Mahiru stared at Shuuhei in horror. Then at the others, one by one.
He'd been tricked.
He'd been had, and now he was trapped.
"What's the meaning of this?" he burst out, his voice trembling with shock and anger. "You can't just lock me in here! Open the door!"
"I apologize." Shuuhei wore a mask of stone, cold and unapologetic. "But we won't let you leave until you have made your choice. Tell us now."
Mahiru clenched his fists, feeling anger and disappointment and betrayal boiling under his skin, ready to explode at any moment. "What's the point?" he shouted, accused, trying to stare all of them down at once. "Are you trying to blackmail me or what? Guess what, that's the best way to make me say no! Like hell I'll work with guys who use dirty tricks like that!"
He paused for a moment to catch his breath, reached for his bag and made his way towards the door. "Open up. I'm leaving."
Shuuhei quickly stepped in front of him, barring the way. Jun and Yumikage each grabbed one of his arms, holding him back.
Mahiru struggled, pushing, pulling, trying to break free. "What the hell?" he snapped. "What are you doing? I told you my answer already, so let me go!"
"Not so fast." Tsurugi stepped around his two friends and reached out a hand, smiling. "The key please, Shuu-chan."
Shuuhei placed the key in his hand.
"We'll stay true to our word," Tsurugi declared, addressing Mahiru. "You gave us our answer, so you're allowed to leave. There's just a tiny little catch."
He held out the key, dangling it in front of Mahiru's face, infuriatingly, painfully close. Mahiru struggled, trying to free his arms and grab it, but Yumikage and Jun's grips were made of iron, firm and unrelenting. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he watched Tsurugi pull the key back and slip it into his pocket.
"You can have this," the student council president continued, perfectly unfazed by Mahiru's barely restrained fury. "As part of a trade. You get the key, and in return... we get to send a mail to everyone in this school. They need to be warned about the Tsubaki case, right?"
Mahiru felt like he had been punched in the stomach. The air was sucked from his lungs. The ground below his feet shook and swayed as the edges of his vision went dark.
"You can't," he gasped. "Don't... don't tell them about any of this!"
"Oh right, your friends will find out! You don't want that, do you? I didn't think of that at all!" Tsurugi put on his most shocked face, but Mahiru wasn't fooled. He knew it was all an act. Tsurugi knew exactly what he was doing.
"Please," Mahiru hissed through clenched teeth. "Tsurugi-san, please leave them out of this. Do whatever you want but... not this. They're not part of this! Why drag them into my problems?"
Tsurugi smiled, golden eyes meeting Mahiru's brown ones. "If you don't want your friends to find out, you can always stay here."
Mahiru struggled, trying to find something, anything that could get him the key, anything that could get Yumikage and Jun to let go of his arms, anything that could make Tsurugi change his mind. Nothing. It was hopeless. He was going to be stuck here forever until...
A thought struck his mind, flooding him with hope. His face lit up with relief as he smiled up at Tsurugi, his voice filled with new confidence. "Fine," he declared. "I can stay here and wait. Sooner or later Kuro will notice that I'm missing, and he'll come looking for me. He knows where I am, you know? He'll get me out of here."
"He won't come."
Mahiru spun his head to glare at Shuuhei, who was still watching him with those infuriatingly cold, unsympathetic eyes. Anger and hurt exploded in his chest, anger that anyone could think such things of Kuro, that anyone could believe he was heartless enough to let his friend down when he needed him the most. "What are you talking about?" he burst out. "Of course he'll come! There's no way he'd just leave me in here! I believe in him!"
"Your faith in him is noble, but it won't help you." Shuuhei adjusted his glasses. "I'm not saying that he doesn't want to come, I'm saying that he cannot."
Mahiru sucked the air in through his teeth. Kuro couldn't help him? What the hell was going on? What had happened?
He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, pushed and pulled and tried to shake off the iron grip on his arms, but it was in vain. "What does that mean?" he shouted. "What have you done to him?"
"Don't worry, your friend is safe." Shuuhei leaned against the door behind him. "We only gave him some company, so don't expect him anytime soon. He's been told that you'll have to suffer if he moves."
Game over.
