After taking a little time to calm down, Karuizawa finally regained her composure.
Just as Chiba Yu was about to speak, Karuizawa's eyes, still glistening with a few tears, glared at him. Her voice was fierce as she said:
"Why are you wandering around in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?!"
But seeing her clearly terrified yet still trying to keep up a shocked expression, Chiba Yu didn't find her fierce at all. If anything, he thought she was kind of adorable.
"I just couldn't sleep, so I got up to use the bathroom."
"Besides, why are you allowed to get up in the middle of the night, but I'm not?"
"Ugh! Then at least don't scare me like that, okay? I thought I'd run into a ghost!"
No matter how formidable a person or animal was, encountering something beyond their understanding—like ghosts or other strange phenomena—would always frighten them. It was a human instinct, impossible to eradicate completely.
I used to think that once you got strong enough, you'd become immune to things like this automatically. It wasn't until I experienced it myself that my thinking began to change.
"Are you really afraid of ghosts?"
Faced with Chiba Yu's question, Karuizawa was speechless for a moment. Then she blushed and turned her head away, her voice trembling slightly. "A little... I guess."
That meant she was really scared, didn't it?
"If you're that scared, at least find someone to come with you."
"...I didn't want to wake anyone up. Everyone was already asleep, so it didn't seem right to call them out."
"...I see you do have a conscience."
"What kind of thing is that to say? Talking like that isn't going to win you any girls!"
"Sorry, but I'm not looking for a girlfriend, so that doesn't work on me."
"There you go again. If you just cleaned yourself up and acted a little more cheerful, girls would be all over you in no time. But you always look so gloomy!"
Watching Karuizawa sulk to herself, Chiba Yu was momentarily stunned. For some reason, his words had upset her so much.
Deep down, a voice kept warning him not to provoke Karuizawa right now.
Following the principle of listening to his gut, Chiba Yu decided to heed that warning.
Karuizawa turned her head and stopped paying attention to him. For a moment, Chiba Yu had no idea how to break the awkward silence.
The next second, an idea came to him.
"Hey, Karuizawa."
"What?" Karuizawa narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what else he could possibly have to say.
"There's something I want to ask you."
"..." Karuizawa sighed softly, then finally decided to go along with it. "Go ahead."
"What kind of underwear do you usually buy?"
Chiba Yu could clearly see that the moment he said those words, Karuizawa's eyes widened. She stared at him in disbelief, as if she were seeing him for the first time.
The next second, her cheeks flushed bright red. Her hands clenched involuntarily, and her whole body trembled as if she were trying to restrain herself.
"Drop dead!"
Smack!!!
With the burning pain on his face and a clear handprint on his right cheek, Chiba Yu suddenly realized that what he'd just said could have been taken the wrong way.
So he tried to rephrase it. "No, I mean, what sort of patterns are usually printed on your underwear..."
Smack!!!
Now the handprints on both cheeks matched. Chiba Yu fell silent, watching the girl across from him steadily retreat.
"Pervert!"
"Pervert!"
"Scumbag!"
"Social degenerate!"
"Chiba Yu!"
"...I don't agree with that last one. My name shouldn't usually come after words like those, should it?"
"This is all your fault for suddenly asking such a weird question!"
"Tsk... Looks like this just got even more complicated." Chiba Yu sighed. The situation seemed even messier than he'd imagined, and all he wanted was to sort it out quickly and go back to bed.
"Forget it, I won't ask. Just take a look at this and see if you recognize whose it is."
As he spoke, Chiba Yu took the pair of underwear out of his pocket and held it up in front of Karuizawa.
But the moment Karuizawa recognized what he was holding by the moonlight, the joking atmosphere vanished without a trace. In its place was Karuizawa's deathly pale face, the color draining from her cheeks.
"Th-this... How do you have this?!"
At that moment, Karuizawa seemed to have seen some terrifying monster. She snatched her underwear from him and immediately backed away.
So you're like them too. I knew it. I've always known it. Nothing has changed after all. You're just like the others from back then!
Karuizawa clenched her teeth and gripped the garment tightly, her head bowed so low that he couldn't see her expression.
Chiba Yu immediately realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to explain, Karuizawa spun around and ran.
Chiba Yu knew he absolutely couldn't let Karuizawa leave like this. Otherwise, things would likely get much worse later.
He made up his mind in an instant and dashed after her. In less than half a minute, he caught up and reached out to grab her by the shoulders, hoping to calm her down so she would listen to his explanation.
But Karuizawa gave him no chance. She struggled relentlessly, wanting nothing but to escape.
"Karuizawa, listen to me..."
The moment Chiba Yu turned Karuizawa around to face him, he saw a side of her he'd never seen before.
Her eyes were red, tears were about to spill from them, and her body was trembling. Every detail made the fear and disappointment of the girl before him unmistakable.
This was the perfect moment to destroy someone—to destroy the girl named Karuizawa Kei.
Chiba Yu let go of his usual nonchalant expression, the one that never changed. He no longer acted as if nothing interested him. Instead, his eyes were calm to an almost unnatural degree, yet filled with a rare seriousness.
"I want you to hear me out first. Once you've heard everything, I'm sure you'll be able to make up your own mind."