Still not sure just what was happening, I looked behind me to find a suitcase on wheels—which I could presume Aria brought with her—sitting outside the door. It was fairly stylish with a striped pattern and a logo that unmistakably indicated it to be a name-brand suitcase.
This can’t be happening.
If any of the other students see a girl’s suitcase sitting outside my door, there’s no telling what they’re going to say. I mentioned it to Shirayuki this morning as well, but this is a men’s dormitory.
“Do you live here by yourself?” Aria came out of the bathroom and washed her hands. She paid no attention to me as I dragged her abnormally heavy suitcase through the door, wondering what she could have possibly packed into it, and continued looking around the apartment. Then she invaded the living room and went to the farthest corner where the window was located.
“Oh, never mind.”
Never mind “what”?
Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Aria spun around and faced me, her twin pigtails following her lead in an elegant curve.
“Kinji, be my slave!”
…
……
…………Unbelievable. This girl is absolutely unbelievable. One moment she saves me, the next moment she shoots her pistols and waves her swords at me. She sits next to me in class, comes barging into my home, and now it’s “be my slave”?
“What are you just standing there for? At least have the sense to hurry up and bring me something to drink! How rude can you be?!”
Aria dropped that small butt of hers onto the sofa I had been sitting on previously, causing her skirt to flutter high into the air. When she crossed her legs, I caught a short glimpse of her thighs as well as one of the two pistols she kept attached to them.
She stays armed even after school? This girl’s dangerous.
“I want coffee! Espresso lungo doppio! Use cane sugar! Have it ready in one minute!”
You’re the rude one here. And what kind of coffee is that? Sounds like an incantation of some sort of magic spell.
I had a strong gut feeling that getting her to leave would prove to be a most frightening task, so I just abandoned the idea and made her a cup of instant coffee.
“?” With a look of surprise on her face, Aria brought her nose to the cup, which she was holding on both sides, and sniffed at it intently.
“Is this really coffee?”
Apparently, she didn’t know what instant coffee was.
“That’s all I’ve got, so be thankful and drink it.”
She took another sip.
“It tastes weird. It kind of reminds me of Greek coffee… Hmm, maybe not.”
“The taste isn’t the issue here. More importantly,” Sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the table, I took a sip of my own coffee as I pointed my finger at the trespasser. “I’m grateful to you for saving me this morning. And…I apologize for saying things that upset you. But that’s no reason to barge in here like this. What’s the big deal?” I asked with pursed lips.
Holding onto her cup, Aria remained perfectly still as she shifted her red eyes and looked into mine.
“You don’t know?”
“Of course, I don't know.”
“I thought you, of all people, would have figured it out a long time ago. Hmm…but I guess it’ll dawn on you sooner or later. Oh, never mind.”
I do mind.
“I’m hungry.” Aria suddenly changed the subject as she threw herself on top of the arm of the sofa. Seeing her girlish gesture put a slightly red hue on my cheeks, and I averted my eyes.
“Do you have anything to eat?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You gotta have something. What do you usually eat?
“I always get my meals from the convenience store downstairs.”
“Convenience store? Ahh, that miniature supermarket. Okay then, let’s go.”
“What do you mean, ‘Okay then, let’s go’? What for?”
“You’re so dumb. We’re going to get something to eat. It’s already dinner time.”
This isn’t good. We’re not on the same page here. Wait a second. Is she planning on staying for dinner too? I want her to hurry and go home.
As I placed my hand on my forehead because of a resulting headache, Aria jumped away from the couch in a way that made it seem like she had springs attached to her body. She then marched her way over to me and brought her face so close to mine that she was looking up at me from directly underneath my chin.
Whoa, back up. “Do they sell Matsumoto Peach Buns there? That’s what I feel like eating right now.”
There were three things a Butei had to watch out for: darkness, poison, and women. Aria, falling squarely into the third category, bought seven whole peach buns at the convenience store. Peach buns were just plain-old bean paste buns shaped like peaches, which was slightly popular a little while back, and she practically bought every last remaining one. I didn’t think she was actually going to eat all of them right then and there, but then she betrayed my expectations and looked like she was going to do just that. Sitting at the table, Aria was already devouring the fifth one. Where in the world is she putting those peach buns inside that small body of hers?
I was eating my usual hamburger patty bento and sending the bothersome intruder a gaze with my eyes that tried to convey the message, “Hurry up and leave.” But Aria wasn’t paying attention to my glare and the message they were sending her. Instead, she proceeded to start on her sixth peach bun and place her hand on her cheek as she blissfully savored her meal. Were those things really that tasty?
“By the way, what exactly did you mean by that ‘be my slave’ remark?”
“Join my party in the Assault division. We’re going to conduct Butei operations together.”
“What are you talking about? I left Assault because I hated it and transferred to Inquesta, the most normal division there is here at Butei High. Not to mention I intend on transferring out of this school and into a regular one. I’m not going to be a Butei. That in mind, you want me to go back to that insane division? Impossible.”
“There are three phrases that I hate.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“That’s impossible. I’m too tired. I don’t feel like it. These are three deplorable phrases that people use to stifle their own unlimited potential. Make sure you never use those words in front of me again. Understood?”
Having said that, Aria gobbled down the seventh peach bun and licked the bean paste off her fingers.
“As for your position, let’s see…you should be in front with me.”
“Front” refers to front man. It’s the vanguard position when Butei form a party—a dangerous position with the highest probability of getting injured.
“No I shouldn’t. Why me, anyway?”
“Why does the sun rise? Why does the moon shine?”
Again, the conversation goes awry.
“You’re just like a kid who does nothing but ask questions. If you’re a Butei, gather information yourself and make your own deductions.”
I don’t wanna hear that from someone who looks like a kid herself.
I almost said it out loud, but then I remembered that I was nearly killed this morning for making a similar remark, so I swallowed my words. In any event, there’s one thing I understood. Any attempt to engage in a discussion with her would be useless. If I were to make an analogy between our conversation and a game of catch, Aria would be a pitching machine one-sidedly throwing her demands directly at me until I turned black and blue. In order for me to compete with her, my only option is to be completely frank in making my own demands known. Having come to this conclusion, I switch to a slightly more overbearing tone.
“In any case, get going already. I want to be alone. Go home.”
“I will…eventually.”
“And when will that be?”
“When you agree to join my party in Assault.”
“You do realize it’s already night time?”
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to get you to join. Time’s not on my side. If you refuse…”
“You bet I’m gonna refuse. What are you gonna do about it? Try your worst.”
I took a firm position as I denied her, and Aria glared at me with those large eyes of hers.
“If you refuse, I’m going to stay here at your place.”
Say what?! My cheeks were twitching so spasmodically I looked like I was about to go into a seizure.
“W-wait a second! What on earth are you talking about?! There’s no way you’re staying here! Go home!” I was so shocked that I had to swallow down the hamburger, which nearly made its way back up my throat.
“Stop your whining! If I say I’m staying here, then I’m staying here! I already prepared for a drawn-out battle!” shouted Aria with a voice that sounded like she was about to go on a frenzy and pointed to her suitcase near the door while scowling at me.
That suitcase is filled with all her personal belongings, she’s planning to stay! Why is she going this far? What’s her objective? What could she have to gain from bringing someone like me back to Assault?
“Get out!”
I’m not the one who just said that. Aria took the initiative and screamed the words that I should have been the one to say.