Misato would be home soon. She was in the badminton club at school and usually spent time after practice talking with the other girls. She usually made it back around seven o’clock.
The doorbell rang. Yasuko frowned and went to the door. It wouldn’t be Misato. She had her own key.
“Yes?” Yasuko called without opening the door. “Who is it?”
There was a brief pause, and then, “It’s me.”
Yasuko didn’t answer. Her vision dimmed. A terrible feeling crept up inside her. Togashi had already found their apartment. He had probably followed her from Benten-tei one night.
Togashi began knocking on the door. “Oi!”
She shook her head and undid the lock, leaving the door chain fastened.
The door opened about four inches, revealing Togashi’s face right on the other side. He grinned. His teeth were yellow.
“Why are you here? Go away.”
“I wasn’t finished talking. Boy, short-tempered as always, aren’t you?”
“I told you, we’re done. Finished. Never again.”
“You can at least listen to what I have to say. Just let me in.”
“I won’t. Go away.”
“Hey, if you won’t let me in I’ll just wait here. Misato should be getting home anytime now. If I can’t talk to you, I’ll just have to talk to her.”
“She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“So let me in.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“Go ahead. What’s wrong with a man coming to visit his ex-wife? The police will take my side. You could at least let him in, ma’am, they’d say.”
Yasuko bit her lip. She hated to admit it, but he was probably right. She had called the police before, and they had never done the slightest thing to help her. That, and she didn’t want to make a scene. Most tenants had a guarantor backing up their rent, but she had moved in here without one. One troubling rumor and she could be kicked out onto the street.
“Okay. But you have to leave right away.”
“Sure, of course,” Togashi said, a light of victory in his eyes.
Yasuko undid the chain and opened the door. Togashi stepped in, taking off his shoes as he glanced around the room. It was a small apartment, just a kitchen and two other rooms. The room closest to the door was done in the Japanese style and was wide enough for six tatami mats on the floor, with a doorway on the right side leading into the kitchen. There was an even smaller Japanese-style room toward the back, and beyond that, a sliding door opened onto a small balcony.
“Little small, little old, but not a bad place,” Togashi commented as he sat down, tucking his legs underneath the low, heated kotatsu table in the middle of the room. “Hey, your kotatsu’s off,” he grumbled, fumbling around for the cord and switching it on.
“I know why you’re here.” Yasuko stood, looking down at him. “You can say whatever you like, but in the end, it’s all about money.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Togashi frowned, pulling a pack of Seven Stars from his jacket pocket. He lit one with a disposable lighter and started looking around more deliberately, noticing the lack of an ashtray for the first time. Getting up, he fished an empty can out of the trash and set it on the table. Sitting back down, he flicked his ashes into it.
“It means you’re only here to get money out of me. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Well, if that’s how you want it to be, then I’m fine with that.”
“You won’t get a single yen out of me.”
He snorted. “That so?”
“Leave. And don’t come back.”
Just then, the door to the apartment flew open and Misato came in, still dressed in her school uniform. She stopped for moment when she saw the extra pair of shoes in the doorway. Then she saw who was there and a look of abject fear came over her face. The badminton racket dropped from her hand and clattered on the floor.
“Hello, Misato. It’s been a while. You’ve grown,” Togashi said, his voice casual as could be.
Misato glanced at her mother, slipped out of her sneakers, and walked in without saying a word. She made a beeline for the room in the back and closed the sliding door behind her tightly.
Togashi waited a moment before speaking again. “I don’t know what you think this is all about, but all I want to do is make things good between us again. I don’t see what’s wrong in asking that.”
“Like I said, I’m not interested. Surely you didn’t think I would really say yes? You’re just using that as an excuse to bother me.”
That had to have hit the mark. But Togashi didn’t respond. Picking up the remote, he turned on the television. It was a cartoon show.
Yasuko sighed and went into the kitchen. She reached into the drawer by the sink and pulled out her wallet. Opening it, she took out two ten-thousand yen bills.
“Take it and leave,” she said, putting the money on top of the kotatsu.
“What’s this? I thought you weren’t giving me any money.”
“This is it. No more.”
“Well, I don’t need it.”
“You won’t leave until you get something. I’m sure you want more, but things aren’t easy for us either.”
Togashi looked at the bills, then up at Yasuko’s face. “Fine, I’ll leave. And I really didn’t come here for money. This was your idea.”
Togashi took the bills and shoved them into his pocket. Then he pushed the rest of his cigarette butt inside the can and slid out from under the kotatsu. Rising, he turned, not toward the front door, but toward the back room. Moving quickly, he threw open the sliding door. Yasuko could hear Misato’s yelp from the other side.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Yasuko shouted at his back.
“I can say hello to my stepdaughter, can’t I?”
“She’s no daughter or anything else of yours anymore.”
“Give me a break. Fine. See you later, Misato,” Togashi said, still peering into the room. The way he was standing blocked Misato from Yasuko’s view, so she couldn’t see how her daughter was reacting.
Finally, he turned back toward the front door. “She’ll make a fine woman someday. I’m looking forward to it.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s not nonsense. She’ll be making good money in three years. Anybody would hire her.”
“I want you to leave now.”
“I’m going, I’m going. For today, at least.”
“Don’t you dare come back.”
“Oh? Don’t think I can promise that.”
“You’d better not—”
“Listen, Yasuko,” Togashi said without turning around. “You’ll never get rid of me. You know why? Because you’ll give in before I will, every time.” He chuckled quietly, and then leaned over to put on his shoes.
Yasuko, stunned into silence, heard something behind her. She turned to see Misato, still in her uniform, rushing past her. Holding something above her head, Misato came up behind Togashi. Yasuko, frozen in place, couldn’t move to stop her, or even to cry out. She could only watch, horrified, as Misato brought the object down, striking Togashi on the back of his head. All she heard was a dull thud, and then she saw Togashi collapse on the floor.
TWO
Then something fell from Misato’s hand. It was a copper flower vase—a thank-you gift the Yonazawas had handed out to customers when Benten-tei opened for business.
“Misato!” Yasuko screamed, finally finding her voice. She went over to her daughter.
Misato’s face was blank. She had become a statue; for one long moment she stood unmoving. Then her eyes jerked open wide. She was looking past Yasuko—over her shoulder.