✔ from this unending abyss (The Assassin and the Trial)「 karmagisa 」

XI. Before the Storm

“You still hate us, don’t you?” Yuuma asked to break the ice that formed the past few moments they were dancing.

“Who won’t? I lost my fiancé because of you, and yet you still have the audacity to show yourself to me.”

“We didn’t do anything to him, Nagisa.”

“But you did something to the mission,” she looked at him begrudgingly. “You sided with the enemy. And he lost his life trying to convince himself that you never double crossed us. Karma lost his life trusting my well-being to you. Our friends. How could you do that to us? To me?”

“It was a mistake of a lifetime, Nagisa. We tried to make it right by saving you.”

“No. You were saving yourselves. If you were really saving me, you could’ve let me die with him,” the bluenette argued.

“You know I can’t do that, Nagisa,” the brunet said softspokenly.

The bluenette looked at him with a challenging expression. “Then why do that in the first place, huh Yuuma?”

“Because I was blinded by jealousy, okay? I loved you first, and yet he was the one who swept you away! That’s why I tried to get rid of him, because I thought that if he was gone, you will finally look at me!”

Tears glistened in the bluenette's eyes, yet she threw a disgusted look at Yuuma. She was so disappointed that no words could ever explain how she felt hearing those words from the friend who killed her lover. It’s just so horrible.

“That is not love, Yuuma! That is pure selfishness! You knew nothing else could make me happy than staying by his side, but you took that right away from me!”

It was a good thing that the speakers blared with music, or else they could have ruined the mood.

“Look. When you love someone, it does not guarantee that they will love you back. You’re just so stupid! Unreasonable!” she broke free of his hold, yanking her arms away from him, trying to leave the dance floor. “You know what? Sometimes I don't understand why Megu could stick with someone like you for years. You're not the Yuuma I knew and the 3-E loved.”

“Nagisa, please!” Yuuma tried to grasp her hand back.

“No! Let me be!” she tried to pull away.

“Excuse me, but the lady’s hurting, young sir.”

A white gloved hand gripped Yuuma's arm tightly as the latter winced, as if the man wanted to rip his arm apart.

“And just who the hell are you to butt in?” the brunet asked with hostility, but the man, whose red hair freezed the woman remained stoic and unfazed.

“Someone unimportant. But I too, would like to dance with the young miss. Would you like me to do the honor?”

Yuuma was about to protest, but the newcomer held Nagisa's waist tightly and guided her to the other side of the ballroom, his amber eyes glinting with mischief beneath his black mask.

The music shifted to a slow dance, which unexpectedly matched the mood between them.

“Who...are you?” Nagisa mumbled, but was heard by the redhead who just smiled lightly.

“You’ll know, soon I guess. For now,” he pulled her closer, his lips closer to her ear. “Let me enjoy this moment with you, Lady Azure.”