Time had already approached midnight.
Nagisa changed the dampened bed sheets with a shy expression, and Kenji changed into new clothes after his got wet. If what soaked his clothes had been water, he would have just continued wearing them, but unfortunately, what thoroughly drenched Kenji's upper body wasn't water. A liquid with much stronger viscosity than water. He chuckled and threw the t-shirt he had been wearing until a few hours ago into the laundry bin. Then, looking at Nagisa who was pouting, he spoke.
"You like black tea so much, you certainly have a lot of liquid in your body."
"Shut up!"
-Whack!
Nagisa shouted in a hoarse voice and threw a pillow at Kenji. Kenji lightly caught the pillow and plopped down on the sofa.
"Your back doesn't hurt?"
"...It doesn't really hurt. And my throat is more sore than my back."
"I told you you didn't have to swallow it all."
"The book said to do it that way. And... I liked it quite a bit too. Ahem."
She said that while wiping the sweat that had run down her nape.
Her ponytailed hair swayed in the wind blowing from the open window. Kenji laughed while smelling the familiar shampoo scent from her hair. Nagisa plopped down next to him.
"Pervert."
At Nagisa's muttering, Kenji looked back at her with an incredulous laugh.
"...You were the one who pounced first. Saying it had to be today or never."
"Th, that may be true. But don't you think pushing me until my voice gave out was too much?"
"Then should I adjust next time?"
"N, next..."
Nagisa trailed off for a moment, then lowered her gaze and shook her head.
"...I like it as it is."
Kenji chuckled and ran his fingers through Nagisa's hair. Nagisa slightly closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch.
A cold wind blew through the open window. The day getting a bit warmer didn't mean the night was warm too. The season was still spring, and the midnight wind with the moon high in the sky was full of chill. But neither Kenji nor Nagisa felt cold. Because each other's warmth was warmer than the blowing wind.
Kenji smiled comfortably while stroking Nagisa's left wing wrapped around his upper body.
His heart was calm. When was the last time he felt this emotion? He couldn't remember properly. But what was certain was that there hadn't been a single time in the past 2 years. His chest still felt like it had an unfillable hole, and undefined negative emotions would quietly seethe in one corner of his heart.
But after reuniting with Nagisa, he didn't feel any of those emotions. The only thing left was guilt. The rest disappeared without a trace. He could figure out whose doing it was without even thinking hard. Kenji smiled brightly and gently swept Nagisa's bangs.
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Just thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Everything."
An incomprehensible statement. But Nagisa giggled and gave Kenji a quick peck on the cheek.
"I'm thankful too. For coming back, for honestly telling me the reason you disappeared then, and for staying alive. Thank you, I love you. Sincerely."
"Me too."
Kenji kissed Nagisa's lips. Nagisa caught his retreating head and shared another kiss. Their breaths mixed, and sticky saliva sounds resonated through the room. It wasn't a kiss to satisfy sexual desire. It was just pouring out overflowing affection. And since Kenji was also full of affection, he sat Nagisa on his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"...Pff."
"Are you satisfied, Student Council President?"
Kenji said in a playful voice. Nagisa nodded and buried her face in his nape.
"I'm satisfied."
"That's good. By the way, it's getting late, how do you plan to return to Trinity?"
"I'll sleep here."
"Figured as much."
Kenji said with a bitter smile.
Since it was an expected answer, there was no surprise. To begin with, since it was close to midnight, the last train had already stopped. The only way for her to return to Trinity was to take the train returning tomorrow.
Of course, given her status, she did have personally operated vehicles. Vehicles driven by people with enough loyalty to come running immediately even at this late hour, but Nagisa had no intention of calling them. Rather, if they came, she planned to fire them. Clueless subordinates were innocent even if fired.
"Then you take the bed. I'll sleep on the sofa."
"Why? We can share it."
"Can we really sleep together?"
"It's, it's embarrassing, but it's not like I can't. And when we were little, we used to sleep cuddled together, right?"
Before Mika and Nagisa even entered elementary school, the three would always sleep cuddled together during kindergarten nap time. Nagisa was naturally quiet and didn't talk in her sleep much, but Mika wasn't. When she was little, Mika talked so much in her sleep that she would perform feats like kicking Nagisa's face or putting her legs on Kenji's stomach.
Whenever that happened, the two would just sigh deeply, not getting particularly angry. But occasionally, Nagisa would suddenly get up and beat Mika with a pillow. The reason was that she could endure twice, but from the third time, she couldn't. Since it was an understandable reason, Kenji at that time could ignore Mika's pleas for help and sleep comfortably.
