L crouched on the battered swivel chair.
Both feet rested on the seat cushion, his body curled into a ball in an utterly bizarre posture.
"Crunch, crunch."
He was biting his thumbnail.
The faint chewing sounds were especially grating in the empty warehouse.
L stopped and looked up at Jiang Shiyu, who was bound to the iron chair.
"When people face an utterly horrifying truth, their brains force them into denial."
Jiang Shiyu hung her head.
Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath.
The coarse ropes around her wrists had broken the skin, drawing dark red streaks of blood.
L wrapped his arms around his knees.
"Jiang Shiyu, stop fighting it."
"You don't need to prove to me how much that man loves you."
"Right now, you only need to prove something to yourself."
"Clear your head and think carefully about these two months you've spent together."
"Was there even a single moment when you felt he wasn't a normal person at all?"
Jiang Shiyu jerked her head up.
Tears covered her face, and her shrill voice cracked.
"Shut up!"
"Stop pushing me!"
L watched her without expression.
"I'm not pushing you."
"I'm only helping you put together the pieces you deliberately ignored."
L raised a pale finger.
"The first piece."
"Think. Was there anything he absolutely forbade you from touching?"
Jiang Shiyu's shouting cut off abruptly.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing stalled for half a beat.
The floodgates of her memory were pried open.
It had been a weekend last month, in the men's dormitory at Linhai University.
Heavy rain fell outside the window.
Kannazuki had gone to fetch hot water, asking her to wait in his room.
Jiang Shiyu sat at his desk.
Looking for a sticky note to leave him a message, she reached