Hidan no Aria:Volume6 Chapter4

4th Ammo: Flash Cannon

Butei Charter article 4: Butei must be independent.

Butei High's field trip follows this rule, making its students find lodging for themselves.

Because Reki will definitely stay with me, even at night, I, not willing to be mocked by my classmates...booked an isolated hotel in northeast Kyoto, at the forest near Mount Hiei, online. After all, the site said that pets are OK.

We took a minibus, going along the driveway, disembarking at a desolate night path...

Standing there all alone, the hotel, "Bee's child", had a retro appearance, and personally, I liked it.

If she was a normal high school student, she'd definitely scream, "I don't want to stay at such an old place!" However, Reki, wearing her dress, her Butei High uniform in a paper bag...didn't say anything. I'm so glad that, at times like these, I don't need to worry about her.

*Clatter Clatter*, I opened the sliding door at the entrance, and an unexpectedly young landlady welcomed us from inside.

"My, my. Welcome."

"Ah, um...I'm the Tohyama that reserved a place here online. I reserved two rooms...but, I'm a little short on money, so could you change one of the two rooms into a cheaper one?"

So I said to her...Wearing typical Japanese clothing, the landlady looked between Reki and I...

"My, my~, ufufufu."

Covering her mouth with her sleeve, she narrowed her eyes happily.

...?

"Okyaku-han, since that is the case, wouldn't it be fine if ya switched ta one room? Ya can stay together with yer girlfriend."

Fufufu. The landlady said so extremely happily. I waved my hands violently, saying,

"N-no, she isn't my girlfriend."

"I am his girlfriend."

Eh? I turned my head, and the person who had cut in was Reki.

Wh-what are you claiming to be?

"The hotel is the subject of the sentence, and the only other girl here is me. Therefore, the third person naming for such a situation would be 'she'." [1]

Her speech like that of a teacher's, the robot girl said these things as if putting forth a counterargument.

"Mmnnn, I'm so jealous about how innocent you two are~~. Saori is so jealous~~."

With a strange movement like that of a little girl, the landlady swayed left and right.

She seemed to be dancing in time with the pendulum affixed behind her.

Facing her, who, if I were to put her in a manga panel, was scattering hearts everywhere, the landlady--Saori-san

"Ah, no...she's a girl that's a little bit...that..."

I wanted to try explaining Reki to her, but...

"Fortunately, there aren't any other guests today, so I'll prepare a nice room for ya, OK?"

Saori spun around, daintily walking inside, bringing us in.

The "Room of the Western Front" that we had been led into was a luxurious 8-tatami room, the tatami completely new.

Aptly named, the walls of the room were decorated with vividly colored Nishijin, which looked like tapestries. [2]

In front of the silk was a vase, which looked big enough for someone to enter, raising the overall feeling of classiness.

This is an amazingly...good room. Almost too good.

Preferring Japanese-styled rooms to the rooms in modern city-hotels, I was extremely thankful to the landlady, who had given us such a high-class room for such a reasonable price, but...

The problem is, the fact that Reki is sharing a room with me.

For these few days, I had been living in Reki's room, but that was just a desolate emptiness. Rather than, "living" together with Reki, the mood was more like, "in the midst of battle."

So, I was able to somewhat convince myself, but--

Staying in the same room during a trip, however, the mood was completely different.

"..."

"..."

Reki and I were sitting next to the wooden table, eating the food that the landlady, Saori-san, had quickly prepared for us. It was delicious, but I was agitated to the point where I wasn't sure what I was eating.

(He-heavy, this atmosphere...)

Reki and I...for some reason...

Isn't this ambiance something like the "couple that ran away together for whatever reasons" atmosphere, so commonly found in old movies?

And, the majority of those would be, the so-called adult movies...and afterward, it will go into something where I can't help but avert my eyes, pushing the fast-forward button...that stimulating scene.

Ah...

