A typhoon moving from east to west—a rare occurrence—made a direct hit, and the entire Kansai region was battered by torrential rain. It was already late at night, and since there were no plans to go out, it didn't really matter, but the sound of the rain violently pounding the ground was deeply unsettling.

Thinking such thoughts, I closed the curtains. Everything that needed to be done was finished, and just as I turned toward the bedroom to get into bed, the intercom rang.

I thought it was a bad habit of his to answer in such a light tone, as if his appearance were nothing out of the ordinary. Because the fresh handprint on his neck was clearly visible to me. The slight twitching at the corners of his mouth, the way his eyes darted around as if searching for an enemy—all of it.