There was a moment of silence. His heart sank.
‘I’m sorry, she’s out right now,’ said her mother.
Kazunari had been expecting this. ‘Do you know when she’ll be coming back?’
‘Sorry, I’m not exactly sure.’
‘She always seems to be out whenever I call. Is something the matter?’ It was his third attempt to reach her this week.
‘She’s been at a relative’s a lot lately,’ her mother said.
He heard the hesitation in her voice. It irritated him.
‘Could you have her call me when she gets back? Kazunari from Eimei. She has the number.’
‘I will, Kazunari.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Actually…’
‘Yes?’
Eriko’s mother paused for several seconds before she said, ‘I’m sorry, but to tell you the truth, I’d rather you didn’t call us any more.’
‘What?’
‘I know you two were seeing each other for a while, but… she’s still just a child. Please find somebody else. It’s what she wants.’
‘What do you mean? Did she really say that? She doesn’t want to see me any more?’
‘No…’ Another pause. ‘It’s just, she can’t see you any more. I’m sorry. It’s just not possible. Please understand, it’s not the best time for our family. Goodbye.’
‘Hold on!’ he shouted, but she’d already hung up.
Kazunari stepped out of the phone booth utterly confused.
He hadn’t heard from Eriko in more than a week. They had last spoken on the previous Wednesday. She’d told him she was going clothes shopping the next day, so she could wear something new for practice on Friday. But on Friday she didn’t show.
Yukiho had called the club to tell them that a professor had asked them to stay after class, and she and Eriko would be missing practice that day.
That night, Kazunari called Eriko at home, only to be told she was visiting relatives and wouldn’t be home that night. He called on Saturday, too. She was out than as well. Her mother’s voice on the phone seemed strained and Kazunari got the distinct impression his phone call wasn’t welcome.
Eriko had stopped coming to dance practice entirely. Yukiho wasn’t coming either, so he couldn’t even ask her what was going on. Today was Friday again and he had slipped out halfway through practice to call.
Kazunari racked his brain for a reason why Eriko should suddenly not like him – if that was even the case. What had her mother meant by it being ‘not the best time’?
Kazunari was on his way back to the practice hall when one of the girls in class ran up to tell him they’d just received a strange phone call.
‘What do you mean, strange?’
‘It was somebody asking for the head of the Seika Girls College dance club. When we said that Kanae was out, they asked for the Eimei University rep.’
‘Who was it?’
‘They wouldn’t say. They’re still on the line.’
‘Right,’ he said, heading toward the office on the first floor of the gymnasium. The phone was there, lying off the hook. He picked up the receiver.
‘Hello?’
‘Is this the head of the dance club?’ a man asked. His voice was low, but he sounded young.
‘Yes. Who is this?’
The man ignored his question. ‘There’s a girl over at Seika by the name of Kanae Kurahashi, right?’
‘What’s this about?’
‘I want you to let her know that she needs to pay up, quick.’
‘I’m sorry, is this about money?’
‘That’s right. A hundred and twenty thousand up front, and a hundred and thirty thousand when the job is done, that was the deal. Tell her to dig into that club money she’s got if she has to.’
‘I’m sorry, when what job was done?’
‘Sorry, pal, that’s none of your business.’
‘Then you’d better call her yourself.’
The man laughed. ‘Aw,’ he said, ‘but you’re the best person to give her the message.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
The man hung up.
Kazunari shrugged and replaced the receiver on the hook.
Two hundred and fifty thousand yen was a lot of money. What had Kanae needed that cost that much? The man on the phone hadn’t sounded like a particularly upstanding citizen, either.
Kazunari wasn’t eager to call Kanae and ask what was up. They hadn’t spoken since they broke up. And besides, his head was too full of Eriko right now.
When practice was over, Kazunari drove home to find an envelope waiting for him in his private mailbox. It had been sent by express mail, but lacked the name of a sender. The letters of his own address looked like they’d been written by someone using a ruler, with strange, sharp-cornered characters.
