Pathway to Japanese Literature

Saiko sat at the base of a pine tree, gathering pebbles from the ground and hurling them toward the sea in boyish motions, each time shouting "Take that!" The stones only flew two or three ken before landing on the sandy stretch with wet thuds.

Along the winter beach, from time to time, the wind came rumbling from afar, whipping up gusts. Though there were no cloud shadows in the sky, the faint sun spilled soft light across the sandy ground like scattered needles. Saiko suddenly tumbled onto the sandy ground and rolled about like a struggling dog across the parched earth. The sand crept in through her collar, sleeves, and hem, touching Saiko's heated body. Saiko found it pleasant—the way sand gradually seeped into her sweaty skin. In the end, she spread open her chest and scooped dry sand into it. The sand carried the briny smell of the sea. Scooping sand into both hands and calling it a shower, she sprinkled it over her bare knees. Occasionally, barely-there whirlwinds—like Lilliputian gusts—blew sandy bursts against Saiko’s cheeks. The sand atop her knees scattered with a dry rustle in the wind, leaving the soft, rounded kneecaps glowing faintly crimson in the sunlight.

Saiko suddenly stood up on the sand. On back and chest，the sand felt gritty. Saiko shook her hair，brushed off the sand from it，and then—determined not to let a single grain of the sand covering her body fall away—held her breath and ran toward the house.

Ken’ichi, who had been watching Saiko running up from the beachside in her strange state from the second-floor sunroom, hurried down the staircase to investigate.

“Saiko, what’s wrong? Puffing up your cheeks like that…” As Ken’ichi stepped out onto the veranda, Saiko—looking peculiarly as though she might vomit at any moment—said to him, “Hurry… hurry…” Ken’ichi, uncertain what to do, hurriedly followed Saiko as she ran into the sitting room. When Saiko entered the sitting room, she turned back to look at Ken’ichi, stared fixedly at him for a moment, then abruptly removed her haori and tabi socks before beginning to shake her body violently. The sand that had collected in her collar, sleeves, and chest spilled out roughly across the new tatami mats.

“What’s wrong?” “You know, I brought you a souvenir…” Saiko was shaking her body while turning pale. Ken’ichi stared at her in exasperation. She untied her obi. Then leaving the sash discarded there, she ran to her room. Ken’ichi had been gazing at the sand on the tatami when something hot suddenly seeped into his chest. Saiko’s loneliness could be interpreted as reproaching him for his conduct since yesterday. He had gone to search for her at the beach earlier but returned unsuccessful. Ken’ichi remained standing in the sitting room awhile, while within his heart violent feelings of longing for Saiko surged upward.

Ken’ichi went to Saiko’s room. Saiko had already changed into Western clothes and was wiping her face with a wet hand towel.

“Hey... I’m sorry......”

......

“Are you angry?” “Why would I be angry? There’s nothing to be upset about. Earlier—I did go down to the beach though…” “Oh? I was walking somewhere far away…” Saiko gave a muffled laugh at Ken’ichi’s reflection in the mirror. He suddenly crouched down, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Still clutching the damp hand towel, she leaned into his chest for several seconds before jerking upright,

“No! No! Go away! I hate you, Brother Ken! I hate you!” She threw the wet hand towel at Ken’ichi’s reflection in the mirror. Then she stood up and leaned against the wall, “Go to Shinkyō! Go wherever you want! Why did you decide on that place all by yourself? —Why must you go somewhere as far away as Shinkyō? Did you go through university just to end up going off to someplace like Shinkyō?”

Saiko was ranting all at once. Ken’ichi remained silent. Small-statured and small-faced Saiko appeared to Ken'ichi almost like a schoolgirl. He simply couldn’t perceive her as a twenty-one-year-old woman. “Don’t be ridiculous—you could come visit me in Shinkyō, couldn’t you? It’s not like we’re saying we’ll never meet again.” “But why would you choose a job in such a faraway place? —Is it because Elder Sister went far away? I don’t think Brother Ken considers someone like me at all.” “I’m so irritated by that.” ...”

