The next morning, at eight.
Akutagawa-kun hadn't managed to wake up naturally as he'd hoped. He'd had a dream.
In his dream, he lay on a small mountain of banknotes, both hands stuffed with cash, while Satoru Gojo's voice came from somewhere unknown-"An extra ten million in bonuses."
He was just about to burst out laughing when a fierce wind sprang up out of nowhere and swept straight into the mountain of cash. With a tremendous crash, the mountain collapsed, burying him beneath it, and the realistic impact jolted him fully awake...
"...Phew!!! ...Huh?!"
Akutagawa Shang hurriedly raised his hands and pawed wildly at his face, because he really seemed to feel something hitting it.
He struggled to move whatever was on his face aside and opened his bleary eyes, only to find Maki standing beside his bed, looking down at him.
"Uh..."
Akutagawa Shang shook his head, finally waking himself up a little.
The blanket covering him had vanished. He hastily grabbed it from the floor and clutched it tightly to his chest, trying to preserve his dignity with this last scrap of cover.
"Wh-what are you doing? I'm still sleeping. Don't try anything," he said softly.
"What else? Waking you up. Today's an important day for team building. I came to wake you myself so you wouldn't oversleep and hold things up."
"How... did you get in?" Akutagawa Shang asked, looking into her eyes as she loomed over him, his face full of confusion.
"Through the door, obviously..." Maki pointed at the door, which now stood wide open.
"...I remember locking it last night." Suddenly realizing something, Akutagawa Shang spoke in a hollow voice.
"..." At that, Maki fell silent too.
"I knocked, but you didn't answer, so I..." Only after a long while did she speak, sounding