Ayano pouted as she looked at the person beside her, "You are as harsh as always." She tells him which made the boy chuckle, another loop gone wrong. Kuroha sat beside her, the chair where Shintaro used to sit-in the real world anyways, they just replayed the murder scene in a TV that was placed on the desk in front of them.
At first Ayano got scared and hated Kuroha for it, who wouldn't anyways? But as the loop kept repeating and they haven't defeated Kuroha, she slowly got used to it, and besides, other than Hiyori('Where is she anyways?' Ayano thought), Kuroha was one of the persons she can talk to.
"Sooner or later they would defeat you." She stated as she watched his smile became wider, he let out a laugh. A laugh as if it was to mock her words.
"You really think?"He laughed harder, "You are such an idiot! If they can defeat me then they would've defeated me loops before! And unless Queen realizes what her powers can do, they can't do anything." He stops laughing, "Besides, It's a way to remove my boredom, it's not like Master minds it." Ayano cringed at that, this 'Master' was Azami, the creator of the daze and the Queen's Grandmother.
"Still, you are too cruel, what if you get defeated, what will you do?" She pouts.
He sighed with a smile, "I'll die." Ayano's eyes widened. How can he say such things so lightly? Everyone in the haze knows that Kuroha was the only one who has the possibility to completely die, considering that he was already in the haze in the first place. Getting killed again means dying, truly dying, no returning to the daze. "Besides," He chuckled. "Even if I die, I'd just get replaced anyways and don't you want me to d-" His words was interrupted by the sudden contact of Ayano's palms against his cheek. She just slapped him. Hard.
Kuroha looked at the girl wide eyed. She looked like she was about to cry, her eyes were like made out of glass that any minute it would break. She was also breathing heavily, a shock expression her face as if she didn't know what she did. As if she acted on her own reflexes. Kuroha was about to stand up when she dashed out of the room, running halfway. Kuroha just stood there, shock of what she did.
Meanwhile...
Ayano ran as tears fell from her eyes, she didn't know where she was heading too, she just ran until where her legs can take her before she collapses to the ground with her jelly like legs. Kuroha reminded her of a lot of painful memories, mostly about him. They acted somehow the same, Kuroha also would say (what she thinks) the same thing that he would would say. And this time was the last straw. She hated it when he said those cruel words to himself, and now...hearing it again makes her feel nostalgic.
Before she even knew it, she was at the hill where she last saw him, before she...died. She fell to the ground as she looked at the red sky that surrounded the whole haze. Her vision was blurring. She already knew that this was reality. She also already knew that she can't ever go back again. She won't ever see them again. She has accepted this fact a long time ago, and she had already accepted this before she even did her mission. But she couldn't help but think of the reminiscence from the past. Not when there were people who would remind her of them. Most of them in the haze hasn't fully accepted it after all. Living, no, rather, existing since they weren't truly living in the real world.
She then felt someone pull her into a hug by placing an arm over her shoulders. She looked up to see Kuroha who crouched down just to comfort her. She held onto his black shirt and sobbed.
"H-hey," Kuroha stuttered, "I didn't mean to make you cry...sheesh, if I knew those words would make you run out like that then..." He murmurs, but she didn't miss one word of it.
Pulling back, she giggled. "T-thank you, Kuroha." She smiled.
After a few minutes and after Kuroha said something about 'I was the one who made you cry!' and Ayano's 'I'm sorry for crying!' scenes, they decided that it was both their fault, or else their argument wouldn't stop. Ayano calmed down and they sat on a nearby bench.
"Can you walk now?" Kuroha asks her, waiting for her to regain her legs' strength.
"Not yet..." She heard him sighed so she apologetically smiled. "Sorry.." She laughed softly.
Kuroha crouched down in front of her, his back facing her. "Get on," He commands her.
"Huh?" She questioned innocently.
"Just get on, I'll carry you back to the school so we can leave already," He said with an annoyed tone but she didn't miss the slight redness of his face(she assumed that he was embarrassed.) and laughed softly before getting on his back.
On their way back, Kuroha decided to ask the thing he was thinking earlier when she left.
"Why did you cry anyways?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Hm? Oh, you just reminded me of someone," She smiled, remembering again which made her frown.
"Is he the neet that you would always look at when watching them?" He asked bluntly, Ayano tried to see his expression but since she was behind him, she couldn't.
"H-how did you...!?" She blushed, never noticing that Kuroha noticed her.
"It doesn't take an idiot to figure that out, y'know."
"Ah...yes...His name is Shintaro...back then at the classroom, he also said the exact same words," She smiled sadly.
"I should kill him harsher than last time since he gave you such bitter memories..." Kuroha mumbles but Ayano didn't quite catch this.
"What did you say?" She smiled, trying to look at him.
"I-I said nothing!" He stuttered as his face reddened in embarrassment.
And their old routine of friendly bickering started again, continuing the day as if nothing happened, or, they just became closer.