"Dead... dead?"
Chiba's words struck Yukina's mind like a thunderclap. In an instant, countless emotions that could drive one mad flooded her heart. The pallor and panic on Yukina's face froze at once. She remained rigid in the posture of rising upright, and only after a long while did she force out a few words through her slightly parted lips.
"Mm... she's dead."
In response to the words Yukina had squeezed out—words that seemed devoid of emotion yet seemed packed with every kind of negative feeling—Chiba echoed her like a parrot.
At that moment, a wrenching pain filled every corner of Chiba's mind.
As he spoke, scenes of Nao's death flashed through his mind one after another, incomparably clear, as though he were still by Nao's side, watching Black Flames burn her to ash.
To be honest, Chiba had not expected that even now, recalling that scene would still hurt so much.
"H-how... how did she die..."
Almost instinctively, Yukina, completely overwhelmed by the enormous grief of Nao's death, spoke again in a trembling voice.
"She was..."
Hearing that, Chiba instinctively wanted to say that Hirohiko had killed her. But after only two words left his mouth, he suddenly came to his senses.
He could not say it like that now. To bluntly say that Hirohiko had killed her—what kind of shock would that deal Yukina? He needed to choose his words carefully. He had to sort out exactly how to say it.
Then, for quite some time after coming to his senses, Chiba merely frowned and pressed his lips together, organizing his thoughts. Yukina, meanwhile, was still drowning in immense grief. Her question had almost been instinctive too, so she did not urge him.
"Actually, this matter began when..."
After a while, having organized his words, Chiba slowly began.