Hidan no Aria - Volume 21

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 ~ FROZZENDETH

Guided by Tamamo, who had again disguised herself as an elementary school girl, the rescue team had finally arrived at our hideout the next morning. The hospital was far away, so for the time being, we decided to go to Hotogi Shrine to get some immediate first aid.

And well… Thank to Shirayuki, Konayuki, Kazayuki, and Hannayuki, I got some generous nursing, and after a hissy fit managed to get some sound sleep. My luck never changes.

“Come on, let’s go, Kinji! Yes, wake up!Mmm, fine, I will carry you while you are sleeping. Shirayuki, hold his feet!”

I could hear Aria’s voice speaking, but I had activated Hysteria Mode over and over again since Kii no Kuni. I was completely and totally exhausted from the continues fatigue. I would just barely open my eyes, but I could not push myself to wake up any more than that.

While being dragged along by Aria, out of the corner of my eye I could see… heavy land based civilian machinery and JSDF machinery that seemed to be digging up Kaminabi. Hell, there was even a V-22 from the U.S garrisoned forces in Japan that had landed in the parking lot of the Hotogi Shrine. After being loaded onto it, I saw a screen showing an image of what was below the plane… there was an electromagnetic crane head attached to it, the same kind used in scrapyards and such. While everyone, including Shirayuki and the other Hotogi priestesses watched in unison…

Suspended from this Osprey was the hihiirokane…

As the brilliant scarlet of the hihiirokane melded with the sky beyond…

(…sunset…)

Thinking about it, that must mean that I slept 20 hours. And yet, I am still sleepy…

Actually, now that I think about it, I have zero clue what is even going on right now.

Unable to fight against the sleepiness, I once again closed my eyes.

“How long until we reach Florida?”

I could hear the excited voice of the Scarlet Goddess, as well as,

“I think it will take about a full day, including the refuelling at the Royal Navy Carrier along the way. But, I don’t like this. Every time Kinji flies in a plane, it crashes.” (TL Note: Never thought about this but ya, Kinji has terrible luck in planes. Vehicles in general for that matter.)

Aria, who was riding beside me, blurted that out and then poked me.

“Ahhai…”

That was all I could mumble in response, still being half-asleep.

Okay, now I am sure. This must be a dream. Even for Aria, it is impossible to somehow use both the US air force and the British navy to move something like the Scarlet Goddess somewhere.

This is kind of weird to think of but, if this is a dream, I might as well fall asleep in it. Hopefully when I wake up, this is all just a dream.

(Yes, this is all a bad dream…)

… However… the soude of those blades… it is pretty convincingly real…

Yup, of course it was a dream. Fuck.

When the Osprey landed on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal, which was sailing off the coast of Alaska, Aria, who was the only person who was wearing a warm fur coat, said “Go to the bathroom and eat. As soon as we finish refueling, we are flying again”. She ordered me, who was already shivering in the cold, to leave the Osprey. For some reason, a floating Scarlet Goddess followed behind her.

After getting on the deck, surrounded by gray sky and a blue sea, with my bangs flailing from the down current from the rotor blades…

As the V-22 unloaded the red UFO on the flight deck, where normally only anti-submarine patrol helicopters took off from, the air force and bridge crews all said “Oh my Gosh!” with widened eyes.

Ignoring the commotion, I was pretty hungry, so I went to the bridge to explain the situation to the friendly looking black crew member, and got some leftover sandwiches and tea bags which I had to eat in the corridor. I later heard that Aria had been invited to the officers mess and had a feast of roast beef and French Fries. How could I not be jealous?

Well, now that I think about it, Aria had just used a British aircraft carrier as nothing more than a parking spot and gas station…

She probably managed that using that British Prince Howard… however… the US air force is also involved. How did she manage that?

… I want to know, and yet, I am afraid to know.

The Osprey afterwards flew for a half day crossing North America from the North West to the South East, on a course to the hot as hell Atlantic coast of Florida…

Finally, above the Kennedy Space Center, the Osprey transitioned to helicopter mode.

(… I saw this once on “Discover of the Worlds Mysteries”…!)

Heading towards the front of an cubic, almost jokingly large Vehicle Assembly Building… the Osprey softly unloaded the hihiirokane.

