Noriko nearly ran the rest of the way through the woods. She had carefully schooled gaits for silence, to eliminate the rhythm of normal steps, to confound those searching for footprints, and the one she used now, to move very quickly without making that apparent to an onlooker who only saw her and didn't pace her. She arrived back at the Inn just as Toyoda-san did, but before Yuta returned. She calmed her breathing and her mind and body with it as she went to procure refreshments ...