Labyrinth of the Blue Witch Read Online Free PDF Page B

so that’s why she was coming to visit.”
    “Hmm.”
    Kojou and Yukina’s explanation differed notably from the truth, but given the relationships between the various people, it wasn’t much of a lie, either. Though Asagi clearly didn’t buy the whole thing, she apparently gave up on pursuing the matter further.
    Instead, it was the final participant who spoke from the direction of Kojou’s room.
    “Hmm…so this is Akatsuki’s room. Surprisingly normal. Hmm, very interesting.”
    “Could you, like, not go into other people’s bedrooms and look under their beds, Tsukishima?” Kojou called out in a shrill voice, watching Rin from behind as she leaned down to the floor.
    She was known for acting cool and collected with everyone else no matter who they were, but her behavior toward Kojou was a little different. Rin, whose father was a famous scholar of demonic biology, was exceptionally well versed about the characteristics of demons. Thanks to that, Kojou felt that Rin acted from time to time like she’d figured out he wasn’t a normal human being.
    That said, she’d never looked at Kojou with any hint of hostility. Evidently she had no intention of rocking the boat. She came off as the classical amused observer. No doubt her insistence on coming to the Akatsuki residence was part of that inquisitiveness.
    Rin seemed to take great interest in Kojou’s shelf.
    “I found an album. Can I take a peek?”
    “Go ahead, but that’s just something from elementary school. Doubt it’s got anything interesting.”
    Kojou had meant to warn her to take good care of it, but the girls seemed to all get a different idea. Now Asagi and Yukina gathered around Rin, looking much more interested now that he’d opened his big mouth.
    As she flipped the album’s pages, Rin raised her eyebrows in apparent amusement.
    “Aw, widdle Akatsuki. Hmm, he looks much the same, doesn’t he?”
    Yukina stared intently as she conveyed her own impressions.
    “So senpai was an elementary schooler once, too. Cute…perhaps?”
    “What’s with the ‘perhaps’?! Just say I was, dammit!” bitterly complained a dejected Kojou.
    Kanon giggled and smiled as she listened to the exchange. “So this is from just before Kojou moved to Itogami City, huh?”
    Asagi was the one who checked the time stamp on the photo. “Seems that way. All the other ones were clearly taken when he was still in primary.”
    Kojou had met her immediately after moving to Itogami Island some four years before. Kojou had only just entered middle school.
    “Who’s that? They’re together in a lot of these photos.” Yaze picked up the album as he asked.
    Kojou was photographed with a teammate in the same basketball uniform. The youth was heavily sunburned but was a primary schooler with a very energetic face.
    “Ah yeah, that’s Yuuma.”
    “Yuuma?”
    “Someone we played with when we were little kids. Pal from basketball when I was young… We were kinda like two rotten apples in a barrel.”
    “Really,” went Rin, narrowing her eyes in apparent admiration.
    “Quite handsome. Completely wasted on a friend like you, Akatsuki.”
    Kojou lamented, his lips twisted like that really hurt.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?! So what if my friend looks better than me?!”
    For his part, Yaze glared at the photo with an expression that didn’t look fake at all.
    “Shit. I thought
I
was Kojou’s only good friend, but to think the guy before me looked this awesome!”
    Asagi scowled, looking like she deeply resented this. “You two are both totally creeping me out…”
    Kojou’s eyes bulged on reflex.
    “What, me, too?!”
    Nagisa burst into laughter. “Unlike Kojou here, Yuuma was definitely popular with the girls back then.”
    “Yeah.” Kojou grudgingly nodded. His old friend was very popular with the ladies.
    Then, as if only just remembering, Nagisa whipped out her cell phone and opened up her mail screen.
    “Oh right, I got an e-mail a little earlier.