Gradually, I began to understand what was happening, and as I made a face that could only be described as “the face of a man eating a spoonful of live slimy bugs”,

“Yes Nicky, this is the setup.”

Aria, looking a bit amused right now, handed me a sheet of A4 paper.

“Who is Nicky…”

“YOU are Nicholas. I am Jessica. I have a roster of fictitious scientists, such as NASA scientists, for situations like this.” (TL Note: “YOU are Nicholas” is in English in original.)

Are you saying that that is a fake name? Or rather, you just suddenly started speaking in English, Aria.

But why do we need a pseudonym anyway?

No, somehow, I managed to realize why.

However, I don’t want to hear any unpleasant revelations until the very last minute, so I will keep my mouth shut and one eyebrow raised, just staring at Aria in silence…

Aria, aka Jessica, just narrowed her eyes at my gesture and laughed, “fufufu”.

An anime-esque voice as cute as that just makes you want to record it to hear it again.

JFK Space Center, Brevard County, Florida, USA.

It is about 28 times the size of Minato Ward, where Butei High is located, and is the general base of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, otherwise known as NASA.

Despite the futuristic title of a “Space Center”, most of the area around it is a wetland nature reserve. Thousands of alligators live in the surrounding swamps, the national bird of the United States, the bald eagle, flies around, and there is even a beach nearby with dolphins and manatees.

When I stepped out of the Osprey, which had landed at the heliport of the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, since we were so far south of Kyushu the sun was strong and muggy even in the monring.

A Humvee greeted us there, and from it,

“Damn… what are you doing now, big brother?”

I have no idea why he is here, and am still doubting it, but my little brother, Kinzou, is definitely here now. Behind him I could also see Mash and LOO, a girlish robot who is still wearing a white school swimsuit-like battle suit that is still eye catching and out of place.

The firs thing my younger brother said to me, as he was wearing a fancy suit, was “what are you doing?”

“I don’t know either.”

I answered him as honestly as I could.

Immediately after him, Kaname, wearing the summer uniform of Butei High,

“Onii-chan! Give me a big hug~!” (TL Note: Onii-chan is a cute way to say “Big Brother”, I kept the original as I could not think of a comparative English equivalent.)

Hop, step, jump! Bashii!

She was jumping around in a short pleated skirt, and when I reflexively stiffened out of fear, she hugged me with a big smile on her face, and with a big thud, we fell into the swamp behind us, and an alligator family came running towards us in a frenzy, forcing us and everyone else to flee in all directions.

In short, the mission now for Aria and myself this time is…

It was to launch the hihirokane brought from Japan to here into space.

Outer space… to be precise, about an altitude of 560km, satellite orbit.

According to the Scarlet Goddess, there are particles of kinirokane, the mother of the irokane sisters, drifting around there.

In addition, once in outer space, irokane can capture the stellar wind and move about on its own, albeit slowly. In other words, it is possible to leave the Earth’s gravitational pull and fly away into space, even if it takes a lot of time. The Scarlet Goddess, though, had said that it will choose if it will do so only after meeting its mother again.

“It’s very existence and the information it has told us has solved so many mysteries thought not all of them, but after listening to its story… Regardless of if irokane is an alien or a metal person, it should certainly be returned to its original place from a humanitarian point of view. Really, the Scarlet Goddess is a refugee stuck on Earth. I will lend you my strength and help.”

Dixie Crossroads… a family style seafood restaurant frequented by astronauts…

Kinzou, who had heard the general story from me and Aria, replied while eating a lobster tail with a crunch.

He seemed a little upset though at our desire to return the Scarlet Goddess, who was currently half sitting and floating next to Aria, to outerspace… Or maybe he was just frustrated that it was Aria who received its abilities and powers instead of him.

“I thought you would say that, Mr. Hero of Justice.”

“Losing such a beatiful ore is an aesthetic loss for mankind, though.”

Kinzou, who was now nibbling on some tomatoes he brought with him, has a strong connection with NASA, due to his many years of buying parts through them for his Noi Ange weaponry.

It would seem Aria, who was investigating this area after our previous fight with each other, contacted Kaname…

And summoned the G siblings from New York to help.

