“Can you tell me what Nozomi plans to do about the funeral?”
Before she looked around at him, he glanced toward the tea lounge. Mariko was watching him while cleaning the surface of a table. He imagined she was too far away to hear their conversation clearly.
“I can’t believe you think we have any idea where she is.”
“She’s on my mind at a time like this. I’m sure she’s on all of yours as well.”
“Since I’ve made it clear that I can’t help you with her, you’ll need to find someone telepathic. But maybe Nozomi herself is, and there’s nothing for you to worry about. In that scenario, she would already know her father is dead.”
Her boldness gave Sedge pause. And in that moment, she continued.
“We have no idea what’s happened to Nozomi. Only that she left you and took more from you than she had any right to. I promise that at this very moment Takahashi and his mother are beside themselves trying to find some way to reach her. Have you made any new efforts to?”
Sedge acceded her a certain point, but he was no less angry for being made out as the villain in all of this. Yet he was aware that by arguing with her he risked his welcome at the ryokan. Had he already overstepped his bounds?
“Again, please let me know how I can send Nozomi’s mother my condolences. Or if there’s anything else I might be allowed to do.”
Yuki nodded, her body relaxing. “I will,” she said. “I can’t promise when, but I will.”
He returned to his room, having given up the idea of a bike ride. Instead, he grabbed a small and large towel and went downstairs to soak in the hot baths, eager to clear his mind. For the first time since coming here, he was troubled that he’d stayed too long. But if he didn’t remain for the foreseeable future, where was he to go?
Still hot from the baths, he couldn’t stop sweating. He sat directly in the air conditioner’s stream, blotting his face and chest with the hem of his open yukata.
He had managed to focus his energy on two language-school interviews he’d lined up for next week. He considered the work a step down from the shop he’d run, but he recognized he was more likely to be hired as an English teacher than in the field of Arts Management he’d studied and worked in. None of the ceramics shops in Yamanaka Onsen, most of which were family run, had any need for him. On the off chance he was offered a position at either school, the work wouldn’t start right away. If he was lucky, a better job would present itself in the meantime. He had little faith in that happening, however.
Mariko came by after finishing her work. She had only visited before to deliver his meals or to change his bedclothes. It had been over a month since she’d last come. She entered his room quickly, looking over her shoulder as he shut the door behind her.
“This is unlike you,” he said, kissing her. It was an awkward exchange, but she looked happy afterward. It was their first kiss since she’d taken him to the hilltop. “Isn’t it dangerous coming to my room like this? My dinner will arrive soon, you realize.”
She looked around them, and he remembered again that she and Riku had stayed here once.
“I wanted to know if everything was okay,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I saw you arguing with Yuki. It must have been about something important since it happened in the lobby. I’ve watched her get angry before, but never where guests might see. It worried me.”
“My father-in-law died this morning.”
“I know. An announcement was made in today’s staff meeting.”
“We weren’t particularly close, but I like to think we had a decent relationship. He was helpful to my wife and me during our marriage, and as he got older we tried to do as much as we could for him. Of course, there’s going to be a funeral for him . . . Buddhist services . . . a cremation. All important family events.”
Her eyebrows nearly came together as she concentrated on what he’d said.
“Takahashi and his family—I don’t know who exactly—are keeping me at a distance. So I had it out a bit with Yuki earlier today. Or she had it out with me.”
“I heard you both from the lounge, but I couldn’t make out anything. That explains why you looked upset.”
“Shouldn’t there be some acknowledgment or clarification of my position within their family?”
He knew she couldn’t answer why they were excluding him, though she could guess at any number of reasons as easily as he.
“Maybe it’s time I consider leaving,” he said. “I can’t right away. But I’ve been contacted about two teaching jobs and will interview for them soon. One is just outside of Kanazawa, the other in Fukui. I doubt I’ll be the first choice at either school, though. If that’s the case, I’m back at square one.”
They turned toward the door as someone hurried down the hall.
“I thought I heard Yuki mention your wife’s name,” she said.
He looked at her. “I’ve decided to contact the bank from where she stole my money and talk to the police. It’s a place to start, though it’s hard to believe it took me almost a year to do. And even if Takahashi and Yuki asked me not to involve the police in what she did.”
“I always hoped you would.”
“I’m doing it partly for you.”
Mariko’s eyes widened. “For me?”
“To prove I’m over her.”
“You don’t have to prove anything. Not to me.”
She leaned into him with her head curled into his chest. He could feel her breathing, and her hand pushing up to wipe at her eyes.
He kissed her again in the genkan.
When she opened the door to leave, she gasped. Ducking her head, she half-ran down the corridor and out of sight. Yuki watched her go.