(I may be alone with Reki, but because we have nothing to talk about...I'm thinking about these unnecessary things.)

*Stare* Looking in front of me, Reki, sitting up straight, was eating her meal from the right to left, just gradually eating, as if the taste was completely irrelevant.

In a short while, she had finished all the rice, next, she ate all the tempura, from then on, it was sashimi, and lastly, she drank the miso soup in one gulp.

"..."

Afterwards, having finished our meal, together, Reki and I put our cellphones, both out of charge, on top of the TV, and each of us plugged our respective phones into our respective chargers.

When I had released my cellphone because there was nothing that I could do...I ordered Reki to: "Sit at the wall," sleeping at the sliding door at the other end of the room.

Us two, completely silent, could hear the sound of crickets coming from outside of the paper walls...

In the silence of the long, autumn night, it stood out even further.

"..."

Following my orders, Reki was sitting at the wall, apparently resting after she had eaten, staying completely still.

...Even though she's wearing such a beautiful dress, she's still sitting upright.

Turning my back on Reki, who was in that kind of position, I fell asleep...

*Slide*

"Forgive my rudeness."

The sliding door in front of my eyes opened, and Saori-san, kneeling in the corridor, had made her appearance once again.

"--How was your meal?"

"Ah, yes, it was delicious. Thank you for the meal."

Completely caught off guard, I sat up straight, slightly panicked, and Saori-san, seeing the distance between Reki and I--

She made an expression: "I grow tired of this."

"If yer completely finished with ya meal, then feel free ta take a bath. Because, today, both of ya are my only customers...You can use the hot springs for a while."

A bath...?

Flashing a face at me which said Give it your best shot, because of Saori-san's expression--

I had a bad feeling about this.

Confirming my premonition, the hot springs at the hotel didn't have any signs with "Men's bath", or "Women's bath".

In short, this was a mixed bath.

--Mixed hot springs.

For me, a no-man's land.

When I had strode into the ICBM hangar in EU, I was completely unarmed...and now, this was like entering there naked.

But, today was quite hot, so I had sweated a little, so I had no choice but to go bathe.

According to what Saori-san had said, there were no other customers, so there was no danger of being surrounded by any hostiles (= women).

"Reki, you, absolutely, cannot come in here. Absolutely forbidden. Absolutely."

In the room, having warned Reki--somehow, feeling as if I was the preview act for a comedy routine--I headed towards the hot springs.

Thankfully, this hotel had a service where Saori-san would wash our clothes for us while we were inside the bath.

As such, I put my clothes inside the laundry basket...*Rattle*, opening the sliding door...

Because I had confirmed that no-one was around, I walked to the bath that was formed by rocks and a bamboo wall, lowering myself into the water in order to wash myself.

(...)

This...feels amazingly good.

The temperature of the bath, lukewarm, was exactly to my liking, and besides that, the fact that I was alone allowed me to slip into a state of complete relaxation.

It was as if the fatigue from the journey was seeping out of me, into the bath.

Inside the steam of the bath, slowly wisping upwards, I...

(I wonder what everyone from Butei High is doing...we're on a trip, so they're probably having fun right now.)

...thought about my classmates, time flowing by.

After thinking about this and that, it had was already 9:00 at night.

Looking towards the stars, I saw that they were visible in the midst of the steam, and it was a beautiful sight. This is something that would be described as 'elegant'.

*Buzzz*....*Buzzz*...

The sound of insects from the forest.

Hooo...Hooo

What I had heard from the faraway forest was the call of an owl. It had been a while since I'd last heard it.

And, *Rattle*...

The sound of the sliding door opening.

(...Mm...?)

*Splash* The sound of splashing water.

*Splash*...*Splash*.

(...Mmm...!?)

And, *Splash*--

The sound of someone's foot entering the bath.

--That!

"Hey!"

*Splash!*

Standing up immediately, I dropped the towel that was sitting on my head, and catching it, I--covered one specific part of my body, backing up.