Kinzou is not particularly friendly with Aria, but when he had heard “Kinji will be there”, he decided to come right away. Aria knew that Kinzou is like Kaname in how they treat me, their older brother…. it is no wonder she decided to drag me to America.

It must have been high ranking brass related to the GIII League who managed to force the US military based in Japan to fly that Osprey under the guise of training. I don’t want to get involved, however, so I will not prod him on it.

“I want to help, but hey, I can’t afford to spend such a huge amount of money. For example, would it be okay to just send a small piece into space? I mean, irokane is one is all and all is one, right? If we send just a small piece, isn’t that the same as sending the whole thing?”

To Kinzou, who was now sipping a Budweiser asks that,

“It is true that regardless of how many pieces irokane is divided into, the pieces hearts are still connected by a force much like telepathy between themselves. However, the greater the mass, the more certain its existence is. Because of that, if we don’t launch the main body, but only a piece, the Scarlet Goddess wont be able to return to outerspace.”

Aria answers while picking up a olibol, a smaller version of the holeless donuts that Lisa had eaten while we were in Holland.

Kinzou is a peculiar man who uses his own finances to fund his activities. In other words, he is basically a self funded Hero who works for free as a hobby.

Aria, however, was not happy about him helping unless she compensated him for his assistance, and was willing to pay for all expenses, including this meal.However, the expenses here are just too different from before.

And so, the dynamic Atlas with the bullet holes on his face, the flamboyant Collins, the butler old man Angus, Luca, the silver haired telekinetic girl with mismatched colors eyes who was ex-KGB, the fox girl Tsukumo, my little sister Kaname, and the ginion genius Mash… everyone was having fun, drinking,m and singing. The only quiet person here was LOO, who was sitting quietly without having eaten anything. Americans appear to have no concept of shyness or discretion.

Myself, Aria, and Kinzou sat in a separate box from his subordinates,

“AHHH, shut up! You guys, eat quietly!”

After stomping the ground and yelling at his subordinates, they only remained quiet for about 3 minutes…

In the meantime, I decided to ask something that was bothering. Gather your courage, Kinji.

“A-… Aria. Well, you know, your mission is to return the hihiirokane to outerspace. But, um, the fact is that you brought me as well…”

“You are coming as well. I have been telling you this since I decided to do this.”

“I… I am going to outer space…”

“That-is-right! Out-er-space! You better not die and you are not getting away, stupid Kinji!”

Aria suddenly got in a bad mood and yelled directly into my ear, making my eardrum tingle.

“… Or rather, the Scarlet Goddess… she said “Kinji has to come see me off too, I will be disappointed otherwise”. She likes you, doesn’t she? Geez. Kinji’s bad playboy habits with women is not just limited to humans and yokai, but even aliens as well… I am past being disgusted or amazed, I am starting to even respect you a little…”

“No, that is not true, I am not a womanizer or anything, the Scarlet Goddess said that on her ow- owowowowowowow! Don’t pinch my ass! You are going to tear a piece of it off! Stop!”

Having escaped from Aria’s pincer-like attack, which by the way has the power to squeeze an open dry or crack a billiard ball, I…

Fell off my chair and landed on the wooden floor, and put a little distance between me and Aria.

And then… with teary eyes and desperation on my face…

“well… Let’s say that the plan is to go to outer space… How the hell are we supposed to get there?”

This was the big question, the one I was equal parts curious and scared.

Aria and Kinzou bother turned to look at me as if I was some kind of idiot.

“A space shuttle.”

“STS-132-1/2, Atlantis.”

… Ahh…

Ahh-yupyup! I am going, really going! Granted, I don’t really have a choice!

According to Kinzou, the mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which will be launched the day after tomorrow, was to deploy a satellite and deliver a module to the International Space Station.

However, due to a defect in the module, the satellite was not loaded, leaving empty space in the payload section of the shuttle… The launch of the satellite could not be postponed under the contract, so NASA auctioned off the right to load an item into the empty space.

And so, Luca-chan, a famous auction attender who had received the request from Aria, who told Kaname, who requested Kinzou, was able to win the auction. The rights to load the shuttle also came with two vacant seats, which were originally for the mission specialists who were supposed to be on board the shuttle for launch.

… Are we already in an era where space travel can be bought with just money?