He went into his room, sat down on his bed, and opened the envelope, an uneasy feeling spreading through his chest.
It contained a single photograph.
Kazunari stared at it in bewilderment.
After a few moments, the photograph slipped from his fingers to the floor.
Yukiho arrived five minutes late. Kazunari gave a little wave when he saw her. She saw him right away and walked up.
‘Sorry I’m late,’ she apologised.
‘No problem, just got here myself.’
The waitress wandered over and Yukiho ordered milk tea. It was midday on a weekday and the restaurant was nearly empty.
‘Thanks for coming out,’ said Kazunari.
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘But, like I told you on the phone, if it’s about Eriko, I really can’t say much.’
‘You need to protect her, I understand.’
Yukiho looked down at the table. She had long eyelashes. Some of the people in the club said she looked like one of those French porcelain dolls. The comparison was admittedly apt, with the exception of her Asian eyes.
‘Of course,’ he said, ‘if I already knew what happened, there wouldn’t be much point keeping it from me.’
She looked up, startled.
‘I got a photograph in the mail. Sent anonymously.’
‘A photograph?’
Kazunari slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket. ‘I’d rather not show you if you haven’t already seen it.’
‘Wait,’ Yukiho said quickly. ‘In the back of the truck?’
‘That’s right.’
Yukiho covered her mouth with one hand. She looked as though she might burst into tears, but the waitress had just come back with her tea, so she held it in.
‘You saw it?’ he asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘Where?’
‘Eriko’s house. They sent one to her family. I couldn’t believe it.’ Yukiho’s voice was trembling.
‘What is this all about?’ Kazunari said, his hand clenching into a fist on the table.
He looked out of the window, willing himself to calm down. It was drizzling slightly. It wasn’t yet June, but the rainy season might already have started. He remembered the day that he took Eriko to the hairdresser’s. It had been raining then, too.
‘Can you tell me what happened?’
‘Isn’t it obvious? That happened.’ She pointed at his pocket.
‘That doesn’t tell me anything. Where did it happen?’
‘Near her house. On Thursday, the week before last.’
‘Thursday, you’re sure?’
‘Absolutely.’
Kazunari pulled out his calendar and looked at the date. Just as he had thought. It was the day after her last phone call – the day she said she was going to buy some clothes.
‘Has anyone called the police?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Her parents didn’t want word getting out; they said it would be worse if everyone heard about it. And, you know, I think they’re right.’
Kazunari hit the table with his fist. He could understand how her parents felt and yet
the thought that they were powerless to do anything frustrated him.
‘If they sent her a photo and they sent one to me, then this wasn’t just a random attack. Do her parents understand that?’
‘Yes,’ Yukiho said, ‘but who would do such a thing?’
‘I have an idea,’ said Kazunari softly.
‘What? Who?’
‘I think you can guess.’
They exchanged looks. It seemed Yukiho understood.
‘But, how could a woman – I mean, she couldn’t —’
‘She hired somebody who could.’
Kazunari told Yukiho about the phone call he’d received the Friday before. ‘The photo came right after the phone call, so I connected the two right away. And the man on the phone said something strange about Kanae using club money.’
He heard Yukiho catch her breath. ‘To pay the man?’
‘Yeah, I know. It’s hard to believe, so I looked into it.’
‘You asked Kanae?’
‘No, I couldn’t. But I had another way. I called the bank and asked whether anything had been withdrawn.’
‘But didn’t Kanae have the bank book?’
‘She did, but I had another way to get the information.’
A man from Sankyo Bank was a friend of the family and he had asked him for a favour.
‘So,’ Kazunari lowered his voice, ‘I found out that on Tuesday, two weeks ago, a hundred and twenty thousand was withdrawn by card. When I checked this morning, I found that another hundred and thirty thousand had been withdrawn at the beginning of the week.’
‘But there’s no way of knowing that it was Kanae who took out the money. It could have been someone else.’
