Meow~
Luna gracefully jumped into Kazuma's arms, climbed onto his shoulder, and looked at the man with contempt.
Kazuma, meanwhile, smiled and said, "Your disguise was pretty good, but unfortunately, you ran into me."
"You've been here the whole time?! No, and that cat too... Who are you?"
"Didn't your employer tell you who I am?"
The bloodied assassin's arms hung limply at his sides, leaving him unable to fight back. As he faced Kazuma, he desperately thought:
Shoot, you bastard! Why aren't you shooting?!
Can't you see the plan has already failed?!
"Hmm, are you waiting for your accomplice? Sorry, that guy had bad luck, I caught him before I caught you, so if you're putting your hopes on him... You're going to be disappointed."
The man's expression instantly turned horrified.
Meanwhile, Kaede held her younger sister Suzu in her arms as they stared at Kazuma and the assassin. Their minds were still struggling to process the chaos that had just unfolded. Hayato lay on the ground, his face pale with terror.
The incident had dealt a huge blow to Kaede's mental state.
Just who exactly is Kazuma?
"No wonder our employers warned us to avoid you... no wonder..."
This person was definitely not an ordinary high school student.
And that cat... It wasn't a cat at all.
It was a true killer lurking in the darkness.
"Now, take me to meet your employer. Aren't I your target? Taking me there might even earn you some credit."
Kazuma lifted him up like a chicken. "Let's go. Your hands may be useless, but your legs still work, right? Your disguise is so convincing that I'm sure you won't expose yourself so easily, correct?"
Kazuma didn't look at the three people lying on the ground from beginning to end. After he and the man drove away, Kaede finally came back to her senses and, as if remembering something, looked at her sister's face.
"Suzu, are you alright?"
The girl, who had no voice, and seemingly no thoughts, lay on the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"I'm fine."
"Kaede, Suzu..."
As strength finally returned to his body, the person who had been too frightened to move immediately stood up and rushed toward the twin sisters in a panic.
"Are you alright? That man just now..."
A clear handprint was visible on Kaede's neck, showing how painfully she had been strangled. Suzu was in an even worse state, with blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. In contrast, Hayato himself was completely unharmed, forming a stark contrast to the two girls who had desperately resisted.
Their childhood friend reached out in concern, but Suzu suddenly pushed his hand away. The expressionless girl raised her eyes and looked at him sharply, her gaze somewhat unfriendly.
*Smack.*
The sound of his hand being slapped away plunged the three of them into silence.
Suzu looked at him coldly, while Kaede lowered her head without saying anything. Only Hayato appeared somewhat ashamed. He opened his mouth to explain, but what came out was merely a dry excuse.
"Suzu... that person had a gun."
Kaede and Suzu remained silent.
Hayato began to panic. He knew that he had been afraid, terrified even, which was why he had lain there motionless and dared not do anything. Precisely because he understood his own fear, he felt ashamed and instinctively tried to defend himself.
"In that situation, even if I wanted to do something, I couldn't have changed anything, right? I couldn't fight back against him at all! I'm just an ordinary person. What was I supposed to do?"
I'm worried about Kaede too. Did I do something wrong?
His words sounded reasonable, but Suzu's gaze remained unchanged. Holding her older sister's hand tightly, she continued to stare at her childhood friend with those clear yet piercing eyes.
"Hayato, you like my sister, don't you?"
"Huh?" How did the conversation suddenly shift to that?
"You're right. You didn't do anything wrong. For ordinary friends, even abandoning them wouldn't really matter."
Suzu spoke calmly.
"I wouldn't expect friends to go that far, but can someone remain indifferent when the girl he likes is in danger?"
Suzu had always known that Hayato liked her older sister. She had even considered playing matchmaker and helping him win Kaede over, but now she had completely changed her mind.
As for Kaede, she kept her head lowered and remained silent from beginning to end. No one knew what she was thinking.
"It seems your feelings for my sister aren't as deep as I thought."
The sharpness in Suzu's eyes faded as she calmed down.
"Don't worry. I'm not blaming you anymore."
Suzu no longer blamed him.
To her, Hayato had become nothing more than an ordinary childhood friend, someone she used to play with. There was no need to expect anything more from him.
Her attitude deeply hurt Hayato. Blushing, he said angrily, "I don't understand why you're being so harsh on me, Suzu! This has nothing to do with me, does it? It was clearly that guy who brought them here!"
