Chapter 13: Chapter 13 - The Morning After the Firework

Restless Night. Kuro did not get much rest.

Actually...he hardly rested at all.

Whenever Kuro closed his eyes, he saw...the Rooftop , the Firework , the Twins Against Him , the Words..

" You’re Ours. "

Kuro buried his face in his pillow.

"This is bad."

Very bad.

Not only were the twins serious when they said those words, but also the fact that they sounded so serious... was giving him weird heart palpitations... and a strong sense of déjà vu... so Kuro blamed not resting enough... Naturally.

Morning had come; much to Kuro’s dismay.As he dragged himself into the dining room, he looked like a zombie...

Then, Kuro froze!!!

In the dining room were Akari and Aoi, sitting peacefully at the table waiting...

Silently.As if they had been waiting an eternity...

Both turned towards him at the same moment...

"Kuro-kun, good morning~!!"

"...Morning."

Aoi carefully looked over Kuro’s face...

"Kuro-kun, you look tired."

"...You’re the reason I look tired."

Akari looked toward Kuro and smiled...

"Which part of being tired is my fault?"

"All of it is your fault."

Neither Akari nor Aoi ever denied their responsibility in making Kuro look tired.

This made Kuro question the twins’ intentions; hence he didn’t know whether he was safe.

So Kuro sat down with caution.The atmosphere was different this morning...

Usually, breakfast consisted of wildly loud chaotic conversations.And this morning, both Akari and Aoi were paying a great deal more attention to Kuro.

Akari got closer to Kuro as she poured him some tea.Closer than she had been before.

Since Akari’s chest brushed against Kuro’s arm, Kuro wondered if she had noticed that they were so close to each other... So as Akari pulled herself away from Kuro, he became very stiff...

"Be careful."

Akari looked at him with an innocent expression.

"What happened?"

"You already know what happened."

Aoi set down breakfast in front of Kuro without saying a word.

Out of nowhere , she gently adjusted the collar on his shirt.Kuro froze again.

"Aoi."

"Yeah?"

"You’re too close to me."

"Your collar was crooked."

It felt as if her fingers lingered on his collar for a half-second longer than necessary.

It was dangerous.It felt like everything was dangerous lately.Daichi was happily munching away on toast, completely oblivious.

"Ahh, love is so sweet."

Kuro nearly choked on his cup of tea.

"THIS ISN’T LOVE."

Shizuka smiled awkwardly.

"You all are very close."

Kuro wanted to melt through the wall.Akari leaned into him with her shoulder.

"We’re all really close, being a family and all~"

The way she said "family" sounded so heavy.

An image of the rooftop flashed through his mind.

" Don’t let any other girls take you away from me. "

He could feel his ears turning red.Aoi noticed.

"Are you blushing?"

Kuro’s face showed shock.

"How do you know what I’m thinking all the time?"

"You are very predictable." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I hate being predictable."

Akari giggled softly.

"Kuro-kun is so embarrassed lately."

"I can think of a reason for that."

The twins shared a look.Kuro could feel they were planning to tease him.

The walk to school became so much worse. Now, the twins stubbornly decided to remain next to him, not wanting to leave his side for even the briefest of times. Akari naturally attached herself to him by linking her arm within his while walking, as Aoi silently adjusted Kuro’s tie for the third time.

"It is already straight," Kuro stated in disbelief.

"It is even straighter," Aoi responded.

"That should have never happened."

From the noise of others walking past, the following was heard in whispers.

"Again? Seriously."

"They never leave together."

"The twins are officially stuck like glue to him."

"He’s the luckiest guy in this world."

"That is definitely not true," Kuro thought.

This is not good fortune; it is survival horror taking on a romantic appearance.Suddenly, Akari stopped moving.

"Kuro-kun."

"What now?" Kuro asked.

"Your hair is messy."

Before Kuro could respond, Akari gently reached for his hair and fixed it, running her fingers through it with such gentleness that Kuro felt frozen in place.

The morning sun hit Akari’s eyes for a split second, and Kuro could not believe how cute she looked in that moment.

This was an incredibly dangerous moment.

Very dangerous.Akari blinked.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.

"I am not," he replied.

"Yes, you are."

"I am leaving."

Akari laughed as if he told her the funniest joke in the universe; she grabbed the sleeve that she had clutched to at the start of their walk.

"You are not going anywhere," she laughed.

While this was occurring, Aoi quietly slid beside Kuro to readjust his tie for a fourth time.

"Aoi," Kuro said.

"Yes, Kuro?" she responded.

"Why did you adjust my tie again?"

"To have a reason to fix your hair," she answered softly after a small period of awkward silence.

Silence.Tension filled Kuro’s mind for an instant. In the distance, several girls were squealing to each other. "That was the most romantic thing ever," they said. At that moment, Kuro felt that he should just go ahead and die right there.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, there were so many ridiculous rumors circulating about him that it was almost comical. Haruto threw both of his hands onto Kuro’s desk. "You need to tell me what happened."

"Umm...no."

"You’ve reached protagonist levels."

"That sounds bad."

"The twins changed your looks in a public setting as though they were your wives!"

Kuro threw his head down on his desk. "You have to quit saying weird stuff."

Meanwhile, Mina leaned on Kuro’s desk, grinning at him. "So Mr. Gloomy and Cold has finally entered romance mode?"

"I absolutely have not."

Immediately, Akari sat down next to Kuro. "You think he’s cute when he gets embarrassed?"

Mina smirked. "Ohh? Are we being possessive today?"

Akari grinned sweetly. "Always."

Silence.Mina blinked, "Wow...that’s real."

"It was."

Kuro sensed danger rising again.

The next thing he knew, Aoi was standing quietly behind him like always. No one had seen or heard her coming. "Kuro."

Kuro jumped. "Why the hell do you sneak up on me like you’re some kind of ghost?"

Aoi ignored the question completely. Instead, she leaned in close to him and repaired the top button of his uniform with absolute normalcy.

The classroom erupted immediately.

Kuro met Aoi’s gaze—her face was extremely close—the warmth of her breath on his skin nearly knocked him unconscious—but then again, Aoi had already knocked him out a few seconds earlier.

"Your heart rate is increasing again," she whispered.

Kuro could only groan as he realized that Aoi had just publicly embarrassed him—the entire class was staring at him.

Akari, sitting next to him, laughed loudly; Mina was staring daggers into his back.

"You know," Mina began after crossing her arms, "I feel like I’m watching two cats fight for territory."

"True," Akari said, nodding her head at Kuro.

"Stop telling the truth so casually."

Aoi and Akari ignored him like professionals.

Once school was over, Kuro dropped face-first onto his desk, completely drained.

"Hey, you look like you’re going to pass out on your desk," Rika said, coming up behind him with a stack of papers.

"I am."

Rika pushed her glasses up her nose. "The twins have been extra affectionate with you today."

"They’re trying to kill me."

"Do you think romantically?"

"I don’t have a clue!"

Rika gave him a small smile.

"You have a difficult life."

Kuro made a sound of anguish into his desk.

Near the door to their classroom, Akari and Aoi were standing together silently, watching him from a distance.

Akari whispered, "He seems to be aware of us more lately."

Aoi gave a slight nod to agree.

"Finally."

For whatever reason, hearing that was the scariest part of everything that just happened.