Suddenly, with a shrill clamor, the bell of the clock on the desk began to ring. Saiko grabbed the clock angrily. Ken’ichi stared fixedly at Saiko, astonished by her deranged appearance. Saiko opened the window and hurled the ringing clock into the garden. Through the opened window blew a cold wind carrying the sea’s roar—like distant thunder. Ken’ichi went out into the corridor to retrieve the clock thrown into the garden. Truth be told—even without Saiko’s accusations—he himself hadn’t considered taking a job in Shinkyō until a week prior. After graduation, he’d fully expected to work in Tokyo—had even submitted resumes through his university’s employment office to Tokyo Electric, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and others—yet Ken’ichi had abruptly withdrawn all those applications and accepted a position alone at the XX Steelworks in Shinkyō.

It couldn’t be dismissed as a young man’s whim—something turbulent and surging had been driving Ken’ichi’s youthful heart. Rather than clinging to some small chair in cramped Japan proper, he had thought of going somewhere far away where he could work to his heart’s content. Shinkyō was a purely newly emerging city, and the steel industry—vigorously developing even under wartime conditions—made young Ken’ichi feel the appeal of working there.

When Ken’ichi suddenly revealed to Saiko’s parents that his job in Shinkyō had been decided, even they were surprised and found his determination to go to such a distant land perplexing.

○ When Ken’ichi brought the clock to Saiko’s room, Saiko—as though she had become a different person—quietly accepted it from him and slowly wound its key. “The reason I decided to go to Shinkyō isn’t because of someone like Elder Sister Katsuko.” “Sure—I did like her and would’ve married her if I could’ve. But she’s already married… I can’t just keep thinking about her forever.” “Seeking work far away means I’ve come to hate Tokyo… Leaving my hometown—you wouldn’t understand why—but I want out.” “And I just wanted to work somewhere new and growing… I truly can’t stand Tokyo anymore!”

“So, you dislike me too, then?” “Well… Hmm—this is tough. I like you, Saiko—I really do—but this growing dislike of Tokyo has nothing to do with you. Though I don’t think I can explain this well… When a man decides his life’s work, there are things beyond women’s issues and all those human emotions. Shinkyō isn’t some far-off place these days—I’d love for you to come visit anytime.—I want to work somewhere I can stretch out freely.” “So I hope you’ll meet this with goodwill...”

Saiko remained silent. Such a splendid person is going far away... I hate it, I just can’t stand it. Saiko remained silent and looked up at Ken'ichi with a glare-like gaze. His shoulders were solid, the eyes behind his large Lloyd glasses gazing amiably into space as always, and the firm line of his jaw expressed Ken’ichi’s resolute will—all things Saiko had loved deeply. Even if they were to part like this, leaving with nothing but a kiss on her forehead felt unbearably incomplete to Saiko. And realizing that today would be their last chance to be alone together, she felt that same restless urge to throw herself into the sand again.—Her mother and the others would arrive on the evening train. The fact that they had come ahead to this Chiba villa just the two of them on the morning train began to feel meaningless.

Behind the bathhouse, the villa caretaker—an old farmer—was killing a chicken and burning off its feathers over a bonfire.

“So tomorrow we say goodbye?” “Yeah…” “I’m sorry.” “There’s nothing to apologize for. “After all—I’ve been under your care in countless ways too… I’m grateful.”

Around six o'clock, Saiko's mother arrived with the others. Nakahori and Sakuraguchi came one train later. Mother had brought two of Saiko's young brothers along, making the lonely villa burst with liveliness. The frail-bodied Saiko had been convalescing at this villa since autumn but had made an unusual week-long return to Tokyo. That very morning she had boarded the train from Ryōgoku together with Ken'ichi, though Saiko hadn't wanted to part with him in such haste back in Tokyo. It was Saiko who had proposed holding Ken'ichi's farewell gathering at the Chiba house, forcibly inviting the busy man against his schedule.

“Oh, did a dog get in here or something? The parlor’s covered in sand...” Saiko’s mother, having seen the sand scattered across the parlor, went to fetch a broom from the kitchen while asking: “Saiko, what happened to all this sand in the parlor?” Saiko exchanged glances with Ken’ichi and smirked.

Nakahori and Sakuraguchi, claiming it had been ages since they last saw the sea, leaned against the garden fence despite the cold and gazed out at the sea. Only Ken'ichi was in a business suit, while both Nakahori and Sakuraguchi wore student uniforms.

“Now then, everyone—it’s cold out here. Please come inside to the parlor.” “The hibachi is ready...” The parlor had been swept clean, zabuton cushions gathered from nearby were neatly arranged, and Mother was setting a large pot atop the hibachi. “Hey, hey.” “Get in here already—you’ll catch a cold...”