Kuro sighed and tapped his phone's screen to restart the game. Again. For the third time today. He was trying his hardest, but there was no way he could concentrate with these two freaks invading his personal space and staring at him. He had tried to ignore them, to pretend they weren't there, hoping they'd get bored and leave, but they wouldn't move an inch. They simply kept staring at him.
This strategy wasn't working. They wouldn't go. And he had to get rid of them somehow. He had to get out of here, had to go looking for Mahiru and see if he was alright, had to do something! Anything. He couldn't just sit here not knowing what was happening to Mahiru.
Of course, he could always grab the visitors, kick them to the curb and steal his room's keys back from them. He was strong enough to handle both of them, but there was no way he could do that. He had sworn never to hurt anyone again, unless the other had attacked him first. It was an oath he couldn't break no matter what.
And he was pretty sure Mahiru wouldn't want him to hurt innocents either. Not even to help him. Especially not to help him.
And most of all, there was still their threat. If he made a sudden move, Mahiru would have to suffer for it. He didn't know what they'd do, he didn't even want to know, but no matter what he did, he couldn't allow Mahiru to suffer. If they did anything bad to him and it was Kuro's fault, he'd never forgive himself.
What should he do?
Should he give in and agree with student council's conditions? He didn't want to. The name alone was enough to bring back memories, guilt, a hatred that had festered in him for years. Never would he work together with them again, ever. They had caused too much destruction. They had fooled and used him and others too often. He'd never allow history to repeat itself.
But Mahiru...
A pang of guilt shot through him. Mahiru was still out there. He was being kept somewhere by the very same bastards who had tricked Kuro once. There was no knowing what they'd tell him, what they'd do to him to get him to agree with their conditions. Maybe they'd blackmail him. Maybe they'd keep him in that conference room until he agreed to work with them.
Could Kuro really allow them to use their dirty tricks and have their way again?
Could he allow all the things he had experienced to happen to Mahiru too?
Never.
Swallowing down his hatred, he switched off his phone screen and sat up, facing his two unwanted visitors. "Hey," he said sharply. "You're gonna let me go if I say I'll work with you, right?"
They looked at each other and nodded.
Kuro sighed, discarding the last bits of hope and pride. "Whatever then," he mumbled. "Doesn't matter anyway. I'll work with you or whatever you want, so just... let me see Mahiru."
Mahiru stared out the window, his eyes fixed on the dorm building. He could see Kuro's window from here. He knew he could. If only he could tell which one it was. If only he could look inside and see what Kuro was doing, what this so-called company was doing to him. But he couldn't. It was too far away.
Looked like he had to get out of this on his own. There was no relying on Kuro this time.
But... what should he do?
Should he let Tsurugi send the mail and exchange his freedom for his friends' safety? Maybe they'd stay out of this if he talked to them. Maybe they wouldn't be targeted at all if they didn't get personally involved.
No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't take the risk. There was no way Ryuusei and Koyuki would allow him to protect them while they sat around and did nothing, and he didn't even want to think about what Sakuya would do. And it wasn't just his friends either. The whole school would get involved, and chaos would break out.
There was no way he could allow that to happen. It was his responsibility not to let that happen.
But what should he do then? Should he just wait until the others grew tired of guarding him and let him go? No, impossible. There was no knowing how long that would take, and even for that case they probably had a backup plan. He wasn't getting out of there just by waiting.
Of course, he could always change his mind and agree to work with student council...
He clenched his fists. Never. There was no way he'd work together with people who used unfair methods, and he especially wouldn't give in to blackmail.
What should he do then? What the hell should he do?
If only Misono was there. He was smart, Mahiru was sure his classmate could have come up with a plan, an opening, anything to get out of this. Or Mikuni. Maybe if Mikuni had been here, maybe none of this would have happened.
But neither of them was around right now. Mahiru only had himself to rely on, and he didn't know what to do.
He felt lost. Lost, angry and disappointed. Student council had betrayed him, and he had fallen for the trap hook, line and sinker. There was nothing he could do now. He was trapped, and one way or another he'd have to surrender. After all, it wasn't like he could just climb out the window and-
Wait a minute.
Who said he couldn't?