As expected, another shocking truth from America, the leading capitalist nation.

“I imagined space development and exploration to be more for research purposes.”

“I do not know about Japan, but in the United States, it was originally for military purposes, but not it is becoming a national project for business purposes. But it is true that science promotion sounds better to the public, so we are scientists now. That is why we have a pseudonym.”

A gigantic structure that looks like the inside of a factory, a launch pad that has been assembled intricately…

From there me and Aria, whose front half of her head looked like it was in a fishbowl due to the goldfish bowl helmet, crossed the boarding bridge and had a serious conversation with each other over the intercom system in our suit. We only had the channel open to us two to make sure no one over heard us but… Just in case, we talked in Japanese anyway.

As far as the eye can see, the surrounding area is a uninhabited wetland. This was because people could not live in the surrounding area as the roaring sound of the engine could rupture eardrums or cause fatal injuries withing a 5km radius during launch. The animals stay away due to the traffic and constant noise though so I could not see any animals nearby.

“Lucky for us, the opportunity for a launch so soon after we made a deal with the Scarlet Goddess…”

“It is really that lucky, you know? Shuttles have been flying back and forth between Earth and space more than 130 times already. These days, a flight happens about once a month.”

After a final check of our pressurized suits, which included a patch showing our mission number, a pocket for our personal items, and a parachute, Aria and I climbed through a side hatch into the shuttle’s orbiting spacecraft.

I sat on the tilted seat with my back pointed to the group, firmly tightened the seatbelts that fixed my shoulders and hips down, and then watched the commanders, pilots, and other crew members communicate with weather control, and then launch control. For now, I just wait. Aria and I are not trained to operate the space shuttle itself, we are just fake payload specialists… guests, really.

(And for that matter…)

Aria-san is now boarding next to me.

This girl was nothing more than arrogant and bossy at the Kennedy Space Center.

Before boarding she used their landline to order peachbuns from a Chinese restaurant in Orlando for her dinner in the astronaut accommodations, had her hard bed changed to a nicer one, and so on. NASA had treated Aria like a VIP and did so without complaint. When I told her to “restrain yourself a little”, she replied simply with “I am launching at my own expense, am I not?”

I had heard that Aria was a major sponsor for this launch, having sold the now captured IU submarine to the Japanese government, and used those funds for the auction privilege of loading the shuttle… In short however, it took all of the funds from that sale transaction to win the auction. The exact amount? I did not ask, I was not sure that my heart could take such a heartbreaking number.

“Yes, sir. We are all go for launch!”

Captain Monroe, a blond-haird female astronaut, communicated with everyone in plain English. She diligently checked the primary display on the LCD screen.

“Jessica and Nicholas, are you feeling under the weather? Since you are sitting with your back to the floor, isn’t your blood rushing to your head?”

“I am OK, Monroe.” (TL Note: OK is in English.)

“Ah, ehh… me too.”

The captain, who resembled Marilyn Monroe, including even her soft way of speech, was actually a distant relative of hers. From my point of view however, her demeaner and speech is sexy and annoying, and on top of that she is even a troublesome older sister character who listens to every one of Aria’s selfish commands.

“I am fine too.”

A voice resounded in my head, which naturally was the telepath of the Scarlet Goddess. Only me and Aria could hear her however.

The hihiirokane, which had been carefully sterilized at the Vehicle Assembly Building, was not situated in the shuttle’s payload bay.

(For now at least, the hihiirokane is being returned to the universe…)

Ruruirokane and ririirokane will apparently be launched later as well.

I do not know when that will be, how much that will cost, who will end up having to pay for it, or who will be going though.

“–T-Minus 60 seconds till launch.” (TL Note: this is in English.)

A communication from Space Centre Control Headquarters came through my helmet.

It is finally happening. Damn.

By the way, despite nobody telling me such important information, a quick Google search on my phone showed that 2 out of the 5 space shuttles to take off so far have exploded in the air. Apparently, our orange colored pressure suit is to make it easier to find our corpse should such an event happen.

Just as I was thinking about reciting the nembutsu, Aria suddenly opened a dedicated line between us…

“Kinji.”

“What.”

“Thank you.”

“Why are you saying that now?”

“Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you”

… in a polite, formal Japanese voice, she thanked me.

