Page 237 of Mercy Written in Blood

"You always bring too much."

"That's because you forget to eat."

"I do not forget."

"You postpone it until it becomes forgetting."

Renji looked at the administrator as though expecting her to object to the interruption. Instead, she seemed interested. Haruki stepped into the office and placed the bag on the side table.

"What's the crisis?"

"There is no crisis," Renji said.

"The hospital wants Doctor Takahara's date of birth," the administrator explained. "The computer doesn't accept the year."

"That sounds reasonable."

"It is not."

Haruki looked at the form. Most of it had already been completed in Renji's precise handwriting — full name, position, department, employee identification number. The date-of-birth line remained blank.

Haruki leaned against the filing cabinet.

"What year did you put?"

Renji gave him a warning look. The administrator brightened.

"Doctor Takahara entered ten twenty-eight."

Haruki looked at Renji. Renji looked back.

"Ten twenty-eight," Haruki repeated.

"Yes."

"As in the year?"

"Yes."

"The hospital computer rejected a nearly-thousand-year-old employee."

"Machines are frequently narrow-minded."

Haruki bit the inside of his cheek. The administrator looked from one man to the other.

"I assumed it was a typing error."

"It was not."

"Doctor Takahara explained that."

She had the expression of someone who had been given too much information and had decided not to examine any of it. Haruki respected her immediately.

"What day?" he asked.

Renji looked at the form. The administrator looked hopeful. Renji did not answer.

Haruki's amusement faded.