They were only on the second floor. It wasn't that high, and the window was unguarded.
Yumikage and Jun had let go of his arms, too. They were standing in front of Tsurugi like a pair of bodyguards while the student council president leaned against the door next to Shuuhei. There was no way out here, but nobody was watching the other direction. Nobody would be able to catch Mahiru if he made for the windows.
He swallowed, turned, and made a dash across the room.
By the time the other four even realized what he was planning, Mahiru had already reached the window and was struggling to open it. Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked.
It wasn't locked, and it jumped open in no time.
"Stop!" Jun exclaimed, hurrying after him. "Are you out of your mind? This is suicidal!"
Yumikage turned and grabbed Tsurugi's collar. "Forehead, are you kidding me? Just give him the stupid key already before he breaks his neck!"
Mahiru leaned out the window, glancing down at the twelve feet of thin air between the windowsill and the ground. It was still high, but he could make it. If he stepped on all the right ledges, he could definitely make it.
Gathering his courage, he kneeled on the windowsill, setting one foot against the outer wall, then the other. Slowly, carefully, he let himself down, inch by inch, until he was only hanging from the window by the tips of his fingers.
Jun stood at the open window and stared down at him in horror. "Stop this," he demanded. "Please, we only wanted your cooperation, we don't want anybody to get seriously hurt or killed! Come on. Tsurugi will give you the key back and not send the mail to everyone, and then you can walk out safely. Right, Tsurugi?" he called over his shoulder.
Tsurugi didn't answer, and Mahiru couldn't see his expression.
Jun sighed and reached out his hand. "Come on, I'll talk to him so come back up. Don't do anything stupid."
Mahiru looked up at him and couldn't help smiling, couldn't help laughing at the fact that the very people who had tried to blackmail him a minute ago were now begging him not to do anything dangerous. "It's fine," he said. "I know how to climb, and I'm not sure Tsurugi-san would've agreed with your conditions anyway."
With that he finally let go of the window and began his slow, careful descent down.
The two student council kids blinked at Kuro, unable to process what he had just said.
Freshman Girl turned to her upperclassman, her eyes wide as saucers. "Did you hear that too? Did he really just give in, without putting up a fight or anything?"
Glasses nodded, too baffled to say anything clever for the moment.
Kuro looked out the window and sighed. He hated doing this, he hated, hated, hated it. Every fiber in his body was screaming at him to take back his words, to not work with these underhanded, cheating bastards. This was wrong in so many ways.
But Mahiru was over there somewhere. Kuro could see the school building from here, could see the part of the building where Mahiru's meeting had been. He had to be behind one of those windows now, unable to leave thanks to some nasty ruse student council had come up with to force him to cooperate. And Kuro had to get him out of there, even if it meant going beyond the impossible and teaming up with the very people he hated most in the world.
On the second floor of the school building, a window was opened, and a figure began to climb outside.
Kuro didn't even ask himself who this was, who it could be, why they should try to climb down the school wall when they could take the stairs. He just knew. Mahiru had gotten out of there. He hadn't let anyone talk him into something he didn't want to do.
A wave of relief washed over Kuro. He didn't have to work with student council anymore. He didn't have to worry about Mahiru anymore. His friend was still in a dangerous situation, but now he could help him without making an impossible sacrifice.
Standing up, he grabbed his visitors' collars and lifted them up in the air. "I've changed my mind."
They stared at him in shock. "Eh?"
"I'm not working with you bastards. Now gimme my keys."
Before either of them could say anything, he pinned Glasses against the wall and wrestled his room's keys from his hand. The other boy was so overwhelmed that he couldn't quite process what was happening, let alone fight back, and the girl alone was no match for Kuro's strength. He unlocked his door, grabbed the two of them and roughly shoved them outside before leaving the room himself.
"Nice try," he told them. "But you could only keep me that long 'cause I didn't wanna use violence. Remember that."
With that he turned and made his way down the hallway. Now he just had to get to the school building before Mahiru fell down and broke any bones.
Mahiru hated to admit this, but in hindsight, climbing out the window might have been a mistake.
