in them. Kousaka recalled a story from the Tsutsumi Chunagon Monogatari he’d studied in high school, The Lady Who Loved Insects. It was about a strange noble girl who was blessed with beauty, yet did not use cosmetics nor blacken her teeth, but just stared at caterpillars. It seemed a fitting nickname for this girl who was treated by Izumi overbearingly like a princess, and read nothing but books about parasites. Silver hair, pierced ears, short skirts, cigarettes, and parasites. To Kousaka, they were all symbols of impurity, and he would consider Hijiri Sanagi a manifestation of all of them put together. Meanwhile, Sanagi had no interest in Kousaka from the start, and didn’t expect anything from him beyond providing her a room to kill time in. Even though they were close together, a tall, thick wall stood between them. — ◆ — A week passed after he met Sanagi. Usually, the intercom would sound, and Sanagi would open the door to come in immediately after, but today was different. Even once the intercom’s echo faded, the door