"I didn't before you asked," she protested. "Only I have spent so much time alone in one place, I'm afraid I always want to find more people... and, besides!"

She smiled up at him.

"This way, you do not miss out on having two people with you!"

But when he actually posed the question, her mind began to work, and the answer appeared to her.

"Do you not think Marui-san is a particularly dynamic person? And, also! An especially interesting dimension we could bring into this project is that you have known him for a very long time, and I for a very little!"