Read Online The Amphisbaena by Gakuto Mikumo - Free Book Online Page A

shoulders in annoyance.
    “Because he cannot defeat
her
. It would be inconvenient for me were my beloved Fourth Primogenitor to perish so soon.”
5
    The next day: Thursday after classes.
    Two adorable kittens with black-and-white spots slept softly side by side in a cardboard box. A male student with delicate facial features was peering inside. This was Kojou’s classmate, Haruka Uchida.
    “Sorry, Uchida. Really saving my bacon here.”
    “It’s cool. Everyone in my family loves animals, anyway.”
    Kojou handed the cardboard box with the kittens over as Uchida spoke with a bright smile. These were two of the abandoned kittens Kanon Kanase had been caring for at the ruined abbey. He’d been calling acquaintances since the night before, finally finding someone who was able to take a couple of them.
    Yuuho Tanahara glanced absentmindedly at the playful Uchida and the kittens. She was a blunt, strong-willed girl who often blew her lid at the boys in her class, but right now she was enveloped by an adorable aura as if she was a completely different person. She’d fallen head over heels for Uchida.
    “I really didn’t expect you to get friendly with the Saint of Middle School, Akatsuki.”
    Yuuho began talking to Kojou out of the blue.
    “You know about Kanase?”
    “She’s popular with the boys in high school, too. She’s half-Japanese, right? With those looks? Just not fair.”
    “Well, I think so, too.”
    Kojou nodded in frank acceptance. Kanon was waiting a short distance away out of consideration for her senpai, Kojou. When she realized her eyes had met with Yuuho’s, she made an elegant bow, making her silver hair sway.
    “But…I kind of have a…hard time with her.”
    “Hard time?”
    Kojou was surprised to hear those words from such a willful girl. Yuuho blushed a little as she quickly said, “Ah, it’s not that I hate her or anything. It’s just, she lived in an abbey close to this school when she was a kid. Way back, I went there for this and that event, too.”
    “Right.” Kojou nodded as he recalled the sight of the ruined abbey. He realized that he hadn’t actually heard why the abbey had been closed in the first place.
    “…There was an incident, a bunch of people died… That girl was the only survivor,” Yuuho murmured, her expression sinking into gloom. The content of her words didn’t really hit Kojou at first.
    “They didn’t tell me the details, but it was apparently a pretty horrible incident. Friends of mine died in it, too… It’s a little hard for me to deal with her because I’m reminded of it every time I look at her, even though I know it’s not her fault at all.”
    Seeing how pale Kojou was, Yuuho forced out a smile.
    “Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about, Akatsuki. Just forget about it. More importantly, between the transfer student and the saint, you really shouldn’t tease Aiba so much.”
    “…It’s got nothing to do with Asagi. I got asked to help Kanase find people to take in some cats and that’s it.”
    “Yeah, yeah.”
    Yuuho irreverently brushed off Kojou’s excuses. Somehow feeling an unpleasant tug at his thoughts, Kojou thanked Uchida once more and parted ways from them.
    “So we found people willing to take in all of ’em, huh?” Kojou askedas he met up with Kanon under the shade of a schoolyard tree. Kanon made a happy-looking nod.
    “Yes. Those were the last of them. Thank you very much…”
    “Nah… The only ones I found someone to take in were those two…”
    Kojou made a pained smile as he spoke. Of course, finding homes for ten kittens wasn’t a one- or two-day job. This was the product of several days of hard work between both Kanon and Nagisa.
    “Glad we finally finished the job, though.”
    “I suppose so. Now all that’s left is the one I picked up earlier, but I can manage that on my own.”
    “…Wait, you picked up another one?!”
    Kojou was naturally in shock as he caught sight of the kitten in the blanket