Wrapped around your finger (satosugu)

21. Winter Night

Songs:
Tom Tykwer – Temple of Sacrifice
Queen – You Take My Breath Away
Tom Tykwer - Death Is Only a Door
Jfarrari – The Unknowing

The local parking lot was surprisingly empty. Looks like Nanami was right, the outskirts were a quiet area, not inhabited by many people.

Satoru got out of the car and took a deep breath, his warm breath turning into a cloud of steam dissipating in the frosty air. It was only late afternoon. The sun was already low on the horizon. The sky sparkled with many colors - from fiery red to pastel pink, and the golden reflections of the dying sun were reflected in the ice crystals and the smooth glaze of the ice. It was a beautiful sight, but painful to the eyes, so he had to put on sunglasses.

He still had the napkin that Nanami had given him. He was looking at it now, making sure the address was correct. It was now necessary to find a suitable apartment. He went towards the apartment building, the snow crunching under every step he took.

It was so quiet around him that he began to believe that the place really was abandoned. Not a soul around. No cars passing by. Nothing.

There were several old apartment buildings, all built at a considerable distance from each other - not as tight as most of the residential areas he knew, where the buildings were dense and overwhelming.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor, straight to the long terrace shared by several apartments. The closer he got to the right door, the faster his heart beat and the harder it became to breathe. Stress started to take over.

An elderly woman was standing in front of one of the apartments, sweeping the terrace. Hearing approaching footsteps, she turned and looked at the boy. Satoru reflexively looked away, avoiding her appraising look that she didn't even try to hide.

"You. I see you here for the first time. You don't live here, do you?" She said suspiciously, and he finally had to stop pretending he didn't see her.

"You're right" he admitted, stopping in front of the woman. "I'm looking for someone. "

"For who? " She asked clearly curious. Seeing his reluctance, she added, "I know all the residents of this building. Maybe I can help you. "

At first, he wanted to tell her to leave him alone and that she should mind her own business. However, after considering her words for a second, he found the offer tempting.

"I'm looking for a man, his name is Geto Suguru."

"Geto?" she repeated, as if searching for memory. Satoru looked impatiently at her thoughtful face. "I don't know anyone like that."

He felt that his legs were about to give up under the weight of his body and he would fall. As if something suddenly hit him in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"It's impossible!" he reacted much more violently than he would have liked. But the thought that it could have been a false lead and false hope was unbearable. Not now, when Suguru may be at his fingertips. He reached into pocket and pulled out a crumpled napkin. "Here. This is his address. "

The woman took the paper from him and looked at it with furrowed brows. She became lost in thought again, and after a while her face brightened.

"Yes, someone actually lives at this number. A certain young man. I know him, but now that I think about it, he probably never introduced himself to me, even though we talked several times." She smiled, handing back the napkin.

"You know him?" he repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Yes. He's been living here for... I don't know how long. When I saw him for the first time, I thought he was some shady guy. You know, all those piercings, tattoos... He had a bad look in his eyes. But then it turned out that he was a really nice young man. Just a little lost." she said sympathetically. "I rarely see him. He's almost never home. "