suspicious man called out to me.” Sanagi looked at Kousaka with emotionless eyes. There was a long silence. She sucked on her cigarette and dropped the ash with an experienced motion. Then she kept staring at Kousaka as if appraising him. Just say something already, anything, Kousaka pleaded silently. The cold sweat under his arms was unpleasant. He wanted to give up on this idiocy, go back to the apartment, and take a shower. He longed for his sacred grounds full of air purifiers and antiseptic. After a while, Sanagi discarded her now-short cigarette by her feet. The flame went out immediately as it touched the ground wet from the snow. “I guess Izumi asked you, right?”, Sanagi asked listlessly, letting out a final puff of smoke. “You’re the seventh one so far.” The smoke Sanagi let out was carried on the wind, and Kousaka covered his mouth at once. Then a moment later, he guessed the meaning of “the seventh one.” “…You mean there have been others before me he’s asked to be friendly with you?”, Kousaka asked. “Huh, Izumi didn’t tell you anything?”