Page 94 of Pandion

“She cut me off. I think I said I can’t reach Seimei. Ah, shit.”Can we pick another name? It’s so awkward.“I could tell it was there, but I couldn’t hear anything. What did I miss?”

“Nothing! Nothing important.” For whatever reason, Satoru blushed.

“Really? I could ask Seimei… Ah, I really didn’t pick the name by the way.”

“No, don’t! I’ll tell you myself. I just need a moment to process this.”

“Could you rinse my hair? This is nice, but it’s getting too warm, and I should probably get out before my skin shrivels up.” He wasn’t used to bathing in a maintained temperature, and he’d set it a little on the hot side.

What’s wrong with ‘Seimei’?the organism asked.

Kagesawa leaned back to make Satoru’s job easier.Nothing, but it’s sort of in use…

Who’s using it?

I am. The person I’m referring to isn’t here anymore, but I do still refer to him from time to time. It can lead to misunderstandings.

Can you stop referring to him then?

No. That’s not how it works.

But I don’t know that many names.

What do you mean? You’ve browsed through the SEU student register. There are thousands of names in there.

But they are also all in use. And how do I know which ones you like?

It doesn’t have to be one I like. It’s enough that I don’t know anyone by the name personally.

The organism fell quiet, but it was probably going through the list of names it knew. Hopefully, it would find something it liked.

“Done.” Satoru set aside the shower head.So this ‘Seimei’… it’s your organism, right?

The hours Kagesawa hadn’t heard Satoru project had felt longer than he’d realised. It felt as though he’d been deprived of it for weeks.

Maybe it had something to do with the near-death experience he’d had? The injuries weren’t that bad, but he’d definitely been sure he was going to die for a fair length of time.

Kagesawa scrambled up from the tub feeling dizzy, but he was sure as hell not going to cause Satoru any more trouble by acting like an invalid.

It seems nice.Satoru handed Kagesawa the towel. “To be honest. If I hadn’t chatted with it for a couple of hours thinking it was you, I’d probably be freaking out more than I am.”

“What did you talk about exactly?” Kagesawa sat down to dry himself off. Reluctant to raise his arms, he would have left the hair as it were, but Satoru stepped in to help him.

“It said the victims matched a list you pulled from the student records for Yajima and that I shouldn’t worry because I wasn’t on that list.” Satoru gave him a bit of a pointed look. Well, that saved Kagesawa the trouble of explaining that part of it.

“It also repeatedly told me not to disturb you because you were in pain. I could have sworn it was you because you said something similar out loud. It was polite about it though. Now that I think back to it, it makes me think it was trying to take care of you.” Satoru was careful not to tug the hair near the port as he squeeze-dried Kagesawa’s hair.

I meant to talk to you about Fujitani’s emails and her ties to the JufO in more detail, but I got distracted by…It had been a mere stray impulse. He’d only meant to take a quick look since it had been right in front of him.It doesn’tmatter. I’m sorry. I need to be more careful and keep you up to speed. Oh, I also had a chat with Yajima when you had your migraine. About JufO. In case you were wondering.

“Did he do it to mess with them, or was it for Takazaki?” Satoru checked the closet in the dressing area and handed Kagesawa a fresh robe. “Wear this for the time being.”

“It was for both.”

“Didn’t expect Fujitani-sensei to be in it too. Hase-sensei is still alive.”

“I didn’t find anything on him. He’s probably fine.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

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