Hitomi had been waiting for Doppio all night, ready to reach for the handle at the slightest indication he was standing outside her door. She wasn't expecting him to be outside her window. And more importantly, she wasn't expecting him to be in a tree outside her window.

She opened the window quickly, though it took some effort to push it up as it was stuck; the room had been well-maintained, but Hitomi got the sense from how much she strained to open it that maybe it wasn't aired out very frequently.

"Here," she said, offering her arm to him so he could scramble inside with more support than a tree limb alone. "I don't know what I'd tell anyone if you fell right outside my window."