Looking into the steam, the figure which I could see belonged to a--

Gi-girl.

Rather, no matter how I looked at it, it was Reki.

Leaning against the large rock at one side of the hot spring, was a Dragunov.

Moreover, this was beyond obvious, but--she was naked.

One wouldn't be able to say that Reki had a nice figure, even as flattery, since she had a body akin to a middle school student, but...

Seeing the lines of her body where the steam was thin, she really had feminine, beautiful curves.

Comparing is something that I would never do, but...her body was less flat than Aria's.

The plumpness of her chest was like that of an unripe plum, or an apple. A slender waist. Her skin, normally reminiscent of ceramics, was shining even more, light reflected off the condensation of the steam, its pigment slightly flushed.

"Re-Reki...!"

--Reki isn't a robot, after all. She's a person. And she was, very clearly, a girl.

The image she gave off, far from being anything like a normal girl, couldn't even be said to be human, but at this moment...I was made sharply aware of this sense of lust, of immorality. Reki, was a girl.

But--

If that is so, then why. Why did she enter the bath with me so calmly. We are no longer children with no sense of the relationships between men and women, just playing with bubbles.

The one saving grace was...because of the steam, I had no way of clearly seeing Reki, who was standing three meters away from me.

After, all I can do is hope that this steam, almost unnaturally thick, doesn't disperse, for any reason.

"I-I said not to come, so why..."

Hearing me say that, Reki turned her small face, veiled by her damp short hair, looking this way.

"Yes. Kinji-san gave me that order--but, I sensed danger, and I came to protect you."

Eh, for me, you're the most dangerous thing here!

Looking at Reki, who had ignored my orders, entering the hot springs, I could only dip myself back into the water, hiding my body.

Calm down...you have to calm down...Kinji...!

The trigger to Hysteria Mode, is the heart.

As long as my heart keeps calm, then I should...be able to suppress it!

Alright, think of normal things. Think about the primary reason for bathing.

Bathing is something that one does to cleanse oneself, dispelling the pressure on one's soul.

There were no unhealthy impulses behind it. Absolutely not.

"Pro-protect me? Protect me from what...!"

I wrapped the towel around my waist, and with an immovable resolve, I strode out of the bath.

Keeping my breathing steady, I turned my face, following the bamboo fence towards the exit.

*Splash*

The splashing sound that Reki made, apparently coming my way, made my heart skip a beat.

"--I have felt an ill wind. Please do not go too far from my side."

Feeling the flow of blood become ever more dangerous, I ignored Reki's words, leaving the hot springs.

Taking deep breaths, confirming the status of my body's core...

I-I did it. I'm safe. I overcame it.

Reki is definitely a beautiful girl. She's as cute as a small animal, a girl who carries an inexplicable, indescribable attraction.

But--in reality, it appears that it's hard for me to go into Hysteria because of her.

I still don't know the reason, however, having been kissed by her once before and transforming, I could not let my guard down, not for any reason.

My uniform, during the time that I was in the bath, had already been cleaned and dried by the landlady, Saori-san.

Thanking her gratefully in my heart and wearing my uniform, having returned to "The Room of the Western Front", I never thought that my agitated blood flow would become even more excited...

Because, inside the room, there was a huge futon.

And, there was only one.

Added to that, the two pillows on top of it were pressed together, intimately.

(Did...Did Saori-san do this...!)

This will definitely--even someone as slow as me understood the underlying meaning behind this scene--preventing me from composing myself.

I opened the cabinet in a panic, but it was empty, there were no other futons prepared.

(What do I do...!)

Kinji, what do you do! You're out of the frying pan and into the fire!

The futon and pillow were wondrously soft, making one feel as comfortable as if it was heaven. Although, sleeping in it alone and making Reki sit on the tatami...I thought that I'd get an ulcer out of guilt.

