I cursed in the back of my mind. Just as she said, in hysteria mode, I prioritized the safety of women over all else.
“Kinji … shoot her!”
Where exactly, do you suggest I shoot her at? I can’t just shoot through you. In my current state, I’m utterly incapable of doing that!
“You just spoke, didn’t you Aria? You moved your mouth. You don't need that troublesome tongue of yours.”
Using the hand she held the katana with, Joan grab Aria’s chin and forced it to the side where she restrained it. She then brought her own lips towards Aria’s. She’s going to blow that freezing breath into Aria mouth!
“Stop!” I shouted, but was powerless to do anything—not with Aria taken hostage.
“Aria!” echoed a voice that didn’t belong to me. But the voice didn’t have its usual reserved and somewhat frail tone. It had become something more valiant and powerful. From above a three-meter high computer behind Joan, a chain with a weight attached at its end sped towards Aria and wrapped itself around the sword guard of the katana in Joan hand, which she had relaxed her grip on while she restrained Aria’s chin. The blade’s sharp edge, which had been pressed against the nape of Aria’s neck, was being pulled away.
“?!”
Joan looked up with Shirayuki’s knitted brows, and on top of the computer …
“Kin-chan, rescue Aria!”
. . . was the real Shirayuki! She yanked on the chain and pulled the katana out of the hand of her imposter. Atop the computer, Shirayuki then caught the katana that she fished up. Aria saved Shirayuki’s life a little while ago, but this time Shirayuki saved Aria’s. Butei Charter, Article One: Believe in your comrades and help one another. Normally, the two of them couldn’t even do a simple fortune-telling together peacefully, but when situation called for it, they saved each other’s lives.
Aria. Shirayuki. You two are remarkable buteis! Excellent job!
The real Shirayuki jump off the computer and swung her katana downwards, aiming to separate Aria from Joan of Arc. Joan responded. She gathered the long sleeves of her blade-proof priestess garbs and attempted to catch the sword with her kimono. In doing so, she released Aria, who interfered. When Aria got away, she used her remaining functional leg to deliver a kangaroo kick into Joan’s knee. Joan almost completely lost her balance and was forced to fall back. My hysteria mode eyes captured the entire process, which happened in little more than a second. Aria came rolling in front of my feet and stood up on one knee. Shirayuki stood in front, guarding her. She held the hilt of her sword vertically with both hands at position diagonal from her shoulder.
“Shirayuki,” Joan said, “to think you would forfeit your own life to save Aria. …” A cylindrical shaped object dropped out from underneath the hem of the hakama she wore to disguise herself as Shirayuki. It produced a white smoke that quickly spread all around her.
A smoke bomb…! She’s trying to blind us!
The sprinklers on the ceiling sensed the smoke and began showering water one by one. Shirayuki backed up little by little, avoiding coming in contact with the smoke Joan used to conceal her whereabouts. “Sorry, Kin-chan. I thought I had her just now … but I let her escape.”
“You did great. I would have expected no less from you. You okay, Aria?”
“S…She had me completely fooled. I never thought there would be two Shirayukis. …” Aria said, still kneeling and repeatedly opening and closing her hands. Her grip had lost nearly all of its strength. She probably wouldn’t be able to participate in the battle any longer, which was likely to be exactly what Joan’s planned for. In addition … I had the slight feeling that it was getting colder inside the room.
“Shirayuki, would you recall to memory a couple of things for me?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have any recollection of setting up piano wire inside Aria’s locker?”
“Her locker …? I swear that I haven’t done anything like that.”
“One more thing. The other day, did Shiranui see you in the greenhouse pulling petals off flowers?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah …” Shirayuki answered somewhat bashfully, and I clicked my tongue.
“I came across another Shirayuki at that same time. That girl has been lurking in Butei High disguised as Shirayuki, the entire time. That’s how she was able to observe us so closely … and split us apart. Aria, the one who set up piano wire in your locker was probably Joan as well. You remember the piano wire that was set up in the floor beneath us, don't you? As they say, the best place to hide a tree is in a forest. Joan’s death trap was mixed in among the all the harassment you were subjected to by Shirayuki.”
Aria’s camellia-colored eyes grew wide as I speedily stated my deductions.
“Kinji … you … changed into ‘that’ again, didn’t you?!”
I did. I’m currently in hysteria mode—that “awakened” state as you call it. By not saying anything, I answered Aria’s question in the affirmative. Confirming her suspicion must have emboldened Aria because she exposed that fang-like cuspid of hers and started to holler.
“Durandal! You’re Joan of Arc, you say? You’re a coward! You don’t resemble your ancestor in the least!”
Beyond the smoke and a fair distance away, Joan responded to Aria’s taunting voice.
“The same applies to you, doesn’t it, Holmes the Fourth?”
Her voice came from a distance. It originated somewhere by the elevator hall. We turned in that direction … and it donned on us. It wasn’t just a slight feeling. The temperature in this room was rapidly dropping. On the other side of the smoke, the water that fell from the sprinklers turned into ice crystals and danced around like snow. It was the phenomenon called diamond dust. It was a mystifyingly beautiful scene akin to dancing jewels. But paradoxically, it created an indescribable sense of fear. She was a diamond dust sorceress.
“Kin-chan … defend Aria. She won’t be able to fight for a while.” Keeping her katana in her right hand, Shirayuki backed up towards us and kneeled down on one knee. She gently took Aria’s right hand into her own left hand. “A sorceress’ ice is similar to poison. The only one who can purify it is a Sister . . . or a priestess. But this is a strong form of ice ranging from grade six to grade eight. Even if I use my powers to heal her … I think it will take five minutes before she’s back to normal. So you protect her until then. I’ll defeat our enemy on my own.”
“… What are you saying, Shirayuki? I can’t let you fight alone.” I step in front of the two, preparing myself in case Joan went on the offensive.