Free PandoraHearts ~Caucus Race~, Vol. 1 by Shinobu Wakamiya Page A

shoe,” said the other.
    The pair turned to face him, saying:
    “Tee-hee! You really are…too kind.”
    “GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!” Gilbert screamed.
    From that yell, you’d have thought he’d encountered the most horrible monster in the world, and Dahlia shrank back, startled.
    “Whatever’s the matter?” she called to him, but Gilbert couldn’t answer.
    To Dahlia, the individuals standing in front of Gilbert seemed to be a beautiful lady and a lovely young girl. They were so well favored that, if the two of them were to walk around town together, many men would no doubt turn to look at them, stare, and feel compelled to compliment them.
    However, Gilbert had screamed as though his soul were evaporating. Dahlia could only tilt her head—“???”—in bewilderment.
    One of the pair, the energetic young girl, pouted a bit.
    “I
beg
your pardon. You’ll hurt a girl’s feelings, taking one look and screaming like that.”
    At her words, the other, an alluring beauty, said, “Myyyy, isn’t
that
the truth!”
    Then they looked at each other, and, in perfect harmony, said: “Quite!”
    Gilbert knew that, behind him, Dahlia was calling him repeatedly, but he couldn’t answer.
    The two women gazed at Gilbert with shining eyes.
    “Gilbert-sama? What’s wrong?” Dahlia asked.
    “…”
    “Gilbert-sama?”
    “…”
    “Are you friends with these ladies?”
    “NO!!”
    Gilbert whipped around with incredible force and yelled at Dahlia.
    At his ferocity, Dahlia gave a small shriek, and Gilbert apologized involuntarily. “Ah—I’m sorry.”
    Gilbert’s response made the two women puff out their cheeks in a dissatisfied way.
    The young girl clung to Gilbert’s back, catching the tail of his black suit jacket and tugging on it.
    “How
mean
, Gil-sama! How could you say we’re not friends?!”
    “—Oooooh, but he isn’t
wrong
, now, is he?”
    The beauty spoke in a significant tone, circling around to Gilbert’s side. She put a hand up to his jaw, tickling him under the chin with a slim finger. Gilbert had completely frozen up. The beauty shot a sidelong glance at Dahlia.
    The glance was so seductive that even Dahlia, a woman, felt a chill run through her.
    “Our relationship with Gil-sama is a
special
one, you know. We’re much more than
friends
.”
    Gilbert’s mouth opened and shut as though he was trying to say something, but no words came out.
    He was mouthing,
You guys.
    The beauty and the lovely young girl only looked at him in innocent bewilderment.
    As a matter of fact, the well-favored pair was, quite thoroughly:
    Oz (lovely young girl)
    and
    Break (beauty)
    —in the flesh.
    Oz, in a dress and natural, barely there makeup, put his lips near Gilbert’s ear.
    He whispered:
    “Just leave it to us, Gil. She’ll give up after this for sure.”
    Gilbert seemed petrified. For a moment, Oz looked perplexed. Then he cracked a mischievous little smile and blew in Gilbert’s ear.
    A violent shudder ran through Gilbert from head to toe, unfreezing him. The moment he could move again, he shook Oz and Break off with a completely discombobulated expression, grabbed Dahlia’s wrist a bit roughly, and trotted off down the path, almost running.
    “G-Gilbert-sama?!”
    Pulled along forcefully by one hand, Dahlia kept glancing behind her.
    “A-are you sure it’s all right to leave them? Those two women are—”
    …Men! Those are men!!
    He’d never be able to say it, Gilbert thought, with tears in his eyes.
    After they were out of sight…
    Oz slumped, heaving an exhausted sigh. Break massaged his own shoulders, working out the stiffness. Both Oz and Break felt as if they’d given it everything they had.
    The Anti-Socialization Plan.
    Gilbert had said he’d turn the lady down himself, but Oz and Break had no intention of simply sitting on their hands and watching him.
    Gilbert wasn’t used to women. Of course things wouldn’t go well. They couldn’t just leave him to his own