COTE: Glimpse of the Past

[Three Shots] The Rooftop Madness (Part 3)

And perhaps, perhaps Karuizawa Kei would be the one who will help me regain my humanity again.

"R-return his humanity...?" Ichinose unknowingly blurted out.

What does that even mean?

The question rang inside their heads as eyes and gazes looked at him strangely. But their unsaid question were ignored by the said boy as he indulged his perfect tool's cheekiness.

"Heeeeh~ what's this? Are you falling for me, Ki~yo~ta~ka~?" With wide smile adorning her face, Karuizawa eyes narrowed with mischievous.

"What if I am?"

The teasing attempt backfired. Karuizawa's face quickly morphed from blank shock, to surprise and then to bright red tomato.

"O-okay... G-geh! This should have been another one of your ploy! There's no way someone like you could actually fall in love!"

Ignoring the bantering couple, various thoughts were currently swarming through several certain individuals as they watched the boy with either puzzlement or curiosity.

'What exactly you had went through, Senpai...' Amasawa idly thought, 'To invoke such empty emotion... Just what kind of hell the White Room in your generation was...'

Unsurprisingly, a certain boy from the first year shared the same thought the same thing albeit with a lot more envy dripping from his voice rather than interest.

"R-Ryuuen-san, does this mean Ayanokouji is X?!" Ishizaki panicked, overwhelmed by the unexpected turn of event that took place before him.

"There's no way. It definitely can't be him," Ibuki denied before Ryuuen could say anything. "X is just using Ayanokouji. Don't be fooled, Ryuuen. X probably told Karuizawa in advance that he'd send someone to come and save her!"

"Shut up, Ibuki."

To be honest, I expected Ryuuen to be the type to laugh maniacally at a surprising situation, just like this one. But it seems like his mood was already soured before I even arrive.

"Well, well. Who do we have here? It's that guy who clings to Suzune all the time. Ayanokouji, huh? What brings you all alone to the rooftop on this fine first day of winter vacation?"

"Karuizawa emailed me. She said she wanted me to save her." I deliberately failed to mention that Ryuuen himself also contacted me. As for why I was here…it was because Ryuuen, thinking himself the hunter, had foolishly invited me to the hunting ground to turn him into prey instead.

"Oh?"

"It's obviously a lie," said Ibuki. "You came here on someone else's orders, right, Ayanokouji?"

For some reason, Ibuki sounded... Desperate to prove that I wasn't the X Ryuuen searched.

"What's the matter, Ibuki?" asked Ryuuen. "It seems you want to believe that Ayanokouji isn't X. Do you have a feeling for him?"

"Come to think of it, are you actually have a feeling for him, Ibuki?" With wicked grin, Ryuuen teased an already annoyed Ibuki.