Jiang Shiyu's retreating figure disappeared behind the access gates of the women's dormitory.
A card beeped.
The metal gate swung shut.
Through the glass doors, the corridor's incandescent lights cut the last of her shadow into fragments scattered across the floor tiles.
Kannazuki stood where he was.
He didn't turn around.
Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.
Only when a window on the dormitory's second floor lit up, and a blurred figure moved twice behind the curtains, did he look away.
He turned and walked back along Wutong Street.
His steps had no direction.
This wasn't normal.
For the past three months, Kannazuki had calculated every step he took.
Four hundred and twenty meters from the dormitory to the classroom building, three hundred and ten from the classroom building to the cafeteria, one hundred and ninety from the cafeteria to the library. Fixed routes, precise timing, a margin of error no greater than thirty seconds.
But now, he turned into an alley he had never taken before.
The alley was narrow.
Old residential buildings stood on either side, their outdoor air-conditioning units humming.
Several winter quilts hung from clotheslines, billowing into strange shapes in the wind.
He just kept walking.
Without calculating his route.
Without planning his time.
Without analyzing the blind spots in the surrounding surveillance coverage.
His mind was empty.
Or rather, there was only one thing in it.
The lingering warmth on his lips.
The taste of yuzu tea, the fruity scent of muted rose lip gloss. Thirty-seven degrees. Soft.
Unconsciously, he raised his right hand and touched his lower lip with his fingertips.
Then quickly lowered it.
"Zuki."
Ryuk drifted down from overhead, folded his black wings, and hovered two meters to his right, lying on his back parallel to the ground in defiance of physics, his hands