Hidaka and Toshiko were staring at one another. Toshiko was unable to
move her adorable, still youthful eyes from Hidaka’s face.
“Toshiko? Have you gone to bed?” Shizu said. “No, it’s still early. It’s
only nine twenty,” Hidaka answered in her place.
“Is it? Then do you mind if I come talk?”
“Not at all,” Hidaka answered again.
Toshiko glanced up instinctively at the sliding door, and adjusted her
position under the quilt of the kotatsu.
Shizu began speaking as soon as she had climbed in under the kotatsu
with Hidaka and Toshiko, who were sitting face to face.
“Mr. Hidaka—l’ve been thinking I might rent out the eight-mat room
next year. What do you think? If there’s someone among your
acquaintances you think might be good, would you let me know?” “Of
course.”
“I won’t have anyone like Miss Tokiko.”
“She lives with her parents.”
“What? With her parents?” For some reason Shizu seemed surprised.
“Well isn’t that nice for her. But at any rate, if I can rent the eight-mat
room, I think I’ll use either the key money or the deposit to fix the gutter. It
makes such an awful racket every time it rains—I feel just terrible for the
children. It’s so loud I can’t sleep myself when it rains hard.”
“Surely it’s not that bad?”
“It is that bad. I honestly can’t sleep. But what I wanted to say is that if
someone’s going to be moving in next door anyway, I thought it might be
nice if it was someone the two of you know. A young couple would be best,
I think.”
