Takako muttered this, and stepped away from the fence.
The holly flowers she had picked up earlier still lay in the palm of her
hand. She was about to toss them away, but reconsidered and took them
with her into the sitting room. She lay the tiny white flowers on the kotatsu,
a hori-gotatsu into which they had inserted an electric coil.
She heard a sound, as if the front door were being eased open.
“Hello” Takako?”
It was Fujiki, whispering. Takako leapt up in confusion and went out to
meet him.
“What are you doing here”—You can’t come here! You must be crazy!
What on earth are you thinking of?”
“I know, I understand—I didn’t want to come, but . . . “
“Then why did you come”
“I had to. You haven’t come to see me for over a month.”
“But—look, it’s bad for me if you come here. We’ll meet tomorrow.”
“There’s no one else here, is there” I made sure before I came in”
“What?”
“I was watching for a while outside the gate.” “You were—1 can’t
believe it. What a hideous thing to do”
Takako’s face was red, and she was nearly shaking. “Even if there’s no
one here, there are people next door. Didn’t it occur to you that the people
next door will see us?”
“Are the people next door likely to be watching, checking to see who
comes here? Besides, even if they did see us, they wouldn’t have the
foggiest idea who I am or where I come from.”
“No—you’re wrong.”
