February's wind had lost the piercing chill unique to deep winter, replaced by a refreshing coolness.
The air carried the freshness of early spring drawing near, and the sun was no longer stingy with its warmth.
Yet in this pleasant month, which should have put everyone at ease, two bombshells dropped into still waters and stirred up wave after wave.
The model couple in Class C, Karuizawa Kei and Hirata Yosuke, had announced their peaceful breakup without the slightest warning.
There had been no hysterical arguments, no sordid rumors of a third party. They had simply and calmly severed the bond that had made others envious.
The boys whispered and speculated about the reason, while the girls reassessed the newly single Hirata with appraising eyes. Only the mastermind behind the scenes savored the drama he had brought about with his own hands.
But at that moment, all of Kazehara Tetsu's attention was not on the "Parasite," whom he had completely transformed and branded as his own.
His gaze was fixed on the figure ahead, radiating a gentle glow.
Ichinose Honami.
The winter sunlight slanted in through the window, gilding Ichinose Honami's waterfall of pink hair with a dazzling sheen.
"So you came back to school and couldn't wait to lay bare that shameful past in front of the whole class?"
Kazehara Tetsu leaned lazily against the back of his chair, his legs crossed casually.
Just a few days earlier, the person who had once tried to fulfill her wish through endless atonement for the sin of "stealing a hair clip" had actually stood before every student in Class B and torn open her ugliest scar herself.
No more running away. No more hiding it.
"Keeping it locked away in the darkest corner of your heart is its own kind of