“What-, what are you saying? Saying such a thing at a time like this…”

And saying such a thing in such a cute voice…

I wonder if she is saying such a thing in case something bad happens… Those words are not a good omen, are they?

But as a matter of fact, to hear such a thing coming from Aria, that she appreciates me, words from the bottom of her heart… it made me nervous and my heart flutter. So,

“Aria, you really are an Aria, aren’t you? You decide everything on your own, never stopping, always moving forwards…” (TL Note: a reminder, “Aria” is a term used for a solo act in an opera.)

I replied with snarky words.

But Aria,

“I am with you now. Now, it is a duet.”

She narrowed her reddish-purple camellia eyes and smiled at me through her acrylic glass helmet.

And then… a hand, a hand wearing a fluffy white glove… it grabbed onto my hand.

This is nostalgic.

“–T-Minus 15 seconds till launch.” (TL Note: This is in English.)

When you and I first met.

There was a joke I told you before we went to the arcade together for the first time.

A duet.

That was the first time Aria had ever…

… her words at the time had made me smile.

“… 10, 9, 8, 7…”

The countdown continued, like a radio in my helmet.

Me and Aria.

Starting from that arcade, we have been to Daiba, Akihabara, Yokohama, Hong Kong, London, and so many other places together.

And now, together, we are going to outerspace.

“… 6, 5, 4…”

Suddenly, I thought.

Then, after this.

Where am I going to go with Aria after this?

“… 3, 2, 1…”

Well, anywhere is fine.

“… 0, LIFT OFF–!”

As long as I am with Aria!

… When you hear the word “space shuttle”, generally people think of only the white-and-black part that looks like an airplane, but the space shuttle is actually the part that circles the Earth. A space shuttle is a set that includes an external fuel tank and a solid fuel booster.

First, two solid fuel rockets are used for the launch, and it is like a gigantic firework in that it cannot be extinguished once it is ignited. While ascending you can do nothing, so we just leave our fates to the heavens and listen to the communications between the commander and air traffic control. However…

“Thi-, this thing really does shake a lot.”

“Thththththth, thats right!”

Aria and I communicated in a loud, broken voice due to the constant vibrations.

It was as if I was on a roller coaster while sitting in a massage chair. I was worried that the shuttle would break, or that that hihiirokane might just fly out.

“Jessica-san, Nich-san. Beginning pilots frequently bite their tongue when they talk during takeoff, you know~? Ufufufu. Alright, we are now at an altitude of 43km. SRB detachment will begin shortly.”

Monroe was a veteran shuttle pilot, having flown already 3 times, so even amidst all this shaking she could still speak fluently.

Occasionally, the shuttle would twist and change direction, with the sunlight coming in through the windows also changing sharply.

(43km is… that is five times higher than the height that we flew in the Fugaku the other day…!)

It has not even been two minutes since launch, and we have already gone up that high… amazing…

Gonn, suddenly, there was a particularly large shake…

Like petals falling off of a flower, the auxiliary rocket was detached.

After the rocket was detached, I noticed that the scenery outside the plane was changing from morning to night, in the blink of an eye.

No, it is not night, I am simply that close to outerspace.

It felt as if the rocket had suddenly braked when the rocket was ejected, but the shuttle suddenly resumed acceleration with the main engine. At such high altitudes, the shuttle had to take a course that follows the curvature of the earth, so it gradually went into an inverted flight, but due to the acceleration, vibration, and lack of gravity, I already had no sense of what was up or down.

“Oh, you can remove the shield from your helmet now.”

“Uuuupu.”

“Don’t throw up Ari… Jessica. Please, don’t throw up, ever.”

When me and Aria were having such a conversation, after Monroe told us that we could open up our helmets shielding, the external fuel tank was disconnected too, we were almost in outerspace.

From what I heard from the communication, the shuttle, which was now just a spacecraft, was making its final adjustments to enter orbit around earth…

“… Engine… Stop…”

Following the slightly exaggerated voice of the pilot…

Suddenly…

I stopped feeling any kind of acceleration.

My body felt light and refreshed. Suddenly I felt a strange illusion of being naked, it was as if all the pressurized clothes that had been tightly clinging to me before had suddenly just come off.

