To Unfold A Mystery (Hiyori x Kiyotaka Fanfic)

Chapter 4: Wolves Among the Masses

Ryuen POV

"Unnecessary, you say? Quite a scummy attitude from the one that called me out here to babysit, don't you think?"

I faced the man in front of me, the one who first pummeled me to eat the ground, the one who first eradicated my will and my pride, the one who first molded fear into my heart and body...

And the one who first dared to order me to do his bidding.

"Please refrain from judging me," this scum replied to me with his toneless words. "Coz at the end, you still responded to my call, no?"

At some extend, it is still true. As Ayanokoji notified on his call: how he noticed Kikyo was waiting by a shady spot of the entrance of the library, and how she followed Hiyori right after she left, I judged to act right after.

Of cause, I first hesitated a bit, due to how I'm annoyed being given a request by this bastard, but there had been something I wanted to confirm, and I couldn't give a damn that my pride is hurt once again by following along his request.

After all, my pride couldn't be hurt more this time than what he had done to me.

"I have my own reason," I said. "And I am sure behind that apathetic face of yours, you have your own thoughts as well. So why don't you spit them out, huh? Answer me, out of all candidates, why would you call me here just to escort your little damsel?"

Ayanokoji tilted his head, like he realized he was supposed to act confused at this question.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. Isn't it usual for me to call a classmate of the same class to assist someone who's their own?"

He asked this question, as if he dared to question my common sense...

I grimaced at this thought.

"Stop beating around the bush," I told him. "I don't know what you're thinking, but this action alone won't ever get me back into the battlefield."

I can't scratch my head around why exactly he would choose me, but if he planned to use 'sympathy' against me, that would be the dumbest thing second to him piling up snows on his body.

"But you still came, didn't you?" Ayanokoji countered my argument. "I know you well, Ryuen, when I informed you of Kikyo's action, a question must have enticed you to come here, am I correct?"

"..."

I stayed silence, as I hard-stared at Ayanokoji.

As I expected...he baited me to come here.

Indeed, there had been a question that has been ringing on my mind ever since Kikyo targeted Hiyori, and it would probably be the same question this bastard hid inside his wretched mind as well:

Why would Kikyo target Hiyori?

There's no reason for Kikyo to specifically target her. Even if she managed to gain Hiyori's trust, there's not a single guarantee that she would extract anything useful from Hiyori as well. Not to mention she acted way more aggressively than she had to, which could potentially reveal her true nature behind her persona, something she would like to avoid no matter the course.

That means...either Kikyo was driven by emotion at that time, or she has confirmed Hiyori had the potential for possessing information that could be useful for her.

This is probably the reason why Ayanokoji did not show up to protect Hiyori, instead, he followed and allowed Kikyo to enact her trap, and right after that, he attempted to use me to potentially bait out what information Hiyori could've possessed, knowing that I will also be interested at this information.