‘As far as I could tell, no one except for her has had access to the card these past three weeks. And the only person who touched it before that is you,’ he said.
‘Right, when Eriko and I were doing the books for the club. But I gave the bank book and the card back to Kanae two or three days after that.’
‘And she’s had it ever since. Which makes it pretty clear that she hired somebody to attack Eriko.’
Yukiho breathed out a long sigh. ‘I just… I can’t believe it.’
‘Neither can I.’
‘But this is still just guesses, Kazunari. You don’t have proof. Someone could have just happened to take that money out of the account.’
‘Well, it’s an extremely odd coincidence if they did. I think this needs to go to the police.’
Yukiho scowled. ‘Like I said, Eriko’s family really doesn’t want this getting out. If the police get involved – even if they find out who did it – it’s not going to change what happened, and it’s not gonna make things any easier for her.’
‘That doesn’t mean we can just let this slide. I won’t let it.’
Yukiho stared at him. ‘I really don’t think it’s your decision to make.’
Kazunari blinked. He hadn’t been expecting her to say that. He caught his breath and stared at her for a moment, until she said, ‘I have a message for you from Eriko: Goodbye.’
‘Wait, that’s the message? She sent you to say goodbye.’ His hand clenched back into a fist on the table. ‘I need to see her.’
‘You can’t.’ Yukiho stood. She had hardly touched her tea. ‘I really didn’t want to have to be the messenger here.’
‘Yukiho —’
‘Goodbye,’ she said and began to walk towards the exit, but then she stopped. ‘I won’t be quitting dance club, by the way. I wouldn’t want her to think it was her fault.’
Once she was out of sight, Kazunari took a deep breath and looked out the window where the rain was still falling.
The only things on TV were boring talk shows and the news. Eriko reached for the Rubik’s Cube lying on top of the futon. Despite it having been such a big hit the year before, hardly anyone remembered the toys now. It had been fun when everyone was saying they were impossible to solve, but once the solution started making the rounds, even elementary school kids could do it in a matter of minutes. Not Eriko though, who was still struggling after four days with the infernal thing. Yukiho had brought it over for her and even taught her the basics, but she still wasn’t making any progress.
I’m no good at anything.
A knock came at the door. ‘Yukiho’s here to see you,’ said her mother.
‘OK.’
She heard footsteps approaching. The door opened slowly and Yukiho’s face peeked through. ‘Were you sleeping?’
‘Not with this to solve. Are you kidding?’ she said, holding up the Rubik’s Cube.
Yukiho smiled and came in. ‘Here,’ she said, holding up a box. It was cream puffs, Eriko’s favourite. ‘Your mom said she’d bring us tea in a bit.’
‘Great,’ Eriko said. ‘Did you see him?’
‘Yeah,’ Yukiho said. ‘I did.’
‘Did you tell him?’
‘I did. It wasn’t easy.’
‘I’m sorry I had to ask you to do that.’
‘No, it’s OK.’ Yukiho reached out and gently took Eriko’s hand in her own. ‘How do you feel? Still getting headaches?’
‘No, it’s much better today.’
Her attacker had used chloroform, which had given her headaches since the attack. Though according to the doctor, the psychological effects would be worse than anything physical.
Eriko had woken that night in the bed of a pickup truck to find her mother next to her, weeping. When Eriko hadn’t come home, her mother had left to meet her at the station, only to come across the truck, abandoned by the side of the road beneath a street light.
The photograph came several days later. There was no sender and no letter with it, yet the envelope seemed infused with a hatred that made Eriko tremble.
She understood what she had to do. She would never try to stand out from the crowd again. She would always hide behind her friends, behind Yukiho. Just as she had always done. That was really best.
There was one saving grace to the night. Strange though it was, she hadn’t been raped. Apparently, the criminal’s only objective had been to take her clothes off and take a picture. This was part of why her parents had decided not to tell the police. Once word got out, everyone would assume she had been raped. She would be marked for life.