Free Loups-Garous by Natsuhiko Kyôgoku

disinfected rental cup for visitors, she sensed the haze lifting.
    The way he’s behaving…is he…
    Kunugi must have been what they called a gopher, responsible for getting tea, at his workplace. For some reason, the term gopher was used derisively in organizations. Shizue didn’t know why. What it was about bringing tea that merited discrimination she would never know.
    When Shizue returned with the tea she found Kunugi sitting in her chair and making a confused face at the monitor.
    Not that staring at it improved the quality of the work or anything.
    â€œOh, sorry.”
    The cop scrambled up. Maybe he’s easier to get along with than I thought , Shizue thought.
    However, Shizue detected what looked like a fingerprint on the armrest of her chair. “It’s fine,” she snapped, as she wiped down the armrest with a disinfectant wipe. The chair she’d picked out because it was easy to clean was made of synthetic leather, but that made keratin stand out all the more. If it were lined in fabric she wouldn’t have noticed.
    â€œGermophobe, eh?”
    â€œThat’s normal. Lately anyone who isn’t is called a germophile.”
    â€œThat’s what I am then,” Kunugi said. He sipped his tea.
    â€œIt says there’s another twenty minutes left.”
    â€œLooks like it.”
    He must be around my father’s age , Shizue got to thinking.
    â€œYou want to have a real conversation while we wait?”
    Shizue looked Kunugi in the face and said half aggravated, “Aren’t you supposed to supervise me?” Just when she’d started to warm up to him he had to go and do something like this. She had to admit she’d been played with a little.
    â€œYou know…” Kunugi shrank again. “I know that talking about private matters in public is considered offensive, but I want to say something knowing as much. I’m single. When I say ‘real conversation’ it’s not a joke. What would you do if I really did it? If it’s a joke, it’s a joke, and it’s sexual harassment. And yeah, I’m definitely here to supervise you, but that’s because it’s been a while, and people like me don’t often get the chance to be this close to women your age. And if I might add, the prefectural police don’t think you’re going to do anything dishonest here.”
    â€œIs that right?” Shizue said. “I’m sure you’re well aware, but I was strongly opposed to having the private data on minors be handed over to the police. And now I’m the sole person responsible for copying that data. It’s so obvious. For example, you don’t think it’s completely possible that information that could raise suspicion with the police can be tampered with?”
    â€œOf course not.”
    â€œHow can you be so sure?”
    â€œI am positive.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI have proof.”
    â€œProof? There’s no way.”
    â€œNo, I do. If they truly thought you were capable of committing such a crime, they wouldn’t have stuck a useless old man like me with you.”
    Then Kunugi laughed. “My head stopped evolving around twenty years ago. You could be performing some operation through those keys, but I don’t have the knowledge to discern that. If I asked what you were doing and you told me a lie, I’d have no way of knowing. I would not be able to stop you. I’m a useless middle-aged man. I’m sure the longer I sit here the more unpleasant it’ll become for you.”
    â€œUnpleasant…”
    Was that what it looked like?
    She couldn’t deny it.
    â€œYou looked really unhappy,” the cop said. “Of course, once again, that’s based simply on what I see. Well, that’s the only reason I could come up with for being transferred here, which in other words just means I’m here to bother you. The fact that they want to bother you at