Once Izumi left, Sanagi appeared as if taking his place. She didn’t even glance at Kousaka, the room’s owner, lied down on the bed which had become her personal seat, bundled up the pillow to put under her chin, and opened a book. I feel like a ghost bound to this place, Kousaka thought. Maybe I’m the spirit of a man who killed himself in this room, and hasn’t realized he’s dead yet. Ownership had already changed over to Hijiri Sanagi, but she was mistaking me as a visitor. That was a rather pleasing idea. However, he couldn’t indulge in considering himself a ghost forever. Now, Kousaka had a mission to find out the reason why Sanagi wasn’t attending school. He would have to somehow initiate a dialogue with her, skillfully get to the subject of school, and have her naturally reveal the reason. While he thought about how he could break the subject, his gaze was unconsciously focused on Sanagi. She took off her headphones, looked up, and belligerently said “What? Is there something you want to say?” “Nothing like that.” Kousaka hurriedly averted his eyes, and gave an on-the-spot excuse. “Um, I noticed you’re wearing that earring again today.” “Earring?” “When I saw it before, I thought it was pretty. That’s all, nothing else.” Sanagi blinked with suspicion. Then as if having forgotten