This must be… because of the weightlessness.

Normally, gravity makes clothing feel attached to your skin.

However, in space, clothes float off of your body as if you are swimming.

“Alright everyone, thank you for your hard work so far. We are now in low orbit, an altitude of 560km and moving at 7.5km per second.”

Monroe, who was speaking as if she was a kindergarten teacher, happily took off her helmet…

Floating.

An altitude of 560km. We were more than 800 times higher than the Sky Tree where we fought Hilda and Watson, and more than 50 times higher than the V-2 and Fugako. It was not a question anymore but a fact, we were in outer space now.

I followed her lead and removed my helmet, holding it in front of my face and releasing it…

It would not fall.

It stood there. It was like a magic trick or CGI.

“It looks like the hihiirokane is still safe.”

Aria whispered to me, she must have had another conversation in her head with the Scarlet Goddess.

She took off her helmet and flashed me a smile.

Her pink twintails that came out of her helmet were fixed in the air. It was like a life size sculpture or figurine of her that was posed three-dimensionally.

This is obviously the first time that I had been to outer space and I was super excited, but what was really interesting to me…

“Aria, your hair, it looks really cool.”

I had to hold back my laugh while taking off my seatbelt. (TL Note: term used here is プークスクス , think of anime characters like Aqua when they tried to hold back a laugh with one hand over their mouth.)

Then Aria, with her face in a grimace, shook her head.

She started to shake her head, and her hair went everywhere around her. But suddenly, I felt Aria’s twintail slapping onto face.

… Wait a minute, Jessica-san. Have you been using your telekinesis powers to make it look like you slapping my face and covering it with your hair was happening in zero gravity?

Ouch! That hurts! The smell, though… It smelled sweet, like gardenia flowers, but different somehow…

This is too dangerous… With such a nice smell she has too much feminine power!

In space there was no up or down, right or left, front or back. So, we had our first space meal on the middle deck, which is kind of like a living space which was below the cockpit… or was it above?

Our meal was a hamburger that had the patty cooked by injecting hot water into a vacuum pack. The bread was a tortilla, but a normal bun, since crumbs would float in the air and could enter a machine, leading to an accident.

“It is a weird spicy tasting hamburger… but it is delicious.”

“In space, weightlessness changes the way you body circulates blood, so your sense of taste is affected, too.”

Aria, who finally got a knack of moving around without having her twintails spread out, explained to me how space changed my sense of taste. A persons sense of taste and smell are connected though, so when Aria wrapped my head like a mummy with her hair earlier… it seemed to smell different than usual and smelled fresh. Thanks to that though, she was in danger of activating mankinds first hysteria mode in space.

By the way, the other crew members finished their meal quickly and were already working. The only people lazily eating are me and Aria, the customer pair, who had changed into old-fashioned flight suits.

In addition to the other changes from being in space, our feet literally did not touch the ground, so the only way to move was to push yourself off a wall or climb it.

It was troublesome to make our bodies move like that, so Aria and I were sitting cross-legged upside down and thus eating upside down, which must have made for a strange picture.

I looked closer and saw that the bag the hamburgers came in had the McDonald’s log on it.

“Wasn’t the last time that we had McDonald’s together in Aomi?”

“Fufu. I was just thinking that as well.”

Me and Aria made small talk as we ate.

Aria and I were on our first mission… to find a cat. Before we found the cat, we had eaten McDonald’s, and Aria had drank my coke by mistake, punching me in the face after for some reason. I will have to make sure to hide my special no-straw space cola to make sure that she does not mistake it for hers, again. (TL Note: in outer space, much like with food, drinks are a danger to the machinery, and thus drink containers have to be specially made for zero gravity.)

“Aria, at least you were kind in the end, for what its worth.”

“What?”

“I am talking about the Scarlet God. Even though she caused you so much trouble… You still want to return her to outer space.”

“Maybe I do.”

“You feel sorry for her. Because she misses her mom.”

“Maybe.”

Maybe… Maybe…

Well, she is not very honest.

To be fair, I might also be the biggest softy in the universe for going along with her and coming all the way out here for her.

I had once read in a book that if you look at the Earth from outer space, your outlook on life will certainly change…

The Earth seen from the window of the Atlantis was so beautiful that even I, who has been seeing unusual and surreal sights on an almost daily basis, was speechless and could only stare.