But, if I let Reki sleep inside, heaven will immediately become hell.

Just thinking about it triggered slight Hysteria, an extremely dangerous action.

Maybe, if I use this side, and she uses that side...?

I separated the pillows, placing them at opposite ends of the futon, and my mind was running scenarios of what this would look like while asleep.

Th-this won't do. This kind of distance would be covered just by one of us rolling over.

And, I have no reason to wear the complete protective gear, Armament Set C, to sleep.

Because, yukata were placed next to the pillow, meant to act as pajamas.

--Yukata are very dangerous. Because, they can be stripped off in an instant.

Also, comparatively, my sleeping posture is quite bad. When I was a child, I had stayed at the Hotogi shrine, wearing a yukata...but, once I woke up, I noticed that, sleeping next to me, Shirayuki, Kiriyuki, Kazayuki, and Konayuki, (there were only 4 sisters then,) were pressed against me like a sandwich.

If that kind of scene appears in a situation like this, where Reki and I, a boy and girl, are alone together--whether it be in the dead of the night or at the crack of dawn, because of Hysteria Mode, I will really do some things that will render me unable to do anything but submit a wedding application.

I cannot let such a thing come to pass.

I held up one pillow, and like Nakasorachi in Connect, I started rolling around the futon...

--*Rattle*

At that moment, Reki, changed back into her uniform, opened the door.

Having been completely unaware of her presence, I, shocked, started swinging the pillow, twice, thrice.

"Ah, no, we're only two people, so we can't have a pillow fight."

Saying things that even I didn't understand, I exerted all my willpower, forcing myself to act calm, keeping the pillow inside the cabinet.

Hey, hand. My hand. Stop shaking.

No matter what, I cannot let the topic turn to the futon...

Steeling myself in my heart, I-

"No-now that I think about it...what happened to Haimaki?"

-asked this question, which I had been thinking of, trying to lead away from the topic.

On the other side, Reki, going her own pace, grasped the Dragunov as if it was a stick...and at the wall, she sat upright.

"--He's inside the room."

"Inside the room?"

I asked because he wasn't here.

Well...whatever. At least, I've temporarily prevented any discussion over the futon.

If Haimaki really were here, it'd just be even more hateful, anyways.

"..."

I re-arranged the things that I had disturbed in my panic just now, sitting down at the wall opposite Reki.

This...is, strangely enough, like a painting. Separated by a gigantic futon, a boy and girl sits apart, on opposite walls. Doesn't this situation make it seem as if we're paying special attention to that one futon?

(Aw-awkward...)

This is far too awkward.

Did the people who really went through arranged marriages in the past have this kind of feeling too?

Rather, what does Reki plan to do?

It can't be that she can't see this gigantic futon.

But, if you're going to sleep sitting down as always...I'm sorry, but I will be sleeping inside the futon by myself. I'm really sorry about doing this to you. But, let the ulcers come.

"You, that...Do you plan to sit here, holding your gun while sleeping?"

Unable to stand the silence any longer, I started to speak--

-suddenly, I realized that the way I had started speaking might cause an understanding.

What I had said just now seemed as if I was trying to draw Reki in. "Don't sleep that way" → "So, let's get into the futon together." If it were to be misunderstood like that, then I really won't have any way of backing out. I've really done it.

But, it seemed as if I was just adding on to my imagined torments...

"Yes. When the time comes, I have to fend off the enemy--The wind ordered me to do so."

Reki, her head slanted downwards, looking at the tatami, answered me softly.

If you say that...you're going to sleep upright. Alright, alright.

The ball's on my court now.

"The wind's orders, huh. Then, please obey them fully as well."

"Yes. Just..."

"...?"

"The wind has two other orders. And, I haven't fulfilled them yet."

"What orders?"

I couldn't help but frown.

Reki--

-wordlessly, stood up.

"Protect the wind, creating descendants for Ulus."

"Descendants for Ulus...?"

