“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Lieutenant. ” Kobayashi smiled. “As a

concerned citizen, I’m always anxious to assist the police in any

way I can.”

“I’m sure, ” said Fugisawa with a grimace. “You’re liable to assist

me right into jail.”

Kobayashi chuckled. “Good night, Lieutenant.”

“Good night, Don Kobayashi.”

Wyrdrune couldn’t sleep. He was tired, but he simply couldn’t

close his eyes. He looked at Kira, lying in bed beside him. His eyes

lingered lovingly on her naked body. She always tossed the covers

off them when she slept. There was nothing he could do about it. No

matter how many times he pulled the covers back over them, she’d

just toss them off again in her sleep. He had simply gotten used to

it; one of the many little compromises one had to make in a

relationship. Like getting used to her throwing her underwear on

the floor and leaving it there, always squeezing the toothpaste tube

in the middle, and never cleaning up the hair she left in the

bathroom sink. He always liked to line up his shoes carefully in the

closet. She simply tossed her boots in. He always hung up the bath

towels. She always left them on the floor. They were the sort of

things that he hadn’t really noticed at the start of their

relationship, because the chemistry was still high and he was still

drunk on the novelty of it, but eventually they began to get to him.

But he never said anything about it. He kept telling himself that if

you can’t simply accept a person as they are, without trying to

change them, then the downslide starts. The little things become

bones of contention and they gradually develop into bigger things

and then you start drifting apart. If you really loved someone, you

had to take them as they were, warts and all. And you also had to

realize that you probably did things that drove them crazy, too.

They had made love earlier that night. And, as always, it had

been wonderful. Every time they made love, Wyrdrune felt as if the

roof fell in on him. He reveled in her touch; in the taut, silky feel of

her firmly muscled body; the electric softness of her skin; the

warmth and fullness of her lips. He loved her so much he ached. He