Niikura gritted his teeth. "Don't use that--y'know what? Never mind." He waved a hand dismissively. "I gotcha."

Well, maybe he'd give it a shot tonight. She'd be hurt, but Hazama definitely wouldn't mind, and hadn't he done the same thing for Katsuragi? Thrown all his being into something that seemed hopeless, even when the other party just wanted him to do his own thing. Right. Things would be different this time, too. He'd set things right.

"Thanks for hearin' me out, Mike-san."