Ken’ichi, holding Saiko’s younger brother Takashi, called out to the two men at the fence from the veranda. Saiko had tied her hair with a black ribbon and thrown a gaudy brocade haori over her Western dress. Her face, somber like a Kyoto doll, with its thin skin, looked strangely painfully delicate. When Nakahori and Sakuraguchi entered the room, Saiko deliberately sat between these two university students. When Ken’ichi saw Saiko sitting across from him with a smile instead of by his side, he found himself feeling strangely relieved.

“Mr. Sakuraguchi, where have you decided to go?” “What’s that? You mean my workplace?” “Yes.”

Sakuraguchi was born in Kagoshima, and the Kagoshima dialect’s intonation appeared stubbornly persistent; he spoke with a strange stammer.

“I’ll be working at Yawata Steelworks, see… but don’t have anyone I know there, so it’s lonely…” “Oh, you’re going to Yawata?” “And Mr. Nakahori? Where?” “I’m going to Kirin with Mantetsu.” “It’s rather far away, but since Shimizu is going to Shinkyō, I’m looking forward to being able to meet him from time to time…”

“Oh my—you’re going somewhere even farther! I thought Mr. Ken’ichi heading to Shinkyō was already quite distant enough… but yours is further still, Mr. Nakahori…”

The chicken and vegetables in the pot began to boil. Ken’ichi served Takashi small portions from the pot while jittering the knee that supported him. Sakuraguchi’s close-cropped hair framed his athletic build, though puffy eyelids softened his appearance; when he smiled, protruding double teeth lent him a boyish charm. Nakahori maintained the quiet demeanor of a municipal clerk aspirant, his hair meticulously smoothed and uniform collar spotless. His swarthy complexion and prominent nose gave him an air of inherent kindness. Perhaps Nakahori had caught a cold—he coughed at intervals.

“So next year, everyone’s going to end up far away‥‥”

Saiko said while clumsily pouring beer for everyone. Sakuraguchi alone had said he preferred sake over beer—so they had asked the villa caretaker to procure local brew beforehand. By past eight o'clock, Nobuoka—a friend of Ken'ichi's who worked at Kisarazu Station—also arrived. Nobuoka was said to have been a middle school classmate of Ken'ichi’s in Kisarazu—a man with a booming voice who spoke without reserve. Though he cut an ordinary station employee figure, his straightforward and engaging manner won everyone’s goodwill. Nobuoka was wearing a plain hakama under his haori.

“Shimizu’s going to Shinkyō, I hear?” “I’m so damn envious… I’ve started wanting to go somewhere far away too.” “If I were a university graduate like Shimizu, there’d be ways to land a splendid position somewhere—but with just middle school, there’s nothing to be done.” As Nobuoka grew increasingly drunk, he declared—though he worked in track maintenance doing laborer-like work—that he would soon find a splendid job, clenching his bony fist on his knee all by himself. As Nobuoka displayed the blatant country bumpkin rudeness of someone declaring he alone was about to make it big, Sakuraguchi grew increasingly irritated and suddenly fell silent, pouring sake for himself.

“Well, even if you’ve all graduated from university, you’ve got a hell of a road ahead! Up till now, it was fine just going around in circles within the framework of school ideologies, but we young people—we young people need to grasp ideologies of our own making, eh?” “It’s crucial to grasp ideologies through our own hands…”

“Oh?” “Are you saying that having self-reliant ideologies means only you alone possess them?” “What exactly is this ideology of yours?”

Sakuraguchi turned pale, narrowed his swollen eyes, and stared fixedly at Nobuoka. Within that expression ran something like seething anger. After laying out bedding for the students upstairs, Saiko’s mother took the sleepy-looking Takashi and briskly withdrew to Saiko’s room. Ken’ichi now appeared to regret having invited Nobuoka over, yet interrupting their conversation would have felt like admitting weakness, so he remained silent for a time.

The quiet Nakahori suddenly interjected in a casual tone,

“Do you truly yearn so intensely for scholarly pursuits?” “I don’t comprehend this ‘merry-go-rounding within school ideology frameworks’ you speak of—but since tonight is a farewell gathering for Shimizu-kun and ourselves, let us set aside such weighty discussions!”

