A phone rang in the night.
But this time, Saionji was at least halfway expecting it, and only waited a moment before picking up the receiver. He knew who would be on the other end of the line.
"Saionji-sama."
"There's no need to address me like that."
The silence that followed told Saionji that this response was unexpected.
"Don't you see?" the voice asked, finally. "The thing you desire, it's slipping away from you."
That was just the sort of thing that would have sent him into a panic. He could see that, now.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Are you really giving up so easily?" She entreated. "Are you so afraid of failure that you'd sooner walk away than fight?"
"No," he said. "I've changed. I've learned that holding so tightly onto things only hurts them, only causes them to slip through your fingers."
It was by saying it that he realized that it was really true. He really had learned that. He finally understood.
He thought he might have heard a hiss from the phone, but surely, it was just his imagination, or a flaw in the transmission.
"What do you want?" he repeated.
Silence.
"If you don't tell me, at least be sure that you know. What do you want?"
The phone line went dead.
Saionji hadn't really expected a response. Himemiya didn't trust him, didn't really have a reason to. If he wasn't going to be an obliging pawn, what use was he to her?
With a sigh, he replaced the phone receiver and headed off to bed.