After all, in low Earth orbit, it took less than two hours to go around the Earth, so you could see the whole world in just a few hours.

The Earth seen from space is so much more colorful than it looks in any video I have ever see. Various shapes of white clouds could be seen at the same time, I could even see round typhoons. Meteorological phenomena, such as the yellow-green aurora and even golden yellow thunder clouds could be seen here and there. Beneath that, on the surface of the Earth, I could see deep blue seas, dry yellow deserts, and deep, lush green lands… and, of course, as is natural… I was drawn to the image of a map in my mind. I could not see a single “border line”.

“Nicky-“

“Whoa. What is it Ari-… Jessica? Don’t just suddenly appear from above me.”

“From my point of view, you are above me. Here you go. It is time to release the satellite.”

Aria suddenly appeared upside between my face and the window, and when I turn around, I see a burly black mission specialist, Mr. Gonzales, standing diagonally above my head and… he was manipulating a joystick-like controller with great precision.

On the joysticks display, the horizon of the Earth is floating in an arc in the pitch-black darkness of space.

The Canada Arm was extending from the cargo compartment from the now open double doors.

A special crane head was connected to the Canada Arm which was holding onto the hihiirokane with electromagnetic force and frictional force.

Mr. Gonzalez was using the controller to manipulate the arm, calmly carrying the hihiirokane, which was obviously not a satellite by any stretch of the imagination, from the cargo compartment it was transported in.

“…umm, the satellite might look like that, but… umm… it is made of a special memory shape alloy…”

As I tried to tell the taciturn Gonzalez the clumsy excuse I was thinking of while I was still on the ground,

“You don’t have to explain everything to everyone. I have seen weirder things when doing missions for the Department of Defence.”

A low, Southern accent came back that I could only describe as a “Hollywood” accent.”

It was a blessing that his thinking was so flexible, but Gonzalez, who was moving the hihiirokane by the Canada Arm to a position far from the spacecraft…

With the spirit of service peculiar to Americans, he said something even more surprising.

“Jessica, Nicky. Would you like to be the one to release this artificial satellite?”

He held out the controller to us, and offered to let us do the honors.

“Eh? We can?”

“Is that really okay?”

“I have received Houston’s permission. After what I have done, there is nothing difficult left to do. Just turn off the magnetic force on the arm and open the crane slip. Just press the two LHC buttons in this order and you are done. It would be a good memory for you both, and my way of thanking the two sponsors for this mission and their continued support of NASA.”

NASA was suffering from budget shortfalls and cutbacks recently, this shuttle program itself was even under review…

You want Aria to have good memories of this since she spent such a large amount of money on this launch, huh? That is certainly an interesting, and impressive, way to achieve that.

Aria and I placed our fingers on the two toggle switches that Gonzalez showed us. On such a narrow deck, we were shoulder to shoulder, head to head.

With such a short distance between us, Gonzalez seemed to read the atmosphere… and he moved away for the moment.

On the screen where numbers and grids were displayed, a scarlet disk was shining in the sunlight… the hihiirokane had been pulled out of the cargo bay by the arm. All that was left was for the arm to let go of it.

“… hey, Kinji.”

Aria whispered in my ear. She was speaking in Japanese.

“What is it Aria.”

It would seem, that as long as we whisper, it is okay to say our real name.

“Do you remember? That UFO catch game?”

“Ahh, the UFO catcher. When we first met, and you chased me around… We played that at an arcade.”

“Ya. The UFO catch where you won us the Leopon straps.”

Aria seemed to be misremembering the name of the game by mistake, but because of how cute she was saying that… instead of correcting her, I said,

“This is a UFO release instead.”

I said that and, pachin.

Toggle switch number 1 was pushed down, cutting off the electromagnetic force that was keeping the hihiirokane stuck to the tip of the arm.

And then…

“Fufu, that is right. Then, I will release this UFO now.”

Pachin.

When Aria flipped switch 2, the tip of the arm opened as if it was a hand letting go of something.

The hihiirokane was released back into space.

For the first time in 2000 years, the hihiirokane was drifting through space.

Gonzalez folded his arms as the shuttle descended a bit in orbit to eject the other satellites.