"The child of Kinji-san and I."

"...!"

Th-those words...

Why are they being said again, in this kind of situation...!

Reki, *Footstep, Footstep*, walked onto the futon--

The wood-framed chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling, *Click*, she extinguished it.

Reki's eyes, reflecting the light of the stars that was shining into the room, which had darkened in an instant...*Turn*

...turned towards me.

And as if at that signal, *Thump*...!

The gigantic vase under the painting fell over, and a silver beast appeared from within it.

Ha-Haimaki. That was where you were hiding?

Haimaki-

"Uu...?"

*Shuffle. Shuffle*

-pushed me forward forcefully, coming to a stop when he had reached Reki's feet.

He-hey. Stop it! Th-this is bad...Ku!

The flow which I had thought we were following, was broken.

Rather than that, in the blink of an eye, I had run into a terrible danger.

Before me, was Reki's soft, supple legs. Behind me, Haimaki's fangs, completely bared.

I mean, I'm not too versed with this kind of thing, but this "overly forceful" approach...normally, the position of the boy and girl should be reversed, right?

"That and--I was given one more order."

Reki suddenly lowered her voice, bending down.

Wh-what is it?

"--protecting Kinji-san."

Saying that--*Thump*

Completely unlike the normal Reki, she shoved me with all her force, pushing me down to the ground.

"...!"

Because of the pillow, I didn't smash my head, but, held tightly by Reki, I had no way of getting up.

Reki was clutching me as if she wanted to use her chest to squash my face--

At the point in time where I was utterly confused, my face reddening.

*Sshhhcc....Sshhccc! Kch!

The sound of something ripping through the air, piercing the paper screen--

And, the sound of breaking glass at the end of the hallway rang out in the midst of the darkness.

"--!?"

*Sshhcch!*

*Kch! Kch! Kch!*

The continuous sound of glass crackng.

*Bang!*...under the impact of multiple bullets, the window fell out of its frame--

*Shhchhch Shhhchch*!

On top of the TV, Reki's cellphone and my cellphone took direct hits.

And on top of that, the bullet, *Bccch*...!

The broken window, just like a frame, span around, falling down--smashing into the wall.

The silk decorating the walls dropped down like flowing water. The vivid tapestries were ripped off from every direction, covering Reki and I.

"--A snipe."

Hearing Reki's words and not being able to help but turn pale, I,

*Clank*...*Clank*...! *Clank*...*Clank*...!

-heard the sound of several gunshots coming from the mountain.

That--was the gunshot sound of those snipes.

A sniper rifle's bullets exceed the speed of sound. So, the bullets arrived earlier than the gunshots.

Then, Reki pushing me--was for the sake of preventing me from being hit by those snipes.

But...who is it? Why are they firing? Why are they attacking us!?

"--Remington M700. Distance: 2180m. Fired from the mountain."

Apparently able to judge the opponent's location and gun model merely from the gunshot, Reki said those words calmly,

Upon hearing that number, I could not help but widen my eyes.

(...2180m...!?)

Reki's Killing Range is 2051m.

Among the S ranked Butei in Tokyo Butei High, it was named as the greatest range.

But, the person attacking us appeared to be an elite sniper who was even more skillful than Reki.

Morever, that person was equipped with a Remington M700.

It is the world's most reliable sniper rifle.

"This place is extremely dangerous. The enemy is very clear about our location. Go outside."

Crawling, I extricated myself from underneath Reki, who was covered with the beautiful silk.

The room was filled with feathers, dancing through the air, having flown out of the torn futon.

"Who...is the enemy? Why are they assaulting us!"

Well, in terms of a vague idea...it's not that I'm at a complete loss. The important thing is, this has something to do with EU.

But if this is one of the remnants of EU acting, it's too fast.

Reki didn't answer my question, and she swept away the fabric--

Those eyes looked like cameras, embedded into a robot.