Sherlock turned her eyes to Arsene. Her eye level was Arsene's chest level, and the first thing she was drawn towards was the Boyne Jewel. As the jewel shook back and forth, a faint musical ping could be heard being released from it. Sherlock nodded, not bothering to check with Saku or myself if she should do anything. She took one step towards Arsene and made her finger into a gun.
She focused on the Boyne Jewel. The moment her psychokinetic aura collided with the jewel's own power, the aura surrounding Aria and Arsene shorted out. Aria felt the effects of gravity catch up to her, and pushed her skirt down as she landed on the hard floor. Her knees were shaking in stings of pain as she stood up and checked her guns.
"The network won't allow us to show panties," said Sherlock. "It's okay."
Riko threw one of the knives from her hair, making a clean cut through the Boyne Jewel. She took half of the gemstone and stashed it between her own breasts. Riko walked over to the window and tossed off her uniform, revealing a set of underwear borrowed from Henriette. It was even lacier and paler in color than her usual outfit. I tried to avert my eyes, not wanting to further aggravate Hysteria Mode.
"I thought you said we couldn't show panties," said Saku.
"The censors make an exception for Riko's underwear," said Riko, striking a coy pose. She flipped her uniform over her head, transforming it into a parachute. "Riko's found her prize. She's out of here!"
Arsene snatched the other half of the Boyne Jewel and followed after her. "Half of this thing is worthless. Hand it over, Lupin IV."
"The name's Mine," said Riko, winking.
Riko and Arsene leaped out of the hole created by me and Sherlock on arrival, heading up to the rooftops. The room fell silent for a second or two. Aria, her knees still shaking, walked over to Sherlock and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Did you blow that hole in this building?" asked Aria, her eyes white with shock.
"Yeah," said Sherlock, placing her hand behind her head.
Aria smiled. I hadn't seen that expression from her much, and it usually came at my expense. Maybe it's because she had found another Holmes, one who lived a life that didn't involve family members in jail or someone trying to kill her. Aria held out her arms and embraced Sherlock. The both of them blushed bright red.
"We should do that more often," said Saku, switching out her lollipops once more.
"I-I'm sorry I called you a fake Holmes," Aria said, "I don't know where your motivation comes from, but you saved me. You're family, too." She wiped the tear that was pooling in her eye and looked towards the rooftop. "Let's get that jewel back."
"I'm a partner now?" said Sherlock in disbelief, "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! Shorty!"
"The name's ARIA!" said Aria.
I turned to Saku. She was walking towards the stairs, ushering me to come along. "We may not be able to fly, but we can help," she said, "You're family, too." I gave Aria a thumbs-up. Aria gave me one back. As Saku and I ran down the stairs to the first floor, Aria and Sherlock were surrounded by a glowing pink sphere, rocketing out the hole and onto the rooftop.
Aria and Sherlock finished announcing their names. The policemen and the citizens of Yokohama were gathering around the city square just outside the museum. Saku showed her badge and let us push ahead, keeping our partners in check. She turned her laptop towards me, showing a close up view of the battle, and up Aria's skirt.
"Saku, you didn't need to-" I said.
"I know all about your Hysteria Mode," said Saku.
I questioned, "Did they really teach you all this in Informa?"
"I'm a Tohyama. I have Hysteria Syndrome too. My trigger is having something sweet in my mouth," said Saku, her voice raising in tension.
"So, you..." I said, surprised but not too surprised.
"I'm always in Hysteria Mode," said Saku. She reached into her pocket and took out a pair of speakers, turning them up towards the sky. "Lupins, this is as far as you go."
"Nyeh!" said Riko, sticking out her tongue. She chipped away at a fragment of her half of the Boyne Jewel. Using her twintails as a second set of limbs, she slid the tiny fragments of crystal into the ammunition magazine on her gun.
"That belongs to the museum!" said Sherlock.
"Riko... I didn't think you'd actually do it..." said Arsene, "You're a phantom thief. We may be criminals, but we're not scoundrels."
"Sorry, Henriette," said Riko. "You're right. I should make my own legacy as a Lupin. And these magic bullets are the way to do that."
Sherlock had stopped in mid battle. The spark of Toys had faded from her eyes. "Eh?" she said, "Henriette? No, no, that's Arsene. Henriette is back at the Academy."
"Is she always like this?" asked Riko.
"That's correct," said Henriette, folding her arms across her chest and standing in the middle of the sky, kept aloft by her blue aura, now half as powerful as it was before, "I'm not Henriette."
"Of course, of course!" said Sherlock, recovering her energy.
"How crazy is this city?" asked Riko, pointing her guns at Aria and Sherlock's shoulders, "Riko thinks all of you should learn that being a Butei is not all fun and games!" Her hair had shadowed her eyes, "Die, two 'Olmes!"
Two bullets fired out. We heard the gunshots, then saw two blue streaks fly across the sky. Riko's smile grew wider and creepier. The bullets were under her mental command now.
They shot up into the air like a rocket before taking a nosedive, aiming themselves towards their target.
Their speed accelerated at a rapid clip.
Sherlock stepped in front of Aria and held her hand out. The bullets were tiny, and time was on the line. She pointed her finger like a gun at one of the bullets. "Do-KAN!" she shouted. A pink aura impeded on one of the bullets' blue aura, causing it to fall to the ground harmlessly. The other bullet kept going.