But all this was an old story. Now that their bodies had grown and minds matured, they couldn't have the same pure thoughts as back then. Just the act of sleeping together made their hearts race as if they would break.
But that didn't mean they could turn away. It might be an embarrassing expression, but having already done everything, avoiding sleeping in the same bed would also be strange. So sleeping in the same bed as Kenji was an extremely correct thing. Thinking that, Nagisa's cheeks turned reddish.
"...If, if you don't want to, then never mind."
Seeing Nagisa muttering while slightly turning her head, Kenji laughed softly.
"No. Let's sleep together. I just said that thinking you might be uncomfortable."
"Yes, yes. Let's sleep together."
"Right, right. By the way, are you tired? Are you going to sleep now?"
"No, I want to talk a bit more before sleeping."
This was also what Kenji wanted. So the two exchanged various stories while feeling each other's warmth.
The two-year gap was significant. Both had mountains of things they wanted to talk about, and by the time they had mostly unloaded them, it was a bit past 2 AM. But there were still a few more things to talk about.
"...How is Mika?"
"...Honestly, her condition isn't good."
One year after Kenji disappeared. Mika treated a doll as Kenji and cared for it devotedly. But after encountering the real Kenji at the department store, she tore that doll to pieces. Because she subconsciously knew. That this doll wasn't Kenji. That the real Kenji had run away even after facing her.
At first, she denied it. That Kenji couldn't have done that. That it must have been someone else.
Then there was only sorrow. Reality was cruel, and her life began to rot from the roots. Being denied by the person she considered everything in life left that big of a wound on her immature self. No, perhaps it was nothing more than pouring salt on a wound that was already festering.
Either way, nothing was good for Mika.
"Her actions are like usual. Cheerful and playful. But you can't find any vitality in her eyes. To the point where it wouldn't be strange if she disappeared the next day."
"......"
"But she's a responsible person. As long as she's in the Student Council President position, I thought she wouldn't suddenly disappear or anything."
Past tense. Kenji slightly furrowed his brow and listened to Nagisa's words.
"After the incident half a year ago, Mika no longer trusts others. She sees everyone as enemies trying to take what's hers."
"...You too?"
"Yes. Me too. Probably because I took that position after Seia, who was the Tea Party's host, died. Mika probably thinks I assassinated Seia to seize powerㅡ"
"Wait, wait. Nagisa."
Kenji cut off Nagisa's words. He twisted his lips and grabbed Nagisa's shoulders. His eyelids trembled faintly, and his pupils shook violently. Seeing his face like that, Nagisa finally realized she had made a slip of the tongue. Embarrassment and shock spread across her face.
And that reaction of hers tore Kenji's heart apart instead. But he forced a smile and spoke in a calm voice.
"No, right? I heard wrong, right?"
"...Kenji."
"No, right? The joke went too far. Are you still not getting along well?"
Nagisa bit her lip tightly and lowered her head. It was already too late. Words spoken couldn't be taken back. She remained silent for a moment, then, as if having made a decision, spoke in a quiet voice.
It was a fact that couldn't be hidden anyway. And Nagisa didn't want to keep secrets from Kenji.
Even if it was a friend's death.
"Seia... died. It was an assassination."
"......"
"It happened half a year ago. One midsummer night, someone broke into Seia's room and detonated a bomb. When I went to check belatedly, there was only a ruined room, and neither the intruder nor Seia were anywhere to be seen. We couldn't find the body, but even if she was taken by the intruder, survival would be..."
"......"
"...I'm sorry. I couldn't stop it."
Nagisa bowed her head and apologized. Kenji let out a hollow laugh and lowered his hands from Nagisa's shoulders.
There was no reason for her to be sorry. No reason to feel guilt, and Kenji had no intention of blaming her. He just couldn't understand reality well.
'Died? Seia?'
The moment he thought that, a severe headache struck him. His vision blurred. Surging emotions were hard to control. Anger, regret, sorrow, grief, etc. All sorts of emotions mixed and swirled inside him. He opened his lips to speak, but his throat clogged with the turbulent emotions. The voice he barely squeezed out was filled with anger and hatred.
"...Did you find out who did it?"
"...No. But I have narrowed down some suspicious students."
Nagisa continued in a sighing voice.
"And there was one trace left in Seia's room."
"What trace."
"A pattern of a skull and rose. What this means..."
"Arius."
At Kenji's answer, Nagisa's eyes widened. It was a look asking how he knew that. But Kenji had no room to answer her question.
"...Fuck."
His face contorted viciously.
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