Chapter 42Ayana was waiting at the south exit of Shinjuku Station. Hiroshi saw her immediately in the crowd. She was really dressed up in a long skirt and a chic coat. She looked as beautiful as she always appeared to him.
Ayana watched him approach her through the chaotic trajectories of the crowd. Her frown deepened as he got closer.
He pulled her into a quick hug, but she pushed him back and held him at arm’s length.
“What?” Hiroshi asked.
“I said dress nice.”
Hiroshi looked down at himself. His jacket was wrinkled, his shirt untucked and he ran his hand over his face, brushing the stubble. He rubbed one shoe along the back of his pants, avoiding her eyes. “I—”
“You smell like smoke.”
Hiroshi smelled his sleeve, suffused with smoke from the file storage room. He’d been too tired