Case in point, he was stuck eight feet above the ground, clinging to the school wall like a mutant spider, and had no idea how to go on from here. He couldn't see anything he could set his foot on, at least not without suddenly growing giant legs, flying or falling down and breaking something. But he couldn't climb back up either. He had no idea how he had even come down here in the first place, and even if he did somehow managed to make his way back up again, that wouldn't help him much because the window was closed.
He groaned and tried his hardest not to look down. Just great.
Just because he had climbed the courtyard wall a few times with Kuro because they were late didn't mean he could climb anything, after all.
What should he do?
Should he call for help? No, that was pointless. There was nobody around who could possibly hear him, and even if someone did, they probably wouldn't be able to help. Should he just take the risk and jump the whole eight feet? If he landed properly maybe he could...
No, no way. The ground below was uneven, there's no way even a trained pro could make a decent landing down there. All he'd do was break his neck.
Then what the hell should he do?
Mahiru's arms and legs started to feel numb. His fingers were cramping, begging to let go of the tiny crack in the wall that they were clinging to for dear life. If nothing happened then he'd fall down for sure.
He closed his eyes, hoping, praying. It was all he could do right now. Somebody... anybody...
"Even your way of hanging out is exhausting."
Mahiru's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice below him. It couldn't be. Wasn't he supposed to be kept in his room by student council? How had he escaped?
He looked down to meet a pair of red eyes returning his gaze. It was real. Kuro was really, truly here.
"Ha, ha, ha, Kuro!" he snapped, annoyed at his friend's bad joke. "Shut up and help me get down from here!"
Kuro sighed. "You're a real handful... how do you always end up in these messes as soon as I take my eyes off ya?"
"It's a long story, okay! And are you really one to talk here? Now help me already, my arms are about to fall off!"
"Chill, I see a way down." Kuro stepped closer, examining the wall. "Move your foot a little to the left... no, your other foot."
Mahiru scrambled along the wall as Kuro told him the directions, inching closer and closer to the ground, slowly but steadily. He was glad Kuro was here, glad and grateful. His friend knew more about climbing walls than Mahiru ever would, and he could see cracks and ledges that Mahiru would never have spotted from his position. He would have been lost without him.
Suddenly Kuro's directions came to a halt. Mahiru looked down to still find himself some six feet above the ground, and Kuro was looking up at him with a mildly puzzled look on his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to meet his classmate's eyes without twisting his head too far and losing his grip.
"I dunno how to go from there."
"You don't-" Mahiru stared at him, dumbfounded. "Are you kidding me? I'm only six freaking feet above the ground and now you don't know the way down?"
He gave an irritated sigh. "I guess I'll just jump then."
"What a pain." Kuro sounded exasperated, tired and... slightly worried? No, that had to be Mahiru's imagination. "You really wanna break a leg that badly?"
"Still better than hanging on this stupid wall for the rest of the week!" Mahiru shot back. "It's not that high, anyway. Now move back so I won't land on you!"
Instead of obeying, Kuro stepped closer, holding out his arms as if he was trying to catch something big. "Drop down."
Mahiru gaped at him. "What?"
Irritation flickered in Kuro's voice as he replied, "Just do it."
Mahiru hesitated for a moment, his fingers still gripping the cracks in the wall, then he let go.
A pair of strong arms caught him, slowing his fall. Kuro stepped backwards to steady himself, tripped and stumbled backwards, nearly falling over but not once loosening his grip on Mahiru in his arms. He caught himself at last and just stood there for a moment, panting, as Mahiru tried to process what had just happened.
Kuro had caught him in his arms. Kuro was carrying him, a steady grip that held him lightly even though he had to be heavy, especially after dropping down from a height above Kuro's head. Yet here they were, the delinquent holding him gently, as if he was some precious treasure he was afraid of breaking, without saying a word, without complaining.
And Mahiru found himself realizing that it felt good.
He could feel Kuro's heartbeat more than he heard it, racing at a mile a minute, still refusing to calm down after their dangerous stunt. The delinquent was holding him close, so close that Mahiru's right arm lay squeezed between his side and Kuro's chest, feeling the warmth and the pounding of his friend's heart. Kuro's hands felt soothingly cool against his skin, even through his clothes, gripping him like he was still afraid of letting go. Mahiru looked up at him and felt safe, protected. Nothing bad would happen to him as long as Kuro held him like this.
