What am I gonna do if some mistake leads me to activating hysteria mode? I think I’ll just keep my eyes on my own hands.
“Okay everyone, that’s enough for today. Thanks for all your hard work.” Sounding just a teacher, Shirayuki, the supervisor, announced the end of rehearsal, and all the girls voiced their compliance before heading off in every direction. Now at ease, I had more than enough of this space that seemed to reek of girls, so I put away the guitar and decided to climb up the stairs and go out onto the roof. It was a beautiful, clear day in the month of May. The warm sun was inviting on my skin. It was the perfect weather for taking a nap. That being the case, I proceed to lie flat on my back and took a deep breath of the refreshing spring breeze.
Ahhh ... this is nice. The wind in May is worth its weight in gold.
Such were my thoughts as I was enjoying my nap on the rooftop when I noticed the nice, bittersweet fragrance of gardenias blended in the passing wind.
“?”
I opened my eyes halfway and was instantly thrown out of heaven and plunged into hell, which is to say, the soles of a white sneaker came down directly on my face.
“Ngh!”
Subsequently, that small sneaker began delivering a flurry of kicks to my head until I managed to roll out of the way.
“What are you slacking off for?! Guard Shirayuki like you’re supposed to be doing, you useless piece of junk!”
The person stomping her feet next to my ear was Aria in her cheerleader uniform. She had her pom-pom carrying hands on her hips, and was enraged with indignation.
“A-Aria?”
She had followed me even all the way out here. I gave her a rebellious glare as I sat up, and she lifted her leg high into the air—as high as the top of her head—with a motion that was obviously unrelated to a cheer routine. Her foot robbed me of my coveted sun and that’s when I realized ... she was expecting me to catch her guillotine-like kick with my bare hands! Determined to show her up, I proceeded to catch her axe kick...
Clap!
My hands pathetically came together in prayer right above Aria’s shin ... and the heel of a twenty-one centimeter miniature foot was planted squarely on the top of my head. I fell right back on my rear end, wishing Aria would just cut me some slack. I was used to getting punched and kicked from participating in Assaults hand-to-hand combat sessions, but the damage of constantly getting hit in the head over and over again was starting to add up. Standing in front of me, Aria stuck out her fake chest.
“Oh, come on! Get it right at least once! This isn’t a game, you know?!” Aria roared as she looked down at me with her glaring cuspid.
“L ... Look here …” I said, clutching my head as I stood up, “if you’re my partner, be a little more considerate of the condition I’m in. Let me have a break every now and then. I’m just getting over a cold because of some idiot who threw me off the balcony and into the freezing, dirty waters of Tokyo Bay at night,” I said, making a slightly long-winded sarcastic remark.
“W ... Well, I’m sorry, okay? I was thinking that I might have gone a little overboard ...” said Aria, averting her red eyes and partially turning away from me. It was a cute gesture, so I felt like following it up with a nice one of my own.
“Well, I won’t hold it against you. My cold’s cured now thanks the ‘Extra Concentrated Kudzu Infusion’ that Shirayuki gave me.”
“Huh?” Aria abruptly turned towards me again after hearing what I said. I could easily see the surprise in her wide-open eyes.
What? That wasn’t anything to really be surprised about.
“I-I’m the ...”
She started mumbling, so I gave her a look with knitted eyebrows, urging her to speak more clearly, but she just continued muttering to herself and wouldn’t tell me anything.
“... What? It’s not a name brand medicine, but it works for me. I’m pretty sure I told you about it the other day. Somehow, Shirayuki knew about it and went out and bought it for me.” For the time being, I gave Aria an explanation, and looking somewhat unpleased, she asked, “. . . Shirayuki said that?”
I wasn’t really sure what the intent of the question was, but I replied, “Hm? Yeah.”
“...”
. . . What? Why are you being so quiet all of a sudden?
“W-Well if you’ve recovered, that’s all that matters. I’m a noblewoman. I’ll put up with that sort of thing.”
“?”
Was there anything we just discussed that Aria would need to put up with? Doesn’t make any sense to me.
“Nobles don’t boast about their own exploits. It would be unsightly—even if someone else stole the credit.”
“What is it already? If you have something to say, come out and say it. This isn’t like you.”
“What’s your problem?! There’s nothing wrong with me not saying something I don’t want to say!” Aria exclaimed, sticking her small tongue at me. “I’m sure you must be happy to have Shirayuki nurse you to health! Shirayuki! Shirayuki! The one who’s always doing you so many favors is Shirayuki! Why don’t the two of you just get married?!” Aria drew near me with her cuspid looking more like a fang and her voice about three times as loud as usual.
What’s she getting heated up for so suddenly?
Clearly, something I said had to have been the trigger, but I wasn’t sure what that something was.
“H-Hold up! Why are you losing it all of a sudden?!”
“You be quiet! I’m not losing it!”
“Yeah, you are!”
“What about you?!”
Aria had gotten so close that our faces were about to touch, and that’s the condition in which we started glaring at each other. There was a difference of thirty centimeters in height between us, so Aria was glowering up at me from below while I scowled down at het from above. I was starting to get more than a little irate at Aria, who was blowing her top for no good reason. Thinking back, she had been doing nothing but aggravate me lately. She turned my apartment into a fortress, she was responsible for Shirayuki living with us, and now there was this whole incident too!
“While we’re at it, I’m gonna make myself clear on this. I was going along with your “sword catching” training because it was your decision as my partner, but no more! That’s a technique for a master fighter! It’s not the sort of thing you just learn to do by practicing!”
“You can’t quit! We’re going to continue! Durandal is rumored to have a sword that even cuts through steel! If that’s the case, you won’t be able to defend yourself with a knife or a large duralumin shield! When Shirayuki gets attacked, we’ll awaken your...”
“‘When she gets attacked’! We’ve been looking out for her for days now, and there hasn’t been the slightest bit of danger! I’ll say it one more time! There is no enemy! There is no Durandal!” Aria responded by looking at me with her red eyes wide open. “I know that you’re in a hurry to save Kanae as soon as possible. But your eagerness is causing you to lose your presence of mind right now! As soon as you heard the name of somebody who might be one of your enemies, you thought to yourself that you wanted him to exist. And now you’ve deluded yourself in thinking he really does!”
“That’s not true!” Aria insisted as she pointed a pom-pom at me while bearing her cuspid. “Durandal does exist! My intuition is telling me that he’s almost getting closer to us!”
“That’s what you call paranoia! Shirayuki’s going to be just fine, so go off somewhere else and occupy yourself with something else! Until the Adsiard is over, I’ll guard Shirayuki by myself!”
“What are you talking about?! Now I’m getting pissed off!” Aria raged from underneath me as she became red in the face. “Oh, sure! I’m a delusional girl who’s nothing but a third wheel, aren't I! You’re her bodyguard, and the two of you are busy u-u-undressing each other ... You’re detestable!”
“T…That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You’re always getting ahead of yourself by making decisions based on your own assumptions! Don’t be so full of yourself just because you were born into a family of slightly high standing! You might be a genius, but we ordinary people are the ones making this world go round! You’re a deviation from the norm!” I screamed, losing my cool.
The look on Aria’s face seemed to suggest that she was more hurt than I imagined she would be. There was no rebuttal. On the contrary, she took a step away from me. Then a second. And a third. Aria distanced herself in a display of frailty that was unlike her.