“Aha ha ha… You call this difficult talk? This is...”

Nobuoka laughed heartily with apparent delight as he thrust chopsticks into the pot where the food was nearly done boiling. Then, Sakuraguchi suddenly raised his voice and, "You idiot! Who the hell are you insulting?!"

He snatched the chopsticks from Nobuoka's outstretched hand and hurled them at the glass door with a sharp clatter. Nobuoka, now deprived of his chopsticks, lumbered to his feet. Upon rising, he grabbed the beer bottle before him and hurled it with all his might at Sakuraguchi's face. At the very moment Sakuraguchi—having twisted his torso—plunged face-first onto the tatami, the bottle struck the alcove wall with a heavy thud. Sakuraguchi raised his face—perhaps having struck his nose against the beer bottle—with noseblood spilling over his lips and along his jawline. It had all happened in an instant, leaving Ken'ichi, Nakahori, and Saiko stunned and breathless.

Sakuraguchi wiped the nosebleed with his right hand, immediately grabbed Nobuoka by the collar, slid open the veranda's glass door, and jumped down into the sandy garden. Several times, the sounds of fierce slaps and bodies violently grappling were heard. The sea roared.

“Hey! That’s enough—stop it already…” Nakahori went out to the veranda, but the two remained locked in a fierce grapple, tumbling roughly across the sand. Ken'ichi also went out to the veranda but stood there silently, intently watching the two fight—beneath the joy of having secured employment lay a tinge of loneliness from leaving student life behind and scattering far apart, a restless ache to lean on someone that had been gnawing at their spirits for over a month now. The sight of Sakuraguchi fighting with all his might seemed to Ken’ichi to be bathed in reflections of lingering sentiments—a view he found invigorating. When it came to fights, Sakuraguchi—born in Kagoshima and a karate practitioner—was someone Nobuoka couldn’t defeat. After grappling two or three times, Nobuoka was promptly pinned beneath Sakuraguchi, his chest being squeezed with grunts.

“Hey, Sakuraguchi! That’s enough—stop it now!” Nakahori hurriedly stepped into his geta and went down to the garden. Nobuoka was streaming snot and drool, grinding his teeth and groaning. “I’ll be damned if I lose to some half-baked university brats!” Nobuoka, even while being pinned down, continued to curse. When Ken'ichi heard this, he suddenly jumped down into the garden still wearing his split-toe socks and pulled the two apart: “Nobuoka! Get out!”

He bellowed in a loud voice. Nobuoka, now standing, had his chest exposed with blood oozing from his lip's corner. He exhaled liquor-tinged breath while glaring at Sakuraguchi before walking barefoot out of the garden. "Oh, that person left his hat..."

Saiko brought the hat, but no one took it to him.

“Cheeky bastard. Why the hell did you invite someone like that?” Sakuraguchi was interrogating Ken'ichi. Saiko’s mother looked startled yet oddly thrilled, but she quickly brought a cleaning rag and passed it to Ken’ichi. Ken’ichi handed the rag to Sakuraguchi before removing his socks and retreating to the tatami room. Soon after, Nobuoka’s singing—faintly audible as if carried by someone returning along the distant shore—drifted in weakly through the wind.

“He’s fundamentally decent, but staying too long in the country makes one overly self-conscious—wears you down into becoming such an odd character…”

“Can’t say what it is, but he’s a strange one, ain’t he? Acting all old-like, putting on airs like he’s some battle-hardened veteran—that attitude’s downright unmanly.” “How old is he?” “Twenty-five, was it? He’s such a resentful bastard—never figured him for that type… Always bragging how he entered society before me, but I never thought he’d be so damn simple… Even if we end up in some backwater working corporate jobs, you think we’d turn as wretched as that…?”

“Doesn’t hold his liquor well.” “Yeah, when he’s not drunk, he’s actually quite interesting.” “That’s exactly the kind of well-rounded, ideal man he is.”

“Working at the station isn’t a bad thing, but I can’t stand guys who look down on themselves and pick fights with others.”