Kuro's heart was still racing. It simply wouldn't calm down.
"Hey," Mahiru said, nudging him a little. "Why's your heart still racing like that? This can't still be from the exercise... right? You okay?"
Kuro didn't say anything, but Mahiru could have sworn that his cheeks tinged slightly pink.
"Kuro?" he asked again, trying to meet his friend's gaze. "I... were you worried about me? You didn't have to catch me, you know."
"Nah." Kuro turned his head to the side, staring intensely at the horizon. "I just caught ya 'cause it's still less of a pain than carrying you all the way to the infirmary. Now get down, you're heavy."
"Well, thanks a lot!" Mahiru huffed. "Way to get my hopes up! And who are you calling heavy? It's not like I asked you to catch m-"
He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that Kuro was holding him bridal style.
Blushing furiously, he leaped from Kuro's grip and stumbled to his feet, hurrying a few steps away. "What the-?!" he sputtered. "And why were you holding me like that, anyway? What if somebody had seen that? People are already getting ideas as it is!"
"It just happened." Kuro turned away, but Mahiru could still see how glowing red his face was. "Not my fault you're such a damsel in distress who lands like that."
"Who are you calling a damsel in distress? I just un-damseled myself! I got out of there all on my own, and where were you?"
Kuro dropped his gaze and said nothing. His expression darkened, guilt flickering in his eyes.
"Kuro?" Mahiru repeated gently, taking a step towards him. "They threatened you, didn't they? They told you I'd be in trouble if you tried anything..."
"They... they told you too?"
"Yeah, they probably wanted to crush my spirits and get me to agree or something." Mahiru shrugged to shake off the lingering fear and anger. "They probably didn't expect me to pull off a stunt like this... okay, I didn't either." He laughed. "If it wasn't for your wall-climbing lessons whenever we were running late, I guess I would've been lost. Even more lost, I mean."
Kuro's face remained gloomy. "What did they try to do?"
"Send a mail to the entire school telling them about the whole Servamp thing if I didn't cooperate." Mahiru clenched his fists. "What were they even thinking, playing a trick like that? Do they think blackmailing people is the way to go?"
"They've always been like this."
Mahiru blinked in surprise. "You... you know them?" he stammered, taken aback. "How?"
Kuro turned away. "Long story."
"You should've told me." Mahiru reached out and grabbed Kuro's shoulders, turning him towards himself again. "Is there anything else you haven't told me yet, Kuro? Anything I should know? Now would be the time."
The delinquent dropped his head, staring at his feet, biting his lip. "There's a lot I haven't told you yet, Mahiru," he said softly, so softly that Mahiru almost didn't catch the words. "But... I won't tell you now, either. Some things are too big for you."
Mahiru's grip on him tightened. The curiosity in him was protesting, rioting, shouting that he couldn't simply feed him that and nothing else, that he had to tell him everything no matter what, but he swallowed it down. Kuro didn't want to tell him because there was something he wanted to keep him out of, just like Mahiru didn't want his friends to know about Tsubaki and the Servamps, to keep him safe. If he was allowed to keep secrets from his friends to protect them, then so was Kuro.
"Okay," he said gently. "I won't ask until you're ready to tell me about it. If this is something you wanna protect me from then I have no choice but to accept that."
Kuro's cheeks dusted pink again. "That's not really it," he mumbled, covering half his face with his hand in a feeble attempt to hide his blush. "It's more like... every time you get involved in something it turns into a huge pain, so I don't wanna see you stick your nose in everything."
Mahiru looked at him and understood. Kuro was worried about him, despite his denial. His friend had worried about him when student council had caught him, and he had worried that he might fall off the wall and get hurt in his great escape, and even now that Mahiru was safe again Kuro was still worried, fearing that something might happen to him in the future, trying to protect him from some burden he wanted to carry alone.
"Kuro..." He couldn't help it. He couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart, happy and grateful to have found a friend like that, thankful to have someone he could trust with his life. "Thanks."
