Hidan no Aria:Volume7 Chapter4

4th Ammo - Team Baskerville

Returning to Butei High in the night....

After the Masters ensured that there were no severely wounded casualties, they quickly split us up by subject and distributed debriefing records. Disgusting. Let us rest a bit first. At least allow us a bowl of katsudon. Aria was taken by the Assault instructor Ranbyou to the principal's office. Riko and I were Inquesta while Mutou was of Logi; we were all interviewed by our respective instructors. After that, the Masters got into contact with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the media and the JR. I thought we would be castigated for cutting the Shinkansen however with the capture of the perpetrators, this did not happen.

On the contrary we were lauded for resolving the issue. Officially to boot. Like this, Butei High did not have to take responsibility for Koko and her group's hijack of the Shinkansen to extort money from the Japanese government. This was a very nicely done maneuver no matter how you look at it.

"Tohyama-kun, I'll tell you this before the start of legal hearings for a plea-bargain. The fact that you all were targeted must be kept strictly confidential lest some very important person gets upset."

The Inquesta Master Takamagahara Yutori said. With the presence of the black suited man during our debriefing on top of Yutori's words, I could somehow understand that. Judging from his badge, that guy was an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And holding the class of a vice-minister. Probably, this was due to Aria. As a general rule, regardless of whatever cases Butei are involved in, international ones are their own responsibility. However, Aria is a foreign aristocrat.

It was better for Japanese-British relations that the fact that she was exposed to great danger on Japanese soil not be made public. That is the so-called "adult matter". Well on this, I can only listen to what the adults say. This isn't exactly a very good point either because if it continues to worsen, it would prove troublesome indeed.

Perhaps there was an attempt to offer us hush money, for the official mentioned something about "the government offering us distress money in the future" of which our polite refusals of his good-will caused us to be eventually dismissed very late.

Once done, I headed to the No. 2 girls dorm. To the highest floor......to Reki's room. Opening the door with the cardkey I got from her before, I found the interior dark. Although I already expected this, still there really was no one in.

(Reki...)

A naked light bulb cast its light to no purpose on a room of bare concrete. The living room window was shut and the silence was deafening.

The wind.....didn't blow here.

It wouldn't anymore.

Returning to my own room in the boy's dormitory, here too, there was nobody. According to Ranbyou whom I crossed paths with on my way, Aria had headed to Toranomon for a preparatory meeting with a female lawyer whom she had hired, before the trial of her mother Kanzaki Kanae. Doing so after such a major operation; she really is tough.

I entered the living room....

*Chika*, *chika*

I noticed the flicker of a light.

.....What? The answering machines of those rarely used landline phones are at maximum record capacity? This can record 30 messages a minute and with 30 minutes of recording time....With an unpleasant feeling in my heart, I pushed the playback button.

"Kin-chan, are you alright?"

As I thought, Shirayuki.

That girl....whenever anything happens, she'll have this habit of incessantly sending mail....As my cell was destroyed and thus could not be connected, she contacted here instead.

"If you receive this message, even if it might be a trouble....please call me back. I believe Kin-chan's alright, yet....guuugh....I'm really...worried....u...hu...hu...."

Shirayuki had been separated from me when she had been left behind in Shizuoka with the rear portion of railway cars.

I know you are worried, but don't call for 30 minutes.

After a momentary break, the recordings began to play the next portion.

"Uu...eguu...huu..Kin-chan...uu...uu...uuuuuuuu....."

S...scary!

Please stop crying into the recording. In the dead of the night it's like a ghost.

With apprehension, I played the next part which was...

".....I've just got a call from Butei High! I am so relieved when I hear that Kin-chan's alright. The criminals have all been captured too! How truly magnificently done....! Kin-chan is truly amazing. Truly amazing, Kin-chan is.....aa.....Kin-chan is...truly an amazing gentleman...."

Why the repetition...

"All of us here are fine. We are taking the Tokaido Line back. It will be pretty late when we get back but I'll prepare a feast after we return. Just a short while back, I bought fresh crab!"

Shirayuki being Shirayuki, this switch in tone is too fast.

Speaking of which, have you brought the crab back yet?

Uu...there's still some more messages. I'm getting sleepy already.

"Kin-chan, about that...about that...that pregnant woman aboard the Shinkansen; she safely delivered her baby at a Shizuoka hospital! That's just great news...I just received the photograph by e-mail. It's a cute little girl! Errm....speaking of which...do you like babies Kin-chan? I like them a lot. They are so cute, just looking at them makes me feel all blissful inside. That...that's why I.....I....someday...someday, Kin..."

Pi......I pushed the stop button.

Stop....stop.

This no longer has anything to do with the initial purpose of ensuring my safety. Furthermore, what's with this bad feeling crawling down my back. Right time to delete them all. Despite being sleepy; well Shirayuki was rather worried, so I gave her a call. In the face of all that excited screaming, I simply said, "I'm fine. Don't worry. Sleep now," before quickly ending the call.

Disconnecting the phone line and having showered, I lay alone in bed for a long time without my cell and nothing in particular to do.

(Koko, Koko, Koko...)

I dimly reflected on the memory of the three sisters who had targeted Reki and me. Those three were all captured at Tokyo station, screaming and cursing all the way to the end. To better differentiate them for the Logi seniors escorting them, the words "eldest daughter", "second daughter" and "third daughter" were stuck on their foreheads, in a most amusing manner; just like the kyonshi in that old film "Mr. Vampire". Tonight, those three sisters would be interrogated by the Dagula's top S instructor Tsuzuri Umeko.