PandoraHearts ~Caucus Race~, Vol. 1 Read Free

about to say, but before he could finish—
    “Then
I’ll
do it!” Gilbert insisted, catching the wrist of the hand that held the spoon. Oz looked blank.
    “Huh? …Gil, you’re going to make her say ‘aaaah’? I…I’d actually like to see that, but…”
    “I’m not saying ‘aaaah’!”
    Gilbert refused point-blank. At that, Oz used his free hand to pry Gilbert’s fingers from his wrist, whisking his hand away so that Gilbert couldn’t take the spoon. Oz gave him a mild glare.
    “…But no. I told you, I’m going to take care of Alice. Remember?”
    No matter how Gilbert argued, Oz seemed determined to hang on to his role as Alice’s caretaker.
    If he pressed him too hard, he really might put Oz out of sorts. Gilbert couldn’t do anything but watch, although he was choking back the urge to cut and run the whole time.The worried wrinkle between his eyebrows grew deeper and deeper.
    Oz fed Alice oatmeal as if he were feeding a small bird.
    “Is it good, Alice?”
    “Mmm. It’s not bad. It would be perfect if it had meat, though.”
    “When you’re better. —Oh.”
    Oz, who’d been plying the spoon cheerfully, seemed to remember something. He turned back to Gilbert.
    “By the way, Gil.”
    “…What.”
    “You came to my room. Did you need something?”
    “Oh—”
    At those words, Gilbert remembered.
    | 13:00 |
    “—And so, the number of illegal contractors of which Pandora is aware is…”
    In an office in a corner of Pandora Headquarters, Sharon Rainsworth’s voice rose and fell.
    It was one in the afternoon, and the sun had just begun its journey down the sky.
    Oz wasn’t present. The office held only Sharon, Xerxes Break, and Gilbert.
    Gilbert stood, leaning against the wall, listening to Sharon without paying much attention to her. He’d visited Oz’s room to pass on a request from Sharon, who’d wanted to meet as a group and discuss a few things after lunch. The content of the discussion itself was of little importance: just a report on Pandora’s overall activity. Oz and Gilbert tended to work independently instead of as part of the organization, and Sharon had thought it would be good for them to know a little about the rest.
    Oz had refused on the grounds that he had business he couldn’t leave unattended. Gilbert hadn’t been very interested, either: He was here because he’d thought it would look bad for both him and Oz to be absent.
    —
Please tell Sharon-chan I’m sorry
, Oz had said.
    …Alice was really special to Oz. Gilbert knew that. What he didn’t know was how special, or why Oz felt she was special.
    Because she’d returned him to this world from the Abyss, which was said to be impossible to escape? But it would be more accurate to say that Alice had used Oz in order to cross to this side herself. On top of that, in making Oz an illegal contractor, she’d practically wired him with a time bomb.
    If anything, it wouldn’t have been at all odd for him to resent Alice—
    As he reached that particular thought, Gilbert suddenly found himself perplexed.
    What do
I
think of that stupid rabbit?
    Her stupidity was constantly causing him trouble, her confrontational personality made him very uncomfortable, and that arrogant attitude of hers frequently got on his nerves. Not only that, but she was a meat-loving picky eater who was always hungry, and, well, as a cook, it was nice to see someone eat what he’d made as if it tasted
that
good. —But that was neither here nor there.
    It seemed to him as if he had every reason to hate her and none whatsoever to like her.
    Was that why? Gilbert remembered Oz in that apron. Oz wasn’t used to cooking, but he’d done it for Alice. Was that why he’d felt so restless—you could almost have called it irritated—at seeing Oz wait on her?
    Hah—! Wait, am I jealous? …Me? …Of the stupid rabbit?
    Not even possible
, he thought. He shook his head with a dry little smile.
    To clear his mind, he thought about the chick