"What... are you looking at me for?"
As that thought crossed Chiba's mind, he met the gaze coming from ahead and blurted out the words almost without thinking.
There was a trace of irritation in his tone.
If anyone familiar with the two of them had been present, they would surely have felt that they were "at it again" or that things had "returned to normal."
By then, the shock and horror on Hyuga Yukyō's face had faded. Instead, he was staring at Chiba with an extremely suspicious expression.
No wonder Chiba was getting irritated again. Forget that the two of them had never gotten along—even between ordinary friends, anyone being stared at like that probably would not have looked pleased.
"Hey, are you looking for a fight?"
Yet after Chiba said that, Hyuga Yukyō continued staring at him suspiciously without giving any response. After quite a while, Chiba finally could not hold back any longer and spoke again.
This time, though, his tone was entirely hostile. The regret he had felt over Hyuga Yukyō losing an arm and an eye, as well as the inexplicable sympathy stirred by the lonely look on his face, had completely vanished.
Now, no matter how Chiba looked at Hyuga Yukyō, he found him irritating.
"Impossible... Lord Shinsuke, he... how could he..."
At that moment, however, Hyuga Yukyō seemed not to have heard him at all. He suddenly lowered his head, and the suspicion on his face turned into disbelief. After looking over it several more times, as though repeatedly confirming that he had not seen wrong, he began muttering to himself.
Hyuga Shinsuke?
Impossible? What's going on?
Watching Hyuga Yukyō's changing expression and listening to his muttering, Chiba also began to feel somewhat puzzled.
*Judging from Hyuga Yukyō's reaction, this thing shouldn't be