"Kazuma! He's the one who put you in danger! He's the one who brought that dangerous person here! Shouldn't this be his fault? He's the one who caused all of this! Why are you blaming me?!"
*Slap!*
Hayato, who had been shouting emotionally, froze.
He slowly turned his head and looked at Suzu in disbelief. Looking at the girl he had known since childhood, he suddenly felt as though she had become a complete stranger.
Touching his burning cheek, Hayato stammered, "Suzu? You actually..."
Kaede also looked at her younger sister in surprise. She could clearly feel Suzu's emotions.
Suzu was angry. Not merely angry, but truly furious, otherwise, she would never have slapped him.
This was the first time Suzu had ever hit someone, especially someone she had once been close to.
Without saying another word, Suzu stood up and walked away after slapping him. She didn't even spare him another glance, as though she had never cared about this so-called childhood friend.
She headed in the direction Kazuma had left.
"Hayato, Suzu might just be too emotional right now. You shouldn't provoke her."
Kaede looked at Hayato with complicated feelings and shook her head.
She had been shocked when her sister pointed out that Hayato liked her. In truth, she also had feelings for her childhood friend.
It was just that she had been too shy to admit it.
But now...
Although she wasn't as angry as Suzu, a crack had appeared in Kaede's heart.
When she heard Suzu say that Hayato liked her, she realized she wasn't as happy as she had imagined. Surprisingly, she felt very calm.
"You should calm down first."
After saying that, Kaede chased after her younger sister.
After they left, only one boy remained standing there, stunned and unable to recover for a long time.
"Suzu, wait for me!"
Kaede quickly caught up to her younger sister and walked beside her, looking at Suzu's beautiful face, which had already returned to normal.
After remaining silent for a while, she finally asked,
"Suzu, do you know Kazuma? It seems like you're so angry because of him."
Kaede couldn't help but feel suspicious. She sensed that her younger sister's attitude toward Kazuma was somewhat different.
"Kazuma saved us."
Suzu paused. Instead of explaining how she knew Kazuma, she brought up what had just happened.
"Although what Hayato said wasn't entirely wrong, if it weren't for Kazuma, we wouldn't have encountered this danger. We were indeed dragged into it because of him."
Suzu had already figured it out. Kazuma's deliberate confession had been nothing more than bait to lure out that assassin.
"Even though you say that, you're completely on Kazuma's side in your heart." Kaede smiled.
"No." Suzu shook her head. "If something had happened to my sister, if she had been hurt, I would definitely hate him."
But because Kazuma had everything under control and had protected her sister from harm, Suzu stood firmly on his side.
In Suzu's eyes, Kazuma was stronger than Hayato—not because of his appearance or power, but because of what was inside his heart.
Suzu could see through people.
She could tell at a glance that Kazuma had been lying, and she could also see Hayato's fear and cowardice. Yet Hayato refused to admit it, hiding behind excuses.
"Suzu, you're really kind." Kaede held her younger sister's hand. "Actually, I never thought we were implicated by Kazuma. No one could have predicted something like this... Besides, he saved us. I was really scared back there."
"So when Kazuma appeared, I couldn't believe it." Kaede patted her chest.
"That guy is becoming more and more mysterious. Suzu, who exactly is he? He's surrounded by dangerous assassins and possesses such incredible powers... Even that little cat is extraordinary."
Kaede's curiosity about him grew stronger.
"I don't know." Suzu shook her head.
"Wait, Suzu, are we going to find him now?" Kaede finally noticed the direction they were heading and cried out in surprise.
"Weren't you curious about him, Kaede? Why not thank him while we're at it?"
Faced with her younger sister's answer, Kaede stammered, "But I just rejected his confession. Won't it be awkward to meet him again? I rejected him, and then he saved me immediately afterward. That's so embarrassing. I don't even know how to face Kazuma."
Despite her embarrassment, she continued following her sister.
Seeing this, Suzu became speechless. Her sister still believed in that confession.
"Sister, is it possible that the confession was fake?"
"Huh?"
"He was lying to you from the very beginning."
Kaede froze. Looking at Suzu's calm and confident expression, the girl's pretty face gradually turned red before darkening.
"He lied to me? It was all fake?"
Hehe... hehe...
Kaede knew that Suzu could easily see through people, so she naturally believed her younger sister. As a result, she quickened her pace with a dark expression.
"Hurry up."
"What for?"
Kaede suddenly smiled sweetly and gently. "What else? Of course we're going to settle the score with him."
*****
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