When Ayano saw him waiting for her, she looked surprised. She paused in her tracks momentarily, then continued walking towards him. A wonderful-awful sense of anticipation started growing in Budo's stomach as she neared him. He couldn't decipher her emotions from the calmness in her eyes.
I wonder if she's angry with me. Is she going to hurt me? A part of Budo wouldn't mind if Ayano was the one who killed him. As long as she had to get close to him to do it, he wouldn't mind at all. If he had to choose, he'd want her to use a knife - then he'd get some of his blood on her.
He prepared himself mentally. If she lunged towards him, he'd fight every instinct to dodge.
She stopped before him, a picture of amiability, like the smooth surface of water disguising the currents raging at its depths. He couldn't help but appreciate her - even dangerous, she was so beautiful.
Instead of attacking him, his angel surprised him by saying, "Good morning."
He felt suddenly coy. "Good morning, Ayano."
Looked at him straight in the eyes, Ayano got straight to the point. "How come Taro's here?"
That fact that she asked him so nonchalantly, so impassively, made Budo love her even more. But... how should he answer? He couldn't lie to her.
"It's for you," he answered simply. She nodded, but, still curious, she interrogated him more.
"He's pretty thin. How come you weren't feeding him?"
"Oh, actually... I forgot."
Ayano's mouth tightened.
And then she burst out laughing.
My God. It felt as if beams of honey were washing over him, cleansing him of any sin. If only he had a recorder! Her voice, when laughing, was a mixture of sweetness and a dark melody. It made his blood run faster. He felt certain that if he listened to this for too long, it would drive him insane.
When she finally caught her breath, he found himself smiling along with her.
Budo decided to ask the question on his mind. "Are you angry with me?"
Ayano shrugged indifferently, the afterglow of her laughter still clinging to her lips. "Not much. I don't think I care much for him at this point."
"That's great, Ayano." No, it was better than great. It was a dream. He was nearly there, at his happy end. Now all he had to do was make sure she didn't fall in love with anyone else. Budo's mind started scrambling in a hurry as his thoughts rushed. How? He'd have to kill them all - anyone who contacted her or talked to her. He had to be the only one -
"How did you get him here? You managed it, and I didn't."Ayano's words immediately brought him out of his head. He eagerly started answering before he had time to think about it.
"I convinced him to stay with me while, since his parents weren't home."
As soon as he said it, he snapped his lips shut. Too late. He saw Ayano think about his statement.
"Yes, his parents hadn't visited him once while I staked out at the hospital. He has a sister too, so I wonder where she's staying?"
Budo tried to steer her away from thinking about it for too long, so, casually, he commented, "Didn't you say you didn't care about him anymore?"
Ayano gave him a smile, and his worries melted away as if they were never there. "Ah, of course. You're right. So, since it's still early, shall we go to school and incinerate Info-chan while no one's around?"
"Yes. I already transferred the bagged limbs into a cello case."
Ayano looked pleasantly surprised at his inventiveness, and he glowed internally from her reaction. "Oh? How'd you get that?" she inquired curiously. "Did you steal it?"
"I spoke to Miyuji - the head of the Light Music club. As soon as I told her I'd always thought the cello was cool, she told me to try it out at home."
"Ah. You use different methods, but they are also effective." Ayano looked like she was taking a mental note and Budo felt proud.
"Before we start that, shall we eat first? I can make some breakfast in the kitchen-"
"You worked the most last night, so I'll make breakfast."
They began to walk back upstairs, as if there wasn't a hidden corpse and a dying man in the basement. Budo felt the happiest he'd felt in a while. She didn't love Taro anymore, enough that she didn't want to save him. She'd laughed with him. Now, she was going to make him food, just like she'd do for him as his wife one day. But, even better, was that she hadn't mentioned anything about Taro's condition besides his thinness.
Which means she probably hadn't seen it.
Budo was glad. If she had seen it, they probably wouldn't have laughed like they had. He wasn't sure how he'd have been able to explain something like that to her if she'd asked. He wasn't ashamed of what he'd done - honestly, it had been a bit fun, and it had driven off some of his bloodthirst. And besides that, it was completely necessary. To ensure that he was the only one, he'd had to eliminate any possibility of it it.
Even if that meant he'd had to castrate Taro.