The Amphisbaena Read Online Free PDF Page B

great deal,” Yukina muttered with a sullen expression. Kojou was a bit thrown off at how she seemed faintly envious.
    “Huh?”
    “No, nothing at all.”
    “R-right… Well, I’m kinda glad. Actually, I had something to talk to you about, Himeragi.”
    Judging that Yukina had nominally accepted the situation, Kojou forced a change of subject. Yukina glared at Kojou with a guarded expression.
    “Something to talk about, meaning Aiba?”
    “Well… Well, it’s kind of about her and kind of about me.”
    “Ah?”
    “Err, I mean… I was thinking that I should tell Asagi, even if it’s just her, about what I am now…”
    Yukina’s expression grew even sharper at Kojou’s vague outline.
    “The fact that you…lust after Aiba?”
    “…L-lust?”
    Kojou looked back at Yukina, flabbergasted at hearing the unexpected word. Realizing she misunderstood, he hastily shook his head.
    “No, not that. I’m not talking about wanting to suck Asagi’s blood or something…”
    “What are you talking about, then?”
    “I’m talking about telling Asagi that I’m really a vampire!”
    “Ahh…”
    Yukina’s strength seemed to leave her as she indicated she understood.
    To her, Kojou had been the vampire she’d been watching since the moment they’d met. At this point, even if he declared he was coming out of the closet, maybe it just didn’t ring a bell with her.
    Thanks to Yukina’s odd reaction, Kojou felt embarrassed somehow as he continued.
    “Going on deceiving Asagi like this feels a bit…embarrassing, rotten maybe?”
    “Mm…” Yukina nodded vaguely. “It isn’t that I don’t understand how you feel, but why the sudden rush now?”
    Of course, he did not give the honest reply—“because she kissed me”—and voiced a more legitimate excuse. “W-well… I mean, you know, it’d be bad if she got wrapped up in some danger she knows nothing about. Like the kind of thing that just happened recently.”
    “Ah, I see…”
    “The thing is, even if I avoid her, that doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna happen, anyway.” Kojou laughed a dry, self-deprecating laugh.
    Not that vampires were any kind of rarity on Itogami Island, but your friend being an unregistered demon who’d been hiding it from you was a different story altogether. The chances of Asagi entering a wild rage weren’t exactly low.
    “It’s just, if I expose what I am, that affects where you stand, too, Himeragi. So, I thought it was best to discuss it with you first.”
    With a meek expression, Kojou glanced to check Yukina’s reaction. However, for some reason, Yukina looked like her mind was somewhere else as she nodded.
    “I…see… Revealing to Aiba…a secret known only to me…”
    “Eh?”
    “Oh, nothing, nothing at all.”
    Yukina lifted her head and straightened her posture.
    “There’s no reason to be concerned for me. In the first place, I have nothing to hide in public.”
    “R-right.”
    Come to think of it, Yukina was a nationally accredited Attack Mage, and the organization she was assigned to was a publicly acknowledged government agency. It wasn’t something to just wave around willy-nilly, but she wouldn’t be inconvenienced if exposed. If anything, the reason for her to hide her identity was out of consideration for Kojou’s position.
    “The problem isn’t me; it’s Nagisa.”
    “Yeah…”
    Kojou clutched his head as Yukina calmly pointed the fact out.
    Kojou’s little sister… Nagisa Akatsuki, was afraid of demons even though she lived in a Demon Sanctuary. She had an acute case of demon phobia. The cause was having been attacked by demons in the past, suffering grave, near-fatal wounds in the process.
    That was why Kojou had to hide his true nature from her.
    If Nagisa knew the truth, not only would Kojou and Nagisa be unable to live together as brother and sister anymore: worst case, it would inflict severe mental damage upon her.
    If he exposed his secret to Asagi, that naturally increased the danger