Kuro's eyes widened. He looked insecure, vulnerable as he swallowed and asked, "For what?"
"Everything."
Mahiru turned around, still smiling, and began to make his way across the school yard. "Come on, let's go back to the dorm. It's getting late."
Kuro remained frozen in place. A thousand emotions whirled through him, a thousand feelings he didn't know the names for. Mahiru's gratitude felt wrong. His unconditional trust felt wrong. Kuro wasn't a person anyone could trust, not even Mahiru. If Mahiru found out about his past, what he had done, would he still trust him? Would he still like him? He couldn't imagine that. He couldn't imagine that even Shirota Mahiru, who was so kind and forgiving and honestly good-natured, would be able to forgive him for something like this.
But at the same time, he was happy, happy and grateful and overwhelmed that he had met someone like Mahiru, someone who liked him despite all the scary rumors and his attitude and his laziness and his complete lack of social skills, someone who cared about him and trusted him like nobody ever had before. Someone who smiled at him like he was someone amazing, someone special, and not just some awkward loser trying to make his way through high school without any major damage.
Kuro didn't know what to call the feeling stirring in his chest, but he did know that he was happy. Breathtakingly, indescribably, overwhelmingly happy. Shirota Mahiru was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he knew it.
He didn't deserve a friend like that, but he could still take delight in having one.
"Kuro? Hey! Kuro!"
He snapped back to attention when Mahiru waved a hand in front of his face. "What are you waiting for? Let's go back."
Still dazed, he nodded and followed his friend back to the dorm.
Inside the student council room, there was a storm brewing.
"So," Shuuhei addressed the others, his voice dangerously calm, "which one of you blockheads forgot about the windows?"
"Um, Shuu-chan," Tsurugi smiled a nervous smile, "I hate to break it to you, but you could've thought about that too..."
Shuuhei shot a silencing glare at him.
Yumikage rolled is eyes. "Hey, it's not like we thought he'd be crazy enough to jump out the window," he snapped. "We're normal people, not psychics!"
"It doesn't matter now," Jun tried to dissolve the situation. "We failed, and we can learn from that failure and try again..." His voice faltered when he saw the others' expressions, and he fell silent.
For an endlessly long minute, everyone in the room glared at each other without saying a word.
The moment was cut short by a rush of steps from the hallway, followed by an impatient knock on the door. "Open up, it's an emergency!" they heard a familiar female voice shout. "The prisoner has escaped!"
Shuuhei sighed the way only a long-suffering man under a giant burden could sigh, adjusted his glasses, and motioned for Tsurugi to unlock the door.
Yosetsu stumbled in, breathless and disheveled, and immediately started talking. "Loki Loki Loki you'll never believe what happened! I swear we were watching him like you told us and he almost agreed with everything and then suddenly he changed his mind and just grabbed us both and stole the key and left and said that we only lasted that long because he didn't wanna use violence and then for some reason he kinda did and he was just too strong and scary and I..." She paused for a moment to breathe before opening her mouth to rattle on.
Shuuhei held up a hand to silence her. "I don't understand half of what you are trying to say," he remarked, "but the hostage got away?"
"Yeah I'm so sorry but it's not our fault I swear we were trying our best but he took us by surprise and then we didn't know what to do so we had to let him go please don't be mad!" She bowed so low she nearly tripped and fell headfirst on the floor.
Jun placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back upright. "Calm down, you're way too excited. You're talking at a mile a minute."
"Sorry!" Yosetsu repeated before finally taking a look around the room, her eyes going wide with realization. "By the way, where's that boy you were keeping here?"
They exchanged a glance, each trying to figure out who should tell her.
"He got away," Yumikage spat at last.
"Because we left the window unguarded," Shuuhei added in obvious irritation.
Yosetsu blinked at them for a second as the message sunk in. "What?" she blurted out. "For realsies? He climbed out the window? From the second floor?"
"Yes," Shuuhei said through gritted teeth, his voice shifting from irritation to annoyance. "Are you done stating the obvious? Then I suggest you add something of actual value to the conversation or leave again."
"Shuu-chan! That's no way to treat a girl!"
