"Accepted..."
Seeing Kotaro Katsura's utterly matter-of-fact expression, Sogo Doma actually saw the scene Katsura Kotaro had described—on Christmas night, a man dressed in black suddenly came to the house, claiming to be a deliveryman sent by Santa Claus. Wait, maybe he hadn't merely claimed it!
Perhaps this was what had happened:
On Christmas Eve three years ago, Kotaro Katsura might have been sitting alone at home in meditation, or perhaps he had just returned home after getting off work at an okama bar...
"Who's there?" In any case, Katsura, who was at home, heard a sound that should not have been there.
Of course, as a sharp-eared, keen-eyed kendo master, Kotaro Katsura had not spoken without cause. In the darkness, a shadowy figure was startled by his question and instinctively swallowed. "Gulp..."
It was no wonder the shadowy figure reacted that way. In his estimation, the house did not even have its lights on, so there was surely no one inside. Yet the moment he entered, someone had exposed his presence. Most importantly, although he had assumed no one was home, he had still opened the door with utmost care and made practically no sound. So why had he been discovered the instant he opened the door?
Unfortunately, reality did not leave the shadowy figure time to think. What did people in his line of work do when they were discovered? Naturally, they fled at once!
However, just as the shadowy figure was about to make a run for it, he realized there was a long-haired weirdo standing behind him. In the pitch-black surroundings, he could not even tell whether the other person was human or ghost. When opening the door, he had carefully checked his surroundings and only opened it after confirming that no one was there...
The question