naturally?” “I don’t think I’ll be able to do that, which is why I’m just asking. I’ll give you suitable payment.” “I don’t want to answer,” Sanagi stated plainly. “You can lie.” “I don’t want to lie.” In other words, she didn’t want to cooperate. Kousaka considered other things he could offer, but soon gave up and sat in his chair. There was no rush. Maybe she’d just gotten up on the wrong side of the bed today. Probing deeply now would just upset her. I’ll ask another day, he thought. It must have been the sleep deprivation; at some point, he fell asleep in his chair. He felt something off about his shoulder. At first, he thought it was just an itch. But the feeling gradually became more solid. Something was poking Kousaka’s shoulder. Soon, he realized it was someone’s finger. Someone’s finger? His hair stood up on end. Kousaka acted reflexively. He batted away the hand poking his shoulder. When he did, he felt his overly-long index finger nail scratch the person’s skin somewhere. He heard a small groan, which woke him up at once.