The next morning
Saturday's daylight was pinned to the horizon beneath heavy lead-gray clouds. Dense raindrops fell like beads from a broken string, pattering against the window and splashing into tiny droplets.
Akiyama Shin was roused from sleep by the unrelenting sound of the rain.
He slowly opened his eyes. His drowsiness hadn't quite faded, and his vision gradually came into focus in the dim room.
The first thing he saw—
Was Kushida Kikyo's peaceful sleeping face.
Curled up like a cute little animal, she pressed her cheek against his chest, her arms unconsciously wrapped around his waist. Her pose was intimate and dependent.
Looking at the girl in his arms, sleeping with such unreserved affection, Akiyama Shin's eyes—usually veiled by a cold glint—held a rare, almost imperceptible trace of tenderness.
He lowered his head slightly and gently kissed the crown of her head, a silent kiss full of warmth.
Then he carefully shifted his body, trying to ease his arm out from beneath her head.
After a bit of effort, he finally managed to slip his arm free. As he got up, he grabbed a clean black T-shirt from the back of a chair and pulled it on. He went to the window and drew back half the curtain. The chill of the rain seemed to creep in through the gap, rousing him a little more.
Outside, the rain fell in sheets.
The whole world was reduced to blurry outlines, indistinct and hard to make out.
The sky was a gloomy deep blue, mixed with gray-white mist that hung heavily overhead.
It was plain to see.
It would be a rainy day from start to finish.
It was only six in the morning. Akiyama Shin stood at the window for a moment, but his sleepiness had already vanished. He