Yosetsu laughed. "It's fine, he's always been like that. Ever since middle school." She turned to Shuuhei, her smile turning back into an apologetic expression. "Just don't be mad, okay, Loki? We tried our best and we're both really sorry..."
Shuuhei waved a dismissive hand at her. "Stop apologizing, it was a miscalculation anyway. Sleepy Ash and his new friend are both stronger than we anticipated."
She beamed, thanked him and bounced off.
"Alright," Shuuhei said, closing the door behind her and turning towards the other three. "Now let's all go separate ways before my headache gets any worse."
As if on cue, the door opened again, slamming right into his back and knocking the glasses off his nose.
"What is it?" Tsurugi addressed the opening door, trying not to laugh about Shuuhei muttering something about having been prepared and producing a cooling pad out of nowhere before crouching to retrieve his glasses. "Did you forget somethi-" His smile faded as soon as he saw the figure standing in the doorframe. "Oh."
"Oh," Mikuni said back, his grin looking like he had just bit into a lemon.
The shock only lasted for a minute before a new grin spread across Tsurugi's face, wide with malice and oozing with poison. "My, my, if that isn't Kuni-chan! It's been ages, I haven't seen you here all day! Did you miss me?"
Mikuni returned the expression. "I counted every second I spent away from you, Tsurugi-san. I believe it's called 'counting your blessings.'"
"But in the end you came back, eh?" Tsurugi took a step towards his vice-president. "Did you want to talk to me that badly? I take consultation fees you know!"
"If I pay you enough, will you drop dead for me too?"
"Well, aren't we talking quite big today, Kuni-chan! Can you even afford me? I'm not cheap!"
"The result would be worth it."
Tsurugi let out a mock gasp. "So mean! Kuni-chan, how can you treat me like that after everything we've been through? Have you already forgotten the beautiful days we spent together?"
"The ones in your imagination? The only beautiful days in my memory are the ones I spent far, far away from you."
Before Tsurugi could reply, Shuuhei spoke up, giving Mikuni a death glare over the rim of his glasses. "Why are you here, Mikuni-san?"
"Ah," Mikuni said, as if only just remembering something. "Right. I actually came here to keep Mahiru-kun from doing anything stupid and teaming up with you lot..." He smirked triumphantly. "But looks like that wasn't necessary."
He walked over to the window and opened it, looking down on the courtyard below. "Good thing to know that you're not invincible anymore now that I've left... can't have you all mixed up in this, you know?"
"Mikuni-san..." Shuuhei glowered at him, his eyes dark with foreboding. "What are you plotting?"
He turned around and smiled at all of them. "Nothing much."
Tsurugi said nothing. He was watching Mikuni, observing each and every one of his movements, his gestures, his expressions, listening to his every word. His student council vice-president hadn't changed at all. He was still the same as always. The same as back then, when they hadn't been mortal enemies. When they had been friends, or whatever that... something they'd had back in the day was called. That something that had never quite disappeared, not for Tsurugi. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, his feelings remained unchanged.
So what had happened to Mikuni? Why had he suddenly changed his mind and cut everything off?
He was still the same on the outside, so what had changed on the inside?
Tsurugi had always thought that he understood Mikuni quite well. They had always been alike, two sides of one coin, reflections in the mirror, in perfect sync. In a way, they still were. But when it came to Mikuni's mind, the puzzling, incomprehensible depths of his thoughts and feelings, Tsurugi realized that he was at as much of a loss as everyone else.
Did his former friend's sudden change of heart have a connection to the bodyguarding contract he made with that former Servamp, Jeje?
Had Tsurugi been replaced?
"Kuro..." Mahiru shoved a stack of old tests away from himself like it was on fire. "These are a whole new level of horrible."
The delinquent shrugged and carelessly pushed the stack of zeros back on his desk. "Studying's a pain y'know."
"This is exactly why I told you not to sleep in class! And what's up with these joke answers? If you don't know the answer, at least own up and leave it blank!"
Kuro shrugged again and yawned. "Big deal. You done rambling yet?"
"For crying out loud, Kuro..." Mahiru placed his forehead in his palm, grimacing like he was fighting back a headache. "You do realize the exams are coming up?"