○

The next morning, Saiko was sunbathing in the narrow second-floor sunroom. She lay half-naked on a rattan lounge chair, her back to the sun, quietly reading a book. The restless waves of yesterday's youth had grown profoundly calm and still, like the sea beyond the window.—From Rüdesheim on the Rhine's banks, three young men and three maidens boarded a white excursion boat drifting downstream. This student theater troupe had traveled upriver performing plays to empty houses; by Rüdesheim they couldn't afford bread after paying lodging fees. Then an old gentleman arrived on horseback at their inn's garden and pitied these despondent youths—guiding them downstream to lively Königswinter and Nonnenwert Island where seven mountains could be seen. The wealthy old man grew enamored with Gemma among the maidens. Though she agonized over his affection until reaching port town, Gemma ultimately rejected him—disembarking with Gajer from the trio toward uncertain poverty and youth's precious struggle... After finishing Schmidtbon's Beyond the Mountains, Saiko pressed her face against the book amid swirling thoughts. Beneath her chin lay white pages where cold deep Rhine currents seemed to flow through printed characters. She began imagining herself as Gemma from the story—these fictional youths confronting destitution with brave vitality unlike anything around Ken'ichi and her... Why did their world feel so dark? No want for food or shelter, yet everything reeked of senility and clutter—every student bloodshot-eyed hunting jobs... Even unrepeatable youth they lived by trampling and brawling.

Saiko didn't know how many years she might live in this seaside villa, yet somehow the very fact of having been born into this world had been growing sorrowful, heartrending, and sentimental.

“May I come in?”

“Who is it?” “I…” “You may come in...”

Ken'ichi entered the sunroom with a bright complexion from his satisfying sleep, stepping in steadily. “You’ve gotten quite golden-brown from the sun, haven’t you?” “My back... it’s a nice color, isn’t it...” Ken'ichi gazed at Saiko’s back as though looking at something dazzling. It was plump like freshly baked bread. The line of her spinal groove also looked healthy. The flesh of her shoulders was as thin as a child’s, and on the pointed tip of her left shoulder, the sun glittered. Beyond the window glass, the sea glinted white under the sun.

“Ken’ichi, when will you come back to Tokyo?” “Let’s see… In about a week, maybe? Since I’m not heading there until late February or early March, I’ll still come here often…” “You don’t have to come.” “Why?” “Why does it matter...? You can do anything you set your mind to, and your path is already settled—isn’t that reassuring? I’m just waiting here for the day I die, after all—you don’t have to come anymore…”

“Lately, you’ve been acting strange, Saiko. Why have you grown so resentful?” “How rude—I’m not being resentful at all…” Saiko rose from the rattan chair and rubbed her chest and arms with a dry towel. Her breasts were as small as an elementary school child’s. Ken’ichi took another towel from the table and rubbed her back.

“Elder Sister Katsuko was quite plump, wasn’t she?” “…………” “Today, I can talk about Elder Sister Katsuko now. “Since they’re all outsiders now…” Saiko was wearing an orange blouse and fastening the black buttons one by one at her chest. “What about Mr. Sakuraguchi and the others?”

she asked.

“Earlier, I went with Mr. Nakahori and the old caretaker to see the beach seine fishing...” “That’s right… That Mr. Sakuraguchi is such an energetic person, isn’t he? I do think he’s suited for going to Yawata Steelworks.” “So everyone graduates from university, secures jobs, marries without even falling in love, has children, and peacefully lives out their lives—is that it?” “That’s more than enough... You’re just considering all sorts of things in your head alone—punishing people, praising people... Isn’t a human way of living ultimately found in an ordinary existence?... You read too many novels.” “You’re ill, so you must overcome your illness.” “I still think it’s best for now to calmly do things like take regular sunbaths, go for walks, and eat well—but if you keep getting restless like this, everyone else has to get restless too.” “I suppose it was you who brought in the sand yesterday.” “I like that innocent Saibō—if one could just get a job, marry a wife, and peacefully end their days, that’d be perfectly fine by me...”

“Oh، I hate this....” “I detest such shabby youth and withered adolescence....” “Withered youth.... Hmm، I wonder.” “Youth isn’t something that needs grand performances every time۔ Depending on circumstances، there’s aristocratic youth، peasant youth—and even youth for salarymen like us.” “The youth in those novels you read—that’s just drama cooked up by authors۔ In reality، you can’t hang out a golden sign saying ‘This Is Our Youth،’ can you?” “People might carry those youthful feelings their whole lives۔ But me—I’m content getting an ordinary job and making my folks happy....”

