. Unlike Aria’s underdeveloped figure, Shirayuki was somewhat famous for having proportions you wouldn’t normally expect to see on a high-school girl. According to the idiots in my class who spied on the girls during their swimming lessons, Shiriyuki in a swimsuit was on par with a bikini model.
This isn’t good. I think I might start to envision Shirayuki in her “battle garbs.” Even if she is a childhood friend, if that image enters my head, it’s all over.
The very thought of it was unnerving.
“... Uhh ... let’s see. I’ll leave the bodyguarding to Aria for a while. I’m gonna step outside for a bit.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“J-Just outside. Don’t be so nosey,” I said agitatedly and in a hurry to get out of there.
“Ah ... right. I was prying. I’m sorry,” Shirayuki said, bowing in panic.
It’s times like these that her obedient nature comes in handy.
I didn’t have a particular place in mind so I went to kill time at Roxie, the one and only family restaurant on Academy Island. I was sitting at a table when I heard the tune used during the Ar-kata coming from my cell phone.
“Hey, you!”
A small fist hammered me on the forehead. Removing my earphones, I looked up to see Aria beside the table with her arms crossed.
“What are you slacking off for, Kinji?!”
“There’s a ... reason for this. Why did you leave the apartment?
“I came in search of deserters while I was out doing some shopping. I have a legitimate reason to be here,” said Aria, producing two handcuffs from underneath her skirt. Those handcuffs, which were made of pure silver and had Latin runes inscribed on their surface, were anti-esper handcuffs. I had seen them before at the student store and remember staggering when I noticed the high price for which they sold.
“I’m hardly a deserter. More importantly, how could you leave Shirayuki alone?”
“Reki’s watching over her.”
“Reki?”
“I asked for her help. I’m having her guard Shirayuki from a distance,” said Aria, plopping down onto the seat across from me.
Reki.
Her last name is unknown. That alone makes her incredibly suspicious, but in addition to that, she was taciturn, expressionless, and emotionless—three traits that made her a veritable robot. She was also the student in the Snipe division who helped us resolve that bus-jacking incident a while back. In terms of skill, she‘s a child prodigy who has been an S-rank butei since her freshman year, but she has a habit of sitting on the school roof with her knees pulled up to her chest all day and was always listening to God knows what with those huge headphones of hers. Understanding Aria is way easier compared Reki. She was harder to figure out than Aria.
... So you got Reki involved, huh?
When Aria said Reki was watching over Shirayuki, I immediately had an image of Reki adjusting her lining of Shirayuki in the sights of her scope. “She’ll only be doing it part-time though. She said she’s going to be participating in the Adsiard as a representative of Japan for the sniping competition, so she’ll be pretty busy. We can only use her for a limited amount of time. Not to mention, snipers aren’t normally suited for bodyguarding. That’s why you and I have to do a good job of guarding Shirayuki. Hello?! Are you listening to me?!”
“S-Stop pulling my ear! I was just thinking about Reki is all. I’m listening. Besides ... I doubt anybody is targeting Shirayuki anyway. Hire anyone you want.”
“Take this seriously, Kinji. This is an official mission.”
“Why did you suddenly say you wanted to be Shrayuki’s bodyguard anyway? That’s what I wanna know.”
It was something I wanted to ask since yesterday, and after posing the question in an angry manner, Aria ... started to methodically wink her eyes a number of times.
She was making winking signals. It was a signal buteis used when relaying information that shouldn’t be heard by the people around them. I deciphered the winks, which were similar to Morse code.
Durandal’s ... wiretapping ... danger? What’s that supposed to mean?
Aria signed for me to come closer so I leaned over the table and pricked up my ears. She began whispering in my ear so closely that I could feel her breath.
What is with this girl? Even her breath has a nice, bittersweet smell.
“Durandal is one of the people who used my mom as a scapegoat. The master swordsman I mentioned to you during our morning training the other day is probably Durandal. If we can arrest him when he comes for Shirayuki, my mother’s sentence will be reduced to six hundred and thirty-five years, and if everything goes well, we might be able to get the case remanded to the High Court.”
Oh. I see now. So that’s what this is about. No wonder her attitude changed the second she heard Durandal’s name at the educational affairs department.
I was getting a firm grasp on the situation when my cell phone rang, making it seem as if our conversation actually was being overheard.
“?”
I tugged on the Leopon strap and looked at my cell phone.
Oh. It’s just Shirayuki.
“Hello?”
“Kin-chan, dinner will be ready soon. I tried my hand at Chinese cuisine today.”
“Okay. I got it. I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting. But if you’re with a friend or anyone, you can come later.”
“Sure ...”
If I tell her that I’m with Aria, she’s probably going to be in a bad mood again.
“I’m not with anyone. I’ll be right there.”
“What you mean? I’m here,” Aria said.
“K-Kin-chan? I just heard Aria’s voice . . .”
Gah! Aria, take a hint!
“Uhh … Aria just walked by right now.”
“What are you talking about? We’ve been talking together the whole time. Are you stupid?” came Aria’s voice again.
“... Kin-chan ...” Along with Shirayuki’s voice, which became somewhat frightening, I heard a kitchen knife cleanly slicing though a white radish or something of that nature. “... why are you lying to me?”
W-What’s with this voice?! It's like something out of a horror film!
“Ah, yeah, you got it! I’ll be there right away!”
Slamming my cell phone shut, I turned towards Aria, the girl who can’t read between the lines, and yanked on one of her pigtails. She cried out just like little girl, which made me feel slightly better. A few seconds later, she gave me a high-flying drop kick in retaliation though.
We return to the apartment to find plate after plate of Chinese dishes lined up on the dinner table. It was an assortment of fried rice with crab, stir-fried shrimp in chili sauce, sweet-and-sour pork, gyoza, mini-ramen, and even abalone with oyster sauce. It was nothing less than a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. And they were all my favorite foods. I sat at the table, and still wearing an apron over her uniform, Shirauki gracefully walked up beside me, carrying a tray with Jasmine tea on it. When I looked up at Shirayuki, she was busily tidying up her bangs. I think it was a habit of hers.
“G-Go ahead and eat. I made it all just for you.”
It looked like she wasn’t going to eat until I did, so I helped myself to the sweet-and-sour pork. Indeed, the meat was delectable. It was the unmistakable taste of delicious pork. Its rich, sweet-and-sour taste softly enveloped my tongue. Shirayuki’s cooking skills knew no bounds. The difference between Shirayuki and Aria, whose hands became an utter, drippy mess just from attempting to fry an egg and failing to do so in the end, was as large as the difference the land and the sky. No, it was as different as the stratosphere and the Japan Trench.
“Is ... is it good?”
“It’s great.”
Hearing my answer, Shirayuki looked as if she couldn’t be happier and hid the lower half of her face with the tray. She whispered, “I’m so glad, dear,” under her breath, and I wondered who it was she was fantasizing about. But what was really bothering me was the fact that the food was so tasty, and yet it didn’t really feel like I was eating when I was being stared at so intently.
“Shirayuki, you sit down and eat too. Why are you always trying to take care of me?”
“T-That’s because ... you’re Kin-chan.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“... I-I guess not,” replied Shirayuki with a wry smile and taking her place at the table. Aside from Shirayuki, Aria sat with her arms crossed and a bulging vein on her temple.