MISANTHROPY - -

Ugh. Of course he brings that up. Not like he would have forgotten, but — still. He feels like Aoba wouldn’t back down on a promise. Or whatever. Wait…

"What do you mean, not because of me?"

He decided to be blunt about it.

"I already have what I want from you, so any harm to your Anri-chan wouldn't be to get what I want out of you. If something does happen to her, it'll be for other reasons." Thus, Mikado should butt out.

"Do you understand?"

tengxkus:

Oh? So she was here? In his own room, too? He'd keep a mental note of it.

"Is that so?" He chimed, leaning towards his leader. "Are you gonna heal my wound this time, too?" He spoke mellifluously, holding out his injured hand. It was still bandaged. "Remember, this is the seal of our partnership, leader."

"But don't worry, Mikado-senpai. I won't touch her." He waved his hand, as if dismissing the thought without another word. "...You know, not because of you, at least..." He had his own agenda.

"Maybe I can show you around." Mikado, what are you even doing? “It is a big place, and I’ve been here for a while…I hear there’s even an abandoned school somewhere!”

His body lurched forward with excitement, his brows rising like a kid who had just seen a magic trick. He wasn't sure why he kept up this front. He knew Mikado wasn't buying it.

"Really?" Clearly, his interest was piqued. "It'll be like old times, back when I first met you, Mikado-senpai!" Back when the idiot was clueless. He missed those days; being able to mold and push him into whatever he liked.

A darker glint appeared in his eyes at the mention of the abandoned school.

"Is that right, Mikado-senpai?" He questioned, his tone suddenly coated with venom. "Maybe, if Anri-chan is around..." He hummed for a moment. "We could walk through together. It'd be so cute to watch her cling to my arm and scream for help if she saw a ghost, riiight?"

Again, his personality changes like a flipped switch. He tries to put on a good face, no matter how much he doesn’t want to. Of course, this is Aoba, so it’s not like he wouldn’t mind Mikado’s “darker self”; but in case anyone else was around, it was back to being good student council boy Mikado.

"Kuronuma-kun!" Faaaaake smile. "I guess it is kind of spooky, but not much is different from back home, so I don’t mind it. It’s nice seeing a familiar face, though, I suppose."

Ah, yes. He knew that fake smile. Once, long ago, it would have been considered genuine. Today, Aoba wouldn't believe a second of it. His grin only grew wider in return, almost speaking through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Where even were they, anyway? "Not much different from Ikebukuro at all." That hell hole. "You know I'm always more than happy to see you, Mikado-senpai!"