"Au revoir!" said Riko in a scratchy voice. The dissonance between her tone and the fluidity of the language was too much.
The other bullet was headed for Aria. She was shaking her gun about wildly, trying to line it up with Riko's bullet. As soon as she did, the bullet was somewhere else. Aria fired off a shot, hoping it would hit. It didn't. She braced herself for the impact. When she opened her eyes, a figure in a cape had swatted away the projectile.
"Arsene?" asked Aria.
"What will killing your enemy accomplish?" asked Arsene, "I saw your battle last night. You and Aria are rivals now. Give her a sporting chance. If you're not going to be a proper phantom thief, then I'll take the side of the detectives..."
"Arsene!" said Sherlock, wrapping her hands around the thief's waist. "Er, for now," said Arsene.
"TRAITOR!" shouted Riko.
"You're the one who's a traitor!" said Arsene.
I turned to Saku. I drew both of my guns. Saku was typing rapidly on her laptop, showing me a scenario. It looked like she was playing a bullet hell game. Her skills as an officer were pretty good, because soon, it wouldn't be a game.
"This is Riko's revenge!" said Riko.
Riko unloaded an entire magazine's worth of jewel-tipped bullets into the air. They twinkled in the sky, metallic stars lighting up the encroaching night, before becoming a hailstorm of steel.
"Shellinford, get the Jewel back," said Saku over the intercom. "Aria, I'll be sending you an e-mail. Do exactly as I tell you. Kishi... you're a Tohyama. Trust your instincts."
Three bullets headed towards Arsene. She used her illusion Toys to send two of them into an unknowable abyss, and the third into a fire hydrant. A curtain of water sprayed around the area.
Aria took out the next three, firing carefully placed shots. None of them looked to be lined up with Riko's shots at first, and all of them just barely intercepted, but the bullets collided in midair, knocking each other to the ground harmlessly.
I looked up into the sky. It was difficult to see at this time of night, but the streetlights of Yokohama guided my vision. I knocked out five more. For every bullet we hit, Riko looked to get more mentally tired. When there was only one bullet remaining, she drove it into the ground herself, realizing she had lost. As she slumped back on the roof, Sherlock lifted the Boyne Jewel out of her cleavage and carefully carried it across the rooftops into her arms.
"Yay!" said Sherlock, almost dropping it.
"Shellinford!" said Aria and Arsene.
"Heh. No matter," said Riko, her dark mode dropping out from tiredness, "Riko will be back at school soon enough. Farewell, 'Olmes, Kii." She whipped off her uniform, stripping down to her underwear, and launched herself into the sky, this time heading back towards Tokyo.
"We won," said Aria, "We won! Wait, where'd the Boyne Jewel go?"
Arsene was holding both halves of the gemstone. She pressed the smooth edge where Riko had made a cut together, uniting the round jewel back into one. A blue glow shone out from the cleavage, bonding the two halves. Parts of it were chipped off, but it was mostly back in one piece.
"I'll be taking my reward," said Arsene, "Until we meet again, Holmes!"
"Get back here with that!" said Aria. "Why aren't you stopping her?"
Sherlock leaned over the edge of the railing, looking towards the moon. Aria could see it reflected in the young detective's eyes. "If I won all the time, we couldn't call ourselves rivals. I think I give Arsene a purpose, so one botched case can't hurt me that badly. She kinda gives me a purpose too."
"Not quite what great-grandpa would say, but I see what you're getting at," said Aria, "Kinji, thanks for the help!" she called down to me. "As expected from my slave!"
"Slave? So you're into that kind of thing? Kinky," said Saku.
"NO!" I shouted, "Aria, watch your mouth, please!"
Morning dawned once again. Sherlock had offered for us to eat breakfast at Holmes Academy, as guests. Aria was impressed with how her family name had not been tainted all across Japan. Though I got the feeling she wanted to lord it over Shirayuki when we got home.
Aria and I were at the train station, with Shellinford and Saku seeing us off. We presented our tickets and got into the car, staying near the door to say our goodbyes.
"It doesn't matter how useless you are, you'll always be my cousin. Now show them what an E Rank can do," said Saku.
"Thanks," I said, giving a quick sigh.
"Oh, there's Nero! And Elly! And Cordelia!" said Sherlock, turning her head around, "See ya, Aria! I hope you can get a team of your own someday," she said.
Aria smiled and held her hands to her mouth, yelling out to her fellow Holmes. "Just you wait and see! I will! It will be the best team ever!"
With that, the train doors closed. Aria opened the window, watching the countryside roll by. Outside, she could hear Sherlock talking with her friends, and Saku talking with her own team, about how neither of them had gotten the lottery ticket, losing it to the wind. I think I heard the sound of a golden mask smacking someone on the face.
"What do you think's going to happen to us beyond here?" asked Aria.
"I don't think I can quit being a Butei now. Saku would never let me hear the end of it," I said, resting my chin on my hand, "but for now, all I want is some peace and quiet."
"Are you saying it's not peaceful and quiet enough with me around?" said Aria, looking a little bothered.
"No, it's fine, I like it!" I said nervously, "It's just that after..."
"Stupid Kinji!" Aria shouted.
I let out a scream that could be heard all the way back at the train station. I think I'm coming to grips with what it means to be a Butei, and what it means to live up to a family legacy. But I still have a long way to go.
