Hiro placed a hand under his chin as the evening wind howled violently outside his window. He sighed to himself, losing his place in the formula that had engrossed him for the past hour.

  One hour.

  Turning towards the ticking clock on the wall behind him, he felt his stomach tie itself into more and more knots with every dong and ding the wretched contraption rang out.

  His wife was going to be livid by the time he was able to return home, and he had already accepted that there would be no warm dinner waiting for him at the rate this numbers project was going.

  I suppose yakitori for yet another night won’t be so bad.

  With one last glance at the clock, he turned back towards his work table, eyes straining under the faint light provided by one small kumiko lantern and a candle by the window.

  As the toll of the endless day of meetings suddenly weighed upon his shoulders, he allowed himself to lay his head on the cold desk, imagining the slight cushion of paper stacks to be his pillow from home.

  Just a few moments, and then I’ll put an end to this blasted-

  「Arf, Arfarfarf!」

  As soon as Hiro found peace within himself to indulge in his five-minute nap, he flung open his eyes to catch an all-too-familiar man with a chubby sausage of a dog banging on his window with a punchable smile.

  「Agh! K-Kazuma, what the hell!」 Hiro nearly fell off his stool as papers went flying in all directions, arms flailing in surprise and glasses falling off his nose.

  「Hah!」 If Hiro could hear Kazuma’s self-satisfied howls from behind the streaky sheet of glass, he could only imagine the neighbors who would begin swearing him out in a matter of seconds.

  「Damn it.」 Picking up his glasses from the floor and running to unlock the front door, Hiro felt the veins in his temple twitch as he undid the latch. 「Would you shut up! Do you want the police to shut me down!? Ah-!」

  Before Kazuma could crack a joke, Mame strutted into the office, dirty paws and all while jumping up Hiro’s pant leg.

  「Mame, Mame, give our generous host some space!” Kazuma couldn’t help but laugh again, scooping his canine friend into his arms and looking Hiro up and down. 「My friend, you look horrible! Goodness, If I hadn’t known any better, I’d take you for a corpse back from the dead.」

  「Shut up! I wasn't expecting any company, now tell me what you want!」

  Hiro groaned as Kazuma threw his jacket on a coat rack, kicking off his shoes and plopping onto a sofa beside Hiro’s desk. It appeared this was going to be a long visit.

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  「Oh, can’t old friends drop in unannounced from time to time?」 Kazuma scratched under Mame’s chin, taking a handkerchief from his vest pocket to wipe her dampened paws.

  Catching Hiro’s strained gaze from his spot across the room, Kazuma decided to grant the poor man some relief. 「Don’t worry, she won’t make your floor a mess. Look, she's squeaky clean!」 He held up Mame’s front paws to display the proof before setting them on the floor.

  「Yes, wonderful.」 Hiro scoffed, taking the seat next to Kazuma as Mame snuggled up on top of Kazuma’s feet. 「If you’re out this far from home at such an hour, I’m guessing you just came from the Takahara house?」

  「Unfortunately.」 Leaning his head back against the sofa’s wooden frame, Kazuma debated with himself whether or not to unload his troubles.

  Begrudgingly, he thought it best to continue as Hiro hummed and tapped his foot expectantly.

  「Are you happy in your marriage, Hiro?」

  「Eh?」

  Among all the possible things Kazuma could have barged into his office for, an interrogation about his love life was certainly not at the top of Hiro’s list.

  「Let me guess.」 Hiro drawled as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. 「He went off on you about Miss Iwagami?」

  「I don’t understand what the big deal is!」 Kazuma threw his arms above his head. 「We were both in agreement that what we had was casual, she never once mentioned marriage, or a family, nothing.」

  「But it’s foolish of you to solely rely on her words, Kazuma, she was surely thinking of it.」 Accepting the fact that he would not be leaving for a meal any time soon, Hiro loosened his collar and stood up, walking over to a book shelf that also hid a bottle of sake and some glasses.

  「Then for heaven's sake, how about saying it out loud for both parties to hear! I’m not a mind-reader.」 Kazuma cried as Mame barked in agreement.

  「Arf!」

  「I’m also surprised Mister Takahara let you bring your dog in. Or did Mieko sneak her away from him?」 Hiro rubbed at his neck as another hand carefully filled two glasses.

  「Heh, the poor girl, I walked out before she could even see her.」 Reaching down to scratch behind Mame’s ear, Kazuma now felt a pang of guilt at his brash exit. 「After tearing my report apart, wringing me out about a fling from three years ago was the final straw. I’m glad Mieko wasn’t there to see it.」 Kazuma took a glass from Hiro’s outstretched hand with a nod.

  「She’s grown since you left, Kazuma.」 Hiro leaned his weight against the bookshelf, debating his next choice of words. 「I understand your self-appointed duty to protect her from everything screwed up in the world, but-」 He paused, rubbing the strained muscles behind his neck as he bit his tongue.

  「But what?」

  Hiro shook his head. 「It’s nothing.」

  「Please, please.」 Kazuma chuckled as he downed his glass. 「What’s another bout of humiliation after the previous two hours’ worth? Go on, go on.」

  「Well, Mieko’s not a kid anymore. I’m afraid that sooner or later, there’s going to be a man who will take your place as protector. Maybe now’s a good time to start backing away.」 Hiro had to collect his breath for a moment after the words slipped from his mouth. He was half-expecting Kazuma to haul off and slug him only for his unannounced friend to nod in agreement.

  「Always the voice of reason, Hiro.」 Kazuma chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair.

  「Hmph.」 Hiro scoffed, shrugging his shoulders while taking a sip from his glass. 「Leading us back to the matter at hand, I still firmly suggest you find someone you yourself can protect and raise a family with. Whether or not that be Miss Iwagami, that’s for you to decide.」