Chapter 5: Three Questions a Night

Haruna turned down the double pay at eleven the next night, in a text to her sister.

"Tell the chain's manager no. I'm staying where I am."

Natsuki answered in under a minute.

"Where is that? You haven't said where you work. Don't you dare say a fox bar."

"It's a pharmacy."

"At night?"

"Yes."

"Haru, call me tomorrow or I'm coming to look."

Haruna put her phone away and tied on her white coat.

Kuzunoha was already on her stool behind the counter, flushed and sweating a little, with a pot of tea in front of her and two cups.

"You didn't take it," Kuzunoha said.

"You read my face again."

"I read the clock. You've been here fifteen minutes early every night. I assumed you weren't going anywhere."

"That was a statement of fact, not a question," Haruna said.

"It was both."

Haruna sat on the other stool and took the second cup.

"If I'm staying," she said, "I want something from you."

"What?"

"I want to be able to ask you things and get an answer. A real one. Not 'ask me something else' every time."

Kuzunoha looked into her tea.

"I can't promise every answer," she said. "But I'll give you three a night. Three questions, three true answers, with nothing dodged."

"Any three?"

"Any three but one."

"Which one?"

"I can't tell you that either," Kuzunoha said, and smiled slightly. "You'll find it. You're good at finding things."

Haruna pulled her stool closer.

"Question one. How old are you?"

"About four hundred. I stopped counting during the Meiji era. It seemed rude to the emperor."

"That's an answer?"

"It's a true one. You can have the exact number if you like, but it's long."

Haruna could not help laughing, and Kuzunoha's eyes went warm and pleased.

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