The Amphisbaena by Gakuto Mikumo

know, every last bit of that goes for you, too, Yukina. The boys in
our
class set up a three-second rule, a five-second rule, an eight-second rule, and a twenty-four-second rule for being under arm’s length from you. They get a talking-to and harsh punishments if they go over those time limits. Oh, they’re running put-a-curse-on-Kojou-Akatsuki sessions, too, so you’d better watch out, Kojou!”
    “Why the heck are the guys in your class trying to put a curse on me…?”
    Kojou felt a light headache coming on as he grumbled. Nagisa went “hmph” and seemed to pout as she turned away in a snub.
    “Anyway, I need to go apologize to Takashimizu again. Kojou, Yukina, you help Kanon instead of me, all right?”
    “R-right. I can do that much, sure.” Kojou nodded as he glanced at Kanon’s bag. Certainly, it was more than her slender arms should have been carrying. He had no objection to helping her.
    “Sorry about this…” Kanon smiled bashfully as Kojou took the bag.
    Now that the misunderstanding with Takashimizu was resolved, there was no reason to stay in the middle school building. Once Yukina made preparations to leave, Kojou hooked back up with her, with both then making their way out from school. But at around the point Nagisa split off from them midway, Kojou felt like he was being watched, making him utterly unable to relax.
    Certainly, Kanon’s looks stood out a great deal, but Yukina’s looks were every bit as pretty. There was no way having
two
younger girls looking like that following in his footsteps would fail to attract attention. On top of that…
    “…I sense a strange presence. Please stay close to me, both of you.”
    Yukina was reacting to the bloodlust being trained upon Kojou, but as she said those words, she drew closer to him. That only created an even worse atmosphere, concentrating additional hatred from others upon Kojou.
    Feeling like a criminal on a perp walk, Kojou quietly pulled up his parka’s hood and hid his face. By the time they finally safely escaped the middle school building, Kojou’s back was unpleasantly slick with sweat.
    “I’m sorry… It’s all my fault.”
    Kanon spoke apologetically as she toyed with her own hair with a fingertip. Apparently, she was under the impression that it was
just
her hair that made her stand out more than other people.
    “So that hair’s your natural color?”
    Kanon nodded a sad nod at Kojou’s casually posed question. “My biological father is not Japanese. I was raised in Japan, so I have very little memory of him.”
    “That so?”
    Seeing that there were complicated circumstances involved, Kojou didn’t ask anything more.
    Rather than head to the station, Kanon was making for the hill behind the school. Inside a small park filled with green trees, Kojou could see an abandoned gray building.
    “…Is this a church?” Kojou asked as he looked up at the relief carved onto the building’s roof.
    It was caduceus—the Messenger’s Staff—with two snakes entwined around it, a symbol not usually associated with the European Church.
    “This is an abbey that took care of me when I was younger.”
    Kanon looked at the decayed garden with a bit of longing. The flower bed was buried in weeds; there was a rusted-over tricycle left behind.
    “Kanase, you’re not actually a nun, are you…?”
    “No, I’m not. I looked up to them…but…”
    Kanon quietly shook her head at Kojou’s question. Before Kojou could ask her to continue, Kanon extended a hand to the door of the building. She opened the damaged wooden door with a heavy creak of its hinge.
    “Oh my…” As she peered into the decrepit building, Yukina let slip a little exclamation.
    As she strongly looked over her shoulder, there was a glimmer of innocent emotion showing in her eyes that suited her age for once.
    “…Himeragi?”
    “Cats! They’re cats! Look, senpai, cats!!”
    “R-right. I can see that…”
    Kojou was a bit taken aback at Yukina being in such