There was something very, very wrong here, and Kisa had difficulty fathoming what it could be. There were any number of things she'd have expected Miyume to ask, but that was not one of them.

Unless...

There had, now that she thought about it, been something in the rumors. She'd dismissed it without a second thought at the time -- it couldn't possibly be true -- but now it arose again in the back of her mind. It still might not be true, but there weren't a lot of other explanations she could come up with.

At any rate, she decided, the time for the studying facade had long passed. Putting her elbows in her lap, she leaned in, concern plainly written on her face. "What happened, Hazama-san?"