It was not moving fast, but the hihiirokane that Aria and I were watching from the window… relatively, seemed to leave little by little back into space.

At first, the color and shape were clearly visible, but gradually it looked like a red moon, and now it was already a small, scarlet colored, shining star.

“Ahh…”

I heard a voice that sounded like a sigh.

I could hear a voice. It was from the Scarlet Goddess, and it was projected directly into mine and Aria’s head.

It was the Scarlet Goddess, speaking in a very relaxed tone.

“This is the second time that I have seen it from above, but the Earth really is a beautiful planet. I do not remember much from back then, but… maybe, just maybe, I decided to come to Earth because of this beauty.”

The Earth was so beautiful that you decided to fall to Earth…?

The Scarlet Goddess really acts on such a large scale… as expected of one who bears the name of of God.

“Do you have anything left unfinished back on Earth?”

Aria was speaking back to the Scarlet Goddess who can still be seen in the distance.

Outside of this window was a vacuum. There was no way for noise to be transmitted to her, but it seems that for Aria, with a hihiirokane bullet in her chest, distance has no meaning for her and the Scarlet Goddess.

“… Please, take care of my sisters.”

“Well, I will do something about those two sooner or later.”

I was standing next to Aria, so thankfully, to an outsider, right now she was not just talking to herself.

Right now, the rest of the crew were on the middle deck, either doing their duties or sleeping.

“Thank you, Aria. Also, Kinji. Thank you as well. I thought I had lived a long and fulfilling life, but the feelings I have for you… you were my first love. That is something you only ever realised once you have been dumped.”

The voice of the Scarlet Goddess who was saying such a thing wistfully sounded somewhat regretful…

“Goodbye, you who are now a memory of mine from this planet. I will never, ever forget you. So don’t you ever forget about me, okay?”

And I,

“I am not kind enough of a person to just forget someone who had almost killed me two or three times.”

I do not care if Aria glares at me from the side, I will never forget her.

That was just my kind of twisted expressions for her right now.

“The Hong Kong east district and highway car chase was truly fun for me.”

“I did not enjoy it though, no way.”

I guess my last words to the Scarlet Goddess will be a complaint.

But,

“Tell me the truth.”

Since I was told to…

“Well, maybe, for just a little bit, it was kinda fun.”

With a wry smile, I added that.

What can I say, I am sweet when talking to women. No matter how long it has been, I am just like that I guess.

“Kinji, look, the light… it is expanding…”

Aria said, point to outside the window to where the hihiirokane was.

The hihiirokane itself was now emitting light while reflecting it off of itself… but the light was growing bigger and bigger. Particles of what looked like a gold haze were now flying around it as well.

The hihiirokane resembled a spiral galaxy with hold particles spiralling around it…

–Kyi…

–Kyi…

The sound of a pleasant bell rang.

Singing… she was here. It was a song of joy, I could tell intuitively.

“…Mother…!”

I could hear here, the voice of kinirokane.

These golden particles that the Scarlet Goddess spoke of… it was her mother. The mother of the three sisters.

She has been waiting for her children who had fallen to Earth to return to her for 2000 years. Since she lost them she had spread her particles in a satellite orbit around the Earth, waiting for them to return to her.

However…

The Scarlet Goddess is quiet.

All we could hear was the pleasant sound of the bell that seems to go on forever, a sound that only Aria and myself could hear in our head.

That sound however suddenly became quieter, perhaps Aria somehow deafened.

With the sound of the bells now as only background music,

“She was a nuisance, but… I think I might miss her once she is gone. This is our goodbye now.”

I sum up my words regarding the Scarlet Goddess.

But Aria shook her head as she looked at me.

“Hihiirokane is one and all, all and one. And a piece of her will always be here, so this is not goodbye. The Hidan is a great power that will now with me and you from now on.”

…Hidan…

A hihiirokane bullet that was buried deep in her chest… Aria grabbed my hand with both of hers.

That bullet has blessed Aria with her own title.

“I am…. “Aria of the Scarlet Ammo”.”

Thus, Aria…

Has become Aria of the Scarlet Ammo.

Ruler over the Scarlet Star, floating like an angel above the Earth. And I was standing next to her.