“…………” “If we let you speak, Saiko, youth would mean occasionally abandoning one’s given job to passionately devote oneself to loving a woman—but even that ultimately amounts to little more than a trifle…”

Ken'ichi went to the window, opened it, and gazed out at the sea. The sea’s color was gradually deepening into blue. Small white clouds were drifting across the sky.

“Well, that’s because you’re someone who’ll live a long time, Ken’ichi—that’s why you can say such things.” “I... I don’t even know when I’ll die, after all…”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t I just tell you not to let your illness beat you...? If you’d just relax and rest properly—you’re still young, Saiko—you’ll grow sturdy and healthy like Elder Sister Katsuko before you know it...”

While Ken'ichi battled his illness, he couldn't help but feel sorry for young Saiko living by this lonely shore.

Ken’ichi was distantly related to Saiko’s family and had been boarding at her house since entering Waseda University. Ken’ichi had liked Saiko’s elder sister Katsuko and had thought that once he graduated from university and secured employment, he would take Katsuko as his wife.

But before anyone knew it, Katsuko had an ordinary arranged marriage and ended up wedding into a modest merchant family. As if something had been stolen from his grasp, Ken’ichi had momentarily felt drained and dazed—but he was able to quickly recover himself and even managed to regain his former orderly student life. Saiko had long since keenly sensed—and come to fully understand—the faint undercurrent of mutual affection that had once flowed between Ken’ichi and Katsuko. That sensitivity—in fact, to an almost pathological degree—seemed to be magnifying things by adding "something" to them.

If told she needed to plump up like Katsuko—and Saiko would abruptly fall silent at this—Ken’ichi found himself sighing yet again as he reconsidered his approach. “I’ll come back to Chiba once or twice more soon—I still have so much I want to talk about with you, Saiko. As for Ms. Katsuko… there was nothing as significant as what you’re imagining, and I couldn’t have done anything that intense anyway.” “As you know, Ms. Katsuko was always a steady, plain sort of person—and truth be told, I’ve come to think I’d gladly take you as my bride if I could, Saiko. But I don’t have the freedom to abandon my career and stay by your side forever... In the end, you must recover your health and come to Manchuria yourself... A man—not out of self-interest, but for his vocation—must sometimes relinquish even a precious romance.” “Do you understand…? Even if I were in the most wonderful romance right now, I would still end up going to Shinkyō. And this feeling of setting out on a new job—for me now—it’s something I can’t trade for anything else…”

Saiko remained silent. Bright sunlight streamed across the tatami mats, and Ken'ichi's shadow lay sharply etched upon them like a corpulent hunchback. “So I already said that’s enough, didn’t I? I won’t go to someplace like Shinkyō… I have my own life to live, and I think it’s best if we just say goodbye as we are. I am sick, after all…” Ken’ichi felt as though someone had called him and turned around to look toward the beach. Nobuoka stood outside the fence with a pale face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Last night, I stayed at the inn in front of the station… Came back to get the hat I forgot.” “Well, come on in…” Ken’ichi pushed up his glasses and immediately went downstairs.

Saiko stepped down from the rattan chair, went to the window, and tried singing in a small voice. Those waves, that sky—they were all momentary flows; everything shattered into splinters. Ken'ichi’s new departure tormented her with petty jealousy as a woman. I cannot take Ken'ichi away. Is this thing called men’s work truly so alluring to them…? I will have to keep living here by this seaside, threatened by illness, forced to spend each day in ill humor.

What on earth is human life? …What sort of "life" is this life that people keep calling out to as they march toward it? Saiko felt an unbearable sensation, as if her skin were being clawed at.

The beach had become dotted with figures as Sakuraguchi, Nakahori, and the others returned. Saiko waved a white towel from the window. Sakuraguchi and Nakahori were running back. (Ah, those people too would now embark on new lives...) Waving her handkerchief, Saiko thought how from tomorrow she alone would remain here at this seaside again, growing strangely sentimental.

“Well then… Goodbye. I bought these geta at the station…” “Ah… Right.” “Come visit Tokyo too…” “Yeah… I’ll come see you once before you leave for Shinkyō…”

Outside the fence, Nobuoka's gray soft hat came into view. Nobuoka walked along the hedge on the side opposite Sakuraguchi without once looking back.

The sea suddenly darkened and grew shadowy; perhaps the wind had begun to rise—a tightly rolled newspaper was carried by the wind along